title: Markus Braun

text: In 2002, Braun joined the management board of Wirecard AG and became CEO and CTO of the company. Wirecard was one of the world's largest digital platforms in the area of financial commerce and is headquartered in Germany. It was one of Germany's Top 30 most valuable companies on the German stock market (DAX) and has been ranked in the “Top 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies in the World” by Forbes Magazine.


title: Markus Braun

text: In 2017, Braun was reappointed as a CEO of Wirecard. He responded to his reappointment by stating: "We will drive the digitization of payment processes using internet technology on a global level, and we will make Wirecard a global leader in this sector." Much of what Braun has said was questioned long before Wirecard has admitted fraud in June 2020. In 2017, for example, Braun told investors that Wirecard was using the latest artificial intelligence technology to analyze data. However according to third parties, staff were instead cobbling together spreadsheets of customer information. Braun owns more than 7% of Wirecard shares.


title: Markus Braun

text: In June 2020, Braun stepped down as CEO after more than US$2 billion was found missing from the company accounts. In late 2017, Deutsche Bank loaned Braun €150 million and accepted half of his 7% share in Wirecard as collateral. The loan was not renewed after the company was accused of accounting fraud. On 22 June, Braun was detained by German police "on suspicion of accounting fraud and market manipulation" after he had turned himself in. On 23 June, he was released on bail, set at 5 million Euros ($5.7 million). On 22 July, he was arrested again.


title: Markus Braun

text: In March 2022, Munich public prosecutors charged him with fraud, breach of trust and accounting manipulation. If found guilty on all these charges, he could face up to 15 years in prison. Braun maintains that he is innocent and himself a victim of fraud.


title: Markus Braun

text: Braun has more than 15 years of experience in the digital payment industry and was a regular speaker at industry related events as well as different national and international media.


title: Markus Braun

text: According to Braun, in the next decade, the entire retail payment infrastructure will be replaced by technology merging all payment streams into a single, fully digital system. Braun stated, that digitalization, if done right, would generate an increase in sales for the brick and mortar business similar to the expanding online commerce. He considers cash to become an exception and says, that technology can never be justified by itself and can only be successful when it delivers visible value-added for customers and merchants.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: Blaze of Glory is Jon Bon Jovi's debut solo studio album, released August 7, 1990. It includes songs from and inspired by the movie "Young Guns II". Emilio Estevez originally requested Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" as the theme song for his upcoming Billy the Kid sequel, but Jon Bon Jovi ended up composing an all-new theme song for the film's soundtrack instead.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: The album featured guests such as Elton John, Little Richard, and Jeff Beck, was awarded a Golden Globe and received Academy Award and Grammy nominations.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: The album mainly focuses on the theme of redemption and whether an individual's past wrongs will catch up with them. Another theme on the album is about making a stand and making yourself heard in the world. Jon Bon Jovi said on the "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" DVD that he originally thought the album's aggression and themes dealt with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett from "Young Guns II" but has come to realize that they reflect the bad place he was in at the time. The album more or less transitioned Jon's songwriting from mostly girls and having a good time to other subject matters, which would lead into him and his band's further maturing in songwriting with 1992's "Keep the Faith".


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: Emilio Estevez originally approached Bon Jovi to ask him for permission to include the song "Wanted Dead or Alive" on the soundtrack. Bon Jovi did not feel the song's lyrics were appropriate; however, he was inspired by the project and resolved to write a new song for the film that would be more in keeping with the period and setting. He quickly wrote the song "Blaze of Glory", and performed it on acoustic guitar in the New Mexico desert for Estevez and John Fusco. This was the first time that "Blaze of Glory" was heard. Fusco called his co-producers into the trailer to listen, and it was named the theme song for "Young Guns II" on the spot. In an interview for "UNCUT" magazine, Kiefer Sutherland said, "When Jon (Bon Jovi) joined the team for Young Guns 2, we were all eating hamburgers in a diner and Jon was scribbling on this napkin for, say, six minutes. He declared he'd written 'Blaze of Glory', which of course then went through the roof in the States. He later gave Emilio Estevez the napkin. We were munching burgers while he wrote a No. 1 song... Made us feel stupid."


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: Music videos were made for the singles "Blaze of Glory", "Miracle", and "Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin'" featuring Elton John.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: Bon Jovi's lyrics from the song "Santa Fe" are quoted in the 1998 book, "About a Boy", although the author, Nick Hornby, would have been light-heartedly referring to John Donne's "No Man Is an Island". The song is also quoted in the film "High Fidelity".


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: The title track "Blaze of Glory" was released as the first single and hit No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and the Mainstream rock charts. "Miracle" was released as the second single and charted at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the Mainstream rock charts and the third single "Never Say Die" charted in Australia, Canada and Poland but was not released in the US. "Dyin Ain't Much of a Livin' featuring Elton John and "Santa Fe" were released as promo singles.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: In 1998, a country duet version of "Bang a Drum" was released with country singer Chris LeDoux, the track was released as a single with a music video and reached number 68 on the US Hot Country Songs chart.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: "Young Guns II" is a 1990 western film, and the sequel to "Young Guns" (1988). It stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater, and features William Petersen as Pat Garrett. It was written and produced by John Fusco and directed by Geoff Murphy.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: Jon Bon Jovi also made a cameo appearance in the film as one of the prisoners in the pit with Doc and Chavez.


title: Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi album)

text: "Note": The only tracks heard in the movie are "Billy Get Your Guns", "Blaze of Glory" (both of which are played over the end credits), and the Silvestri score cue.


title: Christian Vadim

text: Christian Vadim (born 18 June 1963) is a French actor. He is the son of actress Catherine Deneuve and film director Roger Vadim.


title: Christian Vadim

text: He made his film debut in 1983, working with his father in the film "Surprise Party", and appeared in Éric Rohmer's "Full Moon in Paris" the following year.


title: Christian Vadim

text: In 1999, he played Bloch in "Time Regained" (directed by Raúl Ruiz), which also starred his mother Catherine Deneuve. He then worked again with Ruiz on "Love Torn in a Dream" (2000), "Savage Souls" (2001), "A Place Among the Living" (2003), "That Day" (2003) and "Night Across the Street" (2012).


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: LittleBigPlanet is a 2008 platform game developed by Media Molecule and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The first game of the "LittleBigPlanet" franchise, the player character is Sackboy, a brown ragged doll with the ability to create. The level editor is the main focus of the game, allowing the player to create levels and publish them online. The premade levels in the story mode are built around Sackboy's basic control scheme. They are grouped into areas, each centring around a theme. The story mode revolves around Sackboy helping various Creator Curators around LittleBigPlanet before facing the Collector, who has been kidnapping and stealing creations.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Media Molecule was formed by four former Lionhead Studios employees after the release of "Rag Doll Kung Fu" (2005). The concept of a game that allowed the player to be creatively ambitious for the console was envisioned after a movie trip to "Howl's Moving Castle". After a prototype called "Craftworld" was created in 2006, it was pitched to Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison. Harrison lauded the concept and agreed to fund the project. "LittleBigPlanet" was first announced by Harrison at Game Developers Conference 2006. After a marketing campaign and beta access, the game was slated for release in October 2008. After being delayed for a week to remove in-game song lyrics that could be offensive, it was ultimately released worldwide between late October to early November 2008.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" was met with universal acclaim and was nominated for and won many awards. Praise went to the gameplay, creative, and community aspects of the game. While sales initially dwindled for "LittleBigPlanet", the game was ultimately a commercial success; reaching four million sales. It is considered among the greatest video games of all time. It is noted for its influence in the play, create, share genre. Although there were initially no plans to release a sequel, "LittleBigPlanet" became a franchise with "LittleBigPlanet 2," spin-offs and "LittleBigPlanet 3" and Sackboy became a mascot for Sony. The release of "LittleBigPlanet" coincided with the rise of user-generated content and helped launched a genre of level-editing games. Its online functionality was discontinued on 13 September 2021, alongside services for "LittleBigPlanet 2", "LittleBigPlanet PS Vita", and the PlayStation 3 version of "LittleBigPlanet 3".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" is a physics-based platform game that is designed around the tagline "Play. Create. Share". The player can play the levels in the game, create levels, and share them online. The pod, which takes the form of a cardboard ship, serves as a hub to these options. The ability to play other levels is on the planet known as "LittleBigPlanet", where story mode and published levels are available. The level editor is on MyMoon, which also allows the player to publish levels onto LittleBigPlanet. The player character is a brown rag doll named "Sackboy" which can be customised through the use of costumes. Sackboy can run, jump, and grab objects that are made out of certain materials. He can also grab jetpacks to fly, move between the three layers of the game, and access a menu known as the "Popit", which has the appearance of a floating vertical rectangle connected to Sackboy with a filament. The Popit is the source of customising tools, stickers, and objects. The player can give Sackboy one of four emotions; happy, sad, scared, and angry; with varying degrees of severity.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The story mode of "LittleBigPlanet" consists of eight themed areas, each with three or four main levels. Keys are hidden throughout the main levels, which when collected unlock bonus levels. This adds up to a grand total of fifty levels. Each level is designed around the control scheme of Sackboy and the themes of their area. For example, the Metropolis involves navigating sewers and hopping on subways. Although the story mode is in sequential order, each of the levels can be replayed to collect prize bubbles, which contains items, including costumes, stickers, songs, and objects. There are also score bubbles, which when collected in a chain, can grant a multiplier to the amount of score gained from the score bubbles. Each of the levels also contains checkpoints, where Sackboy can respawn if he dies. Each checkpoint has three available uses, or in some cases, six available uses. If the last activated checkpoint runs out of uses, the level ends. The player has the ability to play the game with up to three other players. Some puzzles for finding prize bubbles in story mode require more than one player.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The Popit gives Sackboy access to various creative tools. During story mode, the popit can only be used to access stickers and character customising. Stickers can be stamped on any object. In particular, in areas of the story mode, there are blank canvases that required a specific sticker to be placed on them for Sackboy to collect prize bubbles. The player may customise Sackboy in a range of ways. They are able to select a base colour and texture for their Sackboy from a range of materials and designs along with giving them accessories, including glasses and hats. They can also place stickers on Sackboy.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The main focus of "LittleBigPlanet" is the level editor, located on MyMoon. The editor incorporates a large number of editing tools and objects, accessible from the Popit, to create levels from a low to a high degree of complexity. There is a collection of interactive tutorials that are required to be completed in order to use their respective tools. To facilitate the creation process and to accommodate any mistakes made, the editor features a manipulatable time system, whereby the player may "rewind" the editor, which acts as an undo feature, or pause the editor, which temporarily halts objects that run under the physics engine, such as gravity acting on falling or rolling objects. The player may create new objects by starting with many basic shapes, such as circles, stars and squares, and "drawing" a shape into the level using one of the many materials. Objects may be glued to each other or to the level. More mechanical features are also available, such as connecting objects together with string, using bolts to spin objects, or using various kinds of triggers. Rocket motors can be attached to objects to propel them across a level. After creating custom objects, the player may save their creation to a library for later use, and share their object by placing it inside a prize bubble in their level, so that other players who play the level can collect it and may use it in their own levels.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: A large part of "LittleBigPlanet" was the ability for level creators to publish their levels and objects to the online community for other people to play. The player could access the published levels through the planet, LittleBigPlanet. One of the options that were available was "Cool Levels", which allowed the player to play levels at random. These levels could be played with multiplayer, both online and local. Once a custom level has been played through, the player could tag the level with a list of predefined words and may cycle through the word choice to find the most appropriate. This allowed other players to quickly find their level of choice by searching a specific tag. They would also be able to rate the level out of five stars. There's a "heart" feature available to the player, which allows them to specify which levels, stickers and decorations they prefer. However, as of September 2021, the online servers for "LittleBigPlanet" have been shut down.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" is set on the titular planet, a world full of creations made by Creator Curators. Sackboy explores through eight of the creations; each with a theme based on locations around the world. The eight creations are the Gardens, the Savannah, the Weddings, the Canyons, the Metropolis, the Islands, the Temples, and the Wilderness; each creator curators' being the King, Zola the Lion King, Frida, Uncle Jalapeño, Mags the Mechanic, Grandmaster Sensei, the Great Magician, and the Collector respectively. Each creation is based on Britain, Africa, South America, Mexico, America, Japan, India, and Siberia respectively.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: After Sackboy explores the Gardens, learning various tools along the way, the King sends Sackboy to the Savannah for him to begin his adventure. Sackboy accidentally destroys one of Zola's creations, but Zola agrees to forgive Sackboy if he finds out what is troubling the bison; the cause is discovered to be crocodiles. Their king, Croc, reveals that Meerkat Mum is accusing Croc of eating Meerkat Mum's son, Stripy Tail. Sackboy finds Stripy Tail at a VIP club in a disco and brings him to Meerkat Mum.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Entering the Weddings, Sackboy is revealed to by a butler that Frida's groom, Don Lu, has gone missing. Sackboy finds Don Lu, who had gotten lost and exhausted in the dark crypts. Frida, however, goes on a rampage with a destructive machine called the Skulldozer, believing she has been abandoned by Don Lu. Sackboy destroys the Skulldozer and reunites Frida and Don Lu. Frida and Don Lu decide to travel to the Canyons for their honeymoon, and Don Lu invites Sackboy over to meet Don Lu's uncle, Jalapeño. There, a citizen named Devante reveals that Sheriff Zapata kidnapped Jalapeño. Sackboy and Devante free Jalapeño from his prison cell with the use of bombs. Sackboy finds Zapata in the Serpent Shrine, who tries to blow up Sackboy with bombs, killing himself in the process. Jalapeño, wanting a vacation, goes to the Metropolis with Sackboy. A resident mechanic Mags reveals that martial artist Ze Dude stole Mags's car. Ze Dude races Sackboy with the car but crashes it into a river. After Sackboy recovers the car from sewage, Ze Dude starts vandalizing Mags's construction site with a fireball machine. Sackboy fights and beats Ze Dude and his bouncers. Finding him a worthy fighter, Ze Dude sends Sackboy to the Islands. There, the Grandmaster Sensei trains Sackboy's skills as a warrior to fight the Terrible Oni. After Sackboy saves Grandmaster Sensei's flame-throwing cat from a sumo wrestler, the Sensei sends Sackboy to fight the Terrible Oni in the volcano. Afterwards, the Sensei sends Sackboy to the Temples to get a flame-throwing cat.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: In the Temples, the Shopkeeper sends Sackboy to the Goddess for her to lead Sackboy's way. The Goddess reveals that the Great Magician needs help to "bring sharing back to LittleBigPlanet." The Great Magician reveals to Sackboy that the Collector is stealing creations around LittleBigPlanet and "not sharing them around the world." The Great Magician teleports Sackboy to the Wilderness to find the Collector. Sackboy breaches the Collector's base and starts freeing all the inhabitants of LittleBigPlanet from their cages, including the curator creators. Sackboy confronts the Collector, who attacks Sackboy with machines. After Sackboy destroys his machines, the Collector tries to escape through his pod, which breaks down. Defeated, the Collector admits that he went evil because he has no friends to share with. The King appears and addresses the player, calling for them to be a part of the "LittleBigPlanet" community.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Prior to forming Media Molecule; Mark Healey, Kareem Ettouney, Alex Evans, and Dave Smith worked at Lionhead Studios and developed the 3D platformer "Rag Doll Kung Fu" (2005), the first third-party video game released on Steam. After a cinema visit to see "Howl's Moving Castle", Healey and Smith discussed a game that had character controls similar to "Rag Doll Kung Fu" that would be playable on a console. Healey and Smith left Lionhead Studios in December 2005 along with Evans and Ettouney. When they initially formed Media Molecule, back then known as Brainfluff, they had only had a vague idea of what game they wanted to create. They wanted to create an ambitious console-friendly game that utilised user-generated content, appealed to a broad audience, and proved that a small company could develop a mainstream game.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Media Molecule arranged a meeting with Phil Harrison, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. They created a prototype of their idea, a game called "Craftworld", a physics-based, 2D side-scrolling game, with a placeholder character called Mr. Yellowhead. The company chose to pitch their idea to Harrison using their own software, rather than PowerPoint, which allowed for bullet-point information as in standard presentations, but also for live, controllable movement of game characters. Media Molecule pitched the prototype to Harrison in January 2006. By their own admission, the pitch was vague and they had deliberately toned down the creative aspect of the game—which they felt may have appeared as "weird" for a console game—for fear of negative reception of their pitch by Sony. They presented the prototype purely as a playable game, and only briefly mentioned the user-created content aspect; Evans relates that Harrison actually picked up on the creative side, and had asked them why they had chosen not to explore this element further. The meeting, which had been scheduled to last 45 minutes, eventually lasted 3 hours at the end of which, Sony agreed to fund the project for six months. Media Molecule became incorporated as a company in February 2006.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: After some further development, the team was asked to present what they had done to Sony in what Healey describes as a "Dragons' Den style scenario". Following this, Sony gave them a deal to develop "LittleBigPlanet" for the PlayStation 3 in exchange for exclusivity and ownership of the intellectual property. Despite backing from Sony, Media Molecule was unsure about exactly what direction they were going to take the game. They also worried about whether people would understand, or even like the game, but these worries were dispelled after its first presentation at Game Developers Conference 2007 (GDC 2007). Media Molecule was aware of the fact that Sony wanted them to demonstrate the game at the upcoming convention, but they were not told they were to be part of Phil Harrison's keynote speech until near the date it was due to take place. Healey stated that it was only when they arrived in San Francisco for the conference that they realised just how much Sony was devoted to the game—much more than Media Molecule had previously thought. Healey relates that although the revelation of Sony's faith in the game boosted their confidence, it increased the pressure on them. They realised that their task had become much greater than originally anticipated.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Healey was the creative director, Ettouney was the art director, and Evans and Smith were the technical directors. "LittleBigPlanet" was designed around its associated tagline: "Play, Create, Share". Players could play the story levels, create levels using the creation tools, and publish them to the community for others to play. Healey wanted "LittleBigPlanet" to bridge the gap between casual and hardcore gaming. A particular goal was to make it so players could create levels of higher quality than even the story levels. Though the game was meant to be ambitious and to allow players to creatively express themselves, constraints were placed on the game deliberately to make the game more focused and fun and to appeal to uncreative people.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Prior to the creation of Sackboy, Smith designed Mr. Yellowhead to be the player character for the "Craftworld" prototype. After the prototype was showcased to Harrison, the design of Mr. Yellowhead would evolve into the modern form of Sackboy overtime. The reason Sackboy was created was to serve as the customisable avatar for the player. For this reason, it was not given a voice or defined personality. One of the goals of designing Sackboy was to make him appeal to a broad audience. The zipper used on the modern design was initially going to be used to access Create Mode, though it was scrapped and eventually replaced with MyMoon.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" was designed to be supported post-release, with Evans stating that Media Molecule would be supporting the community "massively". Through the use of updates, Media Molecule could make changes to the game after release. The studio also has the ability to add content packs, new game modes, and new objects. Although, there were no plans to add additional features through updates, they did decide to use patches to add LittleBigStore and online access to Create mode, neither of which were available when the game first released. Originally, Harrison wanted to create "LittleBigPlanet" as a downloadable service that monetised user-generated content, but it was scrapped early on.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Kenneth Young, Daniel Pemberton, and Mat Clark were the composers for "LittleBigPlanet". Young also served as the audio designer, while Matt Willis served as the audio programmer. Stephen Fry serves as the narrator. Young joined Media Molecule in 2007 following their presentation at GDC. He did the majority of the sound work and composed a few of the songs, along with "directing the composers and the creative side of the music licensing process, producing the voice localisation from the Mm side of things, [and] being heavily involved in the design of the audio-centric UGC features of the game." A soundtrack album titled "LittleBigMusic" was eventually released digitally containing the music Pemberton composed.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" contains 21 tracks that were licensed by other producers and 14 original tracks made by the composers. Young was the one who found the songs and got them licensed. Key bands that licensed one of their songs to the game include the Go! Team and Battles. The main theme was composed by Pemberton. Some of the original tracks are called "interactive tracks", most of which were composed by Clark. The interactive tracks allow players to change what instruments are playing at any given time. Much of the original music took influence from world music, mashups, and 1970s television shows for children. Early on in 2006, there were plans to add a music sequencer for players to create their own music, but it was scrapped until the development of "LittleBigPlanet 2".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: One of the licensed songs in the game is Toumani Diabate's "Tapha Niang" from "Boulevard de l'Independance" (2006). The song contained lyrics sung by Moussa Diabate that lamented the death of his brother Mustapha and contained references to the Qur'an, the Islamic religious text. The inclusion of the song in beta versions of "LittleBigPlanet" was met with controversy among Muslim gamers who found combining the text of the Qur'an with music to be offensive, despite Toumani being a "devout Muslim". They requested Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) to remove the track via a patch. This led to a worldwide recall of "LittleBigPlanet" from retailers on 17 October 2008 and the release of "LittleBigPlanet" to be delayed. Version 1.02 would be implemented, removing the lyrical content of "Tapha Niang".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" was first announced in March 2007 at GDC during Harrison's keynote address. The keynote address was about innovative trends of customisation and social interaction among contemporary games, which he dubbed "Game 3.0". The presentation of "LittleBigPlanet" included a demonstration of various creative tools followed by a pre-made level. The game was later presented in similar fashion in July 2007 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). It was showcased at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) in September 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2008, and at the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2008. "LittleBigPlanet" was also showcased for a second time at E3 in July 2008 and at TSG in October 2008.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: SCE undertook a pre-order campaign in the run-up to the game's release. In August 2008 in North America, SCE partnered with several major online retailers to offer unique bonus gifts to customers pre-ordering the game from the selected retailers. These gifts include a sticker book, a burlap pouch, and an official game guide, along with downloadable costumes for Sackboy of Kratos from "God of War" and Nariko from "Heavenly Sword". According to "Engadget", while the United States got all pre-order bonuses, Canada only got the Kratos and Nariko costumes. In Europe, Play.com offered the costume of Nariko to customers who pre-ordered the game.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Around May 2007, a demo of "LittleBigPlanet" was rumoured. Although it was planned to the be released in late 2007, by the end of the year, public relations officer Ron Eagle confirmed that there would be no demo that year. In September 2008, a limited public beta was made available with a focus on stress testing the sharing functions of "LittleBigPlanet". Availability lasted from 24 September11 October 2008. In order to access it, the player would have to have a beta key, which was a code that could be inputted in the PlayStation Store for access to the beta test. Various sites gave out beta keys around that time, including "Eurogamer" and "IGN".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: After GDC 2007, "LittleBigPlanet" had become anticipated by various gamers before release. The concept was well-received among the press and was especially anticipated by those with access to the beta version. Jeremy Dunham of "IGN" reported that in GDC 2007, "even in the presence of Home, Sony's impressive new community software, "LittleBigPlanet" stole the show at Phil Harrison's Game 3.0 practice conference, and was the thing that everyone was talking about." The presentation for E3 2007 won the Game Critics Awards for "Best Original Game", and the presentation for E3 2008 won "Best Console Game" and "Best Social/Casual/Puzzle". Evans has expressed surprise by the hype of the game; he stated, "We had no expectation that it would become so strongly associated as a lead title on a platform."


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Original announcements pointed to a full release early in 2008, but Sony later said the game had been delayed until September 2008 in the UK. During the Sony PlayStation Day on 6 May 2008 in London, Sony announced the game would be delayed for October. By September 2008, the release date was confirmed to be 21 October 2008 in North and Latin America, with a European release later that week. However, it was brought to the attention of SCE that the in-game song, "Tapha Niang", contained expressions from the Qur'an. On 17 October, SCE instigated a recall of all copies of "LittleBigPlanet" from retailers to avoid offending Muslims and to remove the lyrics. This recall resulted in the release of the game to be delayed.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Before "LittleBigPlanet" release, two patches were released. Version 1.01 added new costumes and tweaks online functionality, and version 1.02 removed the lyrics from "Tapha Niang". "LittleBigPlanet" was first released in North America on 27 October 2008, with the servers activating the same day. It was then released in Japan on 30 October, Europe on 5 November 2008, and Australia on 7 November. All levels that were created during the beta phases were transferred over to the final version. On 28 October, the servers were shut down due to "glitching issues". Version 1.03 was released 30 October to lighten server loads.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: On 19 December 2008, version 1.07 was released, featuring the addition of an in-game store to buy downloadable content (DLC) and an overhaul of the level search function. Version 1.12, codanamed the "Cornish Yarg" update, was released on 16 April 2009. It featured a music player that allowed users to play songs from the PlayStation menu and an improved decoration mode, among other fixes. Version 1.21 was codenamed the "Leerdammer" update, and was released on 30 November 2009. It added the ability to access create mode while online with friends, along with a more location-based matchmaking system and various other changes.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: A Game of the Year Edition of "LittleBigPlanet" was released in North America on 8 September 2009. This version included all of the content from the original game, as well as exclusive levels from 18 members of the "LittleBigPlanet" community. The re-release also includes the "Metal Gear Solid", Monsters, and History costume and level packs and the Animals costume pack. A limited number of copies of the game also included a code, giving the player access to a beta of "ModNation Racers". Initially, there were no plans to release the "Game of the Year Edition" in Europe, however a version for the United Kingdom was eventually announced for release on 16 April 2010.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: LBP.me, the community web portal for "LittleBigPlanet" that allowed players to search for community levels, was launched in December 2010. Following the 2011 PlayStation Network outage, Sony offered two free selections out of five games as part of the "Welcome Back" campaign for 30 days, one of which was "LittleBigPlanet". In July 2016, all "LittleBigPlanet" servers shut down in Japan, though they remained online outside of Japan besides "LittleBigPlanet Karting" and "LittleBigPlanet PS Vita". LBP.me was shut down in November 2020. In March 2021, all the servers in the "LittleBigPlanet" franchise shut down. Although the cited reason was "technical issues", many players believed it was because of a DDOS attack. Although, the servers were briefly taken back online in May 2021, they were taken down again because of DDOS attacks, harassment, and hate speech. The servers were permanently closed in September 2021 after months of issues, with the exception of the PlayStation 4 port of "LittleBigPlanet 3".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Over the years, "LittleBigPlanet" and the franchise it spawned has gathered a large amount of DLC. Most of them was based on third-party media, which in the first game were typically PlayStation games and "longstanding transmedia properties" like Disney. In general, there were two types of DLC, costume packs and level kits. Categories of costume packs include "Seasonal & Limited Time", regular, and licensed. Seasonal & Limited Time costumes are free, while regular and licensed costumes require payment. The DLC in the first game were made compatible with other games in the franchise in August 2012. The first level kit was the Festive Level Pack, which contained Christmas-related objects and stickers. It was available from 18 December 20088 January 2009.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: A level kit and costume pack based on "Metal Gear Solid" was released on 23 December 2008. The level kit had five main levels and various objects and stickers. One of the objects was the Paintinator. On 23 April 2009, Creator Pack 1 was released as a downloadable content pack for free. This pack added new "Create" mode tools including a new type of checkpoint which provides the player with an infinite number of lives for a given section, a tetherless version of the jetpack and a power-up removal marker that forces the player to drop any power-ups such as the jetpack. The History Kit was released on 13 August 2009 with various historical-themed objects and stickers along with a sound object and music track. Three new songs composed by Clark were released on 8 October 2009 as the MM Music Pack 1. They were "Well Trained", "Wise Owl", and "Tea By The Sea".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: After being announced in August 2009, water was added in the game through a level kit based on "Pirates of the Caribbean" was released on 22 December 2009, along with a related costume pack. The level kit also had five levels and various objects and stickers. DLC related to "the Incredibles", which includes costumes based on the characters and a level kit containing themed stickers and items, was released on 8 April 2010. Marvel DLC was added to "LittleBigPlanet" on 7 July 2010, including a few costumes and a level kit containing Marvel-themed stickers, music, and items. On 31 December 2015, the Marvel DLC was removed from the PlayStation Store making them unavailable to players who had not purchased them at the time. On 21 December 2017, all Disney-related DLC for the franchise was removed from the PlayStation Store. This included many costume packs and the two Disney-related level kits from the first game that were based on "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "the Incredibles".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" has received universal acclaim from reviewers. On Metacritic, "LittleBigPlanet" received an aggregate score of 95/100 indicating "universal acclaim", based on 85 reviews. Mike D'Alonzo of "X-Play" stated, "The game has a few issues that could certainly use some tweaking, but they don’t even come close to making this anything less than one of the most incredible games ever made." "GamePro" Tae K. Kim called "LittleBigPlanet" "one of the most amazing and interesting gaming experiences ever designed." "LittleBigPlanet" was called by "Edge" "one of gaming's rare triumphs."


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The creative aspect of "LittleBigPlanet" has been widely praised by critics, though some have noted how it takes patience to create a great level. Nick Suttner from "1Up.com" praised create mode, claiming that it allowed the player to create any level they wanted and share it. Mike Jackson of "Computer and Video Games" pointed out that user-generated content had been talked about in the gaming industry, and felt that Sony successfully created a great game in this matter with "LittleBigPlanet". "Game Informer" Joe Juba has noted how "The tools are complicated enough to perform complex tasks, but simple enough to be accessible to any motivated gamer." Kim agrees and praised the create mode for being "powerful enough" for the player to create the desired level. Oli Welsh from "Eurogamer" said that "LittleBigPlanet" "creative tools turn it into something else entirely, a unique, hilarious, endless entertainment."


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The community aspect has also been widely praised. Some critics have recommended playing "LittleBigPlanet" with an online connection. D'Alonzo found the online community features to be "as slick as they are accessible." Welsh in particular found the tagging and heart system after playing each community level to be "genius". Despite the praise to the community, views of "LittleBigPlanet" multiplayer were largely mixed. Guy Cocker of "GameSpot" wrote that "LittleBigPlanet" was more fun when playing with multiple players, but more flawed as a result; citing the "memorable" multiplayer puzzles as good, but the clunkiness of the multiplayer in general as bad. Matt Wales from "IGN" noticed that cooperative play was not a significant part of the game.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The story mode was generally praised. Chris Roper of "IGN" found the first three levels of the story mode to be "good tutorials". Leon Purley of "PlayStation Official Magazine – UK" praised the mix of "action, challenge, and wonder" in the story mode, finding the quality to be perfect and recommending it those who are weary about the create mode. Suttner said that story mode "features some of the most endearing 2D levels in modern gaming." John Teti writing for "The A.V. Club" called the plot brief and brilliant with replay value. In contrast, Seth Schiesel of "The New York Times" found it to be lacklustre, finding the levels made by the community to be better. "Variety" Ben Fritz found the story mode to be "less [of] an experience . . . than an exercise in collecting hundreds of items and tools and learning how to use them."


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Despite the wide publicity "LittleBigPlanet" had before and after release, sales dwindled before 2009. In the UK, "LittleBigPlanet" entered the all-formats charts, recorded by the ELSPA, at #4 before dropping, being at #19 by November 2008. before dropping to #29. "LittleBigPlanet" sales increased by 58 percent and raised it from #29 to #16 in the charts by mid-December. In the US, the game sold 356,000 units during October and November placing it fourth amongst all PlayStation 3 software sales for that period. It entered October's chart, recorded by the NPD Group, at #8 before falling out of the top 20 by the end of November. In Japan, "LittleBigPlanet" had 52,000 copies sold. Sony responded to the lacklustre sales by saying that they were pleased by the performance, citing the "LittleBigPlanet" being a new IP and claiming that it was released in a "incredibly volatile time of year and the chart reflects that."


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: In January 2009, Sony announced that the game had sold 611,000 units in North America up to the end of December 2008 and that "LittleBigPlanet" sold 1.3 million units worldwide. The game sold 300,000 units at the beginning of February 2009. By March 2010, the game has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Following the PSN outage in April 2011, "LittleBigPlanet" gained 1.5 million new users. By October 2018, "LittleBigPlanet" had sold 4 million copies.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: "LittleBigPlanet" has been included among the greatest video games of all time. "Eurogamer" and "Gamepro" listed the game as the best game of 2008. It also received various other awards from gaming websites in 2008 including "Best New IP" and "Best Platform Game" from "IGN" and "Most Innovative Game" from "GameTrailers". "LittleBigPlanet" has been nominated for and won numerous awards. "LittleBigPlanet" won the most awards in the 10th Annual NAVGTR Awards in 2008, winning six of the ten awards it was nominated for. They were "Game of the Year", "Game Design", "Game Original Children's", "Graphics/Technical", Innovation in Game Play", and "Supp Performance in a Comedy". "LittleBigPlanet" was judged "Best PlayStation 3 Game" at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards. "LittleBigPlanet" was given the award for "Artistic Achievement" at the 5th British Academy Video Games Awards. It won in eight categories out of ten nominations at the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards including "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction", and "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming", and was judged "Family Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", and "Overall Game of the Year". It was given the awards for "Best New Debut", "Best Game Design", "Best Technology", and the "Innovation Award" at the Game Developers Choice Awards. It won all the categories it was nominated for in the 2009 "Develop" Industry Excellence Awards, winning "Best New IP", "Technical Innovation", and "Visual Arts". It won "Family Game of the Year" in the Golden Joystick Awards.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Around the time of its release, "LittleBigPlanet" took off in popularity, with Mikel Reparaz of "GamesRadar+" having noticed in November 2008 that "hundreds, if not thousands, of PSN users ha[d] been uploading a continuous stream of homemade levels to the game’s straining servers, with varying levels of quality and dedication." By July 2009, one million levels had been published on "LittleBigPlanet", and by July 2013, eight million levels had been published across the franchise. There was a variety of levels created including side-scrolling shooters. Reportedly, levels were being created that went "beyond even Media Molecule's wildest expectations." After a 2011 PSN outage, Evans had observed that multiple levels were being published per second and that "basically, everybody publishes a level." By the time the servers shut down for all games in the franchise with the exception of the PS4 port of "LittleBigPlanet 3", ten million levels had been published across the franchise.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Despite the popularity, there has been little scholarly research on the culture surrounding "LittleBigPlanet". Though an early analysis focused on the commercial and technological infrastructures influence on player innovation, later studies would focus on player agency within the community. Sara M. Grimes of "Cultural Studies" noted how the cultural scene is "tethered" to Sony and integrates player-based activity and cultures into the "LittleBigPlanet" brand. She concluded that the digital culture surrounding "LittleBigPlanet" could either be a call to revisit ways cultural scenes can be evaluated or a corporate-controlled infrastructure that is too broad to be considered a cultural scene.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: While "LittleBigPlanet" was not the first game to be marketed around user creation and PC players could modify PC games, these types of tools were not available to console players at the time. "LittleBigPlanet" was not only the first game of this type on console, but the first mainstream game to give players creative tools to create levels and share them to the community. It coincided with the rise of user-generated content and proved that developing creation tools for video games was worth investing in. It was also an early example of website integration and public beta testing, which was not common before then. By January 2009, Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studio had declared the game to be "the most important creative innovation of 2008".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: The success of "LittleBigPlanet" kickstarted a genre of video games where the player could create their own levels. Sony would apply the tagline "Play, Create, Share" to their racing game, "ModNation Racers". While it was not as successful as "LittleBigPlanet", other games like "Trials", "Planet Minigolf", and "Joe Danger" would follow suit in applying the same philosophy. Other games in the genre include "Minecraft" and "Super Mario Maker". After distancing themselves from the "LittleBigPlanet" franchise, Media Molecule developed "Dreams", which further expanded upon game creation.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: Sackboy became an iconic mascot for Sony. Media Molecule and Sony initially indicated that there were no plans to create a traditional sequel to "LittleBigPlanet". Alex Evans said he did not want to ship a traditional sequel because of the "huge emotional investment" users have made in "LittleBigPlanet". Game creators focused on "expand[ing] the game without partitioning the audience" to preserve the user-generated content from LBP. "LittleBigPlanet" would eventually spawn many follow-ups. Metacritic reported that most of the follow-ups received positive reviews. The exceptions are "Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves", "LittleBigPlanet Karting", and "Run Sackboy! Run!", which received "mixed or average reviews".


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: In February 2009, Sony announced a spin-off of "LittleBigPlanet" for the PlayStation Portable developed by SCE Cambridge Studio and Media Molecule, which was released in November 2009. Media Molecule announced in May 2010 that "LittleBigPlanet 2" was in development, amid recent rumours. "Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves", a demo of "LittleBigPlanet 2" meant to introduce PlayStation Move, was released on January 18, 2010. The sequel was released in January 2011. A second spin-off for the PlayStation Vita was announced alongside the PlayStation Vita, back then known as "Next Generation Portable" in January 2011. The game, titled "LittleBigPlanet PS Vita", would be developed in conjunction between Tarsier Studios and Double Eleven and it would be released in September 2012. A racing spin-off titled "LittleBigPlanet Karting" was rumoured to have been announced at a retailer event hosted by Sony in February 2012. It would be confirmed by Sony the same month. The game would be primarily developed by United Front Games, with Media Molecule serving as a supporting developer, and it would be released in November 2012.


title: LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game)

text: A direct sequel to "LittleBigPlanet 2", developed by Sumo Digital, would be announced in June 2014 at Electronic Entertainment Expo. With the exception of during early development, Media Molecule was largely uninvolved in "LittleBigPlanet 3" as they were working on "Tearaway" and "Dreams" at the time and Media Molecule wanted to "step away" from the franchise. The game was released in November 2014 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. In September 2014, a free to play endless running game spin-off developed by Firesprite titled "Run Sackboy! Run!" was announced. It was released in October 2014 for the Android and iOS and on March 31, 2015, for the PlayStation Vita. After a hiatus, "", a 3D platform game developed by Sumo Digital, was announced in June 2020 at Sony's Future of Gaming event. Unlike most of the previous games, it does not feature Create Mode akin to the previous games. It was released in November 2020 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.


title: No worries

text: No worries is an expression seen in English meaning "do not worry about that", "that's all right", "forget about it" or "sure thing". It is similar to the American English ""no problem"". The phrase is widely used in Australian speech and represents a feeling of friendliness, good humour, optimism and "mateship" in Australian culture. The phrase has been referred to as the national motto of Australia.


title: No worries

text: The phrase has influenced a similar phrase used in the Tok Pisin language in Papua New Guinea. Its usage became more common in British English after increased usage in Australian soap operas that aired on television in the United Kingdom. Linguistics experts are uncertain how the phrase became utilized in American English; theories include use by Steve Irwin on the television program "The Crocodile Hunter" and usage by the United States media during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It has also gained common usage into Canadian English.


title: No worries

text: "No worries" is an Australian English expression, meaning "do not worry about that", or "that's all right". It can also mean "sure thing" and "you're welcome". Other colloquial Australian terms which mean the same thing include "she'll be right". The expression has been compared to the American English equivalent "no problem". In their book "Australian Language & Culture: No Worries!", authors Vanessa Battersby, Paul Smitz and Barry Blake note: "No worries is a popular Australian response akin to 'no problems', 'that's OK' or 'sure thing'."


title: No worries

text: Early documentation dates the phrase back to 1966. According to author of "When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures", Richard D. Lewis, the phrase is a form of expression of the relaxed attitude in Australian culture. Anna Wierzbicka comments that the expression illustrates important parts of Australian culture, including: "amiability, friendliness, an expectation of shared attitudes (a proneness to easy 'mateship'), jocular toughness, good humour, and, above all, casual optimism". She concludes that along with "good on you", the expressions reflect the "national character" and "prevailing ethos" of Australia.


title: No worries

text: Wierzbicka writes in her book "Cross-cultural Pragmatics" that the expression "permeates Australian speech", "serves a wide range of illocutionary forces" and displays a "casual optimism". In her 1992 book "Semantics, Culture, and Cognition", Wierzbicka classifies the phrase as "among the most characteristic Australian expressions", along with "good on you".


title: No worries

text: The term can also be used in the context of an apology. The phrase has been used widely in British English since the late 1980s, a development partly attributed to the success of Australian soap operas such as "Neighbours" in the United Kingdom.


title: No worries

text: The phrase "no wucking forries" has the same meaning in Australia; as a spoonerism of "no fucking worries", and is contracted to the phrases "no wuckers" and "no wucks".


title: No worries

text: "No worries" was referred to as "the national motto" of Australia in 1978, and in their 2006 work, "Diving the World", Beth and Shaun Tierney call "no worries, mate" the national motto of the country. Writing in "The New York Times Book Review", Annette Kobak calls the expression a "ritual incantation" which has "particular charm". The phrase "no waris" in the Papua New Guinea language Tok Pisin is derived from the Australian English term.


title: No worries

text: According to "The Sunday Mail" a 2004 newspaper report notes that "no worries" has begun to be used in American English. Writing in a 2004 article for "The Advertiser", Samela Harris comments: "The Americans have no idea of the etymology of 'no worries'. So, while they may cheerily adopt our 'no worries' mantra, 'no worries' will never catch on as an attitude." According to Tom Dalzell, author of two books on slang usage in the United States, linguistics experts are not certain how the expression became popular in that country. One possibility not mentioned in the source is the prominent position of this phrase in the lyrics of song "Hakuna Matata" in the popular 1994 Disney film "The Lion King". Usage of the term by Steve Irwin on "The Crocodile Hunter", as well as attempts by members of the American press to imitate the expression during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, have been put forth as theories explaining the pervasiveness of the expression in the United States. Linguistics professor Kate Burridge writes in her 2004 book "Weeds in the Garden of Words" that expressions including "no worries", "absolutely", and "bottom line" have become less prevalent in favor of newer sayings.


title: IMO number

text: The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owner identification number, is used to identify uniquely each company and/or registered owner managing ships of at least 100 gross tons (gt). The schemes are managed in parallel, but IMO company/owner numbers may also be obtained by managers of vessels "not" having IMO ship numbers. IMO numbers were introduced to improve maritime safety and reduce fraud and pollution, under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).


title: IMO number

text: The IMO ship number scheme has been mandatory, for SOLAS signatories, for passenger and cargo ships above a certain size since 1996, and voluntarily applicable to various other vessels since 2013/2017. The number identifies a ship and does not change when the ship's owner, country of registry (flag state) or name changes, unlike the official numbers used in some countries, e.g. the UK. The ship's certificates must also bear the IMO ship number. Since 1 July 2004, passenger ships are also required to carry the marking on a horizontal surface visible from the air.


title: IMO number

text: In 1987 the IMO adopted Resolution A.600(15) to create the IMO ship identification number scheme aimed at the "enhancement of maritime safety and pollution prevention and the prevention of maritime fraud" by assigning to each ship a unique permanent identification number. Lloyd's Register had already introduced permanent numbers for all the ships in their published register in 1963, and these were modified to 7-digit numbers in 1969. It is this number series that was adopted as the basis for IMO ship numbers in 1987.


title: IMO number

text: Unique and permanent numbers are needed due to the frequent changes in ships' names or other details. As one example, the vessel with IMO ship number "IMO 9176187" was built in Japan, has been through the names "Asia Melody", "Cornelie Oldendorff", "Maxima", "Jaydee M", "Evangelia", "Evangeli", "Shinsung Dream" and "Orange Dream", has operated under the flags of Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea and Sierra Leone, with numerous different owners/operators, and has had home ports of Majuro, Freetown and Cheju... but its IMO number has remained unchanged throughout.


title: IMO number

text: The original resolution applied to cargo vessels (meaning "ships which are not passenger ships") at least 300 gt and passenger vessels of at least 100 gt.


title: IMO number

text: This resolution was revoked in 2013, being replaced by Resolution A.1078(28), which allowed application of the Scheme to ships of 100 gt and above, including fishing vessels. That in turn was revoked in 2017 and replaced by Resolution A.1117(30), which allows its application to ships of 100 gt and above, "including fishing vessels of steel and non-steel hull construction; passenger ships of less than 100 gt, high-speed passenger craft and mobile offshore drilling units [...]; and all motorized inboard fishing vessels of less than 100 gt down to a size limit of 12 metres in length overall (LOA), authorized to operate outside waters under the national jurisdiction of the flag State". Note that IMO resolutions are "for implementation on a voluntary basis".


title: IMO number

text: Although not mandatory under SOLAS, since IMO ship numbers became available also to fishing vessels in 2013, some regional fisheries management organisations, the European Union and other organizations or states have made them mandatory for fishing vessels above a certain size.


title: IMO number

text: SOLAS regulation XI-1/3 was adopted in 1994 and came into force on 1 January 1996, making IMO ship numbers mandatory for those countries that have ratified (or acceded to, accepted, approved, adopted, etc.) SOLAS.


title: IMO number

text: In December 2002, the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Security adopted a number of measures aimed at enhancing security of ships and port facilities. This included a modification to SOLAS Regulation XI-1/3 to require the IMO ship numbers to be permanently marked in a visible place either on the ship's hull or superstructure as well as internally and on the ship's certificates. Passenger ships should also carry the marking on a horizontal surface visible from the air. The enhanced regulations came into effect on 1 July 2004.


title: IMO number

text: In May 2005, IMO adopted a new SOLAS regulation XI-1/3-1 on the mandatory company and registered owner identification number scheme, with entry into force on 1 January 2009.


title: IMO number

text: The regulation provides that every ship owner and management company shall have a unique identification number. Other amendments require these numbers to be added to the relevant certificates and documents in the International Safety Management Code (ISM) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS). Like the IMO ship identification number, the company identification number is a seven-digit number with the prefix IMO. For example, for the ship "Atlantic Star" (IMO 8024026), IMO 5304986 referred to the former ship manager Pullmantur Cruises Ship Management Ltd and IMO 5364264 to her former owner, Pullmantur Cruises Empress Ltd.


title: IMO number

text: S&P Global is the manager of the scheme and, as such, identifies and assigns IMO numbers without charge. The organization was previously known as Lloyd's Register-Fairplay, IHS Fairplay and IHS Maritime.


title: IMO number

text: For new vessels, the IMO ship number is assigned to a hull during construction, generally upon keel laying. Many vessels which fall outside the mandatory requirements of SOLAS have numbers allocated by Lloyd's Register or IHS Markit in the same numerical series, including fishing vessels and commercial yachts.


title: IMO number

text: An IMO number is made of the three letters "IMO" followed by a seven-digit number. This consists of a six-digit sequential unique number followed by a check digit. The integrity of an IMO number can be verified using its check digit. This is done by multiplying each of the first six digits by a factor of "2" to "7" corresponding to their position from right to left. The rightmost digit of this sum is the check digit. For example, for IMO 9074729: (9×"7") + (0×"6") + (7×"5") + (4×"4") + (7×"3") + (2×"2") = 139.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: Delbert Alexander "Del" Wilkes, Jr. (December 21, 1961 – June 30, 2021) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, better known by his ring names, The Trooper and The Patriot. Over the course of his nine-year career, Wilkes wrestled for the American Wrestling Association, the Global Wrestling Federation, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: Wilkes was heavily recruited as an offensive lineman at Columbia's Irmo High School and played for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He was one of only four Gamecock consensus All-Americans, the others being George Rogers (1980), Melvin Ingram (2011), and Jadeveon Clowney (2012). Wilkes added 50 pounds of bulk to his six-foot-three, 225-pound frame to bolster an offensive line that in 1984 helped set school records for touchdowns (49), points (371) and total offense (5,095 yards). He knew the Gamecocks would do something special when he met first-year head coach Joe Morrison before the 1983 season. Wilkes had quit the team before Morrison was hired but agreed to meet the new coach and former NFL running back at a Columbia, South Carolina restaurant. Wilkes was selected as an All-American starter in 1984 by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Associated Press (AP), and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC). Despite a stellar collegiate campaign, Wilkes failed to make the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985 and the Atlanta Falcons in 1986. When football was over for Wilkes, he turned to a pro wrestling career that he found physically grueling but financially rewarding.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: Del Wilkes, who from 1980–84 played College Football at South Carolina, started out in the American Wrestling Association in 1988 under his real name for a year, before wrestling under the ring name "The Trooper." He wrote his opponents tickets after beating them as part of his police gimmick and would also hand out plastic police badges to the fans as he came to and from the ring. The Trooper won the AWA World Tag Team Championship with D.J. Peterson on August 11, 1990, at the final AWA television taping. Peterson and Trooper would turn out to be the last AWA World Tag Team Champions. In January 1991, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" and its sister publications withdrew recognition of the AWA's World Championship status but continued to recognise Trooper and Peterson as incumbent "AWA Tag Team Champions" until the promotion finally closed later that year. Alongside Paul Diamond, Wilkes also headlined the AWA's near-annual supercard/former PPV, Superclash 4. In a cage match, they were victorious over the Destruction Crew, Wayne Bloom, and Mike Enos.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: Wilkes then went on to the Global Wrestling Federation as a fan favorite and became "The Patriot", where he was crowned the first GWF Television Champion in a tournament in 1991. Soon afterwards, the Patriot feuded with Al Perez over the GWF North American Heavyweight Championship, which he won initially on August 10, but the victory was disputed. He won the title again in a rematch against Perez two weeks later. In September 1991, a man calling himself the Dark Patriot appeared in the GWF. For several months, he taunted the Patriot and claimed that he was the Patriot's dark side. On January 31, 1992, the Dark Patriot faced the Patriot in a title match. The Patriot lost the title and left the GWF.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: Wrestling as The Trooper, Wilkes received a tryout match at a WWF Superstars taping in Rockford, Illinois on May 6, 1991, when he defeated WT Jones. The following day in Green Bay, Wisconsin at a Wrestling Challenge taping Wilkes defeated Tom Stone. He returned on November 12, 1991, in a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Springfield, Massachusetts. Wrestling this time as The Patriot, Wilkes defeated Brooklyn Brawler. He would then appear in five matches in March 1992, wrestling as either Del Wilkes or The Patriot and facing Rick Martel, Kato (Paul Diamond), and Repo Man.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: In 1992, during his stint in the GWF, Wilkes went to wrestle in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He had success with Jackie Fulton who wrestled as "The Eagle" to match Wilkes' Patriot gimmick. On June 2, 1993, The Patriot and the Eagle defeated Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship. The Patriot would hold onto the titles for three months, eventually losing them on September 9, 1993, to Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat. In late 1993, The Patriot and The Eagle entered the 1993 World's Strongest Tag Determination League where they finished in 7th place with 4 Points.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: In 1994, Wilkes signed with World Championship Wrestling to form a team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell called Stars and Stripes. They feuded with Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma) over the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The two teams battled for the titles and exchanged victories in non-title matches for several months. One week after losing the titles at Fall Brawl 1994, Stars and Stripes defeated Pretty Wonderful on September 24, 1994, on "WCW Saturday Night". Stars and Stripes held the titles for a month but lost them back to Pretty Wonderful at Halloween Havoc 1994. On November 16, 1994, at Clash of the Champions XXIX, Stars and Stripes regained the titles in a match where Patriot's mask was on the line. Three weeks later, on December 8, Stars and Stripes lost the titles to Harlem Heat (the match aired on the January 14, 1995 edition of "WCW Saturday Night"). Wilkes continued wrestling for WCW for several more months until leaving in May 1995.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: After no-showing the Slamboree pay-per-view in May 1995, he returned to AJPW. He quickly formed a tag team with Johnny Ace. On August 30, 1995, Wilkes and Ace challenged The Holy Demon Army for the World Tag Team Championship but lost. The two then entered the 1995 World's Strongest Tag Determination League where they finished in 4th place with 13 points.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: On January 2, 1996, Wilkes won All Japan's yearly January 2 Heavyweight Battle Royal to give him his second All Japan achievement. For the battle royal victory, Wilkes ended his team with Ace and went into the midcard with little direction. In the spring of 1996, Wilkes entered the 1996 Champion Carnival where he finished in 9th place with 6 points. In the summer of 1996, Wilkes formed a tag team with Kenta Kobashi, on October 12, 1996, they challenged Steve Williams and Johnny Ace for the World Tag Team Championship but they came up short. In November 1996, Wilkes and Kobashi entered the 1996 World's Strongest Tag Determination League where they finished in 3rd place with 16 points, Wilkes even scored a pinfall victory over Toshiaki Kawada.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: In early 1997, Wilkes and Kobashi reunited with Johnny Ace and the three formed the stable: GET (Global, Energetic, Tough). Wilkes involvement with the group only lasted a few months as he left All Japan in July 1997.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: On June 30, 1997, he defeated Rockabilly at a "Raw is War" event in Des Moines, Iowa. His TV debut came two weeks later on the July 14, 1997, episode of "Raw" and feuded with Bret Hart. The premise of this feud was that Hart had just started his anti-American Hart Foundation, and the Patriot was, as the name implied, a man who stood up for the United States of America. He wore a mask with American stars and stripes and carried the U.S. flag (using a patriotic entry theme that would casually be used for the wrestler Kurt Angle a few years later). He defeated Hart on television in a match on July 28, 1997, after interference from Shawn Michaels. On August 11, 1997, Patriot teamed with Ken Shamrock to wrestle the team of The British Bulldog and Owen Hart, The Patriot pinned The British Bulldog for the win. Wilkes went on to challenge Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at "" where Hart forced him to submit with the Sharpshooter. At One Night Only, Wilkes defeated Flash Funk. At "", Wilkes teamed with Vader against the Hart Foundation's Bret Hart and The British Bulldog, but lost the match. Following Badd Blood, Patriot was scheduled to team with Vader, Goldust, and Marc Mero as part of Team USA at "Survivor Series 1997" but suffered a torn triceps weeks earlier and was replaced by Steve Blackman. Wilkes competed in his final televised WWF match on the November 1, 1997, episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (taped on October 21) where he lost to Jim Neidhart by disqualification. He was released in early 1998.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: After leaving the WWF, Wilkes retired due to the aforementioned torn triceps. Wilkes admitted that he had used anabolic steroids and cocaine during his career, starting with his college football days. He spent nine months in prison in 2002 for forging a prescription due to his addiction to painkillers. Wilkes eventually quit drugs and resided in Columbia, South Carolina where he worked at Dick Smith Nissan as a car salesman.


title: The Patriot (wrestler)

text: In a July 25, 2007, interview with WACH reporter Justin Kier, Wilkes discussed his career, steroid use, the Chris Benoit tragedy, and various other topics. Kier's last two questions involved saying goodbye to the fans and giving advice to youngsters in the wrestling sport. Wilkes urged young wrestlers to "learn from our mistakes." He said that fifty people whom he once wrestled with in the wrestling sport were now dead. Wilkes appeared on episodes #232 and #278 of "The Steve Austin Show" podcast. In 2015, his documentary "Behind The Mask" was released on DVD.


title: Doug McKeon

text: Doug McKeon (born June 10, 1966) is an American actor who first achieved notability as a child actor.


title: Doug McKeon

text: McKeon was born on June 10, 1966, in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and raised in Oakland, New Jersey, where he attended Indian Hills High School.


title: Doug McKeon

text: McKeon performed in the television series "The Edge of Night". He acted in the films "Uncle Joe Shannon" (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award), "On Golden Pond", "Night Crossing" and "Mischief".


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes defined as only those algal blooms that produce toxins, and sometimes as any algal bloom that can result in severely lower oxygen levels in natural waters, killing organisms in marine or fresh waters. Blooms can last from a few days to many months. After the bloom dies, the microbes that decompose the dead algae use up more of the oxygen, generating a "dead zone" which can cause fish die-offs. When these zones cover a large area for an extended period of time, neither fish nor plants are able to survive. Harmful algal blooms in marine environments are often called "red tides".


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: It is sometimes unclear what causes specific HABs as their occurrence in some locations appears to be entirely natural, while in others they appear to be a result of human activities. In certain locations there are links to particular drivers like nutrients, but HABs have also been occurring since before humans started to affect the environment. HABs are induced by eutrophication, which is an overabundance of nutrients in the water. The two most common nutrients are fixed nitrogen (nitrates, ammonia, and urea) and phosphate. The excess nutrients are emitted by agriculture, industrial pollution, excessive fertilizer use in urban/suburban areas, and associated urban runoff. Higher water temperature and low circulation also contribute.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: HABs can cause significant harm to animals, the environment and economies. They have been increasing in size and frequency worldwide, a fact that many experts attribute to global climate change. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts more harmful blooms in the Pacific Ocean. Potential remedies include chemical treatment, additional reservoirs, sensors and monitoring devices, reducing nutrient runoff, research and management as well as monitoring and reporting.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Terrestrial runoff, containing fertilizer, sewage and livestock wastes, transports abundant nutrients to the seawater and stimulates bloom events. Natural causes, such as river floods or upwelling of nutrients from the sea floor, often following massive storms, provide nutrients and trigger bloom events as well. Increasing coastal developments and aquaculture also contribute to the occurrence of coastal HABs. Effects of HABs can worsen locally due to wind driven Langmuir circulation and their biological effects.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: HABs from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) can appear as a foam, scum, or mat on or just below the surface of water and can take on various colors depending on their pigments. Cyanobacteria blooms in freshwater lakes or rivers may appear bright green, often with surface streaks which looks like floating paint. Cyanobacterial blooms are a global problem.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Most blooms occur in warm waters with excessive nutrients. The harmful effects from such blooms is due to the toxins they produce or from using up oxygen in the water which can lead to fish die-offs. Not all algal blooms produce toxins, however, with some only discoloring water, producing a smelly odor, or adding a bad taste to the water. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell if a bloom is harmful from just appearances, since sampling and microscopic examination is required. In many cases microscopy is not sufficient to tell the difference between toxic and non-toxic populations. In these cases, tools can be employed to measure the toxin level or to determine if the toxin-production genes are present.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In a narrow definition, harmful algal blooms are only those blooms that release toxins that affect other species. On the other hand, any algal bloom can cause dead zones due to low oxygen levels, and could therefore be called "harmful" in that sense. The usage of the term "harmful algal blooms" in the media and scientific literature is varied. In a broader definition, all "organisms and events are considered to be HABs if they negatively impact human health or socioeconomic interests or are detrimental to aquatic systems". A harmful algal bloom is "a societal concept rather than a scientific definition".


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: A similarly broad definition of HABs was adopted by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2008 who stated that HABs include "potentially toxic (auxotrophic, heterotrophic) species and high-biomass producers that can cause hypoxia and anoxia and indiscriminant mortalities of marine life after reaching dense concentrations, whether or not toxins are produced".


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Harmful algal bloom in coastal areas are also often referred to as "red tides". The term "red tide" is derived from blooms of any of several species of dinoflagellate, such as Karenia brevis. However, the term is misleading since algal blooms can widely vary in color, and growth of algae is unrelated to the tides. Not all red tides are produced by dinoflagellates. The mixotrophic ciliate "Mesodinium rubrum" produces non-toxic blooms coloured deep red by chloroplasts it has enslaved from the algae it eats.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: As a technical term, it is being replaced in favor of more precise terminology, including the generic term "harmful algal bloom" for harmful species, and "algal bloom" for benign species.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: There are three main types of phytoplankton which can form into harmful algal blooms: cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates and diatoms. All three are made up of microscopic floating organisms which, like plants, can create their own food from sunlight by means of photosynthesis. That ability makes the majority of them an essential part of the food web for small fish and other organisms.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Harmful algal blooms in freshwater lakes and rivers, or at estuaries, where rivers flow into the ocean, are caused by cyanobacteria, which are commonly referred to as "blue-green algae", but are in fact prokaryotic bacteria, as opposed to algae which are eukaryotes. Some cyanobacteria, including the widespread genus Microsystis, can produce hazardous cyanotoxins such as microcystins, which are hepatotoxins that harm the liver of mammals. Other types of cyanobacteria can also produce hepatoxins, as well as neurotoxins, cytotoxins, and endotoxins. Water purification plants may be unable to remove these toxins, leading to increasingly common localised advisories against drinking tap water, as happened in Toledo, Ohio in August 2014.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In August 2021, there were 47 lakes confirmed to have algal blooms in New York State alone. In September 2021, Spokane County’s Environmental Programs issued a HAB alert for Newman Lake following tests showing potentially harmful toxicity levels for cyanobacteria, while in the same month record-high levels of microcystins were reported leading to an extended 'Do Not Drink' advisory for 280 households at Clear Lake, California's second-largest freshwater lake. Water conditions in Florida, meanwhile, continue to deteriorate under increasing nutrient inflows, causing severe HAB events in both freshwater and marine areas.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: HABs also cause harm by blocking the sunlight used by plants and algae to photosynthesise, or by depleting the dissolved oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic animals, which can lead to fish die-offs. When such oxygen-depleted water covers a large area for an extended period of time, it can become hypoxic or even anoxic; these areas are commonly called dead zones. These dead zones can be the result of numerous different factors ranging from natural phenomenon to deliberate human intervention, and are not just limited to large bodies of fresh water as found in the great lakes, but are also prone to bodies of salt water as well.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Many of the species that form harmful algae blooms will undergo a dual-stage life system. These species will alternate between a benthic resting stage and a pelagic vegetative state. The benthic resting stage corresponds to when these species are resting near the ocean floor. In this stage, the species cells are waiting for optimal conditions so that they can move towards the surface. These species will then transition from the benthic resting stage into the pelagic vegetative state - where they are more active and found near the water body surface. In the pelagic vegetative state, these cells are able to grow and multiply. It is within the pelagic vegetative state that a bloom is able to occur - as the cells rapidly reproduce and take over the upper regions of the body of water. The transition between these two life stages can have multiple effects on the algae bloom (such as rapid termination of the HAB as cells convert from the pelagic state to the benthic state). Many of the algal species that undergo this dual-stage life cycle are capable of rapid vertical migration. This migration is required for the movement from the benthic area of bodies of water to the pelagic zone. These species require immense amounts of energy as they pass through the various thermoclines, haloclines, and pycnoclines that are associated with the bodies of water in which these cells exist.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: The other types of algae are diatoms and dinoflagellates, found primarily in marine environments, such as ocean coastlines or bays, where they can also form algal blooms. Coastal HABs are a natural phenomenon, although in many instances, particularly when they form close to coastlines or in estuaries, it has been shown that they are exacerbated by human-induced eutrophication and/or climate change. They can occur when warmer water, salinity, and nutrients reach certain levels, which then stimulates their growth. Most HAB algae are dinoflagellates. They are visible in water at a concentration of 1,000 algae cells/ml, while in dense blooms they can measure over 200,000/ml.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Diatoms produce domoic acid, another neurotoxin, which can cause seizures in higher vertebrates and birds as it concentrates up the food chain. Domoic acid readily accumulates in the bodies of shellfish, sardines, and anchovies, which if then eaten by sea lions, otters, cetaceans, birds or people, can affect the nervous system causing serious injury or death. In the summer of 2015, the state governments closed important shellfish fisheries in Washington, Oregon and California because of high concentrations of domoic acid in shellfish.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In the marine environment, single-celled, microscopic, plant-like organisms naturally occur in the well-lit surface layer of any body of water. These organisms, referred to as phytoplankton or microalgae, form the base of the food web upon which nearly all other marine organisms depend. Of the 5000+ species of marine phytoplankton that exist worldwide, about 2% are known to be harmful or toxic. Blooms of harmful algae can have large and varied impacts on marine ecosystems, depending on the species involved, the environment where they are found, and the mechanism by which they exert negative effects.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: It is sometimes unclear what causes specific HABs as their occurrence in some locations appears to be entirely natural, while in others they appear to be a result of human activities. Furthermore, there are many different species of algae that can form HABs, each with different environmental requirements for optimal growth. The frequency and severity of HABs in some parts of the world have been linked to increased nutrient loading from human activities. In other areas, HABs are a predictable seasonal occurrence resulting from coastal upwelling, a natural result of the movement of certain ocean currents.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: The growth of marine phytoplankton (both non-toxic and toxic) is generally limited by the availability of nitrates and phosphates, which can be abundant in coastal upwelling zones as well as in agricultural run-off. The type of nitrates and phosphates available in the system are also a factor, since phytoplankton can grow at different rates depending on the relative abundance of these substances (e.g. ammonia, urea, nitrate ion).


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: A variety of other nutrient sources can also play an important role in affecting algal bloom formation, including iron, silica or carbon. Coastal water pollution produced by humans (including iron fertilization) and systematic increase in sea water temperature have also been suggested as possible contributing factors in HABs.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Nutrients enter freshwater or marine environments as surface runoff from agricultural pollution and urban runoff from fertilized lawns, golf courses and other landscaped properties; and from sewage treatment plants that lack nutrient control systems. Additional nutrients are introduced from atmospheric pollution. Coastal areas worldwide, especially wetlands and estuaries, coral reefs and swamps, are prone to being overloaded with those nutrients. Most of the large cities along the Mediterranean Sea, for example, discharge all of their sewage into the sea untreated. The same is true for most coastal developing countries, while in parts of the developing world, as much as 70% of wastewater from large cities may re-enter water systems without being treated.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Residual nutrients in treated wastewater can also accumulate in downstream source water areas and fuel eutrophication, which leads progressively to a cyanobacteria-dominated system characterized by seasonal HABS. As more wastewater treatment infrastructure is built, more treated wastewater is returned to the natural water system, leading to a significant increase in these residual nutrients.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Residual nutrients combine with nutrients from other sources to increase the sediment nutrient stockpile that is the driving force behind phase shifts to entrenched eutrophic conditions.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: This contributes to the ongoing degradation of dams, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs - source water areas that are starting to become known as ecological infrastructure, placing increasing pressure on wastewater treatment works and water purification plants. Such pressures, in turn, intensify seasonal HABs.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Climate change contributes to warmer waters which makes conditions more favorable for algae growth in more regions and farther north. In general, still, warm, shallow water, combined with high-nutrient conditions in lakes or rivers, increases the risk of harmful algal blooms. Warming of summer surface temperatures of lakes, which rose by 0.34 °C decade per decade between 1985 and 2009 due to global warming, also will likely increase algal blooming by 20% over the next century.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Although the drivers of harmful algal blooms are poorly understood they do appear to have increased in range expansion and frequency in coastal areas since the 1980s. The is the result of human induced factors such as increased nutrient inputs (nutrient pollution) and climate change (in particular the warming of water temperatures). The parameters that affect the formation of HABs are ocean warming, marine heatwaves, oxygen loss, eutrophication and water pollution.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: HABs contain dense concentrations of organisms and appear as discolored water, often reddish-brown in color. It is a natural phenomenon, but the exact cause or combination of factors that result in a HAB event are not necessarily known. However, three key natural factors are thought to play an important role in a bloom - salinity, temperature, and wind. HABs cause economic harm, so outbreaks are carefully monitored. For example, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission provides an up-to-date status report on HABs in Florida. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also provides a status report. While no particular cause of HABs has been found, many different factors can contribute to their presence. These factors can include water pollution, which originates from sources such as human sewage and agricultural runoff.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: The occurrence of HABs in some locations appears to be entirely natural (algal blooms are a seasonal occurrence resulting from coastal upwelling, a natural result of the movement of certain ocean currents) while in others they appear to be a result of increased nutrient pollution from human activities. The growth of marine phytoplankton is generally limited by the availability of nitrates and phosphates, which can be abundant in agricultural run-off as well as coastal upwelling zones. Other factors such as iron-rich dust influx from large desert areas such as the Sahara Desert are thought to play a major role in causing HAB events. Some algal blooms on the Pacific Coast have also been linked to occurrences of large-scale climatic oscillations such as El Niño events.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Other factors such as iron-rich dust influx from large desert areas such as the Sahara are thought to play a role in causing HABs. Some algal blooms on the Pacific coast have also been linked to natural occurrences of large-scale climatic oscillations such as El Niño events. HABs are also linked to heavy rainfall. Although HABs in the Gulf of Mexico were witnessed in the early 1500s by explorer Cabeza de Vaca, it is unclear what initiates these blooms and how large a role anthropogenic and natural factors play in their development.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: The number of reported harmful algal blooms (cyanobacterial) has been increasing throughout the world. It is unclear whether the apparent increase in frequency and severity of HABs in various parts of the world is in fact a real increase or is due to increased observation effort and advances in species identification technology.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In 2008, the U.S. government prepared a report on the problem, "Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan". The report recognized the seriousness of the problem:


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Researchers have reported the growth of HABs in Europe, Africa and Australia. Those have included blooms on some of the African Great Lakes, such as Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world. India has been reporting an increase in the number of blooms each year. In 1977 Hong Kong reported its first coastal HAB. By 1987 they were getting an average of 35 per year. Additionally, there have been reports of harmful algal blooms throughout popular Canadian lakes such as Beaver Lake and Quamichan Lake. These blooms were responsible for the deaths of a few animals and led to swimming advisories.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Global warming and pollution is causing algal blooms to form in places previously considered "impossible" or rare for them to exist, such as under the ice sheets in the Arctic, in Antarctica, the Himalayan Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In the U.S., every coastal state has had harmful algal blooms over the last decade and new species have emerged in new locations that were not previously known to have caused problems. Inland, major rivers have seen an increase in their size and frequency. In 2015 the Ohio River had a bloom which stretched an "unprecedented" into adjoining states and tested positive for toxins, which created drinking water and recreation problems. A portion of Utah's Jordan River was closed due to toxic algal bloom in 2016.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Off the west coast of South Africa, HABs caused by "Alexandrium catanella" occur every spring. These blooms of organisms cause severe disruptions in fisheries of these waters as the toxins in the phytoplankton cause filter-feeding shellfish in affected waters to become poisonous for human consumption.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: As algal blooms grow, they deplete the oxygen in the water and block sunlight from reaching fish and plants. Such blooms can last from a few days to many months. With less light, plants beneath the bloom can die and fish can starve. Furthermore, the dense population of a bloom reduces oxygen saturation during the night by respiration. And when the algae eventually die off, the microbes which decompose the dead algae use up even more oxygen, which in turn causes more fish to die or leave the area. When oxygen continues to be depleted by blooms it can lead to hypoxic dead zones, where neither fish nor plants are able to survive. These dead zones in the case of the Chesapeake Bay, where they are a normal occurrence, are also suspected of being a major source of methane.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Scientists have found that HABs were a prominent feature of previous mass extinction events, including the End-Permian Extinction.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Tests have shown some toxins near blooms can be in the air and thereby be inhaled, which could affect health.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Eating fish or shellfish from lakes with a bloom nearby is not recommended. Potent toxins are accumulated in shellfish that feed on the algae. If the shellfish are consumed, various types of poisoning may result. These include amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, and paralytic shellfish poisoning.A 2002 study has shown that algal toxins may be the cause for as many as 60,000 intoxication cases in the world each year.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In 1987 a new illness emerged: amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). People who had eaten mussels from Prince Edward Island were found to have ASP. The illness was caused by domoic acid, produced by a diatom found in the area where the mussels were cultivated. A 2013 study found that toxic paralytic shellfish poisoning in the Philippines during HABs has caused at least 120 deaths over a few decades. After a 2014 HAB incident in Monterey Bay, California, health officials warned people not to eat certain parts of anchovy, sardines, or crab caught in the bay. In 2015 most shellfish fisheries in Washington, Oregon and California were shut down because of high concentrations of toxic domoic acid in shellfish. People have been warned that inhaling vapors from waves or wind during a HAB event may cause asthma attacks or lead to other respiratory ailments.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In 2018 agricultural officials in Utah worried that even crops could become contaminated if irrigated with toxic water, although they admit that they can't measure contamination accurately because of so many variables in farming. They issued warnings to residents, however, out of caution.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Persons are generally warned not to enter or drink water from algal blooms, or let their pets swim in the water since many pets have died from algal blooms. In at least one case, people began getting sick before warnings were issued. There is no treatment available for animals, including livestock cattle, if they drink from algal blooms where such toxins are present. Pets are advised to be kept away from algal blooms to avoid contact.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In some locations visitors have been warned not to even touch the water. Boaters have been told that toxins in the water can be inhaled from the spray from wind or waves. Ocean beaches, lakes and rivers have been closed due to algal blooms. After a dog died in 2015 from swimming in a bloom in California's Russian River, officials likewise posted warnings for parts of the river. Boiling the water at home before drinking does not remove the toxins.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In August 2014 the city of Toledo, Ohio advised its 500,000 residents to not drink tap water as the high toxin level from an algal bloom in western Lake Erie had affected their water treatment plant's ability to treat the water to a safe level. The emergency required using bottled water for all normal uses except showering, which seriously affected public services and commercial businesses. The bloom returned in 2015 and was forecast again for the summer of 2016.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In 2004, a bloom in Kisumu Bay, which is the drinking water source for 500,000 people in Kisumu, Kenya, suffered from similar water contamination. In China, water was cut off to residents in 2007 due to an algal bloom in its third largest lake, which forced 2 million people to use bottled water. A smaller water shut-down in China affected 15,000 residents two years later at a different location. Australia in 2016 also had to cut off water to farmers.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Alan Steinman of Grand Valley State University has explained that among the major causes for the algal blooms in general, and Lake Erie specifically, is because blue-green algae thrive with high nutrients, along with warm and calm water. Lake Erie is more prone to blooms because it has a high nutrient level and is shallow, which causes it to warm up more quickly during the summer.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Symptoms from drinking toxic water can show up within a few hours after exposure. They can include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, or trigger headaches and gastrointestinal problems. Although rare, liver toxicity can cause death. Those symptoms can then lead to dehydration, another major concern. In high concentrations, the toxins in the algal waters when simply touched can cause skin rashes, irritate the eyes, nose, mouth or throat. Those with suspected symptoms are told to call a doctor if symptoms persist or they can't hold down fluids after 24 hours.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: In studies at the population level bloom coverage has been significantly related to the risk of non-alcoholic liver disease death.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Toxic algae blooms are thought to play a role in humans developing degenerative neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.


title: Harmful algal bloom

text: Less than one percent of algal blooms produce hazardous toxins, such as microcystins. Although blue-green or other algae do not usually pose a direct threat to health, the toxins (poisons) which they produce are considered dangerous to humans, land animals, sea mammals, birds and fish when the toxins are ingested. The toxins are neurotoxins which destroy nerve tissue which can affect the nervous system, brain, and liver, and can lead to death.