1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Video game
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A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video game referred to a raster display device. Some theorists categorize video games as an art form, but this designation is controversial, the electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms, examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld computing devices, the input device used for games, the game controller, varies across platforms. Common controllers include gamepads, joysticks, mouse devices, keyboards, the touchscreens of mobile devices, and buttons, or even, with the Kinect sensor, a persons hands and body. Players typically view the game on a screen or television or computer monitor, or sometimes on virtual reality head-mounted display goggles. There are often game sound effects, music and, in the 2010s, some games in the 2000s include haptic, vibration-creating effects, force feedback peripherals and virtual reality headsets. In the 2010s, the game industry is of increasing commercial importance, with growth driven particularly by the emerging Asian markets and mobile games. As of 2015, video games generated sales of USD74 billion annually worldwide, early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947—a Cathode ray tube Amusement Device was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U. S. Written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanens on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961, and the hit ping pong-style Pong, used the DEC PDP-1s vector display to have two spaceships battle each other. In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially sold and it used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green, Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the Brown Box and these were followed by two versions of Ataris Pong, an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975 that dramatically increased video game popularity. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, the game inspired arcade machines to become prevalent in mainstream locations such as shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants, and convenience stores. The game also became the subject of articles and stories on television and in newspapers and magazines. Space Invaders was soon licensed for the Atari VCS, becoming the first killer app, the term platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware which, in conjunction with software, allows a video game to operate. The term system is commonly used
3.
Lisburn
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Lisburn is a city in Northern Ireland. It is 8 mi southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, Lisburn is part of the Belfast Metropolitan Area. It had a population of 71,465 people in the 2011 Census, formerly a borough, Lisburn was granted city status in 2002 as part of Queen Elizabeth IIs Golden jubilee celebrations. It is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland, Lisburn is one of the constituent cities that make up the Dublin-Belfast corridor region which has a population of just under 3 million. The town was known as Lisnagarvy after the townland in which it formed. This is derived from Irish Lios na gCearrbhach, meaning ringfort of the gamesters/gamblers, the origin of the towns current name is uncertain. The modern spelling Lisburn first appears in a January 1662 entry in church records, after February 1662, the name Lisnagarvy is no longer found in the records. It is commonly believed that the town was renamed after being burnt during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, there is evidence that the name existed even at the time of the rebellion. In the depositions concerning the rebellion, an English soldier stated on 9 June 1653 that the rebels entered the town of Lisnagarvy at a place called Louzy Barne. Carmody believes that, in the early days, there were two co-existing ringforts, Lisnagarvy to the north and Lisburn to the south. He suggests that both come from Irish and concludes, Lisburn, being shorter and more easily pronounced by the English settlers, became the familiar name. The original name is used in the titles of some local schools. Lisburns original site was a fort located north of modern-day Wallace Park, in 1609 James I granted Sir Fulke Conway, a Welshman of Norman descent, the lands of Killultagh in southwest County Antrim. During the 1620s the streets of Lisburn were laid out just as they are today, Market Square, Bridge Street, Castle Street and Bow Street. In 1628, Sir Edward Conway, brother to the now deceased Sir Fulke and this is still held in the town every Tuesday. The Manor House was destroyed in the fire of 1707 and was never rebuilt. Lisburn is also known as the birthplace of Irelands linen industry, an exhibition about the Irish linen industry is now housed in the Irish Linen Centre, which can be found in the old Market House in Market Square. In 1920, disturbances related to the ongoing Irish War of Independence saw almost all of Lisburns Catholic businesses burned out, the town was one of the first to recruit special constables, who went on to become part of Northern Irelands Ulster Special Constabulary
4.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
5.
People of Northern Ireland
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For detailed information about Northern Irelands population, see Demographics of Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, national identity is complex and diverse, the three most common identities are British, Northern Irish and Irish. Most people of Protestant background consider themselves British, while a majority of people of Catholic background consider themselves Irish and this has origins in the 17th century Plantation of Ulster, when mainly-Catholic Ulster was colonized by Protestant settlers from Great Britain. In the early 20th century, most Ulster Protestants and Catholics saw themselves as Irish, in 1968 – just before the onset of the Troubles – 39% of Protestants described themselves as British and 20% described themselves as Irish, while 32% chose an Ulster identity. This shift has not been reversed, meanwhile, the majority of Catholics have continued to see themselves as Irish. From 1989, Northern Irish began to be included as an identity choice in surveys, some organizations have promoted Northern Irish identity as a way of overcoming sectarian division. In a 1998 survey of students, this was one of the reasons they gave for choosing that identity. However, surveys show that Northern Irish identity tends to have different meanings for Catholics, surveys also show that those choosing Northern Irish regard their national identity as less important than those choosing British and Irish
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Shiny Entertainment
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Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of titles including Earthworm Jim, MDK and Enter the Matrix. The company was founded by David Perry in October 1993, in 2007, Shiny Entertainment merged with The Collective to create Double Helix Games. In 1991, video game developer David Perry was working for Probe Software in London on the movie based video game The Terminator for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game was to be published by Virgin Games in Irvine, after a proposal was made, Perry agreed to complete the work in the United States and moved over to join the Virgin Games USA development team. At this time Perry got a US green card, and formed the new company, to fund it, he signed a three-game distribution deal with Playmates Interactive Entertainment and Shiny Entertainment Inc. was formed in October 1993. The companys first release was Earthworm Jim for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and it was commercially successful and won the Sega Game of the Year award. Several merchandising deals followed which resulted in an Earthworm Jim TV show, comic books, toy lines, the game was later ported to more platforms and a sequel, titled Earthworm Jim 2, followed in 1995. Sega and Nintendo had also made offers to acquire Shiny Entertainment but were turned down because, according to Perry, in 1997 former Shiny employees Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson left to form the company Planet Moon Studios. Interplay co-published MDK with Playmates Interactive Entertainment, in 2000 Shiny Entertainment released two games from two different genres, the 3D action game Messiah and the 3D real-time strategy game Sacrifice. Neither became as successful as Shinys previous releases, Messiah was perceived by professional reviewers as a rushed release with technical problems and flawed gameplay. Sacrifice was well received by critics but still did not become a commercial success, in 2002 Shiny was acquired by Infogrames for $47 million along with its then current project Enter the Matrix. Despite poor critical reception, Enter the Matrix became a commercial success, Shiny created another game based on the same license, The Matrix, Path of Neo, which was released in 2005. Again the critical reception was mediocre and it did not become as successful as the previous game. Perry launched a new Earthworm Jim game for Sonys PlayStation Portable as well as a new fighting Game called Age of Elements at E32006, atari announced their interest in selling off all their development studios, and Perry resigned. On October 2,2006, Foundation 9 Entertainment acquired Shiny Entertainment, in October 2007, Foundation 9 merged Shiny Entertainment with The Collective to form Double Helix Games. Earthworm Jim Earthworm Jim 2 MDK Wild 9 R/C Stunt Copter Messiah Sacrifice Enter the Matrix The Matrix, Path of Neo The Golden Compass Official website at the Wayback Machine
