Background.

Following the European sovereign debt crisis, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned from his position in November 2011. He was replaced as Prime Minister by technocratic Senator for Life Mario Monti.  In December 2012, Berlusconi announced his intention to run for Prime Minister for a sixth time. Shortly after, his party, People of Freedom (PdL), withdrew endorsement for Monti's Cabinet and Monti announced he would resign after sending the annual budget to parliament, which was expected by Christmas. The Constitution of Italy then requires an election to be held within 70 days of the dissolution of parliament by President Giorgio Napolitano. Monti's resignation came after he said that, following the PdL's withdrawal, he "matured [to] the conviction that we could not continue like this any longer," and that he could not govern with a loss of support for his platform.  During Monti's tenure, Italy had faced tax increases and state spending cuts, as well as reforms intended to improve the competitiveness of the Italian economy. On the other hand, PdL parliamentary party leader Angelino Alfano told parliament on 7 December that Italy's debt, unemployment, and tax rates had risen in contrast to the economy since Monti became prime minister. In the approximately one year since Monti took office, unemployment rose by almost two percent. Previously Monti had controversially told the rising tide of youth unemployment to forget about a steady job for life, saying such is "monotonous [anyway and] it's nice to change and take on challenges." He also called for changes to Article 18 of the 1970 Workers Statute that forbids companies with over 15 employees from sacking an employee without "just cause", saying that it "can be pernicious for Italy's growth."  The same reforms and austerity-focused policies which upset many Italians are perceived to have improved international confidence in Italy. Monti was supported by other Eurozone leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Merkel's spokesman, Georg Streiter, said that she had "always worked well" with Monti and "had a relationship of esteem"; however, when asked about Berlusconi, he said it was not up to him to decide domestic politics of other countries. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble added that he did not foresee "any destabilization in the euro-zone [but] expect[ed] Italy to keep going forward by respecting its European commitments." In reaction, financial markets fell on speculation of further instability; while, specifically, Italian 10-year bond yields rose by 0.4% to reach 4.87% and the Italian stock exchange's flagship index dropped by over 3.5%.

Campaign.

From the summer of 2012, a number of parties and movements from the so-called "Third Pole" of the political spectrum, including Pier Ferdinando Casini's Union of the Centre (UdC), Gianfranco Fini's Future and Freedom (FLI), Luca Cordero di Montezemolo's Toward the Third Republic (VTR), as well as a number of other politicians from both PD and PdL, pushed for direct involvement of Mario Monti in an election. Monti's statement that he would resign after the budget was passed, was suggested by Reuters to be indicative of him seeking to run for office.  Monti also told a press conference in France that "populism" was dangerous, and he further said that a failure to pass the budget "would render more serious the government crisis, also at a European level" and that his resignation would then be "irrevocable." The two largest parties in parliament, the PdL and the Democratic Party (PD) said they would be willing to work together to expedite passage of the budget. PD Secretary Pier Luigi Bersani said: "Faced with the irresponsibility of the right that betrayed a commitment it made a year ago before the whole country [...] Monti responded with an act of dignity that we profoundly respect." PD Deputy Secretary Enrico Letta said of the PdL's withdrawal from the government that "the financial markets will judge this latest outburst by Berlusconi and they certainly will not judge it positively." Bersani had won the centre-left primary election shortly before the PdL withdrew from the government. Following a defeat in the primary, Mayor of Florence Matteo Renzi ruled out an approach, in writing, from Berlusconi's PdL to join the party during the election. In the following weeks, both PD and Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) announced their intention to hold primary elections for MP candidates on 29 and 30 December. The possibility of Monti directly involving himself in the election was seen as increasingly likely after the government crisis in December later that year, as Monti was invited to a European People's Party meeting at which Berlusconi was present too. A few days later, Monti published a political agenda for Italy, dubbed the "Monti agenda", and offered it to all political parties. After the Third Pole promptly agreed to use it as their own platform for the upcoming elections, talks started regarding a direct involvement of Monti as premiership candidate. On 28 December 2012, following a 4-hour meeting and after being publicly backed by the Vatican regarding a potential bid, Monti publicly announced his candidacy as head of the Third Pole, which ran in the Senate as a unique component provisionally named "Monti's Agenda for Italy", and in the Lower House as a coalition of several components.  Berlusconi said the platform his party would run on includes opposition to Monti's economic performance, which he said put Italy into a "recessive spiral without end." He also told the media, on the sidelines of AC Milan's practice session (the football club he owns along with Mediaset, the largest media outlet in the country): "I race to win. To win, everyone said there had to be a tested leader. It's not that we did not look for one. We did, and how! But there isn't one [...] I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility." Berlusconi and Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo criticised the euro-zone and Germany's influence on European policy. Grillo wrote that the average Italian "is literally terrified about the prospects of five more years of Monti-like rule." On 8 December 2012, a new political party formed around a think tank named "Fermare il Declino" (Stop the Decline), on an initiative by the economic journalist Oscar Giannino and supported by various economists. On 19 December 2012, the name "FARE per Fermare il Declino" ("ACT to Stop The Decline") was chosen, and a list was presented with Oscar Giannino as PM candidate. The party's programme was also introduced, roughly inspiring to reduce the role of the State in the economy, reduce the national debt through disposing redundant assets, and to propose market liberalizations and privatizations.  On 29 December 2012, a new coalition, Civil Revolution (RC), was formed with the support of Italy of Values (IdV), Orange Movement (MA), Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), Party of Italian Communists (PdCI) and Federation of the Greens (FdV). It is led by celebrity magistrate Antonio Ingroia and Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris. FdS co-leader Paolo Ferrero said it would be a "Fourth Pole" that would bring new hope for the left. Civil Revolution attempted to solicit M5S to join them, saying "the door is open." Grillo, however, turned them down, writing on his blog "is the door for M5S open? Well, thank you, but close the door again, please."  On 7 January 2013, Berlusconi announced he had penned a coalition agreement with the Northern League (LN); as part of it, PdL will support Roberto Maroni's bid for the presidency of Lombardy, and he will run as "leader of the coalition", but suggested he could accept a role as Minister of Economy under a cabinet headed by another PdL member, such as Angelino Alfano. Later that day, LN leader Maroni confirmed his party will not support a new candidacy of Berlusconi as Prime Minister in the case of an electoral win.

Electoral system.

The electoral system had been last reformed by Law no. 270, 21 December 2005.

Chamber of Deputies.

For the election of the lower house, all seats in the Chamber of Deputies (excluding one deputy for the region of Aosta Valley and twelve deputies for Italians residing abroad) are allocated based on the national vote in a form of party-list proportional representation with a series of thresholds encouraging parties to form coalitions. Voters cast one vote for a closed list, meaning they cannot express a preference for individual candidates.  Parties can choose to run in coalitions. Seats are first allocated based on coalition votes, then divided among parties belonging to the same coalition by the largest remainder method. To guarantee a working majority, the coalition or party that obtains a plurality of the vote, but fewer than 340 seats, is assigned additional seats to reach that number, which is roughly 54% of all seats.  The autonomous region of Aosta Valley elects one deputy through a first-past-the-post system. Italians abroad are divided into four constituencies, which elect a total of twelve seats based on proportional representation.

Senate.

For the election of the upper house, a similar system is used. However, the results are based on regional, rather than national, vote. This means the coalition or party that wins a plurality of votes in each region is guaranteed a majority of the seats assigned to that region. As this mechanism is region-based, opposing parties or coalitions may benefit from the majority bonus in different regions. It therefore does not guarantee any party or coalition a majority in the Senate.  Three regions have exceptions to the system detailed above. In the region of Molise, that is granted two seats in the Senate, seats are allocated proportionally, with no majority bonus. The region of Aosta Valley, which elects one senator, uses a first-past-the-post system. Finally, the region of Trentino-South Tyrol elects seven senators with a mixed-member proportional system: six senators are elected in six single-member constituencies, while the seventh is allocated to the most underrepresented list based on the regional votes.  Six seats in the Senate are assigned to Italians living abroad and are allocated using the same system used for the Chamber of Deputies.

Constitutionality.

At the end of 2013, Italy's Constitutional Court declared that this electoral law failed to meet a number of constitutional requirements. The electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies was later reformed by Law no. 52, 6 May 2015 (commonly called "Italicum").

Results for the Chamber of Deputies.

Aosta Valley.

The autonomous region of Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Chamber of Deputies through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region.

Italians abroad.

Twelve members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by Italians abroad. Two members are elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean), four members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago), five members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation.  The electoral law allows for parties to form different coalitions on the lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 election, this freedom was used by Left Ecology Freedom to provide a list as an independent party, instead of making themselves available as part of the mainlands coalition with Democratic Party.

Map.

Seat totals by constituency. As this is a MB election, seat totals are determined by the national popular vote, benefiting the largest coalition nationwide.

Results for the Senate of the Republic.

Aosta Valley.

The semi-autonomous region of Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy, elects one member to the Senate through a direct first-past-the-post election. Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region. Source: Ministry of the Interior

Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol.

The semi-autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige in north Italy, including South Tyrol, elects seven members to the Italian Senate through its six constituencies. Each constituency elects one senator by first-past-the post, while the seventh seat attributed to the region is filled by the most underrepresented party based on the overall regional result (mixed-member proportional system). Some parties that formed electoral coalitions in Italy, might have opted to run against one another (or form different coalitions) in this particular region.

Italians abroad.

Six members of the Senate are elected by Italians abroad. One member is elected for North America and Central America (including most of the Caribbean), two members for South America (including Trinidad and Tobago), two members for Europe, and one member for the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica). Voters in these regions select candidate lists and may also cast a preference vote for individual candidates. The seats are allocated by proportional representation.  The election law allow for parties to form other electoral coalitions on the lists abroad, compared to the lists in Italy. In the 2013 electional list for the Senate all parties were listed independently without any coalitions formed. None of the parties were neither in internal coalitions at the mainland; so in 2013 the electoral situation abroad actually was not different compared to the electoral situation at the mainland.

Map.

Seat totals by constituency. As this is a MB election, seat totals are determined by the regional popular vote, benefiting the largest coalition in each region.

Reactions.

In most of the rest of Europe, Bersani would have had more than enough support to form a government in his own right, as Italy Common Good won a decisive majority in the Chamber of Deputies. However, in Italy, unlike in most other parliamentary democracies, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have equal power. Governments must thus maintain the confidence of both houses, and require a majority in both houses to pass legislation. As Italy Common Good was 35 seats short of a majority in the Senate, it could not form government on its own. Bersani said that Italy was in a "dramatic situation". Italian and global shares fell as the result became clear, with the value of the euro also dropping. Strong results for anti-austerity parties were interpreted as showing popular opposition to the austerity measures of the Monti government, with the populist Five Star Movement considered to have had a strong election. Analysts were uncertain as to how this new party would behave in the legislature.  On 26 February "La Repubblica" ran the headline "Boost for Grillo: Italy ungovernable", whilst "Il Giornale" described Berlusconi's result as a miracle. "Il Messaggero" declared that "The winner is ungovernability".

Government formation.

Formal talks to form a new government were expected to start on 10 March with the official confirmation of the results and the convening of parliament. The formation task immediately turned out to be tough due to the absence of a clear majority in the Senate, with Giorgio Napolitano being unable to dissolve the Parliament due to constitutional constraints forbidding a president from doing so during the last six months of his term.  On 22 March, after the election of house speakers Laura Boldrini and Piero Grasso, and after two days of consultations with all the parliamentary groups, Napolitano designated Pier Luigi Bersani with the task of forming a new government. Bersani immediately ruled out the possibility of a grand coalition with Berlusconi's right-wing coalition, and instead tried to form a minority government supported by the Five Star Movement. On 28 March, after formal talks with Napolitano, Bersani admitted there was no chance to form such a government. Given the troubles in forming a majority coalition, Napolitano then decided to directly form two informal bipartisan commissions with the task of agreeing on a number of shared reforms  At the same time, a new presidential election was called for 18 April. However, the lack of a clear majority turned out to be problematic also in this scenario, as the first five ballots failed to elect a candidate. The Democratic Party split into several factions due to internal conflicts involving the support of party candidates Franco Marini and Romano Prodi, leading to Bersani's resignation as party leader. On the sixth ballot, in an unprecedented move, Napolitano was elected for a second term as Italian president.  Successively, Napolitano started talks again and on 24 April appointed the Democratic Party's deputy secretary Enrico Letta as designated prime minister on 28 April, he announced that he had managed to form a grand coalition of his Democratic Party, the People of Freedom, Civic Choice, the Union of the Centre and the Radicals that would take office and seek a vote of confidence the next day. The same day as the swearing-in a gunman opened fire at the prime minister's office, Palazzo Chigi, injuring two police officers. Letta told parliament in his inaugural speech "Italy is dying from austerity alone. Growth policies cannot wait." He added that there would not be a property tax imposed and that a "fairer" system for the less affluent was being worked. He also won the vote of confidence by 453 votes to 153.

A general election took place on 24–25 February 2013 to determine the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 17th Parliament of the Italian Republic.

2013年意大利国会选举,本次选举改选意大利共和国第十七届意大利国会中630个意大利众议院席位和315个意大利参议院席位。


Life and career.

Malkiel is the Chemical Bank chairman's professor of economics at Princeton University, and is a two-time chairman of the economics department there. He served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers (1975–1977), president of the American Finance Association (1978), and dean of the Yale School of Management (1981–1988). He also spent 28 years as a director of the Vanguard Group. He currently serves as Chief Investment Officer to software-based financial advisor, Wealthfront Inc. and as a member of the Investment Advisory Board for Rebalance.  In 1949, Malkiel graduated from Boston Latin School, and went on to receive his bachelor's degree (1953) and his MBA (1955) from Harvard University. He originally went into the business world, but had always had an interest in academic economics and eventually earned his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1964 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Problems in the structure of financial markets." He married his first wife, Judith Atherton Malkiel, in 1954; they had one son, Jonathan. After Judith Malkiel's death in 1987, Burton Malkiel married his second wife, Nancy Weiss, in 1988. (Nancy Weiss Malkiel was Dean of the College of Princeton University from 1987 to 2011.) He served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army from 1955 to 1958. He also serves on the advisory panel of Robert D. Arnott's investment management firm, Research Affiliates.

Notable works.

In addition to several books, he has also written influential articles, including "The Valuation of Closed-End Investment Company Shares," "Journal of Finance" (1977). This article discussed the puzzle of why closed-end fund companies typically trade at market valuations lower than the net value of their assets. If net asset value and market capitalization are only two ways of measuring the same thing, then why is there a consistent difference between them?  Malkiel discussed, and discarded, the hypothesis that the discount is due to the management fees. The argument of the paper is that since management fees are generally constant, this view would not explain changes in the size of the discount during the life-cycle of a fund. Furthermore, if the discount resulted from management fees, it should be related (Malkiel contended) to interest rates, yet the data do not support any such tie.  On July 22, 2005, Malkiel retired from 28 years of service as a director of the Vanguard Group and trustee of Vanguard Mutual funds, yet remains closely affiliated with Vanguard due to Vanguard's similar investment philosophies. In A Random Walk Down Wall Street, he frequently references Vanguard.  Malkiel recently co-authored a book on, and has spoken extensively about investment opportunities in China. He is currently Chief Investment Officer of AlphaShares Investments, "an investment management firm dedicated to providing investors with strategies and products that allow them to participate in China's economic boom." AlphaShares has licensed indices to Claymore Securities as the basis for two China oriented index exchange traded funds (ETF's). Malkiel is a strong believer that, despite the uncertainties surrounding China (rural unrest, overinvestment/bubbles, non-democratic government) China is a viable source of investment opportunities. According to the efficient-market hypothesis, Chinese stocks cannot have better risk-adjusted returns than U.S. stocks, except by chance.  Malkiel is also the Chief Investment Officer of Wealthfront, an automated investment and savings service founded in 2008 currently with $10 billion under management.

Burton Gordon Malkiel (born August 28, 1932) is an American economist and writer, most famous for his classic finance book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" (now in its 12th edition as of 2019). He is a leading proponent of the efficient-market hypothesis, which contends that prices of publicly traded assets reflect all publicly available information, although he has also pointed out that some markets are evidently inefficient, exhibiting signs of non-random walk.

波顿·麦基尔(英语:Burton Gordon Malkiel,1932年-8月28日),是美国著名的经济学家和作家,以其投资学经典著作《漫步华尔街》而著名。


Synopsis.

The film shows the high level of personal expression that typically goes into independent games, through the story of three games: "Braid" was released in 2008, "Super Meat Boy" was preparing for its 2011 release, while "Fez" was struggling with development hell for several years.  "Braid" developer Jonathan Blow recounts his thought process for the game: how he wished to put his "deepest flaws and vulnerabilities" into it and how his initial design experience quickly turned from experimentation to discovery. He also talks about the aftermath of the game: When "Braid" comes out, it receives widespread critical acclaim, but Blow is disillusioned, when a large portion of players don't "get" the underlying message and themes of the game. He makes attempts to influence the audience's impression of the game through forum posts and blog comments, but this eventually turns him into something of a comic figure, which he feels uncomfortable with. The game remains a commercial and critical success.  "Super Meat Boy" developers Team Meat (Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes) set out to do a platform game that harkens back to their own childhood video game experiences. McMillen talks about his lifelong goal of communicating to others through his work. He goes on to talk about his 2008 game "Aether" that chronicles his childhood feelings of loneliness, nervousness, and fear of abandonment. He also sheds light on the level design techniques he uses, on how he teaches players to play without extensive tutorials.  About a year into development, Microsoft offers Team Meat a chance to take part in an Xbox Live Arcade promotion called "Game Feast", under the condition that they finish the game in a month, which they reluctantly accept because of their dire financial situation. The development goes into crunch time, and takes its toll on McMillen's marriage, and on the health of Refenes, who bears the brunt of the work. Refenes also laments how he sacrificed his social life to get the game done, but expresses gratitude for his family being supportive of his goal. The team successfully delivers the game, but come release day, the game is nowhere to be found on Xbox Live, which greatly upsets Refenes, who predicts low sales as a result. The game does eventually appear on the marketplace, and doubles "Braid"s sales, selling 20,000 units in the first 24 hours. McMillen is surprised by both the sales and touched by the fan reaction, and although Refenes, exhausted and cynical, is less enthusiastic, his joy shows through when he sees videos of people enjoying the game. The game eventually goes on to sell a million copies, providing a level of financial security to both developers.  "Fez" developer Polytron (Phil Fish and Renaud Bédard) is in the fourth year of the game's development: the game was first announced at Independent Games Festival 2008, which thrust Fish into the limelight as an "indie developer celebrity", but little was heard of the game since. The development is troubled casting doubt on the future of the project. Fish himself admits to his perfectionism protracting the development, as well as losing perspective over time about how good the game really is. Similar to Refenes, Fish also notes that he does not see himself doing anything else other than indie games, saying that "Fez" has become his identity over time.  Polytron prepares to present "Fez" at Penny Arcade Expo, despite the possibility of a lawsuit lingering: Fish's original business partner (Jason DeGroot, who does not participate in the film) is yet to sign his side of a final separation deal, and as such, he could potentially block Polytron from presenting at PAX. This causes Fish to suffer anxiety attacks over the course of the preparation. The "Fez" kiosk is set up nevertheless, but the show runs into problems, when last minute changes in the build cause the game to often hang up or crash, forcing Fish to occasionally restart the game. The players are unfazed and continue to enjoy the game nevertheless; Fish gives a number of interviews, and Jerry Holkins expresses his excitement about the product as well. Towards the closing of the show, Fish's new partner Ken Schachter announces that he and the former business partner had a meeting and have come to an agreement, which relieves Fish, who in the end is satisfied with the results of the show, and vows to continue working on the game and releasing it in 2012.  The film bookends itself with Jonathan Blow's opening monologue about how indie gaming differs by offering flaws and vulnerabilities, making the games more personal. During the closing credits, videos of other upcoming indie games are interspersed.

Reception.

"Indie Game: The Movie" received a high level of interest from the gaming community almost from its inception. Rotten Tomatoes reports 93% approval based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The film also holds a 73/100 average on Metacritic. G4 TV praised the film saying ""Indie Game: The Movie" is definitely worth your time, and should be seen by everyone in the video game industry on the publisher, developer, and consumer sides." Ain't It Cool News echoed these statements, stating that "there are victories, defeats, tears and smiles. "Indie Game: The Movie" is a must-see doc for anybody that fancies themselves a gamer or for anyone who gets sucked into a good underdog story."  The film was criticized for its one-sided portrayal of Phil Fish's ex-business partner, Jason DeGroot, who was portrayed by Fish as trying to sabotage Fez. DeGroot was neither interviewed nor shown in the film, and the film's credits originally stated that he "asked not to participate" in the film. Shawn McGrath, who worked with DeGroot on "Dyad", said on Twitter that the disclaimer was "bullshit," calling the filmmakers "liars." Ken Schachter, Fish's new business partner shown later in the film, was also the executive producer of the film. Several days later, the message in the credits was silently revised to state DeGroot "was not asked" to be in the film.

Accolades.

The film won the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  "Indie Game: The Movie" was also named 'Best Documentary' by the Utah Film Critics Association and nominated for a Canadian Screen Award at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards in the category of 'Best Feature Length Documentary'.

Release.

The producers chose a non-traditional distribution method for the film, coupling the usual film festival circuit with a focused theater tour and aggressive online distribution. Online distribution was initially via iTunes and the gaming platform Steam with a DRM free release, expanded later to other online distribution services and direct downloads from the producers' website. The result of their distribution experiment has been documented by the directors online. Over 50% of gross revenue came from online distribution. The film premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 30 November 2013, and was preceded by the documentary "How Video Games Changed the World".

Special Edition.

On July 24, 2013, "Indie Game: The Movie" was rereleased with a special edition. Buyers of the new physical copy would receive a hand signed three-DVD box set including posters of the movie's logo and additional packaging artwork designed by Edmund McMillen. The announcement of additional content being released as pre-purchasable downloadable content (DLC) for Steam users and as a new physical version for collectors was met with mixed reactions some of which questioning the uncommonness of DLC for a movie. Both the original and the Special Edition continue to rate positively on Steam. It features over 100 minutes of additional short documentary content to the original film, also created by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, including epilogues for Fish, McMillen, and Refenes two years after the film's conclusion.

Epilogues.

Phil's epilogue picks up ten months later as FEZ is nearing release, having been in its development cycle for five years. He discusses the game's growth, improvement, and closure after the events in "IG:TM". It also features Polytron’s win at the Independent Game Festival for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize in 2012.  Edmund reflects on the “life-changing” experience following the release and subsequent success of "Super Meat Boy". Discussing how he continues to strive to remain working hard towards game development and seeks creative inspiration for new projects.  Tommy talks about the success of "Super Meat Boy" on Xbox Live and Steam pushing them into a level of financial security. Tommy and Edmund say how happy they are to be able to support their respective families following the financial success of "Super Meat Boy".  The special edition also includes additional shorts regarding other independent game developer's experiences such as Jason Rohrer’s "Passage", Derek Yu’s "Spelunky", and Steph Thirion’s "Eliss", as well as two shorts regarding visual artist David Hellman’s thematic choices for the aesthetic of "Braid" and multiple others regarding McMillen's and Refenes' earlier works ("Tri-achnid, AVGM," and "Coil)" including lessons learned and their experiences and influences in development. In many of the shorts, emphasis is placed on how each of the developer’s work was received and their experiences in dealing with the problems that their newfound notoriety brought. Short documentaries entitled “"Edmund & Teh Internets"”, “"Tommy & Teh Internets"”, and “"Phil + Japan"” all focus on each developer’s struggle with maintaining a professional presence online as newly established and critically acclaimed independent developers, similar to "Braid" developer Jonathan Blow’s struggles with popularity and presence on the internet in the original film.  Also featured is the trailer for the Special Edition, Phil Fish’s first impression of the original "IG:TM", Edmund McMillen showing their collection of official "Super Meat Boy" merchandise as well as the different kinds of fan-made submitted gifts they’ve received, and Tommy Refenes’ reflections the immediate day following the release of "Super Meat Boy".  Dedicated to its own short entitled ""GameJam"" is a documentary about the “TIGJam” (The Indie Game Jam) hosted in Mountain View, California by "Spelunky" creator Derek Yu and other indie game developers in 2013. It focuses on the community around independent games development, in particular the “TIGSource” online community and participants talking about their passions and inspirations for game design.

Indie Game: The Movie is a 2012 documentary film made by Canadian filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot. The film is about the struggles of independent game developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes during the development of "Super Meat Boy", Phil Fish during the development of "Fez", and also Jonathan Blow, who reflects on the success of "Braid".

《独立游戏时代》(英语:Indie Game: The Movie),是2012年由加拿大电影工作者杰姆斯·史渥斯基(James Swirsky)和里杉·帕约特(Lisanne Pajot)制作的纪录片,主要纪录3位独立游戏开发者的心路历程。


Mainland Port Area.

The Mainland Port Area is an area inside West Kowloon station that serves as a border control point between mainland China and Hong Kong. The area has been effectively ceded to Mainland China for a token HK$1,000 a year in rent. Since September 2018, Mainland Chinese immigration and police personnel operate exclusively within the area, and the laws of Mainland China, rather than Hong Kong, are enforced.  This arrangement was controversial both before and after its implementation. Pro-democracy advocates were concerned about the erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms and autonomy under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework, and the Hong Kong Bar Association stated that the arrangement caused "the integrity of the Basic Law" to be "irreparably breached" and would "severely undermine" confidence in the rule of law in Hong Kong. Notably, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which applies in Hong Kong, does not apply in the Mainland Port Area, leading to human rights concerns.

Area definition.

The area delineated and coloured orange on Plan No. 1 and Annex 1 to Plan No. 1 in Schedule 2 of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Ordinance is declared as the Mainland Port Area. It comprises the designated areas on B2 and B3 levels, the platform areas on B4 level as well as the connecting passageways. A train compartment of a passenger train in operation on the Hong Kong Section of the Express Rail Link is to be regarded as part of the Mainland Port Area. This arrangement will facilitate mainland border control preclearance in Hong Kong. Reports in the British press suggested this area amounts to a cession of of the station for a token annual rent of HK$ 1 000 (reported as being equivalent to £99).  Except for reserved matters, the Mainland Port Area is to be regarded as an area lying outside Hong Kong but lying within Mainland China for the purposes of the application of the laws of Mainland China, and of the laws of Hong Kong, in the Mainland Port Area; and the delineation of jurisdiction over the Mainland Port Area. It does not affect the boundary of the administrative division of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  Although the West Kowloon HSR station is listed on a page titled Checkpoints in SZ by the Shenzhen Gov't Online, it is unclear whether this qualifies as a Port of Exit for the Shenzhen SEZ Visa on Arrival.

Implementation process.

The joint meeting on 8 August 2017 of the Panel on Transport, the Panel on Security and the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services of the Legislative Council passed the motion supporting the implementation of the "co-location arrangement" at the West Kowloon Station.  The meeting on 15 November 2017 of the Legislative Council passed the motion on taking forward the follow-up tasks of the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station.  The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed the Co-operation Arrangement between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Establishment of the Port at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link for Implementing Co-location Arrangement with the People's Government of Guangdong Province on 18 November 2017.  On 27 December 2017, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved the Co-operation Arrangement and stated that it is consistent with the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  The Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill passed by the Legislative Council on the meeting on 14 June 2018. The Ordinance gazetted on 22 June 2018 and come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Transport and Housing by notice published in the "Hong Kong Government Gazette".  After a ceremony to "mark the commissioning of the Mainland Port Area" was held jointly by Frank Chan, Secretary for Transport and Housing, and "and a leading Communist party official from Guangdong province", democracy activists noted that it constituted an erosion of the SAR's autonomy, with Tanya Chan reported as telling local radio that "the unlawful and unconstitutional joint checkpoint has been implemented forcefully — it has caused an irreparable damage to our legal system and rule of law." Chief Executive Carrie Lam, however denied that there was any attempt to cover up the event, despite the ceremony being closed to press and being held without advance notice to news media or to members of the Legislative Council.  In the Court of First Instance of the High Court, Judge Anderson Chow refused the applications for leave to apply for judicial review by his decision dated 27 September 2017 and 18 April 2018. He refused the applications for interim relief by his decision dated 14 August 2018. He granted the applications for leave to apply for judicial review but dismissed the substantive applications for judicial review by his judgment dated 13 December 2018.

Mainland police operations.

Since the Mainland Port Area began operations, there have been several reported cases of travelers being detained or arrested by mainland officials in Hong Kong. In one case, a Hong Kong resident working for the British consulate was detained upon returning to Hong Kong and sent back to mainland China by mainland police officers. Amid the 2019 Hong Kong protests, Chinese border officers have also begun to routinely search the phones of travelers for evidence of involvement in the protests.

Structure.

Construction of the West Kowloon Station project was divided into two parts, XRL810A (northern part) and XRL810B (southern part) (XRL meaning e"X"press "R"ail "L"ink). The northern construction area was awarded to Leighton Contractors & Gammon Construction responsible for joint operations. The southern part of the project was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, HCCG (Xinchang) & Paul Y jointly responsible for the construction.  West Kowloon Station features 9 long distance platforms and 6 short haul regional platforms for a total of 15 platforms.  The long platforms are located on the east of the station and adequate for docking 16-car train. There will be total 9 track, 4 island platform and 1 side platform in the final stage of operation. 6 track, 3 island platform and 1 side platform will be opened in the initial stage. Every platform is equipped with 2 elevator, 2 escalators connecting the Arrival Level on B2 and 2 escalators connecting the departure level on B3.  The short platforms are located on the west of the station in Spanish solution arrangement and adequate for docking 8-car train. There will be total 6 track, 5 island platform and 2 side platform in the final stage of operation. 4 track, 4 island platform and 1 side platform will be opened in the initial stage. 3 out of 5 platforms will be the boarding platform and each equipped with 1 elevator and 2 escalators connecting the departure level on B3. The two other platforms will be the alighting platform and each equipped with 1 elevator and 2 escalators connecting the arrival level on B2.  In addition, as a cross-border railway station, West Kowloon Station will also be set up with customs and immigration facilities for the passengers to go through the formalities prior to boarding the train and not requiring any stops at the Hong Kong border.

Exits.

A: Austin Station  B: Wui Man Road Pick-up/Drop-off  C: Lin Cheung Road (closed)  D: Green Plaza  F: Green Plaza  G: Xiqu Centre  H: Green Plaza  J: Coach Pick-up/Drop-off  K1: Austin Station  K2: West Kowloon Station Bus Terminus  K4: Sky Corridor  M: Elements  N: Austin Station

Landscaping.

West Kowloon Station features an extensive green garden across the roof area of the station. It also sets up a large collection of cultural elements and entertainment spaces. Passengers can easily cross the ground floor between Kowloon Station, Austin Station and West Kowloon Cultural District, providing Hong Kong residents and visitors ample public open space and a comfortable green walking environment. Above the station, an area of approximately 8,900 square metres has been planted with a large number of plants and trees with traffic separated. All to create a pedestrian area, a green platform and wooded park that will integrate with the West Kowloon Cultural District harbourside parklands.  In addition, the West Kowloon Station entrance lobby area features a green ecological leisure channel zone to tie in with the greenery on top of the building.

Train services.

The West Kowloon Station is served by both short-distance and long-haul train services. Short-distance services consist of a frequent service to mainland Chinese cities in neighbouring Guangdong province, including Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou, while long-distance services link Hong Kong to at least 16 major destinations in mainland China. Six platforms will be designated for short haul trains, while nine will be designated for long haul trains.  Short-haul services  Long-haul services  According to a 2008 study, it is expected that by 2030, train services will increase in frequency.

Transport links.

MTR.

West Kowloon Station is located between two MTR stations, Kowloon Station and Austin Station. It is intended to become a commuter hub. Passengers will be able to transfer stations through the ground pedestrian area, as well as a number of footbridges and subways. Walking from Kowloon Station to West Kowloon Station via the Elements Shopping Centre takes around 8–10 minutes, while a short passageway connects the station with Austin Station.  From the West Kowloon Station via the MTR to the various regions of Hong Kong:

Public transport interchange.

In addition, the station will include a public transport interchange and long-distance coach station. Walking from the West Kowloon Station to these facilities will take about one minute. Passengers can use different modes of transport to reach the bus station, minibus station and taxi stand.  Time needed to travel to/from West Kowloon Station using road transport:  The Transport Department proposed three express bus routes connecting the station to various places in Hong Kong:

Road network.

Related developments by the Hong Kong government in West Kowloon, expect to improve the efficiency of road and pedestrian access routes, as well as to resolve a problematic traffic intersection in West Kowloon. These road developments hope to meet the transport needs of the entire area of the new development area of West Kowloon Cultural District and West Kowloon Station after completion.  Transportation Study identified the following specific road improvement measures:

Awards.

In 2010, the West Kowloon Station design won "Cityscape Awards for Architecture" in the Emerging Markets of Tourism, Travel & Transport Future Awards. In the same year on 4 November, the West Kowloon Station design won the "Best Future Project ─ Infrastructure" World Architecture Festival Awards.

West Kowloon station (abbreviated WEK), also known as Hong Kong West Kowloon and West Kowloon, is the terminus and only station of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (HSR). The station connects to the mainland China section through a dedicated tunnel and includes a Mainland Port Area where the laws of mainland China are enforced. It was constructed by MTR Corporation.

香港西九龙站(英语:Hong Kong West Kowloon Station),规划及建设期间称为西九龙总站,通常简称为西九龙站或西九站,是位于香港西九龙油尖旺区的铁路车站,为广深港高速铁路的南端起讫站,邻近西九文化区。其占地11公顷,耗资122亿3千万港元兴建,楼面总面积达43万平方米,为世界规模最大的地下车站。为实施一地两检,站内设有内地口岸区,区内实行中国内地法律,并由中国内地派驻执法人员执行。


History.

Hŭich'ŏn was formerly a small village. Since the Korean War and an influx of government investment, it has become a base for electronics and machinery production for the DPRK.

Administrative divisions.

Hŭich'ŏn is divided into 21 "tong" (neighbourhoods) and 12 "ri" (villages):

Transportation.

Hŭich'ŏn is served by an express highway to Pyongyang and by the Manpo Line railway.

Economy.

The major industries are automotive and machinery manufacturing, including the Huichon Machine Tool Factory, Huichon Silk Mill and Huichon Hard Glassware Factory.  Because of its strategic inland location, Hŭich'ŏn is also a site for ordnance manufacturing.

Huichon Machine Tool Factory.

The Korea General Machinery Trading Corporation operates the Huichon Machine Tool Factory, North Korea's government-run manufacturer of heavy-duty machine tools for domestic use and for export (although most exports are blocked by UN embargoes).  The factory group was founded in 1955 and is involved in machine tool production processes including steel-making, casting, processing, assembly, painting and packing. Products are produced on a serial basis and a small lot basis; its output of precision machine tools includes an assortment of spline-grinding machines and industrial lathes.  The creation of the complex was firstly discussed in a March 1951 Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee meeting. Kim Il Sung said "In the course of the war, I have learned a bloody lesson that we should produce our own munitions and weapons. I keenly feel that we must have a solid machine-building industry in a far-sighted way." Two locations were cited for this purpose: Tokchon and Huichon.  Once built, the factory became a model for the machine-building industry of the country. Machine factories have been built in Taean, Ragwon, Tokchon, Ryongsong, Kusong and other parts of the country were built on the Hŭich'ŏn model. According to questionable DPRK government figures, (as of 1998) machine-building industry in North Korea had increased 1690 times compared with the pre-liberation figure, and its self-sufficiency in machinery was already 98 per cent.

Huichon Silk Mill.

The Huichon Silk Mill is a state-run factory which produces silk thread, renowned as a Korean specialty since antiquity. Work was completed on the building in September 1988. It was constructed on the bank of the Chongchon River.  The team charged with the initial process of silk thread production sort the cocoons and remove cocoons with decayed chrysalises in them. Government mandates are strict: the cocoon-boiling and silk-reeling workteams must strive to increase thread production. The machinists of the cocoon-boiling workteams must "raise the actual utility rate" by rationally regulating the temperature in boiling cocoons.  At the silk reeling workshop, the workers in charge of finding the ends of cocoon threads must examine all the ends of cocoon threads to ensure there is no waste. The silk reelers are responsible for many pots, and must meet goals by "raising their technological level" and surpassing their monthly production plans.  The Chongchongang-brand silk threads have been exported to many countries, although UN embargoes have crippled the silk trade in recent years.

Huichon Hard Glassware Factory.

The Huichon Hard Glassware Factory consists of the main building, and supplementary one on an area of about 12,000 square metres. It can annually produce over ten million glassware of different kinds.  The facility has a glass fusion furnace, a press-plastic machine, a centrifugal plastic machine, and many raw materials.  The factory produces various kinds of glassware for home use. They are supplied to households in Pyongyang, Chagang Province and other parts of the country.

Hydroelectric power.

Huichon contains a number of small hydroelectric power plants surrounding it as well as a major hydroelectric plant (Huichon No. 2) which was completed in April 2012, seven years ahead of schedule. Its main purpose is to supply steady electricity to Pyongyang (175 km to the southeast). It has a power generation capacity of about 300 MWe.  In December 2012, a report surfaced that the Huichon No. 2 Power Station had severe structural problems and was leaking. The problems are so large that Pyongyang now receives as little as five hours of electricity a day. According to the Radio Free Asia report, an anti-communist radio keep by United States, "Only the Kim idolization facilities, apartments for Central Party officials, the [43-story] Koryo Hotel and [the new] Changjeon St. [housing development] have 24-hour electricity, while the districts where ordinary people live can only use electricity for five hours a day."  A South Korean news source, "The Chosun Ilbo", also reported that when Kim Jong-il learned of the problems, he flew into a fit of rage, ordered severe punishments for those involved and subsequently died from a heart attack as a result.

Culture and social issues.

Huichon hosts the main University of Telecommunications of North Korea.

Climate.

Huichon has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: "Dwa").

Hŭich'ŏn () is a city in the southern part of Chagang Province, North Korea. The population is 168,180 (2008 data).

熙川市()是朝鲜民主主义人民共和国慈江道南部的一个工业城市,有满浦线铁路经过,西南与平安南、北道交界 (妙香山)。1987年人口163,000人。


Gameplay.

"The Binding of Isaac" is a top-down dungeon crawler game, presented using two-dimensional sprites, in which the player controls Isaac or other unlockable characters as they explore the dungeons located in Isaac's basement. The characters differ in speed, amount of health, amount of damage they deal, and other attributes. The game's mechanics and presentation is similar to the dungeons of "The Legend of Zelda", while incorporating random, procedurally-generated levels in the manner of a roguelike game. On each floor of the basement dungeon, the player must fight monsters in a room before continuing onto the next room. This is most commonly done by the character's tears as bullets in the style of a twin-stick shooter, but the player can also use a limited supply of bombs to damage enemies and clear out parts of the room. Other methods of defeating enemies become possible as the character gains power-ups, items that are automatically worn by the player-character when picked up that can alter the character's core attributes, such as increasing health or the strength of each tear, or cause additional side effects, such as for allowing charged tear shots to be fired after holding down a controller button for a short while, or a means to fire tears behind the character. Power-ups include passive items that improve the character's attributes automatically, active power-ups that can be used once before they are recharged by completing additional rooms in the dungeon, and single-use power-ups such as pills or Tarot cards that confer a one-time benefit when used, such as regaining full health, or increasing or decreasing all attributes of the character. The effect of power-ups stack, so that the player may come into highly-beneficial power-up combinations.  Once a room is cleared of monsters, it will remain clear, allowing the player to re-trace their way through the level, though once they move onto the next level, they cannot return. Along the way, the player can collect money to buy power-ups from shopkeepers, keys to unlock special treasure rooms, and new weapons and power-ups to strengthen their chances against the enemies. The player's health is tracked by a number of hearts; if the character loses all his hearts, the game ends in permadeath and the player must start over from a freshly-generated dungeon. Each floor of the dungeon includes a boss which the player must defeat before continuing to the next level. On the sixth of eight floors, the player fights Isaac's mother; after defeating her, Isaac crawls into her womb. Later levels are significantly harder, culminating in a fight against the heart of Isaac's mother on the eighth floor. An optional ninth floor, Sheol, contains the boss Satan. Winning the game with certain characters or by certain conditions unlocks new power-ups that might appear in the dungeon or the ability to use one of the other characters. The game tracks the various power-ups that the player has found over time which can be reviewed from the game's menus.

Plot.

"The Binding of Isaac"s plot is very loosely inspired by the biblical story of the same name. Isaac, a child, and his mother live in a small house on a hill, both happily keeping to themselves, with Isaac drawing pictures and playing with his toys, and his mother watching Christian broadcasts on television. Isaac's mother then hears "a voice from above", stating her son is corrupted with sin, and needs to be saved. It asks her to remove all that was evil from Isaac, in an attempt to save him. His mother obliges, taking away his toys, drawings, and even his clothes.  The voice once again speaks to Isaac's mother, stating that Isaac must be cut off from all that is evil in the world. Once again, his mother obliges, and locks Isaac inside his room. Once more, the voice speaks to Isaac's mother. It states she has done well, but it still questions her devotion, and tells her to sacrifice her son. She obliges, grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen and walks to Isaac's room. Isaac, watching through a sizable crack in his door, starts to panic. He finds a trapdoor hidden under his rug and jumps in, just before his mother opens his bedroom door. Isaac then puts the paper he was drawing onto his wall, which becomes the title screen.  During the game's loading points, Isaac is shown curled up in a ball, crying. His thoughts are visible, ranging among rejection from his mother and humiliation from his peers to a scenario involving his own death. The game features 13 possible endings, one after each major boss fight. The first ten endings serve as introductions to unlocked items and mechanics, while the final three suggest that Isaac climbs into a toy chest and suffocates.

Development and release.

"The Binding of Isaac" was developed following the release of "Super Meat Boy", which McMillen considered a significant risk and a large time effort. When "Super Meat Boy" was released to both critical praise and strong sales, he felt that he no longer had to worry about the consequences of taking risks with his finances supported by its sales. He also considered he could take further risk with the concept.  "The Binding of Isaac"s main concept was the result of a weeklong game jam that McMillen had with Florian Himsl; at the time, his co-contributor on "Super Meat Boy", Tommy Refenes, was on vacation. The concept McMillen had was two-fold: to develop a roguelike title based on the first "The Legend of Zelda" game's dungeon structure, and to develop a game that addressed McMillen's thoughts on religion. McMillen had been inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of the original "Zelda" games.  Random rooms were created for each floor of the dungeon by selecting ten to twenty rooms from a pre-built library of 200 layouts, adding in the monsters, items, and other features, and then including fixed rooms that would be found on each floor, such as a boss room and treasure room. In expanding the gameplay, McMillen used the structure of "Zelda"s dungeons to design how the player would progress through the game. In a typical "Zelda" dungeon, according to McMillen, the player acquires a new item that helps them to progress farther in the game; he took the same inspiration to assure that each level in "Isaac" included at least one item and one bonus item on defeating the boss that would boost the character's attributes. McMillen also wanted to encourage players to experiment to learn how things work within "Isaac", mirroring how Miyamoto had done with the original "Zelda" game. He designed the level progression to become more difficult with the player's progression in the game, as well as additional content that became available after beating the game as to make it feel like the game was long. McMillen designed four of the selectable characters based on the main classes of "Dungeons & Dragons"—fighter, thief, cleric and wizard.  On the story side, McMillen explained that the religious tone is based on his own experiences with his family, split between Catholics and born-again Christians. McMillen noted that while both sides born out faith from the same Bible, their attitudes were different; he found some of the Catholic rituals his family performed inspiring, while other beliefs they had were condemning of several pastimes McMillen had participated in like "Dungeons & Dragons". He took inspiration from that duality to create "Isaac"s narrative, showing how religion can both instill harmful feelings while also bringing about dark creativity. McMillen also considered the scare tactics used by the Christian right to condemn popular media of the 1980s, such as heavy metal and video games. McMillen noted how many of the propaganda films from this period features satanic cults that would sacrifice children, and he noted how many Biblical stories mirrored these concepts, subsequently building the story around that. He also stated that he also tended to like "really weird stuff" relating to toilet humor and similar types of off-color humor that did not sit well with his family and which he had explored in previous games before "Super Meat Boy". While "Super Meat Boy" helped to make his reputation (including being one of the featured developers in ""), he felt it was a "safe" game considering his preferred type of humor, and used "Isaac" to return to this form, considering that the game could easily be "career suicide" but would make a statement about what he really wanted to do.  Within the week, they had a working game written in Adobe Flash's ActionScript 2. The two agreed to complete it out as a game they could release on Steam though with no expectations of sales. Completion of the game from the prototype to the finished state took about 3 months with part-time development. During this time, they discovered there were several limitations on the size and scope of both Flash and ActionScript that limited how much they could do with the game, but continued to use the tools as to release the title. McMillen said that because they were not worried about sales, they were able to work with Valve to release the game without fears of censorship or having to seek an ESRB rating. Releasing through Steam also enabled them to update the game freely, several times on its initial release, an aspect that they could not do with other consoles without significant cost to themselves. They did release without significant end-user testing, as it would have taken several hundreds of users to go through all the various combinations of items that a player could collect, and McMillen recognized they had released the title with their buyers being playtesters for them. A week after the Steam release, McMillen released a demo version via the website "Newgrounds". Merge Games produced a physical edition that included the game, soundtrack, and a poster, for stores in the United Kingdom in 2012.

Soundtrack.

Danny Baranowsky, the game's composer and who previously worked with McMillen on "Super Meat Boy", was involved early on with the project shortly after the completion of the first prototype. McMillen and Baranowsky worked back and forth, with McMillen providing artwork from the game and allowing Baranowsky to develop the musical themes based on that; this would often lead to McMillen creating more art to support the music as it progressed. Baranowsky had been drawn to "The Binding of Isaac" as though the game puts forth a dark tone, he stated it had rather silly undertones underneath and such that one could not take it too seriously. Some of the songs were inspired by classical choral music but modified to fit the theme of the game. Other works were inspired by boss fight songs composed by Nobuo Uematsu for the "Final Fantasy" series. Baranowsky also had additional time after finishing the main songs for the game to craft short additional tracks that were used for special rooms like shops and secret areas.

Cancelled Nintendo 3DS port.

In January 2012, as the game has surpassed 450,000 units sold, McMillen stated that he was approached by a publisher that had interest in bringing the title to the Nintendo 3DS as a downloadable title through the Nintendo eShop, though McMillen had reservations given Nintendo's reputation for less risque content. In late February, McMillen stated that Nintendo had rejected the game because of "questionable religious content". He believed this stemmed from Germany's classification board rating the existing Windows version of the game as "age 16+" due to potentially blasphemous content, the first such time a game was rated in that manner in the country. McMillen noted that Nintendo executives he spoke to before this decision had noted some blasphemous content would have been acceptable, and were more concerned with overtly religious content. He also noted that he was approached about his willingness to make some changes to the game to make it more suitable for the 3DS, but never was given a list of specific changes. McMillen speculated that Nintendo was worried about its reputation; because of the game's resemblance to "The Legend of Zelda", an unknowing child could potentially have downloaded the title and been shocked by the content, which would have reflected poorly on Nintendo.  Several game websites were outraged at Nintendo's decision. Though disappointed with Nintendo's decision, McMillen did not think the loss of the 3DS port was a major issue, and saw a brief sales burst on Steam as the news was covered in gaming website. McMillen further praised the flexibility of the Steam platform, which does not require games to obtain ESRB ratings to be published on the service, and the freedom it gave to the publishers regardless of the game content.  Nintendo would later allow the "Rebirth" remake to be released on both the New Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U in 2015; this came in part because Nintendo's Steve Singer (vice president of licensing), Mark Griffin (a senior manager in licensing), and Dan Adelman (the head of indie development) championed support for "The Binding of Isaac".

"Wrath of the Lamb".

An expansion to the game, entitled "Wrath of the Lamb", was released through Steam on May 28, 2012. McMillen was inspired to create the expansion not only due to the success of the base game, but because his wife Danielle had fully completed the base game, the first game he had written in which she had shown significant interest. The expansion adds 70% more content to the original, and contains more than 10 bosses, over 100 items, over 40 unlocks, two additional endings, and two additional optional levels. This expansion added new "alternate" floors, which can replace the normal floors, creating an alternate route through the game. These floors contain harder enemies, and a different set of bosses. Other features include a new item type, Trinkets, which have a variety of passive or triggered effects when carried, as well as new room types. McMillen had plans to release a second expansion beyond "Wrath of the Lamb", but was constrained by the limits of Flash at this point.

"The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth".

Sometime in 2012 after "Isaac"'s release, McMillen was approached by Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis who asked if McMillen was interested in bringing the game to consoles. McMillen was interested, but insisted that they would have to reprogram the game to get around the limitations of Flash and to include "Wrath of the Lamb" and the second planned expansion, remaking the game's graphics in 16-bit instead of vector-based Flash graphics. Further, McMillen had wanted nothing to do with the business aspects of the game, having recounted the difficulties he had in handling this for "Super Meat Boy". Nicalis agreed to these, and began work in 2012 on what would become "", an improved version of the title. It was released on November 4, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita, with versions for the Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, and Xbox One released on July 23, 2015. The game introduced numerous new playable characters, items, enemies, bosses, challenges, and room layout seeds for floors. A content pack, entitled "Afterbirth" was released for "Rebirth" starting October 2015, adding new alternate chapters, characters and items, as well as wave-based Greed mode. A second update, "Afterbirth+", added further additional content and support for user-created modifications, and was released on January 3, 2017.

Other games.

McMillen collaborated with James Id to develop "The Legend of Bum-bo", which was released on November 12, 2019 for Windows and later for iOS and Switch. "Bum-bo" is described as a prequel to "Isaac", and Isaac and Gish appear as characters in the game. Isaac also appears as a playable character in the fighting game "Blade Strangers" and the puzzle game "Crystal Crisis".  On June 27, 2018, Edmund McMillen announced and later released a card game adaptation in cooperation with Studio 71 titled "".

Reception.

"The Binding of Isaac" received generally favorable reviews from game critics. On Metacritic, the game has an average of 84 out of 100 based on 30 reviews.  "The Binding of Isaac" has been received by reviewers as a game with high replayability with the extensive range and combinations of power-ups that the player can encounter during a run-through, while providing an accessible "Zelda"-inspired framework that most video game players would recognize and easily come to understand. John Teti for "Eurogamer" praised the game for its replayability through the randomization aspects, calling it "the most accessible exploration of the roguelike idea" that he had seen. "Edge"s similarly commented on the lure to replay the game due to its short playthrough time, calling it "an imaginative and quick-witted arcade experience that manages to be both depraved and strangely sweet by turn". GameSpot's Maxwell McGee stated that the game smartly has removed extraneous features such that "what remains is a tightly focused game that continues to feel fresh even after multiple completions". Though the game is considered to be accessible to new players, reviewers found the game to be a difficult challenge, often set by the randomness of what power-ups the player happened to acquire during a single run. Writers for "The A.V. Club" rated the game an A on a grading scale, and favorably compared the title to McMillen's "Super Meat Boy", requiring the player to have "masochistic patience in the face of terrible odds". This difficulty was considered mitigated by the large number of possible power-ups that the game offers, most would not be seen by players until they have replayed the game many times. McGee noted that while players can review what items they have discovered prior to a run-through, this feature does not explain what each item does, leaving the effect to be determined by the player while in game.  "Game Informer"s Adam Biessener noted that while "The Binding of Isaac" had a number of software bugs on release that may briefly detract from the experience, "McMillen’s vision shines through" in the game's playability, art style, and story. Neilie Johnson for "IGN" found that some players may be put off by the game's crudeness but otherwise "it's totally random, highly creative and brutally unforgiving". Similarly, Nathan Muenier for "GameSpy" noted the game had some shock value that one must work past, but otherwise was " imaginative" and "utterly absorbing". Alternatively, Jordan Devore for "Destructoid" considered the visual style of the game one of its "biggest selling points", following from McMillen's past style of dark comedy from "Super Meat Boy". Baranowsky's soundtrack was found by reviewers to well-suit the themes of the game, and used appropriately to avoid extensive repetition during a playthrough. Kirk Hamilton of "Kotaku" called the soundtrack as the combination of several genres and the musical styles of Danny Elfman, Muse, and "Final Fantasy" that created something "dark and unique".  "The Binding of Isaac" was nominated in the Best Independent Game category at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, but lost to "Minecraft".  McMillen had only expected the game to sell a few hundred copies when he released it on Steam. For the first few months of its release, sales were roughly a few hundred per day, but shortly thereafter, McMillen found sales suddenly were boosted, a fact he attributed to numerous Let's Play videos that had been published by players to showcase the game and drove sales. This popularity also drew interest by players that wanted to create custom mods for the game, which would become a factor in the design of the sequel to better support modding.  By November 2012, the game sold over one million copies, with at least one-quarter of those having purchased the "Wrath of the Lamb" extension. As of July 2014, the game has sold over 3 million copies. By July 2015, following the release of "Rebirth", the combined games had over 5 million units sold. "The Binding of Isaac" is said to be a contributing factor towards the growth of the roguelike genre since around 2010, with its success paving the way for later games that used the roguelike formula, such as "" and "Don't Starve".

The Binding of Isaac is an indie roguelike video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl, initially released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows; the game was later ported for OS X, and Linux operating systems. The game's title and plot are inspired by the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac. In the game, Isaac's mother receives a message from God demanding the life of her son as proof of her faith, and Isaac, fearing for his life, flees into the monster-filled basement of their home where he must fight to survive. Players control Isaac or one of eleven other unlockable characters through a procedurally generated dungeon in a roguelike manner, fashioned after those of "The Legend of Zelda", defeating monsters in real-time combat while collecting items and power-ups to defeat bosses and eventually Isaac's mother.

是一款由Edmund McMillen与Florian Himsl共同开发的Roguelike地牢冒险类独立游戏。发售时间为2011年,仅可以在Windows操作系统上游玩。在这之后,以撒的结合开发了针对Linux与Mac OS X系统的版本。《以撒的结合》标题和故事内容来源于圣经中亚伯拉罕燔祭以撒的情节。在游戏中,以撒的母亲在接收到来自上帝的启示后,她决心要将以撒祭献给上帝。以撒为了逃命,他躲进了充满了怪物的地下室中;在地下室中,以撒必须靠自己存活下来。在游戏中,玩家可以操控以撒、亚波伦或其余12个可以解锁的人物在程序自动生成的地牢中探险。这样的游戏方式和《塞尔达传说》相似,在与怪物战斗的同时收集道具并强化自身能力,最终打败当层地牢的Boss进入下一层,一周目击败boss妈腿即为通关,随着解锁的秘密增加,也有更多的线路与不同的结局供玩家选择。


Plot.

"Hidamari Sketch" centers around a young girl named Yuno who finally is able to get accepted into Yamabuki Art High School, which she has longed for. To attend the school, Yuno moves and starts to live in a small apartment building named the located across the street from the school. Once there, she quickly becomes friends with three other occupants at the apartments, including her classmate Miyako and two second-year students: Hiro and Sae. The events of the characters' everyday lives are shown as they attend the school together and get to know each other better. After a year has passed, the girls move up a year and two freshmen, Nazuna and Nori, arrive at Hidamari Apartments. After another year passes, Hiro and Sae graduate while another freshman, Matsuri, moves into the apartments.

Media.

Manga.

The original manga, written and illustrated by Ume Aoki, began serialization in the April 2004 issue of Houbunsha's monthly "seinen" magazine "Manga Time Kirara Carat"; a total of 146 chapters have been published as of the February 2020 issue. It is formatted in "yonkoma" (four-panel) style, with two comic strips per page and six to eight pages per chapter; the manga's story is presented in chronological order, unlike in its later anime adaptation. As of November 26, 2016, nine "tankōbon" volumes (containing 129 chapters) have been published in Japan under Houbunsha's Manga Time KR Comics imprint; a tenth volume is planned for release on March 27, 2020. On December 8, 2007, Yen Press announced that it had licensed the series for an English-language release under the title "Sunshine Sketch"; the first translated paperback volume was released in North America on June 17, 2008.

Anime.

A 12-episode anime was produced by Shaft and aired in Japan between January 11 and March 29, 2007. A two-episode addition aired on television on October 18, 2007. The first 12 episodes were released on six DVD compilation volumes containing two episodes each between March 28 and August 22, 2007. A DVD containing the two special episodes was released on October 24, 2007. The anime is not presented in a chronological sequence though episodes do build upon each other thematically, with details shown in earlier episodes becoming important in later ones. The first season of "Hidamari Sketch" was licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and distributed by Section23 Films; the first season collection was released on DVD with English subtitles on January 12, 2010.  A second season entitled "Hidamari Sketch × 365" aired in Japan between July 3 and September 25, 2008 and contained 13 episodes with the 14th episode being bundled with the final DVD volume. Two special episodes for the second season were broadcast on October 17 and October 24, 2009. The second season has also been picked up by Sentai Filmworks, with Section23 Films as distributor. The complete collection was released on DVD, April 6, 2010. A third season, titled, aired between January 8 and March 26, 2010 and contained 12 episodes. Two special episodes for the third season aired in October 2010. This season was also picked up by Section23 Films and was released in North America on July 19, 2011.  Two special episodes titled aired on October 29 and November 5, 2011, respectively, and were released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on November 23, 2011 and has yet again been licensed by Sentai Filmworks. A fourth anime season titled aired on TBS and BS-TBS between October 5 and December 21, 2012 and has also been licensed by Sentai Filmworks. The series was simulcast by The Anime Network in North America and Anime on Demand in the United Kingdom. An original video animation, titled, was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on November 27, 2013 and aired on BS-TBS on November 29, 2013. In addition to the DVD and Blu-ray releases, all four seasons (excluding the Graduation arc) are streamed on Sentai's Anime Network website.

Music.

The first season anime, along with the two-episode addition, used two pieces of theme music, one opening theme, and one ending theme. The opening theme is by Kana Asumi, Kaori Mizuhashi, Ryoko Shintani, and Yuko Goto; the single containing the opening theme was released on January 24, 2007. The ending theme is by Marble; the single containing the ending theme was released on February 21, 2007. The first season's original soundtrack was released on April 25, 2007. A character song mini-album named "Hida Chara" was released on September 5, 2007 containing songs sung by voice actors from the anime. A maxi single entitled was released on June 4, 2008, featuring the opening theme to the "Hidamari" web radio show sung by Asumi.  For the second season, the opening theme is by Asumi, Mizuhashi, Shintani, and Goto; the ending theme is by Marble. The opening theme single was released on July 23, 2008, and the ending theme was released on August 6, 2008. The second season's original soundtrack was released on October 8, 2008. Four character song singles were released on September 10, 2008 for the four main female characters. An image song collection by Marble entitled "Hidamarble" was released on September 26, 2008. Two more character songs for the character Yoshinoya (voiced by Miyu Matsuki) and The Principal (voiced by Yūichi Nagashima) was released on November 5, 2008, and the character song single for Ume (voiced by Ume Aoki) was released on January 21, 2009. All albums were released by Lantis.  In the third season, the opening theme is by Asumi, Mizuhashi, Shintani and Goto; the ending theme is by Marble. For "Hidamari Sketch x SP", the opening theme is by Asumi, Mizuhashi, Shintani and Goto; the ending theme is "Nora" by Marble. For "Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb", the opening theme is by Asumi, Mizuhashi, Shintani, Goto, Chiaki Omigawa, and Hitomi Harada; the ending theme is by Marble. The ending theme for the graduation episode is by Asumi and Mizuhashi.

Light novels.

Two light novels written by Chabō Higurashi and illustrated by Ume Aoki were released by Houbunsha under their "Houbunsha KR Bunko" label. The first novel was released on March 31, 2007 entitled, and the second followed on September 30, 2007 with the title. The novels are not a new adaptation of the manga series, but instead draw directly from the manga's material.

Video game.

A Nintendo DS video game developed by Idea Factory entitled was released on February 12, 2009. The game primarily plays like a normal board game (sugoroku) with consecutive boards, each representing a month during Yuno's first school year. Depending on the square landed upon, characters may play one of numerous mini-games, experience mini-events—dialogue and sometimes imagery relating to minor occurrences around Hidamari apartments or the school, or encounter major events which play out similarly to the episode of the anime on which they are based. Points are accrued throughout the year to determine a winning character, and the points can then be used to unlock items in the extras menu.

A 12-episode anime adaptation produced by Shaft aired in Japan between January and March 2007. It was followed by three sequels: "Hidamari Sketch × 365", a 13-episode season between July and September 2008, "Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu", a 12-episode season between January and March 2010, and "Hidamari Sketch × Honeycomb", a 12-episode season between October and December 2012. Two special episodes for each of the first three seasons were broadcast in October 2007, October 2009, and October 2010, respectively, as well as two specials entitled "Hidamari Sketch × SP" in October and November 2011. A two-episode original video animation, "Hidamari Sketch: Sae/Hiro Graduation Edition", was released on November 27, 2013. Since 2010, the series and specials have been licensed in North America with English subtitles by Sentai Filmworks.

《向阳素描》()是日本漫画家苍树梅绘制的一部日本四格漫画作品,在芳文社的月刊杂志《Manga Time Kirara Carat》()的2004年4月号开始连载,是该杂志的招牌作品。截至2020年3月,已出版10本单行本,在台湾及香港由尖端出版代理出版中文译本。简称为(Hidamari)、(Hidasuke)


Early life.

In 1982, Wen came to the US for graduate school via the CUSPEA program, which was organized by Prof. T. D. Lee.

Work.

Wen studied superstring theory under theoretical physicist Edward Witten at Princeton University where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1987. He later switched his research field to condensed matter physics while working with theoretical physicists Robert Schrieffer, Frank Wilczek, Anthony Zee in Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara (1987–1989).  Wen introduced the notion of topological order (1989) and quantum order (2002), to describe a new class of matter states. This opens up a new research direction in condensed matter physics. He found that states with topological order contain non-trivial boundary excitations and developed chiral Luttinger theory for the boundary states (1990). The boundary states can become ideal conduction channel which may lead to device application of topological phases. He proposed the simplest topological order — Z topological order (1990), which turns out to be the topological order in the toric code. He also proposed a special class of topological order: non-Abelian quantum Hall states. They contain emergent particles with non-Abelian statistics which generalizes the well known Bose and Fermi statistics. Non-Abelian particles may allow us to perform fault tolerant quantum computations. With Michael Levin, he found that string-net condensations can give rise to a large class of topological orders (2005). In particular, string-net condensation provides a unified origin of photons, electrons, and other elementary particles (2003). It unifies two fundamental phenomena: gauge interactions and Fermi statistics. He pointed out that topological order is nothing but the pattern of long range entanglements. This led to a notion of symmetry protected topological (SPT) order (short-range entangled states with symmetry) and its description by group cohomology of the symmetry group (2011). The notion of SPT order generalizes the notion of topological insulator to interacting cases. He also proposed the SU(2) gauge theory of high temperature superconductors (1996).

Xiao-Gang Wen (; born November 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American physicist. He is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. His expertise is in condensed matter theory in strongly correlated electronic systems. In Oct. 2016, he was awarded the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize.

文小刚,中国出生的美国物理学家。他是麻省理工学院的物理学教授,自2011年起他是圆周理论物理研究所牛顿讲席教授。他还兼任清华大学高等研究中心“长江学者奖励计划”讲座教授。他是美国物理学会会士。他的专业知识是在强相关电子系统中的凝聚体物理学。


Early life.

Todd Howard was born in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania. He has an elder brother, Jeff. He developed an interest in computers, particularly video games, at a very young age. Howard considers the 1980s role-playing video games "Wizardry" and "" to be inspirations for his future games. He is a 1989 graduate of Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. In 1993, he graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a major in finance/business, despite his desire to create video games, later saying that "it seemed like the easiest path to get through college".  After obtaining "Wayne Gretzky Hockey" (1988), during the holiday break of his senior year in college, Howard visited the offices of the game's developer, Bethesda Softworks, which he passed by daily on his commute to and from school. He asked for a job at the company but was rejected and told that he needed to finish school as a prerequisite. After graduating, he went back to Bethesda for a job but was rejected again due to a lack of job opportunities at the time. Instead, Howard started working for a smaller game company in Yorktown, Virginia, which enabled him to visit several conventions like the Consumer Electronics Show, where he continued approaching Bethesda to request being hired.

Career.

Howard was eventually recruited by Bethesda Softworks in 1994, originally as a producer. His first game development credit for Bethesda was as producer and designer of "" (1995), followed by work as a designer on "SkyNET" and "", both released in 1996. He was project leader for the first time on "", released in 1998.  In 2000, Howard was appointed project leader and designer for "" and the expansions that followed. The game was released in 2002 and was a critical and commercial success, winning several Game of the Year awards. He then led the creation of "" (2006) as its executive producer. After this, he served as game director and executive producer of "Fallout 3", released in 2008.  Howard returned to "The Elder Scrolls" series to lead the development as the creative director of its fifth installment, "", which was released in November 2011. He subsequently directed "Fallout 4", released in November 2015, and "Fallout 76", a multiplayer installment in the series that attracted criticism upon its release in November 2018.

Opinions and recognition.

Regarding his own views on video games, Howard admitted in 2011 that "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" had sacrificed what made "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind" "particular", saying: "With "Oblivion", we're dealing with the capital province, and we wanted to get back to the more classic "Arena" and "Daggerfall" feel of a fantasy world that felt more refined and welcoming. But in that, we sacrificed some of what made "Morrowind" special: the wonder of discovery." He said Bethesda's philosophy for "The Elder Scrolls" games was to allow people to "live another life, in another world".  In 2012, Howard also said he was favorable to modding in video games, claiming he did not understand why many developers do not allow it. In 2016, after the release of "Fallout 4", Howard admitted that he was well aware of the criticisms received by the game, especially with regards to the dialogue system, saying: "The way we did some dialogue stuff [in Fallout 4], that didn't work as well. But I know the reasons we tried that – to make a nice interactive conversation – but [it was] less successful than some other things in the game."  Howard has been a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences. He spoke to developers at the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, sharing his rules of game development. He returned as a keynote speaker at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit. He said developers should ignore demographics and installed base, and follow their passions, saying that "if install base really mattered, we'd all make board games, because there are a lot of tables".  Howard's work has often received attention by the generalist media and press; his games have been featured in "Newsweek", CNN, "USA Today", and "The Today Show". The ever-increasing popularity of the games Howard has directed and produced has turned him, and some of his quotes, into Internet memes.  Howard was the 16th recipient of a Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award. The magazine "GamePro" named him among the "Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming over the Last 20 Years". Howard also received the D.I.C.E. Award for "Best Game Director" in 2012 and 2016. In 2014, he was awarded the Lara of Honor, a lifetime achievement award from Germany. In 2013, "IGN" listed Howard 70th in a ranking of "The Top 100 Game Creators of All Time". He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2017.

Todd Howard (born ) is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the "Fallout" and "The Elder Scrolls" series.

托德·霍华德(英语:Todd Howard,出生于1970/1971年)是一位美国电子游戏设计师、总监和制作人。他目前在贝塞斯达游戏工作室担任总监和执行制片人,在那里他领导了《辐射》和《上古卷轴》系列的制作。


Description.

"Protopterus annectens" has a prominent snout and small eyes. Its body is long and eel-like, some 9–15 times the length of the head. It has two pairs of long, filamentous fins. The pectoral fins have a basal fringe and are about three times the head length, while its pelvic fins are about twice the head length. In general, three external gills are inserted posterior to the gill slits and above the pectoral fins.  It has cycloid scales embedded in the skin. About 40–50 scales occur between the operculum and the anus, and 36–40 around the body before the origin of the dorsal fin. It has 34–37 pairs of ribs. The dorsal side is olive or brown in color and the ventral side is lighter, with great blackish or brownish spots on the body and fins except on its belly. They reach a length of about in the wild.

Distribution.

The West African lungfish is distributed throughout Africa. It has two subspecies; "P. a. annectens" is found primarily in the basins of Sahel as well as Guinea and Sierra Leone whilst the other subspecies, "P. a." "brieni" is known largely from the upper Congo River area and from the Zambezi of Mozambique.

Habitat.

Like other African lungfish, the West African lungfish is an obligate air breather and a freshwater-dwelling fish. It is demersal, meaning that it lives primarily buried within riverbeds. Due to the dry season frequently drying the rivers and floodplains in which it lives, the West African lungfish can aestivate for up to a year; however the West African lungfish generally only aestivates between wet seasons.

Diet.

The Tana lungfish has a diet not unlike other lungfish, consisting of various mollusks, crabs, prawn, and small fish within its distribution. It can also go for up to 3 1/2 years without any food intake whatsoever. During this time period it behaves much like an estivating fish in that it buries itself in the mud and does not move until more favorable conditions occur.

The West African lungfish ("Protopterus annectens"), also known as the Tana lungfish or simply African lungfish, is a species of African lungfish. It is found in a wide range of freshwater habitats in West and Middle Africa, as well as the northern half of Southern Africa.

非洲肺鱼(学名:"Protopterus annectens"),又称钝吻肺鱼、 原鳍鱼、虎斑肺鱼,是非洲肺鱼属的四种现生物种之一


Location.

This square forms the central focus of the Presqu'île (peninsula), between the Saône and the Rhône, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. It hosts the Lyon tourist office and the central post office. It is a focus of the city's shopping streets: four major streets (two of them pedestrianised) start here: the Rue de la République, leading to the Hôtel de Ville and the Opera Nouvel; the Rue Victor-Hugo and the Rue du Plat both lead to Perrache; and the Rue du Président Édouard Herriot, with a concentration of luxury shops and leading to the Place des Terreaux. The quarter of Vieux Lyon and the Lyon Cathedral face the square over the Saône.  Place Bellecour is the kilometer 0 of Lyon: all distances are counted from this point.  The square's metro station, also called Bellecour, is the intersection of lines A and D. The square is also served by many buses, including 10, 14 and 88.

History.

During the Gallo-Roman era, the quarter of Bellecour was an alluvial island. In Roman times, the quarter had military and commercial activities: remains of huts which served as warehouses for traders and Gallo-Roman boatmen, called "Canabae", have been found in this area.  In the late 12th century, the archbishop of Lyon had a vineyard there called "Bella curtis" ("Beau jardin" in French). Abandoned, the area became swampy.  In 1562, François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets attacked Lyon, installed his soldiers on the "Pré de Belle-cour".  In 1604, Henry IV forced the Lyon City Council to acquire what by then had become a pasture in order to create a public square, but the heirs of the Archbishop challenged this order in court, resulting in an interminable trial.  Many years later, in 1708, Louis XIV obtained the ownership of the square. In 1715, it became the Place Royale. Named Place Louis-le-Grand, it was adorned with a bronze statue of the king made by Martin Desjardins. Around the square, some buildings were then constructed whose façades were designed by Robert de Cotte, the first architect of Louis XIV.  During the French Revolution, an altar dedicated to Liberty was erected on the square on 14 July 1790. The square changed its name and became the Place de la Fédération. A guillotine was installed here in 1792. The royal statue was destroyed in 1793, and the square was then named Place de l'Égalité.  On 21 June 1800, Napoleon I, after his victory at Marengo, laid the foundation stone for new buildings. The square was renamed Place Bonaparte, later Place Napoléon. During the Bourbon Restoration, in 1825, a new statue of Louis XIV was erected.  It was only under the French Third Republic that the square took its current name: Place Bellecour.

Statues.

In the center of the square, there is an equestrian statue of Louis XIV by François-Frédéric Lemot. It is accompanied, at his feet, by two allegorical statues of the Saône and the Rhône, created by the brothers Nicolas and Guillaume Costou in 1720. The base came from a village in the Beaujolais: Le Perréon.  The first statue was created in 1713 and destroyed during the French Revolution, in 1793, to make cannon. In 1825, the current statue, sculpted in Paris by François-Frédéric Lemot, was installed in the square. It was transported to Lyon in twelve days on a coupling drawn by twenty-four horses. The entrance of the statue into the city was a festive occasion that attracted a big audience.  There is also a statue of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry sitting in front of the Little Prince. It was erected in 2000 for the centenary of the aviator's birth.

Main events.

Throughout the year, a number of events take place on Place Bellecour :

In the middle is an equestrian statue of king Louis XIV by François-Frédéric Lemot (1825). Another statue, representing the Petit Prince and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is at the west end of the square. The square also has two pavilions, housing the tourist information office of Lyon and an art gallery.

白莱果广场()是法国城市里昂的一个大型广场。大小为312米乘200米, 是欧洲最大的净地广场,没有任何绿地、树木 或障碍物。广场中间是路易十四骑马雕像。


History.

Shousan is currently one of the oldest ruins of civilization founded in Kaohsiung, dating back 4000 to 5000 years ago. Military installations were constructed through both Qing rule throughout the 17 and 18th century and Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. It is now formally under the preservation of the National Environment Preservation Unit of Taiwan, and serves as a tourism attraction.

Ecology.

Plant life.

Despite its status as a secondary forest, there are over 800 species of plants residing within Shoushan, with its tropical climate providing a suitable place for growth and species diversity. Notable species include:

Animal species.

Shoushan hosts a total of 5 amphibian species, 24 reptiles, 106 birds and 8 mammals. Notable species include:

Geography.

Shoushan is located in southern Taiwan within the vicinity of Kaohsiung stretching across the Gushan district. 5.5 Kilometres long from North to South and 2.5 kilometers wide from East to West with and overall landmass of around 1200 acres. In terms of height, Shoushan reaches a maximum elevation at around 365 meters from above sea level. Stretching from the Zhuoying northern district to the southern peak of Sizihwan, Shoushan is the largest and most prominent landmark in Kaohsiung.

Climate.

The climate of Shoushan belongs in the tropical standard, with an average annual temperature of 25.1 Celsius degrees and the lowest at 19.1 degrees in January and the highest at 29.1 in August. The annual rainfall totals up to 1748.6 millimetres, with the major wet season taking place between June and August.

Geology.

The mountain is made up of coral reefs and calcium carbonate, with evidence of the landscape rising above sea level. The Calcium Carbonate is generally consisted of coral, sea algae and shells, further supporting the theory. Due to its rise from sea level, the landscape of the mountain is severely effected by erosion from the sea, resulting in jagged cliffs and even calcium carbonate formed caves with stalactite.

Notability.

Shoushan is the one of the mountains where Kaohsiung residents can see natural biological specimens within an hour's drive. There is an extensive system of boardwalk hiking trails that circle the mountain. Hikers can enjoy tea at various tea stations sprinkled throughout the trails. Water is carried to the tea stations by hikers who bring it from a reverse osmosis station at the bottom. From the tea station at the top of the mountain, hikers can see views of the Taiwan Strait through the trees.  The mountain is a reserve for Formosan rock macaques. Thousands of these monkeys reside on the mountain pestering hikers who have food with them.

Transportation.

There is an entrance to the mountain just east of the Shou Shan Zoo, as well as one beside the College of Liberal Arts building in National Sun Yat-sen University.  There are three other access points to the mountain along Gushan Road. The southernmost is beside Yuan Heng Temple; a second is located behind the Kaohsiung Municipal Ku Shan Senior High School; and the northernmost is located beside the Long Quan Temple, near the intersection with Xinjiang Road.

Shoushan (, also commonly known in English as Monkey Mountain) is a mountain in Gushan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, north of the main entrance to Kaohsiung Harbor. It was named Ape Hill by the Dutch in the 17th century to describe many monkeys on this mountain. It is also called Chaishan (柴山) and includes the Snake Hill (蛇山 - a 17th-century term) in its northern part, and Long Life Hill named by Japanese in 1911-1915 for the crown-prince Hirohito in the southern part. In some old maps, the peak of the hill is called Saracen's Head. Now it is a nature park where biological diversity can be seen.

霍尔姆县(英语:Holmes County)是位于美国俄亥俄州中部偏东的一个县。面积1,098平方公里。根据美国2000年人口普查,共有人口38,943人。县治密勒斯堡 (Millersburg)。