title: Electronic voting by country

text: On 6 October 2010, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen said that the 7,000 machines would not be used for voting and would be disposed of. As of October 2010, the total cost of the electronic voting project has reached €54.6 million, including €3 million spent on storing the machines over the previous five years.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On 9 and 10 April 2006 the Italian municipality of Cremona used Nedap Voting machines in the national elections. The pilot involved 3000 electors and 4 polling stations were equipped with Nedap systems. The electoral participation was very high and the pilot was successful.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In the same elections (April 2006) the Ministry of New Technologies in cooperation with two big American companies organized a pilot only concerning e-counting. The experiment involved four regions and it cost 34 million euro.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Only 9 local governments ever took advantage of the new law and was only used 25 times until the last local government in Rukunohe in Aomori Prefectural discontinued its use in 2018.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In 2003, the Kazakh Central Election Commission entered into a partnership with the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus to develop an electronic voting system. This system, known as the Sailau Electronic Voting System (АИС «Сайлау»), saw its first use in Kazakhstan's 2004 Parliamentary elections. The final form of the system, as used in the presidential election of 2005 and the parliamentary election of 2007, has been described as using "indirect recording electronic voting." In this case, voters signing into use the Sailau system were issued smart cards holding the ballot to be voted. Voters then carried these cards to a voting booth, where they used the Sailau touch-screen ballot marking device to record their votes on the card. Finally, the voters returned the ballot cards to the sign-in table where the ballot was read from the card into the electronic "ballot box" before the card was erased for reuse by another voter.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On Nov. 16, 2011, Kuandyk Turgankulov, head of the Kazakh Central Election Commission, said that use of the Sailau system would be discontinued because voters prefer paper, the political parties do not trust it, and the lack of funds required to update the system.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė is quoted however as stating concerns that online voting would not ensure confidentiality and security.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Electronic voting had been used in 2018 People's Justice Party leadership election, which is the party election for the country's largest party. It suffered from many technical problems and many polls had been postponed due to the deficient system.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In 2014, Namibia became the first African nation to use electronic voting machines. Electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the election were provided by Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian state owned company.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: From the late 1990s until 2007, voting machines were used extensively in elections. Most areas in the Netherlands used electronic voting in polling places. After security problems with the machines were widely publicized, they were banned in 2007.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The most widely used voting machines were produced by the company Nedap. In the 2006 parliamentary elections, 21,000 persons used the Rijnland Internet Election System to cast their vote.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On 5 October 2006 the group "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet" ("We do not trust voting machines") demonstrated on Dutch television how the Nedap ES3B machines could be manipulated in five minutes. The tampering of the software would not be recognisable by voters or election officials.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On October 30, 2006, the Dutch Minister of the Interior withdrew the license of 1187 voting machines from manufacturer Sdu NV, about 10% of the total number to be used, because it was proven by the General Intelligence and Security Service that one could eavesdrop on voting from up to 40 meters using Van Eck phreaking. National elections are to be held 24 days after this decision. The decision was forced by the Dutch grass roots organisation "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet" ("We do not trust voting computers").


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Apparently there was a case of an election official misinforming voters of when their vote is recorded and later recording it himself in municipality elections in Landerd, Netherlands in 2006. A candidate was also an election official and received the unusual number of 181 votes in the polling place where he was working. In the other three polling places combined he received only 11 votes. Only circumstantial evidence could be found, because the voting machine was a direct-recording electronic voting machine; in a poll by a local newspaper the results were totally different. The case is still under prosecution.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In September 2007 a committee chaired by Korthals Altes reported to the government that it would be better to return to paper voting. The deputy minister for the interior Ank Bijleveld said in a first response she would accept the committee's advice, and ban electronic voting. The committee also concluded that the time wasn't ready for voting over the Internet. State secretary Ank Bijleveld responded by announcing a return to paper voting.. It was reported in September 2007 that "a Dutch judge has declared the use of Nedap e-voting machines in recent Dutch elections unlawful."


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On February 1, 2017 the Dutch government announced that all ballots in the 2017 general election would be counted by hand.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development of Norway carried out pilots in three municipalities at local elections in 2011 on voting machines in the polling stations using touch screens.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Norway tried to conduct voting by using the online voting method and it “did not increase voter turnout, not even among younger demographics.” People in Norway wanted to ensure that there was high voter confidence and believed that online voting would bring along with it security and political controversy. There are firsthand accounts given of some of the worries that are present with the introduction of a technology such as online voting.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The use of the Internet in elections is a fairly recent concept and as with any new technology it will undergo a certain amount of scrutiny until people can fully trust it and implement it into worldwide elections. Critics of online voting argued that online voting isn't secure enough and thus creates a large number of skeptics who oppose the use of online voting, which in turn will result in a challenge to implement online voting as the primary method of casting votes. Another area that people are worried about is the process of authentication of votes. In other words, what process will voters have to go through to ensure that they are who they say they are?


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The Institute of Social Research in Norway conducted a study in which we can see signs that voters are afraid that their votes will become public, which they will see as a compromise of their democratic rights. In addition, voters’ fears are embedded in the encryption system that guards the privacy of their votes. How can voters be sure that their votes are safe from hackers? This led them to believe that in order to make this a viable voting system, governments have to ensure that the encryption system used to protect votes is as safe as possible. Until governments can ensure a certain level of safety for people's votes, the outcomes in Norway are unlikely to change - the voter turnout will still be low even if the convenience of voting is made easier.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The National Assembly of Pakistan passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill Maý 25,2022 on Thursday, which seeks to remove the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections as well as disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In May 2010, the government of the Philippines planned to carry out its first ever entirely electronically tabulated election, using and optical scan voting system. The government invested $160 million into the new system. This included the electronic voting machines, printers, servers, power generators, memory cards, batteries, and broadband and satellite transmission equipment. This national implementation of electronic voting was intended to increase the accuracy and speed of vote tallying. In addition, it was expected to decrease the fraud and corruption found in past Philippine elections.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On May 3, 2010, the Philippines pre-tested the electronic voting systems. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) found 76,000 of the total 82,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan Machines to have faulty memory cards. The machines had miscounted votes and had given some votes to the rival candidate. After discovering discrepancies between manual and automated voting tallies, the memory cards were changed throughout the country. Many Filipino voters became skeptical of the e-voting system after the national recall. Because of past violent elections, 250,000 troops were placed on high alert around the country. These forces were instructed to guard the machines and voting stations in order to preempt any violent protests against the system. Some election officials attempted to postpone the May 10 election day but elections proceeded as scheduled.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On May 10, 2010, the Philippines had its first presidential election using electronic voting. Comelec reported that only 400 of the 82,000 machines malfunctioned. Most voter complaints were related to waiting in long lines and learning the new technology.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Romania first implemented electronic voting systems in 2003, on a limited basis, to extend voting capabilities to soldiers and others serving in Iraq, and other theaters of war. Despite the publicly stated goal of fighting corruption, the equipment was procured and deployed in less than 30 days after the government edict passed.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Elections in South Korea use a central-count system with optical scanners at each regional election office. A separate ballot paper is used for each office being contested, and votes are cast using red ink and a rubber stamp. Ballots are similar in size to paper currency, and the optical scanners resemble cash sorter machines. After the ballots are sorted, stacks of ballots are counted using machines resembling currency counting machines. The Korean system has been praised as a model of best practice, but it has also been the subject of controversy, including questions about its legality and allegations of rigged counting in 2012.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In 2014, during its first party congress, the political party Podemos, conducted 3 elections using Agora Voting open source software to vote via the Internet on a series of documents which would determine the political and organizational principles of the party (112070 voters), the resolutions the party will adopt (38279 voters), and the people that would fill the positions defined by this structure (107488 voters). After the municipal elections carried out in May 2015 several city mayors have announced their plans to carry out public consultation processes using electronic voting.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Several cantons (Geneva, Neuchâtel and Zürich) have developed Internet voting test projects to allow citizens to vote via the Internet.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In 2009 and 2011, the 110,000 Swiss voters living abroad will have the option of voting using the Internet through a new pilot project introduced in September 2008.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Up until the vote on February 9, 2014, internet voting was only open to expatriates who lived in the countries in the Wassenaar Arrangement because of their communication standards. After this vote in 2014, internet voting has opened to all expatriates of Switzerland. Although this will cause more risk with voting from abroad, it will allow more people to participate in voting, and there no longer has to be a separation of expatriates during voting and registration.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On February 27, 2017 Swiss Post announced that it was offering a public demonstration version of its e-voting system. The Swiss Post solution has been used in Fribourg and will be used in Neuchâtel.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On November 2, 2018, it was reported that Swiss Post has invited hackers from around the world to participate in a four-week public intrusion test of online voting software provided by the Spanish company, Scytl to take place in Spring 2019.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On December 19, 2018, the Swiss Federal Council completed the legislation to approve electronic voting and submitted it for consultation (Vernehmlassung).


title: Electronic voting by country

text: A 2020 study found that online voting reduced the number of errors that voters made when casting ballots, thus reducing the number of ballots that were ineligible by 0.3 percent.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In November 2018, Thailand Democrat Party conducted electronic voting using blockchain where more than 120,000 votes were cast. The voting data were stored on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and the IPFS hashes were then stored on Zcoin blockchain. Former premier of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva won the popular vote by winning 67,505 votes against his opponent Warong Dechgitvigrom who went close behind with 57,689 votes.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: On December 2, 1971, with the adoption of the constitution, the federation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was officially established. A few months later, in February 1972, the country's first ever federal national council (FNC) was set up as the country's legislative and constitutional body. In 2005, the UAE held its first national elections. This was recognized as a step forward to enhance a well-structured political participation in line with citizens’ aspirations, and as a major milestone towards modernization and development of the federation.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: After the first electoral experience in the UAE in 2005, the National Election Committee (NEC) approved electronic voting instead of traditional voting procedures as it had been attracting the attention of governments around the world. The same election model was used for the 2011 FNC elections, except for the electoral college, where the number of voters increased from around 6,000 to almost 130,000.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The 2011 FNC elections were considered to be more challenging due to the short time frame and the size of the electoral college, as well as the fact that the majority of voters were first-time voters and had never seen a ballot box. The government decided to take innovative steps to encourage participation and introduced technology-driven systems to facilitate the overall program. Hence a process was designed which required detailed planning in the areas of site preparation and capacity computation, technical infrastructure development, communication planning,


title: Electronic voting by country

text: addressing logistical and staff requirements, and the overall specifications of the electronic voting system.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In 2000, the London Mayoral and Assembly elections were counted using an optical scan voting system with software provided by DRS plc of Milton Keynes. In 2004, the London Mayoral, Assembly and European Parliamentary elections were scanned and processed using optical character recognition from the same company. Both elections required some editing of the ballot design to facilitate electronic tabulation, though they differed only slightly from the previous 'mark with an X' style ballots.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: As of January 2016, the UK Parliament has no plans to introduce electronic voting for statutory elections, either using electronic voting in polling booths or remotely via the internet.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: An optical scan voting system was used to electronically count paper ballots in the Scottish Parliament general election and Scottish council elections in 2007. A report commissioned by the UK Electoral Commission found significant errors in ballot design produced more than 150,000 spoilt votes. The BBC reported that 86,000 constituency ballots and 56,000 list ballots were rejected, with suggestions that it was caused by voters being asked to vote for both sections of the election on the same ballot paper, rather than on separate ballots as had been the case in the previous elections. In addition to this, Scottish Parliamentary elections and Scottish council elections use different electoral systems. The council elections uses single transferable vote, a preferential voting system, while the Parliament elections uses the additional member system; the former requires the voter to place numbers in order of their preference, while the latter requires a cross to indicate their single preference.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: The electronic counting was used again in the 2012 and 2017 council elections without any problems being detected.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Electronic voting in the United States involves several types of machines: touch screens for voters to mark choices, scanners to read paper ballots, scanners to verify signatures on envelopes of absentee ballots, and web servers to display tallies to the public. Aside from voting, there are also computer systems to maintain voter registrations and display these electoral rolls to polling place staff.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: To audit computer tallies in a small percent of locations, five states check all contests by hand, two states check by machines independent of the election machines, seventeen states check one or a few contests by hand, four states reuse the same machines or ballot images as the election, so errors can persist, and 23 states do not require audits.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Three vendors sell most of the machines used for voting and for counting votes. As of September 2016, the American Election Systems & Software (ES&S) served 80 million registered voters, Canadian Dominion Voting Systems 70 million, American Hart InterCivic 20 million, and smaller companies less than 4 million each.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: More companies sell signature verification machines: ES&S, Olympus, Vantage, Pitney Bowes, Runbeck, and Bell & Howell.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Election machines are computers, often 10–20 years old, since certification and purchase processes take at least two years, and offices lack money to replace them until they wear out.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: and hacks, which have not been documented, though security flaws which would permit undetectable hacks have been documented.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: In large election offices, computers check signatures on postal ballot envelopes to prevent fraudulent votes. Error rates of computerized signature reviews are not published.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: and at best experts wrongly reject 5% of true signatures and wrongly accept 29% of forgeries. Lay people make more mistakes.


title: Electronic voting by country

text: Elections in Venezuela first introduced electronic voting in the 1998 presidential election. The 2004 Venezuelan recall referendum was the first national election to feature a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). This allow the voter to verify that the machine has properly recorded their vote. It also permits audits and recounts.


title: Headgear

text: Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions.


title: Headgear

text: Headgear may be worn for protection against cold (such as the Canadian tuque), heat, rain and other precipitation, glare, sunburn, sunstroke, dust, contaminants, etc. Helmets are worn for protection in battle or against impact, for instance when riding bicycles or motor vehicles. There are also hats that are worn for protection from the cold.


title: Headgear

text: Headgear can be an article of fashion, usually hats, caps or hoods. The formal man's black silk top hat was formerly an indispensable portion of the suit, and women's hats have, over the years, attained a fantastic number of shapes ranging from immense confections to no more than a few bits of cloth and decorations piled on top of the head. Some hats, such as Deep Blue Sea, are showpiece creations created more as works of art than as practical items of fashion, and may be worth thousands or millions of dollars.


title: Headgear

text: In Judaism, men cover their heads out of reverence for God. Jewish religious headgear for men include small cloth skull-caps, called kippahs or yarmulkes. Some men wear them at all times, others only in the synagogue. In Orthodox and Hasidic Judaism, the kippah may also be additionally covered by hats such as fedoras or shtreimels. Traditional married Jewish women cover their hair in various ways, such as with headscarfs, called tichels, snoods, shpitzels or wigs, called "sheitels", according to the principles and halacha of tzniut.


title: Headgear

text: Traditionally, Christian women are required to wear a headcovering as taught in (the same text teaches that men are to pray and worship with their head uncovered), which has been practiced since the time of the early Church and continues to be observed universally in certain denominations, such as in Conservative Anabaptist churches. The style of the headcovering varies by region, though the early Church's Apostolic Tradition specifies that Christian headcovering is to be observed with an "opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen". With respect to Christian clergy, the zucchetto worn by Roman Catholic hierarchs is a skull-cap. Other forms of apostolic headgear include the mitre, biretta, tasselled cardinal's hat, and the papal tiara. Orthodox Christian clergy and monastics often wear a skufia, a kamilavkion, or a klobuk. The term "red hat", when used within the Roman Catholic Church, refers to the appointment of a Cardinal, a senior "Prince of the Church", who is a member of the electoral college that chooses the Pope. On being appointed to the cardinalate, he is said to have received the "red hat", or cardinal's biretta. In Lutheranism, many clergy wear the ruff and in Anglicanism, the Canterbury cap is popular among pastors.


title: Headgear

text: Male Sikhs are required to wear turbans. Some Sikh women also wear a turban; however it is not a requirement for female Sikhs. Turbans are also worn by Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, who regard turban-wearing as "Sunnah Mu'akkadah" (confirmed tradition).


title: Headgear

text: In Islam, the hijab, or headscarf, is worn by women because it is considered modest. Muslim men also sometimes wear a skullcap called a "kufi" or taqiyah (cap), especially during prayers. Headgear differs from culture to culture, and some Muslims' headgear is not related to their religion, such as the turbans worn in Saudi Arabia. The doppa, originating in the Caucasus, is worn by Kazan Tatars, Uzbeks and Uyghurs. Muslim men in Indonesia and Malaysia often seen wear a kopiah, but its use pre-dates the arrival of Islam in the region.


title: Headgear

text: The black satin headgear called or known as "fenta" or "topi" is a pillbox-shaped skullcap, worn by Zoroastrians. It is considered by some in the Zoroastrian religion to be of vital spiritual importance. In earlier times, a saucer-shaped, red-and-white-striped kipah was the hallmark of the Zoroastrian.


title: Headgear

text: Buddhist priests in China wear the "bao-tzu" (more commonly known as the "mao-tzu", 帽子 Mandarin "màozi"), the classic skullcap that is the most like the Jewish tradition. In Japan, the cap is more in the form of a pillbox and is called the "boshi" (帽子). Though not of ecclesiastical significance, the Buddhist skullcap does denote something about the priest's standing in the community.


title: Headgear

text: Headgear such as crowns and tiaras are worn in recognition of noble status especially among royalty. Wigs are worn traditionally by judges and barristers of Commonwealth nations. Feathered headpieces, such as the war bonnet of Plains Indian cultures, are worn by various Native North American and South American indigenous peoples.


title: Headgear

text: Bonnets, as worn by women and girls, were hats worn outdoors which were secured by tying under the chin, and often which had some kind of peak or visor. Some styles of bonnets had peaks so large that they effectively prevented women from looking right or left without turning their heads. Bonnets worn by men and boys are generally distinguished from hats by being soft and having no brim—this usage is now rare (they would normally be called caps today, except in Scotland where the "bunnet" is common in both civilian life and in the Royal Regiment of Scotland).


title: Headgear

text: Caps are generally soft and often have no brim or just a peak (like on a baseball cap). For many centuries women wore a variety of head-coverings which were called caps. For example, in the 18th and 19th centuries a cap was a kind of head covering made of a flimsy fabric such as muslin; it was worn indoors or under a bonnet by married women, or older unmarried women who were "on the shelf" (e.g. mob-cap). An ochipok is part of traditional Ukrainian costume.


title: Headgear

text: Some headgear, such as the crown, coronet, and tiara, have evolved into jewelry. These headgear are worn as a symbol of nobility or royal status. Kokoshnik is part of Russian traditional dress, often worn by nobility.


title: Headgear

text: A fillet or circlet is a round band worn around the head and over the hair. Elaborate and costly versions of these eventually evolved into crowns, but fillets could be made from woven bands of fabric, leather, beads or metal. Fillets are unisex, and are especially prevalent in archaic to Renaissance dress.


title: Headgear

text: Hairnets are used to prevent loose hair from contaminating food or work areas. A snood is a net or fabric bag pinned or tied on at the back of a woman's head for holding the hair. Scarves are used to protect styled hair or keep it tidy. Shower caps and swim caps prevent hair from becoming wet or entangled during activity.


title: Headgear

text: Hats often have a brim all the way around the rim, and may be either placed on the head, or secured with hat-pins (which are pushed through the hat and the hair). Depending on the type of hat, they may be properly worn by men, by women or by both sexes.


title: Headgear

text: Helmets are designed to protect the head, and sometimes the neck, from injury. They are usually rigid, and offer protection from blows. Helmets are commonly worn in battle, on construction sites and in many contact sports (most commonly being associated with American football). In most of the United States they are required by law for anyone operating a range of vehicles including motorcycles, and sometimes extending to bicycles and skateboards.


title: Headgear

text: Modern hoods are generally soft headcoverings which are an integral part of a larger garment, like an overcoat, shirt or cloak.


title: Headgear

text: Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, or a separate form of headgear. In medieval Europe hoods with short capes, called chaperons in French, were extremely common, and later evolved into elaborate and adaptable hats. Women's hoods varied from close-fitting, soft headgear to stiffened, structured hoods (e.g. gable hoods, hennins or French hoods) or very large coverings made of material over a frame which fashionable women wore over towering wigs or hairstyles to protect them from the elements (e.g. calash).


title: Headgear

text: A mask is worn over part or all of the face, frequently to disguise the wearer, but sometimes to protect the face. Masks are often worn for pleasure to disguise the wearer at fancy dress parties, masked balls, during Halloween or other festivals, or as part of an artistic performance. They may also be worn by criminals to prevent recognition or as camouflage while they commit a crime. Masks which physically protect the wearer vary in design, from guard bars across the face in the case of ice hockey goalkeepers, to facial enclosures which purify or control the wearer's air supply, as in gas masks.


title: Headgear

text: Orthodontic headgear is used to control the growth of the maxillary and mandibular bones during orthodontic treatment. The most common treatment headgear is used to correct anteroposterior discrepancies. The headgear attaches to the braces via metal hooks or a facebow. Straps or a head cap anchor the headgear to the back of the head or neck. In some situations, both are used.


title: Headgear

text: Elastic bands are used to apply pressure to the bow or hooks which is then transferred to the patients teeth and jaw. Its purpose is to slow or stop the upper jaw from growing, thereby preventing or correcting an overjet. Other forms of headgear treat reverse overjets, in which the top jaw is not forward enough. It is similar to a facemask, also attached to braces, and encourages forward growth of the upper jaw.


title: Headgear

text: Turbans are headgear, mostly for males, made up from a single piece of cloth which is wrapped around the head in a wide variety of styles. Turban is the best known word in English for a large category of headgear and general head wraps traditionally worn in many parts of the world. All over the world Sikhs wear a turban as religious headgear.


title: Headgear

text: Turbans for women are a popular choice during chemotherapy treatment as an alternative to wigs, hats, headscarves and headbands. Sikh women also wear turbans as a religious practice. Turbans for women made in natural fabrics are both comfortable and functional. The Breast Cancer Care booklet, "Breast Cancer and Hair Loss", suggests: "You may want to wear a soft hat or turban in bed to collect loose hairs."


title: Headgear

text: A veil is a piece of sheer fabric that covers all or part of the face. For centuries women covered their hair, neck, ears, chin, and parts of the face with fabric. Each culture created elaborate head wraps for women and men using a shawl, headscarf, kerchief or veil. Very elaborate veiling practices are common in Islam, Africa and Eastern Europe. Women who don't cover their head on a regular basis, often use a veil in traditional wedding and funeral ceremonies.


title: Headgear

text: Wigs are headpieces made from natural or synthetic hair which may be worn to disguise baldness or thin hair, or as part of a costume. A toupee may be worn by a man to cover partial baldness. In most Commonwealth nations, special wigs are also worn by barristers, judges, and certain parliamentary officials as a symbol of the office.


title: Headgear

text: The dhari, also spelt dhoeri, is a distinctive headdress worn by men of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea, for dance performances or cultural ceremonies. It is traditionally made with a pearl shell or turtle shell in the middle and decorated with white feathers, traditionally from the frigate bird or Torres Strait pigeon, although now made with a variety of materials. The head is often shaken to produce a shimmering effect while dancing. "Dhari", the word used in the eastern islands of the strait, is the Meriam Mir word for "headdress". In the central and western islands, it is known as "dhoeri", in the Kala Lagaw Ya language of those islands.


title: Headgear

text: The dhari is today a potent symbol for Torres Strait Islander people, and used in the Torres Strait Islander Flag. Torres Strait Islander artists such as Alick Tipoti and Ken Thaiday Snr create dhari as artworks.


title: Headgear

text: War bonnets, which usually include an array of feathers, are worn mostly by men in various Plains Indian cultures in the United States. They are linked to status, culture and ceremony, and have to be given as gifts as a mark of respect for the receiver.


title: Headgear

text: In the Western culture derived from Christian tradition, removing one's headgear is a sign of respect, especially indoors, making oneself more open, humble or vulnerable, much like bowing or kneeling. This is as if to say, "I acknowledge that you are more powerful than I am, I make myself vulnerable to show I pose no threat to you and respect you." Men's hats are removed in Church, and not removing them is usually frowned upon. Women, however, are required to wear a hat to cover the head in some churches based on 1 Corinthians 11:5.


title: Headgear

text: In the Jewish tradition, the converse idea equally shows respect for the superior authority of God. Wearing a kippah or yarmulke means the wearer is acknowledging the vast gulf of power, wisdom, and authority that separates God from mankind. It is a sign of humility to wear a yarmulke. There is a common phrase that explains this, saying that "there's always something above" one who is wearing a yarmulke, helping one remember one is human and God is infinite. A Talmudic quote speaks of a righteous man who would "not walk (six feet) with an uncovered head, the (spirit of God) is always above him". Jews also may wear a fur hat or a black hat with a brim.


title: Headgear

text: In Islamic etiquette, wearing headgear, traditionally the taqiyah (cap), is permissible while saying prayers at a mosque.


title: Headgear

text: In the military, there are specific rules about when and where to wear a hat. Hats are generally worn outdoors only, at sea as well as on land; however, personnel carrying firearms typically also wear their hats indoors. Removing one's hat is also a form of salute. Many schools also have this rule due to the fact that many younger men tend to wear baseball caps and this being in relations to gangs depending on the side in which the hat is worn.


title: Headgear

text: A hat can be raised (briefly removed and replaced, with either hand), or "tipped" (touched or tilted forward) as a greeting.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated north of Miami, it had a population of 57,833 in 2020. It is part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city seceded from Pompano Beach in the 1960s. It is nicknamed "Butterfly Capital of the World" because it is home to Butterfly World, the world's largest butterfly aviary, with over 80 species and 20,000 individual butterflies.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: Coconut Creek has an area of , with approximately 50,000 residents and 1,400 businesses. Housing is primarily single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses within professionally landscaped communities.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: The city took its name from the coconut trees, that were planted in the area by early developers. Robert E. Bateman, one of the developers, named Coconut Creek after combining the names of Miami-Dade County's village of Indian Creek and the Miami neighborhood of Coconut Grove.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: According to the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 52,909. Coconut Creek is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: The city is a well-planned community with a unique environmental consciousness touting an abundance of trees, waterways, landscaped roads, parks, and butterfly gardens throughout the neighborhoods. This is due to the city's progressive planning approach to creating a unique life-style for residents and businesses. Coconut Creek is the first in the state of Florida and eleventh in the country to be certified as a "Community Wildlife Habitat".


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: Playful City USA, a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children and is a key platform in combating the play deficit, named Coconut Creek a 2012 Playful City USA. KaBOOM! selected Coconut Creek for its outstanding dedication to play.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: Coconut Creek is adjacent to "Mount Trashmore", officially known as the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, which has long emitted foul odours into the air of the city. In September 2010, after threatening to sue over the landfill's odours, Coconut Creek reached an agreement with Waste Management, Inc., the operator of the landfill, that prohibits food and other decaying materials from going into Mount Trashmore after October 2, 2013.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: Coconut Creek is located at (26.275010, –80.184719). The city is in northern Broward County. It is bounded by unincorporated Palm Beach County on the north, by the cities of Parkland, Coral Springs and Margate on its west, by Deerfield Beach on its east, and by Pompano Beach on its east and southeast. According to the United States Census Bureau, Coconut Creek has a total area of , of which is land and is water (1.21%).


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: According to the Köppen climate classification, Coconut Creek has a tropical savanna climate. The warmest month of the year is August with an average maximum temperature of 93 °F, while the coldest month of the year is January with an average minimum temperature of 58 °F. The annual average precipitation at Coconut Creek is 57.27 inches. Summer months tend to be wetter than winter months. The wettest month of the year is June with an average rainfall of 7.31 Inches.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 57,833 people, 23,277 households, and 14,236 families residing in the city.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: As of 2010, there were 25,926 households, with 12.2% being vacant. In 2000, there were 20,093 households, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.73.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: In 2000, the city the population was spread out, with 18.0% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $43,980, and the median income for a family was $55,131. Males had a median income of $40,965 versus $31,188 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,590. About 5.1% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 79.23% of residents, and Spanish made up of 11.18%. Other languages spoken as a first language were Portuguese 1.79%, Italian 1.40%, Yiddish 1.37%, and French at 1.17% of the population.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: As of 2000, Coconut Creek was the twenty-sixth most Brazilian-populated area in the U.S. (tied with Belle Isle, Big Pine Key, and several other areas in the Northeast) at 1.2% of the population.


title: Coconut Creek, Florida

text: According to the city's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:


title: Cross-functional team

text: A cross-functional team, also known as a multidisciplinary team or interdisciplinary team, is a group of people with different functional expertise working toward a common goal. It may include people from finance, marketing, operations, and human resources departments. Typically, it includes employees from all levels of an organization. Members may also come from outside an organization (in particular, from suppliers, key customers, or consultants).


title: Cross-functional team

text: Cross-functional teams often function as self-directed teams assigned to a specific task which calls for the input and expertise of numerous departments. Assigning a task to a team composed of multi-disciplinary individuals increases the level of creativity and establishes common opinion. Each member offers an alternative perspective to the problem and potential solution to the task. In business today, innovation is a leading competitive advantage and cross-functional teams promote innovation through a creative collaboration process. Members of a cross-functional team need not be well versed in multi-tasking per se, but must be prepared to help out in different aspects of building an actual product as they are collectively responsible for their cross-functional team duties as well as their normal day-to-day work tasks.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Some researchers have viewed cross-functional interactions as cooperative or competitive in nature, while others have argued that organization's functional areas are often forced to compete and cooperate simultaneously with one another (“coopetition”) and it is critical to understand how these complex relationships interplay and affect firm performance.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Decision making within a team may depend on consensus, but often is led by a manager/coach/team leader. Leadership can be a significant challenge with cross-functional teams. Leaders are charged with the task of directing team members of various disciplines. They must transform different variations of input into one cohesive final output. Cross-functional teams can be likened to the board of directors of a company. A group of individuals of various backgrounds and disciplines are assembled to collaborate in an efficient manner in order to better the organization or solve a problem.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Some organizations are built around cross-functional workflows by having reporting lines to multiple managers. This type of management is called matrix management, and such organizations are often called matrix organizations.


title: Cross-functional team

text: The growth of self-directed cross-functional teams has influenced decision-making processes and organizational structures. Although management theory likes to propound that every type of organizational structure needs to make strategic, tactical, and operational decisions, new procedures have started to emerge that work best with teams.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Up until recently, decision making flowed in one direction. Overall corporate-level objectives drove strategic business unit (SBU) objectives, and these in turn, drove functional level objectives. Today, organizations have flatter structures, companies diversify less, and functional departments have started to become less well-defined. The rise of self-directed teams reflects these trends. Intra-team dynamics tend to become multi-directional rather than hierarchical. Interactive processes encourage consensus within teams. Also the directives given to the team tend to become more general and less prescribed.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Cross-functional teams require a wide range of information to reach their decisions. They need to draw on information from all parts of an organization's information base. This includes information from all functional departments. System integration becomes important because it makes all information accessible through a single interface. An inherent benefit of a cross-functional team is the breadth of knowledge brought to the group by each member. Each team member is a representative of a department and therefore can leverage their familiarity with accessing and providing knowledge of that department for the team. This increases the efficiency of a cross-functional team by reducing time spent gathering information.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Cross-functional teams require information from all levels of management. The teams may have their origins in the perceived need to make primarily strategic decisions, tactical decisions, or operational decisions, but they will require all three types of information. Almost all self-directed teams will need information traditionally used in strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. For example, new product development traditionally ranks as a tactical procedure. It gets strategic direction from top management, and uses operational departments like engineering and marketing to perform its task. But a new product development team would consist of people from the operational departments and often someone from top management.


title: Cross-functional team

text: In many cases, the team would make unstructured strategic decisions—such as what markets to compete in, what new production technologies to invest in, and what return on investment to require; tactical decisions like whether to build a prototype, whether to concept-test, whether to test-market, and how much to produce; and structured operational decisions like production scheduling, inventory purchases, and media flightings. In other cases, the team would confine itself to tactical and operational decisions. In either case it would need information associated with all three levels.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Cross-functional teams consist of people from different parts of an organization. Information must be made understandable to all users. Not only engineers use technical data, and not only accountants use financial data, and not only human resources personnel use HR data. Modern organizations lack middle managers to combine, sort, and prioritize the data. Technical, financial, marketing, and all other types of information must come in a form that all members of a cross-functional team can understand. This involves reducing the amount of specialized jargon, sorting information based on importance, hiding complex statistical procedures from the users, giving interpretations of results, and providing clear explanations of difficult. Data visualization systems can present complex results in an intuitive manner.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Since the publication of Peter Drucker’s views on management by objectives, business decision making has become more goal-oriented. Managers have come to view decision-making generally, and strategic thinking in particular, as a multi-stage process that starts with an assessment of the current situation, defining objectives, then determining how to reach these objectives. Management by objectives took this basic scheme and applied it to virtually all significant decisions.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Today many firms have started to opt for a less structured, more interactive approach. One way of implementing this involves using self-directed cross-functional teams. Proponents hope that these teams will develop strategies that will re-define industries and create new “best practice”. They think that incremental improvements do not suffice.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Cross-functional teams, using unstructured techniques and searching for revolutionary competitive advantages, allegedly require information systems featuring increased interactivity, more flexibility, and the capability of dealing with fuzzy logic. Artificial intelligence may one day be useful in this aspect.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Many teams in large organizations face challenges around creating a collaborative atmosphere when dealing with cross-functional dependencies and peers from other functions. The structure of the organizations in general do not support cross-functional collaboration among the teams.


title: Cross-functional team

text: Smooth communication is the base of the cross-functional teams. Team must schedule all meetings, and prepare the agenda for each. Team must know of what is to be discussed.


title: Cross-functional team

text: It becomes important for the organizations to build a culture among its employees, a sense of entitlement with each of the stakeholders to push them to go extra mile and collaborate with other teams to achieve company goals. This is critical to proactive collaboration, beyond just at a time of crisis.


title: Consulate

text: A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a high commission). The term "consulate" may refer not only to the office of a consul, but also to the building occupied by the consul and the consul's staff. The consulate may share premises with the embassy itself.


title: Consulate

text: A consul of the highest rank is termed a consul-general and is appointed to a consulate-general. There are typically one or more deputy consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents working under the consul-general. A country may appoint more than one consul-general to another nation.


title: Consulate

text: Consuls of various ranks may have specific legal authority for certain activities, such as notarizing documents. As such, diplomatic personnel with other responsibilities may receive consular letters patent (commissions). Aside from those outlined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, there are few formal requirements outlining what a consular official must do. For example, for some countries, consular officials may be responsible for the issue of visas; other countries may limit "consular services" to providing assistance to compatriots, legalization of documents, etc. Nonetheless, consulates proper will be headed by consuls of various ranks, even if such officials have little or no connection with the more limited sense of consular service.


title: Consulate

text: Activities of a consulate include protecting the interests of their citizens temporarily or permanently resident in the host country, issuing passports; issuing visas to foreigners and public diplomacy. However, the principal role of a consulate lies traditionally in promoting trade—assisting companies to invest and to import and export goods and services both inwardly to their home country and outward to their host country. Although it is not admitted publicly, consulates, like embassies, may also gather intelligence information from the assigned country.


title: Consulate

text: A consular district is a sub-national region designated by a consular post to exercise consular functions in a host country. A consular district is serviced by a consul or "consul-general" and is headquartered at a consulate or "consulate-general." It is a common utility for spreading diplomatic representation and services to regions of a host country beyond a guest country's embassy in the capital.


title: Consulate

text: Contrary to popular belief, many of the staff of consulates may be career diplomats, but they have limited forms of diplomatic immunity unless they are also accredited as such. Immunities and privileges for consuls and accredited staff of consulates (consular immunity) are generally limited to actions undertaken in their official capacity and, with respect to the consulate itself, to those required for official duties. In practice, the extension and application of consular privileges and immunities can differ widely from country to country.


title: Consulate

text: Consulates are more numerous than other diplomatic missions, such as embassies. Ambassadors are posted only in a foreign nation's capital (but exceptionally outside the country, as in the case of a multiple mandate; e.g., a minor power may accredit a single ambassador with several neighbouring states of modest relative importance that are not considered important allies).


title: Consulate

text: Consuls are posted in a nation's capital, and in other cities throughout that country, especially centres of economic activity and cities where large populations of citizens from the consul's home country reside (expatriates). In the United States, for example, most countries have a consulate-general in New York City, (the home of the United Nations), and some have consulates-general in several major cities, such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, or San Francisco. Many countries have multiple consular offices in nations such as Germany, Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Australia.


title: Consulate

text: Consulates are subordinate posts of their home country's diplomatic mission (typically an embassy, in the capital city of the host country). Diplomatic missions are established in international law under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, while consulates-general and consulates are established in international law under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Formally, at least within the US system, the consular career (ranking in descending order: consul-general, consul, vice-consul, honorary consul) forms a different hierarchy from the diplomats in the strict sense. However, it is common for individuals to be transferred from one hierarchy to the other, and for consular officials to serve in a capital carrying out strictly consular duties within the "consular section" of a diplomatic post; e.g., within an embassy.


title: Consulate

text: Between Commonwealth countries, both diplomatic and consular activities may be undertaken by a High Commission in the capital, although larger Commonwealth nations generally also have consulates and consulates-general in major cities. For example, Toronto in Canada, Sydney in Australia and Auckland, New Zealand, are of greater economic importance than their respective national capitals, hence the need for consulates there.


title: Consulate

text: When Hong Kong was under British administration, diplomatic missions of Commonwealth countries, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, and Singapore were known as commissions. After the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997, they were renamed consulates-general, with the last commissioner becoming consul-general. However, the Australian commission had been renamed the consulate-general in 1986.


title: Consulate

text: Owing to Hong Kong's status as a special administrative region of China, some countries' consulates-general in Hong Kong report directly to their respective foreign ministries, rather than to their embassies in Beijing, such as those of Canada, the United Kingdom and United States.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance handheld video game console in 2004 for Japan and 2005 in the West. It is the eighth entry in the "Fire Emblem" series, the second to be released outside Japan, and the third and final title to be developed for the Game Boy Advance after "" and its prequel "Fire Emblem".


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Set in a separate continuity to earlier "Fire Emblem" titles, "The Sacred Stones" takes place on the fictional continent of Magvel, which is divided into five nations, each built around a magical stone said to be linked to the imprisonment of an ancient demon. When one of the five nations, the Grado Empire, invades its neighbors and begins destroying the stones, protagonists Eirika and Ephraim of the royal family of Renais set out to gather allies and halt Grado's conquest, while also trying to uncover the reasons for the war. The gameplay is similar to previous "Fire Emblem" games, focusing on turn-based, tactical movement of units across a grid-based battlefield. Core features of the game include permanent death for characters defeated in battle and support conversations that grant advantages to certain units in battle.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "The Sacred Stones" began development alongside "" as a side project, sharing much of its visual design and mechanics with "Fire Emblem" while incorporating elements from earlier entries such as "Fire Emblem Gaiden". First announced in mid-2004, it was heavily promoted in Japan. When released, it sold over 230,000 units during 2004, with a further 90,000 being sold upon its North American debut. Reception was positive overall for its story and gameplay, although many critics cited it as being too similar to its predecessor. "The Sacred Stones" would be the last original handheld "Fire Emblem" title until "Fire Emblem Awakening" for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones" is a tactical role-playing game where players take the role of royal siblings Eirika and Ephraim during separate campaigns as they fight hostile forces invading their homeland, along with allies acquired on their journey. The world's setting of Magvel is navigated using an overworld map, with routes going to different battle maps unlocked as the story progresses. In addition to story-related maps and dungeons, optional dungeons exist where chosen units can freely battle enemies, earning experience points. Each time a unit earns 100 experience points, that unit will gain a level and some of their stats will randomly increase. All characters can progress up to the 20-level cap. After a character has leveled up to 10, it has the option to be evolved using a class-specific item. A notable change from earlier games is that multiple options are available for class evolution: for instance, a Cavalier can evolve into either a Paladin or a Great Knight.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Battles use a turn-based system, with player, allied, and enemy units each taking turns to moving across a grid-based battlefield. Players can end their turn at any time, at which point the allied or enemy units can move. In each battle, the player is given command of a limited number of units and an objective to complete. Each unit's character class determines their abilities, available weapons, strength, and range of movement. For example, mounted characters can move within the remainder of their movement range if they traded with or assisted another player unit in a shorter range. Other units have the ability to "rescue" units, lowering their own stats while removing the rescued unit from harm. Depending on a unit's class and stats, items can be used heal or inflict status ailments such as "Poison" (a unit loses health each turn), "Berserk" (a unit attacks nearby units regardless of association), and immobilization ailments such as "Sleep" and "Petrify".


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: A key element of battle is the Weapons Triangle, a rock-paper-scissors mechanic governing which type of weapon is more effective against another. Weapon types vary from close-range melee weapons like swords and axes to long-range weapons such as bows and magical staves. Various items gathered during missions, such as healing items and weapons, can be traded with other units within the army, or sold at vendors found on the world map. All items degrade with use and will break after a certain number of uses. Different weapons also feature a minimum skill level for use, requiring units to train with that weapon type to earn the proper rank, which ranges from E to A, and then to S, the highest rank. When a unit reaches S rank with one weapon, all other weapon skills are locked at A rank.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Certain units which share a particular affinity stat can benefit from mid-battle Support Conversations. After spending a certain number of turns within a few spaces of each other, they gain the option to engage in a Support Conversation when occupying adjacent spaces. Each pair of units can have up to three Support Conversations, with each successive Support granting both units better stat bonuses in future battles if they are within three spaces of each other.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: When a unit falls in battle, they are subjected to permanent death, removing them from the rest of the campaign unless the player restarts the game from a previous save file. Some character deaths, such as those of Eirika and Ephraim, end the game and require a restart from a save file.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: In addition to the single-player, the game includes a local multiplayer option where four players can take chosen units into the Link Arena. Victory goes to the last group standing or to the party with the highest score depending on the match conditions. Permanent death is disabled in the Link Arena.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "The Sacred Stones" is set on the continent of Magvel, which is divided into six nations. Long ago, five of these nations were each given charge of one of five magical gemstones called the Sacred Stones. The Stones were used to seal away the soul of the Demon King Fomortiis at the end of a conflict between humans and monsters over 800 years ago. The game begins when the Grado Empire, largest of the five founding nations, launches an unexpected assault on the neighboring nation of Renais, home of the royal siblings Eirika and Ephraim. Taken by surprise, Renais is defeated and the two siblings are separated: Eirika escapes to the northern nation of Frelia with the king's general Seth, while Ephraim goes underground to mount a resistance against the Grado Empire to the south. As Eirika seeks aid from the other nations and gathers allies, the land becomes plagued with undead monsters, a sign of Fomortiis's return. She is eventually reunited with Ephraim, and the two discover that Grado plans to destroy the Sacred Stones and unleash Fomortiis once more. After failed attempts to contact Grado's Prince Lyon, the twins' closest friend, they are forced to mobilize against their former ally as the Empire turns its attention to the other nations' Sacred Stones, successfully destroying the Stone of Frelia.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: The siblings part ways once again, each on a mission to preserve the Stones. Eirika is forced to reach the allied nation of Rausten by passing through the new republic of Carcino, the sixth nation, and secret ally of Grado. Her forces escape Carcino by passing through the desert nation of Jehanna, where the Stone of Jehanna is destroyed and Eirika is cornered by two legions of Grado's army. Meanwhile, Ephraim is joined by allies from the nations of Frelia and within Grado itself, and they fight their way into the heart of the empire, to the very throne of Grado's emperor, Vigarde. After defeating Vigarde in battle, Prince Lyon appears and reveals that the Emperor was merely a resurrected puppet, and that he had started the war. When Vigarde died of illness months before, Lyon had feared his inability to rule Grado and became desperate to bring his father back. Lyon sacrificed his nation's Sacred Stone to revive the Emperor's body, but inadvertently absorbed the fragment of the Demon King's shattered soul sealed within. Lyon became a slave to the Demon King's will, and Vigarde a soulless puppet. Lyon declares that he will once more rule Magvel once the Stones are destroyed. With this revealed, he vanishes. Burdened with this knowledge, Ephraim heads to Jehanna and rescues Eirika.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Once reunited, the siblings gather their forces and liberate Renais, retrieving its true Sacred Stone, which had been replaced by a decoy when Grado invaded. After gathering reinforcements from Frelia, the twins head east to Rausten, hoping to protect its Sacred Stone. On the way, the twins are confronted by Lyon, who bests the twins and finally destroys Renais' true Sacred Stone. The twins manage to escape and retrieve the last intact Sacred Stone from Rausten. The siblings pursue Lyon to the Darkling Woods, where he is performing a ritual which will resurrect the Demon King. The twins do battle with Lyon and finally kill their former friend, inadvertently supplying him as the final sacrifice that resurrects the Demon King. Eirika and Ephraim use the Sacred Stone of Rausten to seal the Demon King's soul, and then their forces destroy its body. The siblings' allies from the other nations return home, while they themselves seal the final Sacred Stone away and set about restoring their nation.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "The Sacred Stones" was produced by long-time developer Intelligent Systems, running parallel to the development of "", an entry for the GameCube. According to staff, development began unexpectedly in 2003 alongside "Path of Radiance": the staff thought they would not be developing another entry for the Game Boy Advance. Production on the two titles ran parallel to each other. In addition to Intelligent Systems staff, freelance staff were brought in to help with development, including former Capcom developers. Character designs were done by Sachiko Wada, who had previously worked on "The Binding Blade" and "The Blazing Blade", the latter localized as "Fire Emblem". She also acted as the game's director. A second character designer was Ryo Hirata, a designer who had worked on "The Blazing Blade", in addition to projects for animation studio Production I.G. The scenario was written by Kouhei Maeda. The majority of the gameplay systems designed for "Fire Emblem" were carried over into "The Sacred Stones", barring some minor additions. Some of its gameplay mechanics were borrowed from the 1992 entry "Fire Emblem Gaiden", along with other unspecified mechanics from the Super Famicom entries. It was later stated that the inclusion of these elements was a deliberate tribute to "Gaiden" by the staff. The series' titular "Fire Emblem", which takes different forms across each "Fire Emblem" universe, appears in "The Sacred Stones" as the gemstone kept by the Grado Empire, which was used to seal the Demon King's soul. Its setting of Magvel is the only setting within the "Fire Emblem" series to date which remains unconnected to another title. "The Sacred Stones" would be the last "Fire Emblem" game to be developed for the Game Boy Advance, along with being the last original "Fire Emblem" on handheld devices until "Fire Emblem Awakening" in 2012 for Nintendo 3DS.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "The Sacred Stones" was first announced in Japan in June 2004, scheduled for release in Autumn that year. It released in Japan on October 7, 2004. To promote its release, a special commercial was created for broadcast in September of that year: it involved a girl playing on a Game Boy Advance being drawn into the worlds of the "Fire Emblem" series. Two guidebooks were also published focusing on the game, the first on October 21 and the second on November 17. A Western release was first hinted at in a Nintendo report, revealing its prospective release of both "Path of Radiance" and what would turn out to be "The Sacred Stones". It was released in 2005 in North America and Europe, May 23 and November 4 respectively. "The Sacred Stones" was the second "Fire Emblem" to be released in both North America and Europe. According to Nintendo Treehouse staff members Tim O'Leary and Alan Averill, "The Sacred Stones" was an easier game to localize for as it had less text content than its predecessor. The move from the first Western game to "The Sacred Stones" and "Path of Radiance" meant that any work on localizing "The Binding Blade" could not be managed. The title was later re-released as part of Nintendo's promotional "3DS Ambassador Program" as a free download on December 16, 2011. It was later re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console: it was released in Japan on August 6, 2014, the PAL regions on January 1, 2015, and in North America on June 18 the same year.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Upon its day of release in Japan, "The Sacred Stones" sold 97,842 units, achieving a sell-through rate of just over 64%. By the end of 2004, the game had sold 233,280 units, reaching #48 in "Famitsu"s annual video game sales rankings. In North America, "The Sacred Stones" was among the top 20 games in the Nintendo hardware charts, with sales of 96,000 units. Although no exact total sales figures have been published, Nintendo cited the game as being among its successful Game Boy Advance titles for 2005.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: "Famitsu" praised the story, with one reviewer saying the characters had a tasteful charm. Karen Chu of 1UP.com said the story shone through, keeping players from burning out after the battle segments. IGN's Craig Harris called the storytelling "absolutely top-notch, if just a little wordy for comfort", praising the writing for making him care about his characters. David Chapman of GameSpy noted the storyline being rich. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin said that "The Sacred Stones" had "a well-written, surprisingly sophisticated narrative featuring plenty of endearing heroes and villains". Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell called the storytelling "wonderful", positively noting the more exotic narrative when compared to its predecessor. Simon Parkin, writing for "NGC Magazine", praised the game's "delightful, uncurling narrative", and positively noted the translation quality as it helped him understand the workings of the game's world and characters. "PALGN" reviewer Mark Marrow said the story was a step above its predecessor, calling it "a beautiful narrative featuring plenty of action from villains and heroes, and even some comic relief in-between all of this". Matthew Foster of RPGamer, while noting the quality of the translation, said that the story was the game's weakest point due to its clichéd nature. RPGFan's Alan Knight called the plot "light and fairly easy-going", noting its eccentric characters eased players along.


title: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

text: Speaking about the gameplay, "Famitsu" enjoyed the tactical gameplay and new elements, along with appreciating the thrill induced by permadeath. A minor criticism was issues with the pacing. Harris enjoyed the gameplay despite noting that little had changed since the release of "Fire Emblem", saying that players would not find any notable changes from their original experience. Chapman positively noted the improvements made since the release of "Fire Emblem", along with positively noting the multiplayer options. Kasavin praised the deep strategy gameplay, and positively noted that it was geared towards players of various ages and skill levels. Foster called the gameplay the game's biggest feature and greatest strength despite not having changed much since the previous game. Knight enjoyed the gameplay experience, but was mixed to negative about the lack of true innovations, feeling that it was an overly similar experience to earlier "Fire Emblem" games. Bramwell enjoyed the gameplay despite getting frustrated with permadeath and positively noted the nuances in character customization. Parkin stated that it was quite easy to spend large amounts of time creating the perfect strategy, and that restarting a level after a character died or going to one of the EXP maps to boost character levels was extremely tempting. In the latter case, he noted it might upset the game's intended difficulty. Marrow enjoyed his time with the game, and praised the additional features that made playing easier for newcomers.


title: Indian Paintbrush (production company)

text: Indian Paintbrush is an American film production company founded in 2006 by businessman Steven M. Rales. It is based in Santa Monica, California. Indian Paintbrush specializes in the production and distribution of mainly comedy-drama and romantic films. Since 2007 with "The Darjeeling Limited", Indian Paintbrush has had a production credit for each of filmmaker Wes Anderson's films, including "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Furthermore, Indian Paintbrush has a long-term deal with Searchlight Pictures. Other films produced include "Like Crazy", "Stoker", "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl", and "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World".


title: Bikramjeet Kanwarpal

text: Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal (29 August 1968 1 May 2021) was an Indian film and television actor. A retired army officer, Kanwarpal had played supporting roles in many films and television serials. Kanwarpal shared screen space with actor Anil Kapoor in "24".


title: Bikramjeet Kanwarpal

text: Kanwarpal was born in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. He was the son of an Indian Army officer, Lt Col Dwarka Nath Kanwarpal, who was awarded the Kirti Chakra in 1963. In 1986, Bikramjeet Kanwarpal completed his Higher Secondary Examination from The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and in 1989, he was commissioned into the Indian Army. He retired from the army in 2002 as a Major. In 2003, he debuted in Bollywood to fulfill his childhood dream of being an actor and had acted since then in many films. He was last seen in Hindi Film Shinaakht directed by Pragyesh Singh.


title: Carbon-13

text: Carbon-13 (C) is a natural, stable isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing six protons and seven neutrons. As one of the environmental isotopes, it makes up about 1.1% of all natural carbon on Earth.


title: Carbon-13

text: A mass spectrum of an organic compound will usually contain a small peak of one mass unit greater than the apparent molecular ion peak (M) of the whole molecule. This is known as the M+1 peak and comes from the few molecules that contain a C atom in place of a C. A molecule containing one carbon atom will be expected to have an M+1 peak of approximately 1.1% of the size of the M peak, as 1.1% of the molecules will have a C rather than a C. Similarly, a molecule containing two carbon atoms will be expected to have an M+1 peak of approximately 2.2% of the size of the M peak, as there is double the previous likelihood that any molecule will contain a C atom.


title: Carbon-13

text: In the above, the mathematics and chemistry have been simplified, however it can be used effectively to give the number of carbon atoms for small- to medium-sized organic molecules. In the following formula the result should be rounded to the nearest integer:


title: Carbon-13

text: where "C" = number of C atoms, "X" = amplitude of the M ion peak, and "Y" = amplitude of the M +1 ion peak.


title: Carbon-13

text: C-enriched compounds are used in the research of metabolic processes by means of mass spectrometry. Such compounds are safe because they are non-radioactive. In addition, C is used to quantify proteins (quantitative proteomics). One important application is in stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC). C-enriched compounds are used in medical diagnostic tests such as the urea breath test. Analysis in these tests is usually of the ratio of C to C by isotope ratio mass spectrometry.


title: Carbon-13

text: The ratio of C to C is slightly higher in plants employing C4 carbon fixation than in plants employing C3 carbon fixation. Because the different isotope ratios for the two kinds of plants propagate through the food chain, it is possible to determine if the principal diet of a human or other animal consists primarily of C3 plants or C4 plants by measuring the isotopic signature of their collagen and other tissues. Deliberate increase of proportion of C in diet is the concept of i-food, a proposed way to increase longevity.


title: Carbon-13

text: Due to differential uptake in plants as well as marine carbonates of C, it is possible to use these isotopic signatures in earth science. Biological processes preferentially take up the lower mass isotope through kinetic fractionation. In aqueous geochemistry, by analyzing the δC value of carbonaceous material found in surface and ground waters, the source of the water can be identified. This is because atmospheric, carbonate, and plant derived δC values all differ. In biology, the ratio of carbon-13 and carbon-12 isotopes in plant tissues is different depending on the type of plant photosynthesis and this can be used, for example, to determine which types of plants were consumed by animals. Greater carbon-13 concentrations indicate stomatal limitations, which can provide information on plant behaviour during drought. Tree ring analysis of carbon isotopes can be used to retrospectively understand forest photosynthesis and how it is impacted by drought.


title: Carbon-13

text: In geology, the C/C ratio is used to identify the layer in sedimentary rock created at the time of the Permian extinction 252 Mya when the ratio changed abruptly by 1%. More information about usage of C/C ratio in science can be found in the article about isotopic signatures.


title: Carbon-13

text: Carbon-13 has a non-zero spin quantum number of ½, and hence allows the structure of carbon-containing substances to be investigated using carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance.


title: Carbon-13

text: The carbon-13 urea breath test is a safe and highly accurate diagnostic tool to detect the presence of "Helicobacter pylori" infection in the stomach. The urea breath test utilizing carbon-13 is preferred to carbon-14 for certain vulnerable populations due to its non-radioactive nature.


title: Carbon-13

text: Bulk carbon-13 for commercial use, e.g. in chemical synthesis, is enriched from its natural 1% abundance. Although carbon-13 can be separated from the major carbon-12 isotope via techniques such as thermal diffusion, chemical exchange, gas diffusion, and laser and cryogenic distillation, currently only cryogenic distillation of methane or carbon monoxide is an economically feasible industrial production technique. Industrial carbon-13 production plants represent a substantial investment, greater than 100 meter tall cryogenic distillation columns are needed to separate the carbon-12 or carbon-13 containing compounds. The largest reported commercial carbon-13 production plant in the world as of 2014 has a production capability of ~400 kg of carbon-13 annually. In contrast, a 1969 carbon monoxide cryogenic distillation pilot plant at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories could produce 4 kg of carbon-13 annually.


title: Academy of Art University

text: The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. Stephens in 1929. In fall 2020, it had 202 full-time teachers, 621 part-time teaching staff, and 7,805 students; it claims to be the largest privately owned art and design school in the United States. The school is one of the largest property owners in San Francisco, with the main campus located on New Montgomery Street in the South of Market district.


title: Academy of Art University

text: It was founded in 1929 as, "Académie of Advertising Art", a school for advertising art, at 215 Kearny Street. The founder, Richard S. Stephens, a painter and editor for Sunset Magazine, led it until 1951 when his son Richard A. Stephens took over, who in 1992 was replaced by his daughter Elisa Stephens. Under her presidency, student numbers increased from around 2000 to 18,000 by 2011, but have since fallen to under 12,000. Forbes estimated the Stephens' family wealth at $800 million in 2015.


title: Academy of Art University

text: The school has been participating in the NY Fashion Week event bi-annually since 2005. Every year, the university hosts a spring show that highlights student work from the school's 75 disciplines.


title: Academy of Art University

text: The university owns and operates the Academy of Art University Automobile Museum with 200 vintage cars, a collection that started in the 1990s.


title: Academy of Art University

text: In 2009, four former admission officers alleged that the school had compensated them based on how many students they could enroll, which is an incentive-based illegal recruitment technique and defrauding of the federal government. The school took in over $1.5 billion in federal aid to be repaid by students since 2006. The former employees became whistleblowers in a federal case, suing the school in U.S. District Court in Oakland in 2009.


title: Academy of Art University

text: In May 2016, the city of San Francisco brought a lawsuit against Academy of Art University after possible violations of city land-use laws, including the unauthorized conversion of rent-controlled housing to academic use. In December 2016, the school was ordered pay the city $20 million in fees, purchasing low-income housing and additional low-income housing for seniors. It failed to meet the terms of the agreement and in January 2020 the agreement was amended, requiring the Academy of Art University to pay $37.6 million to the city to build affordable housing. The Academy of Art settled a $60 million case after the Stephens' family LLC's acquisition and use of real estate in San Francisco for illegal student housing. It had converted 33 of its 40 buildings from residential use to private use which were out of compliance with zoning codes, signage laws or historic preservation rules in San Francisco.


title: Academy of Art University

text: The school offers associate, bachelor's and master's degrees in about twenty-five subjects. Some courses are offered online. As of 2015, the school had not published job placement rates since 2006, and was disagreeing with the US Department of Education over whether it is required to do so.


title: Academy of Art University

text: Academy of Art University received regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in 2007. The WASC does not require schools to disclose job placement figures. The school is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. In interior architecture and design, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (taught or online) and Master of Fine Arts degree are accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. The Master of Architecture degree has, since January 1, 2006, been accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board while the Bachelor of Architecture program was granted as of January 1, 2015.


title: Academy of Art University

text: According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 45% of students who began their studies in fall 2013 completed a four-year degree within 150% of that time (the "6-year graduation rate"). For online-only students, the 6-year graduation rate was 6% and 3% for part-time students in mid-2015. Approximately 35% of all students were online-only in 2015. In 2016, roughly 7% of students completed a four-year degree within the allotted time.


title: Academy of Art University

text: According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics in 2019, the school's graduation rate for "full-time, first-time" students was 45%. The school has open admissions and an admission acceptance rate of 100%. In 2016, its accreditor expressed concern over low graduation rates; 37% of students who enrolled in 2010 graduated by 2017.


title: Academy of Art University

text: The school sports teams, the Urban Knights, compete as members of the Pacific West Conference in 14 sports in NCAA Division II.


title: Academy of Art University

text: In the 2014–2015 season, the men's cross country team had a second-place finish and the women's team had a record fourth-place finish, earned at the Pacific West Conference Championships. Valentin Pepiot, their third NCAA Nationals individual qualifier, was one of the top finishers from the PacWest in the postseason finale. Academy of Art earned a record 10 PacWest postseason honors. For the 2015 indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, they had seven All-American honors and one NCAA individual champion in Jordan Edwards.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Ingress (or Ingress Prime) is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and published by Niantic for Android and iOS devices. The game first released on December 14, 2013 for Android devices and then for iOS devices on July 14, 2014. The game is free-to-play, uses a freemium business model, and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items. The mobile app has been downloaded more than 20 million times worldwide as of November 2018.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: "Ingress" uses the mobile device GPS to locate and interact with "portals" which are in proximity to the player's real-world location. The portals are physical points of interest where "human creativity and ingenuity is expressed" often manifesting as public art such as statues and monuments, unique architecture, outdoor murals, historic buildings, local community hubs and other displays of human achievement. The game uses the portals as elements of a science fiction backstory along with a continuous open narrative provided through various forms of media.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: An unknown, transdimensional force called Exotic Matter (XM) was discovered as a byproduct of the Higgs boson research (Large Hadron Collider) by a team of scientists at CERN in Switzerland. Within the game, human reactions to this discovery fall into two factions known as the Enlightened and the Resistance. The Enlightened faction embrace the powers of XM to transcend mankind and believe their mission is to assist in the enlightenment of mankind by harnessing this energy. The Resistance faction see XM as a potential threat to humanity and believe their mission is to defend the human race by resisting the effects of those seeking to control others with XM.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: The gameplay of "Ingress" has been described as combining elements of geocaching with capture the flag.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: A player using their mobile device (or "scanner") is presented with a map representing the surrounding area. The map has a black background and is completely unmarked, except for buildings and roads outlined in grey but not labeled, and bodies of water. These geographical features are supplied by OpenStreetMap and formerly Google Maps. Portals, Exotic Matter, links, and control fields are visible on the map. Distances from the player to in-game locations are displayed in metric units.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Players must be physically near objects on the map to interact with them. The scanner represents the player as a small arrowhead in the center of a circle in radius, representing the perimeter within which direct interaction is possible. A player sees only their own location and not any other player's. A player can "hack" a nearby portal to acquire items, some of which can also be used to replenish XM.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Players are rewarded with Action Points (AP) for actions within the game. Accumulating AP beyond certain thresholds grants higher access levels. The access levels are numbered 1 through 16, with 16 being the highest.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In addition to earning AP, certain actions within the game can earn a player a medal. Medals are typically multi-tiered (ranked bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and onyx respectively) and become a requirement for level advancement beyond Level 8. Most medals are statistic-based: for instance, capturing portals, total MUs captured, fields and links created, various offensive actions, and even successfully discovering new portals. Some medals are time-limited requiring particular achievements in a set time frame. Some badges are exclusive and can only be obtained by attending special events.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In September 2014, Niantic introduced missions to the game. A mission is a user-created set of places to visit ("waypoints") and interact with in specified ways. Some missions list all the waypoints from the start, while others only reveal them one at a time as the user progresses from one to the next. Completing missions rewards the player with a mission medal displayed on their agent profile.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In the game, Earth has a large number of "portals", made visible by the scanner. They are colored green, blue, or grey, depending respectively on whether they are currently controlled by the Enlightened, by the Resistance, or are unclaimed. Players claim portals for their faction by "deploying" at least one "resonator" on them. They can also add "mods" (modifications) to protect the portals or increase their power in various ways. If a portal is claimed by the enemy, the player must first neutralize it by destroying the opponents' resonators with weapons called XMP ("Exotic Matter Pulse") Bursters. Players acquire game items (resonators, XMP bursters, etc.) by maneuvering themselves, typically by walking, biking, or driving, to within of a portal and "hacking" it by selecting this option on their scanners. Players can also earn additional items and AP for "glyph hacking" a portal, where they are briefly shown several patterns and retrace them within a time limit.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Portals are typically associated with buildings and landmarks of historic or architectural significance — such as sculptures, murals, and other public art, libraries, post offices, memorials, places of worship, transport hubs, parks, and other recreational or tourism spaces, or with business locations. Players may submit requests for the creation of new portals if they meet the level requirements. It was thought upon at the game's launch that this would allow Google to generate data for its location-based services. As of July 2016, 15 million portals had been submitted by the Ingress community, and five million of those had been included in the game. At the time of Ingress Prime's release in November 2018, Niantic stated that "agents in more than 200+ countries have participated in more than 2,000 real-world events and visited more than 1.2 billion Portals".


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Two portals with eight resonators deployed and controlled by the same faction can be linked by a player from that faction who is within range of one and has a portal key for the other. The maximum possible length of a link depends on the average level of the portal and any mods that amplify the portal's link range. However, links cannot cross an existing link regardless of faction. Portals can maintain the links and/or fields connected to them when the portal contains at least three resonators. Once the portal has less than three resonators, all links and fields on the portal are destroyed.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Links between portals can range from several meters to thousands of kilometers, created in operations of considerable logistical complexity. In more complex operations, links and fields can span across countries and oceans.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: When three portals are linked in a triangle, they create a control field, claiming Mind Units (MU) within that field for their faction. In the game's context, control fields align the population's thoughts with the faction. Control Fields are measured by the size of the human population that lives under the field. Therefore, larger Control Fields earn more Mind Units. The opposing faction can destroy a control field by destroying one or more of the links that form it.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: "Ingress" was released in closed beta on November 15, 2012, with an accompanying online viral marketing campaign. The latter was noticed as early as November 8, and earlier publicity efforts had been noted at events such as San Diego's Comic-Con on July 12, 2012. At the time of Ingress's release to Niantic's separation from Google in 2015, Niantic had 35 employees.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: An interview in 2013 described Ingress as a "proof of concept" for other AR games built on Google Maps' data. It was designed to be aimed at a niche market of gamers. Data from "Ingress" was used to populate the locations for PokéStops and Gyms within "Pokémon Go" released in July 2016. (See also .) Niantic views "Ingress Prime" as an opportunity to innovate in augmented reality gameplay design, which can be applied to its other games based on licensed intellectual properties. Niantic has also adjusted the initiation of new players into "Ingress Prime" to be more thorough, based on the response to the initiation procedures of "Pokemon Go".


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In December 2017, Niantic announced a thoroughly revamped version of the game, branded as Ingress Prime, would be released in 2018 using a completely rewritten new client and the lessons learned from the massive popularity of "Pokémon Go". The new version features a subtly different back story akin to a superhero origin theme and a more florid graphic design. Technologically the new version uses Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore, and the network layer transitioned from JSON to Protobuf in keeping with the engineering style of "Pokémon Go". Prime launched on November 5, 2018 as an update to the existing Ingress game. Niantic also retained the older Ingress game and retroactively named the older app as "Scanner [REDACTED]". The intention of the older Ingress app was to help aid the transition to Prime as feature parity was reached between both apps in 2019. Niantic retired the older app on September 30, 2019.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: "Ingress" initially was supported by advertising. Companies would be able to pay for their locations to be used as portals in the game, thus making their stores a pilgrimage site for Ingress players, which may translate into real-world sales. In Germany, Vodafone offered an Ingress phone plan with a large amount of data to support the game, in addition to its physical store locations becoming portals. In France, Niantic partnered with Unibail-Rodamco, and several of its shopping centers were incorporated in the game. In the United States, the Jamba Juice and Zipcar chains have both had sponsored locations in "Ingress". Niantic CEO John Hanke described the number of commercial sponsors in "Ingress" as being "limited", stating that the developers do not want to take away from the experience of discovering interesting places in their local area.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Another form of advertising includes sponsorship of in-game equipment. Players can virtually acquire various tools and weapons to use in the game. Sponsored versions of these include the "AXA Shield", the "Lawson Power Cube", the "Circle K Power Cube", the "Ito En Transmuter (+/-)", the "SoftBank Ultra Link" and the "MUFG Capsule", all categorized as "Very Rare" and performing significantly better than non-sponsored versions. In-game sponsorship with AXA and MUFG ended in December 2017. The in-game sponsorship with Lawson and Circle K ended in December 2019. The items remained in the game but with references to the company names omitted.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Physical items of Ingress-related materials initially were available through Google's Merchandise Store as early as February 2013, before Niantic split from Google in 2015. In October 2015, Niantic added an in-game store for microtransactions of in-game items and also opened a merchandise shop for physical items. Niantic's Ingress shop sold physical merchandise such as T-shirts and patches. The shop has expanded to a more Niantic-centric store.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: An anime based on the game premiered on Fuji TV's +Ultra anime programming block on October 18, 2018. The anime series premiered on Netflix worldwide on April 30, 2019.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In 2021, Niantic introduced a subscription option, called C.O.R.E. (which means Community, Offers, Recognition, Expansion), for a month; it includes some enhancements to gameplay with the "free version" gameplay not hindered.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: In addition to the ongoing competition between the factions, there are several kinds of special events held on specific dates.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: XM Anomalies are events where players from both factions compete in portal-based games in order to win points for their faction. The format of an XM Anomaly event occurs over the extent of a weekend with Saturday consisting of the main event. A "series" for the XM Anomalies usually spans two different weekends. Anomaly locations may be chosen based on the player activity in a region. Players organize within their faction into squads based on player level, local knowledge, and mode of transport (for example, walking or biking). The largest event, in Japan, attracted over 10,000 players.


title: Ingress (video game)

text: Anomaly sites are divided into two categories: Primary and Satellite locations. Niantic employees, as well as characters from the story, often attend events at Primary anomaly locations. More points are awarded to the prevailing faction at Primary sites than at Satellite sites. Players who participate in an anomaly are awarded a unique badge with the emblem of that anomaly.