title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The manufacturing process was deliberately optimized, each aircraft consumed a reduced 7,000 man-hours each to produce, roughly half the time compared to the previous D.510 and MS.406, and far less than many other fighters of the time, such as the MC.200/202 (21,000 hours), but around 50% greater than a Bf 109E (4,500 hours). The French Air Ministry planned for over 300 aircraft a month to be built and managed to reach this goal, especially in June 1940, but it was too late to affect the tide of battle. The armistice greatly curtailed production of D.520, which would have otherwise been a fighter aircraft produced in far greater numbers and with improved models.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Additional plans had included another manufacturing line at Asnières-sur-Seine, Paris, for a lightened version of the aircraft, known as the "D.521". An initial batch of 18 pre-production D.521s had been produced at Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Occitanie and had been prepared for their maiden flight when the armistice came into effect. During 1940, negotiations with American manufacturer Ford had been underway with the aim of establishing the licensed production of an Americanised version of the type, designated as the "D.522". This model was anticipated to have been powered by an Allison V-1710-C15 engine, capable of generating , instead.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In April 1941, during the aftermath of the armistice with Germany, a new programme was launched in which the production of 1,074 new aircraft were to be manufactured in the unoccupied zone of Vichy France. Of these, 550 were to be D.520s, which were confirmed as ordered under contract No. 157/41 on 8 August 1941. The intention was for the type to replace all other single-engine fighters that remained in service with the Vichy French Air Force and to eventually equip additional units that were to be reformed from September 1942 onwards. An initial batch of 22 D.520s were delivered during August 1941. In total, a further 180 machines were constructed, bringing the production total to 905.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft, intended to be a capable contemporary of types such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Supermarine Spitfire. An all-metal structure was used, except for fabric-covered ailerons and tail surfaces. The wing, even if single-spar, was a solid and rigid unit with a secondary spar and many reinforced parts. The inwardly retracting undercarriage had a broad track, and was fitted with wide, low-pressure tyres.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The D.520 was designed to be maintained easily with many inspection panels, a rare feature for its time. Recharging the D.520 ammunition was swift and easy; the machine gun magazines required five minutes each and three minutes for the cannon. To fill the machine gun ammunition boxes took 15 minutes, while five minutes were needed to empty it as the cartridges were not expelled. The D.520's cockpit was set well back in the fuselage, aft of the trailing edge of the wings. This gave the pilot good downward visibility, but the long nose in front of him was a drawback when taxiing on the ground.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: A self-sealing fuel tank with a capacity of was mounted between the engine and cockpit, along with two wing tanks which, combined, carried another , for a total of ; this was considerably more than the contemporary Bf 109E, Spitfire I and early Italian fighters, each with about fuel capacity. The ferry range was from at which, from June 1940, allowed D.520s to escape to North Africa when France fell.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine was an underpowered, older design, with at takeoff at 2,400 rpm, or emergency power at 2,520 rpm and at a height of . The Hispano engine had some advantages over some later engines; for example, its weight was only , compared to the of the Rolls-Royce Merlin III. Development of the engine had not been straightforward, and had delayed production. According to an aviation author, it was alleged by American aviator Charles Lindbergh that secret negotiations were conducted between Dewoitine and Daimler-Benz during 1939 to obtain the DB.601 engine for the D.520, but that these did not come to fruition due to the war.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Fuel was fed via six Solex S.V. 56 carburettors mounted on an inlet manifold which directed compressed air from the supercharger to the engine cylinders; the 12Y-45 and -49s fitted to production D.520s used either 92 or 100 octane fuel. The -45 drove an electrically operated Ratier Type 1606M three-bladed, , variable-pitch propeller, while D.520s from No. 351 were fitted with the 12Y-49 engine driving a Chauvière type 3918 pneumatically operated propeller, in diameter.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: By 1940 a version of the 520D was flying with a Rolls Royce Merlin X engine. Ernest Hives stated that agreement had been reached with the French Government for the manufacture of the Merlin in France. ("The Merlin in perspective" - A Harvey-Bailey -Rolls Royce Heritage Trust, p130)


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The D.520 had a fire-suppression system with a fire extinguisher activated from the cockpit. The engine was started by a simple but effective system, operating with compressed air. A Viet 250 air compressor charged several air bottles (one with a 12-litre capacity, as well as another eight litre tank, three smaller one litre units were matched to the weapons). The 12-litre air bottle was used for the brakes and later, for the Chauvière propeller's constant speed adjustment. The small air bottles provided up to 12 seconds at or 20 seconds at low level, before the Viet air compressor recharged them. The pilot had a complete set of cockpit instruments, and a ten-litre oxygen bottle located in the fuselage just behind his seat, with either a Munerelle or Gourdou oxygen regulator system mounted on the right instrument panel. Equipment included a "Radio Industrie Type Rl 537" radio-receiver set, an OPL RX 39 reflector sight (less effective than the Revi system), a height-adjustable seat, and a sliding canopy with large, clear panels. Except over the long nose, the pilot's view was good, since he was seated quite high over the forward fuselage; however, no rear-facing mirrors were fitted.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Production-standard armament consisted of a HS.404, which had an ammunition capacity of 60 rounds, firing through the propeller hub, and four belt-fed MAC 1934 M39 machine guns in the wings, with 675 rounds per gun. The MAC 1934 machine guns had a high rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute (rpm), while the HS.404 had an effective rate of fire of 600 rpm and was accurate up to ; the ammunition capacity meant that the machine guns could be fired for a total of 30 seconds, while the cannon had ten seconds' worth of ammunition.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In combat, the MS.406 had only a pair of machine guns and was, therefore, at a disadvantage when the HS.404 had used up its ammunition, while a D.520 could continue to fight effectively because it had four fast-firing machine guns (over 80 rounds/sec), with 20-plus seconds of ammunition still available. The D.520 had provisions for two BE33 "illuminating bombs", useful for nocturnal interception missions, but these were seldom used because French fighters rarely flew nighttime missions.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Although employing a modern design philosophy for its time, the D.520 was considered more difficult to fly than the older MS.406. Captain Eric Brown, commanding officer of the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight, tested the D.520 at RAE Farnborough, saying that "It was a nasty little brute. Looked beautiful but didn't fly beautifully. Once you get it on the ground, I was told not to leave the controls until it was in the hangar and the engine stopped. You could be taxiing toward the hangar and sit back when suddenly it would go in a right angle."


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The handling changed according to the amount of fuel carried; using the fuselage tank alone, fuel consumption had no appreciable effect on handling because the tank was at the centre of gravity, but with full wing tanks, directional control was compromised, especially in a dive. The flight controls were well harmonized and the aircraft was easy to control at high speed. The maximum dive speed tested was with no buffeting and excellent stability both in the dive (depending on fuel load) and as a gun platform.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The "Groupe de Chasse" I/3 was the first unit to get the D.520, receiving its first aircraft in January 1940. These initial examples were unarmed and used for pilot training. In April and May 1940, operational units received 34 'war-capable' production D.520s; the type quickly proved to be highly popular with pilots and ground crew. During comparative trials on 21 April 1940 at CEMA at Orleans-Bricy against a captured Bf 109E-3, the German aircraft had a speed advantage owing to its more powerful engine. However, the D.520 had superior maneuverability, matching its turning circle, although displaying nasty characteristics when departing and spinning out of the turn repeatedly during the tests. The Bf 109, owing to its slats, could easily sustain the turn on the edge of a stall.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: By 10 May 1940, when the Phoney War came to an end as Germany launched the invasion of France and the Low Countries, a total of 246 D.520s had been manufactured, but the French Air Force had accepted only 79 of these, as most others had been sent back to the factory to be retrofitted to the new standard. As a result, only GC I/3 was fully equipped, possessing a force of 36 aircraft. These met the "Luftwaffe" on 13 May, shooting down three Henschel Hs 126s and one Heinkel He 111 without suffering any losses. The next day, two D.520s were lost while a total of ten Luftwaffe aircraft (4 Messerschmitt Bf 110s, 2 Bf 109Es, 2 Dornier Do 17s, and 2 He 111s) were confirmed to be destroyed.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Four more "Groupes de Chasse" and three naval "Escadrilles" rearmed with the type before France's surrender. GC II/3, GC III/3, GC III/6 and GC II/7 later completed conversion on the D.520. A naval unit, the "1 Flotille de Chasse", was also equipped with the Dewoitine. However, only GC I/3, II/7, II/6 and the naval AC 1 saw any action in the Battle of France. GC III/7 converted to the D.520 too late to be involved in any action. In addition, several aircraft were flown by non-operational units, such as the special patrol of the École de l'air military school, as well as a handful flown by Polish and civilian pilots in defence of airstrips and production facilities in the vicinity of Toulouse.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In air combat, mostly against the Italians, the Dewoitine 520s claimed 114 air victories, plus 39 probables. Eighty five D.520s were lost. By the armistice at the end of June 1940, 437 D.520s had been constructed, 351 of these having been delivered. After the armistice, 165 D.520s were evacuated to North Africa. GC I/3, II/3, III/3, III/6 and II/7 flew their aircraft to Algeria to avoid capture. Three more, from GC III/7, escaped to Britain and were delivered to the Free French. A total of 153 D.520s remained in unoccupied mainland France.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: One of the most successful D.520 pilots was Pierre Le Gloan, who shot 18 aircraft down (four Germans, seven Italian and seven British), scoring all but two of his kills with the D.520, and ranked as the fourth-highest French ace of the war.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In April 1941, the German armistice commission authorized Vichy authorities to resume production of a batch of 1,000 military aircraft for their own use, under the condition that 2,000 German-designed aircraft would later be manufactured in France and delivered to Germany. As part of this agreement, 550 examples of the D.520 were ordered to replace all other single-seat fighters in service. However, no D.520 units were to be stationed on the French mainland, thus individual aircraft were instead stored or dispatched to units overseas, such as in North Africa.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The plan was to have the Dewoitine eventually equip a total of 17 "Groupes" with 442 aircraft, three "escadrilles" of the "Aéronautique navale" with 37 aircraft each, plus three training units with 13 aircraft. The agreement stated that aircraft of this new batch were to be similar to the ones already in service. From serial number 543 on, however, D.520s used the 12Y-49 engine that had a slightly higher rated performance than the 12Y-45, although the German Armistice Commission explicitly prohibited replacing the original power plants with the more powerful 12Y51 or 12Z engines.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In 1941, D.520s of GC III/6, II/3 and naval "escadrille" 1AC fought the Allies during the Syria–Lebanon campaign. The Vichy French Air Force was already relatively strong, but several units were sent to reinforce it. D.520s were the only French single-seat fighters capable of making the trip to Syria. The GC III/6 was sent first. The ferry trip was very difficult for a 1940 interceptor and the pilots pushed their planes as far as their fuel tanks would allow them to. They flew from France to Syria with intermediate stops at Rome, Brindisi or Catania. Another route was available through Germany and Greece (Athens), but it was seldom used. The trip always included a stopover in Rhodes (which had an Italian base at the time), before the final flight to Syria. This meant several thousand kilometers were flown over mountains and sea. The most demanding part was Catania-Rhodes, which entailed no less than flown over water. Even the trip from Rhodes to Syria was . LeO 451s and Martin 167F bombers had few problems, but D.520s were forced to fly a strenuous and dangerous mission, without any help or external assistance. Of the 168 French aircraft (of all types) sent to Syria, 155 accomplished their mission and arrived successfully. The Vichy Air force was numerically strong, but with very few ground crew and spare parts, which meant that the operational flying time for the D.520s was very limited. D.520s of GC III/6 first saw action against British aircraft on 8 June 1941, when they shot down three Fairey Fulmars, losing one D.520 (its pilot was taken prisoner). Over the following days several escort missions were flown to protect Martin, LeO and Bloch 200 (3/39 Esc) bombers from British Royal Navy fighters. Two Hurricanes were shot down (with another D.520 lost) on 9 June.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: During the Syria campaign, a total of 266 missions were conducted by the Vichy French Air Force: 99 of them were carried out by D.520s, nine by MS.406s, 46 by Martin 167s and 31 by LeO 451s. The D.520s were therefore the most active of the French aircraft in the campaign, where they claimed 31 kills over British and Australian units while losing 11 of their own in air combat and a further 24 to anti-aircraft fire, accidents and attacks on their airfields. On 10 July, five D.520s attacked Bristol Blenheim bombers from No. 45 Squadron RAF that were being escorted by seven Curtiss Tomahawks from No. 3 Squadron RAAF (3 Sqn). The French pilots claimed three Blenheims, but at least four of the D.520s were destroyed by the Australian escorts, including two by flying officer Peter Turnbull. The following day, a Dewoitine pilot shot a P-40 down from 3 Sqn, the only Tomahawk lost during the campaign. This Dewoitine was in turn shot down by F/O Bobby Gibbes. The initial advantage that the Vichy French Air Force enjoyed did not last long, and they lost most of their aircraft during the campaign. The majority of them were destroyed on the ground where the flat terrain, absence of infrastructure and absence of modern anti-aircraft (AA) artillery made them vulnerable to air attacks. On 26 June, a strafing run by Tomahawks of 3 Sqn, on Homs airfield, destroyed five D.520s of Fighter Squadron II/3 (Groupe de Chasse II/3) and damaged six more.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: By the end of the campaign, Vichy forces had lost 179 aircraft from the approximately 289 committed to the Levant. The remaining aircraft with the range to do so, evacuated to Rhodes. The known French losses of fighter aircraft were 26 in air combat and 45 in strafing and bombing actions. The Allies lost 41 planes, 27 of those shot down by French fighters. During Operation Torch (the invasion of North Africa), GC III/3 (previously known as GC I/3), was engaged in combat with the Allies over Oran. "Flotille" 1F saw action against the United States Navy Grumman F4F Wildcat squadron VF-41 (from the carrier ), over Casablanca. One D.520 was among fourteen US victory claims; the only Allied losses were due to ground and friendly fire. Other Dewoitine-equipped units in North Africa such as GC II/7 or GC II/3 did not take part in the fighting. Overall, the known D.520 air strength in North Africa was 173 D.520s (143 combat ready) of GC II/3, III/3, III/6, II/7 and II/5; another 30 were in Senegal with GC II/6. The Navy had Esc 1AC and 2AC. Many D.520s were destroyed on the ground by Allied bombing. The French Air Force lost 56 aircraft, among them 13 D.520s. The Navy lost 19 D.520s. Among the 44 kills that the French scored overall, there were five losses from fighters and flak out of a squadron of eight Fairey Albacores from , some of which were shot down by D.520s of GC III/3.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: A very small number of D.520s were briefly operated by Free French Forces for training purposes. Along with the three examples that had flown to Britain in June 1940, two other Dewoitines were recovered from retreating Vichy forces in Rayak, Lebanon. These D.520s were flown by pilots of the "Normandie-Niemen" unit before it was sent to the USSR, where they flew the Yakovlev Yak-1 that had many similarities with the French aircraft.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In December 1942, as French forces formerly under Vichy sided with the Allies, there were 153 D.520s left in French hands in North Africa. They flew a few patrols during the Tunisia campaign, but were considered obsolete, and their radio sets were incompatible with Allied equipment. From early 1943 on, they were relegated to training duties at the fighter school in Meknes, and progressively replaced by Supermarine Spitfires and Bell P-39 Airacobras in combat units.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: During the liberation of France, a few D.520s abandoned by the Germans, were used by "ad hoc" units in ground attacks against the isolated German pockets of resistance on the Western coast. Around 55 such aircraft were recovered from the Luftwaffe by the rapid advance of the Allies. Commanded by former test pilot Marcel Doret, one such unit attacked German forces at Royan and Pointe de Grave, performing strafing runs upon enemy artillery positions, as well as providing air cover for Allied bombers. After 1 December 1944, the date on which the French Air Force was officially reformed, Doret's unit became G.C.II/18; it continued to operate D.520s for several months before being reequipped with Spitfires on 1 March 1945.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: About 60 D.520s were acquired by the "Regia Aeronautica" (the Italian Air Force or RA). Italian pilots appreciated the aircraft's capabilities and Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon, at least by 1940–1941 standards. The first three D.520s were assigned to 2° "Stormo" based at the Torino-Caselle airfield, where they were used for the defence of Torino's industrial area. Other D.520s were captured in Montélimar, Orange, Istres and Aix-en-Provence.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: At the beginning of 1943, the Italian ace Luigi Gorrini ferried D.520s taken as prizes of war to Italy to be used for defence. "I have collected several dozen Dewoitines from various French airfields and the Toulouse factory", he recalled later. "At the time, when we were still flying the Macchi C.200, it was a good, if not very good, machine. Compared to the Macchi 200, it was superior only in one point: its armament of the Hispano-Suiza HS 404 cannon." Italian pilots liked the gun, the modern cockpit, the excellent radio set and the easy recovery from a spin but they also complained about the weak undercarriage and the small [cannon] ammunition drum capability; the ammunition was not available in quantities (the HS.404 was not compatible with Breda and Scotti guns, so everything depended on France's depots). At the end of February the 359a "Squadriglia" (22° "Gruppo"), led by Major Vittorio Minguzzi, received eight Dewoitine D.520. At that time, American B-24s frequently bombed Naples, so an effective interceptor was badly needed, and D.520s were all that were available in early 1943. The 359a "Squadriglia" pilots used Dewoitines with some success.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: On 1 March 1943, Maggiore Minguzzi claimed a B-24 while flying a D.520. This claim was initially only claimed as a probable but was later upgraded to a confirmed. This was probably the first Italian claim using this aircraft.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: On 21 May 1943, the "Regia Aeronautica" and the "Luftwaffe" agreed to exchange 39 Lioré et Olivier LeO 451s, captured by the Italians at the SNCASE factory in Ambérieu-en-Bugey (Lyon), with a stock of 30 D.520s. Subsequently, in the spring and summer of 1943, the Dewoitines were used by 161° "Gruppo Autonomo", based in southern Italy with 163a "Squadriglia" in Grottaglie, 162a "Squadriglia" in Crotone and 164a "Squadriglia" in Reggio Calabria.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: On 31 July 1943, the "Regia Aeronautica" still had 47 Dewoitines in service. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, three D.520s, previously in service with 24° "Gruppo", were used by the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana of the Italian Social Republic for training.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: German forces invading Vichy's so-called "free zone" in November 1942, captured 246 D.520s; additionally, a batch of 62 was completed under German occupation. The captured Dewoitines were to be delivered to the Axis Balkan Front, although some were used by the "Luftwaffe" for training purposes while 60 were transferred to Italy and 96, or 120, to the Bulgarian Air Force for use in combat. However, D.520s reached Bulgaria only in August 1943, as the fighter pilots of that country were still training on the type at Nancy with JG 107.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The following month, the first 48 Dewoitines were taken over in a ceremony on Karlovo airfield. Two months later, on 24 November, the D.520s were used in combat, when 17 out of the 60 B-24 Liberators of the 15th USAAF arrived over the capital, Sofia, to bomb it. Twenty four Dewoitines took off from Vrazhdebna base (along with 16 Bf 109G-2s from Bojourishte) and attacked the bombers and their 35 escorting P-38 Lightnings. The Bulgarian pilots claimed four American aircraft for the loss of one fighter, three more had to force land. American bombers attacked Sofia again, on 10 December 1943. That day, 31 B-24s escorted by P-38s, were intercepted by six Dewoitines of the II/6th Fighter Regiment from Vrazhdebna and 16 D.520s of the I/6th Fighter Regiment from Karlovo (along with 17 Bf 109G-2s). The Americans claimed 11 D.520s for the loss of only one P-38. The later examination of records showed that only one Dewoitine was lost during that air battle.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The Bulgarian Air Force D.520s were again up in force, to face the massive Allied air raid of 30 March 1944. To intercept the 450 bombers (B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24s and Handley Page Halifaxes) escorted by 150 P-38s, the Bulgarians scrambled 28 Dewoitines from I./6th at Karlovo, six D.520s from II/6th at Vrazhdebna (together with 39 Bf 109G-6s and even Avia 135s). At least ten Allied aircraft (eight bombers and two P-38s) were shot down, while the Bulgarian Air Force lost five fighters and three pilots. Two more Bulgarian aircraft had to force land.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: During the last Allied raid on Sofia, on 17 April, the II./6th fighter scrambled seven Dewoitines (plus 16 Bf 109s), against 350 B-17s and B-24s escorted by 100 P-51 Mustangs. Bulgarian pilots, who up to that time had encountered only P-38s, mistook the P-51s for their own Bf 109s and before they realized their mistake, seven Bf 109G-6s had been shot down. That day the Bulgarian Air Force suffered the heaviest losses since the beginning of the war: nine fighters shot down and three that had to crash land. Six pilots lost their lives.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: By 28 September 1944, twenty days after Bulgaria joined the Allies, Dewoitines still equipped an "Orlyak" (Group) of the 6th Fighter regiment: I Group had a total of 17 D.520s, five under repair and 12 operational, for its three "Jato" (Squadrons).


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Numerous sources have mentioned use of the D.520 by the Romanian Air Force, but no evidence has ever been provided. One source claims the so-called Romanian Dewoitines were, in fact, in transit to Bulgaria and only flew over Romania in order to get to their final destination. This seems the most reliable explanation, viewed against the numbers of Dewoitines actually available. Romania did however use the French Bloch MB.150.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: After the war, the D.520s that remained in France were used as trainers; on 1 June 1945, the school base No. 704 was formed at Tours for the purpose of training pilot instructors operating, amongst other types, 17 D.520s. At the encouragement of No. 704's commanding office, one D.520 was field-modified into a two-seater configuration in late 1945, which was subsequently designated as the D.520 DC. In March 1946, after further experiments, the French Air Force ordered a further batch of 20 D.520s to be likewise converted; however, only 13 of these D.520 DC conversions were completed.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: The last unit to fly the D.520 was the EPAA ("Équipes de présentation de l'armée de l'air"), No. 58. In their final years, the remaining examples were often unserviceable due to general wear and tear. The last flight of an operational D.520 was made on 3 September 1953 with EPAA ("Équipes de présentation de l'armée de l'air"). Initially, this unit had flown Yak-3s, formerly of the Normandie-Niemen fighter squadron; these were later replaced with seven D.520s, three of them being two-seaters.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: In 1940, SNCAM had several projects to fit the D.520 airframe with more powerful engines. These developments were halted by the June armistice.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Several projects were initiated after the June 1940 armistice. They were all terminated with the German occupation of Southern France in November 1942.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Apart from the first prototype and postwar examples, D.520s sported the usual French camouflage of dark blue-grey, khaki, and dark brown with light blue-grey undersurfaces. The camouflage pattern was not standardized. National markings were the standard light-blue-white-red roundels on the wingtips, as well as on the rear fuselage, and the rudder flag.


title: Dewoitine D.520

text: Specific markings were applied during the Vichy era, consisting of white outlined fuselage roundels with a white fuselage stripe, and from mid-1941 on, the infamous "slave's pajamas" with red and yellow stripes on the engine cowling and tail surfaces.


title: Toru Iwatani

text: Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan on January 25, 1955. While in kindergarten, he and his family moved to the Tōhoku region of Japan after his father got a job as an engineer for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. After becoming a junior high student, Iwatani returned to Tokyo and graduated from the Tokyo Metropolitan University High School, before graduating from the Tokai University Faculty of Engineering. Iwatani was self-taught in computers without any formal training in programming or graphical design. He often filled his school textbooks with scattered manga, which he claims had a major influence on the character designs of his games.


title: Toru Iwatani

text: At the age of 22 Iwatani joined the Japanese video game publisher Namco in 1977. Before he had joined, Namco had acquired the rights to the Japanese division of Atari, Inc. from Nolan Bushnell, giving them the rights to distribute many of the company's games, such as "Breakout", across the country. This became an unprecedented success for Namco, and made them interested in producing their own video games in-house instead of relying on other companies to make games for them. Iwatani was assigned to the video game development division of the company upon arrival. He originally wanted to create pinball machines, however Namco executives declined the idea due to patent-related issues. As a sort-of compromise, Iwatani was allowed to create a video game based on the concept of pinball. With the assistance of programmer Shigeichi Ishimura, Iwatani created "Gee Bee", released in 1978. While not as successful as the company hoped, "Gee Bee" helped Namco get a foothold in the gradually-expanding video game market. Two sequels were released in 1979, "Bomb Bee" and "Cutie Q", which Iwatani worked on as a designer.


title: Toru Iwatani

text: Towards the end of 1979, Iwatani grew disappointed towards the video game industry, thinking that the market only appealed to men through its usage of violent "war" games, such as "Space Invaders", and sports games reminiscent of "Pong". He decided to create a video game that appealed to women, with cute, colorful character design and easy-to-understand gameplay, based around the concept of eating. Working with a small team of nine employees, Iwatani created "Pac-Man", test-marketed on May 22, 1980, and released in Japan in July and in North America in October. While it proved to be only a moderate success in Japan, being outperformed by Namco's own "Galaxian", "Pac-Man" was an astronomical success in North America, quickly selling over 100,000 arcade units and becoming the best-selling and highest-grossing arcade game of all time. "Pac-Man" has since become Namco's most-successful video game of all time and the company's signature title. After its release, Iwatani was promoted within the ranks of Namco, eventually becoming responsible for overseeing the administration of the company. Despite the success of "Pac-Man", Iwatani did not receive any kind of bonus or change of salary. An often-repeated story is that Iwatani left Namco furious at the lack of any recognition or additions to his pay, which he has claimed to be false.


title: Toru Iwatani

text: Iwatani went on to design "Libble Rabble" in 1983, a twin-stick puzzler based on a game he had played in his childhood. Iwatani claims "Libble Rabble" to be his favorite game. He also worked as a producer for many of Namco's arcade games, including "Rally-X", "Galaga", "Pole Position", "Ridge Racer" and "Time Crisis". From April 2005, he taught the subject of Character Design Studies at Osaka University of Arts as visiting professor. Iwatani left Namco in March 2007 to become a full-time lecturer at Tokyo Polytechnic University. Iwatani returned to his "Pac-Man" roots in 2007 when he developed "Pac-Man Championship Edition" for the Xbox 360, which he states is the final game he will develop.


title: Toru Iwatani

text: On June 3, 2010, at the Festival of Games, Iwatani received a certificate from Guinness World Records for "Pac-Man" having the most "coin-operated arcade machines" installed worldwide: 293,822. The record was set and recognized in 2005, and recorded in the "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008".


title: Toru Iwatani

text: He was portrayed in the Adam Sandler sci-fi comedy adventure "Pixels" by actor Denis Akiyama, while Iwatani himself has a cameo as an arcade repairman.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: COEP Technological University, is A Unitary Public University of Government of Maharashtra, situated in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Established in 1854, it is the 2nd oldest engineering college in India, after IIT Roorkee (1847). The students and alumni are colloquially referred to as COEPians.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: On 23 June 2022, Government of Maharashtra issued a notification regarding conversion of college into Unitary Maharashtra Technological university. On 24 March 2022, both the houses of the state government passed the CoEP Technological University bill, which has conferred a unitary state university status on the institute.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The institution was started on July 1854, as the "Poona Engineering and Mechanical School", to train public works department (PWD) officials and was housed in Bhawanipeth, Poona in three houses for teaching purpose and a sepearate house for principal to train subordinate officers in the Public Works Department. In July 1857, Henry Coke was given the charge of the institute. Admission was open to all, irrespective of nationality or caste. Good proficiency in English and basic knowledge of Mathematics were a prerequisite for getting admitted to the institute. The process of admission required that the aspiring candidate apply to the nearest government English school, to whom the entrance examination papers were handed over. The headmaster would take the examination on a date deemed convenient to him and submit the answer sheets to Henry Coke, the in-charge of the mechanical school. After examining the papers, Coke would notify the headmaster of the school with the names of candidates who were deemed fit for admission. Scholarships of 6 were offered per month after a period of six months of training in the mechanical school for fifteen students. The courses offered included Mathematics, Drawing, Surveying and levelling, building and construction and setting out works on the ground. The course would run for a period of two years.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: Later on, in the year 1865, the school was renamed to "Poona Civil Engineering College". The foundation stone of the new college was laid by the Governor of Bombay, Sir Bartle Frere, who was to become the Vice-Chancellor of the University, on 5 August 1865. In June of the following year, Theodore Cooke M.A., was appointed the Principal. He went on to hold the office for next 28 years. It started a course in Licensed and civil engineering (LCE) and trained masons and overseers. Later it secured affiliation to the Bombay university. The course was revised in 1886 and the minimum criteria required for admission was raised from Matriculation to the then Previous Examination.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: In 1879 two new classes, an Agricultural class and a Forest class, were added to the college, and the name of the college was changed from "The Poona Civil Engineering College " to "The College of Science".


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: In 1909, the LCE was converted into the BE degree and the first batch of students passed out in 1912. All non-engineering courses were stopped by 1911, transferring the Bachelor of Science degree to the "Science Institute of Bombay" and subsequently in the year 1911, the name was changed to the "Government College of Engineering, Poona".


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The institution was initially affiliated to the University of Bombay (now Mumbai) for a degree of Licentiate in Civil Engineering known as LCE in 1858. The certificate course was converted into a civil engineering degree course in 1908 and degree programs in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering were started in 1912 and 1932, respectively. After the University of Poona was established in 1948, the college became affiliated to the new university. In 1968, the three-year degree was extended to 4 years constituting 8 semesters.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: In 2003, the institute was granted complete autonomy by the State Government of Maharashtra, thus giving it the freedom to set its own curriculum and manage its own finances. The institute was renamed "Pune Institute of Engineering and Technology". This was soon changed to present "College of Engineering, Pune" in 2006. With permanent affiliation to the Savitribai Phule Pune University, the institute now is an autonomous engineering school. This has been the biggest change as far as pedagogy at COEP is concerned.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: In a bid to boost research in engineering and postdoctoral research, the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) was granted an additional campus on government land located in chikli Pcmc . This extended campus is having area of 40 acres. In academic year 2020-21 institute also commenced full time degree course in management under faculty of Management.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The campus of COEP is spread over 36 acres. The campus is divided into four parts North Campus, South Campus, Hostel campus and Playground, due to roadways in between.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The main building is the present day administrative building of the College. It houses the Director, the Dean Academic Affairs, the Dean Student Affairs, the Gymkhana, the Examination cell and other various important administrative heads of the college. The building is almost three floors tall with a base floor length of 18 meters and a width of 9 metres. The building was refurbished in 2012.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The admissions are conducted on the basis of the marks secured in Maharashtra CET and HSC board combined. These admissions are conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) through the Centralized Admission Process (CAP). Several admissions to direct second year of BTech course are also conducted for those candidates who have completed Diploma in Engineering at different polytechnic institutes in the state of Maharashtra. These admissions are conducted through the Centralized Admission Process (CAP) by DTE itself.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The M.tech admissions are on the basis of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) conducted by the seven old IITs and the IISc.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The college also provides Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in various fields. Department of Applied Sciences is a recognised PhD research centre in the subjects of Environmental Sciences and Chemistry.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: COEP was ranked 15 among engineering colleges in India by "Outlook India" in 2019. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked it 50th in the engineering ranking in 2020 and 101-150 overall. It has been ranked number one among the top five government institutions in Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievement (ARIIA) in 2020 and ranked first in 2021.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: "Regetta" is an annual regatta hosted by the College of Engineering, Pune. Since its inception in 1928, it has showcased around 165 boats, notably the "Eighter", which is one of the oldest boats. The 92nd edition of Regatta was held on 8 March 2020. Unlike a Regatta which means a collection of boat races, COEP Boat Club's Regatta is a show of various kinds of boats, kayaks, punts, shell boats and scull boats. The events in this show are Telematches, Kayak Ballet, Shell Games, Punt Formation, Mashaal Dance and the Arrow formation.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: MindSpark is the annual technical festival hosted by the college and established in 2007. The idea behind MindSpark originated from the need to unite various departmental level festivals that were scattered across the academic calendar. It features about 50 events across various disciplines of engineering and has been backed by the support of industrial sponsors who also associate with COEP for placement. This event is usually scheduled in an odd semester (around September) and is of 3 days (usually weekend).


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: ZEST is the annual sports festival of COEP Technological University carrying the legacy since its beginning in the year 2002. More than 70 colleges across the country participate in the same. ZEST nurtures the idea "For the students, by the students". ZEST is a 3-day sporting extravaganza in which 20+ sports are played on a large-covered COEP Playground. It is a battlefield where there are no limits to challenges. In addition to this, ZEST hosts flagship events like Cyclothon, Marathon, Self-Defence Workshops, Fitness Sessions, and Sportsdeck Sessions. ZEST is graced with eminent chief guests like Geeta Phogat, Sandeep Singh, Lalita Babar, Rahi Sarnobat, Sultan Dange, Milkha Singh, Shireen Limaye, Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Yogesh Nikam.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: Impressions, is the annual cultural festival of CoEP, which is held every year in the 2nd week of December and lasts for 3 days. Impressions was formed as a platform "For the Artists, By the Artists", to provide opportunities for people from the fields of Dance, Music, Theater, Art, and Fashion to display their talent. The events span over six main modules, namely – Dance, Music, Arts and Crafts, Dramatics, Photography, and Writing.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The Computer Society of India (CSI) Student Chapter of College of Engineering Pune (COEP), established in October 2018 is the college's largest technical chapter. It organizes a number of technical activities including workshops, competitions, technical symposiums, guest lectures etc. for its student members. Under the guidance of Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology COEP, the student chapter has over 300 members and is run by a Core Team and faculty from the department.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: Baja SAE is a world-wide event which comprises designing, fabricating, assembling an all-terrain four wheeler vehicle and running it on a specially prepared torturous track in a grueling competition for four hours. COEP's team is called Team Nemesis Racing.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: COEP won overall championship at BAJA 2017 competition held at Pithampur, near Indore at the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project. The team also won the Best Acceleration, the Raftaar award, Computer-aided engineering award, Best Build Quality, Endurance winner awards.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: BAJA 2015 witnessed COEP starting at the pole position in the race consecutively for the fourth time by being the fastest vehicle. COEP received a total of following 9 awards in BAJA competition 2015, Overall-1st, Durability −1st, Acceleration-1st, Hill Climb-1st, Raftaar-1st, Innovation-2nd, CAE −2nd, Build Quality- 2nd, Safest Vehicle −2nd.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: BAJA 2016 was held at Pithampur, Indore on 21 February 2016. COEP started at the pole position in the race consecutively for the fifth time by being the fastest vehicle. Out of the 14 award categories, COEP won 11 awards in BAJA competition 2016 retaining the Overall Championship.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: COEP won overall championship at BAJA 2017 competition creating a hat trick of records. In the 10th edition of Mahindra BAJA, a total of 415 entries applied for the event from 185 colleges that participated at a virtual stage, out of which 150 teams were selected for m- BAJA, while 35 teams for eBAJA. In the final round or the endurance test, 118 teams participated in the competition which was held from 16 to 21 February 2017 at the NATRIP facility in Pithampur, Indore. Out of the 12 award categories, COEP won 7 awards in BAJA competition 2017 retaining the Overall Championship.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: COEP's Robotics Team is represented by the Robot Study Circle(RSC). The Club has industrial collaboration with Siemens PLM as a title sponsor, Janatics Pneumatics, Schmalz India, Pepperl & Fuchs, and Robolab Technologies. Members of RSC are members of the first ever institute student chapter of THE ROBOTICS SOCIETY established in India at College of Engineering Pune. The robotics team has a number of awards and in 2017 team won the national ABU Robocon, going on to represent India in International Robocon held at Tokyo, Japan. RSC placed 6th.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The satellite team also known as CSAT is CoEP's satellite initiative. They successfully worked on project Swayam a 1-U picosatellite which was launched by ISRO on 22 June 2016. After the successful launch of Swayam, CSAT is now working on its next mission: an experiment for alternate means of space travel with the help of solar sails.


title: College of Engineering, Pune

text: The college has made three entries so far in the Guinness World Record books. It holds the record for "Most people skipping on the same rope", which still stands as the world record and "The longest painting by numbers" and for "Most number of people solving the Rubik's cube".


title: Technological determinism

text: Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society's technology progresses by following its own internal logic of efficiency, while determining the development of the social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have originated from Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), an American sociologist and economist. The most radical technological determinist in the United States in the 20th century was most likely Clarence Ayres who was a follower of Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey. William Ogburn was also known for his radical technological determinism and his theory on cultural lag.


title: Technological determinism

text: The first major elaboration of a technological determinist view of socioeconomic development came from the German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, who argued that changes in technology, and specifically productive technology, are the primary influence on human social relations and organizational structure, and that social relations and cultural practices ultimately revolve around the technological and economic base of a given society. Marx's position has become embedded in contemporary society, where the idea that fast-changing technologies alter human lives is pervasive.


title: Technological determinism

text: Although many authors attribute a technologically determined view of human history to Marx's insights, not all Marxists are technological determinists, and some authors question the extent to which Marx himself was a determinist. Furthermore, there are multiple forms of technological determinism.


title: Technological determinism

text: The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), an American social scientist. Veblen's contemporary, popular historian Charles A. Beard, provided this apt determinist image, "Technology marches in seven-league boots from one ruthless, revolutionary conquest to another, tearing down old factories and industries, flinging up new processes with terrifying rapidity." As to the meaning, it is described as the ascription to machines of "powers" that they do not have. Veblen, for instance, asserted that "the machine throws out anthropomorphic habits of thought." There is also the case of Karl Marx who expected that the construction of the railway in India would dissolve the caste system. The general idea, according to Robert Heilbroner, is that technology, by way of its machines, can cause historical change by changing the material conditions of human existence.


title: Technological determinism

text: One of the most radical technological determinists was Clarence Ayres, who was a follower of Veblen's theory in the 20th century. Ayres is best known for developing economic philosophies, but he also worked closely with Veblen who coined the technological determinism theory. He often talked about the struggle between technology and ceremonial structure. One of his most notable theories involved the concept of "technological drag" where he explains technology as a self-generating process and institutions as ceremonial and this notion creates a technological over-determinism in the process.


title: Technological determinism

text: Technological determinism seeks to show technical developments, media, or technology as a whole, as the key mover in history and social change. It is a theory subscribed to by "hyperglobalists" who claim that as a consequence of the wide availability of technology, accelerated globalization is inevitable. Therefore, technological development and innovation become the principal motor of social, economic or political change.


title: Technological determinism

text: Strict adherents to technological determinism do not believe the influence of technology differs based on how much a technology is or can be used. Instead of considering technology as part of a larger spectrum of human activity, technological determinism sees technology as the basis for all human activity.


title: Technological determinism

text: Technological determinism has been summarized as 'The belief in technology as a key governing force in society ...' (Merritt Roe Smith). 'The idea that technological development determines social change ...' (Bruce Bimber). It changes the way people think and how they interact with others and can be described as '...a three-word logical proposition: "Technology determines history"' (Rosalind H. Williams) . It is, '... the belief that social progress is driven by technological innovation, which in turn follows an "inevitable" course.' This 'idea of progress' or 'doctrine of progress' is centralised around the idea that social problems can be solved by technological advancement, and this is the way that society moves forward. Technological determinists believe that "'You can't stop progress', implying that we are unable to control technology" (Lelia Green). This suggests that we are somewhat powerless and society allows technology to drive social changes because, "societies fail to be aware of the alternatives to the values embedded in it [technology]" (Merritt Roe Smith).


title: Technological determinism

text: Technological determinism has been defined as an approach that identifies technology, or technological advances, as the central causal element in processes of social change (Croteau and Hoynes). As a technology is stabilized, its design tends to dictate users' behaviors, consequently diminishing human agency. This stance however ignores the social and cultural circumstances in which the technology was developed. Sociologist Claude Fischer (1992) characterized the most prominent forms of technological determinism as "billiard ball" approaches, in which technology is seen as an external force introduced into a social situation, producing a series of ricochet effects.


title: Technological determinism

text: Rather than acknowledging that a society or culture interacts with and even shapes the technologies that are used, a technological determinist view holds that "the uses made of technology are largely determined by the structure of the technology itself, that is, that its functions follow from its form" (Neil Postman). However, this is not to be confused with Daniel Chandler's "inevitability thesis", which states that once a technology is introduced into a culture that what follows is the inevitable development of that technology.


title: Technological determinism

text: For example, we could examine why Romance Novels have become so dominant in our society compared to other forms of novels like the Detective or Western novel. We might say that it was because of the invention of the perfect binding system developed by publishers. This was where glue was used instead of the time-consuming and very costly process of binding books by sewing in separate signatures. This meant that these books could be mass-produced for the wider public. We would not be able to have mass literacy without mass production. This example is closely related to Marshall McLuhan's belief that print helped produce the nation state. This moved society on from an oral culture to a literate culture but also introduced a capitalist society where there was clear class distinction and individualism. As Postman maintains


title: Technological determinism

text: The printing press, the computer, and television are not therefore simply machines which convey information. They are metaphors through which we conceptualize reality in one way or another. They will classify the world for us, sequence it, frame it, enlarge it, reduce it, argue a case for what it is like. Through these media metaphors, we do not see the world as it is. We see it as our coding systems are. Such is the power of the form of information.


title: Technological determinism

text: In examining determinism, hard determinism can be contrasted with soft determinism. A compatibilist says that it is possible for free will and determinism to exist in the world together, while an incompatibilist would say that they can not and there must be one or the other. Those who support determinism can be further divided.


title: Technological determinism

text: Hard determinists would view technology as developing independent from social concerns. They would say that technology creates a set of powerful forces acting to regulate our social activity and its meaning. According to this view of determinism we organize ourselves to meet the needs of technology and the outcome of this organization is beyond our control or we do not have the freedom to make a choice regarding the outcome (autonomous technology). The 20th century French philosopher and social theorist Jacques Ellul could be said to be a hard determinist and proponent of autonomous technique (technology). In his 1954 work "", Ellul essentially posits that technology, by virtue of its power through efficiency, determines which social aspects are best suited for its own development through a process of natural selection. A social system's values, morals, philosophy etc. that are most conducive to the advancement of technology allow that social system to enhance its power and spread at the expense of those social systems whose values, morals, philosophy etc. are less promoting of technology. While geography, climate, and other "natural" factors largely determined the parameters of social conditions for most of human history, technology has recently become the dominant objective factor (largely due to forces unleashed by the industrial revolution) and it has been the principal objective and determining factor.


title: Technological determinism

text: Soft determinism, as the name suggests, is a more passive view of the way technology interacts with socio-political situations. Soft determinists still subscribe to the fact that technology is the guiding force in our evolution, but would maintain that we have a "chance" to make decisions regarding the outcomes of a situation. This is not to say that free will exists, but that the possibility for us to "roll the dice" and see what the outcome is exists. A slightly different variant of soft determinism is the 1922 technology-driven theory of social change proposed by William Fielding Ogburn, in which society must adjust to the consequences of major inventions, but often does so only after a period of cultural lag.


title: Technological determinism

text: Individuals who consider technology as neutral see technology as neither good nor bad and what matters are the ways in which we use technology. An example of a neutral viewpoint is, "guns are neutral and its up to how we use them whether it would be 'good or bad'" (Green, 2001). Mackenzie and Wajcman believe that technology is neutral only if it's never been used before, or if no one knows what it is going to be used for (Green, 2001). In effect, guns would be classified as neutral if and only if society were none the wiser of their existence and functionality (Green, 2001). Obviously, such a society is non-existent and once becoming knowledgeable about technology, the society is drawn into a social progression where nothing is 'neutral about society' (Green). According to Lelia Green, if one believes technology is neutral, one would disregard the cultural and social conditions that technology has produced (Green, 2001). This view is also referred to as technological instrumentalism.


title: Technological determinism

text: In what is often considered a definitive reflection on the topic, the historian Melvin Kranzberg famously wrote in the first of his six laws of technology: "Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral."


title: Technological determinism

text: Skepticism about technological determinism emerged alongside increased pessimism about techno-science in the mid-20th century, in particular around the use of nuclear energy in the production of nuclear weapons, Nazi human experimentation during World War II, and the problems of economic development in the Third World. As a direct consequence, desire for greater control of the course of development of technology gave rise to disenchantment with the model of technological determinism in academia.


title: Technological determinism

text: Modern theorists of technology and society no longer consider technological determinism to be a very accurate view of the way in which we interact with technology, even though determinist assumptions and language fairly saturate the writings of many boosters of technology, the business pages of many popular magazines, and much reporting on technology . Instead, research in science and technology studies, social construction of technology and related fields have emphasised more nuanced views that resist easy causal formulations. They emphasise that "The relationship between technology and society cannot be reduced to a simplistic cause-and-effect formula. It is, rather, an 'intertwining'", whereby technology does not determine but "operates, and are operated upon in a complex social field" (Murphie and Potts).


title: Technological determinism

text: T. Snyder approached the aspect of technological determinism in his concept: 'politics of inevitability'. A concept utilized by politicians in which society is promised the idea that the future will be only more of the present, this concept removes responsibility. This could be applied to free markets, the development of nation states and technological progress.


title: Technological determinism

text: In his article "Subversive Rationalization: Technology, Power and Democracy with Technology," Andrew Feenberg argues that technological determinism is not a very well founded concept by illustrating that two of the founding theses of determinism are easily questionable and in doing so calls for what he calls democratic rationalization (Feenberg 210–212).


title: Technological determinism

text: Prominent opposition to technologically determinist thinking has emerged within work on the social construction of technology (SCOT). SCOT research, such as that of Mackenzie and Wajcman (1997) argues that the path of innovation and its social consequences are strongly, if not entirely shaped by society itself through the influence of culture, politics, economic arrangements, regulatory mechanisms and the like. In its strongest form, verging on social determinism, "What matters is not the technology itself, but the social or economic system in which it is embedded" (Langdon Winner).


title: Technological determinism

text: In his influential but contested (see Woolgar and Cooper, 1999) article "Do Artifacts Have Politics?", Langdon Winner illustrates not a form of determinism but the various sources of the politics of technologies. Those politics can stem from the intentions of the designer and the culture of the society in which a technology emerges or can stem from the technology itself, a "practical necessity" for it to function. For instance, New York City urban planner Robert Moses is purported to have built Long Island's parkway tunnels too low for buses to pass in order to keep minorities away from the island's beaches, an example of externally inscribed politics. On the other hand, an authoritarian command-and-control structure is a practical necessity of a nuclear power plant if radioactive waste is not to fall into the wrong hands. As such, Winner neither succumbs to technological determinism nor social determinism. The source of a technology's politics is determined only by carefully examining its features and history.


title: Technological determinism

text: Although "The deterministic model of technology is widely propagated in society" (Sarah Miller), it has also been widely questioned by scholars. Lelia Green explains that, "When technology was perceived as being outside society, it made sense to talk about technology as neutral". Yet, this idea fails to take into account that culture is not fixed and society is dynamic. When "Technology is implicated in social processes, there is nothing neutral about society" (Lelia Green). This confirms one of the major problems with "technological determinism and the resulting denial of human responsibility for change. There is a loss of human involvement that shape technology and society" (Sarah Miller).


title: Technological determinism

text: Another conflicting idea is that of technological somnambulism, a term coined by Winner in his essay "Technology as Forms of Life". Winner wonders whether or not we are simply "sleepwalking" through our existence with little concern or knowledge as to how we truly interact with technology. In this view, it is still possible for us to wake up and once again take control of the direction in which we are traveling (Winner 104). However, it requires society to adopt Ralph Schroeder's claim that, "users don't just passively consume technology, but actively transform it".


title: Technological determinism

text: In opposition to technological determinism are those who subscribe to the belief of social determinism and postmodernism. Social determinists believe that social circumstances alone select which technologies are adopted, with the result that no technology can be considered "inevitable" solely on its own merits. Technology and culture are not neutral and when knowledge comes into the equation, technology becomes implicated in social processes. The knowledge of how to create and enhance technology, and of how to use technology is socially bound knowledge. Postmodernists take another view, suggesting that what is right or wrong is dependent on circumstance. They believe technological change can have implications on the past, present and future. While they believe technological change is influenced by changes in government policy, society and culture, they consider the notion of change to be a paradox, since change is constant.


title: Technological determinism

text: Media and cultural studies theorist Brian Winston, in response to technological determinism, developed a model for the emergence of new technologies which is centered on the Law of the suppression of radical potential. In two of his books – "Technologies of Seeing: Photography, Cinematography and Television" (1997) and "Media Technology and Society" (1998) – Winston applied this model to show how technologies evolve over time, and how their 'invention' is mediated and controlled by society and societal factors which suppress the radical potential of a given technology.


title: Technological determinism

text: One continued argument for technological determinism is centered on the stirrup and its impact on the creation of feudalism in Europe in the late 8th century/early 9th century. Lynn White is credited with first drawing this parallel between feudalism and the stirrup in his book "Medieval Technology and Social Change", which was published in 1962 and argued that as "it made possible mounted shock combat", the new form of war made the soldier that much more efficient in supporting feudal townships (White, 2). According to White, the superiority of the stirrup in combat was found in the mechanics of the lance charge: "The stirrup made possible- though it did not demand- a vastly more effective mode of attack: now the rider could law his lance at rest, held between the upper arm and the body, and make at his foe, delivering the blow not with his muscles but with the combined weight of himself and his charging stallion (White, 2)." White draws from a large research base, particularly Heinrich Brunner's "Der Reiterdienst und die Anfänge des Lehnwesens" in substantiating his claim of the emergence of feudalism. In focusing on the evolution of warfare, particularly that of cavalry in connection with Charles Martel's "diversion of a considerable part of the Church's vast military riches...from infantry to cavalry", White draws from Brunner's research and identifies the stirrup as the underlying cause for such a shift in military division and the subsequent emergence of feudalism (White, 4). Under the new brand of warfare garnered from the stirrup, White implicitly argues in favor of technological determinism as the vehicle by which feudalism was created.


title: Technological determinism

text: Though an accomplished work, White's "Medieval Technology and Social Change" has since come under heavy scrutiny and condemnation. The most volatile critics of White's argument at the time of its publication, P.H. Sawyer and R.H. Hilton, call the work as a whole "a misleading adventurist cast to old-fashioned platitudes with a chain of obscure and dubious deductions from scanty evidence about the progress of technology (Sawyer and Hilton, 90)." They further condemn his methods and, by association, the validity of technological determinism: "Had Mr. White been prepared to accept the view that the English and Norman methods of fighting were not so very different in the eleventh century, he would have made the weakness of his argument less obvious, but the fundamental failure would remain: the stirrup cannot alone explain the changes it made possible (Sawyer and Hilton, 91)." For Sawyer and Hilton, though the stirrup may be useful in the implementation of feudalism, it cannot be credited for the creation of feudalism alone.


title: Technological determinism

text: Despite the scathing review of White's claims, the technological determinist aspect of the stirrup is still in debate. Alex Roland, author of "Once More into the Stirrups; Lynne White Jr, Medieval Technology and Social Change", provides an intermediary stance: not necessarily lauding White's claims, but providing a little defense against Sawyer and Hilton's allegations of gross intellectual negligence. Roland views White's focus on technology to be the most relevant and important aspect of "Medieval Technology and Social Change" rather than the particulars of its execution: "But can these many virtues, can this utility for historians of technology, outweigh the most fundamental standards of the profession? Can historians of technology continue to read and assign a book that is, in the words of a recent critic, "shot through with over-simplification, with a progression of false connexions between cause and effect, and with evidence presented selectively to fit with [White's] own pre-conceived ideas"? The answer, I think, is yes, at least a qualified yes (Roland, 574-575)." Objectively, Roland claims "Medieval Technology and Social Change" a variable success, at least as "Most of White's argument stands... the rest has sparked useful lines of research (Roland, 584)." This acceptance of technological determinism is ambiguous at best, neither fully supporting the theory at large nor denouncing it, rather placing the construct firmly in the realm of the theoretical. Roland neither views technological determinism as completely dominant over history nor completely absent as well; in accordance with the above criterion of technological determinist structure, would Roland be classified as a "soft determinist".


title: Technological determinism

text: Thomas L. Friedman, American journalist, columnist and author, admits to being a technological determinist in his book "The World Is Flat".


title: Technological determinism

text: Futurist Raymond Kurzweil's theories about a technological singularity follow a technologically deterministic view of history.


title: Technological determinism

text: Some interpret Karl Marx as advocating technological determinism, with such statements as "The Handmill gives you society with the feudal lord: the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist" ("The Poverty of Philosophy," 1847), but others argue that Marx was not a determinist.


title: Technological determinism

text: Technological determinist Walter J. Ong reviews the societal transition from an oral culture to a written culture in his work "Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word" (1982). He asserts that this particular development is attributable to the use of new technologies of literacy (particularly print and writing,) to communicate thoughts which could previously only be verbalized. He furthers this argument by claiming that writing is purely context dependent as it is a "secondary modelling system" (8). Reliant upon the earlier primary system of spoken language, writing manipulates the potential of language as it depends purely upon the visual sense to communicate the intended information. Furthermore, the rather stagnant technology of literacy distinctly limits the usage and influence of knowledge, it unquestionably effects the evolution of society. In fact, Ong asserts that "more than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness" (Ong 1982: 78).


title: Technological determinism

text: Media determinism is a form of technological determinism, a philosophical and sociological position which posits the power of the media to impact society. Two foundational media determinists are the Canadian scholars Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan. One of the best examples of technological determinism in media theory is Marshall McLuhan's theory "the medium is the message" and the ideas of his mentor Harold Adams Innis. Both these Canadian theorists saw media as the essence of civilization. The association of different media with particular mental consequences by McLuhan and others can be seen as related to technological determinism. It is this variety of determinism that is referred to as media determinism. According to McLuhan, there is an association between communications media/technology and language; similarly, Benjamin Lee Whorf argues that language shapes our perception of thinking (linguistic determinism). For McLuhan, media is a more powerful and explicit determinant than is the more general concept of language. McLuhan was not necessarily a hard determinist. As a more moderate version of media determinism, he proposed that our use of particular media may have subtle influences on us, but more importantly, it is the social context of use that is crucial. See also Media ecology.


title: Technological determinism

text: Media determinism is a form of the popular dominant theory of the relationship between technology and society. In a determinist view, technology takes on an active life of its own and is seen be as a driver of social phenomena. Innis believed that the social, cultural, political, and economic developments of each historical period can be related directly to the technology of the means of mass communication of that period. In this sense, like Dr. Frankenstein's monster, technology itself appears to be alive, or at least capable of shaping human behavior. However, it has been increasingly subject to critical review by scholars. For example, scholar Raymond Williams, criticizes media determinism and rather believes social movements define technological and media processes. With regard to communications media, audience determinism is a viewpoint opposed to media determinism. This is described as instead of media being presented as doing things to people; the stress is on the way people do things with media. Individuals need to be aware that the term "deterministic" is a negative one for many social scientists and modern sociologists; in particular they often use the word as a term of abuse.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Haley Maria Stevens (born June 24, 1983) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevens is the member–elect for the redrawn 11th district in the 2022 election, having defeated 9th district incumbent Andy Levin in the primary and Republican nominee Mark Ambrose in the general election. Her district includes many of Detroit's northern and western suburbs, including Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Farmington (but not Farmington Hills), Livonia, Canton, Novi, and Northville.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Stevens grew up in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and graduated from Seaholm High School in Birmingham. She attended American University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and philosophy, and a Master of Arts in social policy and philosophy. She became involved in politics in 2006, working for the Michigan Democratic Party as a volunteer organizer. She worked on Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's presidential campaigns in 2008, beginning with Clinton before the primary.


title: Haley Stevens

text: In 2009, Steven Rattner hired Stevens to join the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, and she served as his chief of staff. She worked for the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute in Chicago, returning to Michigan in 2017.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Over January and February 2017, Stevens moved back to Rochester Hills. She announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives seat in in April 2017. The district had been represented by two-term Republican Dave Trott.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Trott announced his retirement in September 2017, making the 11th an open seat. Stevens defeated state Representative Tim Greimel in the Democratic Party primary election and Republican businesswoman Lena Epstein in the general election. Her victory, and that of Elissa Slotkin in the neighboring 8th district, made it the first time since the 1930s that no Republicans represented Oakland County in the House. She also became the first Democrat to represent the 11th for a full term since it assumed its current configuration in 2003.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Stevens and Colin Allred, both alumni of the Obama administration, were selected as co-presidents of the House Democratic Freshman Class of the 116th United States Congress.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Stevens ran for reelection. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election, she defeated the Republican nominee, Eric Esshaki, by less than expected.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Stevens defeated Andy Levin, 60%-40%, becoming the first woman to represent the 11th District. As a result of population loss, Michigan lost a seat in the United States House of Representatives. The newly drawn 11th District put Stevens and fellow Congressman Andy Levin in the same district. The redrawing of the district covered more of Stevens's earlier electoral base. She reportedly outspent Levin by a factor of five. Her victory was aided by $5 million from EMILY's list and by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which invested $4 million targeting Levin and hailed her victory as proof that "being pro-Israel is both good policy and good politics". Changes in generational and gender dynamics are also said to have played an important role, with a long term Oakland Democrat trend to favor women, and the impact of the Supreme Court's overturning the Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey precedents regarding abortion.


title: Haley Stevens

text: Stevens lives in Waterford. She and Rob Gulley, a software engineer she met in high school, became engaged in June 2020. They married on September 3, 2021. On October 5, 2022, Stevens and Gulley announced their divorce.


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Lenny Kravitz for his second studio album, "Mama Said" (1991). Released as the album's second single in June 1991, the song is a mid-tempo ballad musically inspired by Motown, Philly soul, and Earth, Wind & Fire (particularly "That's the Way of the World"). The horn line at the end is performed by the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. "That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe. And I still love that song very much today," Kravitz said in an interview for VivaMusic.com in 2000. The line is based on a Yogiism, or quotation from Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over."


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" was Kravitz's first top-10 hit on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, reaching 2 to become his highest peak on the chart. Worldwide, the single also reached No. 2 in Canada and peaked within the top 10 on the charts of Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, it reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. British singer Mutya Buena's 2007 song "Real Girl" contains a sample from "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over"; this recording peaked at No. 2 on the UK chart.


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: The song was written by Kravitz while dealing with a struggling marriage to his then wife, Lisa Bonet, and was an attempt to rekindle the relationship. Kravitz has described his thinking at that time as "not just a depression, but a fog. I didn’t know which way was up".


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: Initially Kravitz, realizing the hit potential of the song, did not want to release the song himself, wishing to remain an underground artist, thinking instead of giving the song to Smokey Robinson. His label however eventually persuaded him to include it on the album.


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: Christopher A. Daniel from Albumism said that the song "marries his Curtis Mayfield-inspired falsetto with chunky Stax Records guitars and a lush MFSB-flavored (possibly Love Unlimited Orchestra) string arrangement." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic noted its "swirling Philly soul", describing the song as "instantly addictive". Carla Hay of AXS stated, "Kravitz has said he wrote this song about the breakdown of his marriage to actress Lisa Bonet (they eventually divorced), and the heartbreak is oozing all over this song." She added, "With a Motown-ish 1960s vibe, this ballad (from 1991’s "Mama Said" album) is one of Kravitz’s best ballads. It remains his highest-charting hit of his career in the U.S., where it peaked at No. 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart." Larry Flick from "Billboard" called it a "delicious slice of Philly soul/pop, flavored with lush strings, understated funk bass and guitar riffs, and Kravitz's engaging falsetto vocal. Could be a sleeper smash." Alex Henderson from "Cashbox" picked the song as one of the "goodies" from the album, describing it as "uptown soul"-flavoured. Pan-European magazine "Music & Media" commented that the singer "sings in smooth tones, reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield and the Style Council. Soultime on EHR." Also "Sunday Tribune"'s reviewer noted that Paul Weller and Mayfield are "echoed" in the song.


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is Kravitz's most successful single on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart to date, peaking at No. 2. It also reached No. 2 on the Canadian "RPM" Top Singles chart, behind Adams' hit as well. It was also popular in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

text: The music video, directed by Jesse Dylan, features Kravitz and his band performing the song. Different kinds of background lighting colors were featured in the video.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: The Servant (; lit. "The Story of Bang-ja" or "Bang-ja Chronicles", compare to "Chunhyangjeon") is a 2010 South Korean historical romantic drama film starring Kim Joo-hyuk, Jo Yeo-jeong and Ryoo Seung-bum. It re-tells the origins of the famous Korean folktale "Chunhyangjeon" from the perspective of the male protagonist Lee Mong-ryong's servant.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Throughout the movie, the scene switches between the 'present' Bang providing the narration, and the flashback events of his past.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: While a servant, Bangja shares his rooms with Mr. Ma, a notorious womanizer and self-stylized Lothario. Bangja escorts his master (Mong-ryong) to an evening out at the local pleasure house, where they are witness to a performance by the madam's daughter Chunhyang. While trying to arrange a meeting between Chunhyang and his rather clumsy and socially awkward master, Bangja defends Mong-ryong from a larger, disgruntled patron and inadvertently impresses both Chunhyang and her maidservant Hyangdan.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Mr. Ma begins to coach the simple, honest Bangja in the ways of seducing women, which Bang uses to secure a picnic outing for Mong-ryong with Chunhyang through Hyangdan. During the excursion, Bangja so astounds the ladies by cooking meat to perfection, recovering Chunhyang's slipper from the waterfall pool, and carrying her on his back after she injured her ankle, that a love triangle rapidly begins to form between the two women and Bangja, much to the consternation of Mong-ryong, though he boasts that he is slowly luring Chunhyang to him by playing hard to get.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: While his master continues to study, Bangja attempts to court Chunhyang. Mr. Ma continues to provide instruction to Bangja, assuaging his concerns when he thinks his master may have slept with her, and pushing him to seize upon spending the night with her before his master can. Though Bangja's seduction is clumsy and his approach very tentative, Chunhyang begins to fall for him and makes love to him on several occasions. Due to his low social-standing, however, she seeks to marry Mong-ryong and enlists Bangja's help in order to make this plan a reality.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: When Mong-ryong is called away to Seoul to finish studying and take his exam he asks Bangja to recover a written promise he gave Chunhyang about marrying her. She catches Bangja as he tries to steal the paper, and switches it for a confession letter she wrote and got him to sign the night the two of them first had sex. Mong-ryong reads the letter and dismisses Bangja from his service for having deceived him.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Three years pass, and Bangja and Chunhyang grow closer and continue to love each other while Bangja becomes the servant of Chunhyang's house and runs errands for a local strong man. However, Chunhyang begins to take after her mother and grows increasingly manipulative despite her burgeoning love for Bangja.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: In Seoul, Mong-ryong takes his exams and becomes a Royal Inspector. After insulting the court eunuchs however, he is accorded a lowly position in his home town, subservient to the new governor.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Mong-ryong finds Hyangdan has become the madam of her own house and runs a successful business. She sleeps with Mong-ryong and asks him if she is not more desirable and pleasing than Chunhyang, but expresses remorse that Bangja chose Chunhyang over her.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Mong-ryong discusses women with his magistrate and later returns to Chunhyang's house. Mong-ryong goes for a walk with Chunhyang, and though it is not revealed what the two discussed, Chunhyang returns with a pleased expression and an expectation of seeing Mong-ryong again.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: The magistrate visits Chunhyang's house and after a confrontation with his own clerks and then Bangja, is greeted by a beautiful, but uncooperative Chunhyang who refuses to sit and pour his drinks because she is not a gisaeng. Enraged by her arrogance, the governor beats Bangja when he attempts to interfere, and has Chunhyang imprisoned. Bangja goes to Mong-ryong and implores his old master to help save her life.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Later, during a celebration, the magistrate is seen in a back room attempting to sexually excite Chunhyang because Mong-ryong had told him that she would only bow to his wishes and fulfill his desires if he were violent with her. Bangja causes a commotion to get the magistrate to release her, but is saved from being beaten by the guards when Mong-ryong arrives with a large contingent of guards. Mong-ryong arrests the magistrate and has Chunhyang whipped for her insolence until Bangja interferes, claiming that she has a husband whom she was remaining faithful to. Chunhyang stabs herself with a small blade, saying to Mong-ryong (whose face was hidden) that she wanted news of her death taken to Master Lee Mong-ryong.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Bangja is visited in his cell, first by Mr. Ma, who warns him to never beg a woman to stay, then by Chunhyang, who reveals that she and Mong-ryong planned the whole event after he returned from his exams. For the first time, Bangja confesses his love to Chunhyang. She then tells Mong-ryong that she will not leave without Bangja, and so the three of them depart the city together. When the trio stop at the waterfall where they had their first excursion years before, Mong-ryong pushes Chunhyang down the falls and she is seen face-down in the water. Bangja dives in to save her and runs away, carrying her on his back as he did when she injured her ankle.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: The 'present' Bangja tells the writer that he ran from Mong-ryong and his agents for a long time after those events. The last thing he does to bring the story to close is bring the writer to the back of his warehouse to see Chunhyang who survived the fall, but was left with brain damage and has 'become a child'.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: The writer declares that Bangja is an amazing man and will make him the hero of a wonderful story about a servant's love, but Bangja insists that the story be told with her fabricated fidelity being the truth, and Chunhyang living happily ever after with a Lee Mong-ryong who loved her and returned for her. When asked why, he says it was because it was something she never got to have, and he is happy with being the hero in his heart.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: Bangja requests one scene be written to demonstrate the love between the two characters, which he demonstrates by carrying Chunhyang around the room on his back and singing a variation of the song "Sarangga" from the pansori Chunhyangga while she smiles lovingly and snowflakes slowly fall on them from the open roof.


title: The Servant (2010 film)

text: The last scenes are of people in the village where they lived, the times when she entertained guests at her house with her singing, and of her shoe in the ice below the waterfall where he saved her.


title: Naraka

text: Naraka () is the realm of hell in Indian religions. According to some schools of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, "Naraka" is a place of torment. The word "Neraka" (modification of "Naraka") in Indonesian and Malaysian has also been used to describe the Islamic concept of Hell.


title: Naraka

text: Alternatively, the "hellish beings" that are said to reside in this underworld are often referred to as "Narakas". These beings are also termed in Sanskrit as "Narakiyas" (, ), "Narakarnavas" (, ) and "Narakavasis" (, ).


title: Naraka

text: Naraka is a realm in the Vedas, a place where souls are sent for the expiation of their sins. It is mentioned primarily in the Dharmashastras, Itihasas, and the Puranas, but also described in the Vedic samhitas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads. Some Upanishads speak of 'darkness' instead of hell. A summary of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita mentions hell several times. Adi Sankara also mentions it in his commentary on the Vedanta sutra. With the exception of the views of one Hindu philosopher, Madhva, it is not seen as a place of eternal damnation within Hinduism.


title: Naraka

text: In Puranas like Bhagavata Purana, Garuda Purana, and Vishnu Purana, there are elaborate descriptions of many hells. They are situated above the Garbhodaka Ocean. The Vishnu Purana mentions the names of the various Narakas:


title: Naraka

text: Yama, the god of death and justice, judges living beings after their death and assigns appropriate punishments. For instance, the murderer of a Brahman, the stealer of gold, or a drinker of wine goes to the hell termed as "Shukara", meaning swine. According to some Vedanta schools of thought, Nitya-samsarins (forever transmigrating ones) can experience Naraka for expiation. After the period of punishment is complete, they are reborn on earth in human or bestial bodies. Therefore, Naraka is not an abode of everlasting punishment.


title: Naraka

text: "Yama Loka" is the abode of Yama. Yama is also referred to as the "Dharmaraja," or the king of dharma; Yama Loka may be compared to a temporary "purgatorium" for sinners (papi). According to Hindu scriptures, Yama's divine assistant, Chitragupta, maintains a record of the individual deeds of every living being in the world, and based on the complete audit of his deeds, dispatches the soul of the deceased either to Svarga (Heaven), or to the various Narakas, according to the nature of their sins. The scriptures describe that even people who have done a majority of good deeds could come to Yama Loka for redemption from the minor sins they have committed, and once the punishments have been served for those sins, they could be sent for rebirth to earth or to heaven. In the epic of Mahabharata, even the Pandavas (who represent righteousness and virtuousness) spend a brief time in hell for their minor sins.


title: Naraka

text: At the time of death, sinful souls are vulnerable for capture by Yamaduttas, servants of Yama (who comes personally only in special cases). According to the Bhagavata Purana, Yama orders his servants to leave Vaishnavas alone. Sri Vaishnavas are taken by Vishnuduttas to Vaikuntha, and Gaudiya Vaishnavas to Goloka.


title: Naraka

text: In Buddhism, Naraka refers to the worlds of greatest suffering. Buddhist texts describe a vast array of tortures and realms of torment in Naraka; an example is the "Devadūta-sutta" from the Pāli Canon. The descriptions vary from text to text and are not always consistent with each other. Though the term is often translated as "hell", unlike the Abrahamic hells, Naraka is not eternal, though when a timescale is given, it is suggested to be extraordinarily long. In this sense, it is similar to purgatory, but unlike both Abrahamic hell and purgatory, there is not inherently any God required to be involved in determining a being's entry and exit to and from the realm. Rather, the being is brought here—as is the case with all the other realms in the Buddhist cosmology—by natural law: the law of karma, and they remain until the negative karma that brought them there has been used up.


title: Naraka

text: In Jainism, Naraka is the name given to realm of existence in Jain cosmology having great suffering. The length of a being's stay in a Naraka is not eternal, though it is usually very long—measured in billions of years. A soul is born into a Naraka as a direct result of his or her previous karma (actions of body, speech and mind), and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result. After his karma is used up, he may be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of an earlier karma that had not yet ripened. Jain texts mention that these hells are situated in the seven grounds at the lower part of the universe. The seven grounds are:


title: Violet Parr

text: Violet Parr is a fictional character in Pixar's computer animated superhero film "The Incredibles" (2004) and its sequel "Incredibles 2" (2018). The eldest child of Bob and Helen Parr (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl), Violet is born with the superhuman ability to render herself invisible, as well as generate force fields. Voiced by Sarah Vowell, Violet is a shy junior high school student who longs to fit in among her peers, a task she believes is hindered by her superpowers. Throughout the course of the films, Violet gradually matures and becomes more confident in herself as both a young woman and a superhero.


title: Violet Parr

text: Created by screenwriter and director Brad Bird, Bird decided to grant Violet the ability to turn invisible because he felt that this specific superpower mirrors some of the challenges that teenage girls experience while growing up, namely insecurity and defensiveness. Bird cast Vowell as Violet upon listening to her contribute a real-life story about her father to the radio program "This American Life", with Violet ultimately becoming Vowell's first voice-acting role. Vowell identified with the character's shy, sarcastic nature, in addition to observing similarities between Violet's relationship with Bob and her relationship with her own father.


title: Violet Parr

text: New computer technology was developed to animate Violet's hair, which animators identified as the most difficult component of "The Incredibles" since such a large quantity of hair had never been featured in a computer-animated film before. The character's hair serves as an important aspect of Violet's character development, which demonstrates her steady increase in self-confidence as she gradually ceases to hide her face behind it.


title: Violet Parr

text: Reception towards Violet has been positive, with film critics commending her character development and relatability, as well as Vowell's vocal performance. Critics have also heavily compared Violet to the comic book superheroine the Invisible Woman, whose superpowers she shares. The character's likeness has since been used in several tie-in media and merchandise associated with the films, including toys, books and video game adaptations.


title: Violet Parr

text: Screenwriter and director Brad Bird conceived Violet as "a 14-year-old teenage girl who just wants to be invisible". In early drafts of the screenplay, Violet was depicted as an infant as opposed to a teenager, since parents Bob and Helen Parr were originally intended to be introduced as retired superheroes who had just begun to attempt to live normal lives much earlier during the film. Violet is voiced by American author and actress Sarah Vowell, who related that she was offered the role unexpectedly. While beginning to cast the film's main characters, Bird had been listening to the National Public Radio program "This American Life", to which Vowell is a frequent contributor. During one of Vowell's regular appearances on the show, Bird heard her contribute an anecdote about a cannon she had helped her father, a gunsmith, build. Bird wanted to cast Vowell based on her description of the event, deciding that she was "perfect" for the role, which he immediately called to offer her. Vowell had already earned a reputation for declining several voice acting jobs prior to "The Incredibles", to the point at which her agent warned Bird not to waste his time. However, Vowell states that she simply avoided pursuing voice roles in general because she was content being a writer and found few animated projects particularly interesting prior to "The Incredibles".


title: Violet Parr

text: The animators animated a rough test sequence to some of Vowell's dialogue from the radio segment about her father's cannon, in which Violet is depicted being startled by a gun that repeatedly fires in her hands. Despite experiencing some hesitation due to having never voiced an animated character before, Vowell accepted the role after receiving an e-mail from the film's producer, agreeing to participate in "The Incredibles" because she believes that Pixar is consistently "the best at what they do", comparing the offer to politician Nelson Mandela "asking for your help to fight racism". She had also been a long-time fan of Bird's work as a filmmaker. Vowell ultimately accepted the role based on a sole image she had been sent of the character: a drawing of Violet surrounded by her schoolmates, all of whom appear to be happy and outgoing apart from Violet herself, who is instead hunched over and hiding behind her hair. Vowell concluded, "I can be that kid. I was that kid. I love that archetype of the morose, shy, smart-alecky teenage girl."


title: Violet Parr

text: IndieWire contributor Oliver Lyttelton believes that Vowell was the most unexpected of Bird's casting decisions. Vowell has said that, like Violet, she herself "is a little smart-alecky and also has a weird dad with a strange hobby", finding the unique dynamic between Violet and Bob similar to her relationship with her own father, particularly the combination of affection, sarcasm and confusion that both she and her character feel towards their respective parents. Vowell expounded that she tends to resemble "a wise guy" in conversation with her father and believes that her tone of voice possibly influenced Bird's decision to cast her as a teenager. Vowell admitted that she shares Violet's "inability to stop pushing people's buttons", citing their tendency to voice their opinions about any given topic and gift for making various situations awkward as similarities.