title: Composite number

text: For example, the integer 14 is a composite number because it is the product of the two smaller integers 2 × 7. Likewise, the integers 2 and 3 are not composite numbers because each of them can only be divided by one and itself.


title: Composite number

text: Every composite number can be written as the product of two or more (not necessarily distinct) primes. For example, the composite number 299 can be written as 13 × 23, and the composite number 360 can be written as 2 × 3 × 5; furthermore, this representation is unique up to the order of the factors. This fact is called the fundamental theorem of arithmetic.


title: Composite number

text: There are several known primality tests that can determine whether a number is prime or composite, without necessarily revealing the factorization of a composite input.


title: Composite number

text: One way to classify composite numbers is by counting the number of prime factors. A composite number with two prime factors is a semiprime or 2-almost prime (the factors need not be distinct, hence squares of primes are included). A composite number with three distinct prime factors is a sphenic number. In some applications, it is necessary to differentiate between composite numbers with an odd number of distinct prime factors and those with an even number of distinct prime factors. For the latter


title: Composite number

text: However, for prime numbers, the function also returns −1 and formula_3. For a number "n" with one or more repeated prime factors,


title: Composite number

text: If "all" the prime factors of a number are repeated it is called a powerful number (All perfect powers are powerful numbers). If "none" of its prime factors are repeated, it is called squarefree. (All prime numbers and 1 are squarefree.)


title: Composite number

text: For example, 72 = 2 × 3, all the prime factors are repeated, so 72 is a powerful number. 42 = 2 × 3 × 7, none of the prime factors are repeated, so 42 is squarefree.


title: Composite number

text: Another way to classify composite numbers is by counting the number of divisors. All composite numbers have at least three divisors. In the case of squares of primes, those divisors are formula_5. A number "n" that has more divisors than any "x" < "n" is a highly composite number (though the first two such numbers are 1 and 2).


title: Composite number

text: Composite numbers have also been called "rectangular numbers", but that name can also refer to the pronic numbers, numbers that are the product of two consecutive integers.


title: Composite number

text: Yet another way to classify composite numbers is to determine whether all prime factors are either all below or all above some fixed (prime) number. Such numbers are called smooth numbers and rough numbers, respectively.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The Neverending Story () is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several films.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The book centres on a boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, an overweight and strange child who is neglected by his father after the death of Bastian's mother. While escaping from some bullies, Bastian bursts into the antiquarian book store of Carl Conrad Coreander, where he finds his interest held by a book called "The Neverending Story". Unable to resist, he steals the book and hides in his school's attic, where he begins to read.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The story Bastian reads is set in the magical land of Fantastica, a place of wonder ruled by the benevolent and mysterious Childlike Empress. A great delegation has come to the Empress to seek her help against a formless entity called "The Nothing". The delegates are shocked when the Empress's physician, a centaur named Cairon, informs them that the Empress is ill, and has chosen a boy warrior named Atreyu to find a cure. Upon finding Atreyu, Cairon gives him AURYN: a powerful medallion that protects him from all harm. At the advice of the giant turtle Morla the Aged One, Atreyu sets off in search of an invisible oracle known as Uyulala, who may know the Empress's cure. In reaching her, he is aided by a luckdragon named Falkor, whom he rescues from the shapeshifting creature Ygramul the Many. By Uyulala, he is told the only thing that can save the Empress is a new name given to her by a human, who can only be found beyond Fantastica's borders.


title: The Neverending Story

text: Through reading the story, Bastian becomes increasingly disturbed by hints that the characters are somehow aware that he is reading their adventures, being able to hear or even see him at points. As Falkor and Atreyu search for the borders of Fantastica, Atreyu is flung from Falkor's back in a confrontation with the four Wind Giants and loses AURYN in the sea. Atreyu lands in the ruins of Spook City, the home of various creatures of darkness. Wandering the dangerous city, Atreyu finds the wolf Gmork, chained and near death, who tells him that all the residents of the city have leapt voluntarily into The Nothing. There, thanks to the irresistible pull of the destructive phenomenon, the Fantasticans are becoming lies in the human world. The wolf also reveals that he is a servant of the force behind The Nothing and was sent to prevent the Empress's chosen hero from saving her. Gmork then reveals that when the princess of the city discovered his treachery against the Empress, she imprisoned him and left him to starve to death. When Atreyu announces that he is the hero Gmork has sought, the wolf laughs and succumbs to death. However, upon being approached, Gmork's body instinctively seizes Atreyu's leg in his jaws, preventing him from being dragged by the Nothing. Meanwhile, Falkor retrieves AURYN from the sea and arrives in time to save Atreyu from the rapid approach of The Nothing.


title: The Neverending Story

text: Falkor and Atreyu go to the Childlike Empress, who assures them they have brought her rescuer to her; Bastian suspects that the Empress means him, but cannot bring himself to believe it. When Bastian refuses to speak the new name, to prompt him into fulfilling his role as savior, the Empress herself locates the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, who possesses a book also entitled "The Neverending Story", which the Empress demands he read aloud. As he begins, Bastian is amazed to find the book he is reading is repeating itself, beginning once again whenever the Empress reaches the Old Man — only this time, the story includes Bastian's meeting with Coreander, his theft of the book, and all his actions in the attic. Realizing that the story will repeat itself forever without his intervention, Bastian names the Empress "Moon Child", and appears with her in Fantastica, where he restores its existence through his own imagination. The Empress has also given him AURYN, on the back of which he finds the inscription "Do What You Wish".


title: The Neverending Story

text: For each wish, Bastian loses a memory of his life as a human. Unaware of this at first, Bastian goes through Fantastica, having adventures and telling stories, while losing his memories. In spite of the warnings of Atreyu and Bastian's other friends, Bastian uses AURYN to create creatures and dangers for himself to conquer, which causes some negative side effects for the rest of Fantastica. After being abetted by the wicked sorceress Xayide, and with the mysterious absence of the Childlike Empress, Bastian decides to take over Fantastica as emperor. During his coronation ceremony he is stopped by Atreyu, whom Bastian grievously wounds in battle. Bastian then enters "Old Emperor City", inhabited by human beings who came to Fantastica earlier but could not find their way out, eking out a meaningless existence there. Ultimately, a repentant Bastian is reduced to two memories: that of his father, and of his own name. After more adventures, Bastian must give up the memory of his father to discover that his strongest wish is to be capable of love and to give love to others.


title: The Neverending Story

text: After much searching, and on the verge of losing his final memory, Bastian is unable to find the Water of Life with which to leave Fantastica with his memories. Here, he is found by Atreyu. In remorse, Bastian lays down AURYN at his friend's feet, and Atreyu and Falkor enter AURYN with him, where the Water of Life demands to know Bastian's name, and if Bastian has finished all the stories he began in his journey, which he has not. Only after Atreyu gives Bastian's name and promises to complete all the stories for him does the Water of Life allow Bastian to return to the human world, along with some of the mystical waters. After drinking the Water of Life, Bastian returns to his original form, and feels comfortable and happy with it. He wanted to bring the water also to his father. He returns to his father, where he tells the full tale of his adventures, and thus reconciles with him. Afterwards, Bastian confesses to Coreander about stealing his book and losing it, but Coreander denies ever owning such a book. Coreander reveals he has also been to Fantastica, and that the book has likely moved into the hands of someone else and that Bastian—like Coreander—will eventually show that individual the way to Fantastica. This, the book concludes, "is another story and shall be told another time".


title: The Neverending Story

text: "The Neverending Story" was first published under the title "Die unendliche Geschichte" in 1979 by West German publisher Thienemann Verlag. It was number one on West Germany's highly respected "Der Spiegel" bestseller list for 113 weeks, and remained on the list for 332 weeks. The original edition was printed using red and green text: red writing to represent the story lines which take place in the human world, and green writing to represent the events taking place in Fantastica. The illustrations by Roswitha Quadflieg that begin each chapter are drawn in both colors to illustrate how the two worlds intertwine. It was initially only printed as a hardcover, not paperback, because Ende wanted the book to look as much as possible like the book that Bastian steals from Mr. Coreander in the story.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The English version, translated by Ralph Manheim, was published simultaneously in England and America in 1983. Several other English-language editions have since been published, with a variety of covers and lettering styles. As of 2010, "The Neverending Story" has been translated into 36 languages, and sold more than eight million copies worldwide.


title: The Neverending Story

text: In 1998 "Der Niemandsgarten" (English: "The No Man's Garden") was published. This anthology of Michael Ende's unpublished works includes insight on the creation of "The Neverending Story" and has been translated into Japanese but not English. Also unavailable in English is "Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte – Das große Michael Ende Lesebuch" (English: "But that is Another Story: The Big Michael Ende Reader"), which contains the previously unpublished chapter "Bastian erlernt die Zauberkunst" (English: "Bastian learns the art of magic").


title: The Neverending Story

text: A survey conducted by German filmmaker Ulli Pfau found that "The Neverending Story" appeals particularly to readers aged 18–35. It remains most successful in Germany and Japan, while the 1984 film tends to be more well known among English-speaking audiences.


title: The Neverending Story

text: Early reviews of the English-language edition included positive reviews in "Library Journal" and "Kirkus Reviews", the latter calling "The Neverending Story" an "appealing, delicately wrought, engrossing adventure—for children of all ages". A less positive review in gaming magazine "White Dwarf" took issue with the appearance of the physical book, writing that "despite plush production the artwork is grotty, while the promised 'shimmering copper-coloured silk' binding looks like plain red cloth to me. A good buy, though, unless you suffer from red/green colour blindness".


title: The Neverending Story

text: In subsequent years the text of "The Neverending Story" has been analyzed from several different viewpoints. In "The Rhetoric of Character in Children's Literature", literary critic Maria Nikolajeva states that "the two parts of the novel repeat each other" in that Bastian becomes a hero but then in the second half he "acts not even as an antihero but as a false hero of the fairy tale" and the characters of Bastian and Atreyu can also be seen as mirror halves. Helmut Gronemann's "Fantastica—the Realm of the Unconscious" explores the novel from a Jungian point of view, identifying archetypes and symbols in the story. Additionally, some religious groups have analyzed the text for occult messages and imagery.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The album "Wooden Heart" by Listener was based on or heavily influenced by "The Neverending Story", as has been confirmed by the band. Different songs represent different ideas of the plot or characters, which can be seen on the band's lyric page for the album.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The Spanish indie rock band Vetusta Morla derived its name from the ancient turtle in the novel, and the Spanish boyband Auryn derived its name from the medallion given to Atreyu and Bastian.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The band Bayside released a song called "They Looked Like Strong Hands" on their self titled album in 2005, referencing the speech Rockbiter gives to Bastian.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The metalcore band Atreyu derives their name from the character of that name in "The Neverending Story".


title: The Neverending Story

text: British pop singer Limahl sang the English version of the song on the soundtrack of the film in 1984.


title: The Neverending Story

text: A German dramatized audioplay under the title "Die unendliche Geschichte" (Karussell/Universal Music Group 1984, directed by Anke Beckert, music by Frank Duval, 3 parts on LP and MC, 2 parts on CD).


title: The Neverending Story

text: In March 2012 Tantor Media released an unabridged audiobook of "The Neverending Story" narrated by Gerard Doyle.


title: The Neverending Story

text: "The NeverEnding Story" was the first film adaptation of the novel. It was released in 1984, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Barret Oliver as Bastian, Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress. It covers only the first half of the book, ending at the point where Bastian enters Fantastica (renamed "Fantasia" in the film), and features characters who look markedly different from how they are described in the book (most notably Bastian, who is very self-conscious about his weight in the book, but is depicted as slender in the film). Ende, who was reportedly "revolted" by the film, requested they halt production or change the film's name, as he felt it had ultimately and drastically deviated from his novel; when they did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case.


title: The Neverending Story

text: "", directed by George T. Miller and starring Jonathan Brandis and Kenny Morrison, was released in 1990. It used plot elements primarily from the second half of Ende's novel, but told a new tale. Ende has dismissed both the 1984 film and its 1990 sequel as "gigantic melodrama made of kitsch and commerce, plush and plastic".


title: The Neverending Story

text: "The NeverEnding Story III", directed by Peter MacDonald and starring Jason James Richter, Melody Kay and Jack Black, was released in 1994 in Germany. This film was primarily based only upon the characters from Ende's book but had an original story. The film was lambasted by film critics for its poor and laughable dialogue and special effects and was a box-office bomb. In addition, the US release went straight-to-video and received a limited theatrical run in 1996.


title: The Neverending Story

text: From 2003 to 2004, the German publishing house AVAinternational published six novels of different authors in a series called "Legends of Fantastica", each using parts of the original plot and characters to compose an entirely new storyline:


title: The Neverending Story

text: The world première of the stage production took place in 2012 in Brisbane , Australia , by the Harvest Rain Theatre Company.


title: The Neverending Story

text: In Germany, "The Neverending Story" has been variously adapted to a stage play, ballet and opera, which premiered both at Trier and at Weimar Nationaltheater on 10 April 2004, and was subsequently staged at Linz Landestheater on 11 December. The scores to both the opera and the ballet versions were composed by Siegfried Matthus. The opera libretto was by Anton Perry.


title: The Neverending Story

text: In Canada, the novel was adapted to stage for the Stratford Festival for the 2019 season adapted by David S. Craig with original music by Hawksley Workman.


title: The Neverending Story

text: The 1995 animated series was produced by Canadian animation studio Nelvana, under the title of "The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux". The animated series ran for two years, and had a total of twenty-six episodes. Director duties were split between Marc Boreal and Mike Fallows. Each episode focused on Bastian's further adventures in Fantastica, largely different from his further adventures in the book, but occasionally containing elements of them.


title: The Neverending Story

text: "Tales from the Neverending Story", a one-season-only TV series that is loosely based on Ende's novel, was produced in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, through December 2000 to August 2002 and distributed by Muse Entertainment, airing on HBO in 2002. It was aired as four two-hour television movies in the US and as a TV series of 13 one-hour episodes in the United Kingdom. The series was released on DVD in 2001.


title: The Neverending Story

text: In the season two finale of "The Venture Bros.", "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)", Dean Venture embarks upon a fantastical, hallucinated adventure that closely borrows from "The Neverending Story".


title: The Neverending Story

text: On 1 September 2016, a Google Doodle created by Google artist Sophie Diao commemorated the publication of the work.


title: The Neverending Story

text: A text adventure game was released by Ocean Software in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Atari 800.


title: The Neverending Story

text: A computer game based on the second film was released in 1990 by Merimpex Ltd under their Linel label and re-released by System 4 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.


title: Hessian matrix

text: In mathematics, the Hessian matrix or Hessian is a square matrix of second-order partial derivatives of a scalar-valued function, or scalar field. It describes the local curvature of a function of many variables. The Hessian matrix was developed in the 19th century by the German mathematician Ludwig Otto Hesse and later named after him. Hesse originally used the term "functional determinants".


title: Hessian matrix

text: Suppose formula_1 is a function taking as input a vector formula_2 and outputting a scalar formula_3 If all second-order partial derivatives of formula_4 exist, then the Hessian matrix formula_5 of formula_4 is a square formula_7 matrix, usually defined and arranged as follows:


title: Hessian matrix

text: If furthermore the second partial derivatives are all continuous, the Hessian matrix is a symmetric matrix by the symmetry of second derivatives.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The Hessian matrix of a function formula_4 is the Jacobian matrix of the gradient of the function formula_4; that is: formula_12


title: Hessian matrix

text: If formula_4 is a homogeneous polynomial in three variables, the equation formula_14 is the implicit equation of a plane projective curve. The inflection points of the curve are exactly the non-singular points where the Hessian determinant is zero. It follows by Bézout's theorem that a cubic plane curve has at most formula_15 inflection points, since the Hessian determinant is a polynomial of degree formula_16


title: Hessian matrix

text: The Hessian matrix of a convex function is positive semi-definite. Refining this property allows us to test whether a critical point formula_17 is a local maximum, local minimum, or a saddle point, as follows:


title: Hessian matrix

text: If the Hessian is positive-definite at formula_18 then formula_4 attains an isolated local minimum at formula_20 If the Hessian is negative-definite at formula_18 then formula_4 attains an isolated local maximum at formula_20 If the Hessian has both positive and negative eigenvalues, then formula_17 is a saddle point for formula_25 Otherwise the test is inconclusive. This implies that at a local minimum the Hessian is positive-semidefinite, and at a local maximum the Hessian is negative-semidefinite.


title: Hessian matrix

text: For positive-semidefinite and negative-semidefinite Hessians the test is inconclusive (a critical point where the Hessian is semidefinite but not definite may be a local extremum or a saddle point). However, more can be said from the point of view of Morse theory.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The second-derivative test for functions of one and two variables is simpler than the general case. In one variable, the Hessian contains exactly one second derivative; if it is positive, then formula_17 is a local minimum, and if it is negative, then formula_17 is a local maximum; if it is zero, then the test is inconclusive. In two variables, the determinant can be used, because the determinant is the product of the eigenvalues. If it is positive, then the eigenvalues are both positive, or both negative. If it is negative, then the two eigenvalues have different signs. If it is zero, then the second-derivative test is inconclusive.


title: Hessian matrix

text: Equivalently, the second-order conditions that are sufficient for a local minimum or maximum can be expressed in terms of the sequence of principal (upper-leftmost) minors (determinants of sub-matrices) of the Hessian; these conditions are a special case of those given in the next section for bordered Hessians for constrained optimization—the case in which the number of constraints is zero. Specifically, the sufficient condition for a minimum is that all of these principal minors be positive, while the sufficient condition for a maximum is that the minors alternate in sign, with the formula_28 minor being negative.


title: Hessian matrix

text: If the gradient (the vector of the partial derivatives) of a function formula_4 is zero at some point formula_30 then formula_4 has a (or ) at formula_32 The determinant of the Hessian at formula_33 is called, in some contexts, a discriminant. If this determinant is zero then formula_33 is called a of formula_35 or a of formula_25 Otherwise it is non-degenerate, and called a of formula_25


title: Hessian matrix

text: The Hessian matrix plays an important role in Morse theory and catastrophe theory, because its kernel and eigenvalues allow classification of the critical points.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The determinant of the Hessian matrix, when evaluated at a critical point of a function, is equal to the Gaussian curvature of the function considered as a manifold. The eigenvalues of the Hessian at that point are the principal curvatures of the function, and the eigenvectors are the principal directions of curvature. (See .)


title: Hessian matrix

text: Hessian matrices are used in large-scale optimization problems within Newton-type methods because they are the coefficient of the quadratic term of a local Taylor expansion of a function. That is,


title: Hessian matrix

text: where formula_39 is the gradient formula_40 Computing and storing the full Hessian matrix takes formula_41 memory, which is infeasible for high-dimensional functions such as the loss functions of neural nets, conditional random fields, and other statistical models with large numbers of parameters. For such situations, truncated-Newton and quasi-Newton algorithms have been developed. The latter family of algorithms use approximations to the Hessian; one of the most popular quasi-Newton algorithms is BFGS.


title: Hessian matrix

text: Such approximations may use the fact that an optimization algorithm uses the Hessian only as a linear operator formula_42 and proceed by first noticing that the Hessian also appears in the local expansion of the gradient:


title: Hessian matrix

text: so if the gradient is already computed, the approximate Hessian can be computed by a linear (in the size of the gradient) number of scalar operations. (While simple to program, this approximation scheme is not numerically stable since formula_48 has to be made small to prevent error due to the formula_49 term, but decreasing it loses precision in the first term.)


title: Hessian matrix

text: Notably regarding Randomized Search Heuristics, the evolution strategy's covariance matrix adapts to the inverse of the Hessian matrix, up to a scalar factor and small random fluctuations.


title: Hessian matrix

text: This result has been formally proven for a single-parent strategy and a static model, as the population size increases, relying on the quadratic approximation.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The Hessian matrix is commonly used for expressing image processing operators in image processing and computer vision (see the Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) blob detector, the determinant of Hessian (DoH) blob detector and scale space). The Hessian matrix can also be used in normal mode analysis to calculate the different molecular frequencies in infrared spectroscopy.


title: Hessian matrix

text: A is used for the second-derivative test in certain constrained optimization problems. Given the function formula_4 considered previously, but adding a constraint function formula_51 such that formula_52 the bordered Hessian is the Hessian of the Lagrange function formula_53


title: Hessian matrix

text: If there are, say, formula_55 constraints then the zero in the upper-left corner is an formula_56 block of zeros, and there are formula_55 border rows at the top and formula_55 border columns at the left.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The above rules stating that extrema are characterized (among critical points with a non-singular Hessian) by a positive-definite or negative-definite Hessian cannot apply here since a bordered Hessian can neither be negative-definite nor positive-definite, as formula_59 if formula_60 is any vector whose sole non-zero entry is its first.


title: Hessian matrix

text: The second derivative test consists here of sign restrictions of the determinants of a certain set of formula_61 submatrices of the bordered Hessian. Intuitively, the formula_55 constraints can be thought of as reducing the problem to one with formula_61 free variables. (For example, the maximization of formula_64 subject to the constraint formula_65 can be reduced to the maximization of formula_66 without constraint.)


title: Hessian matrix

text: Specifically, sign conditions are imposed on the sequence of leading principal minors (determinants of upper-left-justified sub-matrices) of the bordered Hessian, for which the first formula_67 leading principal minors are neglected, the smallest minor consisting of the truncated first formula_68 rows and columns, the next consisting of the truncated first formula_69 rows and columns, and so on, with the last being the entire bordered Hessian; if formula_68 is larger than formula_71 then the smallest leading principal minor is the Hessian itself. There are thus formula_61 minors to consider, each evaluated at the specific point being considered as a candidate maximum or minimum. A sufficient condition for a local is that these minors alternate in sign with the smallest one having the sign of formula_73 A sufficient condition for a local is that all of these minors have the sign of formula_74 (In the unconstrained case of formula_75 these conditions coincide with the conditions for the unbordered Hessian to be negative definite or positive definite respectively).


title: Hessian matrix

text: then the collection of second partial derivatives is not a formula_7 matrix, but rather a third-order tensor. This can be thought of as an array of formula_55 Hessian matrices, one for each component of formula_81:


title: Hessian matrix

text: In the context of several complex variables, the Hessian may be generalized. Suppose formula_84 and write formula_85 Then the generalized Hessian is formula_86 If formula_4 satisfies the n-dimensional Cauchy–Riemann conditions, then the complex Hessian matrix is identically zero.


title: Hessian matrix

text: Let formula_88 be a Riemannian manifold and formula_89 its Levi-Civita connection. Let formula_90 be a smooth function. Define the Hessian tensor by


title: Hessian matrix

text: where this takes advantage of the fact that the first covariant derivative of a function is the same as its ordinary derivative. Choosing local coordinates formula_92 gives a local expression for the Hessian as


title: Hessian matrix

text: where formula_94 are the Christoffel symbols of the connection. Other equivalent forms for the Hessian are given by


title: Substack

text: Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack is headquartered in San Francisco.


title: Substack

text: Substack was founded in 2017 by Chris Best, the co-founder of Kik Messenger; Jairaj Sethi, a developer; and Hamish McKenzie, a former PandoDaily tech reporter. Best and McKenzie describe Ben Thompson's "Stratechery," a subscription-based tech and media newsletter, as a major inspiration for their platform. Christopher Best operates as chief executive as of March 2019.


title: Substack

text: Substack users range from journalists to experts to large media sites. Among the high-profile writers to have used the platform are Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and author Glenn Greenwald, culture critic Anne Helen Petersen, music essayist Robert Christgau, and food writer Alison Roman. "The New York Times" columnist Mike Isaac argued in 2019 that some of these companies see newsletters as a more stable means to maintain readers through a more direct connection with writers. In 2020, "The New Republic" said there was an absence of local news newsletters, especially in contrast to the large number of national-level political newsletters. As of late 2020, large numbers of journalists and reporters were coming to the platform, driven in part by the long-term decline in traditional media (there were half as many newsroom jobs in 2019 as in 2004). Around that time, "The New Yorker" said that while "Substack has advertised itself as a friendly home for journalism, [...] few of its newsletters publish original reporting; the majority offer personal writing, opinion pieces, research, and analysis." It described Substack's content moderation policy as "lightweight," with rules against "harassment, threats, spam, pornography, and calls for violence; moderation decisions are made by the founders."


title: Substack

text: Major writers on Substack include historian Heather Cox Richardson, journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss, authors Daniel M. Lavery, George Saunders, travel writer Blake Nelson and Chuck Palahniuk, novelist Salman Rushdie, tech journalist Casey Newton, blogger and journalist Matthew Yglesias, and economist Emily Oster.


title: Substack

text: As of November 2021, the platform said it had more than 500,000 paying subscribers, representing over one million subscriptions. Substack announced in January 2022 that it would begin private Beta testing video on its platform.


title: Substack

text: Authors can decide to make subscription to their newsletter free or paid, and to make specific posts publicly available to non-subscribers. , the minimum fee for a subscription was $5/month or $30/year, and Substack usually takes a 10 percent fee from subscription payments. Advertising to users plays no role in revenue generation. In February 2019, the platform began allowing creators to monetize podcasts.


title: Substack

text: Substack raised an initial seed round in 2018 from investors including The Chernin Group, Zhen Fund, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, and Zynga co-founder Justin Waldron. Andreessen Horowitz provided $15.3 million in Series A funding in 2019, some of which went to bringing high-profile writers into Substack's network. Substack has provided some content creators with advances to start working on their platform. In 2019, the site provided a fellowship to some writers, which included a $3,000 stipend and a one-day workshop in San Francisco. The decline of sports-oriented publications such as "Sports Illustrated", "Deadspin", and "SB Nation", coupled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, led to a surge in sports journalists moving to write on Substack in 2019 and 2020. However, Substack competes with subscription site "The Athletic" in this submarket, so McKenzie says the company does not recruit as strongly in that market. In 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Substack extended grants of $1,000–$3,000 to over 40 writers to begin working on the platform. Substack expanded into comics content in 2021 and signed creators including Saladin Ahmed, Jonathan Hickman, Molly Ostertag, Scott Snyder, and James Tynion IV, paying them while keeping their subscription revenue. After their first year, Substack will take 10 percent of subscription revenue.


title: Substack

text: The Substack founders reached out to a small pool of writers in 2017 to acquire their first creators. Bill Bishop was among the first to put his newsletter, "Sinocism," on Substack, providing his newsletter for $11 a month or $118 a year with daily content. As of 2019, Bishop's "Sinocism" was the top paid newsletter on the service. By late 2020, the conservative newsletter "The Dispatch" claimed the title of top Substack user, with more than 100,000 subscribers and over $2 million in first-year revenue, according to founder Steve Hayes. In May 2021, Substack acquired Brooklyn-based startup People & Company.


title: Substack

text: In August 2020, Substack reported that over 100,000 users were paying for at least one newsletter. As of August 2021, Substack had more than 250,000 paying subscribers and its top ten publishers were making $7 million in annualized revenue.


title: Substack

text: In April 2022, the "New York Times" reported Substack may be valued at $650 million. Substack dropped an effort to raise money in May 2022. The company had aimed to raise between $75 million and $100 million.


title: Substack

text: On July 28, 2020, Substack sent out email notifications to all its users about changing privacy policies and notification about CCPA compliance. In this notification email, email addresses of all recipients were inadvertently included in the email 'cc' field rather than in the 'bcc' field. This exposed the email addresses of many Substack users. The company acknowledged the issue on Twitter and said that it was remedied after the initial batch of emails but did not disclose the number of users affected.


title: Substack

text: In March 2021, Substack revealed that it had been experimenting with a revenue sharing program in which it paid advances for writers to create publications on its platform; this became a program known as Substack Pro. Substack has been criticized for not disclosing which writers were part of Substack Pro.


title: Substack

text: Substack provides legal advice to its writers through its program, Substack Defender. Lawyers provide a legal review of stories before they are published, and provide advice surrounding cease-and-desist letters related to writers' work.


title: Substack

text: In 2020, popular platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube began restricting or removing accounts that they claim spread COVID-19 misinformation, which violates those platforms' content policies. Some prominent authors have moved from those platforms to Substack. In January 2022, the Center for Countering Digital Hate criticized the company for allowing content which could be dangerous to public health, estimating it earned $2.5 million per year from the top five anti-vax authors alone, who have tens of thousands of subscribers. Presumably in response to press inquiries, the three founders in a blog post affirmed their commitment to minimal censorship.


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna "E" Mode is a fictional character in Pixar's animated superhero film "The Incredibles" (2004) and its sequel "Incredibles 2" (2018). She is an eccentric fashion designer renowned for designing the costumes of several famous superheroes, having worked particularly closely with Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (Bob and Helen Parr), with whom she has maintained a strong friendship. When the couple resumes their superheroic careers after fifteen years, Edna is summoned out of retirement to aid both characters, first by equipping Mr. Incredible with a new costume and then by restoring Elastigirl's confidence in herself as a superheroine.


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna was created by playmaker, poem writer, and director Brad Bird to explain how "The Incredibles"' superheroes obtain their costumes, a topic he believes is rarely explored in superhero films convincingly. Bird also decided to voice the character himself after several actresses originally considered for the role failed to replicate Edna's unique accent. (Lily Tomlin, his choice, told him he was best.) The director understood that, in addition to fashion expertise, the character would need to demonstrate proficiency in science, engineering and technology in order to create costumes capable of withstanding the trials of superheroic activities, and ultimately conceived her as a short, confident character of both German and Japanese descent based on these countries' reputations as small yet powerful nations. Inspired by Q from the "James Bond" franchise, Edna is widely believed to have been based primarily on costume designer Edith Head, although there continues to be constant speculation as to which celebrities inspired Edna, particularly "Vogue" editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Iris Apfel and actress Linda Hunt.


title: Edna Mode

text: Despite having only supporting roles in both films, Edna has since established herself as "The Incredibles" breakout character due to her popularity among fans. While film critics agree that Edna is a scene-stealer, particularly praising her humor and dialogue, Bird has also been lauded for his voice acting, earning an Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production for his performance as the character. Edna has been recognized as one of Pixar's greatest characters by several prominent media publications.


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna was created for "The Incredibles" by writer and director Brad Bird. Having watched several superhero-themed films and television shows prior to developing "The Incredibles", Bird had often found himself wondering who is responsible for making the superheroes' elaborate costumes. Bird conceived Edna upon discovering that, despite featuring characters dressed in fancy, extravagant costumes, traditional superhero films rarely offer plausible explanations as to how superheroes come to obtain these outfits, or who provides them in the first place. The director wanted to debunk the trope of muscular superheroes sewing their own costumes, finding it hard to believe that superheroes would suddenly develop a strong enough interest in fashion and textiles to design their own outfits. Therefore, Bird decided that if the world was populated with superheroes, there would naturally also be people responsible for designing their costumes who must also have a background in science and engineering, thereby envisioning Edna as a scientist and technical genius in addition to being a fashion designer. The director elaborated, "The way I saw it, the costumes had to be created by somebody with a scientific and engineering background", thus conceiving Edna as "a half-German, half-Japanese, tiny powerhouse of a character". "The Incredibles" was the first Pixar film to earn a PG rating; Edna is considered to be one of the studio's earliest attempts at approaching "darker, edgier comedy," which is particularly demonstrated by the scene in which the character cites several graphic examples of capes directly resulting in the deaths of several superheroes, one of whom is shown being consumed and killed by a jet turbine. According to Bird, the creation of Edna took the notion of superheroes wearing designed costumes "to a further extreme".


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna was named after EMode, a software Pixar used at the time the film was made. Bird identified Edna as the "most fun character" he had written for the film, recalling, "Any day that I was writing her, I was one happy camper." Edna follows a tradition of having a director voice one of the film's secondary characters in animated films, which was based around Bird's "slave-driver voice" that he used during production. Bird's voice for the character originated during the story boarding process, during which various Pixar employees typically provide characters' voices temporarily while the filmmakers and animators organize the film's pacing and staging in order to "get a sense of the film." Although these voices are usually eventually replaced by professional actors and voice actors, there are some situations in which "those voices stick", as was the case with the voice Bird had created for Edna. Bird had also provided the temporary voices of other characters during this time, including Bob Parr and Syndrome. Several actresses had been considered for the role; one actress, whom Bird is particularly fond of, constantly asked Bird to repeatedly demonstrate his interpretation of one of Edna's lines until telling him that he should simply voice the character himself since he "kind of got a beat on it". The role was also offered to actress and comedian Lily Tomlin, who was sent a tape recording of Bird recording Edna's part in its entirety; Tomlin declined upon hearing Bird's interpretation, feeling she couldn't voice the character as funnily as he did. Bird's colleagues had to heavily convince him to voice the character himself. Finally succumbing to "popular demand" from his fellow Pixar employees, Bird joked that he was ultimately cast as Edna simply because he was both affordable and available at the time. A similar tactic was used for several other supporting characters in the film: animator Bret Parker voices Kari, the Parr family's babysitter, writer Bud Luckey voices government agent Rick Dicker, and production designer Lou Romano voices Bernie Kropp, Dash's teacher.


title: Edna Mode

text: Bird described Edna's voice as a combination of a Japanese and German accent, deciding to draw influence from these countries because "they're two small countries that have amazing design and amazing technology", citing cameras and cars as examples of technology in which they specialize. Urban Cinefile's Louise Keller described the character's voice as "mid European ... complicated by an Asian touch". Although Bird's performance is considerably broad, he avoids allowing Edna to become too much of a caricature in order to maintain the illusion that she is one of the film's smartest characters. In the Italian and French-language versions of the film, Bird's comic accent is replaced by that of French-Italian entertainer Amanda Lear, who offers a more seductive, "biting" interpretation. Lear said that dubbing Edna's voice was not an easy process, but accepted the job after being offered the role upon seeing the film at the Cannes Film Festival in order to fulfill her dream of having always wanted to voice a Disney character. Edna was the first character Lear was hired to dub in Italian.


title: Edna Mode

text: Bird believes that he shares some of Edna's personality traits, specifically the way in which he prefers to be involved in virtually every creative aspect of his projects, including story boarding, writing and cinematography, admitting that he and his character demonstrate both a high level of self-confidence and lack of self-doubt when it comes to their own work. Bird elaborated that "At my most confident, I feel like her


title: Edna Mode

text: ... She is absolutely convinced that her way is the right way, and if you disagree ... you're just wrong!" Bird identified Edna as one of the film's most difficult characters to design. The character went through several different changes in appearance during the development process, ranging from taller and overweight to older, younger and thinner. Inspired by the large impact that countries such as Japan and Germany have on the world despite being comparatively small in size, Bird decided that Edna would demonstrate this theme by being "a tiny character that dominates the room when she gets into it." Her home, which uses high-end technology similar to what she incorporates into the outfits she creates, was deliberately designed to be significantly larger than she is to further emphasize this theme of dominance. Edna's small stature was also inspired by singer Bette Midler, of whom Bird has always been a fan. The director recalled being surprised by Midler's height when he first met her "Because ... she absolutely dominates the screen. And it just struck me how much personality was in this small body." In terms of animation, Bird wanted all of the film's characters to move differently from each other, providing Edna with a very confident walk to represent the fact that she has "never experienced doubt in her life." The animators found the fact that Bird provided the character's voice himself to be very helpful as he would often act out the way in which the character acts and behaves himself, which helped in further defining the animators' vision of Edna. According to Bird, Edna, despite her petite stature, is the only non-superhero in "The Incredibles" capable of making superheroes feel uncomfortable. Bird described Edna as a character who is "not remotely intimidated by superheroes or anyone", refusing to accept the word "no" when it is used in opposition of her opinions or beliefs.


title: Edna Mode

text: Describing Edna's physical attributes as "severe", Bird had envisioned the character having glasses and a pageboy haircut, while still wanting her to appear modern and elegant at the same time. Edna's ethnicity has been identified as half-German and half-Japanese. Both Edna's physical appearance and voice are widely believed to have based on those of costume designer Edith Head, with whom she shares her signature round glasses and black bob cut. According to Head's entry in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the character is inspired by both the costume designer's signature glasses and "forthright personality". Bird described Edna as a combination of both Head and Q, a character featured in the "James Bond" franchise. The director has generally declined to confirm any direct influences on the character, insisting that Edna is "not based on a specific person", including publicly refuting claims that he based the character on Head, although she continues to be considered the character's "most legitimate" alleged inspiration. However, animator Teddy Newton, who co-designed Edna with Bird, revealed that he and Pixar were inspired by the film "Unzipped" (1995), a documentary depicting the petulance of fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and stylist Polly Allen Mellen. Fans have long speculated about the real-life inspiration behind Edna's design and appearance. Bird stated he has constantly been told by various fans and viewers that the character reminds them of at least 15 different celebrities since the character debuted in "The Incredibles". Contributing to "Fashion", Erin Dunlop described the character as "a supercharged hybrid of every fashion industry legend we can think of". In an article discussing who Edna is based on, "Entertainment Weekly"'s Steve Daly cited "Vogue" editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, designer Coco Chanel and actress Lotte Lenya as possible influences, while drawing similarities between the character's use of large-framed glasses to architect Philip Johnson, producer Robert Evans, talent agent Swifty Lazar, studio executive Lew Wasserman, and fashion editor Carrie Donovan. Some critics have suspected that the character is also based on Mary Quant and Una Jones. Acknowledging that there are several female fashion designers who wear glasses upon whom Edna could have been based, Bird admitted that the character was inspired by author Patricia Highsmith and actress Linda Hunt, elaborating: "When you're designing a character, you're just saying – who is that? ... We tried a lot of stuff and we kept saying no, no, more like this, but I like the nose on this one, and maybe the pageboy cut, maybe glasses should be bigger ... and you end up with something that reminds you of Edith Head and Linda Hunt."


title: Edna Mode

text: For the sequel, shading art director Bryn Imagire decided to incorporate more of Edna's Japanese heritage into her two new costumes, basing them on the work of Japanese costume designers Rei Kawakubo, Eiko Ishioka and Chitose Abe. Imagire was particularly inspired by Kawakubo's quote, "For something to be beautiful, it doesn't have to be pretty," and opting to envision Edna's outfits "more as abstract sculpture" as opposed to forms of clothing. In order to design costumes for a fictional character who also happens to be a designer in her own film, Imagire drew upon lessons she had learned while attending art school, describing Edna's style as "very to the point and very specific" while imagining what the character might be thinking while designing her clothes. Meanwhile, character artist Deanna Marsigliese's first assignment was to create an entire line of clothing designed by Edna, for which she was tasked with "thinking like Edna". Although ultimately the completed clothing line does not appear in the final film, Marsigliese considered the experience to be " a study in (Edna's) character" nonetheless, during which she drew inspiration from Edna's appearance and wardrobe in the first film, from her dress to the interior of her house. Although she was aware that Edna enjoys being dramatic, she acknowledge that "fashion designers don't necessarily design things that they would wear on their person, they design for their models", meaning, "Their aesthetic is oftentimes different." Similarly, Imagire agreed that fashion designers such as Kawakubo, Ishioka and Abe "always looked really comfortable in contrast to what they were creating for their models", a contrast that she wanted to incorporate into the character. Recalling that Edna dislikes models, the artist envisioned that the character would instead design her own clothing to serve as "a vehicle to celebrate superheroes and her powers." Inspired by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Marsigliese created a "classic, mid-century inspired silhouette" for Edna's costumes that were also bold and dramatic as though Edna herself had designed them, then rearranging the designs to ultimately give them a more surreal, specific appearance. Dubbing the character a "woman of the now", Marsigliese explained that, like Schiaparelli, Edna is "completely ahead of her time" despite living in the 1950s; "she used a lot of surrealist elements, a lot of fun surprises, and that was very inspiring for me." Imagire designed approximately 25 potential costumes for Edna, 15 of which she showed to Bird before the final two were decided upon: a simple indigo dress and black-and-red kimono.


title: Edna Mode

text: According to Matthew Brunson of "Creative Loafing", Edna provides the majority of the film's comic relief. Hischak believes that Edna offers "a whole new viewpoint to the world of superheroes", in addition to demonstrating the film's "oddball silliness". "Vogue Italia" published a biography of Edna, in which author Valentina Fabbri described her as a character who "knows she’s the best and she doesn’t hide it, and her lack of modesty is equalled only by her intuition", with whom it is virtually impossible to have a conversation because "she tends to dominate." Due to her combination of genius-level intellect and "craziness," Fabbri identified Edna as "a fun, bubbly caricature of the magicians of fashion" by "embod[ying] their talent and charisma, their vices and virtues." "Screen Rant"s Victoria Robertson observed that the character "has a lot of personality packed into a small exterior, taking stereotypical traits often attributed to designers and making them her own", firstly remaining proud of her own work at all times. Oliver Lyttelton of "IndieWire" identified Edna as quite possibly the film's most intelligent character. Edna's criticisms of fashion can come off as unpleasant at times, but are exaggerated to the point of which audiences find them to be comical. Edna prefers to always think about the future, finding dwelling on the past to be distracting from the present, as demonstrated by her line "I never look back, dahling, it distracts from the now", and thus has proven capable of determining the needs of her superhero clientele before they have the opportunity to finalize their ideas themselves. Her personality has been described by "GamesRadar+"'s Joshua Winning as "brassy" and "no-nonsense". Q13 Fox described Edna as "a gifted designer, an assertive life coach and a witty talker," using her mind and intelligence as a means of solving everyday issues. "BuddyTV" believes that the character's "bold and eccentric attitude" is rivaled only by her considerable talent. According to Kevin Carr of Film School Rejects, Edna "doesn’t take crap from anyone" yet "she does so with poise and pride." The "San Francisco Chronicle"'s Carla Meyer argues that Edna is "more a caricature than a character."


title: Edna Mode

text: Scott Tobias of "Rolling Stone" called Edna "a reminder that the superhero suit needs to the perfect synthesis of form and function", without which "greatness as both a crimefighter and an icon is impossible." According to Thomas S. Hischak, author of "100 Greatest American and British Animated Films", Edna is just as concerned with the appearance of the costumes she designs as she is about their use and practicality, proving capable of designing outfits that can stretch, change their shape and resist oncoming attacks such as missiles and fires. The character proves capable of designing a costume for Violet that is capable of becoming invisible whenever its wearer does. She absolutely refuses to incorporate capes into her new designs due to the accessory having a history of contributing to the deaths of superheroes in the past, among them Dynaguy, Thunderhead, Stratogale, Meta-Man and Splashdown, presenting them as a "montage of superhero couture faux-pas". Ultimately, her knowledge of the dangers of capes results in the death of the film's villain Syndrome. In terms of her own appearance, Edna is costumed in "futuristic black" attire, wearing a black dress that boasts square lines. Estimating her height to be of approximately three feet, "The Tyee"'s Dorothy Woodend wrote that Edna is dressed in Issey Miyake pleats while being of "indeterminate gender". "VPRO" drew similarities between the character's hairstyle and personality to that of "Vogue" editor Anna Wintour, the resemblance to whom Tech Times' Katherine Derla identified as "The first thing viewers are likely to remember upon seeing" the character. According to "STATUS" magazine, Edna is often mistaken for the magazine editor largely due to her "snappy sass and iconic bob". "/Film"s Angie Han joked that Edna's "no-nonsense demeanor" would leave Wintour "quaking in her Chanel boots." When asked about the alleged similarities between her and the character, Wintour revealed that she has yet to see the film. Derla also wrote that Edna is capable of "run[ing] the world" but opts to operate from behind the scenes instead. The term "diminutive" is often used to describe the character's height.


title: Edna Mode

text: Considering herself to be "too talented" to design clothes for normal humans, Edna resents having been forced to resort to designing clothes for supermodels during the 15-year-long absence of superheroes, dismissing them as "Spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves", an opinion she formed after being forced to work with such individuals in Milan and Paris. Edna believes that designing clothes for superheroes is similar to designing for gods, and thus considers herself to be far superior to other fashion designers. Despite her considerable success as one of the world's top fashion designers internationally, Edna longs to return to working with superheroes so that she can challenge her designs by "fus[ing] the latest technology with her impeccable fashion sense" to the public's amusement, who continue to adore both her and her creations, insisting that there is nothing "super" about supermodels. Despite designing elaborate costumes for a living, Edna prefers a more simple aesthetic for herself, generally avoiding nail polish and accessories. "Racked"s Carlye Wisel observed that although the sequel "may have deep roots in midcentury-modern design ... Edna remains true to her forward-looking style, wearing a red silk kimono as well as an asymmetrical sheath that feels like yet another nod to Kawakubo’s work." In addition to being a talented fashion designer, Edna has also demonstrated proficiency in psychology. In addition to designing their clothes, she offers advice to her clients whenever she feels that they require it, demonstrating a "zero-tolerance policy for emotional weakness" which, according to "The Dissolve"'s Charles Bramesco, represents Bird's "lament[ing] regular folks’ tendency to impede awesome people from being awesome." Edna is known for her tendency to refer to her cohorts as "dahling", while her colleagues affectionately refer to her as "E". In addition to citing her resemblance to Wintour, journalist Hadley Freeman of "The Guardian" believes that Edna's use of fashion in the film represents "The highest pinnacle of human achievement. Without them the world would come to an end."


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna first appears in "The Incredibles" as a fashion designer to superheroes and close friend of the titular characters. During the “golden age of superheroes", Edna is one of a few elite guests who attend the private wedding ceremony of Bob and Helen Parr, then better-known to the public as the superheroes Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. After all superheroes have been outlawed and forced to retire following a series of lawsuits, forcing Edna to retire from superhero work due to government restrictions, Edna does not appear again until approximately midway through the film when she is unexpectedly visited by Bob who has resumed superhero work undercover, a secret he keeps from his family. Bob initially asks Edna to simply repair his original super suit, but she ultimately convinces him to allow her to design an entirely new outfit on the condition that capes not be incorporated whatsoever due to safety concerns, ultimately ending her 15 years-long retirement from superhero work. Helen soon discovers that Bob's original super suit had received a patch job, determining that the only person capable of repairing a super suit would be Edna and growing more suspicious of Bob's actions. Later in the film, Helen visits Edna in the hopes of finding out more information about Bob's whereabouts, discovering that she had taken the liberty of designing a complete matching set of super suits for his family. Although their reunion is brief, Edna provides an initially distraught Helen with the encouragement she needs to resume her identity as Elastigirl in order to save her husband (and their marriage), in addition to introducing the character to the homing device she had implanted in her husband's suit, intentionally revealing his exact location to her.


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna appears in the film's sequel, "Incredibles 2" (2018). When Helen is recruited by a pair of entrepreneurs to change the public's perception of superheroes and thus returns to work to fight crime as Elastigirl, Edna is upset to learn that Elastigirl's costume has been designed by a rival designer. Bob soon becomes overwhelmed by Jack-Jack's emerging superpowers, and recruits Edna for assistance with controlling him. Although Edna is initially reluctant to babysit Jack-Jack, she soon develops a strong liking for the baby and she is willing to babysit him overnight free of charge; during this time, she upgrades his suit with sensors and a remote control so that the family can monitor his powers and rein them in as needed. She gives the enhanced suit to Bob in a custom shopping bag, which bears a logo for her services that incorporates her signature eyeglasses into its lettering. Edna also appears in Disney on Ice's adaptation of the film: "The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure". The time that Edna spends looking after Jack-Jack is the focus of the animated short "Auntie Edna".


title: Edna Mode

text: The public was immediately captivated by Edna upon her debut, becoming particularly enamored with the character's combination of irreverence and sulkiness. Edna instantly established herself as a fan favorite when the film was released in 2004, which "Racked"s Carlye Wisel has attributed to the character's combination of wit and style. Several critics have referred to Edna as a scene-stealing character; "Fashion" magazine's Erin Dunlop crowned Edna "the undisputed scene-stealer of" the film. Dubbing her "One of the great scene-stealing characters in "The Incredibles"", "HowStuffWorks" contributor Vicki Arkoff called Edna "deliciously deadpan". Ken Hanke, writing for the "Mountain Xpress", considers Edna to be among the film's gags and characters who "are delightful and very funny", particularly highlighting the character's anti-cape monologue while deeming her "worth the price of admission". Film critic Peter Bradshaw, contributing to "The Irish Times", described Edna as "a joy with her wonderful and appropriate maxim: 'I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.'" Dorothy Woodend, writing for "The Tyee", praised Edna as "a more interesting creature than all the Incredibles put together." Describing her as "a personage I'd like to see more of", Woodend continued that the character "steals the show, and does fabulous things with it, darling." Referred to as one of the film's "high point[s]", Kevin Lally of "Film Journal International" described the character's anti-cape montage as "pricelessly funny", a sentiment with which Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing agreed. The "National Post" described Edna as "exactly the kind of person you want at your dinner party". Notable Biographies identified Edna as "one of the audience's favorite characters".


title: Edna Mode

text: Bird has also garnered critical acclaim for his performance. Nell Minow of Common Sense Media wrote that Bird "plays the funniest character in the film", while "AllMovie"s Perry Seibert described his performance as "screamingly funny". Pete Vonder Haar of "Film Threat" wrote that Bird contributes "the best work" to the film as Edna in terms of dialogue and vocal performance, calling her rant about the "idiocy" of capes "priceless." Scott Chitwood, writing for ComingSoon.net, agreed that Bird is " absolutely hilarious as Edna". "Empire"'s Colin Kennedy dubbed Bird's voice work "an unmistakable highlight". BBC's Stella Papamichael agreed that the director "steals the show" as Edna. Carla Meyer, writing for the "San Francisco Chronicle", wrote that Bird's performance as Edna "shows his versatility". In 2005, Bird won an Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production at the 32nd Annie Awards for his performance as Edna, in addition to being rewarded for writing and directing the film. Bird was rewarded over actor Samuel L. Jackson, who had been nominated in the same category for his role as Frozone. Wisel appreciated Edna's cameo in the sequel, describing it as "perfect in its restraint."


title: Edna Mode

text: "Vulture" ranked Bird's role as Edna the fourth greatest performance in an animated film, calling it "a scene- and movie-stealing performance". Similarly, "Entertainment Weekly" placed Edna fourth on their ranking of "The 10 greatest Pixar voice performances", with author Marc Snetiker calling it "an all-too-short but memorably delicious appearance" in which Bird "left an indelible mark on his own universe". Snetiker called the character "overwhelmingly funny thanks to Bird’s unrestrained efforts on even the simplest lines." "IndieWire" ranked Bird's performance as Edna the 14th "30 Best Voice Performances In Pixar Movies". Kiko Martinez of the "San Antonio Current" found Bird's performance to be worthy of an Academy Award, ranking him among "15 Actors Who Should’ve Won an Oscar for Their Voice Work". Bird revealed that fans tend to be more impressed by the fact that he provides Edna's voice than his success as a director and writer, explaining, "If I say a line in Edna’s voice, that’s far more delightful than the fact that I spent four years wrestling something into being."


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna's popularity among audiences established her as the film's breakout character. "Screen Rant"s Alex Welch attributes this designation to both her comedic rapport with the titular family and passion for superhero costumes. Gregory E. Miller of the "New York Post" cited Edna's impact since "The Incredibles" as significant despite her relatively brief appearance, while "HelloGiggles" writer Sydney Bucksbaum crowned her the film's "real hero". "Vogue Italia" contributor Valentina Fabbri wrote that Edna ended the trope of "superheroes [dressed] in homemade outfits". According to Fabbri, Edna is one of Pixar's most beloved characters, while "Hollywood"s Julia Emmanuele dubbed her "one of the most memorable Pixar characters of all time" who has ultimately "become the film’s enduring legacy", despite her supporting role. "Uproxx" contributor Donna Dickens wrote that the character "went down in pop culture history" from the moment she uttered "No capes!”


title: Edna Mode

text: Media publications consistently rank Edna among Pixar's greatest characters. In their article "Top 10 Pixar Movie Characters", "Tech Times" ranked Edna seventh. "IGN" ranked Edna eighth in their countdown of the "Top 10 Pixar Characters", calling her "a pint-sized fashionista" with "a flair that only a superhero could truly appreciate." "Rolling Stone" placed her ninth on the website's list of the "25 Best Pixar Movie Characters", ranking her ahead of Mr. Incredible (24th), Violet Parr (20th) and Elastigirl (14th). Contributor Scott Tobias wrote that the character "stops the action cold just to have a sequence about appropriate action-wear for the specially abled, culminating in a brilliant screed on the impracticality of capes." Including Edna among the studio's 20 best characters, Victoria Robertson of "Screen Rant" cited her as "proof of how important even the most minor characters in a film can be." "GamesRadar+" included Edna among Pixar's "50 Greatest Pixar Characters Of All Time", with author George Wales crowning her "One of Pixar's finest comic creations". Additionally, the same publication ranked Edna among Pixar's 12 greatest supporting characters. D23.com recognized Edna as one of Pixar's "23 Favorite ... Supporting Characters", deeming her "An icon in her own right". /Film ranked Edna Pixar's sixth best female character, crowning her "the wisest character in the entire Incredibles universe" due to her anti-cape stance, which author Angie Han has described as the film's "most valuable piece of advice". "The Odyssey Online" published an article discussing "Why Edna Mode Is The Disney Heroine We Never Knew We Needed", in which author Erin Farmer dubbed her "the real heroine of the Disney Franchise" while comparing her motivational speeches to those of Mahatma Gandhi. "GamesRadar+" ranked Edna's introductory scene the 12th best moment in a Pixar film, deeming her "the perfect embodiment of the film's tongue-in-cheek approach to realism". "Entertainment Weekly" ranked Edna's anti-capes speech the 12th best Pixar moment. In 2015, E! ranked Edna 10th on their list of "11 Forgotten Disney Characters Who Should Totally Be Your Favorites".


title: Edna Mode

text: In 2015, "Empire" ranked the character the hundredth greatest film character of all-time. In 2013, "Screen Rant" crowned Edna "The world’s greatest fashion designer". "Fashion" ranked Edna among the magazine's "10 coolest fashion industry pros". In their "critical assessment of 7 fictional fashion designers", Mary Sollosi of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that she is "consistently impressed by Ms. Mode’s truly groundbreaking textile work" despite feeling that she tends to limit herself to familiar silhouettes, joking, "we are perplexed by her stubborn refusal to incorporate new design features — most notably capes." In June 2018, Carlye Wisel of "Racked" crowned Edna "Film’s greatest fashion character", deeming her "the best fictional fashion personality ever to exist, animated or not". She prefers her over "The Devil Wears Prada"'s Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), insisting that Edna "feels more grounded and true" than Miranda, a fictional magazine editor who is frequently touted the "best-ever fashion character". Describing her as "effortless and memorable," Wisel concluded, "at a time when a label like Gucci is exploding its brand with misspellings and magpie tendencies to draw attention, she remains classic. Edna is never anything but fully herself — all hair, accent, and attitude."


title: Edna Mode

text: Edna's catchphrase against using capes in superhero costumes has become one of the most popular phrases among superhero fans. Edna has become so popular that fans have begun to demand a spin-off film revolving around the character. "Screen Rant" ranked Edna the third Pixar heroine who deserves her own film, with author Wednesday Lee Friday writing, "There are so many things Pixar could do with Edna, she might be worthy of a trilogy." At the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, Edna presented the Academy Award for Best Costume Design alongside actor Pierce Brosnan. In 2013, the D23 Expo hosted its first official cosplay competition, naming it "Heroes and Villains à la Mode" in honor of Edna; contestants competed in five categories, with the winners being awarded miniature statuettes of the character. To promote the film's sequel in which Edna appeared, Disney released a mockumentary-style teaser trailer that features various celebrities involved in the fashion industry paying tribute to Edna and describing ways in which the character has influenced them over the years ever since she decided to venture into haute couture. Disney revealed the trailer at the D23 Expo in 2017. A statuette of Edna Mode was also seen at the display of Art Ludique. Fashion models Heidi Klum, Kendall Jenner and Rachel Zoe are among the celebrities who speak about Edna's influence on the fashion industry. Impressed by their commitment to pretending Edna is real, Halle Kiefer of Vulture.com joked that the tribute features some of the participants' "most impressive onscreen roles to date". Rachel Kolb of Uproxx wrote that having Edna design new costumes for the family in "Incredibles 2" would be one way to ensure that the sequel is better than the original. Beginning in 2018, Edna has been used heavily in "Incredibles 2"'s first advertising campaign. In February 2018, the character's likeness was used heavily on several bus and subway posters within Manhattan, New York surrounding New York Fashion Week. Disney-Pixar's announced on their Twitter account: "If you thought she’d miss #NYFW, you thought wrong, dahling". The poster features a black and white closeup image of the character with only her lips colored red, accompanied by the caption "It's been too long, dahlings." Bucksbaum called the poster "stunning".


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The economy of Taiwan is a highly developed market economy. It is the 8th largest in Asia and 18th-largest in the world by purchasing power parity, allowing Taiwan to be included in the advanced economies group by the International Monetary Fund. It is gauged in the high-income economies group by the World Bank. Taiwan is one of the most technologically advanced computer microchip makers in the world.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan has transformed itself from a recipient of U.S. aid in the 1950s and early 1960s to an aid donor and major foreign investor, with investments primarily centered in Asia. Private Taiwanese investment in mainland China is estimated to total in excess of US$150 billion, and official tallies cite Taiwan as having invested a comparable amount in Southeast Asia.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The first step towards industrialization was land reforms, a crucial step in modernizing the economy, as it created a class of landowners with capital they could invest in future economic endeavors. US aid was also important to stabilize post-war Taiwan, and it constituted more than 30 percent of domestic investment from 1951 to 1962. These factors, together with government planning and universal education, brought rapid advancements in industry and agriculture, and living standards. The economy shifted from an agriculture-based economy (32% of GDP in 1952) to an industry-oriented economy (47% of GDP in 1986). Between 1952 and 1961, the economy grew by an average of 9.21% each year.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Once again, the transformation of Taiwan's economy cannot be understood without reference to the larger geopolitical framework. Although aid was cut back in the 1970s, it was crucial in the formative years, spurring industrialization, and security and economic links between Taiwan and the United States were maintained. Uncertainty about the US commitment accelerated the country's shift from subsidized import-substitution in the 1950s to export-led growth. Development of foreign trade and exports helped absorb excess labor from the decreased importance of agriculture in the economy. Taiwan moved from cheap, labor-intensive manufactures, such as textiles and toys, into an expansion of heavy industry and infrastructure in the 1970s, and then to advanced electronics in the subsequent decade. By the 1980s, the economy was becoming increasingly open and the government moved towards privatization of government enterprises. Technological development led to the establishment of the Hsinchu Science Park in 1981. Investments in mainland China spurred cross-strait trade, decreasing Taiwan's dependence on the United States market. From 1981 to 1995, the economy grew at an annual rate of 7.52%, and the service sector became the largest sector at 51.67%, surpassing the industrial sector and becoming a major source of the economy's growth.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: International Trade is officially assisted by Taiwan External Trade Development Council. Because of the financial policy by the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little from the financial crisis of 1997-1999 compared to other economies in the region.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2021–2027). Inflation under 5% is in green.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: As of 2021, the three highest paid sectors in Taiwan include telecommunication service, financial services and information service. The economy of Taiwan ranked the highest in Asia in the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI).


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: With the technocracy-centered economic planning until 1987, real growth in GDP has averaged about 8% during the past three decades. Exports have grown since World War II, with inflation and unemployment staying low and foreign reserves being the world's fourth largest. Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics and Ministry of Economic Affairs release major economic indicators of the economy of Taiwan.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan now faces many of the same economic issues as other developed economies. With the prospect of continued relocation of labor-intensive industries to economies with cheaper workforces, such as in mainland China, the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan's future development will have to rely on further transformation to a high technology and service-oriented economy. In recent years, Taiwan has successfully diversified its trade markets, cutting its share of exports to the United States from 49% in 1984 to 20% in 2002. Taiwan's dependence on the United States should continue to decrease as its exports to Southeast Asia and mainland China grow and its efforts to develop European markets produce results. Taiwan's accession to the WTO and its desire to become an Asia-Pacific "regional operations center" are spurring further economic liberalization. The economy of Taiwan is facing economic marginalisation in the world economy de-internationalization and lower salaries. This results in human resource talents seeking career opportunities elsewhere. Businesses in Taiwan suffer most from being the size of small and medium enterprises, which impedes attempts of economic transformation of Taiwan by the Taiwanese government.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The Indirect tax system of the economy of Taiwan comprises Gross Business Receipts Tax (GBRT) (Gross receipts tax) and Value-added tax. The economy of Taiwan is ranked 15th overall in the Global Top 20 Top Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitors (2014) by the MasterCard 2014 Global Destination Cities Index.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan recovered quickly from the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, and its economy has been growing steadily since. Its economy faced a downturn in 2009 due to a heavy reliance on exports which in turn made it vulnerable to world markets. Unemployment reached levels not seen since 2003, and the economy fell 8.36% in the fourth quarter of 2008. In response, the government launched a US$5.6 billion economic stimulus package (3% of its GDP), provided financial incentives for businesses, and introduced tax breaks. The stimulus package focused on infrastructure development, small and medium-sized businesses, tax breaks for new investments, and low-income households. Boosting shipments to new overseas markets, such as Russia, Brazil, and the Middle East was also a main goal of the stimulus. The economy has since slowly recovered; by November 2010, Taiwan's unemployment rate had fallen to a two-year low of 4.73%, and continued dropping to a 40-month low of 4.18% by the end of 2011. The average salary has also been rising steadily for each month in 2010, up 1.92% from the same period in 2009. Industrial output for November 2010 reached another high, up 19.37% from a year earlier, indicating strong exports and a growing local economy. Private consumption is also increasing, with retail sales up 6.4% compared to 2009. After 10.5% economic growth in 2010, the World Bank expected growth to continue and reach 5% for 2011.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: According to the National Development Council, Taiwan's economy declined in May 2019 due to the ongoing China-United States trade war.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Foreign trade has been the engine of Taiwan's rapid growth during the past 40 years. Taiwan's economy remains export-oriented, thus it depends on an open world trade regime and remains vulnerable to downturns in the world economy. The total value of trade increased over fivefold in the 1960s, nearly tenfold in the 1970s, and doubled again in the 1980s. The 1990s saw a more modest, slightly less than twofold, growth. Export composition changed from predominantly agricultural commodities to industrial goods (now 98%). The electronics sector is Taiwan's most important industrial export sector and is the largest recipient of United States investment.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is a member of numerous trade agreements, with China, Japan, USA, the European Union, and Hong Kong as top 5 trade partners in 2010. Taiwan has one of the world's lowest fertility rate and high housing prices. Labor shortages, falling domestic demand, and declining tax revenues are concerns as Taiwan's population decline is faster than other advanced economies.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: As an island economy with a lack of natural resources and comparatively lower domestic aggregate demand, Taiwan's highly educated human resources would contribute greatly to Value added Innovation management for expanding Taiwan's international trade.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan, as an independent economy, became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (often shortened to "Chinese Taipei" - both names resulting from PRC interference in the WTO) in January 2002. In a 2011 report by Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI), Taiwan ranked third-best globally for its investment environment.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is the world's largest supplier of contract computer chip manufacturing (foundry services) and is a leading LCD panel manufacturer, DRAM computer memory, networking equipment, and consumer electronics designer and manufacturer. Major hardware companies include Acer, Asus, HTC, Foxconn, TSMC and Pegatron. Textiles are another major industrial export sector, though of declining importance due to labor shortages, increasing overhead costs, land prices, and environmental protection.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Imports are dominated by raw materials and capital goods, which account for more than 90% of the total. Taiwan imports most of its energy needs. The United States is Taiwan's third largest trading partner, taking 11.4% of Taiwanese exports and supplying 10.0% of its imports. Mainland China has recently become Taiwan's largest import and export partner. In 2010, the mainland accounted for 28.0% of Taiwan's exports and 13.2% of imports. This figure is growing rapidly as both economies become ever more interdependent. Imports from mainland China consist mostly of agricultural and industrial raw materials. Exports to the United States are mainly electronics and consumer goods. As Taiwanese per capita income level has risen, demand for imported, high-quality consumer goods has increased. Taiwan's 2002 trade surplus with the United States was $8.70 billion.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The lack of formal diplomatic relations between the Republic of China (Taiwan) with Taiwan's trading partners appears not to have seriously hindered Taiwan's rapidly expanding commerce. The Republic of China maintains cultural and trade offices in more than 60 countries with which it does not have official relations to represent Taiwanese interest. In addition to the WTO, Taiwan is a member of the Asian Development Bank as "Taipei, China" (a name resulting from PRC influence on the bank) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum as "Chinese Taipei" (for the same reason as above). These developments reflect Taiwan's economic importance and its desire to become further integrated into the global economy.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is a member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Taiwan is also an observer at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and International Energy Agency (IEA) as Member under the acronym of Chinese Taipei, and a member of International Chamber of Commerce as Chinese Taipei. Taiwan signed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with People's Republic of China on 29 June 2010. Taiwan has also signed free trade pacts with Singapore and New Zealand. Taiwan applied for the membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in 2015.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with the People's Republic of China was signed on 29 June 2010, in Chongqing. It could potentially widen the market for Taiwan's exports. However, the true benefits and impacts brought by ECFA to Taiwan's overall economy are still in dispute. The newly signed agreement will allow for more than 500 products made in Taiwan to enter mainland China at low or no tariffs. As of 2021, Taiwan's exports to the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong) totaled about US$270 billion per year, which is equivalent to more than 40% of Taiwan's total GDP. The government is also looking to establish trade agreements with Singapore and the United States.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Industrial output has gradually decreased from accounting for over half of Taiwan's GDP in 1986 to just 31% in 2002. Industries have gradually moved to capital and technology-intensive industries from more labor-intensive industries, with electronics and information technology accounting for 35% of the industrial structure. Industry in Taiwan primarily consists of many small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with fewer large enterprises. Traditional labor-intensive industries are being moved off-shore and replaced with capital and technology-intensive industries. These industries are in the pre-mature stage of the manufacturing industry in various global economic competitions, and growing from the over-reliance from the original equipment manufacturer and original design manufacturer models. The Institute for Information Industry is responsible for the development of the IT and ICT industry in Taiwan. Industrial Technology Research Institute is the advanced research center for applied technology for the economy of Taiwan. The art industry is significant with sales worth $225.4 million made domestically in 2019. Taiwanese collectors and artists are also prominent in the global art market.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The "e-Taiwan" project launched by the government seeks to use US$1.83 billion to improve the information and communications infrastructure in Taiwan in five major areas: government, life, business, transport, and broadband. The program seeks to raise industry competitiveness, improve government efficiency, and improve the quality of life, and aims to increase the number of broadband users on the island to 6 million. In 2010, Taiwan's software market grew by 7.1% to reach a value of US$4 billion, accounting for 3.3% of the Asia-Pacific region market value. The digital content production industry grew by 15% in 2009, reaching US$14.03 billion. The optoelectronics industry (including flat panel displays and photovoltaics) totaled NT$2.2 trillion in 2010, a 40% jump from 2009, representing a fifth of the global market share. The economy of Taiwan is a partner in the Global Value Chains of Electronics Industry. Electronic components and personal computer are areas of international strength of Taiwan's Information Technology industry.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is a major producer of sporting goods with NT$59.8 billion of production in 2020, 40-50% of production is indoor fitness equipment. Taiwan is the global leader in golf equipment with 80% of global production concentrated in the country. The four largest golf OEM are all Taiwanese however these firms are increasingly selling products under their own brands.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The semiconductor industry, including IC manufacturing, design, and packing, forms a major part of Taiwan's IT industry. Due to its strong capabilities in OEM wafer manufacturing and a complete industry supply chain, Taiwan has been able to distinguish itself from its competitors. The sector output reached US$39 billion in 2009, ranking first in global market share in IC manufacturing, packaging, and testing, and second in IC design. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) are the two largest contract chipmakers in the world, while MediaTek is the fourth-largest fabless supplier globally. In 1987, TSMC pioneered the fabless foundry model, reshaping the global semiconductor industry. From ITRI's first 3-inch wafer fabrication plant built in 1977 and the founding of UMC in 1980, the industry has developed into a world leader with 40 fabs in operation by 2002. In 2007, the semiconductor industry overtook that of the United States, second only to Japan. Although the global financial crisis from 2007 to 2010 affected sales and exports, the industry has rebounded with companies posting record profits for 2010. The international industrial forecast of semiconductor manufacturing, which is the flagship industry of the economy of Taiwan that faces immense competition ahead with its American counterparts. By 2020 Taiwan was the unmatched leader of the global semiconductor industry with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) alone accounting for more than 50% of the global market.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan's information technology industry has played an important role in the worldwide IT market over the last 20 years. In 1960, the electronics industry in Taiwan was virtually nonexistent. However, with the government's focus on development of expertise with high technology, along with marketing and management knowledge to establish its own industries, companies such as TSMC and UMC were established. The industry used its industrial resources and product management experience to cooperate closely with major international suppliers to become the research and development hub of the Asia-Pacific region. The structure of the industry in Taiwan includes a handful of companies at the top along with many small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) which account for 85% of industrial output. These SMEs usually produce products on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or original design manufacturer (ODM) basis, resulting in less resources spent on research and development. Due to the emphasis of the OEM/ODM model, companies are usually unable to make in-depth assessments for investment, production, and marketing of new products, instead relying upon importation of key components and advanced technology from the United States and Japan. Twenty of the top information and communication technology (ICT) companies have International Procurement Offices set up in Taiwan. As a signer of the Information Technology Agreement, Taiwan phased out tariffs on IT products since 1 January 2002.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is a hub for global computing, telecommunications, and data management with a number of large server farms operating in the country. Google's data center in Changhua is believed to be the largest in Asia. Taiwan is well connected to the global undersea fiber optic cable network and serves as a substantial traffic interchange.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Agriculture has served as a strong foundation for Taiwan's economic miracle. It contributes 3% to GDP and the service sector makes up 73% of the economy. After retrocession from Japan in 1945, the government announced a long-term strategy of "developing industry through agriculture, and developing agriculture through industry". As such, agriculture became the foundation for Taiwan's economic development during early years and served as an anchor for growth in industry and commerce. Where as in 1951 agricultural production accounted for 35.8% of Taiwan's GDP, by 2013 it had been vastly surpassed and its NT$475.90 billion accounted for only 1.69% of the GDP. , Taiwan's agriculture was a mixture of crops (47.88%), livestock (31.16%), fishery (20.87%) and forestry (0.09%). Since its accession into the World Trade Organization and the subsequent trade liberalization, the government has implemented new policies to develop the sector into a more competitive and modernized green industry.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Although only about one-quarter of Taiwan's land area is suitable for farming, virtually all farmland is intensely cultivated, with some areas suitable for two and even three crops a year. However, increases in agricultural production have been much slower than industrial growth. Agricultural modernization has been inhibited by the small size of farms and the lack of investment in better facilities and training to develop more profitable businesses. Taiwan's agricultural population has steadily decreased from 1974 to 2002, prompting the Council of Agriculture to introduce modern farm management, provide technical training, and offer counseling for better production and distribution systems. Promotion of farm mechanization has helped to alleviate labor shortages while increasing productivity; both rice and sugar cane production are completely mechanized. Taiwan's main crops are rice, sugar cane, fruits (many of them tropical), and vegetables. Although self-sufficient in rice production, Taiwan imports large amounts of wheat, mostly from the United States. Meat production and consumption has risen sharply, reflecting a high standard of living. Taiwan has exported large amounts of frozen pork, although this was affected by an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in 1997. Other agricultural exports include fish, aquaculture and sea products, canned and frozen vegetables, and grain products. Imports of agriculture products are expected to increase due to the WTO accession, which is opening previously protected agricultural markets.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Due to the lack of natural resources on the island, Taiwan is forced to import many of its energy needs (currently at 98%). Imported energy totaled US$11.52 billion in 2002, accounting for 4.1% of its GDP. Although the industrial sector has traditionally been Taiwan's largest energy consumer, its share has dropped in recent years from 62% in 1986 to 58% in 2002. Taiwan's energy consumption is dominated by crude oil & petroleum products (48.52%), followed by coal (29.2%), natural gas (12.23%), nuclear power (8.33%), and hydroelectric power (0.28%). The island is also heavily dependent on imported oil, with 72% of its crude oil coming from the Middle East in 2002. Although the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), state-owned enterprise, is in charge of providing electricity for the Taiwan area, a 1994 measure has allowed independent power producers (IPPs) to provide up to 20% of the island's energy needs. Indonesia and Malaysia supply most of Taiwan's natural gas needs. It currently has three operational nuclear power plants. A fourth plant under construction was mothballed in 2014.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Although Taiwan's per capita energy use is on par with neighboring Asian countries, in July 2005 the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced plans to cut 170 million-tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2025. In 2010, carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced by 5.14 million metric tons. In order to further reduce emissions, the government also plans to increase energy efficiency by 2% each year through 2020. In addition, by 2015 emissions are planned to be reduced by 7% compared to 2005 levels.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is the world's 4th largest producer of solar-powered batteries and largest LED manufacturer by volume. In 2010, Taiwan had over 1.66 million square meters of solar heat collectors installed, with an installation density that ranks it as third in the world. The government has already built 155 sets of wind turbines capable of producing 281.6 MW of electricity, and additional projects are planned or under construction. Renewable energy accounts for 6.8% of Taiwan's energy usage as of 2010. In 2010, the green energy sector generated US$10.97 billion in production value. The government also announced plans to invest US$838 million for renewable energy promotion and an additional US$635 million for research and development.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan, as of 2017, is the world's thirteenth-largest steel exporter. In 2018, Taiwan exported 12.2 million metric tons of steel, a one percent increase from 12.0 million metric tons in 2017. Taiwan's exports represented about 3 percent of all steel exported globally in 2017, based on available data. The volume of Taiwan's 2018 steel exports was one-sixth that of the world's largest exporter, China, and nearly one-third that of the second-largest exporter, Japan. In value terms, steel represented just 3.6 percent of the total amount of goods Taiwan exported in 2018. Taiwan exports steel to more than 130 countries and territories. Over the decade from 2009 to 2019, Taiwan grew its steel exports by 24%. In 2018, the US imported 300,000 metric tons of pipe and tube product. Taiwan has developed a vast export trade to its most proximate neighbours in flat products. Taiwan's stainless steel exports numbered in 2018 about 500,000 metric tons.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: Taiwan is the fourth largest exporter of machine tools and machine tool components in the world. The greater Taichung area is home to a cluster of machine tool manufacturers.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: The automotive industry in Taiwan is significant with Taiwanese firms increasingly invested in automotive electrification, 75% of Tesla, Inc.’s suppliers are Taiwanese.


title: Economy of Taiwan

text: In 2017 Taiwan exported one hundred and sixty two yachts. In 2018 Taiwan was the fourth largest yacht building nation by feet of yacht built after Italy, The Netherlands and Turkey. Taiwan is one of the largest fishing nations on earth and the associated fish processing industry is also significant.