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Dunstan

Dunstan, (c. 909 – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th-century biographer Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states that Dunstan was skilled in "making a picture and forming letters", as were other clergy of his age who reached senior rank.

Dunstan served as an important minister of state to several English kings. He was the most popular saint in England for nearly two centuries, having gained fame for the many stories of his greatness, not least among which were those concerning his famed cunning in defeating the Devil.

Birth and relatives
According to Dunstan's earliest biographer, known only as 'B', his parents were called Heorstan and Cynethryth and they lived near Glastonbury. B states that Dunstan was "oritur" in the days of King Æthelstan, 924 to 939. "Oritur" has often been taken to mean "born", but this is unlikely as another source states that he was ordained during Æthelstan's reign, and he would have been under the minimum age of 30 if he was born no earlier than 924. It is more likely that "oritur" should be taken as "emerged" and that he was born around 910. B states that he was related to Ælfheah the Bald, the Bishop of Winchester and Cynesige, Bishop of Lichfield. According to a later biographer, Adelard of Ghent, he was a nephew of Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury, but this is less certain as it is not mentioned by B, who should have known as he had been a member of Dunstan's household.

School to the king's court
As a young boy, Dunstan studied under the Irish monks who then occupied the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. Accounts tell of his youthful optimism and of his vision of the abbey being restored. While still a boy, Dunstan was stricken with a near-fatal illness and effected a seemingly miraculous recovery. Even as a child, he was noted for his devotion to learning and for his mastery of many kinds of artistic craftsmanship. With his parents' consent he was tonsured, received minor orders and served in the ancient church of St Mary. He became so well known for his devotion to learning that he is said to have been summoned by Athelm to enter his service. He was later appointed to the court of King Æthelstan.

Dunstan soon became a favourite of the king and was the envy of other members of the court. A plot was hatched to disgrace him and Dunstan was accused of being involved with witchcraft and black magic. The king ordered him to leave the court and as Dunstan was leaving the palace his enemies physically attacked him, beat him severely, bound him, and threw him into a cesspool. He managed to crawl out and make his way to the house of a friend. From there, he journeyed to Winchester and entered the service of his kinsman Ælfheah, Bishop of Winchester.

The bishop tried to persuade him to become a monk, but Dunstan was doubtful whether he had a vocation to a celibate life. The answer came in the form of an attack of swelling tumours all over Dunstan's body. This ailment was so severe that it was thought to be leprosy. It was more probably some form of blood poisoning caused by being beaten and thrown in the cesspool. Whatever the cause, it changed Dunstan's mind. He took Holy Orders in 943, in the presence of Ælfheah, and returned to live the life of a hermit at Glastonbury. Against the old church of St Mary he built a small cell 5 ft long and 2+1/2 ft deep. It was there that Dunstan studied, worked at his art, and played on his harp. It is at this time, according to a late 11th-century legend, that the Devil is said to have tempted Dunstan and to have been held by the face with Dunstan's tongs.

Life as a monk
Dunstan worked as a silversmith and in the scriptorium while he was living at Glastonbury. It is thought likely that he was the artist who drew the well-known image of Christ with a small kneeling monk beside him in the Glastonbury Classbook, "one of the first of a series of outline drawings which were to become a special feature of Anglo-Saxon art of this period." Dunstan became famous as a musician, illuminator, and metalworker. Lady Æthelflæd, King Æthelstan's niece, made Dunstan a trusted adviser and on her death, she left a considerable fortune to him. He used this money later in life to foster and encourage a monastic revival in England. About the same time, his father Heorstan died and Dunstan inherited his fortune as well. He became a person of great influence, and on the death of King Æthelstan in 940, the new King, Edmund, summoned him to his court at Cheddar and made him a minister.

Again, royal favour fostered jealousy among other courtiers and again Dunstan's enemies succeeded in their plots. The King was prepared to send Dunstan away. There were then at Cheddar certain envoys from the "Eastern Kingdom", which probably meant East Anglia. Dunstan implored the envoys to take him with them when they returned to their homes. They agreed to do so, but it never happened. The story is recorded:

"... the king rode out to hunt the stag in Mendip Forest. He became separated from his attendants and followed a stag at great speed in the direction of the Cheddar cliffs. The stag rushed blindly over the precipice and was followed by the hounds. Eadmund endeavoured vainly to stop his horse; then, seeing death to be imminent, he remembered his harsh treatment of St Dunstan and promised to make amends if his life was spared. At that moment his horse was stopped on the very edge of the cliff. Giving thanks to God, he returned forthwith to his palace, called for St. Dunstan and bade him follow, then rode straight to Glastonbury. Entering the church, the king first knelt in prayer before the altar, then, taking St. Dunstan by the hand, he gave him the kiss of peace, led him to the abbot's throne and, seating him thereon, promised him all assistance in restoring Divine worship and regular observance."

Abbot of Glastonbury
Dunstan, now Abbot of Glastonbury, went to work at once on the task of reform. He had to re-create monastic life and to rebuild the abbey. He began by establishing Benedictine monasticism at Glastonbury. The Rule of St. Benedict was the basis of his restoration according to the author of 'Edgar's Establishment of the Monasteries' (written in the 960s or 970s) and according to Dunstan's first biographer, who had been a member of the community at Glastonbury. Their statements are also in accordance with the nature of his first measures as abbot, with the significance of his first buildings, and with the Benedictine leanings of his most prominent disciples.

Nevertheless, not all the members of Dunstan's community at Glastonbury were monks who followed the Benedictine Rule. In fact, Dunstan's first biographer, 'B.', was a cleric who eventually joined a community of canons at Liège after leaving Glastonbury.

Dunstan's first care was to rebuild the Church of St. Peter, rebuild the cloister, and re-establish the monastic enclosure. The secular affairs of the house were committed to his brother, Wulfric, "so that neither himself nor any of the professed monks might break enclosure." A school for the local youth was founded and soon became the most famous of its time in England. A substantial extension of the irrigation system on the surrounding Somerset Levels was also completed.

Within two years of Dunstan's appointment, in 946, King Edmund was assassinated. His successor was Eadred. The policy of the new government was supported by the Queen mother, Eadgifu of Kent, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Oda, and by the East Anglian nobles, at whose head was the powerful ealdorman Æthelstan the "Half-king". It was a policy of unification and conciliation with the Danish half of the kingdom. The goal was a firm establishment of royal authority. In ecclesiastical matters it favoured the spread of Catholic observance, the rebuilding of churches, the moral reform of the clergy and laity, and the end of the religion of the Danes in England. These policies made Dunstan popular in the North of England, but unpopular in the South. Against all these reforms were the nobles of Wessex, who included most of Dunstan's own relatives, and who had an interest in maintaining established customs. For nine years Dunstan's influence was dominant, during which time he twice refused the office of bishop (that of Winchester in 951 and Crediton in 953), affirming that he would not leave the king's side so long as the king lived and needed him.

Changes in fortune
In 955, Eadred died, and the situation was at once changed. Eadwig, the elder son of Edmund, who then came to the throne, was a headstrong youth wholly devoted to the reactionary nobles. According to one legend, the feud with Dunstan began on the day of Eadwig's coronation, when he failed to attend a meeting of nobles. When Dunstan eventually found the young monarch, he was cavorting with a noblewoman named Ælfgifu and her mother, and refused to return with the bishop. Infuriated by this, Dunstan dragged Eadwig back to the royal gathering.

Later realising that he had provoked the king, Dunstan saw that his life was in danger. He fled England and crossed the channel to Flanders, where he found himself ignorant of the language and of the customs of the locals. The count of Flanders, Arnulf I, received him with honour and lodged him in the Abbey of Mont Blandin, near Ghent. This was one of the centres of the Benedictine revival in that country, and Dunstan was able for the first time to observe the strict observance that had seen its rebirth at Cluny at the beginning of the century. His exile was not of long duration. Before the end of 957, the Mercians and Northumbrians revolted and drove out Eadwig, choosing his brother Edgar as king of the country north of the Thames. The south remained faithful to Eadwig. At once Edgar's advisers recalled Dunstan.

Bishop of Worcester and of London
On Dunstan's return, Archbishop Oda consecrated him a bishop and, on the death of Coenwald of Worcester at the end of 957, Oda appointed Dunstan to the see.

In the following year the see of London became vacant and was conferred on Dunstan, who held it simultaneously with Worcester. In October 959, Eadwig died and his brother Edgar was readily accepted as ruler of Wessex. One of Eadwig's final acts had been to appoint a successor to Archbishop Oda, who died on 2 June 958. The chosen candidate was Ælfsige of Winchester, but he died of cold in the Alps as he journeyed to Rome for the pallium. In his place Eadwig then nominated one of his supporters, the Bishop of Wells, Byrhthelm. As soon as Edgar became king, he reversed this second choice on the ground that Byrhthelm had not been able to govern even his first diocese properly. The archbishopric was then conferred on Dunstan.

Archbishop of Canterbury

Dunstan went to Rome in 960, and received the pallium from Pope John XII. On his journey there, Dunstan's acts of charity were so lavish as to leave nothing for himself and his attendants. His steward complained, but Dunstan seems to have suggested that they trust in Jesus Christ.

On his return from Rome, Dunstan at once regained his position as virtual prime minister of the kingdom. By his advice Ælfstan was appointed to the Bishopric of London, and Oswald to that of Worcester. In 963, Æthelwold, the Abbot of Abingdon, was appointed to the See of Winchester. With their aid and with the ready support of King Edgar, Dunstan pushed forward his reforms in the English Church. The monks in his communities were taught to live in a spirit of self-sacrifice, and Dunstan actively enforced the law of celibacy whenever possible. He forbade the practices of simony (selling ecclesiastical offices for money) and ended the custom of clerics appointing relatives to offices under their jurisdiction. Monasteries were built, and in some of the great cathedrals, monks took the place of the secular canons; in the rest the canons were obliged to live according to rule. The parish priests were compelled to be qualified for their office; they were urged to teach parishioners not only the truths of the Christian faith, but also trades to improve their position. The state saw reforms as well. Good order was maintained throughout the realm and there was respect for the law. Trained bands policed the north, and a navy guarded the shores from Viking raids.

In 973, Dunstan's statesmanship reached its zenith when he officiated at the coronation of King Edgar. Edgar was crowned at Bath in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony. There was a second symbolic coronation held later. This was an important step, as other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar at Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land.

Edgar ruled as a strong and popular king for 16 years. Edgar's reign, and implicitly his governing partnership with Dunstan, was praised by early chroniclers and historians who regarded it as a golden age. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle caveated the acclaim with one complaint, criticising the high level of immigration that took place at that time. It would appear from William of Malmesbury's later history that the objection was limited to the mercenary seaman, employed from around the North Sea littoral, to assist in the defence of the country.

In 975, Edgar was succeeded by his eldest son Edward "the Martyr". His accession was disputed by his stepmother, Ælfthryth, who wished her own son Æthelred to reign. Through the influence of Dunstan, Edward was chosen and crowned at Winchester. Edgar's death had encouraged the reactionary nobles, and at once there was a determined attack upon the monks, the protagonists of reform. Throughout Mercia they were persecuted and deprived of their possessions. Their cause, however, was supported by Æthelwine, the ealdorman of East Anglia, and the realm was in serious danger of civil war. Three meetings of the Witan were held to settle these disputes, at Kyrtlington, at Calne, and at Amesbury. At the second of them the floor of the hall where the Witan was sitting gave way, and all except Dunstan, who clung to a beam, fell into the room below; several men were killed.

Final years (978–88)
In March 978, King Edward was assassinated at Corfe Castle, possibly at the instigation of his stepmother, and Æthelred the Unready became king. The coronation took place on Low Sunday 31 March 978. According to William of Malmsesbury, writing over a century later, when the young king took the usual oath to govern well, Dunstan addressed him in solemn warning. He criticised the violent act whereby he became king and prophesied the misfortunes that were shortly to fall on the kingdom, but Dunstan's influence at court was ended. Dunstan retired to Canterbury, to teach at the cathedral school.

Only three more public acts are known. In 980, Dunstan joined Ælfhere of Mercia in the solemn translation of the relics of King Edward, soon to be regarded as a saint, from their grave at Wareham to a shrine at Shaftesbury Abbey. In 984, he persuaded King Æthelred to appoint Ælfheah as Bishop of Winchester in succession to Æthelwold. In 986, Dunstan induced the king, by a donation of 100 pounds of silver, to stop his persecution of the See of Rochester.

Dunstan's retirement at Canterbury consisted of long hours, both day and night, spent in private prayer, as well as his regular attendance at Mass and the daily office. He visited the shrines of St Augustine and St Æthelberht. He worked to improve the spiritual and temporal well-being of his people, to build and restore churches, to establish schools, to judge suits, to defend widows and orphans, to promote peace, and to enforce respect for purity. He practised his crafts, made bells and organs and corrected the books in the cathedral library. He encouraged and protected European scholars who came to England, and was active as a teacher of boys in the cathedral school. On Ascension Day 988, Dunstan said Mass and preached three times to the people: at the Gospel, at the benediction, and after the Agnus Dei. In this last address, he announced his impending death and wished his congregation well. That afternoon he chose the spot for his tomb, then went to his bed. His strength failed rapidly, and on Saturday morning, 19 May, he caused the clergy to assemble. Mass was celebrated in his presence, then he received Extreme Unction and the Viaticum, and died. Dunstan's final words are reported to have been, "He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: He hath given food to them that fear Him."

The English people accepted him as a saint shortly thereafter. He was formally canonised in 1029. That year at the Synod of Winchester, St Dunstan's feast was ordered to be kept solemnly throughout England.

Legacy
Until Thomas Becket's fame overshadowed Dunstan's, he was the favourite saint of the English people. Dunstan had been buried in his cathedral. In 1180 his relics were translated to a tomb on the south side of the high altar, when that building was restored after being partially destroyed by a fire in 1174.

The monks of Glastonbury used to claim that during the sack of Canterbury by the Danes in 1012, Dunstan's body had been carried for safety to their abbey. This story was disproved by Archbishop William Warham, who opened the tomb at Canterbury in 1508. They found Dunstan's relics still to be there. However, his shrine was destroyed during the English Reformation.

Patronage and feast day
Dunstan became patron saint of English goldsmiths and silversmiths because he worked as a silversmith making church plate. The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church mark his feast day on 19 May. Dunstan is also honoured in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church on 19 May.

In 2023, a pastoral area of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton was named in honour of Dunstan.

In literature and folklore
English literature contains many references to him: for example, in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and in this folk rhyme: St Dunstan, as the story goes, Once pull'd the devil by the nose With red-hot tongs, which made him roar, That he was heard three miles or more.

This folk story is already shown in an initial in the Life of Dunstan in the Canterbury Passionale, from the second quarter of the 12th century (British Library, Harley MS 315, f. 15v.).

Daniel Anlezark has tentatively suggested that Dunstan may be the medieval author of the poem Solomon and Saturn, citing the style, word choice, and Hiberno-Latin used in the texts. However, Clive Tolley examines this claim from a linguistic point-of-view and disagrees with Anlezark's claim.

Another story relates how Dunstan nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's foot when he was asked to re-shoe the Devil's cloven hoof. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after he promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is over the door. This is claimed as the origin of the lucky horseshoe.

A further legend relating to Dunstan and the Devil seeks to explain the phenomena of Franklin nights, late frosts which occur around his Feast Day. The story goes that Dunstan was a great brewer and negotiated an agreement whereby the Devil could blast the blossom of local apple trees with frost, damaging the cider crop so that Dunstan's own beer would sell more readily.

An East London saint
As Bishop of London, Dunstan was also Lord of the Manor of Stepney, and may, like subsequent bishops, have lived there. Dunstan is recorded as having founded (or rebuilt ) Stepney's church, in 952 AD. This church was dedicated to All Saints, but was rededicated to Dunstan after his canonisation in 1029, making Dunstan the patron saint of Stepney.

title: Dunstan


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Deprogramming

Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that seeks to dissuade someone from "strongly held convictions" such as religious beliefs. Deprogramming purports to assist a person who holds a particular belief system—of a kind considered harmful by those initiating the deprogramming—to change those beliefs and sever connections to the group associated with them. Typically, people identifying themselves as deprogrammers are hired by a person's relatives, often parents of adult children. The subject of the deprogramming is usually forced to undergo the procedure, which might last days or weeks, against their will.

Methods and practices of deprogramming are varied but have often involved kidnapping and false imprisonment, which have sometimes resulted in criminal convictions. The practice has led to controversies over freedom of religion, civil rights, criminality, and the use of violence. Proponents of deprogramming present the practice as a necessary counter-measure to the systematic "brainwashing" procedures allegedly employed by religious groups, which they claim deprive the individual of their capacity for free choice.

Background
In the United States in the early 1970s, there was an increasing number of New Religious Movements. Ted Patrick, the "father of deprogramming", formed an organization he called "The Citizens' Freedom Foundation" and began offering 'deprogramming' services to people who wanted to break a family member's connection to an NRM. Patrick's methods involved abduction, physical restraint, detention over days or weeks while maintaining a constant presence with the victim, food and sleep deprivation, prolonged verbal and emotional abuse, and desecration of the symbols of the victim's faith.

Deprogrammers justified their actions by applying a theory of "brainwashing" to New Religious Movements. Brainwashing theory denied the possibility of authentic spiritual choice for an NRM member, proposing instead that such individuals were subject to systematic mind control programs that overrode their capacity for independent volition. Ted Patrick's theory of brainwashing was that individuals were hypnotized by brainwaves projected from a recruiter's eyes and fingertips, after which the state was maintained by constant indoctrination, a totalistic environment, and self-hypnosis. Most academic research, however, indicated that the reasons for people joining, remaining in, or leaving NRMs were complex, varied from group to group and individual to individual, and generally reflected the continued presence of a capacity for individual responsibility and choice.

The Citizens' Freedom Foundation, which later became known as the Cult Awareness Network, became the most prominent group in the emerging national anti-cult movement of the 1970s and 80s. The anti-cult movement lobbied for state and national legislative action to legitimize its activities, and although this had very limited success, the movement was nevertheless able to forge alliances with a number of governmental agencies. This was primarily on the back of its propagation of the brainwashing/mind control ideology, which succeeded in turning affiliation with NRMs into an issue of public—rather than private—concern and gave a pseudo-legitimacy to the anti-cultists more extreme claims and actions.

Although the CFF and CAN were in favor of deprogramming, they distanced themselves from the practice from the late 1970s onwards. Despite this apparent repudiation, however, they continued the practice. CFF and CAN referred thousands of paying clients to activist members who kept lists of deprogrammers. The total number that occurred is unknown, but in 1980 Ted Patrick claimed to have been hired over 2000 times as a professional abductor. Many other operators emerged both during and after the period in which he was active, many of them trained by him. The practice of deprogramming was an integral part of the anti-cult ideology and economy, and was seen as an effective response to the demand emanating from people who wanted a family member extracted, but it also clashed with the need for anti-cult organizations to present themselves as 'educational' associations (the CFF, for example, received tax-exempt status as an educational trust). This, along with its tenuous legal and moral status, meant that deprogramming tended to be publicly disavowed, while its practice continued clandestinely.

Use of violence
Deprogramming became a controversial practice due to the violent and illegal nature of some of its methods. Various academics have commented on the practice. Sociologist Anson D. Shupe and others wrote that deprogramming is comparable to exorcism in both methodology and manifestation. Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies James T. Richardson described deprogramming as a "private, self-help process whereby participants in unpopular new religious movements (NRMs) were forcibly removed from the group, incarcerated, and put through radical resocialization processes that were supposed to result in their agreeing to leave the group." Law professor Douglas Laycock, author of Religious Liberty: The Free Exercise Clause, wrote:

Beginning in the 1970s, many parents responded to the initial conversion with "deprogramming." The essence of deprogramming was to physically abduct the convert, isolate him and physically restrain him, and barrage him with continuous arguments and attacks against his new religion, threatening to hold him forever until he agreed to leave it.

Deprogrammers generally operated on the presumption that the people they were paid to extract from religious organizations were victims of mind control or brainwashing. Since the theory was that such individuals were incapable of rational thought, extreme measures were thought to be justified for their own good, up to and including the use of criminal violence. Ted Patrick was eventually tried and convicted of multiple felonies relating to kidnapping and false imprisonment of deprogramming subjects.

Violence of one degree or another is common to all anecdotal accounts of deprogramming. There are numerous testimonies from people who describe being threatened with a gun, beaten, denied food and sleep, and sexually assaulted. In these accounts, the deprogramming usually begins with the victim being forced into a vehicle and taken to a place where they are isolated from everyone but their captors. Told that they would not be released until they renounce their beliefs, they are then subjected to days and sometimes weeks of verbal, emotional, psychological, and/or physical pressure until the demands of their abductors are satisfied.

According to sociologist Eileen Barker, "One does not have to rely on the victims for stories of violence: Ted Patrick, one of the most notorious deprogrammers used by CAGs [cult-awareness groups] (who has spent several terms in prison for his exploits) openly boasts about some of the violence he employed." A number of other prominent members of "cult-awareness groups" have been convicted of violent crimes committed in the course of deprogrammings.

Carol Giambalvo, who worked for the Cult Awareness Network in the 1980s (later advocating for "voluntary exit counseling" and "thought reform consultation") said that although abductions certainly occurred, the more common practice was to forcefully detain people in their own homes, or in a cabin or motel room. Giambalvo tells of "horror stories" of restraint, beatings, use of handcuffs and weapons, sexual abuse, and even rape, although she claims that these were only used in a minority of cases and that deprogramming "helped to free many individuals".

Rationale and Effectiveness
Carol Giambalvo described the reasoning behind deprogramming thus:"It was believed that the hold of the brainwashing over the cognitive processes of a cult member needed to be broken – or 'snapped' as some termed it – by means that would shock or frighten the cultist into thinking again. For that reason, in some cases cult leader's pictures were burned or there were highly confrontational interactions between deprogrammers and cultist. What was often sought was an emotional response to the information, the shock, the fear, and the confrontation."

Another associate of Ted Patrick, Sylvia Buford, identified five stages in the deprogramming which would, ideally, bring the subject to a recognition of their condition:
 * 1) Discrediting the authority figure
 * 2) Presenting contradictions - comparing the ideology with the reality; for example, "How can he preach love when he exploits people?"
 * 3) The breaking point, at which the subject begins to accept the deprogrammer's position and begins doubting the ideology
 * 4) Self-expression: the subject begins to voice criticisms and complaints against the cult.
 * 5) Identification and transference: the subject begins to identify with the deprogrammers, thinking as an opponent of the cult rather than as a member.

According to Giambalvo and others, however, deprogramming frequently failed completely to achieve the desired outcome and often caused significant harm. While some advocates claimed a high success rate, studies show that natural attrition rates are actually higher than those achieved by deprogramming interventions.

Professor of psychiatry Saul V. Levine suggests that it is doubtful that deprogramming helps many people and goes on to say that it actually causes harm to the victim by the very nature of deprogramming. For deprogramming to work, the victim must be convinced that they joined a religious group against their will. They then must renounce responsibility and accept that in some mysterious way that their minds were controlled. He argues that deprogramming destroys a person's identity and is likely to create permanent anxiety about freedom of choice and leave the deprogrammed subject dependent upon the guidance and advice of others.

The Dialog Center International (DCI) a major Christian counter-cult organization founded in 1973 by a Danish professor of missiology and ecumenical theology, Johannes Aagaard, rejects deprogramming, believing that it is counterproductive, ineffective, and can harm the relationship between a cult member and concerned family members.

Government
Deprogrammers have sometimes operated with overt or tacit support of law enforcement and judicial officials. Richardson sees government involvement in deprogramming as existing on a continuum from implicit approval to active involvement. In the United States, where there are First Amendment protections for religious groups, government officials and agencies frequently "turned a blind eye" to the activities of deprogrammers. In China, government agencies have at times promoted activities resembling deprogramming to enforce official views of "correct" beliefs and behaviors, for example in the suppression of the Falun Gong movement. This can involve "vigorous, even violent, efforts to dissuade people from participating in groups deemed unacceptable to the government" and have been "given legal sanction by the passage of laws that make illegal the activities or even the beliefs of the unpopular movement or group being targeted".

In the United States—in New York, Kansas, Nebraska, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and Texas—lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to legalize involuntary deprogramming, either through a deprogramming bill or conservatorship legislation. In New York, two bills were actually passed by the legislature (in 1980 and 1981), but both were vetoed by Governor Hugh Carey because of their violation of religious and other constitutional freedoms. In other states the bills failed to pass the legislature.

Controversy and related issues
In the United States, from the mid-1970s and throughout the 1980s mind control was a widely accepted theory in public opinion, and the vast majority of newspaper and magazine accounts of deprogrammings assumed that recruits' relatives were well justified to seek conservatorships and to hire deprogrammers.

One disturbing aspect from a civil rights point of view, was that people hiring deprogrammers would use deception or other ethically questionable methods—including kidnapping—to get their relative into deprogrammers' hands, without allowing them any recourse to a lawyer or psychiatrist of their own choosing. Previously, there would be a sanity hearing first, and only then a commitment to an asylum or involuntary therapy. But with deprogramming, judges routinely granted parents legal authority over their adult children without a hearing.

Critics contend that deprogramming and exit counseling begin with a false premise. Lawyers for some groups who have lost members due to deprogramming, as well as some civil liberties advocates, sociologists and psychologists, argue that it is not the religious groups but rather the deprogrammers who are the ones who deceive and manipulate people.

During the 1990s, deprogrammer Rick Ross was sued by Jason Scott, a former member of a Pentecostal group called the Life Tabernacle Church, after an unsuccessful deprogramming attempt. In 1995, the jury awarded Scott US$875,000 in compensatory damages and US$2,500,000 in punitive damages against Ross, which were later settled for US$5,000 and 200 hours of services. More significantly, the jury also found that the leading anti-cult group known as the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) was a co-conspirator in the crime and fined CAN around US$1,000,000 in punitive damages, forcing the group into bankruptcy. This case is often seen as effectively closing the door on the practice of involuntary deprogramming in the United States.

Referral and kickback system
Anti-cult groups play a central role in maintaining the underground network of communications, referrals, transportation, and housing necessary for continued deprogramming.

The Cult Awareness Network operated a referral scheme (NARDEC) in which they would refer people to deprogrammers in return for a "kickback" in the form of a donation or as a commission. Deprogrammers such as Rick Alan Ross, Steven Hassan and Carol Giambalvo were among the CAN-referred deprogrammers.

Exit counseling
Proponents of "Exit counseling" distinguish it from coercive forms of deprogramming. The fundamental difference is that involuntary deprogramming involves forced confinement of the individual whereas in exit counseling they are free to leave at any time. The absence of physical coercion is thought to increase the likelihood of establishing a rapport and of not alienating, enraging or terrifying the subject. Exit counsellors are typically brought in during a "family Intervention", where they explain their role and seek to change the subject's attitude to their religious group through reasoning and persuasion.

Langone, writing in 1993, estimated that deprogramming costs typically rise to at least US$10,000, compared to exit counseling which typically costs US$2,000 to US$4,000, although cases requiring extensive research of little-known groups can cost much more. Deprogramming, especially when it fails, also entails considerable legal risk and psychological risk (for example, a permanent alienation of the subject from their family). In exit counseling, these psychological and legal risks are reduced. Although deprogrammers prepare family members (other than the subject) for the process, exit counselors tend to work with such family members directly, expecting those requesting the intervention to contribute to the process. Exit counseling requires that families establish a reasonable and respectful level of communication with their loved one before the program itself can begin. Because deprogramming relies on coercion (which is illegal except in the case of conservatorship and is generally viewed as unethical) deprogrammers' critiques of the religious organization tend to be less credible to the subject than the arguments of exit counselors.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Deprogramming


text:
Talk:DrinkOrDie

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Three questions (bear in mind, they are just questions for you to think about): --Larry Sanger
 * Is this properly an encyclopedia article or a news article? Should we think that a developing news article is essentially the same as an encyclopedia article?
 * Does this whole issue really deserve treatment in Wikipedia?
 * What is the purpose of the "quotations" section?

The questions might be more neutrally phrased as:
 * Um, this is a talk page. I don't have to be neutral.

 * Is this written an encyclopedia article or a news article? What are the differences between developing news article and an encyclopedia article?
 * What is appropriate content in Wikipedia?
 * What is the purpose of the "quotations" section?

See Appropriate content and plump waterfowl for a general response to all the questions, especially the first and second.

In this case, an entry on an organization which is the subject of multimillion-dollar criminal investigation is certainly appropriate.

 * Are all multi-million dollar investigations worthy of Wikipedia articles? The point is, since it's breaking news, we lack the perspective of history.

Over time the entry will be edited to emphasize what the informed consensus considers important and accurate, and deemphasize what the consensus considers unimportant, unclear, and inaccurate.

 * Actually, I have my doubts about that, which points up a problem we need to think about more than we have so far: if you lose interest in this breaking news story, your article might become completely inaccurate, quickly. That's the main reason I think it's not such a good idea to make encyclopedia articles out of current news stories, and why it is better that we focus on giving background to news stories.  We aren't set up to do news stories ourselves!  The 9/11 stuff was a notable exception to all this, I think.  (I say "I think," because this is just my opinion.  So don't get your panties in a bunch.)  Any news story can change in subtle (and not so subtle) and important ways daily, and I think it not only possible but likely that, as long as we continue writing such articles, we won't keep up with all the changes.  So, what was once a good summary of the current situation (and therefore might serve both as an encyclopedia article and as a news article) becomes a hopelessly dated "old news" article.

What is the purpose of the "quotations" section?

This section is not perfectly handled right now, but serves as "meat" for further work. Simply adding such meat should be discouraged (noone wants to eat raw meat, unless it's sliced thinly and very expensive), but not forbidden, because not everyone has the time or skill to be a Michelin chef, but if they just bagged a plump waterfowl, they should be encouraged to bring it into the kitchen.

 * Fair enough. But it seemed to me the quotes were sharpening an axe you have to grind. --LMS

--TheCunctator

Larry,

I definitely think this is encyclopedia material, much more so than the names of the different creatures on Middle Earth. The warez/cracker scene is an interesting one, and I hope that over time we get more information about it. This entry is not only relevant because of the recent news, I would have liked to see an entry about DrinkOrDie before that. -- Eloq.

I totally agree that we need encyclopedia articles about the warez/cracker scene, and about DrinkOrDie! My main questions have to do with the wisdom of trying to maintain a running news article about DrinkOrDie. There's a fine line to be walked between having "the latest" about a given topic and simply making an article up-to-date, but not with all the latest (and extremely changeable, not to mention unreliable) details you find in news articles. --LMS - I think it's encyclopedia material; and I'll wager that more people in the United States can tell you who DrinkOrDie are than can tell you anything about Dziga Vertov, or would care to hear about him. I do agree that we don't want Wikipedia to become an encyclopedia of pop culture, but that's just additional incentive for us to work on more universally accepted encyclopedia topics. I think, anyway. But then I haven't had sleep in oh, several days. I lay these words at the altar of the god Yerba Mate.  The article does need a little work, though. So it fits in that regard. :-) --Koyaanis Qatsi

DrinkOrDie is, I agree, encyclopedia material. :-) If you'll look at my questions, they concerned about the news coverage the current article offers. --LMS

You mean if I look more closely. But yes, you are correct. Well I wouldn't argue that we shouldn't necessarily not have "current news" articles; the September 11 articles are wonderfully done and have also brought a lot of traffic. But it is the case that eventually untended articles will become dated. Perhaps we should create a page specifically for articles we want to have, but which will take conscientious tending (aside from the obvious contenders such as */Government?). Just an idea, I'm interested in hearing more. --Koyaanis Qatsi

 * "But it is the case that eventually untended articles will become dated."
 * Yes, but -
 * A lot of "news items" remain of interest ("Caesar crosses Rubicon". "Vandals dump tea in Boston Harbor". "Burglars aprehended at Watergate Hotel".) We won't have the historical perspective to judge this until, well, until we have the historical perspective. And if nobody wants to read the entry, it's probably not hurting anything.

This is a great encyclopedia article. Isn't Wikipedia for this purpose: to have better content that other encyclopedia wouldn't want to or dare to put in. The spirit of open Source projects is this type of variety that can be found nowhere else. I think these types of articles should be encouraged, just as long as we don't let it get to the point that it's just ramblings with no focus. --Jzcool

Rewrite?
I think this article could do with a bit of word-smithing; however, it's right on the money. The form of the "also-charged" list seems a tad bland though. Additionally, a few of the links have "moved with no forwarding address", and could probably stand to be alphabetised (given that dating died about two links in to the effort). What to do to make it better... Orethrius 05:05, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:DrinkOrDie


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Daily Planet

The Daily Planet is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in Action Comics #9 (November 13, 1939) - Underworld Politics, War on Crime. The Daily Planet building's distinguishing feature is the enormous globe that sits on top of the building.

Based in the fictional city of Metropolis, the paper employs Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White as its editor-in-chief. The building's original features were inspired by the Old Toronto Star Building where Superman's co-creator, Joe Shuster, was a newsboy when the Toronto Star was still called the Daily Star. Shuster has claimed that Metropolis was visually inspired by Toronto. Over the years, however, Metropolis has come to serve as an analogue to New York City.

Golden and Silver Age
When Superman first appeared in comics (specifically 1938's Action Comics #1), his alter ego Clark Kent worked for a newspaper named the Daily Star, under editor George Taylor. Joe Shuster named the Daily Star after the Toronto Daily Star newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, which had been the newspaper that Shuster's parents received and for which Shuster had worked as a newsboy. It was not until later years that the fictional paper became the Daily Planet. (The real-world newspaper was called the Evening Star prior to 1899; the Toronto Daily Star is now known as the Toronto Star.)

While choosing a name for the fictitious newspaper, consideration was given to combining the names of The Globe and Mail (another Toronto newspaper) and the Daily Star to become The Daily Globe. But when the comic strip appeared, the newspaper's name was permanently made the Daily Planet to avoid a name conflict with real newspapers. In Superman #5 (Summer 1940), the publisher of the Daily Planet is shown to be Burt Mason, a man who is determined to print the truth even when corrupt politician Alex Evell threatens him. In Superman #6 (September–October 1940), Mason gives free printing equipment to The Gateston Gazette after its editor, Jim Tirrell, is killed and its equipment is destroyed by racketeers that Tirrell insisted on reporting.

When DC made use of its multiverse means of continuity tracking between the early 1960s and mid-1980s, it was declared that the Daily Star was the newspaper's name in the Golden Age or "Earth-Two" versions of Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, while the Daily Planet was used in the Silver Age or "Earth-One" versions. The Clark Kent of Earth-Two eventually became the editor-in-chief of the Daily Star, something his Earth-One counterpart did not achieve.

In the Silver and Bronze Age universes, Clark's first contact with the Daily Planet came when reporter (and future editor) Perry White came to Smallville to write a story about Superboy, and wound up getting an interview where the Boy of Steel first revealed his extraterrestrial origins. The story resulted in Perry earning a Pulitzer Prize. During Clark Kent's years in college, Perry White was promoted to editor-in-chief upon the retirement of the Daily Planet's previous editor, the Earth-One version of George Taylor.

After graduating from Metropolis University with a degree in journalism, Clark Kent went to work at the Planet, and quickly met Lois Lane (who had been working there for some time already). After Clark was hired, Jimmy Olsen joined the paper's staff.

In 1971, the Daily Planet was purchased by Morgan Edge, president of the Galaxy Broadcasting System. Edge proceeded to integrate Metropolis television station WGBS-TV's studios into the Daily Planet building, and named Clark Kent as the anchor for the WGBS evening news. Eventually, Clark's former schoolmate from Smallville Lana Lang joined Clark as a co-anchor.

After the 1985–1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, many of these elements, including Morgan Edge buying the Daily Planet, were retroactively changed or eliminated from the Superman canon.

Post-Crisis
In the post-Crisis comics' canon, years before Clark or Lois began working for the paper, Lex Luthor owned the Daily Planet. When Luthor, deciding to sell the paper, began taking bids for the Planet, Perry White convinced an international conglomerate, TransNational Enterprises, to buy the paper. They agreed to this venture with only one stipulation: that Perry White would become editor-in-chief. White had served as the Planet editor-in-chief ever since, barring the few times he was absent. During those times people such as Sam Foswell and Clark Kent have looked after the paper. Franklin Stern, an old friend of White's, became the Daily Planet's publisher.

The Planet saw its share of rough times during White's tenure. For example, it had many violent worker strikes. The building itself, along with most of the city, was destroyed during the "Fall of Metropolis" storyline; it is only much later that it was restored by the efforts of various superheroes. The Planet building sustained heavy damages after the villain Doomsday's rampage. Later, Franklin Stern decided to put the paper up for sale. Lex Luthor, disliking the heavy criticism of himself and his company that the Planet became noted for, purchased the Daily Planet and subsequently closed the paper down. Luthor fired every employee of the newspaper except for four people: Simone D'Neige, Dirk Armstrong, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane. As a final insult, Luthor saw to it that the Planet globe was unceremoniously dumped in the Metropolis landfill. In the Planet's place emerged "LexCom," a news-oriented Internet website that primarily catered to Luthor's views of "quality journalism."

After Lois Lane made a deal with Luthor where, in exchange for him returning the Planet to Perry, she would kill one story of his choosing with no questions asked, Luthor sold the Daily Planet to Perry White for the token sum of one dollar. The paper was quickly reinstated, rehiring all of its old staff. Sometime later, ownership of the Planet fell into the hands of Bruce Wayne, where it has remained ever since. In the Batman: Hush storyline, it is named a subsidiary of Wayne Entertainment.

During the "Y2K" storyline (involving the city of Metropolis being infused with futuristic technology thanks to a descendant of the villain Brainiac), the Daily Planet building was "upgraded" along with the rest of Metropolis, and a holographic globe replaced the physical one. Eventually due to temporal instabilities caused by the B13 Virus, Metropolis and the Daily Planet building, globe and all, were restored to their former states.

In the current comics and media spinoffs, the Daily Planet is presented as a thoroughly modern news operation, including operating an Internet website much like most large newspapers. The Planet's reporters also have access to the best modern equipment to aid their work, though Perry White has often been shown as still favoring his manual typewriter. In 2008, it was said that Clark (at least in this era/continuity) uses a typewriter at his desk due to his powers causing minor interference in regular desktop computers.

During this era, the Planet ' s major competitors in Metropolis include the tabloid newspaper the Daily Star, WGBS-TV (which also employed Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant for a time), and Lex Luthor's various media operations. A contemporary publication is Newstime Magazine, where Clark Kent worked as the editor for a time. The publisher of Newstime is Colin Thornton, who is secretly the demon Satanus, an enemy of Superman's.

Superman: Birthright
In the Superman: Birthright limited series, the Daily Planet's publisher was Quentin Galloway, an abrasive overbearing loudmouth who bullied Jimmy Olsen, and later Clark Kent, before being told off by Lois Lane, whom Galloway could not fire because of her star status. This was meant to be a new origin for Superman but one that applied to the Post-Crisis continuity, so later Planet history concerning Luthor temporarily owning it and other events still applied.

Post-Infinite Crisis
During the story Infinite Crisis, parts of the Post-Crisis history were altered. These changes were explained gradually over the next several years. The 2009 mini-series Superman: Secret Origin clarified the earlier history of the Planet in the new continuity. The story established that while Lex Luthor, in the revised history, owns every media in Metropolis and uses it to enforce his public image as a wealthy benefactor, the Planet had always stood free, refusing him ownership and even condemning his actions in editorials signed by Perry White himself. As a result, when Clark Kent is first inducted into the Planet, the newspaper was almost bankrupt, dilapidated and unable to afford new reporters. This changed after Superman begins his career. Thanks to Superman granting exclusive interviews and photographs to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen when he debuts, the paper's circulation increased 700%.

General Sam Lane (Lois' father) attempted to capture Superman, seeing him as an alien threat. When he failed to do so, he forcibly shut down the Planet as part of an attempt to force Perry White and Lois to turn over any information they had on Superman that they haven't released to the public. Eventually, Superman turned the public to his favor and Sam Lane was seen in a bad light after his soldier John Corben AKA Metallo ruthlessly endangered civilians. These events lead to the people of Metropolis no longer looking at Lex Luthor as a savior and The Daily Planet becomes the city's top-selling paper, as well as a major player in media.

In Final Crisis #2, the villain Clayface triggers an explosion in The Daily Planet building, greatly damaging the offices, leaving many injured and at least one person dead. Lois Lane is hospitalized. Despite the chaos of Final Crisis and more than half of humanity being enslaved by evil, the newspaper continues to spread news and inform the public via a printing press in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. In Final Crisis #7, it is shown functioning once again.

The New 52
With the reboot of DC's line of comics in 2011, the Daily Planet was shown in the Superman comics as being bought by Morgan Edge and merged with the Galaxy Broadcasting System, similar to the Silver/Bronze Age continuity. In Action Comics, it is revealed that in the new history/universe, Clark Kent begins his journalism career in Metropolis roughly six years before Galaxy Broadcasting merges with the Daily Planet. Along with being a writer for The Daily Star, partly because editor George Taylor was a friend of his adopted parents, Clark is an active blogger who speaks against political corruption and reports on the troubles of everyday citizens who are not often the focus of news media. While working at the Star, Clark meets Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen and the two become friends despite working at rival publications. Clark is also a great fan of Lois Lane's work at the Daily Planet, eventually meeting her through Jimmy. Months after Superman makes his public debut, Clark leaves The Daily Star on good terms and accepts a position at The Daily Planet.

After the merger with Galaxy Broadcasting, Lois was promoted to run the TV division, with Clark acting as an on-the-scene reporter for the TV division. Clark is later assigned the "Superman beat." But after rising tension between himself and Lois, as well as with Galaxy Broadcasting head Morgan Edge, Clark concludes that the Daily Planet is now more concerned with ratings and internet page views than actual journalism. He quits and goes off to begin an independent, internet news site with fellow journalist Cat Grant. Though Lois and Jimmy consider this to be a bad and risky decision, they continue to act as Clark's friends and confidants, offering aid when they can.

At the conclusion of the New 52, following the New 52 Superman's death, Lex Luthor buys the Daily Planet.

30th and 31st Centuries
In virtually every incarnation of the era inhabited by the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Daily Planet is depicted as a fixture in Metropolis, and one of Earth's major media sources. Frequently, the Flash's wife Iris West Allen (a native of the era) is depicted as a member of its staff or editorial board.

Fictional employees

Daily Planet's staff at various times included:
 * Perry White - Editor-in-Chief
 * Clark Kent - Reporter
 * Lois Lane - Reporter
 * Jimmy Olsen - Photographer and Cub Reporter
 * Lana Lang - Business Columnist and editor
 * Cat Grant - Gossip Columnist and editor
 * Ron Troupe - Political Columnist and editor
 * Steve Lombard - Sports Columnist and editor

Live-action

 * The Daily Planet appears in Adventures of Superman, with exterior shots represented by Los Angeles City Hall and the E. Clem Wilson Building.
 * The Daily Planet, renamed the Daily Bugle (not to be confused with the Marvel Comics property of the same name), appears in The Adventures of Superpup.
 * The Daily Planet appears in the first season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. This version of the building has a small globe near the entrance and a helipad in place of the large rooftop globe. At the end of the season, the Daily Planet is bought out and closed down before Metropolis businessman Franklin Stern funds a relaunch.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Smallville. This version of the building is located across from LuthorCorp's corporate headquarters at 355 Burrard St., the address of the Marine Building where filming of the series took place.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman & Lois.

Animation

 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman: The Animated Series. This version is stated to have offices in Gotham City.
 * A Metropolis High School newspaper based on the Daily Planet called the Daily Planetoid appears in DC Super Hero Girls (2019).
 * The Daily Planet appears in My Adventures with Superman.

Film

 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman (1978), Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. For all of its appearances, the exterior was represented by the New York Daily News building.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman Returns as a computer generated image of a fictional building inserted into the New York City skyline.
 * The Daily Planet appears in films set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), with exterior shots being represented by the Chicago Board of Trade Building while interior shots were filmed inside Willis Tower. Following the destruction of the Metropolis headquarters in Man of Steel, it is rebuilt near Parque Heroes in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Following this, the building makes a further appearance in Justice League (2017) while an associated newspaper appears in Shazam! (2019).
 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman: Doomsday.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman Unbound.
 * The Daily Planet makes a background appearance in Justice League: War.
 * A parallel universe variant of the Daily Planet called PLANETNWZ.COM appears in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.
 * The Daily Planet's globe appears in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
 * The Daily Planet appears in DC League of Super-Pets.

Video games

 * The Daily Planet appears in Superman: Shadow of Apokolips.
 * The Daily Planet appears as a stage in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
 * The Daily Planet appears in DC Universe Online. This version was located in downtown Metropolis before it was bottled by Brainiac.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Batman Arkham Knight.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Lego Dimensions.
 * The Daily Planet appears in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Miscellaneous

 * The Daily Planet appeared in promotional pages for regular DC publications from 1976 to 1981. Notable features of the page were "The Answer Man", where DC writer/editor Bob Rozakis would answer questions sent in by readers, and a comic strip by cartoonist Fred Hembeck poking fun at DC characters.
 * A 16-page "Special Invasion Edition" of the Daily Planet was published by DC in November 1988 as a tie-in to the Invasion! crossover event.
 * The Daily Planet received a self-titled song in Mark Hollis' self-titled debut album.

title: Daily Planet


text:
Digital Private Network Signalling System

The Digital Private Network Signalling System (DPNSS) is a network protocol used on digital trunk lines for connecting to PABX. It supports a defined set of inter-networking facilities.

DPNSS was originally defined by British Telecom. The specification for the protocol is defined in BTNR188. The specification currently comes under the Network Interoperability Consultative Committee.

History
DPNSS was developed in the early 1980s by BT, or its forerunner, Post Office Telecommunications in recognition that the emerging Digital Private Circuit Primary Rate product 'Megastream' had to address the market for both data and voice, the latter being significantly greater because of the market for PBXs. At the time, BT dictated what signalling could be used on its leased lines and, whilst it only had a minority interest in the sales of PBXs, was requested by the PBX manufacturers to produce a standard to prevent the creation of a plethora of conflicting PBX protocols being developed. Under the liberalization rules of the day (1979), BT was barred from manufacturing, selling or supplying PBXs of more than 200 extensions. Digital (PCM-based) PBXs were just starting to come into the marketplace with the Plessey PDX (a licensed version of the ROLM CBX) and the GEC SL1 (a licensed version of the Northern Telecom SL1). It was recognised that corporate customers would wish to network these systems across the country. At the time, 'CAS' inter node signaling was slow and inter-register signaling MF5, developed from PSTN signalling protocols, was complex and would not support sufficient features. The support for DPNSS as BT's own signalling protocol also differentiated BT's private circuit's services from those of its emerging rival Mercury Communications. DPNSS was an active (and successful) collaboration between PBX manufacturers and BT which started relatively slowly (BT & Plessey) but quickly snowballed with MITEL, GEC, Ericsson, Philips and eventually Nortel all joining to create a powerful and feature rich protocol. BT and some of the UK manufacturers championed DPNSS into ECMA and CCITT (ITU) but it was eventually deprecated by the standards bodies in favour of Q931 and QSig. Nevertheless, the elegance of the protocol and its compatibility with PBX features ensured the adoption DPNSS actually grew in Europe, compared to the much slower take-up of Qsig. There were also attempts (during 1984) to take DPNSS into North America. Unfortunately the structures for the creation of standards in North America seemed to prevent manufacturer collaboration as a route forward and the ANSI standards body was not interested in creating PBX interworking standards. Version 1 of BTNR188 (DPNSS) was issued in 1983; the last version of DPNSS to be released 6 in 1995 included compatibility with ISDN features released in V5. A lightweight version of DPNSS 'APNSS' was developed using analogue trunks (Sometimes compressed) and a modem to support D channel signalling.

Overview of the Protocol
Layer 1(CCITT) ITU-G703 defines the physical and electrical interface. G704 defines the Frame structure of the 2,048 Mbs sent across the link. G732 defines the allocation of that frame structure into the 32 discrete 64 Kbit 'channels', of which 0 is used for alignment of the frames and 16 is (by convention only) allocated to common channel signalling. Speech is carried as G711. Layer 2 Timeslot 16, 64Kbs operates as HDLC LAPB, to support up to 60 PVCs or DLCs (data link connections) (30 directly associated with the bearer channels and 30 for unrelated messages) as the specification describes them. Therefore, at maximum operation, each potential traffic channel can have two simultaneous data channels available for messages. Note that HDLC operates as a statistical multiplexing system. When traffic deltas are low, a single call establishment message will have access to the full 64Kbs (allowing for overheads). DPNSS is a layer 3 protocol functioning as common channel signalling. The functionality is divided into Levels (confusingly nothing to do with OSI layers.) Levels 1-6 deal with simple call establishment (make call/break call) and are the minimum requirements by which a PBX can be said to be DPNSS compatible. The remaining levels are allocated to telephony features, supplementary services or to administrative features. Note that support of 'levels' by a PBX is not necessarily incremental. Some levels are interdependent but a PBX may omit support of some levels (above 6) and support others.

DPNSS is a compelled protocol in that each instruction issued must be met with an appropriate response from the other PBX otherwise the message is re-transmitted (until timer expiry). This means that when interworking two PBXs features invoked on PBX A must be acknowledged by PBX B even if that feature is not supported. DPNSS carries its protocol messages as short strings of IA5 text. It is therefore much easier to interpret in its native form than Q931/Qsig or H323/H450 and a precursor to the plain language format of SIP.

Practical Considerations
As HDLC can operate successfully in quite poor (errored) data environments, DPNSS will work over a 2 Mbit/s link running without proper synchronisation (plesiochronously) and over poor quality connections (including badly terminated connectors). When setting up PBXs to run a DPNSS connection one end must be defined as the primary or 'A' end. This is a protocol requirement and has nothing to do with link synchronisation. However, such badly synchronised links were frowned upon because of the problems associated with sending faxes and/or other modem based communication which were not specifically identified within the protocol.

DPNSS and VoIP
For a protocol that began life in the 1980s, DPNSS is natively a long way from VoIP. However, many of the hybrid VoIP PBXs available from manufacturers worldwide provide on-board DPNSS trunk cards. Where they do not, a protocol converter is necessary. Commercially available equipment offers the ability to convert from DPNSS to Q.Sig. Note that it is also possible to tunnel DPNSS and its associated PCM (G711) over an IP network. This can be point to point where the IP network carries packetised voice N x 64 Kbs speech and a separate IP signalling channel to carry the notional 64 Kbs of DPNSS signalling. A more sophisticated solution uses intelligence on the edge of the IP network to route voice to the correct node. This is a Voice VPN. Note that this should not be confused with the pre-VOIP 'Voice VPN' deployed by routing calls intelligently in a TDM switching platform, often Nortel DMS100 and customers PBX nodes.

Criticisms
Some critics of DPNSS suggest that it is too loosely defined and allows too much latitude in its interpretation of message formats and timers. It is also sometimes mistakenly believed that DPNSS is semi proprietary and that it is only possible to connect PBXs from the same manufacturer. i.e. Siemens will connect to Siemens, Mitel to Mitel etc. Experience indicates that this is not the case and BT's FeatureNet platform (Nortel's DMS100) running DPNSS, has interconnected successfully to many PBX types available in the UK. In addition, as part of the first commercial implementation of DPNSS (in the Government Telephone Network or GTN in 1983), BT insisted that the core of the network be made from PBXs of different manufacture to prove the interoperability in real life.


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Digital Access Signalling System 1

Digital Access Signalling System 1 (DASS1) is a proprietary protocol defined by British Telecom to provide ISDN services in the United Kingdom. It is now obsolete, having been replaced by DASS2. This too will become obsolete over the coming years as Q.931, a European standard, becomes widely adopted in the EU.

title: Digital Access Signalling System 1


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Digital Access Signalling System 2

Digital Access Signalling System 2 (DASS2) is an obsolescent protocol defined by British Telecom for digital links to PSTN based on ISDN. Although still available on request, it has been superseded by ETS 300 102 ("EuroISDN").

DASS2 is an improved version over DASS1, based on experiences with DPNSS.

In the UK, the ISDN concept was first introduced to customers by BT with their DASS2 connections. DASS2 (Digital Access Signalling System) is a BT-designed signalling standard, and was introduced before the Q.931 standard was finalised by the international community. British Telecom used the term ISDN when describing their DASS2 lines.

DASS2 lines are provided to customers on a 2 Mbit/s link and can handle 30 simultaneous calls (64 kbit/s each). DASS2 is still offered by BT and other UK carriers. Q.931 is the name of the CCITT document that describes the agreed signalling format for International ISDN. CCITT had previously been known as International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee. The organisation set out the internationally agreed standards for telecommunications, and subsequently evolved into the ITU. In the United Kingdom, the Q.931-based protocol is ETS 300 102 (also known as EuroISDN). This is a very close implementation of the original CCITT specification. It is a 2 Mbit/s service as with DASS2, but the feature capability is far greater and has negated the problems associated with DASS2, including echo problems and circuit spikes. In the UK, both DASS 2 and EuroISDN (ETS 300 102) lines are available to customers with EuroISDN as the preferred signalling type. Customers normally choose the desired signalling system, as this will be dictated by their CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), usually a PABX.

Most modern PABXs can handle many different types of signalling system, however the trend seems to be away from the DASS2 (which is no longer being developed by BT and has been known to deny problems with their DASS2 circuits), and towards the internationally recognised Q.931 standard, which is utilised by many country's telephony service providers.

The CCITT specify the standards for the layers 1, 2 and 3 signalling messages. The layer 3 messages are the messages which actually control the call setup, teardown, and routing.

The layer 3 messages or call control messages are the minimum messages that must be understood by the interfacing equipment. Individual service providers may publish their own documentation which details further messages that will be transported in addition to Q.931 messages. There are a number of additional European documents that cover supplementary services. These cover features that may be instigated by exchanges via the ISDN and require a higher degree of layer 3 implementation.

title: Digital Access Signalling System 2


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Devanagari

Devanagari (देवनागरी,, ) is an Indic script used in the northern Indian subcontinent. Also simply called Nāgari, it is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient Brāhmi script. It is one of the official scripts of the Republic of India and Nepal. It was developed and in regular use by the 8th century CE and achieved its modern form by 1200 CE. The Devanāgari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants, is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world, being used for over 120 languages.

The orthography of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language. Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case. It is written from left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared outlines, and is recognisable by a horizontal line, known as a शिरोरेखा, that runs along the top of full letters. In a cursory look, the Devanāgarī script appears different from other Indic scripts, such as Bengali-Assamese or Gurmukhi, but a closer examination reveals they are very similar except for angles and structural emphasis.

Among the languages using it as a primary or secondary script are Marathi, Pāḷi, Sanskrit, Hindi, Boro, Nepali, Sherpa, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha, Chhattisgarhi, Haryanvi, Magahi, Nagpuri, Rajasthani, Khandeshi, Bhili, Dogri, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani, Sindhi, Nepal Bhasa, Mundari, Angika, Bajjika and Santali. The Devanāgarī script is closely related to the Nandināgarī script commonly found in numerous ancient manuscripts of South India, and it is distantly related to a number of southeast Asian scripts.

Etymology
is formed by the addition of the word (देव) to the word  (नागरी). is an adjective derived from (नगर), a Sanskrit word meaning "town" or "city," and literally means "urban" or "urbane". The word (implicitly modifying, "script") was used on its own to refer to a North Indian script, or perhaps a number of such scripts, as Al-Biruni attests in the 11th century; the form  is attested later, at least by the 18th century. The name of the Nandināgarī script is also formed by adding a prefix to the generic script name. The precise origin and significance of the prefix remains unclear.

History
Devanāgarī is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. It is a descendant of the 3rd century BCE Brāhmī script, which evolved into the Nagari script which in turn gave birth to Devanāgarī and Nandināgarī. Devanāgarī has been widely adopted across India and Nepal to write Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, Central Indo-Aryan languages, Konkani, Boro, and various Nepalese languages.

Some of the earliest epigraphic evidence attesting to the developing Sanskrit Nāgarī script in ancient India is from the 1st to 4th century CE inscriptions discovered in Gujarat. Variants of script called, recognisably close to Devanāgarī, are first attested from the 1st century CE Rudradaman inscriptions in Sanskrit, while the modern standardised form of Devanāgarī was in use by about 1000 CE. Medieval inscriptions suggest widespread diffusion of Nāgarī-related scripts, with biscripts presenting local script along with the adoption of Nāgarī scripts. For example, the mid 8th-century Pattadakal pillar in Karnataka has text in both Siddha Matrika script, and an early Telugu-Kannada script; while, the Kangra Jawalamukhi inscription in Himachal Pradesh is written in both Sharada and Devanāgarī scripts.

The Nāgarī script was in regular use by the 7th century CE, and it was fully developed by about the end of first millennium. The use of Sanskrit in Nāgarī script in medieval India is attested by numerous pillar and cave-temple inscriptions, including the 11th-century Udayagiri inscriptions in Madhya Pradesh, and an inscribed brick found in Uttar Pradesh, dated to be from 1217 CE, which is now held at the British Museum. The script's prototypes and related versions have been discovered with ancient relics outside India, in places such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Indonesia. In East Asia, the script (considered as the closest precursor to Nāgarī) was in use by Buddhists. Nāgarī has been the primus inter pares of the Indic scripts. It has long been used traditionally by religiously educated people in South Asia to record and transmit information, existing throughout the land in parallel with a wide variety of local scripts (such as Moḍī, Kaithi, and Mahajani) used for administration, commerce, and other daily uses.

Sharada remained in parallel use in Kashmir. An early version of Devanāgarī is visible in the Kutila inscription of Bareilly dated to VS 1049 (992 CE), which demonstrates the emergence of the horizontal bar to group letters belonging to a word. One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit texts from the early post-Maurya period consists of 1,413 Nāgarī pages of a commentary by Patanjali, with a composition date of about 150 BCE, the surviving copy transcribed about 14th century CE.

East Asia
In the 7th century, under the rule of Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire, Thonmi Sambhota was sent to Nepal to open marriage negotiations with a Nepali princess and to find a writing system suitable for the Tibetan language. He then invented the Tibetan script based on the Nāgarī used in Kashmir. He added 6 new characters for sounds that did not exist in Sanskrit.

Other scripts closely related to Nāgarī (such as Siddhaṃ) were introduced throughout East and Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 10th centuries CE: notably in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Japan.

Most of the Southeast Asian scripts have roots in Dravidian scripts, but a few found in south-central regions of Java and isolated parts of southeast Asia resemble Devanāgarī or its prototypes. The Kawi script in particular is similar to the Devanāgarī in many respects, though the morphology of the script has local changes. The earliest inscriptions in the Devanāgarī-like scripts are from around the 10th century CE, with many more between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Some of the old-Devanāgarī inscriptions are found in Hindu temples of Java, such as the Prambanan temple. The Ligor and the Kalasan inscriptions of central Java, dated to the 8th century, are also in the Nāgarī script of north India. According to the epigraphist and Asian Studies scholar Lawrence Briggs, these may be related to the 9th century copper plate inscription of Devapaladeva (Bengal) which is also in early Devanāgarī script. The term kawi in Kawi script is a loan word from (poetry). According to anthropologists and Asian studies scholars John Norman Miksic and Goh Geok Yian, the 8th century version of early Nāgarī or Devanāgarī script was adopted in Java, Bali, and Khmer around the 8th–9th centuries, as evidenced by the many contemporaneous inscriptions of this period.

Letters
The letter order of Devanāgarī, like nearly all Brāhmic scripts, is based on phonetic principles that consider both the manner and place of articulation of the consonants and vowels they represent. This arrangement is usually referred to as the ("garland of letters"). The format of Devanāgarī for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.

Vowels
The vowels and their arrangement are:

 * 1) Arranged with the vowels are two consonantal diacritics, the final nasal  ं  and the final fricative  ः  (called अं  and अः ).  notes of the  in Sanskrit that "there is some controversy as to whether it represents a homorganic nasal stop, a nasalised vowel, a nasalised semivowel, or all these according to context". The  represents post-vocalic voiceless glottal fricative , in Sanskrit an allophone of , or less commonly , usually in word-final position. Some traditions of recitation append an echo of the vowel after the breath: इः .  considers the  along with letters ङ  and ञ  for the "largely predictable" velar and palatal nasals to be examples of "phonetic overkill in the system".
 * 2) Another diacritic is the / ँ अँ.  describes it as a "more emphatic form" of the, "sometimes  used to mark a true [vowel] nasalization". In a new Indo-Aryan language such as Hindi the distinction is formal: the  indicates vowel nasalisation while the  indicates a homorganic nasal preceding another consonant: e.g., हँसी  "laughter", गंगा  "the Ganges". When an  has a vowel diacritic above the top line, that leaves no room for the  ("moon") stroke , which is dispensed with in favour of the lone dot: हूँ  "am", but हैं  "are". Some writers and typesetters dispense with the "moon" stroke altogether, using only the dot in all situations.
 * 3) The  (ऽ अऽ) (usually transliterated with an apostrophe) is a Sanskrit punctuation mark for the elision of a vowel in sandhi: एकोऽयम्  ( ← एकस्  + अयम् ) ("this one"). An original long vowel lost to coalescence is sometimes marked with a double : सदाऽऽत्मा  ( ← सदा  + आत्मा ) "always, the self". In Hindi,  states that its "main function is to show that a vowel is sustained in a cry or a shout": आईऽऽऽ! . In Madhyadeshi languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, etc. which have "quite a number of verbal forms that end in that inherent vowel", the  is used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: बइठऽ  "sit" versus बइठ
 * 4) The syllabic consonants ॠ, ऌ , and ॡ  are specific to Sanskrit and not included in the  of other languages. The sound represented by  has also been largely lost in the modern languages, and its pronunciation now ranges from  (Hindi) to  (Marathi).
 * 5)   is not an actual phoneme of Sanskrit, but rather a graphic convention included among the vowels in order to maintain the symmetry of short–long pairs of letters.
 * 6) There are non-regular formations of रु, रू , and हृ.
 * 7) There are two more vowels in Marathi, ॲ and ऑ, that respectively represent [], similar to the RP English pronunciation of $⟨a⟩$ in act, and [], similar to the RP pronunciation of $⟨o⟩$ in cot. These vowels are sometimes used in Hindi too, as in डॉलर  ("dollar"). IAST transliteration is not defined. In ISO 15919, the transliteration is  and, respectively.
 * 8) Kashmiri Devanagari uses letters like ॳ, ॴ, ॶ, ॷ, ऎ, ऒ, औ, ॵ to represent its vowels (see Kashmiri language).

Consonants
The table below shows the consonant letters (in combination with inherent vowel ) and their arrangement. To the right of the Devanāgarī letter it shows the Latin script transliteration using International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, and the phonetic value (IPA) in Hindi.

 * Additionally, there is ळ (IPA:  or ), the intervocalic lateral flap allophone of the voiced retroflex stop in Vedic Sanskrit, which is a phoneme in languages such as Marathi, Konkani, Garhwali, and Rajasthani.
 * Beyond the Sanskritic set, new shapes have rarely been formulated. offers the following, "In any case, according to some, all possible sounds had already been described and provided for in this system, as Sanskrit was the original and perfect language. Hence it was difficult to provide for or even to conceive other sounds, unknown to the phoneticians of Sanskrit". Where foreign borrowings and internal developments did inevitably accrue and arise in New Indo-Aryan languages, they have been ignored in writing, or dealt through means such as diacritics and ligatures (ignored in recitation).
 * The most prolific diacritic has been the subscript dot ़. Hindi uses it for the Persian, Arabic and English sounds क़  /q/, ख़  /x/, ग़  /ɣ/, ज़  /z/, झ़  /ʒ/, and फ़  /f/, and for the allophonic developments ड़  /ɽ/ and ढ़  . (Although ऴ   could also exist, it is not used in Hindi.)
 * Devanagari used to write Mahl dialect of Dhivehi uses nukta on च़, त़, द़, ल़, श़, स़, ह़ to represent other Perso-Arabic phonemes (see Maldivian writing systems).
 * Sindhi's and Saraiki's implosives are accommodated with a line attached below: ॻ, ॼ , ॾ , ॿ.
 * Aspirated sonorants may be represented as conjuncts/ligatures with ह : म्ह, न्ह , ण्ह , व्ह , ल्ह , ळ्ह , र्ह.
 * notes Marwari as using ॸ for  (while ड represents ).
 * Devanagari used to write Avestan uses letters like ॹ /ʒ/ to represent its sounds.

For a list of all 297 (33×9) possible Sanskrit consonant-short vowel syllables see.

Vowel diacritics

Table: Consonants with vowel diacritics. Vowels in their independent form on the top and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant '' on the bottom.  is without any added vowel sign, where the vowel  is inherent.

A vowel combines with a consonant in their diacritic form. For example, the vowel आ combines with the consonant क्  to form the syllabic letter का, with halant (cancel sign) removed and added vowel sign which is indicated by diacritics. The vowel अ combines with the consonant क्  to form क  with halant removed. But the diacritic series of क, ख, ग, घ (, respectively) is without any added vowel sign, as the vowel अ is inherent.

The combinations of all consonants and vowels, each in alphabetical order, are laid out in the  or   table. In the following table, the transliteration of each combination will appear on mouseover:

Old forms

The following letter variants are also in use, particularly in older texts and in specific regions:

Conjunct consonants

As mentioned, successive consonants lacking a vowel in between them may physically join as a conjunct consonant or ligature. When Devanāgarī is used for writing languages other than Sanskrit, conjuncts are used mostly with Sanskrit words and loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant and native speakers know to suppress the vowel when it is conventional to do so. For example, the native Hindi word is written करना. The government of these clusters ranges from widely to narrowly applicable rules, with special exceptions within. While standardised for the most part, there are certain variations in clustering, of which the Unicode used on this page is just one scheme. The following are a number of rules:

 * 24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke (ख, घ , ण etc.). As first or middle fragments/members of a cluster (when letters are to be written as half pronounced), they lose that stroke. e.g. त् + व = त्व , ण् + ढ = ण्ढ , स् + थ = स्थ . In Unicode, as in Hindi, these consonants without their vertical stems are called "half forms". श  appears as a different, simple ribbon-shaped fragment preceding व , न , च , ल , and र , causing these second members to be shifted down and reduced in size. Thus श्व , श्न , श्च , श्ल , श्र , and शृ.
 * र as a first member takes the form of a curved upward dash above the final character or its  diacritic. e.g. र्व, र्वा , र्स्प , र्स्पा . As a final member with ट , ठ , ड , ढ , ड़ , छ , it is two lines together below the character pointed downwards. Thus ट्र , ठ्र , ड्र , ढ्र , ड़्र , छ्र . Elsewhere as a final member it is a diagonal stroke extending leftwards and down. e.g. क्र ग्र भ्र ब्र. त  is shifted up to make the conjunct त्र.
 * As first members, remaining characters lacking vertical strokes such as द and ह  may have their second member, reduced in size and lacking its horizontal stroke, placed underneath. क, छ , and फ  shorten their right hooks and join them directly to the following member.
 * The conjuncts for and  are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components. The conjunct for  is क्ष (क् + ष) and for  it is ज्ञ (ज् + ञ).

Accent marks
The pitch accent of Vedic Sanskrit is written with various symbols depending on shakha. In the Rigveda, is written with a bar below the line (◌॒),  with a stroke above the line (◌॑) while  is unmarked.

Punctuation
The end of a sentence or half-verse may be marked with the "।" symbol (called a, meaning "bar", or called a , meaning "full stop/pause"). The end of a full verse may be marked with a double-, a "॥" symbol. A comma (called an , meaning "short stop/pause") is used to denote a natural pause in speech. Punctuation marks of Western origin, such as the colon, semicolon, exclamation mark, dash, and question mark have been in use in Devanāgarī script since at least the 1900s, matching their use in European languages.

Fonts
A variety of Unicode fonts are in use for Devanāgarī. These include Akshar, Annapurna, Arial, CDAC-Gist Surekh, CDAC-Gist Yogesh, Chandas, Gargi, Gurumaa, Jaipur, Jana, Kalimati, Kanjirowa, Lohit Devanagari, Mangal, Kokila, ,Preeti, Raghu, Sanskrit2003, Santipur OT, Siddhanta, and Thyaka.

The form of Devanāgarī fonts vary with function. According to Harvard College for Sanskrit studies: "Uttara [companion to Chandas] is the best in terms of ligatures but, because it is designed for Vedic as well, requires so much vertical space that it is not well suited for the 'user interface font' (though an excellent choice for the 'original field' font). Santipur OT is a beautiful font reflecting a very early [medieval era] typesetting style for Devanagari. Sanskrit 2003 is a good all-around font and has more ligatures than most fonts, though students will probably find the spacing of the CDAC-Gist Surekh font makes for quicker comprehension and reading."

The Google Fonts project has a number of Unicode fonts for Devanāgarī in a variety of typefaces in serif, sans-serif, display and handwriting categories.

Transliteration

There are several methods of Romanisation or transliteration from Devanāgarī to the Roman script.

Hunterian system
The Hunterian system is the national system of romanisation in India, officially adopted by the Government of India.

ISO 15919
A standard transliteration convention was codified in the ISO 15919 standard of 2001. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brāhmic graphemes to the Latin script. The Devanāgarī-specific portion is nearly identical to the academic standard for Sanskrit, IAST.

IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is the academic standard for the romanisation of Sanskrit. IAST is the de facto standard used in printed publications, like books, magazines, and electronic texts with Unicode fonts. It is based on a standard established by the Congress of Orientalists at Athens in 1912. The ISO 15919 standard of 2001 codified the transliteration convention to include an expanded standard for sister scripts of Devanāgarī.

The National Library at Kolkata romanisation, intended for the romanisation of all Indic scripts, is an extension of IAST.

Harvard-Kyoto
Compared to IAST, Harvard-Kyoto looks much simpler. It does not contain all the diacritic marks that IAST contains. It was designed to simplify the task of putting large amount of Sanskrit textual material into machine readable form, and the inventors stated that it reduces the effort needed in transliteration of Sanskrit texts on the keyboard. This makes typing in Harvard-Kyoto much easier than IAST. Harvard-Kyoto uses capital letters that can be difficult to read in the middle of words.

ITRANS
ITRANS is a lossless transliteration scheme of Devanāgarī into ASCII that is widely used on Usenet. It is an extension of the Harvard-Kyoto scheme. In ITRANS, the word is written "devanaagarii" or "devanAgarI". ITRANS is associated with an application of the same name that enables typesetting in Indic scripts. The user inputs in Roman letters and the ITRANS pre-processor translates the Roman letters into Devanāgarī (or other Indic languages). The latest version of ITRANS is version 5.30 released in July 2001. It is similar to Velthuis system and was created by Avinash Chopde to help print various Indic scripts with personal computers.

Velthuis
The disadvantage of the above ASCII schemes is case-sensitivity, implying that transliterated names may not be capitalised. This difficulty is avoided with the system developed in 1996 by Frans Velthuis for TeX, loosely based on IAST, in which case is irrelevant.

ALA-LC Romanisation
ALA-LC romanisation is a transliteration scheme approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association, and widely used in North American libraries. Transliteration tables are based on languages, so there is a table for Hindi, one for Sanskrit and Prakrit, etc.

WX
WX is a Roman transliteration scheme for Indian languages, widely used among the natural language processing community in India. It originated at IIT Kanpur for computational processing of Indian languages. The salient features of this transliteration scheme are as follows.
 * Every consonant and every vowel has a single mapping into Roman. Hence it is a prefix code, advantageous from computation point of view.
 * Lower-case letters are used for unaspirated consonants and short vowels, while capital letters are used for aspirated consonants and long vowels. While the retroflex stops are mapped to 't, T, d, D, N', the dentals are mapped to 'w, W, x, X, n'. Hence the name 'WX', a reminder of this idiosyncratic mapping.

ISCII
ISCII is an 8-bit encoding. The lower 128 codepoints are plain ASCII, the upper 128 codepoints are ISCII-specific.

It has been designed for representing not only Devanāgarī but also various other Indic scripts as well as a Latin-based script with diacritic marks used for transliteration of the Indic scripts.

ISCII has largely been superseded by Unicode, which has, however, attempted to preserve the ISCII layout for its Indic language blocks.

Unicode
The Unicode Standard defines four blocks for Devanāgarī: Devanagari (U+0900–U+097F), Devanagari Extended (U+A8E0–U+A8FF), Devanagari Extended-A (U+11B00–11B5F), and Vedic Extensions (U+1CD0–U+1CFF).

InScript layout
InScript is the standard keyboard layout for Devanāgarī as standardized by the Government of India. It is inbuilt in all modern major operating systems. Microsoft Windows supports the InScript layout, which can be used to input unicode Devanāgarī characters. InScript is also available in some touchscreen mobile phones.

Typewriter
This layout was used on manual typewriters when computers were not available or were uncommon. For backward compatibility some typing tools like Indic IME still provide this layout.

Phonetic

Such tools work on phonetic transliteration. The user writes in the Latin alphabet and the IME automatically converts it into Devanāgarī. Some popular phonetic typing tools are Akruti, Baraha IME and Google IME.

The Mac OS X operating system includes two different keyboard layouts for Devanāgarī: one resembles the INSCRIPT/KDE Linux, while the other is a phonetic layout called "Devanāgarī QWERTY".

Any one of the Unicode fonts input systems is fine for the Indic language Wikipedia and other wikiprojects, including Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, and Nepali Wikipedia. While some people use InScript, the majority uses either Google phonetic transliteration or the input facility Universal Language Selector provided on Wikipedia. On Indic language wikiprojects, the phonetic facility provided initially was java-based, and was later supported by Narayam extension for phonetic input facility. Currently Indic language Wiki projects are supported by Universal Language Selector (ULS), that offers both phonetic keyboard (Aksharantaran, Marathi: अक्षरांतरण, Hindi: लिप्यंतरण, बोलनागरी) and InScript keyboard (Marathi: मराठी लिपी).

The Ubuntu Linux operating system supports several keyboard layouts for Devanāgarī, including Harvard-Kyoto, WX notation, Bolanagari and phonetic. The 'remington' typing method in Ubuntu IBUS is similar to the Krutidev typing method, popular in Rajasthan. The 'itrans' method is useful for those who know English (and the English keyboard) well but are not familiar with typing in Devanāgarī.

Census and catalogues of manuscripts in Devanāgarī
Thousands of manuscripts of ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts in Devanāgarī have been discovered since the 19th century. Major catalogues and census include:

 * , Medical Hall Press, Princeton University Archive
 * , Vol 1: Upanishads, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), University of Michigan Library Archives
 * A preliminary list of the Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts, Vedas, Sastras, Sutras, Schools of Hindu Philosophies, Arts, Design, Music and other fields, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), (Devanagiri manuscripts are identified by Character code De.)
 * Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 1: Vedic Manuscripts, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
 * Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 4: Manuscripts of Hindu schools of Philosophy and Tantra, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
 * Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 5: Manuscripts of Medicine, Astronomy and Mathematics, Architecture and Technical Science Literature, Julius Eggeling (Compiler), Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
 * , Part 6: Poetic, Epic and Purana Literature, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
 * David Pingree (1970–1981), Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit: Volumes 1 through 5, American Philosophical Society, Manuscripts in various Indic scripts including Devanāgarī

title: Devanagari


text:
Talk:Devanagari

Has anyone ever noticed these similarities?
Has anyone, or can anyone look into the similarities between the Greek alphabet and the Brahmi alphabet which then influenced the Devangari? I absolutely see the similarity between the Devangari "थ", the Brahmi "𑀣" and the Greek Θ. Or the Brahmi "𑀓", Devangari "क" and Greek "κ"?

Some like the Brahmi "𑀮" as a flipped "L"? Is there a link between these scripts and Greek possibly? I just did a search for the word "greek" on the Brahmi wiki at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmi_script and it appears 33 times. Can someone expand on the possible greek origins of Devangari by way of Brahmi? Thank you.

Temet Nosce (talk) 03:28, 1 October 2021 (UTC)

 * This is covered at . Brusquedandelion (talk) 00:54, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Need clearer consonant letter order
The consonant chart (section 3.2) does not quite make the exact alphabetical order of all the consonants in Devanagari clear. This order, following authoritative sources such as Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, follows each row of the chart across from left to right, beginning with the top row, BUT only as far as the plosives and nasals! All of the plosives and nasals are ordered in this way first, and only then does the alphabetical order proceed to the approximants, going from top to bottom down the column, and then to the aghoṣa fricatives (the sibilant fricatives), again going from top to bottom down the column, and finally the lone saghoṣa fricative is the last consonant in this order. The chart does not make any of this clear at all, and there is no way a reader could be expected to figure it out from the chart and the article as it appears right now, even though section 3 (Letters) begins by talking about the "letter order of Devanagari". Skummafremdygest (talk) 17:47, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

use of phonological brackets / / instead of phonetical brackets [   ]  ?
Wouldn't it be much better to use for example /r/ instead of [r] ? In the case of /r/ र, even in Hindi it can also be [ɾ] intervocally, and in Classical Sanskrit it apparently was [ɽ], [ɾ] or [ɾ̪]. In Marathi the sound is given as [ɾ~r] on the phonology page. As is well known, व can be [ʋ], [v] or [w]. And all this variation is not a problem for the clarity of the script, as they aren't different phonemes. Exarchus (talk) 19:40, 7 June 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Devanagari