Pattern Recognition (novel)

Pattern Recognition is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August and September 2002, the story follows Cayce Pollard, a 32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols. The action takes place in London, Tokyo, and Moscow as Cayce judges the effectiveness of a proposed corporate symbol and is hired to seek the creators of film clips anonymously posted to the internet.

The novel's central theme involves the examination of the human desire to detect patterns or meaning and the risks of finding patterns in meaningless data. Other themes include methods of interpretation of history, cultural familiarity with brand names, and tensions between art and commercialization. The September 11, 2001 attacks are used as a motif representing the transition to the new century. Critics identify influences in Pattern Recognition from Thomas Pynchon's postmodern detective story The Crying of Lot 49.

Pattern Recognition is Gibson's eighth novel and his first one to be set in the contemporary world. Like his previous work, it has been classified as a science fiction and postmodern novel, with the action unfolding along a thriller plot line. Critics approved of the writing but found the plot unoriginal and some of the language distracting. The book peaked at number four on the New York Times Best Seller list, was nominated for the 2003 British Science Fiction Association Award, and was shortlisted for the 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award and Locus Awards.

Grosvenor Picture Palace

The Grosvenor Picture Palace, now known as The Footage, is a former cinema and current pub at the corner of Grosvenor Street and Oxford Road in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, United Kingdom. Built in 1913–15, it was the largest cinema outside London in its day. It is now a Stonegate pub.

History

The Grosvenor Picture Palace was designed in 1913 by Percy Hothersall (who later designed Manchester's first supercinema, The Piccadilly, off Piccadilly Gardens in 1922). It is located at the corner of Grosvenor Street and Oxford Road in Chorlton-on-Medlock.

The cinema opened on 19 May 1915, featuring Blanche Forsythe in Jane Shore; it was described at the time as "Roman-Corinthian of the later Renaissance influence". It dates from the period when the first permanent cinemas were being built, with the distinctive design acting as "ostentatious advertising". The cinema had a capacity of just under 1000 people, making it the largest cinema outside London in its day. A billiard hall was installed in the basement in the 1930s.

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse is a 1994 platformer video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Sony Imagesoft for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, and Super NES. In the game, the player controls Mickey Mouse, who must navigate through various side-scrolling levels, each designed and based from classical Mickey Mouse cartoons from 1928 to 1990. The game was later released on the PlayStation in Europe and Australia as Mickey's Wild Adventure and was later released in Europe and Australia on the PlayStation Store on July 10, 2012. Better Brazil Four complete Mega Drive, SNES, Playstation and Playstation 3. The box states that Mickey Mania was the first video game to feature animations by real Disney animators (although Disney's Aladdin, released a year earlier, has animation by Walt Disney Feature Animation). This is the first game that video game designer David Jaffe worked on.

Gameplay

Mickey Mania is a platformer in which players control Mickey Mouse as he visits various locations based on his past cartoons, ranging from his debut in Steamboat Willie to the more recent The Prince and the Pauper. Mickey can attack enemies by either jumping on them or by using a limited supply of marbles, which are collected throughout the level. Mickey can take up to five hits, represented by the fingers he holds up on his hand, which can be replenished by collecting stars, whilst extra lives can be gained by finding Mickey hats. Levels offer a variety of challenges such as puzzles the player must solve, escaping from a rampaging moose and fleeing from a flaming staircase.

Santa Clara, Cuba

Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is located in the most central region of the province and almost in the most central region of the country. With a population near a quarter million; 242,402 people at the beginning of 2013, is the 5th largest Cuban city by population.

History

Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15, 1689. One hundred and thirty-eight of them were represented by two large families already living in the area and, therefore, owners of the land next to the new city. The other 37 came from 7 other families, a priest and a governor, all of them originating in the coastal city of “San Juan de los Remedios”.

The population of Remedios was torn between the option of leaving their city, constantly besieged by pirate attacks, or staying in place. While most of them finally decided to stay, these 37 persons traveled south and, on June 1, 1689 they arrived to the hill where they rejoined the other two existing families. A mass was given under a supposed Tamarind tree and the city was born. Since then, the place under the tree is known as “Loma Del Carmen” (Carmen’s Hill). A second generation church exists in a beautiful park along the place with a monument commemorating the event surrounded by a fourth generation Tamarind tree.

Santa Clara

Santa Clara (Portuguese and Spanish for Saint Clair or Saint Claire) may refer to:

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