title: Wurlitzer

text: In addition to business acquisitions, Wurlitzer entered into several joint ventures with James Armitage, George Herschell, and other businessmen from the area. He constructed a separate plant at Goundry and Oliver Streets in downtown North Tonawanda specializing in short production runs to manufacture organs and hurdy-gurdies for amusement parks, circuses, roller rinks and carnival midways. Amusement rides, particularly carousels, were assembled at the facility.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Circa 1933, the Wurlitzer name gradually became more associated with jukeboxes than with musical instruments. In 1942, organ production at the North Tonawanda factory ceased and production was shifted to the manufacture of bomb proximity fuses for World War II. After the war, normal production efforts resumed but with more focus on radios, jukeboxes and small electronic organs for private homes. The Rivera Theatre, also in North Tonawanda, possesses one of these historic organs as well as Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Among Wurlitzer's electronic instruments, beginning with electrostatic reed organs in 1947, the most important have been the fully electronic organs, especially the two-manual-and-pedals spinet type (from 1971 with synthesizer features) for domestic use. In the mid-1950s, Wurlitzer began manufacturing portable electric pianos.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–1963) independently directed the firm's violin department from 1949 until his death in 1963, building it into a leading international center for rare string instruments.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In the 1960s, Wurlitzer ventured into new instrument markets. In 1964, Wurlitzer bought the rights, registered trademarks, copyrights, patents, engineering records and factory of the Henry C. Martin Band Instrument Company, which manufactured brass wind instruments in Elkhart, Indiana (not to be confused with the C.F. Martin & Company guitar maker). In 1967, Wurlitzer entered the guitar market as the sole distributor of Holman-Woodell guitars, which were originally sold under the Wurlitzer brand (see Electric guitars, below). Wurlitzer then switched to an Italian guitar maker, Welson, before abandoning guitar sales altogether in 1969.


title: Wurlitzer

text: While original Wurlitzer jukeboxes sold well, technology soon outpaced Wurlitzer. By the 1950s, other companies dominated the jukebox market. Wurlitzer sold its Martin rights to LeBlanc in 1971, to focus on its core markets with pianos and jukeboxes. In 1973, Wurlitzer sold its jukebox brand to a German company and closed the North Tonawanda factory. The former Wurlitzer complex today hosts a business park, contractors' supply store, storage, offices, restaurants and a Platter's Chocolate factory. Piano and organ manufacturing continued in Mississippi and Arkansas factories for several years.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The Baldwin Piano Company purchased Wurlitzer's piano-making assets and brand in 1988. Subsequently, the Gibson Guitar Corporation acquired Baldwin and operated it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Meanwhile, Gibson acquired Deutsche Wurlitzer Jukebox and Electronics Vending brand in 2006, briefly bringing the primary Wurlitzer product lines back under one owner. However, Baldwin stopped using the Wurlitzer name on pianos by the end of 2009. Gibson now uses the Wurlitzer brand name exclusively for jukeboxes and vending machines. Wurlitzer continues to manufacture jukeboxes and vending machines at its factory in Hullhorst, Germany. Wurlitzer headquarters are located in Hullhorst, and it has distribution and sales offices in Gurnee, Illinois and Oxfordshire, England.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Beginning in about 1880, Wurlitzer built a full line of upright and grand pianos. In 1914, Wurlitzer became the sole distributor of Melville Clark Pianos and in 1919 acquired the Melville Clark company. Wurlitzer continued to manufacture pianos at the Clark factory in DeKalb, Illinois under the Melville Clark name. Other brands which have been manufactured by Wurlitzer are Apollo, De Kalb, Julius Bauer, Farney, Kingston, Kurtzman, Merrium, Schaff Bros. and Underwood.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer excelled in piano design. It developed the "Pentagonal Soundboard", "Tone crafted hammers", and other unique innovations to help its pianos produce a richer, fuller tone. In 1935, it was one of the first manufacturers to offer the spinet piano to the mass market. This 39-inch high piano was an instant sensation. The spinet came at an opportune time, when many Americans could not afford a full upright or grand.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In the mid thirties, Wurlitzer unveiled a line of symmetrical grand pianos, or "Butterfly" grands. At this point in Wurlitzer history, all piano manufacturing was exclusively in DeKalb, Illinois. Models ranged from the Student Butterfly having 44 keys, to the 88 key Deluxe Art Deco Streamline Model 1411.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Model 1411 had many innovative patented features. A quartet of raised banding around the body were actually functional sound port slots that radiate all the way around the case, allowing sound to escape the cabinet with the lids closed. The most notable feature was the symmetrical lids that opened like butterfly wings. These lids open to reveal a secondary ported removable inner lid. These lids are decoratively cut out to allow the sound to ring out via a large F hole, similar to a violin, as well as multiple radial slots along the outer edge. Another design innovation was the "Tone Amplifier". The device consists of a metal flat bar between the piano rim, running under the bass bridge to a fixed point on the soundboard, designed to bring out the tone on a smaller piano. A screw mechanism on top of the bridge allowed adjustment of the tonal output.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer made at least three different versions of the 73 key model butterfly. Each had variations in appointments, such as legs, lyres, and sheet music stands.


title: Wurlitzer

text: After the United States Government imposed high import tariffs on street and fairground organ importation in 1892, Wurlitzer began producing mechanical organs. Most were small barrel organs, playing from a pinned barrel and powered by either steam or cranked by hand. Many of these organs have cases finished in dark (and sometimes black) wood, with gold incised designs, not unlike those of the European manufacturers of barrel organs.


title: Wurlitzer

text: As parts were not subject to import tariffs, almost all Wurlitzer band organs are copied from designs by European manufacturers. For example, the style 104 and style 105 were copied from a Gebrüder Bruder barrel organ. The style 146 was identical copied from Brüder's model 79 fairground organ, except that the side wings (portions of the façade concealing the drums) were removed. The style 157 was copied from a Gavioli special style of organ (only 2 or 3 of this style of organ are known to exist; the former organ at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom was one, but it was destroyed in a fire). And, the style 165 is copied from the Gebrüder Bruder "Elite Apollo Orchester."


title: Wurlitzer

text: As demand for organs grew from the fairground operators, Wurlitzer was approached by Eugene de Kleist, an-ex employee of Limonaire Frères and the founder of the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. After de Kleist developed the tonophone for the company, which won a gold medal at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, Wurlitzer invested in his company.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer bought de Kleist's interest in the business in 1909 and assumed operation of the North Tonawanda factory. The new company invested in new technology, resulting in the adoption of electric motors, and the music source was changed from pinned barrels to perforated paper rolls similar to a player piano roll. Some medium to larger organs such as the style 153, style 157 and style 165 have duplex roll frames, on which one roll plays while the other rewinds, allowing for continuous music. Each paper roll contained about 10 songs. During the Great Depression this was changed to 6 longer songs to save money on arranging.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The only substantial changes between the Wurlitzer U.S.-made organs and the European originals they copied is that the Wurlitzer models operated on Wurlitzer's unique roll scale. These included the 41-note style 125 roll (used by styles 103, 104, 105, 106, 125, and 126), the wider 46-note 150 roll (used by styles 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, and 153), or the still wider 75-note 165 roll (used by styles 157, 163, 164, 165, 166, and 175). Due to Wurlitzer's success and domination of the market, many smaller American manufacturers adopted scales similar to Wurlitzer's. Wurlitzer abandoned production of band organs and nickelodeons in 1939 but continued to manufacture the paper music rolls through a wholly owned subsidiary called the Endless Roll Music Company.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In addition to manufacturing band organs, Wurlitzer also converted band organs made by other companies to their roll scales. This generally resulted in the converted organ having an expanded musical library due to the vast amount of available Wurlitzer music rolls. However, these conversions sometimes required modifications to the organ's pipes and could permanently change the sound of the converted organ.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The production of Wurlitzer organs ceased in 1939, the last organ to leave the factory being a style 165 organ in a 157 case (done because Wurlitzer had an extra 157 case remaining in the factory and the owner didn't mind the change). During the Great Depression leading up to the end of production, various cost-cutting measures were made, such as the substitution of brass horn and trumpet pipes for ones made of wood (though arguably the change from brass to wood may have been due to the shrill sound produced by the brass pipes which some people may have found unpleasant; wood pipes produced a mellower sound).


title: Wurlitzer

text: Some orchestrions made by the company can be found at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire, the Music Hall, Nevada City, Montana, and the Jasper Sanfilippo Collection at Victorian Palace, Barrington Hills, Illinois.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer, starting around 1900 until circa 1935 produced nickelodeon pianos, or coin pianos, which are electrically operated player pianos that take coins to operate, like a jukebox.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The company produced various models of nickelodeons, such as the early Wurlitzer Mandolin Quartette – Wurlitzer's alternative to the Regina Sublima Piano. This machine has a reiterating piano with mandolin attachment along with an accompanying piano. They later introduced the Wurlitzer A.P.P. roll; a universal roll to be used on all subsequent Wurlitzer nickelodeons. Models such as the B(X), C(X), D(X) and I(X) use this roll.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer also produced an automatic roll changer system so when a roll finished rewinding another was put on in a carousel-like system. An 'X' at the end of a model number indicates that model was fitted with a roll changer.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Records indicate Wurlitzer sold player piano mechanisms to other manufacturers who installed Wurlitzer components in their own pianos and sold them under other brand names. One example is the Milner player piano company. Milner pianos were built in Cincinnati at a time consistent with Wurlitzer's presence there. Company records suggest Wurlitzer acquired the Milner company in addition to the several other companies acquired by Wurlitzer over the years, but it is possible that Milner may have simply used Wurlitzer components in their own product.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Perhaps the most famous instruments Wurlitzer built were its pipe organs (from 1914 until 1943), which were installed in theatres, homes, churches, and other venues. These were marketed as "The Mighty Wurlitzers".


title: Wurlitzer

text: Englishman Robert Hope-Jones, considered the inventor of the theatre organ, had developed a concept of the organ as a "one man orchestra" to accompany silent movies. Hope-Jones's concept was based on two principles:


title: Wurlitzer

text: Among his sound innovations were a kind of electro-pneumatic action, the "Diaphone" and the modern "Tibia Clausa" with its strong 8′ flute tone. The Tibia Clausa eventually became a staple of theater organs. Hope-Jones organs were also noted for such innovations as "stopkeys" instead of "drawknobs" and very high wind pressures of 10″–50″ to imitate orchestral instruments. He also used a system of unification, which multiplied considerably the number of stops relative to the number of ranks.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Between 1887 and 1911 his company employed 112 workers at its peak, producing 246 organs. But shortly after merging his organ business with Wurlitzer, he committed suicide in 1914 in Rochester, New York, frustrated by his new association with the Wurlitzer company, it is said. Moving the business to their North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, from 1914 to 1942, Wurlitzer built over 2,243 pipe organs: 30 times the rate of Hope-Jones company, and more theatre organs than the rest of the theatre organ manufacturers combined.


title: Wurlitzer

text: A number were shipped overseas, with the largest export market being the United Kingdom. The first of these theatre pipe organ to be shipped to the United Kingdom was dispatched from the North Tonawanda factory on 1 December 1924. It opened at its first location – The Picture House in Walsall, at the end of January 1925. This particular instrument (Britain's oldest Wurlitzer organ) is now located at the Congregational Church in Beer, Devon. Regular concerts and shows are hosted on the Beer Wurlitzer.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The largest Wurlitzer organ originally built (in terms of pipes), was the four-manual / 58-rank (set of pipes) instrument at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Music Hall instrument is actually a concert instrument, capable of playing a classical as well as non-classical repertoire. It, along with the organ at the Paramount Theatre in Denver Colorado are the only Wurlitzer installations still in use that have dual consoles. While Denver's is the typical "master-slave" system, Radio City is the only surviving original Wurlitzer installation to have two identical and completely independent consoles playing the same organ. Both instruments have been substantially altered in more recent years.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Two other instruments presently have five-manual Wurlitzer-styled consoles, although they were not built by Wurlitzer but were either custom-built or created by combining two smaller Wurlitzer consoles:


title: Wurlitzer

text: Another example of the large-scale Mighty Wurlitzer can be found in the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum. Werner Ferdinand von Siemens purchased the large four-manual, 16-rank Mighty Wurlitzer Style 250 special in 1929 and installed it in the Siemens Concert Hall in August of that year. At the end of World War II the organ and the concert hall became property of the German government. The Mighty Wurlitzer survived the war, but was seriously damaged in 1962 by a fire caused by a careless cigarette. From February to December 1963 Marvin E. Merchant, a U.S. soldier stationed in Berlin, repaired the organ at his own expense. In 1982, the government gave the instrument to the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Eberhard Friedrich Walcker GmbH & Co. completely restored and installed it in the museum in 1984 where it remains today and is played every Saturday at noon.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In 1955, a group of enthusiasts met in the dining room of Richard Simonton, an early investor of Muzak and formed the "American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts" (ATOE) to preserve remaining theatre organs, including those by other builders, such as Morton, Möller, Kimball, Marr and Colton, Barton, and Kilgen. The ATOE is now known as the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS). A similar society formed in the UK in 1952 known as the Cinema Organ Society.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The Wurlitzer was the iconic jukebox of the Big Band era, to the extent that Wurlitzer came in some places to be a generic name for any jukebox. (In Hungarian, "wurlitzer" still means "jukebox", for example – despite Hungarian only using the letter W for words of foreign origin). Wurlitzer's success was due to a first rate marketing department (headed by future Indiana Senator Homer Capehart), the reliable Simplex record changer, and the designs of engineer Paul Fuller who created many cabinet styles in the "light-up" design idiom. Another significant factor contributing to Wurlitzer's success was the end of Prohibition in 1933 and the resulting increase in the market for coin-operated music machines in bars and dance halls.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Wurlitzer's original jukeboxes played only ten 78-rpm records, one side only, later expanded to 24. With the advent of smaller 45 rpm records, Wurlitzer was beat to the punch by Seeburg mechanisms which could play both sides of 50 different records, yielding 100 song choices. Although Wurlitzer ceded the crown of industry leader to rival Seeburg in the 1950s, Fuller's designs are so emblematic of jukeboxes in general that 1940s era Wurlitzers are often used to invoke the Rock n' Roll period in films and television. Wurlitzer struggled on for 20 years or so and made one final effort to keep its jukebox business viable with a nostalgic 1971 model called the "1050." The model didn't sell well and only 1,600 units were produced. The jukebox line was sold to a German company in 1973.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Already in 1960 Wurlitzer founded a wholly owned subsidiary in Hullhorst, Germany, the DEUTSCHE WURLITZER GMBH, which was building electronic organs, vending machines, mostly cigarette vendors, and jukeboxes for the European market. Deutsche Wurlitzer was at that time a major factor in Europe for vending machines and coin-operated phonographs, the internal word for jukeboxes.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In 1974 when Wurlitzer in the US ceased to build jukeboxes, Deutsche Wurlitzer continued and served the European markets and partly also the USA by own distributors.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Deutsche Wurlitzer GmbH was sold in 1985 to the Australian "Nelson Group of Companies, based in Sydney, NSW, Australia.


title: Wurlitzer

text: As it is said below Gibson Guitar Corporation bought Deutsche Wurlitzer by acquiring Baldwin Piano Company, who bought the US Wurlitzer company before. The Australian owned German company continued to manufacture vending machines and jukeboxes and was acquired by Gibson Guitar around 2008. Reason was, that the major shareholder of the Gibson Group would not like the German company to have the right to use the WURLITZER name and logo. 2013 Deutsche Wurlitzer went out of business and the remaining part was sold to German investors. A try to continue with products and a new name was not successful.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Jukeboxes bearing the Wurlitzer name were in production until the company ceased manufacturing in 2013. The Gibson Guitar Corporation acquired the German jukebox and vending machine manufacturer that made them in 2006. The more recent models are able to play CDs.


title: Wurlitzer

text: From 1955 to 1982 the company also produced the Wurlitzer electric piano series, an electrically amplified piano variant.


title: Wurlitzer

text: In 1966, music store owner Howard Holman used his contacts at the Martin Band Instrument Company, owned by Wurlitzer at that time, to convince Wurlitzer to distribute a line of electric guitars manufactured by Holman's start-up company in Kansas. Wurlitzer became the sole distributor of guitars made by the Holman-Woodell Company of Neodesha, Kansas.


title: Wurlitzer

text: The guitar labels reflected Wurlitzer's Elkhart, Indiana, location, but with the exception of a handful of prototypes made above Holman's music store in Independence, Kansas, the guitars themselves were built in a small two-story building on Main Street in Neodesha. Three models were available: the Cougar, Wildcat and Gemini, all of which were functionally similar but featured different body shapes. The majority of the Kansas-made instruments were six-string guitars, with only a handful of basses being manufactured. Distinguishing features of the first Wurlitzer branded guitars are the "W"-shaped cut-out in the tremolo mounting plate and the Rock/Jazz selection rocker switch above each pick-up. Another feature of the earliest Wurlitzer electrics was that they were wired for stereo output. In 1967, Wurlitzer ceased its affiliation with the Holman-Woodell Company, possibly due to problems with the finish on Holman-Woodell guitars which resulted in many instruments being returned to the factory.


title: Wurlitzer

text: Beginning in 1967, Wurlitzer-branded guitars were manufactured by Welson in Italy, and the Wurlitzer line expanded to include semi-hollow body electric as well as acoustic guitars. Wurlitzer continued to distribute Welson-made guitars under the Wurlitzer name until 1969 when Wurlitzer stopped selling guitars under its own brand name.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Aangan () is a Pakistani period drama series based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Khadija Mastoor and originally broadcast on Hum TV from 20 December 2018 to 27 June 2019. Apart from initial few episodes, the story which is set in British India is told as a narration by Aaliya who is an ambitious girl and witnesses the stories of relations affected at the time of partition of the Indian Subcontinent, presenting the trials and tribulations as her own family was divided.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The serial was created and produced by Momina Duraid under banner MD Productions and was directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin. Based on Mastoor's novel, the screenplay was written by Mustafa Afridi. The serial stars Mawra Hocane as Aaliya, Ahsan Khan as Subhan and Safdar (dual role), Sonya Hussyn as Salma, Sajal Aly as Chammi, Ahad Raza Mir as Jameel, Hira Mani as Tehmina and Rabia Butt as Kusum.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: "Aangan" was highly anticipated with a huge star cast and a high production budget. It mostly received positive reviews from the critics and praise for cinematography, visuals and performances. It received multiple nomination at the 19th Lux Style Awards including Best Play, Best Actress for Aly and Best Director for Ehteshamuddin.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: "The story is set in partition India. Khameera Illahi is a strict and serious matriarch of the haveli, having three sons and two daughters. Muzaffar, her husband, an unprincipled man who doesn't care for his family gets his son from another woman, Israr to the haveli. Although Khameera lets him stay in the haveli, Israr is never accepted in the family. Soniya, the young and beautiful daughter of Khameera, falls in love with a poor man Subhan. When her family opposes the affair, she runs away with Subhan. She dies after a few days due to TB leaving Subhan and her infant son Safder behind. Subhan leaves his son and goes away. Muzaffar dies and Mazhar takes responsibility of both Safder and his sister Nazma, when his wife opposes the arrangement, Nazma is sent to a boarding school to complete her education. Mazher and his family keep shifting because of his job.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: A few years have passed and Majher's daughters Aaliya and Tehmina have grown up. Tehmina and Safder have feelings for each other. Aaliya and Tehmina befriend a Hindu widow, Kusum, who lives a lonely life and loves a man named Mohan. Due to the disapproval of Tehmina's mother to Tehmina's and Safder's relationship, her marriage gets fixed to Jameel, her cousin. Kusum commits suicide because of Mohan's betrayal. Safder not being courageous enough to take a stand on his and Tehmina's relationship, leaves a letter for her to get married and move forward in life. Tehmina commits suicide by eating poison. Majher gets arrested because he attacked a British officer and Aaliya and her mother shift back to haveli.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Haveli now mainly consists of six people, Khameera, her elder son, Azher who is usually busy in congress work and independence movement, his wife, his sons-Jameel, who he loathes because he is a jobless poet, and Shakeel, Chammi the abandoned daughter of Jafer and Ajhers niece, the old house help, Kareeman and Israr, who is always neglected.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Jameel keeps flirting with Chammi casually to fulfill the expenses of his education, not aware that she has actually fallen for him. He stops this after his education is completed and Aaliya comes to haveli. Jameel starts getting interested in Aaliya, while she keeps going away. Aaliya has started dreading love due to her past experience with Suman and Tehmina dying due to heartbreak.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: While Chammi gets in touch with a boy in her neighbourhood , Jameel keeps persuading Aaliya even after her constant refusal.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The novel "Aangan" was written by Khadija Mastoor in 1962, and won the Adamji Literacy Award in the next year. It was also translated into 13 languages, with "The Women's Courtyard" in English by Daisy Rockwell. While the original novel is set in the 1940s and 1950s, "Dawn Images" reported in December 2017 that this drama, which is based on that novel, is planned as a three-part series spanning a number of decades and will also feature the story of the 1980s and 2000s as in continuity.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The director Ehteshamuddin told "The News" in a March 2017 interview, "It was initially thought out as a film but now we're making a play out of it," adding, "We might turn it into a film later." He chose Mustafa Afridi to write the screenplay. Mustafa told "Daily Times" in a September 2018 interview that it took him a year to "understand the novel and a year and a half to adapt it" as a script. He commented that "all the characters have been defined in" skilled great detail by the author, and he worked hard to "stay true" to the "essence of the novel and its characters" while script-writing. He strongly hoped to "take the story forward from where" Khadija left it, into two sequels.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: It is based on the partition of the Indian Subcontinent and the resulting independence of Pakistan. It depicts a Hindustani family that was divided mercilessly before the partition of Pakistan by the unfortunate time incidents. The story also has a political take, including British Raj, All-India Muslim League and Indian National Congress.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: In a January 2018 interview, the director praised the simplicity of the novel, "It sheds light on the revolution that women went through in those times", and "Set in an inner courtyard, the story has been told from the perspective of a woman." On 17 October 2017, it was reported that Mawra Hocane had signed up for the project. On 28 March, "Dawn Images" published an interview with Mawra, in which she revealed she will be playing the protagonist and narrator of the story. The story will be told from her character's perspective, who will be seen romancing three men.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: On 19 October, it was reported that Ahsan Khan had also signed up, along with Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir. On 4 November, Sonya Hussyn signed up for the project, all in the lead cast.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Principal photography began on 7 November in Wazirabad. Sajal confirmed her shoot on 5 December, while Mawra on 27 December. Other cast in supporting roles include Abid Ali and Zaib Rehman, along with Omair Rana and Uzma Hassan. It was revealed that Ahsan will be playing double roles in the drama, and he will be romancing three women. The first spell was completed in January 2018, and then the second spell was completed in March.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Hira Mani joined the cast in third shooting spell, also as in lead role. On 19 July, it was revealed that Rabia Butt will have a cameo role in the drama and two songs have been picturised on her. Other cast include Madiha Rizvi, Shehzad Kashmiri and Ali Rizvi. The spell took place between June and August 2018 in Karachi. On 26 September, the role of Shehroz Sabzwari was also revealed. The casting was mostly done by Momina Duraid, who reportedly kept delaying the shoots to cast the right actors she wanted, as they were not available before. Khizer Idrees has served as the cinematographer for the drama.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Talking about her family background, Sonya Hussyn shared to "The Express Tribune" that she thinks she relates "to the world that "Aangan" is set in"; she revealed her role to be extended special appearance. Mawra Hocane told about her character to "The News" that they have "been developing" it "every day on set" to ensure "the sort of person Aaliya is". Ahad Raza Mir commented to "The News" on his character, "he's somebody who is on a journey of what love means, what family bonds mean". Ahsan commented to "Something Haute" that the "story revolves around the characters played by Mawra, Ahad, Sajal, Sonya, Hira and" himself, adding that they all are "connected to each other in a certain way which is very different". He further told "The News" that the drama is shot in "a very unique way", like never have been "seen before on Pakistani television". Sajal Aly told "Gulf Times" that every character "is equally important", having "its own journey", as it "follows multiple beautiful characters" and is "about everyone involved". She added that "it focuses on the partition of a family" as "physical and emotional divide of a country".


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The curtain raiser, hosted by Sanam Jang, was telecast live on 13 December 2018. The drama began on 20 December, and aired an episode every Thursday.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The drama marked the second appearance of Ahsan Khan with Sonya Hussyn and with Mawra Hocane after the "Haasil" (2016), and Ahsan with Sonya after "Marasim". It also marked the second collaboration of Ahad Raza Mir with Mawra after "Sammi" (2017), and with Sajal Aly and Hira Mani after the "Yaqeen Ka Safar" (2017). It was the fifth collaboration of the director with MD Productions after "Aseerzadi" (2013), "Sadqay Tumhare" (2014), "Preet Na Kariyo Koi" (2015) also starring Ahsan and Hira, and "Udaari" (2016) while director's third collaboration also with writer after "Aseerzadi" (2013) and "Mohabbat.PK" (2017).


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: "Aangan"'s first episode was aired on 20 December 2018 while before the series premiere introductional program of the show "The Curtain Raiser" was aired on 13 December 2018. It aired weekly episode every Thursday at 8:00pm succeeding Duraid's "Main Khayal Hoon Kisi Aur Ka". It was aired on Hum Europe in UK, on Hum TV USA in USA and Hum TV Mena in UAE, with same timings and 20 December 2018 being the premier date. All International broadcasting aired the series in accordance with their standard times.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: State channel PTV Home acquired the rights of syndication of series and started to telecast it from February 2020.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: After the series premiere, Hum TV announced that the episodes of the serial will not be uploaded on YouTube. Later in April 2020, Mawra Hocane who played the role of Aaliya revealed that Aangan will be released on a digital platform with some editings.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The series received mostly positive reviews from critics with praise towards the performances, visuals and cinematography. Aly's performance received widespread critical acclaim as is regarded as on of her best.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Aangan received positive reviews on its first episode. Reviewing the first episode of the drama, Hareem Zafar wrote to "Youlin Magazine" that "a promising start" with "visually aesthetic shots of the Haveli, classical music as background score, powerful dialogue delivery and masterful acting skills".


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: Aly's performance was called inspirational by "The News". Maira Kiari of "DAWN IMAGES" ranked her performance and as the top 6 performances of television in 2019. After the concluding of the serial, Buraq Shabbir of "The News International" praised Sajal's performance and wrote, "Sajal Aly stole the limelight and overshadowed everyone and everything else surrounding the recently concluded play." While writing for Masala.com, Mahwash Ajaz praised the Aly's character and performance and stating, "Sajal Ali’s ‘Chammi’ is The Heroine Television Needed."


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The show was popular in UK where it mostly topped the chart among the Urdu television serials while the 15th episode of the show took the lead among all the Asian television shows and was watched by 49,200 viewers – peaking at 50,500 viewers according to the exclusive data obtained by BizAsia.


title: Aangan (2018 TV series)

text: The various soundtracks were prepared for the serial. The original soundtrack "Haari Haari" was performed by Farhan Saeed and Naveed Nashad, lyrics were written by Imran Raza while composed by Nashad also. The other soundtracks such as "Bholi Bano" and "Wavella" were played and picturized on a single specific occasion.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: Grégory Villemin (24 August 1980 – 16 October 1984) was a French boy from Lépanges-sur-Vologne, Vosges, who was abducted from his home and murdered at the age of four. His body was found four kilometers (2.5 miles) away in the River Vologne near Docelles. The case became known as the Grégory Affair () and for decades has received public interest and media coverage in France. The murder remains unsolved.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: From September 1981 to October 1984, Grégory's parents, Jean-Marie and Christine Villemin, and his paternal grandparents, Albert and Monique Villemin, received numerous anonymous letters and phone calls from a man threatening revenge against Jean-Marie for some unknown offense. The communications indicated he possessed detailed knowledge of the extended Villemin family.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: Shortly after 5:00 pm on 16 October 1984, Christine Villemin reported Grégory to police as missing after she noticed he was no longer playing in the Villemins' front yard. At 5:30 pm, Gregory's uncle Michel Villemin informed the family he had just been told by an anonymous caller that the boy had been taken and thrown into the River Vologne. At 9:00 pm, Grégory's body was found in the Vologne with his hands and feet bound with rope and a woolen hat pulled down over his face.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: On 17 October, the Villemins received another anonymous letter that said, "I have taken vengeance". From then on, the unidentified author was referred to in the media as "Le Corbeau" ("the Crow"), French slang for an anonymous letter-writer, a term made popular by the 1943 film "Le Corbeau".


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: Bernard Laroche, a cousin of Jean-Marie Villemin, was implicated in the murder by handwriting experts and by a statement from Laroche's sister-in-law Murielle Bolle. He was taken into custody on 5 November 1984. Bolle later recanted her testimony, saying it had been coerced by police. Laroche, who denied any part in the crime or being "the Crow", was released from custody on 4 February 1985. Jean-Marie vowed in front of reporters that he would kill Laroche.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: On 25 March 1985, handwriting experts identified Grégory's mother Christine as the likely author of the anonymous letters. On 29 March Jean-Marie shot and killed Laroche as he was leaving for work. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years in prison. With credit for time served awaiting trial and a partial suspension of the sentence, he was released in December 1987 after having served two and a half years.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: In July 1985, Christine was charged with murdering Grégory. Pregnant at the time, she launched a hunger strike that lasted eleven days. Christine was freed after an appeals court cited flimsy evidence and the absence of a coherent motive. She reportedly collapsed and miscarried, losing one of the twins she was carrying shortly after being questioned by authorities. She was cleared of the charges on 2 February 1993.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: The case was reopened in 2000 to allow for DNA testing on a stamp used to send one of the anonymous letters, but the tests were inconclusive. In December 2008, following an application by the Villemins, a judge ordered the case reopened to allow DNA testing of the letters, the rope found on Grégory's body, and other evidence. This testing too proved inconclusive. Further DNA testing in April 2013 on Grégory's clothes and shoes was also inconclusive.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: On 14 June 2017, based on new evidence, three people were arrested: Grégory's great-aunt and great-uncle, as well as an aunt—the widow of Michel, who died in 2010. The aunt was released, while the great-aunt and great-uncle invoked their right to remain silent. Murielle Bolle was also arrested and held for thirty-six days before being released, as were the others who had been detained.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: On 11 July 2017, the magistrate in charge of the first investigation, Jean-Michel Lambert, committed suicide. In a farewell letter to a local newspaper, Lambert cited the increasing pressure he felt as a result of the case being reopened as the reason for ending his life.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: In 2018, Bolle authored a book on her involvement in the case, "Breaking the Silence". In the book, she maintained her innocence and that of Laroche, and blamed police for coercing her into implicating him. In June 2017, Bolle's cousin Patrick Faivre told police that Bolle's family had physically abused her in 1984 in order to make her recant her initial testimony against Laroche. Bolle accused Faivre of lying about the reason why she recanted her initial statement. In June 2019, she was indicted for aggravated defamation after Faivre lodged a complaint with police.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: Monique Villemin, Grégory's paternal grandmother, died from COVID-19 complications on 19 April 2020 at the age of 88. During the 2017 investigation, Monique was named by investigators as the author of a 1990 threatening letter sent to Judge Maurice Simon, who had succeeded Jean-Michel Lambert as investigating judge on the case in 1987.


title: Murder of Grégory Villemin

text: The murder and investigation have been the subject of several documentary series including "The Curse of the Vologne" (France 3 2018) and "Who Killed Little Gregory?" (Netflix 2019).


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Neverwinter Nights is a third-person role-playing video game developed by BioWare. Interplay Entertainment was originally set to publish the game, but financial difficulties led to it being taken over by Infogrames, who released the game under their Atari range of titles. It was released for Microsoft Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare later released a Linux client in June 2003, requiring a purchased copy of the game to play. MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" is set in the fantasy world of the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting, with the game mechanics based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3rd edition rules. The game engine was designed around an Internet-based model for running a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), which would allow end users to host game servers. Up to 64 players could connect to a single server. The intent was to create a potentially infinite massively multiplayer game framework. This game was named after the original "Neverwinter Nights" online game, the first graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which operated from 1991 to 1997 on AOL.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The original release of "Neverwinter Nights" includes the game engine, a game campaign that can be played as single player or in multiplayer mode, and on Windows releases, the Aurora toolset used for creating custom content that would run in the same engine. Three expansion packs were subsequently released for the game: "" in June 2003; "" in December 2003; and "" in November 2004. BioWare began selling premium modules through an online store in late 2004. The game's success led to a sequel, "Neverwinter Nights 2", released on October 31, 2006.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The game was developed by 65 people. Development time was more than a year and the project had a multi-million dollar budget. The game was announced to use the Omen engine as a replacement for the Infinity engine which was not good enough for the new game.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: BioWare intended to create a game system which emulated the interactions in a pen-and-paper version of "Dungeons & Dragons" including the role of Dungeon Master. They worked alongside the "AD&D" to ensure the game framework was faithful to the tabletop game.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: A posting at the "Neverwinter Nights 2" Vault on June 4, 2008 contained information from what appeared to be original "Neverwinter Nights" documentation. At the BioWare forums, "Neverwinter" lead designer Rob Bartel confirmed that the "series of excerpts from the game's design doc" were not a hoax. When asked if the plans were altered due to time constraints, Bartel referenced various legal difficulties that the company was working through.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The original scenario supplied with the "Neverwinter Nights" is the campaign. It comprises approximately sixty hours of gameplay. The gameplay centers on the development of a player character (PC) through adventuring, who ultimately becomes the hero of the story. The PC is tasked with defeating a powerful cult, collecting four reagents required to stop a plague, and thwarting an attack on the city of Neverwinter, located along the Sword Coast of Faerûn, in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of "Dungeons & Dragons". The first and final chapters of the campaign deal with the city of Neverwinter itself, but the lengthy mid-story requires the player to venture into the surrounding countryside and travel northward to the city of Luskan. Along the way, many optional side quests are made available.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: As in the "Dungeons & Dragons" tabletop game, the first thing a player must do is create a new character. The game provides a set of ready-made characters, or the player may create one from scratch. A series of panels are presented for selection of the character's gender, race, character class, alignment, ability scores (such as strength and intelligence), specialized abilities called skills and feats, in-game appearance, and name. This process grants significant allowance for customization; one can be, for example, an outdoorsman (ranger) or a healer (cleric), then choose skills and feats that would work well with that class in the game.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Following a small prelude, there are four chapters in the original game, with each chapter following part of the general storyline. Within each chapter, there are many quests, subquests, and mini-storylines provided to the player. Depending on the specific quests completed, and the unique items kept, some storylines are continued throughout the entire game, such as the Henchman's or Aribeth's tales. Completing many of the side quests will give the player's character more experience and special items, making them improve more rapidly and continue to make the game easier as the player progresses. These improvements come in the form of levels earned through experience points, with each level providing the protagonist with a set of enhancements as selected by the player.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The game's mechanics are based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3rd edition rule set; the outcome of most actions, such as combat and skills usage, are randomly determined by dice rolls. For example, when a fighter attacks, the computer would digitally "roll" a 20-sided die (called a d20 in-game) to determine if he hits the target. On a success, another die is rolled to determine the damage dealt, with powerful weapons assigned to dice with a greater number of sides, due to their ability to do more damage. Although the outcome of nearly all actions is determined by dice rolls, the player does not see them, with the results calculated in the background. However, the player has the option to display the outcomes of these rolls. The player can control the game almost entirely via the mouse.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: A robust multiplayer component separates "Neverwinter Nights" from previous "Dungeons & Dragons" games, as this allows players to play on many different servers hosting games. Depending on hardware and bandwidth, each server can support up to ninety-six players on the same server application, plus Dungeon Masters (DM) to run the games, if desired. "Neverwinter Nights" game modules are run in a variety of genres and themes, including persistent worlds (which are similar to MUD), combat arenas (player versus player modules), whole servers dedicated to sexually oriented roleplay,


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Because "Neverwinter Nights" lacks a global chat function aside from the supported GameSpy, players typically join pickup games through the game's multiplayer interface, or schedule games in advance with friends. Matchmaking sites can facilitate scheduling of games, and the experience is much like traditional pen-and-paper role-playing games. Persistent worlds do this work for them by inviting players to visit their website and continue to roleplay there.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: An important feature of "Neverwinter Nights" is the Dungeon Master Client: a tool that allows an individual to take the role of the Dungeon Master, who guides the players through the story and has complete control of the server. Previous games such as "", based on the printed gamebooks by White Wolf Publishing, utilized this feature to a limited extent. When it was released, "Neverwinter Nights" was viewed as the first successful implementation of the feature. The DM Client allows players to participate in regular campaigns, while also allowing persistent world servers to flourish by permitting the DMs of those servers to take control of non-player characters (NPCs) in mid-game for added realism and flexibility. The Dungeon Master Client also permits the user to spawn and control masses of monsters and NPCs much in the same way as units would be controlled in a real-time strategy game.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" ships with the Aurora toolset, which allows players to create custom modules for the game. These modules may take the form of online multiplayer worlds, single player adventures, character trainers or technology demos. Additionally, several third party utilities have further expanded the community's ability to create custom content for the game. By the end of 2002, there were over 1,000 custom adventures available.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Custom content creators are known as builders in the "Neverwinter Nights" community. The Aurora toolset allows builders to create map areas using a tile system; the appearance and surface textures of the area are defined by the area's selected tileset. Builders can overlay placeable objects onto areas, and use the built-in scripting language NWScript, which is based on the C programming language, to run cut scenes, quests, mini-games and conversations. Third party utilities allow builders to create custom content for most aspects of the game, ranging from new playable races and character classes to new tilesets, monsters and equipment. Custom content is added to the game in the form of hakpaks. Builders have used the Aurora toolset in combination with hakpaks to create playing experiences beyond the scope of the original campaign. Additionally, the Aurora toolset has allowed for the creation of a number of ongoing persistent worlds modules.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Despite the game's age, the "Neverwinter Nights" custom content community remains active. The community, mostly centered on the Neverwinter Vault, has created over 4,000 modules for the game, among them, many award-winning adventures and series such as "Dreamcatcher". The Aurora toolset is not available for the Linux and Macintosh versions of "Neverwinter Nights". The open source project neveredit aims to port the toolset features to these platforms. The game's module-making legacy was continued by "Neverwinter Nights 2".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The story begins with the player character (PC), the protagonist of the story, being sent to recover four creatures (dryad, intellect devourer, yuan-ti, and cockatrice) known collectively as the "Waterdhavian creatures" under the guidance of Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande. The Waterdhavian creatures are needed to make a cure for the Wailing Death, a plague that is sweeping the city of Neverwinter and forcing a quarantine. With the help of Fenthick Moss, Aribeth's love interest, and Desther, Fenthick's friend, the PC is able to retrieve the creatures. As they collect the creatures, they are attacked by mysterious assassins from a cult that is behind the spreading of the plague.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: As the cure is being made, Castle Neverwinter is attacked by the minions of Desther, who betrays the heroes. Desther takes the completed cure and escapes the castle, with the hero and Fenthick in pursuit. When they catch up to Desther, he surrenders after a short battle. Desther is sentenced to burn at the stake, and Fenthick, despite being unaware of Desther's true intentions, is sentenced to hang. The protagonist meets up with Aribeth and Neverwinter's spymaster, Aarin Gend, to begin searching for the cult responsible for the plague and the attack on Neverwinter. The PC retrieves the diaries of dead cultists and letters from a person named Maugrim Korothir, which convince Aribeth that the cult's headquarters are in Luskan. Aribeth goes ahead to Luskan, and the hero follows after speaking once more to Gend.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: After arriving in Luskan, the protagonist hears rumors that Aribeth has defected and joined the cultists. These fears are confirmed when she is found meeting with Maugrim and Morag, Queen of the reptilian Old Ones. They seek a group of magical relics called the Words of Power. The protagonist retrieves all of the Words of Power except for one held by the cult. The hero discovers that the Words open a portal to a pocket world inside the Source Stone, where Morag and the other Old Ones sealed themselves long ago to avoid extinction during a primordial ice age. The protagonist confronts Aribeth, and depending on how the meeting is handled, she either surrenders to the PC or they are forced to kill her. The hero battles Maugrim for the final Word, then uses the Words to enter the Source Stone and battle with Morag. After Morag's death, the protagonist escapes the Stone as the world inside it implodes.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: For the launch of "Neverwinter Nights", publisher Infogrames shipped 1 million copies to stores, with half allocated to North America and the rest to international markets. In an experimental move, the company priced the game at $55, an increase over the $50 typical of computer games at the time. CNN Money columnist Chris Morris reported that "gamers complained loudly about" this decision. The game proceeded to sell 125,000 copies by June 27, after its release on the 18th. It debuted at #1 on The NPD Group's computer game sales chart during the June 16–22 period, and held the position for two weeks, before being displaced by "". However, "Neverwinter Nights" continued to place in the chart's top 10 consistently for its first three months of release. By July 23, the game's global sales had surpassed 200,000 units. NPD reported North American sales of 330,000 copies by late December, which brought in revenues of $18 million. It was ultimately the region's 11th-best-selling computer game of 2002.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Greg Zeschuk remarked in June 2003 that "Neverwinter Nights" had sold above 1 million copies, before the release of its first expansion pack. In the United States alone, the game sold 510,000 copies and earned $23.2 million by August 2006. At that time, "Edge" declared it the country's 26th-best-selling computer game released since January 2000. It also received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, which indicates sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. Combined global sales of "Neverwinter Nights" and its expansion packs surpassed 2.6 million units by early 2005; by August 2006, the games totaled 1.3 million sales in the United States alone. Discounting its expansions, the original "Neverwinter Nights" ultimately sold 2.2 million copies, as of 2007.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: In general, "Neverwinter Nights" was met with positive reviews, receiving "universal acclaim" according to Metacritic. GameSpot referred to it as "one of those exceedingly rare games that has a lot to offer virtually everyone, even if they aren't already into RPGs", and praised it for its campaign, its Aurora toolset, and its graphics. The publication later named it the best computer game of June 2002. "PC Gamer US" called it "a total package—a PC gaming classic for the ages", and said that its "storyline [is] as persuasive as any I’ve encountered in a fantasy roleplaying game". Chris Chan of "New Straits Times" said, ""Neverwinter Nights" is every role-playing gamer's dream". Allgame found that the game's story was "humdrum" and "mediocre". Mark Meadows of "The Wisconsin State Journal" agreed, saying the game was too focused on technical details. Victor Godinez of "Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service" did not care for the turn-based combat system, preferring to have direct control. He also said the controls were difficult to use occasionally.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "GamePro" noted the game's graphics as being "gorgeous" and its sound as "untouchable", and GameZone likewise praised its visuals, specifically mentioning its combat animation and spell effects as being well done. GameSpy was not as impressed by the graphics, saying "The biggest, and arguably the only, glaring flaw in the game, is its graphics. You can tell that this game has been in development for five years[...]"; however, they praised its voice acting and music. Godinez agreed, and also liked the game's audio, noting in particular the scraps of conversation that can be heard in the background throughout the city.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Allgame praised "Neverwinter Night"s DM tools, calling the game's level creation options "impressive" and the multiplayer options "great". "GamePro" thought that "Neverwinter Nights" is the closest that any video game has come to accurately representing the full "Dungeons & Dragons" rules, a statement further reinforced by Greg Kasavin of GameSpot, who said that "Neverwinter Nights isn't the first "Dungeons & Dragons" game for the computer to make use of the pen-and-paper game's 3rd Edition rules, but it's the first to implement them so well". GameZone said that the Aurora Toolset was one of the "best features" of the game. John Breeden II of "The Washington Post" said including the tool set was "smartest thing Bioware did". He went on to say that giving such tools to the players became more commonplace, but was a bold move at the time of the game's release. Chan commented, "you could use the Aurora tools to create a dream world".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Peter Suciu of "Newsweek" magazine called "Neverwinter Nights" "possibly the richest fantasy PC experience ever created." According to GameSpy, ""Neverwinter"'s contribution to D&D gaming is always a hot topic and a source of argument."


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" was named the best computer role-playing game of 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), "PC Gamer US" and GameSpot. RPG Vault declared it "Product of the Year", while "Computer Games Magazine" ranked it the year's second-best computer game across all genres. The latter publication's editors wrote that the "single-player game is merely passable", but they highly praised "Neverwinter Nights" content-creation tools, and argued that the game is "what computer role-playing games should have been all along".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: The game won special awards for its technology from "Computer Games", the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) and RPG Vault, the latter two for its network programming and Aurora Toolset, respectively. Aurora was also a nominee in the AIAS's "PC Simulation" category. RPG Vault's staff hailed the tool as "an unprecedented combination of power, flexibility and ease of use." "Neverwinter Nights" received further nominations in the AIAS's special categories for "Innovation in PC Gaming" and "Game Design", and in RPG Vault's categories for music and writing, but lost these to other titles. However, it did win RPG Vault's "Outstanding Achievement in Community Building" prize.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" was a runner-up for the "Role-Playing Game of the Year" awards of "Computer Gaming World", IGN, GameSpy and RPG Vault, all of which went to "". The editors of "Computer Gaming World" wrote that "Neverwinter Nights" "gave gamers a fabulous toolset for creating their own adventures—too bad the single-player campaign prompted a staffwide shrugging of shoulders." It was also nominated as the overall best computer game of 2002 by GameSpot, "PC Gamer US" and the AIAS, and as the year's best game on any platform by the GDCA. These prizes went variously to "Warcraft III", "Battlefield 1942" and "Metroid Prime".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: IGN ranked "Neverwinter Nights" No. 4 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. Ian Williams of "Paste" rated the game #4 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames" in 2015. The game has inspired a number of fan-made films made using machinima techniques of synchronizing video footage from a game to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio, such as "BloodSpell", and "Neverending Nights".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Since the original release of "Neverwinter Nights", several in-game portraits have been modified in patches due to their having been copied from outside sources. In another instance, the Canadian Red Cross complained to BioWare about the appearance of the Red Cross symbol on the in-game item "Healer's Kit", as part of a long-running attempt to discourage outside usage of the symbol. This resulted in the Red Cross symbol being removed from the Healer's Kit through patches.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "", a role-playing video game based in the "Star Wars" universe, was also released by BioWare using a modified version of the Aurora engine of "Neverwinter Nights", called the Odyssey Engine. The sequel, "", also used it. Because of this, modders have been able to modify these games using some "Neverwinter Nights" modding tools. "The Witcher", a role-playing video game by CD Projekt Red, is also based on the Aurora engine of "Neverwinter Nights". BioWare used "Neverwinter Nights" and its toolset to develop prototypes and mock-ups of various areas and scenarios for "".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" received an expansion pack, "", in June 2003. Its story line concerns a student sent out to recover some stolen magical objects. The story begins in the Silver Marches, moving toward the desert of Anauroch and the old Netherese city of Undrentide. A second expansion "" was released in December 2003. The story continued where "Shadows of Undrentide" ended, with a character of at least 15th level, and led into the vast subterranean world known as the Underdark. The first chapter of the story took place in the Undermountain dungeon beneath the city of Waterdeep. "" was released in November 2004, and features three premium modules: the award-winning "Kingmaker", "Shadowguard", and "Witch's Wake".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Atari and BioWare helped to promote and release free downloadable hakpaks, models, and tileset expansion packs, which greatly expanded the possibilities of mod-making. The "Players Resource Consortium" ("PRC") was released in early December 2003, and is a group of hakpaks adding classes, races, skills, and spells to the game. The "PRC" has roughly three times the number of prestige classes the original game had. It also adds dozens of epic spells, and many normal spells that make better use of BioWare's Aurora engine. Psionic powers have also been included. The "Community Expansion Pack" ("CEP"), originally released in March 2004 (last updated in January 2017), is based on the "Neverwinter Nights" community's fan-made material. This freely downloadable expansion was compiled by members of the community. It combines a selection of previously released custom content into one group of hakpaks.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: In late 2004, BioWare launched its online store and started selling what it called "premium modules" as part of its digital distribution program. This initiative was led by BioWare's Live Team Lead Designer, Rob Bartel. These smaller-scale adventures introduced new storylines and gameplay, and include new music and art that BioWare integrated into later patches to the core game. According to BioWare, the revenue generated by sales of the premium modules would be used to support their fan community and provide ongoing updates and improvements to the game. The modules that are sold in the BioWare store require an active Internet connection to play, even when played in single player mode. The modules in the "Kingmaker" expansion were stripped of this requirement, but are only available for Windows systems. The modules included with "Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition" do not require Internet access to play. In August 2009, BioWare discontinued its selling of premium modules due to a request made by Atari. On June 16, 2011, the "Neverwinter Nights" digital rights management (DRM) authentication server was temporarily taken down as a reaction by Electronic Arts to the "Neverwinter Nights" store being hacked and customer data stolen. Premium modules which were purchased via BioWare's store could not be played during that time because they could not connect to the server to validate the purchase, though DRM-free modules were unaffected. The modules "Kingmaker", "Shadowguard", and "Witch's Wake" were sold as part of the "Diamond Edition" package.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Premium modules were eventually discontinued. Three premium modules were known to be in development before cancellation. Two of them ended up being free downloads, while the third, a planned sequel to "Witch's Wake", was never released. "Hex Coda" by Stefan Gagne, the first cancelled premium module, was released to Neverwinter Vault in May 2005. The story was a mix of fantasy and science fiction and involved the protagonist dealing with the machinations of a multinational corporation called Cathedral. A sequel was in development, but was cancelled. In August 2006, Ossian Studios Inc., headed up by Alan Miranda, a former producer at BioWare, released the second canceled premium module to the Vault: "Darkness over Daggerford". The story takes place in and around Daggerford and has been compared favorably to "Baldur's Gate 2" in terms of its scope. Characters start at the 8th level. The module includes a cinematic intro (like the main campaign) and a world map. Darkness over Daggerford's status as a quasi-official expansion pack was supported by the next release of the team, this time a fully official one: for Neverwinter Nights 2.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: A module for the enhanced edition titled "Tyrants of the Moonsea" was released by Ossian Studios in August 2019. It is based on an incomplete module by Luke Scull, and was designed with his help as well as that of modders and designers from the website "Arelith".


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: A sequel to "Neverwinter Nights", "Neverwinter Nights 2", was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company with a long history with BioWare. According to BioWare, the change of developer was due to BioWare's business with other titles, such as "Mass Effect" and "". "Neverwinter Nights 2" shipped in November 2006.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: On August 23, 2010, Atari announced Cryptic Studios would be developing "Neverwinter", an online role-playing game based on the book series of the same name by R.A. Salvatore. It is based on Wizards of the Coast's global property "Dungeons & Dragons" rules and feature the titular city Neverwinter. It was scheduled for an early 2013 release, and was ultimately released on June 20, 2013.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights" has been used by colleges and universities for a variety of educational purposes. It has been used at West Nottinghamshire College in the United Kingdom as a means of delivering key skills and of showing IT designers how to understand the coding in the game. The Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University has used it as a basis for the creation of "", where Shakespeare's dramatic history of Richard III and The War of the Roses can be interactively explored. The game and the Aurora toolset were also used at Macquarie University in Australia. The University of Alberta has offered a video game design course which uses "Neverwinter Nights" and the Aurora Toolset as the platform for teaching and course projects. The University of Minnesota has used the game to teach journalism students how to gather facts and information for news events with a modified modern setting for the game that involves interviewing witnesses and doing library research; in a modified game, students would work in pairs putting together a story about a train accident that causes a toxic chemical spill. "Neverwinter Nights" has also been used as an interface for some Moodle activity types.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Atari released subsequent editions of the game following its first release in 2002. These editions are:


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Beamdog announced the upcoming release of "Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition" on November 20, 2017. This version includes fixes made by the community since the last release, graphic improvements, premium modules, and the return of a multiplayer server list that was lost when GameSpy shut down. A digital deluxe version includes the soundtrack and the rest of the premium modules. A pre-release version was made available to purchase on November 21.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: "Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition" launched on Steam on March 27, 2018 and on Google Play for Android on December 4, 2018.


title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

text: Skybound Games, a division of Skybound Entertainment, released Beamdog's remastered version for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 3, 2019.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) is a critically endangered crocodile. Its population is very small, and they can only be found in the Orinoco river basin in Colombia and Venezuela. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is one of the most endangered species of crocodiles. It is a very large species of crocodilian; males have been reported up to in the past, but such sizes do not exist today, being a more widely accepted maximum size. A large male today may attain in length and can weigh up to , while females are substantially smaller with the largest likely to weigh around . Sexual dimorphism is not as profound as in other crocodilian species. The coloration is light even in adults.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The biology of the Orinoco crocodile is poorly documented in the wild, mostly due its small population. It is thought to have a more piscivorous diet with an opportunistic nature, resulting in generalist predatory behavior. The Orinoco crocodile is an apex predator, and will take the opportunity to prey on a variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles, including caimans on occasion. The prey base is mostly made up of large predatory fish, challenging the general view by locals complaining about crocodiles hunting local fish to very low numbers. Despite its large size, the Orinoco crocodile rarely poses a threat to humans, despite several reports. Reproduction takes place in the dry season when the water level is lower. Orinoco crocodiles are hole nesters, just like the related Nile, freshwater, and saltwater crocodiles, and they dig holes in the sand to lay their eggs. The females guard the nests and young for several years.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The genus "Crocodylus" likely originated in Africa and radiated outwards towards Southeast Asia and the Americas, although an Australia/Asia origin has also been considered. Phylogenetic evidence supports "Crocodylus" diverging from its closest recent relative, the extinct "Voay" of Madagascar, around 25 million years ago, near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: Below is a cladogram based on a 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data, as revised by the 2021 Hekkala "et al." paleogenomics study using DNA extracted from the extinct "Voay".


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The Orinoco crocodile can be recognised by its relatively long snout, which is narrower than that of the somewhat similar-looking American crocodile. This species generally has a pale tan hide, though at least three coloration variations are known, with some almost completely yellowish, and some a dark brownish-gray. The skin can change colour over long periods of time; this phenomenon has been recorded in other species that can gradually change the amount of melanin in their skin. These crocodiles have dark-brown markings, which present as more pronounced bands in younger specimens and as scattered markings on mature ones. One individual measuring and weighing had a bite force of .


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The Orinoco crocodile ranks among the largest living reptiles, as well as the largest predator in the Americas. It is arguably, on average, the largest crocodilian in the Americas; while American crocodiles, black caimans and the American alligator may approach similar dimensions, the Orinoco crocodile may be (or had been, when in healthy numbers) slightly longer. Given its possible maximum sizes, the Orinoco crocodile may rank as the third largest extant true crocodile, after the saltwater crocodile and Nile crocodile (which is closely related to it, despite its substantially different range), and additionally rank 4th amongst all extant crocodilians behind the gharial, though there is little to suggest that Orinoco specimens in modern times can rival these species. Sexual maturity for Orinoco crocodiles is obtained for females at around while that of males seems to be obtained around length, with most adult crocodiles of the species exceeding . Average length of wild adult females from 1985 to 1992 was found to be while that of males is not known to have been surveyed at that time. If not culled by humans, mature males easily exceed and attain a length of as much as in length as they grow throughout life, perhaps weighing up to in big specimens, while females may grow over the expected size of in length and may sometimes exceed . According to Guinness Records, the average length of adults that they were able to examine was only and the largest specimen found firsthand was . The largest specimen historically reported was shot in 1800, and allegedly measured at , although the source is considered reliable, unfortunately, no voucher specimen is known from this. Because of extensive hunting for their skins in the 20th century, such giants do not exist today, and modern Orinoco crocodiles have not been reported to exceed in length. Merchán listed the maximum total length attainable for a male as and the maximum length of a female as .


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: This species is restricted to the Orinoco river basin in Colombia and Venezuela. They have been occasionally reported on the island of Trinidad, but this has not been confirmed, and witnesses may have mistaken an American crocodile for the rarer species. This crocodile was once thought to have inhabited a wide range of riparian habitats, from tropical forests to the streams of the Andes foothills. Today, this species is restricted to the Llanos savanna and associated seasonal freshwater rivers.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: Little study has gone into the dietary biology of Orinoco crocodiles but from eye-witness accounts and partial studies from captivity and crocodile farms, the majority of the Orinoco crocodile's diet appears to consists of large fish. The species' relatively narrow snout is ideally suited to minimize water resistance in capturing such aquatic prey. However, as an opportunistic apex predator, virtually any animal living within its range could be considered a potential meal, such as invertebrates, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Despite having a rather elongated skull, its base snout is wide, hinting to a generalist diet. Additionally, as they age, mature males in particular appear to manifest a broadened snout, presumably due to a shift to being able to take larger prey as is seen in several other large crocodile species. It stalks both aquatic and terrestrial prey. As a large adult, terrestrial prey may include monkeys, deer, birds, other reptiles, domestic animals, and even occasionally other large predators if the opportunity arises. Similar to many of the larger crocodile species, the Orinoco crocodile has also been observed catching and eating smaller species of crocodilians, such as adult common caimans and sometimes cannibalizing smaller individuals of its own kind.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: Attacks on humans have been reported, but this is highly unlikely to be a common behavior today, given the very small population of the species and its relative isolation from large human settlements. Historically attacks were not unusual and on his trip to the region in 1800, natives told Alexander von Humboldt that two or three adult people were killed per year by Orinoco crocodiles. A small number of better documented fatal attacks were reported in the 1900s–1930s when the species was still relatively common. The only well-documented recent attack, on a fisherman in 2009, was serious but not fatal. A second survivor was reported in 2011 to live in La Palmita at the Cojedes River, but any details of this attack (including when exactly it happened) are lacking.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: When water recedes in the dry season, Orinoco crocodiles retreat to burrows they excavate into the riverbanks. The adult pair mates during the drier period of the year. Adult males attract the females by roaring. The females often outnumber the males two to one and appear to select the males with the deepest roars. In a reintroduced population, only 6 of 14 potential adult males parented over 90% of eggs laid. Usually 14 weeks after mating, the female crocodile will dig a nest and lay about 40 eggs. It is a hole-nester, as are all crocodilians, and it usually makes its nest on a sand bank. The eggs incubate under a mixture of soil and rotting vegetation for around three months. The most common predator of buried eggs are tegu lizards although the tegus are sometimes caught and killed by the mother crocodile. During the night the young hatch and call to their mother; she digs them out of the nest and carries them to the water, which is considerably higher at this point. Young Orinoco crocodiles are often at risk from predation by American black vultures, tegu lizards, anacondas, caimans, coatis, jaguars, and other carnivores, though these species are sometimes also caught and killed by the defending mother crocodile. Adults have no predators except for humans. Females have defended pods of juveniles for over three years, though closer to one year to independence is generally most common. A study of captive Orinoco crocodiles noted the aggressive behavior of adults while nesting and noted that the normally relatively docile crocodilians could not be approached while they were actively brooding. Without persecution, it is possible that Orinoco crocodiles may reach a lifespan of 70–80 years.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The Orinoco crocodile is highly endangered due to excessive hunting for its hide. During the 1940s to the 1960s, thousands of these animals were slaughtered in the Orinoco River and the Llanos wetlands, and the species came very close to extinction. The Orinoco crocodile was given protected status in the 1970s, but has yet to recover. Today, it is protected both in Colombia and Venezuela, and also included on Appendix I by CITES. In addition to hunting for its hide, more recent threats include the collection of juveniles for sale in the live animal trade, pollution, and the proposal of a dam in the upper Orinoco River region. Another problem is the increased population of spectacled caimans, a smaller crocodilian that can outcompete the Orinoco crocodile for fish due to its much larger population and much more accelerated breeding rates.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: It's unclear how many individuals remain in the wild, but estimates range between 250 and 1500. The largest subpopulation in Venezuela is in Cojedes and Sarare, with fewer than 500 adults remaining. A number of other smaller subpopulations exist.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: In November 2007, 50 individuals were held in zoos registered by Species360, of which the largest population, 35 individuals, were kept in the Dallas World Aquarium. Additionally, a large number of individuals are held at captive-breeding facilities in Venezuela. Since the early 1990s, a large number of hatchlings have been released both into private ranchlands (especially in the Llanos where nature-oriented tourism is important for the local economy) and in national parks in Venezuela. While six Venezuelan captive-breeding programs continue today, many are plagued by lack of funds or staff, as well as conflicts between private and state-owned facilities.


title: Orinoco crocodile

text: The Orinoco crocodile became part of "Proyecto Vida Silvestre", a program launched in 2014 to protect 10 wildlife species of Colombia's Llanos. Thanks to that program, between May 2015 and February 2016, 41 orinoco crocodiles were reintroduced at El Tuparro National Natural Park in eastern Colombia.


title: Ship's wheel

text: A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to steer that vessel and control its course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms part of the helm. It is connected to a mechanical, electric servo, or hydraulic system which alters the horizontal angle of the vessel's rudder relative to its hull. In some modern ships the wheel is replaced with a simple toggle that remotely controls an electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic drive for the rudder, with a rudder position indicator presenting feedback to the helmsman.


title: Ship's wheel

text: Until the invention of the ship's wheel, the helmsman relied on a tiller—a horizontal bar fitted directly to the top of the rudder post—or a whipstaff—a vertical stick acting on the arm of the ship's tiller. Near the start of the 18th century, a large number of vessels appeared using the ship's wheel design, but historians are unclear when the approach was first used.


title: Ship's wheel

text: A traditional ship's wheel is composed of eight cylindrical wooden spokes (though sometimes as few as six or as many as ten) shaped like balusters and all joined at a central wooden hub or "nave" (sometimes covered with a brass "nave plate") which housed the axle. The square hole at the centre of the hub through which the axle ran is called the "drive square" and was often lined with a brass plate (and therefore called a "brass boss", though this term was used more often to refer to a brass hub and nave plate) which was frequently etched with the name of the wheel's manufacturer. The outer rim is composed of sections each made up of stacks of three "felloes", the "facing felloe", the "middle felloe", and the "after felloe". Because each group of three felloes at one time made up a quarter of the distance around the rim, the entire outer wooden wheel was sometimes called the "quadrant". Each spoke ran through the middle felloe creating a series of handles beyond the wheel's rim. One of these handles/ spokes was frequently provided with extra grooves at its tip which could be felt by a helmsman steering in the dark and used by him to determine the exact position of the rudder—this was the "king spoke" and when it pointed straight upward the rudder was believed to be dead straight to the hull. The completed ship's wheel and associated axle and pedestal(s) might even be taller than the person using it. The wood used in construction of this type of wheel was most often either teak or mahogany, both of which are very durable tropical hardwoods capable of surviving the effects of salt water spray and regular use without significant decomposition. Modern design—particularly on smaller vessels—can deviate from the template.


title: Ship's wheel

text: The steering gear of earlier ships' wheels sometimes consisted of a double wheel where each wheel was connected to the other with a wooden "spindle" that ran through a "barrel" or "drum". The spindle was held up by two "pedestals" that rested on a wooden "platform", often no more than a grate. A "tiller rope" or "tiller chain" (sometimes called a "steering rope" or "steering chain") ran around the barrel in five or six loops and then down through two "tiller rope/ chain slots" at the top of the platform before connecting to two sheaves just below deck (one on either side of the ship's wheel) and thence out to a pair of pulleys before coming back together at the tiller and connecting to the ship's rudder. Movement of the wheels (which were connected and moved in unison) caused the tiller rope to wind in one of two directions and angled the tiller left or right. In a typical and intuitive arrangement, a forward-facing helmsman turning the wheel "counter"clockwise would cause the tiller to angle to starboard and therefore the rudder to swing to port causing the vessel to also turn to port (see animation). On many vessels the helmsman stood facing the rear of the ship with the ship's wheel before him and the rest of the ship behind him— this still meant that the direction of travel of the wheel at its apex corresponded to the direction of turn of the ship. Having two wheels connected by an axle allowed two people to take the helm in severe weather when one person alone might not have had enough strength to control the ship's movements.


title: Ship's wheel

text: When at the full extent of travel, the wheel and rudder are said to be "hard over", hence the order "hard port/starboard" given by Captain/Officer of the Watch.


title: Brian Deese

text: Brian Christopher Deese (born February 17, 1978) is an American economic and political advisor who is the 13th Director of the National Economic Council, serving under President Joe Biden. In this position, he additionally serves as the inaugural chair of the White House Competition Council.


title: Brian Deese

text: He previously served as a senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Earlier in the Obama administration, Deese served as the deputy director and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. Deese also served as deputy director of the National Economic Council. Deese served as the Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock.


title: Brian Deese

text: Deese was born in Belmont, Massachusetts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Middlebury College in 2000 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2009. In 2002, Deese was named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, though he was not ultimately selected.


title: Brian Deese

text: Deese worked as a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as a research assistant at the Center for Global Development, hired by founder Nancy Birdsall, according to "The New York Times", where he co-authored the book "Delivering on Debt Relief". Later he worked as a senior policy analyst for economic policy at the Center for American Progress, under Gene Sperling.


title: Brian Deese

text: After the Center for American Progress, Deese joined Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign as her economic policy director. After Clinton was defeated in the primaries, Deese went to work as an economic advisor to the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign.


title: Brian Deese

text: Following the 2008 presidential election, he served as a member of the Economic Policy Working Group for the presidential transition.


title: Brian Deese

text: At the start of the Obama presidency, Deese was appointed as a special assistant to the president for economic policy, serving in the National Economic Council (NEC). According to "The New York Times", he emerged as "one of the most influential voices" on the auto industry, and specifically the Chrysler and GM bailout. Deese argued against the government letting Chrysler liquidate based on a concern around the impact on industrial communities across the mid-west.


title: Brian Deese

text: In 2011, Deese was named deputy director of the NEC. In this role, he coordinated policy development for the White House on taxes, financial regulation, housing, clean energy, manufacturing, and the automotive industry. According to "The New Republic", he was among Washington's "most powerful, least famous people".


title: Brian Deese

text: Deese was named deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget in the summer of 2013. He briefly served as the acting director in summer 2014, between the departure of Sylvia Mathews Burwell and the appointment of Shaun Donovan.


title: Brian Deese

text: Following the departure of John Podesta, Deese took over his brief on climate and energy. Unlike Podesta, who served as Counselor to the President, Deese was promoted to the position of Senior Advisor to the President. In this position, Deese played an influential role in negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015 working to secure climate agreements with China, India, Brazil, and other countries. Deese also chaired the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in 2015 and 2016. Deese spearheaded the Administration's effort to ratify the Paris Agreement and to reach a global agreement to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's) through the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Deese also oversaw the Obama Administration's efforts to protect more land and water than any previous president, including the largest protected marine monument in the world.


title: Brian Deese

text: Along with Katie Beirne Fallon, Deese helped to negotiate the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, which replaced the budget sequestration and increased federal spending by $80 billion over two years. In February 2016, the President tapped Deese to oversee the Supreme Court nomination process, which led to the President's nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on March 16, 2016.


title: Brian Deese

text: As Global Head of Sustainable Investing from October 2017 until December 2020, Deese led BlackRock's Sustainable Investing Team which "is focused on identifying drivers of long-term return associated with environmental, social and governance issues." In an interview with The Weather Channel, Deese was asked about BlackRock's "heavy investments" in the fossil fuel industry. Deese said that BlackRock's role is to provide clients with "more choices and more options" in investments and "this is not just about excluding entire industries or entire classes of companies, but it’s also about getting to understand, again, which of these companies is better positioned for the transition."


title: Brian Deese

text: During this time his salary was at least $2.3 million, with the possibility that through BlackRock’s restricted stock plan, Deese could have made an additional $2.4 million.


title: Brian Deese

text: On December 3, 2020, President-elect Biden appointed Deese as Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council. In this role, Deese coordinates international and domestic economic policy for the administration. Deese has been a principal architect of the Biden economic agenda, including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.


title: Brian Deese

text: Deese served as a central figure in congressional negotiations leading up to the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Between the spring and fall of 2021, Brian Deese, Steve Ricchetti, and Louisa Terrell were frequent visitors to Capitol Hill, brokering policy conversations and building a coalition of support among Senate Democrats and Republicans.


title: Brian Deese

text: Deese worked closely with Secretary Gina Raimondo to design and advocate for the CHIPS and Science Act, viewing it as an essential component to the President's industrial strategy. Upon passage, Deese was directed by President Biden to co-chair the new law's 16-member implementation council.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Horror in the High Desert is a 2021 American film written, produced, and directed by Dutch Marich, in the pseudo-documentary format, and featuring found footage elements about the mysterious disappearance of a hiker in the High Desert region of Nevada.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: The first part of the documentary focuses on the police "missing person" report of amateur hiker Gary Hinge: Toward the end of July 2017, Gary hiked to an unspecified area in the Great Basin Desert (Nevada). His starting point was the town of Ruth and his target was presumably a cabin he had approached on a previous expedition. When he was two days past his estimated return date and did not return home, his housemate Simon Rodgers alerted Gary's sister, Beverly Hinge, who in turn notified the police. More than a week had passed since Gary had last been seen.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Initially, the police conducted a search based on the last GPS location of Gary's cell phone. Local and state police were involved, as well as park rangers and even volunteer groups. A few days later, it was reported that Gary's truck had been found, 55 miles from his departure in Ruth, Nevada, at the end of a dirt road at the bottom of a small hill. This finding prompted search parties, who covered large areas on foot, by helicopter and with the use of drones. None of the groups were able to find any trace or indication of Gary's location. When several more days passed without any news, the police terminated the search, as they considered that the chances of finding Gary alive were already practically nil, due to the fact that he used to travel with minimal supplies, water and equipment, which left him at the mercy of the weather (the hottest time of the year) and other dangers, such as the local fauna or the fact that there are multiple abandoned mining pits in the area. As time went by, the media stopped reporting on it. Subsequently, Beverly hired a private investigator, William 'Bill' Salerno, so that the case would not be abandoned. A reporter from a local media outlet, Gal Roberts, decided to convince her editor to keep on top of the story, lest it be forgotten as a "cold case".


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Thus, the investigation then focused on the clues that could be obtained from the truck, now considered a crime scene. Two aspects stood out; first, numerous fingerprints that did not match Gary Hinge's were found all over the truck, especially on the steering wheel. In addition, a trail of barefoot footprints, also not matching Gary's, was found. Since the John Doe's fingerprints did not match any database, the police found themselves at a dead end. In parallel, Bill Salerno started digging into Gary's social networks and Gal Roberts finds a promising clue in the video blog where Gary used to post his hiking and survival adventures, under the alias "Scorpion Sam". The hiker had some 50,000 followers, a fact unknown to his family and people close to him. Several of his readers believe they have some idea about Gary's final whereabouts, and that the question about his final destination could be related to some of his publications.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: In the next to last of the published videos, Gary appears in frame from his home, narrating a very unusual experience, which had left him very disturbed: In his last excursion, he had been walking for three days in an unknown area, when he noticed the smell of smoke. Following that trail, he found a dilapidated-looking cabin, as if abandoned, but with smoke coming out of an old chimney. However, a sense of "imminent danger" caused him to move away from the site and make camp away from the area. The next morning, Gary reported that he found a trail of barefoot footprints, and on the way back to his truck, he felt he was being watched, and even felt he was being followed. This publication had a lot of comments, most of them negative, where followers expressed serious doubts about Gary's account, questioning why he had not recorded anything and did not present any evidence; another large number of comments were from users demanding him to give the coordinates of the place and another part of the visitors of his blog challenged him to come back. Feeling the victim of cyber-bullying and visibly affected, Gary recorded and uploaded one last video, explaining that he would not give the exact location of the mystery cabin, since he did not want to encourage inexperienced people to venture into those desert regions, and informed that he would return to the site, accompanied by his video camera and a gun for protection.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Several weeks after the truck was found and search and rescue efforts were completed, a group of hikers in White Pine County reported that a backpack, which turned out to be the property of Gary Hinge, had been left at their campsite. Upon checking the contents of the backpack, aside from Gary's belongings and identification, his severed hand was found, still holding his video camera. Forensic analysis revealed that the hand had been severed from the victim while he was still alive, within a period of no more than five weeks. When authorities examined the memory card inserted into the camera, they discovered what happened to Gary on one fateful night.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: The footage found reveals that Gary was indeed able to find his way back to the mystery cabin; his first video entry was recorded at dusk, mentioning that he had been on the road for a day and a half and was sure of the route. Subsequently, he finds various markers he had left from his previous visit. Next, the following recordings consist of video fragments all recorded under infrared light, starting with Gary talking very frightened; he comments that he is already very close to the cabin and that he can smell smoke, as in the previous time. Suddenly, he hears chanting that seems to be a human voice, although it seems distorted. Once he finds the cabin, Gary confirms that it is the same one he saw earlier. While filming the outside of the cabin, Gary detects a human silhouette moving towards him. Being very careful not to make noise on the rocky ground, Gary tries to move away from the site, but is eventually spotted by a human-like being, but with severe physical deformities, who attacks him and the camera stops recording.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Both the reporter and the private investigator speculate what or who might have attacked and killed Gary; it is mentioned that the police have made this footage public in the hope that someone in the audience might offer some additional clue, which has sparked a series of conspiracy theories linking Gary's disappearance to real or supernatural issues as diverse as Area 51, atomic testing, local Indigenous rituals, satanic groups or extraterrestrials. However, Gal Roberts expresses serious concerns about the fact that at least 17 social media accounts have taken it upon themselves to make expeditions to the area. Additionally, one of these groups is said to have posted that they have managed to find the trail of the cabin and its mysterious occupant, and that they will reveal the results of their expedition in 2022.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: Because it was shot safely and socially distant at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, no two characters appear on screen at the same time and all interviews in the documentary were conducted via Zoom sessions.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: As an independent production, the film has gotten limited distribution, primarily through video-on-demand platforms.


title: Horror in the High Desert

text: The film had a special mention, within the found footage category, in The Last Journo portal's list of "The Best Horror Films of 2021".