text:
|Harry Potter
Complete set of the seven books
of the "Harry Potter" series.
|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
|J. K. Rowling
|United Kingdom
|Fantasy, Young-adult fiction,
Mystery, Thriller
|Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Arthur A. Levine Books (US) Raincoast Books (CAN)
|30 June 1997 – 21 July 2007
|Media type
|Print (hardcover and paperback)
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the English author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry's struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and subjugate non-magical people (Muggles).
Since the 1997 release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.[1] As of June 2008, the book series has sold more than 400 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages,[2][3] and the last four books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.
English-language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic Press in the United States, Allen & Unwin in Australia, and Raincoast Books in Canada. Thus far, the first six books have been made into a series of motion pictures by Warner Bros., which are the highest grossing film series of all time when not adjusted for inflation. The seventh book is being made into two films currently scheduled to be released nearly eight months apart: part one in November 2010 and the movie series finale in July 2011. The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth £15 billion.[4]
The novels revolve around Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers at the age of eleven that he is a wizard.[5] Wizard ability is inborn, but children are sent to wizarding school to learn the magical skills necessary to succeed in the wizarding world.[6] Harry is invited to attend the boarding school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, and most of the events take place at Hogwarts.[7] As he struggles through adolescence, Harry learns to overcome many magical, social and emotional hurdles.[8]
The main narrative of the novels is set in the years 1991-7[9], with significant memories from the year 1976 (Harry's parents' O.W.L. year) and memories from various determinable and undeterminable periods after 1945; though little reference is made to features of any period.
Flashbacks throughout the series reveal that when Harry was a baby he witnessed his parents' murder by Lord Voldemort who was a dark wizard obsessed with racial purity.[10] For reasons not immediately revealed, Voldemort's attempt to kill Harry rebounds.[10] Voldemort is seemingly killed and Harry survives with only a lightning-shaped mark on his forehead as a memento of the attack.[10] As its inadvertent saviour from Voldemort's reign of terror, Harry becomes a living legend in the wizard world. However, at the orders of his patron, the wizard Albus Dumbledore, the orphaned Harry is placed in the home of his unpleasant Muggle (non-wizard) relatives, who keep him safe but completely ignorant of his true heritage.[10]
The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, begins near Harry's 11th birthday. Half-giant Rubeus Hagrid reveals Harry's history and introduces him to the wizarding world.[10] The world J. K. Rowling created is both completely separate from and yet intimately connected to the real world. While the fantasy world of Narnia is an alternative universe and the Lord of the Rings' Middle-earth a mythic past, the Wizarding world of Harry Potter exists alongside that of the real world and contains magical elements similar to things in the non-magical world. Many of its institutions and locations are in places that are recognisable in the real world, such as London.[11] It comprises a fragmented collection of hidden streets, overlooked and ancient pubs, lonely country manors and secluded castles that remain invisible to the non-magical population of Muggles.[6]
With Hagrid's help, Harry prepares for and undertakes his first year of study at Hogwarts. As Harry begins to explore the magical world, the reader is introduced to many of the primary locations used throughout the series. Harry meets most of the main characters and gains his two closest friends: Ron Weasley, a fun-loving member of an ancient, large, happy, but hard-up wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, an obsessively bookish witch of non-magical parentage.[10][12] Harry also encounters the school's potions master, Severus Snape, who displays a deep and abiding dislike for him. The plot concludes with Harry's second confrontation with Lord Voldemort, who in his quest for immortality, yearns to gain the power of the Philosopher's Stone.[10]
The series continues with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets describing Harry's second year at Hogwarts. He and his friends investigate a 50-year-old mystery that appears tied to recent sinister events at the school. The novel delves into the history of Hogwarts and a legend revolving around the "Chamber of Secrets", the underground lair of an ancient evil. For the first time, Harry realises that racial prejudice exists in the wizarding world, and he learns that Voldemort's reign of terror was often directed at wizards who were descended from Muggles. Harry is also shocked to learn that he can speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes; this rare ability is often equated with the dark arts. The novel ends after Harry saves the life of Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, by destroying a Basilisk and the diary in which Voldemort saved a piece of his soul (although Harry does not realise this until later in the series). The concept of storing part of one's soul inside of an object in order to prevent death is officially introduced in the sixth novel under the term "horcrux".[10]
The third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, follows Harry in his third year of magical education. It is the only book in the series which does not feature Voldemort. Instead, Harry must deal with the knowledge that he has been targeted by Sirius Black, an escaped murderer believed to have assisted in the deaths of Harry's parents. As Harry struggles with his reaction to the dementors—dark creatures with the power to devour a human soul—which are ostensibly protecting the school, he reaches out to Remus Lupin, a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher with a dark secret. Lupin teaches Harry defensive measures which are well above the level of magic generally shown by people his age. Harry learns that both Lupin and Black were close friends of his father and that Black was framed by their fourth friend, Peter Pettigrew.[13]
During Harry's fourth year of school, detailed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry unwillingly participates in the Triwizard Tournament, a dangerous magical contest with the young foreign witches and wizards of visiting schools.[14] Harry attempts to discover who has forced him to compete in the tournament, and why.[15] An anxious Harry is guided through the tournament by Professor Alastor Moody, who is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The point at which the mystery is unravelled marks the series' shift from foreboding and uncertainty into open conflict as the children are growing up. The novel ends with the resurgence of Voldemort and the death of a student (Cedric Diggory)
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry must confront the newly resurfaced Voldemort. In response to Voldemort's reappearance, Dumbledore re-activates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society which works from Sirius Black's dark family home to defeat Voldemort's minions and protect Voldemort's targets, including Harry. The Order includes many of the adults Harry trusts, including Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and members of the Weasley family, but also some surprising members. Good and the dark characters are not so obvious. Despite Harry's description of Voldemort's recent activities, the Ministry of Magic and many others in the magical world refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned.[16]
In an attempt to counter and eventually discredit Dumbledore, who along with Harry is the most prominent voice in the Wizarding World attempting to warn of the Dark Lord's return, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She transforms the school by a dictatorial regime and refuses to allow the students to learn ways to defend themselves against dark magic.[16] Harry forms a secret study group to teach his classmates the higher-level skills of Defense Against the Dark Arts that he has learned. The novel introduces Harry to Luna Lovegood, an airy young witch with a tendency to believe in oddball conspiracy theories. An important prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort is revealed,[17] and Harry discovers that he and Voldemort have a painful connection, allowing Harry to view some of Voldemort's actions telepathically. In the novel's climax, Harry and his school friends face off against Voldemort's Death Eaters, who include the rich and arrogant Malfoy family. The timely arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix saves the children's lives and allows many of the Death Eaters to be captured and imprisoned.[16]
In their sixth year, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the protagonists have passed their OWL-levels and start on their specialist NEWT courses. Voldemort is leading another wizarding war, which has become so violent that even Muggles have noticed some of its effects. Although Harry and friends are relatively protected from that danger at Hogwarts, they are subject to all the difficulties of adolescence. At the beginning of the novel, he stumbles upon an old potions textbook filled with annotations and recommendations signed by a mysterious writer, the Half-Blood Prince.[18] While the shortcuts written in the book help Harry to excel at potions, he eventually learns to mistrust the anonymous writer's spells. Harry also takes private tutoring with Albus Dumbledore, who shows him various memories concerning the early life of Voldemort. These reveal that Voldemort's soul is splintered into a series of horcruxes, evil enchanted items hidden in various locations.[18] Harry's snobbish adversary, Draco Malfoy, attempts to attack Dumbledore, and the book culminates in the killing of Dumbledore by Professor Snape.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series, begins directly after the events of the sixth book. Voldemort has completed his ascension to power and gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione drop out of school so that they can find and destroy Voldemort's remaining horcruxes. To ensure their own safety as well as that of their family and friends, they are forced to isolate themselves. As they search for the horcruxes, the trio learn details about Dumbledore's past, as well as Snape's true motives.
The book culminates in the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, in conjunction with members of the Order of the Phoenix and many of the teachers and students, defend Hogwarts from Voldemort, his Death Eaters, and various magical creatures. Several major characters are killed in the first wave of the battle and Voldemort resumes his intention to kill Harry. In an effort to save the survivors, Harry surrenders himself but the battle resumes as the parents of many Hogwarts students, residents of the nearby village Hogsmeade and other magical creatures arrive to reinforce the Order of the Phoenix. With the last horcrux destroyed, Harry finally faces Voldemort. Harry offers the Dark Lord a chance at remorse, but Voldemort ignores this and attempts to kill Harry one final time; resulting in Voldemort's death by his own hand. An epilogue describes the lives of the surviving characters and the effects on the wizarding world.
Rowling has expanded the Harry Potter universe with several short books produced for various charities.[19][20] In 2001, she released Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a purported Hogwarts textbook) and Quidditch Through the Ages (a book Harry read for fun). Proceeds from the sale of these two books benefitted the charity Comic Relief.[21] In 2007, Rowling composed seven handwritten copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of fairy tales that is featured in the final novel, one of which was auctioned to raise money for the Children's High Level Group, a fund for mentally disabled children in poor countries. The book was published internationally on 4 December 2008.[22][23][24] Rowling also wrote an 800-word prequel in 2008 as part of a fundraiser organised by the bookseller Waterstones.[25]
The Harry Potter novels fall within the genre of fantasy literature; however, in many respects they are also bildungsromans, or coming of age novels.[26] They can be considered part of the British children's boarding school genre, which includes Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, St. Clare's and the Naughtiest Girl series, and Frank Richards's Billy Bunter novels.[27] The Harry Potter books are predominantly set in Hogwarts, a fictional British boarding school for wizards, where the curriculum includes the use of magic.[27] In this sense they are "in a direct line of descent from Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days and other Victorian and Edwardian novels of British public school life".[28][29] They are also, in the words of Stephen King, "shrewd mystery tales",[30] and each book is constructed in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery adventure. The stories are told from a third person limited point of view with very few exceptions (such as the opening chapters of Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows and the first two chapters of Half-Blood Prince).
In the middle of each book, Harry struggles with the problems he encounters, and dealing with them often involves the need to violate some school rules—the penalties, in case of being caught out, being disciplinary punishments set out in the Hogwarts regulations (in which the Harry Potter books follow many precedents in the boarding school sub-genre).[27] However, the stories reach their climax in the summer term, near or just after final exams, when events escalate far beyond in-school squabbles and struggles, and Harry must confront either Voldemort or one of his followers, the Death Eaters, with the stakes a matter of life and death–a point underlined, as the series progresses, by one or more characters being killed in each of the final four books.[31][32] In the aftermath, he learns important lessons through exposition and discussions with head teacher and mentor Albus Dumbledore.
In the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry and his friends spend most of their time away from Hogwarts, and only return there to face Voldemort at the dénouement.[31] Completing the bildungsroman format, in this part Harry must grow up prematurely, losing the chance of a last year as a pupil in a school and needing to act as an adult, on whose decisions everybody else depends—the grown-ups included.[33]
According to Rowling, a major theme in the series is death: "My books are largely about death. They open with the death of Harry's parents. There is Voldemort's obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price, the goal of anyone with magic. I so understand why Voldemort wants to conquer death. We're all frightened of it."[34]
Academics and journalists have developed many other interpretations of themes in the books, some more complex than others, and some including political subtexts. Themes such as normality, oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series.[35] Similarly, the theme of making one's way through adolescence and "going over one's most harrowing ordeals—and thus coming to terms with them" has also been considered.[36] Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry" and that also pass on a message to "question authority and... not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth".[37][38]
While the books could be said to comprise many other themes, such as power/abuse of power, love, prejudice, and free choice, they are, as J. K. Rowling states, "deeply entrenched in the whole plot"; the writer prefers to let themes "grow organically", rather than sitting down and consciously attempting to impart such ideas to her readers.[39] Along the same lines is the ever-present theme of adolescence, in whose depiction Rowling has been purposeful in acknowledging her characters' sexualities and not leaving Harry, as she put it, "stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence".[40] Rowling said that, to her, the moral significance of the tales seems "blindingly obvious". The key for her was the choice between what is right and what is easy, "because that ... is how tyranny is started, with people being apathetic and taking the easy route and suddenly finding themselves in deep trouble."[41]
In 1990, J. K. Rowling was on a crowded train from Manchester to London when the idea for Harry suddenly "fell into her head". Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying:[42]
"I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who did not know he was a wizard became more and more real to me."
Rowling completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1995 and the manuscript was sent off to several prospective agents.[43] The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury. After eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £2,500 advance for its publication.[44][45] Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when beginning to write the Harry Potter books, the publishers initially targeted children aged nine to eleven.[46] On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name because she has no middle name.[45][47]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all Harry Potter books in the United Kingdom, on 30 June 1997.[48] It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by Scholastic—the American publisher of the books—as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,[49] after Rowling had received US$105,000 for the American rights—an unprecedented amount for a children's book by a then-unknown author.[50] Fearing that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with a magical theme (although the Philosopher's Stone is alchemy-related), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American market.
The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999.[51][52] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.[51][52] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.[53] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version.[54] It was published worldwide in English on 21 June 2003.[55] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published on 16 July 2005, and it sold 9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release.[56][57] The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published 21 July 2007.[58] The book sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking down to 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.[59]
The series has been translated into 67 languages,[2][60] placing Rowling among the most translated authors in history.[61] The first translation was into American English, as many words and concepts used by the characters in the novels may have been misleading to a young American audience.[62] Subsequently, the books have seen translations to diverse languages such as Ukrainian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Welsh, Afrikaans, Latvian and Vietnamese. The first volume has been translated into Latin and even Ancient Greek,[63] making it the longest published work in Ancient Greek since the novels of Heliodorus of Emesa in the 3rd century AD.[64]
Some of the translators hired to work on the books were quite well-known before their work on Harry Potter, such as Viktor Golyshev, who oversaw the Russian translation of the series' fifth book. The Turkish translation of books two to seven was undertaken by Sevin Okyay, a popular literary critic and cultural commentator.[65] For reasons of secrecy, translation can only start when the books are released in English; thus there is a lag of several months before the translations are available. This has led to more and more copies of the English editions being sold to impatient fans in non-English speaking countries. Such was the clamour to read the fifth book that its English language edition became the first English-language book ever to top the bestseller list in France.[66]
In December 2005, Rowling stated on her web site, "2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series."[67] Updates then followed in her online diary chronicling the progress of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with the release date of 21 July 2007. The book itself was finished on 11 January 2007 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, where she scrawled a message on the back of a bust of Hermes. It read: "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007."[68]
Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the final book (in fact, the epilogue) was completed "in something like 1990".[69][70] In June 2006, Rowling, on an appearance on the British talk show Richard & Judy, announced that the chapter had been modified as one character "got a reprieve" and two others who previously survived the story had in fact been killed. On 28 March 2007, the cover art for the Bloomsbury Adult and Child versions and the Scholastic version were released.[71][72]
Fans of the series were so eager for the latest instalment that bookstores around the world began holding events to coincide with the midnight release of the books, beginning with the 2000 publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The events, commonly featuring mock sorting, games, face painting, and other live entertainment have achieved popularity with Potter fans and have been highly successful in attracting fans and selling books with nearly nine million of the 10.8 million initial print copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold in the first 24 hours.[73][74]. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became the fastest selling book in history, moving 11 million units in the first twenty-four hours of release [75]. The series has also gathered adult fans, leading to the release of two editions of each Harry Potter book, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults.[76] Besides meeting online through blogs, podcasts, and fansites, Harry Potter super-fans can also meet at Harry Potter symposia. The word Muggle has spread beyond its Harry Potter origins, becoming one of few pop culture words to land in the Oxford English Dictionary.[77] The Harry Potter fandom has embraced podcasts as a regular, often weekly, insight to the latest discussion in the fandom. Both MuggleCast and PotterCast[78] have reached the top spot of iTunes podcast rankings and have been polled one of the top 50 favourite podcasts.[79]
The Harry Potter series have been the recipients of a host of awards since the initial publication of Philosopher's Stone including four Whitaker Platinum Book Awards (all of which were awarded in 2001),[80] three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes (1997–1999),[81] two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards (1999 and 2001),[82] the inaugural Whitbread children's book of the year award (1999),[83] the WHSmith book of the year (2006),[84] among others. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for Best Novel in the Hugo Awards while in 2001, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won said award.[85] Honours include a commendation for the Carnegie Medal (1997),[86] a short listing for the Guardian Children's Award (1998), and numerous listings on the notable books, editors' Choices, and best books lists of the American Library Association, The New York Times, Chicago Public Library, and Publishers Weekly.[87]
The popularity of the Harry Potter series has translated into substantial financial success for Rowling, her publishers, and other Harry Potter related license holders. This success has made Rowling the first and thus far only billionaire author.[88] The books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and have also given rise to the popular film adaptations produced by Warner Bros., all of which have been highly successful in their own right with the first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, ranking number five on the inflation-unadjusted list of all-time highest grossing films and four others ranking in the top 15, while all six films released, so far, place in the top 25.[3][89] The films have in turn spawned eight video games and have led to the licensing of more than 400 additional Harry Potter products (including an iPod) that have, as of 2005, made the Harry Potter brand worth US$4 billion and J. K. Rowling worth $1 billion[90] making her, by some reports, richer than Queen Elizabeth II.[91][92] However, Rowling has stated that this is false.[93]
The great demand for Harry Potter books motivated the New York Times to create a separate bestseller list for children's literature in 2000, just before the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. By 24 June 2000, Rowling's novels had been on the list for 79 straight weeks; the first three novels were each on the hardcover bestseller list.[94] On 12 April 2007, Barnes & Noble declared that Deathly Hallows had broken its pre-order record, with more than 500,000 copies pre-ordered through its site.[95] For the release of Goblet of Fire, 9,000 FedEx trucks were used with no other purpose than to deliver the book.[96] Together, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble pre-sold more than 700,000 copies of the book.[96] In the United States, the book's initial printing run was 3.8 million copies.[96] This record statistic was broken by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with 8.5 million, which was then shattered by Half-Blood Prince with 10.8 million copies.[97] 6.9 million copies of Prince were sold in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of its release; in the United Kingdom more than two million copies were sold on the first day.[98] The initial U.S. print run for Deathly Hallows was 12 million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.[99]
Early in its history, Harry Potter received positive reviews. On publication, the first volume, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, attracted attention from the Scottish newspapers, such as The Scotsman, which said it had "all the makings of a classic",[100] and The Glasgow Herald, which called it "Magic stuff".[100] Soon the English newspapers joined in, with more than one comparing it to Roald Dahl's work: The Mail on Sunday rated it as "the most imaginative debut since Roald Dahl",[100] a view echoed by The Sunday Times ("comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified"),[100] while The Guardian called it "a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit".[100]
By the time of the release of the fifth volume, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the books began to receive strong criticism from a number of literary scholars. Yale professor, literary scholar and critic Harold Bloom raised criticisms of the books' literary merits, saying, "Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing."[101] A. S. Byatt authored a New York Times op-ed article calling Rowling's universe a "secondary world, made up of patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature ... written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip".[102]
The critic Anthony Holden wrote in The Observer on his experience of judging Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 1999 Whitbread Awards. His overall view of the series was negative—"the Potter saga was essentially patronising, conservative, highly derivative, dispiritingly nostalgic for a bygone Britain", and he speaks of "pedestrian, ungrammatical prose style".[103] Ursula Le Guin said, "I have no great opinion of it. When so many adult critics were carrying on about the 'incredible originality' of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a "school novel", good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited." [104]
By contrast, author Fay Weldon, while admitting that the series is "not what the poets hoped for", nevertheless goes on to say, "but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose".[105] The literary critic A. N. Wilson praised the Harry Potter series in The Times, stating: "There are not many writers who have JK's Dickensian ability to make us turn the pages, to weep—openly, with tears splashing—and a few pages later to laugh, at invariably good jokes ... We have lived through a decade in which we have followed the publication of the liveliest, funniest, scariest and most moving children's stories ever written".[106] Charles Taylor of Salon.com, who is primarily a movie critic,[107] took issue with Byatt's criticisms in particular. While he conceded that she may have "a valid cultural point—a teeny one—about the impulses that drive us to reassuring pop trash and away from the troubling complexities of art",[108] he rejected her claims that the series is lacking in serious literary merit and that it owes its success merely to the childhood reassurances it offers. Taylor stressed the progressively darker tone of the books, shown by the murder of a classmate and close friend and the psychological wounds and social isolation each causes. Taylor also argued that Philosopher's Stone, said to be the most lighthearted of the seven published books, disrupts the childhood reassurances that Byatt claims spur the series' success: the book opens with news of a double murder, for example.[108]
Stephen King called the series "a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable", and declared "Rowling's punning, one-eyebrow-cocked sense of humour" to be "remarkable". However, he wrote that despite the story being "a good one", he is "a little tired of discovering Harry at home with his horrible aunt and uncle", the formulaic beginning of all seven books.[30] King has also joked that "Rowling's never met an adverb she did not like!" He does however predict that Harry Potter "will indeed stand time's test and wind up on a shelf where only the best are kept; I think Harry will take his place with Alice, Huck, Frodo, and Dorothy and this is one series not just for the decade, but for the ages".[109]
Although Time magazine named Rowling as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year award, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom,[110] cultural comments on the series have been mixed. Washington Post book critic Ron Charles opined in July 2007 that the large numbers of adults reading the Potter series but few other books may represent a "bad case of cultural infantilism", and that the straightforward "good vs. evil" theme of the series is "childish". He also argued "through no fault of Rowling's", the cultural and marketing "hysteria" marked by the publication of the later books "trains children and adults to expect the roar of the coliseum, a mass-media experience that no other novel can possibly provide".[111]
Librarian Nancy Knapp pointed out the books' potential to improve literacy by motivating children to read much more than they otherwise would.[112] Agreeing about the motivating effects, Diane Penrod also praised the books' blending of simple entertainment with "the qualities of highbrow literary fiction", but expressed concern about the distracting effect of the prolific merchandising that accompanies the book launches.[113]
Jennifer Conn used Snape's and Quidditch coach Madam Hooch's teaching methods as examples of what to avoid and what to emulate in clinical teaching,[114] and Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation; stratification and social inequality; social institutions; and social theory".[115]
Jenny Sawyer wrote in the 25 July 2007 Christian Science Monitor that the books represent a "disturbing trend in commercial storytelling and Western society" in that stories "moral center have all but vanished from much of today's pop culture ... after 10 years, 4,195 pages, and over 375 million copies, J. K. Rowling's towering achievement lacks the cornerstone of almost all great children's literature: the hero's moral journey". Harry Potter, Sawyer argues, neither faces a "moral struggle" nor undergoes any ethical growth, and is thus "no guide in circumstances in which right and wrong are anything less than black and white".[116] On the other hand Emily Griesinger described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9¾ as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes. She also noted the "deeper magic" by which the self-sacrifice of Harry's mother protects the boy throughout the series, and which the power-hungry Voldemort fails to understand.[117]
In an 8 November 2002 Slate Magazine article, Chris Suellentrop likened Potter to a "trust-fund kid whose success at school is largely attributable to the gifts his friends and relatives lavish upon him". Noting that in Rowling's fiction, magical ability potential is "something you are born to, not something you can achieve", Suellentrop wrote that Dumbledore's maxim that "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" is hypocritical, as "the school that Dumbledore runs values native gifts above all else".[118] In a 12 August 2007 New York Times review of The Deathly Hallows, however, Christopher Hitchens praised Rowling for "unmooring" her "English school story" from literary precedents "bound up with dreams of wealth and class and snobbery", arguing that she had instead created "a world of youthful democracy and diversity".[119]
The books have been the subject of a number of legal proceedings, stemming either from claims by American Christian groups that the magic in the books promotes witchcraft among children, or from various conflicts over copyright and trademark infringements. The popularity and high market value of the series has led Rowling, her publishers, and film distributor Warner Bros. to take legal measures to protect their copyright, which have included banning the sale of Harry Potter imitations, targeting the owners of websites over the "Harry Potter" domain name, and suing author Nancy Stouffer to counter her accusations that Rowling had plagiarised her work.[120][121][122] Various religious conservatives have claimed that the books promote witchcraft and are therefore unsuitable for children,[123] while a number of critics have criticised the books for promoting various political agendas.[124][125]
The books also aroused controversies in the literary and publishing worlds. In 1997 to 1998 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won almost all the UK awards judged by children, but none of the children's book awards judged by adults,[126] and Sandra Beckett suggested the reason was intellectual snobbery towards books that were popular among children.[127] In 1999 the winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award children's division was entered for the first time on the shortlist for the main award, and one judge threatened to resign if Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was declared the overall winner; it finished second, very close behind the winner of the poetry prize, Seamus Heaney's translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf.[127]
In 2000, shortly before the publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the previous three Harry Potter books topped the New York Times fiction best-seller list and a third of the entries were children's books. The newspaper created a new children's section cover splits children's sections, including both fiction and non-fiction, and initially counting only hardback sales. The move was supported by publishers and booksellers.[128] In 2004 The New York Times further split the children's list, which was still dominated by Harry Potter books into sections for series and individual books, and removed the Harry Potter books from the section for individual books.[129] The split in 2000 attracted condemnation, praise and some comments that presented both benefits and disadvantages of the move.[130] Time suggested that, on the same principle, Billboard should have created a separate "mop-tops" list in 1964 when the Beatles held the top five places in its list, and Nielsen should have created a separate game-show list when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? dominated the ratings.[131]
In 1998,[132] Rowling sold the film rights of the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million ($1,982,900).[133] Rowling demanded the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of many Irish actors such as the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where characters from the book are specified as such.[134] After many directors including Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, and Alan Parker were considered, Chris Columbus was appointed on 28 March 2000 as director for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the United States), with Warner Bros. citing his work on other family films such as Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire as influences for their decision.[135] After extensive casting,[136] filming began in October 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and in London itself, with production ending in July 2001.[137] Philosopher's Stone was released on 14 November 2001. Just three days after Philosopher's Stone's release, production for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, also directed by Columbus began, finishing in summer 2002. The film was released on 15 November 2002.[138]
Chris Columbus declined to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, only acting as producer. Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón took over the job, and after shooting in 2003, the film was released on 4 June 2004. Due to the fourth film beginning its production before the third's release, Mike Newell was chosen as the director for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,[139] released on 18 November 2005. Newell declined to direct the next movie, and British television director David Yates was chosen for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which began production on January 2006,[140] and was released on 11 July 2007. Yates also directed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,[141] which was released on 15 July 2009.[142][143]
In March 2008, Warner Bros. announced that the final installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, would be released in two film segments, part one in November, 2010 and part two in July, 2011. Production of both parts is underway, with Yates returning to direct.[144] The Harry Potter films have been top-rank box office hits, with all six current releases on the list of 25 highest-grossing films worldwide.[145]
Opinions of the films are generally divided among fans, with one group preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films, and another group preferring the more stylised character-driven approach of the later films.[146] Rowling has been constantly supportive of the films,[147][148][149] and evaluated Order of the Phoenix as "the best one yet" in the series. She wrote on her web site of the changes in the book-to-film transition, "It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions novels do not have, constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers' imaginations".[150]
The Harry Potter books have all been released on unabridged audiobook. The UK versions are read by Stephen Fry and the US versions are read by Jim Dale. Dale is also the narrator for the special features disc on the DVDs.
After the success of the films and books, in Fall 2009 Universal announced it would create "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey", which will be a hi-tech ride at the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter". The Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be a new theme park area opening in spring 2010 at Universal Orlando Resort, Florida.[151]
The entrance will be through a recreated version of the Hogsmeade station,[152] leading to a recreated Hogwarts castle. Rides are set to include a twin high-speed rollercoaster named the 'Dragon Challenge' and a family roller coaster called 'Flight of the Hippogriff'. Every shop and restaurant will be themed – Honeydukes will sell chocolate frogs and 'Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans', Ollivander's will sell magic wands, Zonko's joke shop will sell Sneakoscopes, and the Three Broomsticks pours Butterbeer.[153]
Harry Potter is a series of novels by J.K. Rowling. It is about a young boy named Harry Potter and his adventures as he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns how to perform magic and comes face to face with his arch enemy, Lord Voldemort.
This book is designed to resemble an actual Hogwarts textbook, complete with wear-and-tear and has notes "written" in the margins by Harry/Ron/Hermione
|Harry Potter
|Film series
|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.
Welcome to the wiki-based annotated text and analysis Wikibook for the highly popular Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. It is organized to limit the accidental revealing of spoiler information and strives to provide an extensive detailing of the Harry Potter universe.
Please see the Contents page for a full list and organizational overview of the book. If you wish to browse the entire Muggles' Guide, use this page to move through the book. A PDF of the book is also available.
This book is built to handle several different levels of readers of the Harry Potter series. Therefore, the book has several pages available that detail suggested reading guides for specific levels of reading:
All text is available to anyone who happens to want to read it; we do not "turn off" text if you are not at the proper level. Also, the level warnings mark the end of specific levels: beginners who do not want their reading experience spoiled should read up to the "Beginner warning" or "Spoiler warning" tag; intermediate readers similarly should read only up to the "Intermediate warning" tag. Advanced readers presumably have already read the entire series, and are fully aware of the various facts in the series, so they cannot have their enjoyment of the series damaged by anything in this book. Thus, there is no tag for Advanced readers, as there is no place where they should stop reading.
For those who want to avoid spoilers, we should add one word of caution. Particularly on the Character pages, and to a lesser extent the Magic pages, there are places where analysis requires that we cover things that the reader may not have yet seen in his reading. In particular, several characters are suddenly seen in a new light in the last two books. In as much as it is possible, we mark sections where these appear with the name of the book or chapter to which they apply. In a character Analysis section, therefore, there might be a heading "Deathly Hallows"; this is an indication that the following section should not be read until you have read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to avoid spoilers.
This book is a study guide meant to accompany the reading of the Harry Potter series in a course context; it is not meant to replace the books. This book does not contain the full text of the series; to include the full text of the series in that manner would be violation of copyright. We strongly recommend that if you do not already own a copy of the Harry Potter series, a very good place to start, even before looking any further at this Guide, is to obtain copies of the seven books in the series.
This series is a stub. Help us expand it with details as well as an {{infobox}}. Reliable information can be researched on Wikipedia or you can just search for "Harry Potter" on Google. Do this and you get a cookie.
The Harry Potter video games are based on the movie series of the same name.
The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total.
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The Harry Potter books are a popular series of fantasy books by J. K. Rowling. The character Harry Potter is the hero in the stories.
In the books, the fantasy is about magic. Harry Potter is born with the power to do magic, as he is a wizard. He soon discovers that there are a lot of magic people, other wizard and witches, in the world, living unknown to most non-magical people (known as "muggles"). When he is eleven, he gets a letter inviting him to go to a boarding school called Hogwarts for young witches and wizards. Each book tells about one year of his life at school, about the people that he meets there, the things that he learns, and his adventures.
There are seven books total in the series. A series of movies about the first six books has been made by Warner Bros. They started making the movies in 2001. The sixth one, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, was released on July 7, 2009. The first half of the final movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in late November, 2010. Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released in July, 2011.
|Arthur Weasley
|Mark Williams
|Works for the Ministry of Magic
|Molly Weasley
|Julie Walters
|Busy mother of seven children
|Bill Weasley
|eldest son
|Richard Fish
|Cursebreaker for Gringotts Bank
|Charlie Weasley
|second eldest son
|Alex Crockford
|Works as a Dragon-tamer
|Percy Weasley
|third oldest son
|Chris Rankin
|Works for the Ministry of Magic
|Fred Weasley
|Fourth son
Older Weasley twin
|James Phelps
|Owns the wizarding joke shop, left Hogwarts in the fifth book, "Order of the Phoenix."
|George Weasley
|Fifth son
Younger Weasley twin
|Oliver Phelps
|Owns the wizarding joke shop, left Hogwarts in the fifth book, "Order of the Phoenix."
|Ronald Weasley
|Sixth son
|Rupert Grint
|One of Harry's two closest friends
|Ginny Weasley
|Daughter, youngest
|Bonnie Wright
|The youngest of seven. Harry's girlfriend from the sixth book on.
|Minerva MacGonagall
(Head of Gryffindor house)
|Maggie Smith
(changing something into something else)
|Severus Snape
(Head of Slytherin house)
|Alan Rickman
(brewing magical mixtures)
|Horace Slughorn
|Jim Broadbent
|Filius Flitwick
(Head of Ravenclaw house)
|Warwick Davis
(making things happen)
|Pomona Sprout
(Head of Hufflepuff house)
|Miriam Margoyles
(caring for magical plants)
|Madame Hooch
|Zoe Wannamaker
|Flying on broomsticks
also: referee and teacher for Quidditch
|Quirinus Quirrel
|Ian Hart
|Defence Against the Dark Arts
(defensive magic)
|Gilderoy Lockhart
|Kenneth Branagh
|Remus Lupin
|David Thewlis
|Alecto Carrow
|Suzanne Toase
|Alastor Moody (impersonated in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Barty Crouch, Jr.
|Brendan Gleeson
|Dolores Umbridge
|Imelda Staunton
|Severus Snape
|Alan Rickman
|Cho Chang
|Katie Leung
|Dated Harry. Former girlfriend of Cedric Diggory. Member of "Dumbledore's Army".
|Vincent Crabbe
|Jamie Waylett
|Draco's friend
|Cedric Diggory
|Robert Pattinson
|Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Took part in the Triwizard Tournament. Took Cho Chang to the Yule Ball. Killed by Voldemort's "Avada Kedavra" curse.
|Gregory Goyle
|Joshua Herdman
|Draco's friend
|Neville Longbottom
|Matthew Lewis
|Harry's friend. Member of "Dumbledore's Army." Has a pet toad. Great in Herbology. Killed Voldemort's snake, Nagini, the sixth horcux, in the Final Battle, making it possible for Harry to finally kill Voldemort.
|Luna Lovegood
|Evanna Lynch
|Harry's friend. The strange, yet wise one. Member of "Dumbledore's Army".
|Susan Bones
|Eleanor Columbus
|She is a student we see in the first movie of Harry Potter. She is in Hufflepuff. Her grandparents have been killed by Voldemort.
koi:Гарри Поттер (роман лёдз)


text:
Some recent fundraising has made a large difference at the John K. MacDonald Memorial Sports Park in Tatamagouche.
In a few short months, $25,000 was raised to purchase a 2300HP Kubota tractor for maintenance of the sports field and ball park.
"It can do almost everything," said Murray MacKay, who will be driving the machine along with other volunteers Owen Lynds and Tony Matheson. "It's a mower, loader, and blade, needed for the maintenance of the field and park."
There were a number of donations toward the purchase of the Kubota tractor, including the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 64, Scotiabank, and the John K. MacDonald Memorial Bonspiel.
Kelly Tucker, the president of the North Shore Recreation Centre, said the majority came from program registration, as well as a GoFundMe account set up online.
"The machine we had would not keep up with what we needed it to do, because we're so busy," she said.
The park, located behind the recreation centre, will see the tractor in use about four times each week. During the school months, the school utilizes the park, with rec centre programming taking advantage from June to September.
"We have a soccer program with 105 kids, and between 65 and 70 kids, plus adults, in ball programs," said Tucker. "The park is all taken care of by volunteers. We wouldn't be able to do it without them."
The park also includes a walking or running track, and MacKay said he's seen people using it daily.
"It depends on the temperature, but there are a lot here in the evenings," he said.
"And parents use it when their kids are on the fields," added Tucker.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Everybody's gone surfing—at the gym
This January, SurfSet Fitness is debuting its group workout classes at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers, where New Yorkers will ride the RipSurfer X, a newfangled piece of fitness equipment that resembles a surfboard-shaped Pilates Reformer.
And it's already riding a wave.
Why? Surfing is having a serious moment. The once novel sport is now a multi-billion dollar industry, and has a growing fan base—not just in Southern California. These days, you're practically expected to jump on a board the minute you're off the Hampton Jitney. (Well, when the water's warm.)
The SurfSet team is counting on this cultural cachet, hoping that the gym version will take off the way spinning did among non-cyclists.
While the machine helps surfers stay in shape in the off-season, the company is primarily pitching it as a fun, total-body workout for those who've never been on a board before (or who would like to practice their pop-ups before trying their luck at Far Rockaway).
What's the workout like?
The workout had us sweating early on, with intense cardio moves that simulate surfing, like pulling the resistance bands in a paddling motion and popping up to ride a wave, combined with planks, lunges, and mountain climbers all on the board. And while you execute each motion, you're also using core muscles to stabilize the moving board.
New York City fitness types are amped to try SurfSet. The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers has a whopping 30 weekly classes on the schedule. They're open to non-members at $35 a pop, with members getting 15 percent off (and discounts if you buy 5- or 10-class packs). There's also an 8-week boot camp for $285.
Sarah Ponn, SurfSet's lead fitness instructor, says that 350 non-members have already signed up and that the camp is almost full.
After March 4, the gym's exclusive hold on the class will expire. Rather than see where the tide takes them, SurfSet is already making plans.
"Our dream is to have boutique SurfSet studios, with surf projections, wave sounds, and possibly sand!" says Ponn. "One in New York City, one on the West Coast, and then we'll fill in between."
But workout machines come and go. To keep making waves, SurfSet will need to cultivate the unique culture that brands like Barry's Bootcamp and SoulCycle have perfected. There's a great big line separating the dedication spinners feel to raising their Flywheel numbers, say, and that old stationary bike gathering dust in your mom's basement. To stay competitive, SurfSet needs more than just a kick-ass workout. It needs a scene. —Lisa Elaine Held
Are you going to try SurfSet? Could this be your new fitness love? Tell us in the Comments, below!
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text:
Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Family
By OnePlusOne, 30 September 2015 Legal, Mental health, Money
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) identifies nine different factors associated with reoffending and desistance, including family/marital relationships[1]. However, it can be costly when a family member is convicted, putting pressure on these vital relationships. The findings of this report, based on case studies from across the U.S., demonstrates the cost of incarceration for the families, both in monetary terms (immediate legal expenses, fees and fines, and phone and visitation charge), and other costs which are less easy to quantify including: mental health support; care for untreated physical ailments; the loss of children sent to foster care or extended family; permanent declines in income; and loss of opportunities like education and employment for both the individuals incarcerated and their family members – opportunities that could lead to a brighter future.
Unfortunately this is not a situation unique to the U.S. In the UK it is estimated that the costs for transport, visits and money given to the prisoner for canteen items adds up to £200 a month that comes out of the family income[2].
You can view the full research article here.
[1] Commissioning Intentions for 2013-14.
[2] www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk/uploadedFiles/2010_Publications_And_Resources/Facts_and_figures_about_prisoners_families_June2013.pdf


text:
What if an entire community came together to ensure that each of its children had the opportunity — and the support — to go to college, and succeed in completing that education? That is the bold promise of Say Yes to Education.
Say Yes is a nonprofit that galvanizes cities around the goals of every public school student not only graduating high school — but doing so with the support to attain, afford and complete a postsecondary education. At the heart of Say Yes is a powerful incentive: the prospect of a college scholarship, whether to a state institution or more than 100 private colleges and universities in the Say Yes Higher Education Compact. Say Yes leverages these and other incentives to bring together every stakeholder — city and county government; school district; parents; teachers; businesses; unions; philanthropic and faith-based organizations; colleges and universities — and arm them with tools to boost postsecondary participation and success.
100% Tuition Scholarships & $15M Seed Capital
Cross-Government & Sector Collaboration + Strategic Data Approach.
Comprehensive academic, health, financial and social/emotional supports.
More than 170,000 public school students, in kindergarten through grade 12, currently have access to Say Yes support services and scholarships
The number of students graduating high school in Buffalo, New York, since the launch of the Say Yes Buffalo, has increased by 15 percentage points, to 64%
Every dollar invested by Say Yes in its Buffalo community partnership has leveraged an average of $15.11 in external investments
Say Yes to Education was founded in 1987. For its first two decades, Say Yes provided scholarships and support services to cohorts of 50 to 300 children each in chapters in Philadelphia; Cambridge, MA; Hartford, CT and Harlem in New York City. Armed with the lessons learned during that experience, Say Yes began piloting its community-wide strategy in 2008 in the upstate New York city of Syracuse. It has since established community-wide chapters in Buffalo (2012), Guilford County (Greensboro-High Point), North Carolina (2015) and Cleveland (2019).
Say Yes is celebrating its 30th anniversary throughout 2017. The celebration began on March 9 with a Gala in New York City that honored our Founder and Chairman, George Weiss, and Neil Goldberg, President and CEO of Raymour & Flanigan.
Building on 30 years of experience from the leading national nonprofit Say Yes to Education, the Weiss Institute is helping communities expand their capacity to support young people along the pathway from early childhood to adult success.
Hear and learn about her journey from the halls of City Honors School Class of 2014 in Buffalo to the halls of Syracuse University.
What if every student who graduated from a city's public high schools were guaranteed the money needed to go to college?
Guilford County is winding up to deliver a huge push for education. Call it Say Yes.
This story appears in the December 14, 2014 issue of Forbes. In its current issue — which is devoted…
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SharePoint is a communication platform for teams
SharePoint is a flexible organisation and communication platform from Microsoft. As a web portal, it enables company-specific solutions – such as for intranets or extranets – to be built in the areas of cooperation (manage and edit projects, and the coordination of tasks), document management and the distribution of knowledge, and to optimise business processes in this way. To do this, they must be adapted to the needs of the company or of each division who will be working with them.
SharePoint implements a central document repository with versioning and research, dissemination of information and search, as well as the rapid development of databases. Employees can be easily and quickly supplied with information. In addition, SharePoint makes it possible to set up team sites, which facilitates cooperation among virtual teams. It is also possible to set up discussion groups and blogs. Other Microsoft programs like Word, Excel and Outlook can be integrated.
SharePoint facilitates networking in companies
The various SharePoint solutions such as intranet and extranet offer many advantage, such as the fact that content can be used several times. SharePoint facilitates the cooperation across company boundaries, as well as a functionality that goes beyond a normal content management system: this lets clients and partners be integrated efficiently into processes. Part of the support is also covered with a customer forum. In addition, tools from a third party can be easily integrated through the extendibility of the technology.
You can find more information on SharePoint on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SharePoint
or on the Microsoft Sharepoint Website: https://products.office.com/en-GB/sharepoint?legRedir=true&CorrelationId=ce961da7-de46-44fd-9100-bf208743bcff&omkt=en-GB


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By Dr Jörg Witting
This is an update following our article entitled "Landmark case on cartel law defence pending before German Federal Supreme Court" which was included in our Spring 2009 bulletin. On 6 May 2009, the German Federal Supreme Court rendered its landmark decision in the matter of Orange Book Standard. According to the Court, a compulsory licence defence based on competition law can be raised successfully in patent infringement proceedings if certain requirements are fulfilled: in particular, if the patent owner has inadmissibly rejected the defendant's licence offer and if the defendant has acted in anticipation of its obligations of a future licence agreement.
Accordingly, the patent owner's claim for an injunction may be opposed by the defendant on the grounds of abuse of a dominant position. The competition law defence is based upon the principle that, if the relevant patent is essential to the manufacturing and marketing of an end product, the patent owner must not block access to the respective product market by requesting excessive royalties or discriminating against a licence-seeking undertaking by charging it higher royalties than other licensees. Whether or not such competition law arguments were admissible in German patent infringement proceedings had been highly disputed. The main argument against its admissibility was that an undertaking manufacturing in accordance with a patented industry standard but without a licence could, in the case of an alleged abuse of a dominant position by the patentee, enforce its claim for a licence in separate antitrust proceedings. Hence, the competition law defence had been acknowledged by the Federal Supreme Court only with respect to damage claims of the patent owner (KZR 40/02– Standard-Spundfass).
In the matter of "Orange Book Standard", Philips had filed cease and desist claims against a manufacturer of recordable and re-writable compact discs (CD-R and CD-RW). The patent in suit had become a standard in the so called "Orange Book" being part of the "Rainbow-Books": a set of technical standards officially admissible when producing CDs. The Orange Book Standard includes patents that every producer of commercial CD-R or CDRW inevitably needs to make use of and which therefore puts Philips into a dominant position as regards the upstream licensing market. Philips had granted patent licences to several undertakings on the basis of a standard licence agreement. The defendant, however, produced and marketed CD-R and CD-RW without a licence, raising the defence that the royalties demanded by Philips were excessive and discriminating as other undertakings allegedly had received better conditions.
The Regional Court and Higher Regional Court had ordered the defendant to cease and desist from its infringement of the patent and the Federal Supreme Court upheld this decision. The Federal Supreme Court, however, went on to lay down the principles of the competition law defence subject to certain preconditions, although in the case at hand these preconditions were not met by the defendant. Accordingly, in order to substantiate the defence, the Court held that:
a) the defendant must demonstrate that the patent owner holds a dominant position in the licensing market (i.e. that there is no alternative technology to the relevant patent);b) the defendant has offered a licence at adequate terms in advance;c) which the patent owner rejected;d) and thereby discriminated against the defendant without objective justification.This would constitute a violation of German and/or EU competition law.
However, such an abuse of a dominant position does not automatically result in the defendant's right to make use of the patent in suit without compensation. Rather, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that, in order for the competition law defence to be well founded and the ongoing usage of the relevant patent to be lawful, the defendant must act in anticipation of its obligations under a future licence agreement. The defendant is required to report on the usage of the patent to the patent owner and pay adequate royalties. Payment can be made to the patent owner or may be deposited.
Since the defendant may face difficulties when assessing the adequate licence rate to be paid or deposited, the Court has found it sufficient to leave open the licence rate in the defendant's licence offer and leave the exact determination to the equitable discretion of the patent owner, subject to possible additional litigation in separate proceedings. However, when doing so, the defendant must at the same time deposit adequate royalties. In this case, the claim for cease and desist can be dismissed by merely ordering that the patent owner is obliged to accept the defendant's undetermined licence offer and to determine the exact licence rate according to its equitable discretion.
ConclusionIn summary, the decision can clearly be seen as a landmark case in that the Federal Supreme Court clearly considers the cartel law defence to be admissible in patent infringement and injunction proceedings. However, it remains to be seen how patent courts will apply the preconditions for a successful cartel law defence that were set out by the Federal Supreme Court.
It is doubtful, though, whether these preconditions comply with EU competition law as they could be seen as an unjustified obstacle for the application of European competition law in general, and Art. 82 EC specifically. Furthermore, it seems questionable that the preconditions set up by the Federal Supreme Court could apply also to important industry standards developed by standard-setting organisations where hundreds or thousands of patents by a large number of patent owners are involved. Finally, the decision does not refer to a licence defence based on resulting contractual claims (e.g. such as FRAND commitments issued by patent owners during the standardisation process). Therefore, a number of highly important aspects have not yet been clarified and it remains to be seen how the principle set out by the Federal Supreme Court will be applied by the competent patent courts in the future.
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All of the Above, the debut EP from Toronto-based tech-metal outfit Structures, comes to us as an independently released composition. However, a brief listen to this ambitious disc will eliminate any doubt as to whether or not the band's next album will be released with the support of a record label. All of the Above is not only an innovative, highly engaging exercise in technical refinery, it is one of the most outstanding metal releases of the past five years – unsigned or otherwise.
By now, everyone has figured out that the heavy music scene is over-saturated with bland, unoriginal knockoffs of whatever sound happens to be popular at the moment. Structures stand out from the monotony for several reasons. First, the band's skill level, on a purely technical level, is nothing short of breathtaking. The EP's penultimate track, the punishing "In Pursuit Of", showcases the group's uncanny ability to alter time signatures several times within a single verse, while maintaining a level of aggression and ferocity that is rarely found within this sub-genre. Both of the band's guitarists display a great deal of talent throughout the EP's five tracks. Even the most seasoned of metal listeners will be thrilled by the record's highly involved, highly imaginative guitar work. Within the course of fifteen seconds, the guitar lines transition from punishingly heavy and dissonant, to melodic and gentle. It is this dynamic that keeps All of the Above enthralling for the entirety of its twenty minutes.
In addition to expert instrumentation, the EP is no slouch in the vocal department. The screamed vocals sound monstrous, and are complimented excellently by touches of clean singing courtesy of bassist Spencer MacLean. As far as pure technical prowess goes, the screamed vocals are probably the only area in which Structures could use some improvement. Frontman Nick Xourafas' roars are strong and convincing, but seeing as every other facet of the band's sound is incredibly dynamic, his vocals begin to sound somewhat stale by the end of the disc. More variety in the screamed vocals would add punctuation to the band's heavier moments, and make the compositions more memorable.
It must be mentioned that the phenomenal piece of work that is All of the Above would not have been possible without producer Jordan Valeriote (Silverstein, Dead and Divine) manning the control board. His expert precision in recording arts is ultimately what kept this highly experimental group of musicians from sounding like a cluttered mess. Thanks to the talents of everyone involved in the production process, All of the Above will surely garner Structures a large fan base, and raise the proverbial bar for heavy musicians everywhere.


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After previously revealing that Season 7 of "So You Think You Can Dance" will change things up with weekly partner switching, no choosing genres and no Top 20, Nigel Lythgoe finally revealed what ties all these changes together.
"There's going to be a Top 10 that will come out of Vegas. Each week they will only be leaving one at a time, so you should get to know them," Nigel tells us on the conference call. The Top 10 will still be split evenly between male and female dancers.
"We obviously don't have to push them and their partners anymore, so like most shows of this nature you're going to get their back stories and understand who they are."
"They are changing partners every week. We are going to put together a pool of ex-"So You Think You Can Dance" all-stars, some of our favorite dancers form across all six seasons and they will act as a pool of dancers," continues Lythgoe.
"The competitors instead of drawing the genre of dance out of the hat, will draw a photograph of one of the all-stars and that will dictate the genre of dance that they're going to be dancing."
There is going to be a pool of all-stars because they won't know if there are men or women going home each week, so there will be more than 10 all-stars returning. Lythgoe says that in choosing the all-stars, "They had to be dominant in their genre of dance because they are the ones that are going to dictate what the competitors are going to dance … It's going to make the show more exciting."
For the finale of the show, Nigel says they aren't sure if they are going to have 2 or 3 in the finale. "It depends on if I can do something very, very special, which I can't talk about at this moment in time, on where the finale is placed on FOX's schedule," teases Nigel."This is going to be another huge press release if I get my way on something."
Lythgoe also reveals that Mary Murphy will be both sitting on the panel and will be choreographing this year. Mia Michaels will also be back as well.
You can look for the all-stars to be revealed over the next few weeks on Nigel's twitter account. Exciting!
Zap2it's own Korbi TV also caught up with Nigel over the weekend, where he gave a quick video interview about the changes coming to "SYTYCD."
"So You Think You Can Dance" Season 7 premieres Thursday, May 27 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on FOX.
What do you guys think? Do you like the new changes to the popular dance show?
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'SYTYCD': No choosing genres
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credit: FOX


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Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is letting you decide what classic films they will release on Blu-ray for the first time. That's right, your vote counts. Fans vote for their favorite classic titles through the "Voice Your Choice" campaign.
Here is an portion the news release:
LOS ANGELES (January 15, 2013) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today its partnership with the ultimate film discussion website, Home Theater Forum, for a one-of-a-kind campaign, VOICE YOUR CHOICE, allowing film enthusiasts to decide which classic films they would like to see digitally restored and transferred to Blu-ray for the very first time. The program celebrates Fox's most notable films from the 1930's thru the 1960's featuring performances by famous actors such as Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne and more. Throughout the campaign, fans will also have the opportunity to write in and submit additional titles. Voting begins today at www.hometheaterforum.com and at www.foxconnect.com.
In addition to VOICE YOUR CHOICE, beginning this month Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will celebrate their extensive collection of classic movies by releasing at least one title on Blu-ray per month under the banner "20th Century Fox Studio Classics." Drawing from Twentieth Century Fox's rich catalog all releases will be Academy® award-winning or nominated movies from the 1920's thru the 1960's.
VOICE YOUR CHOICE titles are as follows:
1930 Jesse James Call of the Wild The Little Princess Steamboat Round the Bend Swanee River
1940 The Return of Frank James That Night in Rio Pin Up Girl The Black Swan The Ghost and Mrs. Muir My Gal Sal Kiss of Death To the Shores of Tripoli Captain From Castile My Friend Flicka The Blue Bird Crash Drive A Letter to Three Wives Hello, Frisco, Hello Mother Wore Tights
1950 Don't Bother to Knock Cheaper by the Dozen Carmen Jones On the Riviera Anastasia Black Widow Broken Lance The True Story of Jesse James Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? The Tall Men Desk Set The Best of Everything The River's Edge The Bravados The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
1960 From the Terrace Morituri Two for the Road North to Alaska The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Bandolero! Let's Make Love Do Not Disturb The Agony and the Ecstasy Back Door to Hell How to Steal a Million Bedazzled (1968) The Undefeated The 300 Spartans Can-Can
20th Century Fox Studio Classics titles and release dates for the first quarter of 2013 are as follows:
1/15 Titanic (1953) How Green Was My Valley Wild River Gentlemen's Agreement
2/5 Laura
3/26 Panic in the Streets
4/2 Hello, Dolly!
5/7 Viva Zapata!


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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Toronto FC rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei has enjoyed a dream start to his professional career. While most goalkeepers spend years working their way into a starting role, Frei has taken over as TFC's No. 1 from the beginning and is enjoying a Rookie of the Year-type season.
Frei's first season has had its share of highlights, but the first and one of the best came in his very first game, Toronto's 4-2 win vs. Kansas City.
"I remember being on the phone with my brother after the game and him point out to me that I had just played against someone we grew up watching back in Switzerland," Frei said. "Claudio Lopez was someone we watched growing up in Switzerland when he played for Valencia and, here I was, playing against him. That was definitely a moment where I knew I was in the pros now.
Frei and Toronto FC take on New England on Saturday at BMO Field.
What do you think of Frei's season so far? Does he get your Rookie of the Year vote? Can you see him making a move to Europe sooner than later? Are you one of the fans who wishes your team had drafted him?
Share your thoughts below.


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It may have been a while since HD DVD and Blu-ray finished their infamous duel, but that doesn't mean we were satisfied with the outcome. And we demand satisfaction. Our wonderful Greatest Gadget of the 21st Century competition gives us the perfect excuse for a rematch, as just by chance the Sony S470 Blu-ray player has been drawn against the Toshiba XE1 HD DVD machine. If we can't agree on a winner, we're going to have to draw pistols at dawn.
So join Ian Morris and Luke Westaway in throwing down the gauntlet and slapping each other in the chops with effete gloves over an argument that ceased to be relevant some time ago. Thought this most petty of tech scuffles ended when HD DVD collapsed? Wrong: it's back for one last outing.
As the challenger, Ian kicks off.
HD DVD was launched as a finished product
IAN: HD DVD had a finished spec from the minute it was released, whereas Blu-ray was a mess. If you bought an HD DVD player, you knew it would play the discs with all their extra features and they could all connect to the Internet and allow you access to additional material. The Transformers disc has some good examples of this.
LUKE: Oh come off it -- if we threw our rattles out the pram every time a product was released unfinished we'd never get anywhere! It's in the nature of technology that it improves over time, and we can't hang around forever waiting for boffins to get every little aspect perfect. If you need proof that unfinished technology is no big deal, just look at Blu-ray today -- every disc plays on every player without so much as a whimper of disapproval. Whatever flaws existed at launch, they've been ironed out since.
Blu-ray holds more video
LUKE: And another thing! HD DVD was flawed from the very beginning -- its discs offered a paltry 30GB of storage. Compare that to the muscular 50GB offered by Blu-ray, and it's easy to see why Blu-ray won the war -- more storage space means a higher bit rate, which means better video quality, and there's tonnes of space left over for tasty extras, and those all-important directors' video commentaries.
IAN: You might well say that, but there was never a case where the 30GB capacity was a major handicap. I'll admit some of the discs might have missed out on the occasional lame documentary, or had audio that was compressed. But the results always looked superb. You only have to put that Transformers HD DVD back in a player to see what I mean here.
And for what it's worth, there was a 51GB disc in the works for HD DVD. Had the format continued, we were told that higher capacity discs would be introduced, and could potentially beat the 50GB Blu-ray limit by one whole gigabyte. It would have been backwards-compatible with most old players too.
On the flipside, if you assume HD DVDs would have remained a little smaller, it means we wouldn't have had to suffer the snooze-fest of 3D, as the disc capacity wouldn't have been up to the job.
LUKE: Ian, I thought taking you down a peg would prove hilarious, but actually this is just depressing -- you're so pitifully wrong-headed I don't even know where to begin... Alright. Firstly I'd point out that if 51GB HD DVD discs were in the works, the format was hardly finished at launch, was it?
HD DVD could have had larger capacities, in theory
IAN: Westaway, you weren't even born when this battle started, whereas I lived and breathed it. HD DVD was finished, but there was a plan to produce a 51GB upgrade later on. Although it might have had problems on some older players. Still, this was no worse than Blu-ray, which went through three different versions, and is now on its fourth with 3D machines.
LUKE: Right, while we're talking about 3D I have the following to say: yes, 3D is pants, at the moment anyway (perhaps another example of not-quite-finished technology), but saying that a lower capacity disc is better because it prevents the technology from evolving is pure madness. 3D might not be the next natural step, but something will be, and I'd bet your house that whatever it is, it'll require more storage. Blu-ray is future-proof, HD DVD is a dusty relic.
Blu-ray interactivity is woeful
IAN: There's another area where HD DVD was clearly better: interactivity. On Blu-ray the menus and other functionality is provided by BD-J, a version of Java. And Java apps suck, that's a simple fact of life. So Blu-ray players were stuck in a quagmire of slow interactive content while HD DVDs zoomed along with their funky HDi system, designed by Microsoft.
LUKE: Heaven forbid a format should use a platform developers are already familiar with! Everyone knows Java, and while it might not be so slick, it makes the developers' job easier. Besides, it's such a minor point -- I've never heard anyone complaining about their Blu-ray menus being too sluggish.
Copy protection was slightly less evil on HD DVD
IAN: There's another thing too -- copy protection is much more restrictive on Blu-ray than it was on HD DVD. Copy protection just harms the people who have legitimately bought the disc. HD DVD had more advanced copy protection than DVD, but it's nothing compared to the restrictive mess that is Blu-ray.
LUKE: You wouldn't steal a baby, Ian -- there's nothing wrong with a little copy protection. For one thing, the vast majority of people who purchase the disc couldn't give two hoots about burning, ripping or copying it, and secondly if you do want to indulge in such activities, this isn't going to stop you.
At the end of the day, Blu-ray already won this battle, and the format is a success. We could spend our whole life looking back and dreaming of what might have been, but frankly I prefer to look forward -- to new horizons, to a bold new future. Dry your eyes Ian, and look no longer on the past. Take my hand, and together we'll explore this glittering frontier. For science.
IAN: Well Luke, first of all, I would steal a baby, and defecate in a policeman's hat. Looking forward is one thing, but what if you could put right what once went wrong? HD DVD should have won the war, and it didn't. Now, our charming, discerning readers have the opportunity to vote for this plucky little format, and set right one of tech history's most cruel defeats.
It's up to you
So, which idiot is the correct idiot? Is Ian on the money with his ludicrous claims that HD DVD is the better format, despite being defunct? Or is Luke barking up the right tree, with his dumb argument that Blu-ray won so it must be superior?
The final say is yours. Just hit the Greatest Gadget vote page, and choose either Sony's excellent S470 Blu-ray player, or Toshiba's superb HD-XE1.
Pixel 3A, the cheap phone Google's needed: No water resistance and no wireless charging, but Google packs the Pixel 3A with the features that matter.
Google Nest Hub Max: A higher-end smart display for Google Assistant joins the Nest family, adds a camera.


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Listen to free music played by gilbarbara
Blip.fm is internet radio made social. It's easy to search for, play, and discover free music recommended by real people. Join today to create your own free station and start listening to @gilbarbara.
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Buddy Rich – The Beat Goes On| play
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International Pony – The Royal Pennekaums| play
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Minizza – Winning A Battle, Losing the War| play
gilbarbara we'll always be together, together in electric dreams
Lali Puna – Together In Electric Dreams| play
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Four Tet – She Just Likes to Fight| play
gilbarbara Lost and found the second time around. What you for me, now I see would not waste a moment. Oh no!
DJ Fitchie and Joe Dukie – Midnight Marauders| play
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Autechre – Garbagemx36| play
gilbarbara Pull the string and I'll wink at you, I'm your puppet!
Jimmy London – I'm Your Puppet| play
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Alton Ellis – It's A Shame| play
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Midnight Star – Midas Touch| play
gilbarbara Never let your feelings get you down. Open up your eyes and look around. It's just an illusion!
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Jill Scott – Gettin' in the Way| play
gilbarbara Back in the day when things were cool. All we needed was bop-bop, bop-bop, bop-ba-domp