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None of the above

"None of the above" (NOTA), or none for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. It is based on the principle that consent requires the ability to withhold consent in an election, just as they can by voting "No" on ballot questions. It must be contrasted with "abstention", in which a voter does not cast a ballot.

Entities that include "None of the Above" on ballots as standard procedure include Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria („Не подкрепям никого“, "I don't support anyone"), Canada, Colombia (voto en blanco), France (vote blanc, "blank vote"), Greece (λευκό, blank), India ("None of the above"), Indonesia (kotak kosong, "empty box"), Mongolia, the Netherlands, North Korea, Norway, Peru, Spain (voto en blanco, "blank vote"), Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Uruguay, the U.S. state of Nevada (None of These Candidates).

Russia had such an option on its ballots (Против всех, "against all") until it was abolished in 2006. Bangladesh introduced this option (না ভোট, "no vote") in 2008. Pakistan introduced this option on ballot papers for the 2013 Pakistan elections, but the Election Commission of Pakistan later rejected it. Beginning with the 2016 presidential election, and 2017 parliamentary one, Bulgaria introduced a 'none of the above' option, which received in the presidential elections 5.59% of the vote in the first round and 4.47% in the run-off. It was also used in the 2019 mayoral election of Sofia. Kazakhstan originally included the option (Бәріне қарсымын, "against all") from 1995 to 2004, and from 2021 onwards after reintroducing the option, which notably received 5.8% of the vote in the 2022 presidential election.

When "none of the above" is listed on a ballot, there is the possibility of NOTA receiving a majority or plurality of the vote, and so "winning" the election. This possibility is not purely theoretical, as NOTA has indeed won occasionally. In such a case, a variety of formal procedures may be invoked, including having the position remain vacant, having the position filled by appointment, re-opening nominations, or holding another election (in a body operating under parliamentary procedure), or it may have no effect, as in India and the US state of Nevada, where the next highest total wins regardless.

Canada
No electoral jurisdiction in Canada formally lists "none of the above" as a ballot option. However, in some provincial elections it is effectively possible to vote for "none of the above", by attending the polling station and formally "declining to vote". These declined votes are counted and become part of the electoral record.

A businessman in Prince George, British Columbia ran in the 1997 federal election in the district of Prince George—Bulkley Valley under the name Zznoneoff, Thea Bove (Thea Bove Zznoneoff); since ballots listed candidates alphabetically by surname, he appeared at the bottom. He came sixth of seven candidates with 0.977 percent of votes cast.

A resident of Oshawa, Ontario, formerly known as Sheldon Bergson, had legally changed his name to "Above Znoneofthe", and had registered under that name as a candidate in several provincial and federal elections, most recently challenging the sitting prime minister's riding of Papineau in the 2021 Canadian federal election as the Rhinoceros Party candidate. His name order was chosen so that his name would always appear at the bottom of the ballot as "Znoneofthe, Above", although this only works federally as provincial election ballots do not list the candidates in surname order.

The 2020 Green Party leadership election featured a preferential ballot which allowed voters to select "none of the options" as a ranked selection.

In Ontario, the None of the Above Party of Ontario is a registered political party, although its stated mandate is for its candidates to serve in the legislature as independent representatives who reflect the views and interests of their constituents, rather than simply as a "reject all of the candidates" placeholder.

Colombia
In Colombia, a NOTA option in the ballots has been recognized by the Constitutional Court of Colombia by upholding a political reform law (Law 1475 of 2011), declaring that a None of the Above vote is "a political expression of dissent, abstention or inconformity with political effects" and also adding that "a None of the Above vote constitutes a valuable expression of dissent through which the electorate's will protection can be promoted. As such, the constitution grants it a decisive importance in the election of uni-personal offices and public corporations". The NOTA option has been present in ballots since at least 1991; in fact legislative act 01 of 2009 instructs what should happen if NOTA would "win" an election. In accordance with the aforementioned Act, if an election for a public corporation (such as Congress, Assemblies or Councils), Governor, Mayor or the first round of the presidential elections would end with None of the Above as the absolute majority of valid ballots, the election must be repeated a single time with new candidates (for unipersonal offices, like president, governor or mayor) and for public corporations, the election must be repeated with only the lists which had achieved the threshold for seats. If the blank vote is again the majority in the new election, then the candidate with the most votes is declared elected.

In the regional elections of 2011 for the municipality of Bello, Antioquia, 56.7% of voters picked None of the Above, defeating the uncontested candidate and prompting the election for Mayor to be repeated.

France
In France, the NOTA vote has been recognised since the Revolution. According to the law currently (May 2023) applicable, "Blank ballot papers are counted separately and annexed to the minutes. They are not taken into account for the determination of the votes cast, but they are specially mentioned in the results of the ballot. An envelope containing no ballot paper is considered to be a blank ballot paper." The blank (i.e. "white") vote is considered as an act of political participation (very different to abstention where the voter does not cast a ballot, as well as to casting an invalid ballot) sending the message that "none of the options suits me", for instance in the case of a referendum.

India
The Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court in 2009 that it wished to offer the voter a "none of the above" option on ballots, which the government had generally opposed. The People's Union for Civil Liberties, a non-governmental organisation, filed a public-interest litigation statement in support of this.

On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right to register a "none of the above" vote in elections should apply and ordered the Election Commission to provide such a button in the electronic voting machines, noting that it would increase participation.

The Election Commission also clarified that even though votes cast as NOTA are counted, they are considered as invalid votes so they will not change the outcome of the election process. They are not taken into account for calculating the total valid votes and will not be considered for determining the forfeiture of deposit.

In the 2014 general election, NOTA polled 1.1% of the votes, counting to over 6,000,000.

The specific symbol for NOTA, a ballot paper with a black cross across it, was introduced on 18 September 2015. The symbol is designed by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Indonesia
The Indonesian Law 10 of 2016 regulates local elections, and includes provisions for elections in which there is only one candidate. In such cases, the candidate contests the election against a NOTA option (commonly referred to as kotak kosong/empty box), and is declared the winner if they manage to secure a majority of the valid votes. Otherwise, the election will be postponed to the next occurrence; the government of Indonesia appoints an acting office holder until the new election, in which the losing candidate is eligible to stand again.

There were three uncontested seats in the 2015 local elections, nine in the 2017 local elections, at least 13 in the 2018 local elections (including the mayoral elections for Tangerang and Makassar), and 25 in the 2020 local elections. In the 2018 election for mayor of Makassar, the NOTA option received over 300,000 votes, 35,000 more than the sole candidate, forcing a repeat election in 2020.

Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, the "none of the above" (Бәріне қарсымын, "against all") option is provided in voting ballots as per Article 37(1) of the Constitutional Law "On Elections". Initially introduced in the 1991 presidential election, voters could cross out candidate names as means of choosing NOTA. The option was officially included in the election law in 1995 but removed in 2004. Despite its removal, activists protested by casting unofficial NOTA votes and engaging in spoiled voting. In 2016, Astana lawyer Anton Fabry unsuccessfully sought a complaint to the Supreme Court, alleging that the Central Election Commission had completely neglected the interests of NOTA voters by excluding the voting option from the ballots as an "deliberate deception" to manipulate voter turnout.

During the 2021 legislative election, its absence was a significant issue, leading President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to propose reinstating it, resulting in its reinstatement in June 2021. The NOTA option for the first time was used again during the direct elections of rural äkims (local heads) in July 2021. In the 2022 presidential election, the NOTA option received 5.8% (460,484 votes), making it the second-largest picked option in the vote share. However, Minister of Justice Qanat Musin clarified that NOTA votes would only be considered as evidence of voter turnout, not as a determining factor due to a lack of legislation on the matter, emphasizing its role as an exercise of the right to participate in elections.

Norway
The Norwegian election regulation makes it mandatory to present voters with blank ballots in addition to all of the approved parties and election lists. In the parliamentary election of 2013, 12,874 votes, which is 0.45% of the total votes given, were blank.

Peru
In Peru, the ballot is declared null and void if two-thirds of the voters vote blank.

Soviet Union
In the 1990 elections that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Soviet version of "none of above" (cross out voting) led to new elections with new candidates in 200 races of the 1,500-seat Congress of People's Deputies. More than 100 incumbents representing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were defeated in the run-off, leading Boris Yeltsin to later say the "none of the above" option "helped convince the people they had real power even in a rigged election, and [it] played a role in building true democracy."

Blank ballot
Owing to the Spanish voting regulations (legislación electoral española), the blank ballot is recognized as 'none of the above' (voto en blanco) but has very little chance to influence the distribution of seats within a democratic election. It is mostly considered as a statistical indicator of candidatures' disapproval. The blank ballots only increase the number of valid votes, raising the threshold of votes (3% and 5% depending on the election) which every political party has to overcome to be fully considered. The parties over the threshold get their seats according to the D'Hondt method.

Blank seats (escaños en blanco)
Since 1999, several political parties    have arisen in order to make visible the 'none of the above' option in the parliaments and force empty seats. "Blank Seats" ran for the Congress and Senate elections of 20 November 2011. Its programme is to leave empty the corresponding assigned seats by not taking full possession of their duties as congressperson, senator, etc. According to law, the seat remains assigned to the elected candidate until the possession act takes place, the elected candidate explicitly refuses or new elections are called. In this way, the political party and its candidates stay free from obligations and are not entitled to receive any money from the public funding scheme for politics.

By voting such option at the local elections in May 2011, the citizens of the villages of Gironella (Barcelona) and Foixà (Girona) were able to reduce the number of politicians in their councils by one and two respectively. Overall, citizenship supported Blank Seats at different municipalities, including Barcelona, with 15,582 votes (averaging 1.71% of valid votes).

The Ciudadanos En Blanco (Citizens for Blank Votes) party aims to give blank ballots the meaning of representing empty seats if the votes indicate so as for any other party, disbanding the party when such law would be approved.

United Kingdom
UK electoral counting procedures require that all votes be counted and announced, including 'rejected' votes. 'Rejected votes' are classified into four categories, protest votes are recorded with others rejected as 'voter's intention uncertain'.

NOTA UK
NOTA UK is a voluntary organisation set up in 2010 to campaign for a formal None Of The Above (NOTA) option to be added to ballot papers for all future UK elections. It has made numerous written evidence submissions to the parliamentary Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee (PCRC) making the case for NOTA 'with teeth', i.e. formalised consequences for the election result in the event of a NOTA 'win' (as opposed to 'faux' NOTA, whereby the next placed candidate takes office anyway as happens in India and elsewhere). As a result of these representations, the PCRC explicitly recommended in its final report on 'voter engagement', published in February 2015, that the next UK government should hold a public consultation before May 2016 solely on inclusion of NOTA on UK ballot papers. This in turn has led to increased support for and awareness of NOTA UK's campaign and its founder, recording artist and music producer Jamie Stanley (known as Mailman), being asked to give a number of media interviews. No public consultation materialised as the incoming Conservative majority government scrapped the PCRC, effectively disregarding all of its recommendations.

Since 2015, in part thanks to NOTA UK's lobbying, it has been a policy of the Green Party of England and Wales to get a form of NOTA (RON – Re-Open Nominations) on UK ballot papers. In the run-up to the 2017 UK general election, NOTA UK wrote to the Green party suggesting that they should reword the policy so that, instead of RON, it refers specifically to the more self-explanatory NOTA, and that they should also place the policy centre stage in their next manifesto.

Above and Beyond Party
The Above and Beyond Party was founded in 2015 and fielded eight candidates in the 2015 general election, none of whom were elected. Their sole stated policy was to introduce a "none of the above" option on all UK ballot papers. The party's logo is based on the West African Adinkra symbol "Aya", "derived from a fern tree which famously grows in difficult-to-survive places", and a symbol of resilience. Critics pointed out that their website and Facebook page at the time indicated that they had policy ideas and a political agenda beyond the single issue of NOTA and appeared to be jumping on the bandwagon of other NOTA campaigns.

Inception and officers
The party registered with the Electoral Commission on 18 March 2015. The Electoral Commission listed the party leader, nominating officer and campaigns officer as Mark Flanagan and the treasurer was Karen Stanley. The party chairman was Michael Ross. The party was de-registered by the Electoral Commission on 3 November 2016.

Electoral history
Above and Beyond fielded four candidates in the 2015 general election. The candidates stood in Clwyd West, Cheadle, Sheffield Central and Leeds North West. In Sheffield Hallam the party endorsed Carlton Reeve, an independent candidate. No Above and Beyond candidate received 5% or more of the votes cast, therefore all lost their deposit.

Finance
The party raised funds partially through "AboveBeyond" music nights.

No Candidate Deserves My Vote! party
No Candidate Deserves My Vote! was registered as a political party with the UK Electoral Commission on 23 November 2000. The No Candidate Deserves My Vote party's single objective is to introduce a bill to Parliament to have a "none of the above" option added to every local and general election ballot paper of the future. They feel this will allow the UK electorate to exercise their democratic right to vote to say that none of the parties currently represents them, which will encourage their democratic responsibility to turn out to vote. If a candidate wins an election it is the intention to stay as a Member of Parliament until the change in the law is enacted. Only then will the candidate step down and the party be disbanded.

It is the intention of the party that, if a NOTA gains the majority vote, it should cause an automatic by-election, the idea being that the majority will have given a vote of no confidence in the candidates. If the same candidates stand under the same policies, then the electorate simply votes NOTA until the candidates change their policies to something that the electorate can vote for.

In 2010, Stephen Phillips of Stevenage stood in the UK general election on behalf of No Candidate Deserves My Vote. Phillips received 327 votes, or 0.7% of the vote, placing 7th out of 9 candidates.

NOTA party
The NOTA Party, in recent years also known as Notavote, was registered as a political party with the UK Electoral Commission on 2 March 2009. It was the intention of the NOTA party to field candidates in every UK parliamentary constituency. The respective NOTA candidates would not have continued in office had they received the most votes; this was merely a mechanism to simulate the recording of a formal NOTA vote. The party was registered as 'NOTA' and not 'None of the Above' as the latter is a prohibited expression regarding registration as a party name. A subsequent attempt to re-register the NOTA party in 2014 was blocked by the Electoral Commission on the grounds that the acronym 'NOTA' is as good as the phrase 'None of the Above', the logic being that it would confuse voters into thinking it is possible to cast a formal vote for 'None of the Above' when they would in fact just be voting for another party, albeit one standing on a single issue NOTA platform.

Zero, None Of the Above
None Of The Above Zero was a candidate at the 2010 general election in Filton and Bradley Stoke. Previously known as Eric Mutch, he changed his name by deed poll to stand under that name. As candidates are listed by surname first he appeared on the ballot paper as "Zero, None Of The Above", in effect giving voters a "none of the above" option since had he been elected he would have resigned immediately. He came last with 172 votes.

Others
In the British parliamentary elections of 2010, a former boxer changed his name by deed poll from Terry Marsh to "None Of The Above X", in order to run as a parliamentary candidate under that name in the constituency of South Basildon and East Thurrock. Claiming that he will not take the seat if he wins, he told BBC Essex: "I don't take it for one moment that it would be a vote for me. ... I'm doing what I think the Electoral Commission should be doing and what should be on every ballot paper in any electoral process." BBC News reported that, while the Registration of Political Parties (Prohibited Words and Expressions) (Amendment) Order 2005 stipulates that no political party can be registered in the UK under the name "None of the Above", there is no legislation against a person changing their name by deed poll and appearing on the ballot paper as "None Of the Above". In the event he polled 0.3% of the vote, the lowest of any candidate standing.
 * Another individual changed his name by deed poll to "None Of The Above" in order to stand as a candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green in 2010. With the surname Above, he was listed first on the ballot paper in alphabetical order, with all the other candidates listed below.
 * The South Wales Anarchists group has run a campaign urging people to "Vote Nobody" since 2008 and many other anarchist groups worldwide have promoted similar slogans.
 * The Landless Peasant Party, which advocates the ownership of land by those who live on it and the replacement of income tax by a flat land tax, and whose leader Derek Jackson gained publicity for standing against then- Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his home constituency in the 2010 elections, include a pledge to add a "None of the above" option to the ballot in all UK elections.

United States
The origins of the ballot option "None of the Above" in the United States can be traced to when the State of Nevada adopted "None of These Candidates" as a ballot option in 1976. In some United States presidential primaries, individuals can vote for unpledged delegates by voting Uncommitted. "None of the above" is also permitted in the bylaws of the Libertarian Party, with NOTA winning the 2024 presidential primaries in North Carolina and Massachusetts.

In 1998 in California, citizen proponents of Proposition 23, titled the "None of the Above Act", qualified a new State ballot initiative through circulated petitions submitted to the Secretary of State, but the measure was defeated in the March 2000 general election 64% to 36%. Were it to be passed by the voters, it was meant to require this new ballot option for all state and federal elective offices, exempting only local judicial races; in determining official election results, the "none of the above" voter tally would be discarded in favor of the candidate with the greatest number of votes.

No similar options were known to have been permitted in any other states as of 2022.

Other countries (None of the Above candidates and parties)

 * In Serbia, None of the above (Ниједан од понуђених одговора, НОПО) is a parliamentary political party, legally formed in 2010, which was mostly popularized on Facebook and less so on other social networking websites. In 2012 Serbian parliamentary election they received 22,905 votes, and thus won one seat in the National Assembly of Serbia.
 * Geoff Richardson changed his full name to "Of The Above None" and stood as an independent for the seat of Gilmore at the 2007 Australian federal election. His name appeared as NONE, Of the Above on the ballot.
 * In 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, a candidate Vasiliy Humeniuk changed his name to Vasily Protyvsih (Vasily Against-all). "Against all candidates" is the name of the "none of the above" vote used in Russia and Ukraine.
 * In 2000, Michael Moore advocated a write-in candidate Ficus (the plant) for Congress as a unified vote for none of the above in congressional seats where the incumbent was running unopposed.
 * David Gatchell of Tennessee ran for governor in 2002 and for Senate in 2006 as a protest, officially changing his middle name from Leroy to None of the Above. In 2006, he got 3,738 votes (0.2 percent).
 * For the 2013 Pakistani general election, the Election Commission of Pakistan unilaterally decided that a 'none of the above' box would be available as a voting option on ballot papers. However, the commission subsequently decided against it owing to the short amount of time remaining until the elections. The concept was suggested to the Election Commission by Abid Hassan Manto, a constitutional expert and a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
 * Elections in South Ossetia have an "against all" option.
 * Elections in Abkhazia have a "None of the above" option.
 * In 2021, the States Assembly of the Bailiwick of Jersey voted to introduce a 'None of the Above' ballot option for uncontested elections, which is set to debut at the 2022 Jersey general election. This has been designed as a means to eliminate uncontested elections to the Island's parliament. If the number of candidates standing for election is equal to or fewer than the available vacancies, voters will have the option to vote for 'None of the Above' to reject the candidate and hold a new election, effectively functioning as a confirmatory ballot.

Procedures that function like "none of the above"
Most ballots do not have a formal "none of the above" option, but some have procedures that work in a similar way.

Argentina
In Argentina casting an envelope without a ballot in a ballot box counts as a blank vote.

Poland
In 1989 legislative election in Poland voters were able to vote against the only candidate running, often from the ruling Polish United Workers' Party by crossing out the candidate's name on the ballot. As a result, voters defeated the sitting prime minister and dozens of leading Communists because they failed to get the required majority.

Re-open Nominations (RON)
Many students' unions in Britain, Ireland, and others use a similar ballot option called 're-open nominations' (RON) in IRV and single transferable vote (STV) elections. These include the National Union of Students in the UK and UCD Student's Union in Ireland. The difference is that RON is a vote against all candidates in FPTP (first-past-the-post) and all subsequent candidates in an IRV or STV election.

RON is not strictly a none of the above candidate in transferable vote elections, as when RON is eliminated during the count its votes are transferred to other candidates if those preferences exist.

Illegal ballots in Robert's Rules of Order
The American Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised (RONR) describes various forms of illegal ballots, which are ballots which do not count for any candidate. Blanks are treated as "scrap paper", and are of no effect, but "unintelligible ballots or ballots cast for an unidentifiable candidate or a fictional character are treated as illegal votes. All illegal votes cast by legal voters… are taken into account in determining the number of votes cast for purposes of computing the majority." RONR always requires a majority for election; thus, casting an illegal ballot or one for a hopeless candidate, whether on the ballot or as a write-in, is equivalent to voting No for all other candidates. "The principle is that a choice has no mandate from the voting body unless approval is expressed by more than half of those entitled to vote and registering any evidence of having some opinion."

No award
Voting for the Hugo Awards is by instant runoff voting, in which nominees for a category are ranked. There are normally seven options: six nominees, plus "No Award". A first preference vote for no award implies that the voter believes that either the category should be abolished, or that none of the nominees are worthy of an award. A second or subsequent preference implies that any higher-ranked nominees are worthy of an award, while those ranked lower are not.

Cultural references

 * In the film Brewster's Millions, the protagonist Brewster (played by Richard Pryor) is required, under certain conditions, to spend $30,000,000 in thirty days in order to inherit $300,000,000. After failing to lose money through gambling and inadvisable investments, he joins the race for Mayor of New York City and throws most of his money at a protest campaign urging voters to support None of the Above. The two major candidates sue Brewster for his confrontational rhetoric, leading to a massive settlement which of course furthers their competitor's goal. Brewster is forced to end his campaign when he learns that he is leading in the polls as a write-in candidate and has to publicly announce that he if he won the mayoralty he wants to decline it but is surprised his "None of the Above" campaign became so popular. (Under the conditions of the inheritance deal, Brewster was not permitted to permanently acquire any assets using the $30,000,000, with the Mayor of New York's $60,000 per annum salary being considered an asset.) Neither candidate wins the election, and a new election with different candidates must be held.
 * In the sixth-season episode of Captain Planet called "Dirty Politics" three of the Eco-Villains are running for president and kidnap the fourth candidate, who is the most popular. Despite this over seventy percent vote None of the Above resulting in the need for a new election.
 * L. Neil Smith's novel The Probability Broach has an alternate history in which the United States becomes a libertarian state after a successful Whiskey Rebellion and the overthrowing and execution of George Washington by firing squad for treason in 1794, where None of the Above (which is always an option on the ballot) has received the most votes for President of the North American Confederacy on two occasions. The first time was in 1968, defeating Lucy Kropotkin by only one vote and would serve until 1972 as the NAC's 24th President. The second time was in 2000 and again in 2004, being elected "President for Life" in 2008, serving as the 28th President and essentially abolishing the presidency.
 * Wavy Gravy has run a "Nobody for President" campaign during several different election years in the United States.

title: None of the above


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Carly Janiga

Carly Janiga, now Carly Reardon, (born October 19, 1988) is an American former gymnast. She attended and competed for Stanford University. She has won gold medals in FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup competition and was NCAA champion in the uneven bars in 2010. She was named the Pacific-10 Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2010.

USA Gymnastics
Janiga trained at the Desert Devils Gymnastics club in Mesa, Arizona under coach Geoff Eaton. She qualified for the Olympic trials in Anaheim, California in June 2004 at age 15. She finished ninth, qualifying for the final selection camp, but was not selected for the six-member team for the Athens Games. Her best event was floor exercise, featuring four 'E' element tumbling passes: a double layout, double Arabian tucked, piked full-in, and whip through to triple full.

NBC commentator Tim Daggett said of Janiga, "I don't pick the team, (national team coordinator) Marta Karolyi does, and Marta Karolyi likes her a lot".

In late 2004, Janiga represented the United States in FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup competition. In September, Janiga competed at the Copa La Serena, held in La Serena, Chile, earning gold medals on vault and floor exercise and a silver medal on beam.

NCAA Gymnastics
Janiga entered Stanford University in fall 2006 and competed in NCAA Women's Gymnastics championship each year until her graduation in 2010.

In 2007, Janiga was named first team All-American in the all-around, vault and floor exercise. She placed fourth in the all-around competition at the 2007 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships. She was also named Pacific-10 Conference 2007 Freshman of the Year.

Janiga also won five individual conference titles at Stanford: balance beam in 2008 and 2009, all-around and uneven bars in 2009 and floor exercise in 2010.

Janiga was the all-around champion at the South Central Regional Championships in 2009. She ended her Stanford career with a 2010 NCAA title on the uneven bars with a score of 9.9375, only the second NCAA individual title in Stanford's history. Stanford coach Kristen Smyth said, "Tonight, Carly was what she's been for Stanford for four years -- amazing and an absolute rock for our team and our program. She is going to be impossible to replace. I can't think of a better way for her to cap off her career than she did tonight."

Personal life
Janiga graduated with a BA in Psychology from Stanford University in 2010, and an MA in Education in 2011 through the Stanford Teacher Education Program.

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

title: Carly Janiga


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Technical director

A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical field.

It is also a common alternative title in association football for the position of Sporting director.

Software
In software development, a technical director is typically responsible for the successful creation and delivery of the company's product to the marketplace by managing technical risks and opportunities; making key software design and implementation decisions with the development teams, scheduling of tasks including tracking dependencies, managing change requests, and guaranteeing quality of deliveries and educating the team on technical best practices.

Typical responsibilities:
 * Defines the technological strategy in conjunction with the development team of each project: pipeline, tools, and key development procedures
 * Assesses technical risk and mitigation plan
 * Establishes standards and procedures to track and measure project's progression
 * Evaluates development teams, identifying strengths, problem areas, and developing plans for improving performance
 * Evaluates interview candidates for technical positions
 * Scouts for and evaluates new technology and tools as opportunities for innovation and development excellence
 * Oversees technical design documentation process for correctness and timeliness
 * Provides input to the other disciplines on the practicality of initial design goals and impact to the overall project timeline
 * Evaluates software implementation on design and task thoroughness
 * Helps to identify high risk areas for the project director
 * Identifies weak software systems that need code improvement and schedules corrective action, when possible
 * Creates automated test process for system features, where possible, and contributes to the build system
 * Aids in all stages of post-production including during finalizing

Engineering
Within engineering, the role of the technical director is often known as a technical authority, or technical manager. The description of technical manager is particularly widespread in the United Kingdom.

Film
In visual effects (VFX) (Industrial Light and Magic, Sony Pictures Imageworks), feature animation (Pixar, Dreamworks Animation) and game development (Naughty Dog), a technical director's responsibilities vary from studio to studio and as such, the term is not very well defined.

Typically, a TD is a combination of an artist and a programmer, responsible for the more technical aspects of film production, such as programming shaders, developing character rigs and animation setups, performing complex simulation tasks and setting up the pipeline (how the data is passed from one stage in the film production to the next). In contrast to a programmer, a TD would normally not work on large programming projects, but rather make heavy use of scripting languages such as Python, MEL, MAXScript, or shell scripting. Another responsibility of a TD is to look after any technical problems the regular artists encounter and to develop custom tools to improve the artists' workflow.

In these industries, "technical artist", "technical animator" and "generalist TD" are sometimes used as synonyms.

Categorization of technical directors in film
Frequently, the role of a TD is more precisely defined. Various areas of computer graphics require a high degree of specialized technical/scientific knowledge and therefore merit more precise categorization. As an example, a skilled Character TD has a strong understanding of human/animal anatomy, movement, and mechanics, whereas a skilled Lighting TD might have a detailed understanding of the physical properties of light and surfaces.

Those categories include (but are not limited to) the following.
 * Effects TD
 * Lighting TD
 * Modeling TD
 * Pipeline TD
 * Layout TD
 * Creature TD or Character TD
 * Hair TD
 * Cloth TD
 * Matchmove TD

Theatre
It is a technical director's job to make sure the technical equipment in the theater is functional, maintained and safe. The technical director, along with the production manager, is responsible for the overall organization of the technical production process. Duties included are generating necessary working drawings for construction (in conjunction with a draftsperson, if there is one); budget estimations and maintaining of accounts; materials research and purchasing; scheduling and supervising build crews; coordinating load-ins; handling conflicts that arise between different departments; and organizing the strike and clean-up for the production. Often, the Technical Director can serve as the head of the scenic department, supervising the master carpenter, carpenters, charge artists and leading them in the realization of the scenic designer's vision.

In venues that host touring productions, the TD may also be responsible for advancing the technical rider, hiring local crew, renting equipment and liaising between the tour manager and the local crew.

Television
The technical director works in a production control room of a television studio and operates the video switcher and associated devices as well as serving as the chief of the television crew. For a remote broadcast outside the studio, the TD will perform the same duties in a mobile production truck. It is the TD's job to ensure all positions are staffed and all equipment and facilities are checked out and ready before the recording session or live broadcast begins. They typically will switch video sources, perform live digital effects and transitions, and insert pre-recorded material, graphics and titles as instructed by the Television director. In larger productions, the director does not actually operate the production equipment, allowing them to coordinate the production and make rapid decisions without worrying about how to mechanically execute the effect or camera move being called for. The technical director may provide training to more inexperienced members of the technical crew when needed. In consultation with the director, the TD may have more or less input into the creative side of the production, depending on the situation. They may provide the director with guidance on crew assignments, camera shots and the most efficient way to accomplish any given effect. The TD is usually responsible for the technical quality of the signal being recorded or broadcast and will use various measuring devices and displays to ensure quality control.

Technical directors commonly work on productions that are either broadcast live or recorded on video tape or video servers. Television productions shot on film generally do not use TDs, as the camera cuts and effects are realized in post production after the shooting is completed.

The terminology in the UK differs in some respects from the above description: The production control room is called a "gallery", a mobile production truck is called an "OB van" or a "scanner" (a BBC term). In UK television practice, the technical director is the senior technical person in the gallery and supervises the technical team, but does not operate the "vision mixer". The TD is responsible for ensuring that the gallery is technically fit for purpose, the routing of internal and external sources, as well as liaison with other technical areas such as master control rooms and transmission suites. They may additionally perform vision control duties, matching the exposure and colour balance of the cameras ("racking").

title: Technical director


text:
User:Treesong

Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, I am now known as Mr. Treesong rather than simply Treesong. Thanks for the interest!

title: User:Treesong


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Deficit round robin

Deficit Round Robin (DRR), also Deficit Weighted Round Robin (DWRR), is a scheduling algorithm for the network scheduler. DRR is, like weighted fair queuing (WFQ), a packet-based implementation of the ideal Generalized Processor Sharing (GPS) policy. It was proposed by M. Shreedhar and G. Varghese in 1995 as an efficient (with O(1) complexity) and fair algorithm.

Details
In DRR, a scheduler handling N flows is configured with one quantum $$Q_i$$ for each flow. This global idea is that, at each round, the flow $$i$$ can send at most $$Q_i$$ bytes, and the remaining, if any, is reported to the next round. In this way, the minimum rate that flow $$i$$ will achieve over a long term is $$\frac{Q_i}{(Q_1+Q_2+...+Q_N)}R$$; where $$R$$ is the link rate.

Algorithm
The DRR scans all non-empty queues in sequence. When a non-empty queue $$i$$ is selected, its deficit counter is incremented by its quantum value. Then, the value of the deficit counter is a maximal number of bytes that can be sent at this turn: if the deficit counter is greater than the packet's size at the head of the queue (HoQ), this packet can be sent, and the value of the counter is decremented by the packet size. Then, the size of the next packet is compared to the counter value, etc. Once the queue is empty or the value of the counter is insufficient, the scheduler will skip to the next queue. If the queue is empty, the value of the deficit counter is reset to 0.

Variables and Constants const integer N            // Nb of queues const integer Q[1..N]      // Per queue quantum integer DC[1..N]           // Per queue deficit counter queue queue[1..N]          // The queues

Scheduling Loop while true do for i in 1..N do if not queue[i].empty then DC[i]:= DC[i] + Q[i] while( not queue[i].empty and                         DC[i] ≥ queue[i].head.size ) do DC[i] := DC[i] − queue[i].head.size send( queue[i].head ) queue[i].dequeue end while if queue[i].empty then DC[i] := 0 end if end if end for end while

Performances: fairness, complexity, and latency
Like other GPS-like scheduling algorithm, the choice of the weights is left to the network administrator.

Like WFQ, DRR offers a minimal rate to each flow whatever the size of the packets is. In weighted round robin scheduling, the fraction of bandwidth used depend on the packet's sizes.

Compared with WFQ scheduler that has complexity of O(log(n)) (n is the number of active flows/queues), the complexity of DRR is O(1), if the quantum $$Q_i$$ is larger than the maximum packet size of this flow. Nevertheless, this efficiency has a cost: the latency, i.e., the distance to the ideal GPS, is larger in DRR than in WFQ. More on the worst-case latencies can be found here.

Implementations
An implementation of the deficit round robin algorithm was written by Patrick McHardy for the Linux kernel and published under the GNU General Public License.

In Cisco and Juniper routers, modified versions of DRR are implemented: since the latency of DRR can be larger for some class of traffic, these modified versions give higher priority to some queues, whereas the others are served with the standard DRR algorithm.

title: Deficit round robin


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Scolymus hispanicus

Scolymus hispanicus, the common golden thistle or Spanish oyster thistle, is a flowering plant in the genus Scolymus in the family Asteraceae, native to southern and western Europe, north to northwestern France.

It is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall, with spiny stems and leaves. The flowerheads are bright yellow to orange-yellow, 2–3 cm diameter

Uses
Since at least the time of Theophrastus in ancient Greece, this plant has been known for medicinal and culinary uses. Although it has been cultivated at times, currently most of the plant which is consumed comes from harvesting wild plants. In parts of Spain, it is eaten in stews during spring. It is also used in salads and soups, and it is served with scrambled eggs in Extremadura and Andalusia, Spain, where it is called tagarnina. In the sixteenth century in Salamanca, the washed young plants used to be eaten with their root, either raw or in stews with meat.

In parts of southern Italy, the leaves are only gathered during Holy Week, after which they are used to bake a meat pie to be eaten on Easter.

Renamed taxa

 * Scolymus hispanicus subsp. grandiflorus = S. grandiflorus

title: Scolymus hispanicus


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Category:Websites

A website is a set of World Wide Web pages, usually written in HTML, that are viewed using a web browser. This category organizes articles relating to websites.

title: Category:Websites


text:
Category:Cardiomyopathy

A cardiomyopathy is a weakness in the myocardium (muscle of the heart). This can be either an impairment in the contractile function of the muscle (systolic dysfunction) or an impairment in the ability of the muscle to relax (diastolic dysfunction).

title: Category:Cardiomyopathy


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Suck.com

Suck.com was an online magazine, one of the earliest ad-supported content sites on the Internet. It featured daily editorial content on a great variety of topics, including politics and pop-culture. Launched in 1995 and geared towards a Generation X audience, the website's motto was "A fish, a barrel, and a smoking gun". Despite not publishing new content since 2001, the site remained online until December 2018.

History
Suck was initiated in 1995 by writer Joey Anuff and editor Carl Steadman, two former employees of HotWired, the first commercial online magazine. The name of the website, Suck.com, was chosen as a domain name with possibly offensive connotations — though apparently not enough to be disallowed by Network Solutions, which controlled the InterNIC system for the distribution of domain names before ICANN acquired that authority. The name also described the nature of "news aggregator" sites that "sucked" stories from the internet and published them in magazine-like formats.

During 1996, Suck integrated the writing talent of Heather Havrilesky, who provided the sarcastic comments of her supposed alter ego "Polly Esther" in her column, Filler.

In 1997, Suck published a compilation of the site's most popular essays in Suck: Worst-Case Scenarios in Media, Culture, Advertising and the Internet (ISBN 1-888869-27-5).

In the years 2000 to 2001, cartoonist Peter Bagge did a number of comics journalism stories for Suck on such topics as politics, the Miss America Pageant, bar culture, and the Oscars.

Closure
In July 2000, after a decrease in Internet investment, Suck.com merged with Feed Magazine to create Automatic Media. The concept was to streamline operations and collaborate on boutique operations with low staffing costs. The joint project, Plastic.com, was founded with only four staffed employees.

Despite the site's faithful following and a combined reader base of more than one million, however, Automatic Media ended in June 2001. On June 8, 2001, Suck.com declared that they were "Gone Fishin'" indefinitely, and the site ceased to publish new content. Regarding the indefinite hiatus, co-founder Joey Anuff said, "It was a shame. On the other hand... it’s shocking how long Suck lasted."

Archive email newsletter
During the autumn of 2015, software developer Mark MacDonald began serializing the website's archive in an email newsletter, which is sent on a daily basis 20 years-to-the-day after its original publication on Suck.com.

Style
From the beginning, site founders Anuff and Steadman created daily comically cynical commentary with a self-obsessed and satiric theme. The writing was accentuated by the art of cartoonist Terry Colon. In addition to Colon's distinctive artwork, the website also had many features common to its articles. The main text of each article was restricted to a table only 200 pixels wide. Most articles featured links within the flow of the content rather than as in labeled footnotes or references, which was less common then than it would become a few years later.

Recognition
Suck.com was nominated for Webby Awards in both 1997 (Books and Magazines category) and 1999 (Humor category).

Regular columns

 * Hit & Run — a link-driven summary of recent events.
 * Filler — a weekly self-deprecating satire of cultural pretension and dating in postmodern times.

Staff

 * Carl Steadman, co-founder, writer, and editor, became the owner of Plastic.com.
 * Joey Anuff, co-founder, writer, and editor.
 * Tim Cavanaugh, editor in chief from 1998 to 2001, became web editor of the Los Angeles Times opinion page, and then a contributor to Reason magazine.
 * Ana Marie Cox, executive editor (who wrote as "Ann O'Tate"), was later the writer of the popular blog Wonkette and wrote for Time.com
 * Heather Havrilesky
 * Owen Thomas, copy editor and managing editor at Valleywag.

Contributors

 * Peter Bagge
 * Steve Bodow
 * Rogers Cadenhead
 * Mark Dery
 * Michael Gerber
 * Nick Gillespie
 * Greg Knauss
 * Josh Ozersky
 * Tom Spurgeon
 * Jake Tapper

title: Suck.com


text:
John J. Gilligan

John Joyce “Jack” Gilligan (March 22, 1921 – August 26, 2013) was an American Democratic politician from the state of Ohio who served as a U.S. Representative and as the 62nd governor of Ohio from 1971 to 1975. He was the father of Kathleen Sebelius, who later served as governor of Kansas and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Early life
Gilligan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Harry Gilligan, a funeral home operator, and his wife, Blanche. His twin sister was Jeanne Joyce Gilligan. His family was Irish Catholic. He graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1939, the University of Notre Dame in 1943 and the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1947, serving in between in the United States Navy during World War II in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean as a destroyer gunnery officer.

Career
After the war, Gilligan returned to Cincinnati to teach literature at Xavier University from 1948 to 1953. He also served as member of the Cincinnati city council from 1953 to 1963, and was a candidate for Ohio Congressman-at-Large in 1962. In 1964, he was elected to the Eighty-ninth Congress as a representative for Ohio's 1st district, serving from January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967. Gilligan narrowly lost his re-election bid to the Ninetieth Congress in 1966 to Republican Robert Taft Jr. after the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly redrew his district to favor the Republican Party. In 1968, Gilligan defeated sitting U.S. Senator Frank J. Lausche in the Democratic primary; however, he narrowly lost in the general election to Republican William B. Saxbe after Lausche declined to support him in the general election.

Gilligan won election for governor of Ohio in 1970, defeating Republican state Auditor Roger Cloud, and serving from 1971 to 1975. His signature achievement in office was the creation of Ohio's state income tax. Gilligan was seen as a favorite to win a second term but lost re-election in an upset in the strongly Democratic Watergate year of 1974 to former Republican governor James A. Rhodes (who had been barred from running in 1970 due to term limits) by only 11,488 votes. The backlash of big business against Gilligan and in favor of Rhodes was seen by many as the reason for his defeat.

Gilligan subsequently served as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1977 to 1979. In 1980, he was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. He served as director of the Institute for Public Policy from 1979 to 1986, and taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1986 to 1992. He also served as director of the civic issues forum at the University of Cincinnati School of Law. In 1999, Gilligan was elected to the Board of Education of the Cincinnati Public Schools. He chose not to stand for re-election when his term expired in 2007.

Family
Gilligan was the father of four children, including Kathleen Sebelius, who served as Governor of Kansas and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. They became the first father/daughter governor duo in the United States after her election.

Death
Gilligan died at home in Cincinnati on August 26, 2013, at the age of 92. His son said he died of congestive heart failure.

UFO sighting
On October 17, 1973, Gilligan, while governor, claimed to have seen a UFO while driving near Ann Arbor, Michigan. During a press conference he stated: "I saw one (UFO) the other night, so help me. I'm absolutely serious. I saw this."

Legacy
The Gilligan Complex at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair in Columbus, Ohio, is named in honor of Gilligan.

title: John J. Gilligan


text: Category:Nauru

title: Category:Nauru


text: Category:Nauruan people

title: Category:Nauruan people