title: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

text: The game follows Riddick, the anti-hero of the two films "Pitch Black" and "The Chronicles of Riddick", as he attempts to escape from a maximum-security prison called Butcher Bay. "Escape from Butcher Bay"s designers focused on exploring Riddick's character in a prison break setting to differentiate the game from the film. The game's influences include the film "Escape from Alcatraz", and video games such as "Half-Life" and "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell".


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay" received acclaim by critics, who lauded its graphics and its implementation of stealth, action and adventure elements. However, they commonly lamented its brevity and lack of multiplayer components. The game has garnered a cult following and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made. It went on to win several accolades, including the Golden Joystick Award for Unsung Hero Game of the Year and the Spike Video Game Award for Best Game Based on a Movie. In 2009, the game was included in "", but with enhanced visuals.


text: In "Escape from Butcher Bay", the player takes the role of Richard B. Riddick and attempts to break out of Butcher Bay prison. The game incorporates elements from video game genres such as first-person shooter, adventure and stealth, and is played primarily from a first-person perspective, though the camera switches to a third-person perspective during certain scenes. Unlike many first-person shooters, the game contains no head-up display; on-screen cues are limited to flashes when a new weapon is selected, and small, white boxes that display the player character's health when damage is taken. Health can be replenished in designated areas throughout the game. By finding cigarette packs hidden in levels, the player can unlock concept art and video files.


text: The player may interact with and receive quests from the prison's residents, and earns information, tools and other rewards by completing quests. Violent conflict often occurs between the player, inmates and prison guards. The player attacks with Riddick's bare hands, or with improvised weapons such as shivs and clubs. Combos are created by stringing together punches. A DNA-scanning security system initially prevents Riddick from using firearms, but a limited arsenal later becomes available.


text: A "stealth mode" is activated when the player character crouches, allowing the player to move silently and tinting the edges of the screen blue when the player is hidden. While in stealth mode, the player can drag bodies out of sight and hide from enemies. The mode grants attacks that quickly kill enemies; the player may drop on enemies from above, or execute them from behind. During the game, Riddick acquires "eyeshine", allowing him to see in the dark but temporarily blinding him if used in brightly lit areas.


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay" is set in the futuristic science fiction universe of the "Chronicles of Riddick" franchise, and is a prequel to the film "Pitch Black". The game takes place inside Butcher Bay, a maximum-security prison from which no prisoner has escaped. The facility—constructed on a barren planet—contains three increasingly secure holding areas, and a subterranean mining operation.


text: The game's protagonist is Richard B. Riddick (reprised by Vin Diesel), a murderer recently confined in Butcher Bay. Riddick is resourceful, and seeks to break out of the prison by any means necessary. His capturer is the bounty hunter William J. Johns (Cole Hauser); the two have had previous encounters. Butcher Bay's warden is a man named Hoxie (Dwight Schultz), while Abbott (Xzibit) is a prison guard disliked by the inmates. The inmate Pope Joe (Willis Burks II) is an insane old man, who lives in the sewer tunnels beneath the prison.


text: The opening cinematic shows Riddick in hiding, having grown out his hair and beard, before the opening scene of the "Chronicles of Riddick" movie. He hunts an animal and after killing it, a disembodied voice starts talking to him asking him where he got his eyes. He states that he received them from a "slam preacher" and this causes him to remember his time at Butcher Bay. The game takes place in a flashback.


text: Another opening cinematic takes place in which Riddick is being transported for collection on the bounty. He and Johns have a brief conversation in which Riddick tells Johns that there is no way he is going to get the price he wants. Riddick wakes up as they land and stands out front of Butcher Bay waiting for the warden. He sneaks up behind Johns and breaks his neck and proceeds to escape. After getting his hands on a gun, he goes through the ventilation ducts and seemingly escapes into the desert. Everything fades to white as Riddick hears Johns saying, "Rise and shine, Riddick." It turns out this escape was simply a dream.


text: Riddick wakes up and Johns escorts him off the ship. Johns meets with Hoxie to negotiate his pay, while Abbott escorts Riddick to his cell in the "single-max" security area. After making enemies with and killing a gang leader named Rust, Riddick familiarizes himself with the facility, and soon instigates a riot; during the confusion, he escapes into the prison's sewer system. Armed with a shotgun and a dying flashlight, Riddick discovers he is not alone in the sewers. Fighting through the sewers against mutant "dwellers", Riddick eventually meets Pope Joe, for whom he retrieves a lost radio, which Joe calls a blessed voicebox. A woman named Shirah (Kristin Lehman) tells Riddick that he "has been blind too long", and he gains his trademark "eyeshine" night vision. Afterwards, he accuses Pope Joe of tampering with his eyes; Joe says that he merely treated Riddick's injured arm. Riddick then continues his escape, while using the eyeshine to his advantage.


text: After emerging from a manhole in the showers of the guard living quarters, Riddick uses a guard uniform to blend in as he makes his way to the space port and his chance at escape. Realizing he requires a guard to get through the retinal scanner that locks the doors to the space port, Riddick decides to go after Abbott and take his eyes. He gains access to Abbott's apartment by telling him there is a delivery for him. A fire fight ensues and after that, as Abbott bleeds out on the floor, Riddick moves in for the kill but is stopped by Johns.


text: Riddick is captured and transferred to the "double-max" security area. Gaining the trust of the inmates by participating in fighting matches, Riddick eventually kills the champion of the fighting matches, a guard named Bam. This leads him to be taken to a room where no surveillance is seen and several guards await to kill Riddick. Abbott walks into the room, fully healed, holding a baseball bat. Shirah returns to him and tells him that the fury of all of his kind is within him, and he can release it if he chooses. A blast of energy called the 'Rage of Furya' kills all the guards around him except Abbott, who hides and then panics and attacks Riddick. Riddick kills Abbott and proceeds to find another way to escape. Using a secret entrance to an elevator, he infiltrates a mining facility. He meets an inmate of great influence in the area named Jagger Valance (Ron Perlman), who wishes to escape with him. He makes a bomb and plants it in a mining site with a massive gas leak. However, Riddick is discovered and caught by the guards. During his transfer to another section, the prison is disrupted by an outbreak of creatures called "Xeno", due to the bomb Riddick planted, in order to create the confusion necessary for his escape, and Riddick attempts to escape with Valance. His plans are foiled again by Johns. After a fist fight, Riddick and Johns are both shot by Valance (who only meant to hit Johns) and Valance is killed by the guards. After meeting again with the warden, and telling him that he is just getting started, Riddick is placed in the "triple-max" area, where inmates are kept in cryonic sleep. They are awakened daily for two minutes of exercise; during this time, Riddick discovers a flaw in the system and escapes. He then hijacks a large robot and fights his way through Butcher Bay to reach Hoxie.


text: Tired of dealing with the prison officials, Johns helps Riddick to elude the guards. Riddick knocks Johns out and flies the ship into the warden's office. The warden calls in two robot guards with cloaking abilities and Riddick defeats them. After Hoxie surrenders, Riddick receives the codes to Hoxie's ship and Riddick and Johns escape disguised as a guard and prisoner. Two guards enter Hoxie's room, where Hoxie is bound and covered in Riddick's former attire. They mistake him for Riddick and kill him. Riddick and Johns take off in Hoxie's ship, ending the game.


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay" was co-developed by Swedish company Starbreeze Studios and the Vin Diesel-founded Tigon Studios, and published by Vivendi Games and Tigon Studios. Universal Studios Consumer Products Group granted "The Chronicles of Riddick" license to Universal Interactive; both companies were owned by Vivendi Universal. The game was announced in March 2004 as an Xbox title. Tigon Studios' Cos Lazouras said, "[The game] features an original storyline that provides insight into how Riddick evolved into such a complex character".


text: In contrast to other film tie-in games, which often closely follow the events of their source material, the development team of "Escape from Butcher Bay" focused on differentiating the game from "The Chronicles of Riddick". They sought to explore Riddick's character in a prison break setting, and took inspiration from films such as "Escape from Alcatraz". Starbreeze was also inspired by video games such as "GoldenEye 007" and the "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" series. The opening sequence, in which Riddick is escorted into Butcher Bay, is a tribute to "Half-Life", the game's hand-to-hand combat was inspired by "Punch-Out!!", and the stealth mechanics, such as hiding in the shadows and leaning, were inspired by that of "" and "Deus Ex". Starbreeze focused solely on developing the game's single-player mode, and did not include multiplayer; the company believed that such a mode would require a design team twice as large and another year of development.


text: Vin Diesel, the lead actor of "The Chronicles of Riddick", provided his voice and likeness for Riddick. He and director David Twohy also contributed to the game's plot and character design; the game's story was developed in conjunction with the film's. Per the filmmakers' instructions, the designers made the origin of Riddick's "eyeshine" vague. Diesel offered guidance to the game's lead writer during voice recording sessions; this included dialogue rewrites to reduce Riddick's lines, as Diesel believed the character spoke too often.


text: Starbreeze intended for "Escape from Butcher Bay" to feature more complex role-playing game systems, but feedback from Diesel and game testers dissuaded them. Starbreeze senior producer Peter Wanat said, "We tried to limit the number of really hard or really intricate RPG elements, and that was a choice because we wanted the game to be playable." Other removed features include an electric bullwhip for the guard Abbott, and a 25-minute final boss fight. A PlayStation 2 version that was in development was cancelled so the company could focus on the Xbox version.


text: The game uses normal mapping, which allows detailed textures to be drawn on models with lower polygon counts; this increases visual fidelity, without sacrificing higher frame rates. It also featured dynamic lighting with per-pixel stencil shadowing and self-shadowing.


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay" was completed in 18 months. Vin Diesel promoted the game and the accompanying movie at the May 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game convention. The game was released in North America on June 1, 2004, shortly before "The Chronicles of Riddick". North American pre-orders of the game included a DVD of promotional content, such as a partial interactive walkthrough and footage from the film. The game's soundtrack, composed by Gustaf Grefberg, was released by Vivendi as a free download on June 24, 2004.


text: Following rumors, Vivendi confirmed in July 2004 that a Windows port of "Escape from Butcher Bay" was in development, entitled ""The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Director's Cut"". The game features a higher display resolution, additional cigarette packs, and new scenes where Riddick steals mechanized riot armor. It includes developer commentary which details the game's creation and design decisions. The game was released on December 8 in North America.


text: In May 2007, Vivendi announced that "Escape from Butcher Bay" was being remade by Starbreeze Studios for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Entitled "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena", the game was referred to by Vivendi as a "reinvention" of "Escape from Butcher Bay"; it would include a multiplayer mode and new single-player content. It was planned that Vivendi-subsidiary Sierra Entertainment would publish the game in late 2007.


text: In December 2007, Activision and Vivendi Games merged to become Activision Blizzard; the new company announced the dismissal of "Assault on Dark Athena", "Brütal Legend", "" and others from its roster in July 2008. The titles were put up for sale to other publishers. In September 2008, Starbreeze Studios confirmed that the game was still in development, and that it was nearing completion. The following month, Atari reportedly paid a flat fee for the publishing rights to "Assault on Dark Athena" and ""; Atari later confirmed that it had picked up both titles. The company also stated that it had struck a deal with Universal Studios to develop more "Chronicles of Riddick" games. "Assault on Dark Athena" was released in April 2009 in North America, Europe, and Australia.


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay" received critical acclaim. Certain reviewers preferred the game over its film counterpart, and considered it an exception to the general mediocrity of film tie-in games. The Xbox version of the game had sold 159,000 copies by August 2004, and was among the best-selling games on any platform during June 2004; it was later re-released as a Platinum Hits title. Conversely, the PC version sold 32,500 after six months on shelves.


text: "Escape from Butcher Bay"s gameplay was compared to first-person shooters like "Far Cry" and "Half-Life", and to stealth game series like "Splinter Cell", "Metal Gear", and "Thief". Reviewers enjoyed the variety of gameplay elements: "Game Informer"'s Jeremy Zoss noted that "every aspect of play is expertly implemented", and GameSpot's Greg Kasavin believed that the game "effectively and innovatively combines excellent shooting, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and adventure elements". While the game's stealth mechanics were praised, certain critics received its first-person shooter elements with less enthusiasm. Reviewers applauded the control scheme, such as the Xbox version's analog stick-based hand-to-hand combat. The implementation of Riddick's eyeshine ability was also generally praised, but "Computer and Video Games" believed that it was no different from night vision goggles in other first-person shooters, and said that it "could've been developed into so much more."


text: The game's visuals—particularly the Xbox version's—were acclaimed, and compared to those of "Doom 3" and "Half-Life 2". GameZone's Michael Lafferty said that the game's graphics "[take] the genre to the next level". The textures and lighting were cited as high points, particularly because of the gameplay role of shadows. Character models and facial animations were considered highly realistic; much praise was given to those of Riddick. GameSpot appreciated the developers' attention to graphical detail; they noted that recent bullet-holes glow red and smoke, but gradually cool and darken. Certain reviewers complained about graphical glitches, such as "seams" and "clipping", and gave as an example the visibility of bullet tracers through walls. The portrayal of Butcher Bay was considered convincing, and 1UP's Shawn Elliott compared it to the settings of the "Alien" franchise.


text: The audio of "Escape from Butcher Bay" was generally well received, and critics praised its voice acting; the performances of Vin Diesel and Cole Hauser were given special commendation. In regard to the music, FiringSquad's Jakub Wojnarowicz stated, "It's not good enough to sweep you away[,] but it's also not bad enough to stick out like a sore thumb". IGN said, "The music isn't memorable, but it's not bad". The "Sunday Herald Sun" called the voice acting "Surprisingly good". The game's length was commonly criticized. Reviewers noted that it could be completed in eight to fifteen hours, and IGN said, "If you consider around 12 hours of gameplay short, then Riddick is just that." Several reviewers were displeased by the game's lack of multiplayer components; "Computer and Video Games" referred to it as a "missed opportunity". "Game Informer" said, "Since the main quest is short [...] and there is no multiplayer, it’s not a ton of game for your money."


text: Professor James Paul Gee, a researcher of video games, has used "Escape from Butcher Bay" in his studies. He discussed the relation of Garrett from "Thief" and the nameless soldier from "Full Spectrum Warrior" with the character of Riddick, saying that the games "allow players to take a projective stance to the (virtual) world, but a stance that is rooted in the knowledge, values, and ways of seeing and being in the world of an authentic professional, an 'expert'."


text: Both versions of the game were given editor's choice awards from IGN, GameSpot, and GameSpy. GameSpot named it the best Xbox game of June 2004, and the PC version was IGN's PC Game of the Month for December 2004. It later won GameSpot's annual "Most Surprisingly Good Game" and "Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property" awards, and was a runner-up in the publication's "Best Action Adventure Game", "Best Original Music", "Best Sound Effects", "Best Story", "Best Graphics, Technical", "Best Voice Acting" and "Most Innovative Game" categories, as well as for „Game of the Year”. The editors of "Computer Gaming World" presented "Butcher Bay" with their 2004 "Action Game of the Year" award, and hailed it as "the best movie prequel ever produced". "Computer Games Magazine" named "Escape from Butcher Bay" the tenth-best computer game of 2004.


text: IGN later ranked "Butcher Bay" 12th on its list of the 25 greatest Xbox games of all time. Game Informer placed "Escape from Butcher Bay" as the 8th best on their list of 25 greatest Xbox games of all time. "Escape from Butcher Bay" was nominated for GameSpot's Game of the Year award for 2004, but it lost to "World of Warcraft". Computer and Video Games called the PC version the 98th best PC game of all time. "Billboard's" Digital Entertainment Conference nominated Riddick as its Best Character in a Game and a Golden Joystick Award for "Unsung Hero Game of the Year". GamesRadar placed "Escape from Butcher Bay" in their "Top 7 movie games that don't suck" list, and said that ""Escape from Butcher Bay" was a triumph on almost every level." In 2013, IGN ranked "Escape from Butcher Bay" as the 27th greatest first-person shooter of all time.


title: Waw (letter)

text: It represents the consonant in classical Hebrew, and in modern Hebrew, as well as the vowels and . In text with niqqud, a dot is added to the left or on top of the letter to indicate, respectively, the two vowel pronunciations.


title: Waw (letter)

text: It is the origin of Greek Ϝ (digamma) and Υ (upsilon), Cyrillic У, Latin F and U and later Y, and the derived Latin- or Roman-alphabet letters V, and W.


title: Waw (letter)

text: The letter likely originated with an Egyptian hieroglyph which represented (transliterated as ḥ(dj)): T3


title: Waw (letter)

text: In Modern Hebrew, the word ' "vav" is used to mean both "hook" and the letter's name (the name is also written '), while in Syriac and Arabic, "waw" to mean hook has fallen out of usage.


title: Waw (letter)

text: The Arabic letter ' is named ' "wāw" and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:


title: Waw (letter)

text: "Wāw" is the sole letter of the common Arabic word "wa," the primary conjunction in Arabic, equivalent to "and". In writing, it is prefixed to the following word, sometimes including other conjunctions, such as "wa-lākin", meaning "but". Another function is the "oath", by preceding a noun of great significance to the speaker. It is often literally translatable to "By..." or "I swear to...", and is often used in the Qur'an in this way, and also in the generally fixed construction "wallāh" ("By Allah!" or "I swear to God!"). The word also appears, particularly in classical verse, in the construction known as "wāw rubba", to introduce a description.


title: Waw (letter)

text: With an additional triple dot diacritic above "waw", the letter then named "ve" is used to represent distinctively the consonant in Arabic-based Uyghur.


title: Waw (letter)

text: Consonantal vav () generally represents a voiced labiodental fricative (like the English v) in Ashkenazi, European Sephardi, Persian, Caucasian, Italian and modern Israeli Hebrew, and was originally a labial-velar approximant .


title: Waw (letter)

text: In modern Israeli Hebrew, some loanwords, the pronunciation of whose source contains , and their derivations, are pronounced with : – (but: – ).


title: Waw (letter)

text: Modern Hebrew has no standardized way to distinguish orthographically between and . The pronunciation is determined by prior knowledge or must be derived through context.


title: Waw (letter)

text: Some non standard spellings of the sound are sometimes found in modern Hebrew texts, such as word-initial double-vav: – (word-"medial" double-vav is both standard and common for both and , see table above) or, rarely, vav with a geresh: – .


title: Waw (letter)

text: Vav can be used as a mater lectionis for an "o" vowel, in which case it is known as a "", which in pointed text is marked as vav with a dot above it. It is pronounced (phonemically transcribed more simply as ).


title: Waw (letter)

text: The vowel can be denoted without the vav, as just the dot placed above and to the left of the letter it points, and it is then called "". Some inadequate typefaces do not support the distinction between the ' ⟨⟩ , the consonantal vav pointed with a ' ⟨⟩ (compare ' ⟨⟩ and consonantal vav-' ⟨⟩ ). To display a consonantal vav with "" correctly, the typeface must either support the vav with the Unicode combining character "HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV" (U+05BA, HTML Entity (decimal) ֺ) or the precomposed character (U+FB4B).


title: Waw (letter)

text: Vav can also be used as a "mater lectionis" for , in which case it is known as a "shuruk", and in text with niqqud is marked with a dot in the middle (on the left side).


title: Waw (letter)

text: Shuruk and vav with a dagesh look identical ("") and are only distinguishable through the fact that in text with niqqud, vav with a dagesh will normally be attributed a vocal point in addition, e.g. (), "a market", (the "" denotes a shuruk) as opposed to (), "to market" (the "" denotes a vav with dagesh and is additionally pointed with a zeire, "  ", denoting ). In the word (), "marketing", the first ("") denotes a vav with dagesh, the second a shuruk, being the vowel attributed to the first.


title: Waw (letter)

text: Vav in gematria represents the number six, and when used at the beginning of Hebrew years, it means 6000 (i.e. in numbers would be the date 6754.)


title: Waw (letter)

text: (Note: Older Hebrew did not have "tense" in a temporal sense, "perfect," and "imperfect" instead denoting aspect of completed or continuing action. Modern Hebrew verbal tenses have developed closer to their Indo-European counterparts, mostly having a temporal quality rather than denoting aspect. As a rule, Modern Hebrew does not use the "Vav Consecutive" form.)


title: Waw (letter)

text: The single vov may be written with a dot on the left when necessary to avoid ambiguity and distinguish it from other functions of the letter. For example, the word "vu" 'where' is spelled , as "tsvey vovn" followed by a single vov; the single vov indicating is marked with a dot in order to distinguish which of the three vovs represents the vowel. Some texts instead separate the digraph from the single vov with a silent aleph.


title: Waw (letter)

text: In the Syriac alphabet, the sixth letter is ܘ. Waw (ܘܐܘ) is pronounced [w]. When it is used as a mater lectionis, a waw with a dot "above" the letter is pronounced [o], and a waw with a dot under the letter is pronounced [u]. Waw has an alphabetic-numeral value of 6.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: is a marine embayment formed within a tuff ring and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of East Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Hanauma is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Island and has suffered somewhat from overtourism. At one time, this popular tourist destination accommodated over three million visitors per year. In 1956, dynamite was used to clear portions of the reef to make room for telephone cables linking Hawaii to the west coast of the US.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: The prefix "hana" means bay in the Hawaiian language (the usual addition of bay in its name is thus redundant). There are two etymological interpretations of the second part of its name. One interpretation derives it from the Hawaiian word for curve, referring to either the shape of the feature or to the shape of the indigenous canoes that were launched there. Another stems from the indigenous hand-wrestling game known as "Uma".


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Hanauma is both a Nature Preserve and a Marine Life Conservation District (the first of several established in the State of Hawaii). Reflecting changes in attitude, its name has changed over time from Hanauma Bay Beach Park to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. Visitors are required by law to refrain from mistreating marine animals or from touching, walking, or otherwise having contact with coral heads, which appear much like large rocks on the ocean floor (here, mostly seaward of the shallow fringing reef off the beach). It is always recommended to avoid contacting coral or marine rocks as cuts to the skin can result and neglecting such wounds may bring medical problems.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: About 400 species of fish are known to inhabit the bay. Hanauma Bay is known for its abundance of Green sea turtles, "Chelonia mydas", known as "Honu". Hanauma is a nursery ground for the immature turtles, which have their nesting grounds at French Frigate Shoals. It is also known for its abundance of parrotfish.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Coral bleaching due to global warming has affected the coral reefs in Hanauma. In 2014 and 2015, 47% of the corals at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve suffered from coral bleaching, close to 10% of the corals in the nature preserve died.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: The Hawaiian Islands are a group of volcanoes that have risen up over a hot spot, which is a section of the Earth's surface that has exhibited volcanism for an extended period of time. Volcanic chains such as the Hawaiian Islands form as a result of the movement of a tectonic plate across fixed hot spot beneath the surface. In the case of the Hawaiian Islands, the Pacific plate has moved slowly northwestward over such a hotspot.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Approximately 3.9 million years ago, the Waianae volcano created the island of Oahu. About 2.5 million years ago, the Koolau volcano breached the ocean's surface and continued to grow in elevation until about 1.7 million years ago, when it went dormant. Most of the eastern or windward portion of Oahu are remnants of this volcano. Most of the familiar geographic landmarks of eastern Oahu were created by eruptions from Koolau from about 500,000 to 10,000 years ago. The eastern flank of the Koolau volcano including the caldera slid into the sea, leaving the Koolau mountain range that can be seen today on the windward side of the island.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: The Hanauma Crater was created about 32,000 years ago during the Honolulu volcanic series, the latest (and perhaps final) round of volcanic activity to occur on Oahu. Tens of thousands of years ago, a series of volcanic vents opened along the southeast shoreline of Oahu. Unlike the gentle lava flows currently building the island of Hawaii, the late-stage eruptions on Oahu were most often short-lived violent explosions. The volcanic vents that formed Hanauma Crater opened on the sea floor. Upwelling magma vaporized the ocean water and steam explosions blew the magma into fine ash. The explosions built cones or rings of ash, which solidified into tuff. The eruptions shattered the sea floor—coral reef and basalt—and scattered pieces that are now embedded in the tuff. Wave erosion eventually cut through the low, southeast wall of the crater, forming the current bay.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Due to the lack of fresh water in the vicinity, the area was not inhabited, although archeologists have found fishing tools and other indications of human presence there. The bay was used as a recreational area by "aliʻi" (Hawaiian nobility), including King Kamehameha and Queen Ka‘ahumanu, who fished, entertained visitors, and sponsored games there. It was also used as a layover and as a navigational lookout point, since the waters between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi are at times difficult.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Hanauma Bay was purchased from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop estate by the City and County of Honolulu, and subsequently opened for public use. It was initially a favorite fishing and picnic spot for residents who were willing to travel out to the bay. In the 1930s the road along Hanauma Bay's corner of Oahu was paved and a few other amenities provided that made it easier to visit the beach and reef. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, barbed wire was placed at the beach and a bunker was constructed for use by sentries. The Bay area reopened after the war and became even more visitor friendly after blasting in the reef for a transoceanic cable provided room for swimming. Hawaii-themed films and television shows, including "Blue Hawaii", "Paradise, Hawaiian Style", "Tora! Tora! Tora!", "Hawaii Five-O", and "Magnum, P.I.", shot footage at the bay.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: In 1967, it was set apart by the State division of Fish and Game as a Marine Protected Area, a term used generically to describe any marine area that had some or all of its resources protected. In Hanauma Bay's case everything became protected, from the fish to the reef, to the sand itself. A volunteer group set up a booth at the beach and began teaching visitors about conservation of the reef and fish who lived there. More changes in the 1970s by the City cleared more area in the reef for swimming, made an additional parking lot, and shipped in white sand from the North Shore, leaving Hanauma Bay increasingly more attractive to visitors.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: By the late 1980s, the bay had become a major attraction on Oahu. Tourists were brought in by the busload and sometimes as many as 13,000 visitors descended on the beach in one day. Most were uneducated about the fragile marine ecosystem and, unwittingly, "these crowds stirred up sediment, disturbed and trampled the coral and algae, dropped trash, fed the fish and left a slick of suntan lotion on the bay's surface." Consequently, the beautiful multicolored coral reef closest to the beach died; only its blackened skeleton is visible today.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: By 1990, overuse of the beach and surrounding area was a real problem, with visitors walking on the reef, swarming the surrounding areas, parking on the grass and on the sides of the road. Commercial filming was banned during that year. Measures were taken to limit use and so visitor access was limited to the parking lot, and when it was full everyone after was turned away. In 1997, the city of Honolulu levied an entrance fee on non-residents of the state, leading to a class action lawsuit by a visitor, which was settled in favor of the city during 2004. Then in August 2002 the Marine Education Center was opened at the entrance to the bay, where still today new visitors must watch a short film and receive instruction about conservation of the Bay's resources. Upon watching the film, visitors are allowed to sign a form and skip any subsequent film if they should return within the following 365 days.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Prior to 2020, Hanauma Bay saw an average of 3,000 visitors a day with peak days reaching up to 10,000, or around 1 million visitors per year, the majority of the visitors being tourists. One of the largest threats to the bay is the approximate 412 pounds (186.88 kilograms) of sunscreen that was deposited into Hanauma Bay every day. Sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate has been banned from the Hawaiian islands due to the deadly effects it has on coral reefs; however, sunscreens that don't have those harsh chemicals still have an effect on the reef's survival. The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) has found from oceanographic models that it takes approximately 50 hours for sunscreen deposited in a single day to be cycled out of Hanauma Bay. This means that each day, Hanauma Bay received sunscreen that would take two days to get rid of, but since the Bay never closed, the reef would not have the necessary time to recover. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the state park to see record lows, with this they also discovered the rehabilitation of the Hanauma Bay reef. Now, the reservation system that has been implemented limits it to 1000 visitors per day, and the park is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as well as holidays to give the fish a break from all the people disturbing their feeding, breeding, and other natural cycles that allow the reef to process the damage done by sunscreen pollution. The park has since also been limited to 720 guests per day and requires online reservations for all non-residents. Upon entry, visitors are met with informational boards about Hanauma Bay and first-time visitors are required to watch a 9-minute video about the bay, its history, its delicate ecosystem, and how to sustainably/ethically visit the Bay causing as minimal damage to the area as possible.


title: Hanauma Bay

text: Along the left point is the Toilet Bowl, a natural spa tub that gently rises and falls with the tide. However, water in the Toilet Bowl can rise and fall with greater intensity during inclement weather conditions, causing injuries. Because of that, The Bowl is now closed.


title: Skirmisher

text: Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an irregular open formation that is much more spread out in depth and in breadth than a traditional line formation. Their purpose is to harass the enemy by engaging them in only light or sporadic combat to delay their movement, disrupt their attack, or weaken their morale. Such tactics are collectively called skirmishing.


title: Skirmisher

text: A battle with only light, relatively indecisive combat is often called a skirmish even if heavier troops are sometimes involved.


title: Skirmisher

text: Skirmishers can be either regular army units that are temporarily detached to perform skirmishing or specialty units that are specifically armed and trained for such low-level irregular warfare tactics. Light infantry, light cavalry, and irregular units often specialize in skirmishing. Skirmishers' open formations and smaller numbers can give them superior mobility over the regular forces, allowing them to engage only on favorable terms, taking advantage of better position or terrain, and quickly withdrawing from any threat of superior enemy forces.


title: Skirmisher

text: Though often critical in protecting the main army from sudden enemy advances, skirmishers are poor at taking or defending ground from heavy infantry or heavy cavalry. In modern times, following the obsolescence of such heavy troops, all infantry has become indistinguishable from skirmishers, and the term has effectively lost its original military meaning as a distinct class of soldier, although skirmishing as a combat role is commonplace.


title: Skirmisher

text: In ancient warfare, skirmishers typically carried bows, javelins, slings and sometimes light shields. Acting as light infantry with their light arms and minimal armour, they could run ahead of the main battle line; release a volley of arrows, sling stones, or javelins; and retreat behind their main battle line before the clash of the opposing main forces. The aims of skirmishing were to disrupt enemy formations by causing casualties before the main battle and to tempt the opposing infantry into attacking prematurely, thus throwing their organization into disarray. Skirmishers could also be effectively used to surround opposing soldiers in the absence of friendly cavalry.


title: Skirmisher

text: Once preliminary skirmishing was over, skirmishers participated in the main battle by shooting into the enemy formation, or they joined in melée combat with daggers or short swords. Their mobility made skirmishers also valuable for reconnaissance, especially in wooded or urban areas.


title: Skirmisher

text: In Classical Greece, skirmishers originally had a low status. For example, Herodotus, in his account of the Battle of Plataea of 479 BC, mentioned that the Spartan Army fielded 35,000 lightly-armed helots to 5,000 hoplites, but there is no mention of them in his account of the fighting. Often, Greek historians ignored them altogether, but Xenophon distinguished them explicitly from the statary troops. It was far cheaper to equip oneself as lightly armed than a fully-armed hoplite. Indeed it was common for the lightly armed to go into battle equipped with stones. The low status of skirmishers reflected the low status of the poorer sections of society that made up skirmishers. Additionally, hit-and-run tactics went against the Greek ideal of heroism. Plato gives the skirmisher a voice to advocate "flight without shame" but only to denounce it as an inversion of decent values.


title: Skirmisher

text: Nevertheless, skirmishers then chalked up significant victories, such as the Athenian defeat at the hands of the Aetolian javelin men in 426 BC and, during the same war, the Athenian victory at the Battle of Sphacteria.


title: Skirmisher

text: Skirmisher infantry gained more respect in subsequent years, as their usefulness was more widely recognised and as the ancient bias against them waned. Peltasts, light javelin infantry, played a vital role in the Peloponnesian War, and well-equipped skirmisher troops such as "thureophoroi" and "thorakites" would be developed to provide a strong mobile force for the Greek and the Macedonian armies.


title: Skirmisher

text: The Celts did not, in general, favour ranged weapons. The exceptions tended not to include the use of skirmishers. The Britons used the sling and javelin extensively but for siege warfare, not skirmishing. Among the Gauls, likewise, the bow was employed to defend a fixed position. The Celts' lack of skirmishers cost them dearly during the Gallic Invasion of Greece of 279 BC when they found themselves helpless in the face of Aetolian skirmishing tactics. Thracians were famous for their skirmish war tactics and offered their services as mercenaries more than once in the Greek civil wars in ancient times.


title: Skirmisher

text: In the Punic Wars, despite the Roman and Carthaginian armies' different organisations, both had the role for skirmishers as screening the main armies. The Roman legions had a specialised infantry class, Velites, which acted as skirmish troops who engaged the enemy before the Roman heavy infantry made contact, and the Carthaginians recruited their skirmishers from the native peoples across the Carthaginian Empire.


title: Skirmisher

text: The Roman army of the late republican and early imperial periods frequently recruited foreign auxiliary troops to act as skirmishers to supplement the citizen legions.


title: Skirmisher

text: Medieval skirmishers were generally commoners armed with crossbows or longbows. In the 14th century, although long held in by the aristocratic Castilian heavy cavalry, the crossbowmen contributed greatly to the Portuguese victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota. Similarly, English archers played a key role in the English victory over French heavy cavalry at the Battle of Crécy. In the next century, they largely repeated that feat at the Battle of Agincourt. Such disasters have been seen as marking the beginning of the end of the dominance of the medieval cavalry in particular and of the heavy cavalry in general.


title: Skirmisher

text: The Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War were two early conflicts in which the modern rifle began to make a significant contribution to warfare. Despite its lower rate of fire, its accuracy at long range offered advantages over the smoothbore musket, then commonly used by regular armies. In both wars, many American frontiersmen served in the militia. The Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War was assisted by such irregular troops, such as the Minutemen, who engaged in skirmishing tactics by firing from cover, rather than in the open-field engagements that were customary at the time. Their tactics were influenced by experiences in fighting Native Americans. Militia in a skirmish role was particularly effective in the Battle of Cowpens. The character of Natty Bumppo in James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans" was notably called "La Longue Carabine" by the French because of his skill with the long rifle, which was common among the Colonials.


title: Skirmisher

text: During the Napoleonic Wars, skirmishers played a key role in battles; they attempted to disrupt the main enemy force by firing into their close-packed ranks and to prevent enemy skirmishers from doing the same to friendly troops. Because skirmishers generally fought in open order, they could take cover behind trees, houses, towers and similar items, thereby presenting unrewarding targets for small arms and artillery fire. Such tactics often made them vulnerable to cavalry. Some skirmishers had a minor sapper role by placing "cheval de frise" to deter cavalry.


title: Skirmisher

text: A skirmish force screening the main body of infantry became so important to any army in the field that eventually, all major European powers developed specialised skirmishing infantry. Examples included the German "Jäger", the French "voltigeurs" and the British riflemen.


title: Skirmisher

text: Muskets were the predominant infantry weapon of the late 18th century, but the British Army learned firsthand of the importance of rifles during the American Revolutionary War and began experimenting with them shortly thereafter, resulting in the Baker rifle. Although slower to reload and more costly to produce than a musket, it was much more accurate and proved its worth during the Peninsular War. Throughout the conflict, British riflemen could selectively target and eliminate the officers and NCOs of French forces from outside musket range.


title: Skirmisher

text: During the War of 1812, American riflemen again contributed to British casualties but also had to contend with the revised British light infantry tactics.


title: Skirmisher

text: A consequence of those wars' experiences was a trend to training line troops to adopt tactics that had been used only by skirmishers.


title: Skirmisher

text: The treatise "New American Tactics", by General John Watts de Peyster, advocated making the skirmish line the new line of battle, which was then a revolutionary idea. During the American Civil War, cavalrymen often dismounted and formed a skirmish line to delay enemy troops who were advancing toward an objective. An example was the actions of the Union cavalrymen led by Brigadier General John Buford on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Skirmish lines were also used to harass enemy probing missions, hampering the other force from gaining an effective intelligence picture by engaging their scouts, and likewise forcing them to deploy.


title: Skirmisher

text: By the late 19th century, the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane. Heavy infantry had disappeared, and all infantry effectively became skirmishers. The term has become obsolete, but as late as World War I, it continued to be associated with battlefield reconnaissance screens, which are essentially modern skirmish lines. As in the American Civil War, the primary role of the infantry skirmish line was to screen the advance of a parent force and to disrupt the enemy's own reconnaissance efforts. With the mechanization of modern warfare, the role of infantry skirmishers was more or less combined with those of light cavalry, as mounted scouts in specialized reconnaissance vehicles took over the responsibility of screening large formations during maneuvers, in addition to conducting their own probing actions.


title: Skirmisher

text: Some modern military units still use light and heavily armed units in conjunction. For example, the Soviet Army routinely deployed more lightly-armed motorized rifle regiments as skirmishers on the flanks or secondary sectors of a motorized rifle division on the offensive, and the heaviest units, backed by the heaviest armour, would fight in the division's main effort. The modern US military has light rapid-deployment Stryker brigade combat teams working with heavy-mechanized and armored units, with tracked M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks forming the primary combat force.


title: Skirmisher

text: Apartheid South Africa's military doctrine stressed the use of highly-mobile, light-mechanized forces that could cover ground swiftly while they kept heavier enemy armoured and infantry formations off balance and did not engage until the conditions were favourable. The lightly-armed South African units used tactics such as rapid movement, flank harassment and confusing the enemy with continuous maneuvering to compensate for their inferiority in firepower when they were faced with Angolan and Cuban forces during the South African Border War. The innovative use of South African reconnaissance units to throw Angolan tank formations into disarray before it lured them into ambushes, effectively deploying the units as skirmishers, was another consistent feature of that conflict.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language science fiction comedy-drama film written and directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval (in his directorial debut), produced by Santhosh T. Kuruvilla, and starring Suraj Venjaramoodu, Soubin Shahir, Sooraj Thelakkad, Kendy Zirdo, and Saiju Kurup. The music was composed by Bijibal. In the plot, Subrahmannyan (Soubin) goes to Russia for work, leaving his old-age father Bhaskaran Poduval (Suraj) with an Android robot called Kunjappan (Sooraj) to take care of him. Poduval, however, hates the idea.Also, it may be inspired from 2012 American movie "Robot & Frank".


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: "Android Kunjappan Version 5.25" was released in India on 8 November 2019. It received critical acclaim and was one of the commercially successful Malayalam films released in the year. The movie won three Kerala State Film Awards including Best Actor award for Suraj.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Bhaskaran Poduval(Suraj) is a stubborn old man who is very reluctant to get accustomed to any new-age technology and is therefore seen as a 'boomer' by some of the younger men in town. He resides in Payyanur with his son Subramanian (Soubin Shahir, nicknamed Chubban), a mechanical engineer. He is first seen at the Bali Ceremony of his friend Kunjappan, who is shown to be a rather short man. As Kunjappan's son Vinu is in the middle of performing the ritual, Poduval questions some aspects of the ritual, eventually infuriating Vinu, who storms off in a rage.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Poduval wants his son to be by his side during his last days, and that is why he prohibits his son from applying for any job, and to refuse any job offer he receives. Subramanian, in frustration, demands on going to Russia, as he had got a job in a Japanese Robotics firm there. This causes an argument between the father and son, which ends in Subramanian leaving for Russia.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Once there, he meets Hitomi, the daughter of a Malayali father and a Japanese mother, who is very fond of Kerala and Keralites. They form a close bond, and Hitomi tells Subramanian about her father who died of Alzheimer's. She also introduces him to the robotic home nurse (an android) who took care of her father during his last days. While repairing the robot, he gets a call from his cousin Prasannan (who takes care of his father), telling him that the maid that Subramanian had employed to look after his father was no good, and that he should immediately return home. Subramanian feels guilty about his inability to take care of his father, and he discusses the idea of resigning with Hitomi and his boss. However, his boss persuades him to not to give up on a promising career for a task that someone else can do.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Subramanian returns home with the latest Android Robot (Version 5.25) to take care of his father. Although Poduval was hesitant to accept the robot into his life, even being somewhat scared of it at first, eventually develops a strong liking to the robot and then, unexpectedly, becomes too attached to it. It (or he at this point) is named Kunjappan (lit. short man), which creates some confusion among the locals, as there was also another Kunjappan (Vinu's father). Slowly, the robot becomes irreplaceably close to Poduval's heart. Kunjappan also helped Poduval to make contact with his ex-lover.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Soon enough, Poduval starts to see Kunjappan as his own son. However, Subramanian becomes extremely worried about his father, after watching CCTV Camera footage of a previously modelled robot of the same company strangle its aged customer to death. So, he decides to quit his job and go back home along with Hitomi. Subramanian convinces Poduval to go to the local pond for his bath without Kunjappan. However, when Poduval comes back home, he sees Hitomi repairing a disassembled Kunjappan. Enraged to see this, Poduval tries to attack Hitomi, but Subramanian stops him. Poduval furiously asks what Subramanian is playing at, and Subramanian flares back that the robot will eventually kill him (Poduval). Poduval shouts back that even if Subramanian can't take care of him, at least to let Kunjappan do it. Subramanian, knowing that his father will suffer Cardiac Arrest if he gets too worked up, restores Kunjappan to its previous state. Then, Poduval decides to leave home with Kunjappan to a forest nearby where he thought that they could live, undisturbed. Meanwhile, Subramanian and Hitomi, searching for Poduval and Kunjappan, arrive at the forest. There, they see Babu, who was jealous of Kunjappan. Vinu attacks Kunjappan and steals the robot's head. In its in-built security reflex, the robot strangles a nearby Subramanian. However, Poduval saves Subramanian. Poduval, Subramanian and Hitomi leave for home, and while on the back of Subramanian's motorcycle, Poduval sees Subramanian as Kunjappan, and whispers the latter's name.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: "Android Kunjappan Version 5.25" marks the directorial debut of Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval who has also written the screenplay. Soubin Shahir was the first actor to be cast in the film. For the role of 80-year old Bhaskara Poduval, an older actor was being sought; but Shahir and producer Santhosh T. Kuruvilla suggested Suraj Venjaramood who is in his 40s and works primarily as a comedian. The film is set in Payyannur, Kannur district and the characters speak Kannur dialect. When Thiruvananthapuram-based Suraj (who has a Thiruvananthapuram accent) was brought on board, Poduval thought of giving the character a Thiruvananthapuram background to justify the mixed accent. But Suraj adapted to the Kannur accent so well that such a change became unnecessary. For the half Japanese half Malayali character Hitomi, the plan to bring any Japanese actors proved to be difficult and they cast Kendy Zirdo who was from Arunachal Pradesh. For the Android robot, the plan was to use VFX throughout the film, but due to budget constraints, Sooraj Thelakkad who is popular as a mimicry artiste in television shows played the role of the robot in the movie. Sooraj dressed up himself as the robot for the movie. Most of the audience thought that a real robot was used in the movie. But the filmmakers also later confirmed that Sooraj was behind the robot.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: "Android Kunjappan Version 5.25" was released in India on 8 November 2019 and outside India and the United States on 21 November.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: In the overseas opening weekend, it grossed £4,770 (₹4.4 lakh) from 51 screens in the United Kingdom, A$5,858 (₹2.86 lakh) in Australia, and US$2,905 (₹2.09 lakh) from 4 screens in Canada. In two weeks, it amassed US$4,746 (₹3.41 lakh) in Canada and £7,394 (₹6.85 lakh) in the UK, and in three weeks, US$22,717 (₹16.16 lakh) in the United States and A$7,150 (₹3.48 lakh) in Australia. According to Kerala Film Producers' Association's statistics, "Android Kunjappan Version 5.25" is one among the seven Malayalam films out of the 192 films released in 2019 that profited from the box office revenue alone.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: "The New Indian Express" rated 4 out of 5 stars and said that "this is one of those films whose synopsis can be described in one line but explores a myriad of conflicts, emotions, and themes ... the overall effect is that of watching a live-action Pixar film. "Android Kunjappan" is one of the best films of the year", also praised the actors' performances, particularly Suraj's. "Sify" rated 3.5 in a scale of 5 and wrote: "With an interesting idea, the writer-director packages an engaging drama with smart scenes, with a good dose of comedy and sentiments ... "Android Kunjappan version 5.25" is a delightful comedy that may not be perfect, but gives enough good moments to the viewer" and praised the "terrific form" of Suraj. "Firstpost" also rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that ""Android Kunjappan" is unrelentingly funny, yet it is at all times profoundly philosophical", the film's "all-round adorability overshadows its flaws and moments of hesitation" and that Shahir is "pitch perfect" and Suraj is "astonishingly good".


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars, "Manorama Online" said that ""Android Kunjappan" has a fresh and intriguing plot ... even though the focus is on AI and futurism, the sharp satirist in Ratheesh is at play throughout the film. As the scriptwriter, he has managed to craft some caricature-like characters and situations suited for a rustic scenario, without affecting the flow of the movie even a bit". "The News Minute" also rated 3.5 out of 5, and stated that "this story about an old man and a robot is very, very refreshing indeed for the Malayalam film industry. It has its flaws, but the rawness of the script is endearing", but "the script however falters towards the last few minutes, when it seems to lose direction", but "as far as debuts go, this one scores, and Ratheesh's name shall be remembered", while also praising Suraj's performance.


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: "The Times of India" rated 3 out of 5 stars and states that there are many wonderful moments in the first half, "be it as technology, some refreshing comic bits, novel characterizations, story settings and more, the film impresses", but post-interval, "the kind of nemesis created for Kunjappan is impact-less, and the presentation of complications in the situation also emerge a bit dull". Still, "the movie can reward someone with a taste for sci-fi comedies". "The Hindu" wrote that "at the core, the filmmaker is handling an age-old theme in our cinema, on the need to take care of the elderly ... although there is the expected moralizing that comes with the theme, the film almost stays clear of preaching ... the scriptwriter appears a little clueless as to how to end it all, which probably led to the slightly contrived climactic sequences", but praised the performance of Suraj. Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "The small scenes work beautifully but the bigger themes aren’t handled as well. And the unhinged ending is tonally off".


title: Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

text: In July 2021, it was announced that a sequel for the movie titled Alien Aliyan is in early development. Director Ratheesh Balakrishnan said that the sequel belongs to the sci-fi humour genre and is currently in the final stages of scripting. However, he also revealed that the movie doesn't follow the original's story even though the robot, which was abandoned by the end of the film, will make an appearance.


title: Richie Myler

text: Richard David Myler (born 21 May 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Leeds Rhinos in the Betfred Super League. He is a member of the Ireland squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, having declared for Ireland in 2022. Previously he has represented England and the England Knights at international level.


title: Richie Myler

text: He has played for the Widnes Vikings in the Championship, and the Salford City Reds in the Championship and the Super League. Myler has also played for the Warrington Wolves and the Catalans Dragons in the Super League.


title: Richie Myler

text: Myler signed for Salford from Widnes on a three-year deal in 2008 and contributed to Salford winning the National League One title, scoring 25 tries in 32 appearances, and winning numerous awards as well as the Co-Operative Player of the Year award. On 14 February 2009 Myler made his Super League début against Crusaders, scoring a try in a Salford victory.


title: Richie Myler

text: In 2009, he signed a four-year contract with Warrington worth around £200,000, making him the most expensive teenage signing in Rugby League history. Myler was offered a new contract which allegedly would have made him the highest paid player in the history of Widnes. According to agent Martin Offiah he rejected the deal, instead favouring a four-year deal with Warrington.


title: Richie Myler

text: In 2015, he declared he was interested in playing the NRL the next year as he wanted a new challenge. Manly were rumoured to want Myler after the departure of halves pairing Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans. However, on 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that Myler would stay in the Super League, signing a two-year deal with Catalans Dragons from 2016.


title: Richie Myler

text: On 27 June 2017 it was confirmed Myler had signed a three-year deal to join Leeds Rhinos starting from the following season. Myler was named Lance Todd Trophy winner for his performance at in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final.


title: Richie Myler

text: In round 21 of the 2022 Super League season, Myler scored a hat-trick in Leeds 36-32 victory over the Catalans Dragons. Leeds had been down 32-6 in the second half with one player being issued with a red card.


title: Richie Myler

text: In round 25 of the 2022 Super League season, Leeds defeated Huddersfield 18-14 in controversial circumstances. With less than five minutes to play, Myler was caught in a tackle with Huddersfield's Chris Hill, Myler then lifted his legs in the air in attempting to milk a penalty. The referee issued a yellow card to Hill over the incident which moments later eventuated in Leeds scoring the winning try.


title: Richie Myler

text: On 24 September 2022, Myler played for Leeds in their 24-12 loss to St Helens RFC in the 2022 Super League Grand Final.


title: Richie Myler

text: He was named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was named in the England team to face Wales at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He made his England début in the victory over Wales on 10 October 2008.


title: Richie Myler

text: Myler represented England against France on 13 June 2009. He started the game as a and scored 30 points in the 66-12 England victory.


title: Richie Myler

text: Myler was not called up to the England RL side for the Four Nations in 2011, however he was selected in the England Knights where he put in two man of the match performances but was still not called up.


title: Richie Myler

text: Myler was recalled to the international stage in 2018, playing in test matches against France at the Leigh Sports Village and New Zealand.


title: Richie Myler

text: In August 2022 Myler declared that he was available to play for in the forthcoming World Cup. He is qualified to play for Ireland through one of his grandfathers. Myler was named in the Ireland squad for the tournament when it was announced on 29 September 2022.


title: Richie Myler

text: In March 2012 Myler became engaged to then "Blue Peter" presenter Helen Skelton. They married in December 2013, and Skelton gave birth to their first child, a boy named Ernie, on 19 June 2015. followed by their second son, Louis, in April 2017. The couple's daughter, Elsie Kate, was born on 28 December 2021. Skelton announced on 25 April 2022 that the couple had separated. Just 6 months after his separation from Helen, he is expecting another baby with his girlfriend, Stephanie Thirkill in 2023.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Silver Samurai is the name of two different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, both acquaintances of Wolverine.


title: Silver Samurai

text: The character has appeared in several X-Men-related animated series and video games before making its live-action debut in the 2013 film "The Wolverine".


title: Silver Samurai

text: Kenuichio Harada is the original Silver Samurai. The character first appeared in "Daredevil" #111 (July 1974), and was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Bob Brown. A Japanese mutant who uses his powers to charge his katana and wears a samurai-style armor made of a silvery metal, he is the illegitimate son of Lord Shingen, the half-brother of Mariko Yashida, a cousin of Sunfire and Sunpyre, and a nemesis of Wolverine. While he spent most of his existence as a villain, he eventually reformed into a more heroic figure.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Shingen "Shin" Harada, otherwise known as the second Silver Samurai, is Kenuichio Harada's son and named after Lord Shingen, his grandfather. He had been committing larceny with Amiko Kobayashi.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Shin later worked with Mystique to track down newly awakened mutants to join a cause. He was later recruited by Kade Killgore to be a teacher at the Hellfire Club's Hellfire Academy where he worked as a designer.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Silver Samurai later appeared as a member of Mystique's fourth incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants. During Magneto's fight with the Brotherhood of Mutants on Madripoor, Magneto controlled Silver Samurai into wounding Mystique.


title: Silver Samurai

text: As part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel", Shingen Harada represented the Yashida Corporation when he attended a meeting at the Universal Bank with Tiberius Stone of Alchemax, Wilson Fisk of Fisk Industries, Sebastian Shaw of Shaw Industries, Darren Cross of Cross Technological Enterprises, Zeke Stane of Stane International, Frr'dox of Shi'ar Solutions Consolidated, and Wilhelmina Kensington of Kilgore Arms where they discussed with Dario Agger about Roxxon Energy Corporation's plans to exploit the Ten Realms of Asgard. When the true motive of the meeting was revealed, Harada attacked Dario and they almost fought, interrupted by the arrival of Exterminatrix of the Midas Foundation, resulting in Dario getting knocked out when declaring herself a new member of their assembly. He then went to an underwater station in the Southern Ocean, where he attacked the employees until encountering Thor who defeated him by smacking him repeatedly with Mjolnir. He then escaped and joined Exterminatrix in an aerial battle against soldiers attempting to rescue Dario. They later entered Roxxon Corporation HQ, where they encountered the B.E.R.S.E.R.K.E.R.S., a group of Hulk-like superhumans. While the Mindless Ones fought the B.E.R.S.E.R.K.E.R.S., Silver Samurai and Exterminatrix went to Dario's vault, attempting to take the money until Agent Solomon arrived, forcing Exterminatrix to fight the woman while Silver Samurai opened the vault. When the vault was opened, Dario transformed into Minotaur and knocked out Silver Samurai. Then, the floating island the building was located on fell down due to the activation of the Agger Imperative. While S.H.I.E.L.D. evacuated the building, Thor destroyed the island. The villains were later arrested and taken into custody.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Silver Samurai approached Old Man Logan wanting to ally in stopping the Hand's Regenix operation. He agreed in exchange that Mariko doesn't get killed and that Touku and Asami's child is taken care of. When Logan and Silver Samurai attack the Hand's Regenix operations, Silver Samurai fought Gorgon while Logan fought the Hand Ninjas to confront Mariko. After Gorgon got away, Silver Samurai injected nanites into Mariko to break the Hand's control. Afterwards, Logan and Mariko sent Silver Samurai to destroy the Regenix shipments in Madripoor.


title: Silver Samurai

text: Variations of the Silver Samurai appears in "The Wolverine" (2013). The first is the Yashida clan's traditional samurai attire which is donned by Shingen Yashida (portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada). The second is a giant, robotic suit made of adamantium operated by former soldier/billionaire Ichirō Yashida (portrayed by Haruhiko Yamanouchi (older self), and Ken Yamamura (younger self)).


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The Continuity Irish Republican Army (Continuity IRA or CIRA), styling itself as the Irish Republican Army (), is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It claims to be a direct continuation of the original Irish Republican Army and the national army of the Irish Republic that was proclaimed in 1916. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 but did not become active until the Provisional IRA ceasefire of 1994. It is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and is designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. It has links with the political party Republican Sinn Féin (RSF).


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: Since 1994, the CIRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the British Army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary. This is part of a wider campaign against the British security forces by dissident republican paramilitaries. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, as well as with grenades, mortars and rockets. The CIRA has also carried out bombings with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption, as well as many punishment attacks on alleged criminals.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: To date, it has been responsible for the death of one PSNI officer. The CIRA is smaller and less active than the Real IRA, and there have been a number of splits within the organisation since the mid-2000s.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The Continuity IRA has its origins in a split in the Provisional IRA. In September 1986, the Provisional IRA held a General Army Convention (GAC), the organisation's supreme decision-making body. It was the first GAC in 16 years. The meeting, which like all such meetings was secret, was convened to discuss among other resolutions, the articles of the Provisional IRA constitution which dealt with abstentionism, specifically its opposition to the taking of seats in Dáil Éireann (the parliament of the Republic of Ireland). The GAC passed motions (by the necessary two-thirds majority) allowing members of the Provisional IRA to discuss and debate the taking of parliamentary seats, and the removal of the ban on members of the organisation from supporting any successful republican candidate who took their seat in Dáil Éireann.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The Provisional IRA convention delegates opposed to the change in the constitution claimed that the convention was gerrymandered "by the creation of new IRA organisational structures for the convention, including the combinations of Sligo-Roscommon-Longford and Wicklow-Wexford-Waterford." The only IRA body that supported this viewpoint was the outgoing IRA Executive. Those members of the outgoing Executive who opposed the change comprised a quorum. They met, dismissed those in favour of the change, and set up a new Executive. They contacted Tom Maguire, who was a commander in the old IRA and had supported the Provisionals against the Official IRA (see Irish republican legitimatism), and asked him for support. Maguire had also been contacted by supporters of Gerry Adams, then president of Sinn Féin, and a supporter of the change in the Provisional IRA constitution.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: Maguire rejected Adams' supporters, supported the IRA Executive members opposed to the change, and named the new organisers the Continuity Army Council. In a 1986 statement, he rejected "the legitimacy of an Army Council styling itself the Council of the Irish Republican Army which lends support to any person or organisation styling itself as Sinn Féin and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House." In 1987, Maguire described the "Continuity Executive" as the "lawful Executive of the Irish Republican Army."


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: Initially, the Continuity IRA did not reveal its existence, either in the form of press statements or paramilitary activity. Although the Garda Síochána had suspicions that the organisation existed, they were unsure of its name, labelling it the "Irish National Republican Army". On 21 January 1994, on the 75th anniversary of the First Dáil Éireann, a group of men in paramilitary dress offered a "final salute" to Tom Maguire by firing over his grave. A public statement headed "Irish Republican Publicity Bureau" signed "B Ó Ruairc, "Rúnaí" [Secretary]" identifying the firing party as "Volunteers of Óglaigh na hÉireann-the Irish Republican Army", and two accompanying photos were published in "Saoirse Irish Freedom". Garda Special Branch detectives raided the headquarters of Republican Sinn Féin at Arran Quay, Dublin, two days after the graveside volley, seizing files and questioning staff. In February 1994 it was reported that in previous months Gardaí had found arms dumps along the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth that did not belong to the Provisional IRA, and forensics tests determined had been used for firing practice recently.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: It was only after the Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1994 that the Continuity IRA became active, announcing its intention to continue the campaign against British rule. The CIRA continues to oppose the Good Friday Agreement and, unlike the Provisional IRA (and the Real IRA in 1998), the CIRA has not announced a ceasefire or agreed to participate in weapons decommissioning—nor is there any evidence that it will. In the 18th Independent Monitoring Commission's report, the RIRA, the CIRA and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were deemed a potential future threat. The CIRA was labelled "active, dangerous and committed and... capable of a greater level of violent and other crime". Like the RIRA and RIRA splinter group Óglaigh na hÉireann, it too sought funds for expansion. It is also known to have worked with the INLA.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The CIRA has been involved in a number of bombing and shooting incidents. Targets of the CIRA have included the British military, the Northern Ireland police (both the Royal Ulster Constabulary and its successor the Police Service of Northern Ireland). Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 the CIRA, along with other paramilitaries opposing the ceasefire, have been involved with a countless number of punishment shootings and beatings. By 2005 the CIRA was believed to be an established presence on the island of Great Britain with the capability of launching attacks. A bomb defused in Dublin in December 2005 was believed to have been the work of the CIRA. In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) blamed the CIRA for planting four bombs in Northern Ireland during the final quarter of 2005, as well as several hoax bomb warnings. The IMC also blamed the CIRA for the killings of two former CIRA members in Belfast, who had stolen CIRA weapons and established a rival organisation.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The CIRA continued to be active in both planning and undertaking attacks on the PSNI. The IMC said they tried to lure police into ambushes, while they have also taken to stoning and using petrol bombs. In addition, other assaults, robbery, tiger kidnapping, extortion, fuel laundering and smuggling were undertaken by the group. The CIRA also actively took part in recruiting and training members, including disgruntled former Provisional IRA members. As a result of this continued activity the IMC said the group remained "a very serious threat".


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: On 10 March 2009 the CIRA claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of a PSNI officer in Craigavon, County Armagh—the first police fatality in Northern Ireland since 1998. The officer was fatally shot by a sniper as he and a colleague investigated "suspicious activity" at a house nearby when a window was smashed by youths causing the occupant to phone the police. The PSNI officers responded to the emergency call, giving a CIRA sniper the chance to shoot and kill officer Stephen Carroll. Carroll was killed two days after the Real IRA's 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting at Massereene Barracks in Antrim. In a press interview with Republican Sinn Féin some days later, regarded by some to be the political wing of the Continuity IRA, Richard Walsh described the attacks as "acts of war".


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In 2013, the Continuity IRA's 'South Down Brigade' threatened a Traveller family in Newry and published a statement in the local newspaper. There were negotiations with community representatives and the CIRA announced the threat was lifted. It was believed the threat was issued after a Traveller feud which resulted in a pipe bomb attack in Bessbrook, near Newry. The Continuity IRA is believed to be strongest in the County Fermanagh – North County Armagh area (Craigavon, Armagh and Lurgan). It is believed to be behind a number of attacks such as pipe bombings, rocket attacks, gun attacks, and the PSNI claimed it orchestrated riots a number of times to lure police officers into areas such as Kilwilkie in Lurgan and Drumbeg in Craigavon in order to attack them. It also claimed the group orchestrated a riot during a security alert in Lurgan. The alert turned out to be a hoax.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: On Easter 2016, the Continuity IRA marched in paramilitary uniforms through North Lurgan, Co Armagh, without any hindrance from the PSNI who monitored the parade from a police helicopter.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In July and August 2019 the CIRA carried out attempted bomb attacks on the PSNI in Craigavon, County Armagh and Wattlebridge, County Fermanagh.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: On 5 February 2020, a bomb planted by the CIRA was found by the PSNI in a lorry in Lurgan. The CIRA believed the lorry was going to be put on a North Channel ferry to Scotland in January 2020.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: Similar to the claim put forward by the Provisional IRA after its split from the Official IRA in 1969, the Continuity IRA claims to be the legitimate continuation of the original Irish Republican Army or "Óglaigh na hÉireann". This argument is based on the view that the surviving anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil delegated their "authority" to the IRA Army Council in 1938. As further justification for this claim, Tom Maguire, one of those anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil, issued a statement in favour of the Continuity IRA, just as he had done in 1969 in favour of the Provisionals. J. Bowyer Bell, in his "The Irish Troubles", describes Maguire's opinion in 1986: "abstentionism was a basic tenet of republicanism, a moral issue of principle. Abstentionism gave the movement legitimacy, the right to wage war, to speak for a Republic all but established in the hearts of the people". Maguire's stature was such that a delegation from Gerry Adams sought his support in 1986, but was rejected.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: These changes within the IRA were accompanied by changes on the political side and at the 1986 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (party conference), which followed the IRA Convention, the party's policy of abstentionism, which forbade Sinn Féin elected representatives from taking seats in the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic, was dropped. On 2 November, the 628 delegates present cast their votes, the result being 429 to 161. The traditionalists, having lost at both conventions, walked out of the Mansion House, met that evening at the West County Hotel, and reformed as Republican Sinn Féin (RSF).


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: According to a report in the "Cork Examiner", the Continuity IRA's first chief of staff was Dáithí Ó Conaill, who also served as the first chairman of RSF from 1986 to 1987. The Continuity IRA and RSF perceive themselves as forming a "true" Republican Movement.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The leadership of the Continuity IRA is believed to be based in the provinces of Munster and Ulster. It was alleged that its chief of staff was a Limerick man and that a number of other key members were from that county, until their expulsion. Dáithí Ó Conaill was the first chief of staff until 1991. In 2004 the United States (US) government believed the Continuity IRA consisted of fewer than fifty hardcore activists. In 2005, Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell told Dáil Éireann that the organisation had a maximum of 150 members.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The CIRA is an illegal organisation under UK (section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000) and ROI law due to the use of 'IRA' in the group's name, in a situation analogous to that of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA). Membership of the organisation is punishable by a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment under UK law. On 31 May 2001 Dermot Gannon became the first person to be convicted of membership of the CIRA solely on the word of a Garda Síochána chief superintendent. On 13 July 2004, the US government designated the CIRA as a 'Foreign Terrorist Organization'. This made it illegal for Americans to provide material support to the CIRA, requires US financial institutions to block the group's assets and denies alleged CIRA members visas into the US.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: The US government suspects the Continuity IRA of having received funds and arms from supporters in the United States. Security sources in Ireland have expressed the suspicion that, in co-operation with the RIRA, the Continuity IRA may have acquired arms and materiel from the Balkans. They also suspect that the Continuity IRA arsenal contains some weapons that were taken from Provisional IRA arms dumps, including a few dozen rifles, machine guns, and pistols; a small amount of the explosive Semtex; and a few dozen detonators.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In 2005, several members of the CIRA, who were serving prison sentences in Portlaoise Prison for paramilitary activity, left the organisation. Some transferred to the INLA landing of the prison, but the majority of those who left are now independent and on E4 landing. The remaining CIRA prisoners have moved to D Wing. Supporters of the Continuity IRA leadership claim that this resulted from an internal disagreement, which although brought to a conclusion, was followed by some people leaving the organisation anyway. Supporters of the disaffected members established the Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners. Most of those who had left went back to the CIRA, or dissociated themselves from the CGRP, which is now defunct.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission claimed in a report on paramilitary activity that two groups, styling themselves as "Óglaigh na hÉireann" and "Saoirse na hÉireann", had been formed after a split in the Continuity IRA either in early 2006 or late 2005. The Óglaigh na hÉireann group was responsible for a number of pipe bomb attacks on the PSNI, bomb hoaxes, and robberies, the IMC also claimed the organisation was responsible for the killing of Andrew Burns on 12 February 2008 and was seeking to recruit former members of the RIRA. The Saoirse na hÉireann (SNH) group was composed of "disaffected and largely young republicans" and was responsible for a number of bomb hoaxes, two of which took place in September 2006. It was thought to have operated largely in republican areas of Belfast . The groups had apparently ceased operations by early 2009.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In 2007, the Continuity IRA was responsible for shooting dead two of its members who had left and attempted to create their own organisation. Upon leaving the CIRA, they had allegedly taken a number of guns with them. The Continuity IRA is believed by Gardaí to have been involved in a number of gangland killings in Dublin and Limerick.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In July 2010, members of a "militant Northern-based faction within the CIRA" led by a well-known member from south Londonderry claimed to have overthrown the leadership of the organisation. They also claimed that an Army Convention representing "95 per cent of volunteers" had unanimously elected a new 12-member Army Executive, which in turn appointed a new seven-member Army Council. The moves came as a result of dissatisfication with the southern-based leadership and the apparent winding-down of military operations. A senior source from RSF said: "We would see them [the purported new leadership] as just another splinter group that has broken away." This organisation is referred to as the Real CIRA.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In June 2011 CIRA member Liam Kenny was murdered, allegedly by drug dealers, at his home in Clondalkin, West Dublin. On 28 November 2011 an innocent man was mistakenly shot dead in retaliation for the murder of Liam Kenny. Limerick Real IRA volunteer Rose Lynch pleaded guilty to this murder at the Special Criminal Court and was sentenced to life imprisonment.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In July 2012 the CIRA announced it had a new leadership after expelling members who had been working against the organisation.


title: Continuity Irish Republican Army

text: In April 2014 a former leading member of the Belfast Continuity IRA who had been expelled from the organisation, Tommy Crossan, was shot dead.


title: Murali Mohan

text: Maganti Murali Mohan (born 24 June 1940) is an Indian actor, producer, politician, and business executive from Telugu cinema. In 1973, Murali Mohan debuted in "Jagame Maya", produced by Atluri Poornachandra Rao. He gained recognition with the 1974 film "Tirupati", directed by Dasari Narayana Rao.


title: Murali Mohan

text: He has acted in over 350 feature films. He has served in various positions in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and the Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation. He was the Honorary President of the Telugu Movie Artists Association until the elections in 2015.


title: Murali Mohan

text: In 1980 he formed his own film production company, Jayabheri Arts, with his brother Kishore. His first film as producer was "Varala Abbay", directed by Raja Chandra. This was Murali Mohan's 100th film. The company produced 25 films, which include the blockbuster film "Athadu". He won three Nandi Awards.


title: Murali Mohan

text: He is the Chairman of the construction company Jayabheri Group. He has also been active in politics for the Telugu Desam Party. He contested in the 15th Loksabha elections in 2009 as the TDP candidate from Rajahmundry parliamentary constituency of Andhra Pradesh, which eventually lost to the Indian National Congress candidate Vundavalli Aruna Kumar by just 2,147 votes. In 2014, he won the 16th Loksabha elections as a member of Parliament from Rajahmundry.


title: Murali Mohan

text: Maganti Murali Mohan was born on 24 June 1940 in Chataparru to Maganti Madhava Rao, an Indian freedom fighter. He did his schooling in Eluru. He shifted gears in 1963 and started his own business dealing in electrical motors and oil engines. He then ventured into stage acting in Vijayawada.


title: Murali Mohan

text: Murali Mohan is married to Vijaya Lakshmi, with whom he has a daughter, Madhu Bindhu, and a son Ram Mohan.


title: Murali Mohan

text: The Murali Mohan Charitable Trust provides free education for people who secure 85% in both SSC and intermediate and below 10,000 rank in EAMCET or any other preferred entrance tests. The students will be taken into consideration only after full-fledged screening for their financial status and community. The trust is focused on encouraging students of any community who are financially poor. Since its inception the trust has adopted nearly 10,000 students of engineering and medicine.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm, statically typed, compiled systems programming language, designed and developed by a team around Andreas Rumpf. Nim is designed to be "efficient, expressive, and elegant", supporting metaprogramming, functional, message passing, procedural, and object-oriented programming styles by providing several features such as compile time code generation, algebraic data types, a foreign function interface (FFI) with C, C++, Objective-C, and JavaScript, and supporting compiling to those same languages as intermediate representations.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim is statically typed. It supports compile-time metaprogramming features such as syntactic macros and term rewriting macros. Term rewriting macros enable library implementations of common data structures, such as bignums and matrices, to be implemented efficiently, as if they were built-in language facilities. Iterators are supported and can be used as first class entities, as can functions, allowing for the use of functional programming methods. Object-oriented programming is supported by inheritance and multiple dispatch. Functions can be generic, they can be overloaded, and generics are further enhanced by Nim's support for type classes. Operator overloading is also supported. Nim includes tunable automatic garbage collection based on deferred reference counting with cycle detection, which can also be turned off altogether.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim's initial development was started in 2005 by Andreas Rumpf. It was originally named Nimrod when the project was made public in 2008. The first version of the Nim compiler was written in Pascal using the Free Pascal compiler. In 2008, a version of the compiler written in Nim was released. The compiler is free and open-source software, and is being developed by a community of volunteers working with Andreas Rumpf. The language was officially renamed from "Nimrod" to "Nim" with the release of version 0.10.2 in December 2014. On September 23, 2019, version 1.0.0 of Nim was released, signifying the maturing of the language and its toolchain.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: The syntax of Nim resembles that of Python. Code blocks and nesting statements are identified through use of whitespace, according to the offside-rule. Many keywords are identical to their Python equivalents, which are mostly English keywords, whereas other programming languages usually use punctuation. With the goal of improving upon its influence languages, even though Nim supports indentation-based syntax like Python, it introduced additional flexibility. For example, a single statement may span multiple lines if a comma or binary operator is at the end of each line. And Nim supports user-defined operators.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Unlike Python, Nim implements (native) static typing. Nim's type system allows for easy type conversion, casting, and provides syntax for generic programming. Nim notably provides type classes which can stand in for multiple types, and provides several such type classes 'out of the box'. Type classes allow working with several types as if they were a single type. For example:


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim is almost fully style-insensitive; two identifiers are considered equal if they only differ by capitalization and underscores, as long as the first characters are identical. Historically, Nim was fully case-insensitive (capitalization of the identifiers was fully ignored) and underscores were completely ignored, too.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim supports Uniform Function Call Syntax (UFCS) and identifier equality, which provides a large degree of flexibility in use.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Except for the first letter, identifiers in Nim are compared in a case-insensitive manner, and underscores are ignored.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: The stropping feature allows the use of any name for variables or functions, even when the names are reserved words for keywords. An example of stropping is the ability to define a variable named codice_4, without clashing with the keyword codice_4. Nim's implementation of this is achieved via backticks, allowing any reserved word to be used as an identifier.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: The Nim compiler emits fast, optimized C code by default. It defers compiling-to-object code to an external C compiler to leverage existing compiler optimization and portability. Many C compilers are supported, including Clang, Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC), MinGW, and GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). The Nim compiler can also emit C++, Objective-C, and JavaScript code to allow easy interfacing with application programming interfaces (APIs) written in those languages; developers can simply write in Nim, then compile to any supported language. This also allows writing applications for iOS and Android. There is also an unofficial LLVM backend, allowing use of the Nim compiler in a stand-alone way.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: The Nim compiler is self-hosting, meaning it is written in the Nim language. The compiler supports cross-compiling, so it is able to compile software for any of the supported operating systems, no matter the development machine. This is useful for compiling applications for embedded systems, and for uncommon and obscure computer architectures.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: With the option codice_6 a "release" build can be created, which is optimized for speed and contains fewer runtime checks.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nimble is the standard package manager used by Nim to package Nim modules. It was initially developed by Dominik Picheta, who is also a core Nim developer. Nimble has been included as Nim's official package manager since Oct 27, 2015, the v0.12.0 release.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nimble packages are defined by codice_16 files, which contain information about the package version, author, license, description, dependencies, and more. These files support a limited subset of the Nim syntax called NimScript, with the main limitation being the access to the FFI. These scripts allow changing of test procedure, or for custom tasks to be written.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: The list of packages is stored in a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file which is freely accessible in the nim-lang/packages repository on GitHub. This JSON file provides Nimble with a mapping between the names of packages and their Git or Mercurial repository URLs.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: This command will reveal the version number, compiling date and time, and Git hash of nimble. Nimble uses the Git package, which must be available for Nimble to function properly. The Nimble command-line is used as an interface for installing, removing (uninstalling), and upgrading–patching module packages.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: c2nim is a source-to-source compiler (transcompiler or transpiler) meant to be used on C/C++ headers to help generate new Nim bindings. The output is human-readable Nim code that is meant to be edited by hand after the translation process.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: nimgrep is a generic tool for manipulating text. It is used to search for regex, peg patterns, and contents of directories, and it can be used to replace tasks. It is included to assist with searching Nim's style-insensitive identifiers.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: nimsuggest is a tool that helps any source code editor query a codice_18 source file to obtain useful information like definition of symbols or suggestions for completions.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: It creates .msi installers for Windows via Inno Setup, and install and uninstall scripts for Linux, macOS, and Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).


title: Nim (programming language)

text: nimpretty is a source code beautifier, used to format code according to the official Nim style guide.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Testament is an advanced automatic Unittests runner for Nim tests. Used in developing Nim, it offers process isolation tests, generates statistics about test cases, supports multiple targets and simulated Dry-Runs, has logging, can generate HTML reports, can skip tests from a file, and more.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: choosenim was developed by Dominik Picheta, creator of the Nimble package manager, as a tool to enable installing and using multiple versions of the Nim compiler. It downloads any Nim stable or development compiler version from the command line, enabling easy switching between them.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: nimterop is a tool focused on automating the creation of C/C++ wrappers needed for Nim's foreign function interface.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Pure libraries are modules written in Nim only. They include no wrappers to access libraries written in other programming languages.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Impure libraries are modules of Nim code which depend on external libraries that are written in other programming languages such as C.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: A Nim program can use any library which can be used in a C, C++, or JavaScript program. Language bindings exist for many libraries, including GTK, Qt QML, wxWidgets, Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) 2, Cairo, OpenGL, Windows API (WinAPI), zlib, libzip, OpenSSL, Vulkan and cURL. Nim works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite databases. Nim can interface with the Lua, Julia, Rust,


title: Nim (programming language)

text: One of the more exotic features is the implicit codice_19 variable. Every procedure in Nim with a non-void return type has an implicit result variable that represents the value to be returned. In the for loop we see an invocation of codice_20 which is an iterator. If an iterator is omitted, the compiler will attempt to use an codice_21 iterator, if one is defined for the type specified.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: This code requires the gintro module to work, which is not part of the standard library. To install the module gintro and many others you can use the tool nimble, which comes as part of nim. To install the gintro module with nimble you do the following:


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Functional programming is supported in Nim through first-class functions and code without side effects via the `noSideEffect` pragma, the `func` keyword and the experimental feature `strictFuncs`.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: With the `strictFuncs` feature enabled, Nim will perform side effect analysis and raise compilation errors for code that does not obey the contract of producing no side effects.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Contrary to purely functional programming languages, Nim is a multi-paradigm programming language, so functional programming restrictions are opt-in on a function-by-function basis.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Nim supports first-class functions by allowing functions to be stored in variables or passed as parameters to be invoked by other functions.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Since version 1.4, a stricter definition of a "side effect" is available. In addition to the existing rule that a side effect is calling a function with side effects the following rule is also enforced:


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Any mutation to an object does count as a side effect if that object is reachable via a parameter that is not declared as a codice_24 parameter.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Generics may be used in procedures, templates and macros. They are defined after the proc's name in square brackets, as seen below.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: In codice_27, codice_28 is the generic type, the compiler will accept any values for this function as long as both parameters and the return value are of the same type.


title: Nim (programming language)

text: Macros can rewrite parts of the code at compile-time. Nim macros are powerful and can do many operations on the abstract syntax tree.