title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: The Light of the World (1851–1854) is an allegorical painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) representing the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door, illustrating Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me". According to Hunt: "I painted the picture with what I thought, unworthy though I was, to be divine command, and not simply a good subject." The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, representing "the obstinately shut mind". The painting was considered by many to be the most important and culturally influential rendering of Christ of its time.


title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: Many speculated about the identity of the model. In January 1898, Edward Clodd sent Hunt a copy of a newspaper article on the subject, asking for Hunt's verification. Hunt had earlier told Cloddof my having used a cast from a clay model made by me, with a variety of male sitters, my father, Millais, John Capper and, in person, furtively from Carlyle, also from many departed heroes in effigy – the best I could get serving as my model for different parts of the headHunt replied that "What [the author of the article] says about Miss Christina Rossetti sitting for the head . . . is true," which Rossetti did after Hunt felt he had "secured the male character in the head."


title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: The original is variously said to have been painted at night in a makeshift hut at Worcester Park Farm in Surrey, and in the garden of the Oxford University Press, while it is suggested that Hunt found the dawn light he needed outside Bethlehem on one of his visits to the Holy Land. In oil on canvas, it was begun around 1849 or 1850 and completed in 1854. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854 and is now in the side chapel at Keble College, Oxford. The painting was donated to the college by Martha Combe, the widow of Thomas Combe, Printer to the University of Oxford, Tractarian, and a patron of the Pre-Raphaelites, in the year following his death in 1872, on the understanding that it would hang in the chapel (constructed 1873–1876), but the building's architect William Butterfield was opposed to that and made no provision in his design. When the college library opened in 1878 it was placed there, and was moved to its present position only after the construction of the side chapel to accommodate it, in 1892–1895, by another architect, J. T. Micklethwaite.


title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: A second, smaller version of the work, painted by Hunt between 1851 and 1856, is on display at Manchester City Art Gallery, England, which purchased it in 1912. There are small differences between that and the first version, such as the angle of the gaze, and the drape of the corner of the red cloak.


title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: The fact that, at the time, Keble College charged a fee to view the picture, persuaded Hunt to paint a larger, life-sized, version toward the end of his life. He began it in about 1900 and finished in 1904. Shipowner and social reformer, Charles Booth, purchased the work and it was hung in St Paul's Cathedral, London. It was dedicated there in 1908, following a 1905–1907 world tour, during which the picture drew large crowds. It was claimed that four-fifths of Australia's population viewed it. Due to Hunt's increasing infirmity and glaucoma, he was assisted in the completion of this version by English painter Edward Robert Hughes (who also assisted with Hunt's version of "The Lady of Shalott"). The third version diverges more from the original than the second one.


title: The Light of the World (painting)

text: The painting gave rise to much popular devotion in the late Victorian period and inspired several musical works, including Arthur Sullivan's 1873 oratorio "The Light of the World". Engraved reproductions were widely hung in nurseries, schools and church buildings.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Suzanne Todd (born June 1, 1965) is an American film and television producer, and the owner of the film production company Team Todd.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Team Todd produced the 2012 romantic comedy "Celeste and Jesse Forever", starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, which made its debut at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. This was Team Todd's second time at Sundance. They also produced Galt Niederhoffer's directorial debut "The Romantics", which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Team Todd produced Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" (2010), which grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and won two Academy Awards—for Best Achievement in Art Direction and for Costume Design. "Alice in Wonderland" was also Golden Globe nominated for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Fight, won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and was nominated for several other Teen Choice, MTV and People's Choice Awards.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: In addition, Team Todd produced the musical "Across The Universe", directed by Julie Taymor and starring Evan Rachel Wood. It was nominated for a 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Picture and Academy Award nominated in the Best Costume category.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Todd's independent film, "Memento", garnered filmmaker Christopher Nolan MTV's Best New Filmmaker Award in 2002 as well as the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Grossing over half a billion dollars worldwide, Team Todd's "Austin Powers" trilogy is the most successful comedy franchise in New Line Cinema history. Released in 1997, "", starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley quickly became an audience favorite, and went on to gross $67 million worldwide. The 1999 follow-up "", again starring Mike Myers, this time with Heather Graham, grossed $310 million worldwide and won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, two MTV Movie Awards and a Teen Choice Award. It was nominated for a slew of other awards including an Academy Award for Best Makeup, a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, a Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album and a MTV Award for Best Movie. The third installment, "Austin Powers in Goldmember", starring Mike Myers with Beyoncé Knowles, grossed $289 million worldwide and won a Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie, the MTV Award for Best Comedic Performance and a BMI Film Music Award. It was also nominated for a Saturn Award in addition to several other MTV, Teen Choice and Black Reel Awards.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Team Todd's other credits include "The Accidental Husband", "Prime", "Must Love Dogs", and "Boiler Room", the gritty Wall Street drama starring Giovanni Ribisi and Ben Affleck, for which Todd, her sister Jennifer, and director Ben Younger, were nominated for Best First Feature at the 2001 Independent Spirit Awards. In 1999, Todd executive produced HBO's "If These Walls Could Talk 2", starring Vanessa redgrave, Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone, for which she received a 2000 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and a 2001 PGA Golden Laurel Award nomination for Producer of the Year in Longform TV. Vanessa Redgrave won every major acting award for her role in this film, including the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Prior to forming Team Todd, Todd partnered with Demi Moore to create their production company, Moving Pictures. During their five-year partnership, Todd produced "G.I. Jane" for director Ridley Scott at Disney, which starred Moore, as well as "Now and Then" for New Line Cinema, also starring Moore with Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith, Rita Wilson, Christina Ricci and Thora Birch. Their TV movie "If These Walls Could Talk", starring Moore, Cher, Sissy Spacek and Rita Wilson, was at that time the highest rated movie in HBO history, and earned Todd a Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy Award nominations for Best Picture Made for Television as well as the prestigious Governor's Award.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Todd is a Film Production graduate at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. She is involved in several charitable causes including St. Joseph Center, The Children's Institute, The Alliance for Children's Rights, Variety, the Children's Charity, and the Zimmer Children's Museum. She mentors aspiring filmmakers through the USC Stark Mentorship Program and the Producers Guild of America. She is also a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America and DGA.


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Todd is also an avid poker player, and won the 9th Annual Saban Poker Tournament, winning a seat in the 2012 World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas. While a student at USC, Todd was an undefeated champion for a week on "The $100,000 Pyramid".


title: Suzanne Todd

text: Todd's films have been honored by the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Emmys, as well as Cosmo's Fun Fearless Female Award, the GLAAD media award, Saturn Awards, MTV Movie Awards, and a People's Choice Award.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: The visa policy of Malaysia consists of the requirements for foreign nationals to travel to, enter, and remain in Malaysia. Most visitors to Malaysia are granted visa-free entry for a period of 90, 30, or 14 days respectively. However, nationals from some countries must first obtain a visa from one of the Malaysian Diplomatic Missions before being allowed into the country. All visitors must hold a passport valid for at least 6 months.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: According to Timatic, holders of passports issued by the following jurisdictions can enter Malaysia without a visa for up to the duration listed below.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Holders of passports issued by the following 66 jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 90 days:


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Holders of passports issued by the following 94 jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 30 days:


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Holders of passports issued by the following 2 jurisdictions are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for 14 days:


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: In addition, holders of Macao Special Administrative Region Travel Permits are granted visa-free entry for 14 days.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Holders of diplomatic or official/service passports of Bangladesh, China and India do not require a visa for up to 30 days and 3 months respectively; however they must first request for entry permission at any port of entry in order to enter Malaysia.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: A visa waiver agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders was signed with Pakistan in November 2018 and is yet to enter into force.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Holders of passports issued by the following countries who possess an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) containing the "MYS" code on the reverse, which indicates that it is valid for travel to Malaysia, can enter Malaysia visa-free for business trips for up to 60 days.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: On 1 March 2017, Malaysian government set up a new online application system to accept applications for Electronic Visa (eVISA) and Electronic Travel Registration and Information (eNTRI) to facilitate tourism. eNTRI program is good for Chinese and Indian passport holders and lasts until 31 December 2020 while eVISA is good for citizens of more countries and is still available so far.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: eVISA application also applies to those seeking student or expatriate visas for entering Malaysia, although they must report to immigration authorities upon arrival in Malaysia in order to obtain their immigration passes.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: The application website contains IP address detection, applicants have to apply from designated countries or they will be blocked from the application.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Nationals of China and India who are arriving directly from Indonesia, Singapore or Thailand and who hold a valid visa from those countries can obtain a visa on arrival to Malaysia for a maximum stay of 14 days (which cannot be extended) at Kuala Lumpur–International (KUL), Johor Bahru (JHB), Kota Kinabalu (BKI), Kuching (KCH), Miri (MYY) or Penang (PEN), provided they hold return flight tickets and at least USD 500 per person. The visa fee is 200 Malaysian ringgit; other currencies are not accepted. Boarding passes or tickets must be presented to prove that the national seeking a visa on arrival originated from one of the three aforementioned countries.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Nationals of certain countries that do not enjoy visa-free entry can instead be granted a free transit pass for stays of up to 120 hours when transiting through Kuala Lumpur International Airport. They must hold an onward ticket departing Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur in 120 hours, and the flight departing Malaysia must be operated by either Air Asia or Malaysia Airlines.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Nationals of the following countries are only eligible for the free transit pass if they hold a visa or a residence permit issued by Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan or the United States, and are departing to or arriving from these countries. They may only arrive and depart from either the main terminal or the low-cost carrier terminal (KLIA2), unless they hold a residence permit.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Nationals of other non visa-exempt countries can transit through Kuala Lumpur International Airport for a maximum of 24 hours; however, they are not permitted to switch between the main terminal and KLIA2 unless they hold a valid visa.


title: Visa policy of Malaysia

text: Nationals of the following countries require an International Certificate of Vaccination in order to enter Malaysia: The vaccination requirement is imposed by this country for protection against Yellow Fever since the principal mosquito vector Aedes aegypti is present in its territory.


title: Tada Never Falls in Love

text: The story follows Mitsuyoshi Tada, a boy who has never known love. He is taking pictures of the cherry blossoms in full bloom when he meets Teresa Wagner, a transfer student from Luxembourg, a European country. It seems that she separated from her travel companion upon arriving in Japan. Tada helps her and brings her to his grandfather's coffee shop. Teresa's travel companion and bodyguard Alec arrives and beats up Kaoru misunderstanding him as chasing after Teresa. They discover that the hotel they're supposed to be staying in is actually next to Tada's cafe. The next day, they enroll in Tada's school and are in the same class. Alec agrees on joining the Photography Club on Teresa's request that she also wants to take great pictures. Mitsuyoshi is actually an aspiring photographer and wants to become like his father, who was a famous photographer. Mitsuyoshi lost his parents in a car accident during their childhood. The one last photo his father took and the camera were the only things that came back. The story focuses on the adventures of Tada and his friends and their building relationships.


title: Tada Never Falls in Love

text: The 13-episode original anime television series by Doga Kobo aired from April 5 to June 28, 2018. The series is directed by Mitsue Yamazaki, with series composition by Yoshiko Nakamura, character designs by Junichiro Taniguchi and music by Yukari Hashimoto. The opening theme is performed by Masayoshi Ōishi, and the ending theme is a cover of the Sambomaster song performed by Manaka Iwami as her character Teresa Wagner. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series and streamed it on Hidive.


title: Tada Never Falls in Love

text: A novel adaptation titled was published by Kadokawa under their Kadokawa Beans Bunko imprint on June 1, 2018.


title: IMac G5

text: The iMac G5 is an all-in-one personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from August 2004 to March 2006. It is the final iMac to use a PowerPC processor, making it the last model that could natively run Mac OS 9 (Classic) applications. It was replaced in January 2006 by the Intel-based iMac, which retained the features, price, and case design of the iMac G5.


title: IMac G5

text: In August 2004, the iMac design was overhauled. By this time, the PowerPC 970 (G5) processor had been released and was being used in the Power Mac G5. Famously, the Power Mac G5 needed multiple fans in a large casing (or else liquid cooling, an innovative solution Apple adopted for the highest-end Power Mac G5s) because of the high heat output from those CPUs.


title: IMac G5

text: Apple's new iMac managed to incorporate the PowerPC 970 into an all-in-one design with a distinctive form factor. The computer used the same 17 and 20-inch widescreen LCDs found in the iMac G4, with the main logic board and optical drive now mounted directly behind the LCD panel; this gave the appearance of a thickened desktop LCD monitor. The approximately two inches deep enclosure is suspended above the desk by an aluminum arm that can be replaced by a VESA mounting plate. The iMac G5 uses an advanced cooling system controlled by the operating system; at low CPU loads this rendered the iMac G5 virtually silent. Apple boasted that it was the slimmest desktop computer on the market.


title: IMac G5

text: The iMac G5 was updated in March 2005 to the Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) revision. It included a handful of configuration differences – more RAM, a larger hard drive, improved graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, and standard AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.


title: IMac G5

text: In October 2005, the final revision was released, adding an integrated iSight webcam mounted above the LCD and Apple's Front Row media interface. Other improvements included faster processors, more RAM, larger hard drives, and improved graphics. Notably this became the first Apple computer to use the PCI Express expansion bus and DDR2 SDRAM, with these features appearing shortly before they were incorporated into the Power Mac G5. It was declared "The Gold Standard of desktop PCs" by Walt Mossberg of "The Wall Street Journal".


title: IMac G5

text: Although the iMac G5 iSight looked outwardly similar to the two previous revisions, it had a slimmer, internally new design. Improvements included superior cooling and performance increases. The stand could no longer be replaced with a VESA mount. This case, unlike the previous models, opened only from the front and requires the LCD screen to be removed before internal components can be accessed. Apple recommend no user serviceable items other than RAM, which is accessible through a small door at the base of the housing. In the intervening years, many guides have been posted on the internet to support replacing other components including the hard drive and optical drive, though doing would have at one time voided any remaining Apple warranty.


title: IMac G5

text: The iMac G5 was succeeded by the Intel-based iMac on January 10, 2006, beginning the 6-month transition of Apple's entire line of computers to the Intel architecture.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: NXT TakeOver 31 was the 31st NXT TakeOver professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on October 4, 2020, and was broadcast from the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida—this was the first NXT event to feature the Capitol Wrestling Center, NXT's version of the WWE ThunderDome used for Raw and SmackDown and an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE. This was also the first NXT TakeOver to air on traditional PPV in addition to the WWE Network.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Finn Bálor defeated Kyle O'Reilly to retain the NXT Championship. In the penultimate match, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women's Championship. Other prominent matches included Santos Escobar defeating Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship and Damian Priest defeating Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship in the opening bout.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling shows that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held their second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver. In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. Titled for being the 31st NXT TakeOver event, TakeOver 31 was scheduled to be held on October 4, 2020. While NXT TakeOver events were originally exclusive to the WWE Network, TakeOver 31 was the first TakeOver to also be available on traditional pay-per-view.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. NXT's programming was held at NXT's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. In October 2020, it was announced that beginning with TakeOver 31, NXT would be moving their events to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, which would feature the new "Capitol Wrestling Center" setup, an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE. Like the WWE ThunderDome utilized for Raw and SmackDown's programming, LED boards were placed around the Performance Center so that fans could attend virtually, while additionally, friends and family members of the wrestlers were in attendance, along with a limited number of actual live fans, divided from each other by plexiglass walls.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: The show included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on their weekly television program, "NXT."


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: On the September 23 episode of "NXT", Kyle O'Reilly won a gauntlet eliminator match defeating Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Kushida, and Timothy Thatcher to face NXT Champion Finn Bálor for the title at TakeOver 31.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: On the September 23 episode of "NXT", Candice LeRae won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship against Io Shirai at TakeOver 31.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: On September 23, NXT general manager William Regal announced that Damian Priest would defend the NXT North American Championship against Johnny Gargano at TakeOver 31.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: On the August 12 episode of "NXT", Kushida and the returning Velveteen Dream competed in a triple threat match, to determine who would qualify for the ladder match at TakeOver XXX. After the match, Dream attacked Kushida. On the September 8 episode of "NXT", Kushida returned and attacked Dream. On September 26, a match between the two was scheduled for TakeOver 31.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: The pay-per-view opened with Johnny Gargano challenging Damian Priest for Priest's NXT North American Championship. A spot in the match saw Damian Priest use a suicide dive but Johnny Gargano moved out of the way and Priest landed on a cameraman. At the conclusion of a competitive match, Priest managed to reverse Gargano's attempt at his slingshot DDT finisher (known as "One Final Beat") into his own rolling cutter finisher (known as "The Reckoning") which secured him the victory.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Next, Kushida faced the Velveteen Dream. Kushida was the aggressor for the majority of the match, with Dream only getting brief flurries of offense in. At the match's climax, Kushida locked in his "Hoverboard Lock" submission finisher and Dream tried to escape from it. He managed to hoist Kushida on his shoulders to deliver his own "Dream Valley Driver" maneuver, but still, Kushida did not release the hold, and Dream eventually submitted. Kushida continued to attack Dream after the bell, having to be pulled away by officials.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Isaiah "Swerve" Scott then challenged Santos Escobar for his NXT Cruiserweight Championship. This marked the first occasion that the cruiserweight championship was defended during the main card of a TakeOver event. The match was competitive, and both men kicked out of their opponent's finisher (the first instance in which Escobar's "Phantom Driver" did not secure him a victory). At the match's conclusion, Escobar's Legado del Fantasma stablemates Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza ran in to distract Scott, but were chased off by Ashante "Thee" Adonis, entering to help Swerve. In the confusion, Escobar hit Swerve with a lifting, kneeling double-underhook facebreaker (which later came to be known as "Legado") and earned the pinfall.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: The penultimate match of the night was for the NXT Women's Championship, Io Shirai defending against Candice LeRae. The two traded high-impact and high-flying maneuvers for many minutes, until LeRae locked in her husband's signature "Garga-No Escape" submission hold. When Shirai reached the ropes to force the break, LeRae inadvertently elbowed the official. Gargano then ran in with a referee's shirt on to try to fast-count the win for his wife, unsuccessfully. He then grabbed the championship belt and gave it to LeRae to use as a weapon, which she did, but Shirai still survived. Following a top-rope Spanish Fly and her signature finishing moonsault, Shirai won the match to retain the championship. Afterward, the mystery biker who had been advertised to make their appearance at the "TakeOver" came out to confront Shirai and was revealed to be Ember Moon. Toni Storm also confronted Shirai via satellite and confirmed that she has returned to NXT.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Kyle O'Reilly challenged Finn Bálor for the NXT Championship. The match was physically intense, with the two men trading stiff shots at one another for the bulk of it. Late on a kick by Bálor to the face of O'Reilly knocked him off his feet and he sustained legitimate injury. A knee to the gut of Bálor injured him and he started bleeding from the mouth. O'Reilly also sustained a notable shot to his liver, which was referenced in-storyline in the following days. The end featured Bálor using his "Coup de grâce" finisher (a top rope diving double foot-stomp) on O'Reilly to retain. He offered a handshake to O'Reilly as a sign of respect after the brutal match.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: After the match, as the show was about to go off the air, Ridge Holland suddenly appeared behind the barricade. He held over one shoulder a badly-beaten Adam Cole (O'Reilly's Undisputed Era stablemate). Holland said nothing, dropped Cole at ringside, and left. The show closed with O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish checking on Cole.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Both Bálor and O'Reilly sustained legitimate injuries in the match with Bálor suffering a hairline jaw fracture while O'Reilly had broken teeth and other unspecified injuries. Both missed the subsequent edition of "NXT" as a result.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: NXT TakeOver 31 received positive reviews from fans and insiders, with the NXT Championship Match garnering the most praise.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Kevin Pantoja of 411mania.com gave the show a score of 9 out of 10 stating: "The COVID era TakeOvers have been good but not great. Well, this one gets back to classic TakeOver levels. The worst thing was a good KUSHIDA/Dream match. Then, you get a heck of an opener and two **** title matches before an all-time banger of a main event. To top it off, the show runs under two and a half hours, which is great."


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Adam Silverstein of CBSSports.com called TakeOver 31 one of the best shows of the year. He gave the NXT North American Championship match a grade of A−, Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream a grade of B, the Cruiserweight Championship match a grade of A−, the Women's Championship match a grade of B+ and the NXT Championship match a grade of A.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave 3.75 stars to the NXT North American, Cruiserweight and Women's Championship matches while giving 3.25 stars to Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream and 4.5 stars to the NXT Championship match.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Ridge Holland was seriously injured on the October 7, 2020 episode of "NXT", putting him out of action for an extended period.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: As announced during TakeOver, NXT was set to revive as a special edition of "NXT" on October 28, hosted by Shotzi Blackheart. On the October 14 edition of the program, Candice LeRae defeated Blackheart to earn another opportunity to challenge Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship. Johnny Gargano was also given a return bout with Damian Priest for the NXT North American Championship, and both title matches were announced to be "Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal" matches (a reference to Halloween Havoc (1992) and just such a match between Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Sting).


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Kyle O'Reilly returned to "NXT" on the October 14 edition, cutting a promo before stablemates Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish won a match to become #1 contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship, saying he would be medically cleared to wrestle again the following week and that if Ridge Holland were not already laid up in hospital, The Undisputed Era would have put him there.


title: NXT TakeOver 31

text: Finn Bálor's injuries were more severe than first thought, and he underwent surgery on October 9 to repair his jaw fracture, with expected recovery time of six weeks. He returned to "NXT" on November 18 to announce his return, being interrupted by Pat McAfee and his "Kings of NXT" faction (of which Holland was meant to be a member prior to his injury), who then brawled with the also-returning Undisputed Era in advance of a WarGames match between the two sides at .


title: Myelomalacia

text: Myelomalacia is a pathological term referring to the softening of the spinal cord. Possible causes of myelomalacia include cervical myelopathy, hemorrhagic infarction, or acute injury, such as that caused by intervertebral disc extrusion.


title: Myelomalacia

text: In advanced stages, this disorder causes flaccid paraplegia (impairment of motor function in lower extremities), total areflexia (below normal or absence of reflexes) of the pelvic limbs and anus, loss of deep pain perception caudal (toward the coccyx, or tail) to the site of spinal cord injury, muscular atrophy (wasting away of muscle tissue), depressed mental state, and respiratory difficulty due to intercostal (muscles that run between the ribs) and diaphragmatic paralysis. Gradual cranial migration of the neurological deficits (problems relating to the nervous system), is known as ascending syndrome and is said to be a typical feature of diffuse myelomalacia. Although clinical signs of myelomalacia are observed within the onset (start) of paraplegia, sometimes they may become evident only in the post-operative period, or even days after the onset of paraplegia. Death from myelomalacia may occur as a result of respiratory paralysis when the ascending lesion (abnormal damaged tissue) reaches the motor nuclei of the phrenic nerves (nerves between the C3-C5 region of the spine) in the cervical (neck) region.


title: Myelomalacia

text: Myelomalacia affects the neurological functions in the spinal cord. Once breached, the ramification of the damage directly affects the motor functions of the body. Because the central nervous system is affected, the condition is classified under the neurological field of study.


title: Myelomalacia

text: When myelomalacia occurs, the damage done to the spinal cord may range from minimal to extensive. The spinal cord and the brain work together, making them the key components of the central nervous system. Damage to this system affects specific functions of the body, primarily relating to the function of muscles. The areas most commonly injured include the cervical vertebrae (C1-C7), and the lumbar spine (L1-L5).


title: Myelomalacia

text: Depending on the extent of the spinal cord injury, the symptoms may vary. Though every case is different, several cases reported loss of motor functions in the extremities, areflexia or sudden jerks of the limbs, loss of pain perception, or even paralysis; all of which are possible indicators of a damaged and softened spinal cord. In the most severe cases, paralysis of the respiratory system manifests in death.


title: Myelomalacia

text: The most common way the disorder occurs is from a result of hemorrhaging (bleeding within) or inadequate blood supply to the spinal cord, making it weak and susceptible to damage.


title: Myelomalacia

text: Because myelomalacia involves a damaged spinal cord, it may occur in any individual. Those most at risk are the geriatric population due to weaker bone density. Once the spinal injury has occurred, one of two things may happen. Firstly, hemorrhaging within the spinal cord may cause compression, which damages the spinal cord even further. Another consequence of myelomalacia is improper circulation of blood to the area damaged, resulting in further damage to the spinal cord.


title: Myelomalacia

text: Due to extensive physical contact and activity, many athletes become victim to myelomalacia. Any accidents or injuries attained during athletic competition to the spinal cord may result in myelomalacia. Accounts of awkward landing on the ground or being hit intensively have attested to spinal cord injury.


title: Myelomalacia

text: With the growth in the elderly population of humans, there has been a rise to myelomalacia. Because the human body begins to deteriorate with age, and because human population is living many years longer, there has been a growth in cases of myelomalacia. As the bones in the body begin to weaken in a process known as osteopenia, the body is more vulnerable to damage. A simple fall may damage the spinal cord and myelomalacia may soon ensue.


title: Myelomalacia

text: There are two tests that can provide a definite diagnosis of myelomalacia; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or myelography. Diffuse hyperintensity on T2-weighted imaging, and hypointensity on T1-weighted imaging of the spinal cord can be an indication of the onset or progression of myelomalacia


title: Myelomalacia

text: There is no known treatment to reverse nerve damage due to myelomalacia. In some cases, surgery to alleviate the injury to the area may slow or stop further damage. As motor function degenerates, muscle spasticity and atrophy may occur. Medications such as NSAIDs and gabapentinoids may be prescribed to reduce swelling of the spinal cord, pain, and spasticity.


title: Myelomalacia

text: Research is underway to consider the potential of stem cells for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. There are, however, no approved stem cell therapies for myelomalacia.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Malcolm John Webster (born 18 April 1959) is an Englishman convicted of the murder of his first wife in Scotland in 1994 and the attempted murder of his second wife in New Zealand. Both cases involved staged car crashes and were carried out for the life insurance money. He was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder by a consultant forensic clinical psychologist, Dr Gary Macpherson, who prepared a report prior to his trial. A police profiler labelled him a sociopath. His crimes were portrayed in the three-part ITV miniseries "The Widower" (2014).


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster's father, Alexander Robertson Webster of Kincardine, Fife, had been the head of the Fraud Squad in the Metropolitan Police, holding the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent. Malcolm's mother was Odette Blewett, a former nurse.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: As a child, Webster was prone to pretending to faint, grew up largely sheltered, and his penchant for fires earned him the nickname 'Pyro'. He left school at 15, with no qualifications.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster worked as a nurse, a bin man, a driver and an office clerk. In his teens he lied about having cancer.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: When he was 30, Webster worked in Tawam Hospital, on the children's ward in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Within six months he was forced to resign, following an investigation into the deaths of three children under his care. All three children had been under six years old and died of cardiac failure (which is unusual for children that age). Due to Islamic culture forbidding post-mortems, and favouring quick burials, there was insufficient evidence for a police investigation.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: His former co-worker and girlfriend, Beth Brown, has stated that Webster's supervisors had discovered that he had been injecting himself with insulin and formed the opinion that he had killed the children with insulin injections. It is reputed that his father (a senior police officer) used his influence to get his son out of the country. Webster later denied the allegations.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster has been described as a "thief, liar and philanderer". He habitually pursued relationships with women (usually wealthy ones) and relied on them to supplement his income (reportedly his favourite saying was "Why work hard yourself when someone could be doing it for you?")


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Malcolm Webster married Claire Morris from Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, on 3 September 1993. During the course of their marriage he drugged her with Temazepam. On 27 May 1994, he drugged Morris, 32, and deliberately crashed their car on the Auchenhuive to Tarves Road in Kingoodie, Aberdeenshire, and then set it on fire, with her in the passenger seat. He twice informed an off-duty policeman who stopped to help that there was no one else in the car before it exploded.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster, who claimed he swerved to avoid a motorcyclist coming at him in the wrong lane, received a £200,000 life insurance payout from his wife's death. Webster spent a week in hospital after the crash. After extensive testing, the hospital was satisfied that he was uninjured (even his pulse and heart beat were normal). Webster, however, claimed he had been injured in the car and even wore a neck-brace at the funeral.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster's brother-in-law, Peter Morris, later recalled Claire's funeral: "I had a very firm grip of his hand. He was actually squeezing my hand. Most people had their heads down and I glanced at him and he was full of tears, as I was. And that convinced me up until three years ago that he had lost his wife in an accident...in reality I was holding the hand of her murderer."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: A police officer later revealed that he investigated Claire's death in his spare time, as he had concerns: Claire had not been able to escape, the car had been travelling slowly and there was an absence of skid marks. A fireman shared similar concerns; at the trial he said: "I still think why didn't the person who was there not pull the person out the vehicle?"


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Former firefighter Derek McDonald suspected foul play. He informed the BBC: "We all thought it was a bit hooky, there was no sign of violence to the vehicle. For a car to be stopped or parked and burst into flames does not occur — not unless it's in the movies."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: After Claire's death, a friend and her husband wrote to the procurator fiscal that Claire had told her she had been in a similar accident some months earlier; Webster had been driving while Claire was a passenger and their car ended up in a ditch.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Following Webster's conviction, Claire's family fought to have the inscription on her original headstone replaced with one that bore her maiden name and omitted any reference to her marriage (her original headstone stated "with loving thoughts of my dear wife"). Peter Morris, her brother, argued that it was "offensive" to have her married name on the headstone "as the marriage was designed towards murder."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: The Council originally informed her family that Webster owned the grave and consequently they would have to seek his permission to relinquish ownership. Morris refused stating: "To change my sister's headstone, I have to go and ask his permission to give me the grave. I'm not going to. I don't see why I should go cap in hand to a convicted murderer."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Prof Roderick Paisley argued that under the Forfeiture Act 1982 Webster should be disqualified from inheriting Claire's estate. He suggested that Webster should be declared bankrupt, which would result in the Lair certificate being transferred to her family.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Eventually the Council agreed to replace the headstone. An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: "The murder conviction against Malcolm Webster has rendered his contract with the Council, as relating to the lair at Tarves, void." Webster was also banned from being buried alongside her.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Geraldine Oakley, who began a relationship with Webster shortly after Claire died, worked at the same hospital as Webster as a computer manager. Oakley became suspicious of Webster, as he kept asking her if a second autopsy was likely to be carried out on his first wife. Their sexual relationship remained a secret. Webster claimed to her that Claire was epileptic and on medication. Oakley testified that on two occasions she had gone to voice her suspicions to consultant pathologist James Grieve, but had always stopped at the last minute.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: In 1995, a year after Claire's death, Webster was living in Saudi Arabia, where he struck up a friendship with Brenda Grant via the phone. Eventually they met up and started a relationship. Grant later revealed that Webster repeatedly offered her drugs; she refused, and she considers herself "lucky to be alive".


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: She described Webster as a man who would "turn on the water works" to avoid certain conversations. In 2005, he contacted her "out of the blue" to arrange a trip to Paris, and informed her he had leukemia. She had no idea that their relationship overlapped with that of Simone Banerjee, and the two women later became friends. During their trip to Paris, he informed Banerjee that he was having treatment in London.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster married oncology nurse Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1997, and she gave birth to a son. In 1999, he was accused of attempting to kill Drumm to fraudulently obtain £750,000 from nine insurance policies.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: At the trial, Webster's estranged wife stated that on their honeymoon she had slept for 36 hours, after consuming a drink that her husband had given her, and on another occasion she had slept for 18 hours. She also experienced double vision, and a blood test showed abnormalities with her liver.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: During their marriage, he caused three house fires, including one at her parents' house, perhaps in order to persuade Drumm to buy life insurance. In September 1997, he set fire to the living room furniture at their cottage in Lyne of Skene. In January 1999, he started a fire at a property they were intending to buy in Bayswater, Auckland. A month later, he set fire to an armchair in Drumm's parents' home in Takapuna. He also claimed he had had a heart attack and cancer.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster made excuses about his own financial situation and why his money had not yet been transferred from Scotland to New Zealand to pay for the home in Auckland. The final deadline to make the payment was 12 February 1999. That day they drove together to the bank when Webster, who was driving, claimed there was something wrong with the steering wheel on the car. The car swerved across two lanes of traffic and back, but when Drumm grabbed the steering wheel, she found it worked. The car ended up in a ditch.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: According to Drumm's testimony, Webster immediately got out of the car and went to the boot, but repeatedly screamed at her to stay in the car when she got out. She refused, and phoned her lawyer to drive her to the bank. Webster then feigned a heart attack. While he was at the hospital, Drumm learned he had cleaned out NZD$140,000 of her money from a joint bank account.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: It was discovered that she had been sedated. Webster failed to appear in court on various charges, and four warrants were issued for his arrest. A New Zealand police officer later confirmed:"He failed to appear at court and full warrants were issued. They are still alive. Two of them are for arson, the third is for selling, giving, supplying or administering a drug and the fourth is for disabling or stupefying his victim, his then wife. The arson charges relate to a fire at the home of his then wife's parents."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: When Drumm confronted Webster about his plans to kill her, he informed her that she would "have died happy". Drumm later described her husband as a psychopath.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster fled New Zealand in 2000, and in 2002 he began a relationship with Christina Willis. He habitually borrowed money from her, without reimbursing her, burnt a computer hard drive in her garden, and told her he had cancer.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: He persuaded Willis to make a will in her name and give him power of attorney. There is no evidence that he tried to kill her, but it has been speculated that he ended their relationship because he had discovered that Simone Banarjee was independently wealthy.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: He had planned to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee, having told her he had terminal leukemia. Banarjee subsequently changed her will, leaving her entire estate to Webster. The police presented her with an Osman letter that warned her about her fiancé's past, in particular revealing that he had a wife and son.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Banarjee initially dismissed the letter as "nonsense". After his conviction, she called for him to be placed in solitary confinement. She later said, "He is a very good actor and would give Colin Firth a run for his money. He was charming and that's what made him so plausible."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: A frequent sailor, Banarjee has conjectured that he intended to drown her by staging a boating accident, as she later discovered that "the foil on my life jacket had been punctured and I hadn't checked my life jacket since I sailed with him. Everybody else's life jackets were fine. So I have pretty much no doubt that the boat was the way it was going to go."


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Webster's other girlfriends include a 15-year-old who aborted their baby, a woman who later ended her life, and a married woman (these women have declined to be identified).


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: In 2007, Simone Banarjee's house was searched by police after they received information that Webster had embezzled funds from an angling club. During the search, the police seized a stolen laptop and an unlicensed gun, which Webster claimed was an antique. An investigation into Webster, called Operation Field, was launched in 2008. The police subsequently announced they were re-examining Claire Morris' death. At the same time the New Zealand police began re-examining the second crash.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: He was consequently charged by the Sheriff of Aberdeen in 2009 for the murder of Claire Morris, the attempted murder of Felicity Drumm, and attempting to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee to gain access to her estate. The investigation into Webster took five years and involved 1000 people being interviewed.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: He was convicted at the High Court of Justiciary in Glasgow on 19 May 2011 after the longest ever criminal trial in Scotland with a single accused. He was found guilty by a jury of nine women and six men.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: Some of the verdicts delivered by the jury were unanimous and some were by majority. Derek Ogg QC led the prosecution. Webster was sentenced to life imprisonment on 5 July 2011, with a minimum sentence of thirty years. He was consequently removed from the nursing register.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: He reportedly told inmates that he expects to die in prison, and has been described by one inmate as being 'really boring'. It was reported in 2011, that Webster had been attacked by another inmate with a metal pole. Following further attacks, Webster reputedly refused to shower for months on end, and ultimately hired a convicted child molester to protect him.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: In December 2013, the appeal court quashed his convictions on the two minor charges of fire raising, but upheld the rest of his convictions.


title: Malcolm Webster (murderer)

text: On 9 September 2014, Webster asked the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to review his conviction and sentence. His request was granted, and this decision was criticized by Peter Morris, who said,Why the hell are they wasting time on a review? Webster has been found guilty in a court, and then Scotland’s three most senior judges confirmed the verdict at the appeal stage. What is wrong with the Scottish criminal justice system? How many opportunities do they give someone to appeal? He claims he wrote to Webster, asking him to elaborate on his alleged innocence, but Webster declined to comment. In February 2016, Webster's review was rejected. A spokesperson stated: "The commission's review has concluded and this case has not been referred to the High Court."


title: Appian Corporation

text: Appian Corporation is a cloud computing and enterprise software company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, part of the Dulles Technology Corridor. The company sells a platform as a service (PaaS) for building enterprise software applications. It is focused on low-code development, process mining, business process management, and case management markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia.


title: Appian Corporation

text: Appian was founded in 1999 by Michael Beckley, Robert Kramer, Marc Wilson and Matthew Calkins, who serves as CEO.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2001, the company developed Army Knowledge Online, regarded at the time as “the world's largest intranet."


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2005, the company expanded into financial services and other private markets. It became known for its low-code platform.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2010, Appian Cloud was accredited with Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) low-level security by the U.S. Education Department. In 2013, it received FISMA Moderate Authorization and Accreditation from the General Services Administration (GSA).


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2014, the company received $37.5 million in secondary investments from New Enterprise Associates, which was paid out to shareholders. In 2015, transportation company Ryder began using the Appian apps instead of paper processing during the checkout process and internally for truck maintenance records.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2016, Vontobel, a global investment firm, started using Appian's Low-Code Platform to improve its business processes.


title: Appian Corporation

text: On May 25, 2017, Appian became a publicly-traded company, trading as APPN on the NASDAQ Global Exchange.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In May 2019, Appian released Appian AI, enabling artificial intelligence capabilities on its platform. In March 2020, the company updated the platform's Artificial intelligence and robotic process automation capabilities. In 2021, the company was named a leader in Digital Process Automation software by Forrester.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2022, Appian started highlighting the importance of low-code tools in improving environmental, social & corporate governance (ESG). The company stressed that embedding these tools within operational processes makes it easier for companies to integrate ESG data sources, adapt to regulations, and remain in control of auditability.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In February, the company secured provisional authorization from the Defense Information Systems Agency to allow its low-code platform-as-a-service “to handle Impact Level 5 controlled unclassified information and national security systems”. This lets defense customers use Appian Government Cloud as well as the Appian Low-Code Platform.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In May 2022, Appian was awarded $2.04 billion in damages against Pegasystems Inc. Pegasystems was found guilty of hiring a developer to spy on Appian, stealing trade secrets in an operation Pegasystems referred to as "Project Crush"


title: Appian Corporation

text: On January 7, 2020, Appian announced acquisition of Novayre Solutions SL, developer of the Jidoka robotic process automation (RPA) platform.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In August 2021, Appian acquired the process mining company Lana Labs. The company's applications help companies discover the work patterns being used within their organization by looking through system logs for common actions and sequences.


title: Appian Corporation

text: Appian offers a low-code platform with a visual interface and pre-built development modules. As of August 2020, it was the only pure-play provider of low-code software on the stock market. As with other low-code platforms, it enables businesses to create apps and automations using little or no code. The platform protects privacy and security with its HIPAA-compliant cloud. The platform includes Appian AI and Appian RPA.


title: Appian Corporation

text: Appian SAIL technology is a low-code method for enterprise applications that works from back-end integration to upper level graphical user interfaces. It also incorporates Appian’s AI Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) tool.


title: Appian Corporation

text: Process mining is the act of analyzing, improving, and monitoring business processes. Appian uses process mining to identify any business inefficiencies, then uses low-code to draw a visual representation of a more efficient workflow, and follows up with a second round of process mining after implementation to make sure that the new process has solved the problem


title: Appian Corporation

text: Appian also sells pre-built frameworks. In late 2020, it launched apps to support businesses with COVID-19 concerns. They track workforce health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, collecting information from employees and storing it in a HIPAA-compliant cloud, help organizations reopen their offices, and helps banks manage Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, including AI-powered intelligent document processing. Another app, created in partnership with the University of South Florida, helps educational campuses collect COVID-19 related data about individuals and coordinate health and safety guidelines in academic communities to plan for students returning to campus. The firm also developed apps that facilitate return-to-work protocols, and a framework for government organizations to manage acquisition processes, institutional onboarding, and intelligent document processing.


title: Appian Corporation

text: In 2021, Appian announced plans for a low-code data product. It was completed in April 2022 and was named Appian Data Fabric. It unifies data from enterprise systems, reducing the time to deliver new applications.


title: European Qualifications Framework

text: The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning. The EQF aims to relate different countries' national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems. Since 2012, all new qualifications issued in Europe carry a reference to an appropriate EQF level.


title: European Qualifications Framework

text: The core of the EQF concerns eight reference levels describing what a learner knows, understands and is able to do – 'learning outcomes'. Levels of national qualifications will be placed at one of the central reference levels, ranging from basic (Level 1) to advanced (Level 8). This will enable a much easier comparison between national qualifications and should also mean that people do not have to repeat their learning if they move to another country. To compare EQF in differents countries https://europa.eu/europass/en/compare-qualifications .


title: European Qualifications Framework

text: The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational. This approach shifts the focus from the traditional system which emphasises 'learning inputs', such as the length of a learning experience, or type of institution. It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning.


title: European Qualifications Framework

text: This reflects a wider shift within which the EQF is acting as a catalyst for reforms: most Member States are now developing their own National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) based on learning outcomes. Several countries (IE, MT, UK, FR and BE-Flanders) already have one in force.


title: European Qualifications Framework

text: At present, an enterprise in France may hesitate to recruit a job applicant from, say, Sweden, because it does not understand the level of the qualifications presented by the Swedish candidate. But once the EQF is fully implemented, a Swedish person's certificates will bear a reference to an EQF reference level. The French authorities will have already decided where their own national certificates in the field concerned lie, so the French enterprise would use the EQF reference to get a better idea of how the Swedish qualification compares to French qualifications.


title: Karnivool

text: Karnivool is an Australian progressive rock band formed in Perth in 1997. The group currently consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerged from a band Kenny and Goddard formed during high school. They have released three studio albums to date.


title: Karnivool

text: Karnivool developed from a high school band formed in 1997 in Perth, Western Australia, which played parties using a set of cover versions of Nirvana and Carcass songs, with some original compositions also included. By 1998 lead singer Ian Kenny changed their set to entirely original songs, removed all of the early band members and officially named the band Karnivool, derived from a local anecdotal description that the original members were "a bunch of clowns".


title: Karnivool

text: Between 1997 and 2004, the band underwent a number of line-up changes. The 1998 incarnation of Karnivool consisted of Kenny on lead vocals, Andrew 'Drew' Goddard on lead guitar, Andrew Brown on bass and Brett McKenzie on drums. In 2000, Brown was replaced by Jon Stockman and, shortly after, McKenzie also left and Ray Hawking joined on drums. Mark Hosking joined as rhythm guitarist in 2003 and in late 2004 Steve Judd replaced Hawking. As of 2004, the band's line-up consists of Kenny, Goddard, Hosking, Stockman, and Judd.


title: Karnivool

text: In 1999 the band released its debut self-titled EP "Karnivool". This consisted of four tracks: "Fool Me", "Konkrete Seed", "Box" and "Some More of the Same". This EP did not receive a significant amount of recognition, with many stores and archives listing their second EP "Persona", released in March 2001, as their first record. "Persona" consists of four new tracks and a re-release of the song "Some More of the Same" from the first EP.


title: Karnivool

text: After releasing "Persona", the band won the Western Australian State Final of the National Campus Band Competition and competed in the National Finals held in Hobart, Tasmania. In October 2001, the band were chosen to support the Rollins Band but, due to the Ansett collapse, Henry Rollins and his band were forced to cancel their Perth show. At the end of 2001, the band played a support set for Fear Factory.


title: Karnivool

text: Goddard wrote the tracks for Karnivool's first album "Themata" and he stated that they played songs from "Themata" together as a band only after it was recorded. Produced by Forrester Savell, Goddard not only wrote all of the album's songs and played guitar, but also played drums on every track except "L1fel1ke", as Judd had not yet joined the band. "Themata" was released independently on 7 February 2005, and was distributed via MGM Distribution. On 23 August 2006, Karnivool signed a licensing deal with Bieler Bros. Records, a US indie label. The album was issued in the US on 10 April 2007 and in the UK on 7 May. The band also re-released the "Persona" EP on 12 December 2007, following the success of "Themata".


title: Karnivool

text: Karnivool completed the 'Homeland Security Tour' shortly after the release of "Themata". In late 2007, they played with the 'Great American Rampage Tour' in North America. During this time frame, Karnivool also contributed a cover of Gotye's song "The Only Way" to the album "Mixed Blood", which contains covers and remixes of songs from Gotye's "Boardface" and "Like Drawing Blood" albums. It does not feature on any Karnivool albums. Goddard and Stockman also played guitar and bass respectively on the title track of the 2005 album "Hold Your Colour", by Perth/London group Pendulum.


title: Karnivool

text: After touring in the US, Karnivool returned to Australia in 2008 and subsequently entered the studio to write their follow-up to "Themata". Goddard stated that the new album "Sound Awake" would be a huge progression from "Themata", while Stockman stated that the writing process of the new record was a collaborative effort by the band, in contrast to their previous work. Karnivool disclosed their new recording strategy for the second album: try to focus less on minute details and record a more natural-sounding album. The album was again produced and mixed by Savell.


title: Karnivool

text: The band continued to tour Australia, including the Big Day Out tour, Pyramid Rock Festival, Southbound and Homebake. During their live performances for the Aeons Tour, they played some of the new songs from the album, such as "Goliath", "Deadman", "Pearogram" (All I Know) and "New Day". At Homebake in 2008 they debuted a fifth new song entitled "Set Fire to the Hive", which was confirmed as the first single from the album. The new songs were considered more mature, while still bearing resemblance to the band's previous work.


title: Karnivool

text: On 26 April 2009, the video for "Set Fire to the Hive" was released and on 9 May peaked at No. 11 on the AIR Top 20 singles charts. The album was released on 5 June 2009 and debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Album Charts. and No. 1 on the AIR Charts. In October 2009, the album received Gold certification for sales in Australia.


title: Karnivool

text: The band toured Australia in support of "Sound Awake", followed by shows in New Zealand and then the US to headline 'Third Eye Gathering' in Los Angeles. The band then toured the UK in September and October 2009. On 9 November 2009, Karnivool published a music video on YouTube for their second single "All I Know".


title: Karnivool

text: "Sound Awake" was released by Sony Music Independent Network/RED in the US and Canada on 16 February 2010. Karnivool followed the release with a co-headlining US tour with Fair to Midland.


title: Karnivool

text: After a successful tour of Europe and the US, Karnivool returned to Australia and announced the national 'New Day Tour'. Two Melbourne shows and a Sydney show quickly sold out, unprecedented in Karnivool's history, and further shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth were consequently announced. The band then temporarily ceased touring so that Kenny could tour with his other band Birds of Tokyo; however, touring resumed by December 2010.


title: Karnivool

text: On the back of Internet-based popularity, the band played its first ever show in India in 2010. The performance in Mumbai attracted 10,000 people and, as of July 2013, is the band's biggest show, with "fireworks and confetti cannons going off, and big movie screens on either side of the stage in this big amphitheatre and people singing along." Goddard explained the Indian experience, a result of file sharing and word-of-mouth, in a July 2013 interview:


title: Karnivool

text: That was incredible. We've played a lot of Western countries but to go to a place like India, you know, all we thought we had in common was cricket but I was very wrong. That was our first show there. We didn't even have a release or anything. We didn't even realise we had a following there, then we announced the show and all these messages started coming back through social media ... Having a beer in the hotel room afterwards, we were like "What the hell? Did that actually happen?"


title: Karnivool

text: Sometime after returning to Australia in September, the band is planning on starting to write material for a third album. Hosking reiterated this, stating the band plans on demoing songs for the third album at this time, and described the material as, "...a departure from "Sound Awake" whilst still holding all the principles that make for a Karnivool album."


title: Karnivool

text: In March 2011, Karnivool announced three shows in their native Western Australia, commenting: "These shows will be the last of the Sound Awake era, as well as a possible pointer of things to come." At these shows they debuted a new song "The Refusal" and Goddard stated that the band was working in the studio on their third album. The tour continued throughout the rest of Australia, and later in the year the band toured India for the IIT Bombay cultural festival Mood Indigo in December 2011.


title: Karnivool

text: On 21 March 2012, the "Melodias Frescas" Australian tour was announced and the band confirmed that new material would be played during the tour. The band played 16 sold-out theatre shows around Australia, with support from Melbourne's Redcoats and Sydney instrumental group sleepmakeswaves.


title: Karnivool

text: The band returned to India in November 2012 for some additional shows and, during the same period, announced that they were recording their third album at 301 studios in Byron Bay, Australia. The band toured Australia again in December 2012, performing shows in Wollongong and Sydney before the Pyramid Festival for New Year's Eve.


title: Karnivool

text: In April 2013, the band announced that they had entered the mixing phase of the third album with producer Nick Didia, while on 16 May 2013, the band's management Fidelity Corporation stated: "Spending the night watching the new Karnivool doco and listening to the new Karnivool album."


title: Karnivool

text: On 19 May 2013, the studio version of "The Refusal" was premiered on Australian radio station Triple J—the song became available as a free download on the radio station's website the following day and members of the band's mailing list received the download later in the week. The band's first Australian show for the year was at Western Australia's "State of the Art" festival on 2 June 2013 at the Perth Concert Hall, and the festival's promotional material stated that a "global premiere" of the band's new single would occur at the event.


title: Karnivool

text: A music video directed by Chris Frey was filmed in April 2013, but the name of the song was not disclosed at the time that the production information was made available. On 14 June 2013, the Frey-directed music video was released and the song is called "We Are". The band also revealed the title, track list and cover art for their third album, entitled "Asymmetry". Triple J aired the radio debut of the six-minute-long "We Are" on the "Doctor" programme and Kenny explained to one of the station's announcers: ""Asymmetry" really harks to what we try to do musically as a band. Light and dark. Exploration. Sometimes we go too far and we get lost, so we backtrack a bit and find exactly what we're looking for."


title: Karnivool

text: Speaking with Simon Collins of "The West Australian" newspaper, Goddard explained that the recording process is difficult for the band and despite efforts to try and shorten the duration between albums, the band has managed to release three albums in fifteen years:


title: Karnivool

text: It's something we grapple with all the time. We try to speed it up and make the frequency of album releases a lot faster. We're completely mystified by the songwriting process, and that's the bottom line for us - we don't know what we're doing. We don't. It feels like it's out of our control a lot of the time.


title: Karnivool

text: "Asymmetry" was released on 19 July 2013 and a deal was secured with Density Records for the US region. The album debuted in the number 1 position of the Australian ARIA chart.


title: Karnivool

text: Following the receipt of an ARIA award for "Asymmetry" (the first time the band has won an ARIA award), Goddard stated in a January 2014 interview that "it’s [the ARIA award] just one of those things where it’s almost like it validates us in other people’s eyes." Goddard further explained that the album was created as a reaction to his perception of a current musical trend, whereby "even heavy progressive music to me is losing a lot of the human characteristics, gridlocking everything and cutting out all the air between the guitar, the strums, and all that". Goddard announced that the band would undertake a national Australian tour with Dead Letter Circus and sleepmakeswaves during January 2014. He and Mark Hosking appear in the 2014 documentary film "Metal Down Under".


title: Karnivool

text: In January 2015, Karnivool played three festivals in India. Following that, the band embarked on their biggest ever headline tour of the UK and Europe in March/April 2015, with support from English act Monuments. In March 2015, the band announced the 'Themata Decade tour' celebrating 10 years since the release of their debut album, with 16 shows around Australia in April and May. Cairo Knife Fight was announced as the opening act.


title: Karnivool

text: In May 2019, Karnivool revealed that they had been in the process of recording their fourth album. In February 2020, they announced an April tour for the 10th anniversary of Sound Awake, which was later postponed to March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all tour dates outside of Western Australia were cancelled in February 2021, instead opting to livestream the remaining concerts.


title: Karnivool

text: On 10 of December 2021, Karnivool released the single 'All It Takes', produced by Forrester Savell. It is the band's first studio release since "Asymmetry" in 2013. In 2022, they headlined the Monolith Festival in Australia alongside Cog and were supported by acts such as Ocean Grove, Plini, Sleepmakeswaves, Reliqa and Yomi Ship.


title: Karnivool

text: As of December 2011, Goddard plays drums in a Nirvana tribute band called "Nirvanarama"; the other members of the band are Daniel Sanders (Gyroscope), Chris Daymond (Jebediah) and Brad Campbell (Gyroscope). The band played its debut show at the Rocket Room venue in Perth, Western Australia, in December 2011 for the "Smells like Christmas Spirit" Christmas party.


title: Karnivool

text: Drummer Steve Judd has recorded with Perth band The Arsonist, and has performed live with Brisbane band The Veronicas.


title: Karnivool

text: Their two extended plays, 1999's "Karnivool" and 2001's "Persona", and their 2005 debut album "Themata", possessed an alternative metal sound; their 2009 follow-up "Sound Awake" developed a more progressive rock sound. The band has cited Deftones and Tool as its influences.


title: Karnivool

text: The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's independent music sector.


title: Karnivool

text: The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.


title: Karnivool

text: The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.


title: Karnivool

text: The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.


title: Karnivool

text: The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.


title: Karnivool

text: The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). Karnivool have won seventeen awards.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is a family of positional voting rules which gives each candidate, for each ballot, a number of points corresponding to the number of candidates ranked lower. In the original variant, the lowest-ranked candidate gets 0 points, the next-lowest gets 1 point, etc., and the highest-ranked candidate gets "n" − 1 points, where "n" is the number of candidates. Once all votes have been counted, the option or candidate with the most points is the winner. The Borda count is intended to elect broadly acceptable options or candidates, rather than those preferred by a majority, and so is often described as a consensus-based voting system rather than a majoritarian one.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count was developed independently several times, being first proposed in 1435 by Nicholas of Cusa (see History below), but is named for the 18th-century French mathematician and naval engineer Jean-Charles de Borda, who devised the system in 1770. It is currently used to elect two ethnic minority members of the National Assembly of Slovenia, in modified forms to determine which candidates are elected to the party list seats in Icelandic parliamentary elections, and for selecting presidential election candidates in Kiribati. A variant known as the Dowdall system is used to elect members of the Parliament of Nauru. Until the early 1970s, another variant was used in Finland to select individual candidates within party lists. It is also used throughout the world by various private organizations and competitions.


title: Borda count

text: In the Modified Borda count, any unranked options receive 0 points, the lowest ranked receives 1, the next-lowest receives 2, etc., up to a possible maximum of "n" points for the highest ranked option if all options are ranked. The Quota Borda system is another variant used to attain proportional representation in multiwinner voting.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is a ranked voting system: the voter ranks the list of candidates in order of preference. So, for example, the voter gives a "1" to their most preferred candidate, a "2" to their second most preferred, and so on. In this respect, it is the same as elections under systems such as instant-runoff voting, the single transferable vote or Condorcet methods. The integer-valued ranks for evaluating the candidates were justified by Laplace, who used a probabilistic model based on the law of large numbers.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is classified as a positional voting system, that is, all preferences are counted but at different values. Other positional methods include approval voting. By contrast, Instant-runoff voting and Single transferable voting use preferential voting, as the Borda Count does, but in those systems secondary preferences are contingency votes, only used where the higher preference has been found to be ineffective.


title: Borda count

text: There are a number of ways of scoring candidates under the Borda system, and it has a variant (the Dowdall system) which is significantly different.


title: Borda count

text: There are also alternative ways of handling ties. This is a minor detail in which erroneous decisions can increase the risk of tactical manipulation; it is discussed in detail below.


title: Borda count

text: Each candidate is assigned a number of points from each ballot equal to the number of candidates to whom he or she is preferred, so that with "n" candidates, each one receives "n" – 1 points for a first preference, "n" – 2 for a second, and so on. The winner is the candidate with the largest total number of points. For example, in a four-candidate election, the number of points assigned for the preferences expressed by a voter on a single ballot paper might be:


title: Borda count

text: Suppose that there are 3 voters, "U", "V" and "W", of whom "U" and "V" rank the candidates in the order A-B-C-D while "W" ranks them B-C-D-A.


title: Borda count

text: As Borda proposed the system, each candidate received one more point for each ballot cast than in tournament-style counting, eg. 4-3-2-1 instead of 3-2-1-0. This counting method is used in the Slovenian parliamentary elections for 2 out of 90 seats.


title: Borda count

text: Applied to the preceding example Borda's counting would lead to the following result, in which each candidate receives 3 more points than under tournament counting.


title: Borda count

text: The island nation of Nauru uses a variant called the Dowdall system: the voter awards the first-ranked candidate with 1 point, while the 2nd-ranked candidate receives a point, the 3rd-ranked candidate receives of a point, etc. (A similar system of weighting lower-preference votes was used in the 1925 Oklahoma primary electoral system.) Using the above example, in Nauru the point distribution among the four candidates would be this:


title: Borda count

text: This method is more favorable to candidates with many first preferences than the conventional Borda count. It has been described as a system "somewhere between plurality and the Borda count, but as veering more towards plurality". Simulations show that 30% of Nauru elections would produce different outcomes if counted using standard Borda rules.


title: Borda count

text: Condorcet looked at an election as an attempt to combine estimators. Suppose that each candidate has a figure of merit and that each voter has a noisy estimate of the value of each candidate. The ballot paper allows the voter to rank the candidates in order of estimated merit. The aim of the election is to produce a combined estimate of the best candidate. Such an estimator can be more reliable than any of its individual components. Applying this principle to jury decisions, Condorcet derived his theorem that a large enough jury would always decide correctly.


title: Borda count

text: Peyton Young showed that the Borda count gives an approximately maximum likelihood estimator of the best candidate. His theorem assumes that errors are independent, in other words, that if a voter Veronica rates a particular candidate highly, then there is no reason to expect her to rate "similar" candidates highly. If this property is absent – if Veronica gives correlated rankings to candidates with shared attributes – then the maximum likelihood property is lost, and the Borda count is subject to nomination effects: a candidate is more likely to be elected if there are similar candidates on the ballot.


title: Borda count

text: Young showed that the Kemeny–Young method was the exact maximum likelihood estimator of the ranking of candidates. It implies a voting procedure which satisfies the Condorcet criterion but is computationally burdensome.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is particularly susceptible to distortion through the presence of candidates who do not themselves come into consideration, even when the voters lie along a spectrum. Voting systems which satisfy the Condorcet criterion are protected against this weakness since they automatically also satisfy the median voter theorem, which says that the winner of an election will be the candidate preferred by the median voter regardless of which other candidates stand.


title: Borda count

text: Suppose that there are 11 voters whose positions along the spectrum can be written 0, 1, ..., 10, and suppose that there are 2 candidates, Andrew and Brian, whose positions are as shown:


title: Borda count

text: The median voter Marlene is at position 5, and both candidates are to her right, so we would expect A to be elected. We can verify this for the Borda system by constructing a table to illustrate the count. The main part of the table shows the voters who prefer the first to the second candidate, as given by the row and column headings, while the additional column to the right gives the scores for the first candidate.


title: Borda count

text: This example bears out the comment of the Marquis de Condorcet, who argued that the Borda count "relies on irrelevant factors to form its judgments" and was consequently "bound to lead to error".


title: Borda count

text: There are a number of formalised voting system criteria whose results are summarised in the following table.


title: Borda count

text: Simulations show that Borda has a high probability of choosing the Condorcet winner when one exists, in the absence of strategic voting and with all ballots ranking all candidates.


title: Borda count

text: Several different methods of handling ties have been suggested. They can be illustrated using the 4-candidate election discussed previously.


title: Borda count

text: Tournament-style counting can be extended to allow ties anywhere in a voter's ranking by assigning each candidate half a point for every other candidate he or she is tied with, in addition to a whole point for every candidate he or she is strictly preferred to.


title: Borda count

text: In the example, suppose that a voter is indifferent between Andrew and Brian, preferring both to Catherine and Catherine to David. Then Andrew and Brian will each receive 2 points, Catherine will receive 1, and David none. This is referred to as "averaging" by Narodytska and Walsh.


title: Borda count

text: In Borda's system as originally proposed, ties were allowed only at the end of a voter's ranking, and each tied candidate was given the minimum number of points. So if a voter marks Andrew as his or her first preference, Brian as his or her second, and leaves Catherine and David unranked (called "truncating the ballot"), then Andrew will receive 3 points, Brian 2, and Catherine and David none. This is an example of what Narodytska and Walsh call "rounding down".


title: Borda count

text: The "modified Borda count" again allows ties only at the end of a voter's ranking. It gives no points to unranked candidates, 1 point to the least preferred of the ranked candidates, etc. So if a voter ranks Andrew above Brian and leaves other candidates unranked, Andrew will receive 2 points, Brian will receive 1 point, and Catherine and David will receive none. This is equivalent to "rounding up". The most preferred candidate on a ballot paper will receive a different number of points depending on how many candidates were left unranked.


title: Borda count

text: Rounding down penalises unranked candidates (they share fewer points than they would if they were ranked), while rounding up rewards them. Both methods encourage undesirable behaviour from voters.


title: Borda count

text: Suppose that there are two candidates: A with 100 supporters and C with 80. A will win by 100 points to 80.


title: Borda count

text: Now suppose that a third candidate B is introduced, who is a clone of C, and that the modified Borda count is used. Voters who prefer B and C to A have no way of indicating indifference between them, so they will choose a first preference at random, voting either B-C-A or C-B-A. Supporters of A can show a tied preference between B and C by leaving them unranked (although this is not possible in Nauru). B and C will each receive about 120 votes, while A receives 100.


title: Borda count

text: But if A can persuade his supporters to rank B and C randomly, he will win with 200 points, while B and C each receive about 170.


title: Borda count

text: If ties were averaged (i.e. used tournament counting), then the appearance of B as a clone of C would make no difference to the result; A would win as before, regardless of whether voters truncated their ballots or made random choices between B and C.


title: Borda count

text: A similar example can be constructed to show the bias of rounding down. Suppose that A and C are as before, but that B is now a near-clone of A, preferred to A by male voters but rated lower by females. About 50 voters will vote A-B-C, about 50 B-A-C, about 40 C-A-B and about 40 C-B-A. A and B will each receive about 190 votes, while C will receive 160.


title: Borda count

text: But if ties are resolved according to Borda's proposal, and if C can persuade her supporters to leave A and B unranked, then there will be about 50 A-B-C ballots, about 50 B-A-C and 80 truncated to just C. A and B will each receive about 150 votes, while C receives 160.


title: Borda count

text: Again, if tournament counting of ties was used, truncating ballots would make no difference, and the winner would be either A or B.


title: Borda count

text: Borda's method has often been accused of being susceptible to tactical voting, which is partly due to its association with biased methods of handling ties. The French Academy of Sciences (of which Borda was a member) experimented with Borda's system but abandoned it, in part because "the voters found how to manipulate the Borda rule: not only by putting their most dangerous rival at the bottom of their lists, but also by truncating their lists". In response to the issue of strategic manipulation in the Borda count, M. de Borda said: "My scheme is intended for only honest men".


title: Borda count

text: Tactical voting is common in Slovenia, where truncated ballots are allowed; a majority of voters bullet-vote, with only 42% of voters ranking a second-preference candidate. As with Borda's original proposal, ties are handled by rounding down (or sometimes by ultra-rounding, unranked candidates being given one less point than the minimum for ranked candidates).


title: Borda count

text: Ties are not allowed: Nauru voters are required to rank all candidate, and ballots that fail to do so are rejected.


title: Borda count

text: The system invented by Borda was intended for use in elections with a single winner, but it is also possible to conduct a Borda count with more than one winner, by recognizing the desired number of candidates with the most points as the winners. In other words, if there are two seats to be filled, then the two candidates with most points win; in a three-seat election, the three candidates with most points, and so on. In Nauru, which uses the multi-seat variant of the Borda count, parliamentary constituencies of two and four seats are used.


title: Borda count

text: The quota Borda system is a system of proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies that uses the Borda count. Chris Geller's STV-B uses vote count quotas to elect, but eliminates the candidate with the lowest Borda score; Geller-STV does not recalculate Borda scores after partial vote transfers, meaning partial-transfer of votes affects voting power for election but not for elimination.


title: Borda count

text: Nanson's and Baldwin's methods are Condorcet-consistent voting methods based on the Borda score. Both are run as series of elimination rounds analogous to instant-runoff voting. In the first case, in each round every candidate with less than the average Borda score is eliminated; in the second, the candidate with lowest score is eliminated. Unlike the Borda count, Nanson and Baldwin are majoritarian and Condorcet methods because they use the fact that a Condorcet winner always has a higher-than-average Borda score relative to other candidates, and the Condorcet loser a lower than average Borda score. However they are not monotonic.


title: Borda count

text: Borda counts are vulnerable to manipulation by both tactical voting and strategic nomination. The Dowdall system may be more resistant, based on observations in Kiribati using the modified Borda count versus Nauru using the Dowdall system, but little research has been done thus far on the Nauru system.


title: Borda count

text: Borda counts are unusually vulnerable to tactical voting, even compared to most other voting systems. Voters who vote tactically, rather than via their true preference, will be more influential; more alarmingly, if everyone starts voting tactically, the result tends to approach a large tie that will be decided semi-randomly. When a voter utilizes "compromising", they insincerely raise the position of a second or third choice candidate over their first choice candidate, in order to help the second choice candidate to beat a candidate they like even less. When a voter utilizes "burying", voters can help a more-preferred candidate by insincerely lowering the position of a less-preferred candidate on their ballot. Combining both these strategies can be powerful, especially as the number of candidates in an election increases. For example, if there are two candidates whom a voter considers to be the most likely to win, the voter can maximise his impact on the contest between these front runners by ranking the candidate whom he likes more in first place, and ranking the candidate whom he likes less in last place. If neither front runner is his sincere first or last choice, the voter is employing both the compromising and burying tactics at once; if enough voters employ such strategies, then the result will no longer reflect the sincere preferences of the electorate.


title: Borda count

text: For an example of how potent tactical voting can be, suppose a trip is being planned by a group of 100 people on the East Coast of North America. They decide to use Borda count to vote on which city they will visit. The three candidates are New York City, Orlando, and Iqaluit. 48 people prefer Orlando / New York / Iqaluit; 44 people prefer New York / Orlando / Iqaluit; 4 people prefer Iqaluit / New York / Orlando; and 4 people prefer Iqaluit / Orlando / New York. If everyone votes their true preference, the result is:


title: Borda count

text: If the New York voters realize that they are likely to lose and all agree to tactically change their stated preference to New York / Iqaluit / Orlando, burying Orlando, then this is enough to change the result in their favor:


title: Borda count

text: In this example, only a few of the New York voters needed to change their preference to tip this result because it was so close – just five voters would have been sufficient had everyone else still voted their true preferences. However, if Orlando voters realize that the New York voters are planning on tactically voting, they too can tactically vote for Orlando / Iqaluit / New York. When all of the New York and all of the Orlando voters do this, however, there is a surprising new result:


title: Borda count

text: The tactical voting has overcorrected, and now the clear last place option is a threat to win, with all three options extremely close. Tactical voting has entirely obscured the true preferences of the group into a large near-tie.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is highly vulnerable to a form of strategic nomination called "teaming" or "cloning". This means that when more candidates run with similar ideologies, the probability of one of those candidates winning increases. This is illustrated by the example 'Effect of irrelevant alternatives' above. Therefore, under the Borda count, it is to a faction's advantage to run as many candidates as it can. For example, even in a single-seat election, it would be to the advantage of a political party to stand as many candidates as possible in an election. In this respect, the Borda count differs from many other single-winner systems, such as the 'first past the post' plurality system, in which a political faction is disadvantaged by running too many candidates. Under systems such as plurality, 'splitting' a party's vote in this way can lead to the spoiler effect, which harms the chances of any of a faction's candidates being elected.


title: Borda count

text: Strategic nomination is used in Nauru, according to MP Roland Kun, with factions running multiple "buffer candidates" who are not expected to win, to lower the tallies of their main competitors.


title: Borda count

text: Thus voters are assumed to prefer candidates in order of proximity to their home town. We get the following point counts per 100 voters:


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is used for certain political elections in at least three countries, Slovenia and the tiny Micronesian nations of Kiribati and Nauru.


title: Borda count

text: In Slovenia, the Borda count is used to elect two of the ninety members of the National Assembly: one member represents a constituency of ethnic Italians, the other a constituency of the Hungarian minority.


title: Borda count

text: Members of the Parliament of Nauru are elected based on a variant of the Borda count that involves two departures from the normal practice: (1) multi-seat constituencies, of either two or four seats, and (2) a point-allocation formula that involves increasingly small fractions of points for each ranking, rather than whole points.


title: Borda count

text: In Kiribati, the president (or "Beretitenti") is elected by the plurality system, but a variant of the Borda count is used to select either three or four candidates to stand in the election. The constituency consists of members of the legislature ("Maneaba"). Voters in the legislature rank only four candidates, with all other candidates receiving zero points. Since at least 1991, tactical voting has been an important feature of the nominating process.


title: Borda count

text: The Republic of Nauru became independent from Australia in 1968. Before independence, and for three years afterwards, Nauru used instant-runoff voting, importing the system from Australia, but since 1971, a variant of the Borda count has been used.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count has been used for non-governmental purposes at certain peace conferences in Northern Ireland, where it has been used to help achieve consensus between participants including members of Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists, and the political wing of the UDA.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is used to determine winners for the World Champion of Public Speaking contest organized by Toastmasters International. Judges offer a ranking of their top three speakers, awarding them three points, two points, and one point, respectively. All unranked candidates receive zero points.


title: Borda count

text: The modified Borda count is used to elect the President for the United States member committee of AIESEC.


title: Borda count

text: The Eurovision Song Contest uses a heavily modified form of the Borda count, with a different distribution of points: only the top ten entries are considered in each ballot, the favorite entry receiving 12 points, the second-placed entry receiving 10 points, and the other eight entries getting points from 8 to 1. Although designed to favor a clear winner, it has produced very close races and even a tie.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count is used for wine trophy judging by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology, and by the RoboCup autonomous robot soccer competition at the Center for Computing Technologies, in the University of Bremen in Germany.


title: Borda count

text: The Finnish Associations Act lists three different modifications of the Borda count for holding a proportional election. All the modifications use fractions, as in Nauru. A Finnish association may choose to use other methods of election, as well.


title: Borda count

text: The Borda count has been proposed as a rank aggregation method in information retrieval, in which documents are ranked according to multiple criteria and the resulting rankings are then combined into a composite ranking. In this method, the ranking criteria are treated as voters, and the aggregate ranking is the result of applying the Borda count to their "ballots".


title: Borda count

text: Sporting tournaments frequently seek to produce a ranking of competitors from pairwise matches, in each of which a single point is awarded for a win, half a point for a draw, and no points for a loss. (Sometimes the scores are doubled as 2/1/0.) This is analogous to a Borda count in which each preference expressed by a single voter between two candidates is equivalent to a sporting fixture; it is also analogous to Copeland's method supposing that the electorate's overall preference between two candidates takes the place of a sporting fixture.