title: Information society

text: One of the central paradoxes of the information society is that it makes information easily reproducible, leading to a variety of freedom/control problems relating to intellectual property. Essentially, business and capital, whose place becomes that of producing and selling information and knowledge, seems to require control over this new resource so that it can effectively be managed and sold as the basis of the information economy. However, such control can prove to be both technically and socially problematic. Technically because copy protection is often easily circumvented and socially "rejected" because the users and citizens of the information society can prove to be unwilling to accept such absolute commodification of the facts and information that compose their environment.


title: Information society

text: Responses to this concern range from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States (and similar legislation elsewhere) which make copy protection (see DRM) circumvention illegal, to the free software, open source and copyleft movements, which seek to encourage and disseminate the "freedom" of various information products (traditionally both as in "gratis" or free of cost, and liberty, as in freedom to use, explore and share).


title: Information society

text: Caveat: Information society is often used by politicians meaning something like "we all do internet now"; the sociological term information society (or informational society) has some deeper implications about change of societal structure. Because we lack political control of intellectual property, we are lacking in a concrete map of issues, an analysis of costs and benefits, and functioning political groups that are unified by common interests representing different opinions of this diverse situation that are prominent in the information society.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus "Malaclemys". It has one of the largest ranges of all turtles in North America, stretching as far south as the Florida Keys and as far north as Cape Cod.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The name "terrapin" is derived from the Algonquian word . It applies to "Malaclemys terrapin" in both British English and American English. The name originally was used by early European settlers in North America to describe these brackish-water turtles that inhabited neither freshwater habitats nor the sea. It retains this primary meaning in American English. In British English, however, other semi-aquatic turtle species, such as the red-eared slider, might also be called terrapins.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The common name refers to the diamond pattern on top of its shell (carapace), but the overall pattern and coloration vary greatly. The shell is usually wider at the back than in the front, and from above it appears wedge-shaped. The shell coloring can vary from brown to grey, and its body color can be grey, brown, yellow, or white. All have a unique pattern of wiggly, black markings or spots on their body and head. The diamondback terrapin has large webbed feet. The species is sexually dimorphic in that the males grow to a carapace length of approximately , while the females grow to an average carapace length of around , though they are capable of growing larger. The largest female on record was just over in carapace length. Specimens from regions that are consistently warmer in temperature tend to be larger than those from cooler, more northern areas. Male diamondback terrapins weigh on average, while females weigh around . The largest females can weigh up to .


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Terrapins look much like their freshwater relatives, but are well adapted to the near shore marine environment. They have several adaptations that allow them to survive in varying salinities. They can live in full strength salt water for extended periods, and their skin is largely impermeable to salt. Terrapins have lachrymal salt glands, not present in their relatives, which are used primarily when the turtle is dehydrated. They can distinguish between drinking water of different salinities. Terrapins also exhibit unusual and sophisticated behavior to obtain fresh water, including drinking the freshwater surface layer that can accumulate on top of salt water during rainfall and raising their heads into the air with mouths open to catch falling rain drops.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Terrapins are strong swimmers. They have strongly webbed hind feet, but not flippers like sea turtles do . Like their relatives ("Graptemys"), they have strong jaws for crushing shells of prey, such as clams and snails. This is especially true of females, who have larger and more muscular jaws than males.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The isolated Bermudan population, which arrived in Bermuda on its own rather than being introduced by humans, has not yet been officially assigned to a subspecies but, based on mtDNA, it is closely related to the population from the Carolinas.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Diamondback terrapins live in the very narrow strip of coastal habitats on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, from as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to the southern tip of Florida and around the Gulf Coast to Texas. In most of their range, terrapins live in "Spartina" marshes that are flooded at high tide, but in Florida they also live in mangrove swamps. This turtle can survive in freshwater as well as full-strength ocean water, but adults prefer intermediate salinities. Despite its preference for salt water, it is not a true sea turtle and is not fully marine. They have no competition from other turtles, although common snapping turtles do occasionally make use of salty marshes. It is unclear why terrapins do not inhabit the upper reaches of rivers within their range, as in captivity they tolerate fresh water. It is possible they are limited by the distribution of their prey. Terrapins live quite close to shore, unlike sea turtles, which wander far out to sea; however, a population of terrapins on Bermuda has been determined to be self-established rather than introduced by humans. Terrapins tend to live in the same areas for most or all of their lives, and do not make long-distance migrations.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Adult diamondback terrapins mate in the early spring, and clutches of 4–22 eggs are laid in sand dunes in the early summer. They hatch in late summer or early fall. Maturity in males is reached in 2–3 years at around in length; it takes longer for females: 6–7 years (8–10 years for northern diamondback terrapins) at a length of around .


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Like all reptiles, terrapin fertilization occurs internally. Courtship has been seen in May and June, and is similar to that of the closely related red-eared slider ("Trachemys scripta"). Female terrapins can mate with multiple males and store sperm for years, resulting in some clutches of eggs with more than one father.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Like many turtles, terrapins have temperature dependent sex determination, meaning that the sex of hatchlings is the result of incubation temperature. Females can lay up to three clutches of eggs/year in the wild, and up to five clutches/year in captivity. It is not known how often they may skip reproduction, so true clutch frequency is unknown.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Females may wander considerable distances on land before nesting. Nests are usually laid in sand dunes or scrub vegetation near the ocean in June and July, but nesting may start as early as late April in Florida. Females will quickly abandon a nest attempt if they are disturbed while nesting. Clutch sizes vary latitudinally, with average clutch sizes as low as 5.8/eggs/clutch in southern Florida to 10.9 in New York. After covering the nest, terrapins quickly return to the ocean and do not return except to nest again.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The eggs usually hatch in 60–85 days, depending on the temperature and the depth of the nest. Hatchlings usually emerge from the nest in August and September, but may overwinter in the nest after hatching. Nest predation is a large threat to Diamondback Terrapins. A study was done on 3159 nests finding that the greatest predator was racoons and predated nests were completely emptied of egg. Hatchlings sometimes stay on land in the nesting areas in both fall and spring and they may remain terrestrial for much or all of the winter in some places. Hatchling terrapins are freeze tolerant, which may facilitate overwintering on land. Hatchlings have lower salt tolerance than adults and Gibbons et al. provided strong evidence that one- and two-year-old terrapins use different habitats than do old individuals.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Growth rates, age of maturity, and maximum age are not well known for terrapins in the wild, but males reach sexual maturity before females because of their smaller adult size. In females at least, sexual maturity is dependent on size rather than age. Estimations of age based on counts of growth rings on the shell are as yet untested, so it is not clear how to determine the ages of wild terrapins.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Because nesting is the only terrapin activity that occurs on land, most other aspects of terrapin behavior are poorly known. Limited data suggest that terrapins hibernate in the colder months in most of their range, in the mud of creeks and marshes.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The diamondback terrapin typically feeds on fish, crustaceans (such as shrimp and crabs) marine worms, marine snails (especially the saltmarsh periwinkle


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: ), clams, barnacles, mussels, other mollusks, insects, carrion, and sometimes ingest small amounts of plant material, such as algae. At high densities the terrapin may eat enough invertebrates to have ecosystem-level effects, partially because periwinkles themselves can overgraze important marsh plants, such as cordgrass ("Spartina alterniflora"). Gender and age can greatly affect the diet of the diamondback terrapin, males and juvenile females tend to have less diversity in their diet. Adult females, due to their powerful, defined jaw, will occasionally feed on crustaceans such as crabs and are more likely to consume hard-shelled mollusks.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: In the 1900s, the species was once considered a delicacy to eat and was hunted almost to extinction. The population also decreased due to the development of coastal areas, terrapins being susceptible to wounds from the propellers on motorboats.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Another common cause of death is the trapping of the turtles in recreational crab traps, as the turtles are attracted to the same bait as the crabs. The Wetlands Institute estimates that a minimum of 14,000 to 15,000 terrapins drown in crab traps annually set along the New Jersey coast alone. Countless more drown or starve to death in ghost traps, abandoned or lost crab traps along with discarded nets, throughout their habitat. Among two such abandoned crab pots in a tidal marsh in Georgia, a study found 133 dead terrapins, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Further, an increase in seawalls and bulkheads being built for storm and erosion control, exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise, inadvertently eliminate terrapin's nesting habitat on beaches and upland areas with soft shorelines.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Due to these factors, the diamondback terrapin is listed as an endangered species in Rhode Island, a threatened species in Massachusetts and is considered a "species of concern" in Georgia, Delaware, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia. The diamondback terrapin is listed as a "high priority species" under the South Carolina Wildlife Action Plan. In New Jersey, it was recommended to be listed as a Species of Special Concern in 2001. In July 2016, the species was removed from the New Jersey game list and is now listed as non-game with no hunting season. In Connecticut, there is no open hunting season for this animal. However, it holds no federal conservation status. In 2021, a terrapin was hatched in Massachusetts with two heads, two gastrointestinal systems, and two spines that are fused together.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to decreasing population numbers in most of its range. There is limited protection for terrapins on a state-by-state level throughout its range; it is listed as Endangered in Rhode Island and Threatened in Massachusetts. The Diamondback Terrapin Working Group deal with regional protection issues. There is no national protection except through the Lacey Act, and little international protection.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Diamondback terrapins are the only U.S. turtles that inhabit the brackish waters of estuaries, tidal creeks and salt marshes. With a historic range stretching from Massachusetts to Texas, terrapin populations have been severely depleted by land development and other human impacts along the Atlantic coast.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Earthwatch Institute, a global non-profit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, supports a research program called "Tagging the Terrapins of the Jersey Shore." This program allows volunteers to explore the coastal sprawl of New Jersey's Ocean County on Barnegat Bay, one of the most extensive salt marsh ecosystems on the East Coast, in search of this ornate turtle. On this project, volunteers contribute to environmental sustainability in the face of rampant development. Veteran turtle scientists Dr. Hal Avery, Dr. Jim Spotila, Dr. Walter Bien and Dr. Ed Standora are overseeing this program and the viability of terrapin populations in the face of growing environmental change.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The conservation status was heavily impacted by the consumption of diamondback terrapins in the 1900s when their sweet meat eventually became a multi-million dollar industry for gourmet restaurants. Around the 1920s, with the enforcement of prohibition, the consumption of diamondback terrapins declined. Since then, however, the population has never fully recovered. Another threat is shellfish and mussels cause exposure to paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) that are a result of harmful algal blooms that have been prominent along the coastline where diamondback terrapins reside. Gastrointestinal studies have identified the presence of ingested PST in their tissues which causes muscle weakness, paralysis, etc. that eventually leads to death.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: The major threats to diamondback terrapins are all associated with humans and probably differ in different parts of their range. People tend to build their cities on ocean coasts near the mouths of large rivers and in doing so they have destroyed many of the huge marshes that terrapins inhabited. Nationwide, probably >75% of the salt marshes where terrapins lived have been destroyed or altered. Currently, ocean level rise threatens the remainder.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Traps used to catch crabs, both commercially and privately, have commonly caught and drowned many diamondback terrapins, which can result in male-biased populations, local population declines, and even extinctions. When these traps are lost or abandoned (“ghost traps”), they can kill terrapins for many years. Terrapin-excluding devices are available to retrofit crab traps; these reduce the number of terrapins captured while having little or no impact on crab capture rates. In some states (NJ, DE, MD), these devices are required by law.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Nests, hatchlings, and sometimes adults are commonly eaten by raccoons, foxes, rats and many species of birds, especially crows and gulls. Density of these predators are often increased because of their association with humans. Predation rates can be extremely high; predation by raccoons on terrapin nests at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York varied from 92 to 100% each year from 1998 to 2008, Burke unpubl. data).


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Terrapins are killed by cars when nesting females cross roads and mortality can be high enough to seriously affect populations. Terrapins are still harvested for food in some states. Terrapins may be affected by pollutants such as metals and organic compounds, but this has not been demonstrated in wild populations.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: There is an active casual and professional pet trade in terrapins and it is unknown how many are removed from the wild for this purpose. Some people breed the species in captivity and some color variants are considered especially desirable. In Europe, "Malaclemys" are widely kept as pets, as are many closely related species.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: In Maryland, diamondback terrapins were so plentiful in the 18th century that slaves protested the excessive use of this food source as their main protein. Late in the 19th century, demand for turtle soup claimed a harvest of 89,150 pounds from Chesapeake Bay in one year. In 1899, terrapin was offered on the dinner menu of renown Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City as its third most expensive item. Either Maryland or Baltimore terrapin was available for $2.50 (). Although demand was high, over-harvesting diminished capture to a mere 823 pounds by 1920.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: According to the FAA National Wildlife Strike Database, a total of 18 strikes between diamondback terrapins and civil aircraft were reported in the US from 1990 to 2007, none of which caused damage to the aircraft. On July 8, 2009, flights at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City were delayed for up to one and a half hours as 78 diamondback terrapins had invaded one of the runways. The turtles, which according to airport authorities were believed to have entered the runway in order to nest, were removed and released back into the wild. A similar incident happened on June 29, 2011, when over 150 turtles crossed runway 4, closing the runway and disrupting air traffic. Those terrapins were also relocated safely. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey installed a turtle barrier along runway 4L at JFK to reduce the number of terrapins on the runway and encourage them to nest elsewhere. Nevertheless, on June 26, 2014, 86 terrapins made it onto the same runway, as a high tide carried them over the barrier. Their population is controlled by the raccoon population; it has been shown that as the raccoons decrease in number, mating terrapins increase, leading to increased turtle activity at the airport.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Many human activities threaten the safety of diamondback terrapins. The terrapins get caught and drown in crab nets that humans put out, are suffocated by pollution that humans greatly contribute to, and lose their marsh and estuarine habitats because of urban development.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Diamondback terrapins were heavily harvested for food in colonial America and probably before that by Native Americans. Terrapins were so abundant and easily obtained that slaves and even the Continental Army ate large numbers of them.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: In the 19th century, a dish called "Terrapin à la Maryland", a stew with cream and sherry, was a canonical element, along with canvasback duck, of the elegant and regional "Maryland Feast" menu, an "elite standard...that lasted for decades".


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: By 1917, terrapins sold for as much as $5 each (). Huge numbers of terrapins were harvested from marshes and marketed in cities. By the early 1900s, populations in the northern part of the range were severely depleted and the southern part was greatly reduced as well. As early as 1902 the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (which later became the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) recognized that terrapin populations were declining and started building large research facilities, centered at the Beaufort, North Carolina Fisheries Laboratory, to investigate methods for captive breeding terrapins for food. People tried (unsuccessfully) to establish them in many other locations, including San Francisco.


title: Diamondback terrapin

text: Maryland named the diamondback terrapin its official state reptile in 1994. The University of Maryland, College Park has used the species as its nickname (the Maryland Terrapins) and mascot (Testudo) since 1933, and the school newspaper has been named "The Diamondback" since 1921. Accordingly, the athletic teams are often known as "Terps" for short. The Baltimore baseball club entry in the Federal League during 1914 and 1915 was called the Baltimore Terrapins. The terrapin has also been a symbol of the Grateful Dead, upon the release of their studio album, "Terrapin Station"; as a result, many images of the terrapin dancing with a tambourine appear on posters and t-shirts in Grateful Dead memorabilia. Inspired by the former song, the Terrapin Beer Company also uses a terrapin as its namesake and logo on its packaging.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com is a web portal and web-based email service provider owned by the internet company 1&1 Mail & Media Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. 1&1 Mail & Media Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet Group, a publicly listed internet services company based in Montabaur, Germany.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com offers a free, advertising-supported email service as well as subscription-based premium email and cloud storage plans. Its services are primarily aimed at private users and small- and medium-sized businesses.


title: Mail.com

text: On its homepage, mail.com features sponsored news, blog posts and browser games. It also provides a search engine, which is enhanced by Google.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com's email service includes features such as 65 GB of storage for emails, choice of over 200 domains and cloud storage.


title: Mail.com

text: When creating a free email account, mail.com lets users choose from more than 200 brand-neutral email domains that include geographical locations, professions, beliefs and interests, such as email.com, usa.com, religious.com, graphic-designer.com, and catlover.com.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com is one of the last remaining major email providers that does not require a personal phone number to set up an inbox, allowing access to users who do not have or do not wish to provide a phone number to a third party to use email. This allows greater privacy, but prevents users from enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), a form of multi-factor authentication. Enabling 2FA with mail.com does require verification of a mobile phone number, followed by the configuration of Time-based One-Time Passwords.


title: Mail.com

text: Once 2FA has been enabled for an account, logging in to that email account requires a dynamically generated code.


title: Mail.com

text: All mail.com customers’ private data stored in the company-owned data center located in Lenexa, Kansas, USA. mail.com uses SSL to ensure secure data transfer via the internet. Both in the mail.com account and on the online portal, users’ data is processed in compliance with legal requirements and according to stringent security standards. mail.com also offers configuration options to control interest-based advertisement and newsletter settings.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com email accounts are protected by an antivirus software that scans through emails and attachments, while only checking for malware. The anti-spam filter also helps detect unwanted junk mail and automatically sorts it into the spam folder. mail.com also provides best-practice tips in order to increase security for mailboxes.


title: Mail.com

text: With regard to attachment size limits, mail.com is a leader among major free email service providers. It lets users send large files via email, allowing a maximum attachment size of 30 MB. Premium subscribers can send attachments up to 100 MB.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com offers its users an email storage capacity of 65 GB. On top of that, up to 2 GB of files, pictures and videos can be saved in the mail.com Cloud. This cloud solution also makes it possible to share files online with multiple people at once.


title: Mail.com

text: The Organizer, also integrated in every mail.com account, lets users schedule tasks and events and sends them automatic appointment reminders as well as daily appointment overviews. Similar to desktop organizer applications, users can set reminders, send event invitations by email, share calendars with others and import and export data to and from the *.ics and *.csv formats.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com offers free email apps for Android and iOS. Access to these apps can optionally protected by a four-digit PIN. The apps can also be used with non-mail.com email accounts.


title: Mail.com

text: Mail Collector is a feature that lets users merge email accounts from different providers. With mail.com as a primary account, all other email addresses can be imported into the mail.com account. The Mail Collector then automatically forwards all incoming emails into the primary mailbox.


title: Mail.com

text: Online Office is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. It contains a document editor, presentation maker and spreadsheet creator and can be used without installing any software.


title: Mail.com

text: An alias address allows users to customize the sender email address shown in their correspondence by creating an additional email address within an existing mail.com account. Up to ten alias addresses can be registered at the same time, all associated with the main mail.com email account. This feature enables the use of multiple email addresses from a single mailbox.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com closes and deletes free accounts that have been inactive for 6 months; there is no way to recover deleted free email accounts and the data they contained.


title: Mail.com

text: For a fee, mail.com offers an upgrade to a Premium service which provides users with various add-on features. This package includes ad-free inbox, telephone support, POP3 and IMAP integration, automatic email forwarding to another email address, read receipt, inbox personalization, scheduled sending and email recall, and additional cloud storage.


title: Mail.com

text: mail.com was originally formed in 1995 as Vanity Mail Services (corporate name Globecomm Inc.), by Gerald Gorman, an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Gary Millin, a Harvard Business School student at the time.


title: Mail.com

text: They spent a majority of Gorman's wealth to register and promote a total of 544 domains, and later began to buy domain names from other companies. At one time the company owned more than 1,200 domains on speculation, including world.com, usa.com, india.com, europe.com, asia.com, doctor.com, scientist.com, and lawyer.com. To raise money to pay the yearly domain registration fees, they offered vanity domain email services to the public from the domains they owned under the brand name iName, and later began hosting mail services on behalf of the owners of other domains, and for Internet service providers. The speculation was often successful. In 1999 the company sold kosher.com, london.com, and england.com for $2 million.


title: Mail.com

text: By 1999 the company had raised venture financing from Primus Capital Funds and Sycamore Ventures, and changed its name to mail.com. It conducted an initial public offering in June 1999. By 2000 it was supporting 14.6 million email accounts, mostly for free, and remained unprofitable. It sold the mail.com domain and consumer email services division to Net2Phone, changed its name to Easylink, and changed its business operations to focus on managed file transfer services in April 2001, after acquiring Swift Telecommunications, which in turn had spun off the "Easylink" business unit from AT&T.


title: Mail.com

text: In 2002, AltaVista quit the email service business they had served together with Mail.com under its i-name branding. Addresses using "AltaVista" domains were eventually closed; other email domains once offered by AltaVista remain operational through Mail.com.


title: Mail.com

text: In 2004 Jay Penske, son of automobile racing figure Roger Penske, joined and became CEO of Velocity Services, an affinity marketing and Internet services company operating as Interactive Digital Publishing Group. The company acquired the mail.com domain, and re-launched it as a new service in 2007. Parent company Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC) went on to acquire content websites such as "Deadline Hollywood", Movieline and the Boy Genius Report.


title: Mail.com

text: In September 2010, MMC sold the mail.com email and portal service to United Internet, at the time already Europe’s largest internet company, which intended to operate mail.com on its GMX email platform. While existing accounts could be accessed from anywhere, users accessing the site from German-speaking countries could no longer sign up and were instead invited to use United Internet's GMX services geared to those markets (gmx.de, gmx.at, gmx.ch). In purchasing the mail.com brand, United Internet was aiming to leverage the unique character of the mail.com name and its many domains as part of its push for international expansion. At the time of the purchase CEO Jan Oetjen noted, “On the highly competitive international e-mail market, we perceive mail.com as a unique opportunity for differentiation which cannot be copied."


title: Mail.com

text: In the first quarter of 2016, mail.com launched a new support and contact portal, offering improved usability and FAQs for its customers. The first mail.com mobile email app for Android users was released in February 2016, complementing its iOS app. A mobile webmailer was also rolled out for users who did not have the app installed.


title: Hatred

text: Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is sometimes seen as the opposite of love.


title: Hatred

text: A number of different definitions and perspectives on hatred have been put forth. Philosophers have been concerned with understanding the essence and nature of hatred, while some religions view it positively and encourage hatred toward certain outgroups. Social and psychological theorists have understood hatred in a utilitarian sense. Certain public displays of hatred are sometimes legally proscribed in the context of pluralistic cultures that value tolerance.


title: Hatred

text: Hatred may encompass a wide range of gradations of emotion and have very different expressions depending on the cultural context and the situation that triggers the emotional or intellectual response. Based on the context in which hatred occurs, it may be viewed favorably, unfavorably, or neutrally by different societies.


title: Hatred

text: As an emotion, hatred can be short-lived or long-lasting. It can be of low intensity - 'I hate broccoli' - or high intensity: 'I hate the whole world'.


title: Hatred

text: In some cases, hatred can be a learned response from external influences, such as from being abused, misled, or manipulated. As a general rule, hatred is the deep psychological response to feeling trapped or being unable to understand certain sociological phenomena.


title: Hatred

text: The important self-protective function, to be found in hatred, can be illustrated by Steinberg's analysis of 'mutinous' hatred, whereby a dependent relationship is repudiated in a quest for autonomy.


title: Hatred

text: Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness, stressing that it was linked to the question of self-preservation. Donald Winnicott highlighted the developmental step involved in hatred, with its recognition of an outside object: "As compared to magical destruction, aggressive ideas and behaviour take on a positive value, and hate becomes a sign of civilization".


title: Hatred

text: In his wake, object relations theory has emphasised the importance of recognising hate in the analytic setting: the analyst acknowledges his own hate (as revealed in the strict time-limits and the fee charged), which in turn may make it possible for the patient to acknowledge and contain "their" previously concealed hate for the analyst.


title: Hatred

text: Adam Phillips went so far as to suggest that true kindness is impossible in a relationship without hating and being hated, so that an unsentimental acknowledgement of interpersonal frustrations and their associated hostilities can allow real fellow-feeling to emerge.


title: Hatred

text: In the English language, a hate crime (also known as a "bias-motivated crime") generally refers to criminal acts which are seen to have been motivated by hate. Those who commit hate crimes target victims because of their perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, mental disorder, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender identity, or political affiliation. Incidents may involve physical assault, destruction of property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail).


title: Hatred

text: Hate speech is speech perceived to disparage a person or group of people based on their social or ethnic group, such as race, sex, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental disorder, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, skin color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered a liability. The term covers written as well as oral communication and some forms of behaviors in a public setting. It is also sometimes called antilocution and is the first point on Allport's scale which measures prejudice in a society. In many countries, deliberate use of hate speech is a criminal offence prohibited under "incitement to hatred" legislation. It is often alleged that the criminalization of hate speech is sometimes used to discourage legitimate discussion of negative aspects of voluntary behavior (such as political persuasion, religious adherence and philosophical allegiance). There is also some question as to whether or not hate speech falls under the protection of freedom of speech in some countries.


title: Hatred

text: Both of these classifications have sparked debate, with counter-arguments such as, but not limited to, a difficulty in distinguishing motive and intent for crimes, as well as philosophical debate on the validity of valuing targeted hatred as a greater crime than general misanthropy and contempt for humanity being a potentially equal crime in and of itself.


title: Hatred

text: The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure. In this experiment, people had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of people they hated. The results showed increased activity in the middle frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole, and bilaterally in the medial insular cortex of the human brain.


title: Hatred

text: Hate, like love, takes different shapes and forms in different languages. While it may be fair to say that one single emotion exists in English, French (haine), and German (Hass), hate is historically situated and culturally constructed: it varies in the forms in which it is manifested. Thus a certain relationless hatred is expressed in the French expression "J'ai la haine", which has no precise equivalent in English; while for English-speakers, loving and hating invariably involve a force, an object, or a person, and therefore, a relationship with something or someone, "J'ai la haine" (literally, I have hate) precludes the idea of an emotion directed at a person. This is a form of frustration, apathy and animosity which churns within the subject but establishes no relationship with the world, other than an aimless desire for destruction.


title: Hatred

text: French forms of anti-Americanism have been seen as a specific form of cultural resentment, registering joy-in-hate.


title: Hatred

text: A United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom and religion cited the concept of collective hatred based on religion, which he described as a man-made phenomenon caused by deliberate actions and omissions of hate-mongers.


title: Hatred

text: Hatred can also be sanctioned by religion. The Hebrew word describing the psalmist's "perfect hatred" (Ps. 139.22) means that it "brings a process to completion". There are also sources that explain how Islam developed around hatred for unbelief since it is considered the source of evil and that adherents endeavor to spread the Qur'anic faith as the vehicle for its eradication. A specific example is hate speech. It is explained that religion aims to convert new adherents and that extreme speech made against other religion or its adherents is considered a tool so that changing other's beliefs is effective.


title: Hatred

text: Philosophers from the ancient time sought to describe hatred and today, there are different definitions available. Aristotle, for instance, viewed it as distinct from anger and rage, describing hate as a desire to annihilate an object and is incurable by time. David Hume also offered his own conceptualization, maintaining that hatred is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: L.I.E. is a 2001 American drama film about a relationship between Howie, a troubled 16-year-old boy, and a middle aged man known as "Big John". The title is an acronym for the Long Island Expressway. The film was directed by Michael Cuesta, who has said that the film is about exploring sexuality. It stars Paul Dano in his first lead role as the boy Howie, and Brian Cox as John.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Howie Blitzer is deeply affected by the death of his mother in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway. His situation is exacerbated by his acrimonious relationship with his distant father Marty, who brought a trophy girlfriend into the house less than a month after his wife's death. Howie's only solace is the company of his best friend Gary, a juvenile delinquent and hustler. Although Gary is attracted to Howie, Howie is unsure of his own sexuality. They have two other friends their age, one of whom has an incestuous relationship with his sister. The four boys routinely break into neighborhood houses.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: One night, they break into the house of "Big John" Harrigan during his birthday party. Gary knows his way around the house; it is later revealed that Big John is one of his steady clients. Big John interrupts them, and they narrowly escape with a pair of rare and valuable Russian pistols. John later confronts Gary over the burglary and Gary names Howie as his accomplice.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Pretending to be a friend of Howie's mother, John introduces himself and invites Howie back to his house. Once there, he confronts Howie about the burglary, demanding the return of the guns. Howie can retrieve only one of them from Gary's room, so John demands $1000 for the other; Howie can only offer to work off the debt. Putting on a pornographic video, John hints that Howie can repay him with sex. Howie hastily leaves, but after returning home, masturbates to a fantasy involving John and the girl in the video.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Gary steals money from Howie's father and disappears to Los Angeles, leaving Howie alone. John and Howie begin a tenuous friendship in which John becomes a kind of father figure to him. There is no sexual activity, but there is talk of sex. Howie realizes that he wields a degree of sexual power over John, something John is aware of. Howie stays over at John's house, temporarily displacing John's 19-year-old lover Scott, who warns Howie not to take John from him. Howie discovers a stash of child pornography in the house, including photos of a younger Gary as a blond 11-year-old boy.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Howie's father happens to see him skipping school and losing his temper, he hits the boy. Later that day, he is arrested for dangerous practices in his construction business, and when Howie returns home to find him missing, he believes his father has abandoned him. He goes to John, approaching him in his bedroom wearing just his underpants, expecting they will have sex. But John explains to Howie what happened with his father, and the boy breaks down and cries. John leaves Howie to sleep by himself.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: The next morning, John is all charm, fixing Howie breakfast and taking him to see his father in jail. Howie's father apologizes for hitting him and promises to spend more time with him once he is out of prison. Howie is unconvinced, and merely tells his father never to hit him again.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: After dropping Howie off, John returns to the local rest area where young hustlers connect with johns and sits in his car. Scott, devastated by John's abandonment, drives by and shoots him dead.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Portions of the film were filmed at Harborfields High School, located in Greenlawn, New York, not far from the Long Island Expressway. A scene was filmed at the Dix Hills Diner on Jericho Turnpike in Elwood, New York, and another at Callahan Beach Park in Fort Salonga, New York.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Because Paul Dano was underage at the time of production, his mother, Gladys, was present on set and additionally plays the non-speaking role of Howie's deceased mother, Sylvia, in several flashback and dream sequences.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Sexual identity is a major theme in the film; director Michael Cuesta has said that the ambiguity of Howie's sexual orientation and his relationship with Big John and Gary is at the heart of the film.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: Brian Cox has said, "Big John realizes that Howie is much more than a little boy, a young boy he can hit on". Cuesta has said that John is confused, and doesn't know if he wanted "to be with him, sexually, or just father him".


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: "L.I.E" premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. It went on to show at several other film festivals including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Bergen International Film Festival, the Stockholm International Film Festival, Outfest, the Deauville Film Festival and the Helsinki International Film Festival. The film opened to cinemas in New York on September 7, 2001.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: The film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. After the filmmakers unsuccessfully appealed for an R rating, the film was later distributed without a rating; however, many theater chains choose not to exhibit unrated films. Both an edited version which received an R rating ("for strong sexual content involving teens, language, and brief violence") and the original unrated/uncut film are available on DVD.


title: L.I.E. (film)

text: The film has an approval rating of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 6.96/10. The critical consensus states: ""L.I.E." is a well-acted and unsettling look at a boy's relationship with a pedophile."


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: Shankar Dada Zindabad () is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by Prabhu Deva. Starring Chiranjeevi and Karishma Kotak, the film is a remake of the 2006 Hindi film "Lage Raho Munnabhai" and a sequel to "Shankar Dada MBBS" (2005). In addition, Dilip Prabhavalkar reprises his role as Mahatma Gandhi, while Srikanth and Sayaji Shinde play other supporting roles. The music is scored by Devi Sri Prasad and filmed by Chota K. Naidu.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: Shankar Dada is a local gangster ("dada" in Telugu) and ATM serves as his right-hand man. Shankar falls for Jahnavi, a radio jockey, after listening to her voice on an FM channel. When a contest is announced on Gandhi and his preachings with a chance to meet the radio jockey, Shankar hires a few professors forcefully to make his dream a reality.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: With the help of the professors, Shankar manages to win the contest and meets her. Jahnavi invites him to "Second Innings" House where there are some old men to give a lecture on Gandhigiri. With no options left, Shankar goes to the library and reads about Gandhi. As he continues to study Gandhi, Shankar gets hallucination of watching Gandhi, whom he calls Bapu. It helps him in a way in giving good messages to society.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: Shankar starts to visit the Second Innings House frequently to meet Jahnavi. Rajalingam, a cunning businessman, seeks to forcefully buy out that house, for the marriage of his daughter. Learning that Shankar's girlfriend Jahnavi is staying with those old men, Rajalingam sends Shankar and Jahnavi along with the old men on a foreign trip and gets the building vacated by ATM who is unaware of Rajalingam's plan.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: Shankar who is furious upon knowing this demands Rajalingam to return that building and he starts using "Gandhigiri" instead of "Dadagiri". However, Rajalingam does not relent. In order to teach him a lesson, Shankar and the old men start staging Satyagraha. At one point, Shankar reveals to Jahnavi that he was not a professor and only a local dada. So Jahnavi hates him and leaves the place.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: When Rajalingam's daughter's marriage was about to be canceled, Shankar enters the scene and tries to convince the bridegroom's father. Though he refuses to accept the alliance, his son insists on marrying the girl, as he became a fan of Shankar through the FM programme. Later, Shankar and Jahnavi reunite.


title: Shankar Dada Zindabad

text: "Sify" rated the film 3/5 and called the film "a faithful adaptation of "Lage Raho Munnabhai"" and a "clean family entertainer." G P Aditya Vardhan of the "Rediff.com" awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote: "The film has style, comedy, colourful dance sequences and megastar's trademark gait."


title: 1982 NBA draft

text: The 1982 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1982, at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Brent Musburger reported for CBS in the days leading up to the draft that the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks were working on a wider-ranging deal that would have sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to New York, Bill Cartwright to the Utah Jazz, and either the #1 or #2 pick from Utah to Los Angeles (which was guaranteed one of those picks anyway due to a 1980 trade with Cleveland), with the Lakers then planning to select both Ralph Sampson and James Worthy. When Sampson decided to forgo entering the draft and to return for another season at the University of Virginia, the deal fell apart and the Lakers picked Worthy with the #1 overall choice.


title: The Operative (film)

text: The Operative is a 2019 internationally co-produced thriller film, written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Yuval Adler, based on the Hebrew novel "The English Teacher" (המורה לאנגלית) by Yiftach Reicher-Atir, a former intelligence officer. It stars Diane Kruger, Martin Freeman and Cas Anvar.


title: The Operative (film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10, 2019. It was released on August 2, 2019, by Vertical Entertainment.


title: The Operative (film)

text: Thomas (Martin Freeman) is a British Jew who until a year ago used to work for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Germany. Now he is retired but still has access to some of his former employer's systems and resources. He receives a mysterious phone call from Rachel (Diane Kruger), another former agent whom he had recruited and who had become a friend but disappeared. Summoned to a safe house in Cologne in order to help find Rachel and determine her motives, Thomas reviews Rachel's recruitment and past assignments with his former supervisors through a series of flashbacks.


title: The Operative (film)

text: Rachel's last known assignment was to pose as an English teacher in Tehran and observe Farhad Razavi (Cas Anvar), heir to an Iranian electronics firm. Flashback scenes reveal Rachel's acclimatisation to routines of daily life so as not to arouse suspicion. Eventually, she meets Farhad, who asks her to give him English lessons, leading to a romantic relationship as Farhad also introduces her to Tehran's underground nightlife.


title: The Operative (film)

text: Rachel's personal involvement with Farhad allows Thomas to involve him in the smuggling of parts for Iran's nuclear program, which will work to undermine that program and make Farhad a target for recruitment as a Mossad resource. Some of the related assignments put her own life in serious danger. Eventually, Rachel rebels against her assignment, changes her identity, and cuts off communication with Thomas until, returning to the film's present, she needs his help to return to a life of her own without risking assassination because she might be a security threat herself.


title: The Operative (film)

text: In February 2018, it was announced Diane Kruger and Eric Bana had joined the cast of the film, with Yuval Adler directing from a screenplay he wrote. Eitan Mansuri, Anne Carey, Michael Weber and Viola Fügen would serve as producers on the film under their Spiro Films, Archer Gray, Match Factory Productions banners, while Teddy Schwarzman would serve as an executive producer under his Black Bear Pictures banner. In May 2018, Cas Anvar and Martin Freeman joined the cast of the film, replacing Bana.


title: The Operative (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10, 2019. Shortly after, Vertical Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on August 2, 2019.


title: The Operative (film)

text: Although many reviewers appreciated Diane Kruger's performance and a couple of especially suspenseful scenes, critics were also disappointed in Rachel's unclear motivations, a lack of chemistry between her and Farhad, and an overly-complex plot structure. Guy Lodge, reviewing the film at the Berlin Film Festival for "Variety", remarks " . . . the general shape of the plotting is too recognizable to keep us entirely on edge, despite the stoic, furrowed-brow dedication of the cast," while "The Hollywood Reporter" complained that Kruger "needs more textured material than she's given in this choppy espionage thriller."


title: The Operative (film)

text: On the film's American release, Ben Kenigsberg, in "The New York Times", described the film as offering "a few suspenseful sequences, some interesting nuts-and-bolts details of espionage work and a good lead performance en route to an unsatisfying ending." Critic Christy Lemire gave the film two out of four stars, writing that "the overall sluggish pace and prevailing feeling of ambiguity ultimately make “The Operative” an unsatisfying, frustrating experience."


title: The Operative (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "Diane Kruger delivers an appropriately steely performance, but "The Operative" pursues a forgettable mission that fans of the genre will find all too familiar." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Katana Zero

text: Katana Zero is a 2019 platform game created by the indie developer Justin Stander. Set in a dystopian metropolis, the neo-noir storyline follows Subject Zero, a katana-wielding assassin with amnesia who can slow down time and predict the future. Zero unravels his past while completing assassination contracts. "Katana Zero" features side-scrolling hack-and-slash gameplay in which the player attempts to kill all enemies in a level without being hit, using Zero's abilities to manipulate time, dodge attacks, and take advantage of environmental hazards. In-between levels, the story is told in sequences where the player converses with non-player characters through dialogue trees.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander began working on "Katana Zero" in 2013. He had previously developed freeware games, such as "Tower of Heaven" (2009), and conceived "Katana Zero" as his first commercial game. Using GameMaker Studio 2, Stander sought to make a difficult story-driven game that did not force the player to wait through dialogue and cutscenes. He focused on attention to detail and looked to films such as "Sin City" (2005) and "John Wick" (2014) for story inspiration. The development was prolonged and Stander worked mostly alone, although he recruited artists to design the visuals as well as musicians Bill Kiley and Thijs "LudoWic" Lodewijk to compose the synthwave soundtrack.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" was published by Devolver Digital for macOS, Nintendo Switch, and Windows on April 18, 2019. It sold 500,000 copies in less than a year and received positive reviews. Critics praised the gameplay—which they favorably compared to Devolver's "Hotline Miami" (2012)—and the visuals, writing, and music. The story divided reviewers, while the unresolved ending was criticized. Several critics cited "Katana Zero" as one of the best games of 2019 and it was nominated for numerous year-end accolades. Ports for Xbox One and Amazon Luna were released in 2020 and 2021, downloadable content is in development, and Stander intends to continue the fictional universe in future games.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" is a 2D platform and hack-and-slash game presented from a side-scrolling perspective. Controlling the player character, the katana-wielding assassin Subject Zero, the single player completes assassination contracts for a psychiatrist. Zero can run, jump, wall kick, pick up and throw items, attack using his katana, and dodge. Zero's ability to slow down time and predict the future allows the player to activate a slow motion effect, enabling them to predict enemy movement easier, although use is limited by a meter that gradually refills. The game features eleven levels, which use Zero's precognition as a framing device; the player's attempts to complete each level are presented as possible scenarios Zero has foreseen.


title: Katana Zero

text: Levels are split into several rooms, and the player must kill every enemy in a room using their sword, throwable objects, such as lamps and pots, or environmental hazards, such as lasers. Aside from occasional bosses, each enemy dies in a single hit. Certain levels feature unique game mechanics, such as a stealth mission in a nightclub, a motorcycle chase, and an alternate player character. Any damage results in instant death for Zero, requiring the player to restart from the most recent checkpoint. "Katana Zero" has been frequently compared to "Hotline Miami" (2012), as both feature levels filled with enemies, one-hit kills, and require players to determine their chosen route strategically. Outside the main game, there are two additional game modes: hard mode features more difficult levels with new enemy varieties, reworked bosses, and additional challenges; and speedrun mode challenges the player to complete every level in the fastest time possible, with the options to modify enemy behavior and skip cutscenes.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" follows a neo-noir-style storyline, with psychological horror and black comedy elements, set in a dystopian metropolis after a war. The protagonist, Subject Zero, is an amnesiac veteran with precognitive abilities. He assassinates drug dealers for his psychiatrist, who acts as his handler. The news media ascribes these killings to a serial killer known as the Dragon. Zero experiences recurring nightmares of a child, who he identifies as himself, in a hut. A scientist runs in, warns the child to hide, and is shot moments later by a soldier. He discusses his nightmares with the psychiatrist, who supplies him with a drug as treatment. Zero also befriends a young girl living next door to his apartment, and becomes attached to her.


title: Katana Zero

text: In-between levels, the player converses with non-player characters (NPCs), such as the psychiatrist, the girl, and a Russian psychopath antagonist named V, who admires Zero's lethality. In a real-time dialogue tree system, the player chooses responses during conversations and can interrupt an NPC's dialogue at any time. Their decisions determine how much exposition is presented and how Zero is characterized; for example, Zero comes across as rude if the player repeatedly interrupts. Although they do not change the overall plot, players' dialogue choices can affect certain events, and one boss fight can only be activated by making specific decisions.


title: Katana Zero

text: Zero and the psychiatrist's relationship becomes strained as the psychiatrist grows increasingly disagreeable and Zero suspects he is withholding information about the assassinations. After the Dragon, a separate swordsman with clairvoyant abilities similar to Zero's, dismembers and abducts V, Zero learns about his own past as a supersoldier and that the drug he had been taking, Chronos, both gave him his super abilities and causes users in withdrawal to become trapped within their minds. Zero, tired of being manipulated, kills the psychiatrist. The girl goes missing and the story ends on a cliffhanger. A flashback reveals Zero's nightmare is a memory from the war, that he is the soldier and not the child, and that the Dragon was Zero's comrade.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" was developed over six years by the indie game creator Justin Stander under the studio name Askiisoft. It was Stander's first commercial game; his previous projects, such as "Tower of Heaven" (2009), had been smaller freeware games. After seeing the success of Terry Cavanagh's "VVVVVV" (2010), Stander concluded audiences only pay attention to indie games if they are being sold. Cavanagh, like Stander, had started off making freeware games, but none were as successful as "VVVVVV". "Katana Zero" originated from Stander's desires to create a larger project that could be sold commercially and tell a story. He began working on it in 2013 as a hobby during his sophomore year at McGill University. He used the GameMaker Studio 2 game engine and spent the first two years building simple prototypes. The game was a means of expression for Stander outside schoolwork and he spent most of his time at college developing it.


title: Katana Zero

text: After Stander graduated in 2015, he developed "Katana Zero" full time. He worked on multiple projects alongside it as a precaution since he felt the chances of success were slim. The total budget was 60,000, which Stander noted was quite small for a game of "Katana Zero" scope. He stated: "Most of it was just not paying myself at all and cutting down costs in my own life to do nothing but work on the game." Stander worked largely on his own, although he recruited help for the art and music. The game was initially developed for personal computers (macOS and Windows). Stander decided to develop a Nintendo Switch version immediately after the system was unveiled because he saw it as a good console for indie games. GameMaker made it easy to port "Katana Zero" and the long development meant it was already well optimized.


title: Katana Zero

text: One of Stander's goals was to make killing feel exciting and satisfying. He considered many modern games too forgiving, with enemies less powerful than the player. Finding it difficult to die in games such as "" (2011), Stander decided it would be easy to die in "Katana Zero". He wanted the game to be difficult but fair and for the player to recognize and take responsibility for their mistakes. He continued his style of design—short levels filled with instant-death scenarios—from "Tower of Heaven" and "Pause Ahead" (2013). The one-hit-kill gameplay was frequently compared to another Devolver Digital-published game, "Hotline Miami". Stander said he only played "Hotline Miami" once and did not remember its gameplay, but acknowledged it may have subconsciously influenced him. He named "Samurai Gunn" (2013), which he felt used one-hit kills effectively, as the bigger influence.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander wanted "Katana Zero" to feel cinematic and sought to subvert expectations: "As soon as you think you understand how this game is going to play out, then I just try to completely shift it on you... as soon as [you're] comfortable in [something], I try to shift things up. And I do that several times throughout the game. I really mess with the player." To maintain variety, he incorporated many enemy types, environmental traps, alternate level pathways, and set pieces. A minecart pathway inspired by "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) took over a month to create. Stander looked to indie games that feature "tight, fast-paced, instant death combat" for inspiration, such as "" (2009) and "Gunpoint" (2013).


title: Katana Zero

text: The art style was inspired by the neon lighting aesthetics associated with the 1980s. Recruiting artists proved challenging; Stander called himself "a terrible artist", and for two years no artists worked on the game. He found artists through the online independent developer community TIGSource, but said it was difficult to recruit high-quality pixel artists who would commit to the project. Many would only work on it for weeks or days before quitting for various reasons, such as other commitments or feeling their style did not match. Stander used the neon lighting to blend the artists' different styles. He considered being able to get an artist team to finish the game mere chance and credited the artists with motivating him to finish.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander focused on attention to detail and said adding a single mechanic, such as a gun turret, would require him to alter many different systems, such as the lighting, to maintain cohesion. Production value was important, as Stander wanted the engine to feel flawless. He said this meant "no bugs. Everything needs to feel like an extension of the player. When you play it, you should always feel like this is exactly what I wanted to do and that is what the character did." When developing small freeware games, he could scrutinize minute details, which would result in him spending a year to make a short, 20–30 minute game. Adapting this mentality to a full-length commercial game contributed to the prolonged development; Stander originally expected development to last a year or two. His focus on particulars demoralized him, to the point he made little progress for a year.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander said telling a story was a large part of his motivation to develop "Katana Zero", wanting to celebrate his favorite tropes and provide his own spin on them. The script is credited to Stander and Eric Shumaker, with additional writing by Sterling Nathaniel Brown and Ian Goldsmith Rooney. As Stander developed "Katana Zero" focusing on one element at a time, he only had a basic plot summary by the time he finished outlining all the levels. Elements Stander conceived early on included a protagonist who was "sort of trapped in their situation, because those always make for good main characters in action games", and a disagreeable psychiatrist who players would dislike.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" is a pastiche of the films Stander enjoyed. He was inspired by the Eastern culture of samurai cinema and wanted a vulnerable yet lethal protagonist similar to those from Korean revenge thrillers. Film influences included "Oldboy" (2003) "Sin City" (2005), "Drive" (2011), and "John Wick" for their "invincible-yet-human" protagonists and "stylistic violence set over a dark, grimy, neon coated setting", as well as "Seven Samurai" (1954) and the films of Quentin Tarantino. The story structure was inspired by "Hotline Miami", in which the player character is directed to kill by mysterious phone calls, and its themes include drug addiction and mental health. Stander hesitated to deal with such topics as they had never affected him, but after some research, felt he could treat them respectfully. Stander said the script was rewritten around 30 times.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander allowed the player to interrupt any line of spoken dialogue because many of the action games he grew up playing "would grind to a halt as the protagonist and the second banana argued about politics, or when the villain deigned to deliver a winding monologue". He considered this one of the biggest problems with cutscenes, as they strip players of their agency. Additionally, Stander felt an assassin like Zero would not wait to listen to a villain justify their schemes. He was conscious speedrunners would skip all the dialogue and included in-game consequences for interrupting constantly to create a sense of realism. He adopted a show-don't-tell approach to convey as much of the story, themes, and characters as possible through just visuals. A level in which the player controls the Dragon was intended to show the character's lethality without words.


title: Katana Zero

text: The dialogue tree system originated from Stander's concept for a role-playing video game (RPG) that centered on limitlessness, allowing the player to interact with any object and fight any NPC. He wanted every action to have repercussions, which he likened to the "Grand Theft Auto" games. Although he never developed the RPG, Stander reincorporated the dialogue system in "Katana Zero" to keep the pacing consistent. Difficulty arose from finding the right timing between interrupting and responding. Playtesters would choose the wrong response if they interrupted too late, or unintentionally interrupt by taking too much time to respond. Stander resolved the problem using "coyote time", a trick in game development in which developers provide the player a brief interval to make their decision even if the on-screen window of opportunity has passed.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander kept the stakes for each dialogue choice minimal to reduce tension and make choosing a response feel natural. He noted "even the ones that seem big will peter out or resolve themselves", similar to Telltale Games' "The Walking Dead" series, such as an instance in which a decision will cause the player to temporarily lose their sword. However, he said "the way the story is told is entirely dependent on [the player's] choices", noting worldbuilding and character relationships can change depending on the dialogue options. For example, Zero's relationship with the psychiatrist suffers if the player ignores his orders, which can lead to alternate story paths in which Zero learns information he was not supposed to. Stander used graphical effects to emphasize major decisions, such as moving or colored text and character animations. He accomplished this by programming the script to affect other areas of the game upon reaching certain points. His initial intention was only to add polish, but he began to experiment and added elements such as distortion effects and screen-shaking.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" synthwave score, which blends Chicago house, electronic music, and synth-pop, was composed by Bill Kiley and Thijs "LudoWic" Lodewijk, with additional music by Stander. Kiley had collaborated with Stander in the past and Stander recruited him to work on "Katana Zero" at the beginning of development. Lodewijk, who had never composed a video game, became involved in 2015, after Stander found his YouTube channel and recruited him to write a single track. Stander then asked if he could use music from Lodewijk's "jams" (improvised recording sessions Lodewijk had uploaded to his channel); the jam that first drew Stander's attention to Lodewijk, "Jam #12", was used as the boss theme. Lodewijk composed a track specifically for Stander after joining the project, but Stander told him to compose as he normally would.


title: Katana Zero

text: Kiley and Lodewijk looked to 1980s electronic music for inspiration since the game's themes—including drug use and the effect of war on a nation's spirit—were relevant in the 1980s in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. They originally worked separately, as Stander wanted Kiley to write muted music for story-driven scenes and Lodewijk to write energetic music for the main levels. According to Kiley, "As the project progressed we gleefully broke this rule and ended up writing music for levels and story scenes all over the place." Kiley and Lodewijk attempted to reflect Zero's changing psyche and moods in their music, such as when Zero experiences Chronos withdrawal and snorts cocaine in a limousine. Kiley drew influence from the work of Gary Numan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Vangelis, and sought to evoke the feelings of 1980s action films.


title: Katana Zero

text: Stander sent Kiley and Lodewijk screenshots, concept art, and notes describing the atmosphere he was aiming for, occasionally alongside an existing piece of music for reference. Lodewijk explained they would send their initial composition to Stander, leading to a series of exchanges that resulted in the final track. Some tracks ended up in different levels than intended, and for certain levels and dream sequences, Lodewijk wrote two tracks for Stander to blend in-game. Lodewijk composed most tracks in a single take, "[letting the music] go and sort of adjust[ing] it as it [went] along". He drew inspiration from Nine Inch Nails, as he and Stander were fans of their dark and industrial tone. Lodewijk did not set out to make dark music, but noted his tracks were often somber, even when he attempted to compose happy music.


title: Katana Zero

text: Kiley said he composed using the same monitors Richard "Disasterpeace" Vreeland used to compose "Fez" (2012), while Lodewijk used vintage synthesizers and drum machines such as the Akai MPC. While he did edit some tracks using his computer, Lodewijk described his process as "old-fashioned" and estimated 95% of his music was composed using vintage synths. Stander attempted to synchronize the music with the gameplay by having Zero turn on a Walkman at the beginning of each level, changing the music when Zero takes his earbuds out to talk to an NPC, and slowing down the music when the player uses Chronos.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" made its first public appearance at PAX West in Seattle in September 2015. Adult Swim Games obtained the publication rights, and a teaser trailer was released in December. The game was scheduled for a late 2016 release, but was delayed to 2017 and eventually to March 2019. Stander announced he had "amicably parted ways" with Adult Swim in December 2018, and revealed Devolver Digital had acquired the publication rights the following month. Devolver helped Stander localize the game, translating it to ten languages. Stander was impressed by Devolver's software testing process for catching bugs he did not notice.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" was released on April 18, 2019, as a downloadable game on GOG.com, Humble Bundle, Nintendo eShop, and Steam. The Switch version was temporarily banned in Australia after it was refused classification by the International Age Rating Coalition in April, due to its depiction of graphic violence and drug use. Devolver Digital resubmitted the game to the Australian Classification Board, which cleared it for a May release with an R18+ rating. Devolver released an Xbox One version on October 15, 2020, offered to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and an Amazon Luna version on December 9, 2021. A PlayStation 4 version was rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board in March 2021, but has not been released as of September 2022.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" was Devolver's most-preordered Switch game, sold over 100,000 copies within a week of release, and became Devolver's second-fastest-selling Switch game behind "Enter the Gungeon" (2017). It was the second-bestselling eShop game during the month following its release behind the Switch version of "Cuphead" (2017), which was released on the same day. "Katana Zero" sold 500,000 copies in less than a year and generated 5 million in revenue. In contrast, the average indie game generates around 16,000. Stander said "Katana Zero" was most successful on Switch and Steam; sales were originally strongest on Switch, but the Steam version gradually sold more since it went on sale often.


title: Katana Zero

text: According to the review aggregate website Metacritic, "Katana Zero" received "generally favorable reviews". Critics considered "Katana Zero" stylish and well designed. "IGN" said it "refines the tried and true one-hit-kill formula in a manner that makes it feels fresh, exciting, and innovative", while "Nintendo Life" and "Nintendo World Report" considered it a standout in the Nintendo eShop library. "Destructoid" reviewer said "Katana Zero" was "bleak, beautiful, bloody, and brilliant" and changed how he viewed video games.


title: Katana Zero

text: Critics praised the 16-bit visuals. They enjoyed the retro VHS aesthetic and visual effects—though some wrote their intensity could induce headaches—as well as the amount of detail in the sprites and animations. "IGN" found the lighting effects impressive and said they worked with the "slick neon aesthetic and fantastic sprite work" to give the game personality. "GameSpot" appreciated that "Katana Zero" did not use a retro aesthetic simply for nostalgia, and alongside "Polygon" found the detailed sprite work and smooth animations added emotional weight.


title: Katana Zero

text: The soundtrack was acclaimed. "Destructoid" called it an "audial delight" and "Nintendo Life" reviewer said the music overshadowed the rest of the game at points. He felt the soundtrack had a clear focus but remained "willing to experiment with obscure genres" and complimented the composers for doing something original in contrast to the "cliché" chiptune style prevalent in indie games. "IGN" said the soundtrack was excellent and fitting, and "PC Gamer" liked how it was contextualized in the world.


title: Katana Zero

text: Although reviewers praised the writing, they were divided on the story. "Destructoid" noted it was difficult to discuss since much is left to the player's interpretation. "Shacknews" praised the plot twists, and "GameSpot" said the story did a good job balancing graphic violence with "delicately quiet character moments and some heartfelt relationships". Some commended how the story provided context for the slow-motion game mechanic, and others thought it had heart. However, "PC Gamer" found the plot generic dystopian fiction with stock characters, while "Game Informer" felt it had interesting ideas but "most of them just cryptically meander without reaching any crescendo". Multiple reviewers disliked the ending, which they called abrupt, and felt teased story moments lacked payoffs. "GameSpot" found this problematic since a sequel was not guaranteed.


title: Katana Zero

text: The dialogue system was considered creative and innovative. Reviewers said the branching dialogue paths and alternate story scenarios added replay value. The graphical effects used to emphasize dialogue were praised for adding emotional weight to conversations. "Destructoid" and "Nintendo Life" said the dialogue system helped make the story interesting, and "Polygon" wrote it helped the player build an emotional connection with Zero. Minor criticism came from "IGN", which said many story deviations felt superficial, leading to later choices feeling inconsistent with those made earlier. Nonetheless, "IGN" said the dialogue system was entertaining and encouraged multiple playthroughs.


title: Katana Zero

text: Critics enjoyed the fast, fluid gameplay, which they frequently compared to "Hotline Miami". "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" and "IGN" said the influences were obvious, but this was not a problem. "IGN" said the controls were "empoweringly flexible" and "Nintendo Life" said it felt great to learn them. Reviewers frequently compared "Katana Zero" to a puzzle game, requiring the player to strategize and plan. They said this made completing each level feel satisfying, with "Game Informer" considering the trial-and-error process of polishing movements "the most entertaining part of [the game]". Conversely, "Polygon" felt the gameplay, while good, did not live up to the presentation, and that the puzzle-like design made the game feel limited. The short length was noted, but "IGN" and "Nintendo Life" said it worked in the game's favor since it meant there was no filler.


title: Katana Zero

text: Reviewers said the player character's abilities were static and limited. While "Gamer Informer" said this was a problem, "USgamer" found the game was "all about playing with those scant toys", and "PC Gamer" felt they were "adaptable enough to make the combat encounters varied". "GameSpot", "USgamer", "Destructoid", and "IGN" felt the gameplay stayed interesting with its set pieces and variety of enemy types, though "Game Informer" disagreed. "IGN" reviewer said the Chronos slow motion mechanic was his favorite element since it was powerful but still limited, and "Nintendo Life" described the process of balancing Chronos use throughout the levels as exciting. "Destructoid" praised how enemies never reset to their original position after deaths, although "Game Informer" considered this an annoyance.


title: Katana Zero

text: "Katana Zero" was among the top 50 highest-rated games on Metacritic in 2019, and was named one of the best games of 2019 by "USgamer" (#1), "Thrillist" (#21), and "Red Bull". "IGN" nominated it for "Best Action Game" and "Best Video Game Music/Soundtrack" during its Best of 2019 Awards. For his work on the game, Stander was included in "Forbes" 2020 30 Under 30 list.


title: Katana Zero

text: On April 25, 2019, a week after "Katana Zero" release, Stander announced he was working on free downloadable content (DLC). He wanted the DLC's quality to be on par with the main game's, and its size expanded considerably during development. It was three times its originally-planned size by February 2020, and six times by March 2021. However, the expansions did not change Stander's plans to release the DLC for free. The DLC will be slightly more than half the size of the base game and will introduce new game mechanics, enemies, and story elements. Stander described it as "more like "Katana 1.5"" than DLC. He said the DLC will resolve some plot threads and continue the worldbuilding, but will not complete the story. Stander plans to continue the story beyond the DLC and has its conclusion planned. In May 2020, he said some of his future games would connect to its fictional universe.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual curiosity and a love of travel. She was a friend of noted artists and writers of the day, including John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Dennis Miller Bunker, Anders Zorn, Henry James, Dodge MacKnight, Okakura Kakuzo and Francis Marion Crawford.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Gardner created much fodder for the gossip columns of the day with her reputation for stylish tastes and unconventional behavior. The Boston society pages called her by many names, including "Belle," "Donna Isabella," "Isabella of Boston," and "Mrs. Jack". Her surprising appearance at a 1912 concert (at what was then a very formal Boston Symphony Orchestra) wearing a white headband emblazoned with "Oh, you Red Sox" was reported at the time to have "almost caused a panic", and still remains in Boston one of the most talked about of her eccentricities.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Isabella Stewart was born in New York City on April 14, 1840, the daughter of wealthy linen-merchant David Stewart and Adelia Stewart (née Smith). She grew up in Manhattan. From age five to fifteen she attended a nearby academy for girls where she studied art, music, and dance, as well as French and Italian. Attendance at Grace Church exposed her to religious art, music and ritual. At age 16, she and her family moved to Paris where she was enrolled in a school for American girls; her classmates included members of the wealthy Gardner family of Boston. In 1857 she was taken to Italy and in Milan saw Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli's collection of Renaissance art arranged in rooms designed to recall historical eras. She said at the time that if she were ever to inherit some money, she would have a similar house for people to visit and enjoy. She returned to New York in 1858.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Shortly after returning, her former classmate Julia Gardner invited her to Boston, where she met Julia's brother John Lowell "Jack" Gardner. Three years her senior, he was the son of John L. and Catharine E. (Peabody) Gardner, and one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. They married in Grace Church on April 10, 1860, and then lived in a house that Isabella's father gave them, at 152 Beacon Street in Boston. They resided there for the rest of Jack's life.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Jack and Isabella had one son, born on June 18, 1863; he died from pneumonia on March 15, 1865. A year later Isabella suffered a miscarriage and was told she could not bear any more children. Her close friend and sister-in-law died about the same time. Gardner became extremely depressed and withdrew from society. On the advice of doctors, she and Jack traveled to Europe in 1867. Isabella was so ill that she had to be taken aboard the ship on a stretcher. The couple spent almost a year traveling, visiting Scandinavia and Russia but spending most of their time in Paris. The trip had the desired effect on Isabella's health and became a turning point in her life. It was on this trip that she began her lifelong habit of keeping scrapbooks of her travels. Upon her return, she began to establish her reputation as a fashionable, high-spirited socialite.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: In 1875 Jack's brother, Joseph P. Gardner, died, leaving three young sons. Jack and Isabella "adopted" and raised the boys. Augustus P. Gardner was 10 years old at the time. Isabella's biographer, Morris Carter, wrote that "in her duty to these boys, she was faithful and conscientious".


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: In 1874, Isabella and Jack Gardner visited the Middle East, Central Europe and Paris. Beginning in the late 1880s, they traveled frequently across America, Europe and Asia to discover foreign cultures and expand their knowledge of art around the world. Jack and Isabella would take more than a dozen trips abroad over the years, keeping them out of the country for a total of ten years.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: The earliest works in the Gardners' collection were accumulated during their trips to Europe especially. In 1891, she started to focus on European fine art after inheriting $1.75 million from her father. One of her first acquisitions was "The Concert" by Vermeer (c. 1664), purchased at a Paris auction house in 1892. She also collected from other places abroad such as Egypt, Turkey, and the Far East. The Gardners began to collect in earnest in the late 1890s, rapidly building a world-class collection primarily of paintings and sculpture, but also tapestries, photographs, silver, ceramics and manuscripts, and architectural elements such as doors, stained glass, and mantelpieces.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: In the early years of the 20th century, Isabella traveled with friend and Boston architect Edmund March Wheelwright to collect for the Harvard Lampoon Building, also called "Lampoon Castle", a faux Flemish castle in Harvard Square. Isabella donated many pieces of art to the castle over her years of collecting. The value of this collection is uncertain, due to the secret nature of the "Lampoon".


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Nearly seventy works of art in her collection were acquired with the help of connoisseur Bernard Berenson. Among the collectors with whom she competed was Edward Perry Warren, who supplied a number of works to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Gardner collection includes works by some of Europe's most important artists, such as Botticelli's "Madonna and Child with an Angel", Titian's "Rape of Europa", Fra Angelico's "Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin", and Diego Velázquez's "King Philip IV of Spain". She purchased some of her collection on her own, but often asked for male colleagues, such as her business partner, to purchase on her behalf as it was uncommon for women to participate in art collecting.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Isabella Stewart Gardner's favorite foreign destination was Venice, Italy. The Gardners regularly stayed at the Palazzo Barbaro, a major artistic center for a circle of American and English expatriates in Venice, and visited Venice's artistic treasures with amateur artist and former Bostonian Ralph Curtis. While in Venice, Gardner bought art and antiques, attended the opera and dined with expatriate artists and writers.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: By 1896, Isabella and Jack Gardner recognized that their house on Beacon Street in Boston's Back Bay, although enlarged once, was not sufficient to house their growing collection of art, including works by Botticelli, Vermeer, and Rembrandt. After Jack's sudden death in 1898, Isabella realized their shared dream of building a museum for their treasures. She purchased land for the museum in the marshy Fenway area of Boston, and hired architect Willard T. Sears to build a museum modeled on the Renaissance palaces of Venice. Gardner was deeply involved in every aspect of the design, though, leading Sears to quip that he was merely the structural engineer making Gardner's design possible. The building completely surrounds a glass-covered garden courtyard, the first of its kind in America. Gardner intended the second and third floors to be galleries. A large music room originally spanned the first and second floors on one side of the building, but Gardner later split the room to make space to display a large John Singer Sargent painting called "El Jaleo" on the first floor and tapestries on the second floor.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: After the building was ready, Gardner spent a year carefully installing her collection according to her personal aesthetic. The eclectic gallery installations, paintings, sculpture, textiles, and furniture from different periods and cultures combine to create a rich, complex and unique narrative. In the Titian Room, Titian's masterpiece "The Rape of Europa" (1561–1562) hangs above a piece of pale green silk, which had been cut from one of Isabella Stewart Gardner's gowns designed by Charles Frederick Worth. Throughout the collection, similar stories, intimate portrayals, and discoveries abound.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: The museum privately opened on January 1, 1903, with a grand opening celebration featuring a performance by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a menu that included champagne and doughnuts. It opened to the public months later with a variety of paintings, drawings, furniture and other objects dating from ancient Egypt to Matisse. The museum is still arranged with a variety of textiles, furniture, and paintings floor to ceiling.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: In 1919, Isabella Stewart Gardner suffered the first of a series of strokes and died five years later, on July 17, 1924, at the age of 84. She is buried in the Gardner family tomb at Mount Auburn Cemetery located in Watertown and Cambridge, between her husband and her son.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: After Gardner's death, the fourth floor served as residence for the museum's director for over sixty years. While alive, Gardner herself would use the fourth floor for her residence. When Anne Hawley became director, she decided not to live there. Six months after Anne took office, the museum was robbed. More recently, it has been converted for use as museum offices.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Her will created an endowment of $1 million and outlined stipulations for support of the museum, including that the permanent collection not be significantly altered. In keeping with her philanthropic nature, her will also left sizable bequests to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children, Animal Rescue League of Boston, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A devout Anglo-Catholic, she requested in her will that the Cowley Fathers celebrate an annual Memorial Requiem Mass for the repose of her soul in the museum chapel. This duty is now performed each year on her birthday and alternates between the Society of St. John the Evangelist and the Church of the Advent.


title: Isabella Stewart Gardner

text: Isabella Stewart Gardner was an intimate patroness of many artists, writers, and musicians. An accomplished traveler and shrewd collector, she was a leading figure in American social and cultural life. In Boston they called her the "Queen of the Back Bay."


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Xavier Rhodes (born June 19, 1990) is an American football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round (25th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. With the Vikings, Rhodes made three Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro selection.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Rhodes attended Miami Norland High School in Miami Gardens, Florida, where he was a two-sport star in football and track. He played as a wide receiver, running back, and defensive back for the Miami Norland Vikings football team. As a junior, he recorded more than 1,000 all-purpose yards. In his senior year, he led his school in both rushing and receiving, and earning a spot on the Miami Herald All-Dade team on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He played in the 12th annual Nike South Florida All-Star game. He was honored as 6A FSWA first-team All-state selection, and a first-team All-Dade County athlete.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Rhodes also excelled in track & field at Norland. In his first season of track in 2007, he posted a personal-best time of 48.60 seconds in the 400-meter dash. At the 2008 Sam Burley Hall of Fame Meet, he earned a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash event with a time of 22.25 seconds. As a senior, he qualified for the state finals in the 100-meter dash after running a career-best time of 10.70 seconds in the prelims of the regional championship.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Rhodes was listed as the No. 75 wide receiver and the No. 91 prospect in the state of Florida. He chose FSU over scholarship offers from West Virginia, Auburn, and Florida International.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Rhodes received an athletic scholarship to attend Florida State University, where he played for coach Jimbo Fisher's Florida State Seminoles football team from 2009 to 2012. He started 38 of 43 games in the secondary in his distinguished college career.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: As a freshman in 2009, Rhodes played in only two games against Boston College and Georgia Tech on special teams before suffering a hand injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He was granted a medical redshirt, preserving him another year of college eligibility.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: In 2010, Rhodes started all 14 games at the boundary cornerback position and emerged as a promising young star for FSU's vastly improved defense. He used his physical attributes to record 12 pass breakups and four interceptions, good for a share of the team lead. His pass breakups and 16 passes defended led all freshmen nationally. He was credited with three pass breakups in pivotal Atlantic Division wins over Boston College and Clemson. He also intercepted a pass in the end zone against the Tigers which proved to swing the momentum in the Seminoles' 16-13 victory. His previous interceptions came against BYU and NC State. A sure tackler, the Miami native ranked seventh on the team with 58 stops and his 49 solo tackles ranked fourth. Rhodes's ability to play close to the line of scrimmage in coverage enabled him to collect 3.5 tackles for loss on the season and two sacks. He recovered the first two fumbles of his career in FSU's home finale against Florida in a 31-7 rout. He was named one of the top newcomers on defense at the annual Florida State football banquet. In all, he recorded 54 tackles, four interceptions, and two sacks. He was named the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and was a consensus freshman All-American. He also earned National Defensive Freshman of the Year honors from "Collegefootballnews.com".


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: In his redshirt sophomore season in 2011, Rhodes started as part of a three-man cornerback rotation with Mike Harris and Greg Reid. He made five tackles at Clemson, at Wake Forest, and Duke. Against Maryland, Rhodes tallied a season-high six tackles. He intercepted his first pass of the season against NC State. He finished with four tackles in the win over Notre Dame in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl. He registered 43 stops (36 solo) on the season with 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and four pass-breakups for the season. He was selected as the Mr. Dependable Skill Award winner at the team's annual banquet.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: For his junior season in 2012, Rhodes was named to preseason watchlists for the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy. He was also the only player from the ACC to be named a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. He defended 10 passes on the season, placing 11th in the ACC and leading all FSU players, while his three interceptions tied for 8th and also tied for the team lead, leading this to earn first-team All-ACC honors. He also added seven pass break-ups which tied for third on the team. He recorded 39 tackles (27 unassisted) and 2.0 tackles for loss. His third interception and eighth career pick came in the ACC Championship Game versus Georgia Tech. The two other picks came against Murray State and at USF. He forced and recovered a fumble in the Orange Bowl against Northern Illinois. He registered a season-high seven tackles at NC State. He anchored an FSU secondary that held nine of the top 10 receivers in the ACC at the time they faced them to a combined 22 catches for 244 yards. In the last 12 games, he was targeted 47 times and allowed just 13 completions for 88 yards with two interceptions and seven pass break-ups. He helped Florida State's defense lead the nation in yards allowed per play (3.86), rank second nationally in total defense (254.14 ypg) and rank in the top six nationally in scoring defense (14.71 ppg), rushing defense (92.29 ypg), pass defense (161.86 ypg), pass efficiency defense (95.43) and opponent three-and-outs (6.29 per game). He earned the Mr. Dependable Skill Award at the team's annual banquet for the second straight year.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Shortly after FSU's 31–10 victory over Northern Illinois in the 2013 Orange Bowl, Rhodes announced his decision to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility, entering the 2013 NFL Draft. "I did all I could in college. If I was to come back, I don't think my status would be getting any better," said Rhodes.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Coming out of Florida State, Rhodes was projected as a first-round selection in the 2013 NFL Draft by "Sports Illustrated".


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: The Minnesota Vikings selected Rhodes in the first round (25th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. The pick used to select him was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade for Percy Harvin. He was the fourth cornerback selected in 2013 and was the highest selected defensive back from Florida State since Antonio Cromartie was taken 19th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2006 NFL Draft.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: On July 13, 2013, the Minnesota Vikings signed Rhodes to a four-year, $7.80 million contract that includes $6.33 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4.05 million.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: Rhodes began training camp slated as a starting cornerback, but saw competition for the role from Josh Robinson. Head coach Leslie Frazier named Rhodes the third cornerback on the depth chart, behind veterans Chris Cook and Josh Robinson. He was also selected to be the starting nickelback in nickel and dime packages.


title: Xavier Rhodes

text: He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Minnesota Vikings' season-opener at the Detroit Lions and recorded three solo tackles in their 34–24 loss. Rhodes made his first career tackle on wide receiver Calvin Johnson after a seven-yard reception in the second quarter. On October 27, 2013, Rhodes recorded a season-high seven solo tackles during a 44–31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. In Week 12, Rhodes earned his first start as an outside cornerback after Josh Robinson sustained a fractured sternum the previous week and was expected to be sidelined for a month. Rhodes recorded a season-high four pass deflections and made four solo tackles during a 26–26 tie at the Green Bay Packers. On December 8, 2013, Rhodes made three solo tackles and three pass deflections before exiting the Vikings' 29–26 loss at the Baltimore Ravens after sustaining an ankle injury. He was sidelined for the last three games of the season (Weeks 15–17). On December 30, 2013, it was announced that the Minnesota Vikings fired head coach Leslie Frazier after finishing fourth in the NFC North with a 5–10–1 record. He finished his rookie season in 2013 with 48 combined tackles (41 solo) and ten pass deflections in 13 games and six starts.