Kudzu, also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot, is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands, but invasive in many parts of the world, primarily North America.
Pueraria montana is a species of plant in the botanical family Fabaceae. At least three sub-species are known. It is closely related to other species in the genus Pueraria and the common name kudzu is used for all of these species and hybrids between them. The morphological differences between them are subtle, they can breed with each other, and it appears that introduced kudzu populations in the United States have ancestry from more than one of the species.
SimEarth: The Living Planet is a life simulation game, the second designed by Will Wright. and published in 1990 by Maxis. In SimEarth, the player controls the development of a planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his Gaia hypothesis of planet evolution was incorporated into the game. Versions were made for the Macintosh, Atari ST, Amiga, IBM PC, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega CD, and TurboGrafx-16. It was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console. In 1996, several of Maxis' simulation games were re-released under the Maxis Collector Series with greater compatibility with Windows 95 and differing box art, including the addition of Classics beneath the title. SimEarth was re-released in 1997 under the Classics label.
The Sims 2 is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in The Sims series, and is the sequel to The Sims. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 14, 2004, and a port for MacOS by Aspyr was released on June 17, 2005. Eight expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were subsequently released between 2005 and 2008. In addition, versions of The Sims 2 were released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, and GameCube, and mobile platforms, including the Nokia Ovi Store. Unlike the original, the handheld and console versions are more storyline-based. The three handheld versions of the game are completely different among themselves, unlike the home console versions of the game, which are virtually identical to each other. A sequel, The Sims 3, was released in June 2009.
The War Against the Chtorr is a series of science fiction novels by American writer David Gerrold. The Chtorr series was originally planned as a trilogy, but as the story became more intricate, Gerrold realized that three books would not be enough for him to tell the entire story. For a time, he was uncertain how many books there would be in the end but plans on seven. As of 2022, four books have been completed. As of 2017, a fifth and sixth were in the works, 24 years after the publication of the fourth book.
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants is a platform video game, the second based on the animated television series The Simpsons. It was released in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum, and in 1992 for Sega Genesis, Master System and Game Gear. It was published by Acclaim Entertainment on consoles and Ocean Software on computers, and developed by Imagineering and Arc Developments. In the game, the player controls Bart Simpson through five levels as he tries to ruin the aliens' plan to take over the world. Video game critics have given Bart vs. the Space Mutants mixed reviews, with criticism directed at the difficulty of the game, partly caused by restricted controls.
SimSafari is a construction and management simulation game released by Maxis on March 19, 1998. It is similar to SimPark, except that the park is set in Africa rather than in North America, and therefore has African animals and plants.
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters. Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem". Other terms include artificial life game and simulated life game (SLG).
A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or livestock. Most noxious weeds have been introduced into an ecosystem by ignorance, mismanagement, or accident. Some noxious weeds are native. Typically they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls, and display adverse effects through contact or ingestion. Noxious weeds are a large problem in many parts of the world, greatly affecting areas of agriculture, forest management, nature reserves, parks and other open space.
Skatoony is a children's live action/animated game show, pitting live-action kids against cartoon characters. The series was co-produced by Talent TV and FremantleMedia Animation, Blink Studios, and Marblemedia with Smiley Guy Studios. The series used to air on Cartoon Network in the UK until 2017, with new episodes airing every Friday until the series cancellation in 2008. Skatoony has also aired as re-runs in the UK on Boomerang and Cartoon Network Too until the channel itself closed down in 2014. The show aired on Starz Kids & Family in the US until 2019. Reruns were occasionally shown on Teletoon in Canada until August 5, 2017. It also aired on Boomerang in Australia and New Zealand.
SimCity Creator is a video game in the Sim game series by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Wii in 2008.
Social simulation games are a subgenre of life simulation game that explore social interactions between multiple artificial lives. Some examples include The Sims and Animal Crossing series.
SimAnimals is a life simulation video game published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS and Wii console systems. It was released on January 21, 2009, in North America. It was released on January 30, 2009, in Europe and on February 5, 2009, in Australia. A sequel, SimAnimals Africa, was released for Wii and Nintendo DS on October 27, 2009.
Tasty Planet is a top-down and side-scroller video game franchise developed by Vancouver-based studio Dingo Games and published by Delaware-based PlayFirst and Dingo Games for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Kudzu is an invasive plant species in the United States, introduced from Asia with devastating environmental consequences, earning it the nickname "the vine that ate the South". It has been spreading rapidly in the Southern United States, "easily outpacing the use of herbicide, spraying, and mowing, as well increasing the costs of these controls by $6 million annually". Estimates of the vine's spread vary, from the United States Forest Service's 2015 estimate of 2,500 acres per year to the Department of Agriculture's estimate of as much as 150,000 acres annually.
The Sims 4 is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in North America on September 2, 2014, for Windows, a macOS version was released in February 2015, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in November 2017. It is the fourth major title in The Sims series, following The Sims 3 (2009). The game was moved to a free-to-play model on October 18, 2022, monetized by the purchase of various paid downloadable content packs that have been developed since its release.
All about Goat is a company founded in 2010 by 22-year-old entrepreneur Matthew Richmond, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which rents out goat herds for land-clearing purposes. Rent A Goat is part of a larger phenomenon called conservation grazing or targeted grazing whereby goats are used instead of traditional machinery or pesticides in order to curb unwanted invasive plant growth. Goat rental has since become a more publicly acceptable form of weed abatement according to The Street: "Whether you have just enough front or back yard to get overgrown and unwieldy or find yourself overrun with nasty, prickly, invasive plants that just won't go away, nature has already devised the ultimate solution to your problem."
Everett Crowley Park is a 38-hectare large forested park with trails, located within the Champlain Heights area of Vancouver. The park was previously a landfill, but was allowed to become reforested for recreational purposes. Currently, it is Vancouver's 5th largest public park. The surrounding neighborhood was the last area to be developed in Vancouver in the 1970s. The park is maintained, developed, and protected by the Vancouver Park Board and stewarded by a committee of the Champlain Heights Community Association, the Everett Crowley Park Committee (ECPC). Many of the trails in the park are designated as dog off-leash areas. Everett Crowley Park is situated north of the Fraser River. It is a 3-minute walk north of Vancouver's developing River District, on the edge of the Fraser River.
Twelve downloadable content "game packs" have been released for the 2014 life simulation video game The Sims 4, the fourth major title in The Sims series. All game packs are developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, for the Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox platforms. Game packs are intended to be smaller than full expansion packs. The first game pack, Outdoor Retreat, was released on January 13, 2015. The most recent game pack, Werewolves, was released on June 16, 2022.
Sixteen expansion packs have been released for the 2014 life simulation video game The Sims 4, the fourth major title in The Sims series. All expansion packs are developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, for the Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. Expansion packs tend to focus on major new features, with many objects, clothes, styles, worlds and life states are geared towards the pack's major theme. The first expansion pack, Get to Work, was released on March 31, 2015. The most recent expansion pack, Lovestruck, was released on July 25, 2024.
