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Talk:Twin study

External links modified
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Why is it correlation, not r-squared?
Why does the article refer to correlation (under Methods? Why not the Coefficient of determination, also called R-squared? I thought this was the correct measure to use, if one was interested in slicing up the correlation into components. Mere correlation looks like a mathematical error to me. What am I missing? IBE (talk) 17:50, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

 * This is a very common source of confusion. The confusion stems from the fact that familial correlations are often estimates of biometric variance components in behavior genetic designs. For example, let's say the IQ correlation between MZ twins reared apart in independent environments is 0.80. This correlation is equal to the heritability of IQ (=80%), which is the proportion of phenotypic IQ variance that is explained by genetic differences (equivalent to the R squared). Here's an article that should make it clear. Maybe this issue would warrant some discussion in the article.--Victor Chmara (talk) 09:14, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Thanks, but I don't have access to that link, and I have only a vague understanding of what you wrote. I assume part of the issue is that normally, correlation can be negative or positive, but presumably with twin studies, it can never be negative (you can't expect people to have a negative correlation with their twin, e.g., for one twin to always vote left, the other to always vote right - they are either identical, similar, or uncorrelated). If "r" could be negative, presumably you must square it - you can't have a negative proportion of the variance explained by a certain factor. So perhaps with twin studies, the variable has already been (in some effective, not literal, sense) implicitly squared, making it naturally positive. But I don't get all this. Do you know of a website/ paper that I can access, or a book/search term that will help? thanks, IBE (talk) 09:21, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

 * Is this link the correct explanation: ? IBE (talk) 10:36, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

 * With Sci-hub, everyone has access. Use it to get the paper. See this one and this one, too.

 * Yes, familial correlations in biometric models are somewhat analogous to reliability coefficients. The correlation between two parallel forms of the same test equals the reliability (which is the ratio of true score variance to total variance) of the tests because that correlation is equal to the squared correlation between a test and its underlying true scores. An MZA twin correlation, for example, is equal to the squared correlation between genotype and phenotype (if the model assumptions hold).--Victor Chmara (talk) 11:44, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

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stereotype threat
This addition by an IP adds some content that was removed later for not meeting POV and RS. They also added material on stereotype threat that uses only two sources - both advocacy material by educational groups pushing constructivist education - this does not meet RS. The pdf does not mention the word "stereotype" anywhere except for uncritically sourcing a single 2011 paper on stereotype threat - this is an argument from consequences pushed by advocates for increased educational spending.

The IP's edit tries to describe stereotype threat without naming it and without presenting any actual evidence for the claim - I'm going to remove the section.

-- Callinus (talk) 22:59, 12 March 2018 (UTC)

Egregious lack of criticism
There have been many criticisms of twin studies based on the view that they suffer from fundamental methodological flaws (especially classical twin studies); it is inexcusable that this criticism is not even mentioned in the lead of this article. I will try to address this problem soon. Every morning  (there's a halo...)  21:30, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

 * I agree, and here is my criticism: it should be expected that most twins are going to have similar traits just as most people have similar traits due to regression to the mean. In other words, twins that share average traits are not good subjects for making claims about heritability, only outliers should be used to generate useful data. For example, the twin studies that show that twins have similar IQ levels should not be relevant if they have average IQs because any random sample of any population will show more people sharing average traits. So only twins that share high IQ scores or low IQ scores should be used to generate a heritability statistic, and that comes with it's own problem, that higher and lower IQ scores from the mean are less reliable than those at the mean. That means that twins who share average IQs should be ignored and twins who share rarer IQs (lower or higher than average) aren't very reliable. These two forces should act to drive the correlative value of twin studies down. 108.180.92.37 (talk) 05:44, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

Sexual Orientation in Twins
Sexual Orientation in Twins: Evidence That Human Sexual Identity May Be Determined Five Days Following Fertilization PMID: 38161549 PMCID: PMC10757681DOI: 10.7759/cureus.51346 Narraburra (talk) 05:01, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Twin study


text:
Category:Lists of people with disabilities

Note: This category's interpretation of disability is quite broad, and may include people with medical conditions that may not typically be considered disabled.

See also Category:People with disabilities.

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


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User talk:H0tte

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AfD nomination of List of basketball players
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title: User talk:H0tte


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User talk:Gobboboy

Welcome! (We can't say that loud/big enough!)

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Image:Frickethumbsup.jpg
hi did you take this pic?Genisock2 (talk) 01:08, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Image source problem with Image:Frickethumbsup.jpg
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title: User talk:Gobboboy


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Karl-Marx-Hof

Karl-Marx-Hof (English: Karl Marx Court) is a Gemeindebau (English: municipal housing complex) in Vienna, situated in Heiligenstadt, a neighbourhood of the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling.

At 1100 m in length and spanning four tram stops, Karl-Marx-Hof is one of the longest single residential buildings in the world.

Development
Karl-Marx-Hof was built on land that, until the 12th century, had been under the waters of the Danube, deep enough for ships to travel over the area.

By 1750, all that remained was a pool of water, which was drained on the order of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. Gardens were then built in the area, but these were removed by the Vienna city council, then under the "Red Vienna" period of control by the Social Democratic Party of Austria to make room for the erection of Karl-Marx-Hof, financed by a special tax named after councillor Hugo Breitner, commissioning locally and internationally renowned architects.

Karl-Marx-Hof was built between 1927 and 1930 by city planner Karl Ehn, a follower of Otto Wagner. It held 1,382 apartments (with a size of 30–60 m2 each). Only 18.5% of the 156,000 m2-large area was built up, with the rest of the area developed into play areas and gardens. Designed for a population of about 5,000, the premises include many amenities, including laundromats, baths, kindergartens, a library, doctor's offices, and business offices.

Austrian Civil War, Austrofascism, and the Anschluss
During the February Uprising of the 1934 Austrian Civil War, insurgents engaged in the revolt barricaded themselves inside the building and were forced to surrender after the Austrian army, the police, and the Austrofascist paramilitary Heimwehr bombarded the site regardless of the unarmed dwellers, mainly worker families, with light artillery. During the Anschluss, Karl-Marx-Hof was renamed Heiligenstädter Hof, but took its original name back in 1945.

Today
The heavy artillery damage to Karl-Marx-Hof was repaired in the 1950s. It has been used as a filming location, including for the 1974 film The Night Porter. The building was refurbished between 1989 and 1992.

Other very long housing blocks

 * Byker Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
 * Park Hill, Sheffield, UK
 * Falowiec, Gdansk, Poland
 * Le Lignon, Switzerland
 * Fermont, Quebec

title: Karl-Marx-Hof


text:
Talk:Karl-Marx-Hof

Untitled
Initial translation 15 July 2005.

Some additions / clarifications:

(1) It is not precise enough to say that Karl-Marx-Hof "was built by the Social Democrats". It was one of the largest public housing / council housing projects of the City of Vienna (kommunaler Wohnbau). However, up to the early 1930s the city council was dominated by the Social Democrats ("Rotes Wien", i.e. "Red Vienna"), and it was they who had introduced the idea of council housing.

(2) Up to the present day, Döbling has been a predominantly Conservative district of Vienna, so when Karl-Marx-Hof was built it was erected right next to traditional bourgeois and upper-class residential areas.

(3) The innovative thing about the estate was that each apartment had running water and its own toilet (no showers let alone bathtubs though). Up till then, privately-owned apartment houses had not been equipped with such amenities.

(4) Karl-Marx-Hof was not "remodelled" in the 1980s. What exactly is that supposed to mean? Of course over the decades it was adapted to contemporary living standards: Central heating, lifts, double glazing were introduced, individual residents had bathrooms built in their apartments, etc.

 17:14, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

 * That's great info! Why don't you add it to the article?  Laura1822 19:39, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

how long is long
We are told it is the..
 * ..longest single residential building in the world.

but we are not told how long it is. Stbalbach 18:06, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

 * A bit more than 1 kilometre (that's what I found although the building appears longer to me). Actually I think it's three rather than four tram stops.  19:11, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

 * Measured in the online city map, it is about 1100m. And 4 stops, including the ones at the end, i.e. three line sections. --Ikar.us 19:39:38, 2005-07-15 (UTC)

Population
How many residents does it have? That would be valuable to know. ~ Dpr 22:12, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

As Far as i know it has about 1500 Families living in it which would then mean about 4500 - 6500 People Living in it. But you shoulnt forget that it was built for much more people. I think from what i remeber ist was built for 10.000 people but lots of flats where connected to each other and so on. But it still is a small city in itself

POV comments
The bottom of the third paragraph is a bit POV, no? Unless it's an unsourced quotation... Moyabrit 16:44, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Name
I visited this building today and it's definitely called the Karl Marx-Hof, with no hyphen between Karl and Marx. I saw it on several signs, including the one on the front of the building. I know all the Google references give it as Karl-Marx-Hof, but none of them seem to be Austrian and it seems they are all wrong. Intelligent Mr Toad (talk) 13:42, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, even the one in the picture on this article says so. --DerRichter (talk) 17:00, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Perhaps someone can move it. Intelligent Mr Toad (talk) 21:14, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The German-language article is also written as Karl-Marx-Hof. That doesn't make it correct of course, just noting it.... Klausness (talk) 10:48, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The debate may not be completely settled on German Wikipedia, but currently there is no initiative to lose the first hyphen.
 * It is not true that all fully-hyphenated spellings are from websites outside of Austria. On the contrary: The official website of the Vienna City Council mostly uses the fully-hyphenated spelling. Here's an example.
 * I will not dispute that the writing on the building uses only one hyphen, I will however dispute the authority of old architects to define current spelling. Full hyphenation has long been the official norm for such cases in the German language. There exist street names which must be written as e.g. "Werner-von-Siemens-Strasse".
 * I therefore propose a move back to Karl-Marx-Hof --BjKa (talk) 11:48, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

language
In the lead we have:

best-known Gemeindebauten (English: municipal tenement complexes)

but in the civil war section:

 the Februaraufstand (German: February Uprising) of the 1934 Österreichischer Bürgerkrieg (German: Austrian Civil War)

Should the language be what the part in brackets is in, or a reference to the language of the original word/term? I don't know which myself, but I think it should at least be consistent. --86.173.140.91 (talk) 19:33, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Ringstrasse des Proletariats
I don't know who had this comic idea, but "Ringstrasse des Proletariats" is the "Wiener Gürtel" (a semi-annular boulevard encircling parts of the old Vienna) and NOT the Karl Marx Hof! How could one call a building a boulevard? this makes absolutely no sense!

reference for the right information can be found here: http://wien.orf.at/news/stories/2711897/

so I deleted this text from the article: "and was called the Ringstraße des Proletariats, the Ring-road of the Proletariat. (Vienna's principal Ringstraße, dating from the 1850s, surrounds the city centre and had been intended as a showcase for the grandeur and glory of the Habsburg Empire)."

--Horia mar (talk) 02:46, 23 December 2015 (UTC)

The fighters in the complex
I would argue that the so called “insurgence” were just workers and soldiers of the paramilitary of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ) and not insurgence.

They were freedom fighters in the name of democracy as the Christian Social Party just dissolved the parliament and forbid the SPÖ as a political party. Economist to be (talk) 23:16, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Karl-Marx-Hof


text:
Talk:Bomberman

Characters from the anime
The characters from the Bomberman Jetters anime should be removed from here, and moved to the Bomberman Jetters anime page, as the characters in the anime are vastly different, even from the Bomberman Jetters game, such as...

Bagular (Bagura) in the anime is not actually evil, and would never agree to actually destroying a planet, as he opposes Max even destroying the Jetters base.

Max is actually evil in the anime, and helps with a plan to smash the planets Jetters and Bomber together, and destroy both. --67.182.138.63 21:52, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I'll do it, I swear! --67.182.138.63 00:21, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. --67.182.138.63 21:10, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Why aren't there articles for any of the Bomberman Jetters characters? I am goin to start making them. I shall start with Shirobon and it would be very nice if other people would join in making articles for everyone too. Zeeco 00:35, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Removed
I removed: "Bomberman has a huge variety of expressions (despite his lack of a mouth,) making him one of the most expressive of video game characters." This doesn't seem very factual and even sounds slightly sarcastic. MafiaCapo 22:23, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

^^  hahaha 200.0.175.4 (talk) 21:42, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Bomberman Party Edition
Bomberman Party Edition is the Bomberman game I have, but it isn't listed here. Did everybody just forget it or what? --Peng 09:46, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Why delete lists and powerups?
Why delete it??? It is useful for people who want to know more about the game and exact name of the powerups. I think the editor deleted it because he think he is expert in Bomberman? --xertnevnI

where is it??

Language improvements in article
I have improved the langauge of the powerups section. Anyone can feel free to further improve them. Note that I used British English in the section. I might continue with other sections at a later time. -- xertnevnI, Feb 4 2006.

Entire Article Copyedited
Copyedited the whole article today, just took one pass at it and made alot of corrections. This included correcting the use of "in" and "on", deleting arbitrary or redundant information, and organizing the text to flow more naturally (especially in the "characters" section). I am not an expert on or a fan of Bomberman so I can't make any true content changes, but I would like for someone to really look at this article and more clearly define some things. As someone who does not enjoy the Bomberman games or story, I found many references to be confusing and not defined.Wjgl 22:26, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

You removed the "Single Player Mode only" tag from the One-Up powerup... however, in the multiplayer variants of Bomberman it is not available. Only its variant, the "Heart", is avaiable in Multiplayer. -- xertnevnI

OK, I made that change. xertnevnI 04:11, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Template
I've recently created and added a Bomberman template to most of the Bomberman-related articles. If you have any questions or comments please contact me on my talk page. -- T B C ??? ???  ??? 04:46, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Awesome. It helped me find the article on the original Bomberman that I was beginning to think didn't exist. Now that I've found it, I see it could use an upgrade. Thanks! Spamguy 21:37, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Powerups & Characters
I don't like the idea of Powerups and Characters for all Bomberman games being discussed in this particular article. Obviously many things mentioned here are not present in all games, but their citation here implies that they're in every BM game since Day 1. I would recommend moving these objects to specific BM game articles in which they appear. There would be some repetition between articles (Extra Bombs probably appears in every BM game), but that's OK.

Hmmm, speaking of which, the Extra Bombs powerup isn't mentioned. Neither is the Blast Radius Boost (or whatever it's called). These are the most obvious ones, people! :) Spamguy 21:37, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Panic Bomber?
You'll have to forgive me, as I'm not certian how to edit templates, but..

The game Panic Bomber is missing from the Bomberman template. Could someone add it in? 71.124.16.93 14:02, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

 * No problem. Done. Spamguy 17:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

All?
Is it necessary to put information for all those characters in this article? Looks like listcruft to me... -- Jared Hunt July 30, 2006, 11:12 (UTC)

 * See my comment in 'Powerups & Characters'. I'd do something, but I'm not that aggressive a Wikipedia editor to pull off a fix of this magnitude; nor do I have the time. Spamguy 15:14, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Should have read more carefully. Unless it's separated, that's way too much. I think just naming the characters, etc. would be quite enough. Your opinion? -- Jared Hunt August 2, 2006, 13:42 (UTC)
 * I suggest making a page for all the Bomberman characters, and having the most recurring characters (white and black Bomberman, Pretty Bomber, Max, Buggler and maybe a couple of others) listed here with a link to the character list. --212.159.26.9 20:43, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I believe that would be classified as Listcruft. -- Jared Hunt August 6, 2006, 13:17 (UTC)
 * I agree, only the important, reoccuring characters should appear here. As I recall, that's how it was originally set up when the "characters" section first appeared, before people started listing every minor boss that ever appeared in a game.  So, yeah, characters like White, Black, Pretty, Bagular, etc. should stay, everyone else should either be removed, or separated to a different page.Rorshacma 23:49, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Bombermen
Is this section an inside joke or something? It's complete gibberish for one thing. If I am parsing the parens correctly, the article is arguing about the race of a video game character based on artwork and in-game events? No, this has to be a joke... Maury 11:59, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Not a joke, just poorly written. Altair 19:06, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Snippage!! Maury

Overly-long character section
Have you seen that thing? It's huge! There must be some way to shorten it. Joizashmo 15:31, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Yeah, like discussed earlier, only the main characters, and important, reoccuring enemy characters should be here. The rest should either be moved to their respective games, or have a "Minor Bomberman Characters" article made.  And the anime-only characters really shouldn't be here at all.  It just looks overly long and cluttered the way it is now.Rorshacma 18:26, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I've split off the characters section, since it was just too long for this article. I think that perhaps some information can be merged back in, but for the most part it doesn't really belong in this article. jaco ♫ plane  19:04, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Dyna Blaster
Hudson Soft in 1992 also released a version of Bomberman for PC under different name "Dyna Blaster". More info I think it's also worth mentioning and possibly including in the Bomberman series box on the bottom. And an article about it is also missing.

--RoSe-BuSTeR 13:55, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

YouTube links
This article is one of thousands on Wikipedia that have a link to YouTube in it. Based on the External links policy, most of these should probably be removed. I'm putting this message here, on this talk page, to request the regular editors take a look at the link and make sure it doesn't violate policy. In short: 1. 99% of the time YouTube should not be used as a source. 2. We must not link to material that violates someones copyright. If you are not sure if the link on this article should be removed or you would like to help spread this message contact us on this page. Thanks, ---J.S (t|c) 05:23, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Fifth generation
Fifth generation 	Act Zero • Bomberman Land???

Isn't suppoesed to be 7th? --67.68.252.220 04:44, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Major Vandalism
Someone took the liberty of vandalising the Bomberman article. Anyone care to help restore it? I don't know how to do that major editing. Commander Regulus 05:16, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

I wonder who did that... Anyway, I'm working on it. Zeeco 21:58, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Xbox 360 Live???
Wikipedia is missing an XBOX Live game downloadable by the XBOX 360 called "Bomberman Live".66.72.192.225 (talk) 15:46, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Bomberman Wiki
I'm a huge fan of Bomberman myself. I suggest that there should be a Wiki for him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.231.59.254 (talk) 16:25, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Bomberman gameplay is Tactical, not Strategic
Tactics and Strategy, while both related to war and combat, are not the same thing. Strategy relies on things related to supply lines, production, and numerical superiority; all of which are absent from the player's control. Tactics is what relates to things like exploiting cover and fencing in your opponent, which is the essence of Bomberman gameplay. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.118.27.60 (talk) 03:43, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Genre Discrepancy?
I'm slightly confused - how is Bomberman a platform game series? I would personally describe it as an action game, but it's definitely never been a platformer as far as I've ever noticed. -- Somarinoa (talk) 07:08, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

I updated the pic
tell me if i did anything wrong. Maxwell the scribblenaut (talk) 00:11, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Everything's fine. Thanx for pic. Sir Lothar (talk) 12:35, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The pic is deleted, you need to reupload the pic and tag it as fair use.--  Krystaleen  04:26, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Dynablaster
Plenty of Amiga magazines refer to Bomberman as Dynablaster - http://hol.abime.net/462/review. 87.114.51.143 (talk) 21:16, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅, Sir Lothar (talk) 07:09, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Rooi not "Rooney"
Those kangaroo things that turn up from around Bomberman '94 are called Rooi not Rooney (although they have been known to play football) See https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/bomberman-94-psp/ and http://bomberman.wikia.com/wiki/Louies. A joke perhaps? 91.125.164.60 (talk) 17:00, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Possible removal from list
An entry in List of colors: A–F contained a link to this page.

The entry is :

 * Cool black

I don't see any evidence that this color is discussed in this article and plan to delete it from the list per this discussion: Talk:List_of_colors

If someone decides that this color should have a section in this article and it is added, I would appreciate a ping.-- S Philbrick (Talk)  15:59, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

First game
I oppose the statement about the NES game being the first one as well as 1987 as the year of the series' inception. Even though the 1983 game isn't as similar as the games we all know, it's still considered the debut of the franchise. . Even Konami, the current owner of the IP, take into account the series' inception in 1983. There is no point in adjudging that it first started in 1989 or 1987 when the article about the first game disambiguates it under the "1983 video game" title and two other Bomberman games (3-D Bomberman and Robowarrior) were previously released. Also, in Wikipedia we go by the first ever release and not by any other specific region's release date/year. As there was no consensus with those changes, I restored it with new reliable secondary sources. I suggest reach a consensus in this talk page before making edits like those. 200.59.159.162 (talk) 00:10, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I completely agree, not to mention I find the sources being used in these edits as proof to be somewhat questionable.
 * This specifically mentions that it's the 30th anniversary of Bomberman, the Family Computer game, which in no way contradicts Konami's stance that 1983 is the release year of Bomberman, the series.
 * This appears to be a standard press release for a game which, by all accounts, is a remake of the 1985 game with multiplayer, so the wording seems ambiguous.
 * This is being used as reference stating that the series launched in the US in 1987, which is unnecessary as stated above.
 * I cannot confirm if this is legitimate or even licensed/endorsed by Hudson Soft, but I tentatively left it in the article, though it could use a specific quote and page.
 * Meanwhile, the simple observable fact is that Konami not only holds the copyright to Hudson Soft's franchises, but fully absorbed Hudson Soft as a corporate entity, so it holds all of Hudson Soft's assets and history. Super Bomberman R specifically states, within various promotional material, the box art and the game itself, to be "BOMBERMAN 33rd SINCE 1983" (self-explanatory). Konami also allowed former Hudson Soft staff to work on Super Bomberman R, so this moniker is, for all intents and purposes, blessed by the remnants of Hudson. The rationale to revert the information is that Hudson Soft's word is more legitimate than Konami's, which is just an opinion - again, the clear fact is that the series is not stuck in a time capsule that ended when Hudson did, but is actively continuing as a Konami property, and as mentioned the Hudson-era information looks vague. Even if this were somehow true, that does not give us the right to suppress current information, which is what the edits are doing. I suggest protecting the page. Metalsonic89 (talk) 12:20, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
 * An additional reference has been added in a recent edit.
 * Unfortunately for the insister, this book is easily available online, so it can be verified. The pages in question are 104 and 105, particularly the first. What it describes is the creation of Bomberman (ボンバーマン) on Famicom, and it briefly mentions Bomber Man (爆弾男). The relevant portions are the caption on the lower-left and two sentences to the upper-right of it. First, the former:
 * This sentence can be taken several ways, but it is more of a casual suggestion than a factual statement. I take it to mean that this is when familiar elements such as varied power-ups and enemies began to appear, serving as the basis for future games and especially the renowned multiplayer. Alternatively, it can refer to the look of the main character, taken from the Famicom version of Lode Runner. Then, the latter:
 * Needless to say, this tells us nothing about the actual launch year of the franchise, so it is completely irrelevant; if anything, it supports the original home computer game as a legitimate part of the franchise, so I question the potential misuse of Shin Bomberman Zenhyakka as a source. Metalsonic89 (talk) 14:08, 23 May 2019 (UTC)
 * This sentence can be taken several ways, but it is more of a casual suggestion than a factual statement. I take it to mean that this is when familiar elements such as varied power-ups and enemies began to appear, serving as the basis for future games and especially the renowned multiplayer. Alternatively, it can refer to the look of the main character, taken from the Famicom version of Lode Runner. Then, the latter:
 * Needless to say, this tells us nothing about the actual launch year of the franchise, so it is completely irrelevant; if anything, it supports the original home computer game as a legitimate part of the franchise, so I question the potential misuse of Shin Bomberman Zenhyakka as a source. Metalsonic89 (talk) 14:08, 23 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Needless to say, this tells us nothing about the actual launch year of the franchise, so it is completely irrelevant; if anything, it supports the original home computer game as a legitimate part of the franchise, so I question the potential misuse of Shin Bomberman Zenhyakka as a source. Metalsonic89 (talk) 14:08, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't know why there should even be a discussion about this. The first Bomberman was released in 1983 by Hudson soft. That's a fact, and can be easily verified. So, stating that the first game was the NES one in 1985/7 is just spreading false information. Thus, this page should be changed to reflect that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:647:5700:8B0:F1B7:E47F:318B:195F (talk) 19:24, 26 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Agreed, I recently made an edit to specify the 1983 game, but it got changed despite the series page listing the 1983 game, and the 1985 Famicom game pretty much being a sprite swapped port of the 1983 game. Either the 1983 game is part of the series, or it isn’t, so which is it? Electricmastro (talk) 03:47, 5 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I've also edited the page to specify the 1983 game.Thecleanerand (talk) 22:52, 8 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Can someone issue a ban to User:2404:7A85:2E80:A800:A010:926:283F:3DD7? Thecleanerand (talk) 16:59, 13 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Ban User:Denisarona and User:Blaze The Wolf as well.Thecleanerand (talk) 19:49, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't think a ban is necessary. You can simply just put in your edit summary, "edit explained on talk page" instead of just copy and pasting the same summary over and over. Blaze The Wolf | Proud Furry | Discord: Blaze Wolf#0001 (talk) 20:00, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Also, please remember to WP:AGF. Blaze The Wolf | Proud Furry | Discord: Blaze Wolf#0001 (talk) 20:00, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

is written as “ボンバーマン”シリーズは、85年12月の第１作（ファミリーコンピュータ用）発売以来、累計販売本数1,000万本を超える、ハドソンを代表するアクションゲームです. （The "Bomberman" series has been released since the first release (for Family Computer) in December 1985. Hudson's representative Ak, which has sold more than 10 million units since then This is a game.） 2001:268:9A1C:3C0B:3F84:C220:F151:11F1 (talk) 03:25, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Wrong. The cooperate buzz pr piece you linked was talking about the port for NES that was published by Hudson Soft, not the original game it was based on. Even Konami, the current, active owners of the IP acknowledge the original game, unlike Hudson Soft. Just stop.Thecleanerand (talk) 19:30, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Bomberman Land (2000) is said to be Bomberman series's 15th anniversary software, and Bomberman Portable's Japanese package says since1985. 2001:268:9A1C:8960:FEA0:88A4:292C:B418 (talk) 20:40, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * And yet the packaging for Super Bomberman R advertises its 33rd anniversary as being since 1983?: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/switch/204231-super-bomberman-r/images/1639377 Electricmastro (talk) 20:51, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bomberman


text:
Euphrasia

Euphrasia, or eyebright, is a genus of about 215 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are hemiparasitic on grasses and other plants. The common name refers to the plant's use in treating eye infections.

Many species are found in alpine or sub-alpine meadows where snow is common. Flowers usually are borne terminally, are zygomorphic, and have a lower petal shaped like a lip. The most common flower colours are purple, blue-white, and violet. Some species have yellow markings on the lower petal to act as a guide to pollinating insects.

Alternative names, mainly in herbalism, are Augentrostkraut, Euphrasiae herba, Herba Euphrasiae and Herbe d'Euphraise.

Use in herbalism and medicine
The plant was known to classical herbalists, but then was not referred to until mentioned again in 1305. Nicholas Culpeper assigned it to the Zodiac sign Leo, claiming that it strengthened the brain. It was also used to treat bad memory and vertigo.

In the Elizabethan era, the plant was used in ales, and Gervase Markham's Countrie Farm (1616) said that one should "Drinke everie morning a small draught of Eyebright wine."

Herbalists use eyebright as a poultice with or without concurrent administration of a tea for the redness, swelling, and visual disturbances caused by blepharitis, and conjunctivitis. The herb is also used for eyestrain and to relieve inflammation caused by colds, coughs, sinus infections, sore throats, and hay fever.

Parts used include the leaf, the stem, and small pieces of the flowers. Typical preparations include a warm compress, or tea. Eyebright preparations are also available as an extract or capsule.

A 2010 report from the European Medicines Agency on the efficacy of Euphrasia remedies states:

"From the presence of secondary metabolites, an astringent and anti-inflammatory activity can be hypothesized for Euphrasia preparations. The ocular use of Euphrasia is based upon tradition. However, since the efficacy of the claimed ocular uses is undocumented and external eye application is not hygienic, therapeutic use cannot be recommended."

Phylogeny
The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using molecular characters. Euphrasia belongs to the core Rhinantheae. Euphrasia is the sister genus to Odontites, Bellardia, Tozzia, and Hedbergia. In turn, these five genera share phylogenetic affinities with Bartsia.

Taxonomy and identification
The genus Euphrasia is taxonomically complicated due to many species being interfertile and prone to hybridisation. Despite there having been a number of taxonomic revisions  the appropriate rank of many taxa, as well as the relationships between them, remains unclear.

Selected species

 * Euphrasia alpina
 * Euphrasia arguta – believed extinct until rediscovered in 2008
 * Euphrasia brevipila
 * Euphrasia cambrica Pugsley
 * Euphrasia collina R.Br. – purple eyebright
 * Euphrasia collina ssp. muelleri – Mueller's eyebright
 * Euphrasia collina ssp. osbornii – Osborn's eyebright
 * Euphrasia coreana W.Becker – Korean eyebright
 * Euphrasia cuneata – North Island eyebright
 * Euphrasia crassiuscula Gand
 * Euphrasia fennica
 * Euphrasia fragosa – shy eyebright, Southport eyebright
 * Euphrasia frigida Pugsley – cold-weather eyebright
 * Euphrasia gibbsiae
 * Euphrasia glabrescens
 * Euphrasia hirtella
 * Euphrasia hudsoniana – Hudson's eyebright
 * Euphrasia lasianthera – hairy eyebright
 * Euphrasia micrantha Rchb.
 * Euphrasia minima
 * Euphrasia nemorosa (Pers.) Wallr. – common eyebright
 * Euphrasia officinalis – doctor's eyebright, or medical
 * Euphrasia oakesii – Oakes' eyebright
 * Euphrasia parviflora
 * Euphrasia pseudokerneri Pugsley – chalk eyebright
 * Euphrasia randii – small eyebright
 * Euphrasia rostkoviana Hayne – red eyebright, "figwort"
 * Euphrasia ruptura – extinct
 * Euphrasia salisburgensis Funk.
 * Euphrasia scabra R.Br. – rough eyebright
 * Euphrasia semipicta – peninsula eyebright
 * Euphrasia striata R.Br.
 * Euphrasia stricta D.Wolff ex J.F.Lehm.
 * Euphrasia subarctica – arctic eyebright
 * Euphrasia suborbicularis – roundleaf eyebright
 * Euphrasia vernalis
 * Euphrasia vigursii Davey
 * Euphrasia vinacea – glacier eyebright
 * Euphrasia sp. 'Bivouac Bay' – Bivouac Bay eyebright

title: Euphrasia


text:
User talk:AntiDash

Welcome! (We can't say that loud/big enough!)

Here are a few links you might find helpful:

 * Be Bold!
 * Don't let grumpy users scare you off.
 * Meet other new users
 * Learn from others
 * Play nice with others
 * Contribute, Contribute, Contribute!
 * Tell us about you

You can sign your name on talk pages and votes by typing ~ ; our software automatically converts it to your username and the date.

If you have any questions or problems, no matter what they are, leave me a message on my talk page.

We're so glad you're here! -- Essjay ·  Talk 09:48, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

Self-promotion
Please note that Wikipedia isn't the place to promote your own fictional characters or your website. See WP:NOT - Mgm|(talk) 10:18, July 15, 2005 (UTC)
 * Like Empire Dash. Feydey 10:43, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

User:AntiDash
I've added the "" template to your user page (User:AntiDash), suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. I've explained why in the deletion notice (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy).

Please note that the purpose of a user page is not as personal homepage or used as a general webhosting service, but as way for active editors of Wikipedia to introduce themselves to other editors. If you disagree with the notice, discuss the issues here or on my user talk page. You may remove the deletion notice, and the page will not be deleted for the moment, but note that it may still be sent to Miscellany for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached, or if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria. Calton | Talk 05:48, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:AntiDash


text:
User:Davinci18

Introduction
Thanks for visiting. This page is solely to predevelop information.

Information
My particular interest include-

 * Staffordshire Bull Terriers
 * New Zealand Rugby and the All Blacks

Projects
Joseph Dunn- Founder of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club

Joseph Dunn (D.June 1977) was a founding member of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club, and an instrumental figure towards the development and official Kennel Club recognition of the Breed.

Joseph compiled the first Breed Standard on April 26 1935. This involved visitng a number of kennels belonging to the oldest and best known breeders in Northern England.

title: User:Davinci18


text:
Talk:Faith of Our Fathers (short story)

The key idea of Faith of our Fathers is left out of the plot summary
The key idea (or at least, one of them) in this story is that the shared hallucination of a coherent "Party leader" is misleading, and that when one stops taking drugs (or takes anti-hallucinogenics) each person will perceive the leader differently; to one is a monster, to the other a robot, etc. The anti-intuitive idea is that the "real" Leader is coherent, when that's the hallucination, and in "reality" the Leader looks different to each observer. Typical Philip Dick! Though I don't know if it's ok to write this spoiler in the plot summary? The andf (talk) 18:02, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

 * I say we should add it. A plot summary should include how the plot ends.  The IMDb can worry about spoilers.TheBaron0530 (talk) 21:54, 7 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Faith of Our Fathers (short story)


text:
Urena

Urena is the genus of plants, which grow in various tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, although several species are Asian in origin. Some view Urena lobata as a weed, but others make use of its fibre for various purposes. The leaves and flowers are also a famine food in Africa. Its seeds are spread by animals. Fibres obtained from it are used for making coffee sacks in Brazil.

Species
Plants of the World Online currently includes:
 * 1) Urena armitiana
 * 2) Urena australiensis
 * 3) Urena lobata  - type species
 * 4) Urena pedersenii
 * 5) Urena procumbens
 * 6) Urena repanda
 * 7) Urena rigida

title: Urena


text:
Category talk:Human–computer interaction

Organizing this category
Hi all - I have taken steps to organize the category into subcategories, redistributing page links from a number well over 150 to something more manageable/meaningful. There is still work left to do, though, as many HCI-related articles do not reference this category or any underneath. It could probably also use another round of subcategories. Thanks. -- Dx 01:13, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Miscellany
anybody here (10:00, 15 July 2005 203.190.154.116)

Eye Tracking
Category:Human–computer interaction

Eye tracking is a technology that is gaining popularity in the Human-Computer Interaction field. Eye tracking software allows the designer to track the area of the website where the user focuses the most. The output of eye-tracking software would be an image showing more dense color in the area that is focused on by the user the most. The designer can check this result and confirm whether the most important information of the website, intended to be seen by the user, is spotted by the user.


text:
Halifax College, York

Halifax College is the largest college of the University of York. It was founded in 2001 and is named after Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, the 1st Earl of Halifax.

The college is linked between both main university campuses via the UB1 shuttle bus.

The college is situated to the south of the main campus, next to the village of Heslington and the university sports fields.

In 2006/07, Halifax College won the university's College Sport Championship; and successfully held onto the title in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. They regained the title in the 2010/11 season.

History
In the 1990s the university began to rapidly expand, almost doubling in size from 4,300 to 8,500 students; the expansion of student numbers resulted in the creation of more accommodation by the university which was named Halifax Court. The first blocks of Halifax College which formed Ingram, Irwin, Younger, Lindley and Wood Courts were built in the summer of 1996. The members of Halifax Court were members of other colleges however soon formed their own Junior Common Room; the lack of any tie between the campus, colleges, and the houses in Halifax Court led the members form their own Junior Common Room and to demands that Halifax Court be given full college status. In 2002 Halifax Court was made a full College of the university and was renamed as 'Halifax College'.

The location of the buildings – at the back of the existing (1970s built) St Lawrence Court (used at the time almost exclusively for post-graduate and foreign students) – meant that even the student union paid little attention to the students, despite them forming the largest group at the university.

Halifax Court residents were the first to pay differential rents on their accommodation and lets were a mandatory 38 weeks. All others students, whether in the newer James College blocks or the very dated Derwent blocks paid the same rate. Despite this, accommodation in Halifax in 1997 was £38 a week – £6 more than the rest of campus but still one of the lowest rents in the country.

The campaign for full status was delayed primarily because of the insistence of the Dean of Halifax Court, Mark Evans and the Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) that Halifax Court should have all the facilities of a campus college. At that time, the Halifax Court Centre Building (now JJ's) consisted of a central common room (unlicensed though clearly built with the concept of housing a bar), the only part-time portering service (Geoff the porter) at the university (every other college had 24hr portering at that time), an adjacent laundry room accessed from the outside (now the lounge area of JJ's), and a small convenience store accessed from the outside (now the pizzeria). The building of today is almost unrecognisable from that of this time.

The lack of desire for a common room (it was very rarely used) and the need for a bar led to the construction of a new building housing the portering service and the shop and the complete refurbishment of the Halifax Court Centre Building into JJ's. The area now occupied by the newer Ainsty and Hickleton Courts (next to the car park) was a large 'village green' for the Halifax Court/College residents. During the summer term this was frequently full of students playing frisbee, having barbecues (strongly against the wishes of the university administration) and studying together.

In 2009 Halifax College changed its college crest from its original blue and white shield to a newer crest derived from the coat of arms of Lord Halifax while maintaining the college's traditional colour.

Buildings and services
Unlike the other Colleges, Halifax does not consist of a main building divided into blocks and corridors. Instead, students live in houses which are grouped together to form courts.

There are nine Courts in Halifax: St Lawrence Court, Lindley Court, Wood Court, Ingram Court, Irwin Court, Younger Court, Ainsty Court, and Hickleton Court.

Ainsty and Hickleton Courts are managed by UPP Projects Ltd as part of the University Partnership Programme. They were built and originally maintained by Jarvis plc.

College members with families also live in 'Garrowby Way', an area of housing which is part of Halifax College. McHugh Lane was its first new-build accommodation.

The other Courts are managed by the college and the university's Accommodation Office. St Lawrence court is the largest court.

Catering
JJ's used to be the Halifax College bar and pizzeria. It is believed to have been named after two former College Sports Officers, named John and John, who won a competition to name the new bar. JJ's is now a well-equipped and comfortable common room, the largest on campus.

Mascot
'FAXY the Lion', the official Halifax mascot introduced in summer 2012, by the HCSA, represents the college at most campus events supporting college sports teams across the university.

Associated Institutions
In keeping with the tradition of Oxbridge Colleges being twinned with each other, since 2012 Halifax College has been twinned with Van Mildert College, Durham, Durham University and since 2015 with The County College, Lancaster University.

Student representation
Halifax College students are represented by the Halifax College Students' Association (HCSA), which represents all students of the college. Halifax was the first College at York to have combined graduate and undergraduate student association. It was also the first to have a 'President' leading the HCSA (unlike the other colleges at the time who had the position of 'Chair').

The Students' Association provides Halifaxers with a variety of services, including large events, student welfare, volunteering, charity work, recycling, college merchandise, college sports and representation to the college and University. It also organises the College Freshers' Fortnight.

Halifax was the first college at York to offer certified Fairtrade College merchandise and continues to stay on top of many issues.

The 2024 HCSA executive members is:

 * President – Alexandra Thiel-Czerwinke
 * Treasurer – Frankie Berry
 * Secretary – Sophie Cooper
 * VP Wellbeing – Ola Jakubowska
 * VP Events and Services – VACANT
 * VP Sport and Activities – VACANT

Social events
Halifax College hosts and organises social events such as barcrawls through York, quizzes in JJ's, court BBQs, trips to various cities or the beach (“Fax off to Scarborough”, anyone?).

In early 2012 the HCSA led by George Offer re-launched XTRA branded events, presenting the college's famous bar crawls and themed club nights in college.

Halifax Summer Ball is held each year, which in the academic year 2010–2011 was held on a boat, Snow Ball, 'Faxival', Halifax Has Got Talent, and 'Freshers Week which changes in content and length from year to year.

Faxival, is a festival/carnival held throughout the college. Including live music, BBQs, hog roast, a bar, inflatables etc. It was started in 2011.

title: Halifax College, York


text:
Clear Communications

Clear Communications was a telecommunications company based in New Zealand. Until merging into Telstra's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand.

Background
Prior to 1987, New Zealand's telecommunications sector was dominated by the New Zealand Post Office, who also provided telephony and telegraph services. In 1987 the Post Office was split into three new businesses - Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, New Zealand Post and PostBank. When Telecom was created in 1987 the firm of Touche Ross was briefed to examine the feasibility of competition in New Zealand's telecommunications industry. Intensive research showed New Zealanders were unimpressed by the prices they were being charged and were not happy with a generally unresponsive service.

By June 1988 Richard Prebble, then Minister of State Owned Enterprises, announced to the country the intention to deregulate the telecommunications industry and open it to competition. The mandate to the new state-owned enterprise, Telecom, was to operate in a profitable manner in a fair and competitive environment. The free and open competition became law with the Telecommunications Amendment Act in December 1988. Full deregulation for the telecommunications industry came into effect on 1 April 1989.

"Consumers will benefit substantially from opening up the telecommunications market to competition", Prebble told New Zealanders in June 1988. He noted that Telecom's competitors would be heavily dependent on it for facilities and services, giving Telecom scope to act anti-competitively if so wished. He added, however, that he had received an assurance in writing from the head of Telecom, Dr Peter Troughton, that Telecom would facilitate the emergence of a competitive market in telecommunications, and that it would provide interconnection to its facilities on fair terms and conditions.

Telecom's activities and the interconnection agreements, fundamental to the successful entry of competitors, were to be subject to the scrutiny of the Commerce Act 1986. The Department of Trade and Industry was also to act as a watchdog to keep telecommunications on a competitive track.

Establishment
In 1990, Clear Communications made New Zealand history by establishing itself as the country's first telecommunications competitor.

Initial interest: 1988
There was a keen interest among state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as New Zealand Railways Corporation, Electricorp (later ECNZ) and the Broadcast Communications (a subsidiary of Television New Zealand) who saw strong investment opportunities for their microwave, satellite or fibre optic cable capacity. The missing link was the telecommunications switching expertise.

Bell Canada International (BCI), MCI Communications (MCI), Cable & Wireless, British Telecom, Telecom Australia and several other prominent overseas telecommunications suppliers with the technological digital switching expertise the New Zealand-based parties were looking for.

Bell Canada undertook thorough market research and business plan studies in 1988. BCI was moving back into the corporate business of telecommunications and the newly liberalised environment in New Zealand provided the opportunity. Leading New Zealand white wear manufacturer, Fisher & Paykel expressed interest in a joint venture and teamed with BCI in 1989 to investigate the feasibility of an alternate telephone company. Revenues from telecommunications at the time were in excess of NZ$2 billion. Market research showed that most customers would be prepared to change to a competitor if prices were 10 to 20% lower than Telecoms.

Having emerged in September 1988, Broadcast Communications, with its microwave network for disseminating television signals, indicated a strong desire to be part of a BCI and Fisher & Paykel joint venture.

Due to effects of a weakening economy in the late eighties, Fisher & Paykel decided to bow out. The Wellington-based Todd Corporation was preparing for market entry with MCI.

Alternative Telecommunications Company
Three independently researched business plans undertaken during this first phase of investigation of telecommunications opportunities were combined and expanded upon in an Alternative Telecommunications Company (ATC) business plan proposed by Touche Ross, (for TransPower, the bulk electricity network subsidiary of ECNZ), Booz Allen Hamilton (for New Zealand Railways) and Charles Gilmore, ex-General Manager of Telecom (for Todd Corporation) in March 1989.

The report confirmed that viable competition required a balance of established overseas telephone company expertise, commercial experience and funds, and State Owned Enterprise transmission network infrastructure. It also confirmed that the market place was big enough for just one major competitor to Telecom.

As the various parties began to align with each other, two groups emerged. Broadcasting Communications Limited (BCL), the subsidiary of TVNZ, teamed with BCI to publish a market study and business plan for the establishment of the Alternative Telecommunications Company. TVNZ was looking for the factor with would differentiate their alternate telecommunications company from Telecom.

At the helm of the BCI team was George Newton who had risen from telephone technician to executive level in the Canadian telecommunications giant. George Newton proceeded immediately to draw up the BCI/BCL business plan. With a team of fourteen to assist, he completed it on 8 December 1989, just four weeks after commencement.

By February 1990, BCL, TVNZ and BCI had signed a Heads of Agreement to work in partnership on an alternate telecommunications project. Todd Corporation, New Zealand Railways Corporation and American telecommunications company MCI were poised to do likewise. Both parties were aware of the need for more than one set of transmission facilities. TVNZ's microwave transmission and NZ Railway's fibre optic cable were both needed in the event of one failing. Both parties were also acutely aware that there was room for only one competitor in the New Zealand market.

Todd Corporation had not only struck a firm association with the second largest telecommunications network in the world, MCI, and with New Zealand Railways Corporation but had also been instrumental in persuading the SOEs to work together with encouraging results.

On November 29, 1989, Todd announced the formation of MCI Todd Communications Ltd. The new company would provide competing telecommunications services in New Zealand. Announcing the new company, John Todd, Chairman of the Todd Corporation, said it offered "a great opportunity to bring new technology and service products to the country's 2.4 million telephone users."

The international expertise and investment of MCI, together with New Zealand Railways fibre optic cable running along the North Island Main Trunk railway (between Auckland and Wellington) and the financial support of one of New Zealand's leading corporates constituted serious competition.

Todd MCI and BCI/BCL agreement
Todd MCI had access to the North Island through New Zealand Railways' fibre optic cable. The BCI/BCL group had access to national coverage through BCL's microwave facility. George Newton convinced BCI's principals in North America to carry on with their venture. In March 1990, all of the parties, TVNZ, Todd, BCI and MCI met in the latter's offices in Washington. This began the merger process.

Both sides had prepared details for interconnection agreements but Neil Tuckwell, an Australian competitive telecommunications expert who had been contracted to TVNZ had, together with Robert Brydon, met the Minister of Commerce to discuss interconnection. In February 1990, the senior representatives of the two groups were brought together - Julian Mounter, Ted Trimmer, Senior Vice President Business Development for MCI, John Hunn, Stewart Berry, Vice President Sales for Bell Canada and George Newton. They worked out what was needed in New Zealand to set up a competitive company and agreed to work together.

On 20 April 1990, a Memorandum of Understanding to form a single organization to compete in the telecommunications industry was signed between the two consortiums. This led to the creation of The Alternate Telecommunications Company (ATC) on 1 August 1990, the four main shareholders being TVNZ, BCI, Todd Corporation and MCI. New Zealand Railways Corporation was to have Board representation and equity options.

The two business plans were then brought together - Todd MCI's venture was going to cost $80 million, and the BCI/BCL venture was to cost an estimated $125 million.

George Newton was appointed Chief Executive of the ATC and he and Robert Brydon, Ted Trimmer, Darryl Dorrington and Neil Tuckwell began work on the agreements needed before the company could begin trading.

Among the eighteen Conditions Precedent, the main ones included a Heads of Agreement with Telecom, a service agreement with BCL and New Zealand Railways Corporation (the Railways Corporation was split into two in October 1990, with the fibre optic circuits going to a new entity, New Zealand Rail Limited) to provide their respective microwave and fibre optic cable facilities, an agreement with TransPower, service agreements with BCI and MCI to contract experienced people from North America, approval from the Commerce Commission and foreign investment approval.

One of the roadblocks for new entrants had been the absence of a specific telecommunications regulatory body. Telecom had established the Permission to Connect (PTC) document, the lifeblood of the business. This meant that the dominant carrier was setting the rules. And since Telecom had not contemplated local service or 0800 service competition, the Agreement with Telecom would prove the most difficult to achieve. Staff en route from North America to join the new ATC told the minister, Richard Prebble, that they would cancel their network switch order due to the delays in getting an agreement with Telecom. ATC then agreed to defer cancelling while the Minister got Telecom to the table.

On 24 August 1990 Telecom had publicly welcomed the merger of the joint ventures and stated that competition was "healthy for the industry and would benefit all our customers." A memorandum of Agreement was signed with Telecom covering toll by-pass, alternative networks, local services and 0800.

A shareholders agreement was concluded and signed on 4 September and shareholders funds, available for the first time, were in excess of NZ$100 million. The four main shareholders would each initially have 25% equity.

ATC's first consignment of switching equipment arrived in New Zealand in November that year and installation commenced. Neil Tuckwell moved from TVNZ over to ATC. His move coincided with ATC's shift from temporary offices at Quay Tower in Auckland to permanent accommodation at 49 Symonds Street. In Wellington, the following month, ATC moved to permanent premises in Murphy Street.

Naming and logo
The company's General Manager Sales and Marketing David Patten asked Sandy Fain to come up with the company name and logo. Fain briefed Leo Burnett on the company's values. 25 names were considered before arriving at Clear Communications. The logo "reflected the clean, bright colours of New Zealand."

On 14 November 1990, the first full board meeting of the new company was held with John Ede as Chairman of the Board and George Newton CEO. The board confirmed the name which was unveiled to staff on a plinth in the lobby of the company headquarters.

Commencement of services
Clear Communications commenced leased line operations in January 1991. Clear's plan was to make its services available to 80% of telephone subscribers in New Zealand, thus offering New Zealanders a choice of their toll service provider. It developed two separate national toll services; Clear Business 050 to serve the needs of the business market and Clear 051 designed for residential customers. Customers had been tested on the Clear network in April. The new entrant was able to offer toll service bills charged in steps of one-tenth of a minute. Telecom's lowest charge step was one minute.

On 12 February an agreement was signed with Transpower to use their fibre optic system in the South Island and seven days later, Minister of Communications Maurice Williamson, made the first call on the new network, between Wellington and Auckland, using New Zealand Rail's fibre optic cable. At the eleventh hour, when Telecom had still not issued the interconnection permit, Clear took the bull by the horns, went public and got front-page publicity. Telecom had only issued the permit Clear required to link to Telecom's toll system on the evening before the agreed connection date. The interconnection agreement for toll by-pass had been signed on March 4, although a second deal allowing Clear access to Telecom's local services was still being negotiated. Interconnection, the linchpin connecting two or more telecommunications networks, allows calls to flow between them. Full commercial operations offering Clear 051 and Clear Business 050 came on 7 May 1991.

The launch advertising projected the principles of fairness and value. British talk show host Michael Aspel was chosen from a list of 200 to front the advertisements. The advertisements raised were objected to by Telecom who took issue with the application of the word "fair". Two years later Telecom took Clear to court with its advertising headline: "If you want to get the best deal on tolls from Telecom you'd be a Clear customer." The Telecom number was then printed underneath inviting customers to ask for two months of free toll calls to match the current Clear offer.

Litigation
Clear also sought an injunction to prevent Telecom from misusing a list of Clear customers supplied to Telecom for implementation of no-code access. By mid-1993, Telecom was processing Clear customers at a rate of 3000 lines a week. Telecom began writing to these Clear customers as a part of the marketing campaign, Clear was granted an injunction.

Clear and Telecom were awaiting an Appeals Court decision over the terms for access to the local customer. The original December 1992 court decision found Telecom in breach of Section 36 of the Commerce Act, which prohibits the use of a dominant position for the purpose of preventing or deterring competition. The section underlies the government's telecommunications policy to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.

The two breaches were for not supplying Clear with Direct Dial-In (DDI) numbers which would have allowed Clear to start local service operations, and for asking for too much money for interconnecting Clear to its network. The decision also indicated Telecom's "Baumol-Willig" economic formula - whereby new entrants should compensate Telecom for lost profits - would not be anti-competitive in the future and a framework was proposed which, it was hoped by the court decision, would promote negotiations between Clear and Telecom.

Clear took its objection to this finding back to Court in August 1993 but the resolution of these issues, all related to the cost and terms of access to various parts of the Telecom system, is still awaited. Telecom has argued that the prices it has charged Clear to use its network were fair because of the increments it needed to add to provide the capacity Clear requested. Clear's view has been that Telecom, in the absence of an effective referee has behaved like a de facto regulator. For example, it has practised price bundling whereby monopoly and competitive products are bundled for an overall discount, to the disadvantage of competitors. For as long as that situation was allowed to continue, Clear has maintained that New Zealanders would not reap the full benefits of competitive telecommunications.

A national telephone survey conducted by Insight Research in February 1993 showed that 66% of the 750 people surveyed believed Telecom was taking advantage of its position with only 15% indicating that Clear was getting a fair go. At the same time, almost 70% of the survey participants attributed the benefits in price and service that had been achieved to Clear's competitive stance. Prices for toll calls had reduced by almost half since Clear entered the market.

Customer service and new services
With the rise of competition came the fall of toll prices and an overall improvement in the level of customer service.

Clear's efficient billing system was the main driver in the differentiation process. The bills went out accurately and on time. Calls not captured within a ninety-day billing period were not charged. Business customers could choose to aggregate their call volumes from multiple locations to maximize savings while still receiving separate account statements for each location. All customers had a choice of billing cycles.

There was a calculated risk and considerable cost in setting new standards of customer service. Credit was offered on a call if a customer was not satisfied. 80% of inquiries were resolved on the first customer contact. Capacity was monitored on individual routes to avoid the blocking of calls. Quality control criteria were designed which were constantly monitored to ensure a standard of service equal to the best available anywhere in the world.

By June 1992, ClearCard and Familiar Voices were launched, followed by telemarketing and PhonePower in July. "Familiar Voices" was a value-added toll system that provided call discounts to customers who nominated people they would be calling on a regular basis. PhonePower provided business consulting and training services to maximize productivity and profits in areas such as sales, marketing, order processing, sales support, customer service and cash management.

The marketing was pitched simultaneously at national accounts (top corporates and government), general and retail business, and residential. Clear promised services 12 to 15% cheaper than had been available from Telecom. For calls both within New Zealand and internationally, the pricing policy was based on charging in one-second increments (after the first minute). Additional benefits were call duration discounts for residential customers during off-peak hours and volume discounts for business customers.

ClearCard
Clear was first off the telecommunications block with an automated telephone charge card service. Called ClearCard, it allowed Clear customers to make national and international toll (and local) calls over the Clear network from any telephone in New Zealand; and for calls to New Zealand from any telephone in Australia, USA, and UK.

Telecom refused to provide an access number until Clear explained what it was for. Within two months, Telecom had its own card on the market. Clear introduced its toll-free 0508 service, an incoming tolls service that allowed customers to receive calls from anywhere in New Zealand (except for cellular or pay-phones) at no charge to the caller.

Market share growth
Clear's market share grew faster than predicted. The aim, three years from the launch date, was for 5% market share and a staff of 175. Within six months of commencing operations, Clear attracted more than 30,000 customers. In its first year of operation, it had won 9% of the New Zealand national toll market. By the close of 1993 market share had reached almost 19% and Clear's staff numbered 500. A year later, it achieved the most improved revenue growth among New Zealand's top 200 companies.

By September 1992 Clear had more than 430 staff representing an annual growth of 200 jobs per annum. In the same month, auto telephone dialers were introduced to the market. They were designed to interface with customers' PABX and Telecom lines to ensure that all toll calls would connect to Clear.

The company had more than 14% of the market and over 90,000 customers by November 1992. The growth continued, despite the costly legal battles. Through interconnection with Telecom network, Clear's toll services had become available to more than 80% of the telephone network, Clear's toll service had become available to more than 80% of the telephone lines in New Zealand. Residents in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Whanganui, Palmerston North, Nelson and Invercargill were able to access Clear services. Further locations would come online later in the year to meet Clear's objective to make its services available to all New Zealand telecommunications users.

Corporate sponsorship
The first major sponsorship Clear made was in January 1992 when Clear joined six other New Zealand companies to sponsor the New Zealand Endeavour yacht in the Whitbread Around the World race.

The $2 million sponsorship was considerable for a small company engaged in expensive battles with Telecom. And because the race would extend over two years and be closely followed by more than 90% of the New Zealanders, it was a logical choice for support. Support for the Crippled Children's Society (CCS) was also given for commercial as well as community reasons. Clear customers were able to contribute to CCS by making calls on the Clear network as part of Friends of CCS fundraising program. When a customer joined the fundraising program Clear donated 3% of his or her monthly bill to CCS.

Similarly, Clear linked with the Pakuranga Rotary Club to encourage the planting of native New Zealand trees with the launch of a national Trees for Survival program. To support the programme, Clear offered an affiliation scheme for Rotarians so that 5% of the Clear toll account would be paid by Clear to the Trees for Survival Programme.

Education
The important area of education was also selected by Clear for support. Observing the pressure on schools to find the extra money to undertake worthwhile projects, Clear provided parents and members of the community who were Clear customers with a way of directly supporting the primary school of their choice. Friends of the School was launched in Wanganui in September 1992. Clear customers could nominate a primary school on the programme to receive 5% of their monthly Clear toll payment. The Friends of the School programme became nationwide, with 1100 school participating from kindergarten through to high school.

By mid-1993, Clear furthered its commitment to education by sponsoring Spellbound, a spelling quiz that benefited schools financially. An annual school essay with prizes up to $5000 was also launched.

1991
Following interconnection, Clear opened its Christchurch sales office in June 1991. The purchase of the DMS300 switch for international service followed in July and the 10,000th customer signed up in August. Staff numbers had reached 200. Just 12 months before there had been 15 people in Auckland and four in Wellington.

By December, the Dunedin sales office opened, the first direct international service came online with 60 circuits on satellite, quickly followed by expansion to 120 circuits, and Clear's 30,000th customer signed up. In January 1992, Clear's network capacity to Christchurch increased with the commissioning of fibres in the Transpower cable.

In December 1991, Clear began operating the first stage of its own international telecommunications network with the installation of a 7.5 metre Intelsat satellite dish next to Auckland's Carlaw Park. The second dish of 15.5 meters diameter was added in June 1992. Clear was now connected to the new Tasman Fibre optic cable and had direct access to MCI and other carrier networks. The company became virtually independent of Telecom's facilities for most of its international calls.

However, Telecom remained the major obstacle by remaining firm on charging what Clear considered to be less than fair and reasonable interconnection prices. Access to the local market was also stymied by Telecom who owned and controlled most of the critical inputs. Clear contended that by having to pay full commercial rates to Telecom for services provided, it was paying more for equivalent services than many of Telecom's business customers.

The level playing field the government had envisaged was without an effective referee. Telecom was largely calling the shots by setting the rules under which competition was permitted to take place. Many of the subsidiary issues revolved around the fundamental interconnection agreement such as numbering and billing systems, cellular networks, pricing, advertising, directories and local business services.

Telecom agreed to let Clear customers have non-code access (being able to make toll calls through Clear without daily 050) when its share of the national toll market reached 9%. Clear reached the 9% threshold within a year of beginning operations, as opposed to the two to three years anticipated by Telecom. By 1993, Clear was supplying some customers with non-code access but agreement over the cost of access had not been reached. The decision, when finally reached, would determine whether Clear could afford to extend that service to all customers.

1992
Initially, Clear relied solely on Telecom for international calls, but early in 1992 it commissioned independent facilities. It had its own satellite earth receiving station in Auckland and was a member of the Tasman-2 fibre optic cable consortium linking New Zealand and Australia. It was also a member of the consortium owning the PacRim East fibre optic cable between New Zealand and Hawaii.

1993
Clear achieved approximately 22% of market share in domestic toll services by 1993, reduced to 18% by 1999, and 20% for international toll services. Clear's share of the market, by the middle of 1993, had grown to 16% of the national and 18% of the international toll market with more than 170,000 customers. The latter had increased to 200,000 by the time of Clear's third birthday on 4 September 1993, the day the shareholder's agreement was signed. The employees had grown to more than 500 in number.

In August 1993 Clear was selected as one of the finalists for the inaugural NZ Quality Awards.

Chief Executive Andrew Makin succeeded George Newton in August 1993. By the end of 1993, the North American contingent was down for the original 66 to eight.

In November 1993 New Zealand Rail acquired 3.1 million shares in Clear, as part of an option gained by New Zealand Rail for use of its fibre optic cables.

1994
In September 1994 Clear began to provide an 0800 freephone service in competition with Telecom. Prior to this, its freephone service had used the code 0508. In addition to utilizing digital microwave telecommunication links owned by Broadcast Communications Ltd, Clear initially leased, then purchased, from New Zealand Rail (in return for a 15% stake in the company, which New Zealand Rail then sold in 1994) fibre optic cables linking Auckland and Wellington. It also leased fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Christchurch from Electricorp. The company also had digital microwave links with the major provincial cities of New Zealand. It installed further fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Auckland to increase transmission capacity and provide route diversity. Fibre loops and duct lines were installed in the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch central business districts.

Clear and Telecom had 25 actual and 19 notional points of interconnect (POI) throughout New Zealand. In the areas served by a notional point of interconnect, calls from Clear's customers were trunked to the nearest Telecom telephone exchange with billing facilities, at which point they were physically handed over to Clear. After conveying the call on its own network, Clear linked back into Telecom's network at the appropriate POI.

1995
In September 1995 Clear reached a new agreement on local service interconnection with Telecom which culminated in a formal local telephone service interconnect agreement in March 1996. This agreement also included new toll bypass interconnect arrangements.

1996
In March 1996, British Telecom (BT) acquired Bell Canada's 25% stake in Clear. Clear launched its internet service, ClearNet, later in 1996 and had about 10,000 customers by May 1997. It also provided the first commercial ATM service and had an ISDN offering.

1997
CEO Andrew Makin resigned, and was replaced by Tim Cullinane.

1999
In June 1999, BT bought the whole of Clear. In August, BT paid down Clear's bank debt of NZ$170 million.

2000
In 2000, Clear signed a deal with Vodafone New Zealand to give its customers the use of a mobile network. CEO Tim Cullinane resigned.

2001
Clear was acquired by TelstraSaturn to form TelstraClear for $143 million.

Information systems
Information Systems at Clear was never a "back-office" cost-reduction function - but rather a key strategic element of the business plan.

Bruce Macleod (General Manager of Information Systems) was given responsibility for Clear's Information Systems from the pre-launch (Alternate Telecommunications Company) business plan, through the initial build and start-up stages, the early product launches, the rapid growth and commercial success, and the ongoing competitive differentiation.

In this era before the internet arrived, technology use was generally limited to isolated groups of personal computers, and perhaps a departmental mini-computer or a specialized mainframe. Traditional Telecom companies were typically restricted by this inflexible “vertical silo” style of departmental computer systems.

In contrast, the IS team at Clear designed a forward-looking corporate-wide layered architecture to permit a nimble response to turning creative marketing ideas into operational product realities. Service Features were quickly created by configuring the upper layers of workflow and applications without having to rework the versatile lower layers.

Layered architecture:

 * A foundation layer of desktop computers for all, application servers (including mainframes), and interconnecting data networks.
 * A middle layer of configurable business applications and databases for Customer Service and Billing, Network Operational Support, Business Planning/Decision Support, and Financial Control.
 * A top overlay of operational Business Processes (incorporating both employee and customer workflows)

Upon arrival, all employees were equipped with office services such as Email, file servers, spreadsheets, and project management tools to allow them to quickly engage with the rest of the Clear team on priorities and projects. The centrepiece highly-configurable Customer Service and Billing application was acquired from Telecom USA (a recent MCI acquisition). In each other area, “best of breed” applications and any required hardware and software were acquired from global technology partners and locally adapted to fit needs. The “business process engineering” approach was a key factor recognized in Clear's achievement in the “NZ Quality Awards”.

In keeping with the overall Clear culture, the Information Systems group was organizationally aligned with, co-located, and integrated into the company's comprehensive teams. That is IS-Product Development under Tom Barrett, IS-Network Engineering under Allison Nowlan, and IS-Business/Financial Analysis under Stan Clarke. Another team was dedicated to the design, deployment, and ongoing operation of the foundation technology platform (under Brian Speed and Vlad Ruzicka).

As Clear progressed from start-up to a successful self-sustaining business, the IS Team developed not only the requisite technology investments, but also the required staffing, skills, tools, and processes. The initial experienced “pioneer” North American people noted above gradually transitioned to a strong “next generation” of well-equipped NZ professionals steeped in the distinct Clear corporate culture.

title: Clear Communications


text:
Eppstein

Eppstein is a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Eppstein lies west of Frankfurt am Main, around 12 km north east of the state capital Wiesbaden, and is at the edge of the Taunus mountains. The ruins of the Eppstein castle is a prominent landmark, and houses a museum.

Neighbouring municipalities and areas
To the north, Eppstein borders the city of Idstein (Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis) and the municipality of Glashütten (Hochtaunuskreis). To the east is the city of Kelkheim, to the south the city of Hofheim, and to the west the city of Wiesbaden and the municipality of Niedernhausen.

City arrangement
Eppstein consists of five areas: Bremthal, Ehlhalten, Eppstein, Niederjosbach and Vockenhausen.

Bremthal

Bremthal has a rapid-transit railway stop on line S2. With approximately 5000 inhabitants, Bremthal is the most populous quarter of Eppstein, and is the economic and cultural centre. Bremthal has several associations e.g. a brass band, Germania singing association, Liederkranz singing association, an association of small animal breeders and a volunteer fire brigade.

Bremthal was founded by the Lords of Eppstein in the 10th/11th century because the narrow valley around their castle did not allow for arable land. Bremthal's church, St. Margareta, was built in 1889. The church has a baptismal font (1749) from an earlier church on the site.

A small skate park and forest adventure path off the Wildsachsenerstraße are fun for children.

Niederjosbach
Niederjosbach has a rapid-transit railway stop on line S2 as well as a bus connection to the Wiesbadener transportation network.

Motorway connections are about 3 minutes away. In Niederjosbach is a large campsite, the very well-maintained terrace-like "Taunuscamp", which is on the Sonnenhang. It is open all year round. The GCC - Gusbacher Carnevalsclub - organizes several meetings annually, and on "carnival Tuesday", a noteworthy parade by the village's local associations; two sport clubs, two singing clubs, a fruit and horticulture club, church choir, fire-brigade, "Gusbacher chaoten" (carnival parade organisers), federation of housewives, German Red Cross local association and neighbourhood municipalities. There is an industrial area and several craft enterprises, as well as an urban kindergarten with three groups. The Catholic community centre "Am Honigbaum" ("at the honey tree") is used for church and also for private and other social meetings. The place has been part of Eppstein since 1972. The Niederjosbach coat of arms has a silver fir tree on a red background.

Vockenhausen
Vockenhausen is the seat of the mayor. It has around 4500 people. The administration is distributed between the two city halls in Vockenhausen and Eppstein. On the Vockenhäuser "Gemarkung" are the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule (comprehensive school) and the Burg-Schule (primary school).

This "Stadtteil" of Eppstein was founded around 1100 by the Lords of Eppstein and belonged to them until they died out in 1535. Historically, the area was a site for manufacturing. A number of mills (e.g. for grinding grain, dye-making, leather-tanning, and iron extraction) made use of the stream that runs through the town.

The sculpture before the Vockenhausen turn-off between Alt-Eppstein and Bremthal is a reminder of Vockenhausen's "Schmelzmühle" (smelting mill) as well as Vockenhausen's two well-known artists Robert and Ella Bergmann-Michel, who lived at the mill from the 1920s until their deaths.

The sunny hillside of Vockenhausen is home to many families and Eppstein's elementary and middle schools; the valley has a number of traditional German, as well as Greek, Italian, and Chinese restaurants, a few bakeries, guest houses, hair salons, doctors' offices, a tanning and waxing salon, drugstores, dry cleaners/post office, and local grocery stores.

The "Bergstraße" — also called the "Schmerzberg" ("Pain Mountain") during an annual 1 May bike race — goes over the hill to Alt-Eppstein.

Ehlhalten
Ehlhalten is the part with the fewest inhabitants (about 1350) but the largest area due to its rather big forests. According to legend, Ehlhalten once provided a cutter that tailors used at the water of the brook in Ehlhalten. As the water rose and fell, affecting the measurement of the inch, people cried: "Elle halten!" ("hold the inch!"), leading to the name Ehlhalten.

Ehlhalten was also the name of a settlement in the municipal forest near a source. It was burned down however by soldiers and destroyed completely. In 2004 Ehlhalten competed in the final of the series "Dolles Dorf" on hr television, winning a third prize in this show about villages in Hesse.

Mayors

 * Ralf Wolter, (2000-2009)
 * Peter Reus (independent), 2009-2013
 * Alexander Simon, since 2013

Transport
Eppstein station is on the Main-Lahn Railway and is served by line S 2 of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn, running between Niedernhausen and Dietzenbach via Frankfurt and the town is around 3 km from the A3 Autobahn. Bundesstraße 455 passes through the town.

Local industry
The Stanniolfabrik Eppstein is in the central part Eppstein, beneath the castle. They are manufacturing tin foil and similar metal foils for highly specialised applications. It has become famous due to an appearance in the television series MythBusters, because they supplied lead foil for the lead ballon myth.

RUCO printing inks (A. M. Ramp & Co GmbH) also has a facility here.

Education
for the educational system in Germany, see Education in Germany

Eppstein has two primary schools and one comprehensive school. In addition, the Hessen-Thüringen bank academy is located here. The Eppstein-Rossert music school and the Eppstein music society offer instruction in various musical instruments.

Primary schools
In Eppstein Vockenhausen, near the training and sports centre at the Bienroth, is the "Burg-Schule" (castle school). It is somewhat larger with approx. 300 pupils than the "Commenius-Schule," which is the primary school for pupils from Eppstein's parts Bremthal and Niederjosbach.

Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesamtschule
Eppstein's comprehensive school, the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesamtschule, is located at the sports and school centre "Am Bienroth". Five-hundred and sixty students in the fifth to tenth years attend the school, which is divided into three sections: Hauptschule (year 5 to 9), Realschule and Gymnasium (both year 5 to 10). A special feature of the school is the annual exchange of students with Eppstein's twinned town of Kenilworth, England, as well as a school in Tours, France. Every two years the school also hosts an exchange with the Bornova Anadolu Lisesi in İzmir, Turkey.

The school is known for a tragic attack: on 3 June 1983 a man shot three children, one teacher and a police officer dead. The attacker then committed suicide. 14 were injured.

Town partnerships
Eppstein is twinned with four towns:
 * Aizkraukle, Latvia since 1998
 * 🏴 Kenilworth, England since 1994
 * 🇫🇷 Langeais, France since 1986
 * 🇩🇪 Schwarza, Thuringia, Germany

Buildings
The ruins of the Eppstein castle (first mention in 1122 as "Ebbensten") give character to the old city centre of Eppstein.

The museum in Eppstein's castle is in the one building within the castle walls which was spared breakup in the early 19th century. The museum contains baroque altar in the back, which Eppstein's Catholics acquired when they used the building as their chapel after the valley church (Talkirche) became Protestant during the Reformation. Upstairs are some books written by early travel writers who refer to Eppstein, including a copy of Dumas's Le chateau d'Eppstein, as well as paintings of the castle, some painted by members of one of the first painters' colonies in Germany—the "Kronberger Malerkolonie." At the foot of the castle, in the middle of the historical old city, is the Talkirche (Valley Church), which today accommodates Eppstein's evangelical parish.

Eppstein's turn-of-the-century train station (1903) has been newly renovated and houses not only an RMV counter (Rhine-Main bus and commuter train information counter), the Bürgerbüro (citizens' information center), but also a restaurant/cafe.

The Villa Anna, above the train station, was built in the 1880s by the wealthy Frankfurt businessman Alfred von Neufville. Its grounds were designed by the famous landscaper Andreas Weber (who also designed the Frankfurt Zoo). With 200 exotic trees and bushes, its park is one of only two "Bergparks" (mountainside parks) in all of Hesse.

The Neufville Tower was built by the Neufvilles to house their private art collection and to serve as their "Jagdhaus" (hunting lodge).

Eppstein's beautification society keeps up a number of scenic overlooks, most of them built over a century ago during the flowering of Eppstein as a "Luftkurort" (climatic spa town).

The "Pionier-Tempel," an iron structure, earlier nicknamed the "omnibus" or "tram temple," is a five-minute walk from the train station. It was built in 1889 by the 2nd company of the "pionier" (engineer) battalion XI from Mainz-Kastel. In four days, 500 men cut the forest path between the Eppstein train station and Wildsachsen for the transport of timber. When they finished, in keeping with the late 18th-century English tradition of landscape gardens dotted by gazebos and observation points, they built the scenic overlook.

The Kaisertempel with its Doric columns was built in 1894 as a memorial to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71), which unified the German Empire under King Wilhelm I of Prussia. From the temple, there is a wonderful view of Eppstein as far as Bremthal.

Meetings
The annual bicycle race Rund um den Henninger-Turm (around the Henninger tower) runs through Eppstein, on the first of May each year.

Since 2003 the Taunus Trails mountain bike marathon, open to everyone, takes place each summer.

Regular events at the castle include the Burgfestspiele (castle festival) in summer. In the inner court of the castle, drama groups present classic works as well as new productions. Another notable highlight is the Saxdays.

Notable people from Eppstein

 * Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt, (1702–1776), director of the University of Ingolstadt,
 * Theodor Fliedner (1800–1864), pastor and innovator of the apostolic deacon's office.
 * Alfred Bickel (1918–1999), Swiss football player and coach.
 * Andreas Paulus (born 1968), international lawyer and judge of the Bundesverfassungsgericht.
 * Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), musician
 * Robert Michel (1897–1983), typographer, graphic artist and testpilot
 * Ella Bergmann-Michel (1895–1971), painter, photographer and documentary filmmaker

title: Eppstein


text:
Anton Newcombe

Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film Dig!, along with Portland, Oregon alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols.

Career
In the 1980s Newcombe started recording with a band called Homeland. Besides The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Newcombe has worked with several bands, most notably The Dandy Warhols, The High Dials, The Manvils, Innaway, and The Quarter After. He recorded and produced Dead Meadow's album Got Live if You Want It, and recorded a cover of Ewan MacColl's song "Dirty Old Town" with Lorraine Leckie on her 2008 album Four Cold Angels.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Newcombe founded the musical group The Brian Jonestown Massacre in San Francisco, California, in 1990. Core members in the early years included Matt Hollywood, Jeffrey Davies, Joel Gion, Travis Threlkel, Peter Hayes, Patrick Straczek, Ricky Maymi, Brian Glaze, Elise Dye and Dean Taylor, although the line up was subject to frequent changes. Newcombe wrote most of the group's songs, with Hollywood collaborating or contributing others on occasion. Following Hollywood's departure from the group in 1998, Newcombe's name became almost synonymous with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was also heavily involved in the post-production of his albums, often engineering and mixing them on his own. A prolific artist, he authored over 150 songs in a 15-year period.

In 2016, he composed the soundtrack for British indie film Moon Dogs, directed by Philip John.

During the 2022–23 European Tour with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Newcombe gave away free tickets to each of his shows in raffles that raised money for Oxfam.

Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe
Newcombe recorded two albums with Toronto singer-songwriter Tess Parks: I Declare Nothing in 2015, and the eponymous Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe in 2018.

L'Épée
In 2019, Newcombe founded the musical group L'Épée along with French film star Emmanuelle Seigner and The Limiñanas.

A Recordings Ltd
Newcombe founded the record label A Recordings Ltd., where he releases records for The Brian Jonestown Massacre and other artists including Dead Meadow and the Vacant Lots.

Personal life
Part of Newcombe's life is featured prominently in the documentary film Dig! which focuses on the tense relationship between The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols as both bands struggle for success. Newcombe has experienced drug addiction, alcoholism and depression.

title: Anton Newcombe