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Deir el-Medina

Deir el-Medina (دير المدينة), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BCE) The settlement's ancient name was Set maat ("Place of Truth"), and the workmen who lived there were called "Servants in the Place of Truth". During the Christian era, the temple of Hathor was converted into a Monastery of Saint Isidorus the Martyr (ⲡⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲙ̄ⲫⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲓⲥⲓⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲙⲁⲣⲧⲉⲣⲟⲥ) from which the Egyptian Arabic name Deir el-Medina ("Monastery of the City") is derived.

At the time when the world's press was concentrating on Howard Carter's discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, a team led by Bernard Bruyère began to excavate the site. This work has resulted in one of the most thoroughly documented accounts of community life in the ancient world that spans almost four hundred years. There is no comparable site in which the organisation, social interactions, working and living conditions of a community can be studied in such detail.

The site is located on the west bank of the Nile, across the river from modern-day Luxor. The village is laid out in a small natural amphitheatre, within easy walking distance of the Valley of the Kings to the north, funerary temples to the east and south-east, with the Valley of the Queens to the west. The village may have been built apart from the wider population in order to preserve secrecy in view of sensitive nature of the work carried out in the tombs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Excavation history
A significant find of papyri was made in the 1840s in the vicinity of the village and many objects were also found during the course of the 19th century. The archaeological site was first seriously excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli between 1905–1909 which uncovered large amounts of ostraca. A French team directed by Bernard Bruyère excavated the entire site, including village, dump and cemetery, between 1922–1951. Unfortunately through lack of control it is now thought that about half of the papyri recovered were removed without the knowledge or authorization of the team director.

Around five thousand ostraca of assorted works of commerce and literature were found in a well close to the village. Jaroslav Černý, who was part of Bruyère's team, went on to study the village for almost fifty years until his death in 1970 and was able to name and describe the lives of many of the inhabitants. The peak overlooking the village was renamed "Mont Cernabru" in recognition of Černý and Bruyère's work on the village.

Village
The first datable remains of the village belong to the reign of Thutmose I (c. 1506–1493 BCE) with its final shape being formed during the Ramesside Period. At its peak, the community contained around sixty-eight houses spread over a total area of 5,600 m2 with a narrow road running the length of the village. The main road through the village may have been covered to shelter the villagers from the intense glare and heat of the sun. The size of the habitations varied, with an average floor space of 70 m2, but the same construction methods were used throughout the village. Walls were made of mudbrick, built on top of stone foundations. Mud was applied to the walls, which were then painted white on the external surfaces, while some of the inner surfaces were whitewashed up to a height of around one metre. A wooden front door might have carried the occupants' name. Houses consisted of four to five rooms, comprising an entrance, main room, two smaller rooms, kitchen with cellar and staircase leading to the roof. The full glare of the sun was avoided by situating the windows high up on the walls. The main room contained a mudbrick platform with steps which may have been used as a shrine or a birthing bed. Nearly all houses contained niches for statues and small altars. The tombs built by the community for their own use include small rock-cut chapels and substructures adorned with small pyramids.

Due to its location, the village is not thought to have provided a pleasant environment. The walled village reflects the shape of the narrow valley in which it's situated, with the barren surrounding hillsides reflecting the desert sun and the hill of Gurnet Murai cutting off the north breeze, as well as any view of the verdant river valley. The village was abandoned c. 1110–1080 BCE during the reign of Ramesses XI (whose tomb was the last of the royal tombs built in the Valley of the Kings) due to increasing threats from tomb robbery, Libyan raids and the instability of civil war. The Ptolemids later built a temple to Hathor on the site of an ancient shrine dedicated to her.

Historical texts of Deir el-Medina
The surviving texts record the events of daily life rather than major historical incidents. Personal letters reveal much about the social relations and family life of the villagers. The ancient economy is documented by records of sales transactions that yield information on prices and exchange. Records of prayers and charms illustrate ordinary popular conceptions of the divine, whilst researchers into ancient law and practice find a rich source of information recorded in the texts from the village. Many examples of the most famous works of ancient Egyptian literature have also been discovered. Thousands of papyri and ostraca still await publication.

Village life
The settlement was home to a mixed population of Egyptians, Nubians and Asiatics who were employed as labourers, (stone-cutters, plasterers, water-carriers), as well as those involved in the administration and decoration of the royal tombs and temples. The artisans and the village were organised into two groups, left and right gangs who worked on opposite sides of the tomb walls similar to a ship's crew, with a foreman for each who supervised the village and its work.

As the main well was thirty minutes walk from the village, carriers worked to keep the village regularly supplied with water. When working on the tombs, the artisans stayed overnight in a camp overlooking the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (c. 1479–1458 BCE) that is still visible today. Surviving records indicate that the workers had cooked meals delivered to them from the village.

Based on analysis of income and prices, the workmen of the village would, in modern terms, be considered middle class. As salaried state employees they were paid in rations at up to three times the rate of a field hand, but unofficial second jobs were also widely practiced. At great festivals such as the heb sed the workmen were issued with extra supplies of food and drink to allow a stylish celebration.

The working week was eight days followed by two days holiday, though the six days off a month could be supplemented frequently due to illness, family reasons and, as recorded by the scribe of the tomb, arguing with one's wife or having a hangover. Including the days given over to festivals, over one-third of the year was time-off for the villagers during the reign of Merneptah (c. 1213–1203 BCE).

During their days off the workmen could work on their own tombs, and since they were amongst the best craftsmen in Ancient Egypt who excavated and decorated royal tombs, their own tombs are considered to be some of the most beautiful on the west bank.

A large proportion of the community, including women, could at least read and possibly write.

The jobs of the workers would have been considered desirable and prized positions, with the posts being inheritable.

The examples of love songs recovered show how friendship between the sexes was practised, as was social drinking by both men and women. Egyptian marriages amongst commoners were monogamous but little is known about the marriage or wedding arrangements from surviving records. It was not unusual for couples to have six or seven children, with some recorded as having ten.

Separation, divorce and remarriage occurred. Merymaat is recorded as wanting a divorce on account of his mother in-law's behaviour. Female slaves could become surrogate mothers in cases where the wife was infertile and in doing so raise their status and procure their freedom.

The community could move freely in and out of the walled village but for security reasons the only outsiders allowed to enter the site were those with good work-related reasons.

Women and village life
The records from this village provide most of the information we know about how women lived in the New Kingdom era. Women were supplied with servants by the government to assist with the grinding of the grain and laundry tasks. The wives of the workers cared for the children and baked the bread, a prime food source in this society. The vast majority of women who had a particular religious status embedded in their names were married to foremen or scribes and could hold the titles of chantress or singer, with official positions within local shrines or temples, perhaps even within the major temples of Thebes. Under Egyptian law they had property rights. They had title to their own wealth and a third of all marital goods. This would belong solely to the wife in case of divorce or death of the husband. If she died first it would go to her heirs, not to her spouse. Brewing of beer was normally supervised by the Mistress of the House, though the workmen considered the monitoring of the activity as a legitimate excuse for taking time off work.

Law and order
The workers and their families were not slaves but free citizens with recourse to the justice system, as required. In principle, any Egyptian could petition the vizier and could demand a trial by his peers. The community had its own court of law made up of a foreman, deputies, craftsmen and a court scribe, and were authorised to deal with all civil and some criminal cases, typically relating to the non-payment of goods or services. The villagers represented themselves and cases could go on for several years, with one dispute involving the chief of police lasting eleven years. The local police, Medjay, were responsible for preserving law and order, as well as controlling access to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. One of the most famous cases recorded relates to Paneb, the son of an overseer, who was accused of looting royal tombs, adultery and causing unrest in the community. The outcome is not known but surviving records indicate the execution of a head of workmen at this time.

The people of Deir el-Medina often consulted with oracles about many aspects of their lives including justice. Questions could be put in writing or orally before the image of the god when carried by priests upon a litter. A positive response could have been indicated by a downward dip and a negative response by a withdrawal of the litter. When a matter of justice came up that wasn't resolved by a tribunal, the god's statue could be carried to the accused and asked "Is it he who stole my goods?" and, if the statue nodded, the accused would be considered guilty. However, at times, the accused would deny guilt and demand to see another oracle or, in at least one case when that failed, he asked to see a third. When guilt was determined, a judgement would be passed and the accused would have to make reparations and receive punishment. The Egyptians also believed the oracle could bring disease or blindness to people as punishment or miracle cures as rewards.

Medical care
The records and ostraca from Deir el-Medina provide a deeply compelling view into the medical workings of the New Kingdom. As in other Egyptian communities, the workmen and inhabitants of Deir el-Medina received care for their health problems through medical treatment, prayer, and magic. Nevertheless, the records at Deir el-Medina indicate some level of division, as records from the village note both a “physician” who saw patients and prescribed treatments, and a “scorpion charmer” who specialized in magical cures for scorpion bites.

Health texts from Deir el-Medina also differed in their circulation. Magical spells and remedies were widely distributed among the workmen; there are even several cases of spells being sent from one worker to another, with no “trained” intermediary. Written medical texts appear to have been much rarer, however, with only a handful of ostraca containing prescriptions, indicating that the trained physician mixed the more complicated remedies himself. There are also several documents that show the writer sending for medical ingredients, but it is unknown whether these were sent according to a physician's prescription, or to fulfill a home remedy.

Popular piety
The excavations of the royal artisans community at Deir el-Medina have revealed much evidence of personal religious practice and cults. State gods were worshipped freely alongside personal gods without any conflict between national and local modes of religious expression.

The community had between sixteen and eighteen chapels, with the larger ones dedicated to Hathor, Ptah and Ramesses II. The workmen seem to have honoured Ptah and Resheph, the scribes Thoth and Seshat, as patron deities of their particular activity. Women had particular devotion towards Hathor, Taweret, and Bes in pregnancy, turning to Renenutet and Meretseger for food and safety. Meretseger ("She Who Loves Silence") was perhaps locally at least as important as Osiris, the great god of the dead.

The villagers held Amenhotep I (c. 1526–1506 BCE) and his mother, Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, in high regard over many generations, possibly as divinized patrons of the community. When Amenhotep died he became the centre of a village funerary cult, as "Amenhotep of the Town". When the Queen died, she also was deified and became "Mistress of the Sky" and "Lady of the West". Every year the villagers celebrated the Festival of Amenhotep I, where the elders acted as priests in the ceremonies that paid honour to their own local gods who were not worshipped anywhere else in Egypt.

Prayers were made and dedicated to a particular deity as votive offerings, similar in style to the Penitential Psalms in the Tanakh, which express remorse and thanksgiving for mercy. Steles record sorrow for human error and humbly invoke a god for forgiveness and mercy. In one instance Meretseger is petitioned to bring relief to one in pain. She answer the prayer by bringing "sweet breezes". On another stele, a workman writes, "I was a man who swore falsely by Ptah, Lord of Truth, and he caused me to see darkness by day. Now I will declaim his might to both the ignorant and the knowledgeable.” Amun was considered a special patron of the poor and one who was merciful to the penitent. A stelae records: "[Amun] who comes at the voice of the poor in distress, who gives breath to him who is wretched..You are Amun, the Lord of the silent, who comes at the voice of the poor, when I call to you in my distress You come and rescue me... Though the servant was disposed to do evil, the Lord is disposed to forgive. The Lord of Thebes spends not a whole day in anger, His wrath passes in a moment, none remains. His breath comes back to us in mercy... May your ka be kind, may you forgive, It shall not happen again."

Dream interpretation was very common. A book of dreams was found in Scribe Kenhirkhopeshef's library that was old even in his time. This book was used to interpret various types of dreams. These interpretations lacked precision and similar dreams often had different meanings. In many cases the interpretation was the opposite of what the dream depicted, for example a happy dream often signified sadness, a dream of plenty often signified scarceness etc.

Examples of how the dreams are interpreted include the following:
 * If a man sees himself dead this is good; it means a long life in front of him.
 * If a man sees himself eating crocodile flesh this is good; it means acting as an official amongst his people. (i.e. becoming a tax collector)
 * If a man sees himself with his face in a mirror this is bad; it means a new life.
 * If a man sees himself uncovering his own backside this is bad; it means he will be an orphan later.

Also in the temple to Hathor, a few of the craftsmen built stelae in honour of her. One such stela is the stele of Nefersenut, in which he and one of his son's kneeling and giving offerings to her in human form.

Strikes
The royal building service was usually well-run, in view of the importance of the work it carried out. Paying proper wages was a religious duty that formed an intrinsic part of Maat. When this system broke down it indicated problems in the wider state. The coming of the Iron Age and the collapse of the empire led to economic instability, with inflation a notable feature. The high ideals expressed in the code of Maat became strained and this provided the background to workers unrest.

In about the 25th year of the reign of Ramesses III (c. 1170 BCE) the tomb laborers were so exasperated by delays in supplies that they threw down their tools and walked off the job in what may have been the first sit-down strike action in recorded history. They wrote a letter to the vizier complaining about lack of wheat rations. Village leaders attempted to reason with them but they refused to return to work until their grievances were addressed. They responded to the elders with "great oaths". "We are hungry", the crews claimed; "eighteen days have passed this month" and they still had not received their rations. They were forced to buy their own wheat. They told the leaders to send to the pharaoh or vizier to address their concerns. After the authorities had heard their complaints they addressed them and the workers went back to work the next day. Several strikes followed. After one of them, when the strike leader asked the workers to follow him they told him they had had enough and returned to work. This was not the last strike but they soon restored the regular wheat supplies and the strikes came to an end for the remaining years of Ramesses III. However, since the chiefs supported the authorities the workers no longer trusted them and chose their own representatives. Further complaints by the artisans are recorded forty and fifty years after the initial dispute, during the reigns of Ramesses IX and Ramesses X.

Tomb robbing
After the reign of Ramses IV (c. 1155–1149 BCE) the conditions of the village became increasingly unsettled. At times there was no work for fear of the enemy. The grain supplies became less dependable and this was followed by more strikes. Gangs of tomb robbers increased, often tunnelling into a tomb through its back so that they wouldn't break the seal and be exposed. A tomb robbery culture developed that included fences and even some officials who accepted bribes. When the Viziers checked the tombs in order to determine whether the seals had been disturbed, they wouldn't report the tomb as having been opened. When they finally did catch tomb robbers, they used limb-twisting tactics to interrogate them and obtain information about where the plunder was and who their accomplices were.

The Abbott Papyrus reports on one occasion, when some officials were looking for a scapegoat, they obtained a confession from a repeat offender after torturing him. However the Vizier was suspicious at how easily the suspect had been produced, so the Vizier asked the suspect to lead them to the tomb that he had robbed. He led them to an unfinished tomb that had never been used and claimed that it was the tomb of Isis. When they retrieved the plunder, they didn't return it to the tombs; instead, they added it to the treasury.

Deir el-Medina in fiction
The French Egyptologist and author Christian Jacq has written a tetralogy dealing with Deir el-Medina and its artisans, as well as Egyptian political life at the time.

Deir el-Medina is also mentioned in some of the later books of the Amelia Peabody series by Barbara Mertz (writing as Elizabeth Peters). The village is the setting for some scenes, and late in the series the fictional Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson is credited with excavations and documentation of the site.

title: Deir el-Medina


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Maine-class battleship

The three Maine-class battleships—USS Maine (BB-10), USS Missouri (BB-11), and USS Ohio (BB-12)—were built at the turn of the 20th century for the United States Navy. Based on the preceding Illinois-class battleship, they incorporated several significant technological advances over the earlier ships. They were the first American battleships to incorporate Krupp cemented armor, which was stronger than Harvey armor; smokeless powder, which allowed for higher-velocity guns; and water-tube boilers, which were more efficient and lighter. The Maines were armed with four 12 in guns and sixteen 6 in guns, and they could steam at a speed of 18 kn, a significant increase over the Illinois class.

The three Maine-class battleships served in a variety of roles throughout their careers. Maine and Missouri remained in the Atlantic Fleet for their careers, though Ohio initially served with the Asiatic Fleet from 1904 to 1907. All three ships took part in the cruise of the Great White Fleet in 1907–1909, though Maine's excessive coal consumption forced her to proceed independently for most of the voyage. Missouri was used as a training ship for much of the rest of her career, and Ohio took part in the American intervention in the Mexican Revolution in 1914. All three ships were employed as training ships during World War I. After the war, all three ships were withdrawn from service between 1919 and 1920 before being sold for scrap in 1922 and 1923 and broken up.

Design
By 1897, the US Navy had five battleships under construction, and no plans to request additional units for 1898. With the destruction of the armored cruiser USS Maine (ACR-1) in Havana harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on Spain on 25 April 1898, however, a large naval expansion program was passed through Congress. The program called for three new battleships, the first of which would be named for the destroyed Maine. Design work began immediately, though the broad parameters for the new battleships proved to be contentious. The Board on Construction advocated a design based on USS Iowa (BB-4), to be armed with 13-, 8-, and 6-inch (330, 203, and 152 mm) guns, though others on the board argued that repeating the Illinois-class battleship, which was armed with 13 in and 6 in guns and had a speed of 16 kn, would save construction time. Additionally, they pointed out that 8 in guns could not be incorporated within the displacement limit.

Several important technological advances had become available by this time, however, which necessitated several changes to the design. The advent of smokeless powder permitted smaller guns with greater muzzle velocities; the Navy had accordingly designed a 12-inch (305 mm) 40-caliber high-velocity gun. In addition, Krupp cemented armor had been developed in Germany; the steel was a significant improvement over the older Harvey process. Since the steel was stronger, thinner armor plating could achieve the same level of protection and more importantly, significant savings in weight. Water-tube boilers were also now sufficiently reliable for use in warships. These were lighter and substantially more efficient than older fire-tube boilers.

Shortly after the three ships had been authorized, the Navy learned that the Russian battleship RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP Retvizan, recently ordered from William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, would be capable of steaming at 18 kn, a margin of 2 kn over the Maine design. The Navy requested that the shipyards submitting designs for the contract increase the speed of their proposed ships to match the Russian vessel. Cramp & Sons responded by lengthening the hull by 15 ft to increase its fineness (and thus reduce drag) and incorporate new Niclausse boilers, while the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company lengthened the hull by 20 ft and increased the horsepower of the propulsion system by sixty percent, to 16000 ihp. Ultimately, the Newport design was chosen for the new ships.

General characteristics and machinery

The ships of the Maine class were 388 ft long at the waterline and 393 ft long overall. They had a beam of 72 ft and a draft of 23 ft to 24 ft. They displaced 12362 to 12846 LT as designed and up to 13700 LT at full load. The ships had a metacentric height of 2.36 ft. They had a forecastle deck that extended to the main mast. As built, they were fitted with heavy military masts with fighting tops, but these were replaced by cage masts in 1909. They had a crew of 40 officers and 521 enlisted men, which increased to 779–813 officers and men.

The ships were powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at 16000 ihp. Steam was provided by twelve coal-fired Thornycroft boilers for Missouri and Ohio, and twenty-four Niclausse boilers for Maine, which were trunked into three tall funnels amidships. The ships' engines generated a top speed of 18 kn, though Ohio only made 17.82 kn on her speed trials. Normal coal capacity was 1000 LT, though Maine could carry up to 1867 LT, Missouri had capacity for 1837 LT, and Ohio could store 2150 LT of coal. At a speed of 10 kn, the ships had a designed endurance of 4900 nmi, though they could steam for 5660 nmi at that speed. Ohio's significantly greater coal capacity allowed her to cruise for 6560 nmi at that speed. Steering was controlled by a single rudder, and the ships had a turning radius of 350 yd at 10 knots.

Armament

The ships were armed with a main battery of four 12-inch/40 caliber Mark 3 guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline, one forward and aft. The guns fired a 870 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2400 ft/s. The turrets were Mark IV mounts, which required the guns to be horizontal to be reloaded. These mounts could elevate to 15 degrees and depress to -5 degrees, and they were electrically operated, and the guns could be operated independently.

The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 6-inch/50 caliber Mark 6 guns, which were placed in casemates in the hull. Ten were mounted in a battery on the upper deck, four more were located in another battery directly above on the forecastle deck, and the last two were placed in sponsoned casemates in the bow. They fired a 105 lb shell at 2800 ft/s. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, they carried six 3 in/50 caliber guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull, eight 3-pounder guns, and six 1-pounder guns. As was standard for capital ships of the period, the Maine-class battleships carried two 18 in torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside. They were initially equipped with the Mark II Whitehead design, which carried a 140 lb warhead and had a range of 800 yd at a speed of 27 kn.

Armor
The ships' armor consisted of both Krupp cemented and Harvey steel. Their main armored belt was 11 in thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces and tapered down to 7.5 in on the lower edge. The belt was 8.5 in elsewhere and reduced to 5.875 in on the bottom edge. The belt extended from 3 ft above the waterline to 4 ft below. The main deck was 2.5 in thick and was increased slightly to 2.75 in on the sloped sides that connected it to the belt. The deck was increased to 4 in at the stern. The main battery gun turrets had 12 in thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had the same thickness of armor plating on their exposed sides. 9 in thick bulkheads connected the belt with the barbettes; behind these, the barbettes were protected with 8 in of steel. Armor that was 6 in thick protected the secondary battery. The conning tower had 10 in thick sides with a 2 in thick roof.

Service history

After Maine and Missouri entered service, they were assigned to the North Atlantic Fleet, while Ohio, built on the West Coast of the United States, was instead sent to serve as the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet based in the Philippines. In April 1904, a turret fire killed 36 men aboard Missouri, but the quick action of three men prevented the fire from reaching the magazines and destroying the ship, for which they were awarded the Medal of Honor. In 1907, Ohio returned from the western Pacific and joined her sisters in what was now the Atlantic Fleet. During this period, Maine served as the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet until she was relieved in April 1907.

In December 1907, the three ships and the other battleships in the Atlantic Fleet steamed out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the start of the cruise of the Great White Fleet. The fleet steamed south, around South America and back north to the US west coast. Maine was detached owing to her excessive use of coal along with the battleship USS Alabama (BB-8); the two ships continued the journey independently and on a greatly shortened itinerary. The rest of the ships then crossed the Pacific and stopped in Australia, the Philippines, and Japan before continuing on through the Indian Ocean. They transited the Suez Canal and toured the Mediterranean before crossing the Atlantic, arriving bank in Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909 for a naval review with President Theodore Roosevelt.

Over the following six years, the ships had fairly uneventful careers. Missouri spent most of the time out of active service, only recommissioning for summer training cruises with midshipmen from the US Naval Academy. In 1914, Ohio was sent to Mexican waters to protect American interests in the country during the Mexican Revolution. After the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany on 6 April 1917, all three ships were used to train naval recruits for the expanding wartime fleet. Following the German surrender in November 1918, Missouri was used to ferry American soldiers back from France, though the other two vessels were not so employed, since their short range and lack of sufficient accommodations would have made them inefficient transports. The three ships remained in active service only very briefly after the war. Ohio was decommissioned in January 1919 and Missouri and Maine followed in September 1919 and May 1920, respectively. All three ships were sold for scrap, with Maine and Missouri going to the breakers' yard in January 1922 and Ohio joining them in March 1923.

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

title: Maine-class battleship


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Polka Dot Door

Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Ontario Education Communications Authority (later known as TVOntario) from 1971 to 1993. The series features two hosts who speak directly to the home viewing audience.

The content of the shows was generally geared towards education and creativity. Each week of episodes focused on a single theme with each weekday assigned a different "motif" in which the theme was explored in different ways (For example, Tuesdays were "Dress-Up Day" in which the hosts would use costumes to explore the theme).

One of the most well-known elements of the series was the "Polkaroo", a mythical character whose name combines the words "polka dot" and "kangaroo". Normally played by the male host in costume, the Polkaroo would appear to the female host to perform a mime; upon the second host's return, he would typically express disappointment when informed that he had once again missed the Polkaroo. In earlier years, the Polkaroo appeared just once per week on "Imagination Day", but due to the character's popularity, additional appearances were added later in the show's run.

Another feature of the show was "looking through the polka-dot-door", usually on "Finding-Out Day," when the camera would zoom in to a special dot on the door, which would open up to reveal a short educational film.

Creation and history
Polka Dot Door was created and developed by a team of employees from TVOntario, hired and led by original series producer and director Peggy Liptrott.

Significant contributors to the creation and development of the series in 1971 included executive producer Vera Good, who laid the conceptual foundation of the show, educational supervisor Marnie Patrick Roberts, educational consultant L. Ted Coneybeare, script writers and composers Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb, animator Dick Derhodge (who designed the familiar opening/closing animation) and Dr. Ada Schermann, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Child Study in Toronto who was consulted in the early stages of Polka Dot Door's development and is responsible for giving the show its name.

New episodes of Polka Dot Door originally aired on TVOntario Monday to Friday beginning in the fall of 1971 until the show's cancellation in 1993, with reruns running in constant rotation both on weekdays and weekends well into the 1990s.

The show itself was an adaptation of the BBC children's show Play School. Initially many aspects and concepts of Play School were licensed by TVOntario for use on Polka Dot Door, including designs of some of the stuffed animals used in the show, which were similar to those used in Play School as well as educational film inserts/segments which were shown to viewers "Through the Arched Window" on Play School and "Through the Polka Dot Door" on Polka Dot Door.

Dodi Robb helped distinguish Polka Dot Door with her creation and addition of the Polkaroo, combining the show's title with the word kangaroo. Polkaroo would reprise his role every Thursday (Imagination Day), appearing to only one of the two hosts (the other dressing up and playing the role of Polkaroo). In the late-1970s, then-producer Coneybeare led negotiations to dissolve TVOntario's licensing agreement with Play School, freeing Polka Dot Door to be distinctively Canadian and adapt to include more Canadian educational content.

Robb and Patterson co-composed the theme song that accompanied the opening/closing animation used for the series' entire run, and wrote many of the early scripts and songs used in the series, including "Imagine, Imagine", a song often used on Imagination Day with Polkaroo. Robb would go on to be the first-ever head of children's programming at CBC Television, and would have Muppet "Dodi" in Sesame Park, a Canadian adaptation of Sesame Street, named in her honour.

The theme song was performed by Angela Antonelli, born December 29, 1933, in Guelph, Ontario. Left home at the age of 16 to Study voice under Dr. Ernesto Vinci at Royal Conservatory of Music, Joined the Canadian Opera Company and Starred in Gianni Schicchi opposite Jon Vickers, Gretel in Hansel & Gretel & Marriage of Figaro among others. She was a regular on the Juliet Show for 6 seasons as well as many other radio and television shows. Original cast member of Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival and went on to perform in many other theatrical shows.

Producers, musicians and hosts
During the course of the series' run, Polka Dot Door had three producers who significantly contributed to the development of the show: original producer-director Peggy Liptrott (1971), L. Ted Coneybeare (1972–1984), and Jed MacKay (1985–1993). MacKay began as a writer and composer for Polka Dot Door in the 1970s. He went on to create and produce two multi-award-winning series for TVOntario, Join In! and Polka Dot Shorts. The accompanying background music throughout the show was played "live to tape" by Canadian pianists Herbie Helbig (1971–1984) and John Arpin (1985–1993).

Each episode of Polka Dot Door had two human hosts, always one man and one woman. There were more than fifty hosts over the course of the series. Each pair of hosts was contracted for one week's worth of episodes, with many hosts and pairs reprising their role over multiple weeks, though not necessarily with the same co-host. Most hosts during MacKay's time as producer were contracted for two to three weeks worth of episodes (10–15), with the exception of Carrie Loring, Johnnie Chase, and Cindy Cook, who hosted every year MacKay produced (1985–1993) as well as the two one-hour specials. Typically 25–35 episodes were produced each summer during the course of the series, depending on the available funds in TVOntario's programming budget. Many aspiring Canadian actors and actresses got their start on Polka Dot Door, and went on to do notable work in North American television, film, and theatre.

Below is an incomplete list of some of the people who hosted Polka Dot Door. The name in brackets is the producer whom the host worked with followed by the years in which the host hosted (when known):
 * Jim Anderson (Coneybeare)
 * Pixie Bigalow (Coneybeare)
 * Greg Bond (MacKay)
 * Catherine Bruhier (MacKay), 1992–93
 * Johnie Chase (Coneybeare, MacKay), 1984–93
 * Heather Cherron (MacKay)
 * Jim Codrington (MacKay), 1990–93
 * Heather Conkie (Coneybeare)
 * Cindy Cook (Coneybeare, MacKay), 1981–93
 * Louise Cranfield (MacKay)
 * Diane Dewey (Coneybeare)
 * Liz Dufresne (MacKay), 1991
 * Sharry Flett (Coneybeare), 1980–81
 * Paula Gallivan (MacKay)
 * Michael Goarley (Coneybeare)
 * Ken John Grant (Coneybeare), 1978
 * Nonnie Griffin (Coneybeare), 1974–80
 * Bonnie Gruen (Coneybeare)
 * Rex Hagon (Coneybeare), 1976-78
 * Patricia Hamilton (Coneybeare)
 * Michael James (Coneybeare)
 * Taborah Johnson (Coneybeare)
 * Lynda Kemp (Coneybeare), 1977-78
 * Nina Keogh (Liptrott, Coneybeare), 1971–72
 * Alex Laurier (Liptrott, Coneybeare), 1971–81
 * Robert Lee (MacKay), 1987–92
 * Sharon Lewis (Coneybeare)
 * Carrie Loring (MacKay) 1985–93
 * Jane Luk (MacKay), 1992–93
 * Thea McNeal (MacKay)
 * Malika Mendez (Coneybeare)
 * Gerry Mendicino (Coneybeare), 1979–84
 * Sherry Miller (Coneybeare)
 * Garth Mosbaugh (MacKay), 1991–93
 * Candace O'Conner (Coneybeare)
 * John Ralston (MacKay)
 * Gloria Reuben (MacKay), 1985
 * Christopher Trace
 * Carolann Reynolds (Coneybeare), 1976–85
 * Gairey Richardson (Coneybeare)
 * Tom Rickert (Coneybeare) 1984
 * Denis Simpson (Coneybeare), 1978-mid 80s
 * Shelly Sommers (Coneybeare), 1978
 * Eva St. John (MacKay)
 * Gordon Thomson (Liptrott), 1971
 * Peter Van Wart (Coneybeare), 1980
 * Mishu Vellani (MacKay), 1989–90
 * Nerene Virgin (Coneybeare), 1981
 * Jonathan Whittaker (MacKay)
 * Tonya Williams (Coneybeare), 1980–83
 * Anne Thompson

In addition, many hosts worked on other educational shows produced by TVOntario, including Heather Conkie (Dear Aunt Agnes, Report Canada, Music Box, It's Mainly Music), Nerene Virgin (Today's Special), Nina Keogh (Readalong, Today's Special, Bookmice, The Magic Library) Rex Hagon (The Science Alliance), and Alex Laurier (Cucumber). Cindy Cook was the longest serving female host appearing on Polka Dot Door between 1981–1993, making her one of the most recognizable hosts from the series. She is also the only host to have worked with two producers of the show, first with Coneybeare (from 1981 to 1984) and then with MacKay (from 1985 to 1993).

Format
Polka Dot Door was taped and broadcast in blocks of five episodes a week that would feature the same two hosts each day. Each five-day week had a specific theme and emphasis. However, within that theme, each day of the week had its own theme that was consistent throughout the entire series: In order to create trust and familiar routines with young children, Polka Dot Door was scripted with specific 'events' that were particular to each day of the week:
 * Monday was "Treasure Day"
 * Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day"
 * Wednesday was "Animal Day"
 * Thursday was "Imagination Day"
 * Friday was "Finding-Out Day"
 * Treasure Day: Hosts would retrieve the stuffed animal toys from a toy box (in the shape of a polka dot house) while singing a specific 'hello' song. In addition, they would often discover an unexpected 'treasure' (usually found materials or a toy) from the purple (later blue) treasure box that sat nearby the story time rocking chair.
 * Dress-Up Day: Hosts would open the Polka Dot Door closet to reveal dress-up clothes, pretending to be the people they were dressing up as. They would often have a 'reason' to dress-up themselves, the toys or the set.
 * Animal Day: Hosts would go outside to the barn where activity with the Polka Dot Door pets or "guest pets" would take place. There were five regular Polka Dot Door pets represented on the show throughout the series. Although the specific pets changed, they retained the same names for the entire series.
 * Imagination Day: Hosts would place an emphasis on fantasy, encouraging viewers to use their imagination. This was the only day in which Polkaroo appeared, almost always being played by one of the hosts.
 * Finding-Out Day: Hosts would facilitate specific scientific discoveries on this day or reexamine themes from previous days of the week from a different standpoint. Every Finding-Out day would conclude with the hosts returning the toys back to their toy box while singing a specific "goodbye" song. The final camera shot seen before the final credits would be the hosts exiting through the large polka dot door.

Another regular event on Polka Dot Door was Storytime, which featured in each programme. This involved the host teaching and telling the time on a large, oversized blue (later pink) grandfather clock and featured the appearance of a small stuffed animal named "Storytime Mouse". Often Storytime Mouse would be engaged in some activity related to that day's story.

Although Storytime happened in every episode, it was often at different, unpredictable times. Whatever activity was happening on the show would be interrupted by a sequence of chimes indicating that it was time to tell the time together and hear a story. The hosts would stop whatever activity they were doing and go to the grandfather clock to tell the time and then read a story in an adjacent rocking chair specifically used for this purpose on the show. Helbig and Arpin would provide instrumental piano accompaniment, often accenting the moods and themes represented in the story being told.

Depending on the emphasis, there would be a "song of the week" that would often be reprised every day, helping viewers to solidify the emphasis of that week's theme. Many of the songs in the early years of the program were composed by the script writers themselves. When MacKay, an accomplished composer, took over as producer from 1985 to 1993, he composed many of the songs used in the series during that time.

Characters and toys
The hosts would lead young children in songs and stories, and interact with stuffed animal characters Humpty, Dumpty, Marigold, and Bear. These characters did not speak or move; the hosts would let the audience know what they were saying; for example, one of the hosts would say "What's that Marigold? You would like..." In the 1980s, a stuffed cat named Minou was added, which introduced viewers to simple words and phrases in French. On certain theme days the hosts would invite the audience to peer through the Polka Dot Door to witness an educational video of some sort, showing, for instance, how crayons are made.

Legacy and awards
In 2010, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television gave Polka Dot Door a Masterworks award, calling it a "groundbreaking children's educational series" that "changed the nature of children's television programming" and "impacted countless young Canadians and raised the international profile of the Canadian television industry."

One-hour specials
Only two one-hour specials have aired in the history of Polka Dot Door; these shows consist of five hosts (two male, three female) and the Polkaroo portrayed by unknown host.

Polkaroo's Birthday Party: This was used to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Polka Dot Door, as well as cameos from other hosts in the past.

Polkaroo Goes To Camp: This was used to commemorate the finale of the series; this is also the only show in the history of Polka Dot Door not to have storytime.

Polkaroo
Each day's episode had a particular theme. Monday was "Treasure Day", Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day", Wednesday was "Animal Day", Thursday was "Imagination Day", and Friday was "Finding Out Day". On "Imagination Day", the character Polkaroo (sometimes referred to as "the Polkaroo") appeared. The actor playing Polkaroo donned a tall, green plush costume that resembled a kangaroo. In its mended, yellow and multi-coloured polka-dot muumuu, the creature spoke using various repeated exclamations of its own name accompanied by elaborate gestures. The meaning of this pantomime was to be guessed by the audience. This was usually followed by a song whose lyrics began "Imagine, imagine, you can imagine Polkaroo...". In the first two seasons, Polkaroo would appear to one of the hosts while the other host was absent for some reason. The co-host would return upon Polkaroo's departure, habitually exclaiming, "The Polkaroo was here?!? And I missed him again?!?" Both hosts took turns as the Polkaroo. Starting in the third season, only the male host donned the Polkaroo costume.

In the late 1990s, TVOntario capitalized on the success of Polkaroo by placing him and the other animal characters, now also actors dressed in costumes, in a new series, Polka Dot Shorts, which also had its own catchphrase moment, as each episode included the unlikely discovery of a pair of polka dot shorts, leading to the exchange:

"(Character): A great big pair of polka dot shorts! How did they get there?

Polkaroo:I haven't the foggiest!"

Following the end of Polka Dot Shorts, Polkaroo also appeared in the children's series Gisèle's Big Backyard.

The Polkaroo costume as seen above and on the original series was handmade in Toronto by Tanya Petrova, an immigrant artist from Toronto who made brief appearances on numerous television shows from Mr. Dressup to The Steve Allen Show in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Petrova also created 24 puppets, including Charlie Horse and Lionel for Shari Lewis, as well as costumes for Ontario Place theme park, Eaton's (for example, Glump) and other events and attractions.

There were several other versions of the Polkaroo costume as well: the one with the long slender neck was built by Lorraine Cramp in 1982. She also made the Moose and Beaver costumes for Cucumber, the Sidney the Kangaroo costume for Math Patrol, and the Subterranean Monster costume for Mathmakers.

Parodies
The 1980s Canadian sketch-comedy show Smith & Smith, starring real-life husband and wife team Steve and Morag Smith, used to parody the Polka Dot Door with a recurring sketch called "The Kids Show", with male and female hosts who loathed each other and bickered their way through the sketch. The sketches also featured the "Jerkaroo", played by Steve Smith with a paper bag over his head.

The 1989 UK-Canada co-production EMU-TV featured a recurring parody called "The Door with Spots All Over It".

A Canadian sketch-type educational television show called Bod TV, which focuses on nutrition education and is also produced by TVOntario, has a parody of Polka Dot Door called Polka Dot House as one of its sketches. The sketch plays as a combination of the television show with reality television series Big Brother. In it, one of the hosts gets tired of Bear repeatedly making honey sandwiches for everyone day in day out, and schemes with Marigold to get Bear out of the kitchen so she can prepare a meal that provides a more balanced diet.

In 2018, a rally in Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park to celebrate the legalization of cannabis in Canada saw the appearance of "Tokaroo", a marijuana-smoking parody of Polkaroo. Tokaroo was created by Mark Scott, an actor who had once been directly employed by TVOntario to play Polkaroo in live promotional appearances, and the network threatened him with legal action. Scott also has a longer history of creating Polkaroo variants in his contemporary work as a children's educator, including Rainbowroo to discuss LGBTQ issues, Signaroo to educate children about hearing impairment and sign language, and Readyroo to educate children about disability and special needs.

title: Polka Dot Door


text:
Talk:American Alligators

Untitled
Once copyvio is resolved - this article's name should not have an "s" in it.

Just in case this is never confirmed... I created a page: American Alligator from cited pub domain stuff that can be reverted to so we do not have an empty page... Davodd 20:20, Feb 23, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:American Alligators


text:
Counterfeit banknote detection pen

A counterfeit banknote detection pen is a pen used to apply an iodine-based ink to banknotes in an attempt to determine their authenticity. The ink reacts with starch in wood-based paper to create a black or blue mark but the paper in a real bill contains no starch, so the pen mark remains unchanged.

Background
Counterfeit banknote detection pens are used to detect counterfeit Swiss franc, euro and United States banknotes, amongst others. Typically, genuine banknotes are printed on paper based on cotton fibers and do not contain the starches that are reactive with iodine. When the pen is used to mark genuine bills, the mark is yellowish or colourless.

Such pens are most effective against counterfeit notes printed on a standard printer or photocopier paper. The chemical properties of US banknotes printed before 1960 make marking pens useless, resulting in false positives. One example of this complication taking place happened in 2016, in which a 13 year-old student was arrested by police after she attempted to pay for lunch with a red seal Series 1953 $2 bill after the school's counterfeit pen was unable to prove its authenticity.

Reception
Pen manufacturers claim such pens will detect a great majority of counterfeit bills and are an easy counterfeit detection method that does not require expensive gadgets.

Critical reception
Critics suggest the effectiveness is much lower. Critics claim that professional counterfeiters use starch-free paper, making the pen unable to detect the majority of counterfeit money in circulation. Magician and skeptic James Randi has written about the ineffectiveness of counterfeit pens on numerous occasions and uses a pen as an example during his lectures. Randi claims to have contacted a United States Secret Service inspector and asked whether the pen works as advertised, to which the inspector replied "it is not dependable." The Secret Service does not include such pens in their guidelines for the public's detection of counterfeit US currency.

US counterfeiters bleach small denominations and print more valuable bills on the resulting blank paper to evade this test, although changes to the currency since 2004 have made this method easier to detect. This is one reason that many currencies use different sized notes for different denominations.

False positives
The effectiveness of the pens may be affected by external methods. Simply having a banknote pass through laundry, depending on the soaps and bleaches used, can cause a bill to fail the test when it is otherwise accepted. Additionally, it was discovered that treating a counterfeit note with a dilute solution of vitamin C will cause a false negative: that is, it will respond to the iodine-based ink as though it were made of the same paper as a valid banknote.

title: Counterfeit banknote detection pen


text:
Statistics New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand (Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces censuses and surveys.

Organization
The organisation's staff includes statisticians, mathematicians, computer science specialists, accountants, economists, demographers, sociologists, geographers, social psychologists, and marketers.

Stats NZ is divided into seven organisational subgroups, each managed by a Deputy Government Statistician:
 * Macro-economic and Environment Statistics studies prices, and national accounts, develops macro-economic statistics, does government and international accounts, and ANZSIC 06 implementation (facilitating changeover to new classification code developed jointly with Australian statistics officials.)
 * Social and Population Statistics studies population, social conditions, standard of living, and census, and has a census planning manager as well as statisticians helping to develop new social statistics measures.
 * Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education, and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, and develops new methodologies.
 * Collections and Dissemination services clients. There is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services and manages publishing and customer services.
 * Organisation Direction maintains contacts with key government officials, does internal audits and business planning, manages international relations and the Official Statistics System (OSS), and advises on Māori affairs.
 * Industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills.
 * Organisation Development focuses on services for the agency itself, including information technology management, quality assurance, application development and support, finances, corporate support, and human resources.

Many of the agency's powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a state sector organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the Statistics Act 1975.

Responsibilities and activities
The department conducts the New Zealand census every five years. The census is officially done on one day. The most recent released census was in 2018 (the first data from the 2023 census is due for release on 29 May 2024). The count of usual residents (excluding visitors from overseas) from the 2018 census was 4,699,755. they lived in 1,664,313 occupied dwellings; their median age was 37.4 years (half older, half younger); 775,836 identified themselves as "Māori" (16.5% of the population); people had a median income of $31,800. This is a main source of information, and data collected from this census is often used for further purposes within the department as well as serving as benchmark information for numerous reports and surveys. For example, the census asks about the main means of travel to work, but by combining this with data from transport surveys, the department can issue detailed reports such as "Commuting Patterns in New Zealand: 1996–2006", with specific inferences such as "Over half of people who walked or jogged to work lived within 2km of their workplace." This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision-making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, and for many other uses. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Zealand uses statistics from this agency about prices and wages to help develop economic indicators, exchange rate information, and the official cash rate.

The department supplies a wide variety of information. It reports on labour costs, incomes, civil unions and marriages, employment, electronic card transactions, food prices, retail trade, births and deaths, prices of capital goods, overseas trade, screen industry, international visitor arrivals, overseas merchandise, agriculture and fish stocks, water resources, building consents, electronic card transactions, English language providers, wholesale trade, local authority information, balance of payments data, manufacturing surveys, commuting patterns, mapping trends, culture and identity statistics, housing trends, work stoppages, gross domestic product, industrial energy use, and the list goes on and on. In addition, it analyses trends and publishes forecasts. The agency does not involve itself with political polling generally.

The agency provides information to the public. Many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website; users can download spreadsheets electronically. In addition, some private market research firms use the agency's vast database information as source material, combining it with value-added presentation software (such as sophisticated mapping programs), and then sell the re-packaged information.

Information from demographers is used as source material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy. For example, Stats NZ demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote: "Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events.... Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples, childlessness is what happens while they are making other plans." Their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline "New Zealand women stop having babies". The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, as well as possible policy actions such as a "Working for Families" program. Newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Stats NZ information is used by government to explore tough problems; a research paper dated April 2009 used agency statistics when exploring how to handle gang violence.

Agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in "Connecting the Clouds – the Internet in New Zealand", author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases (the Stats NZ report said "New Zealand average residential phone call pricing plummeted 50% between 1987 and 1993") and national finances (the Stats NZ report said "The current account deficit for the year ended March 2007 was $13.9 billion (8.5 percent of GDP)"). Data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself (DIY) retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source: "Figures from Statistics New Zealand show DIY spend has been tracking down with the retail sector." This information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programs such as "Radio New Zealand National" have quoted agency data.

Some agency policies result in controversy. One gay activist felt Stats NZ was "breaking the law" by omitting a question on the 2006 census regarding sexual orientation; the article in the New Zealand Herald elaborated "Mr. van Wetering and the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, the independent legal branch of the commission, expect to discuss the inclusion of the (sexual orientation) question in the 2011 Census with lawyers for Statistics New Zealand later this year." There were some indications that the agency was seriously considering including a question on sexual orientation. The agency did focus groups exploring this possibility. Sometimes controversies involve disputes over whether agency data was cited properly. One blogger, claiming to be a former Wellingtonian journalist who identifies himself or herself as "Poneke", accused the Sunday Star-Times of publishing misleading data about crime statistics. Poneke noted that “Statistics New Zealand now provide(s) the ability to query the New Zealand Police Statistics – allowing you to gather detailed crime information about your local area since 1994.” The blogger felt the agency was "impeccably impartial", but distrusted various media sources.

One way the agency makes data available to the public is by offering a Table Builder tool. It lets users access specific information from past surveys, and collect it into a customised set of data.

The following counts were derived by using Statistics New Zealand's Table Builder tool:

Statistics New Zealand develops statistical classifications and standards and works with the corresponding national statistical offices with such nations as Australia, the United States, and Canada. It conducts ongoing research regarding the viability of these standards. Since the early 2000s, it has begun using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation to describe a wide variety of jobs; for example, the code 111111 describes a chief executive or managing director, while the code 531111 describes a general clerk. By using standardised codes, high speed computers can sift and sort through large databases to produce summary reports.

It also provides technical assistance to developing countries in the Pacific rim, with a special focus on Pacific Island nations.

Statistics New Zealand is acknowledged as the statistical authority within government. While other branches of government generate statistics, Statistics New Zealand works with them to expedite the information as well as provide consulting services when appropriate. It is responsible for the first integrated programme of Official Social Statistics. It provides assistance, guidance and oversight to other government agencies regarding statistics when appropriate. For example, it works with the New Zealand Health Information Service regarding their management of statistical information – a downloaded spreadsheet showed there were 65,120 live births registered in 2007 in the nation, and the table listed Statistics New Zealand as a source of this information. It worked with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to collect and publish cultural data.

Vision
The department's "aim is that New Zealand increasingly gets the statistical information it needs to grow and prosper".

The organisation's stated values are statistical excellence, integrity, confidentiality and data security, leading, connecting, and communicating. It says on its website: "By following these values, we aim to deliver accessible, relevant, and timely statistics for all New Zealanders. Confidentiality is not only a policy chosen by the department but required by law. A section of the Statistics Act 1975 reads "No information from an individual schedule is to be separately published or disclosed [Section 37(3)], except as authorised by the Statistics Act (the act permits others to see information from an individual schedule, but only when it is in a form that prevents identification of the respondent concerned, and then only under strict security conditions). This means government cannot abuse personal information from a census by revealing (or threatening to reveal it) for dubious purposes. For example, a particular person's income responses cannot be handed over to a tax collection agency.

The agency maintains an open copyright policy stating that, apart from images and content with specific copyright statement, users are free to use the work provided that Statistics New Zealand is attributed.

Methods
Statistics New Zealand uses many methods to collect, process, analyse, and publish data. The agency has statisticians and mathematicians and survey experts whose chief duty is to examine how the agency approaches various projects and to suggest ways to improve efficiency, speed, and accuracy.

Some projects require advanced statistical tools to make sense of misleading data. For example, sometimes seasonality distorts data. "For example, in retail trade, December is a very high month due to Christmas sales. If we compare November sales with December sales, we will report an increase in sales. But this increase is largely due to seasonal fluctuations and is not an informative measure" according to a description from their website. To prevent seasonal variables from distorting data, statisticians sometimes use complex programs, including X-12-ARIMA (derived from census bureaus from the US and Canada), to remove seasonal distortions. So, with the December sales bump removed, the seasonally adjusted retail sales data can reveal the true underlying trend—are sales going up, holding steady, or declining? This is important information for retailers.

While the census counts every person, the department also conducts surveys based on only a small sample of people. These samples are scientifically selected to represent the larger group. For example, the General Social Survey chooses a select number of households, approximately 8,000, which represent the nation as a whole, and surveys them every two years. Interviewers with laptops conduct face-to-face interviews, and the result is information about "social wellbeing" including "housing, health, paid work, social connectedness, and human rights. It sometimes conducts specialty surveys about a specific industry or topic. For example, it published a biotechnology survey, based on a 10-page questionnaire developed by the agency, using scientific samples to choose respondents; the 2007 results can be downloaded to computers via the Internet. This particular report uses a long list of variables, such as "total exports" and "biotechnology exports to Asia" and "stage of development of biotechnology processes".

Statistical techniques such as sampling and weighting can reduce data gathering expenses while surveying, although it requires careful attention by statisticians. For example, census counts are rather straightforward in a statistical sense since it is a straight count of bodies, purchases, opinions, actions. But it is expensive to interview everybody. And there are many non-census topics requiring further study which the agency is asked to do. One way to reduce costs is by selecting smaller samples which hopefully represent the population being studied. This is a highly cost-effective way to get accurate information. Choosing a good sample sometimes requires complex statistical work to make sure the sample is, indeed, truly representative of the population under study. If conditions do not permit representative sampling but known benchmark statistics are known (possibly from earlier census data), it is still possible to generate accurate information by weighting the data to distort it back, so to speak, to compensate for the distortion caused by the unrepresentative sample. For example, suppose an area of Wellington has a known percentage of women—say 53% – which is believed to be accurate from a previous census count; a study is done a few years later; a sample is chosen; questionnaires are processed; but of the returning questionnaires, 57% are women. It is possible statistically to give men slightly greater weight to account for the discrepancy, and the result is more accurate data. The agency discusses different methodologies on its website. A statement explains why weighting is sometimes necessary: "Statistics New Zealand is improving the methodology used for the 2001 Household Economic Survey through the use of integrated weighting. This is a relatively recently developed method of adjusting the statistical output of a survey to match population benchmarks. In particular, it takes account of under coverage in the survey of specified population groups. Integrated weighting improves the robustness and accuracy of survey estimates. It also reduces the effect of bias in estimates resulting from under coverage, as well as reducing the level of sampling error for benchmark variables."

All statistical work presents opportunities for error, but it is possible to reduce error to manageable amounts. A statement reads: "An important aim of our ongoing work is to understand, manage, control and report on all known sources of error... which simply reflect the inherent variability that exists among the units we are seeking to measure... This variability manifests itself in sampling error when we use samples for cost-effectiveness reasons to estimate characteristics about a population. Sampling errors are relatively easy to measure.... Other sources reflect process, measurement and inference errors, and are referred to as non-sampling error. It is not possible to eliminate all sources of error. However, our continued efforts at understanding and managing variability and error ensure we are exercising a high level of control on all known sources of error."

What greatly facilitates statistical accuracy by reducing non-response bias is that answering questions is sometimes required by law. Some surveys must be answered. This requirement lessens agency expense, practically eliminates non-response bias (a perennial headache for most private market researchers) and improves accuracy. For example, for the General Social Survey, people are selected randomly for 10-minute phone interviews which sometimes ask personal questions such as wage and salary information. But people must answer these questions and will not be paid for their time. It is required by the Statistics Act 1975. This policy is substantially different from countries such as the United States, where answering official surveys is rarely compulsory, including responding to its census which is done every ten years. Further, if a person does not get a census survey for any reason, he or she is still obligated to visit a local census bureau, get one, fill it out, and return it; the government cannot be held accountable for mixing up an address. Questionnaires can be downloaded from the Internet via the Statistics New Zealand website.

Legislation states census forms must be "filled in and signed within a stated time" and returned "within a stated time to the Department".

Extensive use is made of the Internet to publish key information. Users can sift through vast databases to learn about a wide variety of topics. A user can learn that "89% of businesses use broadband to connect to the Internet" or that "145 babies were born on Mother's Day in 2008". Entire reports can be downloaded as .pdf files and printed on one's computer.

History
In the nation's early days, with a small population and before the advent of powered transportation and modern telecommunications, there was little need for statistics nor ability to create them. In the colonial years, sometimes magistrates and police officials collected data as part of their work. After about the 1890s, the official information source presented to the public was called the New Zealand Official Yearbook compiled from various departments. Sometimes data about animals were collected (a census of poultry ceased in 1971); one census taker on horseback drowned while crossing a river. In 1956, the newly created Department of Statistics had 164 employees. Tabulating techniques improved. One source writes: "As both New Zealand's population and the complexity of the information sought grew, so did the size of the army of temporary clerks that was employed every five years by the Census and Statistics Office to process it. Sitting at long tables, they added, subtracted and calculated percentages. From the 1890s census data was written on cards which were sorted by hand.

The drudgery of statistical work was gradually eased as adding and calculating machines and typewriters came into use, operated mostly by women. Tabulating machines were imported from the United States in the 1920s to process punched cards; this too was women's work," according to a book written by David Green in 2002. The agency grew in size. Tabulating machines were replaced by mainframe computers, then microcomputers, then the Internet. "Since the early 1980s computing has been done in-house, and in the 1990s personal computers and the Internet revolutionised the day-to-day experience of work at Statistics New Zealand," according to Green's book.

Management positions have changed over time as well. The post of Government Statistician was created in 1910 within the Registrar-General's Office, before a separate Census and Statistics Office was set up in 1913. Before 1910 most statistics for the colony or dominion as a whole were the responsibility of the Registrar-General himself.

The well-regarded economist J.B. Condliffe worked at the agency after First World War, but no fully qualified mathematicians until after the Second, when in-house training in statistical methods also began. Since 1910, the post of Government Statistician has been held by different persons. From 1955 until 1994 the agency was known as the Department of Statistics until the name was changed to the current one.

Government statisticians

 * 1910–1911: William Marcus Wright
 * 1911–1932: Malcolm Fraser
 * 1932–1946: Jim Butcher
 * 1946–1958: George Wood
 * 1958–1969: John V.T. Baker
 * 1969–1973: Jack Lewin
 * 1973–1980: Ernie Harris
 * 1980–1984: John Darwin
 * 1984–1992: Steve Kuzmicich
 * 1992–1999: Len Cook
 * 1999–2007: Brian Pink
 * 2007–2013: Geoff Bascand
 * 2013–2020: Liz MacPherson
 * 2020–present: Mark Sowden

The agency has grown in size and sophistication from its early beginnings. As times change, information needs change accordingly. For example, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, politicians became interested in the concept of sustainable development. The agency found ways to measure these trends to provide helpful information for planners. In August 2002, it published its first report on Sustainable Development Indicators, which measured variables such as water quality, energy usage, sustainability of cities, and youth development. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said in 2003 "...the growth we have must be sustained over a number of generations. Therefore, we need to plan for that growth so that we don't add to our problems." As the department moves into the future, and if the past is an indication of the future, it is likely to continue its trajectory of larger size, more responsibility, increased technical sophistication via Internet and broadband tools.

The 2011 national census was cancelled due to the disruption and displacement of people caused by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The census was rescheduled and took place on 5 March 2013.

On 13 August 2019, the Chief Statistician Liz MacPherson resigned following the release of a report criticising the department's handling of the 2018 New Zealand census. Due to a decision to conduct the census solely online, the 2018 Census only attracted an 83% response rate, well short of the 94% Census percent target and a nine percent drop from the previous 2013 Census.

On 21 May 2024, Statistics New Zealand announced that it would not renew the lease for its Auckland office at Greys Avenue building due to staff safety concerns in the Auckland CBD. Key issues including anti-social behaviour around the building's entrance and surrounding street.

title: Statistics New Zealand


text: Template:Virginia class battleship

title: Template:Virginia class battleship


text:
Virginia-class battleship

The Virginia class of pre-dreadnought battleships were built for the United States Navy in the early 1900s. The class comprised five ships: USS Virginia (BB-13), USS Nebraska (BB-14), USS Georgia (BB-15), USS New Jersey (BB-16), and USS Rhode Island (BB-17). The ships carried a mixed-caliber offensive battery of four 12 in and eight 8 in guns; these were mounted in an uncommon arrangement, with four of the 8-inch guns placed atop the 12-inch turrets. The arrangement proved to be a failure, as the 8-inch guns could not be fired independently of the 12-inch guns without interfering with them. Additionally, by the time the Virginias entered service, the first "all-big-gun" battleships—including the British HMS Dreadnought (1906)—were nearing completion, which would render mixed battery ships like the Virginia class obsolete.

Nevertheless, the ships had active careers. All five ships took part in the cruise of the Great White Fleet in 1907–1909. From 1909 onward, they served as the workhorses of the US Atlantic Fleet, conducting training exercises and showing the flag in Europe and Central America. As unrest broke out in several Central American countries in the 1910s, the ships became involved in police actions in the region. The most significant was the American intervention in the Mexican Revolution during the occupation of Veracruz in April 1914.

During the American participation in World War I, the Virginia-class ships were used to train sailors for an expanding wartime fleet. In September 1918, they began to escort convoys to Europe, though Germany surrendered two months later, ending the conflict. After the war, they were used to bring American soldiers back from France and later as training ships. The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, which mandated major reductions in naval weapons, cut the ships' careers short. Virginia and New Jersey were sunk in bombing tests in 1923, and the other three ships were broken up for scrap later that year.

Design
The United States' victory in the Spanish–American War in 1898 had a dramatic impact on battleship design, as the question of the role of the fleet—namely, whether it should be focused on coastal defense or high seas operations—had been solved. The fleet's ability to conduct offensive operations overseas showed the necessity of a powerful fleet of battleships. As a result, the US Congress was willing to authorize much larger ships; the Virginias, three of which were authorized on 3 March 1899, were the first of these new ships. Two more were authorized on 7 June 1900, with the displacement for all five ships proposed at 13500 LT, a significant increase over previous designs. Initial design work, which began with a memorandum issued on 12 July 1898, called for a battleship based on the Maine-class battleship, to be armed with four 12-inch guns, sixteen 6 in guns, and ten 3 in guns, protected with a 12 in belt of Krupp armor, and capable of steaming at 18.5 kn.

Arguments over the projected displacement and armament prevented further work until October 1899. Captain Charles O'Neill argued for a mixed battery of 12 in and 8 in guns with superposed turrets, while Phillip Hichborn, the chief constructor at the Bureau of Construction and Repair, preferred a 13000 LT design armed uniformly with 10 in guns instead of the mixed battery. The decision was made to adopt the mixed battery, since the 8 in gun could penetrate the medium armor on foreign battleships that protected their secondary batteries. Captain Royal Bradford, the chief of the Bureau of Equipment, suggested that 18.5 knots would be sufficient, though O'Neill demanded 20 kn; a compromise was found by requiring a minimum of 19 kn. These compromises produced two variants: "A", which arranged the 8 in guns in four twin turrets amidships as with the Indiana-class battleship, and "B", which placed two of the four turrets atop the 12 in turrets, as on the Kearsarge-class battleship. The "A" design included sixteen 6 in guns in casemates, while "B" had only twelve.

The Board on Construction initially favored "A", though one officer on the board rejected the design so strongly that the Secretary of the Navy ordered a second, larger board to be formed to examine the two designs. Eight line officers were added to the board; this group favored the superposed turrets of "B". One of the members, Rear Admiral Albert Barker, suggested to build the first three ships to "A" and the last two to "B". The board initially approved the idea, but the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance rejected it in favor of uniformity of design. The Secretary of the Navy convened a third board to settle the matter, and ten of the twelve members voted for "B". The finalized design was approved on 5 February 1901.

The superposed turrets ultimately proved to be very problematic; the arrangement had been conceived initially to save weight and allow the much faster firing 8 in guns to shoot during the long reload time necessary for large caliber guns. By the time the Virginias entered service, smokeless propellant and rapid firing, large caliber guns had reduced the time between shots from 180 seconds to 20. The 8 in guns could no longer fire at their maximum rate without interfering with the 12 in guns, since the concussion and hot gasses would disrupt the crew below. In addition, the British HMS Dreadnought (1906)—the first "all-big-gun" battleship to enter service—commissioned in late 1906 shortly after the Virginias and rendered them obsolescent at a single stroke.

General characteristics and machinery

The ships of the Virginia class were 435 ft long at the waterline and 441 ft long overall. They had a beam of 76 ft and a draft of 23 ft. They displaced 14948 LT as designed and up to 16094 LT at full load. The ships had a high metacentric height, which made them unstable even in moderate seas. Steering was controlled with a single rudder. As built, the ships were fitted with a pair of heavy military masts with fighting tops, but they were replaced by cage masts in 1909. They had a crew of 40 officers and 772 enlisted men.

The ship was powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at 19000 ihp. Steam was provided by coal-fired water-tube boilers; in Virginia and Georgia, they were equipped with twenty-four Niclausse boilers, while the other three ships received twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers. These were trunked into three funnels amidships. The engines generated a top speed of 19 kn. By 1919, Virginia and Georgia had their Niclausse boilers replaced with twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The ships carried 1955 LT of coal, which allowed them to steam for a designed cruising radius of 3825 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. In service, they could actually steam for 4860 nmi. The ships were equipped with electricity generators with a combined output of 500 kW.

Armament
The ships were armed with a main battery of four 12-inch/40 caliber guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline, one forward and aft. The guns fired a 870 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2400 ft/s. The turrets were Mark V mounts, which allowed for reloading at all angles of elevation. These mounts could elevate to 20 degrees and depress to −7 degrees. Each gun was supplied with sixty shells.

The secondary battery consisted of eight 8-inch/45 caliber Mark 6 guns and twelve 6-inch/50 caliber Mark 6 guns. The 8-inch guns were mounted in four twin turrets; two of these were superposed atop the main battery turrets, with the other two turrets abreast the forward funnel. The 8-inch guns were the Mark VI type, and they fired 260 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2750 ft/s. They were supplied with 125 shells per gun. The 6-inch guns were placed in casemates in the hull. The 6-inch Mark VI guns fired a 105 lb shell at 2800 ft/s.

For close-range defense against torpedo boats, they carried twelve 3-inch/50 caliber guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull and twelve 3-pounder guns. As was standard for capital ships of the period, the Virginia class carried four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside. They were initially equipped with the Mark I Bliss-Leavitt design, but these were quickly replaced with Mark II, designed in 1905. The Mark II carried a 207 lb warhead and had a range of 3500 yd at a speed of 26 kn.

Armor

Virginia's main armored belt was 11 in thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces and 8 in elsewhere. It extended 3 ft above the waterline and 5 ft below. The main battery gun turrets (and the secondary turrets on top of them) had 12 in thick faces and 2 in thick roofs. For the main battery turrets, their sides were 8 in thick, while the superposed turrets had reduced protection on their sides, at 6 in of armor plating. The supporting barbettes had the 10 in of armor plating. The two waist turrets had 6.5 in thick faces, 6 in thick sides, and 2 in thick roofs. Six inch thick armor plating protected the casemate guns. The conning tower had 9 in thick sides and a 2 in thick roof. The ships' decks ranged in thickness from 1.5 to 3 in and they were sloped on the sides to connect with the lower edge of the main belt.

Service history

All five ships of the class served with the Atlantic Fleet for the majority of their careers. In 1907, Virginia, Georgia, and New Jersey took part in the Jamestown Exposition to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony. The five ships took part in the cruise of the Great White Fleet in 1907–09, though Nebraska, which had been built on the west coast of the United States, joined the fleet after it had reached California in 1908. The fleet left Hampton Roads on 16 December 1907 and steamed south, around South America and back north to the US west coast. The ships then crossed the Pacific and stopped in Australia, the Philippines, and Japan before continuing on through the Indian Ocean. They transited the Suez Canal and toured the Mediterranean before crossing the Atlantic, arriving bank in Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909 for a naval review with President Theodore Roosevelt.

The ships then began a peacetime training routine off the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean, including gunnery training off the Virginia Capes, training cruises in the Atlantic, and winter exercises in Cuban waters. In late 1909, Virginia, Georgia, and Rhode Island visited French and British ports. Throughout their careers, political unrest in several Central American countries prompted the United States to send the ships to protect American interests in the region. New Jersey was sent to Cuba to assist the Cuban Pacification in support of the government of President Tomás Estrada Palma. All five ships became involved in the Mexican Revolution as the United States intervened to protect its nationals living in the country, culminating in the occupation of Veracruz in April 1914. New Jersey was also sent to protect American interests in Haiti and the Dominican unrest in 1914.

In July 1914, World War I broke out in Europe; the United States remained neutral for the first three years of the war. Tensions with Germany came to a head in early 1917 following the German unrestricted submarine warfare campaign, which sank several American merchant ships in European waters. On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. The Virginia-class ships initially were used for training gunners and engine room personnel that would be necessary for the rapidly expanding wartime fleet. Starting in September 1918, the ships began to be used as escorts for convoys bringing soldiers to France, though this duty was cut short by the Armistice with Germany signed in November. With the war over, the Virginias were used to ferry American soldiers back from France through mid-1919.

The ships—thoroughly obsolete by this time—were briefly retained in the post-war period before being decommissioned. Nebraska, Georgia, and Rhode Island were transferred to the Pacific Fleet, with the latter serving as the flagship of the 1st Squadron, though they were all out of service by 1920. Under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, signed in 1922, they were to be discarded as part of the naval armament limitation program. Virginia and New Jersey were sunk as target ships off Cape Hatteras by Army bombers under the supervision of Billy Mitchell in September 1923. The other three ships were sold to ship breakers in November that year.

title: Virginia-class battleship


text:
Saturn Award for Best Music

The Saturn Award for Best Music is one of the annual awards given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The Saturn Awards, which are the oldest film-specialized awards to reward science fiction, fantasy, and horror achievements (the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is the oldest award for science fiction and fantasy films), included the category for the first time as a juried award at the 2nd Saturn Awards in 1975, but was later given out competitively beginning with the 6th Saturn Awards in 1979 onward.

John Williams holds the record for the most nominations and wins with twenty-four and ten, respectively.

Multiple nominations

 * 24 nominations
 * John Williams

 * 17 nominations
 * Jerry Goldsmith

 * 16 nominations
 * Danny Elfman

 * 13 nominations
 * Howard Shore
 * Alan Silvestri

 * 12 nominations
 * Hans Zimmer

 * 10 nominations
 * Michael Giacchino

 * 9 nominations
 * James Horner

 * 8 nominations
 * John Powell

 * 6 nominations
 * Thomas Newman
 * Christopher Young

 * 6 nominations
 * Alan Menken
 * John Ottman

 * 4 nominations
 * John Carpenter
 * James Newton Howard

 * 3 nominations
 * David Arnold
 * Alexandre Desplat
 * Maurice Jarre
 * Marc Shaiman
 * Ken Thorne

 * 2 nominations
 * Angelo Badalamenti
 * John Barry
 * Bruce Broughton
 * Patrick Doyle
 * Clint Eastwood
 * Ludwig Göransson
 * Harry Gregson-Williams
 * Reinhold Heil
 * Nathan Johnson
 * Johnny Klimek
 * Michael Nyman
 * Trevor Rabin
 * J. Peter Robinson
 * Brian Tyler

Multiple wins

 * 10 wins
 * John Williams

 * 7 wins
 * Danny Elfman

 * 3 wins
 * James Horner
 * Alan Silvestri
 * Hans Zimmer

 * 2 wins
 * Michael Giacchino
 * Alan Menken
 * John Ottman
 * Miklós Rózsa
 * Howard Shore

title: Saturn Award for Best Music