History.

Mon is an important language in Burmese history. Until the 12th century, it was the lingua franca of the Irrawaddy valley—not only in the Mon kingdoms of the lower Irrawaddy but also of the upriver Pagan Kingdom of the Bamar people. Mon, especially written Mon, continued to be a prestige language even after the fall of the Mon kingdom of Thaton to Pagan in 1057. King Kyansittha of Pagan (r. 1084–1113) admired Mon culture and the Mon language was patronized.  Kyansittha left many inscriptions in Mon. During this period, the Myazedi inscription, which contains identical inscriptions of a story in Pali, Pyu, Mon and Burmese on the four sides, was carved. However, after Kyansittha's death, usage of the Mon language declined among the Bamar and the Burmese language began to replace Mon and Pyu as a lingua franca.  Mon inscriptions from Dvaravati's ruins also litter Thailand. However it is not clear if the inhabitants were Mon, a mix of Mon and Malay or Khmer. Later inscriptions and kingdoms like Lavo were subservient to the Khmer Empire.  After the fall of Pagan, Mon again became the lingua franca of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom (1287–1539) in present-day Lower Myanmar, which remained a predominantly Mon-speaking region until the 1800s, by which point, the Burmese language had expanded its reach from its traditional heartland in Upper Burma into Lower Burma.  The region's language shift from Mon to Burmese has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon-Burmese bilingual populations in throughout Lower Burma. The shift was certainly accelerated by the fall of the Mon-speaking Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757. Following the fall of Pegu (now Bago), many Mon-speaking refugees fled and resettled in what is now modern-day Thailand. By 1830, an estimated 90% of the population in the Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking areas, from the Irrawaddy Delta upriver, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay) and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking. Great Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout the 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens to the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma.  The Mon language has influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma. In Lower Burmese varieties, the verb ပေး ("to give") is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages. This usage is hardly employed in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct.  In 1972, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) established a Mon national school system, which uses Mon as a medium of instruction, in rebel-controlled areas. The system was expanded throughout Mon State following a ceasefire with the central government in 1995. Mon State now operates a multi-track education system, with schools either using Mon as the primary medium of instruction (called Mon national schools) offering modules on the Mon language in addition to the government curriculum (called "mixed schools"). In 2015, Mon language courses were launched state-wide at the elementary level. This system has been recognized as a model for mother-tongue education in the Burmese national education system, because it enables children taught in the Mon language to integrate into the mainstream Burmese education system at higher education levels.  In 2013, it was announced that the Mawlamyine-based "Thanlwin Times" would begin to carry news in the Mon language, becoming Myanmar's first Mon language publication since 1962.

Geographic distribution.

Southern Myanmar (comprising Mon State, Kayin State, and Tanintharyi Region), from the Sittaung River in the north to Myeik (Mergui) and Kawthaung in the south, remains a traditional stronghold of the Mon language. However, in this region, Burmese is favored in urban areas, such as Mawlamyine, the capital of Mon State. In recent years, usage of Mon has declined in Myanmar, especially among the younger generation.  While Thailand is home to a sizable Mon population due to historical waves of migration, only a small proportion (estimated to range between 60,000 to 80,000) speak Mon, due to Thaification and the assimilation of Mons into mainstream Thai society. Mon speakers in Thailand are largely concentrated in Ko Kret. The remaining contingent of Thai Mon speakers are located in the provinces of Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Nakhon Pathom, as well the western provinces bordering Myanmar (Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, and Ratchaburi). A small ethnic group in Thailand speak a language closely related to Mon, called Nyah Kur. They are descendants of the Mon-speaking Dvaravati kingdom.

Dialects.

Mon has three primary dialects in Burma, coming from the various regions the Mon inhabit. They are the Central (areas surrounding Mottama and Mawlamyine), Bago, and Ye dialects. All are mutually intelligible. "Ethnologue" lists Mon dialects as Martaban-Moulmein (Central Mon, Mon Te), Pegu (Mon Tang, Northern Mon), and Ye (Mon Nya, Southern Mon), with high mutual intelligibility among them.  Thai Mon has some differences from the Burmese dialects of Mon, but they are mutually intelligible. The Thai varieties of Mon are considered "severely endangered."

Alphabet.

The Old Mon script has been dated to the 6th century, with the earliest inscriptions found in Nakhon Pathom and Saraburi (in Thailand). It may be the ancestral script of the modern Mon (or Burma Mon) script, although there is no extant evidence linking the Old Dvaravati Mon script and the Burma Mon script.  The modern Mon alphabet is an adaptation of the Burmese script; it utilizes several letters and diacritics that do not exist in Burmese, such as the stacking diacritic for medial 'l', which is placed underneath the letter. There is a great deal of discrepancy between the written and spoken forms of Mon, with a single pronunciation capable of having several spellings. The Mon script also makes prominent use of consonant stacking, to represent consonant clusters found in the language.

Consonants.

The Mon alphabet contains 35 consonants (including a zero consonant), as follows, with consonants belonging to the breathy register indicated in gray: In the Mon script, consonants belong to one of two registers: clear and breathy, each of which has different inherent vowels and pronunciations for the same set of diacritics. For instance,, which belongs to the clear register, is pronounced, while is pronounced, to accommodate the vowel complexity of the Mon phonology. The addition of diacritics makes this obvious. Whereas in Burmese spellings with the same diacritics are rhyming, in Mon this depends on the consonant's inherent register. A few examples are listed below:  The Mon language has 8 medials, as follows: (), (), (), (), (), (), (), and ().  Consonantal finals are indicated with a virama (), as in Burmese: however, instead of being pronounced as glottal stops as in Burmese, final consonants usually keep their respective pronunciations. Furthermore, consonant stacking is possible in Mon spellings, particularly for Pali and Sanskrit-derived vocabulary.

Vowels.

Mon uses the same diacritics and diacritic combinations as in Burmese to represent vowels, with the addition of a few diacritics unique to the Mon script, including (), and (), since the diacritic represents. Also, () is used instead of, as in Burmese.

Punctuation.

is used for a comma, and is used for a period.

Phonology.

Consonants.

is only found in Burmese loans.

Vocalic register.

Unlike the surrounding Burmese and Thai languages, Mon is not a tonal language. As in many Mon–Khmer languages, Mon uses a vowel-phonation or vowel-register system in which the quality of voice in pronouncing the vowel is phonemic. There are two registers in Mon:  One study involving speakers of a Mon dialect in Thailand found that in some syllabic environments, words with a breathy voice vowel are significantly lower in pitch than similar words with a clear vowel counterpart. While difference in pitch in certain environments was found to be significant, there are no minimal pairs that are distinguished solely by pitch. The contrastive mechanism is the vowel phonation.  In the examples below, breathy voice is marked with a grave accent.

Syntax.

Verbs and verb phrases.

Mon verbs do not inflect for person. Tense is shown through particles.  Some verbs have a morphological causative, which is most frequently a /pə-/ prefix (Pan Hla 1989:29):

Nouns and noun phrases.

Singular and Plural.

Mon nouns do not inflect for number. That is, they do not have separate forms for singular and plural: 'one apple' 'two apples'

Adjectives.

Adjectives follow the noun (Pan Hla p. 24): 'beautiful woman'

Demonstratives.

Demonstratives follow the noun:

Classifiers.

Like many other Southeast Asian languages, Mon has classifiers which are used when a noun appears with a numeral. The choice of classifier depends on the semantics of the noun involved. 'one pen' 'one tree'

Prepositions and prepositional phrases.

Mon is a prepositional language.

Sentences.

The ordinary word order for sentences in Mon is subject–verb–object, as in the following examples  'I bought rice.' 'They taught me English.'

Questions.

Yes-no questions are shown with a final particle "ha"  ‘Have you eaten rice?’  ‘Will father go?’ (Pan Hla, p. 42)  Wh-questions show a different final particle, "rau". The interrogative word does not undergo wh-movement. That is, it does not necessarily move to the front of the sentence: 'What did you wash?'

The Mon language (, ;, Thai: ภาษามอญ, formerly known as Peguan and Talaing) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon people. Mon, like the related Khmer language, but unlike most languages in mainland Southeast Asia, is not tonal. The Mon language is a recognised indigenous language in Myanmar as well as a recognised indigenous language of Thailand.

孟语(孟语:,)是南亚语系主要由生活在缅甸和泰国的孟族人讲的语言。它和高棉语很像,都不是声调语言,这和大多数中南半岛的语言不同。


Characters and synopsis.

The game revolves around a group of birds whose eggs are stolen by a legion of green pigs, who wish to eat them. The birds then use a slingshot to destroy the support beams of the pigs. The birds include Red, Chuck, Bomb, Matilda, The Blues (Jay, Jake and Jim), Hal, Stella, Terence, Bubbles, and Mighty Eagle. The pigs are led by the evil King Pig, who is assisted by Foreman Pig, Corporal Pig, Chef Pig, and many Minion Pigs.

Video games.

Cancelled.

These games were soft-launched in select countries, but were discontinued after few months of its release. Some of them never made a release.

Promotional.

From 2011–13, Angry Birds has collaborated with many other companies and released variations of the game in the respective companies' theme. Most of them were Flash-based. All of the games featured exclusive levels and elements that aid in promotion.

Cameos.

This features Angry Birds and Bad Piggies as playable characters or exclusive rewards featuring them.

Media.

Rovio is investigating ways to expand the "Angry Birds" brand, including merchandise, television shows and movies. Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Mobile, has envisioned a feature film in the stop-motion animation style of Aardman Animations. To that end, Rovio has purchased a Helsinki-based animation studio to prepare "Angry Birds" short cartoons on the Nicktoons station's Nickelodeon Extra, the first of which was a Christmas special named "Wreck the Halls" that debuted in December 2011. Hed acknowledges that such a film would be years away, and that Rovio must keep the characters relevant until then, by producing sequels or new ports of the original game.

Television adaptations.

"Angry Birds Toons", a TV series based on the game, made its debut on 16 March 2013. "Angry Birds Toons" is released through third-party video distribution platforms, including Comcast's Xfinity On-Demand in the US, Samsung Smart TVs, and Roku set-top boxes. It is also available in a number of countries on traditional television broadcasts. "Angry Birds Toons" is available on mobile devices by an additional "Angry Birds Toons" channel on all of the "Angry Birds" apps homescreens. DVD version for the TV series was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series has a total of 3 seasons.  On 11 April 2014, Rovio released "Piggy Tales", a stop motion animated series. It tells the stories of the Minion Pigs' life.  On 1 November 2014, Rovio released "Angry Birds Stella", a 2D/3D animated series, telling the stories of Stella's life and that of her friends on their own island.  On 12 July 2015, "Real Angry Birds", inspired by the game "Angry Birds", premiered on "Nat Geo Wild".  On 10 March 2017, Rovio released "Angry Birds Blues", a computer-animated series based on "The Angry Birds Movie". It shows the lives of the Blues having fun, while the Hatchlings were doing random stuff and ruining their plans.  On 3 July 2017, Netflix and KidsClick picked up every "Angry Birds Toons", "Angry Birds Stella", and "Piggy Tales" episode in the form of 23 compilations.  On 1 June 2018, U.S. television production company Big Fish Entertainment announced that they would be partnering with Rovio to create a game show based on "Angry Birds" currently called "Angry Birds Challenge".  On 9 June 2018, a series titled "Angry Birds BirLd Cup" was released on YouTube.  On 17 November 2018, a series titled "Angry Birds on the Run" was released on YouTube.  In late 2018, Rovio announced that a new, long-form "Angry Birds" television series titled "" is in production and due for release in 2021 on Netflix.  On 1 June 2019, a series titled "Angry Birds MakerSpace" was released on YouTube.  On 18 January 2020, a series titled "Angry Birds Slingshot Stories" was released on YouTube.

Film adaptations.

A 3D computer-animated film adaptation, "The Angry Birds Movie", was released on May 20, 2016, which fully anthropomorphizes the characters for the first time in franchise history, giving them limbs and voices. Developed, produced and financed by Rovio Entertainment, it is animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment under their Columbia Pictures banner. It is directed by animation veterans Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly in their directorial debut. Jon Vitti wrote the film's screenplay, and John Cohen and Catherine Winder served as the producers. Rovio also hired David Maisel, former executive producer of Marvel Studios films such as "Iron Man", to be the executive producer of its feature-length films.  A sequel, "The Angry Birds Movie 2" was released on August 13, 2019, which was co-produced by both Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures Animation. Directed by the creator of "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack", Thurop Van Orman, the sequel breaks from the series' source material by having the Birds and Pigs ending their rivalry to form an alliance to battle a larger threat, as well as becoming one of the most well critically received video game film adaptations ever made, garnering an unprecedented score of 73% from Rotten Tomatoes.

Merchandise.

Toys adaptation.

There have been several toys made from "Angry Birds" characters. The game's official website offers plush versions of the birds and pigs for sale, along with T-shirts featuring the game's logo and characters. In May 2011, Mattel released an "Angry Birds" board game, titled "Angry Birds: Knock on Wood". Over 10 million "Angry Birds" toys have been sold thus far. Rovio opened the first official "Angry Birds" retail store in Helsinki on 11 November 2011 at 11:11 a.m. local time. It expects to open its next retail store somewhere in China, considered the game's fastest-growing market. Merchandise has been successful, with 45% of Rovio's revenues in 2012 coming from branded merchandise.  The most notable toys are the Telepods, created by Hasbro. These figures are created for "Angry Birds Star Wars II", "Angry Birds Go!", Angry Birds "Stella", and Angry Birds "Transformers". Telepods use a similar digital toy hybrid concept as Skylanders or Disney Infinity characters, but there is a different technology behind it. These are figures used to "teleport" a character of the corresponding figure into the game by scanning a tiny QR code via the device's camera. The Telepod platform technology was invented by ReToy, a bMuse company, in partnership with Hasbro. Telepods figures are not only for this use, but can also be used with the toy set that comes with the toy, like other Angry Birds board games.  One of the 2012 New Models for Hot Wheels cars from Mattel is based on the Red, Blue, and Yellow Birds from "Angry Birds". The package card bears both the Hot Wheels and Angry Birds logo.  In 2016, Lego released six sets based on "The Angry Birds Movie".

Print publications adaptation.

On 2011, Rovio published a cookbook titled "Bad Piggies: Egg Recipes", along with doodle books based on some characters of the game. After a few weeks of the release of Angry Birds Space, they also released Angry Birds Space books about numbers, alphabets, and stickers.  On 20 March 2012, "National Geographic" published a paperback book titled "Angry Birds Space: A Furious Flight Into The Final Frontier" shortly before the release of "Angry Birds Space" which became available on 22 March 2012. National Geographic also has a book titled "Angry Birds Feathered Fun" for learning all about birds.  In the same year, Rovio created a contest with the prize "Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe", a book about the franchise and all the characters.  As of 10 March 2014, IDW Publishing announced that they will be publishing Angry Birds Comics starting in June 2014, with Paul Tobin being the writer.  In the summer of 2017, GoComics announced that it will be running a comic strip series based on the world of "The Angry Birds Movie", with each issue available to view on its website. The strip ran for over a year, from 3 August 2017 to 20 September 2018.

Food products adaptation.

In early 2012, Olvi started to manufacture Angry Birds soft drinks, after licensing with Rovio with two different tastes: "Tropic" (tropical fruits) and "Paradise" (pineapple-mandarin). In September 2012 Olvi released two new tastes to the soft drink collection: "Lagoon" (pear-apple) and "Space Comet" (orange-cola).

Parks and attractions.

Angry Birds Land adaptation.

The game's characters have been used, officially or otherwise, in amusement park attractions. In September 2011, the Window of the World theme park in Changsha, China opened an unlicensed "Angry Birds" attraction. Visitors to the park uses a large slingshot to launch stuffed versions of the bird characters at green balloons that represent the pigs.  Upon learning of the attraction, Rovio Entertainment reported to be considering working with the theme park to officially license it. In March 2012, Rovio announced plans for an official "Angry Birds" Land, that opened in 28 April 2012, at the Särkänniemi adventure park in Finland. Angry Birds Land opened in May 2014 at Johor Bahru City Centre in Malaysia.  The first Angry Birds themed park in the UK, was created in Sundown Adventureland, an attraction in the Nottinghamshire countryside.  Most recently it was announced that UK theme park Thorpe Park would open their own Angry Birds Land themed area within the park in May 2014. The new area consists of the reinstatement of the 4D Cinema with a 10-minute-long Angry Birds film with 4D effects, a new addition of themed Angry Birds Dodgems and a slight re-theme of existing drop tower ride Detonator.

Angry Birds Activity Park adaptation.

Rovio also opened "Activity Parks" of the game. The first one was opened in Lightwater Valley that features dancefloors, and playgrounds that includes slides, and massive touchscreen devices for visitors to play Angry Birds. The attraction also opened in Vuokatti. Vuokatti features obstacle courses and races, and a separate "Angry Birds Town" with cars for kids to ride.

Angry Birds Space Encounter adaptation.

On June 2013, Rovio and NASA opened an "Angry Birds Space" theme park at the Kennedy Space Center titled "Angry Birds Space Encounter". It features various experiences to the Angry Birds Space video game, such as creating characters and shooting birds at pigs. The attraction was also opened in the Space Center Houston.

Angry Birds World adaptation.

It was announced that the first Angry Birds World theme park will open at Doha Festival City. The first phase (which includes the indoor part) opened on 3 June 2018.

Angry Birds Not-So-Mini Golf.

On 23 May 2019, Rovio announced that it will build a miniature Angry Birds golf course at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford NJ. The golf course is scheduled to open in 2020 but the mall opened on 25 October 2019.

Global impact.

Television.

The "Angry Birds" characters have been referenced in television programs throughout the world. The Israeli comedy show "Eretz Nehederet" (in English: "a Wonderful Country"), one of the nation's most popular TV programs, satirized recent failed Israeli-Palestinian peace attempts by featuring the Angry Birds in peace negotiations with the pigs. Clips of the segment went viral, getting viewers from all around the world. The sketch received favorable coverage from a variety of independent blogs such as digitaltrends.com, hotair.com and intomobile.com, as well as from online news media agencies such as "Haaretz", "The Christian Science Monitor", "The Guardian", and MSNBC. American television hosts Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Daniel Tosh have referenced the game in comedy sketches on their respective series, "Conan", "The Daily Show", and "Tosh.0". In the "30 Rock" episode "Plan B", guest star Aaron Sorkin laments to Liz Lemon, "Our craft is dying while people are playing "Angry Birds" and poking each other on Facebook". He then provides a tip for Liz to improve her score in the game. In February 2011, American journalist Jake Tapper mockingly introduced U.S. Senator Chris Coons as the "Angry Birds champion of the Senate" during the National Press Club's annual dinner. Some of the game's more notable fans include ex-Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, who plays the iPad version of the game, and author Salman Rushdie, who claims he is "something of a master at "Angry Birds"". Basketball star Kevin Durant is an avid fan of "Angry Birds", and regularly plays other NBA stars in matches, although he is weary of cheating. In August 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers played the "Angry Birds" theme song during the pre-game introductions of the arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals players, in reference to former Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa's propensity to bean opposing players. "Angry Birds" also appears briefly, for comic relief, during a scene in the 2013 film "", in which Zartan plays the game while waiting for the world leaders' response to his threats of annihilation. Angry Birds were featured in the 2013 Helsinki episode of "Veep". "Angry Birds" was referenced in the film "The Starving Games", a parody of "The Hunger Games". A group in the Indian show "Dance+" have done a dance based on Angry Birds.. "Angry Birds" was referenced in the "Family Guy" episode "Turban Cowboy" where one failed skydiving attempt by Peter results in him landing in a level. The TV show "Robot Chicken" also parodied "Angry Birds" in one sketch.

Advertisements.

"Angry Birds" and its characters have been featured in advertisements for other products. In March 2011, the characters began appearing in a series of advertisements for Microsoft's Bing search engine. At the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Nokia used scrims on a downtown building to project an advertisement for its new N8 handset that included the game's characters. A June 2011 T-Mobile advertisement filmed in Barcelona, Spain included a real-life mock-up of the game in a city plaza, while Nokia used the game in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to promote an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of people playing a single mobile game. Finnair has also used Angry Birds in their advertising, including taping an Airbus A340 airliner with the Angry Birds figures and holding an Angry Birds tournament on board a flight to Singapore. Rovio has also prepared a number of web-based promotional variants of "Angry Birds" themed around creations of other companies, such as Finnish snack company Fazer, Spanish pizza delivery chain Telepizza, and Japanese television network Fuji TV, as well as promotions of American brands including Cheetos, Wonderful Pistachios and Coca-Cola. On November 2013, Indian brand Parle started a marketing campaign in which a trading card is included in each packet of Parle's Wafers and it included a related contest to win Angry Birds merchandise. In February 2016, Cadbury India had Angry Birds small figurines or tattoos in Cadbury Gems packs or Surprise balls. In June 2016, Kurkure India started an offer to win daily themed prizes and a trip to Angry Birds Activity Park in Malaysia.

Sports.

Finnish Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen used an Angry Birds-themed helmet in the 2012 season, following a sponsorship deal with Rovio. Angry Birds also sponsored the Lotus F1 Team that year, with its logo on the top of each Lotus Renault F1 car's nosecone. As part of the deal, fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen ran an Angry Birds 'Space' logo on his branded caps.  Hockey Bird, an angry hockey playing bird, was the official mascot of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. It was designed by Toni Kysenius and Rovio Entertainment.  Premier League association football club Everton F.C. inked a deal with Rovio in 2017, whereby the Angry Birds logo appears on the club shirt's left sleeve beginning from the 2017–18 Premier League campaign.

Video games.

The game's popularity has spawned knock-off and parody games that utilize the same basic mechanics as "Angry Birds". For example, "Angry Turds" features monkeys hurling feces and other objects at hunters who have stolen their babies. Another game, titled "Chicks'n'Vixens" and released in beta form on Windows Phone devices, replaces the birds and pigs with chickens and foxes, respectively. The developer of "Chicks'n'Vixens" intended the game as a challenge to Rovio Mobile, which stated at the time that a Windows Phone port of "Angry Birds" would not be ready until later in 2011. The "Angry Birds" theme song ("Balkan Blast Remix") and its characters appear in "Just Dance 2016".

Religion.

"Angry Birds" has inspired works of religious analogy. A five-part essay titled "Angry Birds Yoga — How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life" was written by Giridhari Dasa of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of Brazil, utilizing the characters and gameplay mechanics to explain various concepts of yoga in Gaudiya Vaishnavism as understood and interpreted by the Hare Krishna. The piece attracted much media attention, in Brazil and abroad, for its unique method of philosophico-religious presentation. The piece was also recognized and appreciated by Rovio Mobile's Peter Vesterbacka, who was prompted to comment on Twitter, "Very cool! I can see Angry Birds Yoga becoming a worldwide craze;-)".

Education.

Rovio also launched the Angry Birds Playground in partnership with University of Helsinki. Based on the Finnish national curriculum the program covers maths, science, music, language, arts & crafts, physical education and social interaction. Focused on preschoolers of kindergarten age, the program introduced interactive learning material including books, posters, games and digital content. In 2015, a spin-off from the Rovio Angry Birds Playground was established as Fun Academy by co-founder and CEO Sanna Lukander, former Rovio's vice president of learning and book publishing, and co-founder, former Rovio's ‘Mighty Eagle’. Fun Academy is currently present in 9 countries across the world.

Controversy.

Leaking user data.

In January 2014, it was revealed that "Angry Birds" was considered a "leaky app" and was used to collect data about its users including their sexual orientation and location by the National Security Agency (NSA) and GCHQ. In retaliation, anti-NSA hackers defaced Rovio's Web site. Claims were made by Edward Snowden that the app was "leaky" and that they were capable of siphoning data.  According to "The Register", the information was leaked through the in-game advertisement code like that embedded by Millennial Media: "Millennial's tracking software generates a personal record for each user that can store information from their political affiliation and sexual orientation to whether their marital state was single, married, divorced, engaged or'swinger'. This information is used to target in-app ads more effectively, and can be collected by UK and US intelligence agencies for analysis". In a statement to the press, Rovio denied that they were providing any information to the intelligence agencies, but did not exclude the possibility that their advertisers might do so.  Following this revelation, on 29 January, the Angry Birds site was defaced by hackers who replaced it with "Spying Birds" via a DNS hijacking attack. According to Rovio, "The defacement was caught in minutes and corrected immediately". The Syrian Electronic Army tweeted after the incident that the attack had been carried out by "a friend" of theirs.

Angry Birds is a fantasy-based media franchise created by the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment. The series focuses on multi-colored birds that try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs, their enemies. Inspired by "Crush the Castle", the game has been praised for its successful combination of fun gameplay, comical style, and low price. Its popularity led to many spin-offs; versions of "Angry Birds" created for PCs and video game consoles, a market for merchandise featuring its characters, "Angry Birds Toons", a televised animated series, and two films; "The Angry Birds Movie" and its sequel "The Angry Birds Movie 2". By January 2014, there had been over 2 billion downloads across all platforms, including both regular and special editions. By July 2015, the series' games had been downloaded more than 3 billion times collectively, making it the most downloaded freemium game series of all time. The original "Angry Birds" has been called "one of the most mainstream games out right now", "one of the great runaway hits of 2010", and "the largest mobile app success the world has seen so far". The first main-series video game sequel, "Angry Birds 2", was released on July 30, 2015.

是芬兰游戏公司Rovio娱乐出品的电子游戏系列。系列作品主要面向智能电话,玩法以控制弹弓发射小鸟、打击建筑物和小猪的益智游戏为主。但之后系列登上游戏机平台,并涉足竞速和卷轴射击等游戏类型。此外系列还有改编动画等跨媒体作品。


Location.

The airport is located within the administrative area of Xianyang city, which gives the airport its name. It is northwest of Xi'an city centre, and northeast of the centre of Xianyang.

History.

Before Xianyang Airport was built, Xi'an was served by Xi'an Xiguan Airport. In 1984, the State Council of China and the Central Military Commission proposed to build a large civil airport on the site of Xianyang's airfield. Phase 1 of the airport commenced construction on August 1987, and was finished and opened on 1 September 1991. Xi'an Xiguan Airport was closed at the same time. Phase 2 started in August 2000, and was finished on 16 September 2003. Another 7.592-billion-yuan project is scheduled to be completed by 2020.  Finnair's service to Helsinki was the first intercontinental route out of Xi'an, launching on 14 June 2013. It is now a seasonal route.

Terminal 3 and second runway.

Terminal 3 and the second runway were opened on 3 May 2012, increasing the airport's capacity to more than 33 million passengers a year. The new terminal alone can handle 22 million passengers a year, twice as many as the other two terminals combined. Airlines that moved into the new terminal are China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Shanghai Airlines. The second runway is 3,800 meters long and is large enough to handle the Airbus A380.

Ground transportation.

Eight airport bus routes connect the airport well with the Xi'an and Xianyang city.  There are also long-distance buses which connect the airport with Baoji, Yangling, Lintong, Hancheng, Hanzhong, Weinan, Tongchuan, Yan'an, Qingyang, and Pingliang.  Xi'an Metro Airport line between Beikezhan (Beiguangchang) station and the airport was opened on September 29, 2019.

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is the main airport serving Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, as well as the whole Guanzhong area. Covering an area of, it is the largest airport in Northwest China, and the second largest airport in Northern China. The airport was the hub for China Northwest Airlines until the company was merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2002. Xi'an Airport is also the hub for Joy Air and Hainan Airlines. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is a Skytrax 4-star airport.

西安咸阳国际机场(,又称咸阳机场)位于咸阳市渭城区底张街道境内,位于西安市市中心西北方向47公里。作为关中城市群目前唯一的国际机场,机场飞行区等级为最高的4F级,具备II类盲降标准,拥有一条3000×45米、一条3800×60米跑道,三个独立运营的T1、T2、T3航站楼。咸阳国际机场是中国重要的门户机场,为西北地区最大的空中交通枢纽,也是中国大陆第7大机场(2019年客运吞吐量),同时也全国第5大机场(面积),中国西北地区最繁忙的枢纽机场。2017年西安咸阳机场旅客吞吐量4185.7万人次,位列全国第八。被Skytrax评为全球四星级机场,与北京首都、海口美兰、三亚凤凰及宜昌三峡共为现时内地综合评级最高的航空港。


Notation.

For integers "a" and "b", formula_2 is read ""a" divides "b"" and means that there is an integer "c" such that "b" = "ac". Similarly, formula_3 is read ""a" does not divide "b"". The summation symbol  means that "d" goes through all the positive divisors of "m", e.g.  formula_6 is the greatest common divisor,  formula_7 is Euler's totient function,  formula_8 is the Möbius function, and  formula_9 is the Riemann zeta function.

Formulas for "c"("n").

Trigonometry.

These formulas come from the definition, Euler's formula formula_10 and elementary trigonometric identities.  and so on (,,,..,...) They show that "c"("n") is always real.

Kluyver.

Let formula_12 Then is a root of the equation. Each of its powers,  is also a root. Therefore, since there are "q" of them, they are all of the roots. The numbers formula_14 where 1 ≤ "n" ≤ "q" are called the "q"-th roots of unity. is called a primitive "q"-th root of unity because the smallest value of "n" that makes formula_15 is "q". The other primitive "q"-th roots of unity are the numbers formula_16 where ("a", "q") = 1. Therefore, there are φ("q") primitive "q"-th roots of unity.  Thus, the Ramanujan sum "c"("n") is the sum of the "n"-th powers of the primitive "q"-th roots of unity.  It is a fact that the powers of are precisely the primitive roots for all the divisors of "q".  Example. Let "q" = 12. Then  Therefore, if  is the sum of the "n"-th powers of all the roots, primitive and imprimitive,  and by Möbius inversion,  It follows from the identity "x" − 1 = ("x" − 1)("x" + "x" +... + "x" + 1) that  and this leads to the formula  published by Kluyver in 1906.  This shows that "c"("n") is always an integer. Compare it with the formula

von Sterneck.

It is easily shown from the definition that "c"("n") is multiplicative when considered as a function of "q" for a fixed value of "n": i.e.  From the definition (or Kluyver's formula) it is straightforward to prove that, if "p" is a prime number,  and if "p" is a prime power where "k" > 1,  This result and the multiplicative property can be used to prove  This is called von Sterneck's arithmetic function. The equivalence of it and Ramanujan's sum is due to Hölder.

Other properties of "c"("n").

For all positive integers "q",  For a fixed value of "q" the absolute value of the sequence formula_38 is bounded by φ("q"), and for a fixed value of "n" the absolute value of the sequence formula_39 is bounded by "n".  If "q" > 1  Let "m", "m" > 0, "m" = lcm("m", "m"). Then Ramanujan's sums satisfy an orthogonality property:  Let "n", "k" > 0. Then  known as the Brauer - Rademacher identity.  If "n" > 0 and "a" is any integer, we also have  due to Cohen.

Ramanujan expansions.

If "f"("n") is an arithmetic function (i.e. a complex-valued function of the integers or natural numbers), then a convergent infinite series of the form:  or of the form:  where the, is called a Ramanujan expansion of "f"("n").  Ramanujan found expansions of some of the well-known functions of number theory. All of these results are proved in an "elementary" manner (i.e. only using formal manipulations of series and the simplest results about convergence).  The expansion of the zero function depends on a result from the analytic theory of prime numbers, namely that the series  converges to 0, and the results for "r"("n") and "r"′("n") depend on theorems in an earlier paper.  All the formulas in this section are from Ramanujan's 1918 paper.

Generating functions.

The generating functions of the Ramanujan sums are Dirichlet series:  is a generating function for the sequence "c"(1), "c"(2),... where "q" is kept constant, and  is a generating function for the sequence "c"("n"), "c"("n"),... where "n" is kept constant.  There is also the double Dirichlet series

σ("n").

σ("n") is the divisor function (i.e. the sum of the "k"-th powers of the divisors of "n", including 1 and "n"). σ("n"), the number of divisors of "n", is usually written "d"("n") and σ("n"), the sum of the divisors of "n", is usually written σ("n").  If "s" > 0,  Setting "s" = 1 gives  If the Riemann hypothesis is true, and formula_52

"d"("n").

"d"("n") = σ("n") is the number of divisors of "n", including 1 and "n" itself.  where γ = 0.5772... is the Euler–Mascheroni constant.

"φ"("n").

Euler's totient function φ("n") is the number of positive integers less than "n" and coprime to "n". Ramanujan defines a generalization of it, if  is the prime factorization of "n", and "s" is a complex number, let  so that "φ"("n") = "φ"("n") is Euler's function.  He proves that  and uses this to show that  Letting "s" = 1,  Note that the constant is the inverse of the one in the formula for σ("n").

Λ("n").

Von Mangoldt's function unless "n" = "p" is a power of a prime number, in which case it is the natural logarithm log "p".

Zero.

For all "n" > 0,  This is equivalent to the prime number theorem.

"r"("n") (sums of squares).

"r"("n") is the number of way of representing "n" as the sum of 2"s" squares, counting different orders and signs as different (e.g., "r"(13) = 8, as 13 = (±2) + (±3) = (±3) + (±2).)  Ramanujan defines a function δ("n") and references a paper in which he proved that "r"("n") = δ("n") for "s" = 1, 2, 3, and 4. For "s" > 4 he shows that δ("n") is a good approximation to "r"("n").  "s" = 1 has a special formula:  In the following formulas the signs repeat with a period of 4.  and therefore,

formula_64 (sums of triangles).

formula_64 is the number of ways "n" can be represented as the sum of 2"s" triangular numbers (i.e. the numbers 1, 3 = 1 + 2, 6 = 1 + 2 + 3, 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4, 15,...; the "n"-th triangular number is given by the formula "n"("n" + 1)/2.)  The analysis here is similar to that for squares. Ramanujan refers to the same paper as he did for the squares, where he showed that there is a function formula_66 such that formula_67 for "s" = 1, 2, 3, and 4, and that for "s" > 4, formula_66 is a good approximation to formula_69  Again, "s" = 1 requires a special formula:  If "s" is a multiple of 4,  Therefore,

Sums.

Let  Then for,

In number theory, a branch of mathematics, Ramanujan's sum, usually denoted "c"("n"), is a function of two positive integer variables "q" and "n" defined by the formula:

在数学的分支领域数论中,拉马努金和(英语:Ramanujan's sum)常标示为"c"("n"),为一个带有两正整数变量"q"以及"n" 的函数,其定义如下:


Features.

The free version comes with a limited number of features:  The free version cannot export to DVD or Blu-ray, but can export to a hard drive (since Lightworks 14).

History.

OLE Limited was founded in 1989 by Paul Bamborough, Nick Pollock and Neil Harris. In 1994 it was sold to Tektronix, who were not successful at developing the company's products. In 1999 it was sold on to the newly formed Lightworks Inc., then owned by Fairlight Japan, and then purchased by Gee Broadcast in May 2004.

Gee Broadcast ownership, 2004–2009.

Under Gee Broadcast ownership, new product releases resumed with the release of the Lightworks "Touch" range, and the "Alacrity" and "Softworks" ranges for SD & HD editing. Softworks offered the Lightworks User Interface and toolset in a software only package for laptops or office workstations. Softworks and Alacrity supported mixed formats and resolutions in real time and project output in different resolutions without re-rendering. Alacrity supported dual outputs while the same facility was available for Softworks users as an option.

EditShare ownership, 2009–present.

In August 2009 the UK and US based company "EditShare" acquired Gee Broadcast and the Lightworks editing platform from, along with their video server system "GeeVS".  At the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, NAB Show, on 11 April 2010, EditShare announced that they plan to transform Lightworks into Lightworks Open Source. It was presented at IBC in Amsterdam September 2010.  On 9 November 2010, EditShare announced that Lightworks would be downloadable on 29 November of the same year, at first exclusively for the users who had registered during the initial announcement, but subsequently publishing the software as "public beta".  EditShare planned the release of the open source version in Q4 of 2011, after they finished code review. They plan to make money from proprietary plugins offered in their associated online shop, including plugins needed to access professional video formats. Shortly before the scheduled release date of 29 November 2011, EditShare announced that an open source release of the software would be temporarily delayed, but did not announce a new release date. The announcement noted that they were not yet satisfied with the stability of the new version.

Windows version released at NAB 2012.

After an 18-month beta program, EditShare released Lightworks 11, for Windows only, on 28 May 2012. The non beta release of Lightworks includes a host of new features for editors, and runs on wide range of PC hardware. The software was re-designed and re-written for portability (versions for GNU/Linux and Mac OS X have also been released) and now supports many more codecs including AVCHD, H.264, AVC-Intra, DNxHD, ProRes, Red R3D, DPX, XDCAM HD 50, XDCAM EX, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, but only for the paid Pro version. The free version supports DV, MPEG, Uncompressed and other codecs for both import and export.

Windows version 11.1 released 29 May 2013.

On 29 May 2013, v11.1 stable release was made available for download. A major development in the Pro version is much improved performance of the H.264/AVC codec in MP4 and MOV containers. This makes it possible to edit this format natively, even with less powerful CPUs. This should interest HDSLR and GoPro camera users. Native editing of H.264 MTS files has been possible since version 11.0.3.  This version of Lightworks has also replaced HASP with the new EditShare Licensing System (ELS), which eliminates some installation problems. Lightworks Free users can now download the 64 bit version, which was previously limited to Pro users. The Free version now also comes with a 30-day Pro Trial period.

Linux version announced at IBC 2012.

EditShare demonstrated the Linux version at the NAB in Las Vegas in April 2012, and posted a video of it running on Ubuntu on their YouTube channel. At IBC in Amsterdam in September, an updated Linux demo was presented, and EditShare announced that the initial Linux alpha version would become available on 30 October. Lightworks 11 alpha for Linux was released on 30 April 2012, but only to a limited audience. The Linux version of Lightworks was made available as a Public Beta on 30 April 2013.

Lightworks 12 beta released for Windows, Linux and Mac.

On 8 August 2014, the first beta of Lightworks version 12 working on Windows, Linux and Mac was released.

Lightworks 12.5 released for Windows, Linux and Mac.

On 29 August 2015, Lightworks version 12.5 for Windows, Linux and Mac was released.

Lightworks 12.6 released for Windows, Linux and Mac.

On 4 February 2016, Lightworks version 12.6 for Windows, Linux and Mac was released.

Lightworks 14.5 released for Windows, Linux and Mac.

In October 2018, Lightworks released version 14.5 for Windows, Linux and Mac platforms. 14.5 added a vast array of new features including variable frame rate support, a huge amount of codec support including Red Cinema R3D, Cineform and Blackmagic Q1 codecs.

Users.

Lightworks confirmed that over 4-million downloads and registrations had taken place.

Lightworks is a non-linear editing system (NLE) for editing and mastering digital video. It was an early developer of computer-based non-linear editing systems, and has been in development since 1989 and won a 2017 EMMY Award for pioneering digital nonlinear editing. Lightworks has millions of adoptors worldwide due to the software being available across three platforms in Windows, Mac and Linux. The development of an open-source version was announced in May 2010. No source code of the program has yet been released.

Lightworks 是一套剪辑 2K/4K 电影和 PAL/NTSC、标清以及高清电视的专业非线性编辑系统。Lightworks 是基于电脑进行电影剪辑的先锋,从 1989 年诞生至今一直处于发展当中。


Design details.

The Steyr M series of pistols employs the mechanically locked Browning short recoil method of operation with a linkless, vertically dropping barrel. The cold-hammer-forged conventional rifled barrel is locked to the slide by means of a single rectangular lug around the barrel chamber that recesses into the ejection port in the slide. When fired, the recoil impulse from the ignited cartridge drives the barrel and slide back, locked together until the bullet leaves the barrel and pressures drop to a safe level. A locking block integrated into the frame then engages a lug at the base of the chamber and drives the barrel downward, separating it from the slide and terminating any further rearward movement while the slide continues back in a straight line.  The Steyr M series uses a very high grip profile which holds the barrel axis close to the shooter's hand and makes the Steyr M more comfortable to shoot by reducing muzzle rise and allowing for faster aim recovery in rapid shooting sequence.  Hammerless and striker-fired, the Steyr M features a double action only (DAO) pre-set trigger mechanism marketed as a "Reset Action" trigger. When the trigger is in the forward position, the firing pin spring remains lightly compressed (pre-cocked by the forward motion of the slide as it returns to battery). Pulling the trigger all the way to the back will compress the firing pin spring completely, draw the firing pin fully to the rear and position the trigger bar to release the firing pin and fire a round. The trigger travel is with a pull weight of.  The pistol has a multi-stage safety system consisting of two automatic internal safeties, two external trigger safeties and a manual lock safety. The first external trigger safety acts as the primary fail-safe. A small, spring-loaded inner trigger is housed in a wide, outer trigger and cannot be actuated unless the inset trigger is depressed first. This keeps the trigger from being pulled by an inadvertent off-angle trigger pull. This trigger safety also activates and when released—deactivates the two internal safeties: the firing pin and drop safety. The firing pin safety is contained in the pistol's slide and blocks the longitudinal movement of the striker. The second trigger safety is an optional, manually operated plastic bar located inside the trigger guard and projecting out from the base of the pistol's frame when activated, revealing a small white dot. This indicates that the pistol is currently incapable of being fired. It is used as an additional safety that disables the trigger with the firing pin spring cocked (after reloading the pistol). This safety is engaged by simultaneously pushing in two buttons on both sides of the frame and then deactivated by simply lifting the trigger finger and pushing the bar up and into the pistol's frame, thus allowing the trigger to be pulled back and the weapon fired. These safeties enable safe handling of the pistol with a round present in the chamber (the so-called "cocked and locked" condition) and allow for rapid deployment and immediate firing; this arrangement however does not permit the firing mechanism to be re-cocked in case of a misfire after the trigger has been pulled.  Other safety features include a loaded chamber indicator and an integrated limited access lock operated using a key to prevent unauthorized use. The latter key can be either a handcuff key or a special factory-supplied key. If required, the access lock can be omitted. The locking mechanism is located above the trigger area of the pistol and is characterized by a small circular plate with two holes in it (in the police version of the pistols there is a handcuff key hole instead of the two small holes). It has two positions: "F" and "S". When pushed in and rotated to the "S" position with the provided key, the lock disables the trigger and barrel and prevents the pistol from being disassembled. This unique system of limiting access to the weapon was patented () by Friedrich Aigner in 1999.  The pistols are fed using a detachable steel magazine of the single position feed type with the cartridges arranged in a staggered column pattern. The magazine's follower and floor plate are fabricated from polymer. The magazine catch-release is located on the left side of the frame, directly behind the trigger guard. After expending the last cartridge from the magazine, the pistol's slide remains locked open on the metal slide stop, located on the left side of the frame and operated with the thumb.  The Steyr M is equipped with fixed, low-profile iron sights. The unique sighting arrangement consists of a triangular front sight and a trapezoid rear notch that lead the eye to the target for quicker target acquisition and allow for instinctive aiming. The front sight contains a non-luminescent white triangle contrast element designed to mate with two white rectangles on the rear sight. Optional adjustable or non-adjustable tritium-illuminated three-dot low light situation sights can also be fitted to the Steyr M; these have a conventional rectangular profile. The original pistol's frame also has proprietary mounting rails for attaching accessories, such as a tactical light or laser pointer.  The pistol's design takes advantage of modern manufacturing techniques: the slide is precision-milled from steel; the frame is an injection-molded synthetic polymer and parts of the trigger and striker mechanisms are pressed from sheet metal. For the purpose of regular maintenance, the pistol is stripped down into the following components: the barrel, slide, recoil spring, frame and magazine.  While the Steyr M is frequently compared to Glock-series pistols (both are polymer-framed striker-fired pistols, with Tenifer finishes), there are several differences in the details of the design. For example, the M-series had a fully supported chamber in all chamberings from the start (Some Glock models also had this feature from the start, other Glock models evolved to having more supported chambers when compared to their original internal layout), unique triangular/trapezoid sights, a loaded chamber indicator in the form of an extractor protrusion, witness hole on the top rear of the barrel and a rod below the rear sights that sits flush in the rear of the slide when the chamber is empty and is raised slightly when the chamber is loaded for a visual and tactile indicator of the firearm's condition (on third and later generation Glock pistols this feature is present on the extractor on the right slide side) and a different grip angle (111°).  Steyr offers conversion kits to swap 'third generation' models between 9×19mm Parabellum and.40S&W. These kits consist of a slide, barrel, recoil spring assembly and magazine.

Product evolution.

Steyr Mannlicher has updated its basic design several times throughout its production history.

Second-generation models.

In 2004, an improved version of the pistol replaced the original Steyr M in production. The new'second generation' Steyr M-A1 and S-A1 pistols received several improvements. The grip of the pistol has been redesigned with some textured surfaces as was the magazine well (uses the same magazines), ergonomics have been slightly altered to improve grip, the manual safety button is now optional (not in models sold in the United States, all US imports lack the manual safety) and the lower forward portion of the frame now consists of a STANAG 2324 Picatinny rail for mounting accessories. Later'second generation' models also have a modified extractor for easier ejecting of casings.

Third-generation models.

In 2010, Steyr Mannlicher US began reimporting Steyr M-A1 and S-A1 pistols. The newly imported 'third generation' Steyr M and S have a revised slide and grip imprinted with the Steyr Arms logo. Post 2009 'third generation' models have a roll pin in the slide just under the rear sight element, feature an improved trigger and 17-round magazines with a +2 baseplate are available for the 9×19mm Parabellum M9-A1, C9-A1 and S9-A1 models. These new 15+2 magazines, designed to compete with the classic Glock 17 rounds magazines, are fully compatible and interchangeable no matter what generation or serie the gun belongs to.  In 2010 the C (Compact) sized C-A1 series was introduced in 9×19mm Parabellum and.40 S&W chamberings as the C9-A1 and C40-A1. This C (Compact) form factor mainly pairs the S (Sub-Compact/Small) barrel lengths to the M (Medium) form factor grip. For Italy only the C9-A1 is offered in the 9×21mm chambering.  In 2013 the Steyr M (Medium), Steyr C (Compact) and S (Sub-Compact/Small) form factors were complemented by the L (Large) sized L-A1 series available in 9×19mm Parabellum that uses 17-round +2 baseplate magazines as the L9-A and.40 S&W chamberings 1 that uses 12-round magazines as the L40-A1. The L-A1 series feature additional serrations on the front sides of the longer slide and barrel length puts it more in line with full-size service pistols offered by other manufacturers. .357 SIG production ceased in 2014.

Fourth-generation models.

In 2019 Steyr introduced the A2 MF series in 9×19mm Parabellum in three form factors: the Large size L9-A2 MF, Medium M9-A2 MF and Compact C9-A2 MF. The "MF" in the designations stands for Modular Frame. The 'fourth generation' A2 MF series have a (serialized) removable chassis/trigger pack, making them not backwards compatible to previous series. The revised grip frame features a full length STANAG 2324 Picatinny rail, more aggressive surface texturing, a lengthened beaver tail and is adjustable to user preferences with different sized back-straps and side grip inlay panels. The conspicuous finger support protrusion on the upper half of the grip is omitted and the grip has a flared magazine well. The magazines were modified and feature orange followers. The ejector was modified to counteract erratic spent cartidge case ejection. Dimensionally the A2 MF series are somewhat longer and wider than the preceding A1 series.

Distribution.

Steyr Arms is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG and is its exclusive importer and distributor in the United States. Steyr Arms, Inc., 2530 Morgan Rd, Bessemer, AL 35022; (205) 417-8644; www.steyrarms.com

The Steyr M is a series of semi-automatic pistols developed by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG of Austria for police services and the civilian shooting market. Design work on the new pistol began in the early 1990s and the final product known as the M9 (adapted to fire the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge) was officially unveiled in the spring of 1999. The M40 version chambered in.40 S&W was developed before the M9, followed later by the M357 (chambered in.357 SIG) and two smaller variants of the M9 and M40 designated the S9 and S40 respectively. These pistols were developed primarily for concealed carry and have a shortened barrel, slide, smaller frame and a reduced magazine capacity. In 2013 the Steyr M (Medium) and S (Small) form factors were complemented by the L (Large) sized series and the C (Compact) sized series both available in 9×19mm Parabellum and.40 S&W chamberings as the L9-A1, L40-A1, C9-A1 and C40-A1.

斯泰尔M系列()是一系列由奥地利枪械制造商向警察制式及民间射击市场而研制及生产的军用半自动手枪,可发射9×19毫米、9×21毫米IMI、.40 S&W和.357 SIG这四种口径的手枪子弹。


叙利亚-玛兰卡礼天主教巴泰里教区

History.

The Catholic diocese of Bathery was established in 1978 by Pope John Paul II and was formally inaugurated on 2 February 1979. During the papacy of Benedict XVI the diocese of Bathery was bifurcated and the new diocese of Puttur was erected. This was mainly due to the geographic vastness of the area. there were nearly 25,000 Malankara Catholic faithful in 102 parishes and mission stations in the diocese of Bathery. Geevarghese Mar Divannasios was transferred to the diocese of Puttur and Joseph Mar Thomas appointed as the bishop of Bathery. The eparchy comprises the district of Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu State; Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Kasargod districts of Kerala State. The diocesan headquarters is situated in Sulthan Bathery in the district of Wayanad in Kerala.The eparchy of Bathery was erected in 1978. It is a suffragan eparchy of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Archeparchy of Tiruvalla.  In 1958 the Holy See extended the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Tiruvalla further towards the North of Kerala and some districts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. After the extension Zacharias Mar Athanasios sent priests to the new regions. Parishes and mission centers were established in different places. Zacharias Mar Athanasios requested the Holy See to bifurcate the Diocese of Thiruvalla and to erect a new Diocese with Sulthan Bathery as its headquarters. Pope John Paul II erected the Eparchy of Bathery on 28 October 1978 and Cyril Malancheruvil was appointed as the first Bishop of Bathery.  Cyril Mar Baselios officially took charge of the Eparchy of Bathery on 2 February 1979, and the new diocese was inaugurated at St. Thomas Pro-Cathedral, Sulthan Bathery. There were around 8,500 Malankara Catholic faithful in 43 parishes and mission stations at the beginning of the diocese. The pastoral care of the community was entrusted to 18 diocesan priests and 2 priests from Bethany Ashram. Bethany sisters and sisters of Deena Sevana Sabha also served in different parts of the diocese. Within a short of time many parishes and mission stations were established in different parts of the Eparchy.  The Apostolate of the Eparchy was organized under various departments. The faith formation of the children, youth, men and women were undertaken by the Apostolate of Catechism, youth ministry, ‘Pithrusangam’ and ‘Mathrujyothis’. The Bible Apostolate Department promotes Bible studies and distributes the Bible. Malankara Catholic Association is the official organization of the Malankara Catholic faithful for the Social involvement and leadership. The Eparchy runs a social programme. The Social Service Centre, named Shreyas, which is the official organ of the Eparchy for promoting Social justice and fellowship, undertakes a programme of mass education, mass mobilization and mass action. The Eparchy also started some educational institutions under the Corporate Educational Agency of the Eparchy for young people of any caste and creed.  Msgr. Mathew Nedungatt and Msgr. Thomas Thannickakuzhy, Msgr. Thomas Charivupurayidom and Msgr. Eldho Puthenkandathil served the Eparchy as its Vicar Generals. The Diamond Jubilee of the Malankara Reunion Movement was celebrated in the Eparchy on 20 and 21 September 1990 at Sulthan Bathery.  Wladislao Cardinal Rubin, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches visited the Eparchy on 9 January 1981 and inaugurated the Pastoral Council and Parish Senate in the diocese.  After 17 years of service Cyril Mar Baselios left for Trivandrum on 12 December 1995, having been appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Trivandrum and the Head of the Malankara Catholic Church. Cyril Mar Baselios took charge of the Church and of the Archdiocese of Trivandrum on 14 December 1995. From then until 5 February 1997 the Eparchy was led by Rev. Msgr. ThomasThannickakuzhy as its administrator. On 18 December 1996 John Paul ll appointed Varghese Ottathengil, the then Rector of St.Mary's Malankara Major Seminary, Trivandrum as the new Bishop of Bathery, He was consecrated as Bishop on 5 February 1997 at Mar Athanasios Nagar, Bathery by Cyril Mar Baselios.  lsaac Thottunkal was the Vicar general of the Eparchy from 1999 to 2001. He was appointed Apostolic Visitor for North America and Europe, and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archieparchy of Trivandrum, on 18 June 2001. lsaac Mar Cleemis was consecrated as bishop on 15 August 2001 at St. Mary's Malankara Catholic Church, Thirumoolapuram, Thiruvalla.  The Eparchy of Bathery celebrated its Silver Jubilee year from 28 October 2002.  Many parishes and mission stations, and social, charitable and educational institutions, were established to the Karnataka region of the Eparchy. The Eparchy of Puttur was declared on 25 January 2010.  The Eparchy of Bathery was bifurcated and the new Eparchy of Puttur was established by the Holy Episcopal synod of the Malankara Catholic Church. Geevarghese Mar Divannasios was appointed as the first bishop of the Eparchy of Puttur. Joseph Mar Thomas was appointed as the third Bishop of the Eparchy of Bathery and enthroned on 13 April 2010. the Eparchy of Bathery comprised the civil districts of Wayanad, Malapuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasargode of Kerala State and Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu. The ecclesiastical districts of the Eparchy were Bathery,Pulpally, Nilgiris, Nilambur, Edakkara, Kozhikode, Mananthavady and Kannur.  There are 87 priests of the diocesan clergy, three priests from Bethany Ashram and one priest from the OCD congregation. Sisters from Bethany Congregation, Daughters of Mary, Deena Sevana Sabha, Holy Spirit Sisters, FMM Sisters, John the Baptist Sisters also serve in the Eparchy.

Statistics.

the eparchy had an estimated 25,600 faithful, in 102 parishes and over 100 missions, with 89 diocesan priests, 12 religious priests, 12 religious brothers, 262 religious sisters, and 27 seminarians.

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Bathery is an eparchy of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Sulthan Bathery, in Kerala, India. Aboon Joseph Mar Thomas was the bishop. The seat of the eparchy is at St. Thomas Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Sulthan Bathery.

叙利亚-玛兰卡礼天主教巴泰里教区 ()是一个东仪天主教教区(叙利亚-玛兰卡礼),属蒂鲁瓦尔拉总教区。


Early life.

Kim Petras was born in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. While she was assigned male at birth, her parents said that from the age of two, Petras knew she was a girl. After it became clear it was "not just a phase", her parents sought professional help and found the head of the psychiatric unit at Frankfurt Hospital, Dr. Bernd Meyenburg.  In 2006, Petras, then aged 13, appeared on a German television current affairs show in which she discussed her medical gender transition. At age 14, Petras appeared in a documentary and a talk show, in a push to get permission for early gender confirmation surgery at age 16, before the minimum age of 18 in Germany. These appearances resulted in international media coverage of her transition, touting her as the "world's youngest transsexual". This assertion is inaccurate, as gender dysphoria is often diagnosed in childhood and (social) transition by younger children is not uncommon. However, Petras may have been one of the youngest people at that time to undergo transgender hormone therapy.  In September 2007, she was a model for a German chain of hair salons. Petras announced in November 2008 that she had completed her gender confirmation surgery at 16 years old. The Daily Telegraph claimed Petras was the youngest person in the world to have had that surgery at the time. About her surgery, Petras stated "I was asked if I feel like a woman now – but the truth is I have always felt like a woman – I just ended up in the wrong body".

Career.

2008–2014: Career beginnings.

Between 2008 and 2009, Petras released a string of singles under Joyce Records: "Fade Away" (2008), "Last Forever" (2009), "Die for You" (2009), and "Boomerang" (2009). In 2009, Petras was featured on "Taste" by Sobertruth featuring Kim Petras and in 2011 she was featured on "Magnetic". Later in 2011, Petras released her debut extended play, "One Piece of Tape", under the imprint Bionic Ballroom.  In 2013, Petras was featured on two singles named "Flight to Paris" and "Hearbeat" by German DJ Klaas. Throughout the next few years, Petras worked with producers including The Stereotypes and Aaron Joseph on a music career, releasing demos on her SoundCloud page, including one titled "STFU". For her contributions to social media, Petras was ranked at number 19 on "Billboard" Artist Chart, listing developing artists, in July 2013. In 2015, Petras appeared on "You" by Isaac Phase for his album, "Phase 00001".

2017–2019: Breakthrough with "Era 1".

In August 2017, Petras released her debut single "I Don't Want It at All", The song went on to reach the Spotify Global Viral chart. The accompanying music video for the song premiered in October on Vevo, and features a cameo appearance by Paris Hilton. In the same month, Petras was picked by Spotify to be one of the four artists named as a RISE Artist, a "program designed to identify and break the next wave of music superstars." During the end of 2017, Petras was dubbed "most likely to dominate the pop charts" by "Paper" magazine, and appeared on Charli XCX's mixtape "Pop 2" (2017) for the track "Unlock It" alongside Jay Park.  In January 2018, the Nicholas Harwood-directed video for Petras' single "Faded", which features Lil Aaron, premiered on "Noisey", That same month, she appeared in the January issue of "Galore". Petras released the breakup-inspired "Heart to Break" in February, to commemorate Valentine's Day. The song was given its radio debut on BBC Radio 1 on 19 February. Bryan Kress of "Billboard" noted how while the single is "still keeping Petras' upbeat, unabashed pop sound... [it] ventures into new territory for the songwriter." On the 21st of that same month, Petras released her online singles-bundle, "Spotify Singles", exclusively through the service under BunHead Records, Petras' own label. It consisted of live renditions of "Hills" and The Killers' "Human", as performed at their NYC Studio. On 1 October 2018, Petras released "Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1", a Halloween-themed extended play. The project was seen as a departure from Petras' typical sound, and features a guest appearance from the horror hostess character Elvira. Afterwards, Petras announced plans to release a single a month as a lead up to her debut album. She was featured on Cheat Codes' song "Feeling of Falling" in November 2018. Petras has been credited with composing the song "Young & Wild" on Twice's 6th EP, "Yes or Yes".  In February 2019, Petras released three singles titled "1,2,3 Dayz Up" featuring Sophie, "If U Think About Me...", and "Homework" featuring Lil Aaron. Petras has not publicly expressed plans to release an album with any of her digital singles from 2016 until early 2019, but has referred to this release period as "Era 1" on multiple occasions.

2019–2020: "Clarity" and "Turn Off the Light".

Petras released her debut album, "Clarity", on 28 June 2019. Throughout May and June, Petras released one song a week as a lead-up to the album's release. In June, Petras embarked on the 24-stop Broken Tour across North America and Europe. Petras was featured on the covers of "Galore" and "Notion" magazines that same month. The album was preceded by promotional singles including "All I Do Is Cry" and "Sweet Spot" and was accompanied by the lead single, "Icy", on its release date. Petras made a series of appearances on podcasts and web series to promote the record, including an interview on the "Zach Sang Show".  In August, Petras announced that there would be a limited edition vinyl pressing of "Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1" through Urban Outfitters. Petras has announced that "Turn Off the Light, Vol. 2" will be released exactly a year after the first part. On 1 October 2019, Petras' second studio album "Turn Off the Light" was released. The album features songs from "Vol. 1" and also nine new tracks. On 11 February 2020, she released the single "Reminds Me". That same month, she announced that she would be the supporting act on the European leg of Camila Cabello's The Romance Tour, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.  On 7 May, Petras released the single "Malibu" as the first single off of her third studio album. She has described the song as "escapist pop" and commented that "This is really a new start, the beginning of a new chapter and a new album cycle," she says. "I don't feel heartbroken anymore. I don't feel caught up in that. I just want to make music that makes me want to dance and makes me forget about all the stupid stuff right now." She featured on the song "Broken Glass" by Kygo, from his album "Golden Hour," released 29 May"."

Artistry.

Kim Petras is a pop artist who also makes electronic dance music (EDM), dance-pop and electropop. She credits the late-1990s/early-2000s pop scene and 1980s Italo disco as the primary basis for her sound. Petras' inspirations include Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Spice Girls, as well as Boy George, Debbie Harry, Queen, Freddie Mercury, Judy Garland, Baby E, Lil Aaron, and Liz Y2K. In an interview, Petras stated that "To me, pop music is an escape from my problems. I can put on my headphones and listen to it for three and a half minutes to forget about everything that's bothering me. It's always been that way for me. I feel like pop definitely saved my life in so many ways."  On her songwriting, Petras told "Noisey" that "there's something about making a song that everybody can sing and remember, and when you listen to it the first time you already know the words by the second chorus, like you've always known the song. I'm obsessed with that idea." She commented on themes, stating "I write about boys, heartbreak, sex, having fun and the things that I go through."

Public image.

Following her debut, Petras was dubbed as "the new princess of pop" by "Nasty Galaxy". This title was further repeated by publications including "Billboard", "ABC News", "V", and "Idolator.  Following the release of her debut album "Clarity" in 2019, many reviewers praised the record but criticized her involvement with Dr. Luke, who had been accused of sexually and verbally assaulting American singer-songwriter Kesha in 2015. To avoid controversy, Petras has refrained from mentioning Luke in interviews, and has not given Dr. Luke a formal production credit on her album.

Awards and nominations.

! Year!! Awards!! Work!! Category!! Result!! Ref.

Kim Petras (born 27 August 1992) is a German singer, model and songwriter currently based in Los Angeles. Since 2016, Petras has been releasing music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records.

金·彼特拉斯(,或译金·派崔斯;1992年-8月27日;德国科隆),她是一名立志成为流行歌手的德国青少年。她是众所周知的变性人,在早年接受了变性手术,从男性变性成为女性,到目前为止她是全球最年轻的变性人。在2008年,她成为 Joyce Records 唱片公司旗下的歌手,并且在网络上发行她的第一张单曲《Last Forever》,她的单曲在 YouTube 与 Myspace 受到热烈回响。(在线上的收听次数分别达到六万次与四万六千次左右)在2008年9月,她在德国的商品通路上发行首张单曲《Fade Away》。


Population.

There are 304,000 Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who are above age 18 in Japan (2008). However, there is no specific source about the number of JSL users because of the difficulty in distinguishing who are JSL users and who use other kinds of sign, like Taiou Shuwa and Chuukan Shuwa. According to the Japanese Association for Sign Language Studies, the estimated number of JSL users is around 60,000 in Japan.

History.

Little is known about sign language and the deaf community before the Edo period. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate dispatched envoys to various European schools for the deaf but the first school for the deaf was not established until 1878 in Kyōto.  Until 1948, deaf children were not required to attend school or to receive a formal education.  In the second half of the 20th century, a subtle cultural change in views about the Deaf in Japan evolved. The long-standing concept that "deaf" only means "people who can't hear" emphasized a physical impairment as part of a biomedical disease model; however, this was gradually replaced by a slightly different paradigm. "Deaf people" were more often identified as "people who use Japanese sign language". In other words, the biomedical disability model began slowly to be displaced by a social-cultural or JSL paradigm.  The Japanese Federation of the Deaf has worked with slow success in efforts to enhance communication opportunities for Japanese whose primary language is JSL.  The changing status of JSL and the Deaf in Japan is a slow process; but there are highlights. For example, JSL has an advocate among the Imperial family. Kiko, Princess Akishino has studied JSL and is a trained sign language interpreter. She attends the Sign Language Speech Contest for High School Students held every August, and Praising Mothers Raising Children with Hearing Impairments every December. In October 2008, she participated in the 38th National Deaf Women's Conference. She also signs in informal Deaf gatherings.  The Deaf community supported passage of the proposed Sign Language Law. The "Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities" was enacted in 2011. This law recognized sign language as a language.

Interpreters.

The slow integration of JSL within the context of Japanese culture has been accompanied by an expansion of the numbers of sign language interpreters:  In 2006, the Japanese government amended the Supporting Independence of People with Disabilities Act. The new language in the law encourages local governments to increase the number and use of JSL interpreters.

Other sign terms in Japan.

Japanese Sign Language is often confused with other Manually coded language for communicating that are used in Japan. Japanese Sign Language is a naturally evolved language, and like any other language has its own linguistic structures. Manual systems for expressing a spoken language often lead to ungrammatical structures and incomplete sentences in both the spoken and signed language. In Japan, there are three kinds of sign terms: A sign language among the sign terms is only JSL. However, those three kinds of sign terms are called “Shuwa (sign)” widely in Japan.  The sign languages of Korea and Taiwan share some signs with JSL, perhaps due to cultural transfer during the period of Japanese occupation. JSL has about a 60% lexical similarity with Taiwanese Sign Language.

Deaf Education.

The confliction about the definition of JSL and Taiou Shuwa continues, and it affects Deaf education. In the 1990s, the long term of oral education was converted to the total communication method. Previously, Deaf children were forced to speak and banned from using sign language in all schools for the Deaf. With the total communication method, teachers use every communication tool, including spoken language, written language, and simultaneous communication, to fit each Deaf child. Also, sign spread in Japan at that time, but the sign was used along with speaking, called Taiou Shuwa.In 2003, the Japan Deaf Children and Parents Association published a civil rights remedy statement called “Rights of Deaf children to education equality were infringed”. They requested teachers who can teach JSL in all schools, and they demanded the JSL cambism class for the all universities give a license for teachers of the Deaf. However, the Japanese Federation of the Deaf said “human rights may be infringed by distinguishing the two communication methods for users of JSL and Taiou Shuwa,” with some agreement from the Japan Deaf Children and Parents Association. Finally, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations prepared “Opinion to require enriched sign education,” and they used the word “sign” instead of JSL. The statement did not have the power of adding the mention that teachers can teach in JSL in all schools for the Deaf.Currently, JSL is used in only one private school in Tokyo, Meisei Gakuen, and the other schools for the Deaf use other communication methods.

Bilingual Education for Deaf in Japan.

Bilingual Education for Deaf aims to acquire JSL and written language. Some parents select other modality of language as well with sign language, like spoken language, to communicate with their children. Some parents also select to use other tools, cochlear implants and hearing aids, for their Deaf children with sign language. In regards to the Deaf education, using sign was cited in studies as it prevents from acquiring written language for a long time. However, recent articles reported that the children who have fluent first language have the ability to acquire second language, like other foreign language learners, even though the modalities are different. Therefore, the most important thing is to acquire fluency in the first language. The future task is to think about how to make the bridge between Japanese sign language and written language in bilingual education. In Japan, the bilingual education has been in free school (Tatsunoko Gakuen) since 1999 and school (Meisei Gakuen) since 2009.

Law.

In 2011, the first sign law was established on “language” as an act for persons with disabilities on July 29th, and it was announced on Aug 5th. After this, sign was enacted and acknowledged as a form of language by law in Japan. In 2013, the first sign language law was established in Tottori Prefecture. “Sign is language”, the law was written. From then on, sign law was spread all over Japan in the scale of prefecture. Currently, there are aims to establish sign language law at the national level. However, there are two conflictive positions about the sign law. Those sign laws were not written as JSL. One position claimed that it is dangerous to mislead that sign language includes not only JSL, but also Taiou Shuwa (Mannually coded Japanese or simultaneous communication), Chuukan Shuwa (Contact Sign). The other claimed that by establishing JSL language law makes it easy to discriminate many various sign users.

Diffusion among the hearing.

Interest in sign language among the hearing population of Japan has been increasing, with numerous books now published targeting the hearing population, a weekly TV program teaching JSL, and the increasing availability of night school classes for the hearing to learn JSL. There have been several TV dramas, including "Hoshi no Kinka" (1995), in which signing has been a significant part of the plot, and sign language dramas are now a minor genre on Japanese TV.  The highly acclaimed 2006 film "Babel", which was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and nominated for multiple Academy Awards, also featured JSL as a significant element of the plot. Hearing actress Rinko Kikuchi received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her signing role in this film.  In Japan, about 40,000 signatures including both the hearing and deaf people were collected to subtitle the scene in Babel spoken in Japanese for the deaf audience.  The anime school drama film "A Silent Voice" (Japanese: 聲の形 Hepburn: Koe no Katachi, lit. "The Shape of Voice"), released in 2016, features a prominent deaf JSL-speaking character, Shōko Nishimiya. It was produced by Kyoto Animation, directed by Naoko Yamada, written by Reiko Yoshida, and featured character designs by Futoshi Nishiya. It is based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Yoshitoki Ōima. The film premiered in Japan on September 17, 2016.

Elements.

As in other sign languages, JSL (usually called simply 手話 "shuwa", "hand talk") consists of words, or signs, and the grammar with which they are put together. JSL signs may be nouns, verbs, adjectives, or any other part of a sentence, including suffixes indicating tense, negation, and grammatical particles. Signs consist not just of a manual gesture, but also (pronouncing a standard Japanese word with or without making a sound). The same sign may assume one of two different but semantically related meanings, as for example in "home" and "house", according to its mouthing. Another indispensable part of many signs is facial expression. In addition to signs and their grammar, JSL is augmented by, a form of fingerspelling, which was introduced from the United States in the early part of the twentieth century, but is used less often than in American Sign Language. Each "yubimoji" corresponds to a "kana", as illustrated by the JSL syllabary. Fingerspelling is used mostly for foreign words, last names, and unusual words. is used to cover situations where existing signs are not sufficient.  Because JSL is strongly influenced by the complex Japanese writing system, it dedicates particular attention to the written language and includes elements specifically designed to express "kanji" in signs. For either conciseness or disambiguation, particular signs are associated with certain commonly used "kanji", place names, and sometimes surnames. (tracing "kanji" in the air) is also sometimes used for last names or place names, just as it is in spoken Japanese.

, also known by the acronym JSL, is the dominant sign language in Japan and is a natural language, like the spoken Japanese language.

日本手语()基本上是由代表日本语里52个假名对应的52种手部动作,称之为指文字()加上特殊的手部动作所组成。如:被动、来、去等等。日本手语与其他手语一样,分为国际手语和本土手语。


胡安·加夫列尔·巴斯克斯

Biography and Literary Career.

Youth and Studies in Bogotá.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez was born on January 1, 1973 to Alfredo Vásquez and Fanny Velandia, both lawyers. He began to write at an early age, publishing his first stories in a school magazine at the age of eight. During his teenage years, he began reading the Latin American writers of the "boom" generation: Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes, among others.  In 1990 Vásquez began studying Law at the Universidad del Rosario. The university is located in downtown Bogotá, surrounded by the streets and historical sites where Vásquez’s novels are set. While studying for his Law degree, he voraciously read Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, among other Latin American authors, and studied the works of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. He graduated in 1996 with a thesis entitled "Revenge as a legal prototype in the" Iliad, later published by his alma mater. By the time he received his diploma, he had already decided to pursue a career as a writer.

The Parisian Period (1996-1998).

Just days after receiving his diploma, Vásquez traveled to Paris to do post-graduate studies in Latin American literature at La Sorbonne, which he never finished. He has stated that there were literary reasons behind the choice of Paris, a city linked in Vásquez’s mind to the work of expatriate authors who had been important for him: Vargas Llosa, Cortázar, Joyce. But there was also another reason to leave Colombia: the violence and the climate of fear that had been prevalent in the country since the 1980s.  In Paris Vásquez finished his first novel, "Persona" (1997). It is a short novel set in Florence; the influence of modernism, and in particular Virginia Woolf, to whom Vásquez has always felt very close, is evident. After his studies at La Sorbonne, Vásquez abandoned the writing of the thesis to concentrate on fiction. He finished his second novel, "Alina suplicante" (1999).  Vásquez has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with his first two books, which seem to him to be the works of an apprentice. He has refused to reissue them after their initial publication. Both are short novels of an intimate atmosphere, but they have very little else in common. Vásquez has said that even before publishing "Alina suplicante", the dissatisfaction he felt with the work completed so far threw him into a deep crisis. He left Paris at the beginning of 1999, looking for a place to reinvent himself.

The Season in the Ardennes (1999).

Both professionally and personally, 1999 turned out to be a crucial year for Vasquez. Between January and September, Vásquez lived near Xhoris, a small town in the Walloon area of Belgium. There, in the home of an older couple in the Ardennes, he spent nine months, the importance of which he has been frequently stressed.  His short story 'The Messenger' was included in "Líneas Aéreas", an anthology that would be regarded as the main forecast of Spanish and Latin American literature in the twenty-first century. He read the work of novelists who would leave a strong mark on his own work, such as Joseph Conrad and Javier Marías, and also short story writers far from the Latin American tradition, like Chekhov and Alice Munro. His experiences, encounters and observations during that season would become the material of his next book, the collection of stories "The All Saints’ Day" "Lovers" (2001).  In September 1999 Vásquez married Mariana Montoya. They settled in Barcelona. In retrospect, Vásquez would invoke three reasons to choose that destination: the link between Barcelona and the Latin American Boom, the opportunities the city offered to someone who wanted to earn a living by his pen and the open spirit with which the new Latin American literature was being received in Spain.

The Barcelona Years (1999-2012).

In 2000, Vásquez began working as an editor at "Lateral", an independent Barcelona magazine that was published between 1994 and 2006. Under the direction of a Hungarian expatriate, Mihály Dés, the magazine brought together a generation of emerging writers such as French novelist Mathias Énard and Catalan cultural critic Jordi Carrión. The Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño was also connected to the magazine.  While working at "Lateral", Vásquez wrote a series of short stories based on his experiences during the years he spent in France and Belgium. "Lovers on All Saints’ Day" was published in Colombia in April 2001; although it was well received, evoking comparisons to Raymond Carver and Jorge Luis Borges, critics were surprised by the fact that a Colombian author should write a book with Belgian or French characters. The few reviews that appeared in Spain praised the "subtleties of a Central European narrator" and discussed the simultaneous influence of Borges and Hemingway. From then on Vásquez would consider "Lovers on All Saints’ Day" as his first mature book.  During the early years in Barcelona Vásquez also worked as a translator. He was commissioned to do the first translation published in Spain of "Hiroshima", by John Hersey. In 2002, after leaving "Lateral," he concentrated on translation and journalism as ways to earn a living. He wrote articles and book reviews for "El Periódico de Catalunya" and "El País", among others. He translated Victor Hugo’s "Last Day of a Condemned Man" and John Dos Passos’ "Journeys Between Wars". In 2003, Vásquez published "Nowhere Man" ("El hombre de ninguna parte"), a brief biography of Joseph Conrad.  The following year he published the novel he now regards as his first: "The Informers". Its critical reception was extraordinary. The novel was praised by Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes. "Semana" Magazine, one of the most influential Colombian publications, chose it as one of the most important novels published since 1981. In a few years, it was translated into more than a dozen languages. In England, where it was endorsed by John Banville, it was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Its publication in the United States in 2009 had an unusual reception for a Latin American writer. In "The New York Times", Larry Rohter wrote: "Vasquez's career takes off remarkably." Jonathan Yardley, in "The Washington Post", said it was "the best work of literary fiction to come my way since 2005". The novel was translated by Anne McLean, who has subsequently translated all of Vásquez’s books.  In September 2005, his twin daughters Martina and Carlota were born in Bogotá. Vasquez’s next novel, "The Secret History of Costaguana", is dedicated to them. The novel, built on speculation (Joseph Conrad’s possible visit to Colombia in the 1870s), confirmed Vásquez's reputation. He establishes a dialogue with the life and work of Conrad, in particular his novel "Nostromo", and with the Colombian history of the 19th century, especially the building of the Panama Canal. His narrator has a picaresque and sarcastic tone, constantly addressing the reader, having recourse to anachronisms, exaggerations and improbability whenever it suits his yarn; according to Spanish novelists Juan Marsé and Enrique Vila-Matas, Vásquez creates a powerful dialogue between the narrator and the reader, as well as between fiction and history.  "The Secret History of Costaguana" is also an indirect comment on Vásquez's relationship with the work of Gabriel García Márquez. It is an issue to which he has returned many times discussing the idea of influence. In one of his articles he wrote:That right to mix traditions and languages with impunity - to unapologetically look for contamination, to break with the staggered national or linguistic loyalties that tormented Colombian writers until recently - is, perhaps, the great legacy of García Márquez... "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is a book that can be admired infinitely, but whose teachings are hardly applicable (the proof is what happens to its copycats). So I will repeat here what I have said elsewhere: no Colombian writer with a minimum of ambition would dare to follow through the paths already explored by the works of García Márquez; but no writer with a minimum of common sense would underestimate the possibilities that this work has opened for us.In 2007 Vásquez was included in Bogotá 39, a Hay Festival project that brought together the most notable Latin American writers under 39 years of age. That same year he began writing opinion pieces for "El Espectador", the most prominent liberal Colombian newspaper. In his columns he was deeply critical of the governments of Álvaro Uribe in Colombia and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. His political positions seem to defend freedom as a supreme value and an open, secular and liberal society:For me it is still relevant for a novelist to participate in the social debate. For a philosopher too, for that matter; in any case, someone who thinks about reality in moral terms. Politicians do not usually do it, least of all in my country. The great contemporary debates in societies such as mine, about the legalization of drugs, about gay marriage, about abortion - politicians are never able to take them to the field of moral discussion, which is where they should be discussed. They discuss them in religious terms, they discuss them in political terms (in the most banal sense of the word). But they rarely try to understand these things from the point of view of individuals. Who are we hurting? Whose lives are we destroying or seriously affecting with a decision? This is not what they talk about.In 2008 Vásquez published a compilation of literary essays, "The Art of Distortion" ("El arte de la distorsión" in Spanish). That same year he was invited to the Santa Maddalena Foundation, a retreat for writers located in Tuscany, Italy. There he began writing his novel "The Sound of Things Falling".  Published in April 2011, "The Sound of Things Falling" was awarded the Alfaguara Prize and became one of the major Colombian novels of recent decades. The Colombian writer Héctor Abad Faciolince saluted it as “the best verbal creation I have read in all the Colombian literature of recent times”. The novel provoked similar enthusiasm in translation. In Italy, it won the Premio Gregor von Rezzori-Città di Firenze; with the English translation, Vásquez became the first Latin American and the second Spanish-language author to win the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, previously awarded to authors such as Orhan Pamuk, Herta Müller and Javier Marías; the French translation was instrumental to Vásquez being awarded the Prix Roger Caillois; in the United States, the novel appeared on the cover of "The New York Times Book Review", where Edmund White called it “A brilliant new novel...gripping...absorbing right to the end”. Lev Grossman, in "Time" magazine, wrote about Vásquez:  He's often compared to Roberto Bolaño, another Latin American writer in full flight from magical realism. [...] Like Bolaño, he's a master stylist and a virtuoso of patient pacing and intricate structure, and he uses the novel for much the same purpose Bolaño did: to map the deep, cascading damage done to our world by greed and violence and to concede that even love can't repair it.

The Return to Bogotá (2012).

In 2012, after sixteen years in Europe, Vásquez returned with his family to Colombia. The following year he was writer in residence at Stanford University, in California, United States. There he finished the short novel "Reputations", the story of a political cartoonist. The book was published in April 2013 and went to win the Royal Spanish Academy Award and the Prémio Casa de América Latina de Lisboa, among others. After publication in the United States, "The New York Review of Books" called it Vásquez's "most intelligent and persuasive work". The review is titled "Akin to Conrad in Colombia":With his book of Belgian short stories and his five Colombian novels, Vásquez has accumulated an impressive body of work, one of the most striking to have emerged in Latin America so far this century... Like Conrad’s best novels, Vásquez’s are tautly written—every line is charged with acute observation and analysis. In this he also recalls Borges, albeit in a more down-to-earth, nonmetaphysical mode.In August 2014, Vásquez left his weekly column in "El Espectador", but continues to write occasional opinion pieces. He was frequently moved to write by the peace negotiations that the Colombian government was carrying out in Havana, Cuba, with the FARC guerrilla. In "El País" (Madrid) and "The Guardian" (London), he repeatedly defended the peace process and the need to put an end to the war that has ravaged his country during the last decades. He has been one of the most vocal supporters of the peace agreements.  In 2015, Vásquez published "The Shape of the Ruins". It is his most challenging novel, as it mixes various genres to explore the consequences of two murders that have marked Colombian history: those of Rafael Uribe Uribe (1914) and Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (1948). The novel was very well received both in Colombia and abroad. Interviewed by Colombian magazine "Arcadia", Vásquez said: "The Shape of the Ruins" is by far the most difficult challenge that I have faced as a novelist. In part, this is due to everything the novel tries to do at the same time: it is an autobiography, a historical exploration, a criminal novel, a conspiracy theory, a meditation on what we are as a country... I had to write 26 different versions to discover the one that best suited the book. Or rather: the one that was able to put everything together in the same plot.With the novel, Vásquez became the first Latin American to win the Premio Casino da Póvoa, Portugal’s most prestigious award for fiction in translation. The novel was also shortlisted for the Premio Bienal de Novela Mario Vargas Llosa and for the Man Booker International Prize. In "The New York Review of Books", Ariel Dorfman wrote:Juan Gabriel Vásquez... has succeeded García Márquez as the literary grandmaster of Colombia, a country that can boast of many eminent authors... Readers might expect that Vásquez has written a noir detective novel that investigates a crime that has gone unpunished for seventy years and restores some semblance of justice. Nothing, however, is that orderly in "The Shape of the Ruins", which subverts the crime genre, presenting the hunt for culprits within the frame of what seems to be a Sebaldian memoir. In 2016 the Barcelona-based publisher Navona commissioned Vásquez to translate one of his favorite novels, Joseph Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness". The same translation was published by Angosta Editores, a small Colombian press owned by the writer Héctor Abad Faciolince.  In February 2017, Vásquez was invited by the University of Bern to occupy the Friedrich Dürrenmatt chair. The result of these courses was a collection of essays around the art of the novel: "Travels with a Blank Map" ("Viajes con un mapa en blanco" in Spanish). The book was published in November of that same year.  In 2018, seventeen years after "Lovers on All Saint's Day", Vásquez published his second collection of short stories, "Songs for the Flames" ("Canciones para el incendio" in Spanish). It is scheduled for publication in the UK in the fall of 2020. Publication date in the United States is yet to be determined.

Bibliography.

Karim Benmiloud (dir.), "Juan Gabriel Vásquez : une archéologie du passé colombien récent", Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2017, 354 p. ()

Juan Gabriel Vásquez (born in Bogotá on January 1, 1973) is a Colombian writer, journalist and translator. Regarded as one of the most important Latin American novelists working today, he is the author of seven novels, two volumes of stories and two books of literary essays, as well as hundreds of pages of political commentary. His novel "The Sound of Things Falling", published in Spanish in 2011, won the Alfaguara Novel Prize and the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award, among other prizes. In 2012, after sixteen years in Paris, the Belgian Ardennes and Barcelona, Vásquez moved back to Bogotá. His novels are currently published in 28 languages.

胡安·加百列·瓦斯奎兹 胡安·加百列·瓦斯奎兹(1973年)是一名哥伦比亚作家。他最著名的作品是2011年出版的小说《坠物之声》( El ruido de las cosas al caer)。