.asia

.asia is the official designated regional domain extension for Asia and the Pacific. It is a sponsored generic top-level-domain (gTLD) operated by the DotAsia Organisation Ltd. .asia is open to companies, individuals and organisations who have connection to the region. .Asia domains can be seen and used by international and Asian businesses; regional conferences and symposiums; as well as Asian artists and celebrities.

The .Asia web address was introduced to the public through a comprehensive launch involving a multiphased Sunrise and Landrush process from October 9, 2007 to March 12, 2008. It became available on a first-come-first-served registration basis on March 26, 2008. In 2013, there are more than 455,000 .asia domains registered across 155 countries.

Roll-out/response

.asia founded the first Pioneer Domains Program on July 20, 2007, more than two months prior to the opening of its Sunrise launch. It offered businesses and individuals an opportunity to own and build on any .Asia domain before the TLD opened its doors to mass public registration. Applicants were asked to submit a brief business plan for the domain of choice and make a marketing deposit of US$10,000. The full deposit was returned to successful applicants against proof of marketing attributed to the promotion of the built out .Asia website.

Asia

Asia (ⁱ/ˈeɪʒə/ or /ˈeɪʃə/) is the Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. It has historically been home to the world's first modern civilizations and has always hosted the bulk of the planet's human population. Asia is notable for not only overall large size and population, but unusually dense and large settlements as well as vast barely populated regions within the continent of 4.4 billion people. The boundaries of Asia are traditionally determined as that of Eurasia, as there is no significant geographical separation between Asia and Europe. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.

Asia (Asia album)

Asia is the self-titled debut studio album by British rock supergroup Asia, released in 1982. It contains their biggest hit and signature song, "Heat of the Moment", which reached #4 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Commercial success

Upon its release in March 1982, Asia enjoyed massive commercial success, reaching #1 in the US and spending nine weeks at the top of the Billboard album chart. According to both Billboard and Cash Box, it was the #1 album in the United States for the year 1982.Asia was certified 4x-platinum in the US by the RIAA on 10 February 1995.

In the band's native UK, Asia did not perform as well as in the US, peaking only at #11. At the same time, it spent a total of 38 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. The record received a gold status in Britain on 18 October 1982. "Heat of the Moment" climbed to No. 46.

Asia's total worldwide sales are estimated at over ten million copies.

Critical reception

Asia's debut album was met with mixed reviews. Robert Christgau panned the record and gave it a rating of "C–". In his Consumer Guide Review the critic stated that "rare that a big new group is bad enough to sink your teeth into any more" and called Asia "pompous – schlock in the grand manner". On the other side, Tom Demalon of AllMusic, in a four-and-a-half-star review, praised the album saying that "there's no denying the epic grandeur of the music, which provided some much-needed muscle to radio at the time, and did so with style".

Area

Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional figure or shape, or planar lamina, in the plane. Surface area is its analog on the two-dimensional surface of a three-dimensional object. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat. It is the two-dimensional analog of the length of a curve (a one-dimensional concept) or the volume of a solid (a three-dimensional concept).

The area of a shape can be measured by comparing the shape to squares of a fixed size. In the International System of Units (SI), the standard unit of area is the square metre (written as m²), which is the area of a square whose sides are one metre long. A shape with an area of three square metres would have the same area as three such squares. In mathematics, the unit square is defined to have area one, and the area of any other shape or surface is a dimensionless real number.

Area (nightclub)

Area was a themed nightclub that operated from 1983 to 1987 at 157 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City.

Micheal Alig worked as a barback and busboy. The club was known for its unusual invitations.

The club was founded by brothers Eric Goode and Christopher Goode, Shawn Hausman and Darius Azari. The brick building housing Area was originally built in 1866 to house the stables of the American Express Company.

The club was open from Wednesday to Saturday, 11 pm till 4 am.

Area attracted many celebrities. Writing for Details was Stephen Saben and Michael Musto, writing for The Village Voice magazine, these tabloids chronicled the doings there, and looked back on the phenomenon in Musto's book, Downtown.

There are several mentions of Area in Andy Warhol's diaries. Ben Buchanan was the official photographer for the club and was there most nights documenting the scene. These photos were in Details every month and often in the New York Post and Daily News.

Demise

Of the "three hot clubs" in lower Manhattan in the 1980s—Area, Limelight, and Danceteria - Area "[died] a natural death", Limelight survived with a less artistic clientele, and Danceteria "[gave] way to expensive office space".

Area (band)

Area - International POPular Group, most commonly known as Area or AreA, is an Italian progressive rock, jazz fusion, electronic, experimental group formed in 1972 by singer Demetrio Stratos and drummer Giulio Capiozzo. They are considered one of the most respected and important bands of the blooming 1970s Italian progressive rock scene.

History

Demetrio Stratos' years: 1972–1979

Area were formed in Milan in 1972. Originally composed of Demetrio Stratos, Giulio Capiozzo (drums and percussion), Victor Edouard "Eddie" Busnello (saxophone and flutes), Leandro Gaetano (piano), and Johnny Lambizzi (guitar), soon followed by Patrick Djivas (bass) and Patrizio Fariselli (keyboards and piano). The band was led by Demetrio Stratos, an original and talented singer originally from Greece. In 1973, Johnny Lambizzi left the band and was replaced by Paolo Tofani (guitar and synth). In that year, they recorded their first studio album Arbeit macht frei ("Work Brings Freedom"), taken from the inscription that was found on the gate at the entrance to Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp, was released by Cramps Records and the band performed in many musical and cultural events. Area went on tour in Chile and, representing Italy, they took part in the eighth Biennale de Paris. At that time, Area's sound was an odd mish-mash that drew from rock, jazz, Eastern, and Arabic music, and it was the blending of all sorts of music that made the band stand out. The band soon grew to prominence because the youth of the time were able to identify with Area's socialist lyrics, and the band was founded on a strong and virtuosic musicianship. To aficionados of Italian progressive rock, their debut album Arbeit macht frei is considered a classic.