text:
Talk:BitTorrent tracker

Private Trackers
Come on. Pyramid scheme? I think that whole paragraph should be completely removed, because I don't think it accurately reflects the situation of most private trackers. You may get added benefits for donating, in the same way you would on many other websites, but reputable private trackers rarely just hand out upload credit like that, and donating is by no means the only way to maintain a ratio.

I agree. Donations aren't mandatory to keep a 1:1 ratio. Whoever wrote the pyramid scheme part is either very misinformed and/or not experienced in private trackers or is a worthless leecher with a grudge against private trackers —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thenutman69321 (talk • contribs) 21:31, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Cleanup
I think it needs a software to establish a tracker of bittorrent, doesn't it?

what are the programs??

well... i know except trackerless connect..we need to connect to certain trackers whose site addresses are provided in the torrent file before we can start to download.

well... i don't know how to establish a tracker.

any references or tutorials?

i suppose we need a program to set up a tracker don't we? anybody? Davince (talk) 08:36, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

who wrote this crap?? needs a lot of cleanup 67.172.139.154 (talk) 00:48, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

 * I have marked this page for cleanup, and have begun the process myself. It definitely needs some expansion.  Also, while I kept the list of trackers in for now, I feel like that is not necessarily within the scope of this article.  However, the article should definitely contain references to specific trackers (both historical and current) in a more encyclopedic context, i.e., discussion of legal troubles. --Kinu 07:35, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

I'll start cleaning up this site now. One thing that the creators don't seem to understand is that BitTorrent trackers are totally different to BT indexes, although many sites perform both.

ISOhunt, for example, is NOT a tracker, although it is listed as such here.  splintax  (talk) 12:37, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
 * Okay, I've finished cleanup and removed the message. If there are still any reasons it needs to be cleaned up, please let me know on my talk page or leave a message here..  splintax  (talk) 14:17, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

 * The ipv6 section is out of date. NIIF/HUNGARNET links to only two torrents, and both are now returning forbidden errors and appear to be unavailable.  The sixxs tracker hasn't been working for a while and clarification is needed if they're still running it.  OTOH there are now a number of ipv6 capable clients available now (although I'm not aware of any trackers other than those two) and either a list of these or a link to the sixxs page that lists them (if it's sufficiently up to date) would be helpful. 146.87.6.75 (talk) 16:32, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Illegal?
Any discussion of bittorrent/filesharing/etc. has to be quite careful about using the word "illegal." This paragraph:
 * Trackers illegally tracking copyrighted content are often the targets of cease and desist lawsuits from copyright bodies such as the MPAA and RIAA, despite the fact that they do not actually supply any copyrighted data themselves. Usually these websites are located in countries that have lax copyright laws. The Pirate Bay (located in Sweden) is famous for publishing and making fun of legal threats.

... doesn't really make sense. it starts saying "Trackers illegally tracking copyrighted..." yet later says "these websites are located in countries that have lax laws"... thus what they are doing is not illegal (in the countries in which they operate). By opening with the word "illegal" it obscures the whole argument. It is, at present, very much debatable whether tracking copyrighted material is illegal or not. What is factual is that these websites have received cease and desist orders. The legality of what they are doing, however, is not so clear cut. I don't want to turn this into yet another filesharing-legality debate. However I believe the current wording is not valid.24.202.31.227 05:57, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Yea, true that's just like saying Wikipedia's file servers should be blamed for the input of invalid information rather than the IP address of the user or the user who did this contribution :P... -- ☯µWiki☯  Talk / Contributions  (YouWiki''') 14:51, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Yep, although what you said made me laugh.

Links to Trackers
I restored the link to Ogg Frog just now, which had been deleted. Several others were deleted too, without comment. The only tracker link left was the Pirate Bay.

While Ogg Frog is not a large site, it is one of only a few offerring undoubtably legal, licensed content, which is otherwise hard to find. While I'm sure legal content can be had on some sites that also permit copyright infringement, the legality of a torrent is generally not made clear. I think that Wikipedia would do a service to the community by clarifying this distinction.

Again, while Ogg Frog isn't very big, it's important in that it's been MSN search's #1 hit for "music torrents" for almost two months now. This is likely due to the fact that many competing music sites get taken down when served with DMCA notices.

If one can make a rational argument for deleting Ogg Frog's link, I'm happy to debate it, but I think wholesale deletion of links, without comment, that favor just one prominent pirate site is Not Appropriate. MichaelCrawford 01:33, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I removed the links without comments but with edit summary:remove private trackers and non notable links. Ogg Frog falls under non notable. And it is a non fuctional work-in-progress site. --Dodo bird 07:18, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I took the liberty of removing the whole External links section. It consisted only of links to individual BitTorrent indexing sites. Wikipedia External links sections are for linking to external material delving deeper into a topic than what the Wikipedia article itself does, for those readers with a special interest. It is not to act as a kind of mini link directory; there are other sites for that. Feel free to add any links explaining in greater detail how BitTorrent trackers work, etc. Haakon 17:53, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

We should add a link to an external website with all those links to torrent trackers. It is a really good information and I use it a lot when I need to find a new tv episode, or something like that. 83.253.31.196 (talk) 02:18, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Well if there is a need to have a link to a list of all the bittorrent trackers, instead of favoring a few in the article it   self, it is possible to use torrentking.org, currently i do not know of any other site that categorize and list so many bittorrent trackers. - Chris 2:31AM, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
 * While that is true, it does need some close examination. Your inclusion of it was removed awhile back for technical grounds, and because of the somewhat obvious Conflict of Interest, where you seem to be associated with the site.  If it is indeed the only such site listing torrents, it may be useful in the article.  But, it's notability is lessened when it's viewed as an ad-based server that is added to Wikipedia by someone who may be its owner. Rurik (talk) 05:09, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
 * After review and monitoring of how active the site is, how often new sites are added, and how unique the indexed sites are, I think that this site does serve a useful purpose and should be included here. I've re-added it to the article. Rurik (talk) 00:26, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Simplify
Can someone explain in plain English why 'many torrent trackers have been the target of cease and desist lawsuits from copyright bodies'. No technical jargon - please!--CharlieP 07:56, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

The page targets people who already know what a tracker is and know how to set one up for new torrents. Can someone kindly provide a HowTo? --202.70.157.9 07:45, 7 February 2007 (UTC)Hussain

Trackers/Indexers
If we will be calling trackers "trackers" (as everyone else does) then we should also be calling "indexes" "indexers", reflecting purpose and not function.f

Also, I have put in a list of Tracker scripts. This list took a while to put together, please don't delete it like the list of tracker sites got deleted.

--expert01 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.18.53.172 (talk • contribs) 00:42, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Crossposting from my talk page:

"I realize now that you are adding the titles of software trackers, but at first I thought you were going to list public tracker sites. That was my misunderstanding, but it's really a better idea to initialize a section with content, not placeholder messages. At any rate, as I said in my edit comment, I was only going to revert your edit once and then step back."
 * -- Omicronpersei8 (talk) 04:50, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Function
Trackers contains list of peers for each torrent they tracks. Does tracker must have a .torrent file, which it tracks? (Is it 100% necessary?). What information is exchanged between client and a tracker (there obviously is data about other peers, amount of transferred data since last update), but is there data about which pieces (of a given torrent) were transferred ? -Yyy 08:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Apparently, there is not. (Torrent is being successfully tracked even if tracker itself does not have a copy of .torrent file). This information should be mentioned either here or in main bittorent article. (This is about protocol). -Yyy 12:59, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not an expert but my understanding is that the .torrent file contains the details of the tracker and a unique hash for the torrent. The server then uses this hash to locate other seeds/leechers using the tracker for that specific torrent. his information is then relayed to the client. The client periodically updates the tracker to a) confirm it's still here b) get an updated list of peers and c) report individual upload/download stats. Torrent files also include comments from the creator. I'm less certain about this but _believe_ the torrent also includes details of how the file is torrent down into "chunks" (e.g. 50 chunks @ 1MB). I believe it also includes a hash (MD5?) of each chunk to allow the client to verify the integrity of data it is sent. These last 2 may be supplied by the tracker on the first connect, however. Basiclife (talk) 22:12, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

UKNova
Why does it redirect here? --Jamie 23:33, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Incomprehensible gibberish
This page is completely incomprehensible. I can't tell what they are talking about. Using links to help define basic ideas every five words is not the answer to having to come up with clear definitions. Can someone who can actually write please adopt this page now that a link to it is on the Main Page today? 72.209.11.245 (talk) 13:40, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * First the page is not overlinked. Second the article needs references and a lot of work to help explain the technology. I used Google which is usually helpful with computer related topics to try to find some refs. The search results were mostly news about legal action to shut them down (that would be best used on Legal issues with BitTorrent), as well as articles from unreliable sources and the trackers site themselves. I did find out that the EU funded P2P-Next project will soon launch its own BitTorrent tracker and Norwegian state TV has launched one already. These are not mentioned in the article at the moment but may covered by a reliable source. - Shiftchange (talk) 14:21, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

The article still needs work. In particular, what is a tracker? If it is too hard to define it in the lead section, a section called "Definition" would be nice.--greenrd (talk) 12:59, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * We could use clearer terms. A lot of jargon is used together, which makes it hard for non-technical users to parse the page. 173.66.39.100 (talk) 07:03, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

a list of trackers
I think this article would be greatly improved if it included a list of bittorrent trackers. It could be divided up by language or region, or topic, or however we think that trackers are best categorized (my vote is for language). Thoughts?
 * I agree! SF007 (talk) 05:07, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I disagree. WP isn't a list of items, and such a list would be a heavily contested, debated, and controversial section. We can just link to an index of trackers, like one mentioned earlier up on this page. Rurik (talk) 18:39, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

 * I Agree. And I'm removing the link http://torrentscene.freezoka.com/index.php/List_Of_Torrent_Site_Abbreviations since it's linking to a spam/scam commercial site. --R2cyberpunk (talk) 03:35, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

 * I disagree. We might choose to list a few notable ones, but this is a bit questionable since most of these will track illegal content as well. It's better to leave these websites unmentioned. 173.66.39.100 (talk) 07:02, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Sources for Legal use of trackers
I've removed the citation needed tag on the legal use of trackers section since the use of "private" trackers for some content is relatively public knowledge. 173.66.39.100 (talk) 07:00, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Link not working
Following link does not work, I guess it should be removed http://www.trackon.org/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by The100rabh (talk • contribs) 06:23, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

most popular?
I think that sentence needs to be removed as 1) there's no reference to that statement and 2) two of them have been down since last year. I'm going to leave it for a second opinion though. --98.24.99.70 (talk) 23:27, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

title: Talk:BitTorrent tracker


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Big Bang
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text:
Jacques Marie Frangile Bigot

Jacques Marie François Bigot (14 October 1818 – 14 April 1893) was a French naturalist and entomologist most noted for his studies of Diptera. He was one of two sons of physician Jacques Bigot (1757-1842) and Marie Françoise Euphrosine (née Luxure-Luxeuil) Bigot (1791-1845). Bigot was born in Paris, France, where he lived all his life, though he had a property in Quincy-sous-Sénart near Brumoy acquired in 1874, and where he died after an attack of influenza. He became a member of the Entomological Society of France in 1844, and his first paper was published in its Annals in 1845, as was most of his later work. Bigot was a prolific author, describing more than 1,500 species of Diptera in more than 400 scientific publications and, like Francis Walker, his work was the subject of much later criticism. Bigot's collection of more than 35,000 specimens of Diptera was purchased by George Henry Verrall in 1893 for 8,000 francs and contains a wealth of type material of Diptera including those of Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart, Ferdinand Kowarz, and Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy. When Verrall died, it passed to his nephew, dipterist James Edward Collin, who in 1961 gave part of it to the Natural History Museum in London and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Selected works

 * 1874-1892 Diptères nouveaux ou peu connus (37 parts in all) in Ann Soc.Ent.Fr. online
 * 1858 Diptères de Madagascar
 * 1888 Enumération des Diptères recueillis en Tunisie
 * 1892 Voyage de Alluaud dans le territoire d'Assinie (Afrique occidentale) en 1886 :Diptères

A complete list of Bigot's works is given by Evenhuis, N.L. 2003. The complete bibliography of scientific works of Jacques-Marie-Frangille Bigot. Zootaxa 210: 1-36 and the genera erected by Bigot are discussed in Evenhuis, N.L. & Pont, A.C. (2004): The Diptera Genera of Jacques-Marie-Frangile Bigot. Zootaxa 751: 1-94; Auckland.

Note
Two other French entomologists, Louis Bigot (publishing 1963 to present) and Just Bigot, the latter J.M.F. Bigot's nephew, should not be confused.

title: Jacques Marie Frangile Bigot


text:
Talk:Digital asset management system

Hello,

Who can tell me about the origins of DAM? Any resources on this available?

Thanks!

Hi. I think this site covers it well. http://its.psu.edu/dmr/dam.html

title: Talk:Digital asset management system


text:
Ashland High School (Ohio)

Ashland High School (AHS) is the only high school of the Ashland City School District of Ashland, Ohio. It has around 1200 students.

Athletics
Ashland High School has a long tradition in sports, especially baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, football and golf. The boys varsity golf teams have the only state championships recorded in school history, in 1962 and 1998. The boys and girls golf teams advanced to the OHSAA Division 1 State Golf Championships in 2008 and the girls team returned to the championships in 2009 where senior Rachel Thompson received medalist runner-up honors.

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

 * Boys' Golf – 1962, 1998

Notable alumni

 * Ernest Cline – novelist and screenwriter.
 * John Roseboro – former MLB player (Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators)
 * Tim Seder – former National Football League player with the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars
 * Robert Springer – NASA astronaut

title: Ashland High School (Ohio)


text:
Parakala Matha

Bramhatantra Swatantra Parakala Matha, commonly known as Parakala Matha, is a Vaishnava monastery founded during the Hoysala Empire in 1268 at Mysore, Karnataka, primarily worshipping Vishnu and Lakshmi as Hayagriva and Vargeshi. It is the first mediaeval era monastery of the Vadakalai denomination within Vaishnavism in the Hindu society and is the gurupeeta, the seat of the royal guru, of the maharajas of Mysore.

Originally founded in Mysore where its headquarters has been based, the matha has branches across southern India and as well as one abroad.

Etymology
Parakala is a Sanskrit adjective meaning "beyond time". It is an epithet of Vishnu's incarnation as Narasimha, and by derivation means "he who is beyond time". Alvar Tirumangai, an influential figure in the monastery's history, earned parakala as an honorary style for his scholarship, after whom the monastic came to be known as Parakala Matha.

History
Parakala Matha was first founded by Brahmatantra Swatantra Jeeyar, a disciple of Swami Vedanta Desika, during the reign of the Hoysala emperor Narasimha III. It is among the monasteries that view Vedanta Desika as the torchbearer of Āchārya Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita teachings, the others being Ahobila Matha at Ahobilam, Andavan Ashramam at Srirangam, and Andavan Ashramam at Poundarikapuram. The Hayagriva idol worshipped at the hermitage is said to have been handed down from Vedanta Desika himself.

Āchārya tradition
There have been a total of thirty-six āchāryas (pontiffs or principal seers) so far.

The head of the matha is also the hereditary raja guru of the Mysore Royal Family. The matha has thus had connections with the monarchs of Mysore Kingdom since 1399, one of the reasons for the proximity of Jaganmohana Palace and Mysore Palace to it. Most of the royal ceremonies are officiated by seers of the hermitage.

title: Parakala Matha


text:
User talk:Jmore

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HOK (firm)

HOK, formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum is an American design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm. Founded in 1955, it is now registered as HOK Group, Inc.

Founding
HOK was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1955. The firm is named for its three founding partners: George F. Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum, all graduates of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

The practice's first building designs were schools in St. Louis suburbs, and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florissant was the first independent school designed by the firm. Another prominent school they designed was the Saint Louis Priory School.

Early years
By the mid-1960s, the firm was winning commissions across the United States and began to open additional offices, starting with San Francisco in 1966 for the design of a library at Stanford University and Dallas in 1968 for the master planning and design of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Also in 1968, HOK launched its interior design practice. That year, HOK expanded into Washington, D.C., after winning the commission to design the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. In 1973, HOK established a presence in New York by acquiring Kahn & Jacobs, designers of many New York City skyscrapers. By the 1970s, the firm was operating internationally and in 1975 the firm was named as architect of the $3.5 billion King Saud University in Riyadh, at the time the single largest building project in the world. In 1979, George Kassabaum was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician.

In 1983, HOK formed HOK Sport Venue Event, a subsidiary devoted entirely to designing sport stadiums, arenas, and convention centers, an architectural boom market at the time. In January 2009, the Board of HOK Group, Inc. and managers of HOK Sports Facilities, LLC transferred ownership of HOK Sport to leaders of that practice. The company became an independent firm, and rebranded itself as Populous.

Expansion and acquisitions
HOK's first office outside the US opened in Hong Kong in 1984, and the second in London in 1987, a practice that would be expanded in 1995 by merging with the British architectural practice Cecil Denny Highton.

The firm expanded into China in 2013, when it acquired the New York and Shanghai offices of hospitality design firm BBG-BBGM, creating one of the world's largest interior design firms, although BBG-BBGM's office in Washington, D.C. continues to operate as BBGM. By 2007, international work represented more than 40% of HOK's annual revenue.

As of June 2024, HOK operates 26 offices across North America, Europe and Asia, including in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in China; Dubai in the Middle East; Mumbai, India; and Toronto, Canada, where it established its first offices in 1997 with the acquisition of Urbana Architects.

Other domestic acquisitions include Caudill Rowlett Scott based in Houston, Texas, in November 1994, adding offices in Houston and Atlanta. The purchase of 360 Architecture in January 2015, a 200-person, Kansas City-based firm, gave the group capabilities in the design of stadiums, ballparks and arenas. That acquisition enabled HOK to launch a new global Sports, Recreation, and Entertainment design practice after the breakaway of Populous, and to open new offices in Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio. This return to the firm's tradition of stadium architecture was buoyed on May 15, 2015, when the firm announced a multi-year partnership with the United Soccer League (USL) in the US to lead a stadium development, design and standards initiative to help house all USL clubs in soccer-specific stadiums across North America by the end of the decade.

Leadership
In 2023, Eli Hoisington and Susan Klumpp Williams were appointed joint co-CEOs of HOK, the firm's youngest CEOs, and the first time it had appointed a woman. They succeeded Bill Hellmuth, founder George Hellmuth’s nephew, who was president of the firm from 2004 to 2016 and CEO from 2016 until his passing in 2023. Prior to Bill Hellmuth, Patrick MacLeamy served as HOK’s CEO from 2003 to 2016, and chairman since 2012. MacLeamy succeeded HOK Chairman Bill Valentine when he retired after 50 years with the firm.

Innovation and sustainable design
In 1983, HOK introduced HOK Draw, computer-aided drafting software products that specialized in conceptual architectural design. In the early 2000s, HOK began using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to streamline the design and construction process.

His team designed the Weather Prediction Center with a four-story waterfall to direct rainwater into bio-retention gardens; and a louvred sunlight system for a building used by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

HOK has worked with the Biomimicry Group, co-founded by Janine Benyus, since 2008, which directs designers to use natural models in solving problems such as precipitation capture. In 2010 they collaborated with the energy and daylight consultancy, The Weidt Group, to complete Net Zero Court, a zero-emissions class A commercial office building in St. Louis. Using an ocular roof design, their 2017 Mercedes-Benz Stadium became the first LEED Platinum certified sports stadium in the USA. Their design for the Boston Consulting Group HQ in Toronto in 2022, uses principles of wellness-informed architecture, to maximise natural light and encouraging standing, for which it won WELL Platinum Certification from WELL Building Standard accreditation body.

HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 released the Genius of Biome report, a textbook for how to apply biomimicry design principles. In 2014, ORO Editions published "HOK Tall Buildings", a 300-page book exploring the design of the contemporary high-rise.

Selected projects

 * 1962: The Priory Chapel, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
 * 1970: Houston Galleria, Houston, Texas, United States
 * 1970: Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, California, United States
 * 1975: King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 * 1976: National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., United States
 * 1977 Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, Texas, United States
 * 1979: Cecil H. Green Library, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
 * 1981: Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, United States
 * 1981: Metropolitan Square, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
 * 1982: Levi's Plaza, San Francisco, California, United States
 * 1983: King Khaled International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 * 1985: St. Louis Union Station Renovation and Redevelopment, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
 * 1986: BP Building Cleveland, Ohio, United States
 * 1986: Kellogg Company Headquarters Battle Creek, Michigan, United States
 * 1986: Riverchase Galleria Birmingham, Alabama, United States
 * 1991: 801 Grand, Des Moines, Iowa, United States (tallest building in Iowa)
 * 1992: Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research (CEPSR), Columbia University, New York City, United States
 * 1993: Apple Inc. R&D Campus, Cupertino, California, United States
 * 1994: Independence Temple, Independence, Missouri, United States
 * 1995: Tokyo Telecom Center, Tokyo, Japan (co-designers)
 * 1996: Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
 * 1996–1997: Nortel Brampton Centre HQ, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
 * 1997: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Restoration, London, England
 * 1997: George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, Texas, United States (on the campus of Texas A&M University)
 * 1999: Northwestern Memorial Hospital Facility Replacement and Redevelopment, Chicago, Illinois, United States (co-designers)
 * 1999: Edificio Malecon Office Tower, Buenos Aires, Argentina
 * 1999: Boeing Leadership Center, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
 * 1999: American Airlines Arena (home of NBA Miami Heat), Miami, Florida, United States
 * 2000: Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
 * 2000: Nationwide Arena (home of NHL Columbus Blue Jackets), Columbus, Ohio, United States
 * 2001: United States Environmental Protection Agency Research Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States (1.2 million-sq.-ft. campus)
 * 2002: Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum, Passenger Terminal Cork, Cork Airport, Ireland
 * 2002: Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse, Denver, Colorado, United States
 * 2003: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, Chantilly, Virginia, United States
 * 2004: Harlem Hospital Center Master Plan and Patient Pavilion, New York City, United States
 * 2005: Cisco Systems Executive Briefing Center Interior Design, San Jose, California, United States
 * 2005: Terminal A at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, United States (world's first LEED certified air terminal building)
 * 2005: Stockton Arena (home of ECHL Stockton Thunder), Stockton, California, United States
 * 2006: Lavasa Hill Station Master Plan and Design Guidelines, Moss Valley, Pune, India
 * 2006: Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center), Tupper Lake, New York, United States
 * 2006: SJ Berwin European Headquarters Interior Design, London, England, (Business Week/Architectural Record Award winner)
 * 2007: Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 * 2007: Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai, China
 * 2007: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
 * 2008: Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States
 * 2008: Midfield Terminal at the Indianapolis International Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States (master designer)
 * 2008: Kansas City Power & Light District, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
 * 2009: Doha City Centre, Doha, Qatar, (design of five hotel towers for largest retail development in the Middle East)
 * 2009: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia's first LEED certified project and the world's largest LEED Platinum project)
 * 2009: Carnival House, head office of Carnival UK, Southampton, England
 * 2009: Bakrie Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia
 * 2009: Huntington Park (home of Triple-A MiLB Columbus Clippers), Columbus, Ohio, United States
 * 2010: Indira Gandhi International Airport – Terminal 3, Delhi, India (LEED Gold certification)
 * 2010: New Building 20 at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, (LEED Platinum certification)
 * 2010: MetLife Stadium (home of NFL New York Giants and NFL New York Jets), East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
 * 2011: Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
 * 2011: Brigade Gateway Enclave, Bengaluru, India
 * 2011: Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, Hanoi, Vietnam (tallest building in Vietnam)
 * 2012: Canon USA Headquarters, Melville, New York
 * 2012: Baku Flame Towers, Baku, Azerbaijan
 * 2012: Harlem Hospital Center Mural Pavilion, New York City
 * 2013: San Francisco Mint Adaptive Reuse, San Francisco, California
 * 2013: BBC Broadcasting House Headquarters Workplace Strategy and Interior Design, London, England
 * 2013: Husky Stadium (home of University of Washington football), Seattle, Washington, United States
 * 2013: Auburn University Recreation & Wellness Center, Auburn, Alabama, United States
 * 2014: 535 Mission Street, San Francisco, California, United States
 * 2014: Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, Anaheim, California, United States
 * 2014: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Inouye Regional Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States
 * 2014: Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal Complex, Doha, Qatar
 * 2015: PayPal Park (home of MLS San Jose Earthquakes), San Jose, California, United States
 * 2015: Porsche U.S. Headquarters and Customer Experience Center, Atlanta, Georgia
 * 2015: University of Chicago William Eckhardt Research Center, Chicago, Illinois
 * 2016: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Headquarters, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
 * 2016: Rogers Place (home of NHL Edmonton Oilers), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * 2016: Perot Tower, Mixed Use, Dallas, Texas
 * 2016: St Bartholomew's Hospital Redevelopment and King George V Building, London, England
 * 2017: University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, New York
 * 2017: Capital Market Authority Tower, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 * 2017: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and MLS Atlanta United FC) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
 * 2017: Little Caesars Arena (home of NHL's Detroit Red Wings and NBA's Detroit Pistons), Detroit, Michigan, United States
 * 2018: Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Passenger Terminal Modernization, Atlanta
 * 2018: Central and Wolfe Campus, Sunnyvale, California, United States
 * 2018: Kentucky International Convention Center Redevelopment, Louisville, Kentucky, United States
 * 2018: LG Science Park, Seoul, South Korea
 * 2019: FC Barcelona New Palau Blaugrana Arena, Barcelona, Spain
 * 2019: Las Vegas Ballpark (home of Pacific Coast League Las Vegas Aviators), Summerlin, Nevada, United States
 * 2020: World Trade Center Towers, Chennai, India
 * 2020: Lynn Family Stadium (home of the USL Championship's Louisville City FC and the NWSL's Racing Louisville FC), Louisville, Kentucky, United States
 * 2020: Spire London Skyscraper, London, England
 * 2020: LaGuardia Airport Central Terminal B, Queens, New York (Phase 1)
 * 2021: UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Hospital at UPMC Mercy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
 * 2021: Stanford University School of Medicine Center at Stanford University, California.
 * 2022: AdventHealth Training Center, Orlando, Florida, United States
 * 2022: St. Louis CITY SC CITYPARK Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
 * 2022: Boston Consulting Group Canadian Headquarters, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 * 2024: Roig Arena, Valencia, Spain
 * 2027 (projected): New York City FC stadium, Queens, New York, United States

title: HOK (firm)


text:
List of government schools in New South Wales

The New South Wales Department of Education is a department of the Government of New South Wales. In addition to other responsibilities, the department operates primary and secondary schools throughout the state.

 * List of government schools in New South Wales: A–F
 * List of government schools in New South Wales: G–P
 * List of government schools in New South Wales: Q–Z


text:
Chapala, Jalisco

Chapala is a town and municipality in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, located on the north shore of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest freshwater lake. According to the 2015 census, its population is 50,738 for the municipality. The municipality includes about 11,000 in the town of Ajijic.

Geography
Chapala is 28 miles (45 km) south-southeast of Guadalajara, on Mexican Federal Highway 44. It is located at 20°20' North, 103°10' West.

History
Although there are several theories as to the origin of the city's name, the most likely is that it comes from Chapalac, the name of the last chief of the Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the region. Chapala became an official municipality on September 10, 1864, by decree of the Jalisco State Congress.

Culture

During the First World War, in 1915, Norwegian speculators intended to make Chapala a luxury resort town. A railway was to be built, with race segregated carriages. In addition to the railway, the speculators would also provide two motor vessels to navigate the lake with connections to the other small towns at the lake shore. A first class hotel was to be built, as well as an automobile club with attached casino. An extensive dam, 8 kilometers long to provide dry land with plots for luxury dwellings. What the shareholders in the company, "Compania di Fromento di Chapala" received, was only photographs of railway carriages and locomotives. See the book; Gullfeber by Kr.Fr.Brøgger, published in Oslo 1932.

In the late 1940s the American writer Tennessee Williams settled in Chapala for a while to work on a play called The Poker Night, which later became A Streetcar Named Desire. As Williams explains in his essay "The Catastrophe of Success," Chapala offered him an ideal place to work, "a remote place among strangers where there is good swimming."

Since the 1960s, Chapala has been frequented by both Mexican and international tourists. Among the area's cultural attractions is mariachi music, which originated in the state of Jalisco. While many fine mariachi bands have been based in Chapala, the most famous groups are based in larger cities nearby. The most famous mariachi in Mexico is Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, founded in the late 19th century in the southern Jalisco city of Tecalitlán, but now based in Mexico City. Although mariachi music is believed to have originated in the town of Cocula, the greatest concentration of mariachis can be found in the city of Guadalajara, located about 30 miles north of Chapala; it is considered the city that most epitomizes the external concept of Mexico propagated by the international mass media (characterized by charros, tequila, sombreros, and mariachis). A worldwide mariachi festival is held there each fall, mariachis from throughout the world (including Europe and Asia) regularly participate.

Tourism
Tony Burton describes early tourism in his book “Lake Chapala through the ages: an anthology of travellers' tales.” Chapala, along with its namesake lake, is well established as a weekend getaway destination primarily for inhabitants of the city of Guadalajara. Most of the area's immigrant population (originating primarily from the United States and Canada) reside not in the city proper but in and around Ajijic, a village of approximately 11,000 inhabitants located approximately 5 miles west of Chapala. Many of these residents stay for a long time, and some try to make Chapala like "home."

title: Chapala, Jalisco


text:
User talk:VikC

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Lectonar 08:48, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * How to edit a page
 * Help pages
 * Tutorial
 * How to write a great article
 * Manual of Style

title: User talk:VikC


text:
Ishana

Ishana (Sanskrit: ईशान, IAST: Īśāna), is a Hindu god and the dikapala of the northeast direction. He is often considered to be one of the forms of the god Shiva, and is also often counted among the eleven Rudras. He is venerated in Hinduism, some schools of Buddhism and Jainism. In the Vastu Shastra, the north-eastern corner of a plot of land is referred to as "Ishana". Ishana also shares qualities with Samhara Bhairava and is therefore a part of the Ashta Bhairava.

Iconography
Ishana is described as having three eyes, a tranquil appearance and white complexion, dressed with a white cloth and a tiger's skin. On his head, a jata-makuta which has on top of it the crescent moon must be placed.

He may be seated on a white bull, or simply in the padmasana though being seated on the bull is preferred.

If he is represented with only two arms, his hands must carry a trident and a kapala or one of the hands (the left one generally) might be in the varadamudra; if, however, he has four hands, the two front ones should be sculptured as playing upon a veena and the others are to be held in the varada and abhaya mudras. Gopinatha Rao suggests that description might be incorrect, as the veena must be held only by the hands of the front pair of arms, which are also the very hands that are necessarily to be in the varada and abhaya poses.

When represented in Lingam form along with the other Panchabrahmas, his face, uncarved, would face upward.

One verse of the Linga Purana describes Ishana as having three feet, seven hands, four horns and two heads while in one verse of the Shiva Purana, he is described as "resembling pure crystal".

Vedas
An early mention of Ishana is in one of the Pañchabrahma Mantrāṇī found in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (TA 10.21.1) of the Krishna Yajurveda (c.1200 BCE):

 * ईशानस्सर्वविद्यानां ईश्वरस्सर्वभूतानां ब्रह्माधिपतिर्ब्रह्मणोऽधिपतिर्ब्रह्माशिवो मे अस्तु सदाशिवोम्।

Translation by Sabharathnam Sivacharyar:
 * "Lord Ishana—the Supreme Lord and Revealer of little knowledge through lord Ishvara and spiritual disciplines, the nourisher and controller of all living beings, the Directing Lord of northeast, He who is the guided by main direct authority of the Vidyeshvaras, who directs Brahma, Vishnu and others—may He  who is vidyeshwara present Himself in this Sivalinga. By such benign presence, let there occur absolute purity and auspiciousness in Shiva. Om"

Ishana is also mentioned in the Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda (VS 27.35), which the Shiva Purana calls the "Ishana Mantra", though the Purana calls a different verse from the same Samhita which also mentions Ishana (VS 39.8) the "Ishana Mantra" as well.

Puranas
Several Puranas mention Ishana; a few of them are detailed here:

Shiva Purana
In the Shiva Purana, Ishana is described as a form or aspect of Shiva. The Purana states that Ishana bestows knowledge and riches on those with intelligence, while curbing evil-doers. Ishana is declared to be the form of Shiva presiding over the ear, speech, sound and ether as well as the "individual soul, the enjoyer of Prakriti".

The Purana also asserts that the "Ishana Mantra" should be recited when fixing Lingams to pedestals, when wearing rudraksha beads on the head or (only for some) when wearing sacred ash.

Linga Purana
One verse of the Linga Purana describes Ishana as "the omnipresent lord of all". In another verse, one who makes the idol of Ishana is said to be "honoured in the world of Vishnu." In one verse, he is said to hold an axe while in another, he is described as wielding a trident. Ishana described as being stationed in every being as the organ of speech.

The Purana mentions Ishana as one of the deities present at Daksha's sacrifice who was attacked by Virabhadra. He is also described as having attended the svayamvara of Parvati to Shiva.

Brahmavaivarta Purana
The Brahmavaivarta Purana states that Ishana was born out of the left eye of Krishna. He is described as wearing tiger's skin, adorned with a crescent crown on his head, possessing three eyes and holding a trident, patissa (sword) and club. He became the leader of the Dikpalas.

Pañchabrahma
The Pañchabrahmas are five specific aspects of Shiva collectively taken together. These aspects include Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha, and Ishana. Each of these aspects are glorified in their own mantra in the Pañchabrahma Mantrani present in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (TA 10.17-21).

These aspects of Shiva are often depicted in five-faced Lingams which Stella Kramrisch states are physical equivalents of the five Pañchabrahma Mantrani, with each face of the five-faced lingams corresponding to one of the Mantras and representing a particular manifestation of Shiva.

As one of the Panchabrahmas, Ishana is the source of spontaneous grace directed to all beings and to all worlds.

Vastu Shastra
According to Vastu Shastra, it is auspicious for homes and offices to be situated in the northeast. North is the direction wealth resides, associated with Kubera, while East is the direction where knowledge resides, associated with Indra. For this reason, Ishana symbolizes the culmination of both knowledge and wealth.

Buddhism and Shinto

He is a chief among the gods of Paranirmitavaśavarti, the sixth heaven of the Kāmadhātu.

According to the Ainōshō, there is a theory that this deity is synonymous with Pāpīyas as well as the Shinto deity Izanagi. The Jinnō Shōtōki also states that there is a theory that the names of Japan's primordial creator gods Izanagi and Izanami are the same as the Sanskrit names Īśāna and Īśānī.

Īśānī is Īśāna's consort. According to the Secret Storehouse Records (祕藏記) she is flesh white in color and wields a spear.

title: Ishana


text:
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-07-25/In the news

Writers in the media showed that they were positively impressed by Wikipedia, except for a town concerned about its image. The favourable reviews included one from a site sometimes identified as a competitor.

'No greater net resource for wasting time'
Detroit Free Press writer Mike Wendland wrote about Wikipedia this week and formed a very favourable opinion, describing the encyclopaedia as 'unlike any other one-stop reference you've ever consulted'.

Wikipedia dominates news coverage of Wikimedia Foundation projects, but Wendland mentioned Wiktionary, Wikiquote and Wikispecies in his article, and said he had found 'no greater net resource for wasting time' than Wikipedia and related sites. Wendland quoted facts from Medieval hunting and Ninety Mile Beach as examples of the kind of 'obscure trivia' he enjoyed finding in Wikipedia, and said that the abundance of links in each article meant that 'before you know it, the birds are singing outside your window and you stayed up all night'.

Wendland considered the common criticism that because anyone can edit Wikipedia it cannot be entirely reliable, and quoted from the project's own consideration of this criticism which acknowledges that the encyclopaedia contains much 'well-meaning, but ill-informed and amateurish work' but notes that the project is very much a work in progress rather than a finished project.

The article noted the similarities between Wikipedia and h2g2, a collectively written 'unconventional guide to Life, the Universe and Everything' and brainchild of Douglas Adams, and looked at the growing influence of wiki-based sites on the Internet, but said that Wikipedia is 'clearly the standard for open-source information'.

About.com also seems impressed
One of Wikipedia's main competitors in the internet knowledge resource market, About.com, has looked at the remarkable growth of Wikipedia since its launch.
 * Editor's note from November 2023: The spam blacklist, in its infinite wisdom, has deigned to demand this link not be included, or else this article can never be formatted or edited, even by administrators. The URL was: . I am also strictly forbidden to even mention the name of the website, so you must imagine that this next redacted part said "About dot com blogger".

blogger Wendy Boswell declared herself 'not a good graph reader' but still able to see that Wikipedia's growth charts were 'pretty dang cool'. However, Boswell perhaps misunderstood the aim of the project when she said that 'So if you look up something about cats and find that you are not agreeing with the person who stated that cats can't use a vacuum cleaner, you can add your opinion' - Wikipedia being a neutral encyclopaedia rather than a place for people to propose ludicrous ideas.

Ulster town upset by its Wikipedia entry
The Belfast Telegraph reported this week on the plight of County Antrim town Ballymena, which it claimed had been 'ridiculed in the biggest open access encyclopaedia on the internet'. The Telegraph underestimated Wikipedia's size by a factor of ten when it stated that the project 'currently carries about 50,000 articles', but found the Ballymena article somewhat deficient. Some content appeared to be sarcastic, claiming that the town contained two of Europe's best-kept housing estates, and urging visitors to visit "the green and gentle pastures of the Doury Road and Ballykeel".

More controversial was a claim that the town is the heroin capital of Europe, something disputed by the mayor of the town, Tommy Nicholl, who said the claim was "ludicrous and not true" and said "Why doesn't whoever wrote this highlight good things about Ballymena?", although he acknowledged that the town did face a drugs problem. The Telegraph quoted Encyclopædia Britannica executive editor Ted Pappas as saying "The premise of Wikipedia is that continuous improvement will lead to perfection. That premise is completely unproven".

Since the publication of the Telegraph article on 22 July, the article has seen several edits, which have removed the sarcasm and dubious claims which the Telegraph highlighted, and also added sources and external links, which were previously absent.

Non-notable BBC News guest columnist inspires his own article
The editor of the BBC News website Pete Clifton writes a weekly column for the site, but recently handed over for two weeks to a replacement chosen from the general public. Researcher Ed Moran from Oxford took over, and in his first column remarked on his surprise and awe at finding that Pete Clifton had an entry, although he suggested that Clifton had probably written the article himself.

In his second column Moran reported one reader as writing in to say "Dude. It's Wikipedia. Anyone can be in it", and an article on him duly sprang up. Moran acknowledged, though, that while Pete Clifton had survived a vote for deletion, he was unlikely to do so, and his prediction was borne out - Neutrality put the article forward for deletion and the vote looks set to remove Ed from Wikipedia.


text:
9K115 Metis

The 9K115 Metis (NATO reporting name AT-7 Saxhorn) is a man-portable, tube launched, SACLOS wire-guided anti-tank guided missile of the Soviet Union. It is considered the Soviet counterpart to the American M47 Dragon ATGM.

The relatively small 9K115 missile was generally underpowered compared to contemporary armored threats, and consequently it was little-exported and little used in combat.

Development
The missile was developed by the Tula KBP. It is very similar to the 9K111 Fagot in external appearance (having three main fins); however, the missile is much lighter—primarily because of the reduced fuel load, which reduces the maximum range to 1000 m.

During the 1980s, an upgraded version of the missile was developed—the Metis-M 9M131 (sometimes labelled Metis-2). Fired from the same launcher, the new missile is much larger and heavier, with an increased range and a larger warhead. The NATO designation for this missile is AT-13 Saxhorn-2.

History
The missile was introduced into the Soviet Army in 1979 to supplement the 9K111 Fagot at company level. The system is lighter than the Fagot system, due to a less complicated tripod launcher and a lighter missile.

In Russian service, the Metis is deployed with motor rifle companies, with three launchers per company. The missile is operated by a two-man team; the gunner carries the 9P151 launching post and one missile, his assistant carries an additional three missiles. The AT-7 can be operated by one man if needed.

The export prices of the missile and firing post in 1992 were:
 * 9M131 Missile $13,500
 * 9P151 Firing post $70,000

Models

 * 9K115 (NATO: AT-7 Saxhorn) – Entered service in 1979.
 * 9K115-2 Metis-M (NATO: AT-13 Saxhorn-2)

Description
The missile is fired from the 9P151 launching post, which has a simple tripod for support. It can also be fired from the shoulder, but this apparently requires more skill on the part of the operator. The launching post weighs 10.2 kg. The missile is launched from the tube by a booster rather than the gas generator used on the 9K111 Fagot system, despite both missiles being designed by the same design bureau. The 9S816 guidance system is powered by a thermal battery attached to the launch tube shortly before launch and the missile itself is remotely powered along the guidance wires.

The missile can be launched from an enclosed space, such as a building or cave, but requires at least 6 m behind the launcher, and a total internal volume of at least 100 m3. The missile has a short minimum range of 40 m and can engage targets moving at up to 60 km/h.

The missile's warhead is a single HEAT shaped charge that can penetrate 460 mm of armor.

Current operators

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
 * 🇧🇩 Bangladesh Metis-M1
 * 🇧🇾 Belarus
 * 🇭🇷 Croatia
 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia
 * 🇰🇵 North Korea
 * 🇷🇺 Russia
 * 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine (Luhansk People's Republic)
 * 🇸🇸 South Sudan
 * Syria
 * 🇾🇪 Yemen (Houthis)
 * Syria
 * 🇾🇪 Yemen (Houthis)

Former operators

 * People's Republic of Bulgaria
 * East Germany

title: 9K115 Metis


text:
Talk:Lunar year

Merge?
should probably be merged with lunar calendar. dab (ᛏ) 08:52, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
 * I don't think so. Would the articles Year and Calendar be merged? I doubt. --Spring Dennis 06:37, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Another possibility is to merge with Month. Lunokhod 22:05, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Proposed merge of Lunar year with Lunar calendar
Dbachmann has proposed that Lunar year be merged with Lunar calendar. Please give your opinions below.
 * not for any fundamental reason, just because the articles are similar in scope and both very short; if they should grow in size significantly, they can always be separated again. No big deal as far as I am concerned. dab (𒁳) 13:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * for the record, I had completely overlooked the fact that I had made the same proposal before, back in July 2005, just above. dab (𒁳) 20:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * For (weak): I support this proposal for the following reasons. First, at the present time, it is not clear to me how the lunar year stub will ever be exapanded to a full article. Second, the lunar year and lunar calendar are definitely related, and it doesn't seem too logical to discuss the lunar calendar without discussing the lunar year. Finally, I think that the merged article would be more informative. Nevertheless, If the lunar year and lunar calendar topics ever are expanded to the point where a division into two articles is warranted, I would also be for such a re-division. Lunokhod 15:31, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Merge - The two articles cover material that is similar enough that they should be merged together. Dr. Submillimeter 17:43, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

 * merge: the two concepts are closely related to each other and it's somewhat strange that lunar calendar doesn't mention lunar years in the text. Tocharianne 17:57, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lunar year


text:
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-07-25/News and notes

There were 7 new admins, 5 new featured articles, 3 new featured lists, and 6 new featured pictures this week. Other news included the reuse of an image from Wikipedia in the media, and some new international developments.

Some highlights
An image taken from Wikipedia (see left) was included as part of a slideshow accompanying a feature about the periodic table in Slate.

A new tool has been developed as an interwiki link checker, using a bot that looks for articles on other Wikipedias that have an identical title, but no interwiki link. Users can manually check to see whether the interwiki link is appropriate using this tool, and the bot will then go through the results and add the links.

The Scots Wikipedia reached 100 articles last week, just barely less than a month after it was created.

Admins
New Wikipedia administrators last week included Redwolf24 (nom), Master Thief Garrett (nom), GregRobson (nom), Hashar (nom), Essjay (nom), Bluemoose (nom), Moriori (nom).

Featured content
Five articles were promoted to featured status: Helen Gandy, Sharon Tate, Blackface, Căile Ferate Române (which has already made an appearance on the Main Page), and Tooth enamel.

Three new featured lists were designated: List of UN peacekeeping missions, Zimbabwean national cricket captains, and List of space shuttle missions.

Meanwhile, on Featured picture candidates, six images were promoted.


text: Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Boneyard/2005-07-25/News and notes


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Michael Mullen

Michael Glenn Mullen (born October 4, 1946) is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011.

Mullen was the 32nd vice chief of Naval Operations from August 2003 to August 2004. He then was the commander of both the U.S. Naval Forces Europe and the Allied Joint Force Command Naples from October 2004 to May 2005. From July 2005 to September 2007, Mullen served as the Navy's 28th chief of Naval Operations.

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mullen was the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces and diversified the top ranks of the Pentagon. He retired from the Navy after over 42 years of service. Since 2012, Mullen has been a visiting professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Early life and education
Mullen was born on October 4, 1946, in Los Angeles, the eldest of five children of Mary Jane (Glenn), who worked as an assistant to comedian Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood press agent John Edward "Jack" Mullen. He attended St. Charles Borromeo Church School in North Hollywood, and graduated from Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks in 1964. Mullen then attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and was classmates with former Commandant of the Marine Corps Michael Hagee, former Chief of Naval Operations Jay L. Johnson, former Secretary of the Navy and Senator from Virginia Jim Webb, National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair Oliver North, former Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, and NASA administrator Charles Bolden. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1968.

Along with his congeniality, [he] displayed fine leadership qualities. With his well rounded personality, his enthusiasm, and his desire to do his best, Navy-Air is indeed getting an outstanding officer. -- 1968 Lucky Bag, USNA college yearbook

Early career
As a junior officer, he served in various leadership positions aboard USS Collett (DD-730), USS Blandy (DD-943), USS Fox (CG-33) and USS Sterett (CG-31). He has commanded three ships: the gasoline tanker USS Noxubee (AOG-56), the guided missile destroyer USS Goldsborough (DDG-20), and the guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48); and has also commanded Cruiser-Destroyer Group Two from USS George Washington (CVN-73). Mullen's last command at sea was as Commander, U.S. Second Fleet/Commander, NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic (COMSTRIKFLTLANT).

In 1985, Mullen graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, with a Master of Science degree in Operations Research, and in 1991, he attended the six-week Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Mullen served as Company Officer and Executive Assistant to the Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. He also served in the Bureau of Naval Personnel as Director, Chief of Planning and Provisions, Surface Officer Distribution and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense on the staff of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. On the Chief of Naval Operations' staff, Mullen served as Deputy Director and Director of Surface Warfare and as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements, and Assessments (N8). He was the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations from August 2003 to October 2004.

Mullen was recognized by his peers in 1987 with the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership skill.

As Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Mullen had operational responsibility for NATO missions in the Balkans, Iraq, and the Mediterranean. As Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, he was responsible for providing overall command, operational control, and coordination of U.S. naval forces in the European Command area of responsibility. He assumed these duties on October 8, 2004, and was relieved of them upon his becoming Chief of Naval Operations.

On October 29, 2006, the Honolulu Advertiser published an op-ed by Mullen that defined the concept of the 1,000-ship navy. However Admiral Gary Roughead, Mullen's successor as Chief of Naval Operations, rejected Mullen's concept in favor of a more inclusive vision that includes non-governmental organizations and cooperation with non-allied countries.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
On June 8, 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced that he would advise President George W. Bush to nominate Mullen to succeed General Peter Pace as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Bush announced the nomination formally on June 28, 2007.

On August 3, 2007, the United States Senate confirmed Mullen as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen was sworn in on October 1, 2007. Upon taking office, Mullen became the first naval officer to hold the Chairman's position since Admiral William J. Crowe, who served as Chairman prior to the enactment of the Goldwater-Nichols Act in 1986, and who was the immediate predecessor to Army general and later United States Secretary of State Colin Powell.

During his tenure, he was responsible for the appointment of multiple African-American officers to the highest ranks of the military, including the appointment of General Lloyd Austin, now the first black secretary of defense, as Director of the Joint Staff.

On March 18, 2009, Gates recommended to President Barack Obama that Mullen be re-nominated for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 25, 2009 and began his second term on October 1, 2009.

On February 2, 2010, Mullen and Gates said that they fully supported President Obama's decision to end the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prevented openly gay people from serving in the military. "It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Mullen said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "No matter how I look at the issue...I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity—theirs as individuals and ours as an institution."

2007 Senate testimony regarding the Iraq War
During Mullen's Senate confirmation hearings for his first term nomination as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mullen identified political progress in Iraq as a critical component of Iraq policy. He noted that, "there does not appear to be much political progress" in Iraq. He also said, "If [the Iraqis] aren't making progress in [the political] realm, the prospects for movement in a positive direction are not very good. Failure to achieve tangible progress toward [political] reconciliation requires a strategic reassessment." Mullen further told the Senate that the United States needs to "bring as much pressure on [Iraq's political leaders] as [the U.S.] possibly can."

Regarding the length and scope of the U.S. involvement in Iraq, Mullen told the Senate that while he does not envision permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, "vital interests in the region and in Iraq require a pragmatic, long-term commitment that will be measured in years, not months."

Debt
In 2010, Mullen said, "The most significant threat to our national security is our debt."

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
President Obama, United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Admiral Mullen provided the certification required by the Act to Congress on July 22, 2011. Implementation of repeal was completed 60 days later, so that DADT was no longer policy as of September 20, 2011.

Views on use of military force
In a speech at Kansas State University, Mullen outlined his views about the best application of military force in present times. He characterized most wars, such as World War II, as wars of attrition, where the reduction or elimination of enemy forces signaled victory. He characterized the Cold War as an issue of containment. In characterizing the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he described them as "a fight against a syndicate of Islamic extremists led by al-Qaeda and supported by a host of both state and non-state actors", citing the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as their "epicenter".

Mullen outlined three principles about the "proper use of modern military forces":

 * Military power should not be the last resort of the state: Mullen pointed to the readiness and capacity of military forces to respond to crises as reason to deploy them sooner, rather than later, in response. "We can, merely by our presence, help alter certain behavior."
 * Force should be applied in a precise and principled way: Mullen cites the sacrifice involved in deployment as requiring extreme care. Secondly, Mullen argues that "the battlefield isn't necessarily a field anymore. It's in the minds of the people." He cites General Stanley McChrystal's restriction of night raids I as an example of this principle in action.
 * Policy and strategy should constantly engage with one another: Given that current engagements are open-ended, Mullen posits that military strategy must be more constantly engaged with policy. "...war has never been a set-piece affair. The enemy adapts to your strategy and you adapt to his." He cites the review process which led to the current Afghanistan escalation as a model of engagement between military leaders and policy makers.

During the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, President Trump threatened to order federal troops to quell protests; in opposition, Mullen authored an article published in The Atlantic. Mullen stated, "I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes."

Retirement
President Obama nominated General Martin Dempsey as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Memorial Day 2011. Dempsey had only been sworn in as army chief of staff the previous month. On September 30, 2011, Mullen officially retired from the military when his term as chairman ended.

In December 2012, one year into his retirement, Mullen was in the news again, for having been the target of computer hacking, a situation that led to subsequent FBI investigations. In 2013, Mullen joined the board of General Motors.

On July 11, 2013, Mullen joined the Board of Directors of Sprint Nextel Corp directly after a buyout from SoftBank, one of Japan's largest cellular companies. In 2016, Mullen joined the Advisory Board of Afiniti, an American unicorn big data and artificial intelligence business.

Mullen was vetted by Michael Bloomberg to be his running mate in the 2016 presidential election, but Bloomberg decided against running.

In an interview with ABC News on December 31, 2017, Mullen stated his belief that the United States was close to a nuclear war with North Korea.

On May 22, 2024, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that DDG 144, a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, would be named USS Michael G. Mullen (DDG-144) in his honor.

Other awards
In 1987, Mullen was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. In 2009 the U.S. veterans group Soldier On awarded Admiral Mullen the first Soldier On Award, created for them by sculptor Andrew DeVries. The Soldier On Award recognizes individuals whose leadership and actions have advanced the goal of ending veteran homelessness.

In 2010, Mullen was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.

An auditorium was dedicated in his name March 1, 2012, before a graduation ceremony at the Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 2024, the USS Michael G. Mullen (DDG-144) was named after him due to him being a, "visionary leader in the mold of the greatest naval leaders that came before."

Personal life
Mullen is married to Deborah and together they have two sons, John "JMuls" Mullen and Michael Edward Mullen.

title: Michael Mullen


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User:Waffenbaum

Hello folks. I've been a user of Wikipedia for a number of years, and have submitted articles a few times before becoming a member. I mostly deal with articles about Scandinavian and Danish history, as well as rooting out spelling mistakes wherever I find them.

title: User:Waffenbaum


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Animal X (band)

Animal X is a Romanian band awarded at MTV Europe Music Awards, with more than 10 years of musical experience. Their eight studio albums include such hits as "N-am crezut", "Pentru ea", "Fără tine", "Mai mult ca oricand", "Sa pot ierta", "Baieti derbedei", "Balada", and "Nisip purtat de vant".

Band members

 * Şerban Miron Copot (Hyena) - July 2, 1981 - vocals
 * Laurenţiu Penca (Worm) - September 5, 1983 - voice2, synth
 * George Valentin Belu (Martian Boy) - July 28, 1983 - guitar
 * Lazar Cercel (King Goat) - November 28, 1981 - bass
 * Alexandru Ivanus (Cricket) - September 29, 1986 - drums
 * Alexandru Salaman (Lizzard) - February 8, 1982 – 2010 - voice

Performances

 * 1999 - May 15 – first official appearance on local TV in Constanța, Animal X is made up by Hyena, Worm and Lizard
 * 2000 – First album release, named “Animal X”
 * 2000 - “N-am crezut” (Can’t Believe) is the first Romanian song to stay in Top100 for 18 weeks
 * 2000 - “3rd Millennium” tour – 21 cities, around 940 000 spectators
 * 2000 - “Iubirea mea” (My Love) is the fastest ascending song in Romanian music charts
 * 2000 - Second great tour, the “Internet Generation”, covering 36cities and over 1,4mil. spectators
 * 2001 - “Level 2” album hits daylight
 * 2001 - “Pentru ea” (to her) stays No1 in RT100 for 5 weeks
 * 2001 - "Fără tine" (without you) stays No1 in RT100 for 4 weeks
 * 2001 - “Best Dance Music” award – Mamaia festival
 * 2001 - “Best Dance Music” award – Romanian Music Industry Awards
 * 2001 - 3rd studio release, “Virtual” album
 * 2001 - “Sa pot ierta” (To Forgive..) is the first Romanian single to stay in radio charts for 23 weeks; it also stays No1 in RT100 for 3 weeks in January-February 2002
 * 2001 - “The Masters of House Music award”, Romanian Music Industry Awards
 * 2002 - “Revolution” album release
 * 2002 - “Best Dance Music award”, Romanian Music Industry Awards
 * 2002 - “Best Romanian Act award” - M.T.V. Europe EMA Barcelona, first of its kind in Romania
 * 2002 - “Say no to drugs Tour”, 34cities, with over2,2mil. spectators; CNN declares it “the biggest social campaign in Eastern Europe”
 * 2003 - 4 nominations and “Best Album award”, MTV Romanian Music Awards
 * 2004 - “FunRaptor” album release
 * 2005 - Animal X attends the Chinese European Fest, live broadcast by CCTV and Shanghai TV
 * 2005 - Member martian boy, King Goat and Cricket join the band
 * 2006 – “Derbedei” (Rebel boys) album release
 * 2006 - “Best feat. award”, Romanian Top Hit Awards, Bacau City
 * 2006 - Animal X attends the “Zaragoza Global” International Urban Music Fest, Spain
 * 2006 - “The Green Generation” foundation takes shape, founded by Animal X
 * 2007 – First “Best of” album is released
 * 2007 - “Best Rock award”, Romanian Top Hit, Bacau City
 * 2007 - Novamusic Entertainment Label grants a 5 Diamond Disk award for exceptional Animal X entire career sales and a Golden Disk award for the “Best of”album
 * 2008 – September – Animal X signs with Mediapro Music Label
 * 2008 - October – the 8th studio album, “Sâmbure de drac” (Devil in Disguise)
 * 2008 - October - First single is released, called “Nisip purtat de vânt” (Sand in the wind)
 * 2009 – January – “Confidential”, award for the “Nisip purtat de vânt” single
 * 2009 - 3 nominations at Romanian Top Hit Awards
 * 2009 – '“Unii dintre noi” single'
 * 2010 – January - Lizard leaves the band
 * 2010 - March – new single release, “Love philosophy”
 * 2010 - March–June – 69 concerts at Globus Circus&Variety within “4U” Show
 * 2015 - In puii mei

Discography

 * Animal X - 2000, EP, Nova Music
 * Level 2 - 2001, LP, Nova Music
 * Virtual - 2001 EP, Nova Music
 * Revolution - 2002, LP, Music&Music
 * FunRaptor - 2004 LP, A&A Records
 * baieti derbedei - 2006, LP, Nova Music
 * Best Of - 2007 LP, Nova Music
 * sambure de drac - 2008, LP, MediaPro Music

title: Animal X (band)


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Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail

The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail is a point of interest in the Forest of Dean in the county of Gloucestershire, England.

The Sculpture Trail links several different site-specific sculptures commissioned for the forest. It is open from dawn to dusk every day of the year. Admission is free, although there is a charge for car parking. There are currently 16 sculptures, made from various materials. A further 12 are no longer visible, or have been decommissioned due to safety reasons, and are being allowed to degrade naturally. The complete trail is 7 km; shorter routes of 3.5 and 4.8 km visit a selection of the sculptures.

An estimated 300,000 people visit each year.

Commissioning commenced in 1986, originally in partnership with Arnolfini, Bristol's flagship contemporary art gallery, and following the establishment of the Trail has resulted in the presentation of more than 20 permanent sculptures, almost all of international significance, alongside temporary residencies and public events. The early sculptures were commissioned to be site-responsive and to interpret the forest, and the Trust adheres to this very particular strategy, which is what makes the Dean very different from other Sculpture Trails in the country.

Sculptures include Kevin Atherton's 15-foot by 10-foot stained glassed window Cathedral which hangs high in the canopy over the heads of walkers. Additional commissions include Neville Gabie’s Raw, a giant cube assembled from the entire mass of an oak tree, and acclaimed works by David Nash, Peter Randall-Page, Cornelia Parker and Annie Cattrell at crucial early stages in their careers.

The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust continues to raise funds to commission additional works. The Trust (FODST) manages the Sculpture Trail, located at Beechenhurst, near Coleford in Gloucestershire, in partnership with the Forestry Commission in the Forest of Dean. The Trust is a registered charity and has a long record of commissioning sculpture and related temporary projects that are specific to the forest environment.

title: Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail


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Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-07-25/Arbitration report

To deal with recent resignations, three new members were appointed to the Arbitration Committee last week. Even before the appointments, though, the committee did overcome its recent inactivity and close two existing cases. However, the mentorship system seemed to be struggling as one such arrangement had to be dissolved.

The new arbitrators
On Friday, 22 July, Jimmy Wales announced that he was appointing James Forrester, Fennec, and Jayjg to the Arbitration Committee. They take the place of Delirium, Ambi, and Grunt, who had previously stated that they would resign once replacements were found. One additional appointment is also expected, as Nohat last week joined the other three in indicating that he would resign.

The newly appointed arbitrators will serve until the end of the year, at which point their positions will be up for election along with the other arbitrators whose terms expire then. The procedure differed from the selection of interim arbitrators Raul654 and Jwrosenzweig to fill similar vacancies last year, as they were chosen in a special election. Wales said, "For an emergency, I don't think we need to go through that whole process." Instead, he chose the temporary arbitrators from a group of names suggested by the existing arbitrators.

Pcb21 criticized the process of selecting the new arbitrators, saying that other options should have been considered besides "hidden behind closed doors, cliquey appointments." However, Raul654 pointed out that the Board of Trustees election had only just concluded, the next arbitration election was only some five months away, and the previous one had been "a horribly nasty experience that no one wants to repeat more often than necessary". Wales acknowledged the concerns but indicated that he thought his selections would be "mostly uncontroversial". He added, "I think that me randomly appointing people midterm is not the proper sustainable way to do this in the long run."

Case work
A pair of cases were cleared out without needing the participation of the new appointees. On Thursday, the arbitrators closed their oldest case, a dispute between Tkorrovi and Paul Beardsell over the Artificial consciousness article. A temporary injunction had prohibited them from editing the article while the case was open, allowing other users to work on it.

In the ruling, this prohibition was extended for another three months for Tkorrovi and indefinitely for Beardsell. The arbitrators noted a number of personal attacks in the dispute and placed both on a six-month parole. They also noted that much of the dispute revolved around information that lacked references and was likely original research. Accordingly, an additional parole made Tkorrovi and Beardsell subject to short blocks if they "reinsert any unreferenced or poorly referenced material in the article".

Tkorrovi called the decision a "fair solution" and indicated his acceptance of the arbitration process. Beardsell, however, as the case was about to close, suggested that the arbitrators declare a "mistrial" instead and that everyone simply agree to put the matter behind them. Throughout the process, Beardsell fought the case purely by argument, and never presented any evidence.

In the second case, which was closed on Friday, the arbitrators banned Zivinbudas for one year. They described him as editing "from an immature Lithuanian nationalist perspective" (a frequently-used edit summary read "Polish stupidity"). Due to his use of IP addresses to edit, the ruling indicated that any edits involving his trademark behavior may be reverted.

New cases and mentorship
Meanwhile, three new cases were opened last week. One deals with the conduct of debate over the Race and intelligence article, which recently has nominated both for deletion and featured article status (neither was successful). While this one included complaints of personal attacks, another case was brought against AI based on concerns that he was going too far in removing personal attacks and disrupting debate on talk pages.

The remaining dispute involves Coolcat, who complains of being "stalked" by Stereotek and Davenbelle. In this matter, Tony Sidaway suggested that mentorship for Coolcat might be appropriate. The fate of the mentorship idea is uncertain, however, as one of the existing mentorship arrangements collapsed last week.

Netoholic's last remaining mentor, Raul654, resigned on Tuesday saying that formal mentorship was not working. Arbitrator sannse indicated that Netoholic is now subject to a ban from the Wikipedia and template namespaces, and a restriction to one revert per day, as was ruled previously. Raul654 said the system failed because it left the mentors as the only ones able to intervene, and that problems went unresolved if the mentors were unaware of them. For his part, Netoholic said he thought the mentorship had been working, but it "failed because it meant different things to everyone involved."