title: Darien, Connecticut

text: People famous in other fields have also called Darien home: Leslie Groves, military head of the Manhattan Project, lived in town after the project ended. Paul Manship, sculptor of the Prometheus figure at Rockefeller Center, spent summers living on Leroy Avenue and working on his art in the early 1930s. Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White lived in town first with author Erskine Caldwell, then in the same home after their divorce. Helen Frankenthaler, a major American Abstract Expressionist painter, lived in Darien in later life and maintained her primary studio there. Novelist and playwright Richard Bissell lived in Darien from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Producer and NBC executive Grant Tinker reared his family there in the 1950s; Grant also co-founded MTM Enterprises and was married to Mary Tyler Moore. Former Benton & Bowles advertising agency executive and noted big band radio broadcaster G. Emerson Cole lived in Darien for 35 years. Kiss drummer Peter Criss once owned a home in Darien. Art deco artist and illustrator Major Felten spent most of his life in Darien. Emily Barringer (1876–1961), the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency, resided in Darien (and New Canaan) until her death. Founder of Lone Pine Capital Stephen Mandel (hedge fund manager) also grew up in Darien. Ice hockey goaltender Spencer Knight was born, and grew up here.


title: Darien, Connecticut

text: Current notable residents include New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman; Steve Wilkos, host of "The Steve Wilkos Show"; "60 Minutes" correspondent and "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley, CNN host S. E. Cupp, and music executive Tommy Mottola. CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield is a resident of Darien.


title: Darien, Connecticut

text: Other notable executive residents include Vineyard Vines CEO & founder Ian Murray, billionaire Ole Andreas Halvorsen, the CEO and a co-founder of Viking Global Investors, Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, and the former COO of Twitter,


title: Darien, Connecticut

text: Baywater Properties (run by Darien resident, David Genovese, the developer responsible for high-end additions in downtown Darien), has proposed a new significant redevelopment of Downtown Darien in the area bounded by Post Road, Corbin Dr, I-95 and Old Kings Highway. The Corbin District will include upscale residences targeted to empty-nesters, and locally owned retailers. The project construction began in early 2020.


title: Darien, Connecticut

text: The town's Planning and Zoning Commission approved two redevelopment project in the Noroton Heights district, one for a new Noroton Shopping Center proposed by the owners of Palmer's Market, and the other for a new development called The Commons, proposed by Federal Reality. Both projects will incorporate mixed-use development, bringing new apartments to the neighborhood while expanding the existing retail and restaurant space in the area. Noroton Heights has long been a target for redevelopment, with town officials identifying the neighborhood as a focus in the 2016 update of the Town Plan of Conservation and Development. One of the project's goals is to give the Noroton Heights area a new sense of place by redeveloping the area in the style of a village. This includes new public plaza spaces and a complete restructuring of the shopping center's traffic flow. Representatives for the shopping center have said the new village would have a pedestrian focus and seeks to capitalize on the proximity of the Noroton Heights train station. The area remains a priority for the town's infrastructure improvements with an ongoing access study being conducted by a consultant and the active replacement of the Noroton Heights train station platform. Department of Public Works Director Ed Gentile has said the town is still reviewing options to install a culvert and improve drainage in the area as well.


title: Jak II

text: Jak II is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the "Jak and Daxter" series and it is both a sequel and a prequel to "". It was followed by "Jak 3" the following year in 2004.


title: Jak II

text: The game features new weapons and devices, new playable areas, and a storyline that picks up after the events of "Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy". The player takes on the dual role of protagonists Jak and Daxter.


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" received critical acclaim upon release. Critics applauded the game for being very polished in nearly every department, with many agreeing it was one of the best PlayStation 2 games released at the time. Some criticism, however, was directed at the checkpoint systems, darker tone, and high difficulty.


title: Jak II

text: The core gameplay of "Jak II" remains somewhat similar to that of , with a recurring reliance on platforming challenges and vehicle usage. However, it is significantly different in some areas. The Eco timed power-up gameplay from the previous game has been removed, and introduction of weapons such as the Morph Gun, a multipurpose firearm, adds a greater emphasis on enemy combat. The player can unlock four different gun mods for the gun as they play through the game; the shotgun-esque Scatter Gun for close range fighting, the semi-automatic Blaster, for long-range fighting, the Vulcan Fury, a high rate-of-fire weapon in the fashion of a minigun, the bullets of which deal less damage per round compared to the Blaster but are able to pierce enemies and breakables so it can hit multiple targets with a single round, and the Peace Maker, which fires charged blasts of energy, and is extremely powerful, chaining an instant kill energy between enemies that are in close proximity to each other. The game also inherits the melee abilities of the prior game, and chaining a melee attack into a weapon fire usually increases the effect of the gun. For example, the Scatter Gun fires quicker than normal, the Blaster fires three shots at once, and the Vulcan Fury immediately reaches its maximum fire rate, but only if a melee strike is done right before the Morph Gun is fired.


title: Jak II

text: Haven City functions as the game hub world, with various other environments accessible from it. Here, Jak can access new missions by visiting various allied characters. These missions serve as a replacement for the previous game's Power Cell collection driven gameplay in the first installment of the series. Throughout the game, the player can collect Precursor Orbs which are sparsely dispersed throughout the various worlds. The Orbs are non-essential to completion of the game but allow the player to unlock cheats and other "secret" content. Jak can traverse the large city using hover vehicles and a jet-board which allows him to hover across water and grind on rails.


title: Jak II

text: Due to experiments conducted on him for two years, Jak has also gained the ability to manipulate Dark Eco to transform into a darker version of himself known as Dark Jak. The form is only accessible after Jak has absorbed enough Dark Eco to charge his ability. Dark Eco drops from slain enemies and can occasionally be found in red crates scattered throughout the world. In his Dark form, Jak becomes much more agile and his melee attacks become more powerful but he loses the ability to use the Morph Gun. Jak 2 also introduces a "currency" known as Metal Head skull gems. By collecting these skull gems which are dropped by most Metal Head creatures when defeated, Jak can gain additional abilities for his dark form and play minigames at kiosks throughout Haven City. The Dark Jak abilities that can be unlocked can be used to unleash devastating attacks that kill all enemies within the vicinity at the cost of ending his Dark form immediately after the attack.


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" takes place in the same fictional universe created by Naughty Dog for "Jak and Daxter", though five hundred years after the events of the first game. The game largely revolves around Haven City, a dystopia ruled by Baron Praxis and his Krimzon Guard law enforcers. Haven City serves as the game's hub location, although the player is frequently given tasks that must be fulfilled outside of the city.


title: Jak II

text: Jak (voiced by Mike Erwin) is the game's protagonist, along with his sidekick Daxter (voiced by Max Casella). When they first arrived in Haven City, Jak was captured by Krimzon Guards and became the subject of Baron Praxis's (voiced by Clancy Brown) "Dark Warrior" project. He became subjected to several experiments, ultimately giving him the ability to become "Dark Jak", a beastly version of himself which is unleashed when Jak has gathered enough Dark Eco. Daxter is an otter-weasel hybrid (known as an ottsel) and is the game's comic relief. After two years of searching for him, Daxter finally sneaks into the prison holding Jak and rescues him. This is also the first time Jak is heard speaking in the series, which is heavily lampshaded by other returning characters throughout the story.


title: Jak II

text: Other important characters include Torn (voiced by Cutter Garcia), the second-in-command of the resistance movement known as the Underground; Sig (voiced by Phil LaMarr), a Metal Head hunter/Wastelander (someone who gathers artifacts from outside the city); Krew (voiced by Bill Minkin), a vastly overweight gang lord; Tess (voiced by Britton A. Hill), a barmaid; Errol (voiced by David Herman), the Baron's right-hand man and commander of the Krimzon Guard; and Ashelin (voiced by Susan Eisenberg), the daughter of Baron Praxis who helps the Underground behind her father's back. Baron Praxis and the Metal Heads' leader Kor are the story's antagonists.


title: Jak II

text: Following Gol and Maia's defeat, Jak and Daxter join Samos the Green Sage to witness his daughter Kiera's efforts at testing an ancient artifact known as the Rift Rider: a mechanical device linked to an ancient portal called a Rift Gate. Upon Jak activating the device, the gate opens and allows strange creatures to flood the world, before the rider sucks the group within it. Both Jak and Daxter become separate in the journey from the others, and eventually land in Haven City—a dystopia ruled by the tyrannical Baron Praxis, and guarded by the Krimzon Guard, a paramilitary force led by Praxis's right-hand man Errol. While Daxter is forced to run away, Jak is arrested by Errol, whereupon he is put through a series of experiments for two years by Praxis involving Dark Eco, in an attempt to create a new soldier.


title: Jak II

text: During a break in experimentation Daxter finds Jak and breaks him out of the facility, though the pair discover that Praxis' experiments have left Jak with the ability to transform into a Dark Eco version of himself with increased strength, reflexes, stamina and aggression. Accessing the city, the pair encounter an elderly man named Kor, protecting a young boy known only as The Kid, who sends them to make contact with the Underground—a resistance movement led by the mysterious figure known as the Shadow, seeking to bring down Praxis and replace him with the city's rightful heir, The Kid. Meeting with the Shadow's lieutenant, Torn, the pair learn that Praxis is seeking to protect the city from creatures known as Metal Heads, an evil biomechanical race dating back from Precursor times. Working for the Underground, the pair eventually discover that they have been flung nearly 500 years into the future, after finding the remains of their home village in the city's borders. To further complicate the matter, the pair also learn that the Shadow is none other than Samos—albeit, a younger version, unaware of the ruins significance.


title: Jak II

text: Learning that Praxis is seeking an item within a tomb of the city's founder, Jak and Daxter continue working for the Underground, along the way taking work for the crime lord Krew, and reuniting with Kiera, who works as a mechanic in the city's arena. In the process, the pair discover Praxis created the war with the Metal Heads, bringing them with eco to attack the city so he could remain in command, but lost control when the Metal Heads betrayed him. Working with Young Samos, the pair eventually help the Underground access the tomb, but become separated when it closes shut on them. With no choice, the pair search the tomb and discover an ancient artifact within called the Precursor Stone, which Praxis steals in hopes of cracking it open and use its destruction that can destroy the Metal Heads, despite it having the potential to wipe out Haven City.


title: Jak II

text: Seeking to rescue the Underground, after its chief members were kidnapped in their absence, Jak and Daxter reunite with the older version of Samos, who warns the group that The Kid must be found urgently, despite Young Samos contradicting his instructions. However, Jak and Daxter soon find they must, after preventing Praxis from completing his bomb with the assistance of Krew, whom the pair kill. Shortly after Krew's death, Metal Heads swarm into the city, forcing the Underground and Krimzon Guard to join forces to resist the invasion. At the same time, Jak and Daxter track down Praxis and find him meeting with Kor, who transpires to be the Metal Heads' leader in disguise and had been seeking to use The Kid in order to bring the world into ruin. Departing to complete a ritual he had been working, Kor kills Praxis, who entrusts the Precursor Stone to Jak and Daxter. The pair swiftly pursue after Kor, killing him and finding the very Rift Gate they used to travel through time, and ending the Metal Heads threat.


title: Jak II

text: The Kid, whom Jak had discovered was his younger self, touches the Stone, reawakening the Precursor entity within, which flies through the gate. As Kiera arrives with a new Rift Rider she had created, Samos reveals that they cannot return to the past—instead, Jak's younger self and Young Samos must go, in order to ensure Jak will fulfill the destiny he completed with Kor's defeat. In the aftermath of the conflict, Daxter takes over Krew's bar, as he, Jak, Samos and Kiera prepare to enjoy their new lives in Haven City.


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" began development in 2001. "Jak II" is the only game in the series in which the versions for English-speaking regions feature the Japanese and Korean voice-over track. The voice-over cast features many notable voice actors, including Showtaro Morikubo as Jak. The other games in the series did not follow suit, leaving the voices to be exclusive to the Japanese and Korean regions. The game's budget was more than $10 million. It took 52 people, 140 voice actors, two musicians, and three sound engineers, plus Sony's internal staff. The voice-acting was jointly recorded in the Los Angeles-based Pop Sound and the New York City-based Howard Schwartz Recording.


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" received "generally positive reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. "IGN" gave it a score of 9.5/10, saying: "Naughty Dog weighs in with heavy guns, a dark story and mature content…And unlike pretty much every other platformer in the world, the story here is filled with characters who you'll either love or hate. It's the story that gives this game the feeling that it's an adventure, like "Indiana Jones" or even "Max Payne". Jak is far more likeable now that he speaks, and the fact that he's pissed off and owns honking big guns weaves in an unmistakable new level of emotion into the narrative." "GameSpot" said, "Everything in "Jak II" comes together to produce one of the best-looking, best-playing games on the PS2 so far" and continued: ""Jak II" is an enormous and ambitious game that succeeds on every level, the gameplay is rewarding, and the story twists and turns more than you'd expect from a game like this." "Game Informer" praised "having the freedom to tackle challenges in a less linear fashion" and likened the new gameplay to the "Grand Theft Auto" series.


title: Jak II

text: Steven Petite and Jon Bitner of Digital Trends consider "Jak II" to be the best in the series and one of the PlayStation 2's best platformers. "Kotaku" Luke Plunkett called "Jak II" one of the best PlayStation 2 games, highlighting the game's scale and characters.


title: Jak II

text: Criticisms were given to "Jak II" shortage of mission checkpoints and overall difficulty. As Naughty Dog developer Josh Scherr once admitted: "One thing that everybody can agree on though, is that the game is just way too fucking hard." "IGN" named "Jak II" the #8 hardest PlayStation 2 game, citing its combat, platforming, city navigation, and instant death scenarios. "Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine" remarked: "It isn't proper to expect us to be perfect in order to make up for your game's many imbalances… Life might not be fair, but I certainly expect my games to be." However, some saw the challenge as a positive, such as "", who said: "I appreciate a good challenge in today's games, and "JAK II" offers it."


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" won Editor's Choice from "IGN" and "GameSpot", and was followed by a nomination for Best PlayStation 2 Game by "GameSpot" as well. "GameSpot" named it the best PlayStation 2 game of October 2003.


title: Jak II

text: "Jak II" was added to Sony's Greatest Hits lineup on September 8, 2004, signifying at least 400,000 copies sold in its first 11 months. "Jak II" received a "Platinum Prize" in Japan for sales of over one million units. Worldwide, the game sold more than 1.6 million units by April 2004.


title: Jak II

text: In 2012, "Jak II" was remastered in the "Jak and Daxter Collection" on the PlayStation 3, with the collection releasing on the PlayStation Vita a year later. In 2017, "Jak II" was made available to play on the PlayStation 4 via emulation, featuring high-definition graphics and trophy support.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is a mixture of closely related organic compounds derived from coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine. CAPB is available as a viscous pale yellow solution and it is used as a surfactant in personal care products and animal husbandry. The name reflects that the major part of the molecule, the lauric acid group, is derived from coconut oil. Cocamidopropyl betaine to a significant degree has replaced cocamide DEA.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: Despite the name cocamidopropyl betaine, the molecule is not synthesized from betaine. Instead it is produced in a two step manner, beginning with the reaction of dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) with fatty acids from coconut or palm kernel oil (lauric acid, or its methyl ester, is the main constituent). The primary amine in DMAPA is more reactive than the tertiary amine, leading to its selective addition to form an amide. In the second step chloroacetic acid reacts with the remaining tertiary amine to form a quaternary ammonium center (a quaternization reaction).


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: CAPB is a fatty acid amide containing a long hydrocarbon chain at one end and a polar group at the other. This allows CAPB to act as a surfactant and as a detergent. It is a zwitterion, consisting of both a quaternary ammonium cation and a carboxylate.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: Cocamidopropyl betaine is used as a foam booster in shampoos. It is a medium-strength surfactant also used in bath products like hand soaps. It is also used in cosmetics as an emulsifying agent and thickener, and to reduce irritation purely ionic surfactants would cause. It also serves as an antistatic agent in hair conditioners, which most often does not irritate skin or mucous membranes. However, some studies indicate it is an allergen.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: The impurities AA and DMAPA are most critical, as they have been shown to be responsible for skin sensitization reactions. These by-products can be avoided by a moderate excess chloroacetate and the exact adjustment of pH value during betainization reaction accompanied by regular analytical control.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: CAPB is also used as a co-surfactant with Sodium dodecyl sulfate for promoting the formation of gas hydrates. CAPB, as an additive, helps to scale-up the gas hydrates' formation process.


title: Cocamidopropyl betaine

text: CAPB has been claimed to cause allergic reactions in some users, but a controlled pilot study has found that these cases may represent irritant reactions rather than true allergic reactions. Furthermore, results of human studies have shown that CAPB has a low sensitizing potential if impurities with amidoamine (AA) and dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) are low and tightly controlled. Other studies have concluded that most apparent allergic reactions to CAPB are more likely due to amidoamine. Cocamidopropyl betaine was voted 2004 Allergen of the Year by the American Contact Dermatitis Society.


title: Scotch Game

text: Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise "Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese" ("On the game of Chess, practical Observations by an anonymous Modenese Author"), was the first author to mention what is now called the Scotch Game. The opening received its name from a correspondence match in 1824 between Edinburgh and London. Popular in the 19th century, by 1900 the Scotch had lost favour among top players because it was thought to release the central tension too early and allow Black to without difficulty. More recently, grandmasters Garry Kasparov and Jan Timman helped to repopularise the Scotch when they used it as a surprise weapon to avoid the well-analysed Ruy Lopez.


title: Scotch Game

text: White aims to dominate the by exchanging their d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as they have no good way of maintaining their pawn on e5 (this same position can be reached by transposition from the Centre Game 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3 Nc6). After 3...d6, White is better after 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Bc4, or they may simply play 4.Bb5, when 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 Bd7 transposes to the Steinitz Defense in the Ruy Lopez.


title: Scotch Game

text: 3...Nxd4 is possible, though rarely played today by strong players. It was popular in the 19th century, and receives five columns of analysis in Freeborough and Ranken's opening manual "Chess Openings Ancient and Modern" (3rd ed. 1896 p. 53). It is often described today as a strategic error, since after 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.Qxd4 (5.Bc4 is the Napoleon Gambit) White's queen stands on a central square, and is "not" developed too early since it cannot be chased away very effectively (5...c5? is a seriously weakening move that blocks Black's ). Nonetheless, the "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings" ("ECO") concludes that Black with 5...Ne7 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.Qd5 Qf6 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Be2 c6 10.Qb3 Ng6 11.f4 Bc5+ 12.Kh1 d6 (I. Sokolov). Similarly, Harald Keilhack concludes in "Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3" (p. 21) that although ...Nxd4 is a "non-line" these days, if Black continues perfectly it is not clear that White gets even a small advantage. Keilhack analyses 5.Qxd4 d6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bg5 c6 10.a4 Qa5 11.Bh4 and now after 11...Qe5 or 11...Be6, "White has at most this indescribable nothingness which is the advantage of the first move." ("Id." p. 25) The "ECO" also concludes that Black equalises after the alternative 4.Nxe5 Ne6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Be3 d6 8.Nd3 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 d5 (Parma). The main line 3...exd4 4.Nxd4 may transpose into this position if Black chooses to play 4...Nxd4.


title: Scotch Game

text: 3...d6? is often regarded as a mistake and an automatic slight advantage for White. While 3...d6 does defend the e5 pawn, it allows White to play 4.d5 and kick out the knight. The resulting line of 4...Ne7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Ng6 allows White an imposing center and better chances for winning. Opting to take on e5 still scores poorly for Black, as 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8 leaves black in a losing dilemma: either take with the king and forgo castling rights (5...Kxd8) or to take with the c6 knight and lose the e5 pawn (5...Nxd8 6.Nxe5). Chess.com cites a meager 18% win rate for Black's 3...d6 move.


title: Scotch Game

text: After the usual 3...exd4, White can respond with the main line 4.Nxd4 or can play a gambit by offering Black one or two pawns in exchange for rapid .


title: Scotch Game

text: In the main line after 4.Nxd4, Black has two major options. Either 4...Bc5 or 4...Nf6 offers Black good chances for an equal game.


title: Scotch Game

text: After 4...Bc5 White has 5.Nxc6, 5.Be3, or 5.Nb3. After 5.Nxc6, play almost always continues 5...Qf6 (Black does not lose a piece on c6 because he is threatening mate with 6...Qxf2) 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3. On 5.Be3 play almost always continues 5...Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 (as proposed by IM Gary Lane in "Winning with the Scotch"; several seventh move alternatives for White are possible here, 7.g3 for example) 7...0-0 (7...Ne5 is more often played here. Play usually continues 8.Be2 Qg6 [8...d5 is also possible] 9.0-0. Here, Black has the option of taking the unprotected pawn on e4, but it is considered "poisoned".) 8.0-0 Bb6 where the position is roughly equal. On 5.Nb3 play almost always continues 5...Bb6 6.a4 a6 7.Nc3. Another plan for White is to play 6.Nc3, followed by (in some order) Qe2, Be3, h4 and 0-0-0.


title: Scotch Game

text: After 4...Nf6 White has 5.Nxc6 (the Mieses Variation) or 5.Nc3 (the Scotch Four Knights Game). After 5.Nc3 almost always played is 5...Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 c6. After 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 is also very common. Where these main lines end, the first real opening decisions are made, which are too specific for this overview.


title: Scotch Game

text: Steinitz's 4...Qh4!? almost wins a pawn by force, but White gets a lead in development and attacking chances as compensation. As of 2005, White's most successful line has been 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Be2 Qxe4 7.Nb5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Kd8 9.0-0, from which Black's awkwardly placed king has generally proven more significant than the extra pawn.


title: Scotch Game

text: Instead of 4.Nxd4, White has two ways to offer a gambit. The Scotch Gambit (which is the line recommended by GM Lev Alburt in his book "Chess Openings for White, Explained") starts with 4.Bc4. Black can transpose into the Two Knights Defense with 4...Nf6, or he can continue the Scotch with 4...Bc5 5.c3 and now 5...Nf6 will transpose into a safe variation of the Giuoco Piano. Black can instead accept the gambit with 5...dxc3, but this is riskier because White will gain a lead in development after 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qd5+ and Qxc5.


title: Scotch Game

text: The Göring Gambit is a relative of the Danish Gambit that starts with 4.c3. White sacrifices one or two pawns in return for a lead in development, and typically follows up by putting pressure on f7 with Bc4, Qb3 and sometimes Ng5, while Nc3–d5 is another common motif. The "Oxford Companion to Chess" notes that the gambit was first played at high levels by Howard Staunton in the 1840s, and the earliest game with it was probably played in 1843. The first game with the gambit accepted may be Meek vs Morphy, New York 1857. Carl Theodor Göring introduced it into master play in 1872, but while Göring's name is most often associated with the one-pawn gambit (5.Nxc3) Göring invariably used the double-pawn gambit with 5.Bc4. The gambit has been played by Ljubomir Ljubojević, David Bronstein, Frank Marshall, and Jonathan Penrose. In casual games Alexander Alekhine often transposed to it via the move order 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3, when ...Nc6 for Black and Nf3 for White often followed. In general, the opening is unpopular at master level but is more popular at club level. It is recommended to study the Göring Gambit in connection with the Danish.


title: Scotch Game

text: Black can equalise by transposing to the Danish declined with 4...d5, when the critical line runs 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.cxd4 Bg4 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4 (or 6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.Be2 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4, leading to the same position), often referred to as the Capablanca Variation in view of the strength of Black's concept in the game Marshall–Capablanca, Lake Hopatcong 1926. This line (which can also arise from the Chigorin Defense to the Queen's Gambit), forcing White to either exchange queens or forgo the right to castle with the risky 10.Be3, deters many players from employing this gambit. Equal endgames result after either 10.Qb3 Qxb3 11.axb3 Nge7 or 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 Ne7. If Black avoids steering for Capablanca's ending, e.g. with 6...Nf6 or 7...0-0-0 in the above lines, then White obtains good piece play in return for the isolated d-pawn. White can deviate with 6...Bg4 7.Nc3, with the idea of meeting 7...Bb4 with 8.a3 (or 6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.a3) or the rare 5.Bd3, neither of which promise an advantage but which avoid those endings.


title: Scotch Game

text: Black can also decline with 4...Nf6, transposing to a line of the Ponziani Opening. The continuation 5.e5 Ne4 was endorsed by "Dangerous Weapons, 1.e4 e5" (Everyman Chess, 2008) but Tim Harding considers 5...Nd5 a better try for equality, when White can continue 6.Bb5 a6 7.Ba4 Nb6 8.Bb3, 6.Qb3, 6.Bc4 or 6.cxd4. Another possibility is 4...Nge7 intending 5...d5, when the critical continuation is 5.Bc4 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0. According to IM John Watson Black may be able to equalise with 7...Be7. However, declining with 4...d3 allows White some advantage after 5.Bxd3 d6 6.Bf4 Be7 7.h3 Nf6 8.Nbd2 Bd7 9.Qc2 according to "Batsford Chess Openings 2".


title: Scotch Game

text: If Black accepts the gambit with 4...dxc3, White can commit to sacrificing only one pawn with 5.Nxc3. Black's most critical response is generally considered to be 5...Bb4, when White does not get enough compensation after 6.Bc4 d6 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Nf6!, when 9.Ba3 Bg4 is insufficient and 9.e5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Qb3 (11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Bxf7 Ke7 is also good for Black) 11...Qe7 12.Ba3 c5 does not give enough compensation for two pawns. White can deviate with 7.Qb3, when the old main line runs 7...Qe7 8.0-0 Bxc3, and here 9.Qxc3 gives White good compensation. Thus both John Watson and USCF master Mark Morss recommend 7...Bxc3+, in order to meet 8.Qxc3 with 8...Qf6! when White loses too much time with the queen. Thus White often continues 8.bxc3 when 8...Qe7 9.0-0 Nf6 can be met by 10.e5 (transposing back to lines arising from 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Nf6 9.e5, though these are insufficient for White) or the relatively unexplored 10.Bg5. Other deviations for White include 7.Ng5 and 6.Bg5.


title: Scotch Game

text: Black's main alternative is 5...d6 which usually leads to complications and approximately equal chances after 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Ng5 Ne5 9.Bb5 c6 10.f4, or 7.Ng5 Ne5 8.Bb3 h6 9.f4. 5...Bc5 is also playable, transposing to the Scotch Gambit after 6.Bc4 but cutting out the Bxf7+ possibility. 5...Nf6 6.Bc4 can transpose back to 5...d6 lines after 6...d6, or Black can attempt to transpose to 5...Bb4 lines with 6...Bb4 but this allows 7.e5 d5 8.exf6 dxc4 9.Qxd8+ Nxd8 10.fxg7 Rg8 11.Bh6.


title: Scotch Game

text: Alternatively White can transpose into the Danish by offering a second pawn with 5.Bc4 cxb2 6.Bxb2, an approach which John Emms considers far more dangerous for Black. If Black does not accept the second pawn with 5...cxb2, then White can avoid Black's most critical response to 5.Nxc3 (5...Bb4 6.Bc4 d6). For instance, after 5...d6, White's best is 6.Nxc3, transposing back to the 5.Nxc3 d6 line. 5...Nf6 6.Nxc3 transposes to the 5.Nxc3 Nf6 line, 5...Bb4 is well met by 6.0-0 or 6.bxc3 (transposing to the Scotch Gambit), 5...Bc5 also transposes to the Scotch Gambit while 5...Be7?! (which is well met by 6.Qd5) transposes to the Hungarian Defense.


title: Scotch Game

text: Thus Black's most critical response is to take the second pawn with 5...cxb2 6.Bxb2. Unlike in the Danish proper, having committed the to c6 Black cannot safely meet 6.Bxb2 with 6...d5. Instead, play often continues 6...d6 7.0-0 Be6 8.Bxe6 fxe6 9.Qb3 Qd7 or 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Bc3 Nh6. 6...Bb4+ is the main alternative for Black, whereupon an approach with castling is considered dangerous for Black, e.g. 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Qc2 d6 9.0-0-0.


title: Gregory Alan Williams

text: Gregory Alan Williams (born June 12, 1956) sometimes credited as Gregalan Williams, is an American actor and author. He is best known for portraying LAPD Officer Garner Ellerbee in "Baywatch". From 2011 until 2013, Williams portrayed the role of Coach Pat Purnell in the USA Network series "Necessary Roughness." Williams also appeared on the 2015 ABC series "Secrets and Lies" and then on "Greenleaf", and later on 2017's "," and beginning in 2019 "The Righteous Gemstones."


title: Gregory Alan Williams

text: Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Williams graduated from East High School, and attended Coe College and served in the United States Marine Corps before pursuing a career in acting. He made his acting debut opposite Steven Seagal in the 1988 film "Above the Law". The following year, Williams won the role of Garner Ellerbee in "Baywatch". He reprised the role in the 1995 spin-off series "Baywatch Nights" before returning to "Baywatch" in 1996.


title: Gregory Alan Williams

text: After leaving the series in 1998, Williams has had recurring guest roles on "The Sopranos", "The West Wing", "The District", "The Game", "Army Wives", and "Drop Dead Diva". Additionally, he has guest starred in episodes of "NYPD Blue", "Boston Legal", "One Tree Hill", and "Meet the Browns" and has also lent his voice to the animated series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". From 2009 to 2013, Williams appeared as Judge Warren Libby in the comedy series "Drop Dead Diva". Since 2011, Williams has portrayed the role of Coach Pat Purnell in the USA Network drama series "Necessary Roughness."


title: Gregory Alan Williams

text: Williams has also had roles in several films, including "Remember the Titans" (2000), "Old School" (2003), "Be Cool" (2005), "Dog Days of Summer" (2007), Oliver Stone's biopic "W." (2008), "The Collector" (2009), and "MacGruber" (2010). Williams also serves as the host of the syndicated series "Know Your Heritage" and "Know Your Heritage: Black College Quiz".


title: Gregory Alan Williams

text: In addition to acting, Williams has authored four books including "A Gathering of Heroes: Reflections on Rage and Responsibility: A Memoir of the Los Angeles Riots". The book chronicles Williams' life and experiences with racism, along with an incident during the 1992 Los Angeles riots in which Williams saved the life of a Japanese American man who was being beaten by rioters.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: The Adventures of Huck Finn is a 1993 American comedy drama adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, and starring Elijah Wood, Courtney B. Vance, Jason Robards and Robbie Coltrane. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures, it is based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and focuses on at least three-fourths of the book. The film follows a boy named Huckleberry Finn and an escaped slave named Jim, who travel the Mississippi River together and overcome various obstacles along the way.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Huckleberry Finn is a half-literate son of Pap Finn, a drunk. One night, his father arrives and Huck is taken away from his foster family to his father's home. Jealous of Huck's money being kept away, he attacks Huck, but eventually passes out from exhaustion.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Huck fakes his own death and runs away. He is accompanied by Jim, a slave who worked for Huck's foster family, and escaped the family after a slave trader offered to buy him. The duo follow the Mississippi River to Cairo, Illinois, so Jim can escape to freedom without being arrested.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: They come across a wanted poster for Jim, falsely saying that he murdered Huck. Jim and Huck come across a sinking barge one night, and Jim notices Huck's father's corpse on the ship. Huck notices two sailors leaving one to drown in a room as the water comes crashing through. Huck and Jim's canoe sinks, but they steal another one, as the barge completely sinks underwater.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: The canoe is struck by a steamboat, and Huck is at first captured by a few men, then taken to the home of the Graingerford family. Huck lies about his life to the Graingerfords to avoid suspicion. The Graingerfords are in a feud with another family, the Shepherdsons. Huck even befriends Billy Graingerford, the Graingerford patriarch's son, but is horrified that Jim has been found by the family and has become a slave. Billy's older sister Sophie runs away to marry a Shepherdson, thus a short firefight happens, killing all the male Graingerfords, including Billy.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Jim and Huck find themselves past Cairo, and two con men: The Duke and The King, join Huck and Jim. The quartet land at Phelps Landing, and The King and The Duke impersonate British members of the Wilkes family to con three sisters, Mary Jane, Julia, and Susan, out of their fortune.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Meanwhile, Jim has been taken to prison for Huck's murder, and tells Huck about his dead father, thus Huck rebukes Jim. Huck puts the money in the coffin of a recently deceased Wilkes family member. He exposes The King and The Duke as con men to Mary Jane the next day, and tells her not to tell the town until 10:00 that night, when a steamboat to Cairo departs.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Dr. Robinson doesn't trust The King and The Duke's scheme, and the real members of the family, whom The King and The Duke were impersonating, show up. The town dig up the buried coffin where the money was put, and thus tar and feather The Duke and The King, and become an angry mob. Huck breaks Jim out of prison, but they are spotted by the mob.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: While escaping, Huck is shot in the back. Jim sacrifices his chance to escape to freedom and carries Huck to the mob, allowing himself to be hanged. Before the mob can hang Jim, however, Mary Jane, Julia, and Susan arrive and stop the hanging from happening. The mob sets Jim free, and Huck passes out.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Huck wakes up in the Wilkes homestead and learns that Jim's master Miss Watson, who was also one of Huck's caretakers, died, setting Jim free in her will. The other caretaker plans on civilizing Huck, but Huck, narrating the story, says, "I've been there before." The film ends with Huck running off into the sunset.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: Archie Moore, who played Jim in the 1960 film version appears in a cameo as a slave who warns Huck about the two feuding families, saying "lots of people are going to die today".


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: "The Adventures of Huck Finn" was a financial success, debuting at No.2 at the box office, and grossing over $24 million against a $6.5 million budget.


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and currently holds a 73% "fresh" rating at review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews. Noted critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing "The story of Huck and Jim has been told in six or seven earlier movies, and now comes "The Adventures of Huck Finn", a graceful and entertaining version by a young director named Stephen Sommers, who doesn't dwell on the film's humane message, but doesn't avoid it, either."


title: The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993 film)

text: The film was released in VHS and LaserDisc on November 24, 1993, and also in DVD on January 15, 2002, on February 10, 2009 was released double feature with "Tom and Huck" (1995).


title: Kingmaker

text: A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Originally, the term applied to the activities of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick—"Warwick the Kingmaker"—during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) in England.


title: Kingmaker

text: In game theory, a kingmaker is a player who lacks sufficient resources or position to win at a given game, but possesses enough remaining resources to decide which of the remaining viable players will eventually win.


title: Kingmaker

text: The term "kingmaker", though always unofficial, has tended to gain more importance in places of power struggle—e.g., politics, sports organizations etc. Consequently, bestowal of such a title is looked upon significantly and more often as a means of indirect gratification for individuals wanting to silently dictate the affairs of the organization. The term is also occasionally used in a pejorative sense during elections where a small number of independent political candidate(s) who hold a sizeable sway in the "vote bank" can most likely decide the course of an outcome.


title: Kingmaker

text: As well as referring to an individual, the term can also be applied to institutions or think tanks whose opinions are held in great regard by the interested organization. The influence of the religious orders like the Roman Catholic Church in running the affairs of the state during medieval times (through the king) is a well-known example. Kingdoms and empires in the Indian sub-continent often relied on their religious heads. Besides religious orders, even countries can fit into this terminology when they can dictate the affairs of the other country (either directly or indirectly). In current political scenarios across the world the term can expand its scope to include powerful lobbying groups, whose role is often seen as a defining factor on major issues.


title: Kingmaker

text: Citizens of West African sub-national monarchies often use the word "kingmaker" to refer to the members of the electoral colleges that choose their sovereigns because they also usually officiate during the coronation rituals and rites of purification, the word in this particular case taking on a literal meaning i.e. a "maker" of the king.


title: Kingmaker

text: The term "kingmaker" is also used to describe situations in multi-player games where a player is either unable to win or has claimed an unassailable lead, but, in either case, plays a strong role in determining the outcome for other players.


The ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest, known as the ICPC, is an annual multi-tiered competitive programming competition among the universities of the world. Directed by ICPC Executive Director and Baylor Professor Dr. William B. Poucher, the ICPC operates autonomous regional contests covering six continents culminating in a global World Finals every year. In 2018, ICPC participation included 52,709 students from 3,233 universities in 110 countries.


title: International Collegiate Programming Contest

text: The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation and operates under agreements with host universities and non-profits, all in accordance with the ICPC Policies and Procedures. From 1977 until 2017 ICPC was held under the auspices of ACM and was referred to as ACM-ICPC.


text: The ICPC, the “International Collegiate Programming Contest”, is an extra-curricular, competitive programming sport for students at universities around the world. ICPC competitions provide gifted students opportunities to interact, demonstrate, and improve their teamwork, programming, and problem-solving process. The ICPC is a global platform for academia, industry, and community to shine the spotlight on and raise the aspirations of the next generation of computing professionals as they pursue excellence. In its own words, ICPC is:


text: The ICPC traces its roots to a competition held at Texas A&M University in 1970 hosted by the Alpha Chapter of the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society (UPE). This initial programming competition was titled First Annual Texas Collegiate Programming Championship and each University was represented by a team of up to five members. The computer used was a 360 model 65 which was one of the first machines with a DAT (Dynamic Address Translator aka "paging") system for accessing memory. The start of the competition was delayed for about 90 minutes because two of the four "memory bank" amplifiers were down. Teams that participated included, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Houston, and five or six other Texas University / Colleges. There were three problems that had to be completed and the cumulative time from "start" to "successful completion" determined first-, second-, and third-place winners. The programming language used was Fortran. The programs were written on coding sheets, keypunched on Hollerith cards, and submitted for execution. The University of Houston team won the competition completing all three problems successfully with time. The second- and third-place teams did not successfully complete all three problems. The contest evolved into its present form as a multi-tier competition in 1977, with the first finals held in conjunction with the ACM Computer Science Conference.


text: From 1977 to 1989, the contest included mainly teams of four from universities throughout the United States and Canada. ICPC Headquarters was hosted by Baylor University from 1989 until 2022, with regional contests established within the world's university community, the ICPC has grown into a worldwide competition. To increase access to the World Finals, teams were reduced to three students within their first five academic years.


text: From 1997 to 2017, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was the sponsor of ICPC. During that time contest participation has grown by more than 2000%. In 1997, 840 teams from 560 universities participated. In 2017, 46,381 students from 2,948 universities in 103 countries on six continents participated in regional competitions. Organized as a highly localized extra-curricular university mind sport and operating as a globally-coordinated unincorporated association operating under agreements with host universities and non-profits, the ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world.


text: UPE has provided continuous support since 1970 and honored World Finalists since the first Finals in 1976. The ICPC is indebted to ACM member contributions and ACM assistance from 1976 to 2018. Baylor University served since 1985, hosting ICPC Headquarters from 1989 until 2022. The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation which provides the ICPC Global Headquarters to service a globally-coordinated community whose events operate under agreements with host universities and non-profits to insure that participation in ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world. See ICPC Policies and Procedures.


text: The ICPC World Finals (The Annual World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest) is the final round of competition. Over its history it has become a 4-day event held in the finest venues worldwide with 140 teams competing in the 2018 World Finals. Recent World Champion teams have been recognized by their country's head of state. In recent years, media impressions have hovered at the one billion mark.


text: Since 2000, only teams from Russia, China, and Poland have won the ICPC world finals. Participation in North America is much smaller than in the rest of the world, which is partially attributed to the perceived low payoff of participating.


text: ICPC contests are team competitions. Current rules stipulate that each team consist of three students. Participants must be university students, who have had less than five years of university education before the contest. Students who have previously competed in two World Finals or five regional competitions are ineligible to compete again.


text: During each contest, the teams of three are given 5 hours to solve between eight and fifteen programming problems (with eight typical for regionals and twelve for finals). They must submit solutions as programs in C, C++, Java, Ada, Python or Kotlin (although it is not guaranteed every problem is solvable in any certain language, the ICPC website states that "the judges will have solved all problems in Java and C++" for both regional and world finals competitions). Programs are then run on test data. If a program fails to give a correct answer, the team is notified and can submit another program.


text: The winner is the team which correctly solves the most problems. If necessary to rank teams for medals or prizes among tying teams, the placement of teams is determined by the sum of the elapsed times at each point that they submitted correct solutions plus 20 minutes for each rejected submission of a problem ultimately solved. There is no time consumed for a problem that is not solved.


text: Compared to other programming contests (for example, International Olympiad in Informatics), the ICPC is characterized by a large number of problems (eight or more problems in just 5 hours). Another feature is that each team can use only one computer, although teams have three students. This makes the time pressure even greater. Good teamwork and ability to withstand pressure is needed to win.


text: The 2004 ACM-ICPC World Finals were hosted at the Obecni Dum, Prague, by Czech Technical University in Prague. 3,150 teams representing 1,411 universities from 75 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 73 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics from Russia won, solving 7 of 10 problems. Gold medalists were St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Belarusian State University, and Perm State University (Russia).


text: The 2005 world finals were held at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai on April 6, 2005, hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 4,109 teams representing 1,582 universities from 71 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 78 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. Shanghai Jiao Tong University won its second world title, with 8 of 10 problems solved. Gold medal winners were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Moscow State University (Russia), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and University of Waterloo (Canada).


text: The 2006 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in San Antonio, Texas, and hosted by Baylor University. 5,606 teams representing 1,733 universities from 84 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 83 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. Saratov State University from Russia won, solving 6 of 10 problems. Gold medal winners were Saratov, Jagiellonian University (Poland), Altai State Technical University (Russia), University of Twente (The Netherlands).


text: The 2007 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Tokyo Bay Hilton, in Tokyo, Japan, March 12–16, 2007. The World Finals was hosted by the ACM Japan Chapter and the IBM Tokyo Research Lab. Some 6,099 teams competed on six continents at the regional level. Eighty-eight teams advanced to the World Finals. Warsaw University won its second world championship, solving 8 of 10 problems. Gold Medal Winners were Warsaw University, Tsinghua University (China), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States). Silver Medal Winners include Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) and 3 other universities.


text: The 2008 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, in Banff, Alberta, Canada, April 6–10, 2008. The World Finals was hosted by the University of Alberta. There were 100 teams in the World finals, out of 6700 total teams competing in the earlier rounds. The St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their second world championship. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Izhevsk State Technical University, and Lviv National University also received gold medals.


text: The 2009 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Stockholm, Sweden, April 18–22, at the campus of the hosting institution, KTH - The Royal Institute of Technology, as well as at the Grand Hotel, the Radisson Strand, and the Diplomat Hotel. There were 100 teams from over 200 regional sites competing for the World Championship. The St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics defended their title, winning their third world championship. Tsinghua University, St. Petersburg State University, and Saratov State University also received gold medals. The 2009 World Finals pioneered live video broadcasting of the entire contest, featuring elements such as expert commentary, live feeds of teams and their computer screens and interviews with judges, coaches and dignitaries. The event was broadcast online, as well as by Swedish television channel Axess TV.


text: The 2010 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Harbin, China. The host is Harbin Engineering University. Shanghai Jiao Tong University won the world championship. Moscow State University, National Taiwan University, and Taras Shevchenko Kiev National University also received gold medals.


text: The 2011 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Orlando, Florida and hosted by main sponsor IBM. The contest was initially scheduled to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in February, but was moved due to the political instability associated with the Arab Spring. Zhejiang University took first place with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Tsinghua University, and Saint Petersburg State University taking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively each receiving gold medals.


text: The 2012 World Finals were held in Warsaw, Poland. They were inaugurated on 15 May and hosted by University of Warsaw. St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their fourth world championship, the most by any University at the time. University of Warsaw, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place respectively each receiving gold medals.


text: Russia(2G,1B) China(1G,1S) Poland(1G) United States(1S) Hong Kong(1S) Belarus(1S,1B) Canada(1B) Japan(1B)


text: The 2013 World Finals were held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. They were inaugurated on 3 July and were hosted by NRU ITMO.


text: Japan(1G) Russia(1G,1S,2B) China(1G,1B) Taiwan(1G) Poland(1S,1B) Ukraine(1S) Belarus(1S) United States(1B)


text: The 2014 World Finals were held in Ekaterinburg, Russia on June 21–25, hosted by Ural Federal University. Final competition was held on 25 June. 122 teams participated in the competition and St. Petersburg State University became the world champion.


text: The 2015 World Finals were held in Marrakesh (Morocco) during May 16–21, hosted by Mohammed the Fifth University, Al Akhawayn University and Mundiapolis University. Final competition was on May 20. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. Winner was Saint Petersburg ITMO, solving all the proposed problems (13) for the first time ever. Russia (2G), China (1G, 1B, 1S), Japan (1G), United States (1B, 1S), Croatia (1S), Czech Republic (1S), Korea (1B), Poland (1B).


text: The 2016 World Finals were held in Phuket (Thailand) during May 16–21. Final competition was on May 19. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. Winner was Saint Petersburg State University solving 11 problems from 13 proposed problems. Second winner was Shanghai Jiao Tong University 7 minutes behind SpSU, also with 11 problems solved.


text: The 2017 World Finals were held in Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) during May 20–25, hosted by Excellence in Computer Programming. Due to visa issue, several teams were unable to present onsite, in which the affected schools are allowed direct qualifications for ICPC 2018 besides the usual qualification spots.


text: The winner was ITMO University. Teams of the following countries were awarded medals in ICPC 2017: Russia (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Poland (1 Gold), South Korea (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), China (3 Silver), Sweden (1 Bronze), Japan (1 Bronze).


text: The 2019 World Finals were held in Porto (Portugal) from March 31 to April 5, 2019, hosted by the University of Porto and the City of Porto.


text: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 World Finals were postponed. It finally took place in Moscow (Russia) from October 1 to October 5, 2021, hosted by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.


text: Some former ICPC finalists have made remarkable achievements in the software industry and research. They include Adam D'Angelo, the former CTO of Facebook and founder of Quora; Nikolai Durov, the co-founder of Telegram Messenger; Matei Zaharia, the creator of Apache Spark; Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos and a venture capitalist; and Craig Silverstein, the first employee of Google.


title: Jassie Gill

text: Jasdeep Singh Gill (born 26 November 1988) is an Indian singer, live perfomer and actor associated with Punjabi and Hindi language music and films. He debuted in Punjabi cinema with the 2014 film "Mr & Mrs 420" and in Hindi cinema with the 2018 film "Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi".


title: Jassie Gill

text: Gill was born Jasdeep Singh Gill on 26 November 1988 in Jandali village near Khanna in Ludhiana district of Punjab. He studied at Gobindgarh Public College where he took up two practical subjects, music and physical education. He was trained to sing in local youth festivals. He bagged the second position four times consecutively. He struggled for three years before his debut. Gill is married and has a daughter, Roojas Kaur Gill.


title: Jassie Gill

text: Gill made his debut in 2011 with the album "Batchmate" which included the song "Churiyan". In 2012 he followed this up by releasing the single "Vigrey Sharabi". In January 2013 he released his second album "Batchmate 2", which included the song "Lancer" with lyrics by Narinder Batth. He followed this up with the song "Classmate" that featured in the movie "Daddy Cool Munde Fool". In September 2013 he came out with another single, "Pyar Mera". After the release of his album "Replay", he released the single "Nakhre" in 2017.


title: Jassie Gill

text: Gill made his acting debut on the big screen in "Mr & Mrs 420". He followed this up with "Dil Vil Pyar Vyar". He paired with Roshan Prince and Simran Kaur Mundi in the romantic comedy "Mundeyan Ton Bachke Rahin".


title: Jassie Gill

text: Gill signed to make a film with Gauahar Khan in February 2015, titled "Oh Yaara Ainvayi Ainvayi Lut Gaya", which marked her debut in Punjabi films. He also starred in "Channo Kamli Yaar Di" alongside Neeru Bajwa. He debuted in Hindi cinema with the 2018 film "Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi", alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Diana Penty and Jimmy Sheirgill. It was released on 24 August 2018. In 2020, he acted in "Panga", starring alongside Kangana Ranaut. He was last seen in 2021 film "Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai?" co-starring Surbhi Jyoti in her debut film.


title: Jassie Gill

text: Gill was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Men at No. 42 in 2018, at No. 44 in 2019, at No. 42 in 2020.


title: Jassie Gill

text: He was ranked in the Chandigarh Times Most Desirable Men at No. 1 in 2018, at No. 2 in 2019 and at No. 1 in 2020.


title: John Force

text: John Harold Force (born May 4, 1949 in Bell Gardens, California) is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 155 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.


title: John Force

text: Current drivers racing for his team are son-in-law Robert Hight, and daughter Brittany. Mike Neff was crew chief for John two separate times. Effective July 2013 Jimmy Prock replaced Mike Neff as crew chief, and Mike Neff became crew chief for Robert Hight. Neff, who was once the crew chief for rival driver Gary Scelzi, raced in a 4th Funny Car for JFR from October 26, 2007, following the death of Eric Medlen, until the end of the 2009 season. However, in 2010, after a 2009 season in which Force did not win a single race, Force parked his 4th car, and named Neff as his new crew chief instead. This decision resulted in Force winning his 15th NHRA Championship. His nickname among several of the drivers, as well as several announcers within the sport of drag racing is "Brute Force", a nickname he earned by his dominating wins during his run of ten straight NHRA championships. Force, his daughters, Courtney, Ashley, and Brittany, and son-in-law Robert Hight are collectively known as "The First Family of Drag Racing".


title: John Force

text: Force was born to Harold and Betty Ruth Force in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell Gardens, California. As a child he lived in logging camps, Indian reservations, migrant farms, and trailer parks. He survived childhood polio with therapy and perseverance of his mother and family. He played football in high school and attended Cerritos College.


title: John Force

text: John is one of six children. John has five siblings- Walker, Louie, Tom (now deceased), and Cindy Hem (married to Skip Hem) were all older than John. Dana (Baby Force) Marino is ten years younger than John. Walker and Cindy still live near John in Southern California. Walker Force and Louie Force have worked with John over the years, but Walker Force is the only sibling now working at JFR. Younger sister Dana (Marino) did not grow up in the same house or spend any time with the family in the early years of the Force Family Racing activities. Dana now attends some of the NHRA events as she is a part-time Intern-Journalist with "The Motorsports Report" based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and resides an hour south in Kingman, AZ. She is a realtor by trade, but is Aunt Dana to Adria, Ashley, Courtney and Brittany. Much of the family still attends NHRA National events to cheer on John, Robert Hight (Adria's husband), Brittany and Austin Prock (JFR Crew Chief Jimmy Prock's son) when the events are closer to their homes in Pomona, Las Vegas, Sonoma, and Phoenix.


title: John Force

text: In 1971, Force drove the Jack Chrisman-built "Night Stalker" Mustang, his first funny car. Early in his career, he drove a Corvette, a Monza and then in the 1980s switched to an Oldsmobile Cutlass through the end of the 1993 season. He drove a Chevrolet for 1994, quickly changing to a Pontiac in 1995 and 1996. Force was a Ford driver and team owner from 1997 until 2014, when he returned to Chevrolet.


title: John Force

text: Between 1987 and 1996, Force won sixty-seven of 203 NHRA national events, four of nine Big Bud Shootouts, and six World Championships. In 1996, with Austin Coil tuning, Force went to the final round in sixteen of nineteen national events, taking thirteen wins, one of the best records ever in Funny Car history. His domination would continue, with ten NHRA FC World Championship wins from 1993 to 2002, including six straight 1997-2002; his success was so amazing, he was accused of cheating (and was willing to strip off his firesuit to prove he was not). Between 1997 and 2006, Force went to the final in 105 of 228 events and took sixty-one tour wins. On top of that, he had ten of the quickest or fastest passes in Funny Car.


title: John Force

text: In 1992, the honor of putting Force on the trailer would go to Cruz Pedregon, driving the Larry Minor McDonald's-sponsored Olds to the championship.


title: John Force

text: Force's points finishes were 23rd, 8th, 26th, 16th, 20th, 4th, 13th, and 5th from 1978-1985. Force then had Castrol Motor Oil jump on as his main sponsor, and was even more successful. From 1986-1995, he finished 4th, 4th, 6th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 1st. He then had fellow driver and arch-rival Cruz Pedregon's younger brother, Tony, come aboard to drive John's 2nd car. From 1996-2000, John finished 1st all 5 years. In 2001, John had longtime friend and fellow drag racer Gary Densham drive a third car. In that same year, John once again finished as the champion, which he followed up with an astronomical 10th straight world title in 2002. In 2003, for the 1st time since 1992, John didn't win the title. It was not all lost however, because teammate Tony Pedregon won his 1st world title. At the end of the season, Tony Pedregon went on to join brother Cruz in their own racing organization, and Gary Densham went on to race independently. John found quick and personal talent in two young-guns. Eric Medlen, son of long-time JFR crewmember John Medlen, came on to race. John's other driver, Robert Hight, was his son-in-law and crewmember. Both had a lot of success in their season, but John topped both in 2004 with a 13th world title.


title: John Force

text: In 2000, Force was sponsored by BP's Castrol brand, continuing the relationship between Force and Castrol that began in 1985 and lasted through 2014. After winning his fourth Funny Car title in 1994, Force earned the nickname of "Brute Force" from drivers, and even announcers such as Steve Evans. This nickname hearkens back to his early days on the track, when he drove his own unsponsored car, named "Brute Force". Force had a cameo in a 2004 episode of "King of the Hill" ("Dale Be Not Proud"), in which Dale Gribble donates a kidney to Force, after which it appears he does not need it.


title: John Force

text: In 2005, Force won 5 events, but only finished third in the championship standings, 32 points behind champion Gary Scelzi, and 24 points behind Ron Capps, both of Don Schumacher Racing [DSR].


title: John Force

text: In 2006, Force won his 14th NHRA World Funny Car Championship, defeating Capps in the quarter-finals of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals which mathematically eliminated Capps and teammate Robert Hight from the championship. Force went on to win the event, his third of the season and 122nd of his career.


title: John Force

text: After the death of Eric Medlen, and John Force's crash in Ennis, Texas at the 2007 O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals, Force started 2007 poorly, suffering a DNQ ending a 20+ year consecutive qualifying streak. He rebounded, winning the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, then proceeded on to three more final rounds, winning another race in Sonoma, California, putting him fourth in points and allowing him to make the first cut in NHRA's new point system, the Countdown to the Championship aka the "Countdown to Eight". He stumbled again in the next two races but, again, rebounded until his crash.


title: John Force

text: On September 23, 2007, Force was injured in a crash at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas as he crossed the finish line against Kenny Bernstein. Bernstein's Funny Car drifted into Force's lane, clipping the final timing cone and a foam block which shot into Force's lane. Initially, it was thought that the block ruptured Force's left rear tire, causing it to come apart, violently shaking the chassis until it broke apart. However, it was determined by NHRA after a thorough review, that the block went behind Force's tire and was not the cause of the wreck. Injuries sustained were a broken ankle, abrasion of his right knee, a dislocated left wrist, and badly mangled fingers and toes, and Force had to be airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Phil Burkart Jr. was added as Force's replacement for the remainder of the 2007 season, starting at Las Vegas.


title: John Force

text: 2008 was a subpar season for Force who finished 7th, out of the top five for the first time since early in his career. However, after the death of driver Scott Kalitta, he was instrumental in the development of some of the safety precautions that were implemented throughout the rest of the season, and along with retired six-time world champion Kenny Bernstein [4 Funny Car titles, 2 Top Fuel titles] and seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, with backing from NHRA's Track Safety Committee, assisted in developing a sensor that monitors the engines of Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars. Should the engine backfire at any time during a race, the fuel pump is automatically shut down, and the parachutes are deployed. The idea was to either minimize or eliminate the circumstances that led to Kalitta's death. This safety device became mandatory and was put into place at the start of the 2009 season. Also, a brake handle that, instead of needing to be pulled back toward the driver, was set up to be pushed away from the driver was made an optional setting for the Funny Car division. This change happened because when the 2008 season began, Force's right arm was still in a cast, due to broken fingers, and he needed a different way of using the brakes on the car, rather than the traditional handbrake that needed to be brought back toward the driver; also, in the 2007 accident in Texas, Force had lost some grip in his right hand, and had some problems putting enough pressure on the handbrake to unlock it from position to apply the brakes. This led to the development of the forward application handbrake, which has given several drivers in the Funny Car class quicker access to the brakes. Though Force only finished seventh in the points in 2008, he became influential within the NHRA for innovations in driver safety.


title: John Force

text: 2009 once again saw Force finish outside of the top five. John finished 9th, daughter Ashley finished 2nd, and Mike Neff placing 10th. However, he would win his 16th overall championship as a car owner, with teammate Robert Hight's championship, placing Force as the winningest car owner in NHRA history.


title: John Force

text: The start of the 2010 season saw Force celebrate 25 years with the same sponsor, as well as 34 years in the NHRA. On February 14, Force won the season opener at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in the 50th Winternationals in California defeating Ron Capps. After 13 events, Force had 4 wins, and lead the Funny Car points standings with 933, 58 ahead of teammate Robert Hight.


title: John Force

text: Going into the Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, CA on November 14, 2010, Force needed some help to win the championship. He started the day 38 points behind 28-year-old Matt Hagan, who ran for team rival Don Shumacher and his team. In order to capture the championship he needed to finish two rounds ahead of Hagan. With Bob Tasca III taking Hagan out in the first round, Force won his first round over Gary Densham and second-round win over Bob Bode, securing the championship. He then went on to victory beating Melanie Troxel in the semi-finals and in the final, defeated Jeff Arend. John Force now has the distinction of being the oldest NHRA champion in history. Long-time crew chief Austin Coil resigned from John Force Racing on November 16, 2010.


title: John Force

text: As of February 7, 2011, JFR has already flip-flopped cars between John, Robert, Ashley, and Mike. Ashley Force Hood announced that she was expecting her 1st child, and would sit out the 2011 Full Throttle Drag Racing Season. John Force would drive Force Hood's new Ford Mustang with Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas tuning, sponsored by Castrol Motor Oil. Robert Hight will remain in the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang. Mike Neff, after co-crew chiefing John Force's car with Austin Coil, will drive Force's car from John's 2010 championship season. Neff's Ford Mustang will be sponsored by Castrol Oil. As of February 7, 2011, JFR started testing for the 2011 season. Out of the 11 testers so far, Force is 1st, Hight was 5th, and Neff was 6th.


title: John Force

text: As of July 31, Force is 7th in the points standings, while teammate Mike Neff is leading, and Robert Hight is in second.


title: John Force

text: 2012 saw John welcome a fourth driver to his stable, former Top Alcohol Dragster champion, and daughter Courtney, who was in the running for the Auto Club Rookie of the Year Award, she will be driving the Traxxas Ford Mustang in her rookie season, and she has done something that only sister Ashley has done, beat her father in the first meeting between the two, taking John out of the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix in just the first round. Although Force was unable to retain the championship, finishing in fifth, he saw Courtney win something he never did, the NHRA Road to the Future Rookie of the Year award, and Courtney's second-place finish in the season helped cement John Force Racing's legacy for several years to come.


title: John Force

text: During the start of the 2013 season, Ashley announced her retirement from full-time competition, this left the Force team short a driver. Rather than find another driver to take Ashley's place within the Castrol GTX Funny Car, John did something he had never done before, field a Top Fuel car, with daughter Brittany behind the wheel. On July 26, 2013 it was announced that after the 2014 racing season Ford Motor Company would no longer be a part of John Force Racing. It was also announced that after the 2014 racing season, primary sponsor Castrol would be leaving JFR after a 29-year business relationship


title: John Force

text: During the penultimate race of the 2013 season, Force beat his daughter Courtney in the final round to win the race and his 16th NHRA Funny Car Championship.


title: John Force

text: He won at the season opener in Pomona California as well wins in Norwalk Ohio & Seattle Washington as he would finish 2nd points.


title: John Force

text: In 2015 John announced a partnership with Chevrolet. He competed in the 2015 racing season with a new sponsorship deal from Peak Antifreeze.


title: John Force

text: John's daughter Brittany & Robert Hight both won the championship in Top Fuel & Funny Car respectively. Advance Auto Parts joined team, sponsoring Courtney Force and rest of JFR teams.


title: John Force

text: On August 4, 2019, John Force won his 150th race at the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Washington, edging out Ron Capps and breaking a 25 race winless streak, having last won in Colorado the year prior, also against Capps. John expressed extreme relief after winning, his first words to the camera being obscenities (which NHRA had to censor, as the broadcast was on network television). Force was not present in the winners' circle, having ridden his pitbike to the stands to watch Austin Prock, a driver on his Top Fuel team and son of a Force Racing mechanic, win his first race and was still celebrating with fans while Prock was being interviewed.


title: John Force

text: He was the runner-up at the season opener in Pomona California but after 2 events he & his teams didn't run again in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic but would in the following year.


title: John Force

text: In his return after missing most of the previous year because of the COVID-19 pandemic he won 3 events. He won at the Charlotte 4 Wide, Epping, & Topeka events. At Dallas for the first time since 2018 John Force was set on fire in a crash that echoed his win in 1996 where his Castrol car caught fire at this track.


title: John Force

text: On October 7, 2022 the NHRA Coin John Force Edition NFT became available on the OpenSea. NFT Marketplace


title: John Force

text: John was featured on A&E's reality show "Driving Force" with his wife (Laurie) and three of his daughters (Ashley, Courtney, and Brittany).


title: Sujoy Ghosh

text: Sujoy Ghosh is an Indian film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter who works in Hindi films. He has directed "Jhankaar Beats" (2003), "" (2005), "Aladin" (2009), "Kahaani" (2012), "Kahaani 2" (2016) and "Badla" (2019). He has also written and directed short films like "Anukul" (2017) and "Ahalya" (2015). He has directed a series for Netflix, titled "Typewriter" (2019).


title: Sujoy Ghosh

text: Sujoy Ghosh was born in Kolkata. He studied in St. James' School. He used to stay in Bhowanipore and then moved to London when he was 13. Sujoy attended Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College where he completed his A Levels. He has a degree in engineering and an MBA from Manchester University. He worked as a South Asia head of the media division of Reuters before quitting in 1999. Sujoy is married to Vaishali – a psychologist and has two children Diya – a fellow film director and Agni – an ex professional rugby player, who now works for Phaidon International.


title: Sujoy Ghosh

text: Ghosh made his directorial debut in 2003 with the small-budget "Jhankaar Beats" which was a tribute to R. D. Burman, and which went on to become a surprise hit. His next ventures "Home Delivery" and "Aladin" did not achieve box office success. His 2012 release "Kahaani", featuring Vidya Balan in lead role, has gained both widespread commercial success and critical acclaim. In 2016, his film "" was released which is a sequel to Kahaani. He started his acting career portraying the role of Bengali sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi in a film directed by Rituparno Ghosh in December 2012. Not many know that he has written the tagline "Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re" for the IPL Team Kolkata Knight Riders. He has also directed, produced and written short films like Anukul (2017) and Ahalya (2015).


title: The Commish

text: The Commish is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC in the United States from September 28, 1991, to January 11, 1996. The series focuses on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in Eastbridge, New York.


title: The Commish

text: The series stars Michael Chiklis as Anthony Joseph "Tony" Scali, a former NYPD detective who is now the police commissioner in the small fictional suburban New York town of Eastbridge, and tends to work through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. Theresa Saldana plays Rachel Scali (née Metzger), Tony's wife, and Kaj-Erik Eriksen plays their young son, David. Also living with the family in the first season was Rachel's freeloading brother, Arnie Metzger, played by David Paymer. A daughter, Sarah Lou, named after her maternal grandmother Sarah Metzger (Rachel's mother) and Lou Donello (an old friend and former partner of Tony's), and played by twins Justine and Dayna Cornborough, was born to Tony and Rachel in the eighth episode of the second season, "A Time to Be Born". Focusing both on family situations and police drama, the series deals with a wide range of topical social issues such as police corruption, racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigration, and sexual harassment.


title: The Commish

text: In addition to Commissioner Scali's family, the cast included police working for the town of Eastbridge.


title: The Commish

text: Scali had three different lieutenants at his precinct during the show's run; Lt. Irving "Irv" Wallerstein (Alex Bruhanski), his longtime buddy and second-in-command, was killed in the line of duty in the eleventh episode of Season 1, "The Fourth Man", after appearing in only a few episodes and was replaced by Lt. Paul "Paulie" Pentangeli (John Cygan), his childhood best friend. At the start of the second season, Pentangeli shot an unarmed suspect who was reaching for a cigarette case.


title: The Commish

text: Although Pentangeli was acquitted, Scali nonetheless fired him, suspecting that Pentangeli knowingly shot the suspect on whom they had insufficient evidence to prosecute. Pentangeli had said that it felt like real police work. He was replaced by a female lieutenant, elegant former FBI agent Cydavia "Cyd" Madison (Melinda McGraw), who continued through to the end of season three before leaving the Eastbridge department to work as a commissioner in another city at the start of season four, when jean-wearing Pentangeli returned to the series despite his continuing disagreement with Scali regarding the nature of the shooting in season two.


title: The Commish

text: The star cops who also worked closely with Scali included Stanley Oliver "Stan" Kelly (Geoffrey Nauffts), Carmela Theresa Antonia Pagan (Gina Belafonte), and hot-headed Richard "Ricky" Caruso (Nicholas Lea). Series regular Kelly was killed off at the end of season three, whereas other characters such as Pagan would simply disappear for longer stretches inexplicably.


title: The Commish

text: Chiklis' character, Tony Scali, was at least ten years older than Chiklis' age at the time. At one point, the network, worried that Chiklis' weight loss would affect the ratings, reportedly asked him to stuff his clothing. He also was encouraged not to shave his head to look older.


title: The Commish

text: Although set in the fictional town of Eastbridge in the Hudson Valley, New York, the show was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, mainly in Vancouver and North Vancouver.


title: The Commish

text: The character Tony Scali was based on the real-life 30th Commissioner of New York City's Department of Correction, Anthony Schembri, the son of an Italian immigrant, who grew up in Brooklyn. Schembri recalls incidents such as his deflecting a man intent on suicide from wanting to jumping off of a roof: “I asked him if he had a permit to jump off.” This means of diversion, used in the series premiere, characterizes Scali’s modus operandi. Schembri later served as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice under Governor Jeb Bush, as the Citrus County Florida County Administrator, and later still as an advisor to India’s Centre for Criminology and Public Policy Committee.


title: The Commish

text: Schembri was "discovered" after being a technical consultant for the TV series (while serving as the Police Commissioner of Rye, New York). The show was unrealistic in that Tony Scali the police commissioner, working as Schembri had done while he was a Brooklyn detective, would do many things a real-life police commissioner doesn't (such as personally chase criminals and investigate crimes).


title: The Commish

text: Though the series was originally slated to air on CBS, unresolved casting differences led Stephen J. Cannell to cease pre-production with that network. Eventually, Cannell took the series to ABC and it won the ratings war with CBS for that time slot (Saturday nights at 10pm).


title: The Commish

text: Actor Jason Alexander said he had been offered a role on the show, but turned it down as the TV show he was already cast in — "Seinfeld", where he played George Costanza — got picked up for another season and went on to become one of the most successful sitcoms in history.


title: The Commish

text: Anchor Bay Entertainment released the first two seasons of "The Commish" on DVD in Region 1 in 2004–2005. Because of poor sales, these releases were discontinued and no further seasons were made available.


title: The Commish

text: In 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to several Stephen J. Cannell series, including "The Commish". They have subsequently re-released the first two seasons.


title: The Commish

text: On October 12, 2010, Mill Creek released "The Commish: The Complete Series" on DVD in Region 1. The 17-disc set features all 94 episodes of the series on DVD for the very first time.


title: The Commish

text: Theresa Saldana received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in 1994.


title: Millennium Media

text: Millennium Media, formerly Nu Image, is an American film studio that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner in 1992 and is one of Hollywood's longest running independent film companies. Millennium creates, produces, finances, and sells films worldwide. The company produces action films, most of which are filmed primarily in South Africa and Bulgaria (by 2005, it acquired Nu Boyana Film Studios), among other locations.


title: Millennium Media

text: In the mid-1980's, The Cannon Group, Inc. began expanding its operation into Africa, taking advantage of cheap locations and labor in countries such as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Avi Lerner opened Nu Metro Entertainment, a film production company based in Johannesburg to accommodate production demands in the country. During this time, Lerner executive produced many films, such as "" and "River of Death" for Cannon as well as "" for Harry Alan Towers. After pressure from anti-apartheid forces the company closed its African operation in 1988, Lerner created a new company, Nu Image, to produce original, low budget films alongside his brother Danny Lerner and other Cannon employees Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort and Boaz Davidson.


title: Millennium Media

text: From 1992, Nu Image began multiple films a year, mainly in the action genre. Many of the films produced went direct-to-video, however some, such as "Shark Attack" debuted on television. Many stars, writers and directors from The Cannon Group, Inc. appeared in films for Nu Image, including David Bradley, Michael Dudikoff, Sam Firstenberg and Billy Drago. They also built a new generation of action talent such as Bryan Genesse and Joe Lara.


title: Millennium Media

text: However, their efforts to break into the mainstream with mockbusters such as "Freefall" starring Eric Roberts, Jeff Fahey and Pamela Gidley, created to capitalise on the success of Sylvester Stallone's "Cliffhanger" failed to make much of an impact. "Freefall" ended up going direct-to-video.


title: Millennium Media

text: After the successes of creature features such as "Anaconda" and "Deep Blue Sea" released in the late 90's, Nu Image produced a spate of low budget franchises to capitalise on the trend including; Tobe Hooper's "Crocodile", "Shark Attack", "Spiders", "Killer Rats", "Octopus" and "Raging Sharks" and various sequels were produced from 1999 to 2005. While not critically successful, the films were extremely successful on television and home media.


title: Millennium Media

text: From the mid-2000's, Nu Image gradually began producing fewer films, with its subsidiary label, Millennium Films, releasing more with a greater level of financing than previously, and its sister company Millennium Entertainment producing the films. In 2005, it purchased Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria. One of the first films to carry the new name was the remake "The Wicker Man" starring Nicolas Cage. The film was a critical and commercial failure. They continued on with a focus on sequels and remakes of notable properties such as "Day of the Dead" and "Rambo". After the commercial success of "Rambo", Millennium Films entered into a multi-year deal with Lionsgate to produce several big-budgeted films, the first of which was "Conan the Barbarian". The deal would be extended over the years with successful box-office hits ("The Mechanic") and box office bombs ("The Legend of Hercules"). Another notable success was "Olympus Has Fallen" starring Gerard Butler. The film was originally intended as a mockbuster of "White House Down"; however the film ended up beating that film into release and was much more profitable, spawning two sequels to date.


title: Millennium Media

text: Millennium Entertainment was sold in August 2014. The company's library and distribution assets had been sold to a consortium consisting of its current management and Virgo Investment Group. The new owners renamed the company Alchemy in January 2015, finally cutting ties to its former sister company Millennium Films, which remained under the control of Avi Lerner. Alchemy filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on June 30, 2016.


title: Millennium Media

text: In 2017, a deal was reached with The Recon Group, a Chinese investment firm, for them to purchase a majority stake in Millennium Films. The deal was signed and a $20 million downpayment was secured. However, this deal was later announced to be off in August 2017 due to the Chinese government clamping down on overseas business investments. The following year, the company was rebranded as Millennium Media.


title: The Pillowman

text: The Pillowman is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read in 1998 and then finished and released as a book in some places in 1999. Production started in 2000 for the eventual 2003 performance. It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state, who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town. The play received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards for production. It was nominated for the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.


title: The Pillowman

text: Katurian, a writer of short stories that often depict violence against children, has been arrested by two detectives, Ariel and Tupolski, because some of his stories resemble recent child murders. When he hears that his brother Michal has confessed to the murders and implicated Katurian, he resigns himself to being executed but attempts to save his stories from destruction. The play contains both narrations and reenactments of several of Katurian's stories, including the autobiographical "The Writer and the Writer's Brother", which tells how Katurian developed his disturbed imagination by hearing the sounds of Michal being tortured by their parents.


title: The Pillowman

text: Ariel and Tupolski interrogate Katurian in a police room, adopting a good cop/bad cop routine with Ariel happily playing the bad cop. At first Katurian does not know why he is being questioned, and thinks he is under suspicion of running political messages against the totalitarian dictatorship through his stories. The detectives and Katurian discuss grisly stories involving children. Ariel leaves the room, and soon after Michal is heard screaming in the next room. Ariel returns, his hand covered in blood from apparently torturing Michal, and tells Katurian that Michal has just confessed to killing three children, in association with Katurian. The first two children were murdered according to the patterns of the stories "The Little Apple Men" and "The Tale of the Town on the River." Katurian denies the allegations, stating that although his stories are gruesome it is the job of a storyteller to tell a story.


title: The Pillowman

text: In his own narrative, Katurian describes being raised by loving parents who encouraged him to write, and for many years he wrote very happy stories. However, at night he began to hear sounds of torture from the next room, and as a result he began to write more disturbing stories. One night, a note is slipped under the door, claiming that Katurian's brother has been tortured nightly for seven years as part of an artistic experiment to get Katurian to become a great writer. Katurian breaks down the door, only to find his parents, who were playing a trick on him, pretending to be torturing a child. However, when Katurian returns years later, he discovers his brother's dead body hidden under the mattress, clutching the manuscript of a beautiful story, better than any of Katurian's, which Katurian burns. Katurian interrupts his narrative to say that this ending was fabricated when he wrote the story: when he broke down the door, he found Michal still alive. Katurian smothered his parents with a pillow that very night in vengeance for his disabled brother and the abuse he suffered.


title: The Pillowman

text: Katurian and Michal are together in a cell, Katurian just having been tortured. Michal reveals that he had not been tortured, but rather cooperated entirely with Ariel, even screaming when Ariel asked him to. At Michal's request, Katurian tells him the story of "The Pillowman", about a man made of pillows who convinces children to kill themselves so they can be spared a horrible future. Michal admits to having killed the children, claiming that Katurian told him to do it through his stories. Michal says that he murdered the third child after hearing Katurian's story "The Little Jesus", one of his most violent. Michal tells Katurian that he had read the written version of "The Writer and the Writer's Brother", and resented the changes from their lives, wishing that Katurian had written a happy ending for the two brothers. Katurian lulls Michal to sleep by telling him one of his happier stories, "The Little Green Pig", then smothers him to save him the pain of being executed. Katurian calls to the detectives, announcing his intention to confess to the crimes on the condition that his stories are preserved.


title: The Pillowman

text: Katurian tells the others the story of "The Little Jesus", which was thought to inspire the third murder. A young girl believes that she is the second coming of Jesus, and blesses unsavory characters, to the dismay of her parents and annoyance of others. When her parents are killed in a horrific accident, she is sent to live with abusive foster parents. Annoyed by her pretensions, the foster parents crucify her and bury her alive so that she might rise again in three days, but she does not.


title: The Pillowman

text: Katurian writes out a false confession and adds the names of his mother and father to the list of people he has killed. When Katurian sees how eager Ariel is to torture him, he guesses that Ariel was sexually abused by his father. Before Ariel can begin the torture, Tupolski tells them that the third child might still be alive and Ariel leaves to find her. When Ariel returns with the girl, she is not injured but covered with green paint, revealing that Michal had not reenacted the story of "The Little Jesus" but "The Little Green Pig." It is apparent to Ariel and Tupolski that Katurian was unaware of this and therefore could not have murdered the children like he confessed, but they decide to execute him anyway for murdering his parents and vow to destroy his stories. Before Ariel can execute him, Katurian tells them about the torture Michal suffered in order for Katurian to become a better writer. Tupolski shows no empathy and shoots Katurian in the head. Left alone with Katurian's stories, Ariel decides not to burn them.


title: The Pillowman

text: "The Pillowman" stemmed in part from McDonagh's experience composing fairy tales, with names such as The Chair and the Wolfboy, The Short Fellow and the Strange Frog, and The Violin and the Drunken Angel, early in his writing career. Attempting to rewrite fairy tales he remembered from childhood, he realized that "there's something dark about them that doesn't quite come through."


title: The Pillowman

text: In a conversation with Irish drama critic Fintan O'Toole in "BOMB Magazine" in 1998, McDonagh retold the Brothers Grimm version of Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf's stomach is filled with rocks and sewn with green wire, leading to the wolf's death. McDonagh's comment – "I would love to write something as horrific as that if I could" – indicates a potential inspiration for the story "The Little Apple Men" in "The Pillowman".


title: The Pillowman

text: This play has been described as “borrowing heavily” from "Closet Land" (1991), an independent film written and directed by Indian filmmaker Radha Bharadwaj, which starred Madeleine Stowe and Alan Rickman. Commenting on this, Bob Mielke, Ph.D, Professor of English at Truman State University, said that "plot elements of "Closet Land" persist in another narrative host body, another way in which this text persists and haunts (if you will) our culture."


title: The Pillowman

text: The play is due to be revived from 10 June 2023 closing on 2 September 2023 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End, directed by Matthew Dunster.


title: Mondragón rifle

text: The Mondragón rifle refers to one of two rifle designs developed by Mexican artillery officer General Manuel Mondragón. These designs include the straight-pull bolt-action M1893 and M1894 rifles, and Mexico's first self-loading rifle, the M1908 - the first of the designs to see combat use.


title: Mondragón rifle

text: Mondragón began working on his initial rifle design in 1891. During his stay in Belgium, he filed a patent application for which he had received a grant on March 23, 1892 (No. 98,947). Mondragón was granted a further Patent on April 20, 1892 from the French Patent Office (No. 221,035). He also filed for a Patent for his design with the United States Patent Office on February 8, 1893, which was granted on March 24, 1896 (No. 557,079).


title: Mondragón rifle

text: The rifle, referred to as model M1893, was of a straight-pull, bolt-action design, chambered in the 6.5x48mm cartridge (also developed by Mondragón), with a fixed magazine which held an 8-round en-bloc clip. The bolt was locked by two pairs of six small radially-arranged lugs (reminiscent of, e. g., AR-15) locking in helical grooves in the receiver. The rifle operated with three settings: "A" (safe), "L" (normal operation), and "R" (rapid). The "automatic" fire setting allowed the rifle to fire a cartridge each time the bolt was manually cycled to closed position, in similar fashion to Winchester M1897 pump-action shotgun. The rifle could be equipped with a knife bayonet, measuring and , or a blade-type bayonet of length.


title: Mondragón rifle

text: At the time of the rifle's design, Mexico did not have any manufacturers capable of producing them to the required tolerances. Mondragón, with the backing of Diaz, subsequently entrusted the Swiss Industrial Company ("Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft") of Neuhausen, Switzerland with the production of the rifles. SIG received the first order for 50 rifles in 1893, and a second order for 200 rifles followed in 1894. The rifles from the second order were chambered in the 5.2 × 68mm round developed by Swiss colonel Eduard Rubin, and were referred to as the model M1894 (to differentiate them from the versions chambered in the 6.5mm cartridge).


title: Mondragón rifle

text: Mondragón continued his work, and on August 8, 1904 he filed a patent application (No. 219,989) for his new design for a self-loading rifle. The Patent (No. 853,715) was granted on May 14, 1907.