title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Catholicism in Poland, the religion of the vast majority of the population, was severely persecuted during World War II, following the Nazi invasion of the country and its subsequent annexation into Germany. Over 3 million Catholics of Polish descent were murdered during the Invasion of Poland, including 3 bishops, 52 priests, 26 monks, 3 seminarians, 8 nuns and 9 lay people, later beatified in 1999 by Pope John Paul II as the 108 Martyrs of World War II.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: The Roman Catholic Church was even more violently suppressed in Reichsgau Wartheland and the General Government. Churches were closed, and clergy were deported, imprisoned, or killed, among them was Maximilian Kolbe, a Pole of German descent. Between 1939 and 1945, 2,935 members of the Polish clergy (18%) were killed in concentration camps. In the city of Chełmno, for example, 48% of the Catholic clergy were killed.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Catholicism continued to be persecuted under the Communist regime from the 1950s. Contemporary Stalinist ideology claimed that the Church and religion in general were about to disintegrate. Initially, Archbishop Wyszyński entered into an agreement with the Communist authorities, which was signed on 14 February 1950 by the Polish episcopate and the government. The Agreement regulated the matters of the Church in Poland. However, in May of that year, the Sejm breached the Agreement by passing a law for the confiscation of Church property.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: On 12 January 1953, Wyszyński was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pius XII as another wave of persecution began in Poland. When the bishops voiced their opposition to state interference in ecclesiastical appointments, mass trials and the internment of priests beganthe cardinal being one of its victims. On 25 September 1953 he was imprisoned at Grudziądz, and later placed under house arrest in monasteries in Prudnik near Opole and in Komańcza Monastery in the Bieszczady Mountains. He was released on 26 October 1956.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Pope John Paul II, who was born in Poland as Karol Wojtyla, often cited the persecution of Polish Catholics in his stance against Communism.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Anti-clericalism in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War resulted in the killing of almost 7,000 clergy, the destruction of hundreds of churches and the persecution of lay people in Spain's Red Terror. Hundreds of Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War have been beatified and hundreds more in October 2007.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: The Jesuits (Societas Jesu) were banned from all activities in either clerical or pedagogical functions by Article 51 of the Swiss constitution in 1848. The reason for the ban was the perceived threat to the stability of the state resulting from Jesuit advocacy of traditional Catholicism; it followed the Roman Catholic cantons forming an unconstitutional "separate alliance" leading to civil war. In June 1973, 55% of Swiss voters approved removing the ban on the Jesuits (as well as Article 52 which banned monasteries and convents from Switzerland). (See "Kulturkampf" and "Religion in Switzerland")


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: In the East–West Schism of 1054 the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church broke their full communion with each other because of Ecclesiastical differences, Theological, and Liturgical disputes.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: In April 1182, the Eastern Orthodox population of the Byzantine Empire committed a large-scale massacre against the Catholic population of Constantinople, this massacre is known as the Massacre of the Latins and it further worsened relations and increased enmity between Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: During Russian rule, Catholics, primarily Poles and Lithuanians, suffered great persecution not only because of their ethnic-national background, but also for religious reasons. Especially after the uprisings of 1831 and 1863, and within the process of Russification (understanding that there is a strong link between religion and nationality), the tsarist authorities were anxious to promote the conversion of these peoples to the official faith, intervening in public education in those regions (an Orthodox religious education was compulsory) and censoring the actions of the Catholic Church. In particular, attention was focused on the public actions of the Church, such as masses or funerals, because they could serve as the focus of protests against the occupation. Many priests were imprisoned or deported because of their activities in defense of their religion and ethnicity. In the late nineteenth century, however, there was a progressive relaxation of the control of Catholic institutions by the Russian authorities.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Chetniks killed an estimated 18,000-32,000 Croats, who were mostly Roman Catholic. The terror tactics against the Croats were, to at least an extent, a reaction to the terror carried out by the Ustaše against Serbs. Along with mass murder, the Ustashe conducted religious persecution of Serbs that included a policy of forced conversion from Eastern Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism, often with the participation of local Catholic priests. However, the largest Chetnik massacres took place in eastern Bosnia where they preceded any significant Ustashe operations. Croats (and Muslims) living in areas intended to be part of Greater Serbia were to be cleansed of non-Serbs regardless, in accordance with Mihailović's directive of 20 December 1941. About 300 villages and small towns were destroyed, along with a large number of mosques and Catholic churches. 52 Catholic priests were killed by Chetniks throughout the war. A number of Catholic nuns were also raped and killed, including the killing of several nuns from Goražde in December 1941.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: During the war in Croatia, the ICTY determined that ethnic Croats were persecuted on political, racial and religious grounds, as part of a general campaign of killings and forced-removals of Croat civilians. This included the deliberate destruction of religious buildings and monuments. Approximately 450 Catholic churches were destroyed or severely damaged, with another 250 suffering lesser damages. In addition, approximately 151 rectories, 31 monasteries, and 57 cemeteries were destroyed or severely damaged. While another 269 religious buildings were destroyed during the Bosnian War.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: In the separatist region known as the Donetsk People's Republic, the government has declared that the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is the state religion, and Protestant churches have been occupied by paramilitaries. Jehovah's Witnesses have lost their property, and their Kingdom Halls have been occupied by rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Ukrainian Orthodox, and Protestant clergy have been kidnapped by groups such as the Russian Orthodox Army, and they have also been accused of opposing Russian Orthodox values. Human Rights Watch says that the bodies of several members of the Church of the Transfiguration were found in a mass grave in 2014.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: On 3 June 2001, nine people were killed by a bomb explosion at a Roman Catholic church in the Gopalganj District.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: On May 12, 2019, six Catholics including a priest were killed by gunmen who rode on motorcycles and stormed a church in Dablo during a Sunday morning mass. A day later, on May 13, 2019, four people were killed and a statue of the Virgin Mary was destroyed by armed men in an attack on Catholic parishioners during a religious procession in the remote village of Zimtenga.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: During the Boxer Rebellion, Catholic missionaries and their families were murdered by Boxer rebels. During the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion, Tibetan rebels murdered Catholics and Tibetan converts.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, all religions including Catholicism only operate under state control. However, many Catholics do not accept State control of the Church and as a result, they worship clandestinely. There has been some rapprochement between the Chinese government and the Vatican.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Chinese Christians have reportedly been persecuted in both official and unsanctioned churches. In 2018, the Associated Press reported that China's paramount leader Xi Jinping "is waging the most severe systematic suppression of Christianity in the country since religious freedom was written into the Chinese constitution in 1982", which has involved "destroying crosses, burning bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith".


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: During the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japanese Catholics were suppressed, leading to an armed rebellion during the 1630s. After the rebellion was crushed, Catholicism was further suppressed and many Japanese Catholics went underground. Catholicism was not openly restored to Japan until the 1850s.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Catholic priests and nuns have been arrested and harassed for protesting against the construction of the Jeju Island Naval Base.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: In Sri Lanka, A Buddhist-influenced government took over 600 parish schools in 1960 without compensation and secularized them. Attempts were made by future governments to restore some autonomy.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Since 2000, in a context of rising violence against religious minorities, i.e. Christians, Muslims and Hindus, multiple attacks on Catholic churches occurred. For instance, in 2009, a mob of 1,000 smashed the interior of a church in the town of Crooswatta, assaulting parishioners with clubs, swords and stones, forcing several of them to be treated in hospitals. In 2013, vandals smashed a statue of the Virgin Mary as well as a tabernacle, and they also tried to burn the Eucharist at a church in Angulana, near Colombo.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: The term "anti-Catholic Catholic" has come to be applied to Catholics who are perceived to view the Catholic Church with animosity. Traditionalist or conservative Catholics frequently use it as a descriptive term for modernist or liberal Catholics, especially those modernist or liberal Catholics who seek to reform Church doctrine, make secularist critiques of the Catholic Church, or place secular principles above Church teachings. Those who take issue with the Catholic theology of sexuality are especially prone to be given this label.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Prime Minister Pombal of Portugal was aggressively hostile to the Jesuit order because it reported to an Italian powerthe Popeand it also tried to operate independently rather than operate under the control of the government. In Portugal as well as in much of Catholic Europe, he waged a full-scale war against the Jesuits. The Jesuit order was suppressed in the Portuguese Empire (1759), France (1764), the Two Sicilies, Malta, Parma, the Spanish Empire (1767), and Austria and Hungary (1782). The Pope himself suppressed the order everywhere in 1773, but it survived in Russia and Prussia. The suppression of the Jesuits was a major blow to Catholic education across Europe, with nearly 1000 secondary schools and seminaries were shut down. Their lands, buildings, and endowments were confiscated; their teachers were scattered. Although Jesuit education had become old fashioned in Poland and other areas, it was the main educational support network for Catholic intellectuals, senior clergy, and prominent families. Governments unsuccessfully attempted to replace all of those schools, but there were far too few non-clerical teachers who were suitable.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: The Jesuit order was restored by the pope in 1814 and it flourished in terms of rebuilding schools and educational institutions but it never regained its enormous political power. The suppression of the Jesuits has been described as "an unmitigated disaster for Catholicism." The political weakness of the once-powerful institution was on public display for more ridicule and bullying. The Church lost its best educational system, its best missionary system, and its most innovative thinkers. Intellectually, it would take two centuries for the Church to fully recover.


title: Anti-Catholicism

text: Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of English literature, popular fiction, and pornography. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard. Lustful priests, cruel abbesses, immured nuns, and sadistic inquisitors appear in such works as "The Italian" by Ann Radcliffe, "The Monk" by Matthew Lewis, "Melmoth the Wanderer" by Charles Maturin and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.


title: Illenium

text: Nicholas Daniel Miller (born December 26, 1990), professionally known as Illenium, is an American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has released four studio albums, his most recent being "Fallen Embers", released in July 2021. It earned Illenium his first Grammy nomination. One of Illenium's more notable albums, "Ascend", was released in August 2019 on Astralwerks. The album was Illenium's first to top the "Billboard" Dance/Electronic Albums chart and also reached his highest peak on the "Billboard" 200 at number 14.


title: Illenium

text: Several of Illenium's songs have appeared on the "Billboard" Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, including two singles in 2019 that peaked at number 3: "Good Things Fall Apart" with Jon Bellion and "Takeaway" with the Chainsmokers (featuring Lennon Stella). Illenium has also worked on numerous notable remixes, including those for the Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down" and Flume's "Say It", the latter of which won the award for "Remix of the Year" at the inaugural Electronic Music Awards in 2017. He was included in the "Forbes" 30 Under 30 music list in 2020.


title: Illenium

text: Nicholas Daniel Miller was born in Downers Grove, Illinois on December 26, 1990. He lived in Seattle and France, eventually settling with his parents in San Francisco, where he would attend St. Ignatius College Preparatory.


title: Illenium

text: In 2008, Miller began producing electronic music. In the summer of 2012, he saw Bassnectar perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and decided to focus more earnestly on music. In 2013, Miller moved to Denver, where he continues to reside. He also attended the University of Colorado Denver. During this period he completed his first EP. He also coached lacrosse at Aspen Highschool and delivered sushi to support himself.


title: Illenium

text: Illenium released his first self-titled EP in May 2013 on Prep School Recordings. That year, he also released a remix of Florence and the Machine's "Over the Love". In January 2014, he independently released his follow-up EP, "Risen", which contained the song "Drop Our Hearts" featuring Sirma. He also continued releasing remixes, including those for Lana Del Rey's "Flipside" and Odesza's "Always This Late".


title: Illenium

text: In 2015, Illenium released several singles, including "Chosen You", "Painted White" (with Said the Sky and Christina Soto), and "I'll Be Your Reason" (featuring Eden). The latter song was released on Skrillex's Nest HQ platform. Illenium's remixes that year included those for Galantis' "Gold Dust", Kill Paris' "Operate" featuring Royal, and Kaskade's "Disarm You" (featuring Ilsey).


title: Illenium

text: In February 2016, Illenium released his debut studio album, "Ashes", as a free download on Seeking Blue Records and his own recently established imprint, Kasaya Records. The album featured 10 songs (12 on the bonus version) including "Reverie" (featuring King Deco), "With You" (featuring Quinn XCII), and "Fortress" (featuring Joni Fatora). The album peaked at number 6 on the "Billboard" Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and at number 19 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. An album of "Ashes" remixes was released in December 2016, at which time Illenium embarked on the "Ashes Tour" in select cities across the United States.


title: Illenium

text: Illenium also released two notable remixes in 2016: The Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down" and Flume's "Say It" (featuring Tove Lo). His remix of "Don't Let Me Down" premiered in March 2016. Although the release was initially unofficial, it was later included in The Chainsmokers' official remix collection. By the end of the year, the song had accumulated over 60 million streams on SoundCloud and was still the most played remix on the platform in 2018 with over 101 million streams. Illenium's remix of "Say It" was released in September 2016. That remix would go on to win the award for "Remix of the Year" at the first Electronic Music Awards in September 2017. In October 2016, Illenium also released a collaboration with Said the Sky and Seven Lions entitled "Rush Over Me" (featuring Haliene). That song charted at number 50 on the "Billboard" Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.


title: Illenium

text: In February 2017, Illenium released the song "Fractures" featuring Nevve. He followed that with the collaborative single, "Feel Good", with Gryffin and featuring Daya in March 2017. Both songs charted on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (at number 42 and 17, respectively). In July 2017, Illenium collaborated with EDM duo, Zeds Dead, to produce the track "Where The Wild Things Are". The following month, he released the single, "Crawl Outta Love" featuring Annika Wells. The song would peak at number 35 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and also won Illenium (and his writing partners) the top prize of the International Songwriting Competition the following year.


title: Illenium

text: In September 2017, Illenium released his sophomore album, "Awake", on Seeking Blue Records and Kasaya Records. The album featured 13 tracks including the aforementioned "Fractures", "Feel Good", and "Crawl Outta Love". It became Illenium's first album to chart on the "Billboard" 200, peaking at number 106. It also peaked at number 3 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Beginning in November 2017, Illenium embarked on the "Awake Tour" across the country in support of the album. Throughout the tour, he was joined on stage by frequent collaborators Said the Sky and Dabin. In December 2017, an EP of official "Awake" piano covers was released, and, in June 2018, an album of "Awake" remixes dropped.


title: Illenium

text: In 2018, Illenium released three collaborations that charted on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: "Don't Give Up on Me" with Kill the Noise and Mako at number 35, "Gold (Stupid Love)" with Excision and Shallows at number 19, and "God Damnit" with Call Me Karizma at number 33. He also released a remix of Halsey's "Without Me" in November 2018. That remix won the award for "Best Remix" at the International Dance Music Awards in March 2019.


title: Illenium

text: In January 2019, Illenium collaborated with electronic music duo, Bahari, on the track "Crashing". He followed that with a March 2019 collaboration with Kameron Alexander on the track "Pray". On March 31, 2019, EDM duo, The Chainsmokers, debuted a collaboration with Illenium ("Takeaway") during their set at the Ultra Music Festival. In May 2019, Illenium released a track with Jon Bellion called "Good Things Fall Apart". As of September 2019, both singles maintain Illenium's highest placement on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart at number 3.


title: Illenium

text: Later in May 2019, Illenium and Ekali debuted a collaborative track ("Hard to Say Goodbye") during a set at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. In June 2019, Illenium announced that his upcoming album, "Ascend", would be released on August 16 through Astralwerks. He also announced a 30-city North American tour in support of the album. On July 24, 2019, after many months of playing at festivals, his collaboration with The Chainsmokers and Lennon Stella titled "Takeaway," along with the official music video, were officially released. The video garnered over 6 million views in the first 3 days after its release. "Takeaway" also quickly entered the top 10 on the US iTunes Sales Chart. On August 16, 2019, Illenium released his third studio album, "Ascend", on Astralwerks. The album consists of 17 tracks, including the aforementioned "Take You Down", "Crashing," "Pray," "Good Things Fall Apart," and "Takeaway." The album became his first to reach number one on the "Billboard" Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and also reached his highest peak on the "Billboard" 200 at number 14. In December 2019, Illenium was named in the "Forbes" 30 Under 30 2020 Music list.


title: Illenium

text: In the early months of 2020, Illenium released his second collaboration with Excision called "Feel Something", featuring I Prevail.


title: Illenium

text: In late August, Illenium announced his debut at a new music label, 12Tone, and released his first single with the label a few weeks later, titled "Nightlight", the lead single from his upcoming fourth studio album "Fallen Embers". In late October, Illenium released his second song on the 12Tone label called "Paper Thin" with Tom DeLonge and his band, Angels & Airwaves. On Christmas Day, Illenium released "Hearts On Fire" as part of a collaboration with Dabin.


title: Illenium

text: On April 25, 2021, Illenium debuted three new singles during his live performance at the Ubbi Dubbi Music Festival. An unreleased collaboration with producers Slander and Krewella titled "Lay It Down" was the first to be debuted that night. A collaboration with Excision and Haliene called "In My Mind" was the next to be debuted during the performance. The song's official title was revealed originally by a tweet from Haliene. Finally, "Sideways" is a collaboration with fellow producer Nurko which also debuted that night and was released on May 6, 2021.


title: Illenium

text: On May 14, 2021, it was revealed via a tweet from Illenium that "Fallen Embers" is scheduled to release on July 16, 2021.


title: Illenium

text: During Said the Sky's set on May 29, 2021, at the Sunset Music Festival, Trevor Christensen debuted a new collaboration between him and Illenium called "Crazy Times" with vocals from Tim James (who also provided vocals for "Take You Down"). It was later confirmed by Illenium on Twitter that the song was the final product of a live stream he and Trevor conducted in 2020, and that it would appear on "Fallen Embers".


title: Illenium

text: On July 3, Illenium performed Trilogy at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as the venue's inaugural music concert, and online live with sets from his first three primary albums – "Ashes", "Awake", "Ascend," and a preview of his fourth album, "Fallen Embers", which he played four unreleased songs from the album.


title: Illenium

text: On July 16, Illenium released his fourth album, "Fallen Embers", with 14 songs, including the aforementioned singles "Nightlight", "Paper Thin", "Hearts on Fire", "First Time", "Sideways", "Heavenly Side". A remix of "Blame Myself" produced with Virtual Riot was released as part of the deluxe version of "Fallen Embers" on October 22, alongside several other unreleased collaborations. The album garnered Illenium his first Grammy Award nomination, in the category Best Dance/Electronic Album. It also has over 400 million streams on Spotify as of December 2021.


title: Illenium

text: In 2012, Illenium suffered a heroin overdose; which he publicly talked about in 2018 and on his song "Take You Down", also released in 2018. During his Ember Shores festival in Cancun, Mexico in December 2021, Illenium attracted criticism for playing a Bassnectar song as the latter was accused of sexual abuse in July 2020. Illenium subsequently issued an apology on his Twitter account. He proposed to his long-time girlfriend Lara McWhorter in June 2022.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Shark fin soup is a traditional soup or stewed dish served in parts of China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets, or as a luxury item.


title: Shark fin soup

text: However, it has been condemned by the Humane Society International, which states that approximately 72 million sharks are killed each year for their fins. Currently, international concerns over the sustainability and welfare of sharks have impacted consumption and availability of the soup worldwide. Recently, health concerns about the high concentration of BMAA in shark fins have arisen.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Shark fin soup substitutes have lately appeared on the market which do not require any shark fins, thus avoiding the environmental damage caused by the shark finning practice.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Traditional shark fin soup or stew is made with fins obtained from a variety of shark species. Raw fins are processed by first removing the skin and denticles before trimming them into shapes and bleaching to a more desirable coloration.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Sharks' fins are sold dried, cooked, wet, and frozen. Ready-to-eat shark fin soup is also readily available in Asian markets.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Dried fins come in cooked and skinned (shredded) and raw and unskinned (whole), the latter requiring more preparation. Both need to be softened before they can be used to prepare soup.


title: Shark fin soup

text: The taste of the soup comes from the broth, as the fins themselves are almost tasteless. Rather than for taste, the fins are used for their "snappy, gelatinous" texture, which has been described as "chewy, sinewy, stringy". Krista Mahr of "Time" called it "somewhere between chewy and crunchy".


title: Shark fin soup

text: Shark fins are believed in Chinese culture to have properties of boosting sexual potency, enhancing skin quality, increasing "qi" or energy, preventing heart disease, and lowering cholesterol. In traditional Chinese medicine, shark fins are believed to help in areas of rejuvenation, appetite enhancement, and blood nourishment and to be beneficial to vital energy, kidneys, lungs, bones, and many other parts of the body.


title: Shark fin soup

text: There are claims that shark fins prevent cancer; however, there is no scientific evidence, and one study found shark cartilage generally to be of no value in cancer treatment. Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence that shark fins can be used to treat any medical condition. Sharks biomagnify toxins, so eating shark meat may raise the risk of dementia and heavy metal poisoning such as mercury poisoning.


title: Shark fin soup

text: WildAid, a wildlife non-governmental organization, warned that eating too much shark fin can cause sterility in men. It is known that larger fish such as shark, tuna, and swordfish contain high levels of mercury and methylmercury salts. For pregnant women or those who want to be, nursing mothers and young children, the United States Food and Drug Administration has advised avoiding consumption of fish high in mercury.


title: Shark fin soup

text: High concentrations of BMAA are present in shark fins. Because BMAA is a neurotoxin, consumption of shark fin soup and cartilage pills may pose a risk for degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and ALS, as well as Parkinson's disease.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Shark fin soup was reported in Ming dynasty writings and by the Qing dynasty was considered a "traditional part of formal banquets"; in Chinese cuisine, it was considered to be one of the eight treasured foods from the sea. It was popular with Chinese emperors because it was rare, and tasty only after a complicated and elaborate preparation. By the time of the Qing dynasty, shark fin soup was in high demand. Its manual of cuisine, the Suiyuan shidan, indicates that the shark fin was eaten as soup, stew, and even as a stir-fry, but in all cases the fin had to be boiled for two days.


title: Shark fin soup

text: The popularity of shark fin soup rose in the late-18th and early-19th centuries as standards of living began to improve.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In the late-20th century, shark fin soup was a popular delicacy in China, and was eaten in Chinese restaurants around the world. The increasing wealth of the middle class raised demand. The shark fin trade more than doubled between 1985 and 2001.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Based on information gathered from the Hong Kong trade in fins, the market was estimated in 2004 to be growing by five percent each year. Consumption of shark fin soup had risen dramatically with the affluence of the middle class, as Chinese communities around the world enjoyed increasing income levels. The high price of the soup meant it was often used as a way to impress guests, or for celebrations such as weddings, banquets, and important business deals. It was used to communicate wealth, power, and prestige, as it was believed to show respect, honor, and appreciation to guests, with 58% of those questioned in the WWF survey indicating they ate the soup at a celebration or gathering.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In Hong Kong restaurants, where the market had been strong, demand from Hong Kong natives had reportedly dropped in 2006. This was more than balanced by an increase in demand from the Chinese mainland, where economic growth put the expensive delicacy within the reach of an expanding middle class.


title: Shark fin soup

text: A survey carried out in China in 2006 by WildAid and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association found that 35% of participants said they had consumed shark fin soup in the last year, while 83% of participants in an online survey conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature said that they had consumed shark fin soup at some time.


title: Shark fin soup

text: The movement against shark fin soup began in 2006, when WildAid enlisted Chinese basketball star Yao Ming as spokesperson for a public relations campaign against the dish. The campaign was taken up by a coalition of Chinese businessmen, celebrities, and students. Businessman-turned-environmentalist Jim Zhang helped to raise concern within China's government, which pledged in 2012 to ban shark fin soup from official banquets within three years.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In January 2013, "China Daily" reported that officials in Zhejiang province found that many shark fin soup restaurants were selling artificial shark fins, and that one-third of the samples that the officials had obtained contained dangerous amounts of cadmium and methylmercury. Within two months of the "China Daily" report, China ordered officials throughout the country to stop serving dishes made from protected wildlife at official banquets, and the Hong Kong government issued a similar order in September.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Consumption of shark fin soup in China has decreased. China's Ministry of Commerce indicated that consumption of shark fin soup during the 2013 spring break holiday had decreased by 50–70% from 2012, and Hong Kong industry groups reported that shark fin imports were down by 20–30% from 2012. Also, anecdotal evidence points to a worldwide drop in shark fin prices and a move away from shark fishing in parts of Africa.


title: Shark fin soup

text: A 2016 poll from City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Shark Foundation had 75% of local respondents saying they were "neutral" towards the soup at banquets, while 90% of respondents said they would eat the dish if served to them, with the most popular justifications being to “avoid food waste” or to “show respect for their host”.


title: Shark fin soup

text: A 2018 WildAid report mentioned Thailand as an emerging market for shark fin soup, citing a 2017 survey where 57% of urban Thai respondents consumed the dish, most commonly at weddings, restaurants, and business meetings.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Shark fins used in the soup are the cartilaginous dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins. These are regularly harvested by a process known as shark finning, which takes only the fins and discards the carcass, alive or dead. Overfishing poses a major threat to the world's shark populations.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Some groups, such as Fins Attached, Shark Savers, IUCN, Shark Angels, Shark Whisperer and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, discourage consumption of the soup due to concerns with the world's shark population and how sharks are inhumanely finned alive and returned to the ocean, unable to swim, hunt or survive. The prevalence of shark finning and the sustainability of shark species are both debated. As of 2011, major hotel operators such as Marriott International, The Peninsula Hotels and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts stopped serving shark fin soup in favor of offering sustainable seafood. The largest supermarket chains in Singapore - Cold Storage and NTUC FairPrice - have stopped selling shark fins, citing sustainability concerns. Hong Kong Disneyland dropped the soup from its menu after it could not find a sustainable source.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry banned shark fin soup from official functions in a commitment to the Malaysian Nature Society to conserve the shark species.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In the United States, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have banned the sale and possession of shark fins, effectively eliminating the availability of the soup. Illinois, which had been a large importer of shark fins, was the fifth U.S. state, and the first non-Pacific state, to implement a ban on shark fin trade. In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act, closing loopholes used to obtain shark fins. In October 2011, California governor Jerry Brown, citing the cruelty of finning and potential threats to the environment and commercial fishing, signed Assembly Bill 376, banning the possession and sale of detached shark fins. Two Chinese American groups challenged the law in federal court, arguing among other things that it was discriminatory against the Chinese-American community. The federal courts rejected these claims.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In Canada, the Vancouver city council decided to work towards creating a ban to preserve shark species. Toronto joined other regional municipalities in adopting a shark fin ban on 13 October 2011. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice overturned the Toronto bylaw, as it was outside the powers of the city. Calgary banned shark fin soup on 16 July 2012, but in May 2013 shelved the bylaw indefinitely.


title: Shark fin soup

text: On 2 July 2012, the State Council of the People's Republic of China declared that shark fin soup can no longer be served at official banquets. This ban may take up to three years to take effect because of the social significance of the dish in Chinese culture.


title: Shark fin soup

text: The marine conservation organization Bite-Back has campaigned against the sale of shark fin soup in Britain. On the back of its campaigning, the London-based Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Hakkasan agreed to stop selling the controversial soup. High-profile names such as Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and Charles Clover, author of "", have lent their support to the charity's 'Hacked Off' campaign. In 2019, environmental NGO WildAid partnered with Plan B Media on a public awareness campaign to discourage sharkfin soup consumption in Taiwan.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Imitation shark fin soup is a noodle soup often sold in small bowls by street vendors in Hong Kong, where it is a common street snack. It is a substitute for shark fin soup. Imitation shark fin soup is also a more affordable alternative to shark fin soup.


title: Shark fin soup

text: A popular, low-cost imitation shark fin soup () made using vermicelli is widely available in Asia. They can also be made from cellophane noodles. Seafood companies in Asia later developed edible gelatinous products to imitate shark fins' qualities, commonly referred as "imitation shark fins".


title: Shark fin soup

text: Substitutes for shark include imitation shark fin, konjac gel, various forms of noodles, and others. "Mock shark's fin" soup appeared in Hong Kong during the 1970s. From the 1990s onward, it became popular in restaurants throughout China. The shark fin is replaced with an imitation and edible mushrooms, kelps, seaweeds, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and beaten eggs are added, as in the traditional soup.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Imitation shark fin (), typically from Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, is known as "sùchì" in Chinese Mandarin and "sou ci" in Chinese Cantonese, literally means "vegetarian fin". A Taiwanese manufacturer's recipe for it contains water, gelatin, alginic acid, sugar, casein, and triolein to reproduce the chewy, gelatinous texture of shark fins. However, some of these imitations absorb the broth more quickly than the real shark fin. Konjac gel (known as "moyu tofu" in Chinese Mandarin, "mo wu dau fu" in Chinese Cantonese, and "konnyaku" in Japanese) can also be used as a substitute for shark fin once it is julienned into thin strands using a chef's knife, produce slicer, or food processor. While cellophane noodles are also often used as an alternative to shark fins, some cooks find them too soft and unable to withstand simmering long enough for flavors to be absorbed, consequently the imitation shark fin or julienned konjac gel are more desirable. Other substitutes include "Cucurbita ficifolia" (shark fin melon, shark fin soup squash), chicken breast, jinhua ham, vermicelli, soy, sea cucumber, bird's nest, pig's skin and gelatin.


title: Shark fin soup

text: In 2015, a seafood company from San Francisco was working on a variation of imitation shark fin using algae-derived ingredients and recombinant proteins.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Alternatives to shark fin are inexpensive and easier to prepare. Imitation shark fin, konjac gel, and other alternatives can be purchased in preserved form from Asian supermarkets and convenience stores.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Imitation shark fin soup originated from Temple Street in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s. Few people at that time could afford genuine shark fin soup, but street vendors collected the broken parts of shark fins discarded by Chinese restaurants and cooked them with mushrooms, egg, and pork, as well as soy sauce and other ingredients. The mixture, which was cooked into a soup, was served in a small bowl. Although this soup was inexpensive and lacked the authentic flavor, since it was cheap, tasty and contained many ingredients, it was popular among the poor and became one of the famous street snacks of Hong Kong.


title: Shark fin soup

text: Apart from the street vendor version, imitation shark fin soup may also be found in fast-food stores and expensive Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, and also on mainland China. Since April 2016, Cup Noodles released various instant imitation shark fin ramen soups.


title: Shark fin soup

text: False descriptions of goods and services are prohibited by the Trade Descriptions Ordinance in Hong Kong. Thus, imitation shark fin soup may have to change its Cantonese name since "wun tsai chi" (literally: "fin in little bowl") may mislead customers into thinking there is real shark fin in it. However, many argue against this new policy; some claim that the name is tied to the Hong Kong people's collective memories and culture, representing the history of old Hong Kong. It would also be inconvenient for tourists seeking the dish. Opponents of the name change suggest the government should consider whether customers are misled before carrying out the policy.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Michael Geoffrey Skinner (born 27 November 1979) is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Best known for the music project the Streets, Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of the D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Skinner was born in Barnet, but grew up in West Heath, Birmingham. He started playing with keyboards at the tender age of five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy, which worsened in his early teens. He began writing hip hop and garage music in his home in West Heath and later built a sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring".


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; the relationship quickly ended, but Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London. He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become the song "Has It Come to This?" to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington. The song was released as a single in 2001, through Locked On Records.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: In the albums Skinner made under the name the Streets, he focused on vocals, arranging, composing, mixing, keyboards, and synthesizers.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: In 2005, Skinner and Ted Mayhem launched the independent record label The Beats Recordings. A subsidiary of 679 Recordings, The Beats was home to British hip hop acts such as the Mitchell Brothers, Example, and Professor Green. In a 2008 interview with "NME", Skinner announced that the label had shut down. In 2012, Skinner stated in an interview that the label was starting up again.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: After shelving the Streets, Skinner launched a new project, called the D.O.T, along with Rob Harvey of alternative rock band the Music. Harvey performs on vocals, allowing Skinner to "further develop his production approach". Their first album, "And That", was released on 22 October 2012. Their second album titled "Diary" was released on 5 May 2013.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: In 2013, Skinner remixed Norwich rapper Context's song "Small Town Lad Sentiments". The remix features on Context's second EP, "Hindsight is the Purest Form of Romance" (2014). In 2015, he remixed Slaves' breakthrough single "Cheer Up London" alongside Jammer. The remix featured on an extended play exclusive to HMV, released alongside the group's debut album "Are You Satisfied?".


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Skinner teamed up with UK rap group Murkage to form a supergroup named Tonga Balloon Gang, and they released an eponymous three-track EP on 14 November 2015. The release features additional vocals from Jammer and Big Narstie. In 2016, Skinner released several tracks on Soundcloud under the name the Darker the Shadow, the Brighter the Light. In April 2017, he released the song "Bad Decisions in the Night" on digital platforms.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Skinner is best known for his lyricism matched with his blurring of musical styles of UK garage, hip hop, indie rock, reggae, and ska. "The Guardian" reviewer Dave Simpson particularly praised Skinner's "dazzling wordplay".


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Skinner is influenced by musical genres including hip hop, UK garage, reggae, and country and western music. Some of the many hip hop artists that influenced him in the making of some of the Streets' albums are Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Premier, and Erick Sermon.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: The soundtrack album for the film "The Inbetweeners Movie" was released in 2011, featuring ten new compositions by Skinner.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: On 19 October 2007, the first episode of Skinner's late-night television programme, "Beat Stevie", aired on Channel 4.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: Skinner had a cameo role in the fifth series of "Doctor Who" as a security guard, featuring in the episode "The Time of Angels".


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: In a 2011 interview, Skinner also revealed that he would be starring in a film, a thriller set in a hospital.


title: Mike Skinner (musician)

text: In 2008, Skinner took time off from the Streets to battle symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and later wrote the song "Trying to Kill M.E." to document his fight against the disorder.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster and medical relief organization Samaritan's Purse. The population was 19,092 at the 2020 census.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: The town is named for famous American pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, and every summer from 1952 (except 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) has hosted an outdoor amphitheatre drama, "Horn in the West", portraying the British settlement of the area during the American Revolutionary War and featuring the contributions of its namesake. It is the largest community and the economic hub of the seven-county region of Western North Carolina known as the High Country.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone took its name from the famous pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, who on several occasions camped at a site generally agreed to be within the present city limits. Daniel's nephews, Jesse and Jonathan (sons of brother Israel Boone), were members of the town's first church, Three Forks Baptist, still in existence today.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone was served by the narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (nicknamed "Tweetsie") until the flood of 1940. The flood washed away much of the tracks and it was decided not to replace them.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is the home of Appalachian State University, a constituent member of the University of North Carolina.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: ""Horn in the West"" is a dramatization of the life and times of the early settlers of the mountain area. It features Daniel Boone as one of its characters, and has been performed in an outdoor amphitheater near the town every summer since 1952, except for when COVID-19 necessitated canceling the 2020 performances.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: The original actor in the role of "Daniel Boone" was Ned Austin. His "Hollywood Star" stands on a pedestal on King Street in downtown Boone. He was followed in the role by Glenn Causey, who portrayed the rugged frontiersman for 41 years, and whose image is still seen in many of the depictions of Boone featured in the area today.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is notable for being home to the Junaluska community. Located in the hills just north of Downtown Boone, a free black community has existed in the area since before the Civil War. Although integration in the mid-20th century led to many of the businesses in the neighborhood closing in favor of their downtown counterparts, descendants of the original inhabitants still live in the neighborhood. Junaluska is also home to one of the few majority-African American Mennonite Brethren congregations.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is a center for bluegrass musicians and Appalachian storytellers. Notable artists associated with Boone include the late Grammy Award-winning bluegrass guitar player Doc Watson, and the late guitarist Michael Houser, one of the founding members of and the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic, as well as Old Crow Medicine Show, The Blue Rags, and Eric Church, all who are Boone natives.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: The Blair Farm, Daniel Boone Hotel, Jones House, John Smith Miller House, and US Post Office-Boone are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is located at (36.211364, −81.668657) and has an elevation of 3,333 feet (1015.9 m) above sea level. An earlier survey gave the elevation as 3,332 ft and since then it has been published as having an elevation of 3,333 ft (1,016 m). Boone has the highest elevation of any town of its size (over 10,000 population) east of the Mississippi River. As such, Boone features, depending on the isotherm used, a humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfb"), a rarity for the Southeastern United States, bordering on a subtropical highland climate ("Cfb") and straddles the boundary between USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6B and 7A; the elevation also results in enhanced precipitation, with of average annual precipitation. Compared to the lower elevations of the Carolinas, winters are long and cold, with frequent sleet and snowfall. The daily average temperature in January is , which gives Boone a winter climate more similar to coastal southern New England rather than the Southeast, where a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa)" predominates. Blizzard-like conditions are not unusual during many winters. Summers are warm, but far cooler and less humid than lower regions to the south and east, with a July daily average temperature of . Boone typically receives on average nearly of snowfall annually, far higher than the lowland areas in the rest of North Carolina.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,092 people, 5,905 households, and 1,641 families residing in the town.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 13,472 people, 4,374 households, and 1,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,307.0 people per square mile (890.7/km). There were 4,748 housing units at an average density of 813.0 per square mile (313.9/km). The racial makeup of the town was 93.98% White, 3.42% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: There were 4,374 households, out of which 9.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.0% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 71.7% were non-families. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.63.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: In the town, the population was spread out, with 5.8% under 18, 65.9% from 18 to 24, 12.1% from 25 to 44, 9.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females, there are 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: The median income for a household in the town was $20,541, and the median income for a family was $49,762. The per capita income was $12,256. Males had a median income of $28,060 versus $20,000 for females. About 9.2% of families and 37.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under the age of 18 and 9.1% of those 65 and older.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: A smaller newspaper, "The Appalachian", is Appalachian State University's campus newspaper; it is published once a week on Thursdays. In addition to the locally printed papers, a monthly entertainment pamphlet named "Kraut Creek Revival" has limited circulation and is funded by a Denver, NC-based newspaper.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone operates under a mayor–council government. The city council consists of five members. The mayor presides over the council and casts a vote on issues only in the event of a tie. , the Town Council members were: Mayor Tim Futrelle, and Councilors: Edie Tugman (Mayor Pro-Tem), Todd Carter, Virginia Roseman, Jon Dalton George, Rebecca Nenow.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Industrial, commercial, and residential development in the town of Boone is a controversial issue due to its location in the mountains of Appalachia. On October 16, 2009, the town council accepted the "Boone 2030 Land Use Plan." While the document itself is not in any way actual law, it is used by the town council, board of adjustment, and other committees to guide decision making as to what types of development are appropriate.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: In 2009, the North Carolina Department of Transportation began widening 1.1 miles of U.S. 421 (King Street) to a 4-to-6-lane divided highway with a raised concrete median from U.S. 321 (Hardin Street) to east of N.C. 194 (Jefferson Road), including a new entrance and exit to the new Watauga High School, at a cost of $16.2 million. The widening has displaced 25 businesses and 63 residences east of historic downtown King Street. The project was slated to be completed by December 31, 2011, but construction continued into the spring of 2012.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Boone is home to the Appalachian State Mountaineers which field varsity teams in 17 sports, 7 for men and 10 for women. Appalachian State's football program has been successful with the Mountaineers winning three straight national championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007, the only team in North Carolina, public or private, to win an NCAA national championship in football.


title: Boone, North Carolina

text: Aside from college sports, Boone also has local baseball and soccer teams. The Boone Bigfoots were formed in 2021 and now compete in the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league. The Bigfoots play their home games at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Boone's entry in the National Premier Soccer League is Appalachian FC which began play in March 2021 and play home games at ASU Soccer Stadium in the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: The Mercedes-Benz M104 is a straight-6 automobile engine produced from 1989 through 1999. It has a double overhead cam design with 4 valves per cylinder, and used a crossflow cylinder head. It replaced the M103 and was replaced by the M112 V6 starting in 1997. The M104 continued in production until 1999 where its last use by Mercedes-Benz was in the W140 chassis. The bore spacing on all M104 engines is the same as M103 engines.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: As Mercedes needed a compact 6-cylinder for their Vito, they agreed with Volkswagen to use their VR6 engine, which they then designated M104.900. An agreement was reached and the engines were sold semi-completed to Mercedes-Benz. This version is unrelated to other engines designated M104. Only the engine cover and aircleaner housing is by Mercedes-Benz.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: This or (2962 cc on Isdera Spyder 036i) 24v was introduced as a sports car resp. top model completing the line-up of M103 12V engines. The M104 featured dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The M103 and M104.98x were later replaced by the 2.8-litre and 3.2-litre versions of the M104.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: The M104 featured KE-Jetronic fuel injection, cylinder specific ignition-timing, variable valve timing and under-piston cooling jets.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: In 1993, two capacities replaced the 3.0 litre: a replaced the old single-cam M103 engine and the 3.2 litre M104.99x replaced the double-cam M104.98x.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: For the , the compression ratio is the same 10.0:1 on all W210, R129, and W140 but it did differ from 9.2:1 to 10.0:1 on W124 (M104.992).


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: There were 3.3 L conversions done to the 3.0 L M104.980 by AMG, prior to their formal cooperation with Daimler Benz.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: AMG developed a 3.3 L M104 that was used principally in the 300E AMG 3.4, AMG 3.4 CE and 300TE-3.4 AMG (Mercedes-Benz W124) vehicles, produced between 1988-1993. A few of these engines were originally installed in the SL 3.4 AMG.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: AMG developed a M104 that was used in the W202 C36 AMG (W202) from M104.941, the W124 E36 AMG (W124) from M104.992, the E36 AMG (W210), and the G36 AMG (W463) vehicles.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: The AMG 3.6 M104 was rated at at 5,750 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm using the HFM engine management system. Bore and stroke is with a compression ratio of 10.5. AMG later conceded that since the engine was hand modified, power outputs could vary slightly from .


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: The boost in displacement was obtained by boring the 2.8 litre M104 block by and using a highly modified version of the crankshaft from the 3.5L OM603 to increase throw by ; this necessitated the use of new forged pistons with shorter skirts. A larger intake crossover pipe, free-flowing exhaust, a unique intake camshaft, minor changes to the cylinder head, and modifications to the HFM fuel computer also contribute to the increase in power.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: Ssangyong (South Korean brand) made a 3.6 litre variant of M104 inline-six engine based on the 2.8 litre model, producing or on earlier versions, for its Chairman model, a full-size luxury sedan. Chinese car Roewe R95L which based on SsangYong Chairman also uses 3.6 litre version of M104 engine.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: Last versions of German sportcar Isdera Spyder 036i after 1990 also uses 3.6 litre AMG variant of M104, producing 268 (200 kW; 272 PS) or 282 hp (210 kW; 286 PS).


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: Turbocharger kits were offered for both the M103 and M104 engines by Turbo Technics, Mosselman, Lotec, MAD Modify, Turbobandit and other tuners. These conversions typically raised engine output to between , depend on Boost Target.


title: Mercedes-Benz M104 engine

text: During the 1990s UK customers were able to buy new vehicles equipped with a Turbo Technics conversion directly from Mercedes dealer Hughes of Beaconsfield (limited run of 75 conversions). Today turbocharger kits for M103-M104 engines are available from later tuners in Europe and Asia.


title: Mary Page Keller

text: Mary Page Keller (born March 3, 1961) is an American actress known for roles on television. Keller began her career on the daytime soap operas "Ryan's Hope" (1982–1983) and "Another World" (1983–1985) and later starred in a number of television sitcoms. She starred as Laura Kelly in the Fox comedy series "Duet" (1987-1989) and in the show's spin-off, "Open House" (1989–1990). Keller later had lead roles in the short-lived sitcoms "Baby Talk" (1991–1992), "Camp Wilder" (1992–1993), and "Joe's Life" (1993).


title: Mary Page Keller

text: In film, Keller is known for her performance in the comedy-drama "Beginners" (2010). In the 2000s, she had recurring and guest-starring roles in a number of television dramas. From 2014 to 2015, Keller starred as the mother of the lead character in the ABC Family drama series "Chasing Life".


title: Mary Page Keller

text: Keller trained at the University of Maryland and the Boston Conservatory of Music before entering the medium of television on the ABC television show, Ryan's Hope in 1982. During her times at university, she performed in a number of musical theatre productions, first in Washington D.C. and later in New York. She later moved to Los Angeles, California.


title: Mary Page Keller

text: As a child, Keller participated in productions at Toby's Dinner Theatre under the direction of director Toby Orenstein. She later began her acting career on daytime soap operas. She played Amanda Kirkland (1982–1983) on "Ryan's Hope" and Sally Frame (1983–85) on "Another World". Moving to primetime, she played the part of Laura Kelly on two Fox sitcoms, "Duet" (1987–89) and its spinoff "Open House" (1989–90). In 1992, Keller was lead actress in Season 2 of the ABC comedy series "Baby Talk". She also starred in another short-lived ABC sitcom, "Camp Wilder" (1992–93). In 1993, she starred in "Joe's Life", also on ABC. During the same years, Keller acted in a number of television films and had a dramatic role in "Life Goes On".


title: Mary Page Keller

text: As of mid-1990s, Keller has made many guest appearances on television series, including "Ellen", "The Practice", "NCIS", "Criminal Minds", "24", "Mad Men", "Castle", "The Closer", "", "Supernatural", "Pretty Little Liars" and "Scandal". She had recurring roles in "Cybill", "JAG", "NYPD Blue", "Nip/Tuck", "Commander in Chief" and "Hart of Dixie". She also was regular on "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane" (1999) and starred as Johnny Kapahala's mother in the Disney Channel original movies "Johnny Tsunami" (1999) and "" (2007). She played the lead character's mother in the 2010 comedy-drama film "Beginners".


title: Mary Page Keller

text: In 2011, Keller was cast as the lead character's mother in the ABC Family drama pilot "Chasing Life". In April 2013, ABC Family picked up the pilot to series, for airing in 2014. She co-wrote the family dance school drama, 'The Dunnings' with her husband Thomas Ian Griffith.


title: Mary Page Keller

text: Keller has been married to her former "Another World" costar Thomas Ian Griffith since 1991. They have two sons, Conner and Eamon.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: The Goat (, sometimes also translated Sheep or Ram) is the eighth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. This zodiacal sign is often referred to as the "Ram" or "Sheep" sign, since the Chinese word "yáng" is more accurately translated as Caprinae, a taxonomic subfamily that includes both goats and sheep, but contrasts with other animal subfamily types such as Bovinae, Antilopinae, and other taxonomic considerations which may be encountered in the case of the larger family of Bovidae in Chinese mythology, which also includes the Ox (zodiac). The Year of the Goat is associated with the 8th Earthly Branch symbol, 未 ("wèi").


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: The Chinese word "yáng" refers to both goats and sheep, whereas the terms "shānyáng" () and "miányáng" () refer exclusively to goats and sheep, respectively. In English, the sign (originally based on a horned animal) may be called either. The interpretation of goat or sheep depends on culture. In Vietnamese, the sign is "mùi", which is unambiguously goat. In Japan, on the other hand, the sign is "hitsuji," sheep; while in Korea and Mongolia, the sign is ram or sheep. Within China, there may be a regional distinction with the zodiacal "yáng" more likely to be thought of as a goat in the south, while tending to be thought of as a sheep in the north.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: The Chinese commonly regard sheep as an auspicious animal, and the year of the sheep, therefore, heralds a year of promise and prosperity. "Yáng" (羊) is a component of another written Chinese characters "xiang" (祥), which means auspiciousness, and the two were interchangeable in ancient Chinese, according to one source. It is also a part of the character "shan" (善), which counts kindness and benevolence as among its meanings.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: Individuals born in the zodiac year have been supposed to share certain characteristics with other individuals also born in years of the same animal sign. Similarly, years sharing the same animal sign have been supposed to share certain characteristics, repeating over their 12/60 year cycle. The shared characteristics in this case are traits attributed to goats.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: Due to the lunisolar nature of the traditional Chinese calendar system, the zodiacal year does not align with the Gregorian calendar: new years are determined by a system which results in each new year beginning on a new moon sometime between late January to mid-to-late February. Goat aspects can also enter by other chronomantic factors or measures, such as hourly.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: In Chinese astrology, Goats are described as peace-loving, kind, and popular. With the addition of the Wood element, the Goat characteristic is thought to love peace and to be helpful and trusting, but yet also to be clinging and of a nature resistant to change.


title: Goat (zodiac)

text: People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Goat", while also bearing the following elemental sign:


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The first season of the American animated television series "SpongeBob SquarePants", created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 1, 1999, to March 3, 2001, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The show features the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan. Among the first guest stars to appear on the show were Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voicing the superhero characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1994 and began to work on it shortly after the cancellation of "Rocko's Modern Life" in 1996. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on "Rocko's Modern Life". The show was originally to be called "SpongeBoy Ahoy!", but the name "SpongeBoy" was already in use for an art pencil product. Upon finding it out, Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season" DVD was released in Region 1 on October 28, 2003, Region 2 on November 7, 2005, and Region 4 on November 30, 2006. The pilot episode, "Help Wanted", was not included on the DVD due to copyright issues with the song "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" by Tiny Tim, which appears in the episode, but was later released as a bonus feature on various series DVDs, including that of the third season. The season received positive reviews from media critics upon release.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: Creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived "SpongeBob SquarePants" in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: While Hillenburg was there, his love of the ocean began to influence his artistry. He created a precursor to "SpongeBob SquarePants": a comic book titled "The Intertidal Zone" used by the institute to teach visiting students about the animal life of tide pools. The comic starred various anthropomorphic sea lifeforms, many of which would evolve into "SpongeBob SquarePants" characters. Hillenburg tried to get the comic professionally published, but none of the companies he sent it to were interested. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator. In 1992, Hillenburg began to attend the California Institute of the Arts to study animation, having been accepted into the institute by Jules Engel, who was impressed with Hillenburg's previous work.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: While attending animation school, Hillenburg received a job on the children's television series "Mother Goose and Grimm", and worked on the series from 1991 to 1993. During his time at the California Institute of the Arts, he made his thesis film entitled "Wormholes", which was funded by the Princess Grace Foundation and was later displayed at various animation festivals. In 1992, Joe Murray, who had just sold his show "Rocko's Modern Life" to Nickelodeon, met Hillenburg at an animation festival, and offered him a job as a director of the series.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: By the time "Rocko's Modern Life" concluded in 1996, Hillenburg had risen to the rank of creative director and showrunner following Murray's departure from the show. Shortly following this, Hillenburg began developing "SpongeBob SquarePants", using "The Intertidal Zone" as basis for the show following a discussion with "Rocko" writer Martin Olson, and worked with several Nickelodeon veterans and "Rocko" crew members, including creative director Derek Drymon, writers and directors Sherm Cohen and Dan Povenmire, writer Tim Hill, Martin Olson, animation director Alan Smart, and story editor Merriwether Williams. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on "Rocko's Modern Life". Originally, Hillenburg wanted to use the name "SpongeBoy"—the character had no last name—and the series would have been called "SpongeBoy Ahoy!". However, the Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name SpongeBoy was already in use for an art themed pencil product. This was discovered after voice acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997. In November 1997, upon finding this out, Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The first season featured Tom Kenny as the voice of the title character SpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary. SpongeBob's best friend, a starfish named Patrick Star, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, while Rodger Bumpass played the voice of Squidward Tentacles, an arrogant and ill-tempered octopus. Other members of the cast were Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, a miserly crab obsessed with money and SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab; Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, a small green copepod and Mr. Krabs' business rival; Jill Talley as Karen, Plankton's sentient computer wife; Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas; Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob's boating school teacher; and Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: While Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, and Tim Hill were writing the pilot "Help Wanted", Hillenburg was also conducting auditions to find voices for the show characters. He had created the character of SpongeBob with Tom Kenny, in which he utilised Kenny's and other people's personalities to help create SpongeBob's personality. The voice of SpongeBob was originally used by Kenny for a minor female alligator character named Al in "Rocko's Modern Life". Kenny forgot the voice initially as he created it only for that single use. Hillenburg, however, remembered it when he was coming up with SpongeBob and used a video clip of the episode to remind Kenny of the voice. Kenny said that SpongeBob's high pitched laugh was specifically aimed at being unique, stating that they wanted an annoying laugh in the tradition of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker. Hillenburg originally had Mr. Lawrence for the role of voicing Squidward. Drymon said "We knew Doug from "Rocko", where he was a storyboard director and where he also did the voice of Filburt. We were showing Doug the storyboard, and he started reading back to us in his Tony the Tiger/Gregory Peck voice. It was really funny, and we wound up having SpongeBob use a deep voice when he entered the Krusty Krab for the first time." Hillenburg loved the voice and decided to let Lawrence play a variety of incidental characters, including Plankton.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. Former "McHale's Navy" actors Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway reunited for their first joint TV project in 33 years as guest actors portraying SpongeBob's favorite superheroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively. Borgnine said "We [he and Conway] played off each other. Tim's such a performer – a little more caustic than I am. We were making all sorts of noise. People outside the room were guffawing. We're supposed to be underwater, you know." They would reprise their role in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II", which also guest starred Charles Nelson Reilly as their nemesis, the Dirty Bubble. In the episode "Scaredy Pants", a Halloween special, American band the Ghastly Ones performed a special musical performance, while Brian Doyle-Murray voiced the Flying Dutchman. American country guitarist and singer Junior Brown made a vocal cameo, performing the song "Texas" in the episode of the same name. In "Neptune's Spatula", John O'Hurley appeared as King Neptune. John Lurie and Jim Jarmusch (who collaborated to make the films "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Down by Law") made a cameo as themselves in the episode "Hooky", through excerpts from the Bravo serial, Fishing with John.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: Prior to start of production on the show, Hillenburg decided early that he wanted "SpongeBob SquarePants" to be a storyboard-driven show, rather than script-driven. Storyboard-driven is an approach that required artists who could take a skeletal story outline and flesh it out with sight gags, dialogue and a structure that "would strike a balance between narrative and whimsy." Hillenburg originally wanted "a team of young and hungry people" to work on the show. The group, who worked with Hillenburg on "Rocko's Modern Life" before, consisted of Alan Smart, Nick Jennings, and Derek Drymon. Tim Hill was asked about if he want to work as story editor, but he was unavailable at the time. The crew got Peter Burns to work as story editor who developed the idea for the episode "Ripped Pants" about SpongeBob ripping his pants.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: During the first season, the writing staff used most of the story ideas that were in Hillenburg's series bible and they had problems on how to generate new ideas. At one point, the writing staff went to the beach for inspiration for a possible episode. However, the day "was overcast and cold, so we [the writers] had to stay in the car." Drymon said "We didn't come up with too many ideas that day." Story editor Peter Burns left, and the crew had Merriwether Williams to overtake. Hillenburg said to Williams that "it was her responsibility to get us [the writers] to come up with new ideas." Drymon said "[It] is a tall order." Williams gave Drymon a book called "Zen in the Art of Writing", written by Ray Bradbury, that catalogs a collection of essays about writing processes. One of the ways in the book to inspire plots was "to write nouns that interested him [Bradbury] on a note card and hang them in his office. He felt just having the word in his eyesight would get his mind working." Williams took this scheme and made it into "a writing exercise." In writing meetings, the staff would all enumerate 10 nouns on strips of paper and place them in a hat. The hat would be passed throughout and a writer would have a limited time to spawn an idea based on the noun he wrote. Drymon said "It would almost always start a discussion, and we wound up getting a lot of episodes out of it." Furthermore, Drymon said that Williams "really came up with a great addition to the process."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: One time, Hillenburg came to Williams and said, "Why don't you go read a bunch of books about writing." Hillenburg wanted to keep the enthusiasm in the writing room, because, according to Williams, "sometimes it can be a slog." She went off, read more books about writing, and came up with two more exercises for writing meetings.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The animation was handled overseas in South Korea at Rough Draft Studios. Throughout the season's run, from 1999 to 2001, "SpongeBob" was animated using cel animation. The show shifted to digital ink and paint animation during its second season in 2000. Executive producer Paul Tibbitt, in 2009, said "[...] The first season of "SpongeBob" was done the old-fashioned way on cells, and every cell had to be part-painted, left to dry, paint some other colors. It's still a time-consuming aspect of the process now, but the digital way of doing things means it doesn't take long to correct." The season was storyboarded and written by Sherm Cohen, Derek Drymon, Steve Fonti, Stephen Hillenburg, Chuck Klein, Jay Lender, Chris Mitchell, Mark O'Hare, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, Ennio Torresan, Vincent Waller, and Erik Wiese.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: When the crew began production on the pilot, they were tasked to design the stock locations where "[...] the show would return to again and again, and in which most of the action would take place, such as the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob's pineapple house." Hillenburg had a "clear vision" of what he wanted the show to look like. The idea was "to keep everything nautical" so the crew used lots of rope, wooden planks, ships' wheels, netting, anchors, and boilerplate and rivets.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The season marked the introduction of the "sky flowers" as the main background. It first appeared in the pilot and has since become a common feature throughout the series. When series background designer Kenny Pittenger was asked "What are those things?," he answered "They function as clouds in a way, but since the show takes place underwater, they aren't really clouds." Since the show was influenced by tiki, the background painters have to use a lot of pattern. Pittenger said "So really, the sky flowers are mostly a whimsical design element that Steve [Hillenburg] came up with to evoke the look of a flower-print Hawaiian shirt—or something like that. I don't know what they are either."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The season was critically acclaimed. Three of its episodes won Best Sound Editing in Television Animation at the 2000 Golden Reel Awards. It consisted of the episodes "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" and "Pickles" for Music, while the "Karate Choppers" won for the Sound. In 2001, "Rock Bottom" and "Arrgh!" also won the Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation — Sound, while "Fools in April" and "Neptune's Spatula" were nominated for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation — Music.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: In his review for the "Variety", Noel Holston said "[The show] is smarter and freakier than most of the prime-time animated series that have popped up in the past year." Furthermore, most of the first season DVD reviews were positive towards the series as being one of the best American comedy shows. In a DVD review by Bill Treadway for DVD Verdict, he called the show "the best animated American comedy since "The Simpsons", it is a claim I stand behind." Treadway said the show is "accessible to all" that "adults will enjoy the witty satire and sly in-jokes subtly inserted into every episode." He also mentioned that "children will love the bright colors, spunky pace, and lively characters" and that "parents will not have to worry about violence or crude humor." Jason Bovberg of DVD Talk called "SpongeBob SquarePants" "the coolest Saturday morning cartoon since the heyday of Warner Bros." In a separate review for the season's DVD release, Bovberg "highly recommended" the set and wrote "I love the show so much, I can't see any way around giving this one a recommendation." Bovberg was particular on the exclusion of the pilot episode "Help Wanted", saying "But why is 'Help Wanted' missing? I suppose I'll have to buy a "theme" disc down the road to secure that one. Sigh." Furthermore, he described it as "the only disappointment of the set." Ron J. Epstein, also from DVD Talk, said that the character of SpongeBob is "one of the strangest cartoon characters I have ever had the pleasure to watch." He said that "Unlike most cartoons today, "SpongeBob SquarePants" caters to both a child and an adult audience."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: In his review for "The Washington Post", Michael Cavna rewatched the pilot episode "Help Wanted" in 2009 and said "so much of the style and polish are already in place." He ranked the episode at 3 at his "The Top Five "SpongeBob" Episodes: We Pick 'Em" list. Nancy Basile of the About.com said "[The] humor and optimistic essence of SpongeBob is evident even in this first episode."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The episodes are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)

text: The DVD boxset for season one was released by Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon in the United States and Canada in October 2003, two years after it had completed broadcast on television. The DVD release features bonus materials including audio commentaries, featurettes, and music videos. The pilot episode "Help Wanted" was excluded in the DVD release due to copyright issues. According to Derek Drymon, the episode was not included because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for the DVD rights. However, on the German release of the season one DVD, the episode "Help Wanted" actually is included. "Help Wanted" was later released on the "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season" DVD as a bonus feature on September 27, 2005. It was also released on the "SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes" DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five. The DVD included a featurette called ""Help Wanted" the Seven Seas Edition" that featured "Help Wanted" in numerous languages. The episode was also a bonus feature in the series DVD called "SpongeBob SquarePants: 10 Happiest Moments" that was released on September 14, 2010. Upon release, the DVD set was quickly sold out at Best Buy and was selling "briskly" at online retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Walmart. In 2012, the DVD was released in slim packaging.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 video game)

text: The Amazing Spider-Man is an open world video game based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and the 2012 film of the same name. It was developed by Beenox and published by Activision. It was released on June 26 in North America and on June 29, 2012 in Europe for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows. A version for the Wii U was released in March 2013 in North America and Europe known as The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition in both regions. A PlayStation Vita version was released in November 2013. A sequel, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", was released in April 2014, itself based on the film.


text: The game was directed by Gerard Lehiany and written by Seamus Kevin Fahey, Benjamin Schirtz and Gérard Lehiany. Its story serves as an alternate epilogue to "The Amazing Spider-Man" film, which is continued in the game's sequel. Months after the events of the film, a number of cross-species experiments created by Oscorp using Curt Connors' research escape into Manhattan and infect its population with a deadly virus, forcing Spider-Man to join forces with Gwen Stacy and Connors to find a cure. Meanwhile, the new Oscorp CEO, Alistair Smythe, attempts to develop his own cure so that he will be credited as the city's savior, and to eliminate Spider-Man and Connors for interfering with his plans.


text: The Nintendo 3DS and Wii versions of the game include the script and plot of the other versions of the game, but feature a much different, more linear gameplay that does not have an open world environment, and instead features the player selecting a level from the map in Spider-Man's apartment, before playing a mostly linear level. It was natively designed for the 3DS and later ported to the Wii. Upon its release, the game received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise to the gameplay, controls, combat, dark tone, intensity and soundtrack, although it received criticism for its mode of difficulty, story, visuals, repetitive side missions and lack of innovation.


text: "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a third-person video game, set in an open world based on Manhattan. Players take on the role of Spider-Man and complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. The missions are structured in a linear manner, but the player is free to explore the game's map in between missions and engage in various side activities. Players have access to all of Spider-Man's superhuman abilities, including web swinging and wall crawling. The game introduces a bullet time mechanic called Web-Rush, where players slow down time by holding a button and can select between different locations that Spider-Man will automatically move towards once the player releases the button. This gameplay mechanic can be used to target enemies, whom Spider-Man will attack automatically, or objects that Spider-Man will throw at enemies, incapacitating them for a few seconds and allowing Spider-Man to web them in order to subdue them for good. The combat system is reminiscent of the Rocksteady Studios' "" series (at the time consisting of "" and ""), using a freeflow design and counterattacks. Beenox took a cue from the Batman games, with Dee Brown, the head of Beenox, stating "I played both Batman games and liked them. For me, the Spider-Man character is very different than Batman. You have to approach both in a different way. I think the Rocksteady guys did a good job at providing what was required to make a great Batman game, and we're doing everything we need to this time to make a great Spider-Man game".


text: The game's side missions include stopping petty crimes, car chases, and gun fights in the streets, recovering missing patients from a psychiatric hospital that escaped early on in the main storyline, and transporting civilians infected by the cross-species virus to quarantine camps. Spider-Man can use his phone to take photographs of evidence that links Oscorp to the cross-species conspiracy, or collect items such as audio files related to the conspiracy. Finding this evidence rewards the player with XP Points, or extra content in the main menu, such as concept art. Players can collect full, vintage comic books, such as "Amazing Fantasy" #15, as they collect comic covers throughout the game's map.


text: The game uses a unique damage system: the more damage Spider-Man takes, the more his suit is damaged; returning to the "safe house" repairs the suit. The player can remove a utility belt from the default suit, which holds some extra web fluid. There are ten alternate suits in total, and five of them can be unlocked after completing certain tasks, or taking pictures of secret spider graffiti hidden within the city, such as the Scarlet Spider suit, the Black Suit from the 2007 film "Spider-Man 3", a color-inverted version of the Future Foundation suit, the Negative Zone suit, and the Big Time suit. Two more secret suits include the Cross-Species suit (unlocked after completing the main storyline), and a Black Suit version of the 2012 film suit (unlocked after attaining 100% completion), both of which are exclusive to the game. A party hat for "Spidey's 50th anniversary" becomes available if the player changes the date of their console or PC to August 10, 2012.


text: The game's downloadable content adds new mini-games and suits. For example, the "Rhino Challenge" downloadable content (DLC) pack adds the classic Spider-Man suit from the Sam Raimi film series and a mini-game where the player controls Rhino as he rampages through the streets of Manhattan, and the "Lizard Rampage" DLC pack adds the Vigilante suit from the film and a mini-game where the player controls the Lizard as he fights Oscorp mercenaries and destroys beacons across the city.


text: On the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii versions of "The Amazing Spider-Man" are different than the console and PC version. Although they feature different gameplay, they still share the same plot, voice-overs, and some of the other version's version level design. Instead of featuring an open world environment, in this version employs the player selects a level from a map screen in Spider-Man's apartment, and he can talk to Dr. Connors. Once a level is selected, Spider-Man is dropped off at the start of the level. The game includes some sub-missions that help the player work up their XP.


text: Due to the lack of free roaming within these versions of the game, players cannot find comic book pages or take pictures of hidden spider graffiti to unlock more suits. The photo mode makes use of the 3DS gyroscope, but can also be more easily controlled by the analog slider.


text: Spider-Man's moves in this game are more based on the previous moveset from the earlier "Spider-Man" film based games, and not that of its HD counterpart, although several changes have been made, such as the addition of a "Web Rush" mode (controlled with the Wii Remote's pointer in the Wii version), which allows Spider-Man to slow time down while he is looking for targets to aim at.


text: The 3DS version has an exclusive game mode named "Vigilante", which is a strategy-based role-playing text game where they are given a map of locations and must complete tasks and missions and collect items needed for certain missions. A meter is shown with a slide moving to either a red or green marker. When Spider-Man successfully completes the mission, the player is awarded with Vigilante Points (VP) and Action Points (AP). The higher skill rank is, more locations and additional content are unlocked. Vigilante is compatible with Street Pass, allowing the player to trade items with other players.


text: Unlike the other versions of the game, there are only three suits to unlock: which is the Basic, suit the Classic, suit and the Black Suit. The Basic suit is the default one; the Classic Suit is unlocked by completing all of the side missions; and the Black Suit is unlocked by beating on the Vigilante Mode.


text: Unlike the Wii version, the Android and iOS follows almost the same formula as the console version. Players can explore Manhattan, while having some crimes to deal with. The story is linear, but the player can explore the city before entering the missions. The missions consists in three types: Pursue, where the player pursues Lizard and another enemies in the game, Combat, where fighting and webbing skills can be used to fight enemies to clear an objective. And Mix, in which combat and pursue is combined, and some other things too, like a "sliding" section. The game, just like the console version, has voice acting, free-roam, level system and suit system. In this version, like the Wii version, the player does not unlock all the suits from the console version. Unlike the 3DS version, the Android version does not has additional content like exclusive modes.


text: Months after the incident from the film, Dr. Curt Connors' incarceration, Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy sneak into the restricted areas of Oscorp after hours to investigate rumors of the company continuing Connors' cross-species experiments. They are caught by new Oscorp director Alistair Smythe, who confirms the rumors and gives them a tour of Oscorp's restricted areas to see the experiments themselves. However, the cross-species react to Peter, a cross-species himself, and break out, infecting numerous scientists, including Smythe and Gwen, with a deadly virus they are carrying. A giant scorpion bites and infects Dr. Smythe and a giant vermin rat bites and infects Gwen on her left shoulder. Donning his Spider-Man suit, Peter gets the infected to quarantine, but fails to stop the cross-species from escaping into the city.


text: After a fight with S-01, a massive cross-species hunting robot created by Smythe, Spider-Man reluctantly breaks Connors out of the Beloit Psychiatric Hospital to help find a cure for the virus. Spider-Man and Connors set up a laboratory at the apartment of Aunt May's friend Stan, and begin development of an antidote while keeping in close contact with Gwen and Smythe via webcam, unaware that Smythe is developing his own "cure" using nanobots that destroy the host from the inside out. After defeating Rhino, one of the escaped cross-species, Spider-Man retrieves Connors' research from a secret Oscorp lab before it gets destroyed. While there, he meets Whitney Chang, an undercover investigative reporter, who enlists Spider-Man's help in unveiling Oscorp's suspicious activities. Spider-Man also collects a blood sample from the rat cross-species, Vermin, for Connors' antidote, while battling a group of "Hunters" - a new type of cross-species hunting robot who identify him as one.


text: Spider-Man eventually delivers Connors' antidote to Gwen at Oscorp, now under complete quarantine. However, a skeptical Smythe takes and tests it on himself, claiming that, if it works, Oscorp will replicate it and he will take all the credit as the city's savior. However, instead of curing him, the antidote causes Smythe to lose the use of his legs and sanity. Enraged, he commands his robots to eliminate Spider-Man, who escapes after destroying S-02. Realizing that Spider-Man is a unique cross-species who maintains his humanity, Connors creates a new antidote using his DNA, which Spider-Man again delivers to Oscorp, fighting his way past security and the Scorpion cross-species. The antidote works, saving Gwen's and the other scientists' lives.


text: As the CDC quarantines the city due to the advancement of the virus, Spider-Man, while waiting for Connors to replicate the antidote, returns to his heroic activities. He foils a bank robbery orchestrated by Felicia Hardy, who escaped from Beloit during Spider-Man's initial attempt to break Connors out; assists in the re-capture of Scorpion; stops Rhino from poisoning the city's water supply, and rescues the district attorney from the Iguana cross-species. Meanwhile, Smythe, having been fired from Oscorp for his actions, discovers Spider-Man's secret identity and kidnaps Connors from their apartment, challenging Spider-Man to come and rescue him at Oscorp's robotics facility. While he rescues Connors, Spider-Man is captured by Smythe, who injects him with a nanobot serum that strips away his powers, and reveals his plan to spread the same serum across the city using his greatest invention yet, S-03, unaware that the nanobots are slowly killing the host. Spider-Man escapes and makes his way across a Manhattan consumed by chaos to reach Connors' secret lab, where he reunites with him and Gwen.


text: While Connors transforms into the Lizard and leaves to try and stop Smythe, Gwen resuscitates the dying Spider-Man with an AED. Realizing that electricity can destroy the nanobots, Spider-Man leaves to assist Connors and boards S-03 with Whitney Chang's help, whereupon he electrocutes himself to destroy the nanobots, regaining his powers. Spider-Man and Connors defeat Smythe, but Connors then succumbs to the Lizard's consciousness and flees into the sewers. Leaving a remorseful Smythe, who regained his sanity, for the police, Spider-Man pursues the Lizard, along the way defeating Natie, the piranha cross-species, and saving Gwen, who has reprogrammed a Hunter to administer the cure across the city. Eventually, Spider-Man defeats and cures the Lizard, whereupon Connors willingly returns to Beloit. As New York slowly returns to normal, both Spider-Man and the Lizard are credited as the city's saviors. Peter and Gwen learn from the news that Smythe has escaped custody but decide to deal with it later.


text: In a post-credits scene, Smythe, having regained the use of his legs due to being in the final stages of his infection, returns to his lab and commands one of his Hunters to kill him, choosing to die rather than become a cross-species or take Peter and Connors' cure.


text: A video game based on the movie was first announced at the 2011 New York Comic Con. The game was developed by Beenox, the development team behind the previous two "Spider-Man" games, "" and "". During New York Comic Con a producer at Activision, Doug Heder stated that the game will take place after the events of the movie. Heder noticed the mixed reviews with the last video game, promising that the video game will find a different fate, thanks to its lengthy development time. The video game has been reported to be in development by Gerard Lehiany, the creative director of Beenox. Dee Brown of Beenox felt that the movie was an inspiration of the development of the video game on how the creators wanted it to turn out: "The fact that our game is based on the movie, and the movie is re-approaching the universe in a completely different way — a more grounded, more realistic approach — gives us an incredible setting to play with".


text: The game released on June 26, 2012. The first concept artwork of the game was released on November 10, 2011. A world premiere trailer debuted during the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, on December 10. The game was originally developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS. It was later announced that game will be released for PC, however the port was released on August 10, 2012. The game features PlayStation Move support. The game featured pre-order bonuses.


text: Four DLC packs have been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. The "Rhino Challenge" pack was a GameStop exclusive pre-order, and has players control the Rhino and attacking vehicles and thugs throughout the city, and features the 2002-07 suit from the Sam Raimi films as a bonus suit. The "Lizard Rampage" pack has players control the Lizard and attacking guards while destroying generators, and features the Vigilante suit from "The Amazing Spider-Man" movie as a bonus suit. The "Oscorp Search and Destroy" pack has two minigames with similar gameplay to the Snake and Space Invaders. The "Stan Lee Adventure" pack was an Amazon.com pre-order exclusive, where the player can free roam as Stan Lee (with Spider-Man's powers) around the city, and can also play a special minigame where Stan has to find pages to a script that's dedicated to Spider-Man's 50th anniversary, at the time.


text: The Wii U version, call "The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition", was released March 5 in North America and March 8, 2013, in Europe. It's completely unlike the PS3, the Xbox 360, and the PC versions, and features all downloadable content installed onto the disc. The game also gives the player the option to use the Osphone on the Wii U Gamepad.