title: Air China

text: The entity Air China Limited was registered in 2003, and its shares began trading in Hong Kong and London on December 15, 2004. Originally the airline corporate entity was Air China International, which was founded 2002 Air China International incorporated China Southwest Airlines and the air transportation services of the China National Aviation Corporation, becoming a new entity.


title: Air China

text: The Air China HQ Building (), the corporate headquarters, is located in Zone A of the Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone () in Shunyi District, Beijing. The company registered office is on the ninth floor of the Blue Sky Mansion (), also in Zone A of the Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone.


title: Air China

text: The enterprise logo of Air China consists of an artistic phoenix pattern, the name of the airline written in calligraphy by former national leader Deng Xiaoping, and "AIR CHINA" in English. The phoenix logo is also the artistic transfiguration of the word "VIP". Air China is a member of the Star Alliance.


title: Air China

text: Air China is primarily based in its hub of Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA:PEK), where it operates numerous long range aircraft on routes to North America, Europe, South America, Africa and Australia. Its fleet is made up of an assortment of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, including: Boeing 737s, 777s, 747s, 787s along with Airbus A319s, A320s, A321s and A330s. Air China also operates a second hub in Chengdu International Airport, where it primarily flies domestic routes, as well as Shanghai Pudong International Airport, where many international routes served.


title: Air China

text: Air China's route network extends throughout Asia to the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America from its hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. It also currently reaches a significant number of Asian, Australian and European destinations from Shanghai. Some international routes operate from Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Kunming and Xiamen. It is one of the few world airlines that fly to all six habitable continents.


title: Air China

text: On 10 December 2006, Air China began serving its first South American destination, São Paulo-Guarulhos (via Madrid-Barajas). This was the airline's longest direct flight. The service was initiated with a Boeing 767-300ER, but due to increased demand, the service has been upgraded to an Airbus A330-200, and later a Boeing 787-9.


title: Air China

text: Regular flights between mainland China and Taiwan started in July 2009. Due to the political status of Taiwan, all Air China airframes that operate flights to and from Taiwan are required to cover the flag of the People's Republic of China on the fuselage.


title: Air China

text: Air China introduced its new Airbus A330-300 to long-haul operations beginning with services to Düsseldorf, Germany in summer 2011. These aircraft provided the same two-class cabin standard as the Airbus A330-200 except that the economy cabin had no seat-back entertainment system installed (with the exception of the first two economy rows which also had increased legroom). Düsseldorf is now the third German destination on the Air China network. The airline launched a new Beijing-Milan-Malpensa service on 15 June 2011, complementing the airline's existing service to Milan from Shanghai.


title: Air China

text: Deliveries of the carrier's 19 new Boeing 777-300ERs commenced in mid-2011, with the aircraft forming the new "backbone of its future longhaul operations." The new Boeing 777-300ERs replaced the Boeing 747-400s on routes to U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, but was expected to first enter service on flights to Paris from March 2012. The Boeing 777-300ER began to replace most 747 service once sufficient numbers entered the fleet. Air China expanded its operations in India with a Beijing-Mumbai route begun in September 2011, while the existing Delhi route was upgraded to the A330. The airline also launched service to Mumbai from Chengdu on 2 May 2012. The airline began using the Boeing 777-300ER on one of its two daily Beijing-Los Angeles flights on 1 February 2012. In the late-2012's to early 2013's, the airline replaced the Boeing 747-400s servicing the New York and San Francisco routes with the Boeing 777-300ER. With the addition of the Boeing 777-300ERs on the US routes, Air China increased frequency on the Beijing-New York route, changing the flights from 7 to 11 flights a week by adding two new flights to the route (CA989/990). On 21 January 2014, the airline launched its service to Hawaii with flights from Beijing to Honolulu, the first nonstop flights between the two cities. The airline also increased the frequency of service on the Beijing-Houston Intercontinental route from four times weekly to daily service from 30 March 2014. Beginning 10 June 2014, Air China introduced new nonstop service from Beijing to Washington-Dulles, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. As of September 29 2015, Air China also introduced a 3 times weekly flight to Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in a codeshare with Air Canada. The Montreal flight was extended to Havana from 27 December 2015.


title: Air China

text: PhoenixMiles (, literally "Phoenix Partner"), is the frequent flyer program of Air China and its subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Tibet Airlines and Dalian Airlines. This is the first frequent flyer program launched in mainland China. It was designed to reward frequent flyers traveling internationally and domestically with Air China and its partner airlines.


title: Air China

text: Air China Cargo, is a subsidiary of Air China, that focuses on freight delivery and does not transport passengers. It operates routes across Asia, Europe and North America with its fleet of Boeing 747-400Fs, Boeing 757-200PCF and Boeing 777F.


title: Air China

text: First class is offered on all Boeing 747-400, Boeing 747-8 and Boeing 777-300ER, and was offered on all Airbus A340-300 and all Boeing 747-400M. First Class on the 777-300ER and 747-8 is Air China's latest flagship product, with convertible beds, and featuring 23 inch AVODs at every seat. First Class on the 747-400 has seat pitch, swiveling seat power, and fully flat bed recline. First Class on the 747-400 is one of two classes that sports AVOD screens. It is named "Forbidden Pavilion" due to its place in the cabin.


title: Air China

text: For retired aircraft, the First Class on the A340 also had a 180 recline but had a smaller screen. The First Class on the 747-400M was the same as the full passenger -400 variant but was instead located inside the nose on the main deck instead of between the number 1 and 2 doors seen on full passenger 747-400s. On Boeing 767-300s, First Class was laid out in a 2-1-2 configuration, with wider seats than business. These seats did not offer any individual inflight entertainment options. Boeing 767-200s and 767-300ERs did not offer First Class seats. On Boeing 777-200s prior to 2013 interior update, First Class had a 2-2-2 configuration, with personal screens without AVOD functionality.


title: Air China

text: Business class is offered on all Air China aircraft, and was offered on all of Air China's former aircraft. Business class comes in many different versions.


title: Air China

text: On Air China's narrow-body fleet, business class seats are recliners arranged in an 2-2 configuration.


title: Air China

text: On the Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787, Business Class would be located at the front of the cabin in a 2-2-2 configuration. The seats on some Boeing 777s were grey with full recline and IFE screens while Business Class on other Boeing 777s and all Boeing 787s were dark blue and cocoon shaped with seat-back IFE screens.


title: Air China

text: The Business Class on the Airbus A330 would be located in a small area at the front of the cabin. On newer A330s, Business Class would have light blue rectangle-like seats, with two reading lights located between seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and seat-back screens would be provided. These seats provide full recline. On older A330s, the screens would be smaller and there would be no storage space between screens, and a recline of 165 degrees.


title: Air China

text: The Airbus A350 feature Air China's latest product, released in August 2018 with the delivery of the first Airbus A350. The seats feature a "reverse herringbone" Collins Aerospace Super-Diamond seat arrangement at the front of the cabin in 8 1-2-1 configurated rows. The seats would be full flat reclinable, along with a shoulder belt for safety. There are no mid-overhead bins, allowing the cabin to look and feel bigger. There would also be aisle access to all seats, and 18-inch HD IFE screens.


title: Air China

text: On the Boeing 747s, Business Class is located in the nose of the aircraft and the Upper Deck, with a painted collage of the Summer Palace, which symbolizes good luck in China. The seats have partial recline, with a touch-screen function and remote function IFE screen on the back of seats and also located in the armrests. It was located in a 2-2-2 configuration at the back, with 2-2 rows continuing to the front and on the Upper Deck. These seats feature seat-back AVOD screens.


title: Air China

text: Historically, Business Class on the Airbus A340 would be very similar to what is offered on the Boeing 747-400, except that there is a 2-2-2 configuration with AVOD screens. Boeing 747-400M aircraft only had business class located on the upper deck while First class and Economy were on the main deck, with products similar to the Boeing 747-400. Boeing 767s and 777-200s featured armchair seats. On 767s they are arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration, whereas on 777s, they are arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration prior to 2013 interior update. Boeing 777-200s featured IFE screens whereas 767s did not. After the 2013 interior update, 777-200s featured a Business Product similar to Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787, but without IFE screens.


title: Air China

text: Premium economy is offered on all of Air China's Airbus A330-300, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 747-8 and Boeing 787-9.


title: Air China

text: The Premium Economy class on the A350-900 is the newest product, with extra recline and bigger seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. Premium Economy on A330-300s, 747-8s and 787-9s were seats with extra legroom than Economy. In older A330s, these seats also featured AVOD screens and headrests, which the Economy Class did not.


title: Air China

text: Economy class is offered on all Air China aircraft. IFE with AVOD functionality is available on Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787-9, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 747 and newer Airbus A330 aircraft with different screen sizes and different systems from Panasonic and Thales. Universal power port and USB availability is different upon aircraft.


title: Air China

text: Air China's inflight magazine "Wings of China" faced accusations of racism when they stated "London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people." in their September 2016 issue. On 8 September 2016, Air China issued an apology. Air China Media, which publishes the "Wings of China" magazine, said it wished to apologise to "readers and passengers who are feeling uncomfortable". It added: "This inappropriate description... was purely a work mistake by the editors and it's not the magazine's views...We will immediately recall this entire issue of magazines and draw lessons from this incident."


title: AECOM

text: AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm.


title: AECOM

text: The company's official name from 1990 to 2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, and is now AECOM. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol ACM and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol E6Z.


title: AECOM

text: In August 2021, AECOM announced plans to relocate its global headquarters from Los Angeles, California to Dallas, Texas.


title: AECOM

text: AECOM traces its origins to Kentucky-based Ashland Oil & Refining Company, which in turn grew out of Swiss Drilling Company, founded in Oklahoma in 1910 by J. Fred Miles. He gained control of some 200,000 acres and formed Swiss Oil Company in Lexington. In 1924, Miles launched a refining operation called Ashland Refining Company, headed by Paul Blazer. While the parent company struggled, leading to the ouster of Miles, Ashland prospered under Blazer's leadership, and in 1936, he was named chief executive officer of the reorganized company, Ashland Oil & Refining Company. In 1966, Ashland acquired Warren Brothers and became involved in highway construction and construction materials. The company was able to take advantage of refinery byproducts to produce asphalt. Ashland grew into one of the nation's major road-construction firms, and laid a foundation for AECOM. Through a series of acquisitions and technological developments, Ashland grew to include chemical, petrochemical, highway construction, and construction materials firms within its realm, laying the groundwork for a management buyout of Ashland Technology in 1985.


title: AECOM

text: In the 1970s, Ashland Oil & Refining became Ashland Oil, Inc. Five years later the company consolidated its construction assets into a construction division and also formed a coal subsidiary, indicative of a changing focus at Ashland. Although it generated more than $1 billion a year in sales, Ashland was a small player in the oil industry at a time when the cost of exploration was prohibitively expensive. By 1980, Ashland sold its production assets, and a year later was reorganized as a modified holding company. A new corporate strategy was implemented as Ashland now focused on refining and marketing, and sought to grow its non-refining businesses. In 1984, Ashland acquired Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM), a global provider of transportation-related engineering services. Originally focused on military projects, after World War II it had become one of the first integrated engineering and architectural firms in the western United States. The acquisition of DMJM also included its president, Richard G. Newman. In 1985, DMJM became part of a new subsidiary, Ashland Technology Corporation. Two years later Newman was named its new chief executive and president.


title: AECOM

text: When Ashland chose to return to its core petroleum refining business in the late 1980s, Newman recommended an employee buyback proposal, resulting in the spin-off of Ashland Technology and the creation of AECOM (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Management) in 1990. The company went on to acquire a number of engineering, design and planning firms including engineering company Maunsell, urbanism and sustainability practice EDAW, Economic Research Associates (ERA), environmental management firm ENSR and The RETEC Group Inc., architects Ellerbe Becket and Davis Langdon, the quantity surveyors and construction consultants.


title: AECOM

text: In 2000, AECOM acquired Metcalf and Eddy, a water and wastewater engineering firm based in Massachusetts, and in September, 2004 it acquired the Canadian company, UMA Engineering Ltd.


title: AECOM

text: AECOM went public during May 2007 with an initial public offering on the NYSE, netting $468.3 million. On January 8, 2008, AECOM acquired The Services Group, Inc., a provider of consulting services to the US Agency for International Development and other multi-lateral donor organizations. On July 28, 2008, AECOM completed its purchase of Earth Tech Inc., a consulting and engineering firm, from Tyco International for $510 million. On July 14, 2010, AECOM announced its acquisition of Tishman Construction Corp., a leading provider of construction management services in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, in a $245 million transaction including $202 million in cash and the remainder in AECOM common stock. On July 13, 2014, AECOM announced its acquisition of URS Corporation, an engineering, construction, and technical services firm for US$56.31 per share in cash and stock. Effective July 10, 2014, it acquired ACE International Consultants SL, a Madrid-based provider of consulting services. In July 2014, it acquired Hunt Construction Group, adding to AECOM's construction services business. In July 2017, AECOM acquired Shimmick Construction Company. Officials at the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District blamed the acquisition for delaying construction of a safety barrier at the bridge by 2 years.


title: AECOM

text: In October 2019, AECOM announced plans to sell their Management Services division to private equity firm American Securities LLC and Lindsay Goldberg for $2.405 billion. Management Services provides services and support to governmental clients including the Department of Energy and Department of Defense. On January 31, 2020, this transaction was completed with the new company being called Amentum. In October 2020, AECOM announced the sale of its Power construction business to private equity firm CriticalPoint Capital. In December 2020, AECOM announced the sale of its Civil construction business, including Shimmick Construction, to private equity firm Oroco Capital, which completed January 5, 2021. AECOM explained these divestitures as a "transformation into a higher-margin, lower-risk Professional Services business".


title: AECOM

text: AECOM's first president and CEO was Richard G. Newman, who came to Ashland through its acquisition of Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM). Under Ashland Oil's ownership, he was president and chief operating officer of DMJM from October 1985 to December 1988. While president of Ashland Technology Corp. from December 1988 until May 1990, Newman was instrumental in taking it from a division of Ashland Oil to an independent company. He was president when the company changed its name to AECOM Technology Corporation in April 1990. Newman was president until 1993, and then chairman, president and CEO from May 1993 to October 2000, and chairman and CEO from 2000 to 2005.


title: AECOM

text: In October 2005, John M. Dionisio succeeded Newman as president and CEO of AECOM. In 2011, Dionisio became chairman of the company. Dionisio had previously served as COO from October 2003 to October 2005 and president and CEO of the subsidiary DMJM+Harris from October 2000 to October 2003.


title: AECOM

text: In October 2011, Michael S. Burke succeeded Dionisio as president and then in March 2014 succeeded him as CEO. Burke joined AECOM in 2005 and was appointed CFO in 2006.


title: AECOM

text: In 2011, Stephen M. Kadenacy was named chief financial officer, later promoted to president and COO. In 2017, Kadenacy left the company and was succeeded as COO by Randy Wotring.


title: AECOM

text: In November 2019, AECOM announced that Burke would retire as chairman and CEO. The change was announced to be effective after either the next annual meeting or completion of the search for a replacement. At the same time, AECOM said that the board of directors would be expanded to include representatives of activist-shareholder Starboard Value, the fifth largest shareholder. Amid market speculation that AECOM would be acquired by WSP Global, AECOM announced the selection of W. Troy Rudd to be CEO. The change will be effective . Before his appointment as CEO, Rudd served as CFO for the company. The announcement included naming Lara Poloni as the new president. The announcement resulted in the resignation of the Starboard Value board member in protest over the selection.


title: AECOM

text: AECOM provides Archaeology, Architecture & Design, Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture, Asset Management, Construction, Cost Management, Decommissioning & Closure, Economics, Engineering, Environmental Services, International Development, IT & Cyber Security, Operations & Maintenance, Planning & Consulting, Program Management/Construction Management, Risk Management & Resilience and Technical Services.


title: AECOM

text: AECOM is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, with clients in more than 150 countries. The company reported a revenue of US$17.4 billion during the 12 months that ended September 30, 2016.


title: AECOM

text: In 2018, the company reported revenue of $20.16 billion, with construction services contributing $8.24 billion and $8.22 billion from its design and consulting unit.


title: Marlin

text: Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Marlins are among the fastest marine swimmers. However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.


title: Marlin

text: The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, "Makaira nigricans", which can reach in length and in weight and the black marlin, "Istiompax indica", which can reach in excess of in length and in weight. They are popular sporting fish in tropical areas. The Atlantic blue marlin and the white marlin are endangered owing to overfishing.


title: Marlin

text: The marlins are Istiophoriform fish, most closely related to the swordfish, which is the sole member of Xiphiidae. The carangiformes is believed to be the second-closest clade to the Marlins. Although previously thought to be closely related to Scombridae, genetic analysis only shows a slight relationship.


title: Marlin

text: In the Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel "The Old Man and the Sea", the central character of the work is an aged Cuban fisherman who, after 84 days without success on the water, heads out to sea to break his run of bad luck. On the 85th day, Santiago, the old fisherman, hooks a resolute marlin; what follows is a great struggle between man, sea creature, and the elements.


title: Marlin

text: Frederick Forsyth's story "The Emperor", in the collection "No Comebacks", tells of a bank manager named Murgatroyd, who catches a marlin and is acknowledged by the islanders of Mauritius as a master fisherman..


title: Jackie Cooper

text: John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Oscar nomination. Aged nine, he remains the youngest performer ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, an honor that he received for the film "Skippy" (1931). For nearly 50 years, Cooper remained the youngest Oscar nominee in any category.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: John Cooper Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California. Cooper's father, John Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow (née Polito), was a stage pianist. Cooper's maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, was a screenwriter and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman Taurog. Cooper's stepfather was C.J. Bigelow, a studio production manager. His mother was Italian American (her family's surname was changed from "Polito" to "Leonard"); Cooper was told by his family that his father was Jewish. The two never reunited after he had left the family.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who took him to her auditions hoping it would help her get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name of "Leonard".


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper graduated to bit parts in feature films such as "Fox Movietone Follies of 1929" and "Sunny Side Up". His director in those films, David Butler, recommended Cooper to director Leo McCarey, who arranged an audition for the "Our Gang" comedy series produced by Hal Roach. In 1929, Cooper signed a three-year contract after joining the series in the short "Boxing Gloves". He initially was to be a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 his success in transitioning to sound films enabled him to become one of "Our Gang"'s major characters. He was the main character in the episodes "The First Seven Years" and "When the Wind Blows". His most notable "Our Gang" shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe. His "Our Gang" shorts included "Teacher's Pet", "School's Out", and "Love Business".


title: Jackie Cooper

text: While under contract to Hal Roach Studios, in 1931 Cooper was loaned to Paramount to star in "Skippy," directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog. At age nine, Cooper was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, the youngest actor to be nominated for an Oscar in that category. Although Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for Cooper's services, Roach paid Cooper a standard salary of $50 per week.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: "Our Gang" producer Hal Roach sold Jackie's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. Cooper acted with Wallace Beery in "The Champ" (1931—Beery's Oscar-winning role); a wittily comedic romp titled "The Bowery" (1933) with George Raft, Fay Wray and Pert Kelton; Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" (1934) with Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone and Nigel Bruce; and a father-son circus story about a one-armed animal trainer titled "O'Shaughnessy's Boy" (1935). In his autobiography, Cooper wrote that Beery was a disappointment and accused Beery of upstaging him and attempting to undermine his performances out of jealousy.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper played the title role in the first two Henry Aldrich films, "What a Life" (1939) and "Life with Henry" (1941).


title: Jackie Cooper

text: retiring at the rank of captain and receiving the Legion of Merit. He starred in two television sitcoms, NBC's "The People's Choice" with Patricia Breslin and CBS's "Hennesey" with Abby Dalton. In 1954, he guest-starred on the NBC legal drama "Justice". He appeared on ABC's "The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom", guest-starred with Tennessee Ernie Ford on NBC's "The Ford Show" as America's Uranium King, and as Charles A. Steen in "I Found 60 Million Dollars" on the "Armstrong Circle Theatre".


title: Jackie Cooper

text: In 1950, Cooper was cast in a production of "Mr. Roberts" in Boston, Massachusetts in the role of Ensign Pulver. From 1964 to 1969, Cooper was vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures Screen Gems TV division. He was responsible for packaging series such as "Bewitched" and selling them to the networks. In 1964, Cooper appeared in Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" episode "Caesar and Me", and in 1968 a made-for-television film "Shadow on the Land".


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper left Columbia in 1969. He appeared in the fourth season of "Hawaii Five-O" in an episode called "The Burning Ice". Cooper appeared in "Candidate for Crime" starring Peter Falk as "Columbo" in 1973, and in the 1975 ABC series "Mobile One," a Jack Webb/Mark VII Limited production. He guest-starred in a 1978 two-part episode of "The Rockford Files: The House on Willis Avenue". Cooper's work as director on episodes of "M*A*S*H" and "The White Shadow" earned him Emmy awards.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: In the 1970s and 1980s, Cooper appeared as "Daily Planet" editor Perry White in the "Superman" film series, a role he got after Keenan Wynn, who was originally cast as White, became unavailable after suffering a heart attack.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper's final film role was as Ace Morgan in the 1987 film "Surrender", starring Sally Field, Michael Caine, and Steve Guttenberg.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper served in the United States Navy during World War II and remained active in the Naval Reserve for the next several decades, reaching the rank of captain. He was married to June Horne from 1944 until 1949, with whom he had a son, John "Jack" Cooper, III, who was born in 1946. June was the daughter of director James W. Horne and actress Cleo Ridgely. Cooper was married to Hildy Parks from 1950 until 1951, and to Barbara Rae Kraus from 1954 until her death in 2009. Cooper and Kraus had three children, Russell, born in 1956, Julie, born in 1957, and Cristina, born in 1959. Julie and Cristina died in 1997 and 2009, respectively.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper participated in several automobile racing events, including the record-breaking class D cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He drove in several SCCA road racing competitions. Cooper was named the honorary starter for the 1976 Winston 500 at the Alabama International Motor Speedway, which is now known as Talladega Superspeedway, in Talladega, Alabama.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper's autobiography, "Please Don't Shoot My Dog", was published in 1982. The title refers to an incident during the filming of "Skippy," when Norman Taurog, who was the director, needed Cooper to cry a number of times on camera. To accomplish that, Taurog used various tricks intended to upset Cooper. For example, one time Taurog ordered a security guard to go backstage and pretend to shoot Cooper's dog. The stunt resulted in genuine tears; Cooper afterwards discovered his dog was in fact fine. Later that same day, his mother came to the set, and showed Cooper a better way for an actor to experience emotions in the scene–by studying the script, and empathizing with the character he was portraying.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper announced his retirement in 1989, although he continued directing episodes of the syndicated series "Superboy". He began spending more time training and racing horses at Hollywood Park and outside San Diego during the Del Mar racing season. Cooper lived in Beverly Hills from 1955 until his death.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Cooper was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star located at 1507 Vine Street.


title: Jackie Cooper

text: Cooper died on May 3, 2011, of natural causes, in Santa Monica, California. He was survived by his two sons. He outlived both his daughters and wife, Barbara Rae Kraus. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, in honor of his naval service.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: "Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, released in 1982. The song was released as the second single from their fifth album, "Combat Rock". It reached number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in the US (their only top 10 single in the United States) and, along with the track "Mustapha Dance", it also reached number eight on the dance chart.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: "Rock the Casbah" was composed by the band's drummer Topper Headon, based on a piano part that he had been toying with. Finding himself in the studio without his three bandmates, Headon progressively taped the drum, piano and bass parts, recording the bulk of the song's musical instrumentation himself.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: This origin makes "Rock the Casbah" different from the majority of Clash songs, which tended to originate with music written by the Joe Strummer–Mick Jones songwriting partnership. Upon entering the studio to hear Headon's recording, the other Clash members were impressed with his creation, stating that they felt the musical track was essentially complete. From this point, relatively minor overdubs were added, such as guitars and percussion.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: However, Strummer was not impressed by the page of suggested lyrics that Headon gave him. According to Clash guitar technician Digby Cleaver, they were "a soppy set of lyrics about how much he missed his girlfriend". "Strummer just took one look at these words and said, 'How incredibly interesting!', screwed the piece of paper into a ball and chucked it backwards over his head."


title: Rock the Casbah

text: Strummer had been developing a set of lyrical ideas that he was looking to match with an appropriate tune. Before hearing Headon's music, Strummer had already come up with the phrases "rock the casbah" and "you'll have to let that raga drop", as lyrical ideas that he was considering for future songs. After hearing Headon's music, Strummer went into the studio's toilets and wrote lyrics to match the song's melody.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The version of the song on "Combat Rock", as well as many other Clash compilations, features an electronic sound effect beginning at the 1:52-minute point of the song. This noise is a monophonic version of the song "Dixie". The sound effect source was generated by the alarm from a digital wristwatch that Mick Jones owned, and was intentionally added to the recording by Jones.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: Joe Strummer had been toying with the phrase "rock the casbah" prior to hearing Topper Headon's musical track that would form the basis of the song. This phrase had originated during a jam session with Strummer's violinist friend Tymon Dogg. Dogg began playing Eastern scales with his violin and Strummer started shouting "rock the casbah!" Not hearing Strummer properly, Dogg thought that Strummer had been shouting at him to "stop, you cadger!"


title: Rock the Casbah

text: Further inspiration for the lyrics of "Rock the Casbah" originated from Strummer observing the band's manager Bernie Rhodes moaning about The Clash's increasing tendency to perform lengthy songs. Rhodes asked the band facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this rāga?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Strummer later returned to his room at the Iroquois Hotel in New York City and wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that rāga drop.'"


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The song gives a fabulist account of a ban on Western rock music by a Middle Eastern king. The lyrics describe the king's efforts to enforce and justify the ban, and the populace's protests against it by holding rock concerts in temples and squares ("rocking the casbah"). This culminates in the king ordering his military's fighter jets to bomb the protestors; however, after taking off, the pilots ignore his orders and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios, joining the protest and implying the loss of the king's power.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The events depicted in the song are similar to an actual ban on Western music, including rock music, enforced in Iran since the Iranian Revolution. Though classical music and public concerts were briefly permitted in the 1980s and 1990s, the ban was reinstated in 2005, and has remained in force ever since. Western music is still distributed in Iran through black markets, and Iranian rock music artists are forced to record in secret, under threat of arrest.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The song's lyrics feature various Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Sanskrit loan-words, such as "sharif", "bedouin", "sheikh", "kosher", "rāga", "muezzin", "minaret", and "casbah".


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The single version has more pronounced bass. Also when Joe Strummer screams "The crowd caught a whiff / Of that crazy casbah jive" at the end of the third verse the word "jive" is sustained for several seconds with digital delay. Additionally, the sound effects of the jet fighters in the last verse are lower in the mix, particularly just after "drop your bombs between the minarets." The single version of the song is what is played in the music video. "Mustapha Dance", which features in many releases of the single, is an instrumental remix of the song.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The music video for "Rock the Casbah" was filmed in Austin, Texas by director Don Letts on 8 and 9 June 1982. It intermixes footage of The Clash (with Terry Chimes on the drums) miming a performance of the song, with a storyline depicting two characters travelling together throughout Texas. The video depicts a Muslim hitchhiker (played by actor Titos Menchaca) and a Hasidic Jewish limo driver (Dennis Razze) befriending each other on the road and skanking together through the streets to a Clash concert at Austin's City Coliseum. Throughout the video, an armadillo appears at points. At one point they are seen eating hamburgers in front of a Burger King restaurant. At another point, the Muslim character is seen drinking a beer; Letts stated that all that imagery was "about breaking taboos."


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The Clash is shown miming a performance of the song in front of a pumpjack in a Texas oil field. For most of the video clip, guitarist Mick Jones's face is obscured by a veiled camouflage hat. The reason for this is that Jones was in a bad mood during the film shoot. Jones' face remains hidden until the final 30 seconds of the clip, when Strummer pulls the hat off at the "he thinks it's not kosher!" line.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The song was chosen by Armed Forces Radio to be the first song broadcast on the service covering the area during Operation Desert Storm. In one of the campfire scenes late in the 2007 documentary "", a friend states that Strummer wept when he heard that the phrase "Rock the Casbah" was written on an American bomb that was to be detonated on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the song was placed on the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel. In 2006, the conservative "National Review" released their list of the top 50 "Conservative Rock Songs", with "Rock the Casbah" at number 20, noting the Clear Channel list as well as frequent requests to the British Forces Broadcasting Service during the Iraq War. Cultural reviewer and political analyst Charlie Pierce commented that "the notion of the Clash as spokesfolk for adventurism in the Middle East might have been enough to bring Joe Strummer back from the dead."


title: Rock the Casbah

text: "Vulture" writer Bill Wyman in 2017 ranked the song number ten of all the band's 139 songs, calling it "one of the greatest rock singles of all time." Wyman further wrote, "Like other Clash songs, this song requires some historical context" about Iran, starting from the 1953 coup d'état—which overthrew the democratically elected leader Mohammad Mosaddegh—to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which resulted in overthrowing the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, king of the Imperial State of Iran, and the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, rupturing their diplomatic relations—followed by Jimmy Carter, who was criticized for the way he handled the hostage crisis, losing the 1980 U.S. presidential election to Ronald Reagan.


title: Rock the Casbah

text: The Algerian rock singer Rachid Taha covered the song (in Arabic) on his 2004 album "Tékitoi". On 27 November 2005 at the Astoria, London, during the Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert, "...for the night's grandstanding conclusion, the Clash legend Mick Jones strides on in a skinny black suit and plays probably the most exciting guitar he has delivered in years. He and the band are brilliant on Taha's definitive take on "Rock the Casbah", for which the audience goes berserk." They again played Taha's version of the song, "Rock el Casbah", in February 2006, at the France 4 TV show "Taratatà." In 2007 at the Barbican, "... The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on "Rock El Casbah" and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show."


title: Code Lyoko

text: Code Lyoko () is a French animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo and produced by Antefilms Production (season 1) and MoonScoop Group (seasons 2-4) for France 3 and Canal J, with the participation of Conseil Général de la Charente, Pôle Image Magelis, Région Poitou-Charentes and Wallimage. The series centers on a group of teenagers who travel to the virtual world of Lyoko to battle against a malignant artificial intelligence known as X.A.N.A. who threatens Earth with powers to access the real world and cause trouble. The scenes in the real world employ traditional animation with hand-painted backgrounds, while the scenes in Lyoko are presented in 3D CGI animation.


title: Code Lyoko

text: The series began its first, 97-episode run on 3 September 2003, on France's France 3, and ended on 10 November 2007. It started airing in the United States on 19 April 2004 on Cartoon Network.


title: Code Lyoko

text: "Code Lyoko" aired every day on Cartoon Network, and was also in their Miguzi and Master Control programming blocks, at 5:00 or 5:30 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time, sometimes even showing two new back-to-back episodes consecutively, in the cases of season finales.


title: Code Lyoko

text: A follow-up series, "", began airing at the end of 2012. This "sequel" to the series featured live-action sequences for scenes taking place in the real world instead of its traditional 2D animation but retained the iconic CGI for scenes taking place in Lyoko, now with an updated style. The show consisted of 26 episodes with the final episode airing in late 2013, leaving off on a cliffhanger with no second season planned as MoonScoop later filed for bankruptcy in 2014.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Jeremy Belpois, an 8th grade prodigy attending boarding school at Kadic Academy, discovers a quantum supercomputer in an abandoned factory near his school. Upon activating it, he discovers a virtual world called Lyoko with an artificially intelligent girl named Aelita trapped inside it. Jeremy learns of X.A.N.A., a fully autonomous, malevolent, and highly intelligent multi-agent system, that also dwells within the Supercomputer. Using Lyoko's powers, X.A.N.A can possess electronics and objects in the real world like a virus to wreak havoc. X.A.N.A.'s primary objective is to eliminate anyone aware of the Supercomputer's existence so that it will be free to conquer the real world and destroy all humanity.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Jeremy works tirelessly to materialize Aelita into the real world and stop attacks caused by X.A.N.A. Jeremy is aided by his three friends Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern, and Yumi Ishiyama, who are virtualized into Lyoko to save both worlds from the sinister virtual entity. They achieve this by escorting Aelita to various Towers on Lyoko, which serve as interface terminals between Lyoko and Earth. Once the Tower is deactivated, Jeremy can launch a "Return to the Past" program, which sends the world back in time to undo any damage caused by X.A.N.A., while anyone scanned into the Supercomputer retains their memory of the events. In "Code: Earth," Aelita is finally materialized, but the group discovers that X.A.N.A. had planted a virus inside of her that will kill her if the Supercomputer is turned off. They realize that they cannot destroy X.A.N.A, or Aelita will be destroyed along with it.


title: Code Lyoko

text: In Season 2, Aelita adjusts to life in the real world, while Jeremy attempts to develop an antivirus program to liberate her from X.A.N.A.'s power. On Lyoko, a fifth sector is discovered and the group explores more of Lyoko's secrets and mysteries. The gang begins to uncover information about a mysterious man named Franz Hopper, who went missing ten years ago. He supposedly created the Supercomputer, Lyoko, and X.A.N.A., and is eventually discovered to be Aelita's father. They finally find out that Franz Hopper is indeed alive somewhere, hiding in the uncharted parts of Lyoko to avoid X.A.N.A. further. All the while, X.A.N.A. attempts to steal Aelita's memory to gain the Keys to Lyoko and escape into the internet. At the end of the season, the group discovers that Aelita is actually human and does not have a virus, and instead is missing a fragment of herself. In "The Key," X.A.N.A. tricks them with a fake and succeeds in stealing Aelita's memory and escaping the Supercomputer. Aelita appears to perish as a result but is revived when Franz Hopper restores her completely, along with her missing fragment: the memories of her life on Earth before she was virtualized on Lyoko.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Season 3 shows that since succeeding in escaping the confinements of the supercomputer, X.A.N.A. targets the virtual world itself by destroying each of Lyoko's surface sectors, until only Sector Five is left. Initially reluctant, the Lyoko Warriors decide to invite William Dunbar as the sixth member. However, shortly after being virtualized, he is possessed by X.A.N.A.. Shortly after, he destroys the Core of Lyoko, destroying the entire virtual world and rendering the group unable to fight X.A.N.A., putting the entire real world in danger. After what they thought was their defeat, Jeremy receives a coded message from Franz Hopper that allows him to recreate Lyoko and continue the fight against X.A.N.A.


title: Code Lyoko

text: In Season 4, Jeremy and Aelita construct a digital submarine, the Skidbladnir, to travel across the Digital Sea to destroy X.A.N.A.'s "Replikas," which are copies of Lyoko's sectors that are linked to X.A.N.A.-controlled supercomputers on Earth, all created for its goal of world domination. X.A.N.A. uses William as its general throughout the season to defend the Replikas and target the Lyoko Warriors in any way he can. To prevent suspicion regarding William's disappearance, Jeremy manages to program a specter to take William's place at Kadic, although the clone has low-level intelligence and acts very stupidly. Near the end of the season, X.A.N.A. decides to draw energy from all of its Replikas to create the Kolossus, a gigantic monster that later destroys the Skidbladnir. Before it is destroyed, Jeremy frees William from X.A.N.A.'s control. After his return, he has a difficult time gaining the trust of the group. While Ulrich defeats the Kolossus, Franz Hopper sacrifices himself to power Jeremy's "anti-X.A.N.A. program," which destroys X.A.N.A. forever upon activation. Shortly after, the group, albeit reluctant due to their nostalgia, decides to shut down the Supercomputer.


title: Code Lyoko

text: "Code Lyoko" originates from the film short "Les enfants font leur cinéma" ("The children make their movies"), directed by Thomas Romain and produced by a group of students from Parisian visual arts school Gobelins School of the Image. Romain worked with Tania Palumbo, Stanislas Brunet, and Jerome Cottray to create the film, which was screened at the 2000 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. French animation company Antefilms took interest in the film due to its atmosphere and offered Romain and Palumbo a contract to turn it into a series. This led to the development of the pilot, "Garage Kids".


title: Code Lyoko

text: "Garage Kids" was produced in 2001 by Antefilms. The project was created by Palumbo, Romain, and Carlo de Boutiny and developed by Anne de Galard. Its producers were Eric Garnet, Nicolas Atlan, Benoît di Sabatino, and Christophe di Sabatino.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Similar to its succeeding show "Code Lyoko", "Garage Kids" was originally envisioned as a 26-episode miniseries detailing the lives of four French boarding school students who discover the secret of the virtual world of Xanadu; created by a research group headed by a character known as the "Professor". The pilot featured both traditional animation and CGI. "The Matrix" had "enormous influence" on the pilot according to Romain, citing the concept of a machine allowing the characters to dive in a virtual world, an operator who supervises the trip and the correlation between the action in the real world and the virtual world. Anime also served as inspiration, specifically "Serial Experiments Lain" for its "worrying digital dimension" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion" for its dangerous entities to fight. While similarities to "Tron" have been noted, Romain admitted to not having seen the film yet when the series was being developed.


title: Code Lyoko

text: When the concept on the virtual world was added, Antefilms suggested animating it with CGI to help make the series unique, promote a video game theme and make the separation between the virtual and real worlds clearer. While incorporating it, Palumbo and Romain wanted to avoid making the series "too playful and superficial" and sought to "get around the censoring done by TV channels that tend to soften youth programs" by writing episodes "with tension, suspense, even tragic scenes. Things that are hard to imagine seeing in a cartoon series for kids."


title: Code Lyoko

text: The desire to further separate the real world from the virtual world lead to the characters losing their powers in the real world, which was present in Garage Kids' pilot. A team of artists were also recruited in order to give the backgrounds of the real world a realistic appearance. The factory and boarding schools specifically were modelled after locations in France. The factory was based on a Renault production plant in Boulogne-Billancourt (Île Seguin), which has since been demolished. The school, Kadic Academy, is based on Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux. Palumbo and Romain were adamant on keeping the locales based on "the France we knew", as they wanted to avoid what they perceived as "fantastical" or "Americanized" locations other French cartoons used at the time.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Networks were hesitant to "Garage Kids" due to its serial nature, as they feared it would alienate potential viewers who missed the first episodes and they wanted to rerun the series without worrying about episode order. This lead the writing team to shift to a more episodic format. Romain ultimately chose to leave the series after this change in 2003 to work on the French-Japanese anime series "Ōban Star-Racers". Tania Palumbo remained on the series through its conclusion as creative director. She designed and named the main characters, with Jeremy being named after one of her and Romain's classmates at Gobelins. The series' human character designs were primarily influenced by Japanese animator Kōji Morimoto's style.


title: Code Lyoko

text: After the series was sold to France 3 and Canal J, producers felt ""Garage Kids"" was too unclear for a title and requested it be renamed. Palumbo and production manager Anne de Galard ultimately settled on ""Code Lyoko"", with Lyoko originating from the Japanese word "ryoko" meaning "travel" to further emphasis the dive into the virtual world. The virtual world was subsequently renamed "Lyoko" as well.


title: Code Lyoko

text: The writing process for "Code Lyoko" usually began with the head writer asking the other writers for story pitches. If they liked an idea, it next had to receive approval from the show's director, producers and broadcasters before it could be turned into a 4-page synopsis. After going through the approval process again, it was then expanded into a script and approved one last time to be sent off for production. Writing an episode typically lasted 2–3 weeks, though some took longer if higher-ups were unhappy with the story or it ran into issues. Sophie Decroisette, head writer of Code Lyoko's first three seasons, described "Image Problem" as "very difficult to write" after its original writer left the show following the synopsis phase, requiring another writer to step in and finish it. The writing team was also mandated by production to approve 4 scripts per month.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Following the success of the first season, the show was able to have more continuous storylines. Decroisette and show director Jérôme Mouscadet wrote the series' backstory during the break between season 1 and 2. Before Romain left the project, the idea of Lyoko being created by a team of researchers had changed to just one: Franz Hopper. However his motivations and identity were never established. Decroisette revealed during production of season 4 that the full backstory would not be told in the show, as she considered it "very complicated... dense and [not] really important to the story."


title: Code Lyoko

text: The show's international success in the United States also affected production. Romance elements were ultimately reduced after season 2 to appease American audiences. Aside from this, Decroisette otherwise noted that she "never felt censored" while working on the series, apart from a self-imposed restriction to write stories appropriate for children. Bruno Regeste became head writer for "Code Lyoko"'s final season, though Decroisette continued writing scripts and closely monitored episodes involving Replikas.


title: Code Lyoko

text: The series' traditional animation was handled overseas by Animation Services Hong Kong Limited. Fantasia Animation and Welkin Animation also worked on the show's first two seasons. The 3D segments were animated in-house by Antefilm's CGI team.


title: Code Lyoko

text: The show was first premiered on France 3 on 3 September 2003 and ended on 10 November 2007 in France. In the U.S., the show was also premiered on 19 April 2004 on Cartoon Network. The second season started on 19 September 2005. The two-part "XANA Awakens" prequel aired on 2–3 October 2006, and the third season started a day later on 4 October 2006. The fourth and final season began on 18 May 2007. The final episode aired on Cartoon Network was "Cousins Once Removed", and the remaining seven episodes were released online at Cartoon Network Video. When the show aired on Cartoon Network, it was simultaneously both part of its after-school weekday afternoon action animation lighter-toned programming block, Miguzi from 2004 until 2007, and also a standalone show on its primetime timeslot. The show aired on Kabillion from 2007 to 2015.


title: Code Lyoko

text: The show also aired in Latin America and Japan on Jetix. In Italy, the show aired on Disney Channel, Rai 2, RaiSat Smash, Rai Gulp and was published on DVD by Delta Pictures under the label 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.


title: Code Lyoko

text: In January 2011, all four seasons of "Code Lyoko" were released on iTunes in the U.S. and France by MoonScoop Holdings, although as of May 2019, only seasons 1 and 2 are available and other seasons have been removed. In October 2011, all four seasons were released on Amazon Instant Streaming and on DVD in the U.S., however, these DVDs are now out of print.


title: Code Lyoko

text: All four seasons were made available on Netflix on 6 August 2012, but were removed for unknown reasons. The show was eventually returned to Netflix on 1 October 2020 after being taken down following MoonScoop's bankruptcy for seven years. Since 2015, all of the English-dubbed episodes (including the prequel "XANA Awakens") are viewable on YouTube. Since 2019, an upscaled HD version of the series is also available on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show 4/5 stars, writing: "Kids will like the battles in Lyoko -- each plays out much like a video game", and added: "Strategy and teamwork are themes throughout the series." In a 2020 retrospective of the show for Comic Book Resources, Noah Dominguez wrote: "Whether you're a returning traveler or are only visiting Lyoko for the first time, "Code Lyoko" still holds up as a unique, easily-accessible gem of the 2000s".


title: Code Lyoko

text: "Code Lyoko" was voted as the best show by Canal J viewers in France, and has achieved international fame as well; the show has been rated as one of the best shows on Cartoon Network and Kabillion in the U.S., with Cartoon Network having it rated as the #3 best performing show in 2006 and Kabillion having it as #4 in monthly average views in 2010. The show has reached success in Spain as one of Clan TVE's highest-rated shows, on Italy's Rai2 network, and in Finland and the United Kingdom as well. The show also won France's Prix de l'Export 2006 Award for Animation in December 2006.


title: Code Lyoko

text: Several "Code Lyoko" products have been released, including DVDs, a series of cine-manga by Tokyopop, a series of four novels by Italian publisher Atlantyca Entertainment, apparel, and other accessories. In 2006, Marvel Toys released a line of "Code Lyoko" toys and action figures.


title: Code Lyoko

text: When the show started to come to an end in 2007, The Game Factory released three video games based on the show: "Code Lyoko" and "" for the Nintendo DS, and "" for the Wii, PSP, and PlayStation 2. The games were met with mixed to positive reviews from critics despite some criticisms of gameplay. There have been other games released through various mediums, one being Facebook.


title: Code Lyoko

text: A series of Clan TVE festivals in Spain included live stage shows based on Code Lyoko among other things. A game show known as Code Lyoko Challenge was planned to be released in late 2012, but fell through.


title: Code Lyoko

text: A series of five chapter books was released by Atlantyca Entertainment and distributed in Italy and other countries. The novels delve deeper into the unanswered questions of the series. Taking place after the end of the series, X.A.N.A. has miraculously survived and returns though weakened and initially missing its memories. X.A.N.A. possesses Eva Skinner, an American girl, and travels to France in order to infiltrate the gang and kill them off. Unaware of their enemy's presence, the group works to find clues about Aelita's past, left by her father Franz Hopper, and confirm whether or not her mother is still alive somewhere. But at the same time, a terrorist group, the Green Phoenix, has become interested in the supercomputer and intend to use both it and the virtual world of Lyoko for evil purposes.


title: Code Lyoko

text: It was confirmed that the series will never be released officially in English, nor the final two books released in French. However, sometime later, a fan community came together and sought to not only finish the series but translate it into more languages, including English. They have since completed their work and made it available for free download in September 2014.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Maqsood Mahmood Ali (born 19 September 1958), better known as Lucky Ali, is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor. With several popular singles and albums, he emerged as a significant figure of Indipop during the 1990s.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali is the second of the eight children of Bollywood actor, Mehmood Ali. His mother Mahelaka, was part Bengali and part Pashtun, and the sister of 1960s Indian actress Meena Kumari. The Bollywood actress and dancer, Minoo Mumtaz, is his paternal aunt. He attended City Montessori School, Convent of Jesus and Mary, Hampton Court, Mussoorie, Manekji Cooper (Kindergarten) (Juhu), Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, and the Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali has two children with his first wife – Ta'awwuz and Tasmiyah. He then married Inaya (Anahita, a Persian). With her, he has two children: Sara and Raiyan. He married a third time in 2010 to British model and former beauty queen Kate Elizabeth Hallam whom he divorced in 2017. The couple have a son named Dani Maqsood Ali.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali presently lives on the outskirts of Bengaluru in his farm house. His favourite places are Mecca and Medina.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali and his father shared a tempestuous relationship. Mehmood Ali was a very busy actor in the 1960s and 70s, and remained away from home for his shoots. Once, around the age of four when Ali first returned from boarding school, Mehmood and the entire family had come to receive Ali after 10 months in boarding school, at the airport. Ali did not recognize his father, but on seeing him said, "He's the film comedian Mehmood!" Ali lived away from his family in a boarding school in Dehradun, Mussoorie. Ali's tryst with marijuana led Mehmood to write the script of the movie "Dushman Duniya Ka" (Enemy of the World). The movie stars Ali's youngest brother, Manzoor. It is the story of the drug abuse of a young man called Lucky. In the end, the young man kills his mother, destroys everything around him and is then killed by his father. Ali differed with his father's vision and did not act in the movie. "I felt the story lacked hope," he said. However, he sang his first song for the film.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Best known for his music, singing and acting, Ali has also bred horses, worked on an oil rig off the coast of Pondicherry in South India, cleaned and sold carpets and is a farmer with a strong opinion on organic methods in farming.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali made his debut on the Indian music scene with the album "Sunoh", which established him as a singer. This album won many of the top awards in Indian music, including the Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards and the Channel V Viewers Choice Award in 1997. It stayed on the MTV Asia Charts in the top three for 60 weeks. The song "O Sanam" from "Sunoh" launched his career. It was also nominated at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards His next album, "Sifar", was noted for its music, lyrics and vocals.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali became known for his distinctive music style and also for his untrained voice - elements that helped him emerge as a leading figure in Indipop during the period. His third and fourth albums were "Aks" and "Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai", both of which were reasonably successful.


title: Lucky Ali

text: He is also known for contributing the song "Anjaani Raahon Mein" to the album "Meri Jaan Hindustan", which commemorated 50 years of Indian independence in the year 1997. The video was directed by Mani Shankar, and features him as a young rural man working in a foreign country, with a longing to go back home, and his joy of actually returning to a place he loved. When asked about the video, he once said "The video of 'Anjaani Raahon Mein' was a beautiful story in itself. It was done straight from the heart and it is very special to me."


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali debuted in Bollywood with the song "Nasha Nasha" in the movie "Dushman Duniya Ka". After that he sung “Ek Pal Ka Jeena” and "Na Tum Jaano Na Hum", featured in "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" (2000). He received the 2001 Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" song. He was nominated for the Best Playback Singer Male for "Aa Bhi Jaa", featured in "Sur" in the 48th Filmfare Awards, but lost to Sonu Nigam. He has lent his voice to films such as "Sur" (2003), "Bachna Ae Haseeno" (2008), "Anjaana Anjaani" (2010) and "Tamasha" (2015).


title: Lucky Ali

text: Lucky Ali started his playback singing career with the song "Walking All Alone" from the film "Ek Baap Chhe Bete" in 1978. This film starred Mehmood Ali and his six sons. Ali's second song was "Nasha Nasha" from the film "Dushman Duniya Ka", which starred his brother Manzoor Ali in the lead role. The film was directed by their father Mehmood.


title: Lucky Ali

text: He has worked with composers such as A.R Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal–Shekhar, Mikey McCleary, Prashant Pillai, Varun Ahuja and Rajiv Bhalla.


title: Lucky Ali

text: As the nephew of Meena Kumari and son of Mehmood, Lucky Ali did not lack the requisites to make his debut as an actor. He first appeared in "Chote Nawab" ("The Little Prince") in 1962, directed by Mehmood. He acted in a few films in the 1970s and 1980s such as "Yehi Hai Zindagi" (1977), "Hamare Tumhare" (1979) and Shyam Benegal's "Trikaal" (1985). He also acted in the television series "Bharat Ek Khoj", directed by Shyam Benegal. After a long break from acting, he returned in Sanjay Gupta's "Kaante" (2002), in which he acted alongside leading stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav and Suniel Shetty. Ali also acted in the TV serial "Zara Hatke". In 2002, he acted in the Hindi musical "Sur-The Melody of Life" playing a complex role.


title: Lucky Ali

text: Ali's discography contains six studio albums, six compilations, seven singles, 19 soundtracks, two concert tours and two other albums (as a composer).


title: Mattia Binotto

text: Mattia Binotto (born 3 November 1969) is a Swiss-born Italian engineer and the team principal of Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One. He was appointed to the role on 7 January 2019, replacing Maurizio Arrivabene. His parents are Italian.


title: Mattia Binotto

text: Born in Lausanne, Binotto obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1994 and then a master's in motor vehicle engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. In 1995, he joined Scuderia Ferrari in the engine department. He was part of the team during the successful early 2000s. In 2013, he became head of the engine department, before becoming chief technical officer (CTO) of Ferrari in July 2016, replacing James Allison. During Binotto's two years as CTO, Ferrari once more competed for regular race wins. In 2019, he was promoted to team principal, replacing Maurizio Arrivabene. In November 2022, he announced his resignation from the role. He is due to leave his role on 31 December.


title: Thai script

text: The Thai script (, ) is the abugida used to write Thai, Southern Thai and many other spoken in Thailand. The Thai alphabet itself (as used to write Thai) has 44 consonant symbols (, "phayanchana"), 16 vowel symbols (, "sara") that combine into at least 32 vowel forms and four tone diacritics (, or ) to create characters mostly representing syllables.


title: Thai script

text: Although commonly referred to as the "Thai alphabet", the script is in fact not a true alphabet but an abugida, a writing system in which the full characters represent consonants with diacritical marks for vowels; the absence of a vowel diacritic gives an implied 'a' or 'o'. Consonants are written horizontally from left to right, and vowels following a consonant in speech are written above, below, to the left or to the right of it, or a combination of those.


title: Thai script

text: The Thai alphabet is derived from the Old Khmer script (, "akson khom"), which is a southern Brahmic style of writing derived from the south Indian Pallava alphabet (). According to tradition it was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great (). The earliest attestation of the Thai script is the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription dated to 1292, however some scholars question its authenticity. The script was derived from a cursive form of the Old Khmer script of the time. It modified and simplified some of the Old Khmer letters and introduced some new ones to accommodate Thai phonology. It also introduced tone marks. Thai is considered to be the first script in the world that invented tone markers to indicate distinctive tones, which are lacking in the Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic languages) and Indo-Aryan languages from which its script is derived. Although Chinese and other Sino-Tibetan languages have distinctive tones in their phonological system, no tone marker is found in their orthographies. Thus, tone markers are an innovation in the Thai language that later influenced other related Tai languages and some Tibeto-Burman languages on the Southeast Asian mainland. Another addition was consonant clusters that were written horizontally and contiguously, rather than writing the second consonant below the first one. Finally, the script wrote vowel marks on the main line, however this innovation fell out of use not long after.


title: Thai script

text: Thai letters do not have upper- and lower-case forms like Latin letters do. Spaces between words are not used, except in certain linguistically motivated cases.


title: Thai script

text: Minor pauses in sentences "may" be marked by a comma ( or , "chunlaphak" or "luk nam"), and major pauses by a period ( or , "mahap phak" or "chut"), but most often are marked by a blank space (, "wak"). Thai writing also uses quotation marks (, "anyaprakat") and parentheses (round brackets) (, "wong lep" or , "nakha likhit"), but not square brackets or braces.


title: Thai script

text: A "paiyan noi" ฯ () is used for abbreviation. A "paiyan yai" ฯลฯ () is the same as "etc." in English.


title: Thai script

text: Several obsolete characters indicated the beginning or ending of sections. A bird's eye ๏ (, "ta kai", officially called , "fong man") formerly indicated paragraphs. An "angkhan kuu" ๚ () was formerly used to mark the end of a chapter. A "kho mut" ๛ () was formerly used to mark the end of a document, but is now obsolete.


title: Thai script

text: Thai (along with its sister system, Lao) lacks conjunct consonants and independent vowels, while both designs are common among Brahmic scripts (e.g., Burmese and Balinese). In scripts with conjunct consonants, each consonant has two forms: base and conjoined. Consonant clusters are represented with the two styles of consonants. The two styles may form typographical ligatures, as in Devanagari. Independent vowels are used when a syllable starts with a vowel sign.


title: Thai script

text: There are 44 consonant letters representing 21 distinct consonant sounds. Duplicate consonants either correspond to sounds that existed in Old Thai at the time the alphabet was created but no longer exist (in particular, voiced obstruents such as "b d g v z"), or different Sanskrit and Pali consonants pronounced identically in Thai. There are in addition four consonant-vowel combination characters not included in the tally of 44.


title: Thai script

text: Consonants are divided into three classes — in alphabetical order these are middle (, "klang"), high (, "sung"), and low (, "tam") class — as shown in the table below. These class designations reflect phonetic qualities of the sounds to which the letters originally corresponded in Old Thai. In particular, "middle" sounds were voiceless unaspirated stops; "high" sounds, voiceless aspirated stops or voiceless fricatives; "low" sounds, voiced. Subsequent sound changes have obscured the phonetic nature of these classes. Today, the class of a consonant without a tone mark, along with the short or long length of the accompanying vowel, determine the base accent (, ). Middle class consonants with a long vowel spell an additional four tones with one of four tone marks over the controlling consonant: "mai ek, mai tho, mai tri", and "mai chattawa". High and low class consonants are limited to "mai ek" and "mai tho", as shown in the . Differing interpretations of the two marks or their absence allow low class consonants to spell tones not allowed for the corresponding high class consonant. In the case of digraphs where a low class follows a higher class consonant, often the higher class rules apply, but the marker, if used, goes over the low class one; accordingly, "ho nam" and "o nam" may be considered to be digraphs as such, as explained below the Tone table.


title: Thai script

text: To aid learning, each consonant is traditionally associated with an acrophonic Thai word that either starts with the same sound, or features it prominently. For example, the name of the letter ข is "kho khai" (ข ไข่), in which "kho" is the sound it represents, and "khai" (ไข่) is a word which starts with the same sound and means "egg".


title: Thai script

text: Two of the consonants, ฃ ("kho khuat") and ฅ ("kho khon"), are no longer used in written Thai, but still appear on many keyboards and in character sets. When the first Thai typewriter was developed by Edwin Hunter McFarland in 1892, there was simply no space for all characters, thus two had to be left out. Also, neither of these two letters correspond to a Sanskrit or Pali letter, and each of them, being a modified form of the letter that precedes it (compare ข and ค), has the same pronunciation and the same consonant class as the preceding letter (somewhat like the European long s). This makes them redundant.


title: Thai script

text: Equivalents for romanisation are shown in the table below. Many consonants are pronounced differently at the beginning and at the end of a syllable. The entries in columns "initial" and "final" indicate the pronunciation for that consonant in the corresponding positions in a syllable. Where the entry is '-', the consonant may not be used to close a syllable. Where a combination of consonants ends a written syllable, only the first is pronounced; possible closing consonant sounds are limited to 'k', 'm', 'n', 'ng', 'p' and 't'.


title: Thai script

text: Although official standards for romanisation are the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) defined by the Royal Thai Institute, and the almost identical defined by the International Organization for Standardization, many publications use different romanisation systems. In daily practice, a bewildering variety of romanisations are used, making it difficult to know how to pronounce a word, or to judge if two words (e.g. on a map and a street sign) are actually the same. For more precise information, an equivalent from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is given as well.


title: Thai script

text: The consonants can be organised by place and manner of articulation according to principles of the International Phonetic Association.


title: Thai script

text: Where English has only a distinction between the voiced, unaspirated and the unvoiced, aspirated , Thai distinguishes a third sound which is neither voiced nor aspirated, which occurs in English only as an allophone of , approximately the sound of the "p" in "spin". There is similarly an alveolar , , triplet. In the velar series there is a , pair and in the postalveolar series the , pair.


title: Thai script

text: In each cell below, the first line indicates (IPA), the second indicates the Thai characters in initial position (several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation). Note how the conventional alphabetic order shown in the table above follows roughly the table below, reading the coloured blocks from right to left and top to bottom.


title: Thai script

text: Although the overall 44 Thai consonants provide 21 sounds in case of initials, the case for finals is different. Note how the consonant sounds in the table for initials collapse in the table for final sounds. At the end of a syllable, all plosives are unvoiced, unaspirated, and have no audible release. Initial affricates and fricatives become final plosives. The initial trill (ร), approximant (ญ), and lateral approximants (ล,ฬ) are realized as a final nasal .


title: Thai script

text: Only 8 ending consonant sounds, as well as no ending consonant sound, are available in Thai pronunciation. Among these consonants, excluding the disused ฃ and ฅ, six (ฉ ผ ฝ ห อ ฮ) cannot be used as a final. The remaining 36 are grouped as following.


title: Thai script

text: Thai vowel sounds and diphthongs are written using a mixture of vowel symbols on a consonant base. Each vowel is shown in its correct position relative to a base consonant and sometimes a final consonant as well. Note that vowels can go above, below, left of or right of the consonant, or combinations of these places. If a vowel has parts before and after the initial consonant, and the syllable starts with a consonant cluster, the split will go around the whole cluster.


title: Thai script

text: Twenty-one vowel symbol elements are traditionally named, which may appear alone or in combination to form compound symbols.


title: Thai script

text: The inherent vowels are in open syllables (CV) and in closed syllables (CVC). For example, transcribes "road". There are a few exceptions in Pali loanwords, where the inherent vowel of an open syllable is . The circumfix vowels, such as , encompass a preceding consonant with an inherent vowel. For example, is written , and "only" is written .


title: Thai script

text: The characters ฤ ฤๅ (plus ฦ ฦๅ, which are obsolete) are usually considered as vowels, the first being a short vowel sound, and the latter, long. The letters are based on vocalic consonants used in Sanskrit, given the one-to-one letter correspondence of Thai to Sanskrit, although the last two letters are quite rare, as their equivalent Sanskrit sounds only occur in a few, ancient words and thus are functionally obsolete in Thai. The first symbol 'ฤ' is common in many Sanskrit and Pali words and 'ฤๅ' less so, but does occur as the primary spelling for the Thai adaptation of Sanskrit 'rishi' and "treu" ( or ), a very rare Khmer loan word for 'fish' only found in ancient poetry. As alphabetical entries, ฤ ฤๅ follow ร, and themselves can be read as a combination of consonant and vowel, equivalent to รึ (short), and รือ (long) (and the obsolete pair as ลึ, ลือ), respectively. Moreover, ฤ can act as ริ as an integral part in many words mostly borrowed from Sanskrit such as กฤษณะ ("kritsana", not "kruetsana"), ฤทธิ์ ("rit", not "ruet"), and กฤษดา ("kritsada", not "kruetsada"), for example. It is also used to spell อังกฤษ "angkrit" England/English. The word ฤกษ์ ("roek") is a unique case where ฤ is pronounced like เรอ. In the past, prior to the turn of the twentieth century, it was common for writers to substitute these letters in native vocabulary that contained similar sounds as a shorthand that was acceptable in writing at the time. For example, the conjunction 'or' ( "reu", cf. "lu") was often written . This practice has become obsolete, but can still be seen in Thai literature.


title: Thai script

text: The pronunciation below is indicated by the International Phonetic Alphabet and the Romanisation according to the Royal Thai Institute as well as several variant Romanisations often encountered. A very approximate equivalent is given for various regions of English speakers and surrounding areas. Dotted circles represent the positions of consonants or consonant clusters. The first one represents the initial consonant and the latter (if it exists) represents the final.


title: Thai script

text: "Ro han" (ร หัน) is not usually considered a vowel and is not included in the following table. It represents the "sara a" vowel in certain Sanskrit loanwords and appears as ◌รร◌. When used without a final consonant (◌รร), is implied as the final consonant, giving .


title: Thai script

text: Thai is a tonal language, and the script gives full information on the tones. Tones are realised in the vowels, but indicated in the script by a combination of the class of the initial consonant (high, mid or low), vowel length (long or short), closing consonant (plosive or sonorant, i.e., "dead" or "live") and, if present, one of four tone marks, whose names derive from the names of the digits 1–4 borrowed from Pali or Sanskrit. The rules for denoting tones are shown in the following chart:


title: Thai script

text: "None", that is, no tone marker, is used with the base accent (พื้นเสียง, ). "Mai tri" and "mai chattawa" are only used with mid-class consonants.


title: Thai script

text: In some dialects where words are spelled with one tone but pronounced with another often occur in informal conversation (notably the pronouns ฉัน "chan" and เขา "khao", which are both pronounced with a high tone rather than the rising tone indicated by the script). Generally, when such words are recited or read in public, they are pronounced as spelled.


title: Thai script

text: Spoken Southern Thai can have up to seven tones. When Southern Thai is written in Thai script, there are different rules for indicating spoken tone.


title: Thai script

text: "Fan nu" means "rat teeth" and is thought as being placed in combination with short "sara i" and "fong man" to form other characters.


title: Thai script

text: For numerals, mostly the standard Hindu-Arabic numerals (, "lek hindu arabik") are used, but Thai also has its own set of Thai numerals that are based on the Hindu-Arabic numeral system (, "lek thai"), which are mostly limited to government documents, election posters, license plates of military vehicles, and special entry prices for Thai nationals.


title: Thai script

text: "Pai-yan noi" and "angkhan diao" share the same character. "Sara a" (–ะ) used in combination with other characters is called "wisanchani".


title: Thai script

text: Some of the characters can mark the beginning or end of a sentence, chapter, or episode of a story or of a stanza in a poem. These have changed use over time and are becoming uncommon.


title: Thai script

text: The Thai script (like all Indic scripts) uses a number of modifications to write Sanskrit and related languages (in particular, Pali). Pali is very closely related to Sanskrit and is the liturgical language of Thai Buddhism. In Thailand, Pali is written and studied using a slightly modified Thai script. The main difference is that each consonant is followed by an implied short a (อะ), not the 'o', or 'ə' of Thai: this short a is never omitted in pronunciation, and if the vowel is not to be pronounced, then a specific symbol must be used, the อฺ (a solid dot under the consonant). This means that "sara a" (อะ) is never used when writing Pali, because it is always implied. For example, "namo" is written นะโม in Thai, but in Pali it is written as นโม, because the อะ is redundant. The Sanskrit word 'mantra' is written มนตร์ in Thai (and therefore pronounced "mon"), but is written มนฺตฺร in Sanskrit (and therefore pronounced "mantra"). When writing Pali, only 33 consonants and 12 vowels are used.


title: Thai script

text: This is an example of a Pali text written using the Thai Sanskrit orthography: อรหํ สมฺมาสมฺพุทฺโธ ภควา . Written in modern Thai orthography, this becomes อะระหัง สัมมาสัมพุทโธ ภะคะวา "arahang sammasamphuttho phakhawa".


title: Thai script

text: In Thailand, Sanskrit is read out using the Thai values for all the consonants (so ค is read as "kha" and not [ga]), which makes Thai spoken Sanskrit incomprehensible to sanskritists not trained in Thailand. The Sanskrit values are used in transliteration (without the diacritics), but these values are never actually used when Sanskrit is read out loud in Thailand. The vowels used in Thai are identical to Sanskrit, with the exception of ฤ, ฤๅ, ฦ, and ฦๅ, which are read using their Thai values, not their Sanskrit values. Sanskrit and Pali are not tonal languages, but in Thailand, the Thai tones are used when reading these languages out loud.


title: Thai script

text: In the tables in this section, the Thai value (transliterated according to the Royal Thai system) of each letter is listed first, followed by the IAST value of each letter in square brackets. Remember that in Thailand, the IAST values are never used in pronunciation, but only sometimes in transcriptions (with the diacritics omitted). This disjoint between transcription and spoken value explains the romanisation for Sanskrit names in Thailand that many foreigners find confusing. For example, สุวรรณภูมิ is romanised as Suvarnabhumi, but pronounced "su-wan-na-phum". ศรีนครินทร์ is romanised as Srinagarindra but pronounced "si-nakha-rin".


title: Thai script

text: Plosives (also called stops) are listed in their traditional Sanskrit order, which corresponds to Thai alphabetical order from ก to ม with three exceptions: in Thai, high-class ข is followed by two obsolete characters with no Sanskrit equivalent, high-class ฃ and low-class ฅ; low-class ช is followed by sibilant ซ (low-class equivalent of high-class sibilant ส that follows ศ and ษ.) The table gives the Thai value first, and then the IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) value in square brackets.


title: Thai script

text: None of the Sanskrit plosives are pronounced as the Thai voiced plosives, so these are not represented in the table. While letters are listed here according to their class in Sanskrit, Thai has lost the distinction between many of the consonants. So, while there is a clear distinction between ช and ฌ in Sanskrit, in Thai these two consonants are pronounced identically (including tone). Likewise, the Thai phonemes do not differentiate between the retroflex and dental classes, because Thai has no retroflex consonants. The equivalents of all the retroflex consonants are pronounced identically to their dental counterparts: thus ฏ is pronounced like ต, ฐ is pronounced like ถ, ฑ is pronounced like ท, ฒ is pronounced like ธ, and ณ is pronounced like น.


title: Thai script

text: The Sanskrit unaspirated unvoiced plosives are pronounced as unaspirated unvoiced, whereas Sanskrit aspirated voiced plosives are pronounced as aspirated unvoiced.


title: Thai script

text: "Semivowels" (กึ่งสระ "kueng sara") "and liquids" come in Thai alphabetical order after ม, the last of the plosives. The term อวรรค "awak" means "without a break"; that is, without a plosive.


title: Thai script

text: Like Sanskrit, Thai has no voiced sibilant (so no 'z' or 'zh'). In modern Thai, the distinction between the three high-class consonants has been lost and all three are pronounced 'sà'; however, foreign words with a sh-sound may still be transcribed as if the Sanskrit values still hold (e.g., "ang-grit" อังกฤษ for "English" instead of อังกฤส).


title: Thai script

text: ห, a high-class consonant, comes next in alphabetical order, but its low-class equivalent, ฮ, follows similar-appearing อ as the last letter of the Thai alphabet. Like modern Hindi, the voicing has disappeared, and the letter is now pronounced like English 'h'. Like Sanskrit, this letter may only be used to start a syllable, but may not end it. (A popular beer is romanized as Singha, but in Thai is สิงห์, with a "karan" on the ห; correct pronunciation is "sing", but foreigners to Thailand typically say "sing-ha".)


title: Thai script

text: This represents the retroflex liquid of Pali and Vedic Sanskrit, which does not exist in Classical Sanskrit.


title: Thai script

text: All consonants have an inherent 'a' sound, and therefore there is no need to use the ะ symbol when writing Sanskrit. The Thai vowels อื, ไอ, ใอ, and so forth, are not used in Sanskrit. The zero consonant, อ, is unique to the Indic alphabets descended from Khmer. When it occurs in Sanskrit, it is always the zero consonant and never the vowel "o" . Its use in Sanskrit is therefore to write vowels that cannot be otherwise written alone: e.g., อา or อี. When อ is written on its own, then it is a carrier for the implied vowel, "a" (equivalent to อะ in Thai).


title: Thai script

text: The vowel sign อำ occurs in Sanskrit, but only as the combination of the pure vowels "sara a" อา with "nikkhahit" อํ.


title: Thai script

text: There are a number of additional symbols only used to write Sanskrit or Pali, and not used in writing Thai.


title: Thai script

text: In Sanskrit, the anusvāra indicates a certain kind of nasal sound. In Thai this is written as an open circle above the consonant, known as "nikkhahit" (), from Pali "niggahīta". Nasalisation does not occur in Thai, therefore, a nasal stop is always substituted: e.g. ตํ , is pronounced as ตัง "tang" by Thai Sanskritists. If nikkhahit occurs before a consonant, then Thai uses a nasal stop of the same class: e.g. สํสฺกฺฤตา is read as สันสกฤตา "san-sa-krit-ta" (The ส following the nikkhahit is a dental-class consonant, therefore the dental-class nasal stop น is used). For this reason, it has been suggested that in Thai, nikkhahit should be listed as a consonant. Also, traditional Pali grammars describe nikkhahit as a consonant. "Nikkhahit" นิคหิต occurs as part of the Thai vowels "sara am" อำ and "sara ue" อึ.


title: Thai script

text: Because the Thai script is an abugida, a symbol (equivalent to virāma in devanagari) needs to be added to indicate that the implied vowel is not to be pronounced. This is the , which is a solid dot (also called 'Bindu' in Sanskrit) below the consonant.


title: Thai script

text: Yamakkan () is an obsolete symbol used to mark the beginning of consonant clusters: e.g. พ๎ราห๎มณ "phramana" . Without the yamakkan, this word would be pronounced instead. This is a feature unique to the Thai script (other Indic scripts use a combination of ligatures, conjuncts or virāma to convey the same information). The symbol is obsolete because may be used to achieve the same effect: พฺราหฺมณ.


title: Thai script

text: The means of recording visarga (final voiceless 'h') in Thai has reportedly been lost, although the character ◌ะ which is used to transcribe a short /a/ or to add a glottal stop after a vowel is the closest equivalent and can be seen used as a visarga in some Thai-script Sanskrit text.


title: Thai script

text: It is a verbatim copy of the older TIS-620 character set which encodes the vowels เ, แ, โ, ใ and ไ before the consonants they follow, and thus Thai, Lao, Tai Viet and New Tai Lue are the only Brahmic scripts in Unicode that use visual order instead of logical order.


title: Gelding

text: A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and generally more suitable as an everyday working animal. The gerund and participle "gelding" and the infinitive "to geld" refer to the castration procedure itself.


title: Gelding

text: The verb "to geld" comes from the Old Norse , from the adjective 'barren'. The noun "gelding" is from the Old Norse .


title: Gelding

text: The Scythians are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses. They valued geldings as war horses because they were quiet, lacked mating urges, were less prone to call out to other horses, were easier to keep in groups, and were less likely to fight with one another.


title: Gelding

text: A male horse is often gelded to make him better-behaved and easier to control. Gelding can also remove lower-quality animals from the gene pool.


title: Gelding

text: To allow only the finest animals to breed on, while preserving adequate genetic diversity, only a small percentage of all male horses should remain stallions. Mainstream sources place the percentage of stallions that should be kept as breeding stock at about 10%, while an extreme view states that only 0.5% of all males should be bred. In wild herds, the 10% ratio is largely maintained naturally, as a single dominant stallion usually protects and breeds with a herd which is seldom larger than 10 or 12 mares, though he may permit a less dominant junior stallion to live at the fringes of the herd. There are more males than just herd stallions, so unattached male horses group together for protection in small all-male "bachelor herds", where, in the absence of mares, they tend to behave much like geldings.


title: Gelding

text: Geldings are preferred over stallions for working purposes because they are calmer, easier to handle, and more tractable. Geldings are therefore a favorite for many equestrians. In some horse shows, due to the dangers inherent in handling stallions, which require experienced handlers, youth exhibitors are not permitted to show stallions in classes limited to just those riders.


title: Gelding

text: Geldings are often preferred over mares, because some mares become temperamental when in heat and the use of mares may be limited during the later months of pregnancy and while caring for a young foal.


title: Gelding

text: In horse racing, castrating a stallion may be considered worthwhile if the animal is easily distracted by other horses, difficult to handle, or otherwise not running to his full potential due to behavioral issues. While this means the horse loses any breeding value, a successful track career can often be a boost to the value of the stallion that sired the gelding.


title: Gelding

text: Sometimes a stallion used for breeding is castrated later in life, possibly due to sterility, or because the offspring of the stallion are not up to expectations, or simply because the horse is not used much for breeding, due to shifting fashion in pedigree or phenotype. Castration may allow a stallion to live peacefully with other horses, allowing a more social and comfortable existence.


title: Gelding

text: Under British National Hunt racing (i.e. Steeplechase) rules, to minimize health and safety risks, nearly all participating horses are gelded. On the other hand, in other parts of Europe, geldings are excluded from many of the most prestigious flat races including the Classics and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (with an exception being the French classic Prix Royal-Oak, open to geldings since 1986). In North American Thoroughbred racing, geldings, if otherwise qualified by age, winnings, or experience, are allowed in races open to intact males. The same applies in Australia.


title: Gelding

text: To perpetuate any given breed, some male horses must remain capable of reproduction. Thus, animals considered to be the finest representatives are kept as stallions and used for mating. Though the criteria used can be, in some places, rather subjective, a stallion should have a superior appearance, or "phenotype"; a superior pedigree, or "genotype", and, ideally, a successful performance record in the area of specialty for that particular breed.


title: Gelding

text: Some cultures historically did not and still seldom geld male horses, most notably the Arabs, who usually used mares for everyday work and for war. In these cultures, most stallions are still not used for breeding, only those of the best quality. When used as ordinary riding animals, they are kept only with or near other male horses in a "bachelor" setting, which tends to produce calmer, less stallion-like behavior. Sometimes religious reasons for these practices exist; for example, castration of both animals and humans was categorically forbidden in the Hebrew Bible and is prohibited in Jewish law.


title: Gelding

text: Although castrations generally have few complications, there are risks. Castration can have complications, such as swelling, hemorrhage or post-operative bleeding, infections, and eventration. It can take up to six weeks for residual testosterone to clear from the new gelding's system and he may continue to exhibit stallion-like behaviors in that period. For reasons not always clear, about 30% of all geldings may still display a stallion-like manner, some because of a cryptorchid testicle retained in the horse, some due to previously learned behavior, but some for no clear reason. Training to eliminate these behaviors is generally effective. Another risk is to the veterinarian, if a standing castration is performed, it is possible for the horse to injure the veterinarian during the procedure, and if complications arise, the horse must be immediately anesthetized. Castration does not automatically change bad habits and poor manners. This must be accomplished by proper training.


title: Gelding

text: A horse may be gelded at any age; however, if an owner intends to geld a particular foal, it is now considered best to geld the horse prior to becoming a yearling, and definitely before he reaches sexual maturity. While it was once recommended to wait until a young horse was well over a year old, even two, this was a holdover from the days when castration was performed without anesthesia and was thus far more stressful on the animal. Modern veterinary techniques can now accomplish castration with relatively little stress and minimal discomfort, so long as appropriate analgesics are employed. A few horse owners delay gelding a horse on the grounds that the testosterone gained from being allowed to reach sexual maturity will make him larger. However, recent studies have shown that this is not so: any apparent muscle mass gained solely from the presence of hormones will be lost over time after the horse is gelded, and in the meantime, the energy spent developing muscle mass may actually take away from the energy a young horse might otherwise put into skeletal growth; the net effect is that castration has no effect on rate of growth (although it may increase the amount of fat the horse carries).


title: Gelding

text: Many older stallions, no longer used at stud due to age or sterility, can benefit from being gelded. Modern veterinary techniques make gelding an even somewhat elderly stallion a fairly low-risk procedure, and the horse then has the benefit of being able to be turned out safely with other horses and allowed to live a less restricted and isolated life than was allowed for a stallion.


title: Gelding

text: Owners of male horses, both geldings and stallions, need to occasionally check the horse's sheath, the pocket of skin that protects the penis of the horse when it is not in use for urination (or, in the case of stallions, breeding). Geldings tend to accumulate smegma and other debris at a higher rate than stallions, probably because geldings rarely fully extrude the penis, and thus dirt and smegma build up in the folds of skin.


title: Gelding

text: There are two major techniques commonly used in castrating a horse, one requiring only local anaesthesia and the other requiring general anaesthesia. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages.


title: Gelding

text: Standing castration is a technique where a horse is sedated and local anaesthesia is administered, without throwing the horse to the ground or putting him completely "under". It has the benefit that general anaesthesia (GA) is not required. This method is advocated for simple procedures because the estimated mortality for GA in horses at a modern clinic is low, approximately one or two in 1000. Mortality in the field (where most horse castrations are performed) is probably higher, due to poorer facilities.


title: Gelding

text: For standing castration, the colt or stallion is sedated, typically with detomidine with or without butorphanol, and often physically restrained. Local anaesthetic is injected into the parenchyma of both testes. An incision is made through the scrotum and the testes are removed, then the spermatic cord is crushed, most commonly with either ligatures or emasculators, or both. The emasculators are applied for two to three minutes, then removed, and a careful check is made for signs of haemorrhage. Assuming that bleeding is at a minimum, the other side is castrated in the same manner. Most veterinarians remove the testis held most "tightly" (or close to the body) by the cremaster muscle first, so as to minimize the risk of the horse withdrawing it to the point where it is inaccessible. The horse, now a gelding, is allowed to recover.


title: Gelding

text: Standing castration can be performed in more complicated cases. Some authorities have described a technique for the removal of abdominally retained testes from cryptorchid animals, but most surgeons still advocate a recumbent technique, as described below. The primary drawback to standing castration is the risk that, even with sedation and restraint, the horse may object to the procedure and kick or otherwise injure the individual performing the operation.