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At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Madrigal qualified for a breaststroke double. He achieved FINA B-standards of 1:05.61 (100 m breaststroke) and 2:20.00 (200 m breaststroke) from the 2000 Janet Evans Invitational in USC Los Angeles, California, United States. |
In the 100 m breaststroke, held on the first day of the Games, Madrigal established a new Costa Rican record of 1:05.14 to lead the second heat, but ended up overall in forty-eighth place. Three days later, in the 200 m breaststroke, Madrigal placed forty-third on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat three. |
= = = Frederick Tansley Munnings = = = |
Frederick Tansley Munnings (1875, Lowestoft – 1953) was a 20th-century British spiritualist medium and former burglar. He was exposed as a fraud. |
Munnings lived in Hastings and worked as a boarding-house keeper. He was convicted of burglary for housebreaking at Woking and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. Munnings claimed to be a "direct voice" medium, but was exposed as a fraud when one of his séance sitters turned the lights on, revealing him to be holding a trumpet by means of a telescopic extension piece and using an angle piece to change the auditory effect of his voice. |
In February 1926 a public warning against Munnings was issued in the press by Arthur Conan Doyle, Abraham Wallace, R. H. Saunders, and H. D. Bradley. The psychical researcher Harry Price also exposed his fraudulent mediumship. Munnings claimed to produce the independent "spirit" voices of Julius Caesar, Dan Leno, Hawley Harvey Crippen and King Henry VIII. Price invented and used a piece of apparatus known as a voice control recorder and proved that all the voices were those of Munnings. Munnings admitted fraud and sold his confessions to a Sunday newspaper. |
Munnings's daughter Hilda Tansley Munnings became a noted ballerina under the name Lydia Sokolova. |
= = = Cue sports at the 2010 Asian Games – Men's three-cushion singles = = = |
The men's three-cushion billiards singles tournament at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou took place from 15 November to 17 November at Asian Games Town Gymnasium. |
Tsuyoshi Suzuki of Japan won the gold medal after beating his teammate Joji Kai in the final. |
= = = 2013 European Fencing Championships = = = |
The 2013 European Fencing Championships was held in Zagreb, Croatia from 16–21 June 2013. Venue for the competition was Arena Zagreb. |
= = = 1971 Oregon Webfoots football team = = = |
The 1971 Oregon Webfoots football team represented the University of Oregon during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Home games were played in Eugene at Autzen Stadium. |
Led by fifth-year head coach Jerry Frei, the Ducks were 5–6 overall and 2–4 in the Pacific-8 Conference. They did not play UCLA and lost the Civil War to Oregon State for an eighth consecutive year. |
Oregon was led by junior quarterback Dan Fouts and senior All-American halfback Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashād), the fourth overall pick of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. Rashād played ten seasons in the NFL, primarily as a wide receiver with the Minnesota Vikings. |
Two months after the season, Frei resigned as head coach on January 19, 1972, and assistant coach Dick Enright was promoted two weeks later. |
= = = Powell-Cotton Ethnographic Films = = = |
The Powell-Cotton ethnographic films is a collection of over 70 ethnographic, documentary and wildlife films made by the Powell-Cotton family between 1922 and 1973. The films relate exclusively to the family's expeditions in Africa during this time. The original films are held in the British Film Institute archives, and the Powell-Cotton Museum own copies contemporaneous with the originals. |
Between 1887 and 1939 Major Percy H G Powell-Cotton undertook a total of 28 expeditions to Africa and Asia. Alongside the extensive collection of game and animal specimens he bought back, Major Powell-Cotton also shot several reels of 16mm film footage whilst out in the bush. |
His films mainly depict African game and wildlife, as well as market scenes, craft making and tribal ceremonies from the African rural communities. One particular film, "Gorilla Drive, Cameroons", is believed to be the only one of its subject from this date in existence. It shows the mustering of the animals by the local people, their herding and despatch by the natives with spears. |
Powell-Cotton made 17 films in total, either independently or together with his daughter Diana or wife Hannah. All the films are 16mm black and white silent films, made in a non-narrative documentary style. The major also shot all his films using a handheld, windup Bell & Howell Filmo 70 camera, which is currently on display in the Powell-Cotton museum. The first recorded use of colour film was in 1950’s in the film "South Africa: Victoria Falls & Livingstone Game Park" made by Christopher and Diana Powell-Cotton. |
Most of the films in the collection were made for private viewing only and for the purposes recording keeping from the expeditions. However, Major Powell-Cotton did present several of his films to the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1932, including "Crafts in the Cameroons" (1931) and "Osonigbe Juju House and Benin Brass Cutting" (1931). |
The most notable films of the collection are those by Major Powell-Cotton’s daughters, Diana and Antoinette Powell-Cotton from their expeditions to Angola in 1936 and 1937. |
The result of their trips was just under three hours of edited black-and-white 16mm film, accompanied by nearly 3,000 objects and 2,000 photographs. The films portray local ceremonies, craft-working and family life in rural Africa. Together they provide a unique record of the region at a crucial time in its history, before the full impact of the massive cultural changes brought about by missionization and colonial rule. |
Diana and Antoinette filmed their entire footage on a single, small windup Kodak cine camera which is currently on display in the Powell-Cotton museum. The sisters were not able to review or edit any footage on location, and so were constantly anxious they had not captured the events and activities in Angola successfully. They only edited their footage on their return, and would give private viewings accompanied by music and live narration to family members in their screen room which is now Gallery 4 in the Powell-Cotton museum. |
Some of the Powell-Cotton films are shown as part of the permanent exhibition at the Powell-Cotton Museum. |
The Angolan film collection by the Powell-Cotton sisters was also the focus of the special exhibition ‘Tala! Visions of Angola’ which was held at the Powell-Cotton Museum from May to November 2012. |
The exhibition was awarded National Lottery Heritage Funding and was co-curated with the Angolan Cultural Foundation and the Angolan Embassy. Commenting on the exhibition, the curators said: |
“The objects we had access to, were made by somebody’s great grandmother or great grandfather. They deserve to be seen and remembered by their rightful ancestors as well as the wider public. Just as importantly, the Angolan community here in the UK have a right to be involved in the decisions made about the collection. This is after all their history.” |
In connection with the exhibition, a research project entitled ‘Looking Back to Find Them Looking Forward: The Visionary Powell-Cotton Sisters’ and was in collaboration with the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. |
The project and exhibition aimed to highlight the importance of the daughters collecting practises and material they brought back, especially their ethnographic films. As Oxford Aspire stated in an article on the project; |
‘The sisters’ collecting practice was visionary in that it placed photography and film-making in a central role in the collection of material culture, something few other museum collections were doing at the time. As a result their collection represents a significant part of the film and museum heritage of the county. Until this new project, however, their achievements were not recognised in the galleries of the Powell-Cotton Museum.’ |
See Powell-Cotton filmography |
Miller, Ben, ‘"Extraordinary" Tala show brings Visions of Angola to Kent's Powell-Cotton Museum’ on Culture 24, 22 May 2012 |
Legrand, Louise, Annette, Diana and Antoinette Powell-Cotton: 'interested amateurs'? MA Thesis, University of Kent, 2008 |
Powell Cotton Museum, Illustrated guide to the Powell-Cotton Museum natural history and ethnography, Quex Park, Birchington, The Museum, 1969 |
= = = Gunpoint (video game) = = = |
Gunpoint is a stealth-based puzzle-platform video game created by indie developer Tom Francis. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on 3 June 2013, and soon followed with versions for OS X and Linux. |
The game is set in the near future and sees players assume the role of freelance spy Richard Conway, who is tasked with infiltrating buildings to fulfil assignments from various clients. To do so, the player must avoid guards and bypass security features with the aid of a number of high-tech gadgets, such as the Crosslink tool which is used to rewire electrical circuits. Throughout the game, Conway seeks to clear his name in the murder of a high-profile weapons manufacturer, and gradually uncovers a murder mystery in his search for the real killer. |
"Gunpoint" is divided into a number of missions, between which the player, as Richard Conway, interacts with others through a PDA to accept missions, shop for new gear, and allocate resource points among various abilities Conway possesses. Each mission typically involves entering a building and hack into a computer, and then making way for the exit point of the level. Initially missions are provided in a linear order but the game provides optional missions later. |
The building is presented in a two-dimensional cross-section on screen, showing the locations of guards, doors, switch panels, lights, security cameras, and other features, including the target objectives. The player, as Conway, can run and climb on walls, use stairwells and elevators, and using the abilities of Conway's "Bullfrog" hypertrousers, can launch the character great heights or distances, potentially tackling guards or breaking through glass walls. Conway can survive long falls, but can be killed by a single gunshot, thus requiring the player to stay out of the guards' line of sight. |
Within a few missions, the player gains access to the Crosslink device. This allows the player to change the view to show all the security features of the building and their current connectivity, such as the light controlled by a given light switch. From here, the player can rewire these controls, within the current limits of the Crosslink, such as by making a light switch control a secured door, or by completely disabling a security feature. The availability of which controls can be affected is initially limited at the start of the game, but as the player earns in-game money, they can buy improved features, such as being able to control encrypted controls or even affect weapons carried by guards. With the Crosslink, the player can then create situations that would allow them to sneak through without being detected by guards, lure the guards into areas where they can be neutralized, or simply to gain access to secured areas of the facility. Other tools to help navigate the building and avoid guards become available to purchase later. The player is ranked at the end of each mission based on time taken, number of guards knocked out/killed, number of times they were spotted, and how much noise or distraction they created. |
The game includes a level editor to allow players to create their own challenges. |
"Gunpoint" was developed by Tom Francis in his spare time while working as section editor for "PC Gamer UK" magazine. Francis had no formal background in programming, but having learned that "Spelunky" was created by one person with the user-friendly software suite , he decided to experiment with game development. He started work on his first game, under the working title "Private Dick", in May 2010. Within about a month Francis had a working prototype which he released on his blog to gauge interest and garner feedback. |
After making further progress on the game's core mechanics, Francis requested on his blog that interested artists submit character and background mockups for the game to replace his programmer art. He described the response as "humbling and overwhelming," and ultimately chose to work with artists John Roberts and Fabian van Dommelen. Francis then repeated this process for musicians, recruiting Ryan Ike, Francisco Cerda, and John Robert Matz to create the background music of "Gunpoint". |
The concept for "Gunpoint" came from Francis' review work for "PC Gamer UK", as he found himself often writing means of suggesting how games could be improved, and considered himself too harsh for writing such criticism. He wanted to make a game that avoided the pitfall of assuming "the player is stupid", and instead not worry about if the player out-thought his own level design. The idea of the Crosslink tool made it effectively a type of limited level editor to let the player complete each level in the manner they wanted to. Francis considered that the stealth element was less about evasion and more on simply avoiding being even seen by the guards; he considered that for most other games, player characters can typically take a great deal of damage, and instead wanted to make the player consider the guards' guns as serious threats and included instant death if seen by the guards. The Crosslink tool could thus allow players to deal with such guards without even being in the same room. Francis did cut out one element of the Crosslink tool that would allow the player to remotely activate a device that is on an accessible circuit as he felt this would make for trivial solutions. |
In 2015, the game was ported by Abstraction Games to a newer version of the game engine, with added support for Steam Workshop. |
"Gunpoint" was positively received by critics, attaining a score of 83/100 from review aggregator Metacritic. The game was widely praised for its gameplay, art style, music, and writing; while its short length was a common criticism. Eurogamer awarded the game 8/10 and wrote "'Always leave them wanting more,' goes the old showbiz adage, and "Gunpoint" certainly does that." GameSpot's review was more critical of the game's length, awarding it 7.5/10 and describing it as "the start of something great, but without more content, it feels too much like the appetizer to a main course." Destructoid gave the game 9.5/10 and called it "a hallmark of excellence," noting that "its short length might be seen as a flaw, but a robust level editor soundly nips that issue in the bud." "PC Gamer UK", where Francis worked while developing the game, declined to review it in order to avoid any perceived conflict of interest. |
Francis noted that his only development cost was $30 for a version of . He recouped this cost within 64 seconds of offering pre-orders for the game, but since has made revenue many times more than this and recognizing he was making enough to become a game developer. With the success of "Gunpoint", Francis announced that he would be departing "PC Gamer UK" to take up full-time independent game development, while still writing freelance for the magazine from time to time. |
= = = Babillon Tower = = = |
Babillon Tower () is a skyscraper under construction (currently on hold) in Batumi, Georgia. It is approximately 170 meters tall (47 stories). Once complete, it will be the tallest skyscraper in Batumi after the Orbi Twin Towers (50 stories). The Babillon Tower will become one of many new buildings constructed in Batumi in recent years, leading to a renewal of the tourist industry. The construction is overseen by Omer Ilknur and was to include a 4-star hotel, a casino, residences, social facilities, shops, offices, cafes, restaurants, and bars. |
As of May 2019, the Government of Georgia sold the Babillon Tower multi-story building to MC Construction, located in the center of Batumi. The online auction started at 24.5 million GEL, 33% less than the previous unsuccessful auction. Babylon Tower was supposed to be completed in 2015, but the developer of the project TAM GEO LLC did not fulfill their obligations. |
= = = Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council = = = |
Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is a United Nations-hosted organization dedicated to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 6, Target 6.2 on sanitation and hygiene. It was established in 1990. WSSCC advocates for improved sanitation and hygiene, paying special attention to the needs of women, girls and people in vulnerable situations. WSSCC facilitates multi-stakeholder collaboration around sanitation and contributes to the international community's broader goals of poverty eradication, health and environmental improvement, gender equality and long-term social and economic development. |
WSSCC's main areas of focus are large-scale sanitation and hygiene behaviour change programmes through the Global Sanitation Fund - promoting sanitation and hygiene as the gateway to inclusion and opportunity; and bringing together leaders and activists to strengthen the global sanitation movement. |
WSSCC works to address the sanitation crisis and promote universal access to sanitation in collaboration with a range of partners. The United Nations estimates that some 2.2 billion people lack basic sanitation services and 3 billion people lack access to basic handwashing facilities at home. Poor sanitation costs countries approximately $229 billion annually (in 2015). |
WSSCC contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6, Target 6.2: ""By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations."" |
WSSCC collaborates with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, civil society groups and the private sector internationally and at the national, regional and local levels. The organization also advocates around key sanitation and hygiene international days such as World Water Day, Menstrual Hygiene Day, World Toilet Day and Global Handwashing Day. |
Through the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF), a multi-donor United Nations trust fund, WSSCC supports national efforts to help rural communities improve their sanitation and adopt good hygiene practices. The GSF funds behaviour change activities. Community-led total sanitation is frequently utilized by GSF-funded national programmes, such as in Cambodia and Nigeria. |
The GSF funds national programmes in Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. WSSCC's Secretariat gathers funds and donations at the global level, selects the eligible countries for funding, and manages the disbursement of grants to national sanitation programmes. |
In the period of 2008 to 2018, the Global Sanitation Fund has allocated over US$ 119 to sanitation projects in developing countries. |
WSSCC advocates for equality, human rights and non-discrimination as central to ensuring access to safe water supply, adequate sanitation and good hygiene for all. In particular, WSSCC WASH advocates promote women's participation and leadership and menstrual hygiene management. |
A key challenge that WSSCC is addressing relates to the inclusion of menstrual hygiene management in the sustainable development agenda. WSSCC has highlighted that the taboo surrounding menstruation is a barrier to equal participation and opportunities for women. A National Public Radio article highlighted that many policy makers often admit that they had never considered questions around menstruation before. |
Other focus areas include sustaining behaviour change as well as ensuring reliable and consistent monitoring, particularly of households that return to previously abandoned unhygienic behaviours. WSSCC works on these issues through systems strengthening and impact evaluations. |
Notable reports and campaigns supported by WSSCC include: |
WSSCC is administratively and legally hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) since 2009. WSSCC's Secretariat is governed by its Steering Committee. The current (in 2019) Secretariat’s Executive Director is Sue Coates ("ad interim"). WSSCC’s secretariat is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. WSSCC is an unincorporated membership organization and not a separate legal entity. |
WSSCC's Steering Committee decides the policies and strategies of the organization, manages the governance process, and is accountable to both the membership and the donors for its work. It is made up of a chair, regional members, partner agency members, ex officio members, non-voting invitees, and permanent non-voting observers. All WSSCC members are eligible to stand and vote in elections for the Steering Committee. |
WSSCC is the only UN body devoted solely to sanitation and hygiene. |
WSSCC has members in 150 countries. |
The "WSSCC community" includes staff based in Geneva, volunteer National Coordinators, Global Sanitation Fund programme managers, a democratically elected Steering Committee and bi-lateral donor partners. The "national coordinators" work through WASH Coalitions in 16 countries to lead WSSCC’s work. They serve as coalition heads, spokespersons, and advocates for sanitation, hygiene and water supply issues. |
The current chair (in 2019) is Hind Khatib-Othman. |
WSSCC receives or has received funding from several European governments as well as Australia. In 2016-2018 the donors to WSSCC's budget were the Governments of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. In previous years, donors also included Australia, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. |
The expenditure in 2018 totaled US$ 18.2 million representing a 72% delivery rate against a budget of US$ 21.1 million. |
Key collaborating partners with WSSCC include WaterAid, Sanitation and Water for All, Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) and UNICEF, among others. In 2020, WSSCC announced a stronger collaboration with SuSanA by merging their Community of Practice group into the SuSanA Discussion Forum. |
WSSCC partners with: |
In 1990, a group of senior staff of developing country governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, NGOs and research institutions founded WSSCC. On December 21, 1990, the 45th Session of the UN General Assembly elected to pass resolution A/RES/45/181, which emphasized the “importance of intensifying the coordination of national activities undertaken with the assistance of all relevant agencies in the field of water supply and sanitation through, in particular, the inter-agency Steering Committee for Co-operative Action for the International Drinking Water Decade and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council”. Through this resolution the WSSCC was formally established as an independent organization with a United Nations mandate. |
During the 1990s, WSSCC concentrated on sharing knowledge and convening thematic discussion groups on water- and sanitation-related topics. In 2000, WSSCC published Vision 21, a proposal for achieving universal water, sanitation and hygiene coverage. |
From 1991 to 2009, it was hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2009, WSSCC has been hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). |
After 2000, WSSCC expanded its work to include advocacy and communications, and began to use the term "WASH" as an umbrella term for water, sanitation and hygiene from about 2001 onwards"." |
WSSCC's members and staff lobbied for a Millennium Development Goal target for sanitation, which was adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. |
Since 2007, WSSCC has focused on sanitation and hygiene, adding a dedicated sanitation grant financing mechanism (the Global Sanitation Fund) in addition to its networking, knowledge and advocacy work. |
Previous chairs of the steering committee include: Interim chairs Brad Herbert and Ebele Okeke in 2017-2018, Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Minister of Environment of Nigeria in 2016, Andrew Cotton in 2014 to 2015, Anna Tibaijuka in 2011 to 2013; Roberto Lenton in 2005 to 2010, Sir Richard Jolly in 1997 to 2004 and Margaret Catley-Carlson in 1990 to 1996. |
Previous executive directors included Rolf Luyendijk (in 2018), Chris Williams (in 2012 to 2016) and Jon Lane (in 2007 to 2011). |