SimEarth: The Living Planet is a life simulation game, the second designed by Will Wright. and published in 1990 by Maxis. In SimEarth, the player controls the development of a planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his Gaia hypothesis of planet evolution was incorporated into the game. Versions were made for the Macintosh, Atari ST, Amiga, IBM PC, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega CD, and TurboGrafx-16. It was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console. In 1996, several of Maxis' simulation games were re-released under the Maxis Collector Series with greater compatibility with Windows 95 and differing box art, including the addition of Classics beneath the title. SimEarth was re-released in 1997 under the Classics label.

Gameplay
In SimEarth, the player can vary a planet's atmosphere, temperature, landmasses, etc., then place various forms of life on the planet and watch them evolve. In the "Random Planet" game setting, the game is a software toy, without any required goals. The big (and difficult) challenge is to evolve sentient life and an advanced civilization. The development stages of the planet can be restored and repeated, until the planet "dies" ten billion years after its creation, the estimated time when the Sun will become a red giant and kill off all of the planet's life.

There are also eight scenarios that do have goals, the first three (Aquarium, Cambrian Earth, and Modern-day Earth) involving managing the evolution and development of Earth in different stages, the next four (Mars, Venus, Ice Planet, and Dune) involving terraforming other planets to support life, and the final scenario (Earth 2XXX) involving rescuing life and civilization on a future Earth from self-replicating robots and nuclear warfare and giving the player the option of causing a great flood to help achieve this goal. In addition, there is another game mode besides Random Planet and Scenario mode, called Daisy World, where the only biome on the planet is daisies, which change their color relative to the temperature.

The game models the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock (who assisted with the design and wrote an introduction to the manual), and one of the options available to the player is the simplified "Daisyworld" model.

The player's control of the planet in the game is quite comprehensive; display panels allow the player to regulate everything from atmospheric gases, with percentages to three decimal places, to the rate of continental drift, to the rate of reproduction and mutation of lifeforms. In addition, the player is given options to place equipment or items that interfere with the planet's development, such as Oxygen Generators, which increase the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, and the monolith, a take on the one found in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which aids in increasing intelligence of a lifeform through extraterrestrial contact.

The list of disasters ranges from natural occurrences, such as hurricanes and wild fires, to population-dependent disasters, such as plagues and pollution.  Effects on the planet may be minor or major depending on the current conditions. Increased volcanic eruptions, for example, increase the amount of dust in the atmosphere, lowering global temperature; earthquakes in a body of water may produce tsunamis; and the shortage of nuclear fuel for a nuclear power-dependent civilization may potentially trigger nuclear war and nuclear winter.

Global warming can cause the planet's ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise, but if a planet gets very hot, the oceans boil away until there are no oceans left, only land. A planet without any water can have oceans brought back if hit by an "ice meteor" (a.k.a. a comet). Many things have to be kept within a certain balanced range for a planet to be able to support multicellular animal life; outside this range, only single-celled lifeforms, plants, robots, and lifeforms that have been civilized can survive. This excludes most lifeforms in this game since most are multicellular animals that are not civilized.

All player-triggered actions have a cost specified in "energy units" or "omega (Ω) units"; for example, 50 energy units are required to lay down a single terrain square, while 500 units are required to lay down a terraforming device. The energy budget is determined by the level of development of the planet, and the chosen difficulty level; on the lowest difficulty level, the energy budget is unlimited.

Gameplay itself can be somewhat mystifying; species may thrive or die out for no apparent reason. Mass extinctions, however, are often followed by periods of renewed evolutionary diversification, allowing the player to experiment with new sets of species and ecosystems.

Taxa

A feature of the game is that all taxa of multicellular animals are on an equal footing, and thus it is possible to evolve, for example, sapient molluscs. The two single-celled lifeform taxa, Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes (or Bacteria and Amoebas, in-game respectively) are treated specially. Some examples of animal taxa include Radiates and Cetaceans as well as more well known taxa such as fish and birds.  As an "Easter egg", there is also machine life, which can appear if a city of the highest technology level (Nanotech Age) is destroyed by a nuclear explosion. Machine life can thrive in any biome or environmental conditions, generally out-competing any other lifeforms present, and can itself eventually evolve intelligence and build cities. Additionally, there are Carniferns, which are mutated, carnivorous plants, which can occur only naturally.  Having an abundance of insects allows for these life-forms to develop. Carniferns are able to develop intelligence just as animals can.  In addition to the familiar types, the long-extinct "trichordates" are included. The game states that "We [the game's developers]  felt sorry for them, and are giving them a chance for survival in SimEarth." Dinosaurs are another included taxa.

Civilization
Once an organism on the SimEarth planet becomes sentient and develops civilization, it will gradually go through different stages of development with each successive stage being more technologically advanced than the last.

 Stone Age, This stage is characterized by the use of stone tools and paleolithic lifestyles.
 Bronze Age, This stage is characterized by the use of bronze tools, the invention of farming, the development of writing, and urbanization.
 Iron Age, This stage is characterized by the use of Iron tools and is slightly more advanced than the Bronze Age.
 Industrial Age, This stage is characterized by rapid industrialization and improving living standards. This stage is where resources are being rapidly consumed. Once this stage is achieved, energy requirements are high and global warming starts to threaten your planet's habitability.
 Atomic Age, This stage is characterized by the use of nuclear energy.
 Information Age, This stage is associated with the mass use of telecommunication technologies and computers.
 Nanotech Age, This is the most challenging stage to reach due to depleting resources and the growing threat of global warming. It is associated with the use of nanotechnology and interplanetary space travel.

Development
Will Wright was introduced to James Lovelock by Stewart Brand, a former editor of CoEvolution Quarterly who lived near Wright, upon hearing about SimEarth. Lovelock advised the development team behind SimEarth, and particularly assisted with geophysical models. Lovelock stated in regards to the Gaia model that "Attempts to model the Earth through simple sciences such as biology or biochemistry fail because the models are oversensitive to initial conditions and prone to chaotic disturbance." Gaia models link biology and geology however, which Lovelock claimed are "for some reason stable and able to resist perturbations." Lovelock expressed that SimEarth's simulation has 'a degree of realism' despite it being "little more than a game", and he expressed that he hadn't seen or been involved in any computer simulations of nature on the scale of SimEarth at the time, noting that many professional climate models at the time didn't take clouds, the ocean, or biology into account.

Reception

Computer Gaming World called SimEarth "absolutely fascinating". The reviewer wished that the game had more SimCity-like visual feedback, but stated that it was superior to the predecessor because of larger scope and greater replayability. It won the 1991 Software Publishers Association Excellence in Software Awards for Best Secondary Education Program and Best Simulation Program.

Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A- and wrote that "While it's never too early to teach kids to respect the biosphere, the same may not be true of introducing them to complicated simulations such as Simearth: The Living Planet (FCI, for Super NES), which has more variables (temperature, precipitation, etc.) than a polynomial equation. There's something to be said for this, though: A task as simple as 'growing a daisy'—one option offered here—requires knowing far more than which button to push to cream the bad guy."

The One gave the MS-DOS version of SimEarth an overall score of 95%, and expressed that the game is fun 'regardless of whether you know what you're doing or not', and said that experimenting with the simulation is "hours of fun". The One praised SimEarth's substantial gameplay, expressing that the game has "near-infinite variations with which to experiment." The One noted the game as having "tremendous educational possibilities", but simultaneously being fun and engaging.

See also
Spore
Impossible Creatures
L.O.L.: Lack of Love
Seventh Cross: Evolution
Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life
E.V.O.: Search for Eden
Creatures
SimLife

Notes

References

External links

1990 video games
Amiga games
Atari ST games
Biological simulation video games
Classic Mac OS games
DOS games
Environmental mass media
FM Towns games
Game Arts games
God games
Imagineer games
Maxis Sim games
NEC PC-9801 games
Non-games
Panhistorical video games
Single-player video games
Sega CD games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Tomcat System games
TurboGrafx-CD games
Video games about evolution
Video games about microbes
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Noriyuki Iwadare
Video games scored by Russell Lieblich
Video games set in the Mesozoic
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SimEarth


Tutoring is private academic support, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects.

A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assistance or tutelage to one or more people on certain subject areas or skills. The tutor spends a few hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to transfer their expertise on the topic or skill to the student (also called a tutee). Tutoring can take place in different settings.

History

Formal education is first attested among the scribes of ancient Egypt but, in most fields, instruction was traditionally handled on a personal basis, with most skills and professions long handed down within families or via apprenticeship until the modern era. In classical antiquity, the lower classes could pay for instruction in group settings like ludi but the upper classes preferred personalized home tutoring. In ancient China, some aristocratic tutors like Confucius and Mencius attracted so many students that they established influential philosophies. In ancient Greece, some sophists established lucrative careers teaching the important skills of public speaking for the assembly or courts; in Plato's works, Socrates provides similar services for free while criticizing the sophists for their presumed lack of concern for actual truth and understanding. In the case of the ancient Romans, the education of the patricians and wealthy plebeians was frequently provided by Greek slaves.

Royal tutors, the personal instructors of future rulers, have always enjoyed importance and prestige. In particular, the Grand Tutor (, tàifù) was one of the three great lords of the royal court of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. Similar positions remained in very high importance across East Asia into the modern era.

By some accounting, methods of tutoring only began to become more structured after the 20th century through focus and specialization in the training of tutors, application of tutoring, and evaluation of tutors. From the 20th century onwards, with the rapid spread of mainstream education, the demand for tutoring has also increased as a way to supplement formal education.

British and Irish secondary schools

In British and Irish secondary schools, form tutors are given the responsibilities of a form or class of students in a particular year group (up to 30 students). They usually work in year teams headed by a year leader, year head, or guidance teacher. Form tutors will provide parents with most of the information about their child's progress and any problems they might be experiencing.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, private tutoring, outside school, is common for students who need extra support in one or more subjects, particularly leading up to exams. In Ireland this is known as grinds.

In the British higher education system, a tutor is a general term for someone delivering tutorials, individually or in small groups. See tutorial system.

Private tutoring in Asia
A 2012 study by the Asian Development Bank and the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong pointed out that private tutoring can dominate the lives of young people and their families, maintain and exacerbate social inequalities, divert needed household income into an unregulated industry, and create inefficiencies in education systems. It can also undermine official statements about fee-free education and create threats to social cohesion.

In South Korea, nearly 90% of elementary students receive some sort of shadow education, termed there as Hagwon. In Hong Kong, about 85% of senior secondary students do so. 60% of primary students in West Bengal, India, and 60% of secondary students in Kazakhstan receive private tutoring.

Demand for tutoring in Asia is exploding; by comparison globally, shadow education is most extensive in Asia. This is partly due to the stratification of education systems, cultural factors, perceptions of shortcomings in regular school systems, and the combination of growing wealth and smaller family sizes. Therefore, the education sector has become a profitable industry which businesses have created different kinds of products and advertisement such as "the king/queen of tutorial", a usual advertisement tactic of Hong Kong tutorial centers that has spread to South Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India where tutors achieve "celebrity-like status". In some cases, successful Southeast Asian tutors will even embrace the title of "tutor". Online private tutor matching platform and online learning platform offering online learning materials are other creations.

In Cambodia, most tutoring is provided by teachers, whereas in Hong Kong, it is provided by individuals, small companies or large companies. In Mongolia, most tutoring is labor-intensive, while entrepreneurs in South Korea make use of computers and other forms of technology.

Policy

A 2012 study by the Asian Development Bank and the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong recommended policymakers across the region take a closer look at how 'shadow education' affects family budgets, children's time, and national education systems. It suggested that in order to reduce the need for private lessons, improvements in mainstream schools should be made. Regulations are also needed to protect citizens.

On 24 July 2021, the Double reduction policy got promulgated jointly by the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The double reduction policy reclassified tutoring institutions in China as non-profit organizations, which solved the over-reliance of Chinese students on after-school tutoring classes, and reduced the additional financial burden on Chinese families. Chinese families spend 40 to 50 percent of their total domestic spending on tutoring. The double reduction policy's regulation of shadow education has improved the quality of school curriculum during the compulsory education period and relieved the inequality of educational resources caused by the economic gap.

Costs of tutoring

Some studies have estimated costs associated with "shadow education". In Pakistan, expenditures on tutoring per child averaged $3.40 a month in 2011. In India, average spending was lower, but still equated to about $12.51 per month.

In Georgia, household expenditures for private tutoring at the secondary school level was $48 million in 2011. In Hong Kong, the business of providing private tutoring to secondary schools reached $255 million in 2011.

In India, a 2008 survey estimated the size of the private tutoring sector to be $6.4 billion. In Japan, families spent $12 billion in 2010 on private tutoring.

In South Korea, where the government has attempted to cool down the private tutoring market, shadow education costs have nonetheless continually grown, reaching $17.3 billion in 2010. Household expenditures on private tutoring are equivalent to about 80% of government expenditures on public education for primary and secondary students.

In the United States, the tutoring market is fragmented. Some online tutoring marketplaces, however, have managed to aggregate a large number of private tutors on their platform and also tutoring data. For example, one such site has over 34,000 registered tutors in California and made public their tutoring hourly rate data.

In the United Kingdom, the cost of tuition is dependent upon a variety of factors such as subject, level (Key Stages, GCSE or A-Level), tutor experience and whether the lesson takes place virtually or in person. If you are looking to receive online tutoring from a qualified UK teacher with a verified certificate it will cost between £30 & 40 per hour. It is also common in the UK to apply for tutoring sessions through your local school if you are struggling to help subsidise the cost through the National Tuition Programme.

Effectiveness

Research supports the literature that students who seek and receive tutoring services outperformed their counterparts. However, private tutoring is not always effective in raising academic achievement; and in some schools students commonly skip classes or sleep through lessons because they are tired after excessive external study. This means that the shadow system can make regular schooling less efficient.

In many countries, individuals can become tutors without training. In some countries, including Cambodia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, and Tajikistan, the pattern of classroom teachers supplementing their incomes by tutoring students after school hours is more a necessity than a choice, as many teachers' salaries hover close to the poverty line.

In South Korea, the number of private tutors expanded roughly 7.1% annually on average from 2001 to 2006, and by 2009 the sector was the largest employer of graduates from the humanities and social sciences.

Teachers who spend more time focusing on private lessons than regular classes can cause greater inefficiencies in the mainstream school system. Situations in which teachers provide extra private lessons for pupils for whom they are already responsible in the public system can lead to corruption, particularly when teachers deliberately teach less in their regular classes in order to promote the market for private lessons.

When private tutoring is provided by well trained tutor however the effects can be dramatic, with pupils improving performance by two standard deviations. See also Bloom's 2 Sigma Problem.

Types of tutoring

There can be an existing overlap between different types of tutoring with respect to the setting or location of tutoring, the size of tutor-learner pairings/groups, and the method of tutoring provided, for example, one-on-one peer tutoring can take place through online tutoring. Tutoring is typically private since it is exists independent of the system of public and private education, that is, one can be enrolled in public/private schooling and attend private tutoring services.

Academic coaching
Academic coaching is a type of mentoring applied to academics.  Coaching involves a collaborative approach. Coaches try to help students learn how they best learn and how to operate in an academic environment. Tutors help students learn the material in individual courses while coaches help students learn how to be successful in school. In college, that includes such topics as: study skills, time management, stress management, effective reading, note-taking, test-taking, and understanding how to use a syllabus. Academic coaches meet with the student regularly throughout the semester. Coaches work with students in all kinds of situations, not just those who are struggling academically.  Academic coaching also serves to help students prepare for entrance exams to gain entry to schools or universities, and it is particularly popular in Asia. For example, in India, a majority of students, be it of any class or stream, visit a coaching center or a "study circle."

Home-based tutoring

In-home tutoring is a form of tutoring that occurs in the home. Most often the tutoring relates to an academic subject or test preparation. This is in contrast to tutoring centers or tutoring provided through after-school programs. The service most often involves one-on-one attention provided to the pupil. Due to the informal and private nature of in-home tutoring, there is limited substantial or conclusive information on in-home tutoring.

Online tutoring
Online tutoring is another way for a student to receive academic help, either scheduled or on-demand. Sessions are done through an application where a student and tutor can communicate. Common tools include chat, whiteboard, web conferencing, teleconferencing, online videos and other specialized applets which make it easier to convey information back and forth. Online tutoring has relatively recently emerged as a mechanism to provide tutoring services in contrast to more traditional in-person teaching. Paired with in-person tutoring, some of the benefits include the opportunity for learning motivation growth for both the tutor and the tutee.

Online tutoring is now a very popular way for students at top higher education institutions to earn money to support their studies during term time, but not all universities are in favour of this.

One of the potential drawbacks of online tutoring stems from the influx or sensory overload of information from different materials. "For example, material presented in multiple modalities run the risk of interrupting the learner from a coherent learning experience, of imposing a "split attention" effect (the mind cannot concentrate on two things simultaneously), or of overloading the learner's limited supply of cognitive resources."

The tutor ensures the development of individual educational programs for students and accompanies the process of individualization and individual education at school, university, in additional education systems.

Peer tutoring
Peer tutoring refers to the method of tutoring that involves members of the same peer group teaching or tutoring one another. The characteristics of a peer tutoring group/pairing vary across age, socioeconomic class, gender, ethnicity. It has been defined as "a class of practices and strategies that employs peers as one-on-one teachers to provide individualized instruction, practice, repetition, and clarification of concepts"

Tutoring response to COVID-19
COVID-19 negatively affected the academic success of students around the world. Some countries (and at least one US state) initiated special tutoring programs to reduce this impact. A knock-on was the significant growth of the private online tutoring industry as parents tried to reduce the impact of missed classes.

In May 2020, the Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation, in partnership with organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs in the State of Tennessee, launched the Tennessee Tutoring Corps to recruit at least 1,000 qualified college tutors to help the most vulnerable K-6th grade students. Some prominent education researchers have called on the U.S. to dramatically expand tutoring programs through organizations such as AmeriCorps.

In June 2020, the Dutch Government was the first country to announce a plan to allocate the equivalent of $278 million US to provide extra school support such as summer schools, extended school days, and tutoring. The Ministry of Education proposed to recruit specially trained student-teachers to provide the tutoring.

Also in June 2020, the British Government announced plans to spend £1 billion on an education "catch-up plan". State primary and secondary schools will split £650 million in additional funding for the 2020-21 academic year to help their pupils catch up on education missed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools will have discretion on how the funds are used, however the Department for Education said it expects them to spend some of it on small group tutoring "for whoever needs it". The remaining £350 million will pay for the establishment of a "National Tutoring Programme", giving schools access to subsidised tutoring sessions and free coaches for up to two million disadvantaged pupils.

Effects

Academic performance
Studies have found that peer tutoring provides academic benefits for learners across the subject areas of "reading, mathematics, science, and social studies" Peer tutoring has also been found to be an effective teaching method in enhancing the reading comprehension skills of students, especially that of students with a low academic performance at the secondary level in schools. Additionally, peer tutoring has been proven especially useful for those with learning disabilities at the elementary level, while there is mixed evidence showing the effectiveness of peer tutoring for those at the secondary level.

One study suggests that phonologically based reading instruction for first-graders at risk for learning disability can be delivered by non-teachers. In the study, non-certified tutors gave students intensive one-to-one tutoring for 30 minutes, 4 days a week for one school year. The students outperformed untutored control students on measures of reading, spelling, and decoding; with effect sizes ranging from .42 to 1.24. The tutoring included instruction in phonological skills, letter-sound correspondence, explicit decoding, rime analysis, writing, spelling, and reading phonetically controlled text. Although the effects diminished at the end of second grade, the tutored students continued to significantly outperform untutored students in decoding and spelling.

Economic effects
Although certain types of tutoring arrangements can require a salary for the tutor, typically tutoring is free of cost and thus financially affordable for learners. The cost-effectiveness of tutoring can prove to be especially beneficial for learners from low-income backgrounds or resource-strapped regions. In contrast, paid tutoring arrangements can create or further highlight socioeconomic disparities between low-income, middle-income and high-income populations. A study found that access to private tutoring was less financially affordable for low-income families, who thus benefited less from private tutoring as compared to high-income populations, who had the resources to profit from private tutoring.

Issues

Tutoring as "shadow education"
Tutoring has also emerged as a supplement to public and private schooling in many countries. The supplementary nature of tutoring is a feature in the domain of what some scholars have termed "shadow education". Shadow education has been defined as "a set of educational activities that occur out side formal schooling and are designed to enhance the student's formal school career." The term "shadow" has four components to it: firstly, the existence of and need for tutoring is produced by the existence of the formal education system; secondly, the formal education system is the mainstream system and thus tutoring is its shadow; thirdly, the focus remains on mainstream education in schools; fourthly, tutoring is largely informal and unstructured as compared to formal or mainstream education.  As a consequence of the popularity of shadow education, private tutoring can sometimes overshadow mainstream education with more priority given to enrolling in private tutoring centers. Mark Bray claims that "Especially near the time of major external examinations, schools in some countries may be perceived by pupils to be less able to cater for their specific needs."

Disproportionate use of tutoring services
In a 2009 research performed by the Institute of Education Sciences, statistics show that for the 2006–07 years, only 22 percent of students received tutoring services out of the 60 percent of those whose parents reported receiving information about the services. Conversely, only 13 percent of students receive tutoring services out of the 43 percent whose parents reported not receiving information about the services.

Tutoring agency
A tutoring agency is a business that acts as an intermediary between people who are looking for tutors and tutors wishing to offer their services. The term tuition agency is an alternative term, used specifically in Singapore and Malaysia.

Tutoring around the world
Tutoring agencies are common in many countries including Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE, the U.K. and the U.S.A., although it is not regulated in most countries.

In the UK, after much discussion in the media, a limited company was set up in October 2013. The Tutors' Association was previously named The London Association Of Certified Financial Analysts.

In Singapore, tutoring agencies, also known as tuition agencies, are not regulated by the Ministry of Education.

Controversies
In Singapore, parents and students have positive as well as negative comments.

Tutoring centers (tuition centers) must be registered with the Singapore Ministry of Education. However, tutoring agencies are not. Instead, tutoring agencies are required to register with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) under the Business Registration Act. There is a history of poor compliance and consumer complaints.

Professional associations

See also
 Cram school
 Homework coach
 Learning by teaching
 Mentorship
 Peer-mediated instruction
 Teacher
 Tuition agency
 Tutorial
 Virtual education
 Double Reduction Policy

References

Learning
Teaching

ms:Tuisyen

Tutoring


When companies use the internet to place advertisments, this is called online advertising. Online advertising can take different forms:

 People may send special e-mail messages to advertise their product. This can be a more neutral newsletter, or it can be unwanted mail sent to many recipients. Such mails are called spam mails.
 People may use special graphics on other websites. When the user clicks on the graphic, he or she is directed to a website with more information.
 When a web page is accessed, it may open extra windows or tabs, which contain the offer. These windows or tabs may appear in front of the original site, or they may appear behind it.
 When people search for certain terms on a search engine, a given page may appear higher up in the listing of results.
Very often, companies personalize their offers. In the web browser, cookies are commonly used for this.

Types of Online Advertising:
 Search Engine Advertising: This includes paid search advertising on platforms like Google Ads, where ads appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) when users enter specific keywords.
 Display Advertising: Display ads are visual banners, images, or interactive media that appear on websites, apps, or social media platforms. They can be static or dynamic.
 Video Advertising: Video ads are short video clips that play before, during, or after online video content, such as on YouTube or streaming platforms.
 Social Media Advertising: Ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow advertisers to target users based on their profiles, interests, and behaviors.
 Native Advertising: Native ads blend seamlessly with the content on the platform where they appear, making them less intrusive and more engaging.
 Email Marketing: Email ads are sent directly to a user's inbox and can include newsletters, promotional offers, and personalized recommendations.
 Affiliate Marketing: In this model, advertisers pay a commission to affiliates (publishers) for driving traffic or sales to their websites through affiliate links.

Benefits of Online Advertising:

 Reach: Online advertising can reach a global audience, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
 Targeting: Advertisers can precisely target their ads to specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, reducing wasted ad spend.
 Measurability: Detailed analytics provide insights into ad performance, allowing advertisers to optimize campaigns in real-time.
 Cost Control: Online advertising often offers flexible budgeting options, such as pay-per-click (PPC) or pay-per-impression (CPM), allowing advertisers to control costs.
 Brand Visibility: Online advertising enhances brand visibility and can help businesses establish an online presence.

Challenges in Online Advertising:

 Ad Blockers: Some users employ ad-blocking software, reducing the visibility of ads.
 Ad Fraud: Advertisers must guard against fraudulent practices that can inflate costs or undermine campaign effectiveness.
 Privacy Concerns: Stringent data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) impact how user data can be collected and used for ad targeting.
 Competition: The online advertising landscape is highly competitive, and rising costs can challenge advertisers with limited budgets.

References

Marketing

Online advertising


Chinese tokens (Traditional Chinese: 中國代用幣; Simplified Chinese: 中国代用币; Pinyin: zhōng guó dài yòng bì) were an alternative currency in the form of token coins produced in China during the late Qing dynasty around the time of the Taiping Rebellion in the province of Jiangsu but not by the Taiping government, which had issued its own currency. Later tokens were again issued in Jiangsu during the Japanese occupation. These tokens were typically made by merchants and local businesses as well as local authorities and had nominal values denominated in their value in cash coins.

During the Qing dynasty

Qing dynasty era Chinese tokens were cast in denominations of 100 cash, 200 cash, 500 cash, and 1000 cash as well as 1 chuàn (壹串, or 100 cash coins), 2 chuàn (贰串, or 200 cash coins), and 5 chuàn (伍串, or 500 cash coins) as the contemporary definition of a "string of cash coins" () in the province of Jiangsu at the time was a hundred cash coins but these tokens also had denominations of 1 guàn (一貫, or 1000 cash coins). The numbers that these Jiangsu tokens were denominated in were an indication that of economic instability in the region at the time as the difference between their intrinsic and nominal value was significant. In addition to their nominal value it was common for these Chinese tokens to contain various features of Chinese charms such as "good luck" symbols, and unlike most contemporary coins these Chinese tokens may also contain chop marks which were only a feature of silver coinage such as dragon dollars at the time. Chinese tokens often had coin-like inscriptions such as wàn lì tōng bǎo (萬曆通寶), but also contained other inscriptions describing their nominal value like bǎi hé tong yuán (百合同元, "this coin has the same worth as 100 of the primary currency"), chuán bù liú shǐ (傳不流矢, "(this token) circulates without losing value"), yì qiān wén zhèng (一仟文正, "(this token) is equal to one thousand cash coins"), and yì bǎi wén zhèng (一百文正) which means "one hundred cash coins only"). These Chinese tokens often had inscriptions usually found on Chinese charms and amulets like xiáng qìng róng huá (祥慶榮華, "happiness and celebration, prosperity and high position") and rì yòng guāng huī (日用光輝, "for daily use is glorious") and could also contain other charm features such as the eight trigrams. Some Chinese tokens could also resemble Jiā Qìng Tōng Bǎo (嘉慶通寶) cash coins but with a serrated edge.

Lead tokens

Two series of lead cash coins, one with the inscription "Shengji Zuoyong" (生記作用), the other with the inscription "Hengji Dangshi" (亨記當十), are said to have circulated as an alternative currency in the Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, following the occupation of the region by the rebel government. Following the establishment of the central government Minting Bureau to issue its own holy currency the lead cash coins were recalled to be melted down. However, a few people did not exchange these lead cash coins to the royal government and a small number of them have been preserved to this day.

According to insiders of the soy sauce making industry, the companies that operated the Shengji (生記) and Hengji (亨記) soy bean gardens had a large business scope during the Qing dynasty period and were also in the business of producing wine, wheat, beans, and rice, in order to do this they produced utensils made out of tin and lead. Because these two shops were equipped with tin and lead tools and the right equipment to produce lead tools, the lead cash coins produced by them is so well made. During the end of the Qing dynasty period, the people from the Jiaxing region also collected a lot of money from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, including the locally produced lead cash coins that served as an alternative currency, leading them to be preserved quite well by the time an article was written about them in the Cultural Relics (文物) journal in 1959.

During the Republic of China

According to Zhang Guomin, during the early Republican era most of these token coins were manufactured and circulated in southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and were extremely common in the Wujin region. By the year 1938 several factors created the environment to make these token coins flourish, the occupying Japanese forces were seizing all copper coins for the production of weaponry, the international price of copper had risen substantially, and the Chinese resistance was hoarding copper and silver coins. The companies that had produced these Chinese tokens were previously medal-makers and silversmiths and saw their businesses boom due to the demand for these low denomination bronze tokens.

A vast number of token coins were brought into general circulation and these coins were made from a number of different materials including bone, aluminium, bronze, lead, and re-used bronze. The most simple method of producing token coins was to take an old circulating coin, remove either all or only some of the coin's original design, and then stamp a new design on the coin.

On 31 March 1941 the Japanese puppet government in Nanjing had issued the "Temporary Regulations about Punishment for Obstruction to the New Legal Currency" this law affected Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and in the cities of Nanjing and Shanghai. There is no evidence that Chinese tokens were promoted by the Chinese resistance, but one of its issuers, Zhou Rongsheng, was a Chinese resistance faction leader in Shizhuang. The continued and illegal usage of these bronze token coins might have been a source of solidarity among the people of Jiangsu.

After 1941 the Japanese puppet government over-issued paper money which lead to inflation and caused the smaller denomination token coins to disappear from circulation.

Zheng Lu Bridge tokens

Zheng Lu Bridge tokens (Traditional Chinese: 鄭陸橋錢; Simplified Chinese: 郑陆桥钱; Pinyin: zhèng lù qiáo qián) were a type of Chinese token that originated in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu from 1939 until 1941, these tokens were manufactured contemporary to other Chinese tokens and bamboo tallies in the same area as the Japanese invasion of China disrupted the local economy forcing locals to start issuing their own currencies in the form of exonumia. Zheng Lu Bridge tokens were issued by a variety of local stores and others and had a very limited region of circulation. These tokens were issued due to various factors including a lack of small value currency, the profitability of accepting old Chinese copper coins to be exchanged for new local tokens, as well as the lack of confidence in the currencies issued by Japanese puppet banks. Zheng Lu Bridge tokens typically contain an image of the Zheng Lu Bridge which was a bridge built during the Ming dynasty in Changzhou where at one side of the bridge a lot of people had the surname Zheng and on the other side Lu and a man with the surname Zheng and a woman with the surname Lu fell in love with each other and as the family wished to arrange a wedding for them during the spring festival they had recommended against using a ferry so as both clans were affluent enough to pay for a bridge and the bridge was finished the day prior to their wedding, because of this association with love some Zheng Lu Bridge tokens contain images of hearts, and usually contained inscriptions indicating where these tokens were intended to circulate such as zhèng lù qiáo liú tōng (鄭陸橋流通, "Circulates in Zheng Lu Bridge").

"Xinsheng" tokens

The Xinsheng [Trust Abundant] company was a delicatessen-brewery located at the Ligang East Street in the Xixishu Village, Ligang Town, Jiangyin City, Jiangsu owned by the Zhang family, in the year 1939 this company issued their own token coins which were known as "Xinsheng tokens". The brother of the owned of the Xinsheng [Trust Abundant] company owned a meat-store in the same street and concurrently issued his own token coins known as "Chao Ji" tokens.

During this era issuing token coins was viewed as both a good way to increase a company's reputation as well as to promote their business. The Zhang family issued a total of 3,000 token coins, the cost of producing a 1 jiao token was 1 fen in legal currency, so the company made a 9 fen profit on every token coin of 1 jiao, which meant that the Zhang family made a profit of 270 yuan. Note that at this time a single dan (hectolitre) of rice cost 15 yuan, which meant that the Xinsheng delicatessen-brewery and the Zhang family made a large profit from issuing these "Xinsheng" tokens.

Chinese tokens in the collection of the British Museum

In the years 1992 and 1993 the British Museum had acquired 66 token coins from 1930s Southeast China. Of these coins, 65 are round in shape, and most of these coins are circa 28 millimeters in diameter and weigh between 7 and 8 grams, making them similar in size and weight as the contemporary Chinese 10 wén coins. The other token is long in shape.

Most of the Chinese token coins in the collection of the British Museum have chops on their reverses and contain serial numbers. Most of the Chinese tokens in the collection of the British Museum are from Southern Jiangsu with the majority being from Lingtai County, Jiangsu. The most common design having the place-name on the top, the English inscription "TEN CENTS" at the bottom, and the Traditional Chinese inscription "一角" in their centre.

References

Token coins
Exonumia of China
Alternative currencies

Chinese token (alternative currency)


Persoonia chamaepitys, commonly known as the prostrate- or mountain geebung, is a shrub endemic to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has a prostrate habit, reaching only  high but spreading up to  across, with bright green spine-like leaves and small yellow flowers appearing in summer and autumn.

Description
A prostrate shrub, Persoonia chamaepitys reaches to around  high and spreads up to  across. The new growth is hairy. The tiny spine-like leaves measure 0.7–1.9 cm long and 0.5–1 mm wide. Flowering occurs over spring and summer (October to January), the small yellow flowers arising from or near the ends of branchlets.

Taxonomy
It was first described by Allan Cunningham in 1825. The origin of the type specimen is unknown. The species name is derived from the Ancient Greek words chamae "ground hugging", and pitys "pine", from resemblance of the foliage to that of pines.

In 1870, George Bentham published the first infrageneric arrangement of Persoonia in Volume 5 of his landmark Flora Australiensis. He divided the genus into three sections, placing P. chamaepitys in P. sect. Amblyanthera. Within the genus Persoonia, P. chamaepitys is classified in the lanceolata group, a group of 54 closely related species with similar flowers but very different foliage. These species will often interbreed with each other where two members of the group occur. Common names include creeping geebung, prostrate geebung, and mountain geebung.

Distribution and habitat
Persoonia chamaepitys is restricted to central New South Wales from the Upper Goulburn Valley south through the Blue Mountains and Woronora Plateau and into the Budawang Range. It is common around Katoomba to Mount Victoria. It grows at an altitude of , on sandstone-based soils in heath or dry sclerophyll forest. Those seen in the Blue Mountains seem to originate on a slope or mound.

Ecology
Long-tongue bees of the genera Chalicodoma and Hylaeus and Eumenid wasps forage among the flowers, although only the long-tongue bee species Leioproctus raymenti is a pollinator. The fruit are eaten and scattered by vertebrates, such as kangaroos, possums, and currawongs and other large birds.

Persoonia chamaepitys is killed by bushfire and regenerates from seed that has remained dormant in the soil.

Cultivation
The species is sometimes seen in cultivation, but has proven difficult to propagate from either seed or cuttings. It makes an attractive rockery plant, its bright green foliage and yellow flowers are features.

References

chamaepitys
Flora of New South Wales
Proteales of Australia
Plants described in 1830
Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)

Persoonia chamaepitys


The Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

The House of Commons of England started to evolve in the 13th and 14th centuries. It became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland in 1707, and assumed the title of "House of Commons of Great Britain and Ireland" after the political union with Ireland at the start of the 19th century. The "United Kingdom" referred to was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1800, and became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922. Accordingly, the House of Commons assumed its current title.

Under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The Government is solely responsible to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister stays in office only as long as she or he retains the confidence of a majority of the Commons.

हाउस आव कामन्स


Peter Marshall (born 11 April 1945) is a British broadcaster. He was educated at St. Columb's College in Derry.

Broadcasting career

Television
Marshall became an announcer at Ulster Television, in 1967, and moved to Anglia Television in 1970. After a brief spell at Southern Television, he became well known as an in-vision announcer for Thames Television from 1976, also announcing during this period for ATV and HTV West, and presenting a weekend show on BBC Radio 2. He remained a Thames announcer until the company ceased broadcasting as an ITV contractor, announcing on its final day (31 December 1992) although by then he was not seen in vision.

For a long period in the 1970s and 1980s he co-hosted the Miss United Kingdom beauty pageant with Judith Chalmers, and the Miss World beauty pageant (alongside Alexandra Bastedo on one occasion). He also contributed to the Thames Television travel show Wish You Were Here...? (also fronted by Chalmers). he was Arts Editor for HTV Wales and presented News & consumer shows. In 1989, he also hosted the first UK revival of Sale of the Century, on the fledgling Sky TV satellite network. As well as hosting the Sale of the Century revival, Marshall had also worked in 1971 as the announcer on the original version of the show (hosted by Nicholas Parsons) before being replaced in season two by John Benson.

In 1994, he was behind the cameras (once again working for Thames) when he produced the first series of Infatuation UK, starring American emcee Bob Eubanks, for UK satellite station Living TV.

Radio
Marshall worked as a radio presenter with the BBC, and spent several years as host of the evening show on Melody FM in London.

Other work
He is now the founder/owner of Eccentric Multimedia Ltd.

External links

1945 births
Living people
British radio DJs
British game show hosts
Radio and television announcers
Beauty pageant hosts
People educated at St Columb's College

Peter Marshall (British broadcaster)


While the lineage of 1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (1 CFFTS; ) can be traced back through previous similarly named Canadian military pilot flying schools, such as No. 1 Service Flying Training School and 1 Flying Training School, the unit located at CFB Winnipeg and currently bearing the name does not participate in pilot training.

History of advanced pilot training in the RCAF/CAF

Although military pilot training in Canada dates back to the early years of the 20th century, the modern Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilot training organization got its start in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) with the formation of service flying training schools one of which, No. 1 Service Flying Training School (No. 1 SFTS)  at Camp Borden, Ontario, specialized in advanced pilot training and eventually evolved into 1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School in 1965. Under this system pilot candidates could expect to advance from 3 CFFTS to 2 CFFTS, then finish at 1 CFFTS, mimicking the Royal Air Force pilot training philosophy adopted by the RCAF of three separate stages of pilot training – elementary, intermediate and advanced.

1 Flying Training School (FTS) was formed on 16 September 1945 at Centralia, Ontario, as a pilot training school which, on July 11, 1952, started training pilots using the deHavilland Chipmunk aircraft. The school trained RCAF and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pilots until the school disbanded on March 6, 1957.

1 FTS was reactivated on 31 August 1965. On 23 July 1970 it combined with the Flight Instructor School (FIS) to become 1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (1 CFFTS) with the role of advanced pilot training. On 9 November 1970, 1 CFFTS flying instructors converted to the CF-5 tactical fighter trainer and on July 22 1 CFFTS moved to Cold Lake, Alberta. Advanced pilot training became a post-wings course, and on 10 September 1977 1 CFFTS was renamed 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron.

Advanced pilot training today

419 (Tactical) Fighter Training Squadron is carrying on 1 CFFTS's historic role of advanced pilot training for future fighter pilots.

Current use of the name 1 CFFTS

On 26 June 2009, the Canadian Forces Air Navigation School adopted the name of 1 CFFTS. 1 CFFTS currently trains air combat systems officers (previously called navigators) and airborne electronic sensor operators. In the past, other aircrew trades used No. 1 in their school names, but these school names were distinguished by their particular trade, for example No. 1 Air Observer School and No. 1 Air Navigation School. Pilot training schools were distinguished by the use of the word flying in the school's name. The use of the word flying in 1 CFFTS's name was a break with this tradition that changed again in 2014 when 1 CFFTS was amalgamated into 402 Squadron.

See also
2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School
3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School

Notes

External links

Flying Training Schools of Canada
Military units and formations established in the 1950s


Alpha cleavage, (α-cleavage) in organic chemistry, refers to the act of breaking the carbon-carbon bond, next to the carbon bearing a specified functional group.

Mass spectrometry
In mass spectrometry, an α-cleavage occurs when molecules break apart within a mass spectrometer. A mass spectrum tells the size and elements found in each molecule fragment.  Chemists use their understanding of how molecules break apart to guess the structure of the original molecule.  Many different molecules break apart with α-cleavage inside the mass spectrometer. Many times, α-cleavage explains the resulting mass spectra.

As an example of a mechanism of alpha cleavage, an electron is knocked off an atom (usually by electron collision) to form a radical cation. Electrons are most likely to be removed in the following order:  1) lone pair electrons, 2) pi bond electrons, 3) sigma bond electrons.

One of the lone pair electrons moves down to form a pi bond with an electron from an adjacent (alpha) bond.  The other electron from the bond moves to an adjacent atom (not one adjacent to the lone pair atom) creating a radical. This creates a double bond adjacent to the lone pair atom (oxygen is a good example) and breaks (cleaves) the bond that lost the two electrons that were removed.

In molecules containing carbonyl groups, alpha cleavage often competes with a McLafferty rearrangement.

Photochemistry
In photochemistry, it is the homolytic cleavage of a bond close to a specified group.

References

Organic reactions
Mass spectrometry

Alpha cleavage


Sinarmas World Academy (SWA) is a private school in South Tangerang. SWA opened its first classes from Pre-K to Grade 7 in July 2008. Grade 9 and Grade 10 were added in 2009 and Grade 11 with the start of the IB Diploma Programme in August 2010. English is the language of instruction, and all students study Bahasa Indonesia and Mandarin. SWA offers a Chinese programme in partnership with the Peking University Kindergarten, Elementary School, and High School, Beijing, China.

SWA is a Cambridge and IB World School, authorized to offer the Cambridge Primary Curriculum, Cambridge IGCSE Programme, IB Middle Years Programme, and IB Diploma Programme.

The school incorporates the Cambridge Primary Curriculum for Kindergarten Two (K2) to Grade 5 students (5 – 11 years old), to prepare them for the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP), IGCSE and IB Diploma Programme (DP) in SWA.
In Grades 6 to 10, the syllabus from Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) is integrated within the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum framework. The school shapes the curriculum according to national requirements and to the school's Asian cultural identity. Teachers assess student learning internally using standards set by IB and CIE with students prepared to take CIE checkpoint exams at the end of Grade 8. Similarly, Grade 10 students have the opportunity to take the IGCSE exams that are assessed by CIE.

In Grades 11 & 12, students follow the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, where the curriculum and assessment procedures are prescribed in detail in order to meet the requirements for university entrance around the world. The DP is a comprehensive two-year curriculum.

Facilities
Sinarmas World Academy facilities have been designed to fit 1200 students. Facilities include gymnasiums; sport fields; fitness centre; pools; adventure playground; studios for art, music and dance; science laboratories, theatre, libraries, IT Help Desk, student shop and cafes.

Designed by Fielding Nair International, Sinarmas World Academy's campus was awarded the Project of Distinction Award by the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International in 2009.

Achievements

Sinarmas World Academy students achievements include:
 4 Gold Awards in Science from Gakken Mathematics and Science Competition February 2016
 2 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals, and 4 Bronze Medals from The International Biomedical Quiz hosted by Anglo-Chinese Junior College, Singapore March 2016
 5 Gold Medals from FIRST LEGO League, Singapore March 2016
 Bronze Medal in Fencing Competition at St. John's Youth Nation Cup 2015
 1st place in Jakarta Regional Round Chess Competition Boys U7 Junior Category August 2015
 Christy Zakarias: first Indonesian to receive the prestigious International Diana Memorial Award 2013
 1 School Top Scholar Award in World Scholars Cup Jakarta Round 2018

Extra Curricular / Community Service Programmes
Sinarmas World Academy offers a full-year activities programme with options including sports, performing arts and academic offerings. Popular programmes include:
 Global Issues Network
 International Award for Young People
 Model United Nations
 Habitat for Humanity
 World Scholars Cup

Sports include junior and senior varsity football, basketball, swimming, and wushu. Others include inter-school competitions, artistic and cultural activities as well as student initiated IB CAS projects. Sinarmas World Academy's students also participate in an annual Week Without Walls experiential education and service learning trips that provides the opportunity for students to learn and work beyond the school campus.

References

International Baccalaureate schools in Indonesia
International schools in Indonesia
Cambridge schools in Indonesia
Educational institutions established in 2008
2008 establishments in Indonesia
Sinar Mas Group

Sinarmas World Academy


Raja Radhika Raman Prasad Sinha (1937–2008) was an Indian civil engineer and a writer of Hindi literature. Born in Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar on May 26, 1937 as the eldest son of Gorakh Prasad and Umraoti Devi couple, Sinha was the pioneer of Hindi fiction and authored several books including The Gandhi Cap and Other Short Stories and Decoding Rig-Veda: For the Knowledge of Science. After his early education at St. Xavier's College, Ranchi, he graduated in electrical engineering from Birsa Institute of Technology Sindri and started his career as a member of faculty at Patna Engineering College. Later he joined the Bihar State Electricity Board where he spent the rest of his career before retiring in 1996 as the general manager of Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (PESU). He was married to Vidya Sinha and the couple had two sons and a daughter. The Government of India awarded him Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award, in 1962. The Government of Bihar has instituted an annual award, Raja Radhika Raman  Prasad Singh Prize, in his honor. He died on March 2, 2008.

Bibliography

See also

 Acharya Ramlochan Saran
 Bihari literature

References

Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education
Hindi-language writers
1937 births
2008 deaths
Writers from Patna
Indian civil engineers

Raja Radhika Raman Sinha


Triloki Nath Kaul (1913 – January 16, 2000) was one of India's foremost diplomats in the 20th century. A member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), he served in the foreign service branch, culminating in his being appointed Foreign Secretary twice. He was ambassador to several countries.

Life
Kaul was born in 1913 in Baramulla, Kashmir, and was educated initially in Kashmir and later at University of the Punjab, University of Allahabad. He later studied at King's College London and was awarded Master of Laws from University of London. In January 2000, he died at age 86 due to cardiac arrest at his orchard in Rajgarh.

Career

He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1939 and later at independence in 1947 he became a member of the Indian Foreign Service (see his *Reminiscences*). He served as Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, U.S., and China, as well as being Deputy High Commissioner and acting High Commissioner to the UK, and Foreign Secretary to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He was also the Vice-Chairman of the Indian unit of the UNESCO and Chairman of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.  He was Indian ambassador to Moscow first during his active diplomatic service in the Indian Foreign Ministry in 1962-1966, at the height of the Cold War, and once again after his retirement in 1986-1989, this time ambassador with a Cabinet rank.

As a young diplomat, he suggested greater collaboration with Moscow, a policy that was rejected by Nehru who was more inclined to China. "I recall our informal conversation in 1951 with Kapitzan, (Soviet Counsellor in Peking at that time), when we discussed, without the authorization of our respective governments and ambassadors, the possibility of an agreement for mutual cooperation and non-aggression between India and the USSR ... When Pannikar (Indian Ambassador in Peking) informed Delhi, Delhi's reaction was cool."

In the absence of such a pact, Chinese broke the 1954 Panch Sheel Agreement and attacked India in 1962.

Besides his diplomatic career, he lectured widely on international peace and security issues at various universities all over the world.. After his retirement, he served for a few years as editor of World Affairs, a journal published from New Delhi.

Assessment by Moynihan
Kaul was not much liked in the United States, due to his reputation as being pro-Soviets. When he was named the new ambassador to the US by PM Indira Gandhi in 1973, then US ambassador to India, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, wrote a strongly negative assessment of the "sly" nature of Kaul, according to US cables available from WikiLeaks.

In a cable, sent on March 17, 1973, Moynihan wrote, "Kaul, like Nehru family, is a Kashmiri Brahmin, self-assured to point of arrogance by birth. His career, as ambassador to Moscow and recently as foreign secretary, has been marked by pro- Soviet bias and concomitant anti-American words and deeds." However, Kaul was also called a sensitive weathervane of Indian foreign policy, enjoying Gandhi's confidence while foreign secretary. "Thus, he will seek to improve relations with United States, if that is GOI policy, and will criticize our actions, if so instructed," he said in an otherwise negative assessment of the ambassador, who was to help improve the Indo-US ties that had deteriorated during the 1971 war. "Hopefully, his sense of mission will overcome or mitigate his brahmanical disdain for "materialistic" American and his previous Moscow orientation," Moynihan said. "I have not yet met him, but all here agree he inclined toward slyness, especially in his dealings with westerners. This latter quality is not only Kashmiri brahaminacal arrogance, it also reflects Kaul's propensity for misconstruing cleverness for sophistication in diplomatic dealings. As the British say, he is "too clever by half", a characteristic which many Western chiefs of mission here have found distasteful and trying. The US ambassador said one NATO ambassador "upon hearing of Kaul's appointment, seized an embassy officer by the lapels and suggested the United States could not possibly extend agreement to Kaul. He alluded to Kaul's pro-Soviet orientation and his frequent anti-American comments. He quoted former US ambassador to Russia, Foy Kohler, as saying about Kaul: "Not ideologically pro-Soviet as such, but rather a slick ambitious opportunist who, having attained status as a specialist on Communist affairs, has hitched his wagon to the star of improved Indo-Soviet relations."

This assessment should be taken in context that during the 1970s the relations between United States and the former Soviet Union were hostile at best. And the assessment is a reflection of American sentiments and not truly reflect the works of Kaul.

Major works
Kaul was the author of several books on foreign policy.

Some of his works include:
 Diplomacy in Peace & War: Recollections and Reflections (1978)
 India, China, and Indochina, Reflections of a Liberated Diplomat (1980)
 Life in a Himalayan Hamlet (1982)
 My Years through Raj and Swaraj (1993)
 A Diplomat's Diary (1947-1999) (2000)

See also
 Navtej Sarna
 Syed Akbaruddin
 Taranjit Singh Sandhu
 Harsh Vardhan Shringla

References

External links

T.N. Kaul materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

Ambassadors of India to the United States
Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union
Indian Foreign Secretaries
Ambassadors of India to Iran
Indian Foreign Service officers
University of Allahabad alumni
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of King's College London
Fellows of King's College London
Kashmiri people
1913 births
2000 deaths
University of the Punjab alumni

Triloki Nath Kaul


Dhapa is a locality on the fringes of East Kolkata, India. The area consists of landfill sites where the solid wastes of the city of Kolkata are dumped. "Garbage farming" is encouraged in the landfill sites. More than 40 per cent of the green vegetables in the Kolkata markets come from these lands. There are four sectors in Dhapa for dumping garbage that are filled with 2,500 tonnes of waste per day.

History
In the eastern fringes of Kolkata, the neighbourhoods such as Tangra, Tiljala, Topsia and Dhapa, were populated largely with people who migrated from poverty-ridden and caste-ridden villages from Purulia, Medinipur and also from Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They came with dreams of a better life but landed in the slums with open drains, pigsties, factory chimneys and pungent chemicals. They found work in the tanneries and factories, and also engaged in menial work. A big proportion of them were Chamars, but there also were Doms, Dosads, Mehtars and Kahars. They were all Harijans and they formed a majority. Most of these poor people escaped from the petty persecution they faced in their villages but were far removed from the mainstream of urban life and culture.  They have been here, living in depressing conditions, for more than a century.

Geography

Location
Dhapa is located near the Parama Island on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, on the eastern side of Kolkata. The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, Beleghata and Tangra are on the west, Basanti Highway and Bantala are on the south and Chingrighata is on the north. The closest landmarks near Dhapa are the ITC Sonar hotel and Silver Spring housing which fall on the west side, Milan Mela ground or the permanent trade fair ground and Science City which are on the south side and Mathpukur five point crossing which is on the west side. In the west side of Dhapa, an old and important landmark exists which is the Awatar Bhavan that has Dhapa Post Office in it. It also has the St. Thomas school. Dhapa is home to more than 40% fresh vegetables around the city. Among all these things dhapa is also home to one of the biggest rice market.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for providing the basic civic facilities and amenities to the residents of the place like Water, Drainage, Sanitation, Garbage Collection, Anti Malarial and Health Care programs. The Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) provides electricity to the area as well as to entire Kolkata as the sole electricity provider.

Police district
Pragati Maidan police station is part of the East division of Kolkata Police. It is located at Parama Traffic Island, Kolkata-700 107.

Jadavpur, Thakurpukur, Behala, Purba Jadavpur, Tiljala, Regent Park, Metiabruz, Nadial and Kasba police stations were transferred from South 24 Parganas to Kolkata in 2011. Except Metiabruz, all the police stations were split into two. The new police stations are Parnasree, Haridevpur, Garfa, Patuli, Survey Park, Pragati Maidan, Bansdroni and Rajabagan.

Pollution in Dhapa
Dhapa has been a major victim of Air and sound pollution. In 1986 the pond next to the Dhapa Post Office was filled by the city garbage. As a result, at least 65% of the population above the age of 35 are infected by the exposure to tuberculosis.

Demography
Majority of the people living in the place are either migrant casual laborers who work in tanneries of China Town or are employed in small factories nearby. Some of the inhabitants are peasants and farmers who work in the fields that line the EM Bypass. These farmers came from Medinipur, Durgapur,  Bihar and Orissa. The majority of the population is poor and some live below the poverty line. Recently new population has migrated in the Hatgachia area. Also the family of Patwas have moved here from Bihar who have minted the money in jewellery business.

Schools
The area has several schools like the Harvard House High School (ICSE), St. Thomas School (ICSE), St. Patrick Day School (Primary), Janakalyan School (West Bengal Secondary Board) and a number of small primary and secondary schools affiliated to the local state board (West Bengal). There are several private tutors too.

Crime and criminal activities
The place was once notorious for criminal and anti-social activities as illegal drugs, liquor and other contraband objects were sold openly. There were various mafia groups who fought among themselves while trying to control the illegal liquor trade (hooch, desi). During the decades of 80's and 90's this area was once ruled by notorious criminals like Shiv Narayan, Ganesh, Jhantu and Tarak. However, with the arrival of new Officer in Charge things were under control by the year 2000. In 2013 this area suffered a major blow when the councilor Mr. Sambhunath Kow was charged with non intentional murder of a local mafia named Adhir Maiti.

See also
 Bhalswa landfill

References

External links

Landfills in India
Neighbourhoods in Kolkata

Dhapa, India


Banyingela Kasonga (born May 4, 1959), is a priest and was a candidate for the presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2006.

Biography
Banyingela Kasonga was born in Dimbelenge (present-day Kasaï-Central province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo). From 1974 to 1978 he studied at the small seminary of Kabwe, in the section Latin and philosophy. After that, he went to the big seminary of Kabwe and in 1981 he enrolled for the study of theology at the 'Faculté de Théologie Catholique de Kinshasa'. On September 29, 1985 he became ordained as a priest in Kananga. Till 1988 he was then a vicar in the parish of Notre Dame de Kananga. From 1988 till 1994 he was director of the Pius X school in Kananga. In 1994 he became the director of the Small Seminary in Kabwe, where he himself had studied as a child. In 1996 he went back to Kinshasa to pursue his studies, where he would get a License in Theology (1997), and then a degree of higher studies in Theology (1999). Between 2000 and 2006 he was writing his Ph.D. dissertation at the faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.

Politics
Already in his early priesthood days Banyingela was active in the promotion of social justice. For instance, in 1993 he was among the priests who fought against the introduction of a new currency what was then called Zairean zaire. As a result, the Kasai region used for some time a different currency as the remainder of the country. As a longtime supporter of the Alliance of Farmers and Ecologists, which was founded in 1990, Banyingela became its vice-president in 2005. In 2006 he was nominated as their candidate for the presidential elections.

In the presidential elections of 2006 he ended 14th out of the 33 candidates with 0.48 percent of the vote, or else about 82000 votes nationwide.

References
Demain le Kasai
Campuskrant
Provisional presidential election results

1959 births
Living people
People from Kasaï-Central
Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians
Candidates for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
KU Leuven alumni
Democratic Republic of the Congo Roman Catholic priests
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people

Banyingela Kasonga


Taboo is a word, guessing, and party game published by Parker Brothers in 1989 (subsequently purchased by Hasbro). The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.

The game is similar to Catch Phrase, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get their teammates to guess words using verbal clues.

From 2003, a TV game show adaptation ran on TNN, hosted by Chris Wylde.

Equipment
 A large number of cards with a word to guess and five taboo words that may not be spoken by the clue-giver
 Tray for holding cards
 Timer (in the form of a one-minute hourglass)
 Buzzer or squeaker
 Pencil and paper for scorekeeping

Some early editions included a board to track progress (as shown in the photo on this page).

In 1990, Hasbro sold packs of additional words, but they are no longer in production.

The second edition of the game, produced in 1994, has a round, pink squeaker, or hooter, instead of a buzzer, as do the 1993 and 1990 editions.

Taboo Junior, the game for younger players, includes a purple squeaker, as do a few of the other editions from 1996 and 2002 as well as 2012.

Rules
An even number of players from four to ten sit alternating around in a circle.  Players take turns as the "giver", who attempts to prompt their teammates to guess as many keywords as possible in the allotted time.  However, each card also has "taboo" (forbidden) words listed which may not be spoken. Should the giver say one, a "censor" on the opposing team hits the buzzer and the giver must move on to the next word.  For example, the giver might have to get their team to deduce the word "baseball" without offering the words "sport", "game", "pastime", "hitter", "pitcher", or "baseball" itself as clues. The giver may not say a part of a "taboo" word; for example, using "base" in "baseball" is taboo. Nor may they use a form of a word; for example, if the word was "wedding" and the taboo words are "marriage", "bride", "groom", "nuptials", or "honeymoon", the words "marry" and "bridal" would not be allowed.  The giver may only use speech to prompt their teammates; gestures, sounds (e.g., barking), or drawings are not allowed.  Singing is permitted, provided the singer is singing words rather than humming or whistling a tune.  The giver's hints may rhyme with a taboo word, or be an abbreviation of a taboo word.

While the giver is prompting the teammates, they may make as many guesses as they want with no penalties for wrong guesses. Once the team correctly guesses the word exactly as written on the card, the giver moves on to the next word, trying to get as many words as possible in the allotted time.  When time runs out, play passes to the next adjacent player of the other team.  The playing team receives one point for correct guesses and one penalty point if "taboo" words are spoken.

Variations

1989 edition
1990 edition with pink hooter
1993 edition with pink hooter
1994 edition with pink hooter
1996 edition with pink hooter
1999 10th anniversary edition
Bible Taboo
Celebrity Taboo
Platinum edition electronic Taboo
Taboo Jewish Edition
Taboo Junior
Taboo for Kids
The Big Taboo
Taboo Body Language
Taboo Quick Draw
Taboo Singaporean Version
2002 edition with purple squeaker
2003 edition with red squeaker
2009 20th anniversary edition
2011 All New version with new clues and a "game changing" die
2013 edition with "game changing" die
Taboo Buzz'd
Taboo Kids vs Parents

References

Board games introduced in 1989
Guessing games
Milton Bradley Company games
Party board games
Party games
Word board games

Taboo (game)


Science Online was an annual conference held in Durham, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, that focused on the role of the internet in science and science communication.  It was attended primarily by bloggers and science journalists from North America.

The conference was held annually, beginning in 2007.  Notable attendees included PZ Myers, Jennifer Ouellette, Rebecca Skloot, Carl Zimmer and others.  The conferences were covered as local news by publications such as The Charlotte Observer, as well as "new media" like Boing Boing, professional journalist organizations like the Columbia Journalism Review and science-oriented publications like Scientific American.

In October 2014, the ScienceOnline foundation, which organized the conferences, announced that it had become insolvent and consequently was shutting down.

References

Blogging
Science activism

Science Online


McGruff the Crime Dog is an anthropomorphic animated bloodhound created by Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising executive Jack Keil (who also voiced the character) through the Ad Council and later the National Crime Prevention Council to increase crime awareness and personal safety in the United States. McGruff costumes are used by police outreach efforts, often with children. McGruff was created in 1979 and debuted in 1980 with a series of public service announcements educating citizens on personal security measures, such as locking doors and putting lights on timers, in order to reduce crime. His name was selected as part of a nationwide contest in July 1980.

McGruff proved to be a successful campaign with over $100 million in free air time donated in the first year reaching over 50% of adults. McGruff campaigns continued over the years to cover topics such as child abduction, robbery, anti-drug messages, and anti-bullying campaigns. From 1982 to 2012, a number of municipalities participated in the McGruff house program which offered temporary haven to children fearing immediate harm. McGruff has continued to be well-recognized, with nine out of ten people recognizing him in a 2021 survey. This is thanks partly to recent campaigns against cyber-bullying, stopping online fakes, and elder-crime.

History

Crime as a public concern
The decades prior to McGruff's creation saw an increase in U.S. public concern over crime. In the 1960s, a number of riots broke out across the U.S. and numerous public figures were assassinated, including President Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Accepting the Republican nomination for president, Barry Goldwater positioned crime as one of the biggest issues facing the nation. While Goldwater lost to Lyndon Johnson, the issue of crime did not stop there. In July 1965, President Johnson formed the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to "probe ... fully and deeply into the problems of crime in our nation."

After two years and $2.5 million, the Commission delivered its report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, in February 1967 which influenced the Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The act gave $300 million to local police forces for more personnel and equipment. With the election of Richard Nixon in 1968, the attempts to control rising crime rates shifted from a social approach—the "War on Poverty"—to a tough on crime approach—the "War on Crime". Despite Nixon's attempts (until his resignation in 1974), crime continued to rise from 363.5 crimes per 100,000 people in 1970 to 549.5 in 1979. The Carter administration took the focus away from crime and onto nuclear arms control and human rights. During Carter's presidency, crime continued to be a concern with the "kill for thrill murders" of 1979, when two men killed four people over eight days in Western Pennsylvania.

Creation
The Ad Council was first approached by the Department of Justice in 1977 to create a public campaign to engage the public in reducing crime. The FBI director recommended a campaign playing on fears to convince citizens to take personal safety steps, but the Ad Council rejected their proposal believing it would largely be ignored by an already frightened public. However, the Ad Council was still interested in a crime prevention campaign. Leo Perlis, a member of the Ad Council's Public Policy Committee, heard the proposal and liked the idea. He met with FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley, the head of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and a board member of the National Sheriffs' Association to form a coalition to direct the ad campaign.

The Ad Council gave the creative responsibilities to Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who they had previously worked with on the Keep America Beautiful campaign. On February 8, 1979, the Ad Council's board of directors held a meeting where they and public officials met to listen to data Dancer Fitzgerald Sample had compiled. Dancer Fitzgerald Sample had conducted focus groups in a number of cities to determine public perceptions on crime. The focus groups found that the public believed police should be the ones to prevent crime, but that they were unwilling to pay more in taxes to support more officers. They recommended a campaign which would "emphasize that individual actions can reduce crime" and "offer easily accessible opportunities for people to participate."

The task was given to Jack Keil, executive vice president and creative director of Dancer Fitzgerald Sample. Keil, thinking of Smokey Bear, came up with the idea of an animal mascot. After coming up with the slogan—"Take a bite out of crime"—he settled upon the idea of a dog. His first version was "a Snoopy look-alike wearing a Keystone Cop hat." His creative team however did not believe the dog would be taken seriously. In response, he gave the team a day to come up with a new version.

Five teams of two—a copywriter and an art director—produced proposals. They rejected proposals included a bulldog version of J. Edgar Hoover, a golden retriever, an "aggressive-looking deputy dog", and a "mongrel who became a wonder dog". The proposal Keil selected, which would go on to become McGruff, was a talking dog in a trench coat produced by Sherry Nemmers and Ray Krivascy who "was tired...he had seen the world, and he had epitomized all the detectives we had seen from Raymond Chandler to Dashiell Hammett and even Columbo."

While lauded by Keil, the U.S. Department of Justice was less enthused by the idea of a talking dog as the spokesman for crime prevention. By 1979, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), created by President Johnson, was being criticized for its wastefulness prompting President Carter to shut down the program. The public safety outreach, part of the LEAA, was one of the few programs saved by Robert Diegelman who was tasked with dismantling the LEAA. Diegelman saw value in the public outreach effort and so sent monthly reports to his superiors in order to assuage their concerns. Despite this, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti criticised the effort saying: "Why has the LEAA gotten into a campaign that is spending good money on a talking dog?" Civiletti ordered the campaign be shut down, but the advertisements had already been distributed to the media and were set to run.

In November 1979, the dog was introduced at a press conference in New York City with his slogan "Take a bite out of crime." Eight months later, in July 1980, a nationwide contest to name the dog was concluded. "McGruff the Crime Dog" was selected as the winner with "Shurlocked Homes" as the runner-up. The winning name was submitted by Officer John Isbell of the New Orleans Police Department.

Initial impact
McGruff was the first Ad Council campaign to be independently evaluated. Garrett O'Keefe of the University of Denver was given a grant of $900,000 by the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice in order to evaluate the campaign. O'Keefe found that "media response to the campaign was excellent. More than $100 million of [ad] time and space had been donated by mid-1981, making McGruff one of the most popular Ad Council campaigns." As a result of the advertisements, over 1 million free booklets had been distributed, and another 250,000 were purchased from the Government Printing Office. The Army printed 300,000 booklets for their own programs as well.

By the end of 1981, over 50% of Americans had seen at least one McGruff advertisement with one third reporting they had seen the advertisements more than ten times. The dominant medium of exposure was television advertisements, comprising 78% of views, followed by posters and billboards at 14%, and newspapers at 8%. While the demographics of exposure were notably diverse, there were some trends in who saw the ads more often than others. The ads were found to reach demographics prone to crime—men, youth, people with less stable residences, and those living in lower-working-class neighborhoods—slightly more often than those populations less prone to crime. Of those who had seen the advertisements, 88% were able to articulate what they were "trying to get across" with 28% pointing out the advertisements' goals of getting citizens to participate in crime prevention programs and reporting crime to the police.

O'Keefe also asked some questions related to public perception of McGruff. He found that only 3% disliked McGruff, most calling him "too cutesy", while 57% liked him for being "attention-getting, clever, different, or appealing to all ages." 36% of respondents were neutral to McGruff. 8% said that they were annoyed by the commercials while 59% said that they were "pleased" by them.

In order to assess the impact of the McGruff advertisements, O'Keefe surveyed adults in 1979 and in 1981, a year before and a year after the premiere of the first McGruff advertisement. Of the forty personal security measures that McGruff advertisements recommended, only seven were explicitly mentioned in TV advertisements: locking doors, leaving outdoor lights on, putting indoor lights on timers, asking neighbors to watch your house, watching the neighborhood, reporting suspicious activity, and forming community groups to prevent crime. Of those seven, six saw a significant increase in usage by the public after seeing McGruff advertisements. The only activity not to see an increase was locking doors, despite the first McGruff spot specifically advocating this. O'Keefe hypothesizes that this is due to a plateau effect, as 75% of respondents in 1979 already reported locking their doors; the only personal security measure not mentioned in a television advertisement to see a significant increase was getting a dog.

Campaigns

McGruff debuted in 1980 with television, newspaper, billboard, and radio advertisements. The Ad Council and the National Crime Prevention Council still use McGruff in national campaigns to raise awareness about crime and crime prevention strategies. About 1500 law enforcement agencies use McGruff costumes as part of their outreach efforts in communities. McGruff advertisements feature a "fulfillment strategy", a means of contact for more information. Early advertisements contained PO boxes that could be written to for more information, but now contain phone numbers and websites.

McGruff was well received in the 1980s, and current campaigns are similarly recognizable. In a survey done by Harris Interactive for the National Crime Prevention Council, McGruff was known by 9 in 10 adults, teens, and children once being prompted; about 3 in 4 adults, 8 in 10 teens, and 8 in 10 children recognized McGruff without being prompted. Respondents were asked how likely they were to take McGruff's advice. Children were found to be very receptive, with 8 in 10 responding they were likely to take his advice. 7 in 10 teens and 6 in 10 adults gave similar responses.

Initial campaign
The first McGruff campaign featured three television and radio advertisements as well as billboards and posters. The campaign focused on raising awareness of the ability for citizens to help prevent crime through personal security steps, community awareness, and reporting crimes in progress.

The first television advertisement, "Stop a Crime", debuted in February 1980. The full 60-second advertisement features McGruff (voiced by Jack Keil) entering an unlocked house and telling the viewer, "All crime needs is a chance. Don't give it a chance" before giving tips on preventive measures. These measures included locking doors, turning on exterior lights, securing windows, asking neighbors to watch the house during long absences, and putting lights on timers.

The advertisement was followed by two more which focused on community crime prevention tactics: "The Gilstraps" and "Mimi Marth". In "The Gilstraps", McGruff is backgrounded by men loading furniture into a moving truck. McGruff points out that these are actually thieves stealing from the home of the titular Gilstraps. The camera cuts to the Gilstraps' neighbors who, knowing the Gilstraps are out of town, call the police.

In order to show the effectiveness of community watch, McGruff creator Sherry Nemmers selected actual Hartford resident Mimi Marth for the advertisement which now bears her name. "Mimi Marth" shows Marth and another watch member, Albert Bell, responding to crimes in progress by reporting them to police on their radios. McGruff tells the viewer that "There's 126 of them, regular people like you and me, working against crime."

In addition to advertising and media campaigns, a costume was created for in-person appearances. Approximately 1,500 state and local law enforcement agencies use officers wearing a McGruff costume to educate children and others about crime prevention.

Addressing kidnapping, drugs, gun violence, and online fakes
The National Crime Prevention Council hired their first president and CEO, Jack Calhoun. Calhoun wanted to address the roots of crime saying, "At some point, I have to step out from my locked house and barred windows." Current plans are to introduce McGruff to a new generation and to have the Crime Dog become a watchdog to combat new criminal and 21st Century online crime. "A greater investment in community interventions will help take a bite out of violent crime," said Paul DelPonte, current head of the National Crime Prevention Council. "Strategies that increase public engagement in public safety are proven crime stoppers." DelPonte also has urged public health officials to use McGruff and crime prevention in health prevention programs.

NCPC and McGruff are currently working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to combat the sale of fake products online. The campaign, "You're Smart. Buy Smart.", premiered the first television ads  featuring McGruff in 3D animation in August 2022. The ads, filmed on the lot of Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood, are also in Spanish. Among the largest campaigns in the Crime Dog's lengthy career, it includes a partnership with NASCAR and featured a new car with driver Joey Gase.

In December 2021, the animated television show Family Guy featured McGruff and the National Crime Prevention Council on preventing kidnapping. The re-emergence of McGruff generated an outpouring of fan support.

In April 2022, the National Crime Prevention Council announced a partnership with McGruff the Crime Dog in creating Fentanyl Prevention Awareness Day scheduled for August 21, 2022. In October of the same year, the organization launched livesproject.org, a digital remembrance quilt to honor victims and to raise awareness of the problem.

McGruff Houses and trucks
The McGruff House program was a program that designated temporary safe havens for children in emergency situations. The program was first created in Utah in 1982 in response to the abduction and murder of five children by Arthur Gary Bishop. Owners of houses and apartments, after clearing a background check, would display a sign in their window with the image of McGruff. Children would be educated at school and community events to go to these houses when they felt threatened or in need of help.

The program operated under the motto "we'll call for help" and emphasized its use as a temporary haven. Volunteers were trained to call the appropriate authorities in emergency situations and would provide emotional support to children in danger. The program made clear that volunteers were for emergency situations, and even in such situations, volunteers would not act as escorts or provide first aid "except in extreme emergency situations and then only if qualified."

The first McGruff truck was established in Utah in 1986. A utility company asked that its trucks be designated as "rolling McGruff Houses" and were approved. The program was extended to other companies and municipalities, and in 2006 there were over 170 participants. In February 2012, the McGruff House program was ended after nearly 30 years. The program was ended because, with the advent and growing prominence of cell phones, the need for McGruff Houses declined combined with tightening budgets.

In 2018, the Martin Agency brought back McGruff as part of GEICO Insurance's 'count on GEICO' campaign. The TV spot has an animated McGruff attempting to share his investigation evidence with several human colleagues. They respond by not taking him seriously and treating him like an actual dog with 'baby talk', leading to McGruff's throwing his paperwork in the air and storming out of the scene.

See also
 National Night Out
 Smokey Bear

References

Notes

General references

External links
McGruff.org
National Crime Prevention Council
Ad Council

Mascots introduced in 1980
American mascots
Anthropomorphic dogs
Cartoon mascots
Male characters in advertising
Public service announcement characters
Dog mascots
Public service announcements of the United States
Crime prevention
Fictional American police detectives
Fictional secret agents and spies

McGruff the Crime Dog