title: S.Pellegrino

text: S.Pellegrino mineral water has been produced for over 620 years. In 1395, the town borders of San Pellegrino were drawn, marking the start of its water industry. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have visited the town in 1509 to sample and examine the town's miraculous water, later writing a treatise on water.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: Analysis shows that the water is strikingly similar to the samples taken in 1782, the first year such analysis took place. In fact, doctors from Northern Italy in the 13th Century used to suggest that their patients go to the Val Brembana spring for treatment. Over the years, its therapeutic properties attracted many visitors, and, at the beginning of 1900, San Pellegrino Terme became a mineral spa holiday resort with a casino, thermal baths and a hotel.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1839, S.Pellegrino water was recommended for people affected with kidney diseases and urinary tract infection.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1760, Pellegrino Foppoli built a bathhouse where visitors had to pay a fee to use the indoor facilities.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1803, Foppoli's descendants sold the bathhouse to Giovanni Pesenti who wanted to construct a larger building.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The town council feared that this project would prevent visitors from free use of the spring. For this reason, they filed a complaint with the prefect which led Ester Pesenti and Lorenzo Palazzolo to sign an agreement in 1831. They decided that the 24 unit spring would be divided into two. So that, 17 units were given to Pesenti and Palazzolo and 7 units to San Pellegrino Terme town council.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1834, the flood of the Brembo, the river that crosses San Pellegrino Terme, caused serious damage in the valley.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: Since the restoration required huge expenses, in 1837 the town leased Pesenti and Palazzolo its share of the water for 12 years. In 1841, Ester Pesenti requested an authorization to continue to expand the bathhouse.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: One year later, another flood hit the valley and San Pellegrino Terme sold three-quarters of its shares to Pesenti. Since the water had always been connected to the territory, they agreed to give the remaining quarter of the shares to the residents of the town who still can use an external tap free of charge. The construction work finished in 1846.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: When Queen Margherita visited the town in 1905, many articles appeared on the Giornale di San Pellegrino, in which it was illustrated that the bottled mineral water was sold in the main Italian cities, in many cities around Europe, as well as in Cairo, Tangiers, Shanghai, Calcutta, Sydney, Brazil, Peru, and the United States. At that time, one case of 50 bottles cost 26 Italian lire, while a case of 24 bottles cost 14 Italian lire.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: At the beginning of the 20th century, carbon dioxide was added to S.Pellegrino to prevent the development of bacteria, especially during long overseas travels. It is still taken from sources in Tuscany and sent to San Pellegrino Terme.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The spa facilities were renovated, and in 1928, they were equipped with more modern tools for various diagnostic needs, such as the radioscopic and radiograph room and the microscopic and chemical analysis laboratory. In addition, Granelli reorganized the bottling plant with new equipment, which moved up to a production capacity of 120,000 bottles a day.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: At the beginning, it was a handmade production, then it became gradually mechanized and was managed by an all female staff. The first machinery was introduced in 1930 and, since that moment, the amount produced has been increasing. Subsequently, the company began a packaging process for shipping to the recipient countries.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1961, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. started to produce bottled mineral water and other beverages in the new San Pellegrino Terme factory.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 1932, the "Aranciata" orangeade variant was introduced. Containing S.Pellegrino as its primary ingredient, the soda added concentrated orange juice. Today, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. also produces various other flavors of carbonated beverages: "Limonata" (lemonade), "Sanbittèr" (bitters), "Pompelmo" (grapefruit), "Aranciata Rossa" (blood orange), and "Chinò" (chinotto).


title: S.Pellegrino

text: During the Italian Occupation of Ethiopia production was curtailed in its entirety for the Italian military water needs. During this time they advocated for the policy changes Mussolini's government had been implementing. This increased revenue dramatically for several years, even after the occupation had faltered.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: Over the years, the bottling lines increased the production levels needed to satisfy the needs of a market which was becoming more and more sophisticated, and in 2012 a high speed PET bottling line was installed.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The company built a new plant some kilometers beyond the previous one as the water production continued to grow.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In the early seventies, it was decided to no longer use mineral water in the production of soft drinks, and to substitute it with spring water which was treated with particular equipment.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In May 2014, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. released two new flavors of their Sparkling Fruit Beverages. The new flavors were Melograno e Arancia (Pomegranate and Orange) and Clementina (Clementine). They were announced through an installation at Eataly's La Scuola Grande in New York where large cans of the new soda flavors were constructed out of flowers. In Italy, S.Pellegrino is available in 1.5 L bottles for about one euro, the same for their Aranciata in most stores. Competitive orange drinks can cost even less. If artificial sweeteners are used, the price is about half that of the sugared varieties.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The bottles' packaging has maintained the original references to its territory and its first productions. The products on the market can be divided into two categories: glass and PET.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The shape of the glass bottles has remained the same since its origin in 1899. The model is called Vichy because at that time San Pellegrino Terme was known as "the Italian Vichy", and it is characterized by the elongated shape of the bottle. The red star was a symbol of high quality products exported from Italy between the 1800s and the 1900s. On the neck of the bottle there is a representation of the Casino, above the date of foundation of the brand and the company. The label has a white and blue watermark, which recalls the Belle Epoque style.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: The PET line has the same shape of the glass bottles. The production started at the end of the 1990s with the aim of maintaining the same perlage and effervescence of the glass line. At the beginning, only the 50 centiliters size was produced, but since 2006, the production of the 33, 75 and 100 centilitre bottles were added to the original one.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: Different versions of the label were created for collaborations, partnerships and international events.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 2010, 2011 and 2013 the project "S.Pellegrino Meets Italian Talents" was meant to create collaborations with Italians known on an international level as a symbol of Italy. These collaborations include Missoni, Bulgari and a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: S.Pellegrino can be seen for the first time in 1949 in the movie "The Emperor of Capri", directed by Luigi Comencini and since that moment it has appeared in the following movies and TV series.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: In 2007, the German consumer television program "Markt" reported that S.Pellegrino contains uranium. Nestlé was informed about this and responded that uranium was common in both bottled and tap water and that the 0.0070mg/l found in their product was below the 0.03 mg/L threshold established by various governments and food health organizations.


title: S.Pellegrino

text: S.Pellegrino is not suitable for infants under 12 weeks of age, because their gastrointestinal tract and urinary system is immature and cannot withstand highly mineralized water.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah is the third and final studio album by American R&B singer Aaliyah. It was released on July 7, 2001, by Blackground Records and Virgin Records. Because of its packaging design, it is also known as "The Red Album".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah started to work on the album in 1998, but rescheduled its recording around her developing film career. She resumed recording in 2000 at Sing Sing Studios in Australia, where she shot her role for the 2002 film "Queen of the Damned" during the day and recorded songs at night. Additional recording took place at Manhattan Center and Sony Music Studios in New York and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, among other locations. Through her recording contract with Blackground, the singer worked primarily with the record label's in-house crew of writers and producers, including Bud'da, J. Dub, Rapture, and Eric Seats, as well as longtime collaborator Timbaland.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah" is described in critical commentaries as an album of R&B, neo soul, and dance-pop, while drawing on an array of other genres such as funk, hip hop, alternative rock, electronica, and Latin music. The album's producers incorporated synthesizer melodies, fragmented beats, distorted guitar, and eccentrically manipulated vocals and song structures, while much of the lyrics were written by singer-songwriter Static Major, who shared a close friendship and strong rapport with Aaliyah. The resulting songs deal with the complexities of romantic love and different stages in a relationship, such as infatuation, eroticism, conflict, infidelity, and heartbreak. Aaliyah viewed the album as a reflection of herself as both a young adult and a matured vocalist.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: On release, "Aaliyah" received highly positive reviews and charted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, but sold diminishingly afterwards. When Blackground and Virgin wanted a high-charting single to boost the album's sales, Aaliyah shot a music video for the song "Rock the Boat" in the Bahamas, but died in a plane crash during a return flight to the US on August 25. After her death, sales of the album greatly increased and led it to the top of the "Billboard" 200, eventually reaching more than 13 million copies sold worldwide. Released during a period of peak activity in R&B, the album has since been cited by critics as one of the genre's best and most influential records from this era. After years of internal and legal conflicts between Blackground, the singer's estate, and the album's creators, "Aaliyah" was released to music streaming services for the first time in 2021.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah recorded her second album "One in a Million" with producer-songwriters Timbaland and Missy Elliott, releasing it in 1996 to commercial success, and graduated from high school the following year. She gained achieved further success with hit songs from film soundtracks, including her 1998 single "Are You That Somebody?" Recording again with Timbaland for the song, Aaliyah experimented with more avant-garde sounds in her R&B and pop music, while singing in a low-register and minimalist style distinct from her vocally-virtuosic female contemporaries. After it became the biggest hit of her career at that point, the singer wanted to keep a lower profile and avoid overexposure.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: A third album was planned for February 1999, but Aaliyah postponed its recording to develop an acting career, which led to a starring role in the 2000 film "Romeo Must Die". The film heightened her profile significantly, while the soundtrack's single "Try Again" became her first number-one song on the pop charts. Her label Blackground Records used the film and its soundtrack to set up a distribution deal with Virgin Records America, which would distribute Blackground's subsequent releases globally, including her self-titled third album.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah began recording the album in 1998. She recorded a few songs, including two with Timbaland, before working on "Romeo Must Die". In 1999, while working on the record in New York City, Aaliyah called and asked Trent Reznor, one of her musical idols, to produce a song, but they could not coordinate their schedules. She intended to finish the album by the end of 2000 and resumed its recording while filming in Australia for "Queen of the Damned" (2002), as she shot her part for the film during the day and recorded songs at night. She said in an interview for "Billboard", "there were nights when I didn't go into the studio—I was too tired. On the weekends, I always made it." Jomo Hankerson, Blackground president and Aaliyah's cousin, said that he had to "bribe the producers", who did not want to "go halfway around the world!" He added that they ultimately had "a beautiful time ... making hot music".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Most of the album's songs were recorded at either Sony Studios in New York City or Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, including "Loose Rap", which was done at both studios. Aaliyah recorded "More Than a Woman" at Manhattan Center Studios, "U Got Nerve" at Soundtracks Studios in New York City, "We Need a Resolution" at Westlake Studios, and "I Care 4 U" at Magic Mix Studios and Music Grinder Studios in Los Angeles. She had first recorded "I Care 4 U", written by Elliott, in 1996 for "One in a Million", but scrapped it after that album's completion. Aaliyah worked with Blackground Records' in-house crew of musicians, songwriters, and producers, including novice producers Bud'da, J. Dub, Rapture, and Eric Seats. Music manager Jimmy Henchman, a friend of Aaliyah's manager Barry Hankerson, helped coordinate the record's production and arranged for the producers and writers to work with the singer.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Most of the album's lyrics were written by Static, from the R&B band Playa. While the band was growing apart, he was invited by Blackground to be a lead writer for the album after writing "Are You That Somebody?" and "Try Again". Static was a part of Aaliyah's close group of friends, which included Missy Elliott and Timbaland, and shared an infatuation with her. He found Aaliyah to be ideal for his songwriting style, while she believed that he could accurately portray her feelings. A subtly sexual lyricist, he wrote "Rock the Boat" for her in 1999, but Blackground felt she was not ready for the song. Barry Hankerson said of his songwriting, "We always were protective over every lyric ... But he did things where you never felt offended. You just felt like you overheard someone thinking ... he was clever ... Aaliyah depended on him [and] he depended on her." Elliott said that he was "a part of that bridge of Aaliyah growing up lyrically". While she discussed the lyrics with Static, the singer consulted Bud'da about the sound and musical direction of the album. She was interested in learning about the UK garage scene at the time.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: In March 2001, Aaliyah finished recording the album after having filmed her part in "Queen of the Damned" for four months, which ultimately delayed the album's release. "MTV News"s Gideon Yago reported that she completed its last song on March 9, and the album as a whole was mastered by Bernie Grundman at his studio in Los Angeles.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: While in Australia, Aaliyah also did a photo shoot for the album with photographers Jeff Dunas, Jonathan Mannion, David LaChapelle, and Albert Watson. The singer handled five pythons at the shoot and developed an affinity for snakes, finding them "dangerous, but quite beautiful" and representative of her on the album. She revisited the snake theme in her music video for "We Need a Resolution" in April 2001 and told MTV, "They live in solitude, [and] there are times in my life [when] I just want to be by myself. There are times I can't even figure myself out. I feel they are very complex creatures, [but] at the same time, they're sexy, too. That's why they represent "Aaliyah" pretty well." Ultimately, Watson's photo of Aaliyah posing directly at the camera was chosen by artwork designer Warren Fu to be the front cover, with Watson later explaining that it especially demonstrated "a symmetrical composition ... with a look of confidence and maturity." Of the album itself, Aaliyah called it "a good reflection of [myself] and the person [I am] today", saying in an interview for "Jet" magazine, "I am a young adult now, and I think this album shows my growth vocally."


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: An R&B and neo soul album, "Aaliyah" features midtempo funk songs, hip hop-textured uptempo tracks, and slow jams that draw on older soul influences. Along with contemporary urban sounds, the music incorporates Middle-Eastern influences, muted alternative rock, and—particularly on Timbaland's songs for the album—Latin timbres. "Never No More" mixes both older soul and modern hip hop sounds with string arrangements by producer Bud'da, while "Read Between the Lines" is a rhythmic, digital samba with Latin percussion. "Aaliyah"s production features synthesizer melodies, vintage syndrums, distorted guitar, staccato arrangements, and layered, eccentrically manipulated vocals. John Mulvey of "NME" finds its sound subtle and lacking "bombast and histrionics", while the magazine's Alex Needham likens its "otherworldly", high frequency production to dub reggae and the dark, spacious dance music of Dr. Dre and Massive Attack. In Stephen Thomas Erlewine's opinion, the album is distinct from the older soul leanings of Macy Gray and Jill Scott, as its music sounds unconventional yet modern, "turning out a pan-cultural array of sounds, styles, and emotions".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah"s beats are produced in a manner that makes them sound fragmented, exhibiting techno and electro textures. Tracks such as "Loose Rap", "Extra Smooth", and "What If" feature unconventional song structures experimenting with resolution. "I Can Be" and "What If" incorporate 2-step and rock elements, although the latter song draws particularly from Detroit techno and industrial rock. On the club-influenced "More Than a Woman", Aaliyah's vocal harmonies interplay against minor key string and guitar sounds, while "Loose Rap" features underwater noises, low-key electronica in the style of the Neptunes, and harmonically soft vocals declaring "it ain't just rhythm and blues". Ernest Hardy of "Rolling Stone" compares the album's experimentation to the sounds on Outkast's "Stankonia" (2000), Sade's "Lovers Rock" (2000), and Missy Elliott's "Miss E... So Addictive" (2001). According to "Slant Magazine"s Sal Cinquemani, "like Elliott's genre-bending "So Addictive", "Aaliyah" provides a missing link between hip-hop and electronica."


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: The lyrics on "Aaliyah" explore the intricacies of romantic love and phases in a relationship such as frivolous infatuation, issues near the end of a relationship, and heartache. Subtle, lighthearted humor and witty sound effects, such as comical vocal manipulation, intersperse the themes of heartbreak and eroticism. According to Citysearch's Justin Hartung, the record "transforms the confusion of young adulthood into exhilarating freedom", while "Billboard"s Rashaun Hall says that each song possess a unique emotional identity that accompanies the music's sonic variety. Bob Waliszewski of "Plugged In" observes female empowerment-themed songs that show a "healthy self-respect" by Aaliyah, who "doesn't put up with unfaithful cads ('U Got Nerve'), mind games ('I Refuse'), self-impressed hunks ('Extra Smooth'), gossip and envy ('Loose Rap'), or physical abuse ('Never No More')". The key-shifting, drum and bass-influenced "Extra Smooth" addresses an enthusiastic courtship and is inspired by a conversation between Aaliyah and Static about how men try to act suave, while "Loose Rap" is titled after the slang phrase of the same name and dismisses romantic admirers who use trite pick-up lines. "Those Were the Days" dispassionately dismisses a male lover, while "What If" angrily threatens an unfaithful lover and by extension similar men. On "I Care 4 U", the narrator tries to console a friend who is heartbroken, but finds herself distressed by unrequited feelings she has for him.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah's vocals are sung in a restrained soprano style throughout the album. "Vibe" magazine's Hyun Kim argues that its songs draw focus to her singing more than her previous records, "bringing it to the forefront as opposed to hiding it behind the layered production". "Rock the Boat" is sung with breathless vocals by Aaliyah, who instructs her lover on how to please her sexually and equates her erotic high to a drug high. Ballads such as "I Care 4 U", "Never No More", and "I Refuse" are sung more emotively, expressing melancholy qualities and hurt. On "I Can Be", Aaliyah sings from the perspective of an adulterous man's mistress who wants to be his foremost girlfriend. Alex Macpherson from "The Guardian" wrote that "Aaliyah's blank, numbed delivery" on the song "makes being the other woman seem like an emotionally masochistic form of self-medication". Biographer Christopher John Farley says that she "emotionally detail[s] a song" unlike on her previous albums and that "her gentle voice now seem[s] like something elemental, a kindly wind blowing through the branches of a big tree." According to Joshua Clover, Aaliyah pushes musical notes "into strange corners of syncopation's shifty architecture" on the more "shape-defying" tracks. Overall, "she makes the sonics tell the story, creating meaning outside the lyrics, pleasure beyond the hooks."


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah" was originally issued by Blackground and Virgin in Japan on July 7, 2001, before its release in the United Kingdom on July 16 and in the United States on July 17. In the US, it debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart behind "Songs in A Minor" by Alicia Keys, selling 187,000 copies in the week of August 4. Although it was the highest sales week of Aaliyah's career, the album sold diminishingly over the next two months. The singer planned to embark on the largest concert tour of her career to support the album, while Blackground and Virgin—heavily invested in the record's success—wanted a single with a high chart placement to help increase sales. "We Need a Resolution" had been released as the lead single on April 13, but did not receive significant radio airplay and only reached number fifty-nine on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: In August 2001, Aaliyah filmed a music video for "More Than a Woman" in Los Angeles and then travelled to the Bahamas to shoot a video for "Rock the Boat". But after its completion, she and several crew members who were returning to the US died in a plane crash on August 25. Blackground executives were uncertain when they would release the album's next single and video. "Aaliyah" had sold more than 447,000 copies by this point.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: The album's sales rose after Aaliyah died. News of her death was reported on the last day of Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, during which "Aaliyah" sold 62,000 copies, a 41.5% increase from its past week's sales. The following week, it sold 305,500 copies and ascended from number 19 to number one on the "Billboard" 200, making it the record's highest sales week. It was Aaliyah's only album to top any of "Billboard"s charts and marked the first time a recording artist climbed to number one posthumously since John Lennon in 1980 with his album "Double Fantasy". On September 19, "Aaliyah" reached more than one million copies sold. In November, "Rock the Boat" was released as a single and reached number two on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart that same month. In the US, "Aaliyah" spent 69 weeks on the "Billboard" 200, reaching 2.06 million copies sold by February 25, 2002, and 2.6 million sold by December 2009.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Blackground, which had ended its joint deal with Virgin in November 2001, wanted to send the video for "More Than a Woman" (released on September 4) to domestic outlets, but it required both labels to work together. Blackground subsequently moved to Universal Records, and the video was first aired in Europe. In the UK, "More Than a Woman" was released as a single on January 7, 2002, and entered the singles chart at number one, while "Aaliyah" re-entered the albums chart at number 65; it had originally entered the chart at number 25 on July 28, 2001. Two weeks after "More Than a Woman" reached number one, the album jumped 17 spots to number five on January 27, 2002. "Aaliyah" went on to spend 31 weeks on the British charts. According to the Official Charts Company, the album sold a total of 303,000 copies in the UK. It also reached number nine on the record charts in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, where it charted for 33, 41, and 46 weeks, respectively. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the record was the 34th best-selling album in the world during 2001. In August 2012, "NME" writer Tom Goodwyn reported that it had sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah" was met with highly positive reviews from most critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 14 reviews. According to "Pitchfork"s Rawija Kameir, reviewers praised the singer for deviating from the "candy-coated" quality of contemporary pop music in favor of an approach that perfectly balanced pop, R&B, and hip hop. Rashaun Hall from "Billboard" felt that Aaliyah was taking a different approach in comparison to her pop/R&B peers, who "crank out happy-go-lucky albums year after year". He deemed the album as a "sonically diverse set in which each number has an emotion all its own".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Reviewing for "The Guardian" in July 2001, Michael Odell called "Aaliyah" a flawless blend of pop and R&B, "as much a brochure for the current state of R&B production facilities" as it is a showcase for its namesake's singing. He found the music's textures "scintillating" and believed its distinguishing characteristic to be "a playful and confident reworking of the [R&B] canon". In the "Chicago Tribune", Brad Cawn wrote that Aaliyah demonstrates Sade's grace and Missy Elliott's daring with fashionable neo soul that is "equal parts attitude and harmony, and all urban music perfection", while Russell Baillie from "The New Zealand Herald" deemed the music innovative dance-pop on what he called "a cohesive, detailed and disarmingly enticing album". Simon Price, writing for "The Independent", cited the record as "further evidence that black pop is the avant garde". In a review for "The A.V. Club", Nathan Rabin argued that the album establishes Aaliyah as a significant artist unobscured by her collaborators, while Hardy from "Rolling Stone" called it "a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence" in which Aaliyah explores her "fantasies and strengths". Writing for "Spin", Clover viewed the record as her most profound work and said she had made "art" out of Timbaland and Static's "formal finesse" by "investing sound schemes with urgency and emotional intricacy".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Some reviewers were more qualified in their praise. Mulvey deemed "Aaliyah" "graceful" and "satisfying rather than extraordinary" in his review for "NME". Although he said it is redeemed by Static's consistent songwriting, Timbaland should have contributed more songs, in his opinion. Like Mulvey, "Q" remarked that its music is decent rather than innovative, with some filler. In "Entertainment Weekly", Craig Seymour wrote that there are a few songs that stray from her musical strengths, but elsewhere she "skillfully portrays love as part woozy thrill, part pulse-racing terror". Robert Christgau in "The Village Voice" named "We Need a Resolution" and "U Got Nerve" as highlights and called Aaliyah "a slave to her beats, but a proud slave". Connie Johnson from the "Los Angeles Times" was more critical, finding the production unadventurous and the lyrics lacking the depth and "personal revelation that gives music some immediacy". "E! Online" felt that although the album is "not as immediate as some of her past mainstream work", she "pushes the boundaries of her voice and her age". Ultimately the publication praised Aaliyah for "slowly working her way through R&B, hip-hop and even slightly techno beats". Although Luke McManus from the Irish publication RTÉ felt the album was too long, he praised it saying it was "the smoothest and most seductive R'n'B album of the year, with lyrics that are appealingly upfront and assertive".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah" was named the best album of 2001 by "Slant Magazine" and one of the ten best records of the year by "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" and "Time" magazine. "NME" ranked it at number 39 on their year-end list. The album finished 73rd in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by "The Village Voice". Christgau, who created and supervised the poll, said in his accompanying essay that Aaliyah had finally "developed material nobody can deny" on "a good album". The record also finished 37th in the annual poll run by German music magazine "Spex". For the album, Aaliyah was posthumously awarded an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist. At the 2002 American Music Awards, it won in the category of Favorite R&B/Soul Album. In 2002, "Aaliyah" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album. "Rock the Boat" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. "More Than a Woman" was nominated in the same category in 2003.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Along with Aaliyah's burgeoning film career, the album was a part of her rising mainstream success in 2001. In a retrospective review, Steve Huey from AllMusic called it her most consummate record and said it "completed the singer's image overhaul into a sensual yet sensitive adult". Erlewine, the website's senior editor, regarded the album as "a statement of maturity and a stunning artistic leap forward", while "BBC Music"s Daryl Easlea felt it made Aaliyah's two previous accomplished albums "look like exercises in juvenilia". According to "PopMatters" journalist Quentin B. Huff, she had never used her singing to complement her music's innovative production before with as much variety, conviction, and success as on "Aaliyah", which he said was also known as "The Red Album" because of its red artwork. Huff believed the record showcased the growing rapport between the singer and her collaborators while disproving questions about how she would continue recording music while broadening her profile. In "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004), Keith Harris wrote that "Aaliyah had grown from studio puppet to a powerful R&B archetype—a more self-aware Ronnie Spector for a time that requires more self-awareness of its young adults."


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: Aaliyah's re-emergence with the album in mid-2001 coincided with a period of peak activity in contemporary R&B, as well as the popularity of neo soul. According to Erlewine, "Aaliyah" was "one of the strongest urban soul records of its time", while "The Guardian" cited it as the peak of R&B's golden age at the "turn of the century". Alexis Petridis, the newspaper's lead critic, believed Aaliyah had recorded her most engaging music in a year when R&B and hip hop demonstrated the most creativity in popular music. In 2005, the "Aaliyah" album ranked 66th on "GQ"s "100 Coolest Albums in the World", while "Stylus Magazine" placed it at number 47 in the "Top 50 Albums of 2000–2005"; the publication's David Drake ranked it eighth on his own list. A few years later, it was named one of "Vibe" magazine's "150 Essential Albums of the Vibe Era", and at the end of the decade, it placed at number 72 on "Slant Magazine"s list of the best albums from the 2000s. Writing for "Vibe"s list, Jon Caramanica believed "Aaliyah" "may be the best soul album of the young millennium" and yet "redefines the category" with music that is "daring in construction, gorgeous from conception ... damn near post-R&B". The album was ranked number 77 on NPR's "The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women" list and according to writer Stacia Irons, ""Aaliyah" became a catalyst and bridge that created a smooth transition from '90s style R&B into Modern PBR&B".


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: "Aaliyah" helped establish the "beat"-based sound of R&B during the 2000s while impacting a new wave of black progressive musicians. As "The Independent"s Micha Frazer-Carroll writes, acts such as Destiny's Child, Ashanti, Amerie, and Cassie capitalized on the success of the album's "idiosyncratic sound", while Aaliyah's "pared-back vocal phrasing" established an archetype for a "more stoic R&B singer" that would influence vocalists like Ciara and Rihanna. Timbaland's commercial success with R&B-influenced singers such as Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado during the decade was later attributed by "The Guardian"s Rebecca Nicholson to his experience producing "Aaliyah", writing that he "hasn't come close to creating anything as sonically stunning since". "Q" journalist Eve Barlow credited the album in 2011 for "creating a blueprint that can be heard across pop music today" with acts such as R&B singers Beyoncé and The Weeknd, and the indie pop band The xx. According to Kameir, Aaliyah's characteristic multi-part harmonies on the album foreshadowed those of Solange Knowles.


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: The recording sessions for the "Aaliyah" album produced many leftover tracks that were posthumously archived by Blackground and mostly left unreleased because of internal conflicts and legal complications between the label, Aaliyah's family, and the producers. Six of these recordings were released in 2002 on the compilation album "I Care 4 U". Blackground's subsequent decline and mismanagement of the singer's catalog resulted in the "Aaliyah" album's unavailability on streaming services in the next decade, leading Kameir to say in 2019 that, "paradoxically to its significance, the legacy of "Aaliyah" is now diminished". That year, "The Guardian" ranked it number 28 on a list of the 100 best albums from the 21st century, making it the list's only album absent from streaming services. The newspaper's music editor, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, wrote in an accompanying blurb: "This album is lauded for the three masterpieces Aaliyah made with Timbaland—Try Again, More Than a Woman and We Need a Resolution—that lend a serpentine malevolence to her voice, but there are also strong old-school jams and languorous ballads. Lesser R&B stars match their voice to the beat—Aaliyah's genius, tragically cut short when she was killed in a plane crash, was to slink through it with an almost Latin sense of rhythm."


title: Aaliyah (album)

text: In August 2021, it was reported that the album and Aaliyah's other recorded work for Blackground (since rebranded as Blackground Records 2.0) would be rereleased on physical, digital, and streaming formats in a deal between the record label and Empire Distribution. However, Aaliyah's estate issued a statement in response to Blackground 2.0's announcement, denouncing the "unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah's music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate". On September 10, "Aaliyah" appeared on streaming and music download services through Blackground and Empire. In the following weeks, it reentered the US "Billboard" 200 at number 13 and the UK R&B albums chart at number seven.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: In statistics and statistical physics, the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for obtaining a sequence of random samples from a probability distribution from which direct sampling is difficult. This sequence can be used to approximate the distribution (e.g. to generate a histogram) or to compute an integral (e.g. an expected value). Metropolis–Hastings and other MCMC algorithms are generally used for sampling from multi-dimensional distributions, especially when the number of dimensions is high. For single-dimensional distributions, there are usually other methods (e.g. adaptive rejection sampling) that can directly return independent samples from the distribution, and these are free from the problem of autocorrelated samples that is inherent in MCMC methods.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The algorithm was named after Nicholas Metropolis and W.K. Hastings. Metropolis was the first author to appear on the list of authors of the 1953 article "Equation of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines" together with Arianna W. Rosenbluth, Marshall Rosenbluth, Augusta H. Teller and Edward Teller. This article proposed the algorithm for the case of symmetrical proposal distributions, and for many years was known as the "Metropolis algorithm." In 1970, Hastings extended it to the more general case. The generalized method eventually was given both names, although the first use of the term "Metropolis-Hastings algorithm" is unclear; it may have first appeared in a 1995 review by Chib and Greenberg.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Some controversy exists with regard to credit for development of the Metropolis algorithm. Metropolis, who was familiar with the computational aspects of the method, had coined the term "Monte Carlo" in an earlier article with Stanisław Ulam, and led the group in the Theoretical Division that designed and built the MANIAC I computer used in the experiments in 1952. However, prior to 2003 there was no detailed account of the algorithm's development. Shortly before his death, Marshall Rosenbluth attended a 2003 conference at LANL marking the 50th anniversary of the 1953 publication. At this conference, Rosenbluth described the algorithm and its development in a presentation titled "Genesis of the Monte Carlo Algorithm for Statistical Mechanics". Further historical clarification is made by Gubernatis in a 2005 journal article recounting the 50th anniversary conference. Rosenbluth makes it clear that he and his wife Arianna did the work, and that Metropolis played no role in the development other than providing computer time.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: This contradicts an account by Edward Teller, who states in his memoirs that the five authors of the 1953 article worked together for "days (and nights)". In contrast, the detailed account by Rosenbluth credits Teller with a crucial but early suggestion to "take advantage of statistical mechanics and take ensemble averages instead of following detailed kinematics". This, says Rosenbluth, started him thinking about the generalized Monte Carlo approach – a topic which he says he had discussed often with John Von Neumann. Arianna Rosenbluth recounted (to Gubernatis in 2003) that Augusta Teller started the computer work, but that Arianna herself took it over and wrote the code from scratch. In an oral history recorded shortly before his death, Rosenbluth again credits Teller with posing the original problem, himself with solving it, and Arianna with programming the computer.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The Metropolis–Hastings algorithm can draw samples from any probability distribution with probability density formula_1, provided that we know a function formula_2 proportional to the density formula_3 and the values of formula_2 can be calculated. The requirement that formula_2 must only be proportional to the density, rather than exactly equal to it, makes the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm particularly useful, because calculating the necessary normalization factor is often extremely difficult in practice.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The Metropolis–Hastings algorithm works by generating a sequence of sample values in such a way that, as more and more sample values are produced, the distribution of values more closely approximates the desired distribution. These sample values are produced iteratively, with the distribution of the next sample being dependent only on the current sample value (thus making the sequence of samples into a Markov chain). Specifically, at each iteration, the algorithm picks a candidate for the next sample value based on the current sample value. Then, with some probability, the candidate is either accepted (in which case the candidate value is used in the next iteration) or rejected (in which case the candidate value is discarded, and current value is reused in the next iteration)—the probability of acceptance is determined by comparing the values of the function formula_2 of the current and candidate sample values with respect to the desired distribution.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: For the purpose of illustration, the Metropolis algorithm, a special case of the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm where the proposal function is symmetric, is described below.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Let formula_2 be a function that is proportional to the desired probability density function formula_1 (a.k.a. a target distribution).


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: This algorithm proceeds by randomly attempting to move about the sample space, sometimes accepting the moves and sometimes remaining in place. Note that the acceptance ratio formula_29 indicates how probable the new proposed sample is with respect to the current sample, according to the distribution whose density is formula_1. If we attempt to move to a point that is more probable than the existing point (i.e. a point in a higher-density region of formula_1 corresponding to an formula_32), we will always accept the move. However, if we attempt to move to a less probable point, we will sometimes reject the move, and the larger the relative drop in probability, the more likely we are to reject the new point. Thus, we will tend to stay in (and return large numbers of samples from) high-density regions of formula_1, while only occasionally visiting low-density regions. Intuitively, this is why this algorithm works and returns samples that follow the desired distribution with density formula_1.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Compared with an algorithm like adaptive rejection sampling that directly generates independent samples from a distribution, Metropolis–Hastings and other MCMC algorithms have a number of disadvantages:


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: On the other hand, most simple rejection sampling methods suffer from the "curse of dimensionality", where the probability of rejection increases exponentially as a function of the number of dimensions. Metropolis–Hastings, along with other MCMC methods, do not have this problem to such a degree, and thus are often the only solutions available when the number of dimensions of the distribution to be sampled is high. As a result, MCMC methods are often the methods of choice for producing samples from hierarchical Bayesian models and other high-dimensional statistical models used nowadays in many disciplines.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: In multivariate distributions, the classic Metropolis–Hastings algorithm as described above involves choosing a new multi-dimensional sample point. When the number of dimensions is high, finding the suitable jumping distribution to use can be difficult, as the different individual dimensions behave in very different ways, and the jumping width (see above) must be "just right" for all dimensions at once to avoid excessively slow mixing. An alternative approach that often works better in such situations, known as Gibbs sampling, involves choosing a new sample for each dimension separately from the others, rather than choosing a sample for all dimensions at once. That way, the problem of sampling from potentially high-dimensional space will be reduced to a collection of problems to sample from small dimensionality. This is especially applicable when the multivariate distribution is composed of a set of individual random variables in which each variable is conditioned on only a small number of other variables, as is the case in most typical hierarchical models. The individual variables are then sampled one at a time, with each variable conditioned on the most recent values of all the others. Various algorithms can be used to choose these individual samples, depending on the exact form of the multivariate distribution: some possibilities are the adaptive rejection sampling methods, the adaptive rejection Metropolis sampling algorithm, a simple one-dimensional Metropolis–Hastings step, or slice sampling.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The purpose of the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is to generate a collection of states according to a desired distribution formula_1. To accomplish this, the algorithm uses a Markov process, which asymptotically reaches a unique stationary distribution formula_37 such that formula_38.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: A Markov process is uniquely defined by its transition probabilities formula_39, the probability of transitioning from any given state formula_12 to any other given state formula_20. It has a unique stationary distribution formula_37 when the following two conditions are met:


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The Metropolis–Hastings algorithm involves designing a Markov process (by constructing transition probabilities) that fulfills the two above conditions, such that its stationary distribution formula_37 is chosen to be formula_1. The derivation of the algorithm starts with the condition of detailed balance:


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The approach is to separate the transition in two sub-steps; the proposal and the acceptance-rejection. The proposal distribution formula_56 is the conditional probability of proposing a state formula_20 given formula_12, and the acceptance distribution formula_59 is the probability to accept the proposed state formula_20. The transition probability can be written as the product of them:


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The next step in the derivation is to choose an acceptance ratio that fulfills the condition above. One common choice is the Metropolis choice:


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: For this Metropolis acceptance ratio formula_64, either formula_65 or formula_66 and, either way, the condition is satisfied.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Provided that specified conditions are met, the empirical distribution of saved states formula_78 will approach formula_1. The number of iterations (formula_80) required to effectively estimate formula_1 depends on the number of factors, including the relationship between formula_1 and the proposal distribution and the desired accuracy of estimation. For distribution on discrete state spaces, it has to be of the order of the autocorrelation time of the Markov process.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: It is important to notice that it is not clear, in a general problem, which distribution formula_56 one should use or the number of iterations necessary for proper estimation; both are free parameters of the method, which must be adjusted to the particular problem in hand.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: A common use of Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is to compute an integral. Specifically, consider a space formula_84 and a probability distribution formula_1 over formula_86, formula_87. Metropolis–Hastings can estimate an integral of the form of


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: For example, consider a statistic formula_90 and its probability distribution formula_91, which is a marginal distribution. Suppose that the goal is to estimate formula_91 for formula_93 on the tail of formula_91. Formally, formula_91 can be written as


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: and, thus, estimating formula_91 can be accomplished by estimating the expected value of the indicator function formula_98, which is 1 when formula_99 and zero otherwise.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Because formula_93 is on the tail of formula_91, the probability to draw a state formula_12 with formula_90 on the tail of formula_91 is proportional to formula_91, which is small by definition. The Metropolis–Hastings algorithm can be used here to sample (rare) states more likely and thus increase the number of samples used to estimate formula_91 on the tails. This can be done e.g. by using a sampling distribution formula_37 to favor those states (e.g. formula_108 with formula_109).


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: Suppose that the most recent value sampled is formula_9. To follow the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm, we next draw a new proposal state formula_20 with probability density formula_70 and calculate a value


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: is the probability (e.g., Bayesian posterior) ratio between the proposed sample formula_20 and the previous sample formula_9, and


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: is the ratio of the proposal density in two directions (from formula_9 to formula_20 and conversely).


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The Markov chain is started from an arbitrary initial value formula_67, and the algorithm is run for many iterations until this initial state is "forgotten". These samples, which are discarded, are known as "burn-in". The remaining set of accepted values of formula_12 represent a sample from the distribution formula_1.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The algorithm works best if the proposal density matches the shape of the target distribution formula_1, from which direct sampling is difficult, that is formula_128.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: If a Gaussian proposal density formula_14 is used, the variance parameter formula_130 has to be tuned during the burn-in period.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: This is usually done by calculating the "acceptance rate", which is the fraction of proposed samples that is accepted in a window of the last formula_131 samples.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: The desired acceptance rate depends on the target distribution, however it has been shown theoretically that the ideal acceptance rate for a one-dimensional Gaussian distribution is about 50%, decreasing to about 23% for an formula_131-dimensional Gaussian target distribution. These guidelines can work well when sampling from sufficiently regular Bayesian posteriors as they often follow a multivariate normal distribution as can be established using the Bernstein-von Mises theorem.


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: If formula_130 is too small, the chain will "mix slowly" (i.e., the acceptance rate will be high, but successive samples will move around the space slowly, and the chain will converge only slowly to formula_1). On the other hand,


title: Metropolis–Hastings algorithm

text: if formula_130 is too large, the acceptance rate will be very low because the proposals are likely to land in regions of much lower probability density, so formula_136 will be very small, and again the chain will converge very slowly. One typically tunes the proposal distribution so that the algorithms accepts on the order of 30% of all samples – in line with the theoretical estimates mentioned in the previous paragraph.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: The category of newly industrialized country (NIC), newly industrialized economy (NIE) or middle income country is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists and economists. They represent a subset of developing countries whose economic growth is much higher than other developing countries; and where the social consequences of industrialization, such as urbanization, are reorganizing society.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: NICs are countries whose economies have not yet reached a developed country's status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts. Such countries are still considered developing nations and only differ from other developing nations in the rate at which an NIC's growth is much higher over a shorter allotted time period compared to other developing nations. Another characterization of NICs is that of countries undergoing rapid economic growth (usually export-oriented). Incipient or ongoing industrialization is an important indicator of an NIC.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: Newly industrialized countries can bring about an increase of stabilization in a country's social and economic status, allowing the people living in these nations to begin to experience better living conditions and better lifestyles. Another characteristic that appears in newly industrialized countries is the further development in government structures, such as democracy, the rule of law, and less corruption. Other such examples of a better lifestyle people living in such countries can experience are better transportation, electricity, and better access to water, compared to other developing countries and low infant mortality rate.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: The term came into use around 1970, when the Four Asian Tigers of Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea rose to become globally competitive in science, technological innovation and economic prosperity as well as NICs in the 1970s and 1980s, with exceptionally fast industrial growth since the 1960s; all four countries having since graduated into high-tech industrialized developed countries with wealthy high-income economies. There is a clear distinction between these countries and the countries now considered NICs. In particular, the combination of an open political process, high GNI per capita, and a thriving, export-oriented economic policy has shown that these East Asian economic tiger countries have roughly come to a match with developed countries as those of Western Europe as well Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: All four countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and developed countries by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). All of the Four Asian Tigers, like Western European countries, have a Human Development Index considered "very high" by the United Nations.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: The table below presents the list of countries consistently considered NICs by different authors and experts. Turkey, Brazil and Malaysia are classified as developed countries by the CIA. Turkey was a founding member of the OECD in 1961 and Mexico joined in 1994. The G8+5 group is composed of the original G8 members in addition to China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: For China and India, the immense population of these two countries (each with over 1.3 billion people as of May 2021) means that per capita income will remain low even if either economy surpasses that of the United States in overall GDP. When GDP per capita is calculated according to purchasing power parity (PPP), this takes into account the lower costs of living in each newly industrialized country. GDP per capita typically is an indicator for living standards in a given country as well.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa meet annually with the G8 countries to discuss financial topics and climate change, due to their economic importance in today's global market and environmental impact, in a group known as G8+5.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: Authors set lists of countries accordingly to different methods of economic analysis. Sometimes a work ascribes NIC status to a country that other authors don't consider a NIC. This is the case of countries such as Argentina, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Russia.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: NICs usually benefit from comparatively low wage costs, which translates into lower input prices for suppliers. As a result, it is often easier for producers in NICs to outperform and outproduce factories in developed countries, where the cost of living is higher, and trade unions and other organizations have more political sway. This comparative advantage is often criticized by advocates of the fair trade movement.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: While South Africa is considered wealthy on a wealth-per-capita basis, economic inequality is persistent and extreme poverty remains high in the country.


title: Newly industrialized country

text: Other NICs face common problems such as widespread corruption and political instability, as well as other circumstances that cause them to face the middle income trap.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: An anime television series adaptation, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation", aired in Japan between July and September 2013. An OVA, titled "Nepu no Natsuyasumi", was released in July 2019. A second OVA, titled "Nep Nep Darake no Festival", was released in October 2022, and third OVA, titled "Hidamari no Little Purple", will be released in April 2023.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Games within the series takes place in the world of , which is divided into four regions/nations which are each ruled by one CPU: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Each region is completely different from the others in appearance and atmosphere, with each representing a specific video game console. Lastation represents the PlayStation, Lowee represents the Wii, and Leanbox represents the Xbox, while Planeptune represents the cancelled Sega Neptune. In the beginning of the story, the four goddesses are fighting each other for "shares" in a war known as the Console War. Shares are the manifestation of the belief citizens put into their goddess, and without shares, a goddess dies. Because some of the games feature time and/or dimension travel there are slight differences in the settings for each title.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Prior to Q3 2009, Compile Heart was conceptualising a new RPG project centred upon character designs by Tsunako, with the intention of collaborating with a partner company. This game was originally planned to feature three princess sisters and a protagonist. However, the partnership deal fell out, and as a result the project plans were redesigned and eventually became "Neptunia" close to the end of 2009 following the completion of "Trinity Universe"s development. During the early stages of the project, the characters Noire and Blanc were originally coloured red and blue respectively, however their colour schemes were changed to black and white so that they could better fit in with the new game setting and plot.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: The release of the first sequel to the original game, "Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2", saw the introduction of a reworked game engine and the replacement of various components such as the battle system and dungeons, which were completely rebuilt from scratch. "Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory" later built on this, with the parts from "mk2" which were considered "weak" by the developers removed and improved, eventually setting "Victory" as the foundation for the design of future titles within the series. Following Compile Heart's collaboration with David Production to produce the "Neptunia" television animation series, the developers were able to change their approach to direction and script-writing based on their experience with the anime development staff, which resulted in the changes to the narrative found in the "Re;Birth" games on PlayStation Vita.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: "Hyperdimension Neptunia" is the first game within the series, with the name originally derived from the scrapped Sega Neptune which combined the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega 32X into one unit, originally scheduled for release in 1994 or 1995 before the project was dropped after the release of the Sega Saturn.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: There are two sequels which have been released under the names "Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2" and "Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory". Another game, titled , was released on June 20, 2013, for the PlayStation Vita in Japan and it was released in the west in June 2014 as "", developed by Compile Heart, Idea Factory and Tamsoft.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: During a streamed interview at Tokyo Game Show 2013, Idea Factory and Compile Heart announced that "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation" was under development. "Re;Birth 2" was released on March 20, 2014. with Noire as the main character, was released on May 29, 2014.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: On March 16, 2014, two new next-generation games were announced, titled and . "Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed" is an action game spin-off exclusively for the PlayStation Vita released on August 28, 2014, in Japan, developed by Tamsoft, whilst "Megadimension Neptunia VII" is a main series title for the PlayStation 4.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: At Tokyo Game Show 2014, an enhanced remake of "Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory" for the PlayStation Vita, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: V Century", was announced.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Remade as "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1" released in 2013, Choujijigen Game Neptune Re;Birth 1 Plus in 2018, and "Neptunia re★Verse" in 2020.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: The second game the series. It introduced gameplay mechanics and new set of characters, as well as interpretations of the previous onces, that became a mainstay in the series. The game's plot tackles more about the major consequences on video game piracy, albeit presented in a black-and-white manner. It was later remade as "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation" which was initially released in 2014 for PlayStation Vita and Steam.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: The third game in the series, which mainly takes in an alternate dimension and is based around gaming culture around the early generations until the sixth-generation era of gaming. It received an enhanced version for the PlayStation Vita and Steam as "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: V Generation" which was initially released in 2014.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: The first game in the series for PlayStation 4 released worldwide in 2016. The game's plot is slightly inspired by the shift from the seventh generation of consoles to the 8th generation, as well as the history of the Sega Dreamcast. The game received a remake, framed as a retelling of the True Ending route, in 2017 as "Megadimension Neptunia VIIR" which featured new cutscenes with VR support. Released on the same platforms as the original (except for the Nintendo Switch).


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: An idol-raising simulator game with rhythm and dating sim elements. It is the first game in the series to be on the PlayStation Vita and was the only game in the series to not received a port to PCs.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: An online mobile card game for Android and iOS developed by Idea Factory and hosted by GREE starting from February 15, 2013. It is a collectible card game which involves social networking elements. The game's servers shut down on July 31, 2014.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Interaction/Card game released in Japan for Android and iOS. The localized version was released exclusively for iOS and featured less characters and updates compared to the Japanese version.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Free-to-play card battle game, and the first Neptunia game to not be released outside Japan. The game's support was terminated on August 8, 2018. Though it wasn't released outside Japan, the English version of "Neptunia Virtual Stars" gives this game the name "Nep-Nep★Connect: Chaos Champloo" when referring to characters that debuted in this game in game's collectible card list.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: 2D side-scrolling action game. First title in the series to be developed outside Japan, and the first Neptunia title that was released on a Nintendo platform.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: 2D anime bullet hell game. First game to be exclusive to PC. Also the first game to be released on the same day worldwide. First game to be developed by Idea Factory International. First game to be published by Idea Factory in Japan instead of Compile Heart. It was ported to PlayStation 5 alongside Neptunia re★Verse.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: A hack 'n' slash game with rhythm elements that tackles and parodies culture around social media, featuring various Vtubers. The first game in the series not to receive an English dub due to the amount of guest Vtubers present.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Action RPG starring the candidates. For the first time, the character models have been remade from scratch. It was released in Japan on April 21, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: A manga series based on the game titled began serialisation in November 2010 within the "Famitsu Comic Clear".


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: A manga series illustrated by Mikage Baku which complements the television animation, titled , began serialisation within the June 2013 issue of "Dengeki Maoh". A spin-off novel of the anime, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia TGS Hono no Futsukakan", was published by MF Bunko J and released May 25, 2013.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: An anime adaptation, "Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation" was produced by David Production of Japan and directed by Masahiro Mukai. Series composition and script writing are done by Shōgo Yasukawa and a musical score composed by Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Kenji Kaneko and Masaru Yokoyama. Character designs are done by Hitomi Takechi, based on the original designs by Tsunako along with art direction by Masanobu Nomura and sound direction by Jin Aketagawa. The twelve-episode series aired on Tokyo MX on July 12, 2013, and were later aired on BS11, KBS, Sun TV and tvk then finished on September 27, 2013. The series was acquired by Funimation for online streaming in North America with both the English dub and the original Japanese dub with English subtitles. The opening theme is "Dimension tripper!!!!" by Nao and the ending theme is by Afilia Saga. "Go→Love&Peace" by Ayane is used as the ending theme of episodes 3 and 4, in addition to by Afilia Saga on episode 10. It was broadcast within the United States on Funimation Channel.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: A new original video animation (OVA) titled "Nepu no Natsuyasumi" was announced to be in production. Returning staff members include Masahiro Mukai as director, Hitomi Takechi as character designer, and Shōgo Yasukawa as scriptwriter, with animation by studio Okuruto Noboru. It premiered on July 8, 2019. A second OVA titled "Nep Nep Darake no Festival" was bundled with "Dimensional Traveler Neptune Generator Unit ver." 1/7 scale figure, which was released on October 26, 2022. A third OVA titled "Hidamari no Little Purple" will be bundled with the "Neptune Little Purple ver." 1/7-scale figure, which will be released on April 26, 2023.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: The anime television series adaptation received a mixed response, with praise for its original story and humor revolving around video game industry in-jokes, and criticism for its use of melodrama.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Most of the original soundtracks created for the Neptunia series were composed by Kenji Kaneko, with additional composers for Megadimension Neptunia VII and later games. The first, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia Sound Track CD", was released on August 19, 2010, and was bundled with a Japanese Limited Edition of the game. The soundtrack for the second game contained 13 tracks and was released in Japan with the limited edition on August 18, 2011. It was later repackaged with the western limited release on February 28, 2012, which featured 18 tracks and was titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2: Sounds of Gamindustri". The soundtrack for Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory was released on August 30, 2012, with the Japanese Limited Edition and contained 16 tracks. Similar to the second game, the soundtrack was released overseas with the Limited Edition of the game with 24 tracks, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory Sounds of that other Gamindustri". The Megadimension VII soundtrack, "MEGA DIMENSION NEPTUNE VII Dream Edition DG-ROM", was included with the Japanese Dream Edition and released in a 50 track, 3 disc format on April 23, 2015. Its overseas release, "MEGADIMENSION NEPTUNIA VII Official Soundtrack" was included exclusively with the Limited Edition online, containing only 45 tracks over 2 discs. Most recently, the soundtrack for 4 Goddesses Online was released on February 9, 2017, with the Royal Edition of the game.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: For each title in the Re;Birth series, the soundtracks were re-released following each game's initial release, usually with a few additional or missing tracks. Re;Birth 2's soundtrack, titled "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: SISTERS GENERATION ~ "Sisters' Melodies" Soundtrack CD" was released exclusively on Idea Factory International's website with the Limited Edition of the game and contained 19 tracks from the game. Compile Heart and Idea Factory International later made the Re;Birth series available for the PC on the Steam platform, in which DLC included digital releases of the soundtrack for each game.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: In addition to the game soundtracks, there have been CD single releases for the opening and ending themes for each game. The voice actresses for each character have also released individual singles, in which they perform original in-character songs. Various Drama CD series have also been released in which voice actors perform original episodes. The anime series also released singles for the opening and ending themes, alongside a drama CD and 7 special "Animation Processor" discs, which contained a variety of different audio media including songs, voice actor commentary, and drama episodes.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: A compilation of the main vocal tracks from each game (including character songs) was released as a 5 disc series on August 27, 2014.


title: Hyperdimension Neptunia

text: Alarm clock applications and mobile skins/themes featuring "Neptunia" characters have also been released for Android and iOS.


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: A tachymeter (pronounced ) is a scale sometimes inscribed around the rim of an analog watch with a chronograph. It can be used to conveniently compute the frequency in hours of an event of a known second-defined period, such as speed (distance over hours) based on travel time (distance over speed), or measure distance based on speed. The spacings between the marks on the tachymeter dial are therefore proportional to , where "t" is the elapsed time.


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: The function performed by a tachymeter is independent of the unit of distance (e.g. statute miles, nautical miles, kilometres, metres etc.) as long as the same unit of length is used for all calculations. It can also be used to measure the frequency of any regular event in occurrences per hour, such as the units output by an industrial process. A tachymeter is simply a means of converting "elapsed time" (in seconds per unit) to "rate" (in units per hour).


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: To use a tachymeter-equipped watch for measuring speed, the chronograph is started at a starting marker of a known distance.At the next marker, the point on the scale adjacent to the second hand indicates the speed (in distance between markers per hour) of travel between the two. The typical tachymeter scale on a watch converts between the number of seconds it takes for an event to happen and the number of times that event will occur in one hour. The formula used to create this type of tachymeter scale is


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: where T is the tachymeter scale value; t is the time in seconds that it takes for the event to occur; and 3600 is the number of seconds in an hour.


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: As a sample calculation, if it takes 35 seconds to travel one mile, then the average speed is 103 miles/hour. On the watch, 35 seconds gives scale value 103. Similarly, if one kilometre takes 35 seconds then the average speed would be 103 km/hour.


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: As a second example, if it takes 20 seconds to travel one unit of distance, then the average speed on the watch used for the purpose of the picture only is 180 units of distance per hour (examine the picture of the watch which is here to simplify the idea, actual tachymeters may vary slightly).


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: For events that happen either very quickly or slowly, one can adjust the sixty-second tachymeter scale commonly found on watches. Smaller fractional units can be used for slower objects, but the same X/hour function remains constant. The scale on a watch is only valid for things that happen in 60 seconds or fewer, and the scale is also difficult to resolve for events that take fewer than 10 seconds or so to occur. As an example, if it takes 100 seconds to eat an apple, cutting that number in half allows one to say that it takes 50 seconds to eat half an apple. Using the tachymeter scale one can calculate that 72 half apples (36 whole apples) could be eaten in one hour. Some watches, not common, have "wraparound" or "scroll" scales, which extend the readings to lower speeds, typically 45 units.


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: A tachymeter-equipped watch can be used to measure distance by timing the travel over the distance while the speed is held constant. The tachymeter scale is rotated to align with the second hand at the start of the length to be measured. When the second hand reaches the point on the scale where the speed indicated equals the speed of the vehicle, one unit of distance (miles if speed is miles per hour, kilometres if kilometres per hour, etc.) has been covered. For example, if you travel at a constant 80 mph (or at 80 km/h), then the distance travelled while the second hand sweeps to "80" (45 seconds) will be exactly 1 mile (or 1 kilometre at 80 km/h).


title: Tachymeter (watch)

text: Some tachymeter scales are on a rotating, indexed bezel. This allows two additional modes of use: The tachymeter bezel can be aligned with a free running second hand, and, more subtly, can be used to find the average speed over longer times/distances. Set the rotary bezel index to the position of the minute hand, note the current mileage/distance. Glance at the position of the minute hand on the tachymeter scale 60 units of distance later, and "average" speed will be indicated. A little mental math allows interim averages, easiest at 1/4 (15 unit) and other integer values. Alternatively, instead of using minute hand, align index bezel to the second hand and observe passing one unit of distance when position of the second hand will then indicate average speed.


The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is an annual conference attended by communist and workers' parties from several countries. It originated in 1998 when the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) invited communist and workers' parties to participate in an annual conference where parties could gather to share their experiences and issue a joint declaration. The most recent and 22nd meeting of the IMCWP was held in October 2022 in Havana and hosted by the Communist Party of Cuba. The meeting was attended by delegates from 51 parties.


The Working Group (WG) of International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is composed of Communist Parties throughout the world. The task of the working group is to prepare and organize the International Meetings of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWPs).


title: International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties

text: The meetings are held annually, with participants from all around the globe. Additionally, there are occasionally extraordinary meetings such as the meeting in Damascus in September 2009 on "Solidarity with the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people and the other people in Middle East". In December 2009, the communist and workers' parties agreed to the creation of the "International Communist Review", which is published annually in English and Spanish and has a website.


text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, delegates to the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties did not meet in 2020. However, a virtual meeting was held over Zoom on 10 and 11 December 2021.


text: The 21st International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, with the theme "100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist International. The fight for peace and socialism continues", took place in Izmir, Turkey, from 18 to 20 October 2019, and was hosted by the Communist Party of Turkey and the Communist Party of Greece.


text: The 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, with the theme "The contemporary working class and its alliance. The tasks of its political vanguard – the Communist and Worker’s Parties – in the struggle against exploitation and imperialist wars, for the rights of the workers and of the peoples, for peace, for socialism", took place in Athens, Greece, from 23 to 25 November 2018.


text: The 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, with the theme "The 100th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution:the ideals of the Communist Movement, revitalizing the struggle against imperialistic wars, for peace, socialism", took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 2 to 3 November 2017 and in Moscow, Russia, from 5 to 7 November 2017.


text: The 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 28 to 30 October 2016.


text: The 17th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties took place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 30 October to 1 November 2015.


text: The 16th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties took place from 13 to 15 November 2014 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was attended by 85 delegates representing 53 parties from 44 countries.


text: The 15th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties took place from 8 to 10 November 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal.


text: The 14th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties took place from 22 to 25 November 2012 in Beirut, Lebanon.


text: The 13th meeting was held in Athens, Greece, from 9 to 11 December 2011 and was hosted by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Under the motto "Socialism is the future!", it was attended by 80 parties, while additional eight parties sent a message.


text: The 13th meeting was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 3 to 5 December 2010 and was hosted by the South African Communist Party.


text: The 11th meeting was held in New Delhi, India, from 20 to 22 November 2009 and was hosted by both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India. It was attended by 89 participants representing 57 communist and workers' parties and 48 countries.


text: The 10th meeting was held in São Paulo, Brazil, from 21 to 23 November 2008 and was hosted by the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB). It was attended by delegations of 65 communist and workers' parties from 55 countries.


text: The 9th meeting was held in Minsk, Belarus, from 3 to 5 November 2007 and was hosted by the Communist Party of Belarus (KPB). It was attended by 154 representatives of 72 communist and workers' parties, representing 59 countries.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex or top-shelf magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in softcore pornography, and, in the usual case of hardcore pornography, depictions of masturbation, oral, vaginal or anal sex.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: They primarily serve to stimulate sexual arousal, and are often used as an aid to masturbation. Some magazines are general in their content, while others may be more specific and focus on a particular pornographic niche, part of the anatomy, or model characteristics. Examples include "Asian Babes" which focuses on Asian women, or "Leg Show" which concentrates on women's legs. Well-known adult magazines include "Playboy", "Penthouse", "Playgirl" and "Hustler". Magazines may also carry articles on topics including cars, humor, science, computers, culture and politics. With the continued progression of print media to digital, retailers have also had to adapt. Software such as Apple's discontinued Newsstand enabled the downloading and displaying of digital versions of magazines, but did not allow pornographic material. However, there are specific digital newsstands for pornographic magazines.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Pornographic magazines form a part of the history of erotic depictions. It is a form for the display and dissemination of these materials.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: In 1880, halftone printing was used to reproduce photographs inexpensively for the first time. The invention of halftone printing took pornography and erotica in new directions at the beginning of the 20th century. The new printing processes allowed photographic images to be reproduced easily in black and white, whereas printers were previously limited to engravings, woodcuts and line cuts for illustrations. This was the first format that allowed pornography to become a mass market phenomena, it now being more affordable and more easily acquired than any previous form.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: First appearing in France, the new magazines featured nude (often, burlesque actresses were hired as models) and semi-nude photographs on the cover and throughout; while these would now be termed softcore, they were quite shocking for the time. The publications soon either masqueraded as "art magazines" or publications celebrating the new cult of naturism, with titles such as "Photo Bits", "Body in Art", "Figure Photography", "Nude Living" and "Modern Art for Men." The British magazine "Health & Efficiency" (now "H&E naturist", often known simply as ""H&E"") was first published in 1900, and began to include articles about naturism in the late 1920s. Gradually, this material came to dominate - particularly as other magazines were taken over and absorbed. At times in its post-WWII history, "H&E" has catered primarily to the soft-porn market.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Another early form of pornography were comic books known as Tijuana bibles that began appearing in the U.S. in the 1920s and lasted until the publishing of glossy colour men's magazines commenced. These were crude hand drawn scenes often using popular characters from cartoons and culture.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: In the 1940s, the word "pinup" was coined to describe pictures torn from men's magazines and calendars and "pinned up" on the wall by U.S. soldiers in World War II. While the 1940s images focused mostly on legs, by the 1950s, the emphasis shifted to breasts. Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe were two of the most popular pinup models. Marilyn Monroe continued to be a popular model for the men's magazines in the 1950s.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: The 1950s saw the rise of the first mass-market softcore pornographic magazines: "Modern Man" in 1952 and "Playboy" in 1953. Hugh Hefner's "Playboy" started a new style of the men's glossy magazine (or girlie magazine). Hefner coined the term centerfold, and in the first edition of his "Playboy" used a photograph of a nude Marilyn Monroe, despite her objections. Another term that became popular with "Playboy" readers was the "Playboy Playmate". These new-style magazines featured nude or semi-nude women, sometimes simulating masturbation, although their genitals or pubic hair were not actually displayed.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: In 1963, "Lui" started in France to compete against "Playboy", while Bob Guccione did the same in the United Kingdom in 1965 with "Penthouse". "Penthouse's" style was different to other magazines; with women looking indirectly at the camera, as if they were going about their private idylls. This change of emphasis influenced erotic depictions of women. "Penthouse" was also the first magazine to publish pictures that included pubic hair and full frontal nudity, both of which were considered beyond the bounds of the erotic and in the realm of pornography at the time. In 1965, "Mayfair" was launched in the UK in competition to "Playboy" and "Penthouse". In September 1969 "Penthouse" was launched in the U.S., bringing new competition to "Playboy". In order to retain its market share "Playboy" followed "Penthouse" in the display of pubic hair, risking obscenity charges, and launching the "Pubic Wars". As competition between the two magazines escalated, their photos became increasingly more explicit. In the late 1960s, some magazines began to move into more explicit displays often focusing on the buttocks as standards of what could be legally depicted and what readers wanted to see.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: By the 1970s magazines containing images of the pubic area became increasingly common. In the UK, Paul Raymond acquired and then relaunched "Men Only" in 1971 as a pornographic magazine, and then launched "Club International" in 1972. "Playboy" was the first to clearly show visible pubic hair in January 1971. The first full frontal nude centerfold was "Playboy's" Miss January 1972. In 1974, Larry Flynt first published "Hustler" in the US, which contained more explicit material. Some researchers have detected increasingly violent images in magazines like "Playboy" and "Penthouse" over the course of the 1970s, with them then returning to their more upscale style by the end of the decade. Paul Raymond Publications relaunched "Escort" in 1980 in the UK, "Razzle" in 1983, and "Men's World" in 1988.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Sales of pornographic magazines in the U.S. have declined significantly since 1979, with a nearly 50% reduction in circulation between 1980 and 1989. The fact that the U.S. incidence of rape has increased over the same period has cast doubt on any correlation between magazine sales and sex crimes. Studies from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s nearly all confirmed that pornographic magazines contained significantly less violent imagery than pornographic films.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: In the 1990s, magazines such as "Hustler" began to feature more hardcore material such as sexual penetration, lesbianism and homosexuality, group sex, masturbation, and fetishes. In the late 1990s and 2000s the pornographic magazines market declined, as they were challenged by new "Lad mags" such as "FHM" and "Loaded", which featured softcore photos. The availability of pornographic DVDs and above all internet pornography also led to a decline in magazine sales. Many magazines developed their own websites which also show pornographic films. Despite falling sales, the top-selling U.S. adult magazines still maintain high circulations compared to most mainstream magazines, and are amongst the top-selling magazines of any type.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Paul Raymond Publications dominates the British adult magazine market today, distributing eight of the ten top selling adult magazines in the UK. There were about 100 adult magazine titles in the UK in 2001.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Several magazines feature photos of "ordinary" women submitted by readers, for example the "Readers Wives" sections of several British magazines, and "Beaver Hunt" in the US. Many magazines also feature supposed stories of their reader's sexual exploits, many of which are actually written by the magazines' writers. Many magazines contain a high number of advertisements for Phone sex lines, which provide them with an important source of revenue.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: An early example of borderline gay pornography was the physique magazine, a genre which had wide circulation in the 1950s and 1960s. Physique magazines mostly consisted of photographs of attractive, scantily-clad young men, and occasionally homoerotic illustrations by gay artists like George Quaintance and Tom of Finland. The magazines contained no overt mentions or depictions of homosexuality, and used the pretense of demonstrating bodybuilding techniques or providing photos as visual references for artists, but it was widely understood that they were purchased almost exclusively by gay men. Major examples of the genre include "Physique Pictorial" (the first of its kind, debuting in 1951), "Tomorrow's Man", and "Grecian Guild Pictorial".


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Shifts in the judicial interpretation of obscenity in the US and elsewhere led to physique magazines being supplanted in the mid-to-late 1960s by new publications which openly acknowledged a gay audience and featured nudity, and later hardcore sex.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: A successful magazine requires significant investment in production facilities and a distribution network. They require large printing presses and numerous specialized employees, such as graphic designers and typesetters. Today a new magazine start-up can cost as much as $20 million, and magazines are significantly more expensive to produce than pornographic films, and more expensive than internet pornography.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Like all magazines, pornographic magazines are dependent on advertising revenue, which may force a magazine to tone down its content.


title: Pornographic magazine

text: Depending on the laws in each jurisdiction, pornographic magazines may be sold in convenience stores, newsagents and petrol stations. They may need to be sold on the top shelf of a retail display to prevent children reaching them, hence their euphemistic name "top shelf magazines". Alternatively it may be necessary to sell them under the counter or in plastic wrappers. Some retail chains and many independent retail outlets do not stock pornographic magazines. They may also be sold in sex shops or by mail order.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 American Christmas musical comedy drama film directed by Brian Henson (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Jerry Juhl. Adapted from the 1843 novella "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, it stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, alongside Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Oz. Although artistic license is taken to suit the aesthetic of the Muppets, "The Muppet Christmas Carol" otherwise follows Dickens's original story closely. It is the fourth theatrical film in "The Muppets" franchise, and the first to be produced following the deaths of Muppets creator Jim Henson and performer Richard Hunt; the film is dedicated to both.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: The film was released in the United States on December 11, 1992, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. It was a modest box office success and received mostly positive reviews. It is the first Muppets film to be produced by Walt Disney Pictures, whose parent company would later acquire the rights to the Muppets characters and assets in 2004.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: On Christmas Eve, in 19th-century London, Charles Dickens (played by The Great Gonzo) and his friend Rizzo address the audience as narrators to tell the story of "A Christmas Carol". Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine), a cold-hearted, stingy, and lonely moneylender, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He rejects his nephew Fred's invitation to Christmas dinner, dismisses two gentlemen (played by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker) collecting money for charity, and tosses a wreath at a carol-singing Bean Bunny. His loyal employee Bob Cratchit (played by Kermit the Frog) and the other bookkeepers request to take Christmas Day off, as there will be no business for Scrooge on the day, to which he reluctantly agrees. Scrooge leaves for home while the bookkeepers celebrate Christmas.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: In his house, Scrooge encounters the shackled ghosts of his late business partners, Jacob and Robert Marley (played by Statler and Waldorf), who warn him to repent his wicked ways or be condemned to suffer in the afterlife as they do. They inform him that three spirits will visit him, with the first to visit tonight when the bell tolls one.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the childlike Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his childhood and early adult life, with Dickens and Rizzo hitching a ride too. They visit his lonely school days and then his time as an employee under Fozziwig (Mr. Fezziwig in the original story, played by Fozzie Bear), who owned a rubber chicken factory. Fozziwig and his mother throw a Christmas party, where Scrooge meets a young woman named Belle, with whom he falls in love. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge how Belle left him after he chose money over her. A tearful Scrooge dismisses the Ghost as he returns to his bedroom.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: At two o'clock, Scrooge meets the gigantic, merry Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Fred's house, where Scrooge is made fun of for his stinginess and general ill will toward all. Scrooge and the spirit then visit Bob Cratchit's house, learning his family (Mrs. Cratchit is played by Miss Piggy) is content with their small dinner. Scrooge also takes pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim (played by Robin the Frog). The Ghost of Christmas Present abruptly ages, commenting that Tiny Tim will likely die if the future is not changed. Scrooge and the Ghost go to a cemetery, where the latter fades away.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a tall, silent, cloaked figure, takes Scrooge into the future, and shows Scrooge a group of businessmen discussing the death of an unnamed colleague, saying they would only attend the funeral if lunch was provided. In a den, Scrooge sees a charwoman, a laundress, and the local undertaker trading several stolen possessions of the deceased to a fence named Old Joe. The Ghost then transports Scrooge to Bob's house, revealing Tiny Tim has died and the Crachits are mourning him. Scrooge is escorted back to the cemetery, where the Ghost points out the wretched man's grave, showing Scrooge was the man who died. Tearfully, Scrooge vows to change his ways and embraces the ghost's robes before finding himself back in his bedroom.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: Discovering it is Christmas Day, Scrooge gleefully decides to surprise Bob's family with a turkey dinner and ventures out with Bean, Dickens, Rizzo, and the charity workers to spread happiness and joy around London, reconciling with Fred and Fozziwig. Scrooge goes to the Cratchit house, at first putting on a cold demeanor before revealing he intends to raise Bob's salary and pay off his mortgage. Scrooge, the Cratchits, Fred and the neighborhood celebrate Christmas, as Dickens narrates how Scrooge became a second father to Tiny Tim, who escaped death and got well again.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: Following Jim Henson's death in May 1990, the talent agent Bill Haber approached Henson's son Brian with the idea of filming an adaptation. Haber told Henson that ""Christmas Carol" is the greatest story of all time, you should do that" and later informed Henson that he had sold the idea to ABC as a television film. The longtime Muppets writer Jerry Juhl was hired to write the script and decided to insert Charles Dickens as the stand-in narrator in order to remain faithful to the original prose of the written material. Henson stated that Gonzo was chosen because he was the least likely choice to play Charles Dickens, while Rizzo the Rat was added to inject some humor and serve as a Greek chorus. Established Muppet characters were initially written to portray the ghosts, with various accounts stating Robin the Frog or Scooter was to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, Miss Piggy to be the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Gonzo (before he was written to portray Dickens) or Animal as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. However, the idea was scrapped in favor of new Muppet characters that would better underline the ominous nature. After the script was submitted for approval to ABC, the executives of Walt Disney Pictures offered to purchase the script for a feature film instead of a television release.


title: The Muppet Christmas Carol

text: The English actors David Hemmings, Ron Moody, and David Warner and the American comedian George Carlin were considered to portray Ebenezer Scrooge. Henson later offered the role to Michael Caine, who replied: "I'm going to play this movie like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me." He took inspiration for the role from "Wall Street cheats and embezzlers; I thought they represented a very good picture of meanness and greed."