Curse

A curse (also called a jinx, hex or execration) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, "curse" may refer to a wish that harm or hurt will be inflicted by any supernatural powers, such as a spell, a prayer, an imprecation, an execration, magic, witchcraft, God, a natural force, or a spirit. In many belief systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is called removal or breaking, and is often believed to require equally elaborate rituals or prayers.

The study of the forms of curses comprise a significant proportion of the study of both folk religion and folklore. The deliberate attempt to levy curses is often part of the practice of magic. In Hindu culture the Sage or Rishi is believed to have the power to bless and curse. Examples include the curse placed by Rishi Bhrigu on king Nahusha and the one placed by Rishi Devala. Special names for specific types of curses can be found in various cultures:

Curse, Inc.

Curse, Inc. is an online game portal and network of gaming websites founded by Hubert Thieblot in 2006. The company is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, and has offices in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Brighton, UK, and Berlin, Germany. Claiming to be the "number one resource for core online gamers,"Quantcast estimated monthly unique traffic in 2013 in excess of 30 million visitors. Curse has several primary functions, the most notable of which include an add-on and modification service called Curse Client for such games as World of Warcraft, Rift, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Terraria, Kerbal Space Program, and Minecraft, a collection of over 1000 gaming wikis (many of which are official) known as Gamepedia, and a Voice Over IP (VOIP) service called Curse Voice.

Curse has sponsored professional teams that compete in League of Legends and Call of Duty, which in addition to various high-profile wins have garnered sponsorship from companies such as Nissan,Alienware, and Cooler Master. In January 2015 Team Curse merged with Team Liquid under the name of the latter organization.

Curse (comics)

The Curse is a fictional villain in the comic book, Spawn. The Curse in the book is a billionaire and a religious zealot who seeks a place in Heaven and knows far more about the war between Heaven and Hell than most on Earth.

Fictional character biography

The Curse, born Phillip Krahn, seeks a chance to lead Heaven's armies against the armies of Hell. When he was a boy he removed his own left eye and scarred his face with a large, deep scratch from a rusty metal fence running horizontally over his right eye. When he was older, he removed his right arm to show his dedication to God. He grew to become wealthy and studied the occult. He used technology to rebuild his arm, far stronger and better than it was before.

He sought to gain Spawn's powers, believing him at first to be a soldier of Heaven, but Spawn destroyed his bionic arm and beat him severely, leaving the Curse crucified on a wall in Rat City to teach him and others that the alleys belong to Spawn. He was found and tortured by the demon-hunter, Sankser.

Shuffle!

Shuffle! (シャッフル!, Shaffuru!) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Navel. It was originally released as an adult game for Microsoft Windows on January 30, 2004. It was subsequently followed by an all-ages release for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and an expanded adult release for Windows. The Windows version was localized in English by MangaGamer in 2009. The gameplay in Shuffle! follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters. Shuffle! has been re-made into an expanded version called Shuffle! Essence+. It has expanded routes for the original five main heroines as well as new routes for six other characters. Shuffle! also has three spin-off sequels: Tick! Tack! , Really? Really! and Shuffle! Love Rainbow.

Shuffle! has made several transitions to other media. There have been two manga series based on the visual novel. The first was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Comptiq between December 2003 and 2006. The second was a comic anthology published by Kadokawa Shoten between July 2004 and December 2005. Two anime adaptations were produced by the animation studio Asread. The first anime was twenty-four episodes in length and was broadcast in Japan between July 2005 and January 2006. The second series was a twelve-episode readaptation and was broadcast between January and March 2007. Seven light novels, two fanbooks, nine drama CDs, and seven radio drama CDs adaptations have also been produced.

Shuffling

Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.

Shuffling techniques

Overhand shuffle

One of the easiest shuffles to accomplish, the overhand or stripping shuffle is essentially a series of cuts. A group of cards on the bottom (or top) of the deck grasped between the thumb on one side and fingers on the other, lifted sideways out of the deck, and then placed on the top (or bottom). This process is repeated multiple times with random selections of cards in order to randomize them.

The overhand shuffle offers sufficient opportunity for sleight of hand techniques to be used to affect the ordering of cards, creating a stacked deck. The most common way that players cheat with the overhand shuffle is by having a card at the top or bottom of the pack that they require, and then slipping it to the bottom at the start of a shuffle (if it was on top to start), or leaving it as the last card in a shuffle and just dropping it on top (if it was originally on the bottom of the deck).

Shuffle (song)

"Shuffle" is the first single by British alternative rock band Bombay Bicycle Club from their third studio album, A Different Kind of Fix. Through Island Records, the single was released on 23 June 2011 as a digital download in the United Kingdom. The song was chosen as "Record of The Week" by UK radio DJ Zane Lowe. "Shuffle" would become one of the band's most commercially successful singles.

Commercial performance

"Shuffle" peaked at number 64 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's second-most successful single. The single also debuted at number 40 and peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the United States, the band's first chart appearance in that country. The song also charted at number 60 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles chart.

Music video

The music video was uploaded to VEVO and YouTube on July 22, 2011. It features Lucy Rose, a fellow artist who is friends with the band. With over three million views, it is the band's most viewed video on YouTube and VEVO to date.

Cemetery

A cemetery or graveyard is a place where the remains of deceased people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον, "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground. The older term graveyard is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but primarily referred to a burial ground within a churchyard.

The intact or cremated remains of people may be interred in a grave, commonly referred to as burial, or in a tomb, an "above-ground grave" (resembling a sarcophagus), a mausoleum, columbarium, niche, or other edifice. In Western cultures, funeral ceremonies are often observed in cemeteries. These ceremonies or rites of passage differ according to cultural practices and religious beliefs. Modern cemeteries often include crematoria, and some grounds previously used for both, continue as crematoria as a principal use long after the interment areas have been filled.

Definition

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cemetery as a "burial-ground generally; now esp. a large public park or ground laid out expressly for the interment of the dead, and not being the ‘yard’ of any church. (Cemetery c)" and specifies that the term "...originally applied to the Roman underground cemeteries or catacombs " Cemeteries are normally distinct from churchyards, which are typically consecrated according to one denomination and are attached directly to a single place of worship.