Early life.

Blake was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 1922, the son of a Protestant Dutch mother, and a Sephardi Jewish father who was a naturalised British subject. He was named George after King George V of the United Kingdom. His father, Albert Behar, served in the British Army during the First World War. While Albert received the Meritorious Service Medal, he embellished his war service when recounting it to his wife and children, and also concealed his Jewish background until his death. The Behars lived a comfortable existence in the Netherlands until Albert's death in 1936. The thirteen-year-old Blake was sent to live with a wealthy aunt in Egypt, where he continued his education at the English School in Cairo. He later attended Downing College, Cambridge, to read Russian.  While in Cairo, he was close to his cousin Henri Curiel, who was later to become a leader of the Communist Democratic Movement for National Liberation. In 1991, Blake said that his encounter with Curiel, who was a decade older and already a Marxist, shaped his views in later life.  When the Second World War broke out, Blake was back in the Netherlands. In 1940, Germany invaded and quickly defeated the Dutch military. Blake was interned but released because he was only 17. He joined the Dutch resistance as a courier. In 1942, he escaped from the Netherlands and travelled to Britain via Belgium, France, Spain, and Gibraltar, reaching London in January 1943. There, he was reunited with his mother and his sisters, who had fled at the start of the war. In 1943, his mother decided to change the family name from Behar to Blake.

Espionage activities.

After he reached Britain, Blake joined the Royal Navy as a sub-lieutenant before being recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in 1944. For the rest of the war, Blake was employed in the Dutch Section. He intended to marry an MI6 secretary, Iris Peake, but her family prevented the marriage because of Blake's Jewish background and the relationship ended. In 1946, he was posted to Hamburg and put in charge of the interrogation of German U-boat captains. In 1947 the Navy sent Blake to study languages, including Russian, at Downing College, Cambridge, where his fellow students included the future foreign policy analyst Michael MccGwire. He was posted thereafter to the British Legation in Seoul, South Korea, under Vyvyan Holt, arriving on 6 November 1948. Under cover as a vice-consul, Blake's mission was to gather intelligence on Communist North Korea, Communist China, and the Soviet Far East.  The Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, and Seoul was quickly captured by the advancing Korean People's Army of the North. After Britain entered the war on the side of the South, Blake and the other British diplomats were taken prisoner. As the tide of the war turned, Blake and the others were taken north, first to Pyongyang and then to the Yalu River. After seeing the bombing of North Korea, and after reading the works of Karl Marx and others during his three-year detention, he became a communist.  At a secret meeting arranged with his guards, he volunteered to work for the Soviet Union's spy service, the KGB. In an interview Blake was once asked: "Is there one incident that triggered your decision to effectively change sides?" Blake responded: "It was the relentless bombing of small Korean villages by enormous American Flying Fortresses. Women and children and old people, because the young men were in the army. We might have been victims ourselves. It made me feel ashamed of belonging to these overpowering, technically superior countries fighting against what seemed to me defenceless people. I felt I was on the wrong side... that it would be better for humanity if the Communist system prevailed, that it would put an end to war." Following his release in 1953, Blake returned to Britain as a hero, landing at RAF Abingdon. In October 1954, he married MI6 secretary Gillian Allan in St Mark's Church (North Audley Street) in London. In 1955, he was sent by MI6 to work as a case officer in Berlin, where his task was to recruit Soviet officers as double agents. But he also informed his KGB contacts of the details of British and American operations, including Operation Gold, in which a tunnel into East Berlin was used to tap telephone lines used by the Soviet military. Russian capture of the tunnel did not occur until a year later, as a means of protecting Blake. Until Blake's treachery was discovered, some years later, Operation Gold had been hailed as a resounding success.  In the course of nine years, Blake is said to have betrayed details of some forty MI6 agents to the KGB, destroying most of MI6's operations in Eastern Europe, although this remains unsubstantiated. Blake later said of this: "I don't know what I handed over because it was so much." In 1959 Blake became aware of a Central Intelligence Agency mole inside GRU, and was thus instrumental in exposing P. S. Popov, who was executed in 1960.

Discovery and conviction.

In 1961, Blake fell under suspicion after revelations by Polish defector Michael Goleniewski and others. He was arrested when he arrived in London after being summoned from Lebanon, where he had been enrolled at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS). Three days into his interrogation, Blake denied he was tortured or blackmailed by the North Koreans. Without thinking what he was saying, he stated that he had switched sides voluntarily. He then gave his MI6 interrogators a full confession.  The maximum sentence for any one offence under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 is 14 years, but his activities were divided into five time periods charged as five offences and, in May 1961 after an "in camera" trial at the Old Bailey, he was sentenced to the maximum term of 14 years consecutively on each of three counts of spying for a potential enemy and 14 years concurrently on both the two remaining counts – a total of 42 years imprisonment – by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Parker of Waddington. This sentence was reported by newspapers to represent one year for each of the agents who were killed when he betrayed them, although this is dubious. It was the longest sentence (excluding life terms) ever handed down by a British court, until Nezar Hindawi was sentenced to 45 years for the attempted bombing of an El Al jet.

Escape from prison.

Five years into his imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, Blake escaped with the help of three men he had met in jail: Sean Bourke and two anti-nuclear campaigners, Michael Randle and Pat Pottle. The escape was masterminded by Bourke, who first approached Randle only for financial help with the escape. Randle became more involved and suggested they bring Pottle in on the plan as well, as he had suggested springing Blake to Randle in 1962 when they were both still in prison. Their motives for helping Blake to escape were their belief that the 42-year sentence was "inhuman" and because of a personal liking of Blake.  Bourke had smuggled a walkie-talkie to Blake to communicate with him whilst in jail. On 22 October 1966, Blake broke a window at the end of the corridor where his cell was located. Then between 6 and 7 pm, whilst most of the other inmates and guards were at the weekly film showing, Blake climbed through the window, slid down a porch and made his way to the perimeter wall. There, Bourke, who had been released from the jail earlier, threw a rope ladder over the wall. Blake then used it to climb over the wall and they drove off to a safe house. During the escape, Blake fractured his wrist jumping from the perimeter wall, but apart from that it all went according to plan.  After the escape, it became apparent that the safe house was not suitable, as it was a bedsit that was cleaned by the landlady once a week. Blake then spent several days moving between Randle and Pottle's friends' houses; after this, Blake and Bourke moved in with Pottle, staying with him while preparing to get through customs. They smuggled Blake across the English Channel in a camper van, then drove across northern Europe and through West Germany to the Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing. Having safely crossed the border without incident, he met his handlers in East Germany and completed his escape to the Soviet Union.

Moscow.

In November 1966, his wife Gillian, with whom he had three children, began divorce proceedings against him, and in March 1967 Mr Justice Orr granted a "decree nisi" in Blake's absence, on the grounds that the conviction of a spouse for treason can amount to cruelty or constructive desertion. Custody of their three sons, Anthony, James, and Patrick, was awarded to Gillian. This caused Blake a good deal of grief, though he knew that Gillian would have struggled to settle into life in the Soviet Union.  In 1990, Blake published an autobiography "No Other Choice". The book's British publisher had paid him about £60,000 before the government intervened to stop him profiting from sales. He later filed a complaint charging the British government with human rights violation for taking nine years to decide on his case, and was awarded £5,000 in compensation by the European Court of Human Rights. In 1991, Blake testified by video recording when Randle and Pottle were put on trial for aiding his escape. They were acquitted. In an interview with NBC News in 1991, Blake said he regretted the deaths of the agents he had betrayed.  Blake later married again in the Soviet Union and had more children. He also reconciled with his other children. In late 2007, Blake was awarded the Order of Friendship on his 85th birthday by Vladimir Putin. Blake's later book, "Transparent Walls" (2006), as reported by the daily "Vzglyad" ("The View"). Sergei Lebedev, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation, wrote in the book's foreword that despite the book being devoted to the past, it is about the present as well. He also wrote that Blake, the 85-year-old colonel of Foreign Intelligence, "still takes an active role in the affairs of the secret service."  In 2012, he celebrated his 90th birthday, still living in Moscow on a KGB pension. His eyesight was failing and he claimed to be "virtually blind". He remained a committed Marxist–Leninist. Blake denied being a traitor, insisting that he had never felt British: "To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged".  Five years later, Blake remained committed to Russia and to communism. In a November 2017 statement, he claimed that its spies now have "the difficult and critical mission" of saving the world "in a situation when the danger of nuclear war and the resulting self-destruction of humankind again have been put on the agenda by irresponsible politicians. It's a true battle between good and evil".

George Blake (born George Behar on 11 November 1922) is a former British spy who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union. He became a Communist and decided to work for the KGB while a prisoner during the Korean War. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the Soviet Union. He was not one of the Cambridge Five spies, although he associated with Donald Maclean and Kim Philby after reaching the Soviet Union. He was educated at Downing College, Cambridge.

George Blake, né George Behar le à Rotterdam, était un agent double britannique travaillant au Royaume-Uni pour le compte de l'Union soviétique, puis soviétique et enfin russe.


Playing career.

Giacomin began his professional career with brief stints with the Eastern Hockey League's legendary Clinton Comets in 1958-59 and 1959-60. Despite suffering serious burns in a kitchen accident, Giacomin made the roster of the Providence Reds in the 1960–61 season. In the Original Six days of the 1960s, with only six starting goaltending jobs in the NHL, positions were hard to obtain, and Giacomin starred for the Reds for five full seasons.  NHL teams, particularly the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers, began to express interest in Giacomin. New York traded three players and starting goaltender Marcel Paille to the Reds for Giacomin in 1965. He was impressive in his first month with the Rangers, but faltered thereafter, and lost the starting job. The following season he improved markedly; he led the NHL in shutouts and backstopped the Rangers to their second playoff berth in nine seasons.  A classic stand-up goaltender and a skilled stickhandler known for leaving the crease to play the puck, Giacomin was the Rangers' starting goaltender for the next nine seasons. He led the league in games played for four straight years from 1967 to 1970 and in shutouts in 1967, 1968 and 1971. In 1971 he shared the Vezina Trophy with teammate Gilles Villemure. Typical of his competitive nature, in a game in the 1971 playoffs against Chicago, when Bobby Hull skated over the back of his hand, Giacomin continued to play, and when the Rangers won the game, even the Black Hawks used the word "guts" to describe his determination. The Rangers went on to meet the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals in 1972, losing in a hard-fought six game series.  Giacomin's effectiveness was reduced in 1975 by injuries. The following season, the Rangers got off to their worst start in ten years (they would miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade) and began to get rid of their high-salaried veterans, Giacomin among them. Many fans were angry when he was put on waivers and claimed by the Detroit Red Wings on October 29, 1975 as the result of a youth movement that resulted in John Davidson taking over in goal. The Red Wings' next game was in New York on November 2, and when Giacomin appeared on the ice in a Red Wing jersey, fans gave him a long standing ovation and cheered for him throughout the game. Rangers fans booed their own team when they took shots or scored on Giacomin, and chanted Giacomin's name throughout the match, which he won for the Red Wings. The evening was voted one of the 50 greatest moments in MSG history.  He played three respectable seasons for Detroit before a youth movement took over. He retired on January 17, 1978, with a career record of 289-208-97 and a 2.82 GAA.

Retirement.

Giacomin spent the 1979 season as a broadcaster for the New York Islanders, who were beaten in the playoffs by the rival Rangers that spring. Giacomin later served with the Islanders and the Red Wings as an assistant coach and two stints with the Rangers as a goaltending coach.  He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987. His jersey number 1 was the second number retired by the Rangers, on March 15, 1989, joining Rod Gilbert's number 7 that was retired by the Rangers on October 14, 1979.

Edward "Ed" Giacomin (born June 6, 1939) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League, as well as for the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League.

Edward Giacomin, dit Ed ou Eddie Giacomin, (né le à Sudbury au Canada) est un joueur professionnel de hockey sur glace qui évoluait au poste de gardien de but. Il a évolué avec les Rangers de New York de 1965 à 1976 avant de terminer sa carrière avec les Red Wings de Détroit en 1978. Avant de jouer dans la LNH il évoluait dans la Ligue américaine de hockey aux Reds de Providence. Il est intronisé au temple de la renommée du hockey en 1987.


History.

Saanich has been the home to First Nations people for thousands of years. The non-native history begins with the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1840s.  The Craigflower Schoolhouse (originally called Maple Point School), the oldest surviving school building in Western Canada, was built on orders from Kenneth MacKenzie. He came from Scotland with his family in 1852, on the Hudson's Bay Company ship Norman Morison, to establish a farm for the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company. A school was needed for the children of farm employees, as well as those of arriving settlers.  The Municipality of Saanich was incorporated on March 1, 1906. The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory telescope was designed by Dr John Stanley Plaskett, astronomer with the Department of the Interior in Ottawa. The 72 inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope was the largest of its kind in the world when it was built, though this was only the case for a few short months in 1918.

Geography.

The District of Saanich contains a long shoreline with sandy beaches located at a number of ocean bays. Two of the beaches are Cadboro Bay Beach and Cordova Bay Beach. Cadboro Bay is known as the home of the "Cadborosaurus", a mythical cryptid. Saanich's notable parks include Mount Douglas Park, Mount Tolmie Park (with viewpoints), and Gyro Park.

Government.

The Saanich District Council is the governing body of the municipality of Saanich. The council consists of the mayor and eight councillors.

Neighbourhoods.

Saanich is divided into twelve Local Areas for planning purposes. In addition, there are a number of community associations in the municipality that represent neighbourhoods largely overlapping with the Local Areas. The Local Areas, and representative community associations, are listed below:

Education.

The northeastern half of British Columbia's third largest university, the University of Victoria campus, is in Saanich, while the southwestern portion is in neighbouring Oak Bay. Saanich is also home to both major campuses of Camosun College, the original Lansdowne campus, and the Interurban campus.  Saanich is divided between two bordering school districts, School District 61 Greater Victoria and School District 63 Saanich. It is also the home of South Island Distance Education School.

Demographics.

As of 2016, the District of Saanich has a population of 114,148. This corresponds to a 4.0% increase since 2011. The total number of occupied dwellings is 46,652 with an average of 2.4 persons per household. With a land area of, Saanich possesses a population density of 1,099.9 per square kilometre.

The District of Saanich () is a district municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, within the Greater Victoria area. The population was 114,148 at the 2016 census, making it the most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and Vancouver Island, and the eighth-most populous in the province. The district adopted its name after the Saanich First Nation, meaning "emerging land" or "emerging people". The District acts as a bedroom community immediately to the north of Victoria, British Columbia.

Saanich est une municipalité de district de la Colombie-Britannique au Canada. Elle est située sur l'Île de Vancouver, juste au nord de Victoria, la capitale provinciale.


History.

In 1504, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III, acquired the estate at Caprarola. He had designs made for a fortified castle or "rocca" by the architects Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Baldassare Peruzzi. Surviving plan drawings by Peruzzi show a pentagonal arrangement with each face of the pentagon canted inwards towards its center, to permit raking fire upon a would-be scaling force, both from the center and from the projecting bastions that advance from each corner angle of the fortress. Peruzzi's plan also shows a central pentagonal courtyard and it is likely that the later development of the circular central court was also determined by the necessities of the pentagonal plan. The pentagonal fortress foundations, constructed probably between 1515 and 1530, became the base upon which the present villa sits; so the overall form of the villa was predetermined by the "rocca" foundations.  Subsequently, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, a grandson of Pope Paul III, and a man who was known for promoting his family's interests, planned to turn this partly constructed fortified edifice into a villa or country house. In 1556, he commissioned Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola as his architect, building work commenced in 1559 and Vignola continued to work on the villa at Caprarola until his death in 1573. Farnese was a courteous man of letters; however, the Farnese family as a whole became unpopular with the following pope, Julius III, and, accordingly, Alessandro Farnese decided it would be politic to retire from the Vatican for a period. He therefore selected Caprarola on the family holding of Ronciglione, being both near and yet far enough from Rome as the ideal place to build a country house.

Design.

The villa is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture. Ornament is used sparingly to achieve proportion and harmony. Thus while the villa dominates the surroundings, its severe design also complements the site. This particular style, known today as Mannerism, was a reaction to the ornate earlier High Renaissance designs of twenty years earlier.  Vignola, the architect chosen for this difficult and inhospitable site, had recently proved his mettle in designing Villa Giulia on the outskirts of Rome for the preceding pope, Julius III. Vignola in his youth had been heavily influenced by Michelangelo. For the villa at Caprarola, his plans as built were for a pentagon constructed around a circular colonnaded courtyard. In the galleried court, paired Ionic columns flank niches containing busts of the Roman Emperors, above a rusticated arcade, a reworking of Bramante's scheme for the "House of Raphael", in the Borgo rione, Rome. A further Bramantesque detail is the entablature that breaks forward over the columns, linking them above, while they stand on separate bases. The interior loggia formed by the arcade is frescoed with Raphaelesque grotesques, in the manner of the Vatican "Logge". The gallery and upper floors were reached by five spiral staircases around the courtyard: the most important of these is the "Scala Regia" ("Royal Stairs") rising through the principal floors.

Approach and entrance.

The approach to the Villa Farnese is from the town's main street, which is centred on the villa, to a piazza from which stairs ascend to a series of terraces beginning with the subterranean basement excavated from the tuff, surrounded by steep curving steps leading to the terrace above. This basement floor in the foundations, which functioned as a carriage entrance in inclement weather, features a massive central column with a series of buttresses and retaining walls; on the exterior, large heavily grilled doors in the rusticated walls appear to lead into the guardrooms of a fortress, while above them a curved balustraded external double stairway leads to the terrace above. This in turn has a formal double staircase to the principal entrance on the "Piano dei Prelati" floor which is accessed from the broad terrace. This bastion-like floor, which appears in the elevation as a second ground floor, is rusticated, the main door a severe arch flanked by three windows on each side. The facade at this level is terminated by massive solid corner projections.  Above this is the double-height "piano nobile", where five huge arched windows incongruously dominate the facade over the front door; above this sit a further two floors for housing gentlefolk with servants above them, the numerous windows divided on the exterior by rusticated pilasters in dressed stone.

Interiors.

The villa's interiors are arranged over five floors, each floor designed for a different function. The main rooms are located on the first floor or "piano nobile", where a large central loggia (now glazed in) looks down over the town, its main street and the surrounding countryside. This hall is known as the Room of Hercules on account of its fresco decorations, and was used as a summer dining hall. It has a grotto-like fountain with sculpture at one end. To either side of the loggia are two circular rooms: one is the chapel, the other accommodates the principal staircase or "Scala Regia", a graceful spiral of steps supported by pairs of Ionic columns rising up through three floors and frescoed by Antonio Tempesta.  The two grand apartments at first floor level are symmetrically-matched in plan and complete the remaining enclosure of the courtyard. Each has a series of five rooms with state rooms, which begin with the largest reception hall nearest the entrance and proceed, with increasing intimacy and decreased size, to a bedroom, wardrobe and "studiolo" at the northern end; an ordered suite that would become standardized in the 17th century as the Baroque state apartment. The different orientations of these two apartments allows for a seasonal differentiation; the east, or summer apartment is associated with the active life, the west, or winter range with the contemplative life. The scrupulous symmetrical balance of the two apartments is carried through by their matching parterre gardens, each reached by a bridge across the moat and cut into the hillslope.  The suites are famous for their Mannerist frescoes. The iconographic program of frescoes expressing the glory of the Farnese was worked out by the humanists in Farnese's court, notably his secretary, Annibale Caro; The fresco cycles portray the exploits of Alexander the Great, and of course of the Farnese themselves: in the "Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani" (the Room of Farnese Deeds), decorated by the brothers Taddeo and Federico Zuccari, the Farnese are depicted at all their most glorious moments, from floor to coffered ceiling. Other artists employed in fresco decoration include Giacomo Zanguidi (il Bertoia), Raffaellino da Reggio, Antonio Tempesta, Giacomo del Duca, and Giovanni De Vecchi. The Flemish painters Joos van Winghe and Bartholomaeus Spranger assisted il Bertoia with the decorations in the rooms he had been commissioned to finish.  Among the frescoed subjects of the contemplative winter suite is the famous "Room of the World Map" or "Sala del Mappamondo", displaying the whole known world as it was in 1574 when the frescoes were completed. Above, the frescoed vault depicts the celestial spheres and the constellations of the zodiac.

Gardens.

The gardens of the villa are as impressive as the building itself, a significant example of the Italian Renaissance garden period. The villa's fortress theme is carried through by a surrounding moat and three drawbridges. Two facades of the pentagonal arrangement face the two gardens cut into the hill; each garden is accessed across the moat by a drawbridge from the apartments on the "piano nobile" and each is a parterre garden of box topiary with fountains. A grotto-like theatre was once here. A walk through the chestnut woods beyond, leads to the "giardino segreto", or secret garden, with its well-known casino.

The Casino.

The Casino, a small habitable summerhouse with two loggie for "al fresco" dining. It was built probably on designs by Giacomo del Duca, with later alterations were made to the area around the casino by the architect Girolamo Rainaldi. The casino is approached by stairs contained between heavily rusticated grotto walls, with a central "catena d'acqua", a cascaded rill or 'water-staircase', which the water flows down to a stone basin. At the top of the steps and set in an oval space are large statues of two reclining river gods to either side of a large central vase fountain. Stairs built into the oval walls lead up to the parterred terrace in front of the south facade of the casino. This part of the terrace is lined by stone herms with cypress trees. To the north of the casino is a private garden which steps up slightly and accommodates roses.

Today.

Alessandro Farnese died in 1589 bequeathing his estates to relations - the Farnese dukes of Parma. The Cardinal's fabulous collection was transferred eventually to Charles III of Spain in Naples. In the 19th century the villa became for a while the residence of the heir to the throne of the newly united Italy.  Elements of the villa's Renaissance gardens have influenced many estate gardens of the 19th and 20th century by landscape designers, such as Beatrix Farrand, A.E. Hanson, and Florence Yoch. 1920s gardens with a "catena d'acqua" include the Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills and 'Las Tejas' in Montecito, California, with the latter also having a casino in direct homage to the original at Villa Farnese.  Today the casino and its gardens are one of the homes of the President of the Italian Republic. The empty main villa, owned by the State, is open to the public. The numerous rooms, salons and halls with their marbles and frescoes, and the architecture of the great palazzo-like villa are still as impressive and daunting as they were first intended to be.  The Villa was depicted both as the interior of Papal Palace in Vatican and as Castel Gandolfo in the original Netflix movie The Two Popes.

The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately 50 kilometres north-west of Rome. This villa should not be confused with the Palazzo Farnese and the Villa Farnesina, both in Rome. A property of the Republic of Italy, Villa Farnese is run by the Polo Museale del Lazio.

La Villa Farnèse, ou, plus précisément le Palais Farnese de Caprarola, est considérée comme l'un des meilleurs exemples de villa « Renaissance. » Elle a été construite pour la famille romaine des Farnèse à Caprarola, dans la province de Viterbe dans le Latium. Elle appartient aujourd'hui à l'État italien et est gérée par le Pôle muséal du Latium.


Operations.

Based on 2003 information, Agilent maintained four locations in the San Francisco Bay area: San Jose, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park. Santa Clara is an R&D site, containing the Agilent Research Laboratories group. Based on 2006 information, Agilent maintained seven sites in China: an office in Beijing, and branches in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Shenzhen and Xi'an. Agilent also has several manufacturing facilities across Europe, most notably in Waldbronn Germany, Oxfordshire U.K. and Glostrup Denmark.

Products and services.

Agilent serves analytical laboratories and the clinical and routine diagnostics markets with a full suite of technology platforms. These include: automation, bioreagents, FISH probes, gas and liquid chromatography, immunohistochemistry, informatics, mass spectrometry, microarrays, spectroscopy, target enrichment, and vacuum technologies.  Agilent also provides the lab management services including subscription based services, and lab supplies: enterprise asset management, laboratory business intelligence, equipment management and service, software maintenance, regulatory compliance, sample preparation, genomics and cloning, GC and HPLC columns, spectrometry and spectroscopy supplies, and general laboratory supplies.

History.

Agilent Technologies was created in 1999 by the spin-off of Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) "Medical Products and Instrument Group", including instrumentation and chemical analysis, electronic components, and medical equipment product lines.. The split was predicated on the difficulty of growing HP's revenue stream and on the competitive vigor of smaller, more agile competitors. The company's launch slogan was "Innovating the HP Way", which capitalized on the strong HP corporate culture. The starburst logo was selected to reflect "a burst of insight" (or "spark of insight") and the name "Agilent" aimed to invoke the notion of agility as a trait of the new firm. The Agilent spin-off was accompanied by an initial public offering which raised $2.1 billion, setting a record at the time.

2000–2009.

In the early 2000s, "economic uncertainty" depressed demand for Agilent's products, including slow sales of health care products to hospitals in the United States, which accounted for 60% of the company's revenue at the time. The downturn also struck sales in the communications and semiconductor markets, where orders amounting to $500 million were canceled by buyers. These poor economic conditions prompted large reductions in force; from a headcount in 1999 of 35,000, which had risen to 48,000 by May 2001, it had by early 2003 cut 18,500 positions. In 2001, in midst of this downsizing, Agilent sold its health care and medical products organization to Philips Medical Systems, and was noted as having a valuation of about $11 billion. HP Medical Products had been the second oldest part of Hewlett-Packard, acquired in the 1950s.  In August 2005, Agilent announced the sale of its semiconductor business, which produced chips for a wide range of consumer and industrial uses, to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Silver Lake Partners for $2.66 billion. This move was part of a broad effort to concentrate "on the test-and-measurement business at its historic core," and would entail termination of about 1,300 of the company's 28,000 employees. The group operated as a private company, Avago Technologies, until August 2009, when it was brought public in an IPO. After purchasing Broadcom Corporation in 2016, Avago changed its name to Broadcom Limited.  Also in August 2005, Agilent sold its 47% stake in the light-emitting diode manufacturer Lumileds to Philips for $1 billion. Lumileds originally started as Hewlett-Packard's optoelectronics division.  Also in August 2005, Agilent announced a plan to divest its semiconductor test solutions business, composed of both the system-on-chip and memory test market areas. Agilent listed the new company as Verigy on NASDAQ in mid-2006.

2010 onwards.

In 2009, Agilent announced the closure of a subsection of its Test & Measurement division. The product lines affected included the automated optical inspection, solder paste inspection, and automated products [5DX] in 2004. In 2011, the company, along with the University of California, Davis, announced that it would be establishing the "Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center". Agilent announced it would increase its life sciences engagement through the acquisition of Halo Genomics, based in Uppsala, Sweden, which was involved in next-generation sequencing technology development.  On May 17, 2012, Agilent agreed to buy Dako, a Danish cancer diagnostics company, for $2.2 billion, to expand its presence in the life sciences industry.  On September 19, 2013, Agilent announced its decision to separate into two publicly traded companies: Agilent, a life sciences, diagnostics, and applied markets company, and an electronic measurement company. The life sciences company retained the Agilent name and the electronic measurement company was called Keysight Technologies. On October 14, 2014, the company announced that it is exiting its Nuclear Magnetic Resonance business. On November 1, the formal separation of Agilent and Keysight Technologies was completed. Agilent announced it had completed the spin-off of its electronic measurement business, Keysight Technologies. Keysight began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KEYS. The separation was implemented through a spinoff of Keysight's common stock and was intended to be tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes. On November 1, 2014, in a special dividend distribution of all outstanding shares of Keysight's common stock, Agilent shareholders received one share of Keysight common stock for every two shares of Agilent common stock held as of close of business October 22, 2014.  Agilent celebrated its 50th anniversary in the analytical instruments market. Hewlett-Packard Co., Agilent's predecessor, acquired F&M Scientific Corp., maker of gas chromatographs, on August 8, 1965. In September 2015, the company announced it would acquire Seahorse Bioscience for $235 million.  On July 7, 2016, Agilent announced that they had acquired U.K. based Cobalt Light Systems, which develops and manufactures Raman spectroscopy instruments, for £40 million in cash. In December the company acquired Multiplicom N.V.  In January 2018, the company announced it would acquire Luxcel Biosciences, increasing the company's cell analysis portfolio. In May, Agilent acquired Lasergen, Inc. after the end of its two-year option on a prior investment. In the same month it acquired digital laboratory management company, Genohm, Ultra Scientific, provider of chemical standards and reference materials and Advanced Analytical Technologies, Inc. (AATI), provider of capillary electrophoresis-based molecules for $250 million in cash. In August the company announced it would acquire glycan reagent producer, ProZyme, Inc. and South Korean instrument distributor, Young In Scientific Co. Ltd. In September Agilent acquired ACEA Biosciences for $250 million increasing the company's presence in cell analysis technologies. In August 2019, Agilent acquired US-based BioTek Instruments, a global leader in design, manufacture and distribution of innovative life science instrumentation, for $1.165 billion.

Ownership.

, Agilent Technologies is mainly held by institutional investors: T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, The Vanguard Group, State Street Corporation, and others.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. is an American public research, development and manufacturing company established in 1999 as a spin-off from Hewlett-Packard. The resulting IPO of Agilent stock was the largest in the history of Silicon Valley at the time.

Agilent Technologies (souvent abrégé : « Agilent ») est une société qui développe et industrialise des instruments de mesure. Son siège se trouve à Santa Clara en Californie. Agilent a été formée par la scission le de Hewlett-Packard, Agilent reprenant à son compte l'activité historique d'instrumentation de Hewlett-Packard, tandis que le nom Hewlett-Packard était conservé par l'activité informatique.


Background.

After Madness' 1985 album "Mad Not Mad", the band attempted to record a new album, and eleven demo tracks were recorded. However, musical differences arose between band members, and in September 1986, the band announced that they were to split. Following the breakup of the original Madness, four of the original members (lead vocalist Suggs, saxophonist Lee Thompson, guitarist Chris Foreman and vocalist Cathal Smyth) recreated the band, adding "The" to its name. When originally trying to find a new name for the group, such titles as The Wasp Factory, The One, More and The Earthmen were considered, and at one point BBC Radio 1 listeners were even invited to write in with suggestions. Eventually the band settled on the title of The Madness.  Since the new band did not include a bassist or drummer, guest musicians (mostly Bruce Thomas) played bass, while a drum machine was used in place of a live drummer on most tracks. UB40's Earl Falconer contributed bass to three tracks, and then Bruce Thomas (bass) and Steve Nieve (keyboards) from Elvis Costello's The Attractions were recruited. On "What's That" Simon Philips added some brushes to help capture a jazzy feel. ex-Special Jerry Dammers re-appeared to add keyboards to a couple of numbers and the ska connection was further strengthened by The Potato 5 who supplied the horn section. The band recorded their only album "The Madness" at Liquidator Studios, whilst it was mixed at the Townhouse studios in London. Liquidator Studios had been the band's own studio since circa 1985, located on Caledonian Road in North London, in what was once the premises of their fan club office. They built the 24 track professional studio in the basement, whilst the first floor has always been an office and chill out area, and a room upstairs for song mixing. Unlike any previous Madness album, the lead vocals on "The Madness" were almost evenly shared between Suggs and Chas Smash. The production was credited to "The Three Eyes".  The band initially stressed that they were not "the Nutty Boys" the public knew and loved, as they attempted to become a more serious group. The band were pleased with the album upon completion as it took a long time to complete and for the first time in their career they worked without the Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley production team, choosing instead to produce it themselves. The band saw their debut album as only the start of a new beginning, with the members being very optimistic about the future. However, due to the lack of commercial success from the album and singles, The Madness disbanded by the beginning of 1989. Virgin Record's lack of faith in the band was confirmed when they opted not to renew their contract. The demise of The Madness left the members of the band in a state of confusion, not knowing quite what they were going to do next. Madness reformed with its original members for a reunion tour in 1992 and they have remained together since, playing live and recording new material.  In an October 1988 interview for Guitarist & Scootering with Foreman and the band, Foreman described the new album as "brilliant". Foreman added "Some of it is very recognizably us and some of it isn't. Carl has doing a lot of singing. He's been doing a lot of writing as well, he's written well over half the album as well, which is good because he's always got loads of ideas for songs and it's good to get them out of him. When we were doing the album, Suggs and myself programmed all the drum machines. But it's sort of done me out of a job really, because I used to write the tunes and they'd write the lyrics, but now they're writing their own tunes and their own lyrics, so I'm redundant." Speaking of trying to become a more serious band, Foreman used the "I Pronounce You" video as an example, stating "We are what we are really. On the one video we've just done we tried to be serious, but Lee's got a Mohican haircut and in a bit of it we dyed his face red and things like that, so it hard to be... we don't want to be a serious, cheeks sucked-in arty farty band, but the subject matter of a lot of our songs has always been serious."

Cover artwork.

The album's sleeve was designed by Dave Gibbons and Rian Hughes. On the back-sleeve each song listed was accompanied with a small drawing in similar style to the album's cover – resembling a face. Both "I Pronounce You" and "What's That" featured their own drawing as the main sleeve design when they were issued as singles. The album was respectfully dedicated to the memory of Roy Davies 1940–1987, who played keyboards on the "Mad Not Mad" album as well as "The Madness", on the song "I Pronounce You".

Release.

The album was originally issued on CD and vinyl LP via Virgin Records in the UK and Europe, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. On 21 July 1988 a CD edition was also issued in Japan. Since its initial release, the album has remained out-of-print on CD and today second-hand copies are often listed for sale for £50 or more.  The vinyl version of the album featured ten tracks, however the CD edition added four other tracks; "11th Hour," "Be Good Boy," "Flashings" and "4.B.F." However, there was one remaining track released by the group that did not appear on the CD edition; an instrumental track titled "Patience". This was the B-Side to the "I Pronounce You" single. A vocal version of the song later appeared on the unofficial Madness release "The Lost Album". Also included on "The Lost Album" were demo versions of "What's That" and "Beat the Bride".  Beginning in 2009, Madness albums were remastered and expanded via Union Square Music and Salvo. All of the band's original albums were released in this series by Union Square Music/Salvo, except for the "Mad Not Mad" album which was released by Virgin Records as a remastered and expanded edition in 2010. Each Union Square Music/Salvo release contained a page of Madness albums soon to be made available as part of the series. "The Madness" was listed as one of these upcoming releases, however as of 2017 this remains the only Madness album not to receive such a release. In late 2012, as part of the Ask Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) section on Madness' official website, one fan asked about the remastered version of the album and if it was due for release as promised. Foreman responded "I am not sure if we own the rights to that album."

Promotion.

Upon release, the "I Pronounce You" single had a music video created to promote it. It later appeared as part of the 1992 VHS compilation "Divine Madness", which was later issued on DVD in 2002 and as a CD+DVD set in 2005. "What's That" had no video, as Virgin Records chose not to commission one.  In promoting to the album and lead single, the one and only TV appearance of The Madness was on "Friday Night Live", a cult late-night comedy show hosted by Ben Elton. On the show the band performed "I Pronounce You" and the album track "Beat the Bride". On the show, John Hasler, the ex-Madness drummer and manager, helped out on drums. He also appeared on the drums in the "I Pronounce You" music video.

Critical reception.

Upon release, Graeme Kay of "Smash Hits" described the album as "something of a hit and miss affair". He highlighted the tracks "Nail Down the Days", "What's That" and "Beat the Bride", but felt "the rest of the LP tries too hard to be clever". He concluded: "Not a great LP by any means, but not bad". Max Bell of "Number One" wrote: "Songwise, the Camden crooners continue to delve into sombre waters. The [new] Madness [music] is still reminiscent of a nightmare in a funfair on occasions but it's that very stylised sound which makes the Mad ones matter."  Darryl Cater of AllMusic retrospectively stated: "The tinny, muddled pop sound proves what a big contribution producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley had made to the polished, resonant Madness records. There are flashes of trademark Madness melody, but too much of the album is an indistinguishable blur of drum machines, keyboards and '80s pop guitar. Exceptions include the reggae-flavoured "Beat the Bride" and the sitar-savvy single "I Pronounce You." These former British skinheads have always been better at the wacky than the meaningful, and the lyrical emphasis on social issues feels strained."

Personnel.

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

The Madness is the only studio album by the British ska/pop band The Madness, a short-lived incarnation of Madness. It was originally released in mid-1988, on the label Virgin. The album was produced by The Three Eyes, a pseudonym, whose identities remain a mystery (although they may very well be Madness themselves, or individual members of Madness). With the demise of Madness and the group's own label Zarjazz, The Madness were directly recruited under Virgin Records.

The Madness est un album studio de Madness (sous le nom The Madness), sorti le. L'album s'est classé au UK Albums Chart.


Afghanistan.

Afghanistan issued its first electronic ID card on May 3rd 2018. Afghan President Dr. Ashraf Ghani was the first who received his eID. Afghan President was accompanied by First Lady Rula Ghani, his VP, Head of Afghan Senate, Head of Afghan Parliament, Chief Justice and other senior government officials. All these senior officials received their eIDs during the ceremony.  The Afghan electronic ID is polycarbonate based card with covert and overt security features. The Card has an embedded chip which hosts applets with textual data, biometrics and electronic identity of the citizen.

Belgium.

Belgium has been issuing eIDs since 2003, and all identity cards issued since 2004 have been electronic, replacing the previous plastic card.

Chip contents.

The eID card contains a chip containing:

Using the eID.

At home, the users can use their electronic IDs to log into specific websites (such as Tax-on-web, allowing them to fill in their tax form online). To do this the user needs  When other software (such as an Internet Browser) attempts to read the eID, the users are asked for confirmation for this action, and potentially even for their PIN.  Other applications include signing emails with the user's eID certificate private key. Giving the public key to your recipients allows them to verify your identity.

Kids ID.

Although legally Belgian citizens only have to carry an ID from the age of 12, as of March 2009, a "Kids ID" has been introduced for children below this age, on a strictly voluntary basis. This ID, beside containing the usual information, also holds a contact number that people, or the child themselves, can call when they, for example, are in danger or had an accident. The card can be used for electronic identification after the age of six, and it does not contain a signing certificate as minors cannot sign a legally binding document. An important goal of the Kids-ID card is to allow children to join "youth-only" chatsites, using their eID to gain entrance. These sites would essentially block any users above a certain age from gaining access to the chat sessions, effectively blocking out potential pedophiles.

Bulgaria.

Bulgaria introduced a limited scale proof-of-concept of electronic identity cards, called ЕИК (Eлектронна карта за идентичност), in 2013.

Costa Rica.

Costa Rica plans to introduce facial recognition data into its national identification card.

Croatia.

Croatia introduced its electronic identity cards, called "e-osobna iskaznica", on 8 June 2015.

Denmark.

Electronic identities in Denmark issued by banks are called NemID. NemID authentication allows larger payments in MobilePay - a service used by more than half of the population as of 2017.

Estonia.

The Estonian ID card is also used for authentication for Estonia's Internet-based voting system. In February 2007, Estonia was the first country to allow for electronic voting for parliamentary elections. Over 30,000 voters participated in the country's e-election.  At end of 2014 Estonia extended the Estonian ID Card to non-residents. The target of the project is to reach 10 million residents by 2025, which is 8 times more than the Estonian population of 1.3 million.

Finland.

The Finnish electronic ID was first issued to citizens on 1 Dec 1999.

Germany.

Germany introduced its electronic identity cards, called Personalausweis, in 2010.

Guatemala.

Guatemala introduced its electronic identity card called DPI (Documento Personal de Identificación) on August 2010.

Israel.

Electronic identity cards in Israel have been issued since July 2013. The EIC is not yet compulsory, it is issued free of charge to promote it, and is valid for 10 years.

Italy.

Italy introduced its electronic identity cards, called "Carta d'Identità Elettronica" (in Italy identified with the acronym "CIE"), to replace the paper-based ID card in Italy. Since 4 July 2016, Italy is in the process of renewing all ID cards to electronic ID cards.

Latvia.

eID and eSignature service provider in Latvia is called eParaksts

Malta.

Since 12 February 2014, Malta is in the process of renewing all ID cards to electronic ID cards.

Mauritius.

Mauritius has had electronic identity cards since 2013.

Mexico.

Even they have been destroyed in 2018 and there were 3 million cards issued it was a great effort. Mexico had an intent to develop an official electronic biometric ID card for all youngsters under the age of 18 years and was called the Personal Identity Card (Record of Minors), which included the data verified on the birth certificate, including the names of the parents, a unique key of the Population Registry (CURP), a biometric facial recognition photograph, a scan of all 10 fingerprints, and an iris scan registration.

Netherlands.

Electronic identities in Netherlands are called DigiD and Netherlands is currently developing an eID scheme.

Nigeria.

General Multi-purpose Electronic Identity Cards are issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), a Federal Government agency under the Presidency. The NeID Card complies with ICAO standard 9303, ISO standard 7816-4., as well as GVCP for the MasterCard-supported payment applet. NIMC plans to issue 50m multilayer-polycarbonate cards, the first set being contact only, but also dual-interface with DESFire Emulation in the near future.

Norway.

Electronic identities in Norway issued by banks are called BankID. They make it possible to log into Norwegian authorities, universities and banks, and to make larger payments using the Vipps mobile payment service, used by more than half of the population as of 2017. The Norwegian "BankID på mobil" service is utilizing the mobile phone SIM card for authentication, and is financed by a fee to the mobile network operator for each authentication.

Pakistan.

Pakistan introduced the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) in 2000, with over 89.5 x CNICs issued by 2012. In October 2012, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) introduced the smart national identity card (SNIC), which contains a data chip and 36 security features. The SNIC complies with ICAO standard 9303 and ISO standard 7816-4. The SNIC can be used for both offline and online identification, voting, pension disbursement, social and financial inclusion programmes and other services. NADRA aims to replace all 89.5 million CNICs with SNICs by 2020.

Spain.

Electronic identity cards in Spain are called DNIe and have been issued since 2006.

Sweden.

The most widespread electronic identification in Sweden is issued by banks and called BankID. The BankID may be in the form of a certificate file on disk, on card or on smart phones. The latter (Swedish "mobile BankID" service) was used by 84 percent of the Swedish population in 2019. A Mobile BankID login does not require a fee since the service is provided by banks rather than mobile operators. It can be used both for authentication within various apps and web services on the same smart phone, and also for web pages on other devices. It also supports fingerprint and face recognition authentication on compatible iOS and Android devices.  Electronic IDs are used for secure web login to Swedish authorities, banks, health centers (allowing people to see their medical records and prescriptions and book doctors visits), and companies such as pharmacies. Mobile BankID also allows the Swish mobile payment service, utilized by 78 percent of the Swedish population in 2019, at first mainly for payments between individuals. BankID was previously used for university applications and admissions, but this was prohibited by Swedbank since universities utilized the system for distribution of their own student logins. Increasingly, BankID is used as an added security for signing contracts.

Sri Lanka.

Since on 1 January 2016, Sri Lanka is in the process of developing a Smart Card based RFID E-National Identity Card which will replace the obsolete 'Laminated Type' cards by storing the holders information on a chip that can be read by banks, offices etc. thereby reducing the need to have documentation of these informations physically by storing in the cloud.

Turkey.

In Turkey the e-Government (e-Devlet) Gateway is a largely scaled Internet site that provides access to all public services from a single point. The purpose of the Gateway is to present public services to the citizens, enterprises and public institutions effectively and efficiently with information and communication technologies.

Uruguay.

Uruguay has had electronic identity cards since 2015. The Uruguayan eID has a private key that allows to digitally sign documents, and has the user fingerprint stored in order to allow to verify the identity. It is also a valid travel document in some South American countries. As of 2017 the old laminated ID coexists with the new eID.

An electronic identification ("eID") is a digital solution for proof of identity of citizens or organizations, for example in view to access benefits or services provided by government authorities, banks or other companies, for mobile payments, etc. Apart from online authentication and login, many electronic identity services also give users the option to sign electronic documents with a digital signature.

La carte d'identité électronique, parfois désignée par l'anglicisme "electronic IDentity" ("eID"), est un type de carte d'identité mise en place dans de nombreux pays. Celle-ci est constituée d’une carte à puce qui contient toutes les informations nécessaires et apparentes sur les anciennes.


Origins.

The origin of the term is obscure and many theories have been proposed. The "Oxford English Dictionary" notes the first attestation as Berrey and Van den Bark's 1942 "American Thesaurus of Slang". There, "dike" was the more common term. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, "dike" had been American slang for a well-dressed man, with "diked out" and "out on a dike" indicating a young man was in his best clothes and ready for a night on the town. The etymology of that term is also obscure, but may have originated as a Virginian variant of "deck" and "decked out".  However, the term "bulldyker" preceded "dyke" in print, appearing in Harlem Renaissance novels in the 1920s. Claude McKay's 1928 "Home to Harlem" includes the passage that lesbians are "what we calls bulldyker in Harlem... I don't understan'... a bulldyking woman." From the context in the novel, the word was considered crude and pejorative at the time. This may be related to the late-19th-century slang use of "dike" ("ditch") for the vulva. "Bull" ("male cattle") being used in the sense of "masculine" and "aggressive" (e.g., in "bullish"), a "bulldyke" would have implied (with similar levels of offensiveness) a "masculine cunt". Other theories include that "bulldyke" derived from "morphodite", a variant of "hermaphrodite", used for homosexuals in the early 20th century; that it was a term for stud bulls and originally applied to sexually successful men; or that it was a dialectical corruption of the name of the rebel Celtic queen Boadicea.  In an investigative study, Julia Stanley theorizes that the source of these varying definitions stems from gender-determined sub-dialects. Homosexuality in America is a “subculture with its own language.” As such, a special vocabulary is developed by its members. Previously, male homosexuals defined "dyke" as lesbian without derogation. A "bull dyke" was also defined as a lesbian without further distinction. For female homosexuals of the community, however, a dyke is an extremely masculine, easily identified lesbian, given to indiscretion. "Bull dyke" is an extension of this term, with the addition of this person described as nasty, obnoxiously aggressive, and overly demonstrative of her hatred of men.  In an alternative investigation, Susan Krantz discusses the etymology of "bulldyke", with derivations of the Middle English “falsehood” for "bull" and "dick" for "dyke" (Farmer and Henley 1891). Therefore, a possible origin for a masculine lesbian comes from "bulldicker" that could specifically mean “fake penis,” denoting a “false man.” Further speculation talks of the synonymous term "bulldagger." Here, dagger also alludes to the male genitalia and bull referring to "false" rather than "man". The earliest account of dagger in this context stems from an account in 1348 by Henry Knighton.  In the 1950s, the word "dyke" was used as a derogatory term used by straight people, and by lesbians who were most likely to be able to move up in social class. The term was meant to identify crude, rough-bar lesbians. In 1971, the poem "The Psychoanalysis of Edward the Dyke" by Judy Grahn was published by the Women's Press Collective. This use of "dyke" empowered the lesbian community because heretofore it had only been employed as a condemnation. Because of the exposure of the word to the public, the term "dyke" was officially reclaimed by the lesbian community in the 1970s.

Increasing acceptance.

The meaning of "dyke" has positively changed over time. Most members of the community have dropped "bull" from the term to use it as a positive identifier of one who displays toughness, or as a simple, generic term for all lesbians. This abbreviation does not carry the negative connotations of the full phrase as it previously did. Scholar Paula Blank, in an article on lesbian etymology, calls for taking ownership of "lesbian" and similar words.  In the late 20th and early 21st century, the term "dyke" was claimed by many lesbians as a term of pride and empowerment. Alison Bechdel, author of comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For" (1983–2008), said use of the term was "linguistic activism". The strip depicts the lives of a lesbian community and is one of the earliest representations of lesbians in popular culture. It has been described "as important to new generations of lesbians as landmark novels like Rita Mae Brown's "Rubyfruit Jungle" (1973) and Lisa Alther's "Kinflicks" (1976) were to an earlier one."  In her 2011 article "The Only Dykey One", Lucy Jones argues that consideration of lesbian culture is core to an understanding of lesbian identity construction. Matters came to a head when the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the lesbian motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes a trademark for its name, on the grounds "dyke" was offensive, derogatory and disparaging to lesbians. However, the office reversed itself and permitted the group to register its name after attorneys appealed and submitted hundreds of pages to show the slang word does not disparage lesbians in the way it once did. On December 8, 2005, Dykes on Bikes won the trademark case, and the organization has since gained international recognition for leading San Francisco's gay pride parade.  Much of the gay slang that is used today was once seen by the public as self-destructive and demeaning, especially when it was used within the LGBT community. In 1969, people in the gay community began to march in the streets to demand civil rights. If used, terms such as "dyke" and "faggot" were used to identify people as political activists for the gay community. During this time, "dyke" referred to a woman committed to revolution, the most radical position. A surge of feminism in the lesbian community led to "dyke separatism", which emphasized that lesbian women should consider themselves to be separate from men and their ideas and movements.

Facebook controversy.

In June 2017, Facebook censored the use of the word "dyke" on its website as "abusive content". This decision resulted in a Change.org protest petition created by the "Listening 2 Lesbians" collective that was signed by 7,247 supporters.

Dyke March.

Dyke Marches have become popular gay pride events nationwide in the United States and Canada. They are generally non-commercial, in sharp contrast to corporate-sponsored pride events, and some are participated in by bisexual and trans women. The stated mission of the Boston Dyke March, for example, is "to provide a dynamic and welcoming space for participants of all sexualities, genders, races, ages, ethnicities, sizes, economic backgrounds, and physical abilities." Marches also take place in several European cities. The United Kingdom's first Dyke March was held in London in 2012. In Germany, the annual Dyke March Berlin was established in 2013. In Mexico, the Marcha Lésbica (Lesbian March) was founded in March 2003 and is held biannually in Mexico City.

Dyke bar.

A dyke bar is any bar or club frequented by lesbians, and is considered as slang in the vocabulary of the LGBT community.

The term dyke is a slang term, used as a noun meaning lesbian and as an adjective describing things associated with lesbianism. It originated as a homophobic and misogynistic slur for a masculine, butch, tomboyish, or androgynous girl or woman. While pejorative use of the word still exists, the term "dyke" has been reappropriated by out and proud lesbians to imply assertiveness and toughness, or simply as a neutral synonym for lesbian.

Gouine est une appellation familière utilisée pour désigner une lesbienne. Sa signification a historiquement été très péjorative, comme celle de ses synonymes gougnotte, goudoune et gousse. En effet, sa connotation insultante est notée pour la première fois dans la quatrième édition du "Dictionnaire de l'académie française" en 1762 : ""Gouine". s.f. Terme d'injure, qui se dit d'une coureuse, d'une femme de mauvaise vie. "C'est une vraie gouine. Il ne hante que des gouines"""."


Background.

It has long been rumoured that Nông Đức Mạnh is the illegitimate son of Hồ Chí Minh (1890–1969) and Nông Thị Trưng (1921–2003), Hồ's housekeeper from 1941–42. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party boss. In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Trưng was identified as his mother.  Nông Đức Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as 11 September 1939, when Hồ Chí Minh was still in China. Ho returned to Vietnam in February 1941 and met Trưng in July. Hồ wrote a four-line poem for Trưng in 1944, and gave her a notebook as "a token of my love".  This poem was later taught to elementary school students. In April 2001, shortly after Nông Đức Mạnh was named as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, ""All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Hồ."" When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a "Time Asia" reporter, he denied he was Hồ's son and stated that his father was named Nông Văn Lai and his mother Hoàng Thị Nhị.

Early life and political career.

In 1958–61, Nông Đức Mạnh attended the Hanoi Higher School. From 1962–63, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the Communist Party on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964. From 1963–65, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the Bạch Thông wood exploitation team; he later returned to his studies, learning Russian at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College (from 1965–66). He traveled to Leningrad, where he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bắc Thái provincial forestry inspection board.  From 1973–74, Nông Đức Mạnh served as director of the Phú Lương State Forestry Camp in Bắc Thái province. From 1974–76, Mạnh studied at the Nguyễn Ái Quốc High-Level Party School. From 1976–80, he served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising through the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bắc Thái Provincial Party Committee from 1976–83. In 1984, he was named deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the 6th National Congress he was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee. At the sixth party plenum in March 1989, he was elevated to full central committee member. Since 1991, he has been in the politburo.  Nông Đức Mạnh was selected General Secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He is the first Vietnamese party head with a university degree. He announced his plans for Vietnam's future as an industrialised country, to be completed by 2020.

Nông Đức Mạnh (; born 11 September 1940) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the most powerful position in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011. His parents were Tày peasants.

Nông Đức Mạnh (né le ) a été élu secrétaire général du Parti communiste vietnamien le. Réélu en, il laisse sa place à Nguyễn Phú Trọng le.


Biography.

Leutze was born in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Württemberg, Germany, and was brought to the United States as a child in 1825. His parents settled first in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and then at Philadelphia. The first development of his artistic talent occurred while he was attending the sickbed of his father, when he attempted drawing to occupy the long hours of waiting. His father died in 1831. At 14, he was painting portraits for $5 apiece. Through such work, he supported himself after the death of his father. In 1834, he received his first instruction in art at the classes of John Rubens Smith, a portrait painter in Philadelphia. He soon became skilled, and promoted a plan for publishing, in Washington, portraits of eminent American statesmen; however, he was met with slight encouragement.

Europe.

In 1840, one of his paintings attracted attention and gave him several orders, which enabled him to attend the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in his native Germany. Due to his anti-academic attitude, he studied only one year at the academy, in the class of Director Schadow. Leutze was mostly influenced by the painter Karl Friedrich Lessing. In 1842 he went to Munich, studying the works of Cornelius and Kaulbach, and, while there, finished his "Columbus before the Queen". The following year he visited Venice and Rome, making studies from Titian and Michelangelo. His first work, "Columbus before the Council of Salamanca" (1841) was purchased by the Düsseldorf Art Union. A companion picture, "Columbus in Chains", procured him the gold medal of the Brussels Art Exhibition, and was subsequently purchased by the Art Union in New York; it was the basis of the 1893 $2 Columbian Issue stamp. In 1845, after a tour in Italy, he returned to Düsseldorf, marrying Juliane Lottner and making his home there for 14 years.  During his years in Düsseldorf, he was a resource for visiting Americans: he found them places to live and work, provided introductions, and gave them emotional and even financial support. For many years, he was the president of the Düsseldorf Artists' Association; in 1848, he was an early promoter of the "Malkasten" art association; and in 1857, he led the call for a gathering of artists which originated the founding of the Allgemeine deutsche Kunstgenossenschaft.  A strong supporter of Europe's Revolutions of 1848, Leutze decided to paint an image that would encourage Europe's liberal reformers with the example of the American Revolution. Using American tourists and art students as models and assistants, Leutze finished a first version of "Washington Crossing the Delaware" in 1850. Just after it was completed, the first version was damaged by fire in his studio, subsequently restored, and acquired by the Kunsthalle Bremen. On September 5, 1942, during World War II, it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the Allied forces. The second painting, a replica of the first, only larger, was ordered in 1850 by the Parisian art trader Adolphe Goupil for his New York branch and placed on exhibition on Broadway in October 1851. It is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1854, Leutze finished his depiction of the Battle of Monmouth, "Washington rallying the troops at Monmouth," commissioned by an important patron, the banker David Leavitt of New York City and Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

New York City and Washington, D.C..

In 1859, Leutze returned to the United States and opened a studio in New York City. He divided his time between New York City and Washington, D.C. In 1859, he painted a portrait of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, which hangs in the Harvard Law School. In a 1992 opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia described the portrait of Taney, made two years after Taney's infamous decision in "Dred Scott v. Sandford", as showing Taney "in black, sitting in a shadowed red armchair, left hand resting upon a pad of paper in his lap, right hand hanging limply, almost lifelessly, beside the inner arm of the chair. He sits facing the viewer and staring straight out. There seems to be on his face, and in his deep-set eyes, an expression of profound sadness and disillusionment."  Leutze also executed other portraits, including one of fellow painter William Morris Hunt. That portrait was owned by Hunt's brother Leavitt Hunt, a New York attorney and sometime Vermont resident, and was shown at an exhibition devoted to William Morris Hunt's work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1878.  In 1860 Leutze was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to decorate a stairway in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, for which he painted a large composition, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way", which is also commonly known as "Westward Ho!".  Late in life, he became a member of the National Academy of Design. He was also a member of the Union League Club of New York, which has a number of his paintings. At age 52, he died in Washington, D.C. of heat stroke. He was interred at Glenwood Cemetery. At the time of his death, a painting, "The Emancipation of the Slaves", was in preparation.  Leutze's portraits are known for their artistic quality and their patriotic romanticism. "Washington Crossing the Delaware" firmly ranks among the American national iconography.

References.

Additional References:

Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816July 18, 1868) was a German American history painter best known for his 1851 painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware". He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.

Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, né le à Schwäbisch Gmünd, dans le royaume de Wurtemberg, mort le à Washington, est un peintre américain d’origine allemande, spécialisé dans la peinture historique.


Design and operation.

The Topple Tower consists of a single 40-person circular gondola, centred on an 18-metre tower. Passengers sit in the gondola, facing outward. When the ride cycle is started, the gondola is raised towards the top of the tower, and begins to rotate at between 9 and 11 rpm. When the rotating gondola reaches the top of the tower, the tower itself begins to rock back and forth.  After the bankruptcy of the Huss Maschinenfabrik GmbH in July 2006, a lawsuit against the new Huss company, (Huss Park Attractions) was held in November 2008 at Düsseldorf court, in which the Design Company, van Orsouw Amusement Ride Design Service (van Orsouw ARDS) claimed all the rights of the design of the Topple Tower. There were rumours that van Orsouw ARDS was, in fact, a blind-trust company of another, until today unknown, Amusement Ride manufacturer. Following the conclusion of the trial, no noteworthy design activities of van Orsouw ARDS have been observed, though legally the company still exists. Future buyers of the Topple Tower, therefore, run the risk of the blind trust company becoming active again and resuming litigation.  A Topple Tower was purchased by Marineland of Canada in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It was operated for a few seasons starting in 2007, but it was shut down in 2011 due to a structural crack and has not operated since.

Incidents.

On June 16, 2007, the Topple Tower installation (known as Timber Tower) at Dollywood became stuck after a faulty safety sensor engaged. The tower was in an upright position with the gondola at the top. The safety system would not let operators override the sensor, leaving 40 passengers stranded on the ride, some for as many as 6 hours. As of the 2012 season, Dollywood has removed Timber Tower from the park, with a lawsuit between Huss and Dollywood resolved behind closed doors. In 2017, Dollywood opened a new ride in place of Timber Tower called Drop Line.

A Topple Tower is an amusement ride designed in 2001 by van Orsouw Amusement Rides Design Service of Berghem, Netherlands, vanorsouwridesdesign. The first design was rejected due to its difficult and heavy construction. After a re-design in 2002, a license agreement was closed, and the ride was produced in 2005 by Huss Maschinenfabrik GmbH, now HUSS Park Attractions. The first Topple Tower, El Volador, was placed in 2005 at Bellewaerde Park in Belgium.

Topple Tower est le nom commercial d'une attraction conçue et vendue par la société Huss Rides, principalement utilisée dans les parcs d'attractions. L'attraction fut conçue dans les années 1990 mais la première version publique ouvre en 2005 à Bellewaerde, en Belgique.


Historical background.

According to Levtzion, "The Mande-speaking Muslim traders, with whom the Portuguese negotiated on the Gambia were Diakhanke. The Diahkanke clans are of Soninke origin, and their traditions go back to Dinga, ancestor of the ruling dynasty of the ancient kingdom of Wagadu. They remember Dia in Massina as the town of their ancestor, Suware, a great marabout and a saint." They later established Diakka-ba in Bambuk.  The Jakhanke cultural ethos is best characterized by a staunch dedication to Islam, historical accuracy, rejection of jihad, non-involvement in political affairs and the religious instruction of young people. Formation of their regional Islamic identity began shortly after contact with Muslim Almoravid traders from North Africa in 1065, when Soninke nobles in Takrur (along the Senegal River in present-day Senegal) embraced Islam, being among the earliest sub-Saharan ethnic groups to follow the teachings of Muhammad.  In Senegambia, the Jakhanke inhabited scattered towns and villages in Futa Jallon, Futa Bundu, Dentilia, Bambuk, and other places. By 1725, at least fifteen Jakhanke villages were located in what would become Bundu. They claim to originate in Ja on the Niger River and Jahaba on the Bafing River, from which they moved to Bundu, Futa Jallon and Gambia. The Jakhanke were not primarily merchants, but agriculturists supported by slave labor. The various Jakhanke villages were independent of each other and of the local chiefs. The Jakhanke were committed to peaceful coexistence and refused to become engaged in politics or war. When threatened, they simply relocated their villages into safer territory. Often their villages enjoyed the privileges of sanctuary, judicial independence, and freedom from military service.

Islamic practice.

The Jakhanke were noted Islamic scholars. They trace their spiritual ancestry to the sahabas of the Prophet who came to spread the message of Islam and inter marry with the people of north. Shiekh Al-Hajj Salim Suwari (d. 1525) a Muslim scholar who lived in the late fifteenth century, Karamba touba Diaby, Karang Foday mahmudou Jaylani Jaiteh, and many others. They adhere to Maliki "fiqh", although they have been tolerant of customary practices. Primary importance was stressed on obedience to the "murshid", or Sufi master, and of stages of initiation into the teachings of the community. Schooled in the "bāṭin" (secret) sciences, Jakhanke clerics interpreted dreams and gave amulets for protection, which continue to be highly prized items. They celebrate the "mawlid an-nabī" (birthday of the Prophet) and the "‘īdu l-fiṭr" () feasts at the end of Ramadan and other Muslim holidays.

Commerce and the spread of Islam.

Jakhanke people inherited their cleric roles and some pursued Islamic scholarship, as "ulema" or "marabouts". Over time, they expanded into trade wherein their clerical and merchant roles were intertwined. Their trade included rice, salt, cloth, gold and slaves in the later centuries, first across the trans-Saharan caravan routes and later the trans-Atlantic market. In some regions, the Jakhanke monopolized their regional trading circuits, just like Zawaya clerics did in other markets.  West Africa's pre-Islamic trading networks with North Africa and the Middle East grew with the arrival of Muslim traders after 8th-century. These traders formed mutually supporting communities as networks that the African historian Philip Curtin dubbed a "trading Diaspora." One good example of such a trading diaspora is the Jakhanke tribe from the Upper Guinea. According to Jakhanke historians, these traders began in the city of Jakha (on the Bafing River, a tributary of the Senegal) and, following their businesses, expanded into other locations. New Jakhanke towns were founded, under the auspices of local rulers who often permitted self-governance and autonomy. Sixteenth-century Europeans met Jakhanke traders at coastal points as far afield as Gambia and the Gold Coast; hence, they imagined the city called "Jaga" (Jakha) was a great metropolis controlling trade in all West Africa. Trading groups like the Dyula and Jakhanke did indeed dominate commerce of Upper Guinea, becoming involved not just in moving merchandise, but also in production of goods on plantations worked by their slaves.

Caste and educational system.

The Jakhanke were the Islamic cleric caste of the Soninke social stratification system. The Soninke social hierarchy organizes individuals into endogamous strata. The top level is held by "hooro" (free men), which included "tunkalemmu" (princes), leaders designated to exercise authority. They are followed by "mangu" (princely advisors), a group linked to a "kuralemme" (warrior) class who acted as defenders and mediators. The third in "hooro" hierarchy is occupied by "modinu" (priests, Jakanke), representing Islam's influence on Soninke society. Highly respected for their religious knowledge, "modinu" are responsible for establishing justice, providing Islamic education and protecting the population with prayers. Below the "hooro" strata, have been the despised castes of "naxamala" (dependent men). These included "tago" (blacksmiths), "sakko" (carpenters), "jaroo" (praise-singers), "garanko" (cobblers) and others. The strata below the "horoo" (free-men) and "naxamala" (dependent men) have been the endogamous "komo" (slaves).

Jakhanke curriculum.

The Jakhanke clerical tradition is respected throughout the Muslim world for producing erudite and distinguished Islamic scholars. Their curriculum vitae are considered an excellent quality, nurturing the young with Muslim values while simultaneously encouraging intellectual pursuits in their natural environment. The standard "Majalis" program offered for Islamic sciences begins by incorporating a formal introduction into the rules governing recitation ("tajweed") and memorization of the Qur'an. Recitation should be done according to rules of pronunciation, intonation, and caesuras established by the Prophet Muhammad, though first recorded in the 8th century. There are seven schools of "tajwid", the most popular being the school of Hafs on the authority of ‘asim.  This is followed by an in-depth inquiry into the classical studies of "Ulum al-hadith" (Science of Hadith), "Usul al-fiqh" (Islamic Jurisprudence), "Nahw arabī" or "Qawāidu 'l-luġati 'l'Arabiyyah" (Standard Arabic Grammar): and language acquisition, which studies the learners processes of acquiring language. The program is concluded following advanced level courses on the science of Qur'anic exegesis ("tafsir"). A total of 28 books must be mastered before a student is eligible to receive the "cijaza" or "sanad" (license to teach) from the University. In order to graduate, students are required to completely copy these 28 individual books by hand. If approved by their "sheikh", the student is officially awarded permission to begin Islamic instruction at their own "Karanta" (school).  Abdou Kader Taslimanka Sylla, Bani Israel du Sénégal ou Ahl Diakha, peuple de diaspora, Éditions Publibook, Paris, 448 p. ()

The Jakhanke also spelled Jahanka, Jahanke, Jahanque, Jahonque, Diakkanke, Diakhanga, Diakhango, Dyakanke, Diakhanké, Diakanké, or Diakhankesare are a Manding-speaking ethnic group in the Senegambia region, often classified as a subgroup of the larger Soninke. The Jakhanke have historically constituted a specialized caste of professional Muslim clerics ("ulema") and educators. They are centered on one larger group in Guinea, with smaller populations in the Gambia, Senegal, and in Mali (near the Guinean border). In Guinea and nearby regions, they speak a Manding language called Jahanke, very similar to Western Malinke.

Les Diakhankés (ou "Diakankés", "Diakhankes" ou "Jakhankes") sont un groupe ethnique établi au Sénégal, en Guinée, au Mali, en Gambie. Ils appartiennent au groupe des Mandingues.


Early life.

Born in Switzerland or in Constantinople, according to different sources, Aslan made his professional début at 18 as a vocalist, trumpeter and drummer with the Paris dance band of Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens, then launched an acting career under the name of Coco Aslan. He also performed with the famed Django Reinhardt. From 1948 to 1955 he was married to French theatre actress Denise Noël.

Career.

His first film appearance was uncredited in Marc Didier's 1935 "Le Bille de mille". His first credited appearance was in "Feux de joie" (1939), along with conductor Ventura. During World War II he toured South America with actor Louis Jouvet and eventually started his own theatre troupe. He became an indispensable feature in many British and American films, usually playing foreigners – Russians, Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, Albanians and Middle Easterners – with equal finesse.  Aslan's more prominent screen appearances include gangster boss Duca in "Joe MacBeth" (1955), "King of Kings" (1961) as Herod, and "Cleopatra" (1963) as Porthinos. In 1961, in "The Devil at 4 O'Clock", alongside Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy, he portrayed Marcel, a criminal who finds repentance by giving his life to save children from being killed by a volcanic eruption on a South Sea island. In "Paris When It Sizzles" (1964), he played a police chief. He played another police chief in "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975). He appeared in over 110 film and TV roles. He also appeared on the French stage in productions from 1946 to 1981.

Death.

Aslan died of a heart attack while visiting Cornwall, England.

Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was an Armenian actor and musician based in Switzerland.

Grégoire Aslan, né Krikor Kaloust Aslanian le à l'hôpital français de Constantinople, mort le, est un acteur arménien, aussi connu sous le nom de Coco Aslan.


Reception.

Tony Zaitoun, of About.com, liked the utility except that he had some confusion about configuring the interface and that key protection was disabled by default. The issue referenced has since been corrected.

History.

Prevx Limited was formed in March 2001 in the UK and registered under the name “Immunify”, changing its name to “TrustCorps” later that year and finally re-branded as “Prevx” in 2003. The founder team was led by Nick Ray as CEO and Paul Stubbs as COO.  Originally positioned as a Host Intrusion Prevention System, the company's initial software product was designed to protect UNIX / Linux servers from advanced malware threats without reliance on malware signatures, thus providing protection from unknown or “Zero-Day” threats. The software was positioned the last line of defence against threats that had bypassed or overcome firewall, network security and any installed anti-virus or other host-based protection systems.  This early product monitored the behaviour of executables in real-time and would block system calls that breached its rules, thus providing protection. It offered protection against buffer overflow attacks and could successfully detect rootkits that attempted to hide themselves in memory or on disk.  At the end of 2002, the company received investment from South East Growth Fund and in early 2003 from private investors through an angel network, Hotbed.  In 2003, the company rebranded to Prevx and in June 2004 launched its first product for the Windows platform, “Prevx Home - Beta”, offered as a freeware download. Prevx Home 1.0 (also free) followed in September 2004. Prevx Home 2.0 launched in October 2004 and incorporated functionality to report the security events it detected to a central database, operated by Prevx, which would allow Prevx to monitor new virus outbreaks and detect and block spyware. By the end of 2004, 6 months after launching, over 1m copies of Prevx had been downloaded. Subsequent versions included Prevx 3.0, Prevx Edge and Prevx CSI.

Controversy.

Prevx stirred up controversy amongst the internet communities when they announced on November 27, 2009 that a recent Windows update was causing a "Black Screen of Death", affecting users of Windows XP, Vista and 7. They claimed this bug rendered the machine unusable. It was later discovered that the black screen was caused by a malware infection (with Daonol), unrelated to the Windows update. Prevx then apologized for its earlier claims.

Acquisition.

In 2005, Prevx was acquired in an all share offer by Retento Limited, an investment vehicle owned by serial entrepreneur Mel Morris, who had joined the Prevx board in June 2003 and was an investor in Prevx introduced by Hotbed. Retento was subsequently renamed Prevx Group Limited.  In November 2010, Prevx was acquired by US-based Internet security company Webroot. The full conditions of the deal were not released but the announcement was made that Webroot will fully integrate Prevx's behaviour-based antivirus technology into their existing software and also make Mel Morris, founder and chief executive of Prevx Group, the vice president of Webroot's Prevx division. Webroot has since discontinued the Prevx product line although the technology and concepts continue to underpin Webroot products.

Prevx is a discontinued anti-malware utility. There are separate real-time and on-demand versions. It can remove low-risk adware for free, but the user has to purchase and enter a license key if it is more serious. Scanning can take anywhere from less than two minutes to five minutes.

PrevX est un logiciel antivirus qui, contrairement à la majorité des anti-virus récents, ne se fie pas à un registre de code malicieux que l'on doit mettre à jour (fichiers de signatures) mais qui va plutôt surveiller certaines zones sensibles de l'ordinateur pour bloquer les actions des virus.


Life.

Ritlers was born in the canton of Valais. He went to the local primary school in his place of birth, Naters. Because of bullying, he was forced to change to a school in Brig. In his free time he often assisted his father in his work, who was a foreman, wanting to follow his father's profession when older. During his apprenticeship as a mason, he learnt that he had an allergy to cement and had to quit the course.  But he discovered his passion for photography and began photographing everything that crossed his way. He moved to Lucerne as it was one of the few locations where photography apprenticeships were offered. When Ritler accidentally photographed a film set producing an army propaganda film for the Swiss national exhibition "Expo 64", the paper "Blick" became interested in hiring Ritler as a journalist. The chief editor of the time, Werner Schollenberger, invited Ritler to write for the paper. Ritler was hesitant due to the reputation of "Blick" as a tabloid. He eventually accepted the job offer for one year only initially. Eventually he would work for "Blick" for forty years.  The journalist managed to become something of an intermediary between the more conservative people of central Switzerland and the modern Zurich team of "Blick". Ritler's character attracted a considerably amount of curiosity and trouble; on occasion he was chased by farmers with pitchforks, his tyres were slit, he received death threats and for a while was only able to work under police protection.  One of Ritler's attributes is his curiosity for the "people behind the headlines", such as in the case of the chainsaw vigilante where Ritler was keen to find out more about the person behind the story.  Ritler was only interested in real news. Because of that, he often held interviews after conferences, not during. When the Kapellbrücke was on fire, Ritler was there.  At the age of 64, Ritler was retired early (one year before the regular Swiss retirement age) and had to leave "Blick". He had a number of job offers and finally accepted the offer of Tele Tell, where he is now working as a video-journalist.  For the first time, Ritler is working for TV. Within this young team, Ritler has a reputation for being a "total professional who knows central Switzerland like no one else" and who has an "eye for the perfect picture".

Josef Ritler (born 1939 in Naters, canton of Valais), also known as "Sepp Ritler" or "Seppi Ritler", is a Swiss journalist, who worked as a writer and photographer for the newspaper "Blick" for 40 years. Today, he works as a video journalist for the central Swiss television station Tele Tell.

Josef Ritler, né en 1939 à Naters, surnommé Sepp Ritler ou Seppi Ritler, est un journaliste suisse. Après avoir travaillé 40 ans pour la gazette "Blick" (où il faisait des photos et des textes), il travaille comme journaliste vidéo pour la station de télévision régionale Suisse Tele Tell.


History.

In 1902, Xayar County was established.  On July 15, 1996, a prison rebellion in Xayar County led to the deaths of fifteen.  In June 2008, Gezqum Township (Gaizikumu) was established. On December 30, 2008, the township's government started operation.  In 2011, Yantaqsheher Township (Yangtakexiehai'er) was established.  In 2012, Xadadong (Hadedun) was established. On February 25, 2013, the town's government started operation.  According to Radio Free Asia, in January 2014 after Uyghur residents were reportedly forced to bow to a flag of China before worshipping at Xaniqa mosque in Yengimehelle township, three Uyghur youths burned the flag. Raids on Uyghur homes searching for the youths continued into 2015. Authorities warned residents not to discuss the flagburning incident.  On May 26, 2014, Gulbagh (Gulebage), then a township, was made a town.  In an Agence France-Presse report, between 2017 and 2019, three cemeteries in Xayar County were among dozens of Uyghur cemeteries destroyed in Xinjiang. The unearthed human bones from the cemeteries in Xayar County were discarded.

Administrative divisions.

, Xayar County included seven towns, four townships and four other areas:  Towns ( / ):  Townships ( / ):  Other areas

Economy.

Agriculture and animal husbandry are equally strong in the county. Agricultural products include wheat, corn and cotton as well as melons, "yema" (), walnut, velvet antler, muskrat, and licorice root. The county is the main location for Sanbei Sheep () lambskin production. Industries include knitting, leather making, food processing and others.  The seven major speciality products of the county include Tarim Huyang, cotton, red deer, dates, Karakul sheep, salt cedar, and sword-leaf dogbane.

Demographics.

As of 2015, 230,129 of the 274,382 residents of the county were Uyghur, 41,463 were Han Chinese and 2,790 were from other ethnic groups.  Most residents of Xayar are Muslim Uyghurs.  As of 1999, 84.05% of the population of Xayar (Shaya) County was Uyghur and 14.6% of the population was Han Chinese.

Historical maps.

Historical English-language maps including Xayar:

Xayar County, also Shayar County is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aqsu Prefecture. It contains an area of. According to the 2004 census it has a population of 210,000.

Le "xian" de Shayar (沙雅县 ; pinyin : Shāyǎ Xiàn ; ouïghour : شايار ناھىيىسى / Şayar Nahiyisi) est un district administratif de la région autonome du Xinjiang en Chine. Il est placé sous la juridiction de la préfecture d'Aksou.