title: Not Going Out

text: Series 10 began broadcasting on 15 April 2019 on BBC One, moving to Monday nights as opposed to its usual Friday night slot.


title: Not Going Out

text: An eleventh series was announced in 2019 for 2020; however, it was postponed until 2021. A further two series were also announced (Series twelve and thirteen) for 2021 and 2022. The eleventh series was the last series to feature Bobby Ball as Frank following Ball's death in October 2020. A New Year's Eve special aired on 30 December 2020 and the regular series began on 8 January 2021, consisting of five episodes (and a Christmas special on 23 December 2021).


title: Not Going Out

text: Mack had previously said that the twelfth series (airing early 2022) of "Not Going Out" could begin with a funeral for Bobby Ball. He has also said that Tommy Cannon (Ball's famous comedy double act partner in Cannon and Ball) could play the vicar. Cannon had previously played the vicar at Lee and Lucy's wedding. Mack said it would be a "marvellous thing to do" considering the fact that Ball's real funeral venue was limited, due to Covid-19 restrictions and the limited number of people who could attend. This idea did not go ahead, as the first episode took place over a year after Frank's death; however, series 12 episode 1 was a tribute to Ball.


title: Not Going Out

text: In 2022, Bretton was absent in the episode 'Jury'. This is her only absence from the series since her first appearance in Series 2, Episode 1.


title: Not Going Out

text: Most of each episode was shot on set in front of an audience at Teddington Studios. There are two main sets: the flat/house and the bar/coffee shop that Lee frequently visits. Outdoor shots and real indoor location shots have also been used on occasion. The fourth and fifth series were shot at the BBC Television Centre. The sixth and seventh series saw filming return to Teddington Studios. International distribution is handled by Avalon who also produce the series. From Series 5 onwards, "Not Going Out" was produced in association with Lee Mack's own company, Arlo Productions (named after his son). The 2015 Christmas special was filmed on location in Wimbledon, in a department store, and was screened in London to record the laugh track. After Teddington Studios closed, series 8 was filmed at BBC Elstree Centre and series 9 and 10 were filmed at Pinewood Studios.


title: Not Going Out

text: In series 6, for the episode entitled Boat, production visited the Port of Ramsgate in Kent to film part of the episode where Lee's dad, Frank (Bobby Ball), has bought a boat and invites Lee and his friends down to Eastbourne for the weekend. When they arrive, the boat is not what everyone expected.


title: Not Going Out

text: The show is filmed in HDTV and, since series 4, airs simultaneously on BBC One HD. Previous to this, the show was not simulcast on BBC HD, but shown on BBC HD 30 minutes after the BBC One airing.


title: Not Going Out

text: A lot of the humour is based on word play and double entendres delivered in a deadpan manner. This is the comedy style Mack and Tim Vine have used both in stand-up and in "The Sketch Show", to the extent that an occasional one-liner from their solo performances is slipped in. This is mostly one sided with Kate (later Lucy) typically being the victims of the joke. Sight gags are also frequently used, while gags and witticisms are very cleverly incorporated into almost every line of script.


title: Not Going Out

text: For the first series, episodes were written by Mack and Andrew Collins, with members of the cast credited for additional material. Because the eight episodes of the second season had to be written and filmed in a short space of time, Avalon Television brought in Nick Stacey, Paul Kerensa and Simon Evans to join the writing team. Mack, Collins and Stacey concentrated on writing the main body of the episodes whilst Kerensa and Evans were involved in storylining, rewriting and 'gagging up' the episodes. The third series saw the writing team expanded, with Darin Henry, Daniel Peak and Simon Dean contributing to the main episodes (all co-written with Mack); the "gag writing" team was also expanded, from two members to as many as eight, not counting the main writers, on a single episode with Milton Jones among the additional writers of the show.


title: Not Going Out

text: In the original pilot of the series, which has not been aired, the part of Kate was played by Catherine Tate. However, due to the success of "The Catherine Tate Show", the American actress Megan Dodds was cast in the role and the character developed accordingly.


title: Not Going Out

text: The flat in which Lee and Kate/Lucy lived from 2006 to 2015 is No. 17. In a DVD commentary for the first series, it was mentioned that "Number 17" was originally considered as a title for the series, before the name "Not Going Out" was decided on.


title: Not Going Out

text: Although filmed and broadcast in HD, no Blu-rays have been released to date. All episodes up to the end of Series 4 feature different video post-production to the broadcast versions, giving them a US-style 'filmlook' effect, however this was dropped from the Series 5 DVD onwards. The episodes "Movie" and "Drunk" are slightly extended for DVD, featuring shots and lines cut or censored for their original BBC One transmission. Some music tracks are replaced by soundalikes for release.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; ), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn, and Quảng Ninh Provinces) and the Gulf of Tonkin. Formerly a province, Guangxi became an autonomous region in 1958. Its current capital is Nanning.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi's location, in mountainous terrain in the far south of China, has placed it on the frontier of Chinese civilization throughout much of Chinese history. The current name "Guang" means "expanse" and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in 226 AD. It was given provincial level status during the Yuan dynasty, but even into the 20th century, it was considered an open, wild territory. The abbreviation of the region is "" (Hanyu pinyin: ; Zhuang: ), which comes from the name of the city of Guilin, the provincial capital during both the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi contains the largest population of China's ethnic minorities after Yunnan, in particular, the Zhuang people, who make up 32% of the population. Various regional languages and dialects such as Pinghua, Zhuang, Kam, Cantonese, Hakka, and Min are spoken alongside Mandarin Chinese.


title: Guangxi

text: "" () means 'expanse' or 'vast', and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. Guangxi and neighboring Guangdong literally mean 'expanse west' and 'expanse east'. Together, Guangxi and Guangdong are called (; , , QuangTay province). During the Song dynasty, the Two Guangs were formally separated as () and (), which became abbreviated as () and ().


title: Guangxi

text: Originally inhabited by a mixture of tribal groups known to the Chinese as the Baiyue ("Hundred Yue", ), the region first became part of China during the Qin dynasty. In 214 BC, the Han Chinese general Zhao Tuo () claimed most of southern China for Qin Shi Huang before the emperor's death. The ensuing civil war permitted Zhao to establish a separate kingdom at Panyu known as Nanyue ("Southern Yue"). Alternatively submissive to and independent of Han dynasty control, Southern Yue expanded colonization and sinicization under its policy of "Harmonizing and Gathering the Hundred Yue" () until its collapse in 111 BC during the southward expansion of the Han dynasty.


title: Guangxi

text: The name "Guangxi" can be traced to the "Expansive" or "Wide" province () of the Eastern Wu, which controlled southeastern China during the Three Kingdoms period. Guilin formed one of its commanderies.


title: Guangxi

text: Under the Tang dynasty, the Zhuang moved to support Piluoge's kingdom of Nanzhao in Yunnan, which successfully repulsed imperial armies in 751 and 754. Guangxi was then divided into an area of Zhuang ascendancy west of Nanning and an area of Han ascendancy east of Nanning.


title: Guangxi

text: After the collapse of the Southern Zhao, Liu Yan established the Southern Han (Nanhan) in Xingwangfu (modern Guangdong). Although this state gained minimal control over Guangxi, it was plagued by instability and annexed by the Song dynasty in 971. The name "Guangxi" itself can be traced to the Song, who administered the area as the Guangnanxi ("West Southern Expanse") Circuit. Harassed by both Song and the Jiaozhi in modern Vietnam, the Zhuang leader Nong Zhigao led a revolt in 1052 for which he is still remembered by the Zhuang people. His independent kingdom was short-lived, however, and the tattooed Song general Di Qing returned Guangxi to China.


title: Guangxi

text: The Yuan dynasty established control over Yunnan during its conquest of the Dali Kingdom in 1253 and eliminated the Southern Song following the Battle of Yamen in 1279. Rather than ruling Lingnan as a subject territory or military district, the Mongolians then established Guangxi ("Western Expanse") as a proper province. The area nonetheless continued to be unruly, leading the Ming dynasty to employ the different local groups against one another. At the Battle of Big Rattan Gorge between the Zhuang and the Yao in 1465, 20,000 deaths were reported.


title: Guangxi

text: During the Ming and Qing dynasties, parts of Guangxi were ruled by the powerful Cen () clan. The Cen were of Zhuang ethnicity and were recognized as "tusi" or local rulers by the Chinese emperors.


title: Guangxi

text: The Qing dynasty left the region alone until the imposition of direct rule in 1726, but the 19th century was one of constant unrest. A Yao revolt in 1831 was followed by the Jintian Uprising, the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion, in January 1851 and the Da Cheng Rebellion in April 1854. The execution of St. Auguste Chapdelaine by local officials in Guangxi provoked the Second Opium War in 1858 and the legalization of foreign interference in the interior. Although Louis Brière de l'Isle was unable to invade its depot at Longzhou, the Guangxi Army saw a great deal of action in the 1884 Sino-French War. Largely ineffective within Vietnam, it was still able to repulse the French from China itself at the Battle of Zhennan Pass (modern Friendship Pass) on 23 March 1885.


title: Guangxi

text: Following the Wuchang Uprising, Guangxi seceded from the Qing Empire on 6 November 1911. The Qing governor, Shen Bingdan, initially remained in place but was subsequently removed by a mutiny commanded by General Lu Rongting. General Lu's Old Guangxi clique overran Hunan and Guangdong as well and helped lead the National Protection War against Yuan Shikai's attempt to re-establish an imperial government. Zhuang's loyalty made his Self-Government Army cohesive but reluctant to move far beyond its own provinces. Subsequent feuding with Sun Yat-sen led to defeat in the 1920 and 1921 Guangdong–Guangxi War. After a brief occupation by Chen Jiongming's Cantonese forces, Guangxi fell into disunity and profound banditry for several years until Li Zongren's Guangxi Pacification Army established the New Guangxi clique dominated by Li, Huang Shaohong, and Bai Chongxi.


title: Guangxi

text: Successful action in Hunan against Wu Peifu led to the Zhuang GPA becoming known as the "Flying Army" and the "Army of Steel." After the death of Sun Yat-sen, Li also repulsed Tang Jiyao's revolt and joined the Northern Expedition establishing control over other warlords by the Republic of China. His was one of the few Kuomintang units free from serious Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and was therefore employed by Chiang Kai-shek for the Shanghai massacre of 1927. Within the People's Republic of China, Guangxi is also noted for the Baise Uprising, a failed CCP revolt led by Chen Zhaoli and Deng Xiaoping in 1929.


title: Guangxi

text: In 1937, the Guangxi Women's Battalion was founded as a response to Soong Mei-ling's appeal for women to support the Sino-Japanese War. Reports on the size of the battalion vary from 130 students, to 500, to 800.


title: Guangxi

text: Being in the far south, Guangxi did not fall during the Chinese Civil War, but joined the People's Republic in December 1949, two months after its founding.


title: Guangxi

text: In 1952, a small section of Guangdong's coastline (Qinzhou, Lianzhou (now Hepu County), Fangchenggang and Beihai) was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, and then restored in 1965.


title: Guangxi

text: The Guangxi Massacre, during the Cultural Revolution, involved the killing of 100,000 to 150,000 in the province in 1967 and 1968.


title: Guangxi

text: While some development of heavy industry occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, the province remained largely a scenic tourist destination. Even the economic growth of the 1990s seemed to leave Guangxi behind. However, in recent years, there has been a growing amount of industrialization and increasing concentration on cash crops. Per capita GDP has risen as industries in Guangdong transfer production to comparatively lower-wage areas in Guangxi.


title: Guangxi

text: Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the east and southeast. It is also bordered by Vietnam in the southwest and the Gulf of Tonkin in the south. Its proximity to Guangdong is reflected in its name, with "Guang" () being used in both names.


title: Guangxi

text: Large portions of Guangxi are hilly and mountainous. The northwest portion of Guangxi includes part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Jiuwan Mountains and the Fenghuang Mountains both run through the north, the Nanling Mountains form the region's north-east border, and the Yuecheng and Haiyang Mountains both branch from the Nanling Mountains. Also in the north are the Duyao Mountains. The Duyang Mountains run through the west of Guangxi. Near the center of the region are the Da Yao and Da Ming Mountains. On the southeastern border are the Yunkai Mountains. Guangxi's highest point is Kitten Mountain, in the Yuecheng Mountains, at .


title: Guangxi

text: Karst landforms, characterized by steep mountains and large caverns, are common in Guangxi, accounting for 37.8 percent of its total land area.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi is also home to several river systems, which flow into several different bodies of water: the Qin River and the Nanliu River both flow into the Gulf of Tonkin, several tributary rivers flow into the larger Xiang River in neighbouring Hunan province, and the Xi River system flows southeast through the autonomous region into the South China Sea.


title: Guangxi

text: Along the border with Vietnam there is the Ban Gioc–Detian waterfall (), which separates the two countries.


title: Guangxi

text: Major cities in Guangxi include Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, and Beihai. Notable towns include , Sanjiang, and Yangshuo. Xi River system provides waterways to connect Pearl River Delta. Important seaports along Guangxi's short coastline on the Gulf of Tonkin include Beihai, Qinzhou, and Fangchenggang. To connect Xi River system and coastal Guangxi, Chinese government started to construct Pinglu Canal.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi has a subtropical climate. Summers are generally long, hot, and humid, lasting from April to October. Winters are mild, and snow is rare. The autonomous region's average annual temperature ranges from to , with January temperatures typically ranging from to , and July temperatures typically ranging from to .


title: Guangxi

text: Due to frequent rain-bearing monsoon winds, average annual precipitation is quite high in Guangxi, ranging from in drier zones to in wetter zones. The region also experiences monsoons, blowing from south-southwest from late April to the beginning of October. Most of the precipitation occurs between May and August. Microbursts can also occasionally occur in the extreme south of the region, from July to September. This is caused by typhoons blowing from the South China Sea.


title: Guangxi

text: These 14 prefecture-level cities are in turn subdivided into 111 county-level divisions (41 districts, 10 county-level cities, 48 counties, and 12 autonomous counties). At the year-end of 2021, the total population is 48.85 million.


title: Guangxi

text: The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in Guangxi. Han Chinese populations in Guangxi largely live along the autonomous region's southern coast and eastern portions. Of these, the main subgroups are those that speak Yue and Southwestern Mandarin varieties of Chinese. Qinzhou and Goulou Yue are spoken in the southern and eastern regions, respectively. Pinghua is spoken in Nanning and Guilin. There are Hakka-speaking regions in Luchuan County, Bobai County and in some areas bordering Vietnam.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi has over 14 million Zhuangs, the largest minority ethnicity in China. Over 90 percent of Zhuang in China live in Guangxi, especially in the central and western regions. High concentrations of Zhuang people can be found in Nanning, Liuzhou, Chongzuo, Baise, Hechi, and Laibin. The highest concentration of ethnic Zhuang people is found in the county-level city of Jingxi, with a 2021 publication by the People's Government of Guangxi stating that Jingxi's population is 99.7% Zhuang.


title: Guangxi

text: The autonomous region also has sizable populations of indigenous Yao, Miao, Kam, Mulam, Maonan, Hui, Gin, Yi, Sui and Gelao peoples. Other ethnic minorities in Guangxi include the Manchu, Mongol, Korean, Tibetan, Hlai, and Tujia people.


title: Guangxi

text: The predominant religions in Guangxi among the Han Chinese are Chinese folk religions, Taoist traditions and Chinese Buddhism. The large Zhuang population mostly practices the Zhuang folk religion centered around the worship of their ancestral god "Buluotuo" (布洛陀). According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 40.48% of the population believes and is involved in ancestor veneration, while 0.26% of the population identifies as Christian.


title: Guangxi

text: The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 59.26% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, folk religious sects. The Yao, another numerous ethnic group inhabiting the province, mostly practices a form of indigenised and conservative Taoism.


title: Guangxi

text: Important crops in Guangxi include rice, maize and sweet potatoes. Cash crops include sugar cane, peanuts, tobacco, and kenaf.


title: Guangxi

text: 85 percent of the world's star anise is grown in Guangxi. It is a major ingredient in the antiviral oseltamivir.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi is one of China's key production centers for nonferrous metals. The province holds approximately 1/3 of all tin and manganese deposits in China.


title: Guangxi

text: Liuzhou is the main industrial center and a major motor vehicle manufacturing center. General Motors have a manufacturing base here in a joint venture as SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile. The city also has a large steel factory and several related industries. The local government of Guangxi hopes to expand the province's manufacturing sector, and during the drafting of China's Five Year Plan in 2011, earmarked 2.6 trillion RMB for investment in the province's Beibu Gulf Economic Zone(See Below).


title: Guangxi

text: In recent years Guangxi's economy has languished behind that of its wealthy neighbor and twin, Guangdong. Guangxi's 2017 nominal GDP was about 2039.63 billion yuan (US$302.09 billion) and ranked 17th in China. Its per capita GDP was 38,102 yuan (US$5,770).


title: Guangxi

text: Due to its lack of a major manufacturing industry in comparison to other provinces, Guangxi is the fourth most energy efficient province in China, helping to further boost its green image.


title: Guangxi

text: Approved by the State Council, Beihai Export Processing Zone (BHEPZ) was established in March 2003. Total planned area is . The first phase of the developed area is . It was verified and accepted by the Customs General Administration and eight ministries of the state, on 26 December 2003. It is the Export Processing Zone nearest to ASEAN in China and also the only one bordering the sea in western China. It is situated next to Beihai Port.


title: Guangxi

text: Guilin Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established in May 1988. In 1991, it was approved as a national-level industrial zone. It has an area of . Encouraged industries include electronic information, biomedical, new materials, and environmental protection.


title: Guangxi

text: Established in 1992, Nanning Economic and Technological Development Zone was approved to be a national-level zone in May 2001. Its total planned area of . It is located in the south of Nanning. It has become the new developing zone with fine chemical engineering, auto parts, aluminum processing, biological medicine and other industries.


title: Guangxi

text: Nanning Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established in 1988 and was approved as a national-level industrial zone in 1992. The zone has a planned area of , and it encourages industries that do electronic information, bioengineering and pharmaceutical, mechanical and electrical integration, and the new materials industry.


title: Guangxi

text: In 1992, Pinxiang Border Economic Cooperation Zone was established. It has a total area of . It focuses on the development of hardware mechanical and electrical products, daily-use chemical processing, services, and the international logistics-based storage and information industry.


title: Guangxi

text: Seventy-one Taiwanese ventures started up in Guangxi in 2007, with contracts bringing up to US$149 million of investment, while gross exports surpassed US$1 billion. There are a total of 1182 Taiwan ventures in Guangxi, and by the end of 2006, they have brought a total of US$4.27 billion of investment into the autonomous region. During the first half of 2007, 43 projects worthy of RMB2.6 billion (US$342 million) have already been contracted between Guangxi and Taiwan investors. Cooperation between Guangxi and Taiwan companies mainly relates to manufacturing, high-tech electronic industries, agriculture, energy resources, and tourism.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi Power Grid invested 180 million yuan in 2007 in projects to bring power to areas that still lacked access to electricity. The areas affected include Nanning, Hechi, Bose and Guigang. Around 125,000 people have gained access to electricity. The money has been used to build or alter 738 10-kilovolt distribution units with a total length of wire reaching 1,831.8 kilometers.


title: Guangxi

text: Due to a lack of investment in construction in the power grid net in rural areas, more than 400 villages in Guangxi Province were not included in the projects. Around 500,000 cannot participate in the policy known as "The Same Grid, the Same Price." Guangxi Power Grid will invest 4.6 billion yuan in improving the power grid during the 11th Five Year Plan.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi Power Grid invested 2.5 billion yuan in building an electric power system in the first half of 2007. Of the total investment, 2.3 billion yuan has been put into the project of the main power grid. So far, four new transformer substations in Guangxi are in various stages of completion. Wenfu substation went into operation in the city of Hechi in January 2007, and since then it has become a major hub of the electrical power system of the surrounding three counties. When the Cangwu substation was completed, it doubled the local transformer capacity. In June 2007, the new substation in Chongzuo passed its operation tests. And in the same month, Qiulong commenced production too. This shall support the power supply system of Qiulong City, as well as the northern part of Guangxi province, and facilitate the nationwide project to transmit power from west to east.


title: Guangxi

text: In late February 2008, the central government approved China's first international and regional economic cooperation zone in Guangxi. The construction of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone began in 2006. With the approval, the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone will be formally incorporated into national development strategies.


title: Guangxi

text: The Beibu Gulf Economic Zone covers six coastal cities along the Beibu Gulf. It integrates the cities of Nanning, the region's capital, Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang, Chongzuo and Yulin. The state will adopt policies and measures to support mechanism innovation, rational industry layout, and infrastructure construction in the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi has pledged a 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) investment over the next five years for building and repairing railways to form a network hub in the area. Beibu Gulf Zone will serve as the logistics base, business base, processing and manufacturing base, and information exchange center for China-ASEAN cooperation. Beibu Gulf Zone promises broad prospects for further development and its growth potential is rapidly released. But the shortage of talent and professionals in petrochemicals, iron and steel, electricity, finance, tourism, port planning, logistics and marine industries are bottlenecks.


title: Guangxi

text: The regional government is also working on speeding up key cooperation projects including transportation, the marine industry, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy development, cross-border tourism, and environmental protection. Beibu Gulf has already attracted several major projects such as Qinzhou oil refinery projects and Stora Enso, a Fortune 500 forest products company based in Finland. In January 2008 trade import and export in the Beibu Gulf zone exceeded US$1.3 billion, a record high.


title: Guangxi

text: In September 2007, China's Ministry of Commerce said that it has found 120 million tons of new bauxite reserves in Guangxi. The ministry said that the new reserves, which are located in Chongzhou in the southern region of Youjiang, have very high-quality bauxite, a raw material for making aluminum. Currently, the proven reserves of bauxite in Guangxi are about 1 billion tons, making the province one of the country's biggest bauxite sources.


title: Guangxi

text: The Hunan–Guangxi Railway (Xianggui Line), which bisects the autonomous region diagonally from Quanzhou in the northeast on the border with Hunan to Pingxiang in the southwest on the border with Vietnam, passes through Guangxi's three principal cities, Nanning, Liuzhou and Guilin. Most other railways in Guangxi are connected to the Xianggui Line.


title: Guangxi

text: From Nanning, the Nanning–Kunming Railway heads west through Baise to Kunming, Yunnan and the Nanning–Fangchenggang Railway runs south to Qinzhou, Fangchenggang and Beihai on the coast. From Liuzhou, the Guizhou–Guangxi Railway extends northwestward through Hechi to Guizhou and the Jiaozuo–Liuzhou Railway runs due north to Hunan, and eventually Hubei and Henan in central China. From Litang Township on the Xianggui Line between Nanning and Liuzhou, the Litang–Qinzhou Railway runs south to Qinzhou on the coast and the Litang–Zhanjiang Railway (Lizhan Line) extends southeastward through Guigang and Yulin to Zhanjiang, Guangdong.


title: Guangxi

text: The Luoyang–Zhanjiang Railway (Luozhan Line), which intersects with the Xianggui Line on the Hunan side of the border at Yongzhou, runs south through Hezhou and Wuzhou in eastern Guangxi and joins the Lizhan Line at Yulin. At Cenxi, a branch of the Luozhan Line heads east to Maoming, Guangdong, forming a second rail outlet from Guangxi to Guangdong.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi has 7 airports in different cities: Nanning, Guilin, Beihai, Liuzhou, Wuzhou, Baise, and Hechi.


title: Guangxi

text: "Guangxi" and neighbouring Guangdong literally mean "Western Expanse" and "Eastern Expanse". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Two Expanses" ().


title: Guangxi

text: Its culture and language are reflected in this. Though now associated with the Zhuang ethnic minority, Guangxi's culture traditionally has had a close connection with Cantonese. Cantonese culture and language followed the Xi River valley from Guangdong and are still predominant in the eastern half of Guangxi today. Outside of this area, there is a huge variety of ethnicities and language groups represented.


title: Guangxi

text: Guangxi is known for its ethnolinguistic diversity. In the capital of Nanning, for example, three varieties of Chinese are spoken locally: Southwestern Mandarin, Yue (specifically Cantonese), and Pinghua, in addition to various Zhuang languages and others.


title: Guangxi

text: The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a city famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the Li Jiang (Li River) among karst peaks. It also used to be the capital of Guangxi and Jingjiang Princes' City, the old princes' residence, is open to the public. South of Guilin down the river is the town of Yangshuo, which has become a favourite destination for foreign tourists.


title: Guangxi

text: The variety of visible cultures in Guangxi, such as the Zhuang and Dong, are also a draw for tourists. The northern part of the province, bordering Guizhou, is home to the Longsheng Rice Terraces, some of the steepest in the world. Nearby is Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County.


title: Swatting

text: Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed, among other things.


title: Swatting

text: The term is derived from the law enforcement unit "SWAT" ("special weapons and tactics"), a specialized type of police unit in the United States. These units are equipped with tactical gear and weapons that differ from patrol units, and are called to situations that are deemed high-risk. A threat may result in the evacuations of schools and businesses. Advocates have called for swatting to be described as terrorism due to its use to intimidate and create the risk of injury or death.


title: Swatting

text: Making false reports to emergency services is a criminal offense in many jurisdictions, often punishable by fine or imprisonment. In March 2019, a California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for carrying out a fatal 2017 swatting. Swatting carries a high risk of violence, and causes tax dollars to be wasted by the city or county when responding to a false report of a serious law enforcement emergency, as well as liability if things go wrong. In California, swatters bear the "full cost" of the response which can lead to fines up to $10,000 if great bodily injury or death occur as a result of the swatting.


title: Swatting

text: Bomb threats were a concern to police in the 1970s, with some public buildings such as airports being evacuated in response to hoax calls that were designed to cause mass panic and public disruption, or to delay exams at educational institutions. In recent decades, hoax callers sometimes make use of techniques to disguise their identity or country of origin.


title: Swatting

text: Swatting has origins in prank calls to emergency services. Over the years, callers used increasingly sophisticated techniques to direct response units of particular types. In particular, attempts to have SWAT teams be dispatched to particular locations spawned the term "swatting". The term was used by the FBI as early as 2008, and has also entered into Oxford Dictionaries Online in 2015.


title: Swatting

text: Caller ID spoofing, social engineering, TTY, prank calls, and phone phreaking techniques may be variously combined by swatting perpetrators. 911 systems (including computer telephony systems and human operators) have been tricked by calls placed from cities hundreds of miles away from the location of the purported call, or even from other countries. The caller typically places a 911 call using a spoofed phone number (so as to hide the fraudulent caller's real location) with the goal of tricking emergency authorities into responding with a SWAT team to a fabricated emergency.


title: Swatting

text: Swatting is linked to the action of doxing, which is obtaining and broadcasting, often via the Internet, the address and details of an individual with an intent to harass or endanger them.


title: Swatting

text: In October 2018, the Seattle Police Department took a three-pronged approach to combating swatting: educating 911 dispatchers to identify potential swatting calls, ensuring responding officers are aware of the potential for a hoax situation, and creating an opt-in registry for people who fear that they might become victims of swatting, such as journalists, celebrities, or live streamers. Using the registry, these people can provide cautionary information to the police, which will inform officers responding to potential swatting attempts targeted at the victim's address.


title: Swatting

text: Security reporter Brian Krebs recommends that police departments take extra care when responding to calls received at their non-emergency numbers, or through text-to-speech services (TTY), since these methods are often employed by out-of-area swatters who cannot connect to the regional 911 center.


title: Swatting

text: In September 2019, the Seattle Police Department formed the Swatting Mitigation Advisory Committee, a group of subject matter experts, both community and police representatives. The purpose of the committee is to better understand swatting by collecting and analyzing data, formalizing protocols, and advocating for broader awareness and prevention. The committee is currently co-chaired by Naveed Jamali and Sean Whitcomb, creator of the anti-swatting registry.


title: Swatting

text: In 2011, California State Senator Ted Lieu authored a bill to increase penalties for swatting. His own family became a victim of swatting when the bill was proposed. A dozen police officers, along with firefighters and paramedics surrounded his family home.


title: Swatting

text: In 2015, New Jersey State Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty announced a bill to increase sentences for hoax emergency calls, and was targeted by a hoax. The bill proposed prison sentences up to ten years and fines up to $150,000.


title: Swatting

text: A 2015 bipartisan bill in Congress sponsored by Katherine Clark and Patrick Meehan made swatting a federal crime with increased penalties. Congresswoman Clark wrote an op-ed in "The Hill" saying that 2.5 million cases of cyberstalking between 2010 and 2013 had only resulted in 10 cases prosecuted, although a source for this was not provided. As revenge for the bill, an anonymous caller fraudulently called police to Rep. Clark's house on January 31, 2016.


title: Swatting

text: On January 15, 2015, in Sentinel, Washita County, Oklahoma, dispatchers received 911 calls from someone who identified himself as Dallas Horton and told dispatchers he had placed a bomb in a local preschool. Washita County sheriff's deputies and Sentinel police chief Louis Ross made forced entry into Horton's residence. Ross, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot several times by Horton. Further investigation revealed that the calls did not originate from the residence, and led Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents to believe Horton was unaware that it was law enforcement officers making entry. James Edward Holly confessed to investigators that he made the calls with two "nonfunctioning" phones because he was angry with Horton. Ross, who was shot multiple times in the chest and arm, was injured, but was treated for his wounds, and released from a local hospital.


title: Swatting

text: On December 28, 2017, a Wichita police officer shot a civilian named Andrew Finch in Finch's Kansas residence in a swatting incident. Finch later died at a hospital. Based on a series of screenshotted Twitter posts, the "Wichita Eagle" suggests that Finch was the unintended victim of the swatting after two "" players on the same team got into a heated argument about a $1.50 (USD) bet. On December 29, 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 25-year-old serial swatter Tyler Raj Barriss, known online as "SWAuTistic" and on Xbox Live as "GoredTutor36," in connection with the incident. In 2018, Barriss was indicted by a federal grand jury along with two others involved in the incident. According to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister, the hoax charge carries a maximum punishment of life in federal prison while other charges carry sentences of up to 20 years. On March 29, 2019, Barriss was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. The gamer that recruited Barriss in the bet pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice, and was sentenced to prison for 15 months as well as a two-year ban on playing video games.


title: Swatting

text: On April 27, 2020, Mark Herring, a sixty-year-old man from Bethpage, Tennessee, died of a heart attack after police responded to false reports of a woman being killed at Herring's house. The swatting was organized in an attempt to force the man to give up his Twitter handle "@tennessee". Shane Sonderman was sentenced to five years in prison for the swatting, and ordered to pay a $250,000 USD fine. A minor in the United Kingdom was also involved, but he cannot be extradited or identified due to being underage.


title: Swatting

text: In 2013, a number of U.S. celebrities became the victims of swatting, including Sean Combs (P. Diddy). In the past, there have been swatting incidents at the residences of Ashton Kutcher, Tom Cruise, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea, Jason Derulo, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, and Clint Eastwood.


title: Swatting

text: In 2013, a network of fraudsters involved in carding and doxing of public officials using stolen credit reports targeted computer security expert Brian Krebs with malicious police reports. Mir Islam, the leader of the group, had also used swatting hoaxes against prosecutor Stephen P. Heymann, congressman Mike Rogers, and against a girl he was cyberstalking who turned down his romantic proposals. Islam was convicted for doxing and swatting over 50 public figures, including Michelle Obama, Robert Mueller, John Brennan as well as Krebs, and was sentenced to two years in prison. The Ukrainian computer hacker Sergey Vovnenko was convicted of trafficking in stolen credit cards, as well as planning to purchase heroin, ship it to Brian Krebs, and then swat him. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison in Italy, and 41 months in prison in New Jersey.


title: Swatting

text: In April 2013 California State Senator Ted Lieu, who at the time pushed for anti-swatting laws in the state, was swatted.


title: Swatting

text: Hal Finney, a paralyzed computer scientist with ALS, was swatted in 2014 after refusing to pay a $400,000 extortion fee. Finney faced cold, unsafe conditions on his lawn for a half hour while police were clearing his house. He continued receiving threats until his death in August 2014.


title: Swatting

text: Due to the popularity of streaming services, many broadcasters became the victim of swatting. Two weeks after the Fortnite World Cup Finals, where 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf won $3 million and the title of best solo Fortnite player, he was swatted while streaming live on Twitch. Ben "DrLupo" Lupo stated he was swatted three times in one month. Other popular gaming broadcasters have been victims of swatting, including Tyler "Ninja" Blevins.


title: Swatting

text: In July 2022, Emmet G. Sullivan, a U.S. federal judge presiding over cases pertaining to the January 6 United States Capitol attack, was the victim of a swatting incident.


title: Swatting

text: On August 5, 2022, Canadian transgender streamer and political commentator Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti was swatted at her home by unknown individuals who impersonated her, and sent a threatening email and photo of an illegal firearm to London city councillors. It is presumed this is due to a harassment campaign carried out by Kiwi Farms, dating back to March 21, 2022. Sorrenti claims she was repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed by London Police officers, and placed into custody for 11 hours before being released without charges. Sorrenti states she believes the incident to be a hate crime, as a result of prejudice and harassment towards transgender people due to anti-LGBTQ movements within the United States. The London Police Service responded with a statement from Chief of Police Steve Williams. He asserts that while he cannot confirm any language used before Sorrenti's arrest, she was not addressed by her deadname or previous gender while inside the agency's holding cells. He also states any reference to Sorrenti's deadname during the investigation seems to stem from the existence of prior police reports she had accumulated before this event. Three other streamers, Adin Ross, Nadia Amine, and IShowSpeed, were also swatted the same week as Sorrenti.


title: Swatting

text: In August 2022, U.S. representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was swatted in Georgia by a caller who allegedly opposed Greene's stances on transgender rights.


title: Anita Mui

text: Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered one of the most iconic Cantopop singers.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.


title: Anita Mui

text: In the 1980s, the gangtai style of music was revolutionised by Mui's wild dancing and on-stage femininity. She was famed for her outrageous costumes and high-powered performances in combination with contralto vocals, which are rare in female artists.


title: Anita Mui

text: Her fan base reached far beyond Hong Kong into many parts of Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, and other countries, as well. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry, where stars often rise and fall quickly, Mui remained in the spotlight for 21 years (1982–2003). Her career came to an abrupt end in 2003 when she announced she had cervical cancer. She died later that year at the age of 40. It was then understood that she had developed the disease due to a familial genetic disposition as her sister Ann had died of the same condition in 2000 at age 40 as well.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. She was born at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, She is the youngest daughter in a family of four children. She is the only child born in Hong Kong in her family, as her brothers and sister were born in China. Her mother Mui Tam Mei-kam was born at Xiguan in Guangzhou. She was a Chinese medicine practitioner, who opened Yuet Wah Chinese Medical Clinic, Wah Geong Chinese and Western Music College, and a music brand in Hong Kong. Her siblings are Mui Kai-Ming (1952–), Mui Tak-Ming (1953–2015) and Ann Mui (1959–2000), who was also a singer. The children were raised in a single parent family. Mui's father died when she was very young. In some of her interviews, Mui mentioned that she had little memory of her father and the family were very poor. This meant that she had to help provide for her siblings at an early age, dropping out of school at the age of 13 or 14. More hardship followed the family when the bar that her mother ran was destroyed by a fire. To earn a living, Mui entered show business around the age of four with her sister Ann. She performed Chinese operas and pop songs in theatres and on the streets. Both Mui and her elder sister Ann performed in practically any nightclub that offered them a chance to make a living.


title: Anita Mui

text: At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) that she had, her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords. Following the advice of the doctor, she took a year off and to keep herself occupied, she attended art lessons with her cousin. After a year, she started performing again despite the change in her vocal range, which lowered her voice by an octave.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1982, as encouraged by her sister, Mui competed in the first New Talent Singing Awards. There, Mui got a big break by emerging champion with the song "The Windy Season" (風的季節), originally sung by Paula Tsui, beating over 3,000 contestants. Despite her title as "new talent" at that time, she had already been a singer for more than 10 years from street and club performances during her childhood.


title: Anita Mui

text: As a reward for winning the New Talent contest at the time, Mui's first album was released with the local record company Capital Artists.


title: Anita Mui

text: Her debut album, "Debt Heart" (), drew a lukewarm response from the audience. However, her subsequent albums, "Red" () (1983) and "Leaping in the Spotlight" () (1984) fared much better, as she developed her personal style and image, with guidance and support from fashion designer Eddie Lau. In 1983 and 1984, she won the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs awards back to back.


title: Anita Mui

text: Her winning streak continued as she won another major award in 1985, her first top 10 Jade Solid Gold Best Female Singer award. Thereafter, she won the award every year until 1989. She was awarded the Gold Songs Gold Awards () in 1989 for the ballad "Song of the Sunset" (), which became one of her signature songs throughout her career.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 "Bad Girl" (), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In her career, she sold 10 million albums.


title: Anita Mui

text: In terms of live performances, in 1985, at the age of 21, her first concert was held lasting 15 nights (thus being one of the youngest singers to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum). Beginning in late 1987, a series of 28 consecutive concerts at the Coliseum was held through early 1988. This established a record at the time and dubbed Mui the title of "Ever Changing Anita Mui" (), which had become her trademark. Her popularity was also gaining prominence outside of Hong Kong, as she was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson as well as also performing her own solo with one of her hit songs of that year, "Blazing Red Lips (烈燄紅唇)". She performed in 300 concerts in her career. In 1995, Mui performed the song "Bad Girl" (a Cantonese cover of Sheena Easton's "Strut") in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1990, during her birthday celebration with her fan club, Mui announced that she would put an end to receiving music awards to give a chance to newcomers. She held farewell concerts for 33 consecutive nights before retiring from the stage. At the age of 28, she stepped down from the industry, only to return from retirement in 1994. Mui mentored several Hong Kong newcomer singers who have since become successful, most notably Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Edmond Leung, the band Grasshopper, and Patrick Tam.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1998, aged 35, she was awarded the RTHK Golden Needle Award, being one of the youngest recipients to receive the award as a lifetime achievement.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui was also well known as an actress across Asia, as she starred in more than 40 films over a 20-year period. Her films were mainly of the action-thriller and martial arts variety, but she had also taken comedic and dramatic roles.


title: Anita Mui

text: Her first acting award as a supporting actress was won at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in "Behind the Yellow Line" (1984) alongside fellow Cantopop icon Leslie Cheung. Three years later in 1987, her performance in Stanley Kwan's "Rouge", which also starred Cheung, won her the Best Actress Award at the Golden Horse Awards., as well as at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1989. In the same year, she starred alongside Chow Yun-fat in Tsui Hark's , which features her iconic ballad "Song of the Sunset". She also co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in the 1988 romantic comedy "The Greatest Lover".


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1990, she was cast in the titular role for "Kawashima Yoshiko", a biopic of the flamboyant cross-dressing spy Yoshiko Kawashima based on the novel by Lilian Lee, who also authored the original novel and screenplay for "Rouge". In 1992, she starred alongside comedy icon Stephen Chow in Justice, My Foot!, proving her calibre in the comedy genre. She also paired up with Stephen Chow in 1993 in Fight Back to School III. In the same year, she starred in "The Heroic Trio" with Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, and it proved to be one of her most popular action films. In 1994 and 1995, she found some international recognition by starring opposite Jackie Chan in "The Legend of Drunken Master" and "Rumble in the Bronx". In 1996, she starred in Who's the Woman, Who's the Man with Leslie Cheung and Anita Yuen in a gender-bending love triangle story.


title: Anita Mui

text: Later, in 1997, she also won another best supporting actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in "Eighteen Springs". In 2001, she starred in yet another Johnnie To comedy Wu Yen alongside Sammi Cheng and Cecilia Cheung as the lewd yet charming Emperor Qi. In 2002, she won Best Actress at the Changchun Film Festival Golden Deer Awards for Best Actress with her performance in "July Rhapsody", which she starred alongside Jackie Cheung.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui was originally cast in Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), but she resigned only two weeks before her death. Zhang had reserved her scenes to be shot last due to her poor health. Out of respect for Mui, Zhang did not cast another actress in the role and the character was removed from the screenplay. She received a dedication titled "In Memory of Anita Mui" () during the closing credits.


title: Anita Mui

text: Throughout her career, the tabloid magazines were unforgiving. Rumours relentlessly plagued Mui, who was accused of having tattoos on her arms and plastic surgery, and being addicted to drugs, suicidal and linked to the death of a triad leader in the 1980s and 1990s. Rumours of affairs with leading actors also circulated.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui attended a local Hong Kong rally publicly calling for democracy during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that reportedly drew in 1 million people, which led to the founding of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She also performed in the 1989 Hong Kong concert for Chinese Democracy and vowed never to perform again in Mainland China. According to the posthumous memoirs of democracy activist Szeto Wah, Mui lent significant financial and material support to Operation Yellowbird, to help activists flee from China after the Tiananmen protests.


title: Anita Mui

text: Mui was also actively involved in charitable projects throughout her career to give back to the community. After the Eastern China flood of 1991, she changed her political mind and took part with other Hong Kong stars in a Beijing concert to raise funds for victims of the catastrophe.


title: Anita Mui

text: The Tibetan red-crown Shamarpa (Of Kagyudpa Lineage) once said "She had a true heart. She was an unconventional woman and brought happiness to lots of people during her life." Her establishment of a nursing home in San Francisco, prompted the mayor of the city in 1992 to name 18 April as "Anita Mui Day". In 1993, she established the "Anita Mui True Heart Charity Foundation" (). That same year, she was also one of the founders of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. The Canadian city of Toronto declared 23 October 1993 to be "Anita Mui Day".


title: Anita Mui

text: During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, she initiated a fundraising concert titled the to raise money for SARS-affected families, which attracted famous fellow celebrities such as Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was also awarded the "Fighting Against SARS Award" from RTHK and the newspaper "Ming Pao". In 2003, she wrote and published the book "The Heart of the Modern Woman" (). Profits from the book went to the Children's Cancer Foundation.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1990, Mui began dating Benjamin Lam Kwok-bun, who was a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The relationship ended three years later. Despite rumours of her dating several men, Mui remained single for the rest of her life.


title: Anita Mui

text: On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death.


title: Anita Mui

text: Her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song "Sunset Melody" () as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was "Cherish When We Meet Again" (), a rendition of The Manhattans' "Let's Just Kiss And Say Goodbye" on 15 November 2003, where she was accompanied by her friends on stage. She eventually succumbed to cervical cancer and died of respiratory complications leading to lung failure at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 30 December 2003 at 2:50 am Hong Kong Time. She was 40 years old. Thousands of fans turned out for her funeral at North Point in January 2004. Mui was cremated and her ashes are interred at the Po Lin Monastery's mausoleum on Lantau Island.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 1998, an ATV-produced television series "Forever Love Song" told a story of a character which was loosely based on that of Mui, but the character names were purposely changed. In 2007, a television series was produced in China titled "Anita Mui Fei" () to tell the story of her life. The 42-episode series was broadcast by China Education Television. Some subjects, such as her suffering from cancer, Leslie Cheung's suicide and her mother's real estate dilemma, were avoided. Alice Chan portrayed Mui in the series.


title: Anita Mui

text: On 23 September 2004, the Anita Mui True Heart Digital Multimedia Studio was opened at the University of Hong Kong. It included state-of-the-art equipment for digital audio and video editing. In Causeway Bay, an Anita Mui-themed cafe called Happiness Moon () is also dedicated to her legacy.


title: Anita Mui

text: On 11 October 2008, a show on TVB, titled "Our Anita Mui" (), was dedicated to Mui. Many fans and off-stage personnel who worked with her had a chance to talk about their personal experiences with Mui. Singers who participated in the show included Andy Hui, Edmond Leung, and Stephanie Cheng.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 2019, she was the subject of the film "Dearest Anita". The film centered around individuals whose lives had been shaped by her work, including her fans and beneficiaries of her philanthropic work.


title: Anita Mui

text: In 2021, she was portrayed in the biopic "Anita" (), directed by Longman Leung. She was played by the Hong Kong model Louise Wong.


title: Anita Mui

text: In her will, Mui bequeathed two properties to her fashion designer, Eddie Lau, and the remainder to the Karen Trust – a trust she had set up and looked after by HSBC International Trustees. Its beneficiaries included her mother, , and four nieces and nephews. The Karen Trust provided Tam with a life tenancy of HK$70,000 per month; upon Tam's death, the estate would go to the New Horizon Buddhist Association ().


title: Anita Mui

text: In 2005, Tam received a HK$705,000 lump-sum payment from the trust in May. She applied for and obtained a hardship grant to pay for medical expenditure of $50,000 in December; her application for funds from the estate to challenge the will was denied. In 2008, Mui's estate was estimated to be worth HK$100 million. Tam Mei-kam contested the will, arguing that Mui was mentally unfit when she executed her will in 2003, weeks before her death. The High Court ruled that Mui was of sound mind when she signed the will, and that she simply did not trust her mother with money.


title: Anita Mui

text: Over the years, Tam mounted several legal challenges to the will, and succeeded in having the life tenancy varied to HK$120,000. Tam was reportedly owing $2 million in legal costs in 2011. A fresh appeal by Tam and Mui's elder brother Peter Mui Kai-ming failed at the Court of Final Appeal in May 2011.


title: Anita Mui

text: After that challenge, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong declared Tam bankrupt on 25 April 2012 for failing to pay legal fees, whilst allowing her to continue receiving her monthly allowance. In January 2013, the court ruled that the monthly tenancy of HK$120,000 to Tam, suspended since the previous July, would continue to be frozen due to mounting debts of the estate. Her brother was declared bankrupt on 17 January 2013 for failing to pay legal fees relating to the appeals. In May 2013, the court ordered the estate to pay Tam HK$20,000 a month for her living costs, as well as $240,000 to settle her overdue rent.


title: Anita Mui

text: Usually, English translations of Chinese titles from AnitaMuiNet.com are used. However, some English titles are different from the website, and some other albums are romanised in case accurate translation may not be possible.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Melissa Margaret Peterman is an American actress and comedian. She has played the role of Barbra Jean in the television comedy series "Reba", appeared as Bonnie Wheeler in the ABC Family/Freeform series "Baby Daddy", and was host of ABC Family's "Dancing Fools", ABC's "Bet on Your Baby", and CMT's "The Singing Bee". Since 2017, she has played Brenda Sparks in "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff series "Young Sheldon". Since August 2022, she is the host of the television game show "Person, Place, or Thing" on the Fox network.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Peterman was born in Edina, Minnesota and grew up in nearby Burnsville, Minnesota. After graduating from Burnsville High School, she attended Minnesota State University, Mankato where she majored in theater.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Upon graduating from Minnesota State, Peterman was cast as Madeline Monroe in Hey City Theater's production of "Tony n' Tina's Wedding". After more than 600 performances, she went on to write and perform at Brave New Workshop, the improvisational comedy theatre in Minneapolis. The theater boasts such alumni as Pat Proft, Louie Anderson, Cedric Yarbrough, Mo Collins, and Al Franken. While with the Brave New Workshop, she also performed at the Chicago Improv Festival and the Big Stink Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 1996, Peterman made her film debut as "Hooker #2" in the Oscar-winning Coen brothers' movie "Fargo".


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2001, Peterman was cast as Barbra Jean Booker-Hart in "Reba" opposite country music star Reba McEntire and television veteran Christopher Rich. The show was the most-watched comedy on The WB in its debut season. In 2007, the show ended its run after six seasons. Episodes continue to air in syndication on multiple networks.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: During this time, Peterman also returned to film with "Recipe for Disaster" alongside Lesley Ann Warren and John Larroquette. She also made appearances in "How High" and the unreleased independent film "Cook-Off". Peterman remained loyal to her comic roots, too, as the host of "15 Minutes of Fem", a comedy showcase for women presented at the Egyptian Theatre. On television, she appeared in the Oxygen sketch comedy show "Running with Scissors" and guest-starred on "Just Shoot Me!" and "The Pitts". She also portrayed an unstable guidance counselor, Mrs. Splitz, on "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide".


title: Melissa Peterman

text: During her summer hiatus from "Reba", Peterman hosted "The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long", reprising her hosting gig the previous summer's "The Wizard of Oz Sing-a-Long", at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Peterman also made appearances on the "World Cup Comedy Challenge" television series, as well as on the celebrity edition of "Trading Spaces", with her "Reba" co-star Christopher Rich.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In October, ABC announced Peterman had been cast in an untitled comedy pilot starring Cedric the Entertainer. The show was taped before an audience on October 30, 2007. In December, the network announced they had secured the actors, indicating they were interested in the project. During the annual upfront presentation on May 13, 2008, ABC confirmed they did not order the pilot to series.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2007, Peterman appeared as the opening act on country singer and former "Reba" co-star Reba McEntire's tour. Peterman returned the following year when McEntire toured with Kelly Clarkson. She was also the opening act for the second leg of the tour in 2008.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2007, Peterman hosted "Comedy Stage" for CMT. The series finished its run after eight episodes. The next year, she hosted a special, "Redneck Dreams", for the network. Also in 2008, she was in two episodes of "Wanna Bet?" as a celebrity panelist. Peterman also appeared in an episode of animated comedy


title: Melissa Peterman

text: "American Dad!". She announced she was shooting another comedy, this time for FOX, titled "Living With Abandon". The pilot was not ordered to series.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2009, she landed the hosting gig for "The Singing Bee". The show had been cancelled by NBC, and CMT expressed interest in reviving the competition. Also in 2009, Peterman appeared in "Rita Rocks" on Lifetime, and in "Surviving Suburbia" on ABC. She starred opposite Gary Valentine in "Dusty Peacock", an online comedy series on Crackle.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In February 2010, Big Machine Records announced that they signed Peterman to a recording contract, and she was to release her debut comedy album that year. The album has been recorded, but has not yet been released. Peterman is no longer listed on the record label website. Her debut comedy special, "Melissa Peterman: Am I The Only One?", premiered March 12, 2010 on CMT. The special was taped before an audience in Nashville, Tennessee. Also that year, Peterman hosted the CMT Music Awards red carpet.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Peterman had revealed, in 2010, she was starring in another pilot. The family sitcom, titled "Working Class", was the first original scripted comedy for the CMT network. Peterman starred alongside comedy veteran Ed Asner and renowned television actor Patrick Fabian. The series debut was the most-watched and highest-rated in network history. The series was canceled after one season.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2012, Peterman announced she was appearing in an upcoming ABC Family sitcom, "Baby Daddy". In March, the network announced Peterman, originally only appearing in one episode, had been upgraded to series regular. The network also revealed the pilot was the highest-testing comedy pilot in network history. "Baby Daddy" finished its season as the highest-rated comedy in key demographics. The show has been renewed for a second season, returning Wednesday, May 29. The show ended on May 22, 2017, after six seasons.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In January 2013, ABC ordered "Bet On Your Baby" and announced Peterman was the host. The competition series debuts Saturday, April 6. In February 2013, ABC Family announced Peterman was also the host of another upcoming competition, "Dancing Fools". The series debuts Wednesday, May 29, immediately following "Baby Daddy".


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Since 2017, Peterman has played Brenda Sparks, a recurring character on the Fox Network show, "Young Sheldon". Originally married to Herschel Sparks (Billy Gardell) in seasons 1 and 2, Peterman's character becomes the divorced and single mom next door neighbor to the Cooper family in season 4 and is at times a friend and nemesis to Mary Cooper, played by Zoe Perry. In seasons 4 and 5, Brenda Sparks and George Cooper (Lance Barber) experience a closer relationship that culminates at the end season 5 with Brenda propositioning George.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Beginning in 2019, Peterman hosted the comedy game show "Punch Line," where two teams of comedians try to supply punchlines to various headlines. She has also been a recurring guest star on the syndicated game show "25 Words or Less."


title: Melissa Peterman

text: In 2020, Peterman began co-hosting with her former "Reba" co-star Reba McEntire on a new podcast titled "Living & Learning."


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Beginning in August 2022, Peterman is host of TV game show "Person, Place, or Thing" on the Fox network.


title: Melissa Peterman

text: Peterman works with The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, a non-profit organization helping at-risk youth in the Los Angeles area. She has a son.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Alka Yagnik (born 20 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in the media as one of the most prominent and successful playback singers in Bollywood. In her career spanning over four decades she has recorded over 8000 songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of thirty-six nominations.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik is one of the most prolific female playback singers, and has sung a large number of female solos in her Bollywood career. In her career spanning over four decades she has sung songs for more than thousand films and recorded over twenty thousand songs in different Indian languages. Twenty of her tracks feature in BBC's list of top forty Bollywood soundtracks of all-time. She is ranked No.1 on the YouTube's Music Charts & Insights list of top global artists as of February 2022. She has been on the chart for 283 weeks with 300 million views.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik was born in Kolkata on 20 March 1966 to a Gujarati family. Her father's name is Dharmendra Shankar. Her mother Shubha was a singer of Indian classical music. In 1972 at age six, she started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta. At age 10, her mother brought her to Mumbai as a child singer. She was advised to wait until her voice matured, but her mother remained determined. On a subsequent visit, Yagnik got a letter of introduction to Raj Kapoor from his Kolkata distributor. Kapoor heard the girl and sent her with a letter to noted music director Laxmikant. Impressed, Laxmikant gave her two alternatives – an immediate start as a dubbing artist or a later break as a singer; Shubha chose the latter for her daughter. Yagnik mentioned that she was a bright student but didn't like studies.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: A classically trained Yagnik began singing "bhajans" for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta at the age of six. Her first song was for the film "Payal Ki Jhankaar" in (1980). This was followed by "Laawaris" (1981) with the song "Mere Angane Mein", followed by the film "Hamari Bahu Alka" (1982). She got her big break with the song "Ek Do Teen" from the film "Tezaab" (1988). She has said that she had a high fever on the day she recorded "Ek Do Teen". The song won her the first out of seven Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. Besides Hindi, she has sung in more than twenty-five languages, besides singing 15 Pakistani songs. including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Manipuri, Odia, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Tamil and Telugu. She has also performed in live concerts around the world. In an interview with Mid-Day, Yagnik told that she records five songs daily during her time.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: In 1993, Yagnik sang a seductive song "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai" with Ila Arun. The song created controversy because of the lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. She got a second Filmfare award for the song, which she shared with Ila Arun.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: In 1994, she sang another seductive song "Din Mein Leti Hai" from the film Amanaat with co-singer Kumar Sanu and Ila Arun, composed by Bappi Lahiri and lyrics by Anwar Sagar. Besides the duet version, she also sang the female version of the song with Ila Arun. She has performed several shows with Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Throughout the 90s Yagnik along with Kavita Krishnamurthy and Poornima were singing most of the songs for heroines.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik worked on private albums like "Tum Yaad Aaye" in 1997 in close collaboration with award-winning lyricist Javed Akhtar and composer Raju Singh, "Tum Aaye" in 2002 with Javed Akhtar and singer Hariharan and "Shairana" in 2003 with Javed Akhtar and singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan. She has also performed the Hanuman Chalisa and various devotional songs. Her song "Chamma Chamma" from "China Gate" was featured in the song "Hindi Sad Diamonds" from the soundtrack of the film "Moulin Rouge!".


title: Alka Yagnik

text: In 2012 she along with Sonu Nigam sang a song 'Shiksha Ka Suraj' as part of the National Literacy Mission of India for which she was felicitated by Union Minister For Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal. Also in 2012, on the occasion of 100 years of Hindi Cinema, her song "Taal Se Taal Mila" from the movie "Taal" was voted as the best song of the century in a poll conducted by DesiMartini, Hindustan Times and Fever 104. Also, her song "Choli Ke Peeche" from the movie Khalnayak was voted as the hottest song of the century in a poll conducted by Sanona.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik has also been involved in various projects to empower girls. In 2014, Yagnik again teamed up with Sonu Nigam to sing the song "Phool Khil Jayenge" for child health awareness. She also sang a song titled "Maine Li Jo Angdai" for the album "Women's Day Special: Spreading Melodies Everywhere". It was composed by Farid Sabri, Harish Chauhan, and Gurudatt Sahil; and penned by Sudhakar Sharma.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: In 2015, she sung 'Agar Tum Saath Ho' for which she informed that the music director of the song, A.R. Rahman wasn't present in the studio but he was giving instructions on Skype video call and after giving some instructions, he gave power to Yagnik to do any of own style of singing in the song 'Agar Tum Saath Ho'.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik shares the title for the greatest number of Filmfare Awards with Asha Bhosle (seven) by a female playback singer. She has sung 2,486 Hindi songs in 1,114 films. She is the fifth most prolific Bollywood singer of all time after Asha Bhosle (7886 songs), Mohammed Rafi (7405 songs), Lata Mangeshkar (5596 songs) and Kishore Kumar (2,707 songs). She is the third topmost female playback singer after Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle who has sung the maximum number of female solos in her Bollywood career.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik credits her mother as her first guru, who began singing at the age of four. Besides her mother, Alka learned singing from Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Although she has sung many genres of songs but according to Alka, her voice suits the romantic genre best. Alka has acknowledged veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar as her inspiration, She has sung romantic, sad, peppy, seductive and item number songs.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik has sung more than 9000 songs in over 300 films. Most of her duets were with Kumar Sanu, followed by Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam. She sang maximum numbers of romantic songs with Kumar Sanu and flamboyant numbers of songs with Udit Narayan and she is known with Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan, as the trinity of 90s playback singing.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik is cited as "the queen of playback singing". On Mother's Day 12 May 2019, Alka became the most-streamed Indian artist-mom on Spotify. "The Times of India" cited her as 'honey-voiced singer'. "Hindustan Times" mentioned her as "magical voice". "Mid-Day" included her in the list of notable 90s playback singers. One of the most well known and leading contemporary singer Sunidhi Chauhan once said that she can't even dream of getting where Lataji, Ashaji and Alkaji (Alka Yagnik) have reached.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik married Shillong-based businessman Neeraj Kapoor in 1989, with whom she has a daughter named Syesha.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: She also appeared in "Star Voice of India" as a judge. She appears as a guest with Udit Narayan in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs.


title: Alka Yagnik

text: Yagnik has won several accolades including two National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her songs: "Ghoongat Ki Aad Se" from "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke" (1993) and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" from "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" (1998). She has won a record seven Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her songs: "Ek Do Teen" from "Tezaab" (1988), "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai" from "Khalnayak" (1993), "Zara Tasveer Se Tu" from "Pardes" (1998), "Taal Se Taal" from "Taal" (2000), "Dil Ne Yeh Kaha Hai Dil Se" from "Dhadkan" (2001), "O Re Chhori" from "Lagaan" (2002) and "Hum Tum" from "Hum Tum" (2005) from a record thirty-six nominations. Additionally she has won two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. For her contribution in the field of music, Yagnik was bestowed with the Lata Mangeshkar Award in 2017.


title: Alpha particle

text: Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay, but may also be produced in other ways. Alpha particles are named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet, α. The symbol for the alpha particle is α or α. Because they are identical to helium nuclei, they are also sometimes written as or indicating a helium ion with a +2 charge (missing its two electrons). Once the ion gains electrons from its environment, the alpha particle becomes a normal (electrically neutral) helium atom .


title: Alpha particle

text: Alpha particles have a net spin of zero. Due to the mechanism of their production in standard alpha radioactive decay, alpha particles generally have a kinetic energy of about 5 MeV, and a velocity in the vicinity of 4% of the speed of light. (See discussion below for the limits of these figures in alpha decay.) They are a highly ionizing form of particle radiation, and (when resulting from radioactive alpha decay) usually have low penetration depth (stopped by a few centimeters of air, or by the skin).


title: Alpha particle

text: However, so-called long range alpha particles from ternary fission are three times as energetic, and penetrate three times as far. The helium nuclei that form 10–12% of cosmic rays are also usually of much higher energy than those produced by nuclear decay processes, and thus may be highly penetrating and able to traverse the human body and also many meters of dense solid shielding, depending on their energy. To a lesser extent, this is also true of very high-energy helium nuclei produced by particle accelerators.


title: Alpha particle

text: Some science authors use "doubly ionized helium nuclei" () and "alpha particles" as interchangeable terms. The nomenclature is not well defined, and thus not all high-velocity helium nuclei are considered by all authors to be alpha particles. As with beta and gamma particles/rays, the name used for the particle carries some mild connotations about its production process and energy, but these are not rigorously applied. Thus, alpha particles may be loosely used as a term when referring to stellar helium nuclei reactions (for example the alpha processes), and even when they occur as components of cosmic rays. A higher energy version of alphas than produced in alpha decay is a common product of an uncommon nuclear fission result called ternary fission. However, helium nuclei produced by particle accelerators (cyclotrons, synchrotrons, and the like) are less likely to be referred to as "alpha particles".


title: Alpha particle

text: The best-known source of alpha particles is alpha decay of heavier (> 106 u atomic weight) atoms. When an atom emits an alpha particle in alpha decay, the atom's mass number decreases by four due to the loss of the four nucleons in the alpha particle. The atomic number of the atom goes down by two, as a result of the loss of two protons – the atom becomes a new element. Examples of this sort of nuclear transmutation by alpha decay are the decay of uranium to thorium, and that of radium to radon.


title: Alpha particle

text: Alpha particles are commonly emitted by all of the larger radioactive nuclei such as uranium, thorium, actinium, and radium, as well as the transuranic elements. Unlike other types of decay, alpha decay as a process must have a minimum-size atomic nucleus that can support it. The smallest nuclei that have to date been found to be capable of alpha emission are beryllium-8 and the lightest nuclides of tellurium (element 52), with mass numbers between 104 and 109. The alpha decay sometimes leaves the nucleus in an excited state; the emission of a gamma ray then removes the excess energy.


title: Alpha particle

text: In contrast to beta decay, the fundamental interactions responsible for alpha decay are a balance between the electromagnetic force and nuclear force. Alpha decay results from the Coulomb repulsion between the alpha particle and the rest of the nucleus, which both have a positive electric charge, but which is kept in check by the nuclear force. In classical physics, alpha particles do not have enough energy to escape the potential well from the strong force inside the nucleus (this well involves escaping the strong force to go up one side of the well, which is followed by the electromagnetic force causing a repulsive push-off down the other side).


title: Alpha particle

text: However, the quantum tunnelling effect allows alphas to escape even though they do not have enough energy to overcome the nuclear force. This is allowed by the wave nature of matter, which allows the alpha particle to spend some of its time in a region so far from the nucleus that the potential from the repulsive electromagnetic force has fully compensated for the attraction of the nuclear force. From this point, alpha particles can escape.


title: Alpha particle

text: Especially energetic alpha particles deriving from a nuclear process are produced in the relatively rare (one in a few hundred) nuclear fission process of ternary fission. In this process, three charged particles are produced from the event instead of the normal two, with the smallest of the charged particles most probably (90% probability) being an alpha particle. Such alpha particles are termed "long range alphas" since at their typical energy of 16 MeV, they are at far higher energy than is ever produced by alpha decay. Ternary fission happens in both neutron-induced fission (the nuclear reaction that happens in a nuclear reactor), and also when fissionable and fissile actinides nuclides (i.e., heavy atoms capable of fission) undergo spontaneous fission as a form of radioactive decay. In both induced and spontaneous fission, the higher energies available in heavy nuclei result in long range alphas of higher energy than those from alpha decay.


title: Alpha particle

text: Energetic helium nuclei (helium ions) may be produced by cyclotrons, synchrotrons, and other particle accelerators. Convention is that they are not normally referred to as "alpha particles."


title: Alpha particle

text: Helium nuclei may participate in nuclear reactions in stars, and occasionally and historically these have been referred to as alpha reactions (see for example triple-alpha process).


title: Alpha particle

text: In addition, extremely high energy helium nuclei sometimes referred to as alpha particles make up about 10 to 12% of cosmic rays. The mechanisms of cosmic ray production continue to be debated.


title: Alpha particle

text: The energy of the alpha particle emitted in alpha decay is mildly dependent on the half-life for the emission process, with many orders of magnitude differences in half-life being associated with energy changes of less than 50%, shown by the Geiger–Nuttall law.


title: Alpha particle

text: The energy of alpha particles emitted varies, with higher energy alpha particles being emitted from larger nuclei, but most alpha particles have energies of between 3 and 7 MeV (mega-electron-volts), corresponding to extremely long and extremely short half-lives of alpha-emitting nuclides, respectively. The energies and ratios are often distinct and can be used to identify specific nuclides as in alpha spectrometry.


title: Alpha particle

text: With a typical kinetic energy of 5 MeV; the speed of emitted alpha particles is 15,000 km/s, which is 5% of the speed of light. This energy is a substantial amount of energy for a single particle, but their high mass means alpha particles have a lower speed than any other common type of radiation, e.g. β particles, neutrons.


title: Alpha particle

text: Because of their charge and large mass, alpha particles are easily absorbed by materials, and they can travel only a few centimetres in air. They can be absorbed by tissue paper or by the outer layers of human skin. They typically penetrate skin about 40 micrometres, equivalent to a few cells deep.


title: Alpha particle

text: Due to the short range of absorption and inability to penetrate the outer layers of skin, alpha particles are not, in general, dangerous to life unless the source is ingested or inhaled. Because of this high mass and strong absorption, if alpha-emitting radionuclides do enter the body (upon being inhaled, ingested, or injected, as with the use of Thorotrast for high-quality X-ray images prior to the 1950s), alpha radiation is the most destructive form of ionizing radiation. It is the most strongly ionizing, and with large enough doses can cause any or all of the symptoms of radiation poisoning. It is estimated that chromosome damage from alpha particles is anywhere from 10 to 1000 times greater than that caused by an equivalent amount of gamma or beta radiation, with the average being set at 20 times. A study of European nuclear workers exposed internally to alpha radiation from plutonium and uranium found that when relative biological effectiveness is considered to be 20, the carcinogenic potential (in terms of lung cancer) of alpha radiation appears to be consistent with that reported for doses of external gamma radiation i.e. a given dose of alpha-particles inhaled presents the same risk as a 20-times higher dose of gamma radiation. The powerful alpha emitter polonium-210 (a milligram of Po emits as many alpha particles per second as 4.215 grams of Ra) is suspected of playing a role in lung cancer and bladder cancer related to tobacco smoking. Po was used to kill Russian dissident and ex-FSB officer Alexander V. Litvinenko in 2006.


title: Alpha particle

text: When alpha particle emitting isotopes are ingested, they are far more dangerous than their half-life or decay rate would suggest, due to the high relative biological effectiveness of alpha radiation to cause biological damage. Alpha radiation is an average of about 20 times more dangerous, and in experiments with inhaled alpha emitters, up to 1000 times more dangerous than an equivalent activity of beta emitting or gamma emitting radioisotopes.


title: Alpha particle

text: In 1899, physicists Ernest Rutherford (working in McGill University in Montreal, Canada) and Paul Villard (working in Paris) separated radiation into three types: eventually named alpha, beta, and gamma by Rutherford, based on penetration of objects and deflection by a magnetic field. Alpha rays were defined by Rutherford as those having the lowest penetration of ordinary objects.


title: Alpha particle

text: Rutherford's work also included measurements of the ratio of an alpha particle's mass to its charge, which led him to the hypothesis that alpha particles were doubly charged helium ions (later shown to be bare helium nuclei). In 1907, Ernest Rutherford and Thomas Royds finally proved that alpha particles were indeed helium ions. To do this they allowed alpha particles to penetrate a very thin glass wall of an evacuated tube, thus capturing a large number of the hypothesized helium ions inside the tube. They then caused an electric spark inside the tube. Subsequent study of the spectra of the resulting gas showed that it was helium and that the alpha particles were indeed the hypothesized helium ions.


title: Alpha particle

text: Because alpha particles occur naturally, but can have energy high enough to participate in a nuclear reaction, study of them led to much early knowledge of nuclear physics. Rutherford used alpha particles emitted by radium bromide to infer that J. J. Thomson's Plum pudding model of the atom was fundamentally flawed. In Rutherford's gold foil experiment conducted by his students Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, a narrow beam of alpha particles was established, passing through very thin (a few hundred atoms thick) gold foil. The alpha particles were detected by a zinc sulfide screen, which emits a flash of light upon an alpha particle collision. Rutherford hypothesized that, assuming the "plum pudding" model of the atom was correct, the positively charged alpha particles would be only slightly deflected, if at all, by the dispersed positive charge predicted.


title: Alpha particle

text: It was found that some of the alpha particles were deflected at much larger angles than expected (at a suggestion by Rutherford to check it) and some even bounced almost directly back. Although most of the alpha particles went straight through as expected, Rutherford commented that the few particles that were deflected was akin to shooting a fifteen-inch shell at tissue paper only to have it bounce off, again assuming the "plum pudding" theory was correct. It was determined that the atom's positive charge was concentrated in a small area in its center, making the positive charge dense enough to deflect any positively charged alpha particles that came close to what was later termed the nucleus.


title: Alpha particle

text: Prior to this discovery, it was not known that alpha particles were themselves atomic nuclei, nor was the existence of protons or neutrons known. After this discovery, J.J. Thomson's "plum pudding" model was abandoned, and Rutherford's experiment led to the Bohr model and later the modern wave-mechanical model of the atom.


title: Alpha particle

text: In 1917, Rutherford went on to use alpha particles to accidentally produce what he later understood as a directed nuclear transmutation of one element to another. Transmutation of elements from one to another had been understood since 1901 as a result of natural radioactive decay, but when Rutherford projected alpha particles from alpha decay into air, he discovered this produced a new type of radiation which proved to be hydrogen nuclei (Rutherford named these protons). Further experimentation showed the protons to be coming from the nitrogen component of air, and the reaction was deduced to be a transmutation of nitrogen into oxygen in the reaction


title: Alpha particle

text: To the adjacent pictures: According to the energy-loss curve by Bragg, it is recognizable that the alpha particle indeed loses more energy on the end of the trace.


title: Alpha particle

text: In 2011, members of the international STAR collaboration using the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory detected the antimatter partner of the helium nucleus, also known as the anti-alpha. The experiment used gold ions moving at nearly the speed of light and colliding head on to produce the antiparticle.


title: Alpha particle

text: Alpha-emitting radionuclides are presently being used in three different ways to eradicate cancerous tumors: as an infusible radioactive treatment targeted to specific tissues (Radium-223), as a source of radiation inserted directly into solid tumors (Radium-224), and as an attachment to an tumor-targeting molecule, such as an antibody to a tumor-associated antigen.


title: Alpha particle

text: In computer technology, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) "soft errors" were linked to alpha particles in 1978 in Intel's DRAM chips. The discovery led to strict control of radioactive elements in the packaging of semiconductor materials, and the problem is largely considered to be solved.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police drama television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons (122 episodes) on NBC from January 31, 1993, to May 21, 1999, and was succeeded by "" (2000), which served as the series finale. The series was created by Paul Attanasio and based on David Simon's book "" (1991). Many of the characters and stories used throughout the show were based on events depicted in the book.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: While "Homicide" featured an ensemble cast, Andre Braugher emerged as a breakout star through his portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton. The show won Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also became the first drama ever to win three Peabody Awards for drama in 1993, 1995, and 1997. It received recognition from the Primetime Emmy Awards, Satellite Awards, Image Awards, Viewers for Quality Television, GLAAD Media Awards and Young Artist Awards. In 1997, the fifth season episode "" was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: In 2007, it was listed as one of "TIME" magazine's "Best TV Shows of All-"TIME"." In 1996, "TV Guide" named the series 'The Best Show You're Not Watching'. The show placed #46 on "Entertainment Weekly" "New TV Classics" list. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #55 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: "Homicide: Life on the Street" was adapted from "", a non-fiction book by "Baltimore Sun" reporter David Simon, based on his experience following a Baltimore Police Department homicide unit for all of 1988. Simon, who became a consultant and producer with the series, said he was particularly interested in the demythification of the American detective. While detectives are typically portrayed as noble characters who care deeply about their victims, Simon believed real detectives regarded violence as a normal aspect of their jobs.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: Simon sent the book to film director and Baltimore native Barry Levinson with the hopes that it would be adapted into a film, but Levinson thought it would be more appropriate material for television because the stories and characters could be developed over a longer period of time. Levinson believed that a television adaptation would bring a fresh and original edge to the police drama genre because the book exploded many of the myths of the police drama genre by highlighting that cops did not always get along with each other, and that criminals occasionally got away with their crimes.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: Levinson approached screenwriter Paul Attanasio with the material, and "Homicide" became Attanasio's first foray into television writing. Subsequently, all episodes of "Homicide" display the credit, "Created by Paul Attanasio" at the end of their opening sequence, a credit which both Eric Overmyer and James Yoshimura dispute on the DVD audio commentary to the season 5 episode, "The Documentary", claiming instead the show was created by Tom Fontana and Yoshimura. The series title was originally "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets", but NBC changed it so that viewers would not believe it was limited to a single year; the network also believed the use of the term "life" would be more reaffirming than the term "killing streets". Levinson was indifferent to the change, asserting that viewers would probably casually refer to the series as "Homicide" in either case. The opening theme music was composed by Baltimore native Lynn F. Kowal, a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: "Homicide"'s purpose was to provide its viewers with a no-nonsense, police procedural-type glimpse into the lives of a squad of inner-city detectives. As opposed to many television shows and movies involving cops, "Homicide" initially opted for a bleak sort of realism in its depiction of "The Job", portraying it as repetitive, spiritually draining, an existential threat to one's psyche, often glamour- and glory-free—but, nonetheless, a social necessity. In its attempt to do so, "Homicide" developed a trademark feel and look that distinguished itself from its contemporaries. For example, the series was filmed with hand-held 16 mm cameras almost entirely on-location in Baltimore (making the idiosyncratic city something of a character itself). It also regularly used music montages, jump cut editing, and the three-times-in-a-row repetition of the same camera shot during particularly crucial moments in the story. The episodes were also noted for interweaving as many as three or four storylines in a single episode. NBC executives often asked the writers to focus on a single homicide case rather than multiple ones, but the show producers tended to resist this advice.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: Despite premiering in the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot, the show opened to lackluster ratings, and cancellation was an immediate threat. However, the show's winning of two Emmy Awards (for Levinson's direction of "Gone for Goode" and Fontana's writing of "Three Men and Adena") and the success of another police drama—the more sensational "NYPD Blue"—helped convince NBC to give it another chance beyond the truncated, nine-episode-long first season. "Homicide" consistently ranked behind ABC's "20/20" and CBS's "Nash Bridges" in the Nielsen ratings. Despite the poor ratings, reviews were consistently strong from the beginning of the series. Commentators were especially impressed with the high number of strong, complex, well-developed and non-stereotypical African American characters like Pembleton, Lewis and Giardello.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: The police department scenes were shot at the historic City Recreation Pier in the Fells Point neighborhood in Baltimore. Although NBC occasionally pressured the show's producers to write happy endings to the homicide cases, the network gave an unusual amount of freedom for the writers to create darker stories and non-traditional detective story elements, like unsolved cases where criminals escape. Nevertheless, in its attempt to improve "Homicide"'s ratings, NBC often insisted on changes, both cosmetic and thematic. For example, by the beginning of the third season, talented but unphotogenic veteran actor Jon Polito had been ordered dropped from the cast.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: Considered by critics to be one of television's most authentic police dramas, as well as an excellent dramatic series propelled by a talented ensemble cast, "Homicide" garnered three straight TCA (Television Critics Association) Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama from 1996 to 1998 and was the first drama ever to win three of the prestigious Peabody Awards for best drama (1993, 1995, 1997).


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: The show was originally a production of Baltimore Pictures in association with Thames Television's subsidiary studio Reeves Entertainment, an American studio. Inbetween the first and second season, Reeves had closed due to Pearson plc's acquisition of their parent company Thames, and the latter's requirement of either spinning off the studio or transferring their existing properties still in production which included "Home" in late 1993. After the four-episode second season had aired, NBC negotiated with Thames and MCEG Sterling Entertainment, who oversaw and held interest on the Homicide property on behalf of Thames, on the show's renewal for an order for a third season alongside taking over co-ownership, co-production duties, and copyright, though Pearson (whose television division and library is now owned by Fremantle) continued to hold international distribution rights outside of North America.


title: Homicide: Life on the Street

text: The reality of "Homicide"'s low Nielsen ratings hovered over all things, however, and always left the show in a precarious position; it also had a harder time gaining a large audience because fewer viewers are at home watching TV on Friday nights. Despite this, the network managed to keep what "TV Guide" referred to as "The Best Show You're Not Watching" on the air for five full seasons and seven seasons in all. In July 1997, NBC gave the series producers an ultimatum to make "Homicide" more popular than "Nash Bridges" or face cancellation. When this goal was not reached, the studio gave serious consideration to canceling the show, but a number of shocks at NBC increased "Homicide"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s value. Among those factors were the loss of the popular series "Seinfeld" and the $850 million deal needed to keep "ER" from leaving the network.