title: Voicemail

text: ADS used the human voice and the fixed-line touch-tone telephones that predated computer screens and mobile phones. The first operational prototypes were used by 750 IBM executives mainly in the US for their daily work. Those prototypes ran on an IBM System/7 computer attached to an IBM VM370 for additional storage.


title: Voicemail

text: In 1978 the prototype was converted to run on an IBM Series/1 computer. In September 1981 IBM started marketing ADS in America and Europe: the first customer installation was completed in February 1982.


title: Voicemail

text: ADS, marketed by IBM and briefly by AT&T Corporation, was well featured for voice messaging, the result of IBM's considerable human-factors research plus observation of operational use. Using a 1980s computer requiring air conditioning, it was expensive and physically large. With further development it grew to handle up to 3000 users, 100 hours of messages, multiple languages, message notification to a host computer, and 16 simultaneous users.


title: Voicemail

text: ADS could be connected to exchange lines and private exchanges including the IBM 2750 and 3750 Switching Systems available in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and the UK.


title: Voicemail

text: Another company, Delphi Communications of California, deserves some partial credit for invention of voicemail. Under the leadership of Jay Stoffer, Delphi developed a proprietary system called "Delta 1" that picked up incoming calls directly from the telephone company. Stoffer presented the Delphi concept publicly to the association of Telephone Answering Services around 1973 and the prototype system was launched in San Francisco in 1976 by a Delphi company called VoiceBank. Delphi developed Delta 1 as a purely service-oriented voice messaging system to answer subscriber telephones for businesses and professionals. Delta 1 required human intervention for message deposit. While three machines were built, only one machine was put into operational service. The completely automated voice messaging system (Delta 2) was developed for initial operational use in Los Angeles in 1981. Apparently Delta 2 was built, installed and operational for a short while, but unfortunately Delphi's major early investor, Exxon Enterprises, abruptly shut down Delphi in July 1982. Nothing further was done with Delphi's technology. A patent was applied for and issued for Delphi's Automated Telephone Voice Service System. The patent, US Patent No. 4,625,081, was issued after Delphi's closure, but Delphi's assets (and the patent) were transferred to another Exxon company, Gilbarco, which made equipment for gas pumps at filling stations. Gilbarco is now owned by GEC in the United Kingdom.


title: Voicemail

text: AT&T developed a system called 1A Voice Storage System to support custom services including voicemail


title: Voicemail

text: for the public telephone system. It worked in conjunction with the companies 1A ESS and 5ESS systems. Development started in mid-1976, with first deployment in early 1979. Friendly user service started in March 1980. The service was terminated in 1981 as a result of the US FCC Computer Inquiry II, which prohibited enhanced services from being provided by the regulated network.


title: Voicemail

text: In 1979, a company was founded in Texas by Gordon Matthews called ECS Communications (the name was later changed to VMX, for Voice Message exchange). VMX developed a 3000-user voice messaging system called the VMX/64 and was company to offer a voice messaging system for sale commercially for corporate use. In the early 1980s, VMX sold voice messaging systems to several large corporations, such as 3M, Kodak, American Express, Intel, Hoffmann–La Roche, Corning Glass, Arco, Shell Canada and Westinghouse. The impressive list of early adopters started the ball rolling on corporate voicemail. While VMX began with a good start, it failed at developing the market, and the company was not a commercial success. It took several years before its products could answer outside calls (and then only under certain circumstances), they were physically enormous, expensive, light on important user features and had serious reliability issues. In addition, the user interface was cumbersome, requiring the users to remember non-intuitive multi-digit Touch-tone commands. Matthews, a prolific entrepreneur and patentor, applied for and was granted a patent on voicemail (patent number 4,371,752) which issued in February 1983. The patent was promoted as the pioneering patent for voicemail. However, the patent application was filed on November 26, 1979, five years after, and issued in 1983, two years after that of Kolodny and Hughes as described above, and cannot, therefore, be considered as the pioneering foundation of voicemail.


title: Voicemail

text: VMX asserted infringement first with IBM, AT&T and then Wang, but all three companies reportedly would have been able to invalidate the patent on the basis of prior art and their licenses from Sudbury Systems Inc, for their Kolodny and Hughes patent (see above). VMX cleverly achieved a settlement where the patent was let stand, not challenged in court and IBM, Wang and AT&T (in separate settlements) received royalty-free licenses to all VMX patents. Wang, the last of the majors to get such a license for itself and Voice-mail International, essentially paid $20,000 and cross-licensed a few patent applications (not issued patents). IBM and AT&T also cross-licensed a number of patents to VMX, most of which were obsolete or outdated. VMX could claim that several major companies licensed the patent (even though they paid almost nothing to VMX for the rights), but that part wasn't disclosed. The patent was never challenged in court and VMX then continued to assert (incorrectly) that it had invented voicemail and that Matthews was the "father of voice-mail". Following the settlement with Wang, VMX settled with Octel Communications in exchange for a small payment and Octel's agreeing not to litigate any VMX patent, Octel received a paid-up, royalty-free license on all existing and future VMX patents.


title: Voicemail

text: In 1985, Voice Response Inc. (formerly Call-It Co) a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, Davenport IA, entered the fast-growing Interactive Voice (IVR) response market under the direction of Bob Ross, President. About a year later, VRI introduced one of the first "successful" IVR applications that utilized voice recognition (rather than touch tone) to capture caller responses. Voice recognition technology had great difficulty with regional and ethnic differences and nuances which resulted in a high incidence of error. VRI discovered that hesitation (delayed response) signaled caller confusion or misunderstanding which often resulted in an inaccurate response. VRI developed proprietary techniques that measured user response times and used the data to make real-time changes to the application's dialog with the caller. VRI found that the confidence level of a "suspect" caller response could be increased by asking "Did you say (Chicago), Yes or No", a standard question heard in order taking or reservation making IVR applications today. VRI pioneering applications, including subscription fulfillment for "Time" and "Life" magazines, proved faster and less expensive than call centers using live operators and although VRI did not survive, their voice recognition processes became industry standards and VRI's patent USPTO - patent RE34,587 was eventually licensed by Intel/Dialogic and Nuance.


title: Voicemail

text: Amidst the booming popularity of the IBM PC-AT, a variety of companies popped up to market add-in boards to the AT. These companies aimed to use the PC as an inexpensive hardware platform for hosting add-in boards and software providing voice mail functionality for small businesses that wanted something more sophisticated than an answering machine but couldn't afford pricey conventional voice mail solutions. Among the most successful of these was The Complete PC, founded in 1986 in Silicon Valley. At its peak, The Complete PC was selling over 20,000 voicemail boards per year, some including facsimile capabilities as well for small businesses. The Complete PC was sold to publicly-listed Florida-based Boca Research Inc. in 1993. An early pointer was BIG Mouth, a single line simplified voicemail solution, invented by TT Technology and Charles Wohl, later joined the Swedish tech team under ESSELTE VOICE and produced 2 and 4 line analog cards, to be mounted on standard industry PC Boards.


title: Voicemail

text: In 1987, voicemail service providers in the US and Europe joined to form the Voice Mail Association of Europe (VMA) with René Beusch, Radio-Suisse and Paul Finnigan, Finnigan USA serving as VMA Chairman and President respectively. The first VMA meeting was held in Stockholm Huddinge by Voicemail Svenska AB in 1987, organized by its founder Lars Olof Kanngard. The tech team in Voicemail Svenska AB was granted the right to port the Voicemail from PDP systems to their own PC-board solution, which become known as the MiniVoice, later become ESSELTE VOICE AB. The VMA invited service providers, vendors and consultants to attend semi-annual conferences that included presentations, discussions and reporting of experiences. VMA membership was eventually expanded to include representatives from telecommunication organizations worldwide and became "The International Voice-mail Association". By the late 1980s, the Bell Operating companies, Tigon and other independent service providers in the US had joined the VMA. In 1992, VMA members conducted an "Information Week Tour of the U.S.", sharing ideas with major telecom operators. VMA working groups promoted collaboration and adoption of industry standards to the ITU and CCITT and at the 1999 CCITT conference in Geneva, Switzerland, demonstrated worldwide exchange of messages between the major voicemail vendors' platforms using the VPIM networking standard. Beusch and Finnigan led the VMA until 1998 and 1999 respectively and the organization continues to serve the voice services industry today.


title: Voicemail

text: In the early 1980s, there were over 30 companies vying for the corporate voicemail market. Among the many contenders were IBM, VMX, Wang, Octel, ROLM, AT&T, Northern Telecom, Delphi Communications, Voice and Data Systems, Opcom, Commterm, Genesis, Brook Trout, Innovative Technology (ITI), Glenayre, BBL, AVT, AVST, Digital Sound, Centigram, Voice-mail International and Active Voice. Only a few of these companies were successful in capturing a significant market share and remain in the voicemail business today.


title: Voicemail

text: ROLM Corporation, founded in 1969 by Gene Richeson, Ken Oshman, Walter Loewenstern and Robert Maxfield, was the first PBX manufacturer to offer integrated voicemail with its PhoneMail system, its registered trademark. PhoneMail offered impressive recording quality of its digitized messages. ROLM's digital PBX (called a CBX, for Computerized Branch eXchange) was the first to enable PhoneMail to illuminate a message waiting light on ROLM phones equipped with message waiting lights (also a stutter dialtone is used with analog and digital phones). Rolm was sold to IBM, who later sold it to Siemens who offer PhoneMail in various configurations/sizes (including a micro-sized version) and its unified messaging successor, Xpressions 470. ROLM was purchased by IBM in the mid-1980s (which was a financial disaster for the profitable ROLM, as IBM clearly could not grasp the laid back, "think outside the box" attitude of ROLM, which was the #2 PBX supplier in the US from the mid-'70s to late '80s), then sold half interest to the German company Siemens. In 1992, Siemens bought ROLM entirely from IBM and the original ROLM product line was done for, except for PhoneMail (the only product Siemens did not destroy). VMX suffered from poor product and ineffective management and was about to fold when Opcom merged with it. The surviving company was called VMX, but VMX was all but erased by Opcom except for its name and patent portfolio.


title: Voicemail

text: Opcom, a company founded by David Ladd, developed a voicemail system primarily marketed to smaller enterprises. Opcom pioneered and patented the feature of automated attendant (US Patent numbers 4,747,124 and 4,783,796 both issued in 1988), an integral part of any voicemail systems. The automated attendant enables callers to direct calls by pressing single digit keys, e.g. "If you are making domestic reservations, press '1'; for international reservations, press '2'; etc." Opcom later pioneered the concept of Unified Messaging (to be discussed later in this article). Opcom eventually acquired VMX through a reverse merger, (Opcom was private and VMX was public) and the surviving company VMX was eventually acquired by Octel.


title: Voicemail

text: Octel Communications, founded in 1982 by Bob Cohn and Peter Olson, broadly commercialized the corporate voice messaging market. While Octel benefited from the work and experiments of others it was the first stand-alone voicemail company to build a strong business and strategy to win in this difficult market. In addition, Octel innovated substantially new technology which contributed heavily to its success including a system architecture that was physically smaller, faster, more reliable, and much less costly than other corporate vendors. Octel's voicemail system, was introduced in 1984, included unique system features, many of which were patented, which gave Octel market leadership. In 1990 Octel was one of the first companies to introduce the concept of "Unified Messaging".


title: Voicemail

text: AT&T/Lucent created its version of voicemail in the early 1990s (called Audix) but it would only work on AT&T/Lucent PBXs. Northern Telecom developed Meridian Mail and followed the same strategy as AT&T in that Meridian Mail only worked with Northern Telecom PBXs. As a result, neither company achieved much market share with large national or multi-national accounts. AT&T spun off its equipment business into a company called Lucent Technologies, and Northern Telecom changed its name to Nortel.


title: Voicemail

text: By the mid-1990s, Octel had become the number one supplier of voicemail both to corporations and to carriers. Octel had about a 60 percent market share in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan (for large corporations) and between 30 percent and 100 percent of the carrier market, depending on the country. By 1997 Octel's biggest competitors were Audix, made by Lucent, and Meridian Mail, made by Nortel. In July 1997, Octel was purchased by Lucent Technology. Lucent's AUDIX division was merged into Octel to form the Octel Messaging Division. By 2000, some estimate that there were over 150,000,000 active users of corporate and carrier voicemail made by the Octel Messaging Division. Shortly thereafter, Lucent spun off its corporate business, including the Octel Messaging Division, into a company known as Avaya.


title: Voicemail

text: Boston Technology, uReach Technologies, and Comverse Technology all entered the carrier market in the early 1990s. Boston was eventually acquired by Comverse, making it the second-largest supplier to carriers after Octel. However, in a few years, Comverse became the largest supplier to carriers with Lucent/Octel holding its leadership in the corporate market and second place with carriers. Primal Technologies entered the market in 2003 with Web-based Voicemail and VM-to-Email for corporate clients. For IP-based voicemail systems, Ericsson claims market leadership with its Ericsson Messaging-over-IP (MoIP) solution. Comverse changed its name to Xius in 2015. uReach provided VoiceMail services for Verizon and a host of other Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers and was the voicemail system used by Verizon FIOS. uReach Technologies was acquired by GENBAND in 2014. In a move to reach more millennials, Primal Technologies NFV Unified Visual Voicemail recently added WhatsApp and Facebook integration for Voicemail deposit notifications.


title: Voicemail

text: In the US, the Bell Operating Companies and their cellular divisions had been prohibited by the FCC from offering voicemail and other enhanced services such as paging and telephone answering services (no such prohibition existed in foreign countries). A ruling by Judge Harold H. Greene on March 7, 1988, removed this barrier and allowed the BOCs to offer voicemail service, however, they were not allowed to design or manufacture equipment used to provide voicemail services.


title: Voicemail

text: The opportunity created by the Greene decision, plus Voicemail International's abandonment of its market lead for carrier-grade systems, created a new opportunity for competing manufacturers and those who had been focusing on the corporate market. Unisys, Boston Technology, and Comverse Technology were quick to address the BOC and PTT marketplace. Octel, who had high capacity systems in use internally by all seven Regional Bell Operating companies, launched a new generation of its large system specifically designed for carriers and was compliant with "NEBS standards", the tight standard required by phone companies for any equipment located in their central offices.


title: Voicemail

text: While Unisys eventually secured PacBell's residential voicemail services, Boston Technology became the mainstay of Bell Atlantic's residential voicemail offering and Comverse Technology enjoyed some success in the European market; Octel became the provider of voicemail platforms for virtually all of the major US wireless carriers (including the seven RBOCs, AT&T Wireless and McCaw), Canadian cellular carriers and a large percentage of the GSM carriers around the world.


title: Voicemail

text: However, it didn't take long for Comverse to become the largest supplier to the BOCs and PTTs with Lucent/Octel holding its leadership in the corporate market and second place with carriers. Boston was eventually acquired by Comverse making it the second-largest supplier to carriers after Octel.


title: Voicemail

text: Unified Messaging integrated voicemail into Microsoft Exchange, the corporate email system made by Microsoft. Unified Messaging had been invented by Roberta Cohen, Kenneth Huber and Deborah Mill at AT&T Bell Labs. The patent for Unified Messaging was received in June 1989 (Patent number 4,837,798).


title: Voicemail

text: Unified Messaging allowed users to access voicemail and email messages using either the graphical user interface (GUI) on their PC, or using the telephone user interface (TUI). Using a PC, users could see voicemails and emails mixed together in their email inbox. Voicemails had a little telephone icon next to them and emails had a little envelope icon next to them (see figure below). For voicemail, they'd see the "header information" (sender, date sent, size, and subject). Users could double-click a voicemail from their email inbox and hear the message through their PC or a phone next to their desk.


title: Voicemail

text: Using any phone in the world, users could listen to voice messages like they normally did, plus have emails read to them (in synthesized voice). Voice messages could be sent using email or telephone addressing schemes, and the data networking infrastructure was used to send messages between locations rather than the public switched telephone network. It wasn't until the early 2000s and the availability of reliable, high capacity email servers, high speed internet connections and PCs with speakers or microphones that Unified Messaging achieved commercial success.


title: Voicemail

text: Other interesting markets developed from the carrier market including a concept called "virtual telephony". Virtual Telephony, developed by Octel, used voicemail to provide phone service rapidly in emerging countries without wiring for telephones. The problem this solved was that emerging countries did not have many telephones. Wiring for telephones was very expensive, and many poorer citizens did not have homes to wire. The economies of emerging countries were held back partly because people could not communicate beyond the area where they could walk or ride a bicycle. Giving them phones was one way to help their economies, but there was not a practical way to do it. In some countries, the wait for a phone was several years and the cost was in the thousands of dollars. Cellular phones were not an option at the time because they were extremely expensive (thousands of dollars per handset) and the infrastructure to install cell sites was also costly.


title: Voicemail

text: With virtual telephony, each person could be given a phone number (just the number, not the phone) and a voice mailbox. The citizen would also be given a pager. If someone called the phone number, it never rang on an actual phone, but would be routed immediately to a central voicemail system. The voicemail system answered the call and the caller could leave a long, detailed message. As soon as the message was received, the voicemail system would trigger the citizen's pager. When the page was received, the citizen would find a pay phone and call in to pick up the message. This concept was used successfully in South America and South Africa.


title: Voicemail

text: By the year 2000, voicemail had become a ubiquitous feature on phone systems serving companies, cellular and residential subscribers. Cellular and residential voicemail continue today in their previous form, primarily simple telephone answering. Email became the prevalent messaging system, email servers and software became quite reliable, and virtually all office workers were equipped with multimedia desktop PCs.


title: Voicemail

text: The increase in wireless mobility, originally through cellular services and today through IP-based Wi-Fi, was also a driver for messaging convergence with mobile telephony. Today it is not only fostering the use of speech user interfaces for message management, but increasing the demand for retrieval of voice messages integrated with email. It also enables people to reply to both voice and email messages in voice rather than text. New services, such as GotVoice, SpinVox and YouMail, are helping to blur the boundaries between voicemail and text by delivering voicemails to mobile phones as SMS text messages.


title: Voicemail

text: "Instant messaging in voice": The next development in messaging was in making text messaging real-time, rather than just asynchronous store-and-forward delivery into a mailbox. Although in the 1980s Minitel in France was extremely popular and Teletext was widely used in the US, instant messaging on the Internet began with the ICQ application developed in 1996 as a public Internet-based free text "chat" service for consumers, but soon was being used by business people as well. It introduced the concept of Internet Protocol "presence management" or being able to detect device connectivity to the Internet and contact recipient "availability" status to exchange real-time messages, as well as personalized "Buddy list" directories to allow only people you knew to find out your status and initiate a real-time text messaging exchange with you. Presence and Instant Messaging has since evolved into more than short text messages, but now can include the exchange of data files (documents, pictures) and the escalation of the contact into a voice conversational connection.


title: Voicemail

text: Corporate voicemail did not change much until the advent of Voice over IP (VoIP—voice being transmitted over the internet) and the development of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony applications to replace legacy PBX telephony (called TDM technologies). IP telephony changed the style and technology of PBXs and the way voicemail systems integrated with them. This, in turn, facilitated a new generation of Unified Messaging, which is now likely to catch on widely. The flexibility, manageability, lower costs, reliability, speed, and user convenience for messaging convergence is now possible where it wasn't before. This might include intra- and inter-enterprise contacts, mobile contacts, proactive application information delivery, and customer contact applications.


title: Voicemail

text: The corporate IP telephony-based voicemail customer premises equipment market is served by several vendors including Avaya, Cisco systems, Adomo, Interactive Intelligence, Nortel, Mitel, 3Com, and AVST. Their marketing strategy will have to address the need to support a variety of legacy PBXs as well as new Voice over IP as enterprises migrate towards converging IP-based telecommunications. A similar situation exists for the carrier market for voicemail servers, currently dominated by Comverse Technology, with some share still held by Lucent Technologies.


title: Voicemail

text: VoIP telephony enables centralized, shared servers, with remote administration and usage management for corporate (enterprise) customers. In the past, carriers lost this business because it was far too expensive and inflexible to have remote managed facilities by the phone company. With VoIP, remote administration is far more economical. This technology has re-opened opportunities for carriers to offer hosted, shared services for all forms of converged IP telecommunications, including IP-PBX and voicemail services. Because of the convergence of wired and wireless communications, such services may also include support of a variety of multi-modal handheld and desktop end user devices. This service, when offered for multiple extensions or phone numbers is sometimes also called Unified Voice-mail.


title: Voicemail

text: Voicemail's introduction enabled people to leave lengthy, secure and detailed messages in natural voice, working hand-in-hand with corporate phone systems. The adoption of voicemail in corporations improved the flow of communications and saved huge amounts of money. GE, one of the pioneer adopters of voicemail in all of its offices around the world, claimed that voicemail saved, on average, over US$1,100 per year per employee. Needless to say, the ability to tell someone something without talking to them, can be a powerful reason to choose voicemail for delivery of a particular message.


title: Voicemail

text: Voicemail has two main modes of operation: "telephone answering "and "voice messaging". Telephone answering mode answers outside calls and takes a message from any outside caller (either because the extension was busy or rang no-answer). Voice messaging enables any subscriber (someone with a mailbox number) to send messages directly to any or many subscribers' mailboxes without first calling them. Both of these modes are described below.


title: Voicemail

text: This section describes how the original style, standalone, voicemail system worked with a corporate PBX. The principle is the same with Central Office Switches (CO Switches) or Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSOs). More modern voicemail systems work on the same principle, but some of the components may be shared with other systems, such as email systems.


title: Voicemail

text: The drawing below shows how the voicemail system interacts with the PBX. Suppose an outside caller is calling Fred's extension 2345. The incoming call comes in from the public network (A) and comes into the PBX. The call is routed to Fred's extension (B), but Fred doesn't answer. After a certain number of rings, the PBX stops ringing Fred's extension and forwards the call to an extension connected to the voicemail system (C). It does this because PBXs are generally programmed to forward busy or unanswered calls to another extension. Simultaneously the PBX tells the voicemail system (through signaling link D) that the call it is forwarding to voicemail is for Fred at extension 2345. In this way, the voicemail system can answer the call with Fred's greeting.


title: Voicemail

text: There are many microprocessors throughout the system since the system must handle large amounts of data and it is unacceptable to have any wait times (for example, when the system is recording or playing your message, it is unacceptable if the system stops recording momentarily like computers often do while accessing large files).


title: Voicemail

text: When Fred's extension forwards to the voicemail system, the Telephone Interface detects ringing. It signals to the Central Processor (CPU) that a call is coming in. The CPU simultaneously receives a signal on the PBX-Voicemail Data Link (D) telling it that extension 2345 is being forwarded on ring-no-answer to the specific extension that is now ringing. The CPU directs the Telephone Interface (which controls the line interface cards) to answer the call. The CPU's program realizes that it is a call for Fred so it looks up Fred's greeting immediately and directs the Disk Controller to start playing it to the caller. It also plays some system prompts instructing the caller what comes next (for example, "When you have finished recording, you may hang up or press ‘#' for more options"). All "talking" to the caller is done through prompts that are selected by the CPU according to the program stored in the voicemail system. The CPU selects the prompts in response to the keys the caller presses.


title: Voicemail

text: The caller's message is digitized by the Telephone Interface system and transmitted to the Disk Controller for storage onto the Message Disks. Some voicemail systems will scramble the message for further security. The CPU then stores the location of that message in the System Disk inside Fred's mailbox directory entry. After the caller hangs up and the message has been stored, the CPU sends a signal to the PBX through the link (D) instructing the PBX to turn on the message waiting light on Fred's phone.


title: Voicemail

text: When Fred comes back to his desk and sees the light on his phone, he calls a designated extension number for the voicemail system (an actual extension number assigned to the lines in "C" in the figure above).


title: Voicemail

text: Again the Telephone Interface alerts the CPU that a call is coming in on a particular line, but this time the signaling from the PBX-Voicemail Data Link (D) indicates that Fred is calling directly, not being forwarded. The CPU directs the Telephone Interface to answer the call.


title: Voicemail

text: Since the CPU "knows" it is Fred (from the signaling on the Data Link D), it looks up Fred's information on the System Disk, specifically his password. The CPU then directs Disk Controller to play a log-on prompt to the user: "Please enter your password." Once the password is entered (via Touch-tones), the CPU compares it to the correct one and, if entered correctly, allows Fred to continue.


title: Voicemail

text: The CPU then determines (from Fred's directory entry) that Fred has a new message. The CPU then presents Fred his options (e.g., "You have a new message. To listen to your new message, press 1; to record a message, press 2" etc.) The options are presented by the CPU directing the Disk Controller to play prompts, and the CPU listens for Touch-tones from Fred. This interaction of playing prompts and responding with Touch-tones enables Fred to interact with the voicemail system easily.


title: Voicemail

text: If Fred presses 1 to listen to his message, the CPU looks up the location of Fred's new message in his mailbox directory (on the System Disk), and directs the Disk Controller to play that message. The Disk Controller finds the message on the Message Disks, and sends the data stream directly to the Telephone Interface. The Telephone Interface then converts the data stream to sound and plays it to Fred through the Line Interface Card which Fred is connected to.


title: Voicemail

text: Playback controls (like rewind, pause, fast forward, changing volume, etc.) are all input via Touch-tones, are "read" by the CPU, and the appropriate actions are taken based on the stored program in the system. For example, if Fred wants to pause message playback, he might press 2. Since the CPU is constantly listening for Touch-tones from Fred, his command causes the CPU to direct the Disk Controller to stop playing the message. A variety of playback controls and options are available on most sophisticated voicemail systems so that users can control message playback, store messages in archives, send messages to groups, change their preferences, etc.


title: Voicemail

text: The better designed voicemail systems have a user-friendly interface with clear and meaningful prompts so the interaction with the voicemail system is quick and easy.


title: Lists of deities by cultural sphere

text: This is an index to deities of the different religions, cultures and mythologies of the world, listed by region or culture.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Getz/Gilberto is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verve Records. The album features the vocals of Astrud Gilberto on two tracks, "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") and "Corcovado". The artwork was done by artist Olga Albizu. "Getz/Gilberto" is a jazz and bossa nova album and includes tracks such as "Desafinado", "Corcovado", and "Garota de Ipanema". The last received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and started Astrud Gilberto's career. "Doralice" and "Para Machucar Meu Coração" strengthened Gilberto's and Jobim's respect for the tradition of pre-bossa nova samba.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: "Getz/Gilberto" is considered the record that popularized bossa nova worldwide and was one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, over a million copies. It was included in "Rolling Stone"s and "Vibe"s lists of best albums of all time. "Getz/Gilberto" was widely acclaimed by music critics, who praised Gilberto's vocals and the album's bossa nova groove and minimalism. "Getz/Gilberto" received Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical; it also became the first non-American album to win Album of the Year, in 1965.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Bossa nova was introduced in 1958, with the song "Chega de Saudade" ("No More Blues"), sung by Elizeth Cardoso on her album "Canção do Amor Demais". Arranged by Jobim and Gilberto, with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes, the song received both praise and criticism for rhythmic and harmonic elements that were uncommon for samba. Gilberto played acoustic guitar on another track, "Outra Vez", composed by Jobim. A few months later, Gilberto recorded his first single, "Chega de Saudade"/"Bim-Bom", the latter his composition. The single helped define "música popular brasileira". This would lead to his debut album, "Chega de Saudade" (1959).


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Jazz was suffering a commercial and artistic crisis due to the popularity of rock and roll. In 1961, Tony Bennett made a trip to Brazil with bassist Don Payne, and both became familiar with modern Brazilian popular music. Payne took numerous Brazilian records when he returned to United States; he then showed them to his friend and neighbor Stan Getz. Getz was excited about the sound of bossa nova and released two albums: "Jazz Samba" and "Big Band Bossa Nova", both in 1962. Bossa nova became so popular that the title "Big Band Bossa Nova" was used for three other 1962 albums: by Quincy Jones, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Enoch Light.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: "Jazz Samba" with Charlie Byrd sold a million copies and received positive reviews in United States. However, the record labels' rush to exploit the new Brazilian sound led to musicians introducing errors in melody and harmony in the music. For example, the sheet music of "Desafinado" as published in "The New Real Book" (1995)—a compilation of jazz and bossa nova songs—is the Charlie Byrd version from "Jazz Samba", which contains many errors. There was a third Getz release, "Jazz Samba Encore!", featuring Brazilian singer and guitarist Luiz Bonfá. The album sold well, but the "trilogy" did not satisfy the producers commercially to compete with Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Pat Boone, and Henry Mancini.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: On November 21, 1962, the first North American concert of Bossa Nova – the New Brazilian Jazz – was presented at Carnegie Hall by João Gilberto, Tom Jobim, Bonfá, Roberto Menescal and Sérgio Mendes among others. According to critic Liliana Harb Bollos, the goal of this concert was to "spread "música popular brasileira" in the capital of jazz". By this time bossa nova had declined in Brazil, but continued to enjoy popularity in other countries. After the Carnegie Hall concert, record producer Creed Taylor wanted Jobim and Gilberto to meet Getz for an "historical documentation" of the genre's style. This happened in 1963 with "Getz/Gilberto", released five years after the birth of bossa nova in Brazil.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: The recording sessions commenced on March 18, 1963, at A&R Recording Studios in New York City and were completed on the following day. Phil Ramone, who owned A&R Recording Studios, was the album's sound engineer. Produced by Creed Taylor, the album was released by Verve Records. The rhythm section backing Getz was Jobim on piano, Sebastião Neto on bass and Milton Banana on drums, (Neto was not credited after being hired by another record label, Audio Fidelity. As a result, the double bassist credited on "Getz/Gilberto" is Tommy Williams, Getz's regular bassist. Williams, however, did not perform at the recording sessions.) The rhythm section plays in a binary () time signature, which is typical for samba although Getz used quaternary time signature (common time).


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Astrud Gilberto, who had never sung professionally before was featured on two tracks, "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)". Like João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto has a quiet, almost whispered vocal style which would become an important influence on female vocalists in bossa nova. On João Gilberto's first three albums—"Chega de Saudade", "O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor" (1960) and "João Gilberto" (1961)—the vibrato in his voice is not entirely absent like on "Getz/Gilberto".


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Stylistic features of bossa nova such as restraint and lyrical objectivity are further developed in "Getz/Gilberto" building on Gilberto's previous albums. Jobim's piano performance is minimalist, contributing only what is needed. Besides playing piano, Jobim was also responsible for some of the arrangements and co-wrote nearly all of the songs except "Doralice" and "Pra Machucar Meu Coração", both old sambas, which are more polished and serious in Gilberto's version. All the other songs are compositions by Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes ("The Girl from Ipanema", "Só Danço Samba" and "O Grande Amor") and Jobim and Newton Mendonça (in "Desafinado"). "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)" and "Vivo Sonhando" were composed solely by Jobim.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: According to Ruy Castro, Gilberto and Getz often disagreed on which was the best take leaving the choice to producer Creed Taylor. During one session, Gilberto, who did not speak English, and impatient with Getz's rhythmic style, told Antônio Carlos Jobim: "Tell this gringo he is an idiot". Jobim then translated: "Stan, João is saying that his dream always was to record with you". Getz's harder approach to the music did not please Gilberto who preferred a more delicate style. Due to these artistic differences, "Getz/Gilberto #2" features Getz and his quartet on side A, and Gilberto, by himself, on side B. In spite of the tension in the studio Gilberto would continue to collaborate with Getz. Twelve years after the release of "Getz/Gilberto" the pair reunited at the Keystone Korner club, in San Francisco for a six-day engagement promoting their new album, "The Best of Two Worlds".


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: Gene Lees wrote the English lyrics for "Corcovado". Norman Gimbel, who wrote the English lyrics for "Garota de Ipanema", felt that the reference to "Ipanema" wouldn't mean anything to Americans but Jobim insisted on keeping the reference to the beach. Producer Taylor shelved the project for nearly a year because he was afraid the record might be a commercial failure. As a consequence, "Getz/Gilberto" was finally released in March 1964.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: The artwork featured on the cover of the album is the work of Puerto Rican artist Olga Albizu. An abstract expressionist plastic artist, she also designed the covers of several other bossa nova albums by Getz.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: The album won the 1965 Grammy Awards for Best Album of the Year, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical. "The Girl from Ipanema" also won the award for Record of the Year in 1965. This was the first time a jazz album received Album of the Year. It was the only jazz album to win the award until Herbie Hancock's "" 43 years later, in 2008.


title: Getz/Gilberto

text: "JazzTimes" (11/94, pp. 88–89) declared it, "essential for all serious jazz collections...served as proof that it is possible for music to be both artistically and commercially successful...this relatively sparse setting with the great Getz perfectly fit the music, resulting in a true gem." "Vibe" (12/99, p. 158) – Included in "Vibe"s 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century. In 2012, "Rolling Stone" ranked the album number 447 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was listed by "Rolling Stone Brazil" as one of the 100 best Brazilian albums in history. The album was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.


title: RwandAir

text: RwandAir Limited is the flag carrier airline of Rwanda. It operates domestic and international services to East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from its main base at Kigali International Airport in Kigali.


title: RwandAir

text: After the 1994 genocide, the government took several attempts to revive the former national carrier Air Rwanda that ceased operations during the genocide. Various private companies showed interest in partnering with the government, and Uganda-based SA Alliance Air ran the company from 1997 to 2000. After SA Alliance ceased operations, the government of Rwanda took over the Rwandan operations and re-branded the airline, to ensure its continuity. RwandAir began operations on 1 December 2002 as the new national carrier for Rwanda under the name Rwandair Express (with passenger air transportation as the core activity). In 2016, RwandAir received International Air Transport Association's Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO).


title: RwandAir

text: The airline began to expand regionally and by 2009 the network included Dar-es-Salaam, Nairobi, and domestic destinations such as Gisenyi. In March 2009, the airline registered the new trademark "RwandAir Limited", which is its current operating name. In June 2009, the airline officially re-branded from Rwandair Express to RwandAir, because the new name implied a large, serious airline, while the "Express" in the former name implied a small regional operation.


title: RwandAir

text: In May 2010, Rene Janata became the CEO, introducing a frequent flyer program and developing the airline to become a network carrier. In October 2010, John Mirenge became the new CEO of RwandAir.


title: RwandAir

text: In July 2010, the first of RwandAir's new Boeing 737-500s arrived; the second one arrived on 20 October 2010. Both are leased from General Electric Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and each has a two-class configuration with 12 business class seats and 90 economy class seats.


title: RwandAir

text: In August 2011, the airline took delivery of their first aircraft purchased directly from an airline manufacturer. All prior aircraft operated by RwandAir had been either leased or bought as a second-hand aircraft. The aircraft that was purchased is a Boeing 737-800 with Sky Interior, also known as the Boeing 737 Next Generation, and was the only one operating among African airlines. The flight departed from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, United States, at 5:30 PM PST. It made its first stop in Keflavík International Airport in Iceland, then it headed for a second stop to Istanbul, Turkey. It finally arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, after a 20-hour flight.


title: RwandAir

text: In October 2011, RwandAir took delivery of their second Boeing Next Generation 737-800. During January 2012, the airline disposed of the two CRJ200 aircraft it owned, in anticipation of acquiring two CRJ-900NGs.


title: RwandAir

text: In February 2013, John Mirenge announced that the airline would fly to Accra, Cape Town, Harare, Juba, and Zanzibar.


title: RwandAir

text: In 2017, the Government of Benin granted RwandAir seventh freedom rights to operate direct flights from Benin. RwandAir plans to base two Boeing 737 aircraft at Cotonou International Airport in Benin.


title: RwandAir

text: In February 2020, two months after Qatar Airways purchased a 60% stake in Rwanda's Bugesera International Airport, the Qatari state-owned airline purchased a 49% stake in RwandAir.


title: RwandAir

text: In 2019, RwandAir entered into a partnership with USA-based Optiontown to launch a prepaid flight subscription platform called Flight Pass, which enables customers to pre-purchase RwandAir flights at the best available price and decide when they want to travel at a later date.


title: RwandAir

text: In September 2022, the airline's intentions in joining Oneworld, with a sponsorship from Qatar Airways, were announced. This would make RwandAir the third airline to enter an airline alliance in East Africa, after Ethiopian Airlines (Star Alliance) and Kenya Airways (SkyTeam), and second African airline after Royal Air Maroc to join Oneworld.


title: RwandAir

text: Rwandair is owned 100 percent by the Government of Rwanda. As of May 2021, an agreement to sell a 49 percent stake to Qatar Airways is said to be in the final stages.


title: RwandAir

text: The government hoped to privatise the airline after 2013, once it became profitable; the process had been abandoned in 2008 after it emerged that nobody at the time was willing to offer the amount expected from the sale.


title: RwandAir

text: RwandAir's board of directors is responsible for ensuring that the airline follows a suitable corporate governance framework to ensure the creation and protection of value for the shareholder. Patricie Uwase is currently the Chairman of RwandAir since September 2021; the long-time aviation veteran Girma Wake was chairman from 2012 to 2017. Yvonne Manzi Makolo is the current CEO, having been promoted from deputy CEO, in charge of Corporate Affairs, in April 2018. She replaced acting CEO Col. Chance Ndagano.


title: RwandAir

text: Full detailed accounts are rarely published, although intermittently some figures are made public by senior management or the government, or in government budgetary reports. Available trends are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):


title: RwandAir

text: The airline has its head office on the top floor of the main building of Kigali International Airport in Kigali, Rwanda. The airline previously had its head office in Centenary House in Kigali. The airline began moving its operations from Centenary House to the airport on Friday 14 May 2010. The airline was scheduled to be moved in by Monday 17 May 2010. At one previous point the airline had its head office in the Telcom House.


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama) the biggest of the Aawambo sub-tribes are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia. They are the single largest ethnic group in Namibia, accounting for about half of the population and one of Namibia’s most vibrant tribes. They have retained many aspects of their cultural practices, despite concerted efforts from Christian missionaries to wipe out what was believed to be ‘pagan practices’. They are also found in southern Angolan province of Cunene where they are more commonly referred to as "Ambo". The Ovambo consist of a number of kindred Bantu ethnic tribes who inhabit what was formerly called Ovamboland. In Angola, they are a minority, accounting for about two percent of the total Angolan population.


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo people reside in the flat sandy grassy plains of north Namibia and the Cunene Province in south Angola, sometimes referred to as Ovamboland. These plains are generally flat, stoneless and at high altitude.


title: Ovambo people

text: Water courses, known as "oshanas", irrigate the area. In the northern regions of Ovamboland is tropical vegetation sustained by abundant but and it was great seasonal rainfall that floods the region into temporary lakes and islands. In dry season, these pools of water empty out. The Ovambo have adapted to the widely varying seasonal weather patterns with their housing, agriculture, and livestock practices.


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo people are a Bantu-speaking group. In Namibia, these are the AaNdonga, Ovakwanyama, Aakwambi, Aangandjera, Aambalantu, Ovaunda, Aakolonkadhi, Aakwaluudhi and Aambandja. In Angola, they are the Ovakwanyama, Aakafima, Evale and Aandonga.


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo started migrating to their current location from the northeast around the 14th century from the Zambia region. They settled near the Angola-Namibia border then expanded further south in Namibia in the 17th century. They have a close cultural, linguistic and historical relationship to the Herero people found in more southern parts of Namibia, and Kavango people to their east settled around the Okavango River.


title: Ovambo people

text: In contrast to most ethnic groups in Africa, the isolated, low-density pastoral nomadic lifestyle left the Ovambo people largely unaffected by the Swahili-Arab and European traders before the 19th century. When Germany established a colony in Namibia in 1884, they left the Ovambo people undisturbed. The Germans focused on the southern and coastal regions. After World War I, Namibia was annexed by the South African government into the Union of South Africa as the Territory of South West Africa. This brought major changes, with South African plantation, cattle breeding and mining operations entering the Ovamboland. The Portuguese colonial administration in Angola, who had previously focused on their coastal, northern and eastern operations, entered southern Angola to form a border with the expanding South African presence. The Ovambo people launched several armed rebellions against South African rule in the 1920s and 1930s, which were all suppressed by the Union Defence Force.


title: Ovambo people

text: The South African administration in Namibia continued the so-called "Police Zone" in south, a region created by the Germans with a veterinary Red Line covering about two-thirds of the province later to become Namibia. Ovambo people were not allowed to move into the Police Zone, neither other tribes nor Europeans could move north without permits. This isolated the Ovambo people, preserving traditional authorities and reducing numbers of White farmers in the north. However, because of labor shortage in the Police Zone and South Africa, in part because of massacre of native Africans such as through the Herero and Namaqua genocide, the South African government allowed migrant wage labor. Numerous Ovambo people became migrant laborers in South African towns such as Cape Town and in the Police Zone, where they experienced segregation and lived under highly restrained human rights.


title: Ovambo people

text: The South African Apartheid rule was brought into the Ovamboland in 1948. The South African government declared the Ovamboland as independent province in 1973, and appointed chiefs aligned with the South African government policies. The Ovambo people rejected these developments, and in 1975 the appointed chief minister of Ovamboland was assassinated. In conjunction with the armed SWAPO movement, Namibia and its Ovambo people gained independence in 1990 from South Africa.


title: Ovambo people

text: The traditional religion of the Ovambo people is the primary faith of less than 3%, as most state Christianity to be their primary faith. The Ovambo's traditional religion envisions a supreme being named "Kalunga", with their rites and rituals centered around sacred fire like many ethnic groups in southwestern Africa. The "Kalunga" cosmology states that the Supreme Being created the first man and first woman, who had a daughter and two sons. It is the daughter's lineage that created Ovambo people, according to the traditional beliefs of the matrilineal Ovambo people.


title: Ovambo people

text: The rituals involve elaborate fire making and keeping ceremonies, rain making dance, and rites have involved throwing herbs in the fire and inhaling the rising smoke. The head priest traditionally was the king of a tribe, and his role was in part to attend to the supernatural spirits and be the chief representative of the Ovambo tribe to the deities.


title: Ovambo people

text: Christianity arrived among the Ovambo people in the late 19th century. The first Finnish missionaries arrived in Ovamboland in the 1870s, and Ovambo predominantly converted and thereof have identified themselves as Lutheran Christians. The influence of the Finnish missions not only related to the religion, but cultural practices. For example, the typical dress style of the contemporary Ovambo women that includes a head scarf and loose full length maxi, is derived from those of the 19th-century Finnish missionaries.


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo now predominantly follow Christian theology, prayer rituals and festivities, but some of the traditional religious practices have continued, such as the use of ritual sacred fire. They also invoke their supreme creator "Kalunga". Thus, the Ovamba have preferred a syncretic form of Christianity. Most weddings feature a combination of Christian beliefs and Ovambo traditions. Their traditional dancing is done to drumming (Oshiwambo folk music).


title: Ovambo people

text: The traditional home is a complex of huts surrounded by a fence of large vertical poles linked by two horizontal poles on each side. The complex is a maze with two gates but it is easy to get lost within the homestead. Each hut generally has a different purpose, such as a "Ondjugo" (the woman of the homestead's hut) or "Epata" (kitchen area).


title: Ovambo people

text: The Ovambo people lead a settled life, relying mostly on a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry. The staple crops have been millet and sorghum ("iilyavala"), and beans ("omakunde") are another popular crop. In drier regions or seasons, pastoral activity with herds of cattle ("eengobe"/"eenghwandabi"), goats ("iikombo"/"onakamela") and sheep ("eedi") becomes more important. The animal husbandry is not for meat ("ombelela"), but primarily as a source of milk ("omashini"). Their food is supplemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering.


title: Ovambo people

text: During the colonial era, the Ovambo were active in elephant ("eenjaba") hunting for their tusks to supply the ivory demand, and they nearly hunted the elephants in their region to extinction.


title: Ovambo people

text: Each Ovambo tribe had a hereditary chief who is responsible for the tribe. Many tribes adapted representation by having a council of headmen who run tribal affairs. Members of the royal family of the Owamboland are known as "aakwanekamba", "ovakwaluvala", "ovakwamalanga", "ovakwaanime", "aakwanyoka" and many more; only those who belong to this family by birth, through the maternal line, have a claim to chieftainship. The tribes figure their descent by a matrilineal kinship system, with hereditary chiefs arising from the daughter's children, not the son's. Polygyny is accepted, with the first wife recognized as the senior.


title: Ovambo people

text: Ovambo brew a traditional liquor called "ombike". It is distilled from fermented fruit mash and particularly popular in rural areas. The fruit to produce ombike are collected from makalani palms ("Hyphaene petersiana"), jackal berries ("Diospyros mespiliformis"), buffalo thorns ("Ziziphus mucronata"), bird plumes and cluster figs ("Ficus racemosa"). "Ombike", with additives like sugar, is also brewed and consumed in urban areas. This liquor is then called "omangelengele"; it is more potent and sometimes poisonous. "New Era", a Namibian English-language daily newspaper, reported that clothes, shoes, and tyres have been found to have been brewed as ingredients of "omangelengele".


title: Ovambo people

text: The following table contains the names, areas, dialect names and the locations of the Ovambo according to T. E. Tirronen's "Ndonga-English Dictionary." The table also contains information concerning the classification of noun class of the Proto-Bantu language for these words.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: The company was founded in 1982 as Paternoster Stores Ltd, to conduct a buyout of the British Woolworths chain. In March 1983, Paternoster changed its name to Woolworth Holdings plc. Woolworths already owned B&Q, and the company expanded through subsequent acquisitions of companies such as Superdrug and Comet.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: The business acquired Screwfix in July 1999, which is now the United Kingdom's largest multi channel retailer of trade tools, accessories and hardware products. The company was led from January 1984, until his retirement in December 2002, by Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy. Largely through his influence, the company became the major sponsor of British sailor Ellen MacArthur.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: Woolworth Holdings was renamed Kingfisher plc in December 1989. Further acquisitions included European companies such as Castorama, BUT S.A. and Wegert. In July 1999, Kingfisher attempted a takeover of Asda, one of the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chains, only to be beaten by Walmart.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: In August 2001, coupled with an acrimonious battle for control of Castorama, the resultant share price pressure forced the sale and demerger of several parts of the company, including Woolworths (forming the Woolworths Group), and the demerger of the electricals business to form Kesa Electricals in July 2003 – causing the company to refocus entirely around DIY.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: The company was led by Gerry Murphy from December 2002 to November 2007. In January 2008, Kingfisher appointed Ian Cheshire as group chief executive. Cheshire was formerly B&Q's chief executive; his B&Q role was taken over in April 2009, by Euan Sutherland, who also headed up the United Kingdom division of Kingfisher.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: In September 2014, it was announced that the head of Castorama Véronique Laury would replace Ian Cheshire as Kingfisher group CEO in February 2015. Laury had worked at Kingfisher for eleven years, including roles at B&Q. In June 2017, Andy Cosslett succeeded Daniel Bernard as chairman.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: In March 2019, it was announced that Laury would be leaving the business at a date to be announced, following the failure of her "One Kingfisher" plan, and a 52.8% collapse in pre tax profits. In September 2019, Thierry Garnier was appointed as CEO.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: In March 2021, following a franchise agreement with Al-Futtaim Group, Kingfisher will expand its B&Q market to the Middle East. The Al-Futtaim Group will run and staff the stores in Saudi Arabia entirely.


title: Kingfisher plc

text: Kingfisher currently operates over 1,300 stores in eight countries in Europe and in Turkey. Its main retail brands are B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prince Lorenz of Belgium, head of the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is fifth in line of succession to the Belgian throne.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: Princess Astrid was born one day before her father's 28th birthday at the Château de Belvédère, near Laeken, and was named after her late paternal grandmother, Astrid of Sweden, the popular first wife of King Leopold III. Her godparents were her uncle Fabrizio, Prince Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau, 7th Duke di Guardia Lombarda, and her aunt Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: Princess Astrid married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, subsequently head of the Archducal House of Austria-Este, on 22 September 1984 at Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon in Brussels. Lorenz is the eldest son of Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (1915–1996), and his wife Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta (1930–2022). Her husband was also created Prince of Belgium by Royal Decree on 27 November 1995.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: Astrid was formerly President of the Belgian Red Cross, a position which ended on 31 December 2007. She declined to stand again for election to the role in light of internal struggles in the organisation in reconciling its Flemish-speaking and French branches, each of which seeks greater autonomy. The princess is also a colonel in the Medical Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. Her official residence is the Royal Castle of Laeken on the edge of Brussels.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: In April 2015 the Princess took over the reins of the Prince Albert Fund from her father King Albert.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: Princess Astrid has been for many years a fierce advocate for landmine survivors rights, participating actively in the work of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, since Belgium joined in 1998.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: In 2013, the Princess was named Special Envoy of the convention, and has promoted the acceptance of a global ban on landmines and promoted the rights of survivors in various UN meetings.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: In 2014, she met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, to encourage Oman to join the treaty, which occurred a few months later.


title: Princess Astrid of Belgium

text: In 2019, she carried out a mission to Lebanon to promote the convention. In Beirut she met with President Michel Aoun, and Minister of National Defense Elias Bou Saab.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig (; ) is a German consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Turkish Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care products.


title: Grundig

text: Originally a German consumer electronic company, Grundig GmbH was founded in 1945 by Max Grundig and eventually headquartered in Nuremberg. It grew to become one of the leading radio, TV, recorder and other electronics goods manufacturers of Europe in the following decades of the 20th century. In the 1970s, Philips began acquiring Grundig AG's shares, leading to complete control in 1993. In 1998, Philips divested Grundig. In 2007, Koç Holding bought Grundig and put the brand under its home-appliances subsidiary Arcelik A.Ş. Koç is a publicly listed conglomerate with more than 80,000 employees.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig began in 1945 with the establishment of a store named Fürth, Grundig & Wurzer (RVF), which sold radios and was headquartered in Fürth, northern Bavaria. After the Second World War, Max Grundig recognized the need for radios in Germany, and in 1947 produced a kit, while a factory and administration centre were built at Fürth. In 1951, the first television sets were manufactured at the new facility. At the time Grundig was the largest radio manufacturer in Europe. Divisions in Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe were established.


title: Grundig

text: In 2013, Grundig launched its home appliances (white goods) product range, becoming one of the mainstream manufacturers in Europe. Parent Arcelik A.Ş., has more than 27,000 employees worldwide. Grundig has manufacturing plants in several European cities that deliver Grundig products to more than 65 countries around the world.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig started as a typical German company in 1945. Its early notability was due to "Grundig radio". Max Grundig, a radio dealer, built a machine called "Heinzelmann", which was a radio that came without thermionic valves and as a DIY kit to circumvent post war rules. The first of the same was named the 'Weltklang'.


title: Grundig

text: Based on Heinzelmann success, Grundig started a factory. This allowed the company to start "Grundig TV". This was created for the first German television channel which started in 1952. The company then developed a portable tape recorder and The Grundig Television Receiver 210.


title: Grundig

text: In 1955, the American firm of Wilcox-Gay began importing Grundig radios into the U.S., using its Majestic Radio dealer network to distribute the German company's products. The marketing of "Majestic-Grundig" radios continued until Wilcox-Gay went out of business at the end of 1961.


title: Grundig

text: A plant was opened in 1960 to manufacture tape recorders in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the first production by Grundig outside Germany. The managing director of the plant, Thomas Niedermayer, was kidnapped and later killed by the Provisional IRA in December 1973. The factory was closed with the loss of around 1000 jobs in 1980.


title: Grundig

text: In 1972, Grundig GmbH became Grundig AG. After this Philips began to gradually accumulate shares in the company over the years, and assumed complete economic control in 1993. Grundig pulled out of this partnership in 1998 owing to unsatisfactory performance and the decline in Philips consumer electronics presence around the world.


title: Grundig

text: Germany's first colour television projector was started by Grundig in 1981. The next year, the second generation electronic notepad was developed and marketed. Philips increased its stake in the company and Max Grundig no longer controlled business management in 1984.


title: Grundig

text: In 1991, Grundig entered the telephony equipment market starting with its cordless telephone. In 1993, the Grundig TV was based on a 16:9 picture format for signal transmission. In 1995 and 1996, the company included 3-D sound systems, TVs, satellite receivers and other initiatives that included interactive user guidance. However, Philips ended its stake in the company by 1997-8.


title: Grundig

text: At the end of June 2000 the company relocated its headquarters in Fürth to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Grundig had a turnover of €1.281 billion the following year. In autumn 2002, Grundig's banks did not extend the company's lines of credit, leaving the company with an April 2003 deadline to announce insolvency. Grundig AG declared bankruptcy in 2003. In 2004 Britain's Alba plc and the Turkish Koç's Beko jointly took over Grundig Home InterMedia System, Grundig's consumer electronics division. In 2007 Alba sold its half of the business to Koç for US$50.3 million, although it retained the license to use the Grundig brand in the UK until 2010, and in Australasia until 2012.


title: Grundig

text: At the end of 2007 Turkey's Koç Holding took full ownership of Grundig Multimedia, the parent company of Grundig Intermedia GmbH in Nuremberg.


title: Grundig

text: The company continued on to entertainment electronics, electrical, and home appliances. Eventually, the company entered the white goods sector in 2013, thus becoming the EU's only consumer electronics company covering the full range.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig's headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany. Worldwide, the Grundig company employs an additional 1,600 people in production, R&D and sales. Grundig designs products aiming for the highest energy conservation. The company is organized into three product groups – consumer electronics, small domestic appliances and large household appliances.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig became the first official technology partner of the German Bundesliga in 2011. In addition to that, the Nuremberg football stadium was called Grundig Stadium until the end of 2015. Grundig continued its German Bundesliga Official Technology Partnership in 2014. The Grundig logo was a permanent display item during all Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 broadcasts from 2012/13 until 2014/15.


title: Grundig

text: Furthermore, Grundig continued its sponsorship with Fenerbahçe's women's and men's volleyball teams, and sponsored many international golf tournaments in 2014.


title: Grundig

text: Grundig launched the Respect Food initiative with the goal of underlining the seriousness of the food waste problem to reduce global food waste which is the second topic of the UN's 2030 sustainable development goals.


title: Vishakha and others v State of Rajasthan

text: Vishaka and Ors. v State of Rajasthan was a 1997 Indian Supreme Court case where various women's groups led by Naina Kapur and her organisation, Sakshi filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the state of Rajasthan and the central Government of India to enforce the fundamental rights of working women under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The petition was filed after Bhanwari Devi, a social worker in Rajasthan, was brutally gang raped for stopping a child marriage.


text: The court decided that the consideration of "International Conventions and norms are significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work with human dignity in Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein." The petition, resulted in what are popularly known as the Vishaka Guidelines. The judgment of August 1997 given by a bench of J. S. Verma (then C.J.I)., Sujata Manohar and B. N. Kirpal, provided the basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines to deal with it. It is seen as a significant legal victory for women's groups in India.


text: In India, before 1997, there were no formal guidelines for how an incident involving sexual harassment at workplace should be dealt by an employer. Women experiencing sexual harassment at workplace had to lodge a complaint under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the 'criminal assault of women to outrage women's modesty' and Section 509 that punishes an individual or individuals for using a 'word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman'. These sections left the interpretation of 'outraging women's modesty' to the discretion of the police officer.


text: During the 1990s, Rajasthan state government employee Bhanwari Devi who tried to prevent child marriage as part of her duties as a worker of the Women Development Programme was raped by the landlords of the gujjar community. The feudal patriarchs who were enraged by her (in their words: "a lowly woman from a poor and potter community") 'guts' decided to teach her a lesson and raped her repeatedly. The rape survivor did not get justice from Rajasthan High Court and the rapists were allowed to go free. This inspired several women’s groups and non-governmental organizations to file a petition in the Supreme Court under the collective platform of Vishaka


text: This case brought to the attention of the Supreme Court of India, "the absence of domestic law occupying the field, to formulate effective measures to check the evil of sexual harassment of working women at all work places."


text: In 1997, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment laying down guidelines to be followed by establishments in dealing with complaints about sexual harassment. "Vishaka Guidelines" were stipulated by the Supreme Court of India, in "Vishaka and others v State of Rajasthan" case in 1997, regarding sexual harassment at workplace. The court stated that these guidelines were to be implemented until legislation is passed to deal with the issue.


text: The court decided that the consideration of "International Conventions and norms are significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work with human dignity in Articles 14, 15 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein."


text: The court also defined sexual harassment as including such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) like physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, or any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature. The court recognised that where any of these acts is committed in circumstances where under the victim of such conduct has a reasonable apprehension that in relation to the victim’s employment or work whether she is drawing salary, or honorarium or voluntary, whether in government, public or private enterprise such conduct can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety problem. The court noted that it was discriminatory when the woman has reasonable grounds to believe that objecting to sexual harassment would disadvantage her in connection with her employment or work including recruiting or promotion or when it creates a hostile work environment. Thus, sexual harassment need not involve physical contact. Any act that creates a hostile work environment — be it by virtue of cracking lewd jokes, verbal abuse, circulating lewd rumours etc. — counts as sexual harassment. The creation of a hostile work environment through unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature may consist not of a single act but of pattern of behaviour comprising many such acts.


text: Noting that in some cases, the psychological stigma of reporting the conduct of a co-worker might require a great deal of courage on the part of the victim and they may report such acts after a long period of time. The guidelines suggest that the compliance mechanism should ensure time-bound treatment of complaints, but they do not suggest that a report can only be made within a short period of time since the incident occurred. Often, the police refuse to lodge FIRs for sexual harassment cases, especially where the harassment occurred some time ago.


text: The Supreme Court of India's judgement only proposed guidelines to alleviate the problem of sexual harassment in 1997. India finally enacted its law on prevention of sexual harassment against female employees at the workplace. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("Sexual Harassment Act") has been made effective on 23 April 2013 by way of publication in the "Gazette of India".


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: The FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the "" (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament took place between May and July 2018, with the final taking place in Nanjing, China. United States won the inaugural edition, defeating Turkey in the final.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: In July 2018, the FIVB announced that China would host the next three editions of the women's Volleyball Nations League Finals, from 2019–2021, but on March 13, 2020 the FIVB decided to postpone the Nations League until after the 2020 Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the FIVB canceled the 2020 edition and confirmed Italy as the host of the final stage of the 2021 VNL.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: The creation of the tournament was announced in October 2017 (alongside with the announcement of the Challenger Cup) as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations. The Nations League replaced the World Grand Prix, a former annual women's international event that ran between 1993 and 2017.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: In June 2017, Argentinian website Voley Plus reported that the FIVB would drastically change the format for both the 2018 World League and World Grand Prix. According to the reports, starting from 2018, the World League and the World Grand Prix would have only one Group (no more Groups 1, 2 and 3) of 16 national teams.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: In October 2017, the FIVB announced, via a press release, the creation of the men's and women's Volleyball Nations League, confirming the tournaments as a replacement for the World League and World Grand Prix.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: The International Volleyball Federation has partnered with global brand strategy and design firm Landor Associates to create the Volleyball Nations League branding. Landor has also contributed with in-stadium and on-screen television graphics, staff uniforms, designs for the World Volleyball app, medals and the winning trophy.


title: FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

text: Microsoft, the multinational technology company, has signed an agreement with the FIVB that the international federation vows will change the way the sport of volleyball is consumed while heightening the fan experience during match days as well as in the digital space. Under the tie-up, the ‘Microsoft Sports Digital Platform’ has been created to create new digital services and deliver personalised content on demand in order to boost the FIVB global audience and improve fan engagement.<ref>


title: Davide Santon

text: Davide Santon (; born 2 January 1991) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left wing-back.


title: Davide Santon

text: A former Inter Milan youth product, Santon began his professional club career with Inter in 2008, and remained with the club until 2011, aside from a spell on loan with Cesena. He later had a four-year spell with English club Newcastle United, before returning to Inter in 2015. After three seasons, he signed with Roma. In 2022, Santon announced his retirement at the age of 31.


title: Davide Santon

text: At international level, Santon made his senior debut with Italy in 2009, and also represented his nation at the FIFA Confederations Cup later that year.


title: Davide Santon

text: At the age of 14, Santon joined Inter Milan's youth system from Ravenna. He started out as a winger before moving into a defensive role. After helping the Inter Milan under-20 side win the 2006–07 Campionato Nazionale Primavera and reaching the final play-off for a second consecutive season, he was called up to join the first team for the 2008–09 pre-season training in South Tyrol and training sessions during the first half of the season.


title: Davide Santon

text: José Mourinho first named Santon in the line up for a September UEFA Champions League match against Panathinaikos and the next three games, but did not use him. On 21 January 2009, Santon made his debut in the Coppa Italia quarter-final win against Roma, playing the entire match. Four days later, he made his Serie A debut in a 1–0 victory against Sampdoria. He made his European debut in the home draw against Manchester United, tasked with marking Cristiano Ronaldo. Santon garnered praise for his performance prompting Ronaldo to comment, "I was impressed by Santon, he is a really interesting lad and a great footballer." Mourinho praised Santon for his personality and tactical versatility and Santon was handed the starting role for the next game. He started 13 league games and made two substitute appearances, thus winning his first senior honour, the 2008–09 Serie A title.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon had also become subject of praise by former Italy national team head coach Marcello Lippi in 2009, who described Santon as, "A predestined player that reminds him of a young Paolo Maldini."


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon made his first appearance for Inter in the 2009–10 season against Parma in the third game of the season, and subsequently started the game against Cagliari the following week. He was out until the New Year after sustaining a right knee lateral meniscus injury while on international duty. He made his return in January as a substitute against Bari and was called back into the starting eleven to replace the injured Cristian Chivu. However, his return was short-lived as he injured the same knee again after returning too soon from the previous injury and required surgery, thus sidelining him for another three to five weeks.


title: Davide Santon

text: During the 2010–11 season, Santon first served as an understudy of Cristian Chivu, but after Maicon's injury (and a later injury to Chivu), Santon returned to the starting line-up in November (save for the "Derby della Madonnina" against Milan and matchday 5 of the Champions League). He then played twice as a right wing-forward due to the injury crisis at Inter, the first one in a 5–2 win against Parma. In that match, manager Rafael Benítez preferred Iván Córdoba and Javier Zanetti in both full back positions, as well as for the Champions League against Twente.


title: Davide Santon

text: On 31 January 2011, the final day of the transfer window, Santon was sent out on loan to Cesena as part of the deal that saw Yuto Nagatomo join Inter in exchange.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon returned to Inter in the summer. Under new coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Santon often played as a wing-back in their 3–4–3 formation in the friendlies. Near the end of the summer transfer window, however, the club kept Davide Faraoni as backup wing-back and sold Santon.


title: Davide Santon

text: On 30 August 2011, Santon signed for English club Newcastle United on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee; according to Inter, Santon was sold for €4 million. He made his Newcastle debut on 16 October 2011 as a second-half substitute against Tottenham Hotspur. He went on to make his first Premier League start for the club in December away against Norwich City, before making his full home debut the next week against Swansea City. He set up Papiss Cissé's first goal in the "Magpies"' win at Chelsea in the 19th minute. Halfway through the 2012–13 season, Santon was the only Newcastle player to have started every Premier League match. In the 3–2 win over Chelsea on 2 February 2013, he assisted the first goal with a cross for Jonás Gutiérrez, and the winning goal scored by Moussa Sissoko. He scored his first goal for Newcastle on 17 March, an equaliser against Wigan Athletic.


title: Davide Santon

text: After losing his first-team place to Paul Dummett, Santon returned to Inter in the 2015 January transfer window on loan, with an option to buy in the summer. Santon was also eligible to one of the four quota for club-trained players in UEFA competitions, otherwise Inter's squad would be forced to be reduced by vacating the quota. (Inter filled the quota with reserve players Giacomo Sciacca and Isaac Donkor, first team player Rene Krhin (first half), Joel Obi and Marco Andreolli in the 2014–15 season) The loan was made permanent in summer 2015. According to Inter, the transfer (including agent fee and other costs) had cost the club €4.893 million.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon was once available in the 2016 transfer market, which Sunderland were in negotiations with Inter, as well as an alleged failed medical at West Ham United. However, Santon remained in Inter's squad, as they only had three available players eligible for the aforementioned quota in 2016–17 UEFA Europa League (himself, Marco Andreolli and Jonathan Biabiany), with Serie A also imposing a similar homegrown rule. The club was also forced to reduce the European squad to a maximum of 22 as a penalty for breaching UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations. Eventually Inter had a 21-men squad, with one quota for an Inter youth product not used.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon was an unused substitute for Inter in the opening match of 2016–17 UEFA Europa League; he was the starting full-back in their 2–1 win over defending Serie A champions Juventus in the "Derby d'Italia".


title: Davide Santon

text: After Frank de Boer was sacked in 2016, Santon was rarely used by new coach Stefano Pioli. In 2017–18 season, he was included in Luciano Spalletti's pre-season camp in July 2017. However, Santon was left out from the squad to Asia due to injury.


title: Davide Santon

text: In June 2018, it was reported that Santon and Nicolò Zaniolo would join Roma as part of the deal of Radja Nainggolan to Inter. Santon and Zaniolo arrived in Rome for medicals on 25 June. The transfers were completed on 26 June, which Santon had a price tag of €9.5 million, signing a 4-year contract. He made his debut for the capital club on 31 August, coming off the bench for Rick Karsdorp in the league match against Milan. He made his Champions League debut with the "Giallorossi" on 23 October, as he was in the starting lineup of a 3–0 victory against CSKA Moscow.


title: Davide Santon

text: On 3 October 2019, Santon made his Europa League debut for Roma in a 1–1 away draw against Wolfsberger AC, starting the game at right-back.


title: Davide Santon

text: After three years in which he failed to permanently win the starting job, partly due to recurring injuries, he was on the fringes of the first-team squad in the 2021–22 season under new head coach José Mourinho, failing to make any appearances.


title: Davide Santon

text: On 9 September 2022, Santon announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 31, due to recurring knee injuries.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon played for Italy from under-16 level and made his goal-scoring debut in April 2007 in a 3–1 win over Slovenia. On 31 March 2009, he made his debut for the under-21 squad in a friendly against the Netherlands, played at Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade, which ended in a 1–1 draw.


title: Davide Santon

text: Santon made his debut with the senior Italian team at age 18, on 6 June 2009 in a friendly match against Northern Ireland, played in Pisa. On the same night future Newcastle teammate Shane Ferguson made his debut as a substitute for the visitors. He played the whole match and his solid performances in Italy's 3–0 win earned him praise from his peers as well as coach Marcello Lippi. Lippi was impressed enough to name him in the roster for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, but Santon did not manage to make an appearance in the tournament as Italy went out in the first round. After some strong performances since signing with Newcastle United, Santon was recalled to the national team under manager Cesare Prandelli for the friendly against France in November 2012, however he did not come off the bench in the 1–2 home defeat. He started his next game for Italy, earning his eighth international cap, in a 1–1 friendly draw against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 6 February 2013.


title: Davide Santon

text: Although Santon was usually deployed as a left-back, he is naturally right-footed and started his youth career as a right-sided attacker or winger, later reverting to an attacking full-back or wing-back who could play on both sides of the pitch; he was known in particular for his pacy, energetic runs up and down the flank. Santon also possessed significant physical strength, as well as good dribbling technique and defensive awareness. Regarded as a promising player in his youth, his precocious displays for Inter and Italy in 2009 led his coaches at the time, José Mourinho and Marcello Lippi respectively, to describe him as a "predestined player", also comparing him to legendary Italian left-backs such as Paolo Maldini and Giacinto Facchetti. In 2010, he was included in the "Don Balón" list of the best young footballers in the world, born after 1989.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: David Hawkins (February 28, 1913 – February 24, 2002) was a professor whose interests included the philosophy of science, mathematics, economics, childhood science education, and ethics. He was also an administrative assistant at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory and later one of its official historians. Together with Herbert A. Simon, he discovered and proved the Hawkins–Simon theorem.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: David Hawkins was born in El Paso, Texas, the youngest of seven children of William Ashton Hawkins, and his wife Clara "" Gardiner. His father was a prominent lawyer noted for his work on water law, who worked for the El Paso and Northeastern Railway, and was one of the founders of the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico. He grew up in La Luz, New Mexico.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: Hawkins attended Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, but left after his junior year to enter Stanford University. He initially studied chemistry, but then switched to physics before finally majoring in philosophy. He was awarded his B.A. in 1934 and M.A. in 1936. While he was there, he met Frances Pockman, a teacher and writer. They got married in San Francisco in 1937. They had a daughter, Julie.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: In 1936, Hawkins went to the University of California, Berkeley, to work on his doctorate. He became friends with Robert Oppenheimer, with whom he liked to discuss Hindu philosophy and issues in the philosophy of science such as the uncertainty principle and Niels Bohr's complementarity. In 1938, Hawkins and his wife, Frances, joined the Berkeley campus branch of the Communist Party of America. He earned his Ph.D. in 1940, writing his thesis on "A Causal Interpretation of Probability".


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: After graduating, Hawkins worked at Berkeley until May 1943, when Oppenheimer recruited him to work at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory, as his administrative assistant. "I was intrigued by the thought of being part of this extraordinary development," he later explained, "And it was still of course in those days entirely focused on the terrible thought that the Germans might get this weapon and win World War II."


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: Hawkins saw his role as that of a go-between, mediating between the civilian scientists and the military leadership at Los Alamos, but he also found a kindred spirit in the Polish mathematician Stan Ulam, who was working in Edward Teller's "Super" Group. They investigated the problem of branching a neutron multiplication in a nuclear chain reaction. Stan Frankel and Richard Feynman had tackled the problem using classical physics, but Ulam and Hawkins approached it using probability theory, creating a new sub-field now known as branching process theory. They investigated branching chains using a characteristic function. After the war, Ulam would extend and generalise this work. He described Hawkins as "the most talented amateur mathematician I know".


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: Hawkins is credited with the selection of the Alamogordo area for the Trinity nuclear test, but he declined to watch it. His final assignment at Los Alamos was as its historian, writing the history of Project Y. He completed this work in August 1946, covering the history of Project Y up to August 1945, but it remained classified until 1961. He was a founding member of the Federation of American Scientists.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: With World War II over, he left Los Alamos to become an associate professor of philosophy at George Washington University, but left in 1947 to join the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder. Together with Herbert A. Simon, he discovered and proved the Hawkins–Simon theorem on the "conditions for the existence of positive solution vectors for input-output matrices". This macroeconomic theorem helped economists better understand the interconnectedness of various sectors of an economy.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: On December 20, 1950, Hawkins was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He testified that he had been a member of the Communist Party from 1938 to 1942. The testimony of Hawkins and his wife Frances was released publicly in January 1951, resulting in an outcry led by "The Denver Post". There were calls for his dismissal, but he had tenure and, under the university's law, this could only be revoked for incompetence or moral turpitude. The regents took a vote, and were split evenly; the numbers went in his favor when one of them died. He remained at the University of Colorado until he retired in 1982, except for periods as a visiting professor at Berkeley, the University of North Carolina, Cornell University, Simon Fraser University, the University of Michigan and the University of Rome. He was also a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study and the American Council of Learned Societies.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: From 1962, Hawkins increasingly took an interest in early childhood education and in improving elementary school science education. With his wife Frances, they established the Elementary Science Advisory Center to improve the standard of science teaching, which he directed from 1965 to 1970. In 1970, they founded the campus-based Mountain View Center for Environmental Education with funding from the university and the Ford Foundation, which provided advanced education for elementary school teachers. He was a consultant to the National Institute of Education and the National Science Foundation. In 1981, he received a $300,000 "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: Hawkins died at his home in Boulder, Colorado, on February 24, 2002. He was survived by his wife Frances and daughter Julie.


title: David Hawkins (philosopher)

text: His papers are in the library of the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 2013, the University of Colorado hosted an interactive exhibit in Boulder about his life and work, "Cultivate the Scientist in Every Child: The Philosophy of Frances and David Hawkins". Over the following five years, the exhibit travelled to Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and California, before arriving in its permanent home at Boulder Journey School in Boulder.


title: Watercraft

text: Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, oar, paddle, or engine) and hence is distinct from a stationary device, such as a pontoon, that merely floats.


title: Watercraft

text: Most watercraft may be described as either a ship or a boat. However, numerous items, including surfboards, underwater robots, seaplanes and torpedoes, may be considered neither ships nor boats.


title: Watercraft

text: Although ships are typically larger than boats, the distinction between those two categories is not one of size per se.


title: Watercraft

text: The term "watercraft" (unlike such terms as aircraft or spacecraft) is rarely used to describe any individual object: rather the term serves to unify the category that ranges from jet skis to aircraft carriers. Such a vessel may be used in saltwater and freshwater; for pleasure, recreation, physical exercise, commerce, transport or military missions.


title: Watercraft

text: Usually the purposes behind watercraft designs and skills are for seafaring education or leisure activities, fishing and resource extraction, transportation of cargo or passengers, and for conducting combat or salvage operations. In general, the purpose of a water vehicle identifies its utility with a maritime industry sub-sector.


title: Watercraft

text: The design from which a water vehicle is created usually seeks to achieve a balance between internal capacity (tonnage), speed and seaworthiness. Tonnage is predominantly a consideration in transport operations, speed is important for warships, and safety is a primary consideration for less experienced or often smaller and less stable training and leisure vehicles. This is due to the great level of regulatory compliance required by the larger watercraft, which ensures very infrequent instances of foundering at sea through application of extensive computer modeling and ship model basin testing before shipyard construction begins.


title: Watercraft

text: Historically, water vehicles have been propelled by people with poles, paddles, or oars, through manipulation of sails that propel by wind pressure and/or lift, and a variety of engineered machinery that create subsurface thrust through the process of internal combustion or electricity. The technological history of watercraft in European history can be divided by reference to marine propulsion as simple paddle craft, oared galleys from the 8th century BCE until the 15th century, lateen sail during the Age of Discovery from the early 15th century and into the early 17th century, full-rigged ships of the Age of Sail from the 16th to the mid 19th century, the Age of Steam reciprocating marine steam engine roughly between 1770 and 1914, the steam turbine, later gas turbine, and internal combustion engines using diesel fuel, petrol and LNG as fuels from the turn of the 20th century, which have been supplemented to a degree by nuclear marine propulsion since the 1950s in some naval watercraft. Current technological development seeks to identify cheaper, renewable and less polluting sources of propulsion for watercraft of all shapes and sizes.


title: Watercraft

text: Secondary applications of technology in watercraft have been those of used structural materials, navigation aids; and in the case of warships, weapon systems. The purpose of usage and the physical environment define the materials used in construction which had historically included grasses, leather, timbers, metals combined with timber or without, silicate and plastic derivatives, and others.


title: Watercraft

text: Watercraft registration is the registration of a watercraft with a government authority. In the United States, it consists of an alphanumeric string called a vessel registration number that is issued by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.