Plot.

Having acquired the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, from the planet Xandar, Thanos and his lieutenants—Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive—intercept the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard's recent destruction. As they extract the Space Stone from the Tesseract, Thanos subdues Thor, overpowers Hulk, and kills Loki. Thanos also kills Heimdall after he sends Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst. Thanos and his lieutenants depart, destroying the ship.  Hulk crash-lands in the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City, reverting to the form of Bruce Banner. He warns Stephen Strange and Wong about Thanos' plan to kill half of all life in the universe, and they recruit Tony Stark. Maw and Obsidian arrive to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange, drawing the attention of Peter Parker. Maw is unable to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment and captures Strange instead. Stark and Parker sneak aboard Maw's spaceship while Wong stays behind to guard the Sanctum.  In Edinburgh, Midnight and Glaive ambush Wanda Maximoff and Vision in order to retrieve the Mind Stone, which is in Vision's forehead. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson rescue them and they take shelter with James Rhodes and Banner at Avengers Compound. Vision asks Maximoff to destroy himself and the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from retrieving it, but Maximoff refuses. Rogers suggests they travel to Wakanda, which he believes has the resources to remove the Stone without killing Vision.  The Guardians of the Galaxy respond to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and rescue Thor, who surmises that Thanos is currently going after the Reality Stone, which is in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere. Rocket and Groot accompany Thor to

Cast.

Additionally, several other actors reprise their MCU roles: Danai Gurira as Okoye, the head of the Dora Milaje; Letitia Wright as T'Challa's sister Shuri; William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, the U.S. Secretary of State; Kerry Condon as the voice of Stark's A.I. F.R.I.D.A.Y.; Winston Duke as M'Baku, the leader of Wakanda's mountain tribe the Jabari; Florence Kasumba as Ayo, a member of the Dora Milaje; Jacob Batalon as Parker's friend Ned; Isabella Amara as Parker's classmate Sally; Tiffany Espensen as Parker's classmate Cindy; and Ethan Dizon as Parker's classmate Tiny. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders make uncredited cameos as Nick Fury and Maria Hill, the former director and deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D, respectively, in the film's post-credits scene.  Thanos' henchmen, known collectively in the comics as the Black Order and in the film as the "Children of Thanos", include Terry Notary as Cull Obsidian, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw, Carrie Coon as Proxima Midnight, and Michael James Shaw

Production.

In October 2014, Marvel announced a two-part sequel to "" (2015), titled "Avengers: Infinity War". "Part 1" was scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, with "Part 2" scheduled for May 3, 2019. In April 2015, Marvel announced that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct both parts of "Avengers: Infinity War", with back-to-back filming expected to begin in 2016. The next month, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had signed on to write the screenplays for both parts of the film, which draws inspiration from Jim Starlin's 1991 "The Infinity Gauntlet" comic and Jonathan Hickman's 2013 "Infinity" comic. Anthony Russo added the film was inspired by 1990s heist films, with Thanos "on a smash-and-grab [to acquire the Infinity Stones<nowiki>]</nowiki>, and everybody's trying to catch up the whole movie". Producer Kevin Feige said that the "Infinity War" films were subtitled "Part 1" and "Part 2" "because they [have] such shared elements, it felt appropriate... But I wouldn't call it one story that's cut in half. I would say it's going to be two distinct movies". In May 2016, the Russos revealed that they would retitle the two films, to further remove the misconception that they were one large film split in two, with Joe stating, "The intention is we will change [the titles], we just haven't come

Music.

In June 2016, Alan Silvestri, who composed the score for "The Avengers" (2012), was revealed to be returning to score both "Infinity War" and "Endgame". Silvestri recorded his score from January 2018 to late March, and found working on the film to

Marketing.

In May 2017, Robert Downey Jr. and his philanthropic organization Random Act Funding partnered with Omaze for a contest in which a randomly chosen winner from those that donated would receive an "Infinity War" set visit. A life-sized statue of Thanos, created by Legacy Effects, was on display at D23 Expo 2017, alongside statues of the Black Order / "Children of Thanos": Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Cull Obsidian. Additionally, Feige, Joe Russo, Downey, Brolin, Bettany, Olsen, Klementieff, Gillan, Bautista, Cheadle, Mackie, Cumberbatch, Stan, Holland, Boseman, Ruffalo, and Hemsworth appeared at D23 Expo to present a clip highlighting the 10 years of MCU films, along with footage from "Infinity War". The footage, which was screened exclusively for the panel, received strong audience reaction, with fans "literally on their feet and jumping as the footage played". Julia Alexander of "Polygon" said there was "quite a bit happening" in the footage and it "finally feels like Marvel has made the movie it always wanted to—and the one we've always wanted to see." CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg said the footage left him "literally shaking", with the film looking "like it could be one of the most epic blockbusters ever created". Haleigh Foutch for Collider described it as "dark and dramatic, and utterly epic. It's clear Marvel is trying to do something different here... to pay off a decade's worth of narrative and world-building. While it's impossible to tell from two minutes work of footage, it certainly looks like that gamble paid off". The D23 footage was also shown at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International. After the two convention presentations, "Avengers: Infinity War" generated over 90,000 new conversations on social media from July 17 to 23, the third-most during that time period behind "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Justice League" (2017), according to comScore and its PreAct service. "Infinity War" stayed in third the following week, with over 41,000 new social media conversations, behind "Ragnarok" and "It" (2017). By the week of October 16, "Infinity War" had generated over 679,000 total social media conversations.  To promote the film's first trailer, Marvel released a compilation video of some of its previous trailers since "Iron Man" (2008), "paired with fan reaction videos to those trailers". The first trailer for "Avengers: Infinity War" debuted on "Good Morning America" on November 29, 2017. Josh Spiegel of "The Hollywood Reporter" said, "The most important part of the trailer is how it carefully, deliberately introduces the notion that the "Infinity War" films are going to function as a passing of the torch, from one set of Avengers to a newer group". Scott Mendelson, writing for "Forbes", noted that even though the trailer was not much different from the convention footage screened earlier in the year, it was "damn impressive. Moreover, it uses Nick Fury's big 'Avengers Initiative' speech, along with Alan Silvestri's Avengers theme, to excellent effect". Conversely to Mendelson, Alexander commented on the different marketing strategy for the film between the convention footage scenes and the trailer scenes, feeling the "two couldn't be more different". She said the convention footage (intended to please the crowd who were "jittery with anticipation") was released between "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017) and "Thor: Ragnarok", and heavily focused Thor and the Guardians, while the trailer

Release.

Theatrical.

"Avengers: Infinity War" held its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 23, 2018, screening also at the adjacent El Capitan Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It was released in most countries worldwide, including the United States, on April 27, 2018, with a few debuts beginning as early as April 25, and was shown in IMAX and 3D on select screens. In the United States, the film opened in 4,474 theaters, 408 of which were IMAX; this was the widest release for a Disney title ever and the second-widest ever after "Despicable Me 3"s 4,529 theaters. Three of AMC Theatres' locations screened the film for 24 hours straight, with 53 of their locations having showtimes at either 2 am or 3 am to accommodate demand. In India, the film had the biggest release ever

Home media.

"Avengers: Infinity War" was released on digital download by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on July 31, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 14. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. The digital release also features a roundtable discussion between MCU directors the Russos, Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon, James Gunn, Ryan Coogler, Peyton Reed, and Taika Waititi. In terms of home media

Reception.

Box office.

"Avengers: Infinity War" grossed $678.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.370 billion in other territories, for a worldwide total of $2.048 billion. It became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, as well as the highest-grossing film of 2018, the highest-grossing MCU film, and the highest-grossing superhero film.  Its worldwide opening weekend of $640.5 million was the biggest of all time, beating "The Fate of the Furious" (2017) $541.9 million. It was later beat by its sequel, "", which grossed $1.481 billion in its opening weekend. It was the fastest film to make $1 billion at the worldwide box office, doing

Pre-sale ticket records.

In December 2017, a survey from Fandango indicated that "Infinity War" was the most anticipated film of 2018. Fandango later reported that "Infinity War" achieved the largest initial 24-hour ticket pre-sales for a superhero film, taking just 6 hours to surpass the previous 24-hour record set by "Black Panther". Atom Tickets reported that "Infinity War" sold more tickets in its first pre-sales day than "Black Panther" sold in its first month. Within 72 hours, the film generated the largest pre-sales for any superhero film at AMC Theatres, with its advance ticket sales being 257.6% ahead of "Black Panther"s, 751.5% ahead of "Captain America: Civil War", and

United States and Canada.

"Avengers: Infinity War" earned $106.7 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada (including $39 million from Thursday night previews), for an opening weekend total of $258.2 million. The Thursday night preview earning was the best for an MCU film (beating "Avengers: Age of Ultron"s $27.6 million) and the fourth-best of all time, behind "The Force Awakens" ($57 million), "The Last Jedi" ($45 million) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" (2011) ($43.5 million). Fandango reported that $14 million

Other territories.

Outside the United States and Canada, the film earned $382.7 million from 52 markets, opening number one in all, and became the number two opening internationally, behind "The Fate of the Furious" ($444.2 million). IMAX contributed $18.5 million, which was the best opening outside of the US, Canada, and China, surpassing "The Force Awakens" ($17.5 million). All-time opening weekend records were set in South Korea ($39.2 million), Mexico ($25.4 million), Brazil ($19.1 million), India (for a Western release, $18.6 million), the Philippines ($12.5 million), Thailand ($10 million), Indonesia ($9.6 million), Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Central America, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and West Africa, with many also setting opening day records. France had the biggest superhero opening in the market with $17.7 million, as did Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. The United Kingdom earned $8.9 million, which was the biggest MCU opening day and third-highest opening day for a Disney film; it would go on to earn $41.4 million for the weekend, which was the third-highest of all time and the second-highest Disney opening. Argentina had the second-highest opening day of all time, while Germany had the best superhero film opening day of all time, ultimately earning $14.7 million, which was the best superhero opening ever. Many other European countries and the Middle East also broke superhero film records. Japan had the second-biggest opening for an MCU film with $9 million, and Australia had the second-highest opening weekend ever, with $23.2 million.

Critical response.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 85% with an average score of 7.63/10, based on 456 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Avengers: Infinity War" ably juggles a dizzying array of MCU heroes in the fight against their gravest threat yet, and the result is a thrilling, emotionally resonant blockbuster that (mostly) realizes its gargantuan ambitions." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100 based on 54 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".  Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the writers' and directors' ability to balance the large cast of characters, saying they, "under the supervision of

Audience response.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 87% overall positive score and a 68% "definite recommend". American YouTube personality Tony "Nem" Mitchell watched the film 103 times in theaters, a world record. When Mitchell's streak was gaining media awareness around his 44th viewing, he noted that IMAX reached out to give him 50 free tickets to continue the streak, and the Russo brothers invited him to "Endgame"s premiere. Mitchell said this was the way he "want[ed] to support Marvel and the Russo brothers". Seventeen-year-old Kieran Harvey from Staffordshire also watched the film in theaters 100 times. Harvey stated that he "didn't plan on seeing it this many times it just sort of happened" adding that "Infinity War" "just felt so different to anything I've ever seen before, and I just love it so much so have been going as much as I can!"  The ending of the film sparked various Internet meme reactions, including one referencing Spider-Man

Sequel.

"" was released on April 26, 2019, with the Russos returning to direct, and Markus and McFeely once again writing the screenplay.

Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to "The Avengers" (2012) and "" (2015), and the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, and Chris Pratt. In the film, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to prevent Thanos from collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones as part of his quest to kill half of all life in the universe.

Avengers: Infinity War je americký akční film z roku 2018, který natočili bratři Russoové podle komiksů o "Avengers". Jedná se o devatenáctý celovečerní snímek filmové série Marvel Cinematic Universe a pokračování filmů "Avengers" z roku 2012,"" z roku 2015 a "" z roku 2016. V hlavních rolích se objevili Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin a Chris Pratt.


Benefits.

Electronic voting technology intends to speed the counting of ballots, reduce the cost of paying staff to count votes manually and can provide improved accessibility for disabled voters. Also in the long term, expenses are expected to decrease. Results can be reported and published

Concerns.

It has been demonstrated that as voting systems become more complex and include software, different methods of election fraud become possible. Others also challenge the use of electronic voting from a theoretical point of view, arguing that humans are not equipped for verifying operations occurring within an electronic machine and that because people cannot verify these operations, the operations cannot be trusted. Furthermore, some computing experts have argued for the broader notion that people cannot trust any programming they did not author.  Critics of electronic voting, including security analyst Bruce Schneier, note that "computer security experts are unanimous on what to do (some voting experts disagree, but it is the computer security experts who need to be listened to; the problems here are with the computer, not with the fact that the computer is being used in a voting application)... DRE machines must have a voter-verifiable paper audit trails... Software used on DRE machines must be open to public scrutiny" to ensure the accuracy of the voting system. Verifiable ballots are necessary because computers can and do malfunction, and because voting machines can be compromised.  Many insecurities have been found in commercial voting machines, such as

Types of system.

Electronic voting systems for electorates have been in use since the 1960s when punched card systems debuted. Their first widespread use was in the USA where 7 counties switched to this method for the 1964 presidential election. The newer optical scan voting systems allow a computer to count a voter's mark on a ballot. DRE voting machines which collect and tabulate votes in a single machine, are used by all voters in all elections in Brazil and India, and also on a large scale in Venezuela and the United States. They have been used on a large scale in the Netherlands but have been decommissioned after public concerns.  Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government elections and referendums in Estonia, and Switzerland as well as municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and France.  There are also hybrid systems that include an electronic ballot marking device (usually a touch screen system similar to a DRE) or other assistive technology to print a voter verified paper audit trail, then use a separate machine for electronic tabulation.

Paper-based electronic voting system.

Paper-based voting systems originated as a system where votes are cast and counted by hand, using paper ballots. With the advent of electronic tabulation came systems where paper cards or sheets could be marked by hand, but counted electronically. These systems included punched card voting, marksense and later digital pen

Direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting system.

A direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machine records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter (typically buttons or a touchscreen); that processes data with computer software; and that records voting data and ballot images in memory components. After the election it produces a tabulation of the voting data stored in a removable memory component and as a printed copy. The system may also provide a means for transmitting individual ballots or vote totals to a central location for consolidating and reporting results from precincts at the central location. These systems use a precinct count method that tabulates ballots at the polling place. They typically tabulate ballots as they are cast and print the results after the close of polling.  In 2002, in the United States, the Help America Vote Act mandated that one handicapped accessible voting system be provided per polling place, which most jurisdictions have chosen to satisfy with the use of DRE voting machines, some switching entirely over to DRE. In 2004, 28.9% of the registered voters in

Public network DRE voting system.

A public network DRE voting system is an election system that uses electronic ballots and transmits vote data from the polling place to another location over a public network. Vote data may be transmitted as individual ballots as they are cast, periodically as batches of ballots throughout the election day, or as one batch at the close of voting. This includes Internet voting as well as telephone voting.  Public network DRE voting system can utilize either precinct count or central count method. The central count method tabulates ballots from multiple precincts at a central location.  Internet voting can use remote locations (voting from any Internet capable computer) or can use traditional polling locations with voting booths consisting of Internet connected voting systems.  Corporations and organizations

Online voting.

Security experts have found security flaws in every attempt at online voting, including systems in Estonia, Switzerland and the United States.  In March 2000 the Arizona Democratic Party ran its Presidential Primary over the internet using the private company votation.com. Each registered member of the party received a personal identification number in the mail. These citizens had the option to either cast ballots at a designated location or over the internet from the comfort of their own home. Voters voting over the internet were required to insert their PIN and answer two personal questions. Once all the information is verified, they have the voting options.  By 2009, Estonia had advanced the farthest in utilizing Internet voting technology. In Estonia, each voter has a national ID card that they use to identify each citizen. The ID card is the security Estonia put in to ensure reliability in votes. Security officials said that they have not detected any unusual activity or tampering of the votes.  A 2020 study found that online voting reduced the amount of errors that voters made when casting ballots, thus reducing the number of ballots that were ineligible.

Impact on turnout.

A 2017 study of online voting in two Swiss cantons found that it had no effect on turnout.  A paper on “remote electronic voting and turnout in the Estonian 2007 parliamentary elections” showed that rather than eliminating inequalities, e-voting might have enhanced the digital divide between higher and lower socioeconomic classes. People who lived greater distances from polling areas voted at higher levels with this service now available. The 2007 Estonian

Impact on election outcomes.

The use of electronic voting in elections remains a contentious issue. Some countries such as Netherlands and Germany have stopped using it after it was shown to be unreliable, while the Indian Election commission recommends it. The involvement of numerous stakeholders including companies that manufacture these machines as well as political parties that stand to gain from rigging complicates this further.  A 2017 study of Brazil found no systematic difference in vote choices between online and offline electorates. However, it has been also argued that the rigging of EVMs influenced the results of elections in India in 2017 to a large extent. In relation with electoral management, a research ran in Estonia show that internet voting is the most cost-efficient system

Analysis.

Electronic voting systems may offer advantages compared to other voting techniques. An electronic voting system can be involved in any one of a number of steps in the setup, distributing, voting, collecting, and counting of ballots, and thus may or may not introduce advantages into any of these steps. Potential disadvantages exist as well including the potential for flaws or weakness in any electronic component.  Charles Stewart of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that 1 million more ballots were counted in the 2004 USA presidential election than in 2000 because electronic voting machines detected votes that paper-based machines would have missed.  In May 2004 the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report titled "Electronic Voting Offers Opportunities and Presents Challenges", analyzing both the benefits and concerns created by electronic voting. A second report was released in September 2005 detailing some of the concerns with electronic voting, and ongoing improvements, titled "Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, but Key Activities Need to Be Completed".

Electronic ballots.

Electronic voting systems may use "electronic ballot" to store votes in computer memory. Systems which use them exclusively are called DRE voting systems. When electronic ballots are used there is no risk of exhausting the supply of ballots. Additionally, these electronic ballots remove the need for printing of paper ballots, a significant cost. When administering elections in which ballots are offered in multiple languages (in some areas of the United States, public elections are required by the National Voting Rights Act of 1965), electronic ballots can be programmed to provide ballots in multiple languages for a single machine. The advantage with respect to ballots in different languages appears to be unique to electronic voting. For example, King County, Washington's

Accessibility.

Electronic voting machines can be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities. Punched card and optical scan machines are not fully accessible for the blind or visually impaired, and lever machines can be difficult for voters with limited mobility and strength. Electronic machines can use headphones, sip and puff, foot pedals, joy sticks and other adaptive

Cryptographic verification.

The concept of election verifiability through cryptographic solutions has emerged in the academic literature to introduce transparency and trust in electronic voting systems. It allows voters and election observers to verify that votes have been recorded, tallied and declared correctly, in a manner independent from the hardware and

Voter intent.

Electronic voting machines are able to provide immediate feedback to the voter detecting such possible

Transparency.

It has been alleged by groups such as the UK-based Open Rights Group that a lack of testing, inadequate audit procedures, and insufficient attention given to system or process design with electronic voting leaves "elections open to error and fraud".  In 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany found that when using

Coercion evidence.

In 2013, researchers from Europe proposed that the electronic voting systems should be coercion evident. There should be a public

Audit trails.

A fundamental challenge with any voting machine is to produce evidence that the votes were recorded as cast and tabulated as recorded. Election results produced by voting systems that rely on voter-marked paper ballots can be verified with manual hand counts (either valid sampling or full recounts). Paperless ballot voting systems must support auditability in different ways. An independently auditable system, sometimes called an Independent Verification, can be used in recounts or audits. These systems can include the ability for voters to verify how their votes were cast or enable officials to verify that votes were tabulated correctly.  A discussion draft argued by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states, "Simply

Hardware.

Inadequately secured hardware can be subject to physical tampering. Some critics, such as the group "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet" ("We do not trust voting machines"), charge that, for instance, foreign hardware could be inserted into the machine, or between the user and the central mechanism of the machine itself, using a man in the middle attack technique,

Software.

Security experts, such as Bruce Schneier, have demanded that voting machine source code should be

Testing and certification.

One method to any error with voting machines is parallel testing, which are conducted on the Election Day with randomly

Other.

Criticisms can be mitigated by review and testing procedures to detect fraudulent code or hardware, if such things are present, and through a verifiable chain of custody to prevent the insertion of such hardware or software.  Critics also mention the increasing number of attack programs that online voting systems are greatly susceptible to. Malicious payloads- software data intended to do damage- have become so advanced that they can easily change a voter's vote without any knowledge to other parties, regardless of voter identification or encryption software.  Benefits

By country.

Polling place electronic voting or Internet voting examples have taken place in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Namibia, the Netherlands (Rijnland Internet Election System), Norway, Peru, Switzerland, the UK, Venezuela, and the Philippines.

Brazil.

In 1996, after tests conducted by more than 50 municipalities, the Brazilian Electoral Justice launched their "voting machine". Since 2000, all Brazilian voters are able to use the electronic ballot boxes to choose their candidates. In 2010 presidential election which had more than 135 million voters, the result was announced 75 minutes after

Estonia.

Each Estonian citizen possesses an electronic chip-enabled ID card, which allows the user to vote over the internet. The ID card is inserted into a card reader, which is connected to a computer. Once the user's identity is verified (using the digital certificate on the

India.

Electronic Voting Machines ("EVM") are being used in Indian general and state elections to implement electronic voting in part from 1999 general election and recently in 2018 state elections held in five states across India. EVMs have replaced paper ballots in the state and general (parliamentary) elections in India. There were earlier claims regarding EVMs' tamperability and security which have not been proved. After rulings of Delhi High Court, Supreme Court and demands from various political parties, Election Commission of India decided to introduce EVMs with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system. The VVPAT system was introduced in 8 of 543 parliamentary constituencies as a pilot

Malaysia.

Electronic voting had been used in 2018 People's Justice Party leadership election, which is the party

United States.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 requires states and territories to allow overseas military personnel and citizens to vote in federal elections. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2009 amended this law to require delivery of ballots by at least one electronic means (email, fax, or web site). As of September 2016, submission of ballots is done by mail in

Documented problems with electronic voting.

Belgium.

In the elections on 18. May 2003 there was an electronic voting problem reported where one candidate got 4096 extra votes. The error was only detected because she had more preferential votes than her own list which is impossible in the voting system. The official explanation was "The spontaneous creation of a bit at the position 13 in the memory of

United States.

The end results of the tests were released in the four detailed Secretary of State August 3, 2007, resolutions (for Diebold Election Systems, Hart InterCivic, Sequoia Voting Systems and Elections Systems and Software, Inc.) and updated October 25, 2007 revised resolutions for Diebold and Sequoia voting systems. The security experts found significant security flaws in all of the manufacturers' voting systems, flaws that could allow a single non-expert to compromise an entire election.  On August 3, 2007, Bowen decertified machines

Popular culture.

In the 2006 film "Man of the Year" starring Robin Williams, the character played by Williams—a comedic host of political talk show—wins the election for President of the United States when a software error in the electronic voting machines produced by the fictional manufacturer Delacroy causes votes to be tallied inaccurately.  In "Runoff", a 2007 novel by Mark Coggins, a surprising showing by the Green Party candidate in a San Francisco Mayoral election forces a runoff between him and the highly favored establishment candidate—a plot line that closely parallels the actual results of the 2003 election. When the private-eye protagonist of the book investigates at the behest of a powerful Chinatown businesswoman, he determines that the outcome was rigged by someone who defeated the security on the city's newly installed e-voting system.  "Hacking Democracy" is a 2006 documentary film shown on HBO. Filmed over three years, it documents American citizens investigating anomalies and irregularities with electronic voting systems that occurred during America's 2000 and 2004 elections, especially in Volusia County, Florida. The film investigates the flawed integrity of electronic voting machines, particularly those made by Diebold Election Systems and culminates in the hacking of a Diebold election system in Leon County, Florida.  The central conflict in the MMO video game Infantry resulted from the global institution of direct democracy through the use of personal voting devices sometime in the 22nd century AD. The practice gave rise to a 'voting class' of citizens composed mostly of homemakers and retirees who tended to be at home all day. Because they had the most free time to participate in voting, their opinions ultimately came to dominate politics.

Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting votes.

Elektronické hlasování (v angličtině také e-voting) je hlasování, během nějž je využíváno elektroniky, ať už ke sčítání hlasů nebo k samotnému hlasování. V závislosti na konkrétní realizaci může e-hlasování zahrnovat celou škálu internetových služeb, počínaje základním přenosem dat, aby bylo on-line hlasování prostřednictvím společných připojitelných zařízení v domácnosti plně funkční. Stupeň automatizace systému se může lišit - od jednoduchých domácích stanic po kompletní řešení, které zahrnuje registraci voličů a jejich ověřování, samotnou volbu, místní nebo okrskové sčítání hlasů, šifrování dat a přenos na servery, konsolidace hlasů a volby správy. Vhodný e-hlasovací systém musí provádět většinu z těchto úkolů v souladu se souborem norem stanovených regulačními orgány a také musí být schopen úspěšně se vypořádat se silnými požadavky, souvisejícími s bezpečností, přesností, celistvostí, rychlostí, ochranou soukromí, auditovatelností, dostupností, náklady, efektivností, škálovatelností a ekologickou udržitelností.


Origins.

Before the famine began, Russia had suffered six and a half years of World War I and the Civil Wars of 1918–20, many of the conflicts fought inside Russia. There were an estimated 7–12 million casualties during the Russian Civil War, mostly civilians.  Before the famine, all sides in the Russian Civil Wars of 1918–21—the Bolsheviks, the Whites, the Anarchists, the seceding nationalities—had provisioned themselves by seizing food from those who grew it, giving it to their armies and supporters, and denying it to their enemies. The Bolshevik government had requisitioned supplies from the peasantry for little or nothing in exchange. This led peasants to drastically reduce their crop production. The rich peasants (kulaks) withheld their surplus grain to sell on the black market. In 1920, Lenin ordered increased emphasis on food requisitioning from the peasantry.  Aid from outside Soviet Russia was initially rejected. The American Relief Administration (ARA), which Herbert Hoover formed to help the victims of starvation of World War I, offered assistance to Lenin in 1919, on condition that they have full say over the Russian railway network and hand out food impartially to all. Lenin refused this as interference in Russian internal affairs.  Lenin was eventually convinced—by this famine, the Kronstadt rebellion, large scale peasant uprisings such as the Tambov Rebellion, and the failure of a German general strike—to reverse his policy at home and abroad. He decreed the New Economic Policy on March 15, 1921. The famine also helped produce an opening to the West: Lenin allowed relief organizations to bring aid this time. War relief was no longer required in Western Europe, and the ARA had an organization set up in Poland, relieving the Polish famine which had begun in the winter of 1919–20.

Scope and duration.

The early 1920s saw a series of famines. The first famine in the USSR happened in 1921–1923 and garnered wide international attention. The most affected area being the Southeastern areas of European Russia, including Volga region. An estimated 16 million people may have been affected and up to 5 million died.

Relief effort.

In the summer of 1921, during one of the worst famines in history, Vladimir Lenin, head of the new Soviet government, along with Maxim Gorky, appealed in an open letter to "all honest European and American people", to "give bread and medicine". In an open letter to all nations, dated 13 July 1921, Gorky described the crop failure which had brought his country to the brink of starvation. Herbert Hoover, who would later become the U.S. President, responded immediately, and negotiations with Russia took place at the Latvian capital, Riga. A European effort was led by the famous Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen through the International Committee for Russian Relief (ICRR)  Hoover's ARA had already been distributing food aid throughout Europe since 1914. After the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914, Hoover set up the Belgian Relief committee to alleviate the devastation and starvation that followed. As World War I expanded, the ARA grew, when it next entered northern France, assisting France and Germany from 1914 to 1919. In 1920 and 1921 it provided one meal a day to 3.2 million children in Finland, Estonia, various Russian regions, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Armenia. When it began its emergency feeding operation in Russia, it planned to feed about one million Russian children for a full year. Other bodies such as the American Friends Service Committee, the British Friends' War Victims Relief Committee and the International Save the Children Union, with the British Save the Children Fund as the major contributor, also later took part. As historian Douglas Smith writes, the food relief would likely help "save communist Russia from ruin".  America was the first country to respond, with Hoover appointing Colonel William N. Haskell to direct the American Relief Administration (ARA) in Russia. Within a month, ships loaded with food were headed for Russia. The main contributor to the international relief effort would be the American Relief Administration (ARA), founded and directed by Hoover. Although it had agreed to provide food for a million people, mostly children, within a year it was feeding more than ten times that number daily.  The ARA insisted it have complete autonomy as to how the food would be distributed, stating its requirement that food would be given without regard to "race, creed or social status", a condition stated in Section 25 of the Riga agreement. U.S. spokesmen said they would also want to have storage facilities built in Russia, wrote journalist Charles Bartlett, and would expect to have full access to those to assure that food was distributed properly.  Hoover also demanded that Russia use some of its gold holdings to defray the cost of the relief effort. He secured $18 million from the Russian leadership, $20 million from the U.S. Congress, $8 million from the U.S. military, and additional money from U.S. charities, to arrive at a total of approximately $78 million from all those sources. After an agreement was finally signed at Riga, the U.S. set up its first kitchen in Petrograd, where 1.6 million people had already starved to death.  Over ten million people were fed daily, with the bulk of food coming from the ARA. The ARA had provided more than 768 million tons of flour, grain, rice, beans, pork, milk, and sugar, with a value at the time of over $98 million. In order to transport and distribute the food after it was collected in the U.S., the ARA used 237 ships, under the direction of 200 Americans, and with the help of 125,000 Russians on location, unloading, warehousing, hauling, weighing, cooking and serving the food in more than 21,000 newly established kitchens.  But even after the food had reached the people in need, Col. Haskell, informed Hoover of an unexpected new danger. He explained that fuel was unavailable for heating or cooking, and millions of Russian peasants had clothing consisting mostly of rags, which would lead to certain death from cold exposure during the approaching winter.  The children at risk included those in orphanages and other institutions, as they usually had only one garment, often made of flour sacks, and they lacked shoes, stockings, underclothing or any clothing to keep warm. Also at risk were children living at home with their parents, who also lacked enough clothing, which made them unable to reach the American relief kitchens. Col. Haskell cabled Mr. Hoover that at least one million children were in extreme need of clothes. In response, Hoover quickly initiated a plan for collecting and sending clothing packages to Russia, which would come from donations by individuals, businesses, and banks.  Medical needs were also paramount. As noted by Dr. Henry Beeuwkes, the chief of the Medical Division in Russia, American relief was supplying over 16,000 hospitals which were treating more than a million persons daily. Because those institutions were scattered over areas with few railroads and often poor roads, with some hospitals over a thousand miles from the main supply base in Moscow, the task was monumental. Dr. Louis L. Shapiro, an army colonel who was one of the ARA's medical directors in Russia, recalled that south Russia had little more than "mud ruts for roads, with limitless prairies." On one trip, with few car necessities or regular gas, he drove 150 miles on tires without inner tubes, instead stuffed with straw. "After our kitchens were established and our clinics able to distribute medical supplies," said Shapiro, "children who had been eating a diet of clay and leather scrapings, responded quite rapidly."  According to Dr. Beeuwkes, everything was in short supply, including beds, blankets, sheets, and most medical tools and medicines. Operations were performed in unheated operating rooms without anesthetics, and often with bare hands. Wounds were dressed with newspapers or rags. Water supplies were polluted with much of the plumbing unusable.  To help the widespread medical emergency, the ARA distributed medical supplies which included over 2,000 different necessities, from medicines to surgical instruments. Overall, there were 125,000 medical packages, weighing 15 million pounds, sent on sixty-nine different ships. According to Dr. Shapiro, when the ARA left Russia in 1923, after two years of relief efforts, "the Russians had been pulled out of the slough of famine and death. I can say without boasting that no relief organization ever worked so hard to complete its task."  In May 1922, Lev Kamenev, President of the Moscow soviet, and deputy chairman of all Russian famine relief committees, wrote a letter to Col. Haskell, thanking him and the ARA for its help, while also paying tribute to the American people. By the summer of 1923, it was estimated that the U.S. relief given to Russia amounted to over twice the total of relief given it by all other foreign organizations combined. European agencies co-ordinated by the ICRR also fed two million people a day, while the International Save the Children Union fed up to 375,000. The operation was hazardous—several workers died of cholera—and was not without its critics, including the London "Daily Express", which first denied the severity of the famine, and then argued that the money would better be spent in the United Kingdom.  Throughout 1922 and 1923, as famine was still widespread and the ARA was still providing relief supplies, grain was exported by the Soviet government to raise funds for the revival of industry; this seriously endangered Western support for relief. The new Soviet government insisted that if the AYA suspended relief the ARA arrange a foreign loan for them of about $10,000,000 1923 dollars; the ARA was unable to do this, and continued to ship in food past the grain being sold abroad.

Death toll.

As with other large-scale famines, the range of estimates is considerable. An official Soviet publication of the early 1920s concluded that about five million deaths occurred in 1921 from famine and related disease: this number is usually quoted in textbooks. More conservative figures counted not more than a million, while another assessment, based on the ARA's medical division, spoke of two million. On the other side of the scale, some sources spoke of ten million dead. According to Bertrand M. Patenaude, "such a number hardly seems extravagant after the many tens of millions of victims of war, famine, and terror in the twentieth century".

Political uses.

The famine came at the end of six and a half years of unrest and violence (first World War I, then the two Russian revolutions of 1917, then the Russian Civil War). Many different political and military factions were involved in those events, and most of them have been accused by their enemies of having contributed to, or even bearing sole responsibility for, the famine.  The Bolsheviks started a campaign of seizing church property in 1922. In that year over 4.5 million golden roubles of property were seized. Out of these, one million gold roubles were spent for famine relief. In a secret March 19, 1922 letter to the Politburo, Lenin expressed an intention to seize several hundred million golden roubles for famine relief.  In Lenin's secret letter to the Politburo, Lenin explains that the famine provides an opportunity against the church. Richard Pipes argued that the famine was used politically as an excuse for the Bolshevik leadership to persecute the Orthodox Church, which held significant sway over much of the peasant populace.  Russian anti-Bolshevik white émigrés in London, Paris, and elsewhere also used the famine as a media opportunity to highlight the alleged iniquities of the Soviet regime in an effort to prevent trade with and official recognition of the Bolshevik Government.

The Russian famine of 1921–22, also known as the Povolzhye famine, was a severe famine in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which began early in the spring of 1921 and lasted through 1922.

Hladomor v Povolží, také známý jako ruský hladomor v roce 1921, byl hrozný hladomor v bolševickém Rusku, který začal na jaře roku 1921 a trval po celý rok 1922. Odhadem při tomto hladomoru zemřelo 6 milionů lidí a nejvíce postihl regiony okolo řek Volha a Ural.


Life.

Sami Frashëri was born in 1850 in the village of Frashër in the Vilayet of Janina to a distinguished Muslim Albanian family of Bektashi religious affiliations. Sami, alongside his brothers Naim, Abdyl and 5 other siblings were the children of Halit Bey (1797–1859) and their paternal family traditions held that they were descendants of timar holders that hailed from the Berat region before coming to live in Frashër. While their mother Emine Hanım (1814–1861) was descended from Imrahor Ilyas Bey, a distinguished 15th century Ottoman Albanian commander from the Korçë area.  Sami began his studies at the Bektashi tekke in Frashër. Halit Bey and Emine died in 1859 and 1861 respectively. His older brother Abdul became head of the household and moved the whole family to Yanina. There Sami attended the Greek language Zosimea high school. During that time he came in touch with western philosophy and studied Latin, ancient and modern Greek, French and Italian. He also attended a local Muslim school and learned through lessons from teachers Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. Frashëri was a bright student and finished an eight-year schooling program by graduating at the end of seven years. His reflections of the Zosimea later in life was that it was "the perfect high school". Having received a broad education in a diverse socio-cultural and religious environment at the Zosimea and through private tutors, he gained the linguistic tools to emotionally and intellectually travel between cultures during his lifetime.  In 1872 Sami and his brother Naim migrated to Istanbul and both got a job working for the Ottoman bureaucracy and as he admired French culture became involved in translating French language novels such as "Les Misérables" into Ottoman Turkish, later writing some short stories, plays and novels of his own. He was briefly posted in Tripoli, Libya and in 1874 returned to Istanbul becoming a writer for a newspaper. Later in 1877 he went on another short assignment being posted briefly at Rhodes. Returning to Istanbul he remained in the capital for the remainder of his life. Frashëri emerged as an accomplished Ottoman-Albanian intellectual with a reputation of having an inquisitive and sharp intellect. He assisted in founding and serving as chief editor for several journals and newspapers. In Ottoman Turkish he wrote more than a dozen books like "Insan" (Human Being), "Medeniyet-i Islamiye" (Islamic Civilisation) and "Kadınlar" (Women). He compiled a French-Turkish (1882) and Turkish-French (1884) dictionary, an Arabic language dictionary (1898) and a two volume Ottoman Turkish dictionary (1899-1901) along with a six volume encyclopedia "Kamus al Alam" (1899-1899). Additionally Frashëri authored other publications in the Albanian language that included a pamphlet on the alphabet question, a reader, a grammar and a political treatise on the Albanian question titled "Albania: What she has been, What she is, What she shall be".

Involvement in the Albanian national movement.

The "Besa yahut Ahde Vefa" play.

In Istanbul 1874 Frashëri wrote a play named "Besâ yâhut Âhde Vefâ" (Pledge of Honour or Loyalty to an Oath) in the Albanian language with themes based on an Albanian ethnicity, a bond to an ethnic based territory, ethno-cultural diversity as underlying Ottoman unity, honour, loyalty and self-sacrifice. The play revolved around a betrothed girl kidnapped by a jealous villager that kills her father and whose mother vows revenge co-opting the culprit's father who gives his besa (pledge of honour) to help not knowing its his son, later killing him and himself ending with family reconciliation. Frashëri's reasons for the play were to inform people about the morals, values, customs and traditions of Albanians whom he considered an important part of the empire and to create more local Ottoman theatre which he felt was dominated by foreign influences. The play was intended to present Albanians in a positive light to Ottoman and Albanian audiences that involved mainly Armenians directing and acting in roles with smaller numbers of Turks during its stage run. His play and its discussion of besa signified to more astute audiences the political implications of the concept and possible subversive connotations in future usage while it assisted Albanians in rallying militarily and politically around a national program.  By 1901 his play was translated into Albanian by close friend Abdul Ypi and published in Sofia by Kristo Luarasi while it was part of the curriculum of the Albanian school in Korçë until its closure in 1902. The themes of the play highlighting a besa for the self-sacrifice of the homeland carried a subversive message for Albanians to aim at unifying the nation and defending the homeland, something Ottoman authorities also saw as fostering nationalist sentiments. The Ottoman government placed the Albanian language version of the play on a list of books it deemed that "incite national sentiments of the Albanians" and during the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 there were reports of Albanian guerillas acting out scenes around campfires. Frashëri's play would not appear in theatres until the aftermath of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution when performances continued for a full three years and during 1911-1912.

League of Prizren period.

During the Great Eastern Crisis, the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights was founded in 1877 and headed by elder brother Abdyl with Sami, Hasan Tahsini, Pashko Vasa and Jani Vreto being members. The Committee aimed at the territorial unity and integrity of Albanian inhabited land within the Ottoman Empire with its members sending protests and visiting European embassies while urging Albanians in the Balkans to resist partition. Early in 1879, this committee formed a commission for the Albanian alphabet. The Committee appointed Sami along with Tahsini, Vasa and Vreto to create an Albanian alphabet. During discussions about the Albanian alphabet Frashëri and Vreto wanted the inclusion of a Greek alphabet character on the premise that Albanians and Greeks have the same ancestors, the Pelasgians. Frashëri created a new Albanian alphabet based on the Latin script and a one letter, one sound principle that contained certain Greek letters and others invented by him for sounds that a Latin alphabet was unable to convey. By 19 March 1879 the Society for Albanian Writings adopted Frashëri's 36 letter Istanbul alphabet consisting mostly of Latin characters that resulted in the publication of Albanian books and toward the late nineteenth century his alphabet had spread among Albanians. On 20 June 1878 Sami was one of ten signatories to a memorandum addressed to Berlin Congress hosts chancellor Bismarck and Count Andrassy calling for reforms and Albanians to remain in the Ottoman state with their rights, desires, interests and traditions being respected. Amidst this time Frashëri worked for the Ottoman newspaper "Tercüman-ı Hakikat" and he reported coverage on the geopolitical situation and events in Albania. In an article published on 24 December 1878 about the Albanian question, he expressed that Albania was his special "vatan" (homeland) and he felt connected to the wider Ottoman motherland stressing that Albanians were loyal to the empire and ready to defend it. He referred to two threats facing Albanians, one military due to irredentist claims of neighbouring powers on Albanian inhabited land and the other was cultural where Slavs and Greeks had established schools that used their languages in Albanian areas. The solution for him was the unification of Albania into one vilayet (province) that could establish an effective resistance force. Frashëri continued to write a series of articles expanding his views by maintaining that Albanians wished to read and write in their language and those abilities he thought would allow Albanians protection from the influences of Hellenism and Slavism.  By 2 January 1879 he developed his thoughts further and stressed that the Ottoman constitution of 1876 guaranteed this right to all peoples of the empire to read and write in ones native language. Frashëri viewed the plight of his fellow Albanians as based upon poverty and ignorance that disadvantaged them when it came to dealing with Hellenism and Slavism. He considered those factors as placing Albanians at risk of being severed from the empire for the benefits of foreign powers and peoples with Frashëri stating that both Christian and Muslim Albanians were thinking alike on these issues.  Frashëri also founded and headed in Istanbul the Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings in October 1879, where Albanian scholastic books and texts were compiled by him and his brother Naim. He expressed that the Society had difficulties in its work due to a lack of "liberty" in the empire and for Frashëri the aims of the organisation went further then publishing books but to revive the Albanian language and unify its dialects. In a correspondence of 1881 with Girolamo De Rada regarding the Albanian question Frashëri expressed sentiments supporting Albanian unity that transcended Muslim and Christian divisions with religion being separate from the state. By 1884 he had developed a reputation for championing the Albanian cause. The Society for Albanian Writings was forced to close by the Ottoman Government in 1885. In 1885, Frashëri managed to get permission from the Ottoman sultan for the opening of an Albanian boys school in Korçë. On 7 March 1887 it opened in Korçë with some two hundred enrolled students of Muslim and Christian faiths and due to a lack of education material Sami, his brother Naim and several other Albanians wrote textbooks in Albanian for the school. In 1896 he made an assessment of education in the Vilayet of Monastir claiming that Greeks, Bulgarians and Aromanians had more progressive schools and advanced education than Muslim Albanians.

Between Ottomanism, Albanianism and Turkism.

The "Kamus al-A'lam" encyclopedia.

Between 1889 and 1899 Frashëri wrote a six volume encyclopedia "Kamus al-A'lam" written in Ottoman Turkish and was a scientific work of 4,380 pages. He sought to provide information about the Islamic world on famous individuals, geography and countries, demography, history, cultures from around world and other topics that he felt was minimally covered in Western publications. The encyclopedia had a focus on Turks, Arabs and in particular the Ottomans with Frashëri including detailed information for his readers on topics about Albania and Albanians.  For example, one entry titled "Arnavud" (Albanian) was six pages and a total of eleven columns. The detailed article presented Albanians as an ancient Balkan people, older than Greeks and Latins that preserved in the mountains their customs such as the besa, traditions, language and an identity. The assertion aimed to present Albanians as legitimate members of the community of nations during an era of nationalism. Frashëri included information on the Venetian period, Ottoman conquest, conversion to Islam, attainment of Ottoman privileges and highlighting sacrifice and service to the state as soldiers, bureaucrats, in commerce and industry by Albanians. Skanderbeg, a fifteenth century warrior and his revolt against the Ottomans were described in a positive light as were the national and intellectual achievements of the Albanian diaspora in southern Italy. Despite regional differences of Ghegs and Tosks, Frashëri emphasized the unity of Albanians as speaking the same language with small dialectal differences. He stressed the importance of developing Albanian language education and literature as a way of resisting encroachment from others through for example Hellenisation and as such urged authorities to allow Albanian national development. As with other entries on cities, towns, administrative units and others on Albanian topics Frashëri overall aimed in his encyclopedia to educate the general public about Albanians, to raise Albanian self-awareness and outline the geographical boundaries of Albania. The concept of Albanianism was also subtly developed within his encyclopedia. In comparison, the article "Türk" was three pages and five columns which underfeatured the importance and role of Turks in the empire when compared to Albanians. Tracing their history Frashëri described the Turks "as among Asia's biggest and most famous nations" numbering ten million and the Ottoman Empire as a "Turkish state". Apart from the prominence of Turks and Turkish culture, Frashëri stressed the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Ottoman Empire in his encyclopedia. That theme was embodied in the entry "Ottoman" a term Frashëri presented as originating from a great Turkish tribe with a change in meaning over time encompassing all Ottoman peoples and subjects, due to the Tanzimat reforms guided by a principle of equality.  After being involved with the Albanian movement during the League of Prizren period Frashëri increasingly came under suspicion by the Ottoman government over a number of times. In an investigation of 1890 into Frashëri by authorities, an acquaintance said that he and his brothers worked for eventual Albanian independence by first aiming to unite the Albanian inhabited vilayets into a unitary province within the empire. Ottoman authorities did not act against him and he published a further four volumes of his encyclopedia with the last being in 1899 while continuing with public and private discourses on Albania and Albanians. In 1896, the authors of the Ottoman government provincial almanac for Kosovo titled "Kosova Salnamesi" credited Frashëri and his encyclopedia as the source for most of their information.  By 1899, a successor organisation to the Prizren League called League of Peja (Besa-Besë) had arisen and Frashëri again attempted to raise public discussion on Albania. He organised an Albanian Committee in Istanbul that supported lower taxes and use of Albanian in government schools in the region. These events saw his position with the state change rapidly and according to recollections by his children in later years a palace official had visited Frashëri at his home and restricted his movements while he was still employed by the government until his death.

Political Treatise: "Albania: What she has been, What she is, What she shall be".

In March 1899, Frashëri secretly completed an important booklet "Albania: What she has been, What she is, What she shall be" which outlined his geopolitical ideas on the Albanian question. The booklet was smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire and published in Bucharest with the identity of the author not appearing in the publication. Publishers from Austro-Hungary printed some of Frashëri's most important works containing nationalist themes with Austro-Hungarian Albanologists Theodor Anton Ippen and Baron Nopcsa financing the translation and distribution of his publications. After several months passed from his death the identity of Frashëri as author was revealed on 17 November 1904 by Shahin Kolonja who had published the work and later by a German translation of the booklet in 1913. As in previous publications he repeated certain points such as claiming Albanians as the oldest peoples of Europe, focused on Skanderbeg in a few pages, the Ottoman era in Albania and Albanian contribution to the empire. The second section of the booklet was concentrated on Albania of his time. Frashëri discussed the borders of Albania and Albanian unity despite the Gheg-Tosk subgroups and differences of religion in society. He lamented the lack of progress spanning over twenty years toward developing the Albanian language and the opening of Albanian schools within the Ottoman Empire.  Declaring "I am an Albanian", his work derided identification of Muslim Albanians with Turks and Orthodox Albanians as Rums while he opposed attempts by Greeks to hellenise them and seeking to incorporate Toskëria at a future date into Greece. He believed that Albania and the empire could no longer coexist in the same unit, even if there was a new period of prosperity due to a history of Ottoman prohibition on the development of an national Albanian identity and language. Frashëri worried that Albania would not be able to preserve its nationality because of restrictions on Albanian schooling while at the same time the Porte was allowing rival national movements to act as they pleased, and that this would ultimately lead to the partition of Albania - hence, Albanians had to take matters into their own hands for self-preservation. He preferred Albanian political unity and recognition of Albanian rights achieved by European powers exerting pressure on the empire than an anti-Ottoman revolt, as he thought the empire was on borrowed time and Albanians would need to prepare for creating an independent state. Frashëri proposed that Albanians make a besa to demand the empire and Europe recognize Albanian national rights, especially by applying pressure upon the Ottomans to achieve those aims. He envisioned an autonomous Albanian state with a political parliamentary system, a capital called Skenderbey to be located in central Albania, an Albanian school system, two universities with one each in the north and south and an army of 20,000 men. The nationalisation of the various faiths and sects was envisioned where Catholics would have their own archbishop, Muslims their mufti, Orthodox their Exarch, Bektashi their chief Baba with Jews and Protestants also worshiping in freedom. The booklet by Frashëri overall was an articulation of political Albanianism.

Contributions to Turkism.

Frashëri was a significant contributor to the development of Turkism. From the early 1880s he had an interest in the imperial Ottoman language as expressed in an article "The Ottoman Turkish Language" on 2 November 1881 where Frashëri argued that it was a Turkish language. These views would appear in articles published during the 1890s where he advocated for the imperial Ottoman language to be simplified and replaced by spoken Turkish, with words and grammatical structures stemming from Arabic and Persian being removed. Frashëri envisaged the emergence of a modern colloquial Turkish language from a disintegration of the imperial Ottoman language that would have benefit wider society. Frashëri published an Ottoman Turkish dictionary "Kamus i Türki" and in its first two volumes in 1899 he expressed in an introduction that Western Turkish or Ottoman was the same language as its Eastern Turkish counterpart or Cagatay. The differences for him was that Western Turkish had absorbed Persian, Arabic, Italian and Greek words which Frashëri thought was unnecessary. For him the dictionary was the wealth of a language and as other languages possessed their dictionaries Frashëri viewed Turkish as in need of its own dictionary to preserve unique linguistic attributes. Embracing Turkish as "our language", Frashëri stuck to his Albanian heritage by affirming an Albanian identity and commitment to Albanianism in the dictionary. In word entries on Albania and Albanians he included definitions on being Albanian such as the term Albanianism where an example of its use in an sentence was rendered as "He is not denying his Albanianism/Albanianess" (Arnavudluğunu inkur etmiyor). The choice of wording by Frashëri in labeling the language Turkish as opposed to Ottoman assisted to nurture a national identity among Turkish people. For him his idea of the Ottoman Empire was for Abdul Hamid II to emphasize Ottomanism over Islamism and incorporate concepts like Turkism and Albanianism into the state framework allowing cultural pluralism with Albanians and Turks each developing their own languages and teaching them in schools. He considered cultural and ethnic diversity of the Muslim community as factors that would strengthen Ottoman unity. Frashëri, after several years of work published a 500-page Arabic dictionary (Kamus-i Arabi) in 1896 and he also noted that Kurdish lacked a dictionary but was unable to compile it as he lacked linguistic skills in the language. Stories of him working on an Albanian dictionary existed during his lifetime. He failed however to produce one and George Gawrych holds that probably due to the work of his friend Konstantin Kristoforidhi whose Albanian dictionary was published in 1904 he choose to let it be the standard version.  Sami Frashëri also played a role in the later developing Turkish nationalist movement, by translating the works of European Turkology into Turkish and transmitting their Western ideas to Turk audiences. These works would serve as a basis for an emerging Turkish identity, and the early Turkish nationalists were grateful for them. He had close relationships with Turkish nationalist intellectuals Veled Çelebi (İzbudak) and Necip Asım (Yazıksız) and maintained friendships with the writers and publisher of the journal "İkdam" which contributed to the spread of cultural Turkism and promotion of nationalism within Turkey.

Legacy.

Frashëri died on 18 June 1904 aged fifty four after a severe illness at his home in Erenköy, Istanbul. He left a number of unpublished manuscripts relating to Turkish studies. Due to his envedours and work within that field it has earned him a place within Ottoman intellectual history. During his lifetime Frashëri admired European culture and its intellectual achievements while he sought respect and dignity for his Albanian background being himself loyal to the Ottoman Empire. As an Ottoman, like many other Albanians he negotiated the daily reality of the multi-ethnic, linguistic and religious realities of his time appreciating and supporting the diversity of the state while also advocating for Albanianism. He was devoted to both "vatans" (homelands), the wider Ottoman and his special Albanian one. Frashëri moved socially and intellectually through various communities of Istanbul while having an appreciation of Islam and traditions originating from Arabs and the Ottoman sociopolitical and cultural systems. Along with other Albanians, Albanianism with Ottomanism were seen as being compatible.  As a cultural and political activist Frashëri however ran into trouble with the Ottoman government. Over time he developed a disillusionment with the regime of sultan Abdul Hamid II and increasingly turned to Albanianism. Being an Albanian Tosk he felt frustration with his fellow Albanian Ghegs and other conservative and traditionalist Albanians whom he thought were more preoccupied with regional and local matters than with the national issues. Frashëri did not want Albanians to be confused for Turks and he worked to foster the national identities of both ethnic groups. At times tensions existed for him when the categories of Ottomanism and Albanianism and of Turk and Albanian were not in balance. As scholar Francis Trix put it he was "an Ottoman reformer [who] could be both an Albanian patriot and, at the same time, a cultural Turk of the highest order".  After his death individuals and diverse groups both honoured and claimed him as theirs. Among Turkish circles, the Young Turk newspaper "Osmanlı" published in Geneva described him in their full front-page obituary as a scholar and great humanritarian that "honored Ottomanism (Osmanlılık)." Yusuf Akçura, an advocate of Turkism and contemporary of Frashëri considered him as a Turkish nationalist. Albanians of the era regarded Frashëri as a patriot, while due to his contributions toward developing a national Albanian literature modern Albanian historians view him as an Albanian nationalist. As the works of Frashëri contain nationalistic discourse, following his death they have retained the attention of the public during different time periods and governments in Albania and Turkey. Within Turkish literary history Frashëri is revered as being a forefather of Turkish literature and a significant innovator for the Turkish language. In Albanian collective memory he is cherished as a founding father of Albanian literature and as one of the rilindjas (national awakeners) of the Albanian nation. An Ottoman historian Kemal Karpat summed up his complex identity as "Sami considered himself a 'Turk' because he was a member of the Ottoman state, and he saw no conflict between his Ottoman political identity and his Albanian ethnicity."  The four surviving children of Frashëri remained in Turkey and due to their commitment to the republic Turkish authorities decided in the 1950s not to allow the remains of Sami to leave the country for Albania. His son, Ali Sami Yen (1886–1951), was a footballer and founder of Galatasaray SK and chairman of Galatasaray between 1905–18 and 1925–6.  Nowadays, a lot of schools bear his name, i.e. Sami Frashëri High School is one of the most well-known gymnasium in Prishtina and another in Tirana, and in other localities like Bogovinje, North Macedonia and so on.  The Frashëri brothers have been commemorated in Albanian folk songs.

Work.

Sami is the author of around 50 works. Some of his most important writings are:  The story carries a sentimental subject of love between Talat and Fitnat. Generally, the novel consists of a combination of Oriental and Western writing styles. Also, this novel is commonly mistaken to be the first novel written in Turkish.  Is a melodrama aiming "Besa" as a subject, but in a very tragic situation; the father kills his son to keep the given word.

Scientific writings.

Şemseddin Sami also did a series of scientific writings in Albanian such as "Qielli" (Sky), "Toka" (Earth), "Njeriu" (Human Being), "Gjuha" (Language), and many more.

Other.

In Turkish in his "Pocket Library" collection, he published small scientific booklets on subjects as Astronomy, Geology, Anthropology, History of Islam and the Islamic civilization, Women, Mythology and Linguistics. He also published a small compilation of Humor named "Letâ'if" in two volumes, a compilation of Proverbs and Quotes named "Emsâl" in four volumes, and a series of reading-oriented educational books for schoolchildren. During Ebüzziya Tevfiks exile, Frashëri managed the Ottoman journal Muharrir.

Sami bey Frashëri known in (June 1, 1850 – June 18, 1904) was an Ottoman Albanian writer, philosopher, playwright and a prominent figure of the "Rilindja Kombëtare", the National Renaissance movement of Albania, together with his two brothers Abdyl and Naim. He also supported Turkish nationalism against its Ottoman counterpart as well as laicism against theocracy.

Şemseddin Sami Fraşeri (1. červen 1850, Fraşer – 18. červen 1904, Istanbul) byl albánsko-turecký spisovatel, novinář a lexikograf, bratr Naima Frashëriho. Arabské "šemseddi" je islámský čestný titul. Pro Albánce je Fraseri prvním národním buditelem a pro Turky průkopníkem modernizace podle evropského vzoru.


History.

In 2002, the Japanese government authorized the development of QZSS, as a three-satellite regional time transfer system and a satellite-based augmentation system for the United States operated Global Positioning System (GPS) to be receivable within Japan. A contract was awarded to Advanced Space Business Corporation (ASBC), that began concept development work, and Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, and GNSS Technologies Inc. However, ASBC collapsed in 2007, and the work was taken over by the Satellite Positioning Research and Application Center (SPAC), which is owned by four Japanese government departments: the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.  The first satellite "Michibiki" was launched on 11 September 2010. Full operational status was expected by 2013. In March 2013, Japan's Cabinet Office announced the expansion of QZSS from three satellites to four. The $526 million contract with Mitsubishi Electric for the construction of three satellites was scheduled for launch before the end of 2017. The third satellite was launched into orbit on 19 August 2017, and the fourth was launched on 10 October 2017. The basic four-satellite system was announced as operational on November 1, 2018.

Orbit.

QZSS uses one geostationary satellite and three satellites in Tundra-type highly inclined, slightly elliptical, geosynchronous orbits. Each orbit is 120° apart from the other two. Because of this inclination, they are not geostationary; they do not remain in the same place in the sky. Instead, their ground traces are asymmetrical figure-8 patterns (analemmas), designed to ensure that one is almost directly overhead (elevation 60° or more) over Japan at all times.  The nominal orbital elements are:

QZSS and positioning augmentation.

The primary purpose of QZSS is to increase the availability of GPS in Japan's numerous urban canyons, where only satellites at very high elevation can be seen. A secondary function is performance enhancement, increasing the accuracy and reliability of GPS derived navigation solutions.  The Quasi-Zenith Satellites transmit signals compatible with the GPS L1C/A signal, as well as the modernized GPS L1C, L2C signal and L5 signals. This minimizes changes to existing GPS receivers.  Compared to standalone GPS, the combined system GPS plus QZSS delivers improved positioning performance via ranging correction data provided through the transmission of submeter-class performance enhancement signals L1-SAIF and LEX from QZSS. It also improves reliability by means of failure monitoring and system health data notifications. QZSS also provides other support data to users to improve GPS satellite acquisition.  According to its original plan, QZSS was to carry two types of space-borne atomic clocks; a hydrogen maser and a rubidium (Rb) atomic clock. The development of a passive hydrogen maser for QZSS was abandoned in 2006. The positioning signal will be generated by a Rb clock and an architecture similar to the GPS timekeeping system will be employed. QZSS will also be able to use a Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT) scheme, which will be employed to gain some fundamental knowledge of satellite atomic standard behavior in space as well as for other research purposes.

QZSS timekeeping and remote synchronization.

Although the first generation QZSS timekeeping system (TKS) will be based on the Rb clock, the first QZSS satellites will carry a basic prototype of an experimental crystal clock synchronization system. During the first half of the two year in-orbit test phase, preliminary tests will investigate the feasibility of the atomic clock-less technology which might be employed in the second generation QZSS.  The mentioned QZSS TKS technology is a novel satellite timekeeping system which does not require on-board atomic clocks as used by existing navigation satellite systems such as BeiDou, Galileo, GPS, GLONASS or NavIC system. This concept is differentiated by the employment of a synchronization framework combined with lightweight steerable on-board clocks which act as transponders re-broadcasting the precise time remotely provided by the time synchronization network located on the ground. This allows the system to operate optimally when satellites are in direct contact with the ground station, making it suitable for a system like the Japanese QZSS. Low satellite mass and low satellite manufacturing and launch cost are significant advantages of this system. An outline of this concept as well as two possible implementations of the time synchronization network for QZSS were studied and published in "Remote Synchronization Method for the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System" and "Remote Synchronization Method for the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System: study of a novel satellite timekeeping system which does not require on-board atomic clocks".

The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), also known as, is a four-satellite regional time transfer system and a satellite-based augmentation system development by the Japanese government to enhance the United States-operated Global Positioning System (GPS) in the Asia-Oceania regions, with a focus on Japan. The goal of QZSS is to provide highly precise and stable positioning services in the Asia-Oceania region, compatible with GPS. Four-satellite QZSS services were available on a trial basis as of January 12, 2018, and officially started on November 1, 2018. A satellite navigation system independent of GPS is planned for 2023 with 7 satellites.

Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) je vyvíjený třídružicový regionální navigační systém pro Japonsko. Jedná se o plošně omezenou verzi globálního pozičního systému, jako je například GPS. První družice "Michibiki" byla vypuštěna 11. září 2010. Plný operační stav byl předpokládán v roce 2013, avšak v březnu 2013 japonská vláda oznámila rozšíření ze tří na čtyři satelity. Kontrakt na stavbu tří družic za 526 miliónů dolarů získala firma Mitsubishi Electric s předpokládaným vypuštěním do konce roku 2017. Základní čtyřdružicový systém by měl být funkční v roce 2018.


Early career.

Ulbrich studied law at Charles University. On 23 May 1867 he was awarded the title of Doctor of law and joined the practice court. He was a top student teacher at the Provincial Court in Prague, and, from 1869, judicial adjunct to the Regional Court in České Budějovice. In 1871, he was promoted to become a clerk at the Regional Court in Prague. In 1873, he joined the prosecutor's office as a financial clerk. In 1876, he became a teacher in the Department of Economics, Business and Industrial Statistics at the German Polytechnic University in Prague, where he taught as an adjunct professor until his death.

As an academic administrator.

On 16 February 1876, he was appointed the docent of Charles University in Prague. He worked as a private lecturer in state law. From 25 September 1879, and from January 11, 1884, he was a professor at the German University in Prague (in the early 1880s there was a joint Czech-German University at Charles University). From 1897 to 1898, he held the post of rector of the university, and was also Dean of the Faculty of Law twice (from 1890 to 1891 and from 1906 to 1907). He held this position during difficult times of extreme Czech-German conflict related to the Badeni language regulations, when there were verbal and physical confrontations between students of the two nationalities. In June 1897, Ulbrich's proposal for resolving language issues in the Czech Republic was published in the "Neue Freie Presse", which joined calls for an administrative division of the country by national borders, including alterations to the boundaries of judicial districts. In 1898, he received the title of court council. From 1900 onward, he was chairman of the German Association for the Dissemination of Public Information (). From 1901 onward, he was chairman of the board of examiners for statecraft. In 1904, he was re-elected rector of the German University in Prague, but declined to continue. From 1905 onward, he was chairman of the expert board for copyright, and was also active in the Association for the History of the Germans in Bohemia (). He wrote, among other works, "Lehrbuch des österreichischen Staatsrechts" (Berlin, 1883), and "Lehrbuch des österreichischen Verwaltungsrechts" (Vienna, 1904). His speciality was political science and administrative law.

Political career.

By the turn of the century Ulbrich had started to move into politics. From 1897 to 1898, he sat on the Czech Provincial Assembly. On 18 August 1905, he was appointed a life member of the House of Lords (the unelected upper chamber of the Imperial Council), where he joined the Constitutional Party. After the annexation of Bosnia in 1908, he worked on the government documents regarding the reception of Islam and Islamic law in the legal system of the monarchy.  He died in August 1910 in a diaconal house in Prague after several months of severe illness.

Josef Ulbrich or Joseph Ulbrich (23 October 1843 – 20 August 1910), was an Austro-Hungarian lawyer and university teacher from Bohemia. He was also the rector of Charles University in Prague and a member of the Czech Provincial Assembly.

Josef Ulbrich, též Joseph (23. října 1843 Cheb – 20. srpna 1910 Praha), byl rakouský právník a vysokoškolský pedagog německé národnosti z Čech; rektor Německé univerzity v Praze a poslanec Českého zemského sněmu.


Early life.

As a child, O'Brien enjoyed cricket and theatre. His parents split when he was 10; O'Brien said "I think that's when music became my refuge". He grew up listening to post-punk acts such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam and the Ants, Depeche Mode, the Police and David Bowie. He said: "It was a very foetal [time] for music because people who went to art college or artists, or musicians, suddenly thought, 'Oh, I can be that'."  The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, an independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. While O'Brien was playing Lysander in a school production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", he met future Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who was scoring the production. Yorke asked him to join him for a jam. According to O'Brien, "Before that, [life] was a bit confusing, a bit crap. And then suddenly... I felt something very strong, almost like some kind of epiphany, almost like: 'This is it.'"  O'Brien, along with drummer Philip Selway, was in the year above Yorke and bassist Colin Greenwood, and three years above Colin's brother, multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood. In 1985, they formed On a Friday, the name referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. O'Brien studied economics at the University of Manchester.

Career.

Radiohead.

In 1991, On a Friday signed a six-album record contract with EMI and changed their name to Radiohead. They found early success with their 1992 single "Creep". Their third album, "OK Computer" (1997), propelled them to international fame and is often acclaimed as one of the best albums of all time. "OK Computer" saw O'Brien use less distortion and more delay and other effects, creating a sound that was, in his words, "more about textures".  O'Brien became depressed during the extensive "OK Computer" tour, but focused on supporting Yorke. After the tour, he returned to Oxford and fell further into depression. He said: "I was single, on my own, World Cup ’98 summer... I was the lowest I’ve ever been. It was the irony as well – you’re at the top, that old cliché. Did loads of drugs [and] went full on into all the wrong things."  Radiohead's next albums, "Kid A" (2000) and "Amnesiac" (2001), were recorded simultaneously, and marked a dramatic change in sound, incorporating influences from electronic music, classical music, jazz and krautrock. O'Brien kept an online diary of Radiohead's progress during the recording. He initially struggled with the band's change in direction, saying: "It's scary – everyone feels insecure. I'm a guitarist and suddenly it's like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or no drums." At the suggestion of Michael Brook, creator of the Infinite Guitar, O'Brien began using sustain units, which allow guitar notes to be sustained infinitely. He combined these with looping and delay effects to create synthesiser-like sounds.  By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019. Whereas Yorke is the main songwriter, O'Brien said his role was to "service the songs" and act as "the mum... My job was to always put my arm around [Thom], and his job was to be Thom."

Solo work.

O'Brien releases solo music under the name EOB. His first solo track, the ambient composition "Santa Teresa", was released on 4 October 2019. His first solo album, "Earth", was released on 17 April 2020 on Capitol Records to positive reviews. It was produced by Flood, Catherine Marks, and Adam "Cecil" Bartlett and was mixed by Alan Moulder, with contributions from drummer Omar Hakim, Invisible members Nathan East and Dave Okumu, folk singer Laura Marling, Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.  Recording for "Earth" began in late 2017 and ended in early 2019. The music was inspired by O'Brien's time living in Brazil and attending Carnival, which he described as a "musical eureka moment". The first track, "Brasil", was released on 5 December 2019, with a video directed by Andrew Donoho. The second, "Shangri-La", was released on 6 February, alongside the album title, release date and tracklist. O'Brien began a North American tour in February 2020.

Other work.

O'Brien contributed to the soundtrack for the BBC drama series "Eureka Street" before recording "Kid A". He played guitar on the 2003 Asian Dub Foundation album "Enemy of the Enemy". O'Brien and Selway toured and recorded with Neil Finn as part of the 7 Worlds Collide project; he provided guitar and backing vocals on their eponymous 2001 live album and 2009 studio album "The Sun Came Out".  O'Brien is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition, a nonprofit organisation set up to protect the rights of featured musical artists, particularly in the digital age. He appeared on the 16 April 2011 episode of the BBC Radio 5 Live sports programme "Fighting Talk" in support of Record Shop Day.  O'Brien worked with Fender to design a signature model guitar, the EOB Stratocaster, which went on sale in November 2017. It features a tremolo bridge and a sustainer neck pickup.  In 2013, O'Brien cofounded the Laundry, a workspace, restaurant and nightclub converted from a laundry in London Fields. The following year, he and Selway signed an open letter protesting a ban on guitars in British prisons. In 2019, O'Brien joined the RSPB Let Nature Sing project, which aims to get birdsong into the UK charts to raise awareness of the decline in Britain's birdlife.

Musicianship.

O'Brien's earliest guitar influence was Andy Summers of the Police, particularly his use of delay and chorus effects on "Walking on the Moon". His other influences include Peter Buck of R.E.M, Paul Weller of the Jam, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, John McGeoch of Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Edge of U2. O'Brien admired how these guitarists created "space" rather than playing conventional guitar solos. He said: "They were great guitarists, but they weren’t lead guitarists... My favourite guitarists know when not to play. Then you make more of it when you do play. Make it count."  O'Brien usually plays Fender Stratocasters, including the Eric Clapton Stratocaster. He also plays Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars, including a twelve-string Rickenbacker. While Jonny Greenwood plays most of Radiohead's lead guitar parts, O'Brien often creates ambient effects, making extensive use of effects units. He said of the technique: "It's a bit like you're creating a canvas. That would be in accompaniment with Thom playing chords on the piano — you're building up a cloud of effects behind." O'Brien said in 2017 that his most used effects are distortion, an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man delay, and a DigiTech Whammy pitch shifter.  To create the high-pitched chiming sound that introduces "Lucky", O'Brien strums above the guitar nut. He also creates the reverberating pops on the introduction of "2 + 2 = 5". On "Karma Police", O'Brien distorts his guitar by driving a delay effect to self-oscillation, then turning the delay rate to a low frequency, creating a "melting" effect. "Treefingers" was created by processing O'Brien's guitar loops. On "Dollars and Cents", O'Brien used a pitch shifter pedal to shift his guitar chords from minor to major. For "All I Need", he used a sustain unit and a guitar strung with four bottom E strings, creating a "thicker" sound.  O'Brien said of his playing: "I literally learned to play my instrument within the band, so I started off very limited — and I'm "still" very limited. But I've been lucky, because I've been in a band that has not required you to be a virtuoso." In a 2015 "Rolling Stone" article, David Fricke named O'Brien the 59th greatest guitarist of all time. O'Brien also sings backing vocals for Radiohead, which "Pitchfork" described in 2006 as "the band's most consistent secret weapon".

Personal life.

O'Brien lives in London with his wife Susan Kobrin, who worked for Amnesty International. The couple have a son, Salvador, born in January 2004, and a daughter, Oona, born in 2006. O'Brien is a cricket fan and supports Manchester United Football Club. Around 2000, he gave up alcohol and took up meditation; he said: "[Alcohol] was fucking me up. I thought, 'I can carry on, or I can be a better person.'" In 2011, he and his family moved to Brazil and lived for a year on a farm near Ubatuba. In March 2020, O'Brien announced that he had contracted Covid-19 and was recovering in isolation.

Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist and member of the alternative rock band Radiohead. O'Brien attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, where he met the other members of Radiohead. O'Brien makes extensive use of effects units to create atmospheric sounds and textures, and provides backing vocals. His first solo album, "Earth", was released in 2020, under the name EOB.

Ed O'Brien, rodným jménem Edward John O'Brien (* 15. dubna 1968 Oxford) je anglický kytarista. Studoval ekonomiku na Manchesterské univerzitě. Počínaje rokem 1985 je členem rockové skupiny Radiohead. Časopis "Rolling Stone" jej v roce 2003 zařadil na šedesátou příčku žebříčku 100 nejlepších kytaristů všech dob (v tomtéž žebříčku z roku 2011 již nefiguroval). Vedle Radiohead spolupracoval například s Neilem Finnem či skupinou Asian Dub Foundation. V říjnu 2016 řekl, že pracuje na sólovém albu.


History.

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.  By the early 15th century, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-15th century.  However, by the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization.  This trend continued, followed by new trends like Christmas cards, the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. Technical developments like color lithography in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward.  During the 1980s, the trend began to turn, with consumers increasing looking for greeting cards that were differentiated from the standard offering. In the late 1990s, e-cards made their way into the market.

Materials.

Common cardmaking materials include: cardstock, stencils, markers, vellum, tissue paper, glue, rulers and t-squares, rickrack, foil, sequins, beads, ribbon, acetate, paper embossing, die cutting machines and more. Other materials that can be used in cardmaking are brads, eyelets, tea bag medallions, and buttons. Brads can be used to hold the four corners of one piece of cardstock on top of another to create a layered effect. Eyelets can be used to draw a piece of string or ribbon from one side of the card to another. Tea bag medallions are a type of origami that makes a wonderful decoration for the front of a card. Pretty shaped buttons make nice additions to a design. Other ways of decorating cards include using rubber or polymer stamps to add images or sentiments to the card which can then be coloured or decorated using a wide variety of paint or ink techniques.

Card making is the craft of hand-making greeting cards. Many people with interests in allied crafts such as scrapbooking and stamping have begun to use their skills to start making handmade cards. This has contributed to cardmaking becoming a popular hobby.

Cardmaking (card = pohlednice, making = tvorba) je soubor různých technik, kterými se ručně vytvářejí originální papírová přání, knižní záložky, darovací obálky, pozvánky, jmenovky na svatební stoly, ozdobné visačky k dárkům, obaly a krabičky, adventní kalendáře, sběratelské kartičky ATC apod. Zároveň se tak nazývá zájmová dekorativní činnost, při níž papírové výrobky vznikají. Cardmaking vzešel ze scrapbookingu (tvorba fotoalb a deníků).


Early and personal life.

Mandiangu was born in Kinshasa, Zaire; his family emigrated to Mönchengladbach in Germany shortly after his birth.

Career.

Club.

He began his career with Polizei SV before moving to the youth team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2002. In July 2007, he moved out of his family's home and into the Borussia Mönchengladbach boarding school.  Mandiangu spent his early senior career with Borussia Mönchengladbach II, MSV Duisburg II and TSG Neustrelitz. He moved to Berliner FC Dynamo in May 2014. He left the club by mutual consent in March 2015, and then signed for Dutch club FC Eindhoven on an amateur basis.  In December 2015, it was announced that Mandiangu would sign for Scottish club Hamilton Academical. After training with the club for three weeks, the deal completed in January 2016, with the contract running until the end of the 2015–16 season. In May 2016, it was announced that he would leave Hamilton at the end of the 2015–16 season.  In May 2016, Mandiangu signed with Slovak club MŠK Žilina on a two-year contract. He moved to Austrian club Blau-Weiß Linz in January 2017. Six-months later, Mandiangu joined Gandzasar Kapan.  On 1 September 2017 signed to Hapoel Kfar Saba.  Kokkolan PV announced on 10 December 2018, that they had signed Mandiangu for the 2019 season.

International.

Mandiangu represented Germany at under-15, and under-18 youth levels, making a total of 22 youth international appearances.

Christopher-Massamba Mandiangu (born 8 February 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays for II liga club Widzew Łódź as a forward.

Christopher Massamba Mandiangu (* 8. února 1992, Kinshasa) je německý fotbalový ofenzivní záložník původem ze Zaire (pozdější Demokratická republika Kongo), od ledna 2017 hráč rakouského klubu FC Blau-Weiß Linz.