Emry Arthur

Emry Paul Arthur (September 17, 1902 – August 22, 1967) was an American Old-time musician. Arthur played an early version of the song Man of Constant Sorrow in 1928.
Childhood and youth.
Emry Arthur was born around the turn of the century in the Elk Spring Valley in Wayne County, Kentucky. His father collected old traditional songs from Kentucky and the entire family was known for their music in the area. Young Arthur and learned to play instruments like his brothers Henry and Sam, but after a hunting accident he was restricted to playing harmonica and strumming simply on the guitar. As a singer he built up a repertoire from different eras: the archaic local tradition; nineteenth century popular song and more contemporary gospel. One influence was probably the Wayne County singer and musician Dick Burnett, who claimed to have taught young Emry I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow. Arthur was unable to earn a living from music, and work in general was hard to find, so in the mid 1920s he migrated to Indianapolis.
Recording career.
After a few years in Indianapolis, Arthur auditioned successfully for Vocalion Records. For his first sessions he summoned his brother Henry from Kentucky. With unidentified guitarists and with Henry on banjo, the brothers recorded vocal duets and solos by Emry, on some playing harmonica. One of Emry's solos was the first recording of "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow". Vocalion was impressed by good sales, particularly of the religious sides, and by the fact that Emry was Southern singer living conveniently in the North, so he was invited back to record frequently through 1928 and 1929. As with his first sessions, he recorded a mixture of solo songs and vocal duets, employing first Frank Owens then William Rexroat in place of Henry Arthur. In addition, he recorded with a succession of choirs led by Arthur and one led by Rexroat, as well as with a group singing in a non-Southern idiom led by Floyd Thomson.
In 1929, Emry's marriage broke up. Abandoning everything, he moved to Wisconsin, where he secured contacts with Paramount Records as a singer, and with their parent Wisconsin Chair Company as a factory hand. As before, he recorded a mixture of solos (including a second version of I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow) and vocal duets. But now his singing partner was Della Hatfield, who became his second wife. They continued to record for Paramount until the near collapse of the recording industry in 1931.
Also in 1929, Arthur was involved with William Myers, a songwriter in Richlands, Virginia. Previously, Myers had posted his songs to singers he admired, including Mississippi John Hurt and Dock Boggs. Now he decided to start a record label, named Lonesome Ace. This folded after three recordings: one by Arthur and two by Boggs with Arthur accompanying.
In 1935, the recording industry had recovered somewhat, and Emry recorded a final session with Decca Records.
At some point, Emry and Della moved back to Indianapolis, where they lived for the rest of their lives, about which nothing is known. Emry Arthur died in 1967, survived by Della for almost four decades.
Old Homestead Records collected some of Arthur's recordings on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" in 1987.


Conarium (video game)

Conarium is a Lovecraftian horror adventure video game, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's novella At The Mountains of Madness. The game was developed by Turkish game development studio Zoetrope Interactive, published by Dutch indie game publisher Iceberg Interactive, and was first released in June 2017.
Premise.
"Conarium" follows four scientists in their endeavor to challenge what we normally consider to be the absolute limits of nature. The scientist sought to transcend human consciousness with the use of a so-called Conarium device.
The player controls Frank Gilman, one of the four scientists of the Antarctic expedition. At the beginning of the game Gilman wakes up alone at Upuaut, a research base located in Antarctica. The room where he wakes up has a strange device on the table emitting odd noises and with pulsating lights. Gilman has no idea what the device is, nor has he any recollection of what happened prior to him passing out.
He discovers the research base abandoned, with no trace of the other scientists. Gilman must uncover what happened to the others of his expedition by exploring the Antarctic base and its surroundings. During his search he experiences strange visions and dreams, which feel like memories that he cannot place.
Gameplay.
Playing from a first-person perspective, players must explore the Antarctic base to solve the mystery of what happened to the other expedition members. This objective is achieved by exploring the environment and solving puzzles. Players can find and look at notes, journals, and other documents.
Development.
"Conarium" was developed by Zoetrope Interactive, a Turkish indie developer consisting of three members: Galip Kartoğlu, Onur Şamlı, Oral Şamlı. They previously worked on and , also published by Iceberg Interactive. "Conarium" was originally announced as “Mountains of Madness” in 2015. Iceberg Interactive signed the game in July 2016. The game was released on June 6, 2017 for Microsoft Windows.
Versions for Linux and MacOS were released on February 5, 2018.
"Conarium" was made using the Unreal Engine 4. Having been favourably received by PC gamers; on February 12, 2019 the game found its way onto consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One).
Reception.
"Conarium" currently holds a weighted average score of 71/100 on Metacritic based on 23 critic reviews. "The Telegraph" praised the game for its Lovecraftian atmosphere: "It's rare to find a jaunt into the world of the Cthulhu Mythos that stays so true to the feel without retreading old ground, and for that alone, Conarium is a must-play for fans of the tentacled one and his many eldritch buddies", and awarded it four out of five stars. "Polygon" Philip Kollar noted that the game "Conarium could have pushed deeper, but it stays true to the spirit of Lovecraft's work." and scored the game a 7.5 out of 10. Chris Shive of "Hardcore Gamer" gave the game a positive review and called attention to its soundtrack, noting that ""Conarium" soundtrack sets an ominous mood of dread and is effective in creating this Lovecraftian waking nightmare Frank has to navigate."
"Conarium" was chosen to showcase at IndieCade Festival 2017. "Conarium" won “The Game of the Year” and “Best PC Game” at the Kristal Piksel (Crystal Pixel) Video Game Awards 2017 ceremony, an annual awards ceremony for the Turkish game industry.


Shreyan Chattopadhyay

Shreyan Chattopadhyay, born Shreyan Chatterjee, also known by his nickname Dodo, is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer and musician; who works primarily in Kolkata. His works are noted for integrating traditional orchestral arrangements with electronic music, and rock music. He is the son of film and theatre director Debesh Chattopadhyay, and dancer and actress Kastury Chattopadhyay. In 2017, at the age of 20, Shreyan Chattopadhyay began his career scoring for Pancham Baidik's play "Machi" (Arpita Ghosh's adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies); his debut work on the background score of the play received critical acclaim. Since then, Chattopadhyay has gone on to compose the background score for several theatre productions in Kolkata.
Early life.
From an early age, Chattopadhyay worked as an actor in his father's Bengali theatre group, Sansriti. In 2010, at the age of 13, he was cast to play the young age of the titular character, in Zee Bangla's small screen adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Devdas. His performance as a child actor was commended; and he went on to star alongside Sujan Mukhopadhyay in his father's theatre production, "Break Fail". Since then, he has not revisited acting. Chattopadhyay completed his schooling from Salt Lake School. In school, he was a part of the school band "Chords of Canopy", as a lead guitarist.
His interest shifted from acting to music during his high school years. Chattopadhyay never received any formal music training; and is a self taught guitarist and composer. In 2015, Chattopadhyay began to pursue an undergraduate course in English, from Jadavpur University. In college, he devoted more time to songwriting than playing the guitar. During this time, he wrote and performed his own songs in various college events.
In 2016, Shreyan Chattopadhyay independently released an alternative rock album, titled "Footprints on the Sea". One of his college friends, Souradeep Sen, provided the vocals for the album; while Chattopadhyay wrote, arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered all of the songs on his own. The entire album was produced in his bedroom studio; which he had put up during his second year of college. This album caught the attention of Arpita Ghosh; which led to his debut work on Pancham Baidik's production, "Machi".
Career.
Shreyan Chattopadhyay began his career as a theatre composer in 2017, with Arpita Ghosh's play "Machi". In the same year, he composed the background score for Shyamal Chakraborty's play "Hontarok". In 2018, Shreyan Chattopadhyay worked for the first time in one of his father's plays as a composer. He wrote the musical score for his father's play, "Amodito Roddur"; which was produced under the banner of Pancham Baidik. His work on the play was critically well received. He then went on to score for Rajib Bardhan's Bengali adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken; the play was titled "Jaganiya Mritajan". Chattopadhyay wrote and produced an entirely electronic score, for his father's first production under the banner of Swapnasandhani. His original score for "1984?" (Debesh Chattopadhyay's adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four) also featured two guest voice-overs; from Debshankar Haldar and Arpita Ghosh respectively. His "raucous soundtrack" for the play received critical acclaim.


Claire Fontaine

Claire Fontaine is a feminist, conceptual artist, founded in Paris in 2004 by Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill, an Italian-British artist duo who declared themselves her assistants. Since 2018 Claire Fontaine lives and works in Palermo and has a studio in the historical centre of the Kalsa near Piazza Magione.
After lifting her name from a popular brand of French school notebooks and stationary, Claire Fontaine declared herself a readymade artist and began to elaborate a version of neo-conceptual art that often looks like other people's work. Claire Fontaine translated into English means "Clear Fountain" and can also be conceptually linked to the artwork "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp, known as the most famous readymade.
Work.
Claire Fontaine uses the concept of the readymade as a way of criticising "production" disguised as a creation of more and more artefacts that are desirable because they superficially appear as new. Generally she works with appropriation on a formal level and she hijacks contents, using sculpture, installation, video and painting to create an emotionally loaded criticism of the author and the forms of authority at this stage of capitalism. This aesthetic approach that she describes as "expropriation", a way of giving an existential use value to pre-existing objects and artworks, also addresses the general "crisis of singularity", which she describes as the individual and collective impossibility to give a meaning to one's life under the current political circumstance and the systematic surveillance, repression and countless limitations of our freedom. Claire Fontaine prefers to integrate the existing art circuit to create complicities and foster change which entails partaking in the mechanisms and subjects of the art industry including collectors, dealers and institutions.
In an Interview with "Circa Art Magazine" in 2008 she states: "I think forming gangs, mafias, collectives, networks, bands of people is a way to survive in the hostile capitalist system and then eventually a way to become a pressure group, in order to transform these particular conditions."
Writing and text based pieces play an important role in Claire Fontaine's work. She distributes texts in her exhibitions and she uses different registers in her writing such as poetry, critical theory, essays and manifestos. The artist criticises the hierarchy between visual and verbal expression.
In February 2020 she was invited by Maria Grazia Chiuri to create the "mise-en-scène" for Dior's Autumn/Winter 2020 collection for Paris Fashion Week which took place in the Les Tuileries. The artist used the catwalk to perform an operation of Institutional Critique investing the floor and the ceiling; she presented "Newsfloor (Le Monde Pixelisé)" (2020) and several large suspended LED signs stating for example: "Patriarchy Kills Love, When women strike the world stops, Feminine beauty is a ready-made" or "Patriarchy = Climate emergency."


Costume Designers Guild Awards 2007

10th CDG Awards
February 19, 2008
Contemporary:
 Blades of Glory
Fantasy:
 The Golden Compass
Period:
 Sweeney Todd
The 10th Costume Designers Guild Awards, honouring the best costume designs in film and television for 2007, were given in 2008. The nominees were announced on January 17, 2008.
Winners and nominees.
Film.
Contemporary.
 "Blades of Glory" - Julie Weiss
Fantasy Film.
 "The Golden Compass" - Ruth Myers
Period Film.
 ' - Colleen Atwood
Television.
Contemporary Series.
 "Ugly Betty" - Eduardo Castro
Period or Fantasy Series.
 "Pushing Daisies" - Robert Blackman
Miniseries or TV Film.
 "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" - Mario Davignon


Catacomb 3-D

Catacomb 3-D (also known as Catacomb 3-D: A New Dimension, Catacomb 3-D: The Descent, and Catacombs 3) is the third in the Catacomb series of video games (created by the founders of id Software), and the first of these games to feature 3D computer graphics. The game was originally published by Softdisk under the Gamer's Edge label, and is a first-person shooter with a dark fantasy setting. The player takes control of the high wizard Petton Everhail, descending into the catacombs of the Towne Cemetery to defeat the evil lich Nemesis and rescue his friend Grelminar.
"Catacomb 3-D" is a landmark title in terms of first-person graphics. The game was released in November 1991 and is arguably the first example of the modern, character-based first-person shooter genre, or at least it was a direct ancestor to the games that popularized the genre. It was released for MS-DOS with EGA graphics. The game introduced the concept of showing the player's hand in the three-dimensional viewpoint, and an enhanced version of its technology was later used for the more successful and well-known "Wolfenstein 3D". The game's more primitive technological predecessor was "Hovertank 3D".
Production.
The origin of the games is "Catacomb" by John Carmack for the PC and Apple II. This was a two-dimensional game utilizing a third-person view from above, released in 1989–1990. It was followed up with "Catacomb II", which used the same game engine with new levels. The first release of "Catacomb 3-D" was called "Catacomb 3-D: A New Dimension", but it was later re-released as "Catacomb 3-D: The Descent", as well as "Catacombs 3" for a re-release as commercially packaged software (the earlier versions had been released by other means such as disk magazines and downloads). The game creators were John Carmack, John Romero, Jason Blochowiak (programmers), Tom Hall (creative director), Adrian Carmack (artist), and Robert Prince (musician). The game was programmed using the Borland C++ programming language.
id Software's use of texture mapping in "Catacomb 3-D" was influenced by "Ultima Underworld" (still in development at "Catacomb 3-D"'s release). Conflicting accounts exist regarding the extent of this influence, however. In the book "Masters of Doom", author David Kushner asserts that the concept was discussed only briefly during a 1991 telephone conversation between Underworld developer Paul Neurath and John Romero. However, Paul Neurath has stated multiple times that John Carmack and John Romero had seen the game's 1990 CES demo, and recalled a comment from Carmack that he could write a faster texture mapper.
"Catacomb Adventure Series".
"Catacomb 3-D" was followed by three games, in the so-called "Catacomb Adventure Series". They were not developed by id Software but internally by Softdisk with a new staff for Gamer's Edge, who also made the later "Dangerous Dave" sequels. All of the games, including the original "Catacomb" titles, are now distributed legally by Flat Rock Software through their own web store and via GoG.com. Flat Rock have also released the source code for the games under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later in June 2014 in a manner similar those done by id and partners. This has led to the creation of the source port "Reflection Catacomb", also called "Reflection Keen" due to shared support for "Keen Dreams", and ports all of the 3D "Catacomb" games to modern systems. Another project, "CatacombGL", is an enhanced OpenGL port for Microsoft Windows.
The credits for the series are Mike Maynard, James Row, Nolan Martin (programming), Steven Maines (art direction), Carol Ludden, Jerry Jones, Adrian Carmack (art production), James Weiler, Judi Mangham (quality assurance), and id Software (3D imaging effects). The series' development head, Greg Malone, later became creative director for "Duke Nukem 3D" and also worked on "Shadow Warrior" for 3D Realms. Department heads Mike Maynard and Jim Row, meanwhile, would co-found JAM Productions (soon joined by Jerry Jones), the creators of "Blake Stone" using an enhanced "Wolfenstein 3D" engine.
The series also introduced an item called crystal hourglasses, which would temporarily freeze time and allow the player to stage shots to destroy enemies upon the resumption of normal time, pre-dating later bullet time features in games such as "" and "Max Payne".
"Catacomb Abyss".
"Catacomb Abyss" is the sequel to "Catacomb 3-D", and featured the same main character in a new adventure: since his defeat, some of Nemesis' minions have built a mausoleum in his honour. Fearful of the dark mage's return, the townspeople hire Everhail to descend below and end the evil. The environments are more varied than in "Catacomb 3D", featuring crypts, gardens, mines, aqueducts, volcanic regions and various other locales. It was the only game in the series that was distributed as shareware, released by Softdisk in 1992.
"Catacomb Armageddon".
"Catacomb Armageddon" is the sequel to "Catacomb Abyss", only now set in the present day. The levels featured, among others, towns, forests, temples, torture chambers, an ant colony, and a crystal maze. It was developed by Softdisk and was later republished by Froggman under the title "Curse of the Catacombs".
"Catacomb Apocalypse".
"Catacomb Apocalypse" is the final game in the "Catacomb Adventure Series". It was set in the distant future, accessible via time portals, and mixed fantasy and science fiction elements, pitting players against robotic necromancers and the like. It is also the only game in the trilogy to have a hub system, though it was present in the original "Catacomb 3D". It was developed by Softdisk and later republished by Froggman under the title "Terror of the Catacombs".
Reception.
According to John Romero, the team felt it lacked the coolness and fun of Commander Keen, although the 3D technology was interesting to work with. "Computer Gaming World" in May 1993 called "The Catacomb Abyss" "very enjoyable" despite the "minimal" EGA graphics and sound. The magazine stated in February 1994 that "Terror of the Catacombs"s "Playability is good, almost addictive, and offers bang for the buck in spite of its lackluster" EGA graphics. Transend Services Ltd. sold over 1,000 copies of the game in the first month of its release.


Lu Xiaopeng

Lu Xiaopeng (; 19 August 1920 – 16 October 2000) was a Chinese aircraft designer who spent most of his career at Hongdu Aviation (formerly Nanchang Aircraft). He was the chief designer of the Nanchang Q-5 supersonic attack aircraft, one of the most widely deployed aircraft of the PLA Air Force. He also designed the Nanchang J-12, the world's lightest supersonic fighter, which however never entered service. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Early life and career.
Lu was born on 19 August 1920 in Shanghai, Republic of China, with his ancestral home in Changzhou, Jiangsu. He studied at the Jiangsu Provincial High School from 1935 to 1937, and then entered the National Central University to study aeronautical engineering. After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the university was exiled in Chongqing, China's wartime capital, and he graduated in 1941.
In 1942, he received further training at the Republic of China Air Force's mechanics school in Chengdu. A year later, he was assigned to work for the No. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Nanchuan, Chongqing, as an aircraft designer. In December 1944, he was sent to the United States to work at the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, where he participated in the design of shipborne jet fighters. He was then sent to Britain to work as a designer at the Gloster Aircraft Company.
Early PRC and the Shenyang JJ-1.
In August 1949, just before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Lu returned to China via Hong Kong to work for the new government. From 1949 to 1951, Lu worked on constructing airports in the East China Military Region. After the Korean War broke out, Lu was transferred to Beijing Nanyuan Airport to service military and transport aircraft in support of the war effort.
In 1956, he was transferred to the aircraft design office of Shenyang Aircraft Factory (112 Factory), working under director Xu Shunshou. He was one of the main designers of the Shenyang JJ-1 trainer, the first jet aircraft designed in China. Besides Xu Shushou and deputy director Huang Zhiqian, Lu was the only person in the development team who had had aircraft design experience. The project began in October 1956, and the plane took its maiden flight less than two years later, on 26 July 1958. The development cycle was less than half that of similar planes designed in Japan and Czechoslovakia and the performance was superior.
Designing the Nanchang Q-5 attack aircraft.
In 1958, Lu was transferred to the Hongdu Aircraft Factory (320 Factory) in Nanchang, and appointed chief designer of the Nanchang Q-5 supersonic attack aircraft. However, because of economic difficulties during the Great Leap Forward, the Chinese government decided to cancel the project in August 1961. Lu petitioned the government to save the project, and was allowed to continue his research, but his staff was reduced from more than 100 members to just 14.
With his skeleton crew, Lu spent two years to build a stationary prototype aircraft. This achievement caught the attention of Minister Sun Zhiyuan (孙志远) of the Third Ministry of Machine Building and Cao Lihuai (曹里怀), Deputy Commander of the PLA Air Force. They ordered a full resumption of the project, and the Q-5 completed its maiden flight on 4 June 1965. After further testing and improvement, the Q-5 was mass produced in 1968 to equip the Air Force. It was China's first self-designed attack aircraft that was mass produced and widely deployed. In January 1972, a modified Q-5 aircraft (Q5-A) was used to conduct a hydrogen bomb test at Lop Nur.
In 1981, Lu was again named chief designer for updating the Q-5 with an improved range. The redesigned Q-5, with seven different models, became one of the most widely used aircraft in the Chinese Air Force. It was also exported to foreign countries. In 1985, the Q-5 project won the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award.
Designing the Nanchang J-12 fighter.
In the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Arab countries, the Soviet-made aircraft performed poorly, and the PLA Air Force wanted a new lightweight fighter to replace its Shenyang J-6, which was the Chinese-made version of the Soviet MiG 19. In 1969, Lu was tasked with designing the Nanchang J-12 supersonic fighter. Only 17 months later, the aircraft took its first flight on 26 December 1970. The J-12 was the first fighter jet completely designed with Chinese technology and not modelled after a Soviet aircraft. It was also the lightest supersonic fighter in the world, with exceptional dexterity and evasion ability. However, its light weight also proved to be a weakness, as the limited space for missiles and fuel and the lack of a radar meant it had poor range and combat capabilities. As a result, the J-12 never entered service, but it laid a solid foundation for the future development of fighters.
Other contributions and awards.
In addition to designing aircraft, Lu conducted theoretical research on aerodynamics. He wrote a textbook on aircraft design in 1974, and a 400,000-word research report on fourth-generation lightweight fighters. In 1991, he was awarded the Aviation Gold Medal, the highest award in China's aviation industry. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1995.
Lu died on 16 October 2000, at the age of 80.


Frank Gasparro

Frank Gasparro (August 26, 1909 – September 29, 2001) was the tenth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, holding this position from February 23, 1965, to January 16, 1981. Before that, he was Assistant Engraver. He designed both sides of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, both sides of the Eisenhower Dollar (with the exception of the Bicentennial issues of 1975–1976), the Lincoln Memorial reverse of the cent (minted from 1959 to 2008), and the reverse of the Kennedy half dollar.
Birth and early life.
Gasparro was born in Philadelphia on August 26, 1909. His musician father wanted his son to continue in the family profession and would rip up drawings he made out of frustration. His father ultimately relented and had Gasparro apprentice under sculptor
Giuseppe Donato, who had earlier worked for Auguste Rodin. Gasparro graduated from South Philadelphia High School in 1927 and has been inducted into the SPHS Alumni Cultural Hall of Fame. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and traveled to Europe with the aid of scholarships that allowed him to refine his craft. Friends close to Gasparro had serious suspicion regarding close ties he established to organized crime while in Italy but he routinely denied any connection. John Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI during Gasparro's tenure at the Mint, was often suspicious of Gasparro's intentions. Hoover was concerned Gasparro was being influenced by an Italian crime family in the town of Bari to design coins with details easily counterfeited by Italian Crime families.
Mint career.
Gasparro was hired by the United States Mint in December 1942 under Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock. Gasparro's first major successful coin design was his redesign of the reverse of the Lincoln cent as part of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, while he was Assistant Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. Gasparro's design was selected from a group of 23 designs prepared by the Mint's engraving staff to replace the Wheat cent produced by the Mint from 1909 to 1958. His original design included the words "Lincoln Memorial" and 13 stars around the rim of the coin, which he removed at the request of staff at the Mint. Despite the complaints of his superiors, the design retained his initials to the right of the monument as well as the image of Lincoln seated in the monument, making it the first American coin to have the same likeness on both sides of the coin. Gasparro would often tell cashiers that he was a sculptor, and when asked where to find his work, he would reply, "It's in your pocket." By the time of his death, Gasparro's design had appeared on the more than 100 billion pennies produced by the Mint.
The Susan B. Anthony dollar.
Asked to produce a design for the Susan B. Anthony dollar, Gasparro was able to find two photos of women's suffrage leader, one at age 28 and the other when she was 84. He initially chose the portrait of the younger Anthony, but widespread consensus was that the design made her look too pretty. His design using the older photo was accepted. While Gasparro felt that the Anthony dollar was his "top achievement", the coin was largely rejected by the public, which complained that the coin was too similar to the Washington Quarter.
As the Mint's Chief Engraver from 1965 to 1981, Gasparro also created designs for the reverse of the Kennedy half dollar, for which he took painstaking attention to the details of the design of the Seal of the President of the United States, making the words "E pluribus unum" more prominent. Other designs by Gasparro included medals for Winston Churchill, Albert Gallatin, Douglas MacArthur and Sam Rayburn, along with the presidential medals for all Presidents from Lyndon B. Johnson to Ronald Reagan and numerous foreign coins produced by the Mint. One of his best known works was the obverse of the Congressional gold medal for John Wayne, widely bought by the public in bronze.
Technique.
Gasparro designed his coins by finding subjects, such as objects, animals, and people from various newspaper clippings, photographs, magazines, and books. He used a Xerox printer to print photos of his choosing, used tracing paper to trace the shape, and transferred his designs over to sketch paper. From there, he continued to make more sketches based on his subjects, and with each of them, added certain features, such as crowns, helmets, arrows, etc to the subject. Then a final sketch of the design would be created to serve as a reference to the mold.
Later life.
After his retirement from the mint he continued to design medals for both private and public groups. He also taught art at Philadelphia's Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial until shortly before his death.
Gasparro died at age 92 on September 29, 2001, in Havertown, Pennsylvania. He was survived by his wife, Julia, and a daughter. A large population of individuals related to Gasparro through his brother Lawrence can be found in northeast Ohio.


Anjana Seth

Anjana Seth is one of the famous fashion designer from New Delhi, India. She designs for both men and women.
Early life.
Anjana Seth was born in Orissa and graduated from International Institute of Fashion Technology.
Career.
Anjana started her career in New Delhi in 2007, and started her own first independent collection in 2011.
Her label "BARBARIKA" is about promoting India's dying art and crafts and handloom fabrics in the form of garments with an effort to make it relevant to the modern world. Her Lakme Fashion week Summer/Resort 2012 collection "Circle of life" is a tribute to India's "Saura Tribe" each garment depicting a different phase life, birth, death, etc.
The highlights being there paintings, the entire collection is in handloom fabric.
Delhi based Anjana Seth young & dynamic designer participate in Lakme fashion week, She presented tribal theme collection which was so realistic and appealing that one can feel the real India on the ramp, the color, fabrics, cuts were very realistic & mesmerizing. Fashion designer Umair zafar was impressed to see her collection & supported her during the show.
Her collection which is famous for its handicrafts and stirred fond memories of old, regal India. Indian handloom fabrics such as tussar silk and khadi enveloped softly structured asymmetrically cut silhouettes, which seemed to flare out, with the concept of merging an Indian art form with modern concepts.
The collection consisted of dresses, gowns, skirts, pants as well as ethnic dresses. The colour palette comprised mainly earthy hues such as beige, off white, cream as well as a few dark tones like blue, grey, deep purple, and black for the adventurous buyer.
Anjana Seth took her creativity up a notch by using custom made beads as embellishments, and then added the gorgeous Zardozi work embroidery which gave just the right touch of glitz, while puffed shoulders and tunic dresses presented a slight androgynous touch.
Subtle textures and piping on the pieces had a charm of their own; being perfect for those who aren't too bold but don't want to cut back on style. Truly spellbinding, this collection by Anjana Seth had everything that a fashionista could dream of.


The Carolina Chocolate Drops

The Carolina Chocolate Drops is an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, "Genuine Negro Jig," won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in "fRoots" magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.
Career.
Formed in November 2005, following the members' attendance at the first Black Banjo Gathering, held in Boone, North Carolina, in April 2005, the group grew out of the success of Sankofa Strings, an ensemble that featured Dom Flemons on bones, jug, guitar, and four-string banjo, Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and fiddle and Súle Greg Wilson on bodhrán, brushes, washboard, bones, tambourine, banjo, banjolin, and ukulele, with Justin Robinson as an occasional guest artist. All shared vocals. The purpose of Sankofa Strings was to present a gamut of African American musics: country and classic blues, early jazz and "hot music", string band numbers, African and Caribbean songs, and spoken word pieces. The Chocolate Drops' original three members: Giddens, Flemons, and Robinson, were all in their twenties when the group formed after Flemons' move from Phoenix (where he and Wilson lived), to North Carolina, home of Giddens and Robinson. Wilson, nearly a generation older than the other Drops, was occasionally featured with the group into 2010, including contributions to the recordings, "Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind", "CCD and Joe Thompson", "Heritage" (with songs culled from Sankofa Strings' independently-released CD, "Colored Aristocracy") and nearly half of "Genuine Negro Jig". All of the musicians sing and trade instruments including banjo, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, snare drum, bones, jug, and kazoo. The group learned much of their repertoire, which is based on the traditional music of the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, from the eminent African American old-time fiddler Joe Thompson, although they also perform old-time versions of some modern songs such as Blu Cantrell's R&B hit "Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)."
The Carolina Chocolate Drops have released five CDs and one EP and have opened for Taj Mahal and, in 2011, Bob Dylan. They have performed on "Mountain Stage", MerleFest, and at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention. Additionally they have performed on "A Prairie Home Companion", "Fresh Air", and BBC Radio in early 2010, and at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and at the 2011 Romp, in Owensboro, Kentucky. On 17 January 2012 they appeared live on BBC Radio 3. They have performed on the Grand Ole Opry several times. They have also performed on the UK's BBC Television program, "Later... with Jools Holland".
On February 7, 2011, the band announced that beatboxer Adam Matta and multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins would be joining the band, while Justin Robinson was departing. In early 2012, they announced that the New Orleans based cellist Leyla McCalla was joining the band on its next tour. CCD contributed a track, "Political World," to the Bob Dylan tribute compilation, "Chimes of Freedom (album)" released in January 2012. Their next album, "Leaving Eden", followed soon afterward in February 2012. In an interview, Jenkins said,
""Leaving Eden" was an interesting album because [fiddler] Justin [Robinson] had just left the group, and they had already decided to record with Buddy Miller, and had even picked the recording dates. It was an interesting time to be coming in, because they were ready to do different things with the new members. So it was a trial-by-fire period."
Later in 2012, the Drops were nominated for numerous awards by the Chicago Black Theater Alliance for their work in "Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Roots of Black Vaudeville". Staged by the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, written by Lalenja Harrington (Rhiannon Giddens' sister) and Sule Greg Wilson, and featuring veteran hoofer Reggio MacLaughlin, and ragtime pianist and MacArthur Fellow Reginald R. Robinson, the program examined the hopes and realities, music, and dances of the Great Migration.
Also in 2012, the Drops contributed a song, "Daughter's Lament", to "" soundtrack.
In 2013, they were nominated for a Blues Music Award for 'Acoustic Artist'.
Also in 2013, the Drops contributed a song, "Day of Liberty", to the two-CD album "'Divided & United".
On November 12, 2013, the Chocolate Drops announced that Dom Flemons would be leaving to embark on his own solo career, and introduced two new members: cellist Malcolm Parson and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett.
In 2014 the Chocolate Drops worked with choreographer Twyla Tharp and dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck to create "Cornbread Duet".
In 2014, the group stopped regularly performing together, and members have pursued solo work and other projects since. Hubby Jenkins left the band in 2016. Rhiannon Giddens has released a number of solo recordings and was recently named as the artistic director of the Silk Road Project.
External links.
Videographic documentation.
[[Category:Musical groups from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Old-time bands]]
[[Category:Nonesuch Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 2005]]
[[Category:Culture of Durham, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Performing arts pages with videographic documentation]]
[[Category:Piedmont blues musicians]]
[[Category:2005 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]


Lorne Lanning

Lorne Lanning is an American game designer, director, writer and voice actor. He is also co-founder and president of the video game developer Oddworld Inhabitants. He is best known for creating the "Oddworld" series including the games ', ', ', ' and '. He is currently working on the next Oddworld game titled "Oddworld: Soulstorm", which is the second of the originally-planned Quintology and the "true" sequel to '.
His creative vision in game design and property development at Oddworld Inhabitants has gained him worldwide recognition, including several documentaries and his character creations featured on the cover of Wired Magazine.
Lanning claims he has always had a fascination with video games, stating that his father was an engineer for Coleco.
Career.
Initially studying photo-realism and commercial illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Lanning soon attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, where he graduated with a BFA in Character Animation.
Working as a Technical Director at TRW in Redondo Beach, California, Lanning later moved to Rhythm & Hues Studios in Hollywood, where he would later meet producer Sherry McKenna through his work. After McKenna joined Rhythm & Hues through Lanning, he later convinced her to co-found a video game development company with him.
"Oddworld Inhabitants".
In 1994, Lanning and McKenna co-founded Oddworld Inhabitants together in Los Osos, California, before later moving to San Luis Obispo, California. While at Oddworld Inhabitants, Lanning designed, scripted and voice acted all four of the studio's games, which earned the company widespread success and acclaim.
Following several disputes with game developers, including companies such as Electronic Arts, Lanning and McKenna shuttered Oddworld Inhabitants' game development studio in 2005 and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, with the goal of shaping Oddworld Inhabitants after a traditional Hollywood production company.
After leaving game development, Lanning and McKenna began work on animated movies, starting with a project named "Citizen Siege", and a tie-in videogame series named "Wage Wars". Following difficulties in movie production, Lanning soon broke his hiatus from videogames when independent developer Just Add Water confirmed in 2010 it was working with Lanning and Oddworld Inhabitants to create a 2.5D remake of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee which eventually was released under the name .
In 2015, it was confirmed by JAW's CEO that the company will no longer be working on full-scale Oddworld projects. It was announced that in 2016 that Frima Studio is now the new developer supporting Oddworld in making new games. Their next game was announced at GDC 2016 with the title . In 2019, it was confirmed that Soulstorm will be coming in 2020 and it will be developed by wider development studios like Fat Kraken Studios and Sabotage Studio.
Publications.
Featured in the following books:
Lanning has written the foreword to the following books:


WNEX-FM

WNEX-FM is an FM radio station serving the middle Georgia area with an Americana format. Licensed to Perry, Georgia, United States, the station serves the Macon, Georgia area, broadcasting on 100.9 MHz and is owned by Creek Media.


The Cedar Creek Sessions

The Cedar Creek Sessions is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on June 17, 2016. It earned Kristofferson a Grammy Award nomination for Best Americana Album.


Jammer (swimwear)


Central Station (online service)

Central Station was the main portal by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PAL regions in the PlayStation 2 era.
The service allowed users to view new game releases, change account details, read the latest PlayStation-related news and enter online events for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles.
Central Station was superseded by the worldwide PlayStation Network upon release of the PlayStation 3 but it was discontinued.


David Kenzer

David S. Kenzer is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Career.
David Kenzer started the game company Kenzer & Company with friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, and their initial project was "The Kingdom of Kalamar" (1994), a systemless fantasy setting. Kenzer was a lawyer who knew how trademark law worked, and had "suitable for use with "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" on the back cover, and included the disclaimer text ""Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" is a registered trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of this trademark is NOT sanctioned by the holder." Following the publication of "The Kingdom of Kalamar", Kenzer had formed a casual relationship with AEG, who was then putting out "Shadis" magazine, edited by Jolly Blackburn. When Blackburn left AEG, Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company, and the turning point came in November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, during which Blackburn became convinced that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner. Kenzer & Company began publishing Blackburn's "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic books, and starting with issue #5 (February 1997) it was not just the work of one person but instead of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Blackburn, Kenzer, Jelke and Johansson. Kenzer acquired the license to "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" from Wizards of the Coast that allowed the company to release "HackMaster" (2001) as a satire of "AD&D". When Wizards released 4th edition "D&D" in 2008, Kenzer was unwilling to sign the Game System License that Wizards was offering, and he thus published a 501-page PDF of "Kingdoms of Kalamar" (2008) without authorization from Wizards.


Chuck Kroegel

Chuck Kroegel (born 1952 in Oakland, California) is an American video game designer. He was an executive for many years with Strategic Simulations (SSI), and played a role in developing their position as an industry leader in war games and role-playing video games. His career in the video game industry now spans over 30 years.
Career.
In the 1970s Kroegel was a school teacher and later an HR manager who enjoyed playing computer war games. He had played games on his TRS-80 computer that had been designed by David Landry and the two corresponded. They decided to found a development studio, Tactical Design Group. Their first two games, "The Battle of Shiloh" and "", were published by SSI in 1981. TDG created twelve SSI games from 1981 through 1988, the last being "Battles of Napoleon".
In 1983 Kroegel left TDG to join SSI, which continued to publish TDG's games. In 1986 he designed "" for TDG, although he was an employee of SSI. He ultimately became VP of Product Development for SSI, and later served as President of the company. Kroegel played a role in the creation of the Gold Box "Dungeons & Dragons" games, and of the first graphical MMORPG, "Neverwinter Nights" on AOL, and the Panzer General series.
When SSI was acquired by The Software Toolworks (which quickly thereafter became Mindscape) in 1994, Kroegel stayed on and later served as Executive VP and General Manager of the Mindscape Entertainment Division. He also stayed through a series of acquisitions that was to follow: Mindscape by The Learning Company (which also acquired Broderbund), The Learning Company by Mattel, and the spin-off by Mattel to Gores (which occurred after he had left).
Upon leaving SSI in 2000, Kroegel joined EA-owned Westwood Studios, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. In 2002 he joined Strategy First in Montreal, Canada working as their VP of Product Development. In April 2003 he joined Petroglyph to assist in creating that studio.
Chuck Kroegel is currently CEO of Las Vegas game developer Petroglyph Games since April 2003. He has been very involved with all the titles developed at Petroglyph, Star Wars: Empire at War (LUCASARTS), Universe at War (SEGA), Panzer General on Xbox live arcade (UBISOFT), Mytheon (TRUEGAMES), and Guardians of Graxia (Petroglyph), End of Nations (TRIONWORLDS), and Rise of Immortals (Petroglyph). He has also been involved in the design and development of four boardgames published by Petroglyph; Panzer General: Russian Assault, Panzer General: Allied Assault, Guardians of Graxia, and Heroes of Graxia.


Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework

The Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework (EAAF) is created by the US Federal government Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to allow federal agencies to assess and report their enterprise architecture activity and maturity, and to advance the use of enterprise architecture in the federal government.
The version 2.2 of the framework was released in October 2007, and version 3.1 in June 2009.
Overview.
The OMB Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework (the Framework) helps OMB and the agencies assess the capability of enterprise architecture programs to guide IT investments. It also helps to better understand the current state of an agency’s EA, and assists them in integrating it into their decision-making processes. By applying the assessment themselves, agencies can identify strengths and weaknesses within their programs and adjust them accordingly.
Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework (EAAF) version 3.1 identifies the measurement areas and criteria by which agencies are expected to use the EA to drive performance improvements that result in the following outcomes:
While agencies have clearly demonstrated a degree of maturity and competency in developing and using their EAs, EAAF seeks to advance the practice of EA, particularly through the development and use of agency segment architectures, aimed at driving the kinds of government-wide outcomes.
Performance Improvement Lifecycle.
Government agencies are continually assessing current performance, identifying opportunities for improvement, and translating them into specific actions. Enterprise architecture is an integrated management practice that maximizes the use of an agency’s resources to achieve their goals. Architecture describes the pathway from strategic goals and objectives, through investments, to measurable performance improvements for the entire enterprise or a portion.
Continuous performance improvement is the principal driver connecting EA program staff with key business stakeholders across each phase of the Performance Improvement Lifecycle. Agency Chief Architects and EA program staff:
Opportunities to improve mission performance are prioritized in terms of their relative value to the agency’s strategic goals and objectives in the enterprise transition plan (ETP) and segment architecture.
Architect.
Enterprise architecture describes the current (baseline) and future (target) states of the agency, and the plan to transition from the current to the future state, with a focus on agency strategy, program performance improvements and information technology investments. Agency EAs are organized by segments – core mission areas (e.g., homeland security, health), business service (e.g., financial management, human resources), and enterprise services (e.g., Information Sharing). Segments are defined using the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) reference models .
Invest.
Performance improvement opportunities identified during the “Architect” process are ideally addressed through an agency portfolio of IT investments. This step defines the implementation and funding strategy for individual initiatives in the Enterprise Transition Plan (ETP) and described in the segment architectures. Program management plans are created to implement the individual solutions.
Implement.
Projects are executed and tracked throughout the system development life cycle (SDLC). Achievement of the program / project plan within acceptable variance for schedule and budget is measured and reported through Earned Value Management (EVM) process.
Measure, assess and improve.
Information and information technology, as critical enablers of program performance improvements, must be assessed and evaluated in the context of agency missions and outcome-oriented results defined in the enterprise-wide performance architecture.
Performance improvement plans and priorities, including those previously gathered under the PART and Performance Assessment Report (PAR) programs, are reflected in the agency EA, particularly the performance architecture and ETP. Performance metrics previously gathered are used to evaluate the results in agency performance improvement plans, identifying a program’s strengths and weaknesses and addressing ways to improve the program performance.
Agency submission data quality.
OMB collects a significant amount of IT investment data and other related data from executive agencies during each phase of Performance Improvement Lifecycle. OMB uses the information for development of an IT investment portfolio as a part of the President’s budget request to Congress.


Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award for Best Special Make-Up Effects in Television and New Media Series

The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award for Best Special Make-Up Effects in Television and New Media Series is one of the awards given annually to people working in the television industry by the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS). It is presented to makeup artists who work in Special Effects makeup, or "Prosthetic makeup", whose work has been deemed "best" in a given year. The award was first given in 2000, during the first annual awards, and was given when the awards were brought back in 2014. During the 2001 and 2002 ceremonies, as well as ceremonies from 2015 to 2018, the awards made the distinction between regular series and miniseries/television films. This was amended in 2019, when miniseries nominees were placed alongside continuing series, while television films and specials were given their own category.
Winners and nominees.
1990s.
Best Special Effects Makeup – Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series – Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)
2000s.
Best Special Makeup Effects – Television Series
Best Special Makeup Effects – Television (for a Mini-Series/Motion Picture Made for Television)
2010s.
Best Special Makeup Effects in Television and New Media Series
Best Special Makeup Effects in a Television Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television


Clyde Klotz

Errol Clyde Klotz (born June 8, 1961) is a Canadian television art director and production designer. He worked as an assistant art director on several TV series filmed in Vancouver, such as "The Hitchhiker", "21 Jump Street" and "The X-Files"; and as an illustrator on the films "This Boy's Life" and "Look Who's Talking Too".
He subsequently worked as a production designer for Rainmaker Animation on the computer-animated series "ReBoot" and also on The Transformers spin-off "Beast Wars".
Awards and nominations.
Klotz was nominated for a Canadian Genie Award in 1996 for Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design on the film "Magic in the Water". His work on "Beast Wars" won him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Animation in 1998.
Personal life.
On January 1, 1994, Klotz married actress Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully on "The X-Files", where they met on the set. They have one daughter. They divorced in 1997.


Milo (video game)

MILO is a first-person adventure-puzzle computer game that challenges the player to solve 14 puzzles based in the world of MILO, an artificially intelligent computer. The game was developed by Crystalvision Software and released in 1996. Released in the wake of such titles as "Myst" and "Pandora's Box", "MILO" was billed as a multimedia game and as an early example of 3D gaming. The 16-track ambient soundtrack is composed by noted progressive rock musician, Warren Dale.
Development.
According to Four Fat Chicks, this game is an example of "minute titles, released to less than no fanfare, inexplicably floating around on Ebay, unrecognized and forgotten".
Plot.
The player is placed in the abandoned planet of an ancient and highly advanced civilization. This civilization had discovered the Keys to the Gateway of the Universe and as a consequence they had abruptly left their planet in a state of enlightenment to travel and search the far corners of the universe for even greater mysteries. The one thing this civilization left behind was MILO - the sentient artificial intelligence designed to act as caretaker for their planet while they were gone and guard for the Keys to the Gateway.
MILO has existed now for centuries, patiently awaiting the return of his creators. The lack of interaction with life during the intervening centuries, however, has been difficult for MILO on a mental level. By the time of the player's arrival on the planet, MILO has unfortunately lost much of its normal function and is now quite mad. Your task as the player is to unlock the Library which holds the Keys to the Gateway. To do this, you must solve a series of 14 puzzles often taking the form of a 2-person logic game with MILO (acting remotely through the electronic world) as your opponent. Upon completion of the all 14 puzzles, the player meets MILO face to face, and escapes the planet.
Gameplay.
Gameplay sees the player access seven different worlds from a central hub, with puzzle completion leading to progression through the game. The backgrounds are static slideshows.
Reception.
The game was well received by critics, earning praise especially for its graphics, sound, and replay value. The reliance on luck rather than logic in some of the puzzles, as well as the near-total lack of documentation accompanying the game, however, was criticized. The sound effects were also criticized (apart from the musical score) as lacking in quality and substance. Four Fat Chicks likened the game's look and feel to "Gord@k" and "L-Zone", and recommended the game to fans of puzzle adventure games such as "Jewels of the Oracle, Cassandra Galleries," or "Pandora's Box." Michael J. Bertrand of World Village praised the New Age background music as one of the very few enjoyable aspects of the game. The Adrenaline Vault's Hermann K. Peterscheck felt the game ripped off puzzles from "Myst and" "The 7th Guest."


Synchronizing word

In computer science, more precisely, in the theory of deterministic finite automata (DFA), a synchronizing word or reset sequence is a word in the input alphabet of the DFA that sends any state of the DFA to one and the same state. That is, if an ensemble of copies of the DFA are each started in different states, and all of the copies process the synchronizing word, they will all end up in the same state. Not every DFA has a synchronizing word; for instance, a DFA with two states, one for words of even length and one for words of odd length, can never be synchronized.
Existence.
Given a DFA, the problem of determining if it has a synchronizing word can be solved in polynomial time using a theorem due to Ján Černý. A simple approach considers the power set of states of the DFA, and builds a directed graph where nodes belong to the power set, and a directed edge describes the action of the transition function. A path from the node of all states to a singleton state shows the existence of a synchronizing word. This algorithm is exponential in the number of states. A polynomial algorithm results however, due to a theorem of Černý that exploits the substructure of the problem, and shows that a synchronizing word exists if and only if every pair of states has a synchronizing word.
Length.
The problem of estimating the length of synchronizing words has a long history and was posed independently by several authors, but it is commonly known as the Černý conjecture. In 1969 Ján Černý conjectured that ("n" − 1)2 is the upper bound for the length of the shortest synchronizing word for any "n"-state complete DFA (a DFA with complete state transition graph). If this is true, it would be tight: in his 1964 paper, Černý exhibited a class of automata (indexed by the number "n" of states) for which the shortest reset words have this length. The best upper bound known is ("n" 3 - n)/6, far from the lower bound.
For "n"-state DFAs over a "k"-letter input alphabet, an algorithm by David Eppstein finds a synchronizing word of length at most 11"n"3/48 + O("n"2), and runs in time complexity O("n"3+"kn"2). This algorithm does not always find the shortest possible synchronizing word for a given automaton; as Eppstein also shows, the problem of finding the shortest synchronizing word is NP-complete. However, for a special class of automata in which all state transitions preserve the cyclic order of the states, he describes a different algorithm with time O("kn"2) that always finds the shortest synchronizing word, proves that these automata always have a synchronizing word of length at most ("n" − 1)2 (the bound given in Černý's conjecture), and exhibits examples of automata with this special form whose shortest synchronizing word has length exactly ("n" − 1)2.
Road coloring.
The road coloring problem is the problem of labeling the edges of a regular directed graph with the symbols of a "k"-letter input alphabet (where "k" is the outdegree of each vertex) in order to form a synchronizable DFA. It was conjectured in 1970 by Benjamin Weiss and Roy Adler that any strongly connected and aperiodic regular digraph can be labeled in this way; their conjecture was proven in 2007 by Avraham Trahtman.
Related: Transformation Semigroups.
A transformation semigroup is "synchronizing" if it contains an element of rank 1, that is, an element whose image is of cardinality 1. A DFA corresponds to a transformation semigroup with a distinguished generator set.


Elio Altramura

Elio Altramura (died 2004) was an Italian art director. He won an Oscar in the category Best Art Direction for the film "A Room with a View".


Kate Lambert

Kate Lambert, known professionally as "Kato", is a British model, fashion designer, singer and entrepreneur. A native of Wales, Kato emigrated to the United States in 2007.
One of the most recognisable faces of the steampunk community, Kato has been called "the supermodel of steampunk" and steampunk's "it" girl. Steampunk comic heroine Lady Mechanika was inspired by her look, and her work has been featured in several books on steampunk art and fashion including "International Steampunk Fashions", where her photo is featured prominently on the cover.
Kato was also on the cover of the August 2014 issue of "Bizarre" Magazine, which referred to her as a "steampunk idol" and "pin-up legend". She also appeared on the cover of the Spring 2012 issue of "FEY" Magazine, and also the covers of September 2012 "Ladies of Steampunk" and April 2013 "LoSP Bronze Age" (NSFW) magazines. In July 2016 she was on the cover of "Phantasm" Magazine's steampunk issue, where she was referred to as "The Queen of Steam".
Kato is a frequent guest speaker at steampunk conventions, most recently Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, Arizona and Salt City Steamfest in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Background.
Kato is the third of four daughters born to wildlife painter Terence Lambert and his wife, a school headmistress/principal. She grew up in a Victorian rectory behind a 13th-century cemetery, and credits this for her love of Victorian style. She left school at 16 and finished her final two years at a tech college where she could specialise in fine art. She then went on to complete a course in fashion and textiles at the South West Wales School of Art in Carmarthen. After graduating she launched her first business, called Moshka, where she made and sold dread hair falls online and at craft fairs and markets throughout Wales.
Career.
Modelling and inspiration.
Early in her modelling career, Kato modelled for Toxico clothing with Ulorin Vex, and later with Chad Michael Ward. In 2004 she began designing and making outfits that had a Neo-Victorian and post-apocalyptic vibe, then modelled them herself and posted them on MySpace. Her inspiration at that time was the 1800s meets "Mad Max" and "Tank Girl", but she didn't know what to call her style until former Abney Park vocalist Magdalene Veen noticed her work and pointed out "how Steampunk" her illustrations and style were.
Fashion design.
In 2007, Kato founded the first steampunk clothing company, "Steampunk Couture", producing high-quality, custom-fit clothing and accessories catering specifically to the steampunk genre. Her designs incorporate post-apocalyptic and tribal influences as well as sci-fi, shabby chic and Harajuku/Mori girl elements. One of her more popular ensembles, the "Vex" outfit, was named after model Ulorin Vex, who modelled it on the Steampunk Couture website.
In 2006, Kato, then head of steampunk/industrial musician Doctor Steel's fan club, the "Army of Toy Soldiers", founded "Toy Soldiers Unite!", the club's website. Besides running the site as "Sergeant Kato", she also designed all the club's uniforms, as well as creating the security guard and nurse uniforms worn by Steel's stage performers. In 2011, when Dr. Steel retired, Kato turned over control of Toy Soldiers Unite to its current administrators.
In 2010, Kato designed the outfit for the character "Enki" in John Soares' dieselpunk action series, "The Danger Element", as well as playing the voice of the car, the "Jitnimobile". In 2013, Flirty Girl Collectibles issued a 1/6 scale collectible action figure of her wearing the "Vex" outfit.
In 2014, her Steampunk Couture clothing line became available through DraculaClothing.com. She also consolidated all her businesses and clothing lines under the S Corporation name, "Lambee Co.", and teamed with fashion designer Vera Iam to create two new lines of shoes and boots.
Other projects.
In 2013, Kato started Steamgirl LLC, a multi-media neo-Victorian fashion erotica site and the first subscription site for steampunk erotica. Besides designing the clothing the models on her site wear, she also builds steampunk and neo-Victorian furniture, props, and hardware as well as doing all the hair and makeup for the shoots. Kato is also a writer for Ladies of Steampunk and LoSP Bronze Age magazines, and was featured in LoSP's premiere issue. She also teamed with photographer Chloe Barcelou and launched Mori Girl Clothing, the first Mori Kei clothing company outside Japan. She is currently also working on a graphic novel.
In August 2015, Kato became one of the official judges of the GSN reality television game show series, "Steampunk'd."
DK-Zero.
In July 2017 Kato formed a punk/industrial band, "DK-Zero", with Derek Brown of Abney Park. In 2018 they released their debut album, “From Nothing.” Their first full length music video, "iFeel", passed 100,000 views on YouTube in just three months. Her band took the main stage at Wave Gotik Treffen in 2019, and was also a headliner at Wasteland Weekend later that year.


Hiroyuki Ito

, is a Japanese game producer, director and designer who works for Square Enix. He is known as the director of "Final Fantasy VI" (1994), "Final Fantasy IX" (2000) and "Final Fantasy XII" (2006) and as the creator of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system in the "Final Fantasy" series.
Biography.
After graduating from Tokyo Zokei University, Ito joined Square in 1987. He initially worked on "Final Fantasy" and "Final Fantasy II" as a debugger but first became genuinely involved with game development while creating sound effects for "Final Fantasy III". His next major role was as the designer of the Active Time Battle system for "Final Fantasy IV". Square filed a Japanese patent application related to the ATB system on 16 July 1991 and a corresponding US application on 16 March 1992. One Japanese patent (JP2794230) and two US patents (US5390937 and US5649862) were granted based on these applications. For "Final Fantasy V", Ito designed the fully customizable Job system. He also created the 'Chicken Knife or Brave Blade' choosing event. "Final Fantasy VI" marked the first time that Ito became a director on a game. For this title, he was in charge of all battle aspects. He was also responsible for the battle systems in "Final Fantasy VIII" and "Final Fantasy Tactics" before he once more took on the role of director with "Final Fantasy IX". Ito had the idea to make its protagonist Zidane Tribal flirtatious towards women.
In mid-2005, Square Enix announced that Yasumi Matsuno had left the company due to an illness but would be acting as a supervisor on "Final Fantasy XII". Ito was appointed as the director of the game. Matsuno apologized for the long development time of the project but guaranteed players that it was "progressing in its development under the hands of excellent staffs". Ito created the License Board of "Final Fantasy XII" with the intention to give the player much freedom in developing characters to their liking without becoming too complicated. At the Square Enix Party 2007 pre-conference meeting in May 2007, he was introduced on stage as the producer and director of the newly announced "Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System". He stated later that he considered the game design and battle system of "Final Fantasy XII" a "definitive contribution to the gaming lexicon" and that it had "the potential to shine in future games". In about 2012, Ito was tasked by producer Shinichi Tatsuke with the creation of a battle system for a new game. However, the plan changed and he was told a week later that there was a different project to consider. Tatsuke now requested a concept for a social game which he felt was an interesting opportunity to have Ito work on, given his experience with simple Nintendo Entertainment System game systems. This concept became "Guardian Cross". In September 2012, Ito said that he would work on another "Final Fantasy" game if the company's president wished for it. The corporate executive of Square Enix's 1st Production Department, Shinji Hashimoto, mentioned in July 2013 that Ito was "planning and doing some proposals for a new project" and "putting some ideas together".
Game design and impact.
As the game designer of a "Final Fantasy" game, Ito tries to balance the story and event scenes with the gameplay. When he begins his work on a title, he does not consider the story at hand but rather adapts his game system to it as closely as possible over the time. He thinks that it is his job to smoothly implement a game so the people in charge of the stories do not have to worry about this aspect. He also believes that the most important factor of the "Final Fantasy" series is the player's feeling of accomplishment after beating the game and seeing "The End" on the screen. Professional sports were the primary inspiration behind Ito's battle systems. The monsters in "Final Fantasy IV" and the Gambit system in "Final Fantasy XII" resemble aspects of the NFL in that their actions are based on the most likely outcome of a specific situation. The Active Time Battle system was similarly inspired by Formula One, as Ito had the idea to give characters different speed values after seeing a race in which the cars passed each other. These values would then become the basis for the battle system and dictate when it will be a character's turn.
At the CESA 2006 Japan Game Awards held on 22 September 2006, Ito accepted the "Grand Award" and "Award for Excellence" for "Final Fantasy XII". He thanked the development team, longtime fans and new players alike and said that the team was grateful for the awards as they could not possibly think about the game's reception during its creation. His comment at the ceremony was: "I did my best to bring new and innovative elements to this work. I'm very happy that something like this, which was one of the more challenging games to create in the Final Fantasy series, has received this award. To return the favor to the users who've played this game and who regard it so highly, I'm determined to continue creating by always reminding myself of the need to rise to new challenges." Tetsuya Nomura considers Ito one of his four "seniors" at the company and a likely influence on his battle planning. He also stated that he was taught the basics of game design by Ito.


Gene Warren

Gene Warren Sr. (August 12, 1916 – July 17, 1997) was born in Denver, Colorado, and won an Academy Award for the special effects on George Pal's "The Time Machine" in 1960. He also contributed to such projects as "The Way of Peace" (1947), "Land of the Lost" (1974), "Man from Atlantis", and ".
He operated several visual effects companies in Hollywood over the years: Excelsior Productions and Centaur Productions; the latter teaming with fellow effects artist Wah Ming Chang. Gene died of cancer on July 17th, 1997 in Los Angeles.
His son, Gene Warren Jr., owns Fantasy II Film Effects and won an Academy Award for visual effects on ". Gene Warren Jr. died on November 28, 2019.
Professional memberships.
He was also an honorary member of Science Fiction Fantasy International and Fantasy Film Fans International.
Awards.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Special Effects Award
"The Time Machine"
George Pal/MGM
"Parents Magazine"
Best Children's Show
"The Tool Box"
Excelsior!Amp/ABC-TV
Georges Melies Hall of Fame
"The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao"
George Pal/MGM
Georges Melies Hall of Fame
"The Time Machine"
George Pal/MGM
Art Directors & Artists Club of San Francisco
"Billfold"
Excelsior!Amp/Daniel Lewis Adv
Western Advertisers Association
"Chuck Wagon-Farm"
Excelsior!Amp/Gardner Adv
Writer/Producer/Associate Producer/Director.
Theatrical film
"Starflight One" - Writer
Television series
"Land of the Lost" (Pilot + 45 episodes) - Writer/Producer
Shorts
"The Tool Box"
"Susy Snowflake"
"Santa and the Three Dwarfs"
"Land of the Midnight Sun"
Documentary & training films
"Mariner I"
"Mariner III"
"Apollo"
Television commercials
Over 1200 commercials primarily for national prestige accounts and featuring such specialized concepts as "The Pillsbury Dough Boy" and Ralston-Purina's "Chuck Wagon".
Production Designer/Special Effects Director/2nd Unit Director.
Theatrical film
"The French Atlantic Affair
"Meteor"
"Avalanche"
"Black Sunday"
"McNamara's Band"
"Satan's School for Girls"
"My Name is John"
"The Power"
"7 Faces of Dr. Lao" (Academy Special Effects Nomination)
"Wonderful Worlds of the Brothers Grimm
"The Time Machine" (Two Academy Special Effects Awards)
"Tom Thumb" (Academy Special Effects Award)
"Around the World Under the Sea"
"Atlantis, The Lost Continent"
"Master of the World"
"The Lost Balloon"
"Jack the Giant Killer"
"Voyage to the 7th Planet"
"McHale's Navy"
"That Funny Feeling"
"Goliath and the Dragon"
"Spartacus"
"The Warlords"
"The King and I"
"Andromeda Strain"
"Can Can"
"The One With the Fuzz"
"Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
"The Crow"
Television series
"The Man from Atlantis" (Four two-hour episodes and 13 one-hour episodes)
"Star Trek" (Pilot and miscellany)
"Outer Limits" (Pilot and 45 episodes)
"Twilight Zone" (Pilot and 6 episodes)
Documentaries.
Gene Warren appeared in the George Pal documentary titled "The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal" (1985) (produced and directed by Arnold Leibovit).
Mr. Warren was a guest in the documentary "" (1993) Produced and Directed by Clyde Lucas


East Nashville Skyline

East Nashville Skyline is a studio album by Nashville, Tennessee, singer-songwriter Todd Snider. The album was released in 2004. It was ranked the 7th best album of the year by Andrew Gilstrap in PopMatters.
Songs.
The album contains a variety of songs, most of them concerning moments in Snider's past, such as his addiction rehab and various other troubles throughout his life. The song "Age Like Wine" is a retrospective of his life, and Snider recounts his jailing in "Tillamook County Jail". The song "Ballad of The Kingsmen" concerns the controversy surrounding their hit song "Louie Louie".
Track listing.
All songs by Todd Snider, except where noted.


J. Thompson Willing

John Thompson Willing (August 5, 1860 – July 8, 1947) was an American artist and author.
Biography.
John Thompson (or Thomson) Willing was born on August 5, 1860 in Toronto, Canada. He trained as a lithographer at the Ontario School of Art.
Willing was the art director of "Metropolitan Magazine". In 1906, he was the art manager of "Associated Sunday Magazines". During World War I, he was in charge of pictorial publicity in the Bureau of Information. His publicity work made events such as the Salvation Army Drive, the Campaign for the Relief of Armenia and the Near East, and the Methodist Centenary Drive successful. In 1915, he was the editor of "Every Week" until 1918 when it folded. He was art director of Gravure Service Corporation until his retirement in 1942.
He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) from 1886 to 1888. He was a charter member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and its first treasurer. In 1921, he was elected as co-vice president of the AIGA and served until 1924 and was awarded the AIGA medal in 1935.


Balls of Steel (video game)

Balls of Steel is a pinball computer game developed by Wildfire Studios and released on September 3, 1997. It is the only game to be published under the Pinball Wizards label, a division of Apogee Software (today known as 3D Realms).
When the game was originally released, it was possible to upload high scores to the WorldScores server, for a global ranking. This feature has since been discontinued.
Tables.
"Balls of Steel" features five original pinball tables:
Another table, "Devil's Island", was dropped from the game when Wildfire was given the opportunity by Apogee to include a Duke Nukem table. "Devil's Island" was later released as a standalone game.
Duke Nukem tie-in.
The game includes a table based on the Apogee/3D Realms video game "Duke Nukem 3D" including graphics from that game and original voice-overs by Nukem actor Jon St. John. Pinball missions include fighting monsters like octabrains and pig-cops, and using powerups such as jetpacks and the Holoduke, from the Duke Nukem 3D video game.
Graphics of a pinball game named "Balls of Steel" appear in "Duke Nukem 3D" itself, in the first level, "Hollywood Holocaust", when Duke encounters the table. "Balls of Steel" reappears in "Duke Nukem Forever".
Reception.
"Balls of Steel" was a finalist for "Computer Games Strategy Plus"s 1998 "Classic Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to "Centipede". The editors wrote that "Balls of Steel" "demonstrated that you can do the Bally table on the PC, and do it well."


WAR (file format)

In software engineering, a WAR file (Web Application Resource or Web application ARchive) is a file used to distribute a collection of JAR-files, JavaServer Pages, Java Servlets, Java classes, XML files, tag libraries, static web pages (HTML and related files) and other resources that together constitute a web application.
Content and structure.
A WAR file may be digitally signed in the same way as a JAR file in order to allow others to determine where the source code came from.
There are special files and directories within a WAR file:
Advantages of WAR files.
Assuming production environments do not promote a fix without sufficient testing prior to deployment, a WAR file has a distinct advantage when properties files are used to identify environment specific variables. For example, an LDAP server in a testing environment may be something like codice_1. The LDAP server in a production environment is codice_2. An external properties file would define the link with some thing like:
 LINKED_PAGE=ldaps://testauth.example.com:636
The source code reads the property file to determine the target LDAP server. In this way, developers can be certain that the WAR file tested and verified is exactly the same as that which is being promoted to production.
Disadvantages of WAR files.
Some consider web deployment using WAR files to be disadvantageous when minor changes to source code are required for dynamic environments. Each change to source code must be repackaged and deployed in development. This does not require stopping the web server if configured for runtime deployment.
Example.
The following sample "web.xml" file demonstrates the declaration and association of a servlet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE web-app
 PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.2//EN"
 "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtds/web-app_2_2.dtd">
<web-app>
 <servlet>
 <servlet-name>HelloServlet</servlet-name>
 <servlet-class>mypackage.HelloServlet</servlet-class>
 </servlet>
 <servlet-mapping>
 <servlet-name>HelloServlet</servlet-name>
 <url-pattern>/HelloServlet</url-pattern>
 </servlet-mapping>
 <resource-ref>
 <description>
 Resource reference to a factory for javax.mail.Session
 instances that may be used for sending electronic mail messages,
 preconfigured to connect to the appropriate SMTP server.
 </description>
 <res-ref-name>mail/Session</res-ref-name>
 <res-type>javax.mail.Session</res-type>
 <res-auth>Container</res-auth>
 </resource-ref>
</web-app>
The codice_3 directory is on the ClassLoader's classpath. (The classpath consists of a list of locations from which codice_4 files can be loaded and executed by the JVM.) The codice_3 directory contains the classes associated with the web application itself.
Any JAR files placed in the codice_6 directory will also be placed on the ClassLoader's classpath.


Flag of Anjouan

The flag of Anjouan was adopted in 2012. It is a red flag charged with a centered white crescent moon and four white stars.


Rod Burstall

Rodney Martineau "Rod" Burstall FRSE (born 1934) is a British computer scientist and one of four founders of the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science at the University of Edinburgh.
Biography.
Burstall studied physics at the University of Cambridge, then an M.Sc. in operational research at Birmingham University. He worked for three years before returning to Birmingham University to earn a Ph.D. in 1966 with thesis titled "Heuristic and Decision Tree Methods on Computers: Some Operational Research Applications" under the supervision of N. A. Dudley and K. B. Haley.
Burstall was an early and influential proponent of functional programming, pattern matching, and list comprehension, and is known for his work with Robin Popplestone on POP, an innovative programming language developed at Edinburgh around 1970, and later work with John Darlington on NPL and program transformation and with David MacQueen and Don Sannella on Hope, a precursor to Standard ML, Miranda, and Haskell.
In 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Burstall retired in 2000, becoming Professor Emeritus, and now spends most of his time in Scotland and France.
In 2002 David Rydeheard and Don Sannella assembled a festschrift for Rod Burstall that was published in Formal Aspects of Computing.
In 2009, he was awarded the ACM SIGPLAN Programming Language Achievement Award.


Space Quest V

Space Quest V: Roger Wilco – The Next Mutation is a graphic adventure game released for MS-DOS on February 5, 1993.
Premise.
"Space Quest V" is unusual in the series in that it is primarily a specific parody of "Star Trek"; while there are some references to other fiction movies, like "Predator", "Alien", and "The Fly", the game never moves too far away from its primary target. Roger's new ship features a command bridge and several officers to whom he can give orders, and eventually adopts a facehugger mascot called Spike, who "isn't quite housebroken": he leaves puddles of caustic acid behind him wherever he goes.
Plot.
The game starts with a dramatic opening and Roger mid-mission on his ship: he is then revealed to be playing in a flight simulator, shaped suspiciously like the Millennium Falcon, at the StarCon Academy. Roger cheats to pass an aptitude test, and he's then given his own command — the garbage scow "SCS Eureka" — which looks (and functions) like an oversized vacuum cleaner. (Eureka is also a brand of vacuum cleaners.) The game involves several small missions, similar to ones seen in typical "Star Trek" episodes. Some missions are:
Roger's son from the future saved him at the beginning of , and later he shows a hologram of Roger's son's mother. Roger meets this woman in SQV and must protect her, or else his son would not exist, and thus neither would Roger.
The main plot is to stop a mutagenic disease that is spreading through the galaxy by discovering its source, and fighting everyone that got infected. In the end, the disease infects the crew members of the "SCS Goliath", the StarCon flagship, whose toupee-wearing commander, Raems T. Quirk (a rather blatant spoof of Captain James T. Kirk), subsequently attacks the "Eureka". In the end, Roger sacrifices his ship to get rid of the plague - and suddenly, if temporarily, becomes the commander of the fleet's flagship.
Roger is presented in a more positive light than usual. He's still a bungler and flies a ship that's falling apart at the seams, but along the adventure he gains the genuine respect of his crew and gets the girl in the end.
Development.
This game was the first in the series "not" designed by the "Two Guys from Andromeda", as only Mark Crowe worked on the project. It was also the first Space Quest game that wasn't developed in-house by Sierra On-Line, but instead by Sierra's sister company, Dynamix, to which Mark Crowe had relocated shortly after the release of "Space Quest IV".
"Space Quest V" was also the only Space Quest game, and the second Sierra title overall ("Leisure Suit Larry 5" was the first) to be sponsored by a real-life company. The logo for Sprint would appear following any communications transmissions, appear on a billboard in the Spacebar, and also appear in the ending credits. Additionally, at one point in the game, there is a dialogue between two people where one denounces MCI's "Friends & Aliens" plan as "just not worth it." "Space Quest V" was one of several Sierra games given away as a reward for signing up for service with Sprint. There is also a mention of "TT&A".
Although this game came after the CD-ROM "talkie" version of "Space Quest IV", it was originally released on floppy disks only (although it would later be released on a compilation CD containing the entire Space Quest series), and early plans for a talkie version of the game were scrapped. According to then-Dynamix artist Sean Murphy, this was because Dynamix was in financial trouble at the time, and they were eager to release new games instead of working on "gold versions" of already-released games.
Copy protection.
The game's copy protection involves the player's being required to input five-digit target navigation coordinates in the warp drive (each coordinate represents a different planet or space station), from a chart in the printed manual. Similar to Space Quest 4, there is a puzzle based around the copy protection system where an undocumented code needs to be discovered via in-game exploration.
Reception.
According to Sierra On-Line, combined sales of the "Space Quest" series surpassed 1.2 million units by the end of March 1996.
Charles Ardai in "Computer Gaming World" stated that the game was both funny and suspenseful. He praised the "first-rate" graphics and sound, and described the dialogue and narration as "written with a dry wit and a sense of character that makes them a pleasure to read". Ardai concluded "I think even the most demanding Wilcophiles will be pleased".


Somerville and Ross

Somerville and Ross (Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin, writing under the name Martin Ross) were an Anglo-Irish writing team, perhaps most famous for their series of books that were made into the TV series "The Irish R.M.". The television series is based on stories drawn from "Some Experiences of an Irish RM", "Further Experiences of an Irish RM" and "In Mr Knox's Country". The various stories concern the life of an Anglo-Irish former British Army officer recently appointed as a resident magistrate (R.M.) in Ireland, which at that stage was still wholly a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, some years before its partition into the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland.
Somerville and Ross also wrote other work together, including the novel "The Real Charlotte" (1894), considered their masterpiece. Even after the death of "Ross" in 1915, Somerville continued to write and publish stories under their joint names, claiming that the two were still in contact. "The Big House of Inver", a novel of 1925, falls into that category.
The precise nature of their relationship — whether they were romantic and sexual partners as well as literary collaborators and friends — has been the object of speculation by later writers.


Professional Photographers of America

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is a nonprofit trade association of professional photographers. As of January 2021, PPA has 30,000 members. The organization describes its mission is as follows: "To create a vibrant community of successful professional photographers by providing education, resources and industry standards of excellence."
History.
19th century.
The association began in December 1868 as the National Photographic Association of the United States. The group's first goal was to unite against Ambrotype patent restrictions. Although succeeding in preventing the reissue of the patent, the Executive Committee of the N.P.A. became discouraged, and, the group disbanded in 1876 because of lack of interest.
The Professional Photographers of America, as it is known today, was officially founded in April 1880 as the Photographers Association of America, Inc., by members of the Chicago Photographic Association and the former National Photographic Association. In their first meeting in April PAA elected John Ryder from Cleveland, Ohio, as its first president. From August 23 to 26, 1880, 237 photographers attended PAA's first convention in Chicago. At the 1880 convention, a committee demonstrated the new gelatin dry plate imaging process. American daguerreotype pioneers also attended the early PAA conventions, including John H. Fitzgibbon. The daguerreotype, introduced in 1839-40, was the first practical and profitable photographic process.
20th century.
In 1909, the membership installed its first governing body, the Congress of Photography. The Congress was composed of delegates from around the country who transacted official association business. Previously, all association business had been conducted by those who happened to attend conventions, resulting in problems of organizational continuity. The Congress continued until 1929 when the National Council became the official governing body, representing 37 associations and clubs nationwide.
By 1913, the photography association had grown to 725 members, expanding to 2,272 members in 1916. When World War I began, many PAA members contributed to the United States effort by joining the photography section of the Signal Corps. After the war, all photographers of the section were made honorary PAA members through the Liberty War Section of the association.
In 1921, The Daguerre Club of Indiana donated to PAA a building in Winona Lake, Indiana, for the purpose of establishing a photography school. Thus was born the professional school which was to become the Winona International School of Professional Photography. Winona operated classes for professional photographers each summer until 1984 when the school relocated to its Mount Prospect, Illinois campus, where it operated until 1994 when it was relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. Thousands of photographers from all parts of the world have attended Winona classes to update their skills or develop abilities in other fields of photographic application under the guidance of some of the nation's outstanding professional image makers. The school changed its name to the PPA International School of Photography in 1999.
Just as PAA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1930, the Depression hit. Despite efforts to boost membership and provide new programs, the Depression took its toll. During these years (1931–34), the association suffered along with the country. Budgets were cut, memberships were canceled, and no conventions were held. By 1934, association leaders were spearheading a drive to build membership and combat rampant price-cutting under the National Recovery Act, which was signed into law that year. They developed the Code of Fair Competition for the Photographic and Photofinishing Industry, which would require every person or firm selling photographic products or services to comply with certain requirements as to wages, hours, prices, and trade practices. The tool now existed to revitalize the association and improve the profession so that it could do its part in returning the country to prosperity. These hopes were soon dashed when the National Recovery Act was declared unconstitutional, affecting all such codes under its jurisdiction. The association suffered a further setback when World War II erupted. In spite of this difficult period, PAA continued to offer new benefits to its members, including the Directory of Professional Photography, which made its first appearance in 1938, and the degree program, which awarded its first Master of Photography degree in 1939.
The organization changed its name to Professional Photographers of America, Inc., in 1958, to distinguish the association from emerging amateur photography organizations. That same year, PPA joined the Mississippi-Alabama Associated Photographers (later renamed the Professional Photographers of Mississippi-Alabama) and the University of Mississippi to hold the first conference on professional photography with joint participation from a local association, national association, and major university.
In 1993 the Association moved its headquarters from Chicago to Atlanta.
Today.
In 2001, PPA began taking a more active role in protecting photographers' rights with the creation of the Copyright and Government Affairs Department. PPA is actively lobbying on behalf of photographers on Capitol Hill.
In 2013, PPA announced their newest benefit, PPAedu, a customized online educational platform. PPAedu started with 170 educational videos and now has over 300 HD videos available to stream 24/7. The videos are tailored to each member's needs based on their responses to a "self-assessment" quiz also available on the PPAedu website. "A common request from our members was more education," said Scott Kurkian, PPA's CFO. "So we came up with the idea to bring them a personalized education platform that really targets their specific needs and helps them get grow their studios in particular and their craft in general. The PPAedu instructors are renowned photographers and they're sharing tips and secrets to benefit the industry. That's what PPAedu is for, and that's why PPA exists."
In 2015, PPA acquired PhotoVision, an online educational platform that offers photographers education and solutions through cinematic HD videos from some of the biggest names in the industry. PhotoVision and its library of 800+ educational videos are now offered as a member benefit.
PhotoVision and PPAedu combined offer PPA photographers more than 1,100 videos to browse through and continue to learn from.
Magazine.
PPA has published "Professional Photographer" magazine since 1907.
Advocacy.
In August 2019 the National Press Photographers Association and the American Society of Media Photographers filed an amicus brief in support of Jim Olive in University of Houston System vs. Jim Olive Photography, D/B/A Photolive, Inc. The brief was joined by the North American Nature Photography Association, Graphic Artists Guild, American Photographic Artists, and Professional Photographers of America. "The case began when Texas photographer Jim Olive discovered that the University of Houston was using one of his aerial photographs for marketing purposes without permission. When Olive asked the University to pay for the use, they refused and told him they were shielded from suit because of sovereign immunity, which protects state government entities from many lawsuits." After a negative ruling from a Texas appellate court Olive hopes to continue his fight.
In 2019 the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Allen v. Cooper, raising the question of whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act in providing remedies for authors of original expression whose federal copyrights are infringed by states. Thirteen amici including; the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Copyright Alliance, the Software and Information Industry Association, Professional Photographers of America and the National Press Photographers Association, filed briefs in support of Allen. Those briefs proposed various doctrines under which the CRCA could validly abrogate sovereign immunity and variously re-asserted and supported the reasons why Congress examined and enacted CRCA, claiming that Congress was fair in finding that states had abused immunity and that an alternative remedy was needed. On November 5, 2019 the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Allen v. Cooper. A decision in the case is expected in the late spring of 2020.


KNBT

KNBT (92.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an Americana music format. Licensed to New Braunfels, Texas, United States, the station serves the San Antonio area. The station is currently owned by New Braunfels Communications, Inc.


List of Danish flags

The following is a list of flags of Denmark.
Regional flags.
Some areas in Denmark have unofficial flags, listed below. The regional flags of Bornholm and Ærø are known to be in active use. The flags of Vendsyssel (Vendelbrog) and the Jutlandic flag ("Den jyske fane") are obscure. None of these flags have legal recognition in Denmark, and are officially considered to be "fantasy flags". Denmark reserves official recognition to official flags and regional flags ("områdeflag") from other jurisdictions.


Kathy Kemp

Kathy Kemp (born August 15, 1964) is an American women's clothing designer and owner of the Anna store in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. A Pennsylvania native, she moved to New York in 1995 to start her company. Her background in anthropology and years of watching people try on clothes have afforded her an expert eye for what her customers want. She is best known for her "edgy dresses with a girlish bent," and her blouses, which won the "Village Voice" Best of New York award for Best Blouses in 2001. She has been called "Gen Y's Diane von Fürstenberg," creating wearable and flattering pieces at affordable prices. She was one of the first designers to utilize local independent contractors to produce small runs weekly, keeping her customers happy with new styles while maintaining a minimal carbon footprint.


Trygve Rovelstad

Trygve A. Rovelstad (September 27, 1903 – June 8, 1990) was an American sculptor and medal designer.
Trygve A. Rovelstad was born in Elgin, Illinois, to Norwegian immigrant parents. Rovelstad first studied at Fabyan Villa art studio on the estate of George Fabyan in Geneva, Illinois. Later he was accepted to work and study at the studio of sculptor Lorado Taft. He also attended classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City.
Rovelstad designed medals for the United States War Department, including the Combat Infantryman Badge, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Occupation of Germany Medal (General John J. Pershing Medal), Unit Blue Citation Badge, Women's Army Corps (WACs) Medal and Insignia Lapel Pins, and the E-Medal. He also designed non-military coins and medals for the United States Mint, the State of Illinois, and other bodies.
He was a lifelong resident of Elgin and created several works honoring the city's history. Several of his sculptures are displayed at the Elgin Area Historical Society Museum. His public sculptures include the Pioneer Family Memorial on the east bank of the Fox River and a bust of James Talcott Gifford (1800–1850), founder of Elgin.
Commemorative coin.
In 1936, the commemorative Elgin Centennial half dollar designed by Rovelstad was issued by the United States Mint. Commemorating the centennial of Elgin, Illinois, the obverse features the profile of a pioneer with the dates "1673 * 1936," while the reverse features a pioneer family (four adults and a baby in its mother's arms). The coin was issued to finance the construction of Trygve Rovelstad's Pioneer Family Memorial.