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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne%20Billard
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Lynne Billard
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Lynne Billard (born 1943) is an Australian statistician and professor at the University of Georgia, known for her statistics research, leadership, and advocacy for women in science. She has served as president of the American Statistical Association, and the International Biometric Society, one of a handful of people to have led both organizations.
Education
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1966, and Doctoral degree in 1969, both from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Mathematics Cadetship, University of New South Wales, 1962-1965.
Theory of Statistics II Prize, University of New South Wales, 1964.
Theory of Statistics III Prize, University of New South Wales, 1965.
General Proficiency in Statistics Prize, University of New South Wales, 1965.
First Class Honours in Statistics, University of New South Wales, 1966.
Life and career
In 1975, Billard joined Florida State University, USA as an Associate Professor and in 1980, she moved to the University of Georgia as head of the Department of Statistics and Computer Science. In 1984, when the departments split, she became the first Head of the Department of Statistics at UGA. From 1989 - 1991, she served as an Associate Dean at the University of Georgia, in 1992 she was named a University Professor. Among her other appointments are the following:
Teaching Fellow and Tutor, University of New South Wales, 1/1966-12/1968.
Lecturer, University of Birmingham, U. K., 1/1969-12/1970.
Visiting Assistant Professor, SUNY at Buffalo, 1/1971-8/1971.
Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo, Canada, 9/1971-12/1974.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Stanford University, 1/1974-8/1974.
Visiting Associate Professor, SUNY at Buffalo, 9/1974-6/1975.
Visiting Associate Professor, Stanford University, 6/1974-8/1974.
Associate Professor, Florida State University, 7/1975-8/1980.
Associate Head, Florida State University, 7/1976-6/1978.
Research Fellow, Naval Postgraduate School, 8/1979-9/1979.
Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 9/1979-12/1979.
Professor, Florida State University, 1980-1981, on leave (at University of Georgia).
Professor of Statistics and Head, Department of Computer Science and Statistics, University of Georgia, 9/1980-8/1984.
Professor and Head, Statistics, University of Georgia, 9/1984-3/1989.
Imperial College, London (on leave), 9/1986-12/1986.
Professor and Associate Dean, University of Georgia, 4/1989-8/1991.
Professor, University of Georgia, 9/1991-6/1992.
University Professor, University of Georgia, 7/1992–present.
Adjunct Professor, Australian National University, 7/1997–present.
Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne, 9/2009–present.
Research
Lynne Billard has worked to involve statisticians in solving current and applied problems. Her work on the incubation period of AIDS greatly impacted public health education. Overall, her research spans a mix of theoretical and applied work. Most mathematical/theoretical work was motivated by real life applied questions primarily from the biological sciences (broadly defined), including scientific collaboration with substantive field researchers. The emphasis has changed over the years, with frequent returns to former areas. For example, early work focused on epidemic processes. Currently, a large manuscript (44 pages) on the impact of HIV-AIDS on health-care and insurance premiums has been submitted for publication. Also, currently, an analysis of survival rates using a cardiology dataset (with large n and large p) is being finalized; this analysis develops and then applies symbolic classification methods for interval and modal data formats for acute myocardial infarction and compares the results with those from classical CART and ecological CART analyses.
Epidemic theory including AIDS research.
Stochastic processes, with emphasis on model building
Sequential analysis, with emphasis on hypothesis testing.
Statistical inference, with emphasis on estimation theory.
Time series analysis.
Symbolic data analysis.
Books
Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the Sixteenth Symposium on the Interface (editor). 1985. North Holland Publishers.
AIDS Sexual Behavior and Intravenous Drug Use (with Co-National Research Council Panel Members). 1989. National Academy Press.
Improving Information for Social Policy Decisions: The Uses of Microsimulation Modeling, Volume I (with Co-National Research Council Panel Members). 1991. National Academy Press.
Improving Information for Social Policy Decisions: The Uses of Microsimulation Modeling, Volume II (with Co-National Research Council Panel Members). 1991. National Academy Press.
Exploring the Limits of Bootstrap (ed., with R. LePage). 1992. John Wiley.
Case Studies in Biometry (eds. N. Lange, L. Ryan, L. Billard, D. Brillinger, L. Conquest and J. Greenhouse). 1994. John Wiley.
Computer Science and Statistics: Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Symposium on the Interface (ed. with N. Fisher). 1997. Interface Foundation Publisher.
Lynne Billard, Edwin Diday, "Symbolic Data Analysis: Conceptual Statistics and Data Mining," Volume 654 of Wiley Series in Computational Statistics, John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
Awards and honors
She served as president of the two largest statistical societies in the world: the International Biometric Society (1994 - 1995) and the American Statistical Association (1995 - 1996). She is only the third person to have been president of both organizations. She also served as principal investigator for "Pathways to the Future," an annual National Science Foundation workshop which ran from 1988 to 2004 and focused on mentoring women who had recently received PhDs in Statistics, and were primarily entering academic positions.
In 2011, she received the tenth annual Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences. In 2013, she was awarded the Florence Nightingale David Award by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies, which is given biannually recognizes a female statistician for exemplary contributions to education, science and public service.
Here is a list of her notable awards.
Fellow of the American Statistical Association, 1980
Elected member of the International Statistical Institute</ref>
Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
American Statistical Association 1990 Award for Outstanding Statistical Application paper.
University Professor, University of Georgia, effective from July 1992. (University Professorship in recognition of outstanding service and contributions to the university outside of scholarship).
Creative Research Medal, University of Georgia, 1992.
International President, International Biometric Society, 1994, 1995.
President, American Statistical Association, 1996.
Women's Studies Faculty Award, University of Georgia (First award) 1999.
American Statistical Association 1999 Samuel Wilks Award.
University of New South Wales 1999 Alumni Award.
American Statistical Association 2003 Founders Award.
COPSS 2008 Elizabeth Scott Award.
University of New South Wales 2009, one of 60 featured alumni from 1949-2009.
Janet L. Norwood Award 2011.
COPSS 2013 F.N. David Award.
Selected publications
The Past, Present, and Future of Academic Women in the Mathematical Sciences
References
External links
Symbolic Data Analysis: Conceptual Statistics and Data Mining
A bequest to honour a mother’s inspiration
Alumni
ASA Leaders Reminisce: Lynne Billard
1943 births
Living people
Australian statisticians
Women statisticians
Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute
Fellows of the American Statistical Association
Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Presidents of the American Statistical Association
University of New South Wales alumni
University at Buffalo faculty
University of Georgia faculty
Australian expatriates in the United States
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greentree%20Business%20Software
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Greentree Business Software
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Greentree (now MYOB Greentree) is an ERP business software company based in Australia and New Zealand. The MYOB Greentree product is made for medium-sized organisations and distributed through a partner model.
Greentree is not industry vertical specific but provides capability across a wide range of market sectors. Its main markets are in Australia and New Zealand and growing in the UK, USA and the Pacific Islands.
Greentree operates in real-time and uses an integrated single design architecture which enables complete inter-module data flow.
History
Greentree's origins go back to the 1980s, when it was developing DOS-based accounting software under the brand name CBA. For 14 years, CBA was the most successful mid-range financial software solution, used on more than 12,000 sites across New Zealand and Australia.
CBA was founded by Don Bowman and John Cowan in 1983. In less than a year, it became Australia's top microcomputer accounting software. In 1986, CBA was named Australia Business Software of the Year, outselling all other computer software providers according to an independent market survey.
In 1993, CBA was sold to US-based Platinum Software but was purchased back by the original developers in July 1997 under the name Focus Software. Focus Software and the Cardinal Group teamed up to develop the first application for the Jade programming language in 1998 and called it Greentree Business Software. It was a complete ground-up rewrite of CBA and was Microsoft Windows NT-based capable of running on standalone personal computers running Windows 95. Focus Software was subsequently named Greentree International in 1997.
Greentree International was named one of information technology world's "25 Rising Stars" by the MIS Magazine of Australia in 2006. The judging panel is made out of six IT industry stalwarts from various areas of expertise. Greentree Business software was a finalist for the 2010 Software Product of the Year (Client/Business category) for Accountancy Age Awards and in 2012, they were shortlisted again for The British Accountancy Awards Software Product of the Year.
In 2014, Greentree launched Greentree4 – its next-generation full integrated ERP software platform which provides a unique browser-based user experience.
The platform streamlines the configuration and design of screens and forms so they can be customised at an organisation, group or individual level.
On 1 August 2016, MYOB acquired Greentree.
Greentree GAME ON competition
In 2011, the company launched a competition for New Zealand and Australian businesses, under the banner GAME ON. Companies were invited to put a compelling case for winning a Greentree software implementation, including cloud hosting. Winners of the inaugural competition were hospitality and accommodation provider Kimberley Group (Australia) business and bathroom furniture manufacturer Smail & Co (New Zealand). In 2012, GAME ON was run in the UK, and won by charity organisation Concern Universal.
Technology
Greentree is written in JADE which allows its implementers to write complex customised add-ons without causing any interference to the core product. It also allows customisations to stay synched and also provides continuous incremental upgrades.
Greentree is able to operate in the cloud, on local servers, or a combination of both.
Greentree launched a Software as a Service offering for its business management software in April 2016. Named Greentree as a Service (GaaS), it includes software, cloud hosting, maintenance and a range of other services.
References
Business software companies
ERP software companies
Software companies of New Zealand
Companies based in Auckland
Software companies established in 1984
1984 establishments in New Zealand
New Zealand brands
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker%20Dojo
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Hacker Dojo
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Hacker Dojo is a community center and hackerspace that is based in Mountain View, California. Predominantly an open working space for software projects, the Dojo hosts a range of events from technology classes to biology, computer hardware, and manufacturing and is open to all types of hackers.
Organization
The Dojo is run mostly democratically by its membership under the oversight of five elected directors. Anybody can become a member, and hardship, worktrade and family rates are available. Member votes rarely deal with specific instances, and more work with general policy on how the Dojo should run. The Dojo is primarily financed through membership dues ($125/mo), but has historically accepted 3rd party sponsorships from Microsoft, Google, isocket, Twilio, AMS Dataserfs, and Palantir Technologies to fund expansions and renovations.
Culture
The Dojo is entirely communal space from the tools in the electronics lab to the desks. Anything left there is considered fair game for anybody to play with. Very few restrictions are placed upon people provided they do not detract from the experience of members or consume resources they do not replace. Any member may run an event, and event organizers are permitted to charge non-members for attendance to their event. Members are always permitted to go everywhere they wish, provided they do not consume somebody else's finite resources (such as an event's food).
Physical Space
The Hacker Dojo was originally located at 140 South Whisman Road in Mountain View, CA. The facility started as being only 140A but the space expanded to include 140B in October 2009, and further expanded in October 2011 to lease units C and D, thus taking over the entirety of 140 S. Whisman. The expansion party was attended by several hundred individuals, including Steven Levy.
Because of zoning violations, the City of Mountain View blocked the use of units C and D, and restricted the use of units A and B to events no larger than 49 occupants., 140A was formerly an industrial artistic glassworking facility, though the community has put the space through a significant series of renovations.
In order to raise money to help meet building code requirements, the Dojo staged an "underwear run," on Saint Patrick's Day as a fund raiser.
Construction bids to bring the 140 South Whisman space up to building code requirements came in much higher than expected, and on Monday, October 15, 2012, the Dojo signed a lease to rent a building at 599 Fairchild Drive, also in Mountain View. Move-in occurred on February 13, 2013, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on February 27, 2013
The lease on the building at 599 Fairchild Drive ran through May 31, 2016, at which time the Dojo moved to its third home, located at 3350 Thomas Road in Santa Clara.
Hacker Dojo and its fourth iteration returns back to its founding city in 2022.
Controversies
Distributed denial of service attack
Members at Hacker Dojo could not access the Internet during several outages occurring between June 22 and July 14, 2013. The problem was eventually traced to an amplified distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) attack. In this case, the perpetrator was sending forged Domain Name Service (DNS) requests to multiple domain name servers, causing the servers to send large amounts data records to the Hacker Dojo, thereby overloading the system and preventing legitimate use of the network.
Dojo managers made several attempts to stop the attacks, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, they requested help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which determined the outages were the result of a criminal act by Jason David Miller, a former Dojo member.
According to the indictment, Miller had become a member on May 19, 2013, using the first name "ad" and the last name "min," such that his username became "ad.min" and his email address "[email protected]." Dojo management forbids misleading usernames, and terminated his email account. On June 1, 2013, Miller re-registered as "Dallas Smith," and began attacking the Dojo's internet service a few weeks later, starting on June 22, 2013. He is charged with violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(5)(A) and (c)(4)(B)(i)—Intentionally Causing Damage to a Protected Computer. Miller was indicted in May 2014.
Miller claims he only intended to engage in a harmless prank. He had been a teaching assistant, researcher, and Eagle Scout. He was scheduled to be sentenced on October 3, 2016, in the courtroom of Judge Edward J. Davila in San Jose.
Embezzlement
In March, 2016, a local newspaper published an article saying the Dojo was facing a leadership crisis and that an employee had been accused of embezzlement.
Since 2016, The organization has had a major overhaul in leadership with new Board Members bringing back some of the Founding Team of Super Happy Dev House. The organization currently holds a Platinum badge of Transparency with Guidestar. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/26-4812213
Uses
The three primary uses of Hacker Dojo are for events, as a coworking space, and for social purposes.
Events
The 140B building has been turned into a place where events such as Random Hacks of Kindness, Startup Weekend, and BayThreat among others have been hosted. It also has invented and run its own events such as a reverse job fair call the Hacker Fair where candidates present booths of their previous independent or open source work to company engineers who are accompanied by technical recruiters and the Startup Fair, where young companies have booths for investors to consider. Members can hold events at the Dojo free of charge, subject to approval from the Dojo events committee.
Coworking
A large number of Silicon Valley startups work daily out of the Hacker Dojo as their primary location, and Founders Institute, which is located nearby, encourages its members to work out of the Dojo
Notable Startups With Hacker Dojo History
Pinterest—the two founders met and built the first iteration of the product at Hacker Dojo
Word Lens—acquired by Google
Pebble Watches
Infometers.com—acquired by Validic.com
Skydera
NetworkedBlogs
Game Closure
Chivaz Socks
MicroMobs, now Wedding Party
Cirroscope (then CirroSecure), acquired by Palo Alto Networks
Social
The Dojo used to have movie nights and a weekly Happy Hour.
Dojo in 2022
Original Dojo
References
External links
"The official Hacker Dojo Google Group"
"Peninsula hackers find a place to collaborate in Mountain View". Mercury News. August 28, 2009
"Hacker Dojo in Mountain View sparks ideas and tinkering". Mercury News. October 16, 2009
"A case for Hacker Dojo". 248Creative.com. February 2010.
"Techies Get to Work at Hacker Dojo" Wall Street Journal. 3/9/2011.
"At Hacker Dojo, Silicon Valley techies build toward success". CNet News.com. April 4, 2011.
"The Stanford Igniters meetup once a month at Hacker Dojo"
Hacker groups
Computer clubs
Hackerspaces
Hackerspaces in the San Francisco Bay Area
Buildings and structures in Santa Clara, California
Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area
2009 establishments in California
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon%20%28software%29
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Charon (software)
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Charon is the brand name of a group of software products able to emulate several CPU architectures. The emulators available under this brand mostly cover the Digital Equipment DEC hardware platforms PDP-11, VAX, and AlphaServer, which support many of the legacy operating systems, including Tru64 and OpenVMS. The product range also includes virtualization solutions for HP 3000 using MPE/iX and SPARC. Charon software products have been developed by the Swiss software company Stromasys SA, which has its headquarters in Cointrin, near Geneva.
Products and Technology
Even today, DEC systems are frequently used in production despite their sometimes significant age. Some companies use them to support applications that are considered mission critical, for example core applications in banks and stock exchanges, air traffic control systems or manufacturing plants. The aging hardware and changing supplier availability are making the operation of such systems on the original hardware increasingly difficult. Porting the complete solution to new hardware, new operating system, and new programming language (including libraries and interfaces) is often expensive and associated with high risk. A migration to an emulated environment constitutes an alternative solution enabling the use of modern x86 hardware or virtualized standard x86 servers, without having to abandon the fully functioning operating system and the application environment.
The virtualization solutions being sold under the product names Charon-PDP, Charon-AXP, Charon-VAX, Charon-HPA and Charon-SSP consist of a combination of virtual machine and hardware abstraction layer. They run on Microsoft Windows, Linux or VMware ESXi and provide a virtual PDP-11, VAX, AlphaServer, HP 3000, and SPARC environment. In a first step, a configuration matching the old system is created on the host platform, thereby creating an emulated guest system behaving like the old physical server. In the second step, the operating system and - as required – associated applications and application data, are moved from the real hardware to the virtual machine. Depending on the operating system, the data is copied as physical image or file system backup. Such migrations are possible without source code changes or operating system upgrades.
Product Name
Stromasys product name Charon is inspired by Greek mythology. In ancient Greece, Charon was the ferry man, whose task was to transport the dead across the river called Styx to Hades. The Stromasys emulator provides virtualization of the old DEC hardware allowing old operating systems such as OpenVMS to continue working without change. Figuratively speaking, CHARON "saves“ data and applications and makes them available for future use beyond the life of obsolete hardware.
Vendor
After the take-over of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) by Compaq in 1998, which in turn was taken over by Hewlett-Packard in 2002, the former manager Robert Boers bought the DEC European Migration and Porting Center, from which the company Software Resources International was formed. In the beginning, the company offered services for migration projects. After having performed migration, porting, and VMS system programming projects for some time, the company recognized the need for PDP-11 emulators. The development of the first PDP-11 emulator was followed by the development of additional emulators for PDP-11, VAX, Alpha, HP 3000 and SPARC systems.
In 2008 the company was renamed to Stromasys SA, now a public company under Swiss law. In December 2013, George Koukis acquired the company. Currently, the company has over 100 employees. The company, which was founded in 1998, is now led by John Prot as CEO and CTO.
References
Software
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward%20S.%20Davidson
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Edward S. Davidson
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Edward S. Davidson is a professor emeritus in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Research interests
His research interests include computer architecture, pipelining theory, parallel processing, performance modeling, intelligent caches, and application tuning. In the 1970s, he developed the reservation table approach to optimum design and cyclic scheduling of pipelines, designed and implemented an eight-node symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system in 1976, and developed a variety of systematic methods for modeling performance and enhancing systems, including early work on simulated annealing, wave pipelining, multiple instruction stream pipelines, decoupled access-execute architecture, and polycyclic scheduling (aka software pipelining). He is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Education
1961 Harvard University, B.A. in Mathematics
1962 University of Michigan, M.S. in Communication Science
1968 University of Illinois, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering
Teaching
1968–1973 Stanford University, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
1973–1987 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
1988–present University of Michigan, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Service
1984-1987 Hardware Design Director, Cedar Parallel Supercomputer at Center for Supercomputing Research at University of Illinois
1988-1990 Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan
1994-1997 Director, Center for Parallel Computing, University of Michigan
1997-2000 Associate chair for Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
Awards
1992 IEEE Harry H. Goode Memorial Award for "pivotal seminal contributions to the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of high performance computer systems."
1996 Taylor L. Booth Education Award for "contributions to the establishment of computer engineering as an academic discipline and for nurturing many leaders of this field during their formative years in the profession.”
2000 IEEE/ACM Eckert-Mauchly Award "for his seminal contributions to the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of high performance pipelines and multiprocessor systems"
References
External links
Official Michigan page
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Harvard College alumni
Stanford University School of Engineering faculty
Grainger College of Engineering alumni
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign faculty
University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni
University of Michigan faculty
Place of birth missing (living people)
Fellow Members of the IEEE
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta%20Computer%2C%20Inc.%20v.%20LG%20Electronics%2C%20Inc.
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Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc.
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Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., 553 U.S. 617 (2008), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court reaffirmed the validity of the patent exhaustion doctrine, and in doing so made uncertain the continuing precedential value of a line of decisions in the Federal Circuit that had sought to limit Supreme Court exhaustion doctrine decisions to their facts and to require a so-called "rule of reason" analysis of all post-sale restrictions other than tie-ins and price fixes. In the course of restating the patent exhaustion doctrine, the Court held that the exhaustion doctrine is triggered by, among other things, an authorized sale of a component when the only reasonable and intended use of the component is to practice the patent and the component substantially embodies the patented invention by embodying its essential features. The Court also overturned, in passing, the part of decision below that held that the exhaustion doctrine was limited to product claims and did not apply to method claims.
Factual background
LG Electronics (LGE) owned several patents on methods and systems for processing information. It entered into two contracts with Intel. In the License Agreement, LGE authorized Intel to make and sell microprocessor products using the patented inventions. Moreover, the License Agreement expressly stated that no license was granted to any third party for combining licensed products with other products (for example, for combining Intel microprocessor products with other parts of a computer). The License Agreement also provided, however, "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, the parties agree that nothing herein shall in any way limit or alter the effect of patent exhaustion that would otherwise apply when a party hereto sells any of its Licensed Products."
In the Master Agreement, LGE required Intel to give its customers notice that the patent license does not extend to any product made by combining a licensed Intel microprocessor product with any other product (for example, a computer containing the Intel microprocessor products). The Master Agreement also provided that its breach would have no effect on the License Agreement and would not be grounds for its termination. Apparently, LGE was willing to allow Intel's customers to combine the microprocessor products with products not licensed by LGE, but only upon payment of a further royalty to LGE for the right to do so. This point is not discussed in the Court's opinion, which recites the facts only in very limited terms because the record was under seal to protect trade secrets.
Quanta Computer purchased licensed Intel microprocessor products and proceeded to manufacture computers containing them. In doing so, Quanta followed Intel's specifications, which in turn led to practice of the patented methods and making the patented systems that LGE licensed to Intel––since that was the way Intel had designed its microprocessor products. (The trial court found that the Intel microprocessor products were without any reasonable noninfringing use.) LGE then sued Quanta for patent infringement.
Quanta prevailed in the district court under the exhaustion doctrine, but on appeal the Federal Circuit held that the exhaustion doctrine did not apply because of the statement in the Master Agreement that combination products were not licensed, given the Federal Circuit's 1992 ruling in Mallinckrodt, Inc. v. Medipart, Inc. that a seller of patented goods could by notice impose a post-sale restraint on its customer's use of the goods. Additionally, the Federal Circuit held that the exhaustion doctrine did not apply, in any event, to method patents.
Mallinckrodt background
In Mallinckrodt, Inc. v. Medipart, Inc., the Federal Circuit had held that patent owners could condition the sale of patented goods with a restrictive notice and thereby restrict the disposition of the goods by the purchasers, with the exception of antitrust law violations, such as price-fixing and tie-in restrictions, or violations of "some other law or policy." More specifically, the Mallinckrodt court had said, "Unless the condition violates some other law or policy (in the patent field, notably the misuse or antitrust law)," patent owners, licensees and downstream purchasers "retain the freedom to contract concerning conditions of sale."
The Federal Circuit went on to say that "[t]he appropriate criterion" in determining whether "a restriction or condition . . . placed upon the sale of a patented article" is valid "is whether [the patentee's or licensor's] restriction is reasonably within the patent grant, or whether the patentee has ventured beyond the patent grant and into behavior having an anticompetitive effect not justifiable under the rule of reason." According to the court, the tests for restrictions and misuse were alike, outside the tie-in and price fixing area: "To sustain a misuse defense involving a licensing arrangement not held to have been per se anticompetitive by the Supreme Court, a factual determination must reveal that the overall effect of the license tends to restrain competition unlawfully in an appropriately defined relevant market."
But this Federal Circuit test is contrary to many decisions of both the Supreme Court and other courts of appeals. For example, in Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., the Supreme Court addressed the legality of licenses under which royalties were paid on total sales of all products, irrespective of whether the licensor's patents covered all products. The Court held that such licensing was permissible when the licensor and licensee adopted it for mutual convenience to simplify administration of the license, but it was impermissible for the licensor to insist upon it over the licensee's opposition. Such conduct was misuse, the Court held, but not an antitrust violation unless the other elements of an antitrust violation were also shown, such as market power.
Earlier, in Brulotte v. Thys Co., the Supreme Court held that it was patent misuse if, without more, a patentee charged royalties that extended beyond the statutory term of the patent. In National Lockwasher Co. v. George K. Garrett Co., the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a patentee misused its patent by requiring licensees to agree not to deal in the technology of the patentee's competitors. Thus, in these cases, among many others, the Supreme Court and other federal courts had found misuse in cases not involving price fixing or tie-ins, and had not required any rule-of-reason or relevant-market analysis.
Other Federal Circuit decisions followed the Mallinckrodt approach, which was, at the very least, divergent from Supreme Court decisions. Accordingly, when certiorari was granted in Quanta, it was widely surmised that the Supreme Court would overturn Mallinckrodt, which many (including the United States Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, viewed as inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent.
Supreme Court opinion
The Supreme Court unanimously reversed, in an opinion by Justice Thomas.
Method claims
First, the Court said, the distinction between method and product claims is insupportable. In United States v. Univis Lens Co., the most recent decision of the Court on exhaustion, some of the patents held exhausted were method patents. Earlier, in Ethyl Gasoline Corp. v. United States, some patents covered a method of combusting gasoline in an automobile engine––and the exhaustion doctrine was held applicable. Furthermore, because it is easy to write patent claims for the same invention either in method format or apparatus format, the exhaustion doctrine could easily be evaded if reliance on method claims was sufficient to avoid exhaustion: By "including a method claim for the machine's patented method of performing its task, a patent drafter could shield practically any patented item from exhaustion."
Exhaustion and related patents
The Court then turned to the extent, if any, to which exhaustion of the patent rights on the microprocessor products exhausted patent rights relating to the combination products on which LGE had patents. In the Univis case the sale that exhausted patent rights was a sale of an unpatented semifinished lens blank, which subsequent processing turned into a patented finished lens. The Intel microprocessor products were finished commercial articles of commerce, but in this case the trial court had found as a fact that the microprocessor products had no noninfringing use, just as in the Univis case the semifinished lens blanks had no use but to be finished into the patented finished lens blanks. Therefore, the Court found Univis dispositive. In the Quanta Court's language, in Univis "exhaustion was triggered by the sale of the lens blanks because their only reasonable and intended use was to practice the patent and because they 'embodie[d] essential features of [the] patented invention.'"
LGE did not challenge the claim that the intended and reasonable use of the microprocessor products was to incorporate them into computers, but it claimed that some noninfringing uses existed: they could be sold overseas, as repair parts, or by disabling the features that made them patented. The Court dismissed these arguments. As for disablement, the Court asserted that the disabled device aspects ("features") rather than the device that remained must have a noninfringing use, so that disabling them would cause them to have "no real use." As for foreign or replacement use, the legal test to be looked to was whether the product would perform the patented method or embody the patented product, not whether the use gave rise to infringement liability.
A further reason why sales of the microprocessor products exhausted LGE's patent rights was that "everything inventive about each patent is embodied in" the licensed Intel products, which "embody the essential features of the [licensed] patents because they carry out all the inventive processes when combined, according to their design, with standard components." Any point of novelty—that is, respect in which the claimed invention departs from the prior art—is found in the licensed microprocessor products rather than in the combination product of which they are components.
This last aspect of the Quanta opinion is very similar to the doctrine of the Lincoln Engineering case, a doctrine that the Federal Circuit had previously held to be no longer authoritative. Under the Supreme Court's Lincoln Engineering doctrine, the combination of a newly invented device with a known, conventional device with which the new device cooperates in the conventional and predictable way in which devices of those types have previously cooperated is unpatentable as an "exhausted combination" or "old combination." Thus, when the Quanta Court said that "everything inventive about each patent is embodied in" the licensed Intel products, which "embody the essential features of the [licensed] patents," the Court was, in effect, saying that the combination of a novel Intel microprocessor in a conventional manner with an old personal computer is an exhausted combination. Accordingly, no weight would be put on the fact that separate patents had issued to LGE on the inventive device and on the old combination that included it.
Licensing a limited field
LGE's argument for non-exhaustion sought to invoke the doctrine of General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co. In that case, the patentee had granted no license for "commercial" amplifiers. Therefore, when a manufacturer licensed only in the "non-commercial" field of use sold an amplifier to an accused infringer, who knowingly resold it in the commercial market, the manufacturer "could not convey to [the accused infringer] what both knew it was not authorized to sell." By parity of reasoning, LGE said, it had licensed Intel only in the field of manufacturing microprocessor products for combination with specified products and not with other products. But the Court said that was not how LGE had drafted its license to Intel:
The Court appears to be saying that LGE simply licensed Intel to make, use, and sell microprocessor products. LGE expressly stated that no license was granted to any third party for combining licensed products with other products; and LGE made Intel tell its customers about the absence of a license. But LGE did not say to Intel that LGE licensed Intel to make, use, and sell microprocessor products only in the field of microprocessor products combined with other LGE-licensed products (so-called Intel products). There was no explicit field-of-use limitation on Intel's manufacturing, using, and selling rights––no "magic words." LGE came close––it said it was not licensing third parties to combine licensed product with other products, and it required Intel to notify customers of that––but LGE failed to go right to the point and expressly deny Intel any license to make microprocessor products that would be combined with other products. Furthermore, for some inexplicable reason the parties, with fatal effect, red-flagged the fact that there still was an exhaustion doctrine: "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, the parties agree that nothing herein shall in any way limit or alter the effect of patent exhaustion that would otherwise apply when a party hereto sells any of its Licensed Products."
That this was a critical error (for LGE) is confirmed by the Court's final statements in its opinion:
The License Agreement authorized Intel to sell products that practiced the patents. No conditions limited Intel's authority to sell products substantially embodying the patents. ... Intel's authorized sale to Quanta thus took its products outside the scope of the patent monopoly, and as a result, LGE can no longer assert its patent rights against Quanta.
Thus, the exhaustion doctrine governed what Quanta could lawfully do with what it bought from Intel. The failure to give third parties a license to combine Intel microprocessor product with other products had no legal significance, because the exhaustion doctrine obviated any need for such a license. Having bought the products from an authorized seller, Quanta didn't need any license.
No contract issue
Just before closing, the Court added a final note pointing out that the case did not raise, and the Court did not rule on, whether LGE could have enforced a contractual restriction. In footnote 7, the Court commented:
We note that the authorized nature of the sale to Quanta does not necessarily limit LGE's other contract rights. LGE's complaint does not include a breach-of-contract claim, and we express no opinion on whether contract damages might be available even though exhaustion operates to eliminate patent damages.
By the same token, the Court said nothing as to specific performance or whether contract rights, if any, could be enforced against Quanta.
Impact and issues that the court did not consider
The impact of Quanta is problematic, largely because the decision avoided deciding many issues, presumably in the interest of maintaining consensus. (The decision was unanimous.) One academic commented:
It is a very disappointing decision from the Court. It decided so little, and it was such an important case. You are left reading tea leaves.
The Court's failure to approve or reject the precedent on which the Federal Circuit had relied in its decision in Quanta, Mallinckrodt, Inc. v. Medipart, Inc., which had limited the applicability of the exhaustion doctrine when a sale was made "conditional," further contributed to business uncertainty about permissible license restrictions. But, as one commentator observed:
The Supreme Court, in Quanta, was widely expected to rule on whether Mallinckrodt was good law. But the Court sidestepped the issue by narrowly interpreting the license agreement so that it was not a conditional license. ... Because the Supreme Court sidestepped the issue, it remains unclear to what extent a patentee can use a conditional license to impose restrictions on downstream purchasers.
To be sure, in Quanta, the Court held that "[t]he longstanding doctrine of patent exhaustion provides that the initial authorized sale of a patented item terminates all patent rights to that item." But what constitutes "authorization"? The Court did not address the issue of "constructive" authorization—that is, authorization as a matter of law in certain circumstances, whether or not the patentee or licensor likes it or even tries very hard to avoid it. Accordingly, it is uncertain to what extent Quanta undoes Mallinckrodt. That seems to be the unstated message in Quanta, but the Federal Circuit may take an impenitent view, in defiance of the Solicitor General's views as amicus.
Other transactional forms
There are a number of important issues that the Court did not address in Quanta. One such omission is the Court's failure to say anything about the other possible formats that this transaction might have used—such as a sale by a manufacturing licensee with a limitation on its grant, or (alternatively) a sale by the patentee or its licensee with explicit restrictions imposed on the buyer's freedom to dispose of the product. The Court did not explain whether or in what circumstances these other formats would be legally effective.
The first of these possible formats follows the pattern of the General Talking Pictures case. The second format follows the pattern of the Mallinckrodt case. Under the General Talking Pictures doctrine, a patentee may limit the scope of a manufacturer-licensee's license to a defined field—such as microprocessors not incorporated into computers—and then the use of those micropressors as computer components is a patent infringement. This is the format that LGE mistakenly thought it was using. Under the Mallinckrodt doctrine, a sale of a patented product subject to a restriction—such as you must not sell this microprocessor for use as a computer component—is a "conditional," rather than "unconditional," sale. If the condition is violated the conduct is patent infringement. The exhaustion doctrine does not apply under the rule stated in Mallinkrodt. However, as Quanta seemingly holds, when a restriction is not clearly and explicitly stated the exhaustion doctrine applies.
Resolving the "anomaly"
In a brief to the Supreme Court (at its request) when the petition for writ of certiorari was pending, the US Solicitor General observed that a curious "anomaly" existed between the exhaustion doctrine and General Talking Pictures doctrine:
[T]here is a seeming anomaly in allowing a patentee to achieve indirectly –- through an enforceable condition on the licensee –– a limitation on use or resale that [because of the exhaustion doctrine] the patentee could not itself impose on a direct purchaser, [yet] the distinction is a necessary and explicable result of the Court's decision in General Talking Pictures.
For reasons that so far have not been explained in any publicly available document, the Government deleted this passage from its subsequent brief on the merits. As the Government brief suggested, on the one hand, the exhaustion doctrine prohibits post-sale restraints on a patentee's (or its licensee's) sale of goods, while on the other hand General Talking Pictures permits a patentee to place post-sale limitations on its manufacturing licensee's sale of goods if the license to manufacture uses the right, magic words. Nothing in the Quanta opinion addresses this "seeming anomaly," much less attempts to resolve it or synthesize the competing doctrines.
Can contract trump the exhaustion doctrine?
The Court, in a footnote quoted above (the Court's note 7), expressly refrained from stating any of the following: whether contractual language could overcome, or prevent triggering, the exhaustion doctrine; if so, what language would be effective to do so; and whether the surrounding circumstances would be relevant.
To the extent that the exhaustion doctrine is grounded in considerations of public policy, and to the extent that the interests of the public and third parties (such as Quanta in the Quanta case) are to be considered as well as those of the contracting parties, the courts may be more likely to place limits on whether the parties can by contract make the doctrine inapplicable to the goods that are the subject of their contract. On the other hand, if the policy of the exhaustion doctrine is seen merely as a rule to make sure that downstream purchasers get fair notice that their use of goods whose purchase they are considering will be restricted, courts may be more likely to uphold such restrictions unless they collide with other policies, such as those of competition or antitrust law.
The Court explicitly refused to consider this issue in Quanta. The Quanta court did make clear, however, that it recognized the fundamental difference in law between a sale of patented goods by a patentee and a patentee's license of another to manufacture the patented goods, which the Supreme Court had explained in United States v. General Electric Co. At the same time, the Court made it clear that LGE had failed to license Intel (the seller to Quanta) in language that invoked the General Talking Pictures doctrine, which could have changed the outcome, as discussed above in the section of this article captioned "Licensing a limited field."
The House of Lords considered whether contract could trump the similar doctrine against derogation from title in British Leyland Motor Corp. v. Armstrong Patents Co.. This is the doctrine that a seller may not successfully take actions, such as enforcing an intellectual property right, that decrease the value of what the seller has sold to a purchaser. The House of Lords ruled that contract could not be used to lessen the rights of end user purchasers, at least purchasers of consumer products such as motor cars.
Subsequent decisions
Static Control
In Static Control Components, Inc. v. Lexmark Int'l, Inc., the district court reconsidered its former decision in this case and granted a judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) in favor of the accused infringer. The court said that the Supreme Court's Quanta decision "has changed the landscape of the doctrine of patent exhaustion generally, and specifically" required a reversal of the judgment, so that SCCI was not liable to Lexmark for patent infringement.
Lexmark had sought to restrict the refilling of its toner cartridges by relying on the Mallinckrodt doctrine. However, it did not enter into any conventional bilateral contract selling the toner cartridges to the public on a "conditional sale" basis. Instead, Lexmark relied on "shrinkwrap licenses," and restrictive notices accompanying the products. The court considered these ineffective to prevent application of the exhaustion doctrine, despite Mallinckrodt'''s approval of their use.
The court acknowledged that, "[a]s Lexmark points out, the Supreme Court did not expressly overrule Mallinckrodt in its Quanta opinion." Nonetheless, the court concluded:
After reviewing Quanta, Mallinckrodt, and the parties' arguments, this Court is persuaded that Quanta overruled Mallinckrodt sub silentio. The Supreme Court's broad statement of the law of patent exhaustion simply cannot be squared with the position that the Quanta holding is limited to its specific facts. Further, the Federal Circuit relied in part on Mallinckrodt in reaching its decision in LG Electronics, Inc. v. Bizcom Electronics, Inc., 453 F.3d 1364, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2006), the decision the Supreme Court reversed in Quanta. It is also worth noting that the Quanta decision did not mention a single Federal Circuit case.
On the other hand, the court did not consider Quanta to have foreclosed the enforcement of the shrinkwrap restrictions under state contract law. The contract law aspects of the case became moot, however, because Lexmark voluntarily dismissed its claims based on Static Control's tortious interference with contract.
Impression Products
In April 2015, the Federal Circuit sua sponte called for briefing and amicus curiae participation in an en banc consideration of whether Mallinckrodt should be overruled in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in the Quanta'' case. The court ordered:
In light of Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., 553 U.S. 617 (2008), should this court overrule Mallinckrodt, Inc. v. Medipart, Inc., 976 F.2d 700 (Fed. Cir. 1992), to the extent it ruled that a sale of a patented article, when the sale is made under a restriction that is otherwise lawful and within the scope of the patent grant, does not give rise to patent exhaustion?
References
External links
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court
United States patent case law
LG Electronics
2008 in United States case law
Quanta Computer
United States misuse law
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20084219
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer%20communications%20management
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Customer communications management
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Customer Communications Management (CCM) is software that enables companies to manage customer communications across a wide range of media. Originally, customer communications referred to printed documents, archived digital documents, email and web pages. It has grown to include SMS/MMS, in-app notifications, responsive design mobile experiences and messages over common social media platforms. It entails an automated process that involves not only the delivery of communication but also the segmentation of messages according to different customer profiles and contexts.
Concept
CCM software allows organizations to deploy a new approach to information exchange thereby improving their ability to maintain relationships with customers and other stakeholders. By using the software, messages disseminated are no longer generic but tailored according to customers' needs and specific platforms (Web, email, SMS, print) and devices (mobile, laptop, tablet, PC). For instance, if a customer interacts with an organization, the data or push messages provided cover not only the needed information but the entire context of the interaction which includes customer profile (e.g. lifestyle and life-stage needs), history of online activity, and personal preferences. This process involves the utilization of high-volume data collected offline and online.
Owing to the nature of CCMs, they are also referred to as "Intelligent Customer Communications Management" systems.
History
Before the term CCM was used, this technology was referred to as Variable Data Printing (VDP) or Variable Data Publishing. The term TransPromo, short for Transpromotional was in use as the term VDP gave way to CCM in industry generated content.
Some Initial CCM concepts were focused upon the utilisation of company transactional documents. These documents such as bank statements, statement of account, invoices and other customer transactional documents were viewed as ideal media to promote company products to customers. The rationale behind this was cited in analyst research by InfoTrends that, "transactional documents are opened and read by more than 90% of consumers. Because the average consumer is bombarded with advertising, e-mail, direct mail and other forms of solicitation each day, TransPromo can help you cut through the clutter and stand out".
Other CCM concepts were shaped by marketing needs, and many CCM technologies improved design, testing, analytic integration, customer journey mapping capabilities to meet the needs of marketers, who became increasingly important in the technology buying process.
The scope of CCM solutions has rapidly grown beyond management and data analysis. Many contemporary solutions offer "automatic generation of sales proposals, employment contracts, loan documents, service level agreements, product descriptions and pricing, and other transactional or legal documents where re-usable content can be applied to generate accurate, consistent and personalised documents for a range of business applications". This shift into management flexibility becomes more evident as companies develop CCM solutions and products adaptable to evolving technologies available to businesses. In the recent years, this can be observed with businesses' introduction of tablets and tablet-friendly solutions into their standard scope of work.
Components
The technology that supports customer communications management also allows sophistication in the content of the messages. Customer communications management technology usually includes or integrates with the following components:
Data Extraction, Transform & Load software
Data Management, Analysis and Location Intelligence software
Data Hygiene database software
Document composition software
Electronic document archive software and perhaps payment processing functionality
Print Stream Engineering / Post Processing Software
Mailing compliance database software
Printer Management Software
High and medium volume production printers
Envelope inserter machines
Email Marketing Software
SMS Communication Software
Mobile Media based content distribution software
Entering the frame more recently social media distribution software
Document Production Reporting Software
Portal Technology
Transpromotional Application software
Customer Journey Mapping
Customer Journey Orchestration
All CCM technologies feature design interfaces that primarily use a visual layout software to define the structure of the communication. These design interfaces create a basic visual structure of a communication that is later populated by a production engine with data, variably created data, static content elements, rules-driven content elements, externally referenced content and other elements to create a finished customer communication.
There are varying degrees of sophistication that CCM design interfaces handle, depending on the business needs. Some design environments are simple cloud-based interfaces that create communications for quick and easy marketing communications. There are more comprehensive interfaces that can support complex applications like insurance policy generation that require the skills and expertise of many business experts.
Most CCM technologies offer data extraction capabilities that present marketers and businesses with an opportunity to combine data from multiple systems across their business to perform customer analysis before composing communications. This allows marketers to evaluate the marketing mix and position individual products to the customer in respect of relevance to the customer or the results of purchase propensity model by applying rules on content elements within the design.
The process results in the creation of a data model, data acquisition and decision rules. These enable a document composition engine to follow its own set of document application rules, constructing individual documents on the basis of data items contained within an individual's data record. The Document Composition engine usually produces either a print stream or, XML data.
Post processing can be utilised to prepare a print job for production and distribution. This may include tasks such as the application of barcodes to deliver individual mail piece instructions to the inserters and to vary these in terms of the actual inserter being used. For example, one manufacturer's inserter may require different barcode instructions to complete the same task than another.
Print Management software controls the routing and distribution of print jobs to either a single production printer or a fleet of production printers. Print management software also provides a mechanism for assured delivery (ensuring that all pages get printed) through communication and feedback from print devices. Analysis of resultant data provides insight useful for Document Production Managers.
Relevance of communication is seen as key in overcrowded, competitive markets where service differentiation can be difficult. Documents that add value to the customer relationship are a major factor in improving customer retention and acquisition. Employing a Customer Communications Management solution can help organizations improve all these customer experiences efforts on a multi-channel communications level.
See also
Document Automation
Intelligent Document
Customer Experience Management
Enterprise output management
Customer-relationship management
References
Information technology management
Marketing software
Marketing techniques
Document management systems
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48480892
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priority%20Matrix
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Priority Matrix
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Priority Matrix is a time management software application that is supported on a number of platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS. It is based on the Eisenhower Method of arranging tasks by urgency and importance in a 2x2 matrix. Priority Matrix offers a cloud-based synchronization of data, allowing for data management across multiple devices. The application is also loosely based on David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology of improving productivity.
Features
Quadrants-based task prioritization- The 2x2 time management matrix, based on the Eisenhower Method of time management, is the general framework on which Priority Matrix is run. The quadrants organize tasks based on importance and urgency. In Priority Matrix, the four quadrants' default labels are: Critical and Immediate, Critical but not Immediate, Not Critical but Immediate, and Uncategorized.
Task drag and drop- Tasks and projects are capable of being dragged from one location to another, allowing users to change a task's priority level without having to create a new item altogether.
Project import/export- Entire projects can be exported into the program's native file format, .pmatrix, for transferring a workspace quickly.
Cloud-based synchronization across platforms- Despite running on several different platforms, Priority Matrix is able to sync project and task data over the cloud, with data being stored on Priority Matrix's servers.
Progress and date tracking- Dates and deadlines can be made for each task, providing notifications and allowing users to track their progress over time.
Project summary emails and reporting- Emails can be created out of entire projects, for quick reporting and sending a summary of projects.
Color and label customization- Each quadrant's background can be changed to any color in the RGB spectrum. For further customization, every task has icons that can be selected to represent a specific task.
Template system- New projects can be created from sample templates, to avoid repetitive data input. Various templates are available for different thought processes.
Reception
Across the various platforms, Priority Matrix has over 90,000 paid customers, and has been ranked among the 10 highest downloaded productivity apps in the Apple App Store. PC Magazine has ranked the iPad version of Priority Matrix among its 100 Best iPad Apps in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In addition, the product has garnered a 4 out of 5-star rating or better on the Apple App Store on both the iPhone and iPad platforms, with over 1,300 reviews. An Android version was added to the Play Store September 2013. As of 2014, this version had an average rating of 3.9, with 1,000-5,000 installs.
References
External links
Appfluence official website
WWDC Interview Appfluence
Cloud storage
IOS software
Classic Mac OS software
Windows software
Proprietary cross-platform software
Task management software
Business software for MacOS
Business software for Windows
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486258
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder%20Dash
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Boulder Dash
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Boulder Dash is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while evading hazards.
Boulder Dash was ported to many 8-bit and 16-bit systems and turned into a coin-operated arcade game. It was followed by multiple sequels and re-releases and influenced games such as Repton and direct clones such as Emerald Mine.
As of January 1, 2018, BBG Entertainment GmbH owns the intellectual property rights to Boulder Dash.
Gameplay
Boulder Dash takes place in a series of caves, each of which is laid out as rectangular grid of blocks. The player guides the player character, Rockford, with a joystick or cursor keys. In each cave, Rockford has to collect as many diamonds as are needed and avoid dangers, such as falling rocks. When enough diamonds have been collected, the exit door opens, and going through this exit door completes the cave.
Development
As an aspiring game-developer, Peter Liepa reached out to a local publisher called "In-Home Software". They put him in touch with a young man (Chris Gray) who had submitted a game in Basic, that was not really commercial quality, but they thought it had potential. The project began with the intention of converting this game to machine language and releasing it through In-Home Software, but according to Liepa, it quickly became apparent that the game was very primitive. He decided to expand the idea and bring some more interesting dynamics to the game. He started coding a new project in Forth, which took about six months. About the time it became clear that this was a shippable product, Liepa migrated Boulder Dash from Forth to assembler.
Being dissatisfied with the lack of contact from In-Home Software, Liepa began searching for a new publisher. His choice was First Star Software and according to him the company was very happy to publish the game.
Ports
A port of the original title was licensed by Exidy for use with their Max-A-Flex arcade cabinet. This version released in 1984 allowed buying 30 seconds of game time. This was the first home computer title to be converted to an arcade console.
Reception
II Computing said that "Bright, colorful animation coupled with a breezy story line make this game more than just a momentary diversion." Computer Games magazine called it an "incredible addicting maze game along the lines of Dig Dug, but faster and more exciting."
Mean Machines gave the Game Boy port of Boulder Dash a score of 90%, praising it as "one of the finest video games ever written", describing the game as "one to buy as soon as possible" and noting its faithfulness to the original Commodore 64 version. The same publication reviewed the NES version favourably, stating that it was "an extremely impressive title" and "one of the greatest games ever written". It was given a 92% rating.
The ZX Spectrum version was placed ninth in the Your Sinclair Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever) by journalist Stuart Campbell.
IGN reviewed the Virtual Console release of the Commodore 64 version. Although the graphics and sound were both found to be dated they enjoyed the game stating that it "still feels as fresh as it did in 1984". They concluded by stating "though it doesn't look like much, Boulder Dash rocks."
Boulder Dash was included in the top 30 Commodore 64 games by c’t Magazin in Germany.
The game sold more than 500,000 copies by August 1994.
Legacy
Following the original home computer title, other games in the series were published by First Star Software.
Boulder Dash (1985 – Arcade) – in 1985 another arcade version was released on Data East's "DECO Cassette System", with improved graphics but a reduced display grid on a vertical monitor.
Boulder Dash II (1985) – published under several different titles; Rockford's Riot on the MSX, Rockford's Revenge on the C64. The second release in Japan was titled Champion Boulder Dash, but it is not a port of the western game.
Boulder Dash 3 (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, PC) – monochrome space-themed graphics and poorly designed levels made this a critical failure.
Boulder Dash Construction Kit (1986 – Apple II, C64, Spectrum, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST) – this release included a small number of levels (12 caves and 3 intermission levels), but was titled Boulder Dash IV – The Game for the Spectrum re-release. The title allowed players access to tools which allowed them to design their own levels.
Super Boulder Dash (1986 – Apple II, C64, PC) – a compilation of Boulder Dash and Boulder Dash II published by Electronic Arts.
Rockford (1988 – Arcade, Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Arcade, Spectrum, Amstrad, C64) - Rockford was originally a licensed arcade game produced by Arcadia Systems, and later converted to various home computer formats.
Boulder Dash Part 2 (1990 – Arcade)
Boulder Dash (1990 - Game Boy)
Boulder Dash (1990 - NES)
Boulder Dash EX (2002 – Game Boy Advance) - this one has a new "EX mode" and "Classic mode" which is a direct port of the 1984 PC version.
Boulder Dash Xmas 2002 Edition (2002 – PC)
GemJam Gold (2003 – PC) – the game's credits claim this is based on Boulder Dash, and is licensed by First Star.
Boulder Dash – Treasure Pleasure (2003 – PC)
Boulder Dash: Rocks! (2007 – DS, iOS)
Boulder Dash Vol 1 (2009 – iOS)
Boulder Dash-XL (2011 - Xbox Live Arcade, PC)
Boulder Dash - The Collection! (2011 – Android)
Boulder Dash (2011 – Atari 2600) - limited edition of 250 copies.
Boulder Dash-XL 3D (2012 - Nintendo 3DS) - 3D port of Boulder Dash-XL.
Boulder Dash-XL by HeroCraft (2012-2014 – iOS) - has a retro mode which copies the look of the classic Boulder Dash.
Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary co-published by TapStar Interactive and First Star Software, Inc. with a world designed by the original creator Peter Liepa as well as another world by TapStar CEO, Chris Gray. This sequel was developed in collaboration by TapStar Interactive, First Star Software, SoMa Play Inc. and Katsu Entertainment LLC (2014 - Android, iOS) as both a Premium (paid) and a freemium game.
Boulder Dash (2015 – Intellivision) – Co-published by First Star Software, Inc. and Classic Game Publishers, Inc./Elektronite
Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary (2016 – iOS, Android, Switch, Steam (PC and Mac)) – co-published by TapStar Interactive and First Star Software, Inc. with a world designed by the original creator Peter Liepa as well as another world by Chris Gray.
Boulder Dash Deluxe (2021 – Switch, Xbox, Atari VCS, Steam (PC and Mac), Windows Store and Mac Store) – developed and published by BBG Entertainment with a world designed by the original creator Peter Liepa and a Retro world with the 20 original levels from 1984.
References
Bibliography
External links
Official website
Archived website
Boulder Dash for the Atari 8-bit family at Atari Mania
Fan site with mechanics, implementation details
Photos of packaging
"Between a Rock and a Hard Diamond" Electron Dance, July 2011
1984 video games
Amstrad CPC games
Apple II games
Arcade video games
Atari 8-bit family games
BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
ColecoVision games
Commodore 64 games
Data East video games
Exidy games
Game Boy games
IOS games
MSX games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Rocks-and-diamonds games
Video game franchises introduced in 1984
Video games developed in Canada
Virtual Console games
Windows Phone games
ZX Spectrum games
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1198871
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZipSlack
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ZipSlack
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ZipSlack was a specially compiled release of the Slackware Linux distribution which was designed to be lightweight and portable. It was distributed in a ZIP archive along with the Slackware release.
Installing ZipSlack only required obtaining the archive and unzipping it to the place where the user wished to install it, which means that ZipSlack did not require one to go through the process of reconfiguring existing partitions to try or install it.
Details
ZipSlack used the UMSDOS filesystem under Linux, which means that it actually ran on top of the FAT filesystem, originally widely used by Microsoft operating systems, and commonly found today on various types of removable media such as ZIP disks, SuperDisks, USB flash drives, and Secure Digital cards.
The last release of Slackware which contained ZipSlack was Slackware 11.0. Slackware 12.0 did not contain a ZipSlack setup within its distribution, although this change was not mentioned in its release announcement. The most likely cause of this is the lack of UMSDOS support in Linux 2.6, as support for this filesystem type has been removed from the official Linux sources after some discussion regarding it on the Linux Kernel Mailing List.
ZipSlack was quite lightweight, excluding a great deal of the software considered “normal” on an installation of a Linux-based distribution today. For example, in ZipSlack, the X Window System was not present by default, nor were any GUI based web browsers. However, since ZipSlack was essentially just a miniature installation of Slackware, users were able to use the Slackware package management system to install whatever packages they may need.
Minimum requirements
As downloaded, ZipSlack required approximately 100 megabytes of disk space and an Intel 80386 or compatible CPU. ZipSlack was able to run with as little as four megabytes of memory, with an add-on supplied by Slackware . However, at least eight megabytes—preferably 16—was the recommended minimum requirement; possibly more if the X Window System or other GUI software is going to be used with it.
The UMSDOS file system needs to be hosted on a FAT filesystem, not NTFS.
Caveats
The archive which contained the ZipSlack distribution was too big to be decompressed with a 16-bit application such as the older versions of PKZIP for DOS systems. Instead, software such as a 32-bit DOS version of Info-ZIP (compiled with a DOS extender), Info-ZIP on Linux, or WinZip, 7-Zip, or another similarly capable utility on Microsoft Windows needed to be used. Alternatively, the system could be booted on a live-CD version of Slackware, and the standard zip utility provided with the distribution used.
See also
Lightweight Linux distribution
References
External links
The ZipSlack portion of the Slackware Web Site
Light-weight Linux distributions
Slackware
Linux distributions
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4921759
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner%20detection
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Corner detection
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Corner detection is an approach used within computer vision systems to extract certain kinds of features and infer the contents of an image. Corner detection is frequently used in motion detection, image registration, video tracking, image mosaicing, panorama stitching, 3D reconstruction and object recognition. Corner detection overlaps with the topic of interest point detection.
Formalization
A corner can be defined as the intersection of two edges. A corner can also be defined as a point for which there are two dominant and different edge directions in a local neighbourhood of the point.
An interest point is a point in an image which has a well-defined position and can be robustly detected. This means that an interest point can be a corner but it can also be, for example, an isolated point of local intensity maximum or minimum, line endings, or a point on a curve where the curvature is locally maximal.
In practice, most so-called corner detection methods detect interest points in general, and in fact, the term "corner" and "interest point" are used more or less interchangeably through the literature. As a consequence, if only corners are to be detected it is necessary to do a local analysis of detected interest points to determine which of these are real corners. Examples of edge detection that can be used with post-processing to detect corners are the Kirsch operator and the Frei-Chen masking set.
"Corner", "interest point" and "feature" are used interchangeably in literature, confusing the issue. Specifically, there are several blob detectors that can be referred to as "interest point operators", but which are sometimes erroneously referred to as "corner detectors". Moreover, there exists a notion of ridge detection to capture the presence of elongated objects.
Corner detectors are not usually very robust and often require large redundancies introduced to prevent the effect of individual errors from dominating the recognition task.
One determination of the quality of a corner detector is its ability to detect the same corner in multiple similar images, under conditions of different lighting, translation, rotation and other transforms.
A simple approach to corner detection in images is using correlation, but this gets very computationally expensive and suboptimal. An alternative approach used frequently is based on a method proposed by Harris and Stephens (below), which in turn is an improvement of a method by Moravec.
Moravec corner detection algorithm
This is one of the earliest corner detection algorithms and defines a corner to be a point with low self-similarity. The algorithm tests each pixel in the image to see if a corner is present, by considering how similar a patch centered on the pixel is to nearby, largely overlapping patches. The similarity is measured by taking the sum of squared differences (SSD) between the corresponding pixels of two patches. A lower number indicates more similarity.
If the pixel is in a region of uniform intensity, then the nearby patches will look similar. If the pixel is on an edge, then nearby patches in a direction perpendicular to the edge will look quite different, but nearby patches in a direction parallel to the edge will result in only a small change. If the pixel is on a feature with variation in all directions, then none of the nearby patches will look similar.
The corner strength is defined as the smallest SSD between the patch and its neighbours (horizontal, vertical and on the two diagonals). The reason is that if this number is high, then the variation along all shifts is either equal to it or larger than it, so capturing that all nearby patches look different.
If the corner strength number is computed for all locations, that it is locally maximal for one location indicates that a feature of interest is present in it.
As pointed out by Moravec, one of the main problems with this operator is that it is not isotropic: if an edge is present that is not in the direction of the neighbours (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), then the smallest SSD will be large and the edge will be incorrectly chosen as an interest point.
The Harris & Stephens / Shi–Tomasi corner detection algorithms
Harris and Stephens improved upon Moravec's corner detector by considering the differential of the corner score with respect to direction directly, instead of using shifted patches. (This corner score is often referred to as autocorrelation, since the term is used in the paper in which this detector is described. However, the mathematics in the paper clearly indicate that the sum of squared differences is used.)
Without loss of generality, we will assume a grayscale 2-dimensional image is used. Let this image be given by . Consider taking an image patch over the area and shifting it by . The weighted sum of squared differences (SSD) between these two patches, denoted , is given by:
can be approximated by a Taylor expansion. Let and be the partial derivatives of , such that
This produces the approximation
which can be written in matrix form:
where A is the structure tensor,
In words, we find the covariance of the partial derivative of the image intensity with respect to the and axes.
Angle brackets denote averaging (i.e. summation over ). denotes the type of window that slides over the image. If a Box filter is used the response will be anisotropic, but if a Gaussian is used, then the response will be isotropic.
A corner (or in general an interest point) is characterized by a large variation of in all directions of the vector . By analyzing the eigenvalues of , this characterization can be expressed in the following way: should have two "large" eigenvalues for an interest point.
Based on the magnitudes of the eigenvalues, the following inferences can be made based on this argument:
If and then this pixel has no features of interest.
If and has some large positive value, then an edge is found.
If and have large positive values, then a corner is found.
Harris and Stephens note that exact computation of the eigenvalues is computationally expensive, since it requires the computation of a square root, and instead suggest the
following function , where is a tunable sensitivity parameter:
Therefore, the algorithm does not have to actually compute the eigenvalue decomposition of the matrix and
instead it is sufficient to evaluate the determinant and trace of to find
corners, or rather interest points in general.
The Shi–Tomasi corner detector directly computes because under certain assumptions, the corners are more stable for tracking. Note that this method is also sometimes referred to as the Kanade–Tomasi corner detector.
The value of has to be determined empirically, and in the literature values in the range 0.04–0.15 have been reported as feasible.
One can avoid setting the parameter by using Noble's corner measure which amounts to the harmonic mean of the eigenvalues:
being a small positive constant.
If can be interpreted as the precision matrix for the corner position, the covariance matrix for the corner position is , i.e.
The sum of the eigenvalues of , which in that case can be interpreted as a generalized variance (or a "total uncertainty") of the corner position, is related to Noble's corner measure by the following equation:
The Förstner corner detector
In some cases, one may wish to compute the location of a corner with subpixel accuracy. To achieve an approximate solution, the Förstner algorithm solves for the point closest to all the tangent lines of the corner in a given window and is a least-square solution. The algorithm relies on the fact that for an ideal corner, tangent lines cross at a single point.
The equation of a tangent line at pixel is given by:
where is the gradient vector of the image at .
The point closest to all the tangent lines in the window is:
The distance from to the tangent lines is weighted by the gradient magnitude, thus giving more importance to tangents passing through pixels with strong gradients.
Solving for :
are defined as:
Minimizing this equation can be done by differentiating with respect to and setting it equal to 0:
Note that is the structure tensor. For the equation to have a solution, must be invertible, which implies that must be full rank (rank 2). Thus, the solution
only exists where an actual corner exists in the window .
A methodology for performing automatic scale selection for this corner localization method has been presented by Lindeberg by minimizing the normalized residual
over scales. Thereby, the method has the ability to automatically adapt the scale levels for computing the image gradients to the noise level in the image data, by choosing coarser scale levels for noisy image data and finer scale levels for near ideal corner-like structures.
Notes:
can be viewed as a residual in the least-square solution computation: if , then there was no error.
this algorithm can be modified to compute centers of circular features by changing tangent lines to normal lines.
The multi-scale Harris operator
The computation of the second moment matrix (sometimes also referred to as the structure tensor) in the Harris operator, requires the computation of image derivatives in the image domain as well as the summation of non-linear combinations of these derivatives over local neighbourhoods. Since the computation of derivatives usually involves a stage of scale-space smoothing, an operational definition of the Harris operator requires two scale parameters: (i) a local scale for smoothing prior to the computation of image derivatives, and (ii) an integration scale for accumulating the non-linear operations on derivative operators into an integrated image descriptor.
With denoting the original image intensity, let denote the scale space representation of obtained by convolution with a Gaussian kernel
with local scale parameter :
and let and denote the partial derivatives of .
Moreover, introduce a Gaussian window function with integration scale parameter . Then, the multi-scale second-moment matrix can be defined as
Then, we can compute eigenvalues of in a similar way as the eigenvalues of and define the multi-scale Harris corner measure as
Concerning the choice of the local scale parameter and the integration scale parameter , these scale parameters are usually coupled by a relative integration scale parameter such that , where is usually chosen in the interval . Thus, we can compute the multi-scale Harris corner measure at any scale in scale-space to obtain a multi-scale corner detector, which responds to corner structures of varying sizes in the image domain.
In practice, this multi-scale corner detector is often complemented by a scale selection step, where the scale-normalized Laplacian operator
is computed at every scale in scale-space and scale adapted corner points with automatic scale selection (the "Harris-Laplace operator") are computed from the points that are simultaneously:
spatial maxima of the multi-scale corner measure
local maxima or minima over scales of the scale-normalized Laplacian operator :
The level curve curvature approach
An earlier approach to corner detection is to detect points where the curvature of level curves and the gradient magnitude are simultaneously high.
A differential way to detect such points is by computing the rescaled level curve curvature (the product of the level curve curvature and the gradient magnitude raised to the power of three)
and to detect positive maxima and negative minima of this differential expression at some scale in the scale space representation of the original image.
A main problem when computing the rescaled level curve curvature entity at a single scale however, is that it may be sensitive to noise and to the choice of the scale level. A better method is to compute the -normalized rescaled level curve curvature
with and to detect signed scale-space extrema of this expression, that are points and scales that are positive maxima and negative minima with respect to both space and scale
in combination with a complementary localization step to handle the increase in localization error at coarser scales. In this way, larger scale values will be associated with rounded corners of large spatial extent while smaller scale values will be associated with sharp corners with small spatial extent. This approach is the first corner detector with automatic scale selection (prior to the "Harris-Laplace operator" above) and has been used for tracking corners under large scale variations in the image domain and for matching corner responses to edges to compute structural image features for geon-based object recognition.
Laplacian of Gaussian, differences of Gaussians and determinant of the Hessian scale-space interest points
LoG is an acronym standing for Laplacian of Gaussian, DoG is an acronym standing for difference of Gaussians (DoG is an approximation of LoG), and DoH is an acronym standing for determinant of the Hessian. These scale-invariant interest points are all extracted by detecting scale-space extrema of scale-normalized differential expressions, i.e., points in scale-space where the corresponding scale-normalized differential expressions assume local extrema with respect to both space and scale
where denotes the appropriate scale-normalized differential entity (defined below).
These detectors are more completely described in blob detection. The scale-normalized Laplacian of the Gaussian and difference-of-Gaussian features (Lindeberg 1994, 1998; Lowe 2004)
do not necessarily make highly selective features, since these operators may also lead to responses near edges. To improve the corner detection ability of the differences of Gaussians detector, the feature detector used in the SIFT system therefore uses an additional post-processing stage, where the eigenvalues of the Hessian of the image at the detection scale are examined in a similar way as in the Harris operator. If the ratio of the eigenvalues is too high, then the local image is regarded as too edge-like, so the feature is rejected. Also Lindeberg's Laplacian of the Gaussian feature detector can be defined to comprise complementary thresholding on a complementary differential invariant to suppress responses near edges.
The scale-normalized determinant of the Hessian operator (Lindeberg 1994, 1998)
is on the other hand highly selective to well localized image features and does only respond when there are significant grey-level variations in two image directions and is in this and other respects a better interest point detector than the Laplacian of the Gaussian. The determinant of the Hessian is an affine covariant differential expression and has better scale selection properties under affine image transformations than the Laplacian operator
(Lindeberg 2013, 2015). Experimentally this implies that determinant of the Hessian interest points have better repeatability properties under local image deformation than Laplacian interest points, which in turns leads to better performance of image-based matching in terms higher efficiency scores and lower 1−precision scores.
The scale selection properties, affine transformation properties and experimental properties of these and other scale-space interest point detectors are analyzed in detail in (Lindeberg 2013, 2015).
Scale-space interest points based on the Lindeberg Hessian feature strength measures
Inspired by the structurally similar properties of the Hessian matrix of a function and the second-moment matrix (structure tensor) , as can e.g. be manifested in terms of their similar transformation properties under affine image deformations
,
,
Lindeberg (2013, 2015) proposed to define four feature strength measures from the Hessian matrix in related ways as the Harris and Shi-and-Tomasi operators are defined from the structure tensor (second-moment matrix).
Specifically, he defined the following unsigned and signed Hessian feature strength measures:
the unsigned Hessian feature strength measure I:
the signed Hessian feature strength measure I:
the unsigned Hessian feature strength measure II:
the signed Hessian feature strength measure II:
where and
denote the trace and the determinant of the Hessian matrix of the scale-space representation at any scale ,
whereas
denote the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix.
The unsigned Hessian feature strength measure responds to local extrema by positive values and is not sensitive to saddle points, whereas the signed Hessian feature strength measure does additionally respond to saddle points by negative values. The unsigned Hessian feature strength measure is insensitive to the local polarity of the signal, whereas the signed Hessian feature strength measure responds to the local polarity of the signal by the sign of its output.
In Lindeberg (2015) these four differential entities were combined with local scale selection based on either scale-space extrema detection
or scale linking. Furthermore, the signed and unsigned Hessian feature strength measures and were combined with complementary thresholding on .
By experiments on image matching under scaling transformations on a poster dataset with 12 posters with multi-view matching over scaling transformations up to a scaling factor of 6 and viewing direction variations up to a slant angle of 45 degrees with local image descriptors defined from reformulations of the pure image descriptors in the SIFT and SURF operators to image measurements in terms of Gaussian derivative operators (Gauss-SIFT and Gauss-SURF) instead of original SIFT as defined from an image pyramid or original SURF as defined from Haar wavelets, it was shown that scale-space interest point detection based on the unsigned Hessian feature strength measure allowed for the best performance and better performance than scale-space interest points obtained from the determinant of the Hessian . Both the unsigned Hessian feature strength measure , the signed Hessian feature strength measure and the determinant of the Hessian allowed for better performance than the Laplacian of the Gaussian . When combined with scale linking and complementary thresholding on , the signed Hessian feature strength measure did additionally allow for better performance than the Laplacian of the Gaussian .
Furthermore, it was shown that all these differential scale-space interest point detectors defined from the Hessian matrix allow for the detection of a larger number of interest points and better matching performance compared to the Harris and Shi-and-Tomasi operators defined from the structure tensor (second-moment matrix).
A theoretical analysis of the scale selection properties of these four Hessian feature strength measures and other differential entities for detecting scale-space interest points, including the Laplacian of the Gaussian and the determinant of the Hessian, is given in Lindeberg (2013) and an analysis of their affine transformation properties as well as experimental properties in Lindeberg (2015).
Affine-adapted interest point operators
The interest points obtained from the multi-scale Harris operator with automatic scale selection are invariant to translations, rotations and uniform rescalings in the spatial domain. The images that constitute the input to a computer vision system are, however, also subject to perspective distortions. To obtain an interest point operator that is more robust to perspective transformations, a natural approach is to devise a feature detector that is invariant to affine transformations. In practice, affine invariant interest points can be obtained by applying affine shape adaptation where the shape of the smoothing kernel is iteratively warped to match the local image structure around the interest point or equivalently a local image patch is iteratively warped while the shape of the smoothing kernel remains rotationally symmetric (Lindeberg 1993, 2008; Lindeberg and Garding 1997; Mikolajzcyk and Schmid 2004). Hence, besides the commonly used multi-scale Harris operator, affine shape adaptation can be applied to other corner detectors as listed in this article as well as to differential blob detectors such as the Laplacian/difference of Gaussian operator, the determinant of the Hessian and the Hessian–Laplace operator.
The Wang and Brady corner detection algorithm
The Wang and Brady detector considers the image to be a surface, and looks for places where there is large curvature along an image edge. In other words, the algorithm looks for places where the edge changes direction rapidly. The corner score, , is given by:
where is the unit vector perpendicular to the gradient, and determines how edge-phobic the detector is. The authors also note that smoothing (Gaussian is suggested) is required to reduce noise.
Smoothing also causes displacement of corners, so the authors derive an expression for the displacement of a 90 degree corner, and apply this as a correction factor to the detected corners.
The SUSAN corner detector
SUSAN is an acronym standing for smallest univalue segment assimilating nucleus. This method is the subject of a 1994 UK patent which is no longer in force.
For feature detection, SUSAN places a circular mask over the pixel to be tested (the nucleus). The region of the mask is , and a pixel in this mask is represented by . The nucleus is at . Every pixel is compared to the nucleus using the comparison function:
where is the brightness difference threshold, is the brightness of the pixel and the power of the exponent has been determined empirically. This function has the appearance of a smoothed top-hat or rectangular function. The area of the SUSAN is given by:
If is the rectangular function, then is the number of pixels in the mask which are within of the nucleus. The response of the SUSAN operator is given by:
where is named the 'geometric threshold'. In other words, the SUSAN operator only has a positive score if the area is small enough. The smallest SUSAN locally can be found using non-maximal suppression, and this is the complete SUSAN operator.
The value determines how similar points have to be to the nucleus before they are considered to be part of the univalue segment. The value of determines the minimum size of the univalue segment. If is large enough, then this becomes an edge detector.
For corner detection, two further steps are used. Firstly, the centroid of the SUSAN is found. A proper corner will have the centroid far from the nucleus. The second step insists that all points on the line from the nucleus through the centroid out to the edge of the mask are in the SUSAN.
The Trajkovic and Hedley corner detector
In a manner similar to SUSAN, this detector directly tests whether a patch under a pixel is self-similar by examining nearby pixels. is the pixel to be considered, and is point on a circle centered around . The point is the point opposite to along the diameter.
The response function is defined as:
This will be large when there is no direction in which the centre pixel is similar to two nearby pixels along a diameter. is a discretised circle (a Bresenham circle), so interpolation is used for intermediate diameters to give a more isotropic response. Since any computation gives an upper bound on the , the horizontal and vertical directions are checked first to see if it is worth proceeding with the complete computation of .
AST-based feature detectors
AST is an acronym standing for accelerated segment test. This test is a relaxed version of the SUSAN corner criterion. Instead of evaluating the circular disc, only the pixels in a Bresenham circle of radius around the candidate point are considered. If contiguous pixels are all brighter than the nucleus by at least or all darker than the nucleus by , then the pixel under the nucleus is considered to be a feature. This test is reported to produce very stable features. The choice of the order in which the pixels are tested is a so-called Twenty Questions problem. Building short decision trees for this problem results in the most computationally efficient feature detectors available.
The first corner detection algorithm based on the AST is FAST (features from accelerated segment test). Although can in principle take any value, FAST uses only a value of 3 (corresponding to a circle of 16 pixels circumference), and tests show that the best results are achieved with being 9. This value of is the lowest one at which edges are not detected. The order in which pixels are tested is determined by the ID3 algorithm from a training set of images. Confusingly, the name of the detector is somewhat similar to the name of the paper describing Trajkovic and Hedley's detector.
Automatic synthesis of detectors
Trujillo and Olague introduced a method by which genetic programming is used to automatically synthesize image operators that can detect interest points. The terminal and function sets contain primitive operations that are common in many previously proposed man-made designs. Fitness measures the stability of each operator through the repeatability rate, and promotes a uniform dispersion of detected points across the image plane. The performance of the evolved operators has been confirmed experimentally using training and testing sequences of progressively transformed images. Hence, the proposed GP algorithm is considered to be human-competitive for the problem of interest point detection.
Spatio-temporal interest point detectors
The Harris operator has been extended to space-time by Laptev and Lindeberg.
Let denote the spatio-temporal second-moment matrix defined by
Then, for a suitable choice of ,
spatio-temporal interest points are detected from spatio-temporal extrema of the following spatio-temporal Harris measure:
The determinant of the Hessian operator has been extended to joint space-time by Willems et al and Lindeberg, leading to the following scale-normalized differential expression:
In the work by Willems et al, a simpler expression corresponding to and was used. In Lindeberg, it was shown that and implies better scale selection properties in the sense that the selected scale levels obtained from a spatio-temporal Gaussian blob with spatial extent and temporal extent will perfectly match the spatial extent and the temporal duration of the blob, with scale selection performed by detecting spatio-temporal scale-space extrema of the differential expression.
The Laplacian operator has been extended to spatio-temporal video data by Lindeberg, leading to the following two spatio-temporal operators, which also constitute models of receptive fields of non-lagged vs. lagged neurons in the LGN:
For the first operator, scale selection properties call for using and , if we want this operator to assume its maximum value over spatio-temporal scales at a spatio-temporal scale level reflecting the spatial extent and the temporal duration of an onset Gaussian blob. For the second operator, scale selection properties call for using and , if we want this operator to assume its maximum value over spatio-temporal scales at a spatio-temporal scale level reflecting the spatial extent and the temporal duration of a blinking Gaussian blob.
Colour extensions of spatio-temporal interest point detectors have been investigated by Everts et al.
Bibliography
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="shitomasi">
Reference implementations
This section provides external links to reference implementations of some of the detectors described above. These reference implementations are provided by the authors of the paper in which the detector is first described. These may contain details not present or explicit in the papers describing the features.
DoG detection (as part of the SIFT system), Windows and x86 Linux executables
Harris-Laplace, static Linux executables. Also contains DoG and LoG detectors and affine adaptation for all detectors included.
FAST detector, C, C++, MATLAB source code and executables for various operating systems and architectures.
lip-vireo, [LoG, DoG, Harris-Laplacian, Hessian and Hessian-Laplacian], [SIFT, flip invariant SIFT, PCA-SIFT, PSIFT, Steerable Filters, SPIN][Linux, Windows and SunOS] executables.
SUSAN Low Level Image Processing, C source code.
Online Implementation of the Harris Corner Detector - IPOL
See also
blob detection
affine shape adaptation
scale space
ridge detection
interest point detection
feature detection (computer vision)
Image derivative
External links
Brostow, "Corner Detection -- UCL Computer Science"
Feature detection (computer vision)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMA%20University
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AMA University
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AMA Computer University, using the trade name simply as AMA University, is an Information and communications technology (ICT) university in Quezon City, Philippines and is the first such university in the Philippines and in Asia. The university serves as the flagship brand of the AMA Education System (AMAES). It specializes in electronic, information, and communication technologies.
History
AMA Institute of Computer Studies
AMA University and its sister school AMA Computer College (AMACC) were founded by Amable R. Aguiluz V, who named them after the initials of his father's name, Amable Mendoza Aguiluz Sr. Aguiluz saw the demand for fully trained computer professionals in the country. However, no institution in the country offered computer education to professionals at that time. Therefore, Aguiluz founded the AMA Institute of Computer Studies with the first computer school located along Shaw Boulevard on 20 October 1980. Back then, AMA Institute of Computer Studies offered only short-term courses in Electronic Data Processing Fundamentals, Basic Programming, and Technology Career. Three students enrolled at the AMA Institute of Computer Studies during the first semester.
AMA Computer College, branches and sister schools
AMA Computer College came into existence in June 1981. It extended its services through a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. With only a handful of students in its first year of operation, the AMACC student population rose dramatically from 600 in 1983 to 2,000 in 1985 on its first official campus in Makati. Shortly after, it established its main campus in Quezon City. Two provincial campuses were then founded in Cebu and Davao City.
With the passage of the Philippine Republic Act No. 7722 or the Higher Education Act of 1994, privately controlled educational institutions' academic fees were deregulated. AMA increased tuition fees then solved the problem of low student population by embarking on a marketing, advertising, and information campaign.
The emergence of AMACC led to the birth of AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) in 1987 and AMA Telecommunication & Electronic Learning Center in 1996. The former offers short-course programs for professionals and two-year technical/vocational courses for those who wish to acquire employment skills. The latter is one of the first schools in the Philippines to concentrate on telecommunication, electronics, and related technologies.
It was the first school in the country to fully integrate the Internet into its curriculum. Since 1987, all major AMA colleges have been interconnected through a local area network (LAN), which converted them into one nationwide school system.
In 1991, Aguiluz gained accreditation for AMA Computer College in the American League of Colleges and Universities (ALOCU), making AMA the first Filipino and non-American school to do so. AMACC became an official member of the John F. Kennedy Educational Institute in Japan. AMACC is accredited by the National Computing Centre United Kingdom as well.
Elevation to university
AMA Computer College of Quezon City became AMA Computer University following the conferment of university status by the Philippine government's Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on 20 August 2001. The Philippine Commission on Higher Education did not accredit other AMA campuses to use the title "university" and only permitted to use the title of "college" or "institute" as these campuses have not met the requirements needed by the Philippine academic regulatory body.
In 2003, AMA Computer University inked a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University's iCarnegie to use its curriculum and courses through e-learning. Previously, iCarnegie had approached STI for the agreement, but opted to stick with AMACU instead. As stated by iCarnegie President and CEO Allan Fisher, "the academic relationship between STI and iCarnegie went well, the business side of the agreement did not go as planned".
Twelve years after its elevation as university, AMA tapped Hewlett-Packard Philippines for the development and implementation of software testing academic subjects of its Information Technology degree course.
Overseas AMA Computer College campuses
In 2003, AMA Education system brokered a partnership with the government of Bahrain to establish the AMA International University in Manama.
Athletic programs
In 2001, AMA joined the newly created National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU). The AMACU Titans had a rocky start but in 2006, they beat their corporate rivals, the STI Olympians and became the 2006 NAASCU Champions. It participates in the Collegiate Champions League, composed of top ranked varsity teams in the Philippines outside of the UAAP and the NCAA.
Dataline
Dataline, the official student publication of the university, has an office on the 2nd floor of the college building, releasing an issue each term. It is one of the two official student organizations of the university, the other being the Student Council (SC).
Political affiliations
Amable Aguiluz V was Joseph Estrada's political endorser in the 1998 Presidential elections. Aguiluz resigned from the Commission in November 1999 due to a controversial purchase of equipment by the commission from a subsidiary of the AMA Group of Companies.
Aguiluz's father Amable Aguiluz Sr. was Diosdado Macapagal's friend and Aguiluz Sr. served as chairman and auditor-general of the Commission on Audit in the 1960s. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was invited to AMA's sponsored political rallies. In 1995, Arroyo attended a political rally in AMA when she ran for re-election as senator. Arroyo attended all graduation rites for AMA from 2002 to 2005. Arroyo cited AMA for not participating in cause oriented and student activist groups. Arroyo appointed Aguiluz as Presidential Adviser for the Middle East.
Programs
Colleges
College of Computer Studies
College of Engineering
College of Business Administration and Accountancy
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Education
Basic education
AMA Computer University also has pre-school, elementary, and high school programs under the brand St. Augustine International School (now AMA Basic Education).
Branches
AMA Computer College has 41 campuses nationwide under the AMA University and Colleges umbrella. Only the main campus of AMA in Project 8 is accredited with a University status; all else are under study for proper tertiary status. Student population mainly determine the longevity of the campuses.
AMA Computer University Town
The AMA Group of Companies is planning a campus named University Town. Expected to be completed in celebration of its 45th year, the AMA Computer University Town is a 50-hectare property in Ara Vista Village in General Trias, Cavite It draws its inspiration from old universities in the western world that spurred rapid development in the Host Township.
The University Town will serve as another type of multi-use development, a primary institutional complex in a park-like setting. A network of open space and walkable distances from once destination to the other is laid out to encourage users to walk instead of using vehicles.
Sister schools
The AMA Education System, whose head office located in Panay Avenue, Quezon City, has various member schools. Unlike the AMA University in Project 8, Quezon City, whose land is wholly owned, some of the schools are on rented real estate. The schools are overseen and monitored by government departments, such as Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Maritime and Naval Agency (MARINA), for Norwegian Maritime Institute.
Pursuant to TESDA compliance, the schools offers ladderized education as well, a program that allows vocational students to pursue college easily, having their previous vocational course merits credited into their college curriculum.
AMA Computer College are educational institutions across the Philippines that offer the same programs as AMACU. The campuses in Caloocan, East Rizal, Makati, Las Piñas, Malolos, Biñan, Pasig, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Fairview, Cebu, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Cotabato City, and General Santos are among these.
AMA International University is a partnership between the government of Bahrain and AMA Education System serving AMA's ICT programs in the Arab Region.
AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC College) are educational institutions across the Philippines that has a similar structure as AMA Computer College but only offered short Information Technology-related programs before. These programs range from Certificate (3-month), Diploma (1 year) to Associate (2-years). It uses a semestral (5-month) academic calendar. However, they are now offering 4 year courses as well.
ABE International Business College are educational institutions across the Philippines that has a similar structure as AMA Computer Learning Center. Offers courses like Business Administration, HRM, Tourism and Information Technology since it is a part of the AMA Education System. Its Main Campus is located in Legarda in Manila.
St. Augustine School of Nursing are educational institutions across the Philippines that has a similar structure as AMA Computer Learning Center but only offer short Medical-related programs like caregiver course.
AMA International Institute of Technology (CLOSED) are educational institutions that have a similar structure as AMA Computer Learning Center but only offers short technology-related programs like radio technician course. Formerly AMA Telecommunication & Electronic Learning Center, it is located on EDSA, Cubao, Quezon City.
Norwegian Maritime Academy are educational institutions across the Philippines that offer the same programs as AMACU. It focuses only in Maritime-related courses like Marine Engineering.
AMA School of Medicine is an educational institution in the Philippines that offers the same programs as AMACU is under accreditation or recognition by the Commission on Higher Education. It focuses in Medical-related courses like Nursing. The Doctor of Medicine or MD course is offered in the Makati Campus of AMA. This is an intensive 4-year course which has been operational since 2008. ASM has clinical clerkship with the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, a DOH run public hospital and the Pasig City General Hospital, a city government run tertiary hospital for its clinical rotation.
AMA Basic Education (formerly St. Augustine International School) are educational institutions across the Philippines that offer pre-school, elementary, and high school programs but is housed outside AMACU. The institution also claims utilization of the GEMS program for their Math curriculum.
Delta Air International Aviation Academy is an educational institution that offer studies in aviation. Its campus is located in the Old MIA Road in Parañaque and flight training area is located in Plaridel, Bulacan.
Controversies
Like other educational institutions, AMA has its share of controversies.
School principal case resolution
On 23 January 2007, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the NLRC regarding the dismissal of a high school principal.
A high school principal was promoted on 13 May 1996 but an incident four days later led to her dismissal. A cashier at the company, carried a brown envelope containing PhP 47,299.34 to the comfort room of the school. While inside, she placed the envelope on top of the (toilet bowl) tank. After she left the room, she realized the envelope was left behind, hence she returned to the comfort room, but the envelope was already gone. The incident was reported to the area director, who told that the only person she recalled entering the comfort room after her was the school principal. Investigation of the school principal was ordered. Thereafter, she was brought to the barangay office and the incident was entered in its blotter. On 20 May 1996, she was suspended.
School officials served the principal several notices to appear during the hearings and to submit her written explanation, but the hearings were always cancelled. On 19 June 1996, AMA dismissed the principal on the ground of loss of trust and confidence. On 21 June 1996, school officials sent her another notice directing her to appear on 27 June 1996 hearing and to submit a written explanation. The hearing was, again, cancelled. On 1 July 1996, AMA finally terminated her employment.
On 14 August 1996, Garay filed a complaint for her dismissal and on 14 September 1998, NLRC Labor Arbiter Eduardo Carpio rendered judgment. He ruled that there was no material and direct evidence to show that the employee took the collections. NLRC ordered AMA to immediately reinstate her to her former or substantially equal position and pay her backwages computed in the amount of P300,000.00 (1 July 1996 to 31 December 1998 = 30 months. P10,000.00 x 30 months = P300,000.00), moral damages of PhP 100,000.00 and exemplary damages of PhP 50,000.00.
Student case resolution
On 10 November 2004 the Regional Trial Court dismissed the case against 48 students and granted the students' motion to discontinue the proceedings after getting assurance from the school administration that they can continue with their studies. The students were ordered dismissed by school management 4 October 2004 for holding a protest rally in front of the school.
The students were dismissed from the school by the area director, school director and the school's disciplinary board after they held a protest rally in front of the school campus without the necessary permit. They said that the dismissal of the students was based on a resolution dated 9 October issued by Student Disciplinary Tribunal, which states that holding of rallies or any related activities without the necessary permit from an authorized school officer is a major offense that merits dismissal as provided for in the student handbook.
The students filed a 13-page civil suit with damages against the school for dismissing them. They also claimed their dismissal was null and void and violates their freedom of expression as enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. They said they held the rally to show support for the preventive suspension of several regular teachers, the implementation of the webcast teaching system and other unresolved issues regarding miscellaneous fees.
The students were accompanied by police authorities in going back to school.
Daniel Padilla PBA D-League issue
Daniel Padilla, a local actor, signed as AMA University's fifth advertisement endorser. AMA then joined as an expansion basketball team to the 2014–2015 season of the PBA Developmental League and Padilla was selected by AMA as its final round draft pick. Many spectators in the draft event at the PBA head office in Libis, Quezon City were surprised with the selection as Padilla was not part of the 153 players who submitted their application for the draft. AMA invoked its right as a school-based team to sign a player who hasn't applied for the draft.
Padilla's professional handler, ABS-CBN's Star Magic denied reports Padilla was allowed to join the league and it was done without their prior knowledge. AMA claimed that Padilla was enrolled by the university as a freshman for the course Information Technology. Padilla responded to news reporters and stated that it was much of his surprise that he was drafted without his prior knowledge and declined to join the basketball league.
Notable alumni
Mujiv Hataman – Governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 2011–present (Computer Engineering Batch 1994)
Chito Jaime – PBA Player - San Miguel Beermen
Getulio Napeñas - former head of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (Master of Science in Public Administration)
Rainier Castillo – as freshman before joining Starstruck
Teddy Corpuz – Rocksteddy's vocalist
Onel de Guzman – computer programmer and hacker
Jolina Magdangal – actress
Ryza Cenon – actress, dancer, and model
See also
Asian Institute of Computer Studies
External links
AMA University and Colleges
AMA Education System
AMA Education System Alumni Association Inc.
AMA Basic Education (formerly St. Augustine International School / AMA Elementary and High School)
AMA Delta Air International Aviation Academy
ACLC College
St. Augustine School of Nursing
ABE International Business College
AMA School of Medicine
References
Educational institutions established in 1980
1980 establishments in the Philippines
Universities and colleges in Quezon City
Schools in Quezon City
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2503047
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows%20CE%205.0
|
Windows CE 5.0
|
Windows CE 5.0 (codenamed "Macallan" because Magellan brand GPS units run it.) is a successor to Windows CE 4.2, the third release in the Windows CE .NET family. It was first released on July 9, 2004. Like its predecessors, Windows CE 5.0 is marketed towards the embedded device market and independent device vendors. Windows CE 5.0 is billed as a low-cost, compact, fast-to-market, real-time operating system available for x86, ARM, MIPS, and SuperH microprocessor-based systems.
Windows CE 5.0 builds on previous Windows CE releases in its adoption of shared source. Since 2001, Microsoft has been steadily expanding the available Windows CE source tree with embedded system developers. Windows CE 5.0 is the most open Microsoft operating system to date, though not all of the system is available under shared source agreements. Developers have the freedom to modify down to the kernel level, without the need to share their changes with Microsoft or competitors.
Windows CE 5.x is the base OS for Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5. On the x86 platform, Windows CE 5.0 competes against Microsoft's other embedded operating systems, Windows XP Embedded and its predecessor Windows NT Embedded.
Platform Builder IDE for Windows CE 5.0 is the last builder tool available as standalone product.
Windows CE vs. Windows XP Embedded
According to Microsoft, Windows CE is preferable to Windows XP Embedded in situations where demanding wireless and multimedia requirements need to be met. The following are the primary considerations for “choosing the right version”:
CPU architecture: Windows CE supports an extensive array of architectures, including x86, whereas Windows XP Embedded only supports the x86 architecture.
Real-time applications: Windows CE is a real-time operating system, while Windows XP Embedded is not by default.
Existing Win32 applications: Windows CE cannot use Win32 binaries, libraries, and drivers without modification.
Memory footprint: The minimum footprint of Windows CE is 350 kilobytes. The minimum footprint of Windows XP Embedded is 8 megabytes, making it over 23 times larger.
There is also a difference in cost.
See also
Handheld PC
Pocket PC
Personal Digital Assistant
Windows Mobile
References
Windows CE
MIPS operating systems
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9236957
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy%20Johnston
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Dorothy Johnston
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Dorothy Johnston (born 1948) is an Australian author of both crime and literary fiction. She has published novels, short stories and essays.
Born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Johnston trained as a teacher at the University of Melbourne and later worked as a researcher in the education field. She lived in Canberra from 1979 to 2008, and currently lives in Ocean Grove, Victoria (Australia). She is a former President of Canberra PEN. She was a founding member of the Seven Writers Group, also known as Seven Writers or the Canberra Seven, established in March 1980. Five of the original members ceased with the group, but Johnston and Margaret Barbalet continued with new writers.
She was a member of Writers Against Nuclear Arms, with her novel Maralinga, My Love, focusing on the impacts of nuclear testing in Australia.
Awards and grants
1987 - shortlisted Miles Franklin Award for Ruth
1988 - highly commended ABC / ABA Bicentennial Literary Award for Maralinga, My Love
1988 - Australia Council fellowship
1991 - ACT Literary Award (grant) to complete a book of stories about life in Canberra
1998 - shortlisted Miles Franklin Award for One for the Master
2001 - joint winner ACT Book of the Year for The Trojan Dog
2001 - highly commended Davitt Award for The Trojan Dog
Bibliography
Novels
Her books include the Sandra Mahoney quartet of mystery novels.
Sandra Mahoney series
The Trojan Dog (2000)
The White Tower (2003)
Eden (2007)
The Fourth Season (2014)
Sea-Change Mystery series
Through a Camel's Eye (2016)
The Swan Island Connection (2017)
Standalone novels
Tunnel Vision (1984)
Ruth (1986)
Maralinga, My Love (1988)
One for the Master (1997)
The House at Number 10 (2005)
Short stories
"The New Parliament House" and "The Boatman Of Lake Burley Griffin", published in Canberra Tales: Stories (1988) (reprinted as The Division of Love: Stories, 1995); Below the Water Line (1999) and The Invisible Thread, A Hundred Years of Words (2012)
"A Christmas Story", published in Motherlove (1996)
"Two Wrecks", published in Best Australian Stories (2008) and Best Australian Stories: A Ten-year Collection (2011)
"Quicksilver's Ride", published in Best Australian Stories (2009)
Essays
"Female Sleuths And Family Matters: Can Genre and Literary Fiction Coalesce?", published in Australian Book Review (2000)
"A Script With No Words", published in HEAT New Series 1 (2001)
"Disturbing Undertones", published in The Griffith Review (2007)
"But when she was bad...", published in The Australian Literary Review (2008)
"The sounds of silence", published in The Age (2009)
"Fiction's ever present danger", published in Spectrum (January 2011)
References
External links
Home page
1948 births
People from Geelong
20th-century Australian novelists
21st-century Australian novelists
Australian essayists
Australian women novelists
Australian women short story writers
Writers from Canberra
Writers from Victoria (Australia)
Living people
20th-century Australian women writers
21st-century Australian women writers
20th-century Australian short story writers
21st-century Australian short story writers
20th-century essayists
21st-century essayists
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31511952
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP%20Networking%20Products
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HP Networking Products
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see discussion
HP Networking products include:
Fixed configuration Ethernet switches including stackable switches.
Modular Chassis switches
Wide area network routers
Wireless access points, adapters, and connectivity products
Internet access gateways and firewalls, both wired and wireless
Network management applications
Network security platforms including the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System.
IP Telephony applications including PBX and CTI solutions.
HP Networking arranged its products into four primary product series:
A-Series: Data center, campus and branch network switches and routers. Predominantly heritage H3C.
E-Series: Campus and branch network switches, voice, and wireless products. Mix of heritage ProCurve and 3Com.
V-Series: Small business smart managed and unmanaged switches and wireless products. Mix of heritage ProCurve and 3Com.
S-Series: Enterprise and small business security products. Heritage TippingPoint.
Below is a summary of key products.
Modular Ethernet Switches
A12500
A9500
A7500 - 4-, 5-, 8, and 12-slot configurations with optional dual fabric modules. One model with 8 vertical slots. Of total slots, two reserved for fabrics. Backplane capacity 2.88 Terabit-per-second. Up to 24 10GE ports or 480 Gigabit ports, with optional PoE.
E8200 zl - (Released September 2007) Core switch offering, 12-module slot chassis with dual fabric modules and options for dual management modules and system support modules for high availability (HA). IPV6-ready, 692 Gbit/s fabric. Up to 48 10GbE ports, 288 Gb ports, or 288 SFPs. Powered by a combination of either 875W or 1500W PSU's, to provide a maximum of 3600W (5400W using additional powersupplies) of power for PoE.
E5400 zl - Chassis based, Layer 3, in either 6 or 12 slot bays. Supports up to 48 10GE ports, 288 Gb ports, or 288 SFPs. Powered by a combination of either 875W or 1500W PSU's, to provide a maximum of 3600W (5400W using additional powersupplies) of power for PoE.
E4200 vl - Chassis based, in either 4 or 8 slot bays. Supports up to 192 10/100 ports or 128 Gb ports, or 32 SFP
Fixed Port Ethernet Switches
Fixed Port L3 Managed Ethernet Switches
A5820
A5810
A5800
A5500 EI - Gigabit switches. Models - 24-Port; 48-Port; 24-Port PoE; 48-Port PoE; 24-Port SFP; 24-Port DC; 24-Port SFP DC. Full Layer 3 (static routes, RIP, multicast routing (OSPF, PIM). Stackable to 9-units high with IRF stacking technology; max stacking bandwidth 96Gbit/s with four high bandwidth ports dedicated to stacking on each unit (4 ports x 12 Gbit/s stacking bandwidth x 2 full duplex). Two expansion slots per unit with these available modules: 2-Port 10GE XFP; 1-Port 10GE XFP; 2-Port Local Connection; 2-Port Gb SFP; 2-Port SFP+. Former 3Com H3C Switch 5500-EI. Equivalent to HP E4800G and former 3Com Switch 4800G.
A5500 SI
A5120 EI
A5120 SI
A3610
A3600 EI
A3600 SI
E6600 - (Released February 2009) Datacenter switch offered in five versions. There are four switches with either 24 or 48 Gb ports, with two models featuring four 10GbE Enhanced small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP+) ports. There is also a 24 port 10GbE version. All of these feature front to back cooling and removable power supplies.
E6400 cl - Stackable switch, Layer 3, with either CX4 10GE ports or X2 10GE ports
E6200 yl - Stackable switch, Layer 3, with 24 SFP transceiver ports, and the capability of 10GE ports
E5500G - - Gigabit. Stackable, 24 or 48 Gb ports including 4 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). Additionally includes two dedicated 24Gbit/s stacking ports and one module expansion slot. Available modules: 2-Port 10GE XFP; 1-Port 10GE XENPAK; 8-Port Gb SFP. Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 static routing, RIP, and multicast routing (OSPF, PIM). Stackable up to 8-units high using 3Com XRN Technology, with distributed link aggregation, resilient stacking up to 96Gbit/s bandwidth, distributed routing tables, single IP address management. Two PoE models and upgradeable PoE. Single IP management clustering (basic stacking) also supported.
E5500
E4800G - Gigabit switches. Models - 24-Port; 48-Port; 24-Port PoE; 48-Port PoE; 24-Port SFP. Full Layer 3 (static routes, RIP, multicast routing (OSPF, PIM). Stackable to 9-units high with IRF stacking technology; max stacking bandwidth 96Gbit/s with four high bandwidth ports dedicated to stacking on each unit (4 ports x 12 Gbit/s stacking bandwidth x 2 full duplex). Two expansion slots per unit with these available modules: 2-Port 10GE XFP; 1-Port 10GE XFP; 2-Port Local Connection; 2-Port Gb SFP; 2-Port SFP+. Former 3Com Switch 4800G. Equivalent to HP A5500-EI, former 3Com H3C Switch 5500-EI.
E4510G
E4500G - - Gigabit. 24 or 48 Gb ports including 4 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). Additionally includes two module expansion slots. Available modules: 2-Port 10GE XFP; 1-Port 10GE XFP; 2-Port Local Connection. Two PoE models. Supports Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 static routing, RIP. Single IP management clustering basic stacking supported.
E4500 Fast Ethernet. 26- and 50-port models. Two PoE models. Stackable, 24 or 48 10/100 ports plus 4 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). Supports Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 static routing, and RIP. Stackable up to 8-units high using Gigabit ports with distributed link aggregation, single IP address management. Single IP management clustering (basic stacking) also supported.
E3500yl - Layer 3, 20 or 44 Gb port switch with PoE functionality, and 4 x Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). Also capable of supporting 10GE ports. Four Stackable, Layer 3, 20 or 44 10/100 port switches with two models supportingPoE functionality, and 4 x Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs).
Fixed Port L2/L2+ Managed Ethernet Switches
E4210G
E4210 - Fast Ethernet. 9-, 18-, 26-, and 52-port models. Three PoE models. 10/100 ports plus one (9-port model) or two (all others) Dual Personality Ports (Gb or SFPs). Supports Layer 2 switching only. Single IP management clustering basic stacking supported. Former 3Com Switch 4210.
E2915
E2615
E2520
A3100 EI Fast Ethernet. Layer 2. Former 3Com/H3C Switch 3100-EI.
A3100 SI Fast Ethernet. Layer 2. Former 3Com/H3C Switch 3100-SI.
Fixed Port Smart Web Managed Ethernet Switches
"Smart managed" switches support a web interface for changing unit configuration. In HP switches, they do not have a full Command Line Interface (CLI) and do not support remote access via Telnet. They are marketed for Small Business environments.
V1910 - Gigabit. 16, 24 or 48 Gb ports plus 4 SFPs). Two 24-port PoE models: one with 165 Watts PoE power; one with 370 Watts PoE power. All support Layer 2 plus Layer 3 static routes. ACLs. 802.1X. STP/RSTP/MSTP. Formerly 3Com Baseline Plus 2900.
V1810 - Gigabit. 8 or 24 Gb ports. 24-port has 2 combo SFP ports. Layer 2 only. Heritage ProCurve.
V1905 - Fast Ethernet. 26- and 50-port models, each includes 2x Gigabit uplink ports. One PoE 24-port model. All Layer 2 switching only. Formerly 3Com Baseline Plus 2200 / 2400.
V1900
V1700 series - 10/100. 7- ports plus 1 Gb or 22 10/100 ports plus 2 Gb. The 1700-24 also has 2 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). No CLI or SNMP management.
IntelliJack - In-the-wall switch with four Gigabit ports facing outwards and one additional Gigabit port uplink. Also the units have two "passthrough ports" that take an "inside connection" and provides a port on the outside of the unit. Can be powered locally or with downstream PoE power. If powered by PoE+ of a compatible HP switch, then up to two outside ports can pass IEEE 802.1af power to attached devices.
Fixed Port Unmanaged Ethernet Switches
V1410 switches - unmanaged switches. Two Gigabit switch models - 8- and 24-port. Heritage ProCurve. HP Lifetime Warranty.
V1405 switches - unmanaged switches. Three rackmount Gigabit switches - 16- and 24-port, one PoE model; these former 3Com Baseline 2800. Three rackmount Fast Ethernet switches - 16-, 24-, 24+2; former 3Com Baseline 2000. Four compact unmanaged switches "C-models"; former 3Com OfficeConnect switches.
V1405 small offices switches - unmanaged switches, three Gigabit speeds and three Fast Ethernet. 5-, 8-, 16-port. Class B certified for office or home use.
Blade Switches
6120G/XG Blade Switch
6120XG Blade Switch
Wireless Mobility Products
Wireless Access Points
A-802.11a/b/g Access Points
A-802.11n Access Points
E-802.11n Dual Radio Access Points
E-802.11n Single Radio and Dual Radio n/abg Access Points
E-MSM317 Access Devices
E802.11a/b/g Access Points
E-Mobility Integrated Services Access Points
V-M200 802.11n Access Points
Wireless Controllers
A3000G Wireless Switch
A-WX5000 Access Controller
E-Series MultiService Mobility (MSM) Controllers
MSM310 - Single 802.11a/b/g radio. Includes 2.4 GHz dipole antennas
MSM310-R - External use. Single 802.11a/b/g radio. Includes 2.4 GHz dipole antennas
MSM313 - Integrated MSM Controller + single radio Access Point
MSM313-R - External Use. Integrated MSM Controller + single radio Access Point
MSM317 - Single 802.11b/g radio, with integrated 4 port switch
MSM320 - Dual radios (802.11a/b/g + 802.11a/b/g) for outdoor deployment options. Includes 2.4 GHz dipole antennas. Requires PoE.
MSM320-R - External use. Dual radios (802.11a/b/g + 802.11a/b/g). Includes 2.4 GHz dipole antennas. Requires PoE.
MSM323 - Integrated MSM Controller + dual radio Access point.
MSM323-R - External Use. Integrated MSM Controller + dual radio Access point.
MSM325 - Dual radios (802.11a/b/g + 802.11a/b/g) including RF security sensor. Requires PoE
MSM335 - Triple radios (802.11a/b/g + 802.11a/b/g + 802.11a/b/g RF security sensor)
MSM410 - Single 802.11 a/b/g/n radio. Requires PoE. Internal antenna only.
MSM422 - Dual-radio 802.11n + 802.11a/b/g.
The MSM Access and Mobility Controllers supports security, roaming and quality of service across MSM Access Points utilising 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless technology.
MSM710 - Supports up to 10 x MSM Access points. Supports up to 100 Guest Users.
MSM730 - Supports up to 40 x MSM Access points. Supports up to 500 Guest Users.
MSM750 - Supports up to 200 x MSM Access points. Supports up to 2000 Guest Users.
MSM760 - Supports 40 x MSM Access Points, plus license support up to 200
MSM765 - Supports 40 x MSM Access Points, plus license support up to 200. This is a module form, and based on the ProCurve ONE.
Voice Solutions
IP Telephony applications including PBX and CTI solutions. HP Networking's Telecommunications solutions utilize VoIP and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Voice platforms include VCX and NBX.
Security
Interconnect Fabric
8100fl series - Chassis based, 8 or 16 slot bays. Supports up to 16 10GE ports / 160 Gb Ports / 160 SFPs.
WAN Routers
MultiService Access Points
The most of those access points are designed to work in controlled mode: a controller manages and provides authentication services for those AP.
Centralised Wireless Solution
Wireless Edge Services Module - Controls Radio ports, and is an integrated module that fits into ProCurve Switches 5300xl / 5400zl / 8200zl only. Redundant Module available for failover. Supports the following Radio Ports:
RP-210 - Single 802.11b/g radio and integrated antenna
RP-220 - Dual-radio design (one 802.11a and one 802.11b/g); plenum rated; external antennas required
RP-230 - Dual-radio design (one 802.11a and one 802.11b/g); features internal, integrated antennas
Wireless Access Points
M110 - Single 802.11a/b/g radio
M111 - Wireless Client Bridge including dual band antennas
AP-530 - Wireless Access Point; Dual radios support simultaneous 802.11a and 802.11b/g transmissions. The AP-530 has two integrated radios (one of which supports 802.11a/b/g; the other of which supports 802.11b/g). The AP supports the Wireless Distribution System.
AP-420 - Wireless Access Point; Features a single, dual-diversity 802.11b/g radio.
AP-10ag - Wireless Access Point; Dual radios support simultaneous 802.11a and 802.11b/g transmissions.
Accessories
External Powersupplies
ProCurve 600 Redundant External Power Supply - supports one of six times Redundant Power for series 2600-PWR (not series 2600 w/o PWR), 2610, 2800, 3400cl, 6400cl and 7000dl as well as two times optional External PoE Power for series 2600-PWR, 2610-PWR or mandatory External PoE Power for series 5300 with xl 24-Port 10/100-TX PoE Module only
ProCurve 610 External Power Supply - supports four times optional External PoE Power for series 2600-PWR, 2610-PWR, or mandatory External PoE Power for series 5300 with xl 24-Port 10/100-TX PoE Module only
ProCurve 620 Redundant/External Power Supply - supports two times optional External PoE Power for series 3500yl and two times Redundant Power for series 2900, 3500yl and 6200yl
ProCurve Switch zl Power Supply Shelf - supports two times optional External PoE Power for series 5400zl and 8200zl; must be additionally equipped with max. two 875W or 1500W (typical) ProCurve Switch zl Power Supplies
GBICs and Optics
HP Networking has a range of Transceivers, GBICs and 10GbE Optics for use within HP switching devices.
Discontinued Products
Discontinued Switch Models
3400cl series - Stackable (retired), Layer 3, 20 or 44 Gb port switch, and 4 x Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or small form-factor pluggable transceivers). Also capable of supporting 10GE ports.
6108 - Stackable switch, with 6 Gb ports, and a further 2 Dual Personality Gb ports (either Gb or SFPs). End of Sale.
E2910 al - fixed port L3 switch – 24 or 48 Gb ports including four Dual Personality Ports (4 x Gb or SFPs). The 2910al supports up to four optional 10 Gigabit ports in CX4 and / or SFP+. Two versions support PoE and PoE+
E2810 - fixed port L2 switch – Stackable, 20 or 44 Gb ports with 4 Dual Personality Ports (4 x Gb or SFPs).
2900 series - Stackable (retired), 20 or 44 Gb(retired) ports with 4 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFPs). Additionally includes four 10GE ports (two of which are CX-4 and 2x of which are capable of housing optional 10GE optical transceivers).
2800 series - Stackable (retired), 20 or 44 Gb ports with 4 Dual Personality Ports (4 x Gb or SFPs).
E2610 (including 2610-PWR models which support 802.3af PoE) - Stackable L3 switch, 12/12, 24 (Fanless for 2610-24 w/o PWR) or 48 10/100 ports, all including 2 Gb ports and 2 SFP ports (no Dual Personality).
2600 series (including 2600-PWR models which support 802.3af PoE)(retired) - Stackable, 8, 24 or 48 10/100 ports including 1 or 2 Dual Personality Ports (1 or 2 x Gb or small form-factor pluggable transceivers).
E2510G series - 24 or 48 Gb ports including 4 Dual Personality Ports (4 x Gb or SFPs).
E2510 series - Fanless 24 or 48 (incl. fan) 10/100 ports including 2 Dual Personality Ports (Gb or SFPs).
2500 series - Stackable, 12 or 24 10/100 ports with 2 proprietary Gb transceiver slots.
1800 series - Stackable, Fanless 8 or 24 Gb ports. The 1800-24G also has 2 Dual Personality Ports (2 x Gb or SFP). No CLI or SNMP management.
2300 series
2124
1400 series
408
1600M - stackable Layer 2 switch
2400M - stackable Layer 2 switch
2424M - stackable Layer 2 switch
4000M - modular Layer 2 switch
8000M - modular Layer 2 switch
9400 - modular Layer 3 Router
AP 520 - Access Point
4100gl - modular Layer 2 switch
2700 series - unmanaged Layer 2 switch
9300m series - modular Layer 3 Router (relabeled Foundry Networks BigIron series)
ProCurve Access Controller Series 700wl
745wl
ACM (Access Control Module) for the 5300xl only
5300xl series - Chassis based, Layer 3, in either 4 or 8 slot bays.
ProCurve Manager
ProCurve Manager (PCM) is a comprehensive Network Management suite for products and solutions by ProCurve Networking, a division of HP.
ProCurve Manager comes in two versions; a base version supplied both free of charge with all managed ProCurve Products and also for download, and a "Plus" version that incorporates more advanced functionality and also enables plugin support. There is a 60-day trial version including all modules existing. Both, the base and the plus version derive from the trial version and need to be activated via Internet.
The Plus version can also be implemented in HP OpenView Network Node Manager for Windows. The software ProCurve Manager is to be used predominantly for ProCurve products.
Plugins
IDM (Identity Driven Manager) - Add-on Module for PCM+; contains Intranet Network Access Security using 802.1X; compatible to MicrosoftNetwork Access Protection (NAP) since Version IDM V2.3
NIM (Network Immunity Manager) - Add-On Module for PCM+ v2.2 and above; contains Intranet Intrusion Detection and Network Behavior Anomaly Detection (NBAD) using sFlow
PMM (ProCurve Mobility Manager') - Add-on Module for PCM+; contains Element Management for ProCurve Access Points (420/520/530) starting from Version PMM V1; WESM Modules and Radio Ports are supported since Version PMM V2. Since PMM v3, the MSM Access Points and Controllers are now supported
References
External links
HP Networking Worldwide Website
Networking hardware
Networking Products
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30050594
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macne%20series
|
Macne series
|
The is a series of voice banks designed for Reason and GarageBand, music sequencer software for the Macintosh operating system, developed by MI7 Japan and distributed by Act2. They are sold under an Open-source license. Following the release of the Vocaloid "Neo" version for the Mac, several hints were left on Macne Nana's Twitter that an official Vocaloid voicebank was in progress. It was confirmed and announced later in October 2013 that Macne Nana would be released for both the Vocaloid 3 software and the Vocaloid Neo software on January 31, 2014.
History
The idea of releasing a voicebank for Macintosh computers was conceptualized in the Japanese voice actress Haruna Ikezawa's regular column "天声姫語 Vox Reginae, Vox Dei" ("voice of the queen, voice of god," a spoof of Asahi Shimbuns editorial article "天声人語 Vox Populi, Vox Dei" or "voice of the people, voice of god") carried in the magazine Mac Fan by Mainichi Communications. It followed the success story of Hatsune Miku, a voice produced for the Vocaloid software which was produced for Microsoft Windows only but has no connection to the Vocaloid software development. The Macne series gained popularity after it was discovered that the sound files could be imported into the singing software Utau.
A plan was made to introduce new characters to the series in 2012 and as of October 2012, a selection of finalists have been chosen.
In late December, the concept of turning all the Macne series into Vocaloid were spoken about. The most major factor in the process was the cost of doing so.
Characters
The Macne vocals are set up as a family unit with each "character" given a distinct personality.
Macne Nana
is cheerful and positive (but a little clumsy), she is accident prone but always looks on the bright side of things even when running late for work. Macne Nana is about 14 or 15 years old according to her official profile.
Macne Petit
Originally labelled , is the "straight man" of the Macne house, she keeps the family together and makes sure they are not divided. Although generally the quiet one, she would rather have a conversation with someone then watch things go wrong. She is 10 years old and currently is the youngest member of the family.
Macne Coco (white)
is friendly, calm and mature. She is responsible for keeping the general Macne home running and works at "Macne Cafe" (Mac音カフェ). Though she is always smiling, others do not wish to see what her angry face might look like so everyone smiles back at her. She and her twin sister Macne Coco Black are 17 years old and currently the eldest two daughters of the Macne family.
Macne Coco (black)
easily gets emotional. Compared to her sister White, she loses her temper easily and cries quite easily. Whereas Coco White runs the general work of the Macne household, Coco Black is incapable of holding responsibilities beyond tasks like selling candy sticks. Coco black is also the ignorance queen of the Macne household and often puts her looks first.
Macne Papa
is a mature, cool, and collective character in comparison with his "daughters". According to his profile he is hardly home and is often flying around the world, but ensures that treasures and parts are sent back home every month from his travels. His line of work, however, is unclear, but when he retires from his work his clothes and attitude change. His age is put at between 40 and 49.
Whisper☆Angel Sasayaki
is a sweet and angelic child. She has a magic transformation wand from her ancestors and is a transformed version of Macne Petit. Sasayaki also whispers 3,389 the whisper of a regular person. In her profile it questions why Petit was given the wand and who this girl of mystery (Sasayaki) is.
Products
All Macne products were built for the Japanese Language and therefore include only the 50 sounds needed for Japanese pronunciation. Each vocal is recorded in 3 different scales. Except for Macne Nana, the Macnes are built primary for the GarageBand software. Macne Nana – female singer, sampled from Haruna Ikezawa. She had 104 units sounds and is the only product who could do Reason4 and Garageband. She was released on March 28, 2009.Macne Nana Petit – female singer, sampled from Haruna Ikezawa. She had the same samples as Macne Nana, although was originally missing the bass and treble sounds. An expansion pack was later released to include these missing sounds fleshing out her sample base to 104 units of sound. She only covered Garageband She was released on March 28, 2009.Macne Coco (white) – mature female singer, sampled from Kikuko Inoue. She had 115 units of sound and sung in the scaled of "D" and was built for GarageBand and the Apple Loops Utility. This product was originally called just Macne Coco prior to the release of Macne Coco Black. She was released on September 30, 2009.Macne Papa – male singer, a special six-day event version upon his release also included samples of the voice actor Jōji Nakata. He was recorded in the scale of D and also worked with Apple Loops Utility. He was made up of 118 units of sound. He was released on April 30, 2010.Macne Coco (black) – mature female singer, sampled from Kikuko Inoue. She has 115 units of sound and is recorded in the scale of "G" and was built for GarageBand and the Apple Loops Utility. She was released on June 6, 2010.Macne Coco (black), second version – mature female singer, sampled from Kikuko Inoue, update on previous version. This version was released in Feb 2011. Whisper☆Angel Sasayaki – whispery voiced female singer, sampled from Haruna Ikezawa. This includes a UTAU vocal library and also works with the Apple Loops Utility. She was recorded with 117 units of sound and was recorded in the 3 scales of D#4/G#4/C#5.Macne Nana S2 – update of Macne Nana. Her samples are recorded in 117 units. The Japanese language was recorded in the 3 scales of D#4/G#4/C#5. She was released on March 28, 2012 as part of the 3 year anniversary of the series. This product also included a UTAU vocal library. Macne Petit S2 – update of Macne Nana Petit, unlike the previous "Macne Nana Petit" version, Macne Petit has her own unique voice. Her samples are recorded in 117 units. The Japanese language was recorded in the 3 scales of D#4/G#4/C#5. She was released on March 28, 2012 as part of the 3 year anniversary of the series. This product also included a UTAU vocal library and works with the Apple Loops Utility.Vocaloid 3 Macne Nana' – Vocaloid 3 update of Macne Nana. Includes newly recorded Japanese and English voice databanks compatible for both the Windows Vocaloid 3 editor and the Mac Vocaloid Neo editor. She was released on January 31, 2014. Pre-order bonuses include a disc containing extra features such as an exclusive radio interview with Haruna Ikezawa and Gomoku Akatsuki, high resolution wallpapers designed by illustrator Gomoku Akatsuki, and special limited version of the Macne Nana 2S software. Several customers who also pre-ordered also received 1 of 10 special, hand-drawn, autographed sketches of Macne Nana signed by Haruna and Gomoku as part of a prize draw.
See also
Vocaloid
Cantor
Computer music
Dōjin music
Utau
Voiceroid
References
External links
Act 2
Concepts
Macne homepage
Electronic musical instruments
Singing software synthesizers
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1645556
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EComStation
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EComStation
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eComStation or eCS is an operating system based on OS/2 Warp for the 32-bit x86 architecture. It was originally developed by Serenity Systems and Mensys BV under license from IBM. It includes additional applications, and support for new hardware which were not present in OS/2 Warp. It is intended to allow OS/2 applications to run on modern hardware, and is used by a number of large organizations for this purpose. By 2014, approximately thirty to forty thousand licenses of eComStation had been sold.
Financial difficulties at Mensys in 2012 led to the development of eComStation stalling, and ownership being transferred to a sister company named XEU.com (now known as PayGlobal Technologies BV), who continue to sell and support the operating system. The lack of a new release since 2011 was one of the motivations for the creation of the ArcaOS OS/2 distribution.
Differences between eComStation and OS/2
Version 1 of eComStation, released in 2001, was based around the integrated OS/2 version 4.5 client Convenience Package for OS/2 Warp version 4, which was released by IBM in 2000. The latter had been made available only to holders of existing OS/2 support contracts; it included the following new features (among others) compared to the final retail version of OS/2 (1996's OS/2 Warp version 4):
IBM-supplied updates of software and components that had shipped with the 1999 release of OS/2 Warp Server for e-business, but had not been made available to users of the client version. Key among these were the JFS file system and the logical volume manager.
Operating system features and enhancements that had been made available as updates but never offered as an install-time option. These included an updated kernel, a 32-bit TCP/IP stack and associated networking utilities, a firewall, updated drivers and other system components, newer versions of Java, SciTech SNAP Graphics video support, and more.
IBM-supplied updates that had previously only been offered to customers with maintenance contracts, such as UDF support and a new USB stack.
eComStation provided a retail channel for end users to obtain these updates. In addition, from the beginning it bundled a number of additional features and enhancements, including (but not limited to):
Value-added applications, including the Lotus Smartsuite office suite, IBM's Desktop On-call remote-control software, and more.
Utilities and drivers licensed from third parties including scanner support and drivers for multiple serial cards, as well as enhanced storage drivers developed by Daniela Engert.
A number of features from OS/2 Warp 4 which IBM had omitted from the Convenience Package release, such as voice navigation and dictation,
System improvements developed by Serenity itself including a new installer, various user interface enhancements, system configuration changes, and a rapid deployment system based on Serenity Managed Client.
Open source utilities from the Unix world.
A number of small utilities and drivers developed by various third parties.
As IBM began to wind down OS/2 development, Serenity and its partners began to take up the slack (through a combination of in-house, contract, and community/open source development efforts) in terms of keeping the operating system usable on current hardware. The results of many of these efforts are included in version 2 of eComStation; among others:
ACPI support.
A new generic graphic card driver called Panorama.
A bootable version of JFS.
A 'universal' sound card driver based on ALSA.
AHCI support (introduced in version 2.1).
On-the-fly resizing of hard drive partitions.
A new client to access CIFS/SMB (Windows-style) LAN resources (supporting both files and printers) based upon Samba.
Ports of current Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird for browsing and email.
A port of the OpenOffice.org office suite.
A server version of eComStation is available, which is based on IBM OS/2 Warp Server for e-business (WSeB) 4.52. It includes the same set of software bundled with WSeB, which includes the IBM WebSphere Application Server, and the Lotus Domino Go Webserver.
History
Origins
When it became clear that IBM would not release any new retail version of the OS/2 Warp client operating system after version 4 in 1996, users began to consider other alternatives. IBM released a final version of its server edition, IBM OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business or WSeB, internally called version 4.5. IBM also continued updating the client and merged parts of it with the server, so it was proposed by Bob St. John of Serenity Systems, that an OEM company could and should create its own client, using the existing OS/2 client with IBM enhancements and adding its own improvements where needed. But Serenity as an IBM business partner had done a similar thing with OS/2-based vertical applications like the Serenity Managed Client, a rapid deployment OS based on Workspace On-Demand, and Ecomstation Server, a managed server based on WSeB. The OS/2 software vendor Stardock made such a proposal to IBM in 1999, but it was not followed through by the company.
On April 29, 2000, Serenity itself in conjunction with Kim Cheung of Touchvoice Systems created a discussion group for the purpose of discussing the OS/2 community's interest in a "new Managed Client for eBusiness using components of WSeB" called eComStation to replace the one based on WoD, the idea was brought up to also create a new non-remote boot client — in effect an OEM version of the OS/2 client. Although Serenity's initial response to a suggestion of a thick client was negative, the response was positive enough from the community and from IBM to get things moving, and just a few months later the first eCS preview was shipped. Notwithstanding Cheung's fairly simple initial concept, community input was actively solicited from the beginning, and feature requests quickly began coming in. The final GA release of eComStation 1.0 was not released until July 2001, and was significantly different from the original preview in many respects.
Release history
Date of last edition taken from the installation CDs, the official release dates may be different. Release dates refer to the US English editions unless otherwise noted.
2000-09-29 - eComStation preview
2001-07-10 - eComStation 1.0
2003-04-18 - eComStation 1.1
2004-08-12 - eComStation 1.2
2005-11-04 - eComStation 1.2R (Media Refresh)
2007-06-18 - eComStation 2.0 RC1
2007-12-25 - eComStation 2.0 RC4
2008-07-04 - eComStation 2.0 RC5
2008-12-06 - eComStation 2.0 RC6
2009-08-11 - eComStation 2.0 RC7 Silver
2010-05-15 - eComStation 2.0 GA
2011-05-07 - eComStation 2.1 GA
2013-02-28 - eComStation 2.2 Beta Demo CD
2013-03-25 - eComStation 2.2 Beta 1
2013-12-13 - eComStation 2.2 Beta II
Version 1.0
eComStation 1.0 was built on the 2000 release of IBM's Convenience Package for OS/2 Warp version 4 (commonly referred to as MCP or MCP1). Additionally, several commercial applications were bundled with the operating system package, most notably Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 and IBM Desktop On-Call.
The IBM OS/2 install routine was no longer used; instead, a rapid-deployment system based on Cheung's WiseManager product was utilized to install the operating system components. In addition, a number of enhancements to the OS/2 user interface had been integrated, including a revamped desktop layout with entirely new icons, customizable graphic effects in a number of windowing components, redesigned system dialogs, and an enhanced, user-extensible system shutdown.
Once the English edition was released, efforts turned to making other language editions (called National Language Versions, or NLVs) available. However, the first non-English NLV targeted, German, was not released until the end of 2001, due in large part to the greater-than-anticipated effort of localizing the redesigned installer and other new materials. Ultimately, no further non-English NLVs were released for eComStation 1.0; other languages would not become available until eComStation 1.1 or 1.2.
Version 1.1
eComStation 1.1 included several major new features compared to version 1.0. The largest change to the operating system as installed was a package of wide-ranging functional enhancements to the desktop environment (Workplace Shell), based on the open source XWorkplace project from NetLabs.org. These included desktop folder enhancements such as status bars and improved sorting options, a new virtual desktop feature, a customizable desktop toolbar with support for programmable "widgets", and expanded configuration options. Various other enhancements such as built-in support for PPPoE and PPtP Internet connections were also provided.
In addition, a completely new install process was designed. The bootable code on the installation CD was rewritten to improve compatibility with modern BIOSes, and a "pre-boot menu" was introduced which allowed the user to select various drivers and kernel options to use in booting from the CD. The graphical installer from eComStation 1.0 was replaced with a new, more streamlined interface.
eComStation 1.1 was based on the 2001 release of IBM's Convenience Package 2 for OS/2 Warp version 4 (also known as MCP2), with subsequent IBM service updates integrated.
With this version, Serenity Systems separated the base operating system product from the major commercial applications that were bundled with it in eComStation 1.0. The base eComStation 1.1 product was sold under the title "eComStation Entry"; and the applications, including Lotus SmartSuite 1.7 and HOBlink X11 Server, were packaged separately in the eComStation Application Pack.
Multi-processor support was not included in eComStation Entry, due to the additional license fees required by IBM at the time. Instead, an SMP package was available from eComStation retailers as a paid extra.
With the release of eComStation 1.1, an eComStation Server Edition was also made available, based on the OS/2 Warp Server for e-business product.
Besides English, there were also German and Russian NLVs released for eComStation 1.1.
Version 1.2
The principal new feature of eComStation 1.2, as advertised, was revamped desktop multimedia support. Updated versions of various bundled components, both IBM and non-IBM, were also included.
eComStation 1.2 was released in English, German and Dutch NLVs.
Version 1.2 media refresh (1.2R)
Serenity Systems announced its intention to provide a "media refresh" incorporating a number of fixes and updates which had been made available after the release of eComStation 1.2. This was released as version 1.2R, initially on 12 November 2005, but subsequently withdrawn and re-released (due to a last-minute bug fix) on November 17 2005.
The principal new feature of eComStation 1.2R was support for installation on Athlon 64 systems, which had previously required unsupported workarounds.
eComStation 1.2R was released in English, German, and Italian NLVs. Additionally, a beta release of a Traditional Chinese NLV was made available via download for registered customers.
Version 2.0
eComStation 2.0 had a longer-than-usual development cycle. The first beta was released on December 21 2005, with the first "release candidate" being announced on June 18 2007; the final GA release was not available until May 2010.
The biggest change in eComStation 2.0 was the addition of ACPI support, which represented the first major update to the core operating system to be developed specifically for eComStation (and not by IBM). The benefits of ACPI included support for modern hardware, including advanced power-management features, as well as support for IRQs above 15. In addition, the new ACPI driver allowed access to OS/2's symmetric multi-processing support, obviating the need for IBM's proprietary SMP-enablement driver. Consequently, starting with eComStation 2.0, SMP support was included in the base product at no additional cost.
The other major feature introduced in version 2.0 was an enhanced version of the Journaled File System which allowed the operating system to be booted directly from JFS-formatted partitions. (Previous versions of JFS had only been usable on non-bootable data partitions.) Installing the operating system onto JFS allowed a significant performance improvement, due to the much larger cache sizes supported by JFS, as well as reduced CHKDSK times in the event of a non-clean shutdown.
The eComStation pricing model was revamped significantly with version 2.0. The standard consumer version was the Home & Student Edition. This edition had a lower recommended retail price than previous versions of eComStation; however, one customer was limited to five purchases. The Business Edition was targeted at commercial customers, with no limit on the number of purchases. The Business Edition also came with telephone support, whereas Home & Student Edition customers were limited to e-mail and online assistance. Software-wise, the two products were identical; only the license terms differed, as noted above.
Both editions of eComStation 2.0 included the OpenOffice.org office suite (provided on a separate CD). The Application Pack which had been available for previous versions was discontinued.
eComStation 2.0 was available in English only; the release of all other language versions was deferred until version 2.1.
Version 2.1
eComStation 2.1 was released only a year after version 2.0, in May 2011.
Version 2.1 has two significant new features. The first is support for AHCI disk controllers, via a newly developed device driver. The second is the replacement of the old IBM Boot Manager with the open-source Air-Boot software, which does not require a primary partition and is therefore easier to install on disks with pre-existing operating systems.
eComStation 2.1 also updates some of the included applications, notably Mozilla Firefox, and has some minor improvements to the installer.
As of version 2.1, much of the former branding by Serenity Systems has been removed from the released product, and replaced by that of Mensys BV.
eComStation 2.1 is currently available in English and German NLVs. A preview release of a Japanese NLV is also available to certain customers. Other NLVs, including Dutch and Italian, are reportedly under development.
Open source software
eComStation is also complemented by several open source applications that are included in the installer:
XWorkplace which is Workplace Shell enhancement software under GNU GPL License
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Thunderbird
WarpIn, an open source general-purpose installer under GNU GPL license.
PM VNC server, remote control software.
Doodle Screen Saver, a Workplace Shell screen saver under GNU GPL license.
NewView, a documentation reader for .inf files that replaces view.exe.
Hardware requirements
Minimum hardware requirements for running eComStation (any version) are:
References
External links
eComStation.org Unofficial, independent support and news for the eComStation community.
OS2World.com Daily updated OS/2 and eComStation News
VOICE The Virtual OS/2 and eComStation Users group and newsletter.
EDM/2 The Electronic Development Magazine Wiki is the open resource for OS/2 and eComStation developers.
eComStation 1.2 - Product Announcement (PDF)
eComStation 1.2R - Media Refreshed (PDF)
Homepage of eComStation and OS/2 users community
OS/2
X86 operating systems
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31698050
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic%20signatures%20for%20network%20coding
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Homomorphic signatures for network coding
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Network coding has been shown to optimally use bandwidth in a network, maximizing information flow but the scheme is very inherently vulnerable to pollution attacks by malicious nodes in the network. A node injecting garbage can quickly affect many receivers. The pollution of network packets spreads quickly since the output of (even an) honest node is corrupted if at least one of the incoming packets is corrupted.
An attacker can easily corrupt a packet even if it is encrypted by either forging the signature or by producing a collision under the hash function. This will give an attacker access to the packets and the ability to corrupt them. Denis Charles, Kamal Jain and Kristin Lauter designed a new homomorphic encryption signature scheme for use with network coding to prevent pollution attacks.
The homomorphic property of the signatures allows nodes to sign any linear combination of the incoming packets without contacting the signing authority. In this scheme it is computationally infeasible for a node to sign a linear combination of the packets without disclosing what linear combination was used in the generation of the packet. Furthermore, we can prove that the signature scheme is secure under well known cryptographic assumptions of the hardness of the discrete logarithm problem and the computational Elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman.
Network coding
Let be a directed graph where is a set, whose elements are called vertices or nodes, and is a set of ordered pairs of vertices, called arcs, directed edges, or arrows. A source wants to transmit a file to a set of the vertices. One chooses a vector space (say of dimension ), where is a prime, and views the data to be transmitted as a bunch of vectors . The source then creates the augmented vectors by setting where is the -th coordinate of the vector . There are zeros before the first '1' appears in . One can assume without loss of generality that the vectors are linearly independent. We denote the linear subspace (of ) spanned by these vectors by . Each outgoing edge computes a linear combination, , of the vectors entering the vertex where the edge originates, that is to say
where . We consider the source as having input edges carrying the vectors . By induction, one has that the vector on any edge is a linear combination and is a vector in . The k-dimensional vector is simply the first k coordinates of the vector . We call the matrix whose rows are the vectors , where are the incoming edges for a vertex , the global encoding matrix for and denote it as . In practice the encoding vectors are chosen at random so the matrix is invertible with high probability. Thus, any receiver, on receiving can find by solving
where the are the vectors formed by removing the first coordinates of the vector .
Decoding at the receiver
Each receiver, , gets vectors which are random linear combinations of the ’s.
In fact, if
then
Thus we can invert the linear transformation to find the ’s with high probability.
History
Krohn, Freedman and Mazieres proposed a theory in 2004 that if we have a hash function
such that:
is collision resistant – it is hard to find and such that ;
is a homomorphism – .
Then server can securely distribute to each receiver, and to check if
we can check whether
The problem with this method is that the server needs to transfer secure information to each of the receivers. The hash functions needs to be transmitted to all the nodes in the network through a separate secure channel. is expensive to compute and secure transmission of is not economical either.
Advantages of homomorphic signatures
Establishes authentication in addition to detecting pollution.
No need for distributing secure hash digests.
Smaller bit lengths in general will suffice. Signatures of length 180 bits have as much security as 1024 bit RSA signatures.
Public information does not change for subsequent file transmission.
Signature scheme
The homomorphic property of the signatures allows nodes to sign any linear combination of the incoming packets without contacting the signing authority.
Elliptic curves cryptography over a finite field
Elliptic curve cryptography over a finite field is an approach to public-key cryptography based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields.
Let be a finite field such that is not a power of 2 or 3. Then an elliptic curve over is a curve given by an equation of the form
where such that
Let , then,
forms an abelian group with O as identity. The group operations can be performed efficiently.
Weil pairing
Weil pairing is a construction of roots of unity by means of functions on an elliptic curve , in such a way as to constitute a pairing (bilinear form, though with multiplicative notation) on the torsion subgroup of . Let be an elliptic curve and let be an algebraic closure of . If is an integer, relatively prime to the characteristic of the field , then the group of -torsion points,
.
If is an elliptic curve and then
There is a map such that:
(Bilinear) .
(Non-degenerate) for all P implies that .
(Alternating) .
Also, can be computed efficiently.
Homomorphic signatures
Let be a prime and a prime power. Let be a vector space of dimension and be an elliptic curve such that .
Define as follows:
.
The function is an arbitrary homomorphism from to .
The server chooses secretly in and publishes a point of p-torsion such that and also publishes for .
The signature of the vector is
Note: This signature is homomorphic since the computation of h is a homomorphism.
Signature verification
Given and its signature , verify that
The verification crucially uses the bilinearity of the Weil-pairing.
System setup
The server computes for each . Transmits .
At each edge while computing
also compute
on the elliptic curve .
The signature is a point on the elliptic curve with coordinates in . Thus the size of the signature is bits (which is some constant times bits, depending on the relative size of and ), and this is the transmission overhead. The computation of the signature at each vertex requires bit operations, where is the in-degree of the vertex . The verification of a signature requires bit operations.
Proof of security
Attacker can produce a collision under the hash function.
If given points in find
and
such that and
Proposition: There is a polynomial time reduction from discrete log on the cyclic group of order on elliptic curves to Hash-Collision.
If , then we get . Thus .
We claim that and . Suppose that , then we would have , but is a point of order (a prime) thus . In other words in . This contradicts the assumption that and are distinct pairs in . Thus we have that , where the inverse is taken as modulo .
If we have r > 2 then we can do one of two things. Either we can take and as before and set for > 2 (in this case the proof reduces to the case when ), or we can take and where are chosen at random from . We get one equation in one unknown (the discrete log of ). It is quite possible that the equation we get does not involve the unknown. However, this happens with very small probability as we argue next. Suppose the algorithm for Hash-Collision gave us that
Then as long as , we can solve for the discrete log of Q. But the ’s are unknown to the oracle for Hash-Collision and so we can interchange the order in which this process occurs. In other words, given , for , not all zero, what is the probability that the ’s we chose satisfies ? It is clear that the latter probability is . Thus with high probability we can solve for the discrete log of .
We have shown that producing hash collisions in this scheme is difficult. The other method by which an adversary can foil our system is by forging a signature. This scheme for the signature is essentially the Aggregate Signature version of the Boneh-Lynn-Shacham signature scheme. Here it is shown that forging a signature is at least as hard as solving the elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman problem. The only known way to solve this problem on elliptic curves is via computing discrete-logs. Thus forging a signature is at least as hard as solving the computational co-Diffie–Hellman on elliptic curves and probably as hard as computing discrete-logs.
See also
Network coding
Homomorphic encryption
Elliptic curve cryptography
Weil pairing
Elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman
Elliptic curve DSA
Digital Signature Algorithm
References
External links
Comprehensive View of a Live Network Coding P2P System
Signatures for Network Coding(presentation) CISS 2006, Princeton
University at Buffalo Lecture Notes on Coding Theory – Dr. Atri Rudra
Finite fields
Coding theory
Information theory
Error detection and correction
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14625874
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith%20Z-100
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Zenith Z-100
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The Z-100 computer is a personal computer made by Zenith Data Systems (ZDS). It was a competitor to the IBM PC.
Design
The Zenith Data Systems Z-100 is a pre-assembled version of the Heathkit H100 electronic kit. In the same family, the Z-120 is an all-in-one model with self-contained monitor, and the Z-110 (called the low profile model) is similar in size to the cabinet of an IBM PC. Both models have a built-in keyboard that was modeled after the IBM Selectric typewriter.
Dual processors: 8085 and 8088.
Available with CP/M and Z-DOS (non-IBM compatible MS-DOS variant).
Five S-100 expansion slots.
Two 320 KB 40-track double-sided 5.25-inch floppy disk drives. Socket enabled direct plug-in of external 8-inch floppies.
2× serial ports (2661 UART), one Centronics printer port (discrete TTL chips), light pen port.
640×225 bitmap display. 8 colors (low-profile model), or monochrome upgradable to 8 greyscales (all-in-one).
Base 128 KB RAM, expandable to 192 KB on board, to 768 KB with S-100 cards. (Video RAM was paged into the 64 KB block above 768 KB).
The Z-100 is partially compatible with the IBM PC, using standard floppy drives. It runs a non-IBM version of MS-DOS, so generic MS-DOS programs run, but most commercial PC software use IBM BIOS extensions and do not run, including Lotus 1-2-3. Several companies offered software or hardware solutions to permit unmodified PC programs to work on the Z-100.
The Z-100 has unusually good graphics for its era, superior to the contemporary CGA (640×200 monochrome bitmap or 320×200 4-color), IBM Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) (80×25 monochrome text-only), and with 8 colors or grayscales available at a lower resolution than the Hercules Graphics Card (720×348 monochrome). Early versions of AutoCAD were released for the Z-100 because of these advanced graphics.
Aftermarket vendors also released modifications to upgrade mainboard memory and permit installation of an Intel 8087 math coprocessor.
Uses
In 1983, Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) became the first college in the nation to give each incoming freshman a personal computer. The model issued to them was the Z-100.
In 1986, the US Air Force awarded Zenith Data Systems a $242 million contract for 90,000 Z-100 desktop computers.
Reception
Jerry Pournelle in 1983 praised the Z-100's keyboard, and wrote that it "had the best color graphics I've seen on a small machine". Although forced to buy a real IBM PC because of the Z-100 and other computers' incomplete PC compatibility, he reported in December 1983 that a friend who was inexperienced with electronic kits was able to assemble a H100 in a day, with only the disk controller needing soldering. Ken Skier praised the computer's reliability in the magazine in January 1984 after using the computer for more than 40 hours a week for eight months. While criticizing its inability to read other disk formats, he approved of Zenith's technical support, documentation, and keyboard and graphics. Skier concluded that those who "want a well-designed, well-built, well-documented system that runs the best of 8-bit and 16-bit worlds" should "consider the Zenith Z-100".
References
External links
Z-100 information and pictures from the DigiBarn Computer Museum
Heathkit / Zenith Z100/110/120 at old-computers.com
Z-100 Software and Manual archive from Antediluvian Designs
Z80-based home computers
8086-based home computers
Heathkit computers
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49364674
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyCoRe
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MyCoRe
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MyCoRe (portmanteau of My Content Repository) is an open source repository software framework for building disciplinary or institutional repositories, digital archives, digital libraries, and scientific journals. The software is developed at various German university libraries and computer centers. Although most MyCoRe web applications are located in Germany, there are English-language applications, such as "The International Treasury of Islamic Manuscripts" at the University of Cambridge (UK).
History
The first public version of MyCoRe was released in October 2001. Since then the software was developed by the MyCoRe team. The software became known as "Institutional Repository Software" as declared on the site of the Budapest Open Access Initiative. In Germany there are more than 20 Universities and institutions that provide over 70 repositories based on MyCoRe.
Technology
The MyCoRe framework was written in Java and XML. It is available as free software under GNU General Public License (GPL).
Features
Some important features of MyCoRe are as follows.
Free and open-source software
Customizable user interface
Configurable metadata model: The Metadata Object Description Schema is the default metadata format within the MyCoRe sample application "MIR". Any other metadata format can be configured.
Classifications can be edited or imported, as standard (e.g. DDC), in flat or hierarchical structure.
Roles and rights are configurable
There is an internal file system integrated in the MyCoRe framework.
MyCoRe uses Checksum to ensure data integrity.
All types of digital content, file formats and mime types can be assembled, managed, preserved and presented.
An image viewer is integrated for presenting high-resolution digitized images in Web browser.
MyCoRe supports common interoperability standards and interfaces such as the OAI-PMH 2.0 protocol or SWORD.
MyCoRe provides an integrated Web content management system (WCMS) for editing static website content.
Local or external authentication mechanisms can be used.
A detailed rights and role concept allows to manage the access to data and metadata.
MyCoRe provides a ready to install sample repository called MIR, which a system administrator can install on a single Linux, Mac OSX or Windows box to get started.
Operating Systems
MyCoRe software runs on Linux, Solaris, Unix, or Windows.
See also
Digital library
DSpace Repository Software
Institutional repository
Fedora Repository Software
Opus Software
SWORD
References
External links
MyCoRe sample application:
2001 software
Digital library software
Institutional repository software
Free institutional repository software
Free library and information science software
Free software programmed in Java (programming language)
Open-access archives
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38093526
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech%20Processing%20Solutions
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Speech Processing Solutions
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Speech Processing Solutions is an international electronics company headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets speech processing devices, such as those used in digital dictation and speech recognition. Speech Processing Solutions was formed on 1 July 2012. Philips Speech Processing was part of the Philips Consumer Lifestyle sector. Speech Processing Solutions is now an official licensee of the Philips brand. The company has subsidiaries in the US, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Germany, and employs around 170 people worldwide.
History
Philips Speech Processing was founded in 1954, when the first dictation machine was produced in Vienna. In 1957, the first cassette-based dictation machine followed. One of the company's achievements was the development of the Mini-Cassette (also referred to as minicassette) in 1967. The Mini-Cassette had a tape cassette format, mainly for the use with dictation recorders, which is still today's standard in professional analog dictation. The cassettes were subsequently used in the Philips Pocket Memo devices, which were launched in the same year.
In 1989, Philips Speech Processing was awarded the ISO 9000 certification for quality assurance. At the time, the company was the first to receive such a distinction in Austria.
1991 marked the launch of Voice System 4000, which become a standard for hospitals worldwide.
In 1994 Philips Speech Processing won the IF Design Award for their Pocket Memo 293. In 1995 the company developed SpeechNote, a dictation and transcription software.
In 1996, Philips, Grundig, and Olympus established the International Voice Association and defined the Digital Speech Standard (DSS), a proprietary compressed digital audio file format. It offers high audio quality for voice recording and is therefore suitable for voice recognition. The format allows files to be stored in a highly compressed form, reducing file size, network traffic, and required storage capacity. The format also allows the user to attach additional information, such as a client or patient name, or a document type number, which is then stored in the file header.
In the same year, Philips Speech Processing also launched their first digital mobile device, the Philips SpeechPad.
This was followed in 1998 by the launch of SpeechMike, the first digital dictation microphone with PC navigation and the introduction of SpeechMike Executive software.
In 2002, Philips Speech Processing received a Lyreco Award for Best Supplier in Dictation Products, followed by the Merkur Award for Innovations from the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in 2003. The firm also launched their new range of dictation devices aimed at the consumer market in that year, the Digital Voice Tracers.
In 2004 the company launched the Digital Pocket Memo 9450 VC, at the time the first handheld dictation recorder with integrated voice commands, and received the IF Design Award for it in 2005.
In 2004 Philips also introduced the first clip-on barcode module scanner for digital mobile devices. Philips also created the new SpeechExec software, a solution aimed at professional users, providing them with a full dictation workflow package.
In 2008 Philips sold the related division Speech Recognition Systems to Nuance Communications.
In 2009 Philips Speech Processing launched their first wireless desktop dictation device, the SpeechMike Air, as well as a dictation solution for mobile phones.
2012 Philips sold its Speech Processing unit to Invest AG, the private equity arm of Raiffeisen Banking Group Upper Austria.
In the same year Speech Processing Solutions introduced its new stationary digital dictation device, the SpeechMike Premium, with integrated motion sensor and antimicrobial surface.
Also the Philips dictation recorder app for smartphones (iPhone, Android and BlackBerry) was launched.
The latest product innovation from Speech Processing Solutions came in 2013, the launch of the Pocket Memo 8000 series. Nuance awarded the Digital Pocket Memo (DPM) 8000 series with the highest Dragon Score (6 out of 6).
In 2014 Speech Processing Solutions introduced its new cloud software called SpeechLive. It is a cloud-based workflow solution dedicated to dictation.
Products
The company's core businesses are in hardware and software related to speech processing solutions. Its products include:
Philips SpeechMike USB dictation microphone
Philips Pocket Memo voice recorder
Philips SpeechExec dictation workflow software
Philips Voice Tracer digital voice recorder
Philips dictation recorder app
Philips SpeechLive cloud dictation solution
See also
Nuance Communications
References
External links
Speech Processing Solutions
"Dictation Recorder - How to choose the right equipment", Martel Electronics
Austrian companies established in 2012
Digital dictation
Electronics companies of Austria
Manufacturing companies based in Vienna
Speech recognition
Electronics companies established in 2012
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy%20Willems
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Eddy Willems
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Eddy Willems is a Belgian computer security expert and author of security blogs and books, active in international computer security organizations and as a speaker at information security-related events.
Career
Eddy Willems has been a security evangelist at German security software specialist G Data Software since the beginning of 2010. He is involved in anti-malware and security research, consultancy, training and communication programs with press, resellers and end-users, as a security evangelist.
He started his career as a systems analyst in 1984, and while working at an insurance company he was challenged in 1989 by a Trojan incident, in fact a very early version of ‘ransomware’ malware, the AIDS Trojan Horse. His system got infected by inserting a (5.25’’) floppy with ‘aids/HIV’-related information (a questionnaire), resulting in a lock down of his system and a request to pay $189. Figuring out how to get around this malware kindled Eddy Willems’ interest in computer viruses and resulted in a well received solution for this Trojan malware. Furthermore, it kick started his anti-virus and anti-malware career. Ever since, Eddy Willems compiles and maintains a reference library on the subject of viruses and malware.
Eddy Willems developed his career as security specialist initially at an insurance company (De Vaderlandsche – today part of P&V), followed by an added value distributor of security products (anti-virus expert at NOXS - a Westcon Group company) and at security software specialist Kaspersky Lab (Benelux, security evangelist).
As his expertise grew, Eddy Willems joined international computer security organizations. In 1991, he became a founding father of EICAR (the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research). In 1995, he joined Joe Wells’ Virus Wildlist, reporting for Belgium, Luxembourg & for EICAR Europe. In May 2005, he became a board member of EICAR, as director of Press and Information. In 2009, he took up the position of director for Security AV Industry Relationships. In 2010, Eddy Willems became a member and PR officer of AMTSO, the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, joining its board in May 2012.
In Belgium, Eddy Willems was a member of the first government initiated e-security team, on the website of the telecom regulator BIPT-IBPT. In 2015, he joined the board of LSEC – Leaders in Security, an association grouping security companies active in Belgium and EU.
Eddy Willems is active on the speakers circuit, with presentations for companies and consumers, as well as at conferences (see Publications section).
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He has been asked for comments and opinions by radio and TV-stations, both international (CNN, Al Jazeera) and national (Belgium: VRT, VTM), and national newspapers (De Standaard, De Morgen). Eddy Willems regularly publishes opinions in ict-magazines, as Data News (Belgium) and ZDnet.be.
Education
IHRB 1982-1984, computer sciences
Vrije Universiteit Brussel 1980-1982, computer sciences
Publications
This is a book detailing the dangers and solutions regarding computer security, targeting a readership of consumers and small business. It sketched the history of computer viruses and malware, specific cases, as well as tips and solutions to protect against viruses and malware.
This is an updated edition translated into German.
An English edition of Cybergevaar (as 'Cyberdanger'), translated and updated, was published in June 2019.
Major security white papers and articles include:
The original article on computer viruses in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (US Edition, 1997-2009, no longer available online).
(Co-authored by David Harley, Eddy Willems and Judith Harley.)
(co-authored by Eddy Willems and Righard Zwienenberg.)
(Co-authored by David Harley, Eddy Willems, and Lysa Myers.)
Personal
Eddy Willems is married and has a son.
See also
EICAR (formerly the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research)
AMTSO (Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization)
References
External links
www.anti-malware.info
www.eddywillems.be
1962 births
Living people
Belgian computer scientists
People associated with computer security
Belgian technology writers
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%20the%20Beginning...%20Was%20the%20Command%20Line
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In the Beginning... Was the Command Line
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In the Beginning... Was the Command Line is an essay by Neal Stephenson which was originally published online in 1999 and later made available in book form (November 1999, ). The essay is a commentary on why the proprietary operating systems business is unlikely to remain profitable in the future because of competition from free software. It also analyzes the corporate/collective culture of the Microsoft, Apple, and free software communities.
Themes
Stephenson explores the GUI as a metaphor in terms of the increasing interposition of abstractions between humans and the actual workings of devices (in a similar manner to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) and explains the beauty hackers feel in good-quality tools. He does this with a car analogy. He compares four operating systems, Mac OS by Apple Computer to a luxury European car, Windows by Microsoft to a station wagon, Linux to a free tank, and BeOS to a batmobile. Stephenson argues that people continue to buy the station wagon despite free tanks being given away, because people do not want to learn how to operate a tank; they know that the station wagon dealership has a machine shop that they can take their car to when it breaks down. Because of this attitude, Stephenson argues that Microsoft is not really a monopoly, as evidenced by the free availability of other choice OSes, but rather has simply accrued enough mindshare among the people to have them coming back. He compares Microsoft to Disney, in that both are selling a vision to their customers, who in turn "want to believe" in that vision.
Stephenson relays his experience with the Debian bug tracking system (#6518). He then contrasts it with Microsoft's approach. Debian developers responded from around the world within a day. He was completely frustrated with his initial attempt to achieve the same response from Microsoft, but he concedes that his subsequent experience was satisfactory. The difference he notes is that Debian developers are personally accessible and transparently own up to defects in their OS distribution, while Microsoft pretends errors don't exist.
Later developments
The essay was written before the advent of Mac OS X. A recurring theme is the full power of the command line compared with easier to learn graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which are described as broken mixed metaphors for 'power users'. He then mentions GUIs that have traditional terminals in windows. In a Slashdot interview in 2004, in response to the question:
... have you embraced the new UNIX based MacOS X as the OS you want to use when you "Just want to go to Disneyland"?
he replied:
I embraced OS X as soon as it was available and have never looked back. So a lot of In the Beginning...was the Command Line is now obsolete. I keep meaning to update it, but if I'm honest with myself, I have to say this is unlikely.
With Neal Stephenson's permission, Garrett Birkel responded to In the Beginning...was the Command Line in 2004, bringing it up to date and critically discussing Stephenson's argument. Birkel's response is interspersed throughout the original text, which remains untouched.
See also
History of operating systems
Command-line interface
Hyperreality
References
External links
Slashdot: Neal Stephenson responds
Essay Homepage including link to download the full text
The Interface Culture from In the beginning... was the command line
1999 essays
Essays by Neal Stephenson
Essays about computing
Software development books
History of human–computer interaction
Books about free software
Proprietary software
1999 non-fiction books
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34579
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s
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2000s
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The 2000s (pronounced "two-thousands"; shortened to the 00s and known as the aughts or noughties) was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 2000, and ended on December 31, 2009.
The early part of the decade saw the long predicted breakthrough of economic giant China, which had double-digit growth during nearly the whole decade. To a lesser extent, India also benefited from an economic boom, which saw the two most populous countries becoming an increasingly dominant economic force. The rapid catching-up of emerging economies with developed countries sparked some protectionist tensions during the period and was partly responsible for an increase in energy and food prices at the end of the decade. The economic developments in the latter third of the decade were dominated by a worldwide economic downturn, which started with the crisis in housing and credit in the United States in late 2007 and led to the bankruptcy of major banks and other financial institutions. The outbreak of this global financial crisis sparked a global recession, beginning in the United States and affecting most of the industrialized world.
The growth of the Internet contributed to globalization during the decade, which allowed faster communication among people around the world; social networking sites arose as a new way for people to stay in touch from distant locations, as long as they had an internet connection. The first social networking sites were Friendster, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, established in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006, respectively. Myspace was the most popular social networking website until June 2009, when Facebook overtook it in number of American users. E-mail continued to be popular throughout the decade and began to replace "snail mail" as the primary way of sending letters and other messages to people in distant locations, though it had existed since 1971.
The War on Terror and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed in 2002. In 2003, a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq War led to the end of Saddam Hussein's rule as Iraqi President and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. The Second Congo War, the deadliest conflict since World War II, ended in July 2003. Further wars that ended included the Algerian Civil War, the Angolan Civil War, the Sierra Leone Civil War, the Second Liberian Civil War, the Nepalese Civil War, and the Sri Lankan Civil War. Wars that began included the conflict in the Niger Delta, the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, and the Mexican Drug War.
Climate change and global warming became common concerns in the 2000s. Prediction tools made significant progress during the decade, UN-sponsored organizations such as the IPCC gained influence, and studies such as the Stern report influenced public support for paying the political and economic costs of countering climate change. The global temperature kept climbing during the decade. In December 2009, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the 2000s may have been the warmest decade since records began in 1850, with four of the five warmest years since 1850 having occurred in this decade. The WMO's findings were later echoed by the NASA and the NOAA.
Usage of computer-generated imagery became more widespread in films produced during the 2000s, especially with the success of 2001's Shrek. Anime films gained more exposure outside Japan with the release of Spirited Away. December 2009's Avatar became the highest-grossing film. Documentary and mockumentary films, such as March of the Penguins, Super Size Me, Borat and Surf's Up, were popular in the 2000s. 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore was the highest grossing documentary of all time. Online films became popular, and conversion to digital cinema started. Video game consoles released in this decade included the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, the GameCube, the Wii, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360; while portable video game consoles included Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. Wii Sports was the decade's best-selling console video game, while New Super Mario Bros. was the decade's best-selling portable video game. J. K. Rowling was the best-selling author in the decade overall thanks to the Harry Potter book series, although she did not pen the best-selling book, being second to The Da Vinci Code. Eminem was named the music artist of the decade by Billboard.
Name for the decade
Orthographically, the decade can be written as the "2000s" or the 00s". In the English-speaking world, a name for the decade wasn't immediately accepted as it had been for other decades ('80s, '90s), but usage eventually settled on "aughts" (US) or "noughties" (UK). Other possibilities included "two-thousands", "ohs", "oh ohs", "double ohs", "zeros", and "double zeros". The years of the decade can be referred to as '01, '02, etc., pronounced oh-one, oh-two, etc.
Demographics
For times after World War II, demographic data of some accuracy becomes available for a significant number of countries, and population estimates are often given as grand totals of numbers (typically given by country) of widely diverging accuracies. Some sources give these numbers rounded to the nearest million or the nearest thousand, while others give them without any rounding.
Taking these numbers at face value would be false precision; in spite of being stated to four, seven or even ten digits, they should not be interpreted as accurate to more than three digits at best (estimates by the United States Census Bureau and by the United Nations differ by about 0.5–1.5%).
Politics and wars
The War on Terror and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed in 2002. In 2003 a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq War led to the end of Saddam Hussein's rule as Iraqi President and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. These acts included the 2004 Madrid train bombings, 7/7 London bombings in 2005, and the Mumbai attacks related to al-Qaeda in 2008. The European Union expanded its sanctions amid Iran's failure to comply with its transparency obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and United Nations resolutions.
The War on Terror generated extreme controversy around the world, with questions regarding the justification for certain U.S. actions leading to a loss of support for the American government, both in and outside the United States. The additional armed conflict occurred in the Middle East, including between Israel and Hezbollah, then with Israel and Hamas. The most significant loss of life due to natural disasters came from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which caused a tsunami that killed around one quarter-million people and displaced well over a million others.
Terrorist attacks
The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against the civilian population during the decade include:
September 11 attacks in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania
2001 anthrax attacks in the United States
2002 Bali bombings in Bali, Indonesia
2003 Istanbul bombings in Istanbul, Turkey
2004 Madrid train bombings
2004 Beslan school hostage crisis
2005 London bombings
2007 Yazidi communities bombings
2008 Mumbai attacks
Wars
The most prominent armed conflicts of the decade include:
International wars
War on Terror (2001–present) – refers to several ideological, military, and diplomatic campaigns aimed at putting an end to international terrorism by preventing groups defined by the U.S. and its allies as terrorist (mostly Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas) from posing a threat to the U.S. and its allies, and by putting an end to state sponsorship of terrorism. The campaigns were launched by the United States, with support from NATO and other allies, following the September 11 attacks that were carried out by al-Qaeda. Today the term has become mostly associated with Bush administration-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) – In 2001, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Canada, and Australia invaded Afghanistan seeking to oust the Taliban and find al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. In 2011, the US government claimed Navy Seals had killed Bin Laden and buried his body at sea. Fatalities of coalition troops: 1,553 (2001 to 2009).
Iraq War (2003–2011) – In 2003, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, and Poland invaded and occupied Iraq. Claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at its disposal were later found to be unproven. The war, which ended the rule of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party, also led to violence against the coalition forces and between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. Casualties of the Iraq War: Approximately 110,600 between March 2003 to April 2009. Hussein was eventually sentenced to death and hanged on December 30, 2006.
Arab–Israeli conflict (1948 – present)
2006 Lebanon War (summer 2006) – took place in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The war that began as a military operation in response to the abduction of two Israeli reserve soldiers by the Hezbollah gradually strengthened and became a wider confrontation.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Early 20th century – present)
Second Intifada (2000–2005) – After the signing of the Oslo Accords failed to bring about a Palestinian state, in September 2000, the Second Intifada (uprising) broke out, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which has been taking place until the present day. As a result of the significant increase of suicide bombing attacks within Israeli population centers during the first years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, in June 2002 Israel began the construction of the West Bank Fence along the Green Line border arguing that the barrier is necessary to protect Israeli civilians from Palestinian terrorism. The significantly reduced number of incidents of suicide bombings from 2002 to 2005 has been partly attributed to the barrier. The barrier's construction, which has been highly controversial, became a significant issue of contention between the two sides. The Second Intifada has caused thousands of victims on both sides, both among combatants and among civilians – The death toll, including both military and civilian, is estimated to be 5,500 Palestinians and over 1,000 Israelis, as well as 64 foreign citizens. Many Palestinians consider the Second Intifada to be a legitimate war of national liberation against foreign occupation, whereas many Israelis consider it to be a terrorist campaign.
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict – the frequent Hamas Qassam rocket and mortar fire launched from within civilian population centers in Gaza towards the Israeli southern civilian communities led to an Israeli military operation in Gaza, which had the stated aim of reducing the Hamas rocket attacks and stopping the arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Throughout the conflict, Hamas further intensified its rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, hitting civilian targets and reaching major Israeli cities Beersheba and Ashdod, for the first time. The intense urban warfare in densely populated Gaza combined with the use of massive firepower by the Israeli side and the intensified Hamas rocket attacks towards populated Israeli civilian targets led to a high toll on the Palestinian side and among civilians.
The Second Congo War (1998–2003) – took place mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The widest interstate war in modern African history, it directly involved nine African nations, as well as about twenty armed groups. It earned the epithet of "Africa's World War" and the "Great War of Africa." An estimated 3.8 million people died, mostly from starvation and disease brought about by the deadliest conflict since World War II. Millions more were displaced from their homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries.
2008 South Ossetia war – Russia invaded Georgia in response to Georgian aggression towards civilians and attack on South Ossetia. Both Russia and Georgia were condemned internationally for their actions.
The Second Chechen War (1999–2000) – the war was launched by the Russian Federation on August 26, 1999, in response to the invasion of Dagestan and the Russian apartment bombings, which were blamed on the Chechens. During the war, Russian forces largely recaptured the separatist region of Chechnya. The campaign largely reversed the outcome of the First Chechen War, in which the region gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War came to a close in 2000.
Kivu conflict (2004–2009) – armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
2009 Nigerian sectarian violence – an armed conflict between Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group, and Nigerian security forces.
Civil wars and guerrilla wars
War in Darfur (2003–2009) – an armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The conflict began when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur took up arms, accusing the government of oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs. One side was composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Sudanese militia group Janjaweed, recruited mostly from the Afro-Arab Abbala tribes of the northern Rizeigat region in Sudan. The other side was made up of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the non-Arab Muslim Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit ethnic groups. Millions of people were displaced from their homes during the conflict. There are various estimates on the number of human casualties – Sudanese authorities claim a death toll of roughly 19,500 civilians while certain non-governmental organizations, such as the Coalition for International Justice, claim that over 400,000 people have been killed during the conflict. Former U.S. President George W. Bush called the events in Darfur a genocide during his presidency. The United States Congress unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 467, which declared the situation in Darfur a state-sponsored genocide by the Janjaweed. In 2008, the International Criminal Court charged Omar al-Bashir with genocide for his role in the War in Darfur.
Mexican Drug War (2006–present) – an armed conflict fought between rival drug cartels and government forces in Mexico. Although Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have existed for quite some time, they have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market in the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States. Roughly more than 16,851 people in total were killed between December 2006 until November 2009.
In India, Naxalite–Maoist insurgency (1967–present) has grown alarmingly with attacks such as April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada, Jnaneswari Express train derailment, and Rafiganj train disaster. Naxalites are a group of far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. It is presently the longest continuously active conflict worldwide. In 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the Naxalites "The single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country." In 2009, he said the country was "losing the battle against Maoist rebels". According to standard definitions the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between Maoist groups, known as Naxalites or Naxals, and the Indian government. On April 6, 2010, Maoist rebels killed 75 security forces in a jungle ambush in central India in the worst-ever massacre of security forces by the insurgents. On the same day, Gopal, a top Maoist leader, said the attack was a "direct consequence" of the government's Operation Green Hunt offensive. This raised some voices of use of Indian Air Force against Naxalites, which were, however, declined, citing "We can't use oppressive force against our own people".
The Colombian Armed Conflict continues causing deaths and terror in Colombia. Beginning in 1964, the FARC and ELN narcoterrorist groups were taking control of rural areas of the country by the beginning of the decade, while terrorist paramilitaries grew in other places as businesspeople and politicians thought the State would lose the war against guerrillas. However, after the failure of the peace process and the activation of Plan Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez was elected president in 2002, starting a massive attack on terrorist groups, with cooperation from civil population, foreign aid and legal armed forces. The AUC paramilitary organization disbanded in 2006, while ELN guerrillas have been weakened. The Popular Liberation Army demobilized while the country's biggest terrorist group, FARC has been weakened and most of their top commanders have been killed or died during the decade. During the second half of the decade, a new criminal band has been formed by former members of AUC who did not demobilize, calling themselves Aguilas Negras. Although the Colombian State has taken back control over most of the country, narcoterrorism still causes pain in the country. Since 2008, the Internet has become a new field of battle. Facebook has gained nationwide popularity and has become the birthplace of many civil movements against narcoterrorism such as "Colombia Soy Yo" (I am Colombia) or "Fundación Un Millón de Voces" (One Million Voices Foundation), responsible for the international protests against illegal groups during the last years.
The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002) came to an end when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) finally laid down their arms. More than two million people were displaced from their homes because of the conflict (well over one-third of the population) many of whom became refugees in neighboring countries. Tens of thousands were killed during the conflict.
The Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) came to an end after the government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Over 80,000 people were killed during the course of the conflict.
War in North-West Pakistan (2004–present) – an armed conflict between the Pakistani Armed Forces and Islamic militants made up of local tribesmen, the Taliban, and foreign Mujahideen (Holy Warriors). It began in 2004 when tensions rooted in the Pakistani Army's search for al-Qaeda members in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan area (in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas) escalated into armed resistance by local tribesmen. The violence has displaced 3.44 million civilians and led to more than 7,000 civilians being killed.
The Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), once a major proxy conflict of the Cold War, the conflict ended after the anti-Communist organization UNITA disbanded to become a political party. By the time the 27-year conflict was formally brought to an end, an estimated 500,000 people had been killed.
Shia insurgency in Yemen (2004–present) – a civil war in the Sada'a Governorate of Yemen. It began after the Shia Zaidiyyah sect launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government has accused Iran of directing and financing the insurgency. Thousands of rebels and civilians have been killed during the conflict.
Somali Civil War (1991–present)
Somalia War (2006–2009) – involved largely Ethiopian and Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces who fought against the Somali Islamist umbrella group, the Islamic Court Union (ICU), and other affiliated militias for control of the country. The war spawned pirates who hijacked hundreds of ships off the coast of Somalia, holding ships and crew for ransom often for months (see also Piracy in Somalia). 1.9 million people were displaced from their homes during the conflict and the number of civilian casualties during the conflict is estimated at 16,724.
Somali Civil War (2009–present) – involved largely the forces of the Somali Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops, whom fought against various militant Islamist factions for control of the country. The violence has displaced thousands of people residing in Mogadishu, the nation's capital. 1,739 people in total were killed between January 1, 2009, and January 1, 2010.
Conflict in the Niger Delta (2004–present) – an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The conflict was caused due to the tensions between the foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who felt they were being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw. The competition for oil wealth has led to an endless violence cycle between innumerable ethnic groups, causing the militarization of nearly the entire region that was occupied by militia groups as well as Nigerian military and the forces of the Nigerian Police.
Algerian Civil War (1991–2002) – the conflict effectively ended with a government victory, following the surrender of the Islamic Salvation Army and the 2002 defeat of the Armed Islamic Group. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people were killed during the course of the conflict.
Civil war in Chad (1998–present)
Chadian Civil War (1998–2002) – involved the Movement for Justice and Democracy in Chad (MDJT) rebels that skirmished periodically with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties.
Chadian Civil War (2005–2010) – involved Chadian government forces and several Chadian rebel groups. The Government of Chad estimated in January 2006 that 614 Chadian citizens had been killed in cross-border raids. The fighting still continues despite several attempts to reach agreements.
Nepalese Civil War (1996–2006) – the conflict ended with a peace agreement was reached between the government and the Maoist party in which it was set that the Maoists would take part in the new government in return for surrendering their weapons to the UN. It is estimated that more than 12,700 people were killed during the course of the conflict.
Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003) – The conflict began in 1999 when a rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), with support from the Government of Guinea, took over northern Liberia through a coup. In early 2003, a different rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south. As a result, by June–July 2003, president Charles Taylor's government controlled only a third of the country. The capital Monrovia was besieged by LURD, and that group's shelling of the city resulted in the deaths of many civilians. Thousands of people were displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict.
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) – Algeria has been the subject of an Islamic insurgency since 2002 waged by the Sunni Islamic Jihadist militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). GSPC allied itself with the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb against the Algerian government. The conflict has since spread to other neighboring countries.
Ituri conflict (1999–2007) – a conflict fought between the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level conflict continuing until 2007. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
Central African Republic Bush War (2004–2007) – began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels, after the current president of the Central African Republic, François Bozizé, seized power in a 2003 coup. The violence has displaced around 10,000 civilians and has led to hundreds of civilians being killed.
Civil war in Afghanistan (1996–2001) – an armed conflict that continued after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, in which the formation of the Afghan Northern Alliance attempted to oust the Taliban. It proved largely unsuccessful, as the Taliban continued to make gains and eliminated much of the Alliance's leadership.
Coups
The most prominent coups d'état of the decade include:
2000 overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – after Slobodan Milošević was accused by opposition figures of winning the 2000 election through electoral fraud, mass protests led by the opposition movement Otpor! pressure Slobodan Milošević to resign. Milošević was later arrested in 2001 and sent to the Hague to face war crimes charges for his alleged involvement in war crimes of the Yugoslav Wars.
2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt – a failed military coup d'état on April 11, 2002, which aimed to overthrow the president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez. During the coup Hugo Chávez was arrested and Pedro Carmona became the interim President for 47 hours. The coup led to a pro-Chávez uprising that the Metropolitan Police attempted to suppress. The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard eventually retook the Miraflores presidential palace without firing a shot, leading to the collapse of the Carmona government.
2004 Haitian coup d'état – a conflict fought for several weeks in Haiti during February 2004 that resulted in the premature end of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's second term, and the installment of an interim government led by Gérard Latortue.
2006 Thai coup d'état – on September 19, 2006, while the elected Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York for a meeting of the UN, Army Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Sonthi Boonyaratglin launched a bloodless coup d'état.
Fatah–Hamas conflict (2006–2009) – an armed conflict fought between the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas with each vying to assume political control of the Palestinian territories. In June 2007, Hamas took control of the entire Gaza Strip, and established a separate government while Fatah remained in control of the West Bank. This in practice divided the Palestinian Authority into two. Various forces affiliated with Fatah engaged in combat with Hamas, in numerous gun battles. Most Fatah leaders eventually escaped to Egypt and the West Bank, while some were captured and killed.
2009 Honduras coup d'état – The armed forces of the country entered the president's residence and overthrew president Manuel Zelaya. (see 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis).
Nuclear threats
Since 2005, Iran's nuclear program has become the subject of contention with the Western world due to suspicions that Iran could divert the civilian nuclear technology to a weapons program. This has led the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran on select companies linked to this program, thus furthering its economic isolation on the international scene. The U.S. Director of National Intelligence said in February 2009 that Iran would not realistically be able to a get a nuclear weapon until 2013, if it chose to develop one.
In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq over allegations that its leader Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction including chemical and biological weapons or was in the process of creating them. None were found, spawning multiple theories.
North Korea successfully performed two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Operation Orchard – during the operation, Israel bombed what was believed to be a Syrian nuclear reactor on September 6, 2007, which was thought to be built with the aid of North Korea. The White House and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later declared that American intelligence indicated the site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose, though Syria denies this.
The Doomsday Clock, the symbolic representation of the threat of nuclear annihilation, moved four minutes closer to midnight: two minutes in 2002 and two minutes in 2007 to 5 minutes to midnight.
Decolonization and independence
East Timor regains independence from Indonesia in 2002. Portugal granted independence to East Timor in 1975, but it was soon after invaded by Indonesia, which only recognized East Timorese independence in 2002.
Montenegro gains independence from Serbia in 2006, ending the 88-year-old Yugoslavia. Although not an EU member, Montenegro uses the Euro as its national currency.
Kosovo declares independence from Serbia in 2008, though its independence still remains unrecognized by many countries.
On August 23, 2005, Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends.
On August 26, 2008, Russia formally recognises the disputed Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The vast majority of United Nations member states maintain that the areas belong to Georgia.
Democracy
During this decade, the peaceful transfer of power through elections first occurred in Mexico, Indonesia, Taiwan, Colombia, and several other countries. (See below.)
Prominent political events
The prominent political events of the decade include:
North America
Canada
Paul Martin replaces Jean Chrétien as Prime Minister of Canada in 2003 by becoming the new leader of the Liberal Party. Stephen Harper was elected prime minister in 2006 following the defeat of Paul Martin's government in a motion of no confidence.
Greenland
Greenland was granted further Self-governance (or "self-rule") within the Kingdom of Denmark on June 21, 2009.
Mexico
Vicente Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, making him the first president elected from an opposition party in 71 years, defeating the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
United States
George W. Bush was sworn in succeeding Bill Clinton as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001, following a sharply contested election.
On October 26, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
On February 15, 2003, anti-war protests broke out around the world in opposition to the U.S. Invasion of Iraq, in what the Guinness Book of World Records called the largest anti-war rally in human history. In reaction, The New York Times writer Patrick Tyler wrote in a February 17 article that: ...the huge anti-war demonstrations around the world this weekend are reminders that there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion.
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11. The general public stood in long lines waiting for a turn to view the casket. People passed by the casket at a rate of about 5,000 per hour (83.3 per minute, or 1.4 per second) and the wait time was about three hours. In all, 104,684 passed through when Reagan lay in state.
Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in 2009, becoming the nation's first African American president.
South America
November 19, 2000 – Peruvian dictator/president Alberto Fujimori resigns via fax. Valentín Paniagua is named Temporary President.
Álvaro Uribe is elected President of Colombia in 2002, the first political independent to do so in more than a century and a half, creating the right-wing political movement known as uribism. Uribe was re-elected in 2006.
In 2006, Michelle Bachelet is elected as the first female President of Chile.
Left-wing governments emerge in South American countries. These governments include those of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela since 1999, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Evo Morales in Bolivia. With the creation of the ALBA, Fidel Castro—leader of Cuba between 1959 and 2008—and Hugo Chávez reaffirmed their opposition to the aggressive militarism and imperialism of the United States.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected (2002) and reelected (2006) President of Brazil.
In 2003, Néstor Kirchner was elected as President of Argentina. And in 2007, he was later succeeded by his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who became the first directly elected female President of Argentina
May 23, 2008 – The Union of South American Nations, a supranational union, is made from joining the Andean Community and Mercosur.
Asia
On May 18, 2000, Chen Shui-bian was elected as the president of Taiwan, ending the half-century rule of the KMT on the island, and became the first president of the DPP.
Israeli withdrawal from the Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon – on May 25, 2000, Israel withdrew IDF forces from the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in southern Lebanon after 22 years.
In July 2000 the Camp David 2000 Summit was held which was aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The summit collapsed after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Barak was prepared to offer the entire Gaza Strip, a Palestinian capital in a part of East Jerusalem, 73% of the West Bank (excluding eastern Jerusalem) raising to 90–94% after 10–25 years, and financial reparations for Palestinian refugees for peace. Arafat turned down the offer without making a counter-offer.
January 20, 2001 – June 30, 2010 – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the 14th president of the Republic of the Philippines.
2002 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected as Prime Minister of Turkey. Abdullah Gül was elected as President of Turkey.
March 15–16, 2003 – CPC General Secretary, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, replaced former People's Republic of China leaders Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji.
2003 – the 12-year self-government in Iraqi Kurdistan ends, developed under the protection of the UN "No-fly zone" during the now-ousted Saddam Hussein regime.
2003 – Prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Muhammad resigns in October, he was succeeded by Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi.
Manmohan Singh was elected (2004) and reelected (2009) Prime Minister in India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. Singh previously carried out economic reforms in India in 1991, during his tenure as the Finance Minister.
January 9, 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority President.
August 1, 2005 – Fahd, the King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005, died and is replaced by King Abdullah.
January 4, 2006 – Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
December 30, 2006 – Former leader of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2007 – The King of Nepal is suspended from exercising his duties by the newly formed interim legislature on January 15, 2007.
2007 political crisis in Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf retired after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
2008 – Nepal becomes the youngest democracy of the world by transforming from a constitutional monarchy to a socialist republic on May 28, 2008.
2008–10 Thai political crisis and 2010 Thai political protests by "red shirts" demonstrations.
2009 Iranian election protests – The 2009 Iranian presidential election sparked massive protests in Iran and around the world against alleged electoral fraud and in support of defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. During the protests the Iranian authorities closed universities in Tehran, blocked web sites, blocked cell phone transmissions and text messaging, and banned rallies. Several demonstrators in Iran were killed or imprisoned during the protests. Dozens of human casualties were reported or confirmed.
Death and funeral of Corazon Aquino – Former President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines died of cardiorespiratory arrest on August 1, 2009, at the age of 76 after being in hospital from June 2009, and being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in March 2008.
Europe
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. The role, created in 2000 after the London devolution referendum, was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to fully legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001.
Silvio Berlusconi becomes Prime Minister of Italy in 2001 and again in 2008, after two years of a government held by Romano Prodi, dominating the political scene for more than a decade and becoming the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister.
European integration makes progress with the definitive circulation of the euro in twelve countries in 2002 and the widening of European Union to 27 countries in 2007. A European Constitution bill is rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, but a similar text, the Treaty of Lisbon, is drafted in 2007 and finally adopted by the 27 members countries.
June 1–4, 2002 – The Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was the international celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries.
The Rose Revolution in Georgia leads to the ousting of Eduard Shevardnadze and the end of the Soviet era of leadership in the country.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero replaced José María Aznar as President of the Government of Spain in 2004.
The Orange Revolution in Ukraine occurs in the aftermath of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election.
Pope John Paul II dies on April 2, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI is elected on April 19, 2005.
Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005.
The St Andrews Agreement signed in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly and bring in the principle of policing by consent with the Police Service of Northern Ireland with all parties in 2006.
Nicolas Sarkozy is elected President of France in 2007 succeeding Jacques Chirac, who had held the position for 12 years.
Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2007.
Tony Blair was officially confirmed as Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia in 2007.
Dmitry Medvedev succeeded Vladimir Putin as the President of Russia in 2008.
Parties broadly characterised by political scientists as being right-wing populist soar throughout the 2000s, in the wake of increasing anti-Islam and anti-immigration sentiment in most Western European countries. By 2010, such parties (albeit often significant differences between them) were present in the national parliaments of Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Greece. In Austria, Italy and Switzerland, the Freedom Party of Austria, Lega Nord and Swiss People's Party, respectively, were at times also part of the national governments, and in Denmark, the Danish People's Party tolerated a right-liberal minority government from 2001 throughout the decade. While not being present in the national parliaments of France and the United Kingdom, Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front came second in the first round of the 2002 French presidential elections, and in the 2009 European Parliament election, the UK Independence Party came second, beating even the Labour Party, while the British National Party managed to win two seats for the first time.
World leaders
2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009– 2010
Assassinations and attempts
Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:
January 16, 2001 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was assassinated by a bodyguard. The motive remains unexplained.
October 17, 2001 – Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi was assassinated by three Palestinian assailants, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
May 6, 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician, was assassinated by environmentalist activist Volkert van der Graaf.
March 12, 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian and Montenegrin Prime Minister, is assassinated by Zvezdan Jovanović, a soldier of Milorad Ulemek, the former commander of the Special Operations Unit of Yugoslavia's secret police.
September 10, 2003 – Anna Lindh, Swedish foreign minister, was assassinated after being stabbed in the chest, stomach, and arms by Serbian and Montenegrin national Mijailo Mijailović while shopping in a Stockholm department store.
March 22, 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the militant Islamist group Hamas, was assassinated in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Air Force.
November 2, 2004 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker and critic of Islamic culture, was assassinated in Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri.
February 14, 2005 – Rafic Hariri, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, was assassinated when explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kg of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St. George Hotel in Beirut. The assassination attempt also killed at least 16 other people and injured 120 others.
December 27, 2007 – Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani prime minister, was assassinated at an election rally in Rawalpindi by a bomb blast. The assassination attempt also killed at least 80 other people.
March 2, 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau, was assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau.
May 31, 2009 – George Tiller, pro-choice advocate and late-term abortion provider, was assassinated at his church in Wichita, Kansas, by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder.
Disasters
Natural disasters
The 2000s experienced some of the worst and most destructive natural disasters in history.
Earthquakes (including tsunamis)
On January 13, 2001, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes El Salvador, killing 944 people.
On January 26, 2001, an earthquake hits Gujarat, India, killing more than 12,000.
On February 28, 2001, the Nisqually earthquake hits the Seattle metro area. It caused major damage to the old highway standing in the urban center of Seattle.
On February 13, 2001, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.
On May 21, 2003, an earthquake in the Boumerdès region of northern Algeria kills 2,200.
On December 26, 2003, the massive 2003 Bam earthquake devastates southeastern Iran; over 40,000 people are reported killed in the city of Bam.
On December 26, 2004, one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history hits southeast Asia, when the largest earthquake in 40 years hits the entire Indian Ocean region. The massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generates enormous tsunami waves that crash into the coastal areas of a number of nations including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. The official death toll from the Boxing Day tsunami in the affected countries with over 230,000 people dead.
On October 8, 2005, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake kills about 80,000 people.
On May 12, 2008, over 69,000 are killed in central south-west China by the Wenchuan quake, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the moment magnitude scale. The epicenter was west-northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu, Sichuan province.
Tropical cyclones, other weather, and bushfires
July 7–11, 2005 – Hurricane Dennis caused damage in the Caribbean and southeastern United States. Dennis killed a total of 88 people and caused $3.71 billion in damages.
August 28–29, 2005 – Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi, devastating the city of New Orleans and nearby coastal areas. Katrina was recognized as the costliest natural disaster in the United States at the time, after causing a record $108 billion in damages (a record later surpassed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017). Katrina caused over 1,200 deaths.
November 30, 2006 – Typhoon Durian (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Reming) affected the Philippines’ Bicol Region, and together with a concurrent eruption of Mayon Volcano, caused mudflows and killed more than 1,200 people.
August 30, 2007 – Group of Croatian firefighters who were flown in on the island Kornat as part of the 2007 coast fires firefighting efforts perished. Twelve out of thirteen men who found themselves surrounded by fire were killed in the event which was the biggest loss of lives in the history of Croatian firefighting.
May 3, 2008 – Cyclone Nargis had an extreme impact in Myanmar, causing nearly 140,000 deaths and $10 billion in damages.
June 21, 2008 – Typhoon Fengshen passed over Visayas, Philippines, sinking the ship MV Princess of the Stars, and killing more than 800 passengers.
February 7 – March 14, 2009 – The Black Saturday bushfires, the deadliest bushfires in Australian history, took place across the Australian state of Victoria during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, killing 173 people, injuring more than 500, and leaving around 7,500 homeless. The fires came after Melbourne recorded the highest-ever temperature () of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires were caused by either fallen or clashing power lines, or arson.
Winter of 2009–2010 – The winter of 2009–2010 saw abnormally cold temperatures in Europe, Asia, and America. A total of 21 people were reported to have died as a result of the cold in the British Isles. On December 26, 2009, Saint Petersburg, Russia, was covered by 35 cm of snow, the largest December snowfall recorded in the city since 1881.
September 25–26, 2009 – Typhoon Ketsana (known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Ondoy) caused flooding in the Philippines, mostly in the Manila Metropolitan area, killing nearly 700 people in total. Flooding levels reached a record of 20 ft (6.1 m) in rural areas.
Epidemics
Antibiotic resistance is a serious and growing phenomenon in contemporary medicine and has emerged as one of the eminent public health concerns of the 21st century, particularly as it pertains to pathogenic organisms (the term is not especially relevant to organisms which don't cause disease in humans).
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001 caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism. This epizootic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms across most of the British countryside. Over 10 million sheep and cattle were killed.
Between November 2002 and July 2003, an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in Hong Kong, with 8,273 cases and 775 deaths worldwide (9.6% fatality) according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Within weeks, SARS spread from Hong Kong to infect individuals in 37 countries in early 2003.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: the Office for National Statistics reported 1,629 MRSA-related deaths in England and Wales during 2005, indicating a MRSA-related mortality rate half the rate of that in the United States for 2005, even though the figures from the British source were explained to be high because of "improved levels of reporting, possibly brought about by the continued high public profile of the disease" during the time of the 2005 United Kingdom General Election. MRSA is thought to have caused 1,652 deaths in 2006 in UK up from 51 in 1993.
The 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) flu pandemic was also considered a natural disaster. On October 25, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama officially declared H1N1 a national emergency. Despite President Obama's concern, a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found in October 2009 that an overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans (74%) were not very worried or not at all worried about contracting the H1N1 flu virus.
A study conducted in coordination with the University of Michigan Health Service is scheduled for publication in the December 2009 American Journal of Roentgenology warning that H1N1 flu can cause pulmonary embolism, surmised as a leading cause of death in this current pandemic. The study authors suggest physician evaluation via contrast enhanced CT scans for the presence of pulmonary emboli when caring for patients diagnosed with respiratory complications from a "severe" case of the H1N1 flu.
As of May 30, 2010, as stated by the World Health Organization, more than 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 18,138 deaths.
Footnote
The Walkerton Tragedy is a series of events that accompanied the contamination of the water supply of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada, by Escherichia coli bacteria in May 2000.
Starting May 11, 2000, many residents of the community of about 5,000 people began to simultaneously experience bloody diarrhea, gastrointestinal infections and other symptoms of E. coli infection.
Seven people died directly from drinking the E. coli contaminated water, who might have been saved if the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission had admitted to contaminated water sooner, and about 2,500 became ill.
In 2001 a similar outbreak in North Battleford, Saskatchewan caused by the protozoan Cryptosporidium affected at least 5,800 people.
Non-natural disasters
Vehicular wrecks
On July 25, 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde aircraft, crashed into a hotel in Gonesse just after takeoff from Paris, killing all 109 aboard and 4 in the hotel. This was the only Concorde accident in which fatalities occurred. It was the beginning of the end for Concorde as an airliner; the type was retired three years later.
On August 12, 2000, the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk sank in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 men on board.
On November 11, 2000, the Kaprun disaster occurred. 155 people perished in a fire that broke out on a train in the Austrian Alps.
On October 8, 2001, two aircraft collide on a runway at the Linate Airport in Milan, Italy, killing all 114 people aboard both aircraft and 4 people on the ground.
On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a neighborhood in Queens, New York City, killing all 260 aboard and 5 people on the ground.
On May 25, 2002, China Airlines Flight 611 broke up in mid-air and plunged into the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.
On July 1, 2002, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger airliner and a Boeing 757 cargo plane collided above the German town of Überlingen. All 71 people on both aircraft died.
On July 27, 2002, a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet crashed at an air show in Ukraine, killing 77 and injuring 543, making it the worst air show disaster in history.
On September 26, 2002, the ferry MV Le Joola sank off the coast of Gambia, killing at least 1,863 people.
On February 1, 2003, at the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board.
On February 19, 2003, an Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashed outside the Iranian city of Kerman, killing 275.
On August 14, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a mountain north of Marathon, Greece, while flying from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens, Greece. All 115 passengers and six crew on board the aircraft were killed.
On August 16, 2005, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashed in a remote region of Venezuela, killing 160.
On September 29, 2006, Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collided with a new Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Brazilian Amazon and crashed, killing all 154 people on board. The Embraer aircraft made an emergency landing at a nearby military outpost with no harm to its seven occupants.
On December 30, 2006, the ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing between 400 and 500 of the 628 people aboard. Three days later, Adam Air Flight 574 crashed in the same storm, killing all 102 people on board.
On July 17, 2007, TAM Airlines Flight 3054 skidded off the runway at Congonhas-São Paulo Airport and crashed into a nearby warehouse, leaving 199 people dead.
On February 12, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed on approach in Buffalo, New York, killing 50.
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447 crashed into the southern Atlantic Ocean after instrument failure disoriented the crew. All 228 people on board perished.
On June 30, 2009, Yemenia Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros islands. Of the 153 people on board, only 12-year-old Bahia Bakari survived.
Stampedes
The 2005 Baghdad bridge stampede occurred on August 31, 2005, when 953 people died following a stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge, which crosses the Tigris river in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Economics
The most significant evolution of the early 2000s in the economic landscape was the long-time predicted breakthrough of economic giant China, which had double-digit growth during nearly the whole decade. To a lesser extent, India also benefited from an economic boom which saw the two most populous countries becoming an increasingly dominant economic force. The rapid catching-up of emerging economies with developed countries sparked some protectionist tensions during the period and was partly responsible for an increase in energy and food prices at the end of the decade. The economic developments in the latter third of the decade were dominated by a worldwide economic downturn, which started with the crisis in housing and credit in the United States in late 2007, and led to the bankruptcy of major banks and other financial institutions. The outbreak of this global financial crisis sparked a global recession, beginning in the United States and affecting most of the industrialized world.
A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000. The three richest people possess more financial assets than the lowest 48 nations combined.
The combined wealth of the "10 million dollar millionaires" grew to nearly $41 trillion in 2008.
The sale of UK gold reserves, 1999–2002 was a policy pursued by HM Treasury when gold prices were at their lowest in 20 years, following an extended bear market. The period itself has been dubbed by some commentators as the Brown Bottom or Brown's Bottom.
The period takes its name from Gordon Brown, the then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (who later became Prime Minister), who decided to sell approximately half of the UK's gold reserves in a series of auctions. At the time, the UK's gold reserves were worth about US$6.5 billion, accounting for about half of the UK's US$13 billion foreign currency net reserves.
The 2001 AOL merger with Time Warner (a deal valued at $350 billion; which was the largest merger in American business history) was 'the biggest mistake in corporate history', believes Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes
February 7, 2004 – EuroMillions transnational lottery, launched by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and the United Kingdom's Camelot.
In 2007, it was reported that in the UK, one pound in every seven spent went to the Tesco grocery and general merchandise retailer.
On October 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at the record level of 14,164.53. Two days later on October 11, the Dow would trade at its highest intra-day level ever, at the 14,198.10 mark. In what would normally take many years to accomplish; numerous reasons were cited for the Dow's extremely rapid rise from the 11,000 level in early 2006, to the 14,000 level in late 2007. They included future possible takeovers and mergers, healthy earnings reports particularly in the tech sector, and moderate inflationary numbers; fueling speculation the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates. Roughly on par with the 2000 record when adjusted for inflation, this represented the final high of the cyclical bull. The index closed 2007 at 13,264.82, a level it would not surpass for nearly five years.
Economic growth in the world
Between 1999 and 2009, according to the World Bank statistics for GDP:
The world economy by nominal GDP almost doubled in size from U.S. $30.21 trillion in 1999 to U.S. $58.23 trillion in 2009. This figure is not adjusted for inflation. By PPP, world GDP rose 78%, according to the IMF. But inflation adjusted nominal GDP rose only 42%, according to IMF constant price growth rates. The following figures are not inflation adjusted nominal GDP and should be interpreted with extreme caution:
The United States (U.S. $14.26 trillion) retained its position of possessing the world's largest economy. However, the size of its contribution to the total global economy dropped from 28.8% to 24.5% by nominal price or a fall from 23.8% to 20.4% adjusted for purchasing power.
Japan (U.S. $5.07 trillion) retained its position of possessing the second largest economy in the world, but its contribution to the world economy also shrank significantly from 14.5% to 8.7% by nominal price or a fall from 7.8% to 6.0% adjusted for purchasing power.
China (U.S. $4.98 trillion) went from being the sixth largest to the third largest economy, and in 2009 contributed to 8.6% of the world's economy, up from 3.3% in 1999 by nominal price or a rise from 6.9% to 12.6% adjusted for purchasing power.
Germany (U.S. $3.35 trillion), France (U.S. $2.65 trillion), United Kingdom (U.S. $2.17 trillion) and Italy (U.S. $2.11 trillion) followed as the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th largest economies, respectively in 2009.
Brazil (U.S. $1.57 trillion) retained its position as the 8th largest economy, followed by Spain (U.S. $1.46 trillion), which remained at 10th.
Other major economies included Canada (U.S. $1.34 trillion; 10th, down from 9th), India (U.S. $1.31 trillion; remaining at 11th from 12th), Russia (U.S. $1.23 trillion; from 16th to 12th) Mexico (U.S. $875 billion; 14th, down from 11th), Australia (U.S. $925 billion; from 14th to 13th) and South Korea (U.S. $832 billion; 15th, down from 13th).
In terms of purchasing power parity in 2009, the ten largest economies were the United States (U.S. $14.26 trillion), China (U.S. $9.10 trillion), Japan (U.S. $4.14 trillion), India (U.S. $3.75 trillion), Germany (U.S. $2.98 trillion), Russia (U.S. $2.69 trillion), United Kingdom (U.S. $2.26 trillion), France (U.S. $2.17 trillion), Brazil (U.S. $2.02 trillion), and Italy (U.S. $1.92 trillion).
The average house price in the UK, increased by 132% between the fourth quarter of 2000, and 91% during the decade; but the average salary increased only by 40%.
Globalization and its discontents
The removal of trade and investment barriers, the growth of domestic markets, artificially low currencies, the proliferation of education, the rapid development of high tech and information systems industries and the growth of the world economy lead to a significant growth of offshore outsourcing during the decade as many multinational corporations significantly increased subcontracting of manufacturing (and increasingly, services) across national boundaries in developing countries and particularly in China and India, due to many benefits and mainly because the two countries which are the two most populous countries in the world provide huge pools from which to find talent and as because both countries are low cost sourcing countries. As a result of this growth, many of these developing countries accumulated capital and started investing abroad. Other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Brazil and Russia, benefited from increased demand for their mineral and energy resources that global growth generated. The hollowing out of manufacturing was felt in Japan and parts of the United States and Europe which had not been able to develop successful innovative industries. Opponents point out that the practice of offshore outsourcing by countries with higher wages leads to the reduction of their own domestic employment and domestic investment. As a result, many customer service jobs as well as jobs in the information technology sectors (data processing, computer programming, and technical support) in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have been or are potentially affected.
While global trade rose in the decade (partially driven by China's entry into the WTO in 2001), there was little progress in the multilateral trading system. International trade continued to expand during the decade as emerging economies and developing countries, in particular China and South-Asian countries, benefited low wages costs and most often undervalued currencies. However, global negotiations to reduce tariffs did not make much progress, as member countries of the World Trade Organization did not succeed in finding agreements to stretch the extent of free trade. The Doha Round of negotiations, launched in 2001 by the WTO to promote development, failed to be completed because of growing tensions between regional areas. Nor did the Cancún Conference in 2003 find a consensus on services trade and agricultural subsidies.
The comparative rise of China, India, and other developing countries also contributed to their growing clout in international fora. In 2009, it was determined that the G20, originally a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors, would replace the G8 as the main economic council.
2007 Chinese export recalls– In 2007, a series of product recalls and import bans were imposed by the product safety institutions of the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand against products manufactured in and exported from the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC) because of numerous alleged consumer safety issues.
Events in the confidence crisis included recalls on consumer goods such as pet food, toys, toothpaste, lipstick, and a ban on certain types of seafood. Also included are reports on the poor crash safety of Chinese automobiles, slated to enter the American and European markets in 2008. This created adverse consequences for the confidence in the safety and quality of mainland Chinese manufactured goods in the global economy.
The age of turbulence
The decade was marked by two financial and economic crises. In 2001, the Dot-com bubble burst, causing turmoil in financial markets and a decline in economic activity in the developed economies, in particular in the United States. However, the impact of the crisis on the activity was limited thanks to the intervention of the central banks, notably the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Indeed, Alan Greenspan, leader of the Federal Reserve until 2006, cut the interest rates several times to avoid a severe recession, allowing an economic revival in the U.S.
As the Federal Reserve maintained low interest rates to favor economic growth, a housing bubble began to appear in the United States. In 2007, the rise in interest rates and the collapse of the housing market caused a wave of loan payment failures in the U.S. The subsequent mortgage crisis caused a global financial crisis, because the subprime mortgages had been securitized and sold to international banks and investment funds. Despite the extensive intervention of central banks, including partial and total nationalization of major European banks, the crisis of sovereign debt became particularly acute, first in Iceland, though as events of the early 2010s would show, it was not an isolated European example. Economic activity was severely affected around the world in 2008 and 2009, with disastrous consequences for carmakers.
In 2007, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, delivered his final Mansion House speech as Chancellor before he moved into Number 10. Addressing financiers: "A new world order has been created", Everyone needed to follow the city's "great example", "an era that history will record as the beginning of a new Golden Age".
Reactions of governments in all developed and developing countries against the economic slowdown were largely inspired by keynesian economics. The end of the decade was characterized by a Keynesian resurgence, while the influence and media popularity of left-wing economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize recipients in 2001 and 2008, respectively) did not stop growing during the decade. Several international summits were organized to find solutions against the economic crisis and to impose greater control on the financial markets. The G-20 became in 2008 and 2009 a major organization, as leaders of the member countries held two major summits in Washington in November 2008 and in London in April 2009 to regulate the banking and financial sectors, and also succeeding in coordinating their economic action and in avoiding protectionist reactions.
Energy crisis
From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under $25/barrel. During 2003, the price rose above $30, reached $60 by August 11, 2005, and peaked at $147.30 in July 2008. Commentators attributed these price increases to many factors, including reports from the United States Department of Energy and others showing a decline in petroleum reserves, worries over peak oil, Middle East tension, and oil price speculation.
For a time, geopolitical events and natural disasters indirectly related to the global oil market had strong short-term effects on oil prices. These events and disasters included North Korean missile tests, the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon, worries over Iranian nuclear plants in 2006 and Hurricane Katrina. By 2008, such pressures appeared to have an insignificant impact on oil prices given the onset of the global recession. The recession caused demand for energy to shrink in late 2008 and early 2009 and the price plunged as well. However, it surged back in May 2009, bringing it back to November 2008 levels.
Many fast-growing economies throughout the world, especially in Asia, also were a major factor in the rapidly increasing demand for fossil fuels, which—along with fewer new petroleum finds, greater extraction costs, and political turmoil—forced two other trends: a soar in the price of petroleum products and a push by governments and businesses to promote the development of environmentally friendly technology (known informally as "green" technology). However, a side-effect of the push by some industrial nations to "go green" and utilize biofuels was a decrease in the supply of food and a subsequent increase in the price of the same. It partially caused the 2007 food price crisis, which seriously affected the world's poorer nations with an even more severe shortage of food.
The rise of the euro
A common currency for most EU member states, the euro, was established electronically in 1999, officially tying all the currencies of each participating nation to each other. The new currency was put into circulation in 2002 and the old currencies were phased out. Only three countries of the then 15 member states decided not to join the euro (the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden). In 2004 the EU undertook a major eastward enlargement, admitting 10 new member states (eight of which were former communist states). Two more, Bulgaria and Romania, joined in 2007, establishing a union of 27 nations.
The euro has since become the second largest reserve currency and the second most traded currency in the world after the US$.
, with more than €790 billion in circulation, the euro was the currency with the highest combined value of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world, having surpassed the US$.
Science and technology
Science
These are the 10 most significant scientific researches by year based on the annual award Breakthrough of the Year made by the AAAS journal, Science.
Scientific Marks by Field
Archaeology
2003 – Fossils of a new dwarf species of human, Homo floresiensis, were discovered on the island of Flores, Indonesia. (report published initially October 2004).
2009 – Discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus a species of Hominin classified as an australopithecine of the genus Ardipithecus. A. kadabba was considered to be a subspecies of A. ramidus until 2004.
Biology
2001 – The world's first self-contained artificial heart was implanted in Robert Tools.
2002 – The 2002–2004 SARS outbreak occurred in China and Hong Kong (The big major cities/country).
2003 – The Human Genome Project was completed, with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.
2005 – National Geographic Society and IBM established The Genographic Project, which aims to trace the ancestry of every living human down to a single male ancestor.
2005 – Surgeons in France carried out the first successful partial human face transplant.
2005 – Equipped with genome data and field observations of organisms from microbes to mammals, biologists made huge strides toward understanding the mechanisms by which living creatures evolve.
2006 – Australian scientist Ian Frazer developed a vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus, a common cause of cervical cancer.
2007 – RNA, long upstaged by its more glamorous sibling, DNA, is turning out to have star qualities of its own. Science hails these electrifying discoveries, which are prompting biologists to overhaul their vision of the cell and its evolution.
2008 – By inserting genes that turn back a cell's developmental clock, researchers are gaining insights into disease and the biology of how a cell decides its fate.
2008 – Launch of the 1000 Genomes Project an international research effort to establish by far the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation.
2009 – Launch of the Human Connectome Project to build a network map that will shed light on the anatomical and functional connectivity within the healthy human brain, as well as to produce a body of data that will facilitate research into brain disorders.
2009 – A new strain of H1N1 virus caused in Mexico and US; spread to the world. The name was swine flu, which was the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
Mathematics
2006 – Grigori Perelman is a Russian mathematician who has made landmark contributions to Riemannian geometry and geometric topology. In 2003, he proved Thurston's geometrization conjecture. This consequently solved in the affirmative the Poincaré conjecture, posed in 1904, which before its solution was viewed as one of the most important and difficult open problems in topology. In August 2006, Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal for "his contributions to geometry and his revolutionary insights into the analytical and geometric structure of the Ricci flow." Perelman declined to accept the award or to appear at the congress, stating: "I'm not interested in money or fame, I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo." On December 22, 2006, the journal Science recognized Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture as the scientific "Breakthrough of the Year", the first such recognition in the area of mathematics. The Poincaré conjecture is one of the seven Millennium Problems and the first to be solved.
Physics
2001 – Scientists assembled molecules into basic circuits, raising hopes for a new world of nanoelectronics. If researchers can wire these circuits into intricate computer chip architectures, this new generation of molecular electronics will undoubtedly provide computing power to launch scientific breakthroughs for decades.
2008 – CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator ever made, was completed in 2008.
Space
2000 – Beginning on November 2, 2000, the International Space Station has remained continuously inhabited. The Space Shuttles helped make it the largest space station in history, despite one of the Shuttles disintegrating upon re-entry in 2003. By the end of 2009 the station was supporting 5 long-duration crew members.
2001 – Space tourism/Private spaceflight begins with American Dennis Tito, paying Russia US$20 million for a week-long stay to the International Space Station.
2004 – The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission successfully reached the surface of Mars in 2004, and sent detailed data and images of the landscape there back to Earth. Opportunity discovers evidence that an area of Mars was once covered in water. Both rovers were each expected to last only 90 days, however both completely exceeded expectations and continued to explore through the end of the decade and beyond.
2004 – Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately built and operated manned spacecraft to achieve spaceflight.
2006 – As a result of the discovery of Eris, a Kuiper Belt object larger than Pluto, Pluto is demoted to a "dwarf planet" after being considered a planet for 76 years, redefining the solar system to have eight planets and three dwarf planets.
2009 – After having analyzed the data from the LCROSS lunar impact, in 2009 NASA announced that the discovery of a "significant" quantity of water in the Moon's Cabeus crater.
2009 – Astrophysicists studying the universe confirm its age at 13.7 billion years, discover that it will most likely expand forever without limit, and conclude that only 4% of the universe's contents are ordinary matter (the other 96% being still-mysterious dark matter, dark energy, and dark flow).
Technology
Automobiles
Automotive navigation systems become widely popular making it possible to direct vehicles to any destination in real-time as well as detect traffic and suggest alternate routes with the use of GPS navigation devices.
Greater interest in future energy development due to global warming and the potential exhaustion of crude oil. Photovoltaics increase in popularity as a result.
The Hybrid vehicles market, which became somewhat popular towards the middle of the decade, underwent major advances notably typified by such cars as the Toyota Prius, Ford Escape, and the Honda Insight though by December 2010 they accounted for less than 0.5% of the world cars.
Many more computers and other technologies were implemented in vehicles throughout the decade such as: Xenon HID headlights, GPS, DVD players, self-diagnosing systems, memory systems for car settings, back-up sensors and cameras, in-car media systems, MP3 player compatibility, USB drive compatibility, keyless start and entry, satellite radio, voice-activation, cellphone connectivity, HUD (Head-Up-Display) and infrared cameras. In addition, more safety features were implemented in vehicles throughout the decade such as: advanced pre-collision safety systems, Backup cameras, Blind spot monitor, Adaptive cruise control, Adaptive headlamps, Automatic parking, Lane departure warning systems and the Advanced Automatic Collision Notification system Onstar (on all GM models).
The sale of Crossovers (CUVs), a type of car-based unibody sports utility vehicle, increased in the 2000s. By 2006, the segment came into strong visibility in the U.S., when crossover sales "made up more than 50% of the overall SUV market".
Communications
The popularity of mobile phones and text messaging surged in the 2000s in the Western world. The advent of text messaging made possible new forms of interaction that were not possible before, leading to positive implications such as having the ability to receive information on the move. Nevertheless, it also led to negative social implications such as "cyberbullying" and the rise of traffic collisions caused by drivers who were distracted as they were texting while driving.
Mobile internet, first launched in Japan with the i-mode in 1999, became increasingly popular with people in developed countries throughout the decade, thanks to improving cell phone capabilities and advances in mobile telecommunications technology, such as 3G.
E-mail continued to be popular throughout the decade. It began to replace "snail mail" (also known, more neutrally, as paper mail, postal mail, land mail, or simply mail or post) as the primary way of sending letters and other messages to people in faraway locations, though it has been available since 1971.
Social networking sites arose as a new way for people to stay in touch no matter where they are, as long as they have an internet connection. The first social networking sites were Friendster, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006, respectively. Myspace was the most popular social networking website until June 2009 when Facebook overtook Myspace in the number of American users.
Smartphones, which combine mobile phones with the features of personal digital assistants and portable media players, first emerged in the 1990s but did not become very popular until the late 2000s. Smartphones are rich in features and often have high resolution touchscreens and web browsers. The first modern smartphone was the iPhone. It was released on June 29, 2007, in the United States, and in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Austria in November 2007. It was the first smartphone to not include a physical keyboard, solely utilizing a touch screen and a home button.
Due to the major success of broadband Internet connections, Voice over IP begins to gain popularity as a replacement for traditional telephone lines.
Computing and Internet
In the 2000s, the Internet became a mainstay, strengthening its grip on Western society while becoming increasingly available in the developing world.
A huge jump in broadband internet usage globally – for example, from 6% of U.S. internet users in June 2000 to what one mid-decade study predicted would be 62% by 2010. By February 2007, over 80% of U.S. Internet users were connected via broadband and broadband internet has been almost a required standard for quality internet browsing.
Wireless internet became prominent by the end of the decade, as well as internet access in devices besides computers, such as mobile phones and gaming consoles.
Email became a standard form of interpersonal written communication, with popular addresses available to the public on Hotmail (now Outlook.com), Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.
Normalisation became increasingly important as massive standardized corpora and lexicons of spoken and written language became widely available to laypeople, just as documents from the paperless office were archived and retrieved with increasing efficiency using XML-based markup.
Peer-to-peer technology gained massive popularity with file sharing systems enabling users to share any audio, video and data files or anything in digital format, as well as with applications which share real-time data, such as telephony traffic.
VPNs (virtual private networks) became likewise accessible to the general public, and data encryption remained a major issue for the stability of web commerce.
Boom in music downloading and the use of data compression to quickly transfer music over the Internet, with a corresponding rise of portable digital audio players. As a result, the entertainment industry struggled through the decade to find digital delivery systems for music, movies, and other media that reduce copyright infringement and preserve profit.
The USB flash drive replaces the floppy disk as the preferred form of low-capacity mobile data storage.
In February 2003, Dell announced floppy drives would no longer be pre-installed on Dell Dimension home computers, although they were still available as a selectable option and purchasable as an aftermarket OEM add-on. On January 29, 2007, PC World stated that only 2% of the computers they sold contained built-in floppy disk drives; once present stocks were exhausted, no more standard floppies would be sold.
During the decade, Windows 2000, XP, Microsoft Office 2003, Vista and Office 2007 (and later Windows 7) become the ubiquitous industry standards in personal computer software until the end of the decade, when Apple began to slowly gain market share. Windows ME and Microsoft Office XP were also released during the decade.
With the advent of the Web 2.0, dynamic technology became widely accessible, and by the mid-2000s, PHP and MySQL became (with Apache and nginx) the backbone of many sites, making programming knowledge unnecessary to publish to the web. Blogs, portals, and wikis become common electronic dissemination methods for professionals, amateurs, and businesses to conduct knowledge management typified by success of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia which launched on January 15, 2001, grew rapidly and became the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet as well as the best known wiki in the world and the largest encyclopedia in the world.
Open-source software, such as the Linux operating system, the Mozilla Firefox web browser and VLC media player, gain ground.
Internet commerce became standard for reservations; stock trading; promotion of music, arts, literature, and film; shopping; and other activities.
During this decade certain websites and search engines became prominent worldwide as transmitters of goods, services and information. Some of the most popular and successful online sites or search engines of the 2000s included Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
More and more businesses began providing paperless services, clients accessing bills and bank statements directly through a web interface.
In 2007, the fast food chain McDonald's announced the introduction of free high speed wireless internet access at most of its 1,200 restaurants by the end of the year in a move which will make it the UK's biggest provider of such a service.
Electronics
GPS (Global Positioning System) became very popular especially in the tracking of items or people, and the use in cars (see Automotive navigation systems). Games that utilized the system, such as geocaching, emerged and became popular.
Green laser pointers appeared on the market circa 2000, and are the most common type of DPSS lasers (also called DPSSFD for "diode pumped solid state frequency-doubled").
In late 2004 and early 2005, came a significant increase in reported incidents linked to laser pointers – see Lasers and aviation safety. The wave of incidents may have been triggered in part by "copycats" who read press accounts of laser pointer incidents. In one case, David Banach of New Jersey was charged under federal Patriot Act anti-terrorism laws, after he allegedly shone a laser pointer at aircraft.
Chip and PIN is the brand name adopted by the banking industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the rollout of the EMV smart card payment system for credit, debit and ATM cards.
Chip and PIN was trialled in Northampton, England from May 2003, and as a result was rolled out nationwide in the United Kingdom in 2004 with advertisements in the press and national television touting the "Safety in Numbers" slogan.
In 2009, Tesco (a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer) opened its first UK branch at which service robots were the only option at the checkout, in Kingsley, Northampton – its US chain, Fresh & Easy, already operates several branches like this.
September 7, 2009, an EU watchdog warns of an "alarming increase" in cash machine fraud by organised criminal gangs across Europe using sophisticated skimming technology, together with an explosion in ram-raiding attacks on ATMs.
ATM crime in Europe jumped to €485m (£423m) in 2008 following a 149% rise in attacks on cash machines. Gangs are turning to Bluetooth wireless technology to transmit card and personal identification number (PIN) details to nearby laptops and using increasingly sophisticated techniques to skim cards.
Portable laptops became popular during the late 2000s.
More conventional smash-and-grab attacks are also on the rise, says Enisa, the European Network and Information Security Agency. It reports a 32% rise in physical attacks on ATMs, ranging from ram raids to the use of rotary saws, blowtorches and diamond drills. It blames the increase on gangs from eastern Europe.
Robotics
The U.S. Army used increasingly effective unmanned aerial vehicles in war zones, such as Afghanistan.
Emerging use of robotics, especially telerobotics in medicine, particularly for surgery.
Home automation and home robotics advance in North America; iRobot's "Roomba" is the most successful domestic robot and has sold 1.5 million units.
Transportation
Competition between Airbus and Boeing, the two largest remaining airliner manufacturers, intensified, with pan-European Airbus outselling American Boeing for the first time during this decade.
Airbus launched the double-decker Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever to enter production.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first mass-production aircraft manufactured primarily with composite materials, had its maiden flight.
Production of the Boeing 757, Boeing's largest single-aisle airliner, ended with no replacement.
Concorde a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner or supersonic transport (SST), was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and a decision by Airbus, the successor firm of Aerospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
December 9, 2005 – The London Transport Executive AEC Routemaster double-decker bus was officially withdrawn from 51 years general service in the UK. In the 2008 London mayoral election campaign, prospective mayor Boris Johnson made several commitments to change the London Buses vehicle policy, namely to introduce a new Routemaster, and remove the bendy buses.
High-speed rail projects opened across Asia and Europe, and rail services saw record passenger numbers.
The Acela Express, the first full high-speed service in North America, started on the Northeast Corridor in 2000.
The Qinhuangdao–Shenyang High-Speed Railway opened, becoming the first high-speed railway in China.
High Speed 1, the first true high-speed line in the United Kingdom, opened in stages between 2003 and 2007, cutting travel times between Paris, Brussels and London considerably.
Taiwan High Speed Rail opened in 2007, connecting cities down the island's west coast.
HSL-Zuid opened in 2009, linking Amsterdam to the European high-speed network for the first time.
Video
Digital cameras become widely popular due to rapid decreases in size and cost while photo resolution steadily increases. As a result, the digital cameras largely supplanted the analog cameras and the integration into mobile phones increase greatly. Since 2007, digital cameras started being manufactured with the face recognition feature built in.
Flat panel displays started becoming widely popular in the second half of the decade displacing cathode ray tubes.
Handheld projectors enter the market and are then integrated into cellphones.
DVR devices such as TiVo became popular, making it possible to record television broadcasts to a hard drive-based digital storage medium and allowing many additional features including the option to fast-forward through commercials or to use an automatic Commercial skipping feature. This feature created controversy, with major television networks and movie studios claiming it violates copyright and should be banned. With the commercial skipping feature, many television channels place advertisements on the bottom on the TV screen.
VOD technology became widely available among cable users worldwide, enabling the users to select and watch video content from a large variety of available content stored on a central server, as well as gaining the possibility to freeze the image, as well as fast-forward and rewind the VOD content.
DVDs, and subsequently Blu-ray Discs, replace VCR technology as the common standard in homes and at video stores.
Free Internet video portals like YouTube, Hulu, and Internet TV software solutions like Joost became new popular alternatives to TV broadcasts.
TV becomes available on the networks run by some mobile phone providers, such as Verizon Wireless's Vcast.
"High-definition television" becomes very popular towards the second half of the decade, with the increase of HD television channels and the conversion from analog to digital signals.
Miscellaneous
The e-cigarette was invented at the beginning of the decade.
Religion and irreligion
New Atheism is the name given to the ideas promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the view that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises."
The term is commonly associated with individuals such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens (together called "the Four Horsemen of New Atheism" in a taped 2007 discussion they held on their criticisms of religion, a name that has stuck), along with Victor J. Stenger, Lawrence M. Krauss and A.C. Grayling. Several best-selling books by these authors, published between 2004 and 2007, form the basis for much of the discussion of New Atheism.
Several groups promoting no religious faith or opposing religious faith altogether – including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Atheists, Camp Quest, and the Rational Response Squad – have witnessed large increases in membership numbers in recent years, and the number of secularist student organizations at American colleges and universities increased during the 2000s.
David Bario of the Columbia News Service wrote:
Under the Bush administration, organizations that promote abstinence and encourage teens to sign virginity pledges or wear purity rings have received federal grants. The Silver Ring Thing, a subsidiary of a Pennsylvania evangelical church, has received more than $1 million from the government to promote abstinence and to sell its rings in the United States and abroad.
Prominent events and trends during the 2000s:
Increasing Islamophobia and Islamophobic incidents during the 2000s associated with the September 11 attacks or with the increased presence of Muslims in the Western world.Achcar, Gilbert. The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives, p. 283
In 2000, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Scientology is a religion for legal purposes.
In 2001, lawsuits were filed in the United States and Ireland, alleging that some priests had sexually abused minors and that their superiors had conspired to conceal and otherwise abet their criminal misconduct. In 2004, the John Jay report tabulated a total of 4,392 priests and deacons in the U.S. against whom allegations of sexual abuse had been made.
The French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools bans wearing conspicuous religious symbols in French public (i.e. government-operated) primary and secondary schools; and came into effect on September 2, 2004.
June 27, 2005, – The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on in a 5–4 decision, that a Ten Commandments display at the McCreary County courthouse in Whitley City, Kentucky and a Ten Commandments display at the Pulaski County courthouse—were unconstitutional: McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union
France created in 2006 the first French parliamentary commission on cult activities which led to a report registering a number of cults considered as dangerous. Supporters of such movements have criticized the report on the grounds of the respect of religious freedom. Proponents of the measure contend that only dangerous cults have been listed as such, and state secularism ensures religious freedom in France.
November 2009 – Minaret controversy in Switzerland: A referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new Mosque minarets was approved, sparking reactions from governments and political parties throughout of the world.
2009 – In Pope Benedict XVI's third encyclical Caritas in Veritate, he warns that a purely technocrat mindset where decisions are made only on grounds of efficiency will not deliver true development. Technical decisions must not be divorced from ethics. Benedict discusses bioethics and states that practices such as abortion, eugenics and euthanasia are morally hazardous and that accepting them can lead to greater tolerance for various forms of moral degradation. He turns to another consequence of the technocratic mindset, the viewing of people's personalities in purely psychological terms at the exclusion of the spiritual, which he says can lead to people feeling empty and abandoned even in prosperous societies.
Population and social issues
The decade saw further expansion of LGBT rights, with many European, Oceanic, and American countries recognizing civil unions and partnerships and a number of countries extending civil marriage to same-sex couples. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. By the end of 2009, same-sex marriage was legal and performed in 10 countries worldwide, although only in some jurisdictions in Mexico and the United States.
Population continued to grow in most countries, in particular in developing countries, though overall the rate slowed. According to United Nations estimates, world population reached six billion in late 1999, and continued to climb to 6.8 billion in late 2009. In 2007 the population of the United States reached 300 million inhabitants, and Japan's population peaked at 127 million before going into decline.
In a 2003 memo to a staff member, Britain's Charles, Prince of Wales wrote:
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century.
In 2001, 46.4% of people in sub-Saharan Africa were living in extreme poverty. Nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, however, even among the wealthiest fifth one third of children are malnourished.
5 A Day is the name of a number of programs in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, to encourage the consumption of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, following a recommendation by the World Health Organization that individuals consume at least 400g of vegetables daily.
The programme was introduced by the UK Department of Health in the winter of 2002–2003, and received some adverse media attention because of the high and rising costs of fresh fruit and vegetables. After ten years, research suggested that few people were meeting the target.
The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most motor vehicles operating within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in central London between 07:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday. It is not charged at weekends, public holidays or between Christmas Day and New Year's Day (inclusive).[1] The charge, which was introduced on February 17, 2003, remains one of the largest congestion charge zones in the world.
On December 3, 2003, New Zealand passed legislation to progressively implement a smoking ban in schools, school grounds, and workplaces by December 2004. On March 29, 2004, Ireland implemented a nationwide ban on smoking in all workplaces. In Norway, similar legislation was put into force on June 1 the same year. Smoking was banned in all public places in the whole of the United Kingdom in 2007, when England became the final region to have the legislation come into effect (the age limit for buying tobacco was also raised from 16 to 18 on October 1, 2007). From 2004 to 2009, the UK's Merseyside police officers, conducted 1,389 section 60 stop and searches (without reasonable suspicion), rising to 23,138 within five years.
In 2005 the cost of alcohol dependence and abuse was estimated to cost the US economy approximately 220 billion dollars per year, more than cancer and obesity.
The number of antidepressants prescribed by the NHS in the United Kingdom almost doubled during one decade, authorities reported in 2010. In 2009, 39.1 million prescriptions for drugs to tackle depression were issued in England, compared with 20.1 million issued in 1999.
In the United States a 2005 independent report stated that 11% of women and 5% of men in the non-institutionalized population (2002) take antidepressants. The use of antidepressants in the United States doubled over one decade, from 1996 to 2005.
Antidepressant drugs were prescribed to 13 million in 1996 and to 27 million people by 2005. In 2008, more than 164 million prescriptions were written.
In the UK, the number of weddings in 2006 was the lowest for 110 years.
Jamie Oliver, is a British chef, restaurateur, media personality, known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks. In 2006, Oliver began a formal campaign to ban unhealthy food in British schools and to get children eating nutritious food instead. Oliver's efforts to bring radical change to the school meals system, chronicled in the series Jamie's School Dinners, challenged the junk-food culture by showing schools they could serve healthy, cost-efficient meals that kids enjoyed eating. Jamie's efforts brought the subject of school dinners to the political forefront and changed the types of food served in schools.
In 2006, nearly 11 million Plastic surgery procedures were performed in the United States alone. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century.
In November 2006, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced that it would ban television advertisements for junk food before, during and after television programming aimed at under-16s in the United Kingdom. These regulations were originally outlined in a proposal earlier in the year. This move has been criticized on both ends of the scale; while the Food and Drink Federation labelled the ban "over the top", others have said the restrictions do not go far enough (particularly due to the fact that soap operas would be exempt from the ban). On April 1, 2007, junk food advertisements were banned from programmes aimed at four to nine-year-olds. Such advertisements broadcast during programmes "aimed at, or which would appeal to," ten to fifteen-year-olds will continue to be phased out over the coming months, with a full ban coming into effect on January 1, 2009.
November 10, 2006 – referring to the UK's annual poppy appeal, British journalist and presenter Jon Snow condemned the attitude of those who insist remembrance poppies are worn. He claimed: there is a rather unpleasant breed of poppy fascism out there.
In January 2007, the British Retail Consortium announced that major UK retailers, including Asda, Boots, Co-op, Iceland, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose intended to cease adding trans fatty acids to their own products by the end of 2007.
In October 2008 AFP reported on the further expansion of killings of albinos to the Ruyigi region of Burundi. Body parts of the victims are then smuggled to Tanzania, where they are used for witch doctor rituals and potions. Albinos have become "a commercial good", commented Nicodeme Gahimbare in Ruyigi, who established a local safe haven in his fortified house.
A 2009 study found a 30% increase in Chinese diabetes over 7 years.
AIDS continued to expand during the decade, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. New diseases of animal origin appeared for a short time, such as the bird flu in 2007. Swine flu was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2009.
Environment and climate change
Climate change and global warming became household words in the 2000s. Predictions tools made significant progress during the decade, UN-sponsored organisations such as the IPCC gained influence, and studies such as the Stern report influenced public support for paying the political and economic costs of countering climate change.
The global temperature kept climbing during the decade. In December 2009, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the 2000s might have been the warmest decade since records began in 1850, with four of the five warmest years since 1850 having occurred in this decade. The NASA and the NOAA later echoed the WMO's findings.
Major natural disasters became more frequent and helped change public opinion. One of the deadliest heat waves in human history happened during the 2000s, mostly in Europe, with the 2003 European heat wave killing 37,451 people over the summer months. In February 2009, a series of highly destructive bushfires started in Victoria, Australia, lasting into the next month. While the fires are believed to have been caused by arson, they were widely reported as having been fueled by an excessive heatwave that was due in part to climate change. It has also been alleged that climate change was a cause of increased storms intensity, notably in the case of Hurricane Katrina.
International actions
Climate change became a major issue for governments, populations and scientists. Debates on global warming and its causes made significant progress, as climate change denials were refuted by most scientific studies. Decisive reports such as the Stern Review and the 2007 IPCC Report almost established a climate change consensus. NGOs' actions and the commitment of political personalities (such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore) also urged to international reactions against climate change. Documentary films An Inconvenient Truth and Home may have had a decisive impact.
Under the auspices of The UN Convention on Climate Change the Kyoto Protocol (aimed at combating global warming) entered into force on February 16, 2005. As of November 2009, 187 states have signed and ratified the protocol. In addition The UN Convention on Climate Change helped coordinate the efforts of the international community to fight potentially disastrous effects of human activity on the planet and launched negotiations to set an ambitious program of carbon emission reduction that began in 2007 with the Bali Road Map. However, the representatives of the then 192 member countries of the United Nations gathered in December 2009 for the Copenhagen Conference failed to reach a binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions because of divisions between regional areas.
However, as environmental technologies were to make up a potential market, some countries made large investments in renewable energies, energy conservation and sustainable transport. Many governments launched national plans to promote sustainable energy. In 2003, the European Union members created an emission trading scheme, and in 2007 they assembled a climate and energy package to reduce further their carbon emission and improve their energy-efficiency. In 2009, the United States Obama administration set up the Green New Deal, a plan to create millions of jobs in sectors related to environmentalism.
The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires local authorities in England to provide every household with a separate collection of at least two types of recyclable materials by 2010.
Culture
Architecture
Commercialization and globalization resulted in mass migration of people from rural areas to urban areas resulting in high-profile skyscrapers in Asia and Europe. In Asia skyscrapers were constructed in India, China, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan.
The Millennium Bridge, London officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the city. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the bridge felt an unexpected, and, for some, uncomfortable, swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day, and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It was reopened in 2002.
30 St Mary Axe (informally also known as "the Gherkin" and previously the Swiss Re Building) is a skyscraper in London's financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened at the end of May 2004. The building has become an iconic symbol of London and is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of modern architecture.
Wembley Stadium is a football stadium located in Wembley Park, in the Borough of Brent, London, England. It opened in 2007 and was built on the site of the previous 1923 Wembley Stadium. The earlier Wembley stadium, originally called the Empire Stadium, was often referred to as "The Twin Towers" and was one of the world's most famous football stadia until its demolition in 2003.
A major redevelopment of London's Trafalgar Square led by WS Atkins with Foster and Partners as sub-consultants was completed in 2003. The work involved closing the main eastbound road along the north side, diverting the traffic around the other three sides of the square, demolishing the central section of the northern retaining wall and inserting a wide set of steps leading up to a pedestrianised terrace in front of the National Gallery. The construction includes two lifts for disabled access, public toilets, and a small café. Previously, access between the square and the Gallery was by two crossings at the northeast and northwest corners of the square.
Taipei 101 became the tallest building in the world ever built after it officially opened on December 31, 2004, a record it held until the opening of the Burj Khalifa (Formerly known as Burj Dubai) in January 2010, standing at .
Fine arts
Lucian Freud was a German-born British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impastoed portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time.
During a period from May 2000 to December 2001, Freud painted Queen Elizabeth II. There was criticism of this portrayal of the Queen in some sections of the British media. The highest selling tabloid newspaper, The Sun, was particularly condemnatory, describing the portrait as "a travesty".
The Hockney–Falco thesis is a controversial theory of art history, advanced by artist David Hockney and physicist Charles M. Falco, suggesting that advances in realism and accuracy in the history of Western art since the Renaissance were primarily the result of optical aids such as the camera obscura, camera lucida, and curved mirrors, rather than solely due to the development of artistic technique and skill. In a 2001 book, Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, Hockney analyzed the work of the Old Masters and argued that the level of accuracy represented in their work is impossible to create by "eyeballing it". Since then, Hockney and Falco have produced a number of publications on positive evidence of the use of optical aids, and the historical plausibility of such methods.
Rolf Harris is an Australian entertainer. He is a musician, a singer-songwriter, a composer, a painter, and a television personality.
In 2005 he painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which was the subject of a special episode of Rolf on Art.
Harris's portrait of The Queen was voted by readers of the Radio Times the third favourite portrait of her. The royal portrait was exhibited at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and was exhibited on a tour of public galleries in the UK.
In April–June 2003, the English visual artists often known as The Chapman Brothers, held a solo show at Modern Art Oxford entitled The Rape of Creativity in which "the enfants terribles of Britart, bought a mint collection of Goya's most celebrated prints – and set about systematically defacing them". The Francisco Goya prints referred to his Disasters of War set of 80 etchings. The duo named their newly defaced works Insult to Injury. BBC described more of the exhibition's art: "Drawings of mutant Ronald McDonalds, a bronze sculpture of a painting showing a sad-faced Hitler in clown make-up and a major installation featuring a knackered old caravan and fake dog turds." The Daily Telegraph commented that the Chapman brothers had "managed to raise the hackles of art historians by violating something much more sacred to the art world than the human body – another work of art"
As a protest against this piece, Aaron Barschak (who later gate-crashed Prince William's 21st birthday party dressed as Osama bin Laden in a frock) threw a pot of red paint over Jake Chapman during a talk he was giving in May 2003.
On May 5, 2004, a 1905 painting titled Garçon à la Pipe (English: Boy with a Pipe) by Pablo Picasso was sold for US$104,168,000 at Sotheby's auction in New York City. At the time, it broke the record for the amount paid for an auctioned painting (when inflation is ignored). The amount, US$104 million, includes the auction price of US$93 million plus the auction house's commission of about US$11 million. Many art critics have stated that the painting's high sale price has much more to do with the artist's name than with the merit or historical importance of the painting. The Washington Posts articleBoy with Pipe or Garcon a la Pipe, 1905 (archived), The Artist Pablo Picasso on the sale contained the following characterisation of the reaction:
On May 24, 2004, more than 100 artworks from the famous collection of art collector and sponsor of the Young British Artists (YBAs) Charles Saatchi's were destroyed in a warehouse fire on an industrial estate in Leyton, east London. Modern art classics such as Tracey Emin's tent and works by Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume were lost.
Works by Patrick Caulfield, Craigie Horsfield and 20 pieces by Martin Maloney were also destroyed. They represent some of the cream of the so-named "Britart" movement of celebrated modern artists.
In 2004, during Channel 5 (UK)'s 'Big Art Challenge' television program, despite declaring: "I hold video and photography in profound contempt." English art critic Brian Sewell noted for artistic conservatism and has been described as "Britain's most famous and controversial art critic". and went on to at least 3 times hail video artist (and ultimately the competition's winner) Chris Boyd (aged 21) a "genius".
In June 2007, the English artist, entrepreneur and art collector Damien Hirst gained the European record for the most expensive work of art by a living artist, when his Lullaby Spring, (a 3-metre-wide steel cabinet with 6,136 pills) sold for 19.2 million dollars.
In September 2008, Damien Hirst took an unprecedented move for a living artist by selling a complete show, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby's by auction and by-passing his long-standing galleries. The auction exceeded all predictions, raising £111 million ($198 million), breaking the record for a one-artist auction.
December 9, 2009 – when the most expensive drawing by an Old Master ever, was sold in an auction. Titled 'Head of a Muse' by Raphael; costing £29,200,000 ($47,788,400), at Christie's, London, UK.
Literature
Carol Ann Duffy, CBE, FRSL (born December 23, 1955) is a British poet and playwright. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's poet laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold the position.
The phenomenally successful Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling is concluded in July 2007 (having been first published in 1997), although the film franchise continues until 2011; several spin-off productions are announced in the early 2010s. The Harry Potter series is to date the best-selling book series in world history, with only seven main volumes (and three supplemental works) published and four hundred and fifty million copies sold. The film franchise is also currently the third highest-grossing film franchise in history, with eight films (all but the final two of which were released in the 2000s) and $8,539,253,704 in sales.
Popular culture
Film
The usage of computer-generated imagery became more widespread in films during the 2000s. Documentary and mockumentary films, such as March of the Penguins, Borat, and Super Size Me, were popular in the 2000s. 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. Online films became popular, and conversion to digital cinema started. Critically acclaimed movies released in the decade including highlights such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Lost in Translation (2003).
December 2009's Avatar, an American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, made extensive use of cutting edge motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats). It was also released in "4D" in select South Korean theaters.
3D films became more and more successful throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar.
Roger Ebert, described by Forbes as "the most powerful pundit in America", was skeptical of the resurgence of 3D effects in film, which he found unrealistic and distracting.
In August 2004, American horror author Stephen King, in a column, criticized what he saw as a growing trend of leniency towards films from critics. His main criticism was that films, citing Spider-Man 2 as an example, were constantly given four star ratings that they did not deserve: "Formerly reliable critics who seem to have gone remarkably soft – not to say softhearted and sometimes softheaded – in their old age."
In July 2005, it was reported that the Scottish actor and producer Sir Sean Connery had decided to retire, due to disillusionment with the "idiots now in Hollywood"' Telling The New Zealand Herald: "I'm fed up with the idiots... the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who greenlight the movies."
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won all the categories for which it was nominated. The film is tied for largest number of awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).
The Passion of the Christ, a 2004 American film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ, was highly controversial and received mixed reviews; however, it was a major commercial hit, grossing in excess of $600 million worldwide during its theatrical release.
The superhero film genre experienced renewed and intense interest throughout the 2000s. With high ticket and DVD sales, several new superhero films were released every year. The X-Men, Batman and Spider-Man series were particularly prominent, and other films in the genre included Daredevil (2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Hulk (2003), Hellboy (2004), The Incredibles (2004), Fantastic Four (2005), Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), and Watchmen (2009). Some media commentators attributed the increased popularity of such franchises to the social and political climate in Western society since the September 11 terrorist attacks, although others argued advances in special effects technology played a more significant role.
Animated feature film market changed radically. computer animated films became hugely popular following the release of Shrek, as traditional animation immediately faded into obscurity. Following the failures of The Road to El Dorado, Rugrats Go Wild, Aloha, Scooby-Doo!, Eight Crazy Nights, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, studios have stopped their production of traditional 2D animated films, and changed their focus into CGI animation. The only three traditional animated films that did well at the first half of the decade were Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
20th Century Fox Animation's works in that decade include the Ice Age series, Robots and Horton Hears a Who! which were all made by its Blue Sky Studios subsidiary, and Titan A.E., Waking Life, The Simpsons Movie and Fantastic Mr. Fox
Stop motion animated works in that decade which mostly use live-action or computer animation methods included Chicken Run, Team America: World Police, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Corpse Bride, Flushed Away, Coraline and Mary and Max. Independent animated works in that decade included The Triplets of Belleville, Terkel in Trouble, Laura's Star, A Scanner Darkly, Renaissance, Persepolis, Sita Sings the Blues, The Secret of Kells and A Town Called Panic.Award winnersThe 20 highest-grossing films of the decade are (in order from highest to lowest grossing)Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Spider-Man 3, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Finding Nemo, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Shrek the Third.The top 15 highest-grossing film series of the decade are (in order from highest to lowest grossing)Harry Potter film series, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Spider-Man film series, Shrek film series, Ice Age film series, Transformers film series, X-Men film series, Batman film series' Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Star Wars Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, The Matrix film series' The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, The Chronicles of Narnia film series, Mission: Impossible film series' and The Mummy film series.
Music
In the 2000s, the Internet allowed consumers unprecedented access to music. The Internet also allowed more artists to distribute music relatively inexpensively and independently without the previously necessary financial support of a record label. Music sales began to decline following the year 2000, a state of affairs generally attributed to unlicensed uploading and downloading of sound files to the Internet, a practice which became more widely prevalent during this time. Business relationships called 360 deals—an arrangement in which a company provides support for an artist, and, in exchange, the artist pays the company a percentage of revenue earned not only from sales of recorded music, but also live performances and publishing—became a popular response by record labels to the loss of music sales attributed to online copyright infringement.
Eminem was named the artist of the decade by Billboard.
In the 2000s, hip hop reached a commercial peak and heavily influenced various aspects of popular culture, dominating the musical landscape of the decade. The best-selling musical artist of the decade was American rapper Eminem, who sold 32 million albums. Other popular hip hop artists included Jay-Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Kanye West, Ludacris, Common, Ja Rule, Mos Def, DMX, Missy Elliot, OutKast, Lil John, Fat Joe, Cam'ron, Pharrell, Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg, Twista, 50 Cent, Nelly, Lil Wayne, T.I. and The Game. The genre was extremely diverse stylistically, including subgenres such as gangsta rap and crunk. Many hip hop albums were released to widespread critical acclaim.
R&B also gained prominence throughout the decade, and included artists such as D'Angelo, Aaliyah, Usher, Akon, Black Eyed Peas, R. Kelly, Amy Winehouse, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, John Legend and Alicia Keys.
In the early and mid 2000s, disco-inspired dance genres became popular; many french house and funky house songs broke into the charts. Popular tracks such as Daft Punk’s "One More Time" Fonzerelli’s "Moonlight Party", Kylie Minogue's "Spinning Around", Jamiroquai's "Little L", Michael Gray’s “The Weekend” and Freemasons "Love on My Mind".
For Latin music Shakira dominated the charts with Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 being the 2nd best selling Spanish album of all-time and the best selling Spanish album of the 2000s being 11x platinum to date.
Billboard magazine named Eminem as the artist with the best performance on the Billboard charts and Beyoncé as the "female artist of the decade", with Nickelback as the "band of the decade". In the UK, the biggest selling artist of the decade is Robbie Williams*and the biggest selling band of the decade is Westlife. American recording artist Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, creating the largest global public mourning since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.Scott, Jeffry. "Jackson memorial second most-watched in TV history" . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 8, 2009. On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah Haughton – an American recording artist, dancer, actress and model and eight others, were killed in an airplane crash in The Bahamas after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat". On April 25, 2002, Lisa Lopes an American: rapper, dancer, and singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the R&B/hip hop girl group TLC by her stage name Left Eye, was killed in a car crash in La Ceiba, Honduras. On October 30, 2002, Jason William Mizell (Jam Master Jay) of the hip hop group Run-D.M.C was shot and killed in a Merrick Boulevard recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. On December 25, 2006, James Brown – an American recording artist known as the "Godfather of Soul", died of pneumonia at the age of 73. On September 12, 2003, Johnny Cash – an American musician known as the "Man in Black", died of diabetes at the age of 71. On June 10, 2004, Ray Charles – an American musician and one of the pioneers of soul music, died of liver failure at the age of 73. On November 29, 2001, George Harrison – an English musician best known of the guitarist of the Beatles, died of lung cancer at the age of 58. Innovator, inventor, performer and guitar virtuoso Les Paul also died on August 12, 2009, at the age of 94.
In 2002, Robbie Williams signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI. So far it is the biggest music deal in British history.
In alternative rock, the garage rock revival and post-punk revival entered the mainstream, with bands such as The Strokes, Interpol, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The White Stripes seeing commercial success. Indie rock also saw a proliferation in the 2000s with numerous bands experiencing commercial success, including Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, The Shins, Wilco, Bright Eyes, Spoon, The Decemberists, Broken Social Scene and many more. Other genres such as post-grunge, post-Britpop, nu metal and metalcore also achieved notability during the decade.
Popular metal or hard rock bands consisted of Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Tenacious D, System of a Down, Mastodon, The Mars Volta, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Three Days Grace, Godsmack, Shinedown, 36 Crazyfists, Killswitch Engage, Evanescence, Tool, Deftones, Opeth, and Seether.
Pop-punk and emo-pop became popular in the decade, with bands like The Offspring, Green Day, Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco.
The 2000s gave rise to a new trend in music production with the growing use of auto-tune. The effect was first popularized in the early 2000s by Eiffel 65 with their 1998 hit song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", which came to global prominence in 2000. It was also used in certain tracks off critically acclaimed 2001 albums from Daft Punk (with Discovery) and Radiohead (with Amnesiac). By 2008, auto-tune was part of the music mainstream with artists such as Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Kanye West utilizing it in their hit albums Tha Carter III, Three Ringz and 808s & Heartbreak respectively. Towards the end of the decade, electronic dance music began to dominate western charts (as it would proceed to in the following decade), and in turn helped contribute to a diminishing amount of rock music in the mainstream. Hip hop music also saw a decline in the mainstream in the late 2000s because of electronic music's rising popularity.
According to The Guardian, music styles during the 2000s changed very little from how they were in the latter half of the 1990s. The 2000s had a profound impact on the condition of music distribution. Recent advents in digital technology have fundamentally altered industry and marketing practices as well as players in unusual rapidity. According to Nielsen Soundscan, by 2009 CDs accounted for 79 percent of album sales, with 20 percent coming from digital, representing both a 10 percent drop and gain for both formats in 2 years.
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, drum & bass, hip hop and dancehall. Pioneers of the style include English rappers Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Roll Deep and Skepta.
Michael Jackson's final album, Invincible, released on October 30, 2001, and costing $30m to record, was the most expensive record ever made.
The general socio-political fallout of Iraq War also extended to popular music. In July 2002, the release of English musician George Michael's song "Shoot the Dog" proved to be controversial. It was critical of George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The video showed a cartoon version of Michael astride a nuclear missile in the Middle East and Tony and Cherie Blair in bed with President Bush. The Dixie Chicks are an American country music band. During a London concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas". The positive reaction to this statement from the British audience contrasted with the boycotts that ensued in the U.S., where "the band was assaulted by talk-show conservatives", while their albums were discarded in public protest. The original music video for the title song from American pop singer Madonna's American Life album was banned as music television stations thought that the video, featuring violence and war imagery, would be deemed unpatriotic since America was then at war with Iraq. She also made her widely considered "comeback" album with her tenth studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor which topped the charts worldwide in a record 40 countries. As of 2016 the album has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. Madonna also made history by completing her Sticky & Sweet Tour which became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist and the tenth highest-grossing tour by an artist during 2008–2009.
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on July 2, 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from July 6 to 8, 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on July 2 and one on July 6. On July 7, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
In November 2006, the Rolling Stones' 'A Bigger Bang' tour was declared the highest-grossing tour of all time, earning $437 million.
In December 2009, a campaign was launched on Facebook by Jon and Tracy Morter, from South Woodham Ferrers, which generated publicity in the UK and took the 1992 Rage Against the Machine track "Killing in the Name" to the Christmas Number One slot in the UK Singles Chart, which had been occupied the four consecutive years from 2005 by winners from the TV show The X Factor. Rage's Zack de la Rocha spoke to BBC1 upon hearing the news, stating that:
"...We want to thank everyone that participated in this incredible, organic, grass-roots campaign. It says more about the spontaneous action taken by young people throughout the UK to topple this very sterile pop monopoly."
During the late 2000s, a new wave of chiptune culture took place. This new culture has much more emphasis on live performances and record releases than the demoscene and tracker culture, of which the new artists are often only distantly aware. Country pop saw continued success from the revival period of the 1990s, with new artists like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift bringing global appeal to the genre in the second half of the decade. Much of the 2000s in hip hop was characterized as the "bling era", referring to the material commodities that were popular from the early-to-mid part of the decade. However, by the end of the decade, an antecedent emotional rap subgenre gained prominence, with musical projects like Kanye West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak (2008), Kid Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009), and Drake's career catalyzing mixtape So Far Gone (2009) garnering significant popularity and ushering in a new era of hip hop.
Reunions
The original five members of the English new wave band Duran Duran reunited in the early 2000s.
On February 23, 2003, Simon and Garfunkel reunited to perform in public for the first time in a decade, singing "The Sound of Silence" as the opening act of the Grammy Awards.
On May 9, 2006, British five-piece vocal pop Take That returned to the recorded music scene after more than ten years of absence, signing with Polydor Records. The band's comeback album, Beautiful World, entered the UK album chart at no. 1.
On December 10, 2007, English rock band Led Zeppelin reunited for the one-off Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London. According to Guinness World Records 2009, Led Zeppelin set the world record for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" as 20 million requests for the reunion show were rendered online.
Internet
Prominent websites and apps launched during the decade were Wikipedia (2001), Google Earth (2001), Internet Archive (2001), iTunes (2001), MySpace (2003), 4chan (2003), Facebook (2004), Flickr (2004), Mozilla Firefox (2004), YouTube (2005), Google Maps (2005), Reddit (2005), Twitter (2006), Google Chrome (2008), Spotify (2008), Waze (2009).
Wisdom of the crowd – during the decade, the benefits of the "Wisdom of the crowd" are pushed into the spotlight by social information sites such as Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers, Reddit and other web resources that rely on human opinion.
Fashion
Fashion trends of the decade drew much inspiration from 1960s, 1970s and 1980s styles. Hair styles included the bleached and spiked hair for boys and men and long and straight hair for girls and women continued, as well as many other hairstyles from the mid-late 1990s. Kelly Clarkson made chunky highlights fashionable in 2002 on American Idol and lasted until about 2007. Both women and men highlighted their hair until the late 2000s.
The decade started with the futuristic Y2K fashion which was built on hype surrounding the new millennium. This dark, slinky style remained popular until 9/11 occurred and casual fashions had made a comeback once again. Baggy cargo pants were extremely popular among both sexes throughout the early and mid 2000s until about late 2007. Bell-bottoms were the dominant pant style for women until about 2006 when fitted pants began rising in popularity. The late 1990s-style baggy pants remained popular throughout the early 2000s, but by 2003 boot-cut pants and jeans became the standard among men until about 2008.
The 2000s saw a revival of 1980s fashion trends such as velour tracksuits in the early 2000s (an early 1980s fashion), and tapered pants in the later years (a late 1980s fashion). Skinny jeans became a staple clothing for young women and men. By 2009 with the Jerkin' movement playing a large part in the popularization of skinny jeans. Mass brands Gap and Levi launched their own lines for skinny jeans.
Throughout the early and mid 2000s, adults and children wore Skechers shoes. The company used many celebrities to their advantage, including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, and Ashlee Simpson. By the late 2000s, flatter and more compact shoes came into style as chunky sneakers were no longer the mode.
"Geek chic" refers to a minor fashion trend that arose in the mid-2000s in which young individuals adopted stereotypically "geeky" fashions, such as oversized black Horn-rimmed glasses, suspenders/braces, and highwater trousers. The glasses—worn with non-prescription lenses or without lenses—quickly became the defining aspect of the trend, with the media identifying various celebrities as "trying geek" or "going geek" for their wearing such glasses, such as David Beckham, Justin Timberlake and Myleene Klass. Meanwhile, in the sports world, many NBA players wore "geek glasses" during post-game interviews, drawing comparisons to Steve Urkel.
Emo fashion became popular amongst teenagers for most of the 2000s, associated with the success of bands tied to the subculture (many of whom started at the beginning of the 2000s and rose to fame during the middle part of the decade, such as Brand New, The Used, Hawthorne Heights, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco and more). The style is commonly identified with wearing black/dark coloured skinny jeans, T-shirts bearing the name of emo music groups and long side-swept bangs, often covering one or both eyes. The Scene subculture that emerged in the mid-late 2000s drew much inspiration from Emo style.
Hip hop fashion was popular throughout the 2000s with clothing and shoe brands such as Rocawear, Phat Farm, G-Unit clothing, Billionaire Boys Club, Dipset clothing, Pelle Pelle, BAPE, Nike, Fubu, and Air Jordan. Followers of Hip Hop wore oversized shorts, jewelry, NFL and NBA jerseys, pants, and T-shirts. By the late 2000s this gave way more to fitted and vibrantly colored clothing, with men wearing skinny jeans as influenced by the Hyphy and Jerkin' movements.
In cosmetic applications, a Botox injection, consisting of a small dose of Botulinum toxin, can be used to prevent development of wrinkles by paralyzing facial muscles. As of 2007, it is the most common cosmetic operation, with 4.6 million procedures in the United States, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Journalism
"It was, we were soon told, 'the day that changed everything', the 21st century's defining moment, the watershed by which we would forever divide world history: before, and after, 9/11." ~ The Guardian
The BBC's foreign correspondent John Simpson on Rupert Murdoch (March 15, 2010): He says this Murdochisation of national discourse, which was at its height in the UK with The Sun in the 1980s, has now migrated to the US. "Murdoch encouraged an ugly tone, which he has now imported into the US and which we see every day on Fox News, with all its concomitant effects on American public life – that fierce hostility between right and left that never used to be there, not to anything remotely like the same extent."
October 2001, Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses Naomi Klein's book titled Fences and Windows:
May 15, 2003, Fox News Channel's (which grew during the late 1990s and 2000s to become the dominant cable news network in the United States.) political commentator Bill O'Reilly's "The Talking Points Memo", from his The O'Reilly Factor television talk show:
A poll released in 2004, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that 21 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cited The Daily Show (an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday) and Saturday Night Live (an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show) as a place where they regularly learned presidential campaign news. By contrast, 23 percent of the young people mentioned ABC, CBS or NBC's nightly news broadcasts as a source. When the same question was asked in 2000, Pew found only 9 percent of young people pointing to the comedy shows, and 39 percent to the network news shows. One newspaper, Newsday, has The Daily Show's host Jon Stewart, listed atop a list of the 20 media players who will most influence the upcoming presidential campaign. Random conversations with nine people, aged 19 to 26, waiting to see a taping of The Daily Show, revealed two who admitted they learned much about the news from the program. None said they regularly watched the network evening news shows.
The Guardian, is a British national daily newspaper. In August 2004, for the US presidential election, The Guardian's daily "G2" supplement launched an experimental letter-writing campaign in Clark County, Ohio, an average-sized county in a swing state. G2 editor Ian Katz bought a voter list from the county for $25 and asked readers to write to people listed as undecided in the election, giving them an impression of the international view and the importance of voting against US President George W. Bush. The paper scrapped "Operation Clark County" on October 21, 2004, after first publishing a column of complaints from Bush supporters about the campaign under the headline "Dear Limey assholes". The public backlash against the campaign likely contributed to Bush's victory in Clark County.
March 2005 – Twenty MPs signed a British House of Commons motion condemning the BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman for saying that "a sort of Scottish Raj" was running the UK. Mr Paxman likened the dominance of Scots at Westminster to past British rule in India.
August 1, 2007 – News Corp. and Dow Jones entered into a definitive merger agreement. The US$5 billion sale added the largest newspaper in the United States, by circulation The Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch's news empire.
August 30, 2008 – three years before the 2011 England riots, The Socialist Worker wrote: "Those who have responded to the tragedy of knife crime by calling for police crackdowns ought to take note. The criminalisation of a generation of black youth will undoubtedly lead to explosions of anger in the future, just as it did a generation ago with the riots that swept Britain's inner cities."
Ann Coulter is an American conservative social and political commentator, eight-time best-selling author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public and private events. As the 2008 US presidential campaign was getting under way, Coulter was criticised for statements she made at the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference about presidential candidate John Edwards:
In December 2008, Time magazine named Barack Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as "the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments".
Print media
The decade saw the steady decline of sales of print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers, as the main conveyors of information and advertisements, in favor of the Internet and other digital forms of information.
News blogs grew in readership and popularity; cable news and other online media outlets became competitive in attracting advertising revenues and capable journalists and writers are joining online organizations. Books became available online, and electronic devices such as Amazon Kindle threatened the popularity of printed books.Times Online, The decline and fall of books. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the decade showed a continuous increase in reading, although circulation of newspapers has declined.
Radio
The 2000s saw a decrease in the popularity of radio as more listeners starting using MP3 players in their cars to customize driving music. Satellite radio receivers started selling at a much higher rate, which allowed listeners to pay a subscription fee for thousands of ad-free stations. Clear Channel Communications was the largest provider of radio entertainment in the United States with over 900 stations nationwide. Many radio stations began streaming their content over the Internet, allowing a market expansion far beyond the reaches of a radio transmitter.
During the 2000s, FM radio faced its toughest competition ever for in-car entertainment. iPod, satellite radio, and HD radio were all new options for commuters. CD players had a steady decline in popularity throughout the 2000s but stayed prevalent in most vehicles, while cassette tapes became virtually obsolete.
August 27, 2001 – Hot 97 shock jock Star (real name Troi Torain) was suspended indefinitely for mocking R&B singer Aaliyah's death on the air. by playing a tape of a woman screaming while a crash is heard in the background. Close to 32,000 people signed a "No More Star" online petition.
In a 2008 edition of his (American) radio show, John Gibson commented on Australian actor Heath Ledger's death the day before. He opened the segment with funeral music and played a clip of Jake Gyllenhaal's famous line "I wish I knew how to quit you" from Ledger's film Brokeback Mountain; he then said "Well, I guess he found out how to quit you." Among other remarks, Gibson called Ledger a "weirdo" with "a serious drug problem". The next day, he addressed outcry over his remarks by saying that they were in the context of jokes he had been making for months about Brokeback Mountain, and that "There's no point in passing up a good joke." Gibson later apologized on his television and radio shows.The John Gibson Show, Fox News Radio, January 24, 2008
Television
American television in the 2000s saw the sharp increase in popularity of reality television, with numerous competition shows such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor and The Apprentice attracting large audiences, as well as documentary or narrative style shows such as Big Brother, The Hills, The Real Housewives, Cheaters, among many others. Australian television in the 2000s also saw a sharp increase in popularity of reality television, with their own version of shows such as Big Brother and Dancing With The Stars, other shows in the country also saw an increase with comedy such as Spicks and Specks and game show Bert's Family Feud. The decade has since seen a steady decline in the number of sitcoms and an increase in reality shows, crime and medical dramas, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D., and Grey's Anatomy, paranormal/crime shows like Medium (2005–2011) and Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010), and action/drama shows, including 24 and Lost. Comedy-dramas became more serious, dealing with such hot button issues, such as drugs, teenage pregnancy, and gay rights. Popular comedy-drama programs include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, and Glee. Adult-oriented animated programming also continued a sharp upturn in popularity with controversial cartoons like *South Park (1997–present), Family Guy (1999–2002, 2005–present) and Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present) along with the longtime running cartoon The Simpsons (1989–present), while new animated adult series were also produced in that decade such as American Dad!, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Archer, Drawn Together, The Cleveland Show, Sealab 2021 and Total Drama.
The decade also saw the return of prime time soap operas, a genre that had been popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, including Dawson's Creek (1998–2003), The O.C. (2003–2007) and One Tree Hill (2003–2012). Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) was perhaps the most popular television series of this genre since Dallas and Dynasty in the 1980s;
ER started in 1994 and ended its run in 2009, after 15 years.
South Park controversies: Action for Children's Television founder Peggy Charren, despite being an outspoken opponent of censorship, claims that South Parks use of language and racial slurs represents the depravity of Western civilization, and is "dangerous to the democracy".
The series was repeated in 2001 along with a new show. It tackled paedophilia and the moral panic in parts of the British media following the murder of Sarah Payne, focusing on the name-and-shame campaign conducted by the News of the World in its wake.
The WWE made a split in 2002 for the brands Raw and Smackdown!, also known as the WWE Brand Extension. This resulted in the WWE's purchase of their two biggest competitors, WCW and ECW. The brand extension would last until 2011. It also saw the rise of popular wrestlers like John Cena, Randy Orton, Dave Bautista, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Edge and Brock Lesnar.
The 2001 World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks became the first World Series to be played in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Super Bowl XXXVI between the New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams became the first Super Bowl to be played in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The X Factor in the UK has been subject to much controversy and criticism since its launch in September 2004.
Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy:
Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004, from Houston, Texas, on the CBS television network in the United States, was noted for a controversial halftime show in which singer Janet Jackson's breast, adorned with a nipple shield, was exposed by singer Justin Timberlake for about half a second, in what was later referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction". The incident, sometimes referred to as Nipplegate, was widely discussed. Along with the rest of the halftime show, it led to an immediate crackdown and widespread debate on perceived indecency in broadcasting.
Chappelle's Show was one of the most popular shows of the decade. Upon its release in 2004, the first-season DVD set became the best-selling TV series set of all time.
January 2005 – Jerry Springer: The Opera was the subject of controversy, when its UK television broadcast on BBC Two elicited 55,000 complaints. The most complained about television event ever.
In May 2005, UK viewers inundated the Advertising Standards Authority with complaints regarding the continuous airing of the latest Crazy Frog advertisements. The intensity of the advertising was unprecedented in British television history. According to The Guardian, Jamster bought 73,716 spots across all TV channels in May alone — an average of nearly 2,378 slots daily — at a cost of about £8 million, just under half of which was spent on ITV. 87% of the population saw the Crazy Frog adverts an average of 26 times, 15% of the adverts appeared twice during the same advertising break and 66% were in consecutive ad breaks. An estimated 10% of the population saw the advert more than 60 times. This led to many members of the population finding the crazy frog, as its original name suggests, immensely irritating.
Blue Peter (the world's longest-running children's television programme) rigged a phone-in competition supporting the UNICEF "Shoe Biz Appeal" on November 27, 2006. The person who appeared to be calling in the competition was actually a Blue Peter Team Player who was visiting that day. The visitor pretended to be a caller from an outside line who had won the phone-in and the chance to select a prize. The competition was rigged due to a technical error with receiving the calls.
In July 2007, Blue Peter was given a £50,000 fine, by the Office of Communications (OFCOM) as a result of rigging the competition.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! is a reality television game show series, originally created in the United Kingdom, and licensed globally to other countries.
In its 2009 series, celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo killed, cooked and ate a rat. The Australian RSPCA investigated the incident and sought to prosecute D'Acampo and actor Stuart Manning for animal cruelty after this episode of the show was aired. ITV was fined £1,600 and the two celebrities involved were not prosecuted for animal cruelty despite being charged with the offense by the New South Wales Police.
Although there were less in this decade than there were in the 1990s, the 2000s still saw many popular and notable sitcoms, including 3rd Rock from the Sun, Two Guys and a Girl, Just Shoot Me!, The Drew Carey Show, Frasier, Friends, That '70s Show, Becker, Spin City, Dharma & Greg, Will & Grace, Yes, Dear, According to Jim, 8 Simple Rules, Less than Perfect, Still Standing, George Lopez, Grounded for Life, Hope & Faith, My Wife and Kids, Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond, Malcolm in the Middle, Girlfriends, The King of Queens, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Curb Your Enthusiasm, What I Like About You, Reba, The Office, Entourage, My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, The Big Bang Theory, Samantha Who?, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and 30 Rock, among many others. A trend seen in several sitcoms of the late 2000s was the absence of a laugh track.
The decade also saw the rise of premium cable dramas such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad. The critic Daniel Mendelsohn wrote a critique of Mad Men in which he also claimed this last decade was a golden age for episodic television, citing Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, and the network series Friday Night Lights as especially deserving of critical and popular attention.
Ended series
The PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired its final episode on August 31, 2001. Two years later, its host and creator, Fred Rogers, died from stomach cancer.
Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on July 7, 1965, on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled in early 2003.
That '70s Show was an American television period sitcom based on the 1970s decade. The 1970s retro style permeated the 2000s decade. The show ended on May 18, 2006.
Brookside is a British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on November 2, 1982, and ran for 21 years until November 4, 2003.
In January 2004, the BBC cancelled the Kilroy show (which had run for 18 years), after an article entitled 'We owe Arabs nothing' written by its host Robert Kilroy-Silk was published in the Sunday Express tabloid newspaper.
Friends is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004. Friends received positive reviews throughout its run, and its series finale ("The Last One") ranked as the fifth most watched overall television series finale as well as the most watched single television episode of the 2000s on U.S. television.
Frasier, a spin-off TV series of Cheers (that ended in 1993), is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004, (only a week after the broadcast of the final episode of Friends). It was one of the most successful spin-off and popular series in television history, as well as one of the most critically acclaimed comedy series.
On June 20, 2006, after 42 years, British music chart show Top of the Pops was formally cancelled and it was announced that the last edition would be broadcast on July 30, 2006.
Grandstand is a British television sport program. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows.
After 30 years, British television drama series Grange Hill (originally made by the BBC) was cancelled and the last episode was shown on September 15, 2008.
Series returns
The Flower Pot Men is a British children's programme, produced by BBC television, first transmitted in 1952, and repeated regularly for more than twenty years, which was produced in a new version in 2000.
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom.
The show has had an extended and sporadic run. The first three series were broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1995, followed by a series finale in the form of a two-part television film entitled The Last Shout in 1996. Its creator Jennifer Saunders revived the show for a fourth series in 2001.
Gadget and the Gadgetinis is a spinoff of the classic series Inspector Gadget (1983–1986), developed by DiC in cooperation with Haim Saban's SIP Animation and produced from 2001 to 2003. There are 52 episodes.
Basil Brush from 1962 to 1984, The Basil Brush Show from 2002 to 2007.
Basil Brush is a fictional anthropomorphic red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet.
Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as 3 full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with 2 series before returning to BBC Two for another 3 series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011.
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The show is a significant part of British popular culture.
The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. After an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot in the form of a television film, the programme was relaunched in 2005.
Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from January 6, 1980, to December 6, 2002, before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes. Revived episodes are currently being shown on ITV on Sunday evenings and have been presented by Vernon Kay since 2006.
Gladiators is a British television entertainment series, produced by LWT for ITV, and broadcast between October 10, 1992, and January 1, 2000. It is an adaptation of the American format American Gladiators. The success of the British series spawned further adaptations in Australia and Sweden. The series was revived in 2008, before again being cancelled in 2009.
Rab C. Nesbitt is a British sitcom which began in 1988.
The first series began on September 27, 1990, and continued for seven more, ending on June 18, 1999, and returning with a one-off special on December 23, 2008.
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises ten series (including a ninth mini-series named Back To Earth) of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1993 and from 1997 to 1999 and on Dave in 2009.Primetime Emmy Award for Best DramaVideo games
The world of video games reached the 6th generation of video game consoles including the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, and the GameCube, which started technically in 1998 with the release of Sega's Dreamcast, although some consider the true start in 2000 with the release of Sony's PlayStation 2. The 6th gen remained popular throughout the decade, but decreased somewhat in popularity after its 7th gen successors released technically starting in November 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360, however, most people agree that 2006 is a 6th gen year since most games being released still released on 6th gen including the Xbox even though the 360 was already released, and the PlayStation 3 and the Wii didn't release until late 2006 which most people consider to be the true start of the 7th gen. It reached 7th Generation in the form of consoles like the Wii, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by the mid-2000s. The number-one-selling game console of the decade, the PlayStation 2, was released in 2000 and remained popular up to the end of the decade, even after the PlayStation 3 was released. The PlayStation 2 was discontinued in January 2013. MMORPGs, originating in the mid-to-late 1990s, become a popular PC trend and virtual online worlds become a reality as games such as RuneScape (2001), Final Fantasy XI (2002), Eve Online (2003), Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (2003), World of Warcraft (2004), and Everquest II (2004), The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (2007) and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (2008) are released. These worlds come complete with their own economies and social organization as directed by the players as a whole. The persistent online worlds allow the games to remain popular for many years. World of Warcraft, premiered in 2004, remains one of the most popular games in PC gaming and is still being developed into the 2010s.
The Grand Theft Auto series sparked a fad of Mature-rated video games based on including gang warfare, drug use, and perceived "senseless violence" into gameplay. Though violent video games date back to the early 1990s, they became much more common after 2000. Despite the controversy, the 2004 game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas became the best selling PlayStation 2 game of all time, with 17.33 million copies sold for that console alone, from a total of 21.5 million in all formats by 2009; as of 2011, 27.5 million copies of San Andreas were sold worldwide.
The Nintendo DS launched in Japan in 2004 and by 2005 was available globally. All Nintendo DS models combined have sold over 154.02 million units, thus making it the best selling handheld of all time and the second best selling video game console of all time behind the PlayStation 2.
The Call of Duty series was extremely popular during the 2000s, the diverse shooter franchise released multiple games throughout the 2000s that were positively critically reviewed and commercially successful.
Gears of War was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful third-person shooter franchise that released two games during the mid-late 2000s. Gears of War 1 was released in 2006 and was the first installment to the franchise, it was universally critically acclaimed and went on to sell over 5 million copies. The second installment to the franchise Gears of War 2 was released in 2008 and received widespread critical acclaim and also went on to sell over 5 million copies.
Manhunt 2, a controversial stealth-based psychological horror video game published by Rockstar Games, was suspended by Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar's parent company) when it was refused classification in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland, and given an Adults Only (AO) rating in the United States. As neither Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo allow AO titles on their systems, it made Rockstar bring the game down to a Mature (M) game and release in October 2007.
The sixth generation sparked a rise in first person shooter games led by Halo: Combat Evolved, which changed the formula of the first person shooter. Halo 2 started online console gaming and was on top of the Xbox Live charts until its successor, Halo 3 (for Xbox 360), took over. Some other popular first-person shooters during the 2000s include the Medal of Honor series, with Medal of Honor: Frontlines release in 2002 bringing the first game in the series to 6th generation consoles.
In the late 2000s, motion controlled video games grew in popularity, from the PlayStation 2's EyeToy to Nintendo's successful Wii console. During the decade 3D video games become the staple of the video-game industry, with 2D games nearly fading from the market. Partially 3D and fully 2D games were still common in the industry early in the decade, but these have now become rare as developers look almost exclusively for fully 3D games to satisfy the increasing demand for them in the market. An exception to this trend is the indie gaming community, which often produces games featuring 'old-school' or retro gaming elements, such as Minecraft and Shadow Complex. These games, which are not developed by the industry giants, are often available in the form of downloadable content from services such as Microsoft's Xbox Live or Apple's App Store and usually cost much less than more major releases.
Dance Dance Revolution was released in Japan and later the United States, where it became immensely popular among teenagers. Another music game, Guitar Hero, was released in North America in 2005 and had a huge cultural impact on both the music and video games industries. It became a worldwide billion-dollar franchise within three years, spawning several sequels and leading to the creation of a competing franchise, Rock Band.
Japanese media giant Nintendo released 9 out of the 10 top selling games of the 2000s, further establishing the company's dominance over the market.
Arcade video games had declined in popularity so much by the late 1990s, that revenues in the United States dropped to $1.33 billion in 1999, and reached a low of $866 million in 2004. Furthermore, by the early 2000s, networked gaming via computers and then consoles across the Internet had also appeared, replacing the venue of head-to-head competition and social atmosphere once provided solely by arcades.
Cross-platform Game engines originating in the very late-1990s, became extremely popular in the 2000s, as they allowed development for indie games for digital distribution. Noteworthy software include GameMaker and Unity. Well-known indie games made in that decade include I Wanna Be the Guy, Spelunky, Braid, Clean Asia!, Castle Crashers, World of Goo, Dino Run, The Impossible Game and Alien Hominid.
Worldwide, arcade game revenues gradually increased from $1.8 billion in 1998 to $3.2 billion in 2002, rivalling PC game sales of $3.2 billion that same year. In particular, arcade video games are a thriving industry in China, where arcades are widespread across the country. The US market has also experienced a slight resurgence, with the number of video game arcades across the nation increasing from 2,500 in 2003 to 3,500 in 2008, though this is significantly less than the 10,000 arcades in the early 1980s. As of 2009, a successful arcade game usually sells around 4000 to 6000 units worldwide.
Sega Corporation, usually styled as SEGA, is a Japanese multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Japan, with various offices around the world. Sega previously developed and manufactured its own brand of home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001, but a restructure was announced on January 31, 2001, that ceased continued production of its existing home console (Dreamcast), effectively exiting the company from the home console business. In spite of that, SEGA would go on to produce several videogames such as Super Monkey Ball franchise, the Sega Ages 2500 PlayStation 2 games, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Rez, Shadow the Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter 4, After Burner Climax, Valkyria Chronicles, Sonic Pinball Party, Bayonetta, Jet Set Radio, Puyo Pop Fever, Thunder Force VI, Shenmue II, Phantasy Star Online, Yakuza 2, Gunstar Super Heroes, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. The brand originated in 1990 with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo brand was officially discontinued in 2004.Game of the Yearfrom the Game Developers Choice Awards starting in 2001 (awards are given to games of the previous calendar year).Best selling games of every year'''In some years, sources disagree on the best-selling game.2000: Pokémon Stadium or Pokémon Crystal
2001: Madden NFL 2002 or Grand Theft Auto III
2002: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
2003: Madden NFL 2004 or Call of Duty
2004: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2005: Madden NFL 06 or Nintendogs
2006: Madden NFL 07
2007: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or Wii Sports
2008: Rock Band (video game) or Wii Play
2009: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Wii Sports
Writing
The decade saw the rise of digital media as opposed to the use of print, and the steady decline of printed books in countries where e-readers had become available.
The deaths of John Updike, Hunter S. Thompson, and other authors marked the end of various major writing careers influential during the late 20th century.
Popular book series such as Harry Potter, Twilight and Dan Brown's "Robert Langdon" (consisting of Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol) saw increased interest in various genres such as fantasy, romance, vampire fiction, and detective fiction, as well as young adult fiction in general.
Manga (also known as Japanese comics) became popular among the international audience, mostly in English-speaking countries. Such popular manga works include Lucky Star, Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto.
On July 19, 2001, English author and former politician, Jeffrey Archer, was found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice at a 1987 libel trial. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.Peter Pan in Scarlet is a novel by Geraldine McCaughrean. It is an official sequel to Scottish author and dramatist J. M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy, authorised by Great Ormond Street Hospital, to whom Barrie granted all rights to the character and original writings in 1929. McCaughrean was selected following a competition launched in 2004, in which novelists were invited to submit a sample chapter and plot outline.
J. K. Rowling was the best-selling author in the decade overall thanks to the Harry Potter book series, although she did not not pen the best-selling book (at least in the UK), being second to The Da Vinci Code, which had 5.2 million in the UK by 2009 and 80 million worldwide by 2012.
Sports
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, followed the centennial anniversary of the modern era Olympic Games, held in Atlanta in 1996. The Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, were a strong symbol, for modern Olympic Games were inspired by the competitions organized in Ancient Greece. Finally, the Beijing Games saw the emergence of China as a major sports power, with the highest number of titles for the first time. The 2002 Salt Lake City and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games were also major events, though slightly less popular.
A number of concerns and controversies over the 2008 Summer Olympics surfaced before, during, and after the 2008 Summer Olympics, and which received major media coverage. Leading up to the Olympics, there were concerns about human rights in China, such that many high-profile individuals, such as politicians and celebrities, announced intentions to boycott the games to protest China's role in the Darfur conflict, and Myanmar, its stance towards Tibet, or other aspects of its human rights record.
In a 2008 Time article entitled "Why Nobody's Boycotting Beijing", Vivienne Walt wrote:
'Leaders in power are more mindful of China's colossal clout in an increasingly shaky world economy, and therefore of the importance of keeping good relations with its government.'
One of the most prominent events of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing was the achievement of Michael Phelps the American swimmer, frequently cited as the greatest swimmer and one of the greatest Olympians of all time. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. As of August 2, 2009, Phelps has broken thirty-seven world records in swimming. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics, his eight at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica dominated the male sprinting events at the Beijing Olympics, in which he broke three world records, allowing him to be the first man to ever accomplish this at a single Olympic game. He holds the world record for the 100 metres (despite slowing down before the finish line to celebrate), the 200 metres and, along with his teammates, the 4 × 100 metres relay.
The Los Angeles Lakers won 3 NBA championships in a row in from 2000 to 2002, also known as a Three-peat lead by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
The rise of Ultimate Fighting Championship after the airing of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005.
In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, both the National Football League and Major League Baseball canceled their upcoming games for a week. As a result, the World Series would be played in November for the first time and the Super Bowl would be played in February for the first time.
The sport of fox hunting is controversial, particularly in the UK, where it was banned in Scotland in 2002, and in England and Wales in November 2004 (law enforced from February 2005), though shooting foxes as vermin remained legal.
Ron Atkinson, is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits.
Ron Atkinson's media work came to an abrupt halt on April 21, 2004, when he was urged to resign from ITV by Brian Barwick after he broadcast a racial remark live on air about the black Chelsea player Marcel Desailly; believing the microphone to be switched off, he said, "...he [Desailly] is what is known in some schools as a lazy nigger".
Association football's important events included two World Cups, one organized in South Korea and Japan, which saw Brazil win a record fifth title, and the other in Germany, which saw Italy win its fourth title. The regional competitions, the Copa América and UEFA European Championship, saw five nations rising the cup: Colombia (2001) and Brazil (2004, 2007) won the Copa América, while France (2000), Greece (2004) and Spain (2008) won the European Championship.
Rugby increased in size and audience, as the Rugby World Cup became the third most watched sporting event in the world with the 2007 Rugby World Cup organized in France.
Bloodgate is the nickname for a rugby union scandal involving the English team Harlequins in their Heineken Cup match against the Irish side Leinster on April 12, 2009. It was so called because of the use of fake blood capsules, and has been seen by some as one of the biggest scandals in rugby since professionalisation in the mid-1990s, indeed even as an argument against the professional ethos. The name is a pun on Watergate.
The New York Yankees won the first Major League Baseball World Series of the decade in 2000, as well as the last World Series of the decade in 2009. The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918 in 2004 and then again in 2007.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won a record sixth Super Bowl on February 1, 2009, against the Arizona Cardinals. Pittsburgh's Super Bowl win would remain the championship record for an NFL franchise until a decade later when the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams to tie the Super Bowl championship record.
In September 2004, Chelsea footballer Adrian Mutu failed a drugs test for cocaine and was released on October 29, 2004. He also received a seven-month ban and a £20,000 fine from The Football Association.
Michael Schumacher, the most titled F1 driver, won five F1 World Championships during the decade and finally retired in 2006, yet eventually confirming his come-back to F1 for 2010. Lance Armstrong won all the Tour de France between 1999 and 2005, also an all-time record, but was later stripped of all his titles when evidence emerged of his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won 16 Grand Slam titles to become the most titled player.
The 2006 Italian football scandal, also known as "Calciopoli", involved Italy's top professional football leagues, Serie A and Serie B. The scandal was uncovered in May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including A.C. Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina when a number of telephone interceptions showed a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organisations. Juventus were the champions of Serie A at the time. The teams have been accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane widely considered by experts and fans as one of the greatest football players of all time, was sent off in the 110th minute of the game, which was to be the last match of his career. After headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest, Zidane did not participate in the penalty shootout, which Italy won 5–3. It was later discovered through interviews that Materazzi had insulted Zidane's mother and sister that last moment which is what led to Zidane's heightened anger and reaction.
January 11, 2007 – When English footballer David Beckham joined the Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, he was given the highest player salary in the league's history; with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth US$6.5 million per year.
October 2007 – US world champion track and field athlete Marion Jones admitted that she took performance-enhancing drugs as far back as the 2000 Summer Olympics, and that she had lied about it to a grand jury investigating performance-enhancer creations.
November 29, 2007 – Portsmouth football manager Harry Redknapp angrily denied any wrongdoing after being arrested by police investigating alleged corruption in football: "If you are telling me this is how you treat anyone, it is not the society I grew up in."
The 2008 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer of Switzerland and Rafael Nadal of Spain, has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts.
British Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton, was disqualified from the 2009 Australian Grand Prix for providing "misleading evidence" during the stewards' hearing. He later privately apologised to FIA race director Charlie Whiting for having lied to the stewards.
In 2009, the World football transfer record was set by Spanish football club Real Madrid when it purchased Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo for £80 million (€93 million). Manchester United veteran Sir Bobby Charlton said the world-record offer shocked him:
Steroids also spread the sports world throughout the decade, mainly used in Major League Baseball. Players involved included Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez.
See also
List of decades
Timeline
The following articles contain brief timelines which list the most prominent events of the decade:
Footnotes
References
Further reading
London, Herbert I. The Transformational Decade: Snapshots of a Decade from 9/11 to the Obama Presidency'' (Lanham: University Press of America, 2012) 177 pp.
External links
The fashions, trends and people that defined the decade, VOGUE.COM UK
100 Top Pictures of the Decade – slideshow by Reuters
"A portrait of the decade", BBC, December 14, 2009
2000–2009 Video Timeline
20th century
21st century
Contemporary history
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME
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LAME
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LAME is a software encoder that converts a digitized WAV audio file into the MP3 audio coding file format. LAME is a free software project that was first released in 1998, and has incorporated many improvements since then, including an improved psychoacoustic model. The LAME encoder outperforms early encoders like L3enc and possibly the "gold standard encoder" MP3enc, both marketed by Fraunhofer.
LAME was required by some programs released as free software in which LAME was linked for MP3 support, but the patent has expired. This avoided including LAME itself, which use patented techniques, and so required patent licenses in some countries. LAME is now bundled with Audacity, which previously required a separate download for LAME.
History
The name LAME is a recursive acronym for "LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder".
Around mid-1998, Mike Cheng created LAME 1.0 as a set of modifications against the "8Hz-MP3" encoder source code. After some quality concerns raised by others, he decided to start again from scratch based on the "dist10" MPEG reference software sources. His goal was only to speed up the dist10 sources, and leave its quality untouched. That branch (a patch against the reference sources) became Lame 2.0. The project quickly became a team project. Mike Cheng eventually left leadership and started working on tooLAME (an MP2 encoder).
Mark Taylor then started pursuing increased quality in addition to better speed, and released version 3.0 featuring gpsycho, a new psychoacoustic model he developed. A few key improvements since LAME 3.x, in chronological order:
May 1999 (LAME 3.0): a new psychoacoustic model (GPSYCHO) is released.
June 1999 (LAME 3.11): The first variable bitrate (VBR) implementation is released. Soon after this, LAME also became able to target lower sampling frequencies from MPEG-2. (LAME 3.99 also supports the technologically simpler average bitrate (ABR), but it is unclear whether it was added before or with VBR.)
November 1999 (LAME 3.52): LAME switches from a GPL license to an LGPL license, which allows using it with closed-source applications.
May 2000 (LAME 3.81): the last pieces of the original ISO demonstration code are removed. LAME is not a patch anymore, but a full encoder.
December 2003 (LAME 3.94): substantial improvement to default settings, along with improved speed. LAME no longer requires users to enter complicated parameters to produce good results.
May 2007 (LAME 3.98): default variable bitrate encoding speed is vastly improved.
Patents and legal issues
Like all MP3 encoders, LAME implemented techniques covered by patents owned by the Fraunhofer Society and others. The developers of LAME did not license the technology described by these patents. Distributing compiled binaries of LAME, its libraries, or programs that derive from LAME in countries where those patents have been granted may have constituted infringement, but since 23 April 2017, all of these patents have expired.
The LAME developers stated that, since their code was only released in source code form, it should only be considered as an educational description of an MP3 encoder, and thus did not infringe any patent in itself. They also advised users to obtain relevant patent licenses before including a compiled version of the encoder in a product. Some software was released using this strategy: companies used the LAME library, but obtained patent licenses.
In the course of the 2005 Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal, there were reports that the Extended Copy Protection rootkit included on some Sony Compact Discs had portions of the LAME library without complying with the terms of the LGPL.
See also
List of codecs
Lossy compression
MP3, ID3
References
External links
LAME binaries - RareWares
LAME binaries for Audacity - recommended for the Audacity free and GPL audio editor
LAME Wiki - HydrogenAudio (audiophile information)
LAME Mp3 Info Tag revision 1 Specifications
1998 software
Cross-platform software
Free audio codecs
MP3
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way%20compression%20function
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One-way compression function
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In cryptography, a one-way compression function is a function that transforms two fixed-length inputs into a fixed-length output. The transformation is "one-way", meaning that it is difficult given a particular output to compute inputs which compress to that output. One-way compression functions are not related to conventional data compression algorithms, which instead can be inverted exactly (lossless compression) or approximately (lossy compression) to the original data.
One-way compression functions are for instance used in the Merkle–Damgård construction inside cryptographic hash functions.
One-way compression functions are often built from block ciphers.
Some methods to turn any normal block cipher into a one-way compression function are Davies–Meyer, Matyas–Meyer–Oseas, Miyaguchi–Preneel (single-block-length compression functions) and MDC-2/Meyer–Schilling, MDC-4, Hirose (double-block-length compression functions). These methods are described in detail further down. (MDC-2 is also the name of a hash function patented by IBM.)
Compression
A compression function mixes two fixed length inputs and produces a single fixed length output of the same size as one of the inputs. This can also be seen as that the compression function transforms one large fixed-length input into a shorter, fixed-length output.
For instance, input A might be 128 bits, input B 128 bits and they are compressed together to a single output of 128 bits. This is equivalent to having a single 256-bit input compressed to a single output of 128 bits.
Some compression functions do not compress by half, but instead by some other factor. For example, input A might be 256 bits, and input B 128 bits, which are compressed to a single output of 128 bits. That is, a total of 384 input bits are compressed together to 128 output bits.
The mixing is done in such a way that full avalanche effect is achieved. That is, every output bit depends on every input bit.
One-way
A one-way function is a function that is easy to compute but hard to invert. A one-way compression function (also called hash function) should have the following properties:
Easy to compute: If you have some input(s), it is easy to calculate the output.
Preimage-resistance: If an attacker only knows the output it should be infeasible to calculate an input. In other words, given an output , it should be unfeasible to calculate an input such that .
Second preimage-resistance: Given an input whose output is , it should be infeasible to find another input that has the same output , i.e. .
Collision-resistance: It should be hard to find any two different inputs that compress to the same output i.e. an attacker should not be able to find a pair of messages such that . Due to the birthday paradox (see also birthday attack) there is a 50% chance a collision can be found in time of about where is the number of bits in the hash function's output. An attack on the hash function thus should not be able to find a collision with less than about work.
Ideally one would like the "infeasibility" in preimage-resistance and second preimage-resistance to mean a work of about where is the number of bits in the hash function's output. However, particularly for second preimage-resistance this is a difficult problem.
The Merkle–Damgård construction
A common use of one-way compression functions is in the Merkle–Damgård construction inside cryptographic hash functions. Most widely used hash functions, including MD5, SHA-1 (which is deprecated) and SHA-2 use this construction.
A hash function must be able to process an arbitrary-length message into a fixed-length output. This can be achieved by breaking the input up into a series of equal-sized blocks, and operating on them in sequence using a one-way compression function. The compression function can either be specially designed for hashing or be built from a block cipher.
The last block processed should also be length padded, this is crucial to the security of this construction. This construction is called the Merkle–Damgård construction. Most widely used hash functions, including SHA-1 and MD5, take this form.
When length padding (also called MD-strengthening) is applied, attacks cannot find collisions faster than the birthday paradox (, being the block size in bits) if the used function is collision-resistant. Hence, the Merkle–Damgård hash construction reduces the problem of finding a proper hash function to finding a proper compression function.
A second preimage attack (given a message an attacker finds another message to satisfy can be done according to Kelsey and Schneier for a -message-block message in time . Note that the complexity of this attack reaches a minimum of for long messages when and approaches when messages are short.
Construction from block ciphers
One-way compression functions are often built from block ciphers.
Block ciphers take (like one-way compression functions) two fixed size inputs (the key and the plaintext) and return one single output (the ciphertext) which is the same size as the input plaintext.
However, modern block ciphers are only partially one-way. That is, given a plaintext and a ciphertext it is infeasible to find a key that encrypts the plaintext to the ciphertext. But, given a ciphertext and a key a matching plaintext can be found simply by using the block cipher's decryption function. Thus, to turn a block cipher into a one-way compression function some extra operations have to be added.
Some methods to turn any normal block cipher into a one-way compression function are Davies–Meyer, Matyas–Meyer–Oseas, Miyaguchi–Preneel (single-block-length compression functions) and MDC-2, MDC-4, Hirose (double-block-length compressions functions).
Single-block-length compression functions output the same number of bits as processed by the underlying block cipher. Consequently, double-block-length compression functions output twice the number of bits.
If a block cipher has a block size of say 128 bits single-block-length methods create a hash function that has the block size of 128 bits and produces a hash of 128 bits. Double-block-length methods make hashes with double the hash size compared to the block size of the block cipher used. So a 128-bit block cipher can be turned into a 256-bit hash function.
These methods are then used inside the Merkle–Damgård construction to build the actual hash function. These methods are described in detail further down.
Using a block cipher to build the one-way compression function for a hash function is usually somewhat slower than using a specially designed one-way compression function in the hash function. This is because all known secure constructions do the key scheduling for each block of the message. Black, Cochran and Shrimpton have shown that it is impossible to construct a one-way compression function that makes only one call to a block cipher with a fixed key. In practice reasonable speeds are achieved provided the key scheduling of the selected block cipher is not a too heavy operation.
But, in some cases it is easier because a single implementation of a block cipher can be used for both a block cipher and a hash function. It can also save code space in very tiny embedded systems like for instance smart cards or nodes in cars or other machines.
Therefore, the hash-rate or rate gives a glimpse of the efficiency of a hash function based on a certain compression function. The rate of an iterated hash function outlines the ratio between the number of block cipher operations and the output. More precisely, the rate represents the ratio between the number of processed bits of input , the output bit-length of the block cipher, and the necessary block cipher operations to produce these output bits. Generally, the usage of fewer block cipher operations results in a better overall performance of the entire hash function, but it also leads to a smaller hash-value which could be undesirable. The rate is expressed by the formula:
The hash function can only be considered secure if at least the following conditions are met:
The block cipher has no special properties that distinguish it from ideal ciphers, such as weak keys or keys that lead to identical or related encryptions (fixed points or key-collisions).
The resulting hash size is big enough. According to the birthday attack a security level of 280 (generally assumed to be infeasible to compute today) is desirable thus the hash size should be at least 160 bits.
The last block is properly length padded prior to the hashing. (See Merkle–Damgård construction.) Length padding is normally implemented and handled internally in specialised hash functions like SHA-1 etc.
The constructions presented below: Davies–Meyer, Matyas–Meyer–Oseas, Miyaguchi–Preneel and Hirose have been shown to be secure under the black-box analysis. The goal is to show that any attack that can be found is at most as efficient as the birthday attack under certain assumptions. The black-box model assumes that a block cipher is used that is randomly chosen from a set containing all appropriate block ciphers. In this model an attacker may freely encrypt and decrypt any blocks, but does not have access to an implementation of the block cipher. The encryption and decryption function are represented by oracles that receive a pair of either a plaintext and a key or a ciphertext and a key. The oracles then respond with a randomly chosen plaintext or ciphertext, if the pair was asked for the first time. They both share a table for these triplets, a pair from the query and corresponding response, and return the record, if a query was received for the second time. For the proof there is a collision finding algorithm that makes randomly chosen queries to the oracles. The algorithm returns 1, if two responses result in a collision involving the hash function that is built from a compression function applying this block cipher (0 else). The probability that the algorithm returns 1 is dependent on the number of queries which determine the security level.
Davies–Meyer
The Davies–Meyer single-block-length compression function feeds each block of the message () as the key to a block cipher. It feeds the previous hash value () as the plaintext to be encrypted. The output ciphertext is then also XORed (⊕) with the previous hash value () to produce the next hash value (). In the first round when there is no previous hash value it uses a constant pre-specified initial value ().
In mathematical notation Davies–Meyer can be described as:
The scheme has the rate (k is the keysize):
If the block cipher uses for instance 256-bit keys then each message block () is a 256-bit chunk of the message. If the same block cipher uses a block size of 128 bits then the input and output hash values in each round is 128 bits.
Variations of this method replace XOR with any other group operation, such as addition on 32-bit unsigned integers.
A notable property of the Davies–Meyer construction is that even if the underlying block cipher is totally secure, it is possible to compute fixed points for the construction: for any , one can find a value of such that : one just has to set . This is a property that random functions certainly do not have. So far, no practical attack has been based on this property, but one should be aware of this "feature". The fixed-points can be used in a second preimage attack (given a message , attacker finds another message to satisfy of Kelsey and Schneier for a -message-block message in time . If the construction does not allow easy creation of fixed points (like Matyas–Meyer–Oseas or Miyaguchi–Preneel) then this attack can be done in time. Note that in both cases the complexity is above but below when messages are long and that when messages get shorter the complexity of the attack approaches .
The security of the Davies–Meyer construction in the Ideal Cipher Model was first proven by R. Winternitz.
Matyas–Meyer–Oseas
The Matyas–Meyer–Oseas single-block-length one-way compression function can be considered the dual (the opposite) of Davies–Meyer.
It feeds each block of the message () as the plaintext to be encrypted. The output ciphertext is then also XORed (⊕) with the same message block () to produce the next hash value (). The previous hash value () is fed as the key to the block cipher. In the first round when there is no previous hash value it uses a constant pre-specified initial value ().
If the block cipher has different block and key sizes the hash value () will have the wrong size for use as the key. The cipher might also have other special requirements on the key. Then the hash value is first fed through the function to be converted/padded to fit as key for the cipher.
In mathematical notation Matyas–Meyer–Oseas can be described as:
The scheme has the rate:
A second preimage attack (given a message an attacker finds another message to satisfy ) can be done according to Kelsey and Schneier for a -message-block message in time . Note that the complexity is above but below when messages are long, and that when messages get shorter the complexity of the attack approaches .
Miyaguchi–Preneel
The Miyaguchi–Preneel single-block-length one-way compression function is an extended variant of Matyas–Meyer–Oseas. It was independently proposed by Shoji Miyaguchi and Bart Preneel.
It feeds each block of the message () as the plaintext to be encrypted. The output ciphertext is then XORed (⊕) with the same message block () and then also XORed with the previous hash value () to produce the next hash value (). The previous hash value () is fed as the key to the block cipher. In the first round when there is no previous hash value it uses a constant pre-specified initial value ().
If the block cipher has different block and key sizes the hash value () will have the wrong size for use as the key. The cipher might also have other special requirements on the key. Then the hash value is first fed through the function to be converted/padded to fit as key for the cipher.
In mathematical notation Miyaguchi–Preneel can be described as:
The scheme has the rate:
The roles of and may be switched, so that is encrypted under the key , thus making this method an extension of Davies–Meyer instead.
A second preimage attack (given a message an attacker finds another message to satisfy ) can be done according to Kelsey and Schneier for a -message-block message in time . Note that the complexity is above but below when messages are long, and that when messages get shorter the complexity of the attack approaches .
Hirose
The Hirose double-block-length one-way compression function consists of a block cipher plus a permutation . It was proposed by Shoichi Hirose in 2006 and is based on a work by Mridul Nandi.
It uses a block cipher whose key length is larger than the block length , and produces a hash of size . For example, any of the AES candidates with a 192- or 256-bit key (and 128-bit block).
Each round accepts a portion of the message that is bits long, and uses it to update two -bit state values and .
First, is concatenated with to produce a key . Then the two feedback values are updated according to:
is an arbitrary fixed-point-free permutation on an -bit value, typically defined as for an arbitrary non-zero constant (all ones may be a convenient choice).
Each encryption resembles the standard Davies–Meyer construction. The advantage of this scheme over other proposed double-block-length schemes is that both encryptions use the same key, and thus key scheduling effort may be shared.
The final output is . The scheme has the rate relative to encrypting the message with the cipher.
Hirose also provides a proof in the Ideal Cipher Model.
Sponge construction
The sponge construction can be used to build one-way compression functions.
See also
Whirlpool A cryptographic hash function built using the Miyaguchi–Preneel construction and a block cipher similar to Square and AES.
CBC-MAC, OMAC, and PMAC Methods to turn block ciphers into message authentication codes (MACs).
References
Citations
Sources
Cryptographic hash functions
Cryptographic primitives
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315404
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape%20Public%20License
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Netscape Public License
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The Netscape Public License (NPL) is a free software license, the license under which Netscape Communications Corporation originally released Mozilla.
Its most notable feature is that it gives the original developer of Mozilla (Netscape, now a subsidiary of AOL), the right to distribute modifications made by other contributors under whatever terms it desires, including proprietary terms, without granting similar rights to these other contributors in respect to contributions made by the original developer. This allowed the release of the Netscape 6 and later versions as proprietary software.
This asymmetry with respect to rights has led to criticism of the license by many members of the open source and free software movements: the Free Software Foundation acknowledged it as a free-software license but one to be avoided, and the Open Source Initiative either rejected it entirely or was not asked to review it. The FSF adds that it's not possible to combine software obtained under the license with software obtained under the GPL.
The Mozilla Public License version 1.1 is similar (and has limited "file-level copyleft"), but lacks the asymmetry in rights. Time Warner, exercising its rights under the Netscape Public License, and at the request of the Mozilla Foundation, relicensed all code in Mozilla that was under the Netscape Public License (including code by other contributors) to an MPL 1.1/GPL 2.0/LGPL 2.1 tri-license, thus removing the GPL-incompatibility.
References
External links
Netscape Public License Version 1.1
Netscape Public License Version 1.0
Mozilla
Netscape
Free and open-source software licenses
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36581071
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GreenButton
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GreenButton
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GreenButton was a New Zealand-based software firm. The company specialized in moving independent software vendors (ISVs) and enterprises to cloud computing. Founded in 2006, GreenButton was based in Wellington, New Zealand, with additional offices in Palo Alto, California and Seattle.
GreenButton was acquired by Microsoft on 2 May 2014; its technologies were integrated into its Azure service.
History
GreenButton was founded as InterGrid in 2006 in Wellington, New Zealand, to provide small scale customers access to job processors.
The company helped software vendors use cloud computing, offering a service called GreenButton in July 2010.
In 2011, the company was renamed to GreenButton, and they had joined the Microsoft Partner Network. In 2011, GreenButton was declared as Microsoft Corp's Windows Azure ISV Partner of the Year. They won the 2011 New Zealand Partner of the Year Award from Microsoft New Zealand.
In May 2011, GreenButton entered into an alliance with Microsoft.
It included an investment reported at more than US$1 million, and adding Mark Canepa to its board of directors.
GreenButton won BizSpark Partner of the Year and Software Exporter of the Year awards from MS New Zealand in 2011. Dave Fellows of GreenButton won the Solutions Architect of the Year award that year.
In December 2011, GreenButton opened two offices in the United States. The office at Palo Alto, California functioned as the US headquarters. The second was as a sales office in Seattle.
GreenButton was finalists for the New Zealand Hi-Tech awards.
The company had a total turnover of $1.5 million for the fiscal year 2011–12.
GreenButton partnered with the Pixar Animation Studios and the Microsoft's cloud computing platform Windows Azure, on a rendering service for RenderMan image generating software announced in January 2012. The service enhances the RenderMan Interface Specification.
In June 2012, GreenButton announced a partnership with the GNS Science of New Zealand and American based Stillwater Group for cloud computing during seismic processing. The company promoted software which integrated seismic processing to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud service. Seismic processing is part of the oil and natural gas exploration process, and requires heavy processing of data.
In 2012 GreenButton entered into a partnership with Numerix, an American company that develops software for risk analysis of financial derivatives.
It won an award at the 2012 Wellington Gold awards.
On 2 May 2014, GreenButton announced its acquisition by Microsoft with its technology integrated into Microsoft Azure. GreenButton stopped accepting new customers on the same day.
After its acquisition GreenButton now operates under Microsoft Azure product line as Azure Batch.
References
External links
Microsoft acquisitions
Cloud infrastructure
Cloud computing providers
Cloud platforms
Cloud storage
Defunct software companies of New Zealand
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1863114
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP%20NetWeaver
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SAP NetWeaver
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SAP NetWeaver is a software stack for many of SAP SE's applications. The SAP NetWeaver Application Server, sometimes referred to as WebAS, is the runtime environment for the SAP applications and all of the mySAP Business Suite runs on SAP WebAS: supplier relationship management (SRM), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), product lifecycle management (PLM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), transportation management system (TMS).
The product is marketed as a service-oriented architecture for enterprise application integration. It can be used for custom development and integration with other applications and systems, and is built primarily using the ABAP programming language, but also uses C, C++, and Java. It can also be extended with, and interoperate with, technologies such as Microsoft .NET, Java EE, and IBM WebSphere.
History
The NetWeaver platform was a portal technology developed by Israeli software company TopTier Software (founded in 1997), and which SAP acquired in 2001. The founder of TopTier Software, Shai Agassi, joined SAP and was given responsibility for the company's overall technology strategy and execution. He initiated the development of the integration and application platform that became the NetWeaver platform.
SAP announced the first release, NetWeaver 2004, in January 2003, and it was made available on March 31, 2004.
NetWeaver 7.0, also known as 2004s, was made available on October 24, 2005. The latest available release is SAP NetWeaver 7.5 SP 19.
SAP NetWeaver Application Server
SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence
SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment (CE)
SAP NetWeaver Enterprise Portal (EP)
SAP NetWeaver Identity Management (IdM)
SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM)
SAP NetWeaver Mobile
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI)
SAP has also worked with the computer hardware vendors HP, IBM, Fujitsu and Sun Microsystems (which was later acquired by Oracle Corporation) to deliver hardware and software for the deployment of NetWeaver components. Examples of these appliances include BW Accelerator and Enterprise Search.
Development tools for NetWeaver include ABAP Workbench (SE80), SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio (NWDS) based on Eclipse for most of the Java part of the technology (Web Dynpro for Java, JEE, Java Dictionary, portal applications etc.), SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure (NWDI) and Visual Composer.
SAP Central Process Scheduling
SAP Central Process Scheduling by Redwood (SAP CPS), is an event-driven process scheduler incorporated into SAP ERP components.
SAP CPS is a component of SAP NetWeaver. It was designed to centrally automate and manage background processes and automate business applications running on SAP NetWeaver. These applications include SAP Solution Manager and SAP Closing Cockpit, which use the SAP CPS component with cross-system and non-SAP applications. SAP Business Process Automation (BPA) is a new rebranded solution that replaces SAP Central Process Scheduling by Redwood.
See also
Web Dynpro
SAP Composite Application Framework – an environment for designing and using composite applications
References
Steffen Karch, Loren Heilig: SAP NetWeaver Roadmap. Galileo Press, 2005,
External links
SAP NetWeaver Capabilities discussions, blogs, documents and videos on the SAP Community Network (SCN)
Service-oriented architecture-related products
Portal software
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27887183
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABM%20Intelligence
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ABM Intelligence
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Altia-ABM is a provider of software for the law enforcement, investigation and intelligence sectors around the world. The company is headquartered in Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Areas of business
Altia-ABM specialises in the development of intelligence and investigative software for managing both Overt and Covert operations across law enforcement, counter terrorism agencies and commercial organisations. The company provides solutions to clients across the globe, including the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Canada. Approximately 80% of UK Police Forces use Altia-ABM intelligence software and Altia-ABM the national intelligence system across Scotland, the Scottish Intelligence Database.
History
The original company was formed in 1992 to deliver overt based software to law enforcement organisations in the UK. The company was then bought by ZEDA Limited in 1997 to combine the overt with covert products, such as Informant Management and Covert operation. The company changed its name to ABM in 1998 and now provides software to law enforcement, security agencies and large commercial organisations that require investigative management to counter fraud, counterfeiting and smuggling operations.
Acquisition
It was acquired by Altia Solutions in September 2016 for undisclosed amount of sum and is now its subsidiary.
See also
Scottish Intelligence Database, UK
References
Altia-ABM profile
External links
Altia-ABM website
Companies based in Nottingham
British companies established in 1992
Software companies of the United Kingdom
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel%20Stevenson
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Lionel Stevenson
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Arthur Lionel Stevenson (1902–1973) was a North American writer and lecturer. A leading authority on the literature of the Victorian period, he published biographies of William Makepeace Thackeray and George Meredith as well as a panoramic study of the English novel. He was James B. Duke Professor of English Literature at Duke University from 1955 until 1972.
Birth, family and education
Lionel Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 16 July 1902 and was the only child of Henry and Mabel Rose Stevenson. His mother and his paternal grandmother were both members of the Cary family, decayed Anglo-Irish gentry, and Lionel was both a first and a second cousin of the novelist Joyce Cary.
In September 1907 Henry and Mabel Stevenson emigrated to Duncan, British Columbia, hoping Henry might there recover from declining health, but he died within three months of arrival. The residual Stevenson household included and was largely supported by Mabel's brother, George Cary, and in 1918 they removed to Vancouver so that Lionel (then known as Leo, which he came to dislike) could attend the University of British Columbia. He graduated there in 1922, obtained a master's degree from the University of Toronto in the following year, and in 1925 received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.
First appointments and further study
He was appointed an instructor at Berkeley following the award of his doctorate, and in 1930 he accepted a position as professor and chairman of the English department at Arizona State Teachers College, becoming a naturalised American citizen in the same year. In 1933, at the depth of the Great Depression, the State of Arizona was bankrupt and the college was unable to pay its staff in hard currency. Stevenson took the opportunity for further study and obtained a place at the University of Oxford where, as a student of St Catherine's, he proceeded to a BLitt degree in 1935, submitting a thesis on Sydney, Lady Morgan, and being examined by Edmund Blunden and C. S. Lewis.
On returning to America, he spent two further years at Arizona State College before joining the University of Southern California as assistant professor of English in 1937.
Early publications
In 1926 he published a slim volume of his own verse, A Pool of Stars, and a substantial treatise on Canada's poetry and prose, Appraisals of Canadian Literature. The latter was well received and for many years regarded as the leading study in its field, Stevenson's “perceptive observations” anticipating those of Northrop Frye. He believed Canadian literature was at an early phase of evolution, saying it had yielded no great novels or plays because these were sophisticated forms driven by the intricacies of social relations, whereas the nation's poetry had flowered as a result of his countrymen's “genuine communion with nature in her pristine power, where civilization has never intruded her confusions”.
It has been suggested that Appraisals was influenced in part by Stevenson's religious interest. He had been a member of the Toronto Theosophical Society from its foundation in 1924, and the impact on literature of Darwinism (whereby, in Stevenson's words, “Man became a mere product of the same forces which had shaped the rest of the Cosmos”) became central to his thought and work during the 1920s.
His doctoral dissertation at Berkeley, “The Reflection of the Evolutionary Theory in English Poetry”, attempted the first comprehensive scholarly assessment of poetic engagement with the theory of evolution and, as extensively revised by him, was published under the title Darwin Among the Poets in 1932. Stevenson noted that Browning and Tennyson “startlingly anticipated the evolutionary theory in their early poems, only to shrink from its later developments”, whereas George Meredith “had little perception of the idea till the scientists announced it” but then “devoted himself to it unstintingly”. The book, characterised as “a summary of poetic philosophy in England for the past hundred years”, was immediately influential and “helped shape the interdisciplinary field of science and poetry”.
His Oxford thesis on Lady Morgan also appeared in print (entitled, after Morgan's own novel, The Wild Irish Girl) in 1936. It was the first in a succession of in-depth biographical studies for which Stevenson was probably best known by the time of his death thirty-seven years later.
Academic career
At Southern California he was made an associate professor in 1941 and promoted to professor in 1944. In 1955 he accepted appointment as James B. Duke Professor of English Literature at Duke University, remaining in this role until 1972 (when made Professor Emeritus) and serving as chair of the university's English Department from 1964 to 1967.
Following retirement from Duke he became Visiting Professor at the University of Houston (1973), having previously held visiting professorships at the Universities of Illinois (1952–53) and New York (1967–68) and a visiting lectureship at Oxford (1960–61). He had also taught in the summer sessions at San Francisco State College and the University of Colorado.
His lectures often contained a touch of drama, in the form of his graphic readings of poetry, and he strongly encouraged those students intending to become teachers to perform in plays in order to develop good voices. He himself sometimes appeared in dramatic performances staged by the Dickens Fellowship.
Later publications
During his time at Southern California and Duke he was energetic in research and prolific in authorship. He wrote biographies of Charles Lever, of William Makepeace Thackeray and, in what was described as a “grand-scale resurrection of Victorian literature’s most neglected writer”, of George Meredith. He produced a comprehensive account of the Pre-Raphaelite Poets, was co-author of a detailed survey of Victorian English Literature, and wrote a chronological examination of English prose fiction from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century. This last, in the opinion of reviewer Garry Hogg, rendered it “impossible ever again to read a work of fiction without a deeper, richer insight”.
Between 1937 and 1973 he contributed more than forty critical and research articles (in addition to numerous reviews and brief notes) to scholarly journals, several such pieces being republished in hard-back anthologies. He wrote introductions for reprints of novels by Thackeray, Meredith, John Galsworthy and George Moore, compiled the first published version of Victorian Fiction: A Guide to Research, and contributed to Encyclopedia Americana and other leading works of reference.
He was president of Dickens Fellowship branches in California, wrote for the Fellowship's journal from 1926 onward, and briefly edited the Dickens Studies Newsletter. His 1943 Sewanee Review article on what he called “Dickens’s Dark Novels“ exposed the combination of external political forces and personal crises that had beset their author, adding momentum to the revolution in Dickens studies which Edmund Wilson had set in motion some years earlier.
Other work in the field of literature
He sat on the editorial boards of many leading professional publications and was a member of more than a dozen literary organisations and societies, some of which he represented at international conventions. He was president of the California Writers Club in 1928–30, chair of the Victorian literature section of the Modern Language Association in 1959, and American chair of the Modern Humanities Research Association in 1968–72.
He chaired the editorial committee of the Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards for twenty-five years, each year reading hundreds of poems in order to help select those for inclusion in the Awards’ annual Best Poems compilation. He was first vice-president of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets from 1944 but wrote little poetry in his later years, and then only for private circulation. Nevertheless, he was, at his death, described by Charles D. Perlee (Chairman of the California Fine Arts and Humanities Study Committee) as “one of America’s finest poets”.
Awards and distinctions
His book on the Pre-Raphaelites, which was said to “reaffirm his eminence in the very first rank of Victorian Scholars”, won the Mayflower Cup for the outstanding non-fiction work of 1973. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1951 and a Guggenheim Fellow in 1960.
Final appointment and death
In the autumn of 1973 he moved to Vancouver to take up appointment as the first Distinguished Professor of English at his alma mater, the University of British Columbia, for the academic year 1973–4. He was due to deliver the Garnett Sedgwick Memorial Lecture there when he died suddenly on 21 December 1973.
Tributes and legacy
When Stevenson died, his immediate successor as James B. Duke Professor, Louis J. Budd, declared that “as a biographer of Victorian novelists and as historian of the English novel he had no peer” — an assessment promptly endorsed in World Literature Written in English. A later successor at Duke, Clyde de Loache Ryals, recalling Stevenson's celebration of Victorian literature at a time when it was generally deprecated, described him as “one of the founders of Victorian studies” whose pioneering efforts by teaching and writing “revealed the vast body of Victorian literature as one of the glories of the English language” and contributed to the popularity which Victorian prose and poetry continued to enjoy after his death.
Stevenson left his lifetime collection of books, papers and letters (with correspondents as diverse as Daphne du Maurier and Albert Einstein) to Duke University: the collection comprises some 33,300 items, including important articles of Canadiana.
Personal
In 1954 Stevenson married Lillian Sprague Jones. She brought him a stepdaughter, Marietta, whose later academic and professional success was a source of great pleasure for him. As his widow Lillian married Dr Thomas Clark Pollock, formerly Professor of English and Head of the English Department at the University of New York, in 1975. She died, again a widow, in 2003.
Principal works
A full bibliography for Stevenson appears in the volume of essays written in honour of Stevenson on his retirement from Duke University. The following may be regarded as his principal works:
A Pool of Stars (poetry), Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1926
Appraisals of Canadian Literature, The Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto, 1926
The Rose of the Sea (poetry), Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1932
Darwin Among the Poets, Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1932
The Wild Irish Girl: the Life of Sydney Owenson, Lady Morgan (1776–1859), Chapman & Hall, London, 1936
Dr Quicksilver: the Life of Charles Lever, Chapman & Hall, London, 1939
The Showman of Vanity Fair: the Life of William Makepeace Thackeray, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1947
(with John D. Cooke) English Literature of the Victorian Period, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, 1949
The Ordeal of George Meredith, a Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1953
The English Novel: A Panorama, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1960
The History of the English Novel, Vol. XI, Yesterday and After, Barnes & Noble, New York, 1967
The Pre-Raphaelite Poets, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1972
Notes
References
1902 births
1973 deaths
Literary critics of English
American literary historians
Duke University faculty
Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford
University of British Columbia alumni
University of Toronto alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Writers from Edinburgh
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk%20enclosure
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Disk enclosure
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A disk enclosure is a specialized casing designed to hold and power disk drives while providing a mechanism to allow them to communicate to one or more separate computers.
Drive enclosures provide power to the drives therein and convert the data sent across their native data bus into a format usable by an external connection on the computer to which it is connected. In some cases, the conversion is as trivial as carrying a signal between different connector types. In others, it is complicated enough to require a separate embedded system to retransmit data over connector and signal of a different standard.
Factory-assembled external hard disk drives, external DVD-ROM drives, and others consist of a storage device in a disk enclosure.
Benefits
Key benefits to using external disk enclosures include:
Adding additional storage space and media types to small form factor and laptop computers, as well as sealed embedded systems such as digital video recorders and video game consoles.
Adding RAID capabilities to computers that lack RAID controllers or adequate space for additional drives.
Adding more drives to any given server or workstation than their chassis can hold.
Transferring data between non-networked computers, humorously known as sneakernet.
Adding an easily removable backup source with a separate power supply from the connected computer.
Using a network-attached storage-capable enclosure over a network to share data or provide a cheap off-site backup solution.
Preventing the heat from a disk drive from increasing the heat inside an operating computer case.
Simple and cheap approach to hot swapping.
Recovering the data from a damaged computer's hard drive, particularly when it does not share the same interface with the computer used to perform the recovery.
Lower the cost of removable storage by reusing hardware designed for internal use.
In some instances, provides a hardened chassis to prevent wear and tear.
Consumer enclosures
In the consumer market, commonly used configurations of drive enclosures utilize magnetic hard drives or optical disc drives inside USB, FireWire, or Serial ATA enclosures. External 3.5-in floppy drives are also fairly common, following a trend to not integrate floppy drives into compact and laptop computers. Pre-built external drives are available through all major manufacturers of hard drives, as well as several third parties.
These may also be referred to as a caddy – a sheath, typically plastic or metallic, within which a hard disk drive can be placed and connected with the same type of adapters as a conventional motherboard and power supply would use. The exterior of the caddy typically has two female sockets, used for data transfer and power.
Variants of caddy:
some larger caddies can support several devices at once and can feature either separate outputs to connect each device to a different computer, or a single output to connect both over the same data cable
some caddies do not require an external power supply, and instead obtain power from the device to which they are connected
some caddies have integrated fans with which to keep the drives within at a cool temperature
caddies for all major standards exist, supporting for example ATA, SCSI and SATA drives and USB, SCSI and FireWire outputs
Advantages:
relatively high transfer speed; typically faster than other common portable media such as CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives, slower than drives connected using solely ATA, SCSI and SATA connectors
storage; typically larger than CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives
price-to-storage ratio; typically better than CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives
Disadvantages:
power; most variants require a supply, unlike CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives...
size; typically larger than CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives
Form factors
Multiple drives: RAID-enabled enclosures and iSCSI enclosures commonly hold multiple drives. High-end and server-oriented chassis are often built around 3.5-in drives in hot-swappable drive caddies.
"5.25-inch" drive: (5.75 in × 8 in × 1.63 in = 146.1 mm × 203 mm × 41.4 mm)Most desktop models of drives for optical 120-mm discs (DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives, CD or DVD burners), are designed to be mounted into a so-called "5.25-inch slot", which obtained its nickname because this slot size was initially used by drives for floppy disks in the IBM PC AT. (The original "5.25-inch slot" in the IBM PC was with 3.25 in (82.6 mm) twice as high as the one commonly used today; in fact, the PC's drive size was called "5.25-inch full-height", and the size used in the PC AT and commonly used today is "5.25-inch half-height".)
"3.5-inch" drive: (4 in × 5.75 in × 1 in = 101.6 mm × 146.05 mm × 25.4 mm) This smaller, disk-drive form factor was introduced with the Apple Macintosh series in 1984, and later adopted throughout the industry beginning widely with the IBM PS/2 series in 1987, which included drives of this size for 90-mm ("3.5-inch") floppy disks. This form factor is today used by most desktop hard drives. They usually have 10 mounting holes with American 6-32 UNC 2B threads: three on each side and four on the bottom.
"2.5-inch" drive: (2.75 in × 3.945 in × 0.374 in = 69.85 mm × 100.2 mm × 9.5 mm)This even smaller, form factor is widely used today in notebook computers and similar small-footprint devices. One commonplace feature for these drives is radically lower power consumption than is found in larger drives. This enables enclosure vendors to power the devices directly from the host device's USB or other external bus, in most cases.
"1.8-inch" drive: Found in extremely compact devices, such as certain portable media players and smaller notebooks, these devices are not standardized like their 2.5 inch cousins.
A range of other form factors has emerged for mobile devices. While laptop hard drives are today generally of the 9.5 mm high variant of the "2.5-inch" drive form factor, older laptops and notebooks had hard drives that varied in height, which can make it difficult to find a well-fitting chassis. Laptop optical drives require "slim" 5.25-in enclosures, since they have approximately half the thickness of their desktop counterparts, and most models use a special 50-pin connector that differs from the 40-pin connectors used on desktop ATA drives.
While they are less common now than they once were, it is also possible to purchase a drive chassis and mount that will convert a 3.5-inch hard drive into a removable hard disk that can be plugged into and removed from a mounting bracket permanently installed in a desktop PC case. The mounting bracket carries the data bus and power connections over a proprietary connector, and converts back into the drive's native data bus format and power connections inside the drive's chassis.
Enterprise enclosures
In enterprise storage the term refers to a larger physical chassis. The term can be used both in reference to network-attached storage (NAS) and components of a storage area network (SAN) or be used to describe a chassis directly attached to one or more servers over an external bus. Like their conventional server brethren, these devices may include a backplane, temperature sensors, cooling systems, enclosure management devices, and redundant power supplies.
Connections
Native drive interfaces
SCSI, SAS, Fibre Channel, eSATAp, and eSATA interfaces can be used to directly connect the external hard drive to an internal host adapter, without the need for any intervening controller. External variants of these native drive protocols are extremely similar to the internal protocols, but are often expanded to carry power (such as eSATAp and the SCSI Single Connector Attachment) and to use a more durable physical connector. A host adapter with external port may be necessary to connect a drive, if a computer lacks an available external port.
Direct attach serial interfaces
USB or FireWire connections are typically used to attach consumer class external hard drives to a computer. Unlike SCSI, eSATA, or SAS these require circuitry to convert the hard disk's native signal to the appropriate protocol. Parallel ATA and internal Serial ATA hard disks are frequently connected to such chassis because nearly all computers on the market today have USB or FireWire ports, and these chassis are inexpensive and easy to find.
Network protocols
iSCSI, NFS, or CIFS are all commonly used protocols that are used to allow an external hard drive to use a network to send data to a computer system. This type of external hard drive is also known as Network-attached storage or NAS. Often, such drives are embedded computers running operating systems such as Linux or VxWorks that use their NFS daemons and SAMBA to provide a networked file system. A newer technology NAS, has been applied to some disk enclosures, which allows network ability, direct connection (e.g., USB) and even RAID features.
Hard drive shucking
"Shucking" refers to the process of purchasing an external hard disk drive and removing the drive from its enclosure, in order for it to be used as an internal disk drive. This is performed because external drives are often cheaper than internal drives of the same capacity and model, and that external drives designed for continuous usage often contain hard drives designed for increased reliability.
Following the hard disk drive shortages caused by the 2011 Thailand floods, data storage company Backblaze reduced its cost of acquiring hard drives by purchasing external hard drives and shucking them. According to Backblaze Chief Executive Gleb Budman, the company purchased 1,838 external drives during this period. Describing the process as "drive farming", the company noted that it was much cheaper for them to purchase 3 TB external drives and removing them from their cases manually, than it is to purchase internal drives.
See also
Computer case
USB Mass Storage Device
USB flash drive
Hard drive
Network-attached storage
Network Direct Attached Storage
Computer bus
SCSI Enclosure Services
SCSI Attached Fault-Tolerant Enclosure
SGPIO - Serial General Purpose Input/Output
External storage
Solid-state drive
References
Computer storage devices
Enclosure
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintel
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Wintel
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Wintel is the partnership of Microsoft Windows and Intel producing personal computers using Intel x86-compatible processors running Microsoft Windows. The word Wintel is a portmanteau of Windows and Intel.
Background
By the early 1980s, the chaos and incompatibility that was rife in the early microcomputer market had given way to a smaller number of de facto industry standards, including the S-100 bus, CP/M, the Apple II, Microsoft BASIC in read-only memory (ROM), and the inch floppy drive. No single firm controlled the industry, and fierce competition ensured that innovation in both hardware and software was the rule rather than the exception. Microsoft Windows and Intel processors gained ascendance and their ongoing alliance gave them market dominance.
Intel claimed that this partnership has enabled the two companies to give customers the benefit of "a seemingly unending spiral of falling prices and rising performance". In addition, they claim a "history of innovation" and "a shared vision of flexible computing for the agile business".
IBM
In 1981 IBM entered the microcomputer market. The IBM PC was created by a small subdivision of the firm. It was unusual for an IBM product because it was largely sourced from outside component suppliers and was intended to run third-party operating systems and software. IBM published the technical specifications and schematics of the PC, which allowed third-party companies to produce compatible hardware, the so-called open architecture. The IBM PC became one of the most successful computers of all time.
The key feature of the IBM PC was that it had IBM's enormous public respect behind it. It was an accident of history that the IBM PC happened to have an Intel CPU (instead of the technically superior Motorola 68000 that had been tipped for it, or an IBM in-house design), and that it shipped with IBM PC DOS (a licensed version of Microsoft's MS-DOS) rather than the CP/M-86 operating system, but these accidents were to have enormous significance in later years.
Because the IBM PC was an IBM product with the IBM badge, personal computers became respectable. It became easier for a business to justify buying a microcomputer than it had been even a year or two before, and easiest of all to justify buying the IBM Personal Computer. Since the PC architecture was well documented in IBM's manuals, and PC DOS was designed to be similar to earlier CP/M operating system, the PC soon had thousands of different third-party add-in cards and software packages available. This made the PC the preferred option for many, since the PC supported the hardware and software they needed.
Competitors
Industry competitors took one of several approaches to the changing market. Some (such as Apple, Amiga, Atari, and Acorn) persevered with their independent and quite different systems. Of those systems, Apple's Macintosh is the only one remaining on the market. Others (such as Digital, then the world's second-largest computer company, Hewlett-Packard, and Apricot) concentrated on making similar but technically superior models. Other early market leaders (such as Tandy-Radio Shack or Texas Instruments) stayed with outdated architectures and proprietary operating systems for some time before belatedly realizing which way market trends were going and switching to the most successful long-term business strategy, which was to build a machine that duplicated the IBM PC as closely as possible and sell it for a slightly lower price, or with higher performance. Given the very conservative engineering of the early IBM personal computers and their higher than average prices, this was not a terribly difficult task at first, bar only the great technical challenge of crafting a BIOS that duplicated the function of the IBM BIOS exactly but did not infringe on copyrights.
The two early leaders in this last strategy were both start-up companies: Columbia Data Products and Compaq. They were the first to achieve reputations for very close compatibility with the IBM machines, which meant that they could run software written for the IBM machine without recompilation. Before long, IBM had the best-selling personal computer in the world and at least two of the next-best sellers were, for practical purposes, identical.
For the software industry, the effect was profound. First, it meant that it was rational to write for the IBM PC and its clones as a high priority, and port versions for less common systems at leisure.
Second (and even more importantly), when a software writer in pre-IBM days had to be careful to use as plain a subset of the possible techniques as practicable (so as to be able to run on any hardware that ran CP/M), with a major part of the market now all using the same exact hardware (or a very similar clone of it) it was practical to take advantage of any and every hardware-specific feature offered by the IBM.
Independent BIOS companies like Award, Chips and Technologies, and Phoenix began to market a clean room BIOS that was 100% compatible with IBM's, and from that time on any competent computer manufacturer could achieve IBM compatibility as a matter of routine.
From around 1984, the market was fast growing but relatively stable. There was as yet no sign of the "Win" half of "Wintel," though Microsoft was achieving enormous revenues from DOS sales both to IBM and to an ever-growing list of other manufacturers who had agreed to buy an MS-DOS license for every machine they made, even those that shipped with competing products. As for Intel, every PC made either had an Intel processor or one made by a second source supplier under license from Intel. Intel and Microsoft had enormous revenues, Compaq and many other makers between them made far more machines than IBM, but the power to decide the shape of the personal computer rested firmly in IBM's hands.
In 1987, IBM introduced the PS/2 computer line. Although the open architecture of the PC and its successors had been a great success for them, and they were the biggest single manufacturer, most of the market was buying faster and cheaper IBM-compatible machines made by other firms. The PS/2s remained software compatible, but the hardware was quite different. It introduced the technically superior Micro Channel architecture bus for higher speed communication within the system, but failed to maintain the open AT bus (later called the ISA bus), which meant that none of the millions of existing add-in cards would function. In other words, the new IBM machines were not IBM-compatible.
Further, IBM planned the PS/2 in such a way that for both technical and legal reasons it would be very difficult to clone. Instead, IBM offered to sell a PS/2 licence to anyone who could afford the royalty. They would not only require a royalty for every PS/2-compatible machine sold, but also a payment for every IBM-compatible machine the particular maker had ever made in the past.
Many PC manufacturers signed up as PS/2 licensees. (Apricot, who had lost badly by persevering with their "better PC than IBM" strategy up until this time, was one of them, but there were many others.) Many others decided to hold off before committing themselves. Some major manufacturers, known as the Gang of Nine, decided to group together and decide on a bus type that would be open to all manufacturers, as fast as or faster than IBM's Microchannel, and yet still retain backward compatibility with ISA.
This was the crucial turning point: the industry as a whole was no longer content to let IBM make all the major decisions about technical direction. In the event, the new EISA bus was itself a commercial failure beyond the high end: By the time the cost of implementing EISA was reduced to the extent that it would be implemented in most desktop PCs, the much cheaper VESA Local Bus had removed most of the need for it in desktop PCs (though it remained common in servers due to for example the possibility of data corruption on hard disk drives attached to VLB controllers), and Intel's PCI bus was just around the corner. But although very few EISA systems were sold, it had achieved its purpose: IBM no longer controlled the computer industry. IBM would belatedly amend the PS/2 series with the PS/ValuePoint line, which tracked the features of the emerging ad hoc platform.
At around this same time, the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Microsoft's Windows operating environment started to become popular, and Microsoft's competitor Digital Research started to recover a share of the DOS press and DOS market with DR-DOS. IBM planned to replace DOS with the vastly superior OS/2 (originally an IBM/Microsoft joint venture, and unlike the PS/2 hardware, highly backward compatible), but Microsoft preferred to push the industry in the direction of its own product, Windows. With IBM suffering its greatest ever public humiliation in the wake of the PS/2 disaster, massive financial losses, and a marked lack of company unity or direction, Microsoft's combination of a soft marketing voice and a big financial stick was effective: Windows became the de facto standard.
For the competing computer manufacturers, large or small, the only common factors to provide joint technical leadership were operating software from Microsoft, and CPUs from Intel.
Dominance
Over the following years, both firms in the Wintel partnership would attempt to extend their monopolies. Intel made a successful major push into the motherboard and chipset markets—becoming the largest motherboard manufacturer in the world and, at one stage, almost the only chipset manufacturer—but badly fumbled its attempt to move into the graphics chip market, and (from 1991) faced sharp competition in its core CPU territory from AMD, Cyrix, VIA and Transmeta.
Microsoft fared better. In 1990, Microsoft had two competitors in its core market (Digital Research and IBM), Intel had none. By 1996, Intel had two competitors in its core market (CPUs), while Microsoft had none. Microsoft had pursued a policy of insisting on per-processor royalties, thus making competing operating systems unattractive to computer manufacturers and provoking regulatory scrutiny from the European Commission and US authorities, leading to an undertaking by Microsoft to cease such practices. However, the integration of DOS into Windows 95 was the masterstroke: not only were the other operating system vendors frozen out, Microsoft could now require computer manufacturers to comply with its demands on pain of higher prices (as when it required IBM to stop actively marketing OS/2 or else pay more than twice as much for Windows 95 as its competitor Compaq) or by withholding "Designed for Windows 95" endorsement (which was regarded as an essential hardware marketing tool). Microsoft was also able to require that free publicity be given over to them by hardware makers. (For example, the Windows key advertising symbols on nearly all modern keyboards, or the strict license restrictions on what may or may not be displayed during system boot and on the Windows desktop.) Also, Microsoft was able to take over most of the networking market (formerly the domain of Artisoft's LANtastic and Novell*s NetWare) with Windows NT, and the business application market (formerly led by Lotus and WordPerfect) with Microsoft Office.
Although Microsoft is by far the dominant player in the Wintel partnership now, Intel's continuing influence should not be underestimated. Intel and Microsoft, once the closest of partners, have operated at an uneasy distance from one another since their first major dispute, which had to do with Intel's heavy investment in the 32-bit optimized Pentium Pro and Microsoft's delivery of an unexpectedly high proportion of 16-bit code in Windows 95. Both firms talk with one another's competitors from time to time, most notably with Microsoft's close relationship with AMD and the development of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition utilizing AMD-designed 64-bit extensions to the x86 architecture, and Intel's decision to sell its processors to Apple Inc.
The Wintel platform is still the dominant desktop and laptop computer architecture.
There have been opinions that Microsoft Windows by its natural software bloat has eaten up much of the "hardware progress" that Intel processors gave to the "Wintel platform" via Moore's law. After the rise of smartphones and netbooks some media outlets have speculated predicting a possible end of Wintel dominance with more and more cheap devices employing other technologies.
Intel is investing in Linux, and Microsoft has ported Windows to the ARM architecture with Windows 8.
Modern usage of the term
In the strictest sense, "Wintel" refers only to computers that run Windows on an Intel processor. However, Wintel is now commonly used to refer to a system running a modern Microsoft operating system on any modern x86 compatible CPU, manufactured by either Intel or AMD. That is because the PC applications that can run on an x86 Intel processor usually can run on an x86 AMD processor too.
In mid-October 2017, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 on Qualcomm Snapdragon is at the final stage of testing. That would not be considered as "Wintel". Systems running a Microsoft operating system using an Intel processor based on the Itanium or ARM architecture, despite that fact that the processor is manufactured by Intel, are also not considered to be a Wintel system.
See also
Apple–Intel architecture
AIM alliance
Mac transition to Intel processors
IBM PC compatible
Pocket PC
Windows Mobile
Network effect
Computing platform
Commodity computing
PowerPC
De facto standard
Dominant design
Notes
References
External links
Intel and Microsoft Alliance
Computing platforms
IBM PC compatibles
X86 architecture
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11395%20Iphinous
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11395 Iphinous
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11395 Iphinous, provisional designation: , is a large Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 15 December 1998, by astronomers with the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States. The dark asteroid has a rotation period of 17.4 hours and possibly a spherical shape. The body is one of the 50 largest Jupiter trojans. It was named from Greek mythology after the Achaean soldier Iphinous who was killed by Glaucus in the Trojan War.
Orbit and classification
Iphinous is a Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a 1:1 resonance (see Trojans in astronomy). It is also a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.9–5.6 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,345 days; semi-major axis of 5.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 24° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in February 1991, nearly 8 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.
Naming
This minor planet was numbered on 31 August 1999 (). On 14 May 2021, the object was named by the Working Group Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) after Iphinous from Greek mythology. An Achaean soldier who participated in the Trojan War, Iphinous was killed by Glaucus in hand-to-hand combat during the siege of Troy.
Physical characteristics
Iphinous is a generically assumed C-type asteroid. Many if not most Jupiter trojans show an even darker D or P-type spectrum.
Rotation period
In 2009 and 2010, two fragmentary lightcurves of Iphinous were obtained from photometric observations by Stefano Mottola at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. Lightcurve analysis gave a tentative rotation period of 13.696 and 13.70 hours with a brightness variation of 0.14 and 0.06 magnitude, respectively ().
During 2015–2017, three additional photometric observation were made at the Californian Center for Solar System Studies by Robert Stephens, Daniel Coley and Brian Warner in collaboration with Linda French from Illinois Wesleyan University. The two best-rated lightcurves gave a period of 17.383 and 17.44 with an amplitude of 0.08 and 0.11 magnitude, respectively, indicating that the body has a nearly spherical shape ().
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Iphinous measures between 64.71 and 68.98 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.045 and 0.067.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0510 and a diameter of 64.51 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.8.
Notes
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info )
Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (10001)-(15000) – Minor Planet Center
011395
011395
011395
Minor planets named from Greek mythology
Named minor planets
19981215
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%20Athanasius%20College%20of%20Engineering
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Mar Athanasius College of Engineering
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Mar Athanasius College of Engineering (MACE) is a government aided engineering college located in Kothamangalam, Kerala state, India.
One of the oldest engineering colleges in Kerala, MACE was established in 1961 under Mar Athanasius College Association, and is approved by the AICTE. The college is affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and formerly affiliated with the Mahatma Gandhi University. It has six departments and two auxiliary departments (Mathematics and Humanities & Science).
The college provides Bachelor of Technology degrees (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Communication, Computer Science, Robotics, Data Science), Master of Technology Degrees (Computer Aided Structural Engineering (Civil), Production & Industrial Engineering (Mechanical)) and Master of Computer Applications (MCA) degrees. The college conducts a techfest called Takshak and an arts and culture fest called Sanskriti. The students of MACE are generally referred as MACEians.
Governance
The Institution is the second venture of the Mar Athanasius College Association, the first being the arts and science college started in 1955. The Association also has Mar Athanasius International School and Mar Baselious College, Adimali, to its credit. Prof. M P Varghese had been at the reins from the time of founding.
There is a governing body separately for MACE consisting of representatives of the All India Council for Technical Education, the State Government, Mahatma Gandhi University, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, and Mar Athanasius College Association.
Academic programs
Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech)
Candidates for admission to the B.Tech. Degree course shall be required to have passed the higher secondary/+2/XII Std. examination conducted by boards/departments recognized/accepted by the university, obtaining not less than 50% marks in Mathematics and not less than 50% marks in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry put together or the diploma examination in Engineering, Kerala or any examination accepted by the government of Kerala as equivalent there to with 50% marks in the final qualifying examination, subject to the usual concession allowed for backward and other communities as specified from time to time. The college has the best accredited Mechanical engineering department in the entire state. Only the top five percentile in the Kerala Engineering Entrance Exam are able to secure a seat. The course takes a duration of 4 years with 8 semesters and it is approved by the Indian AICTE.
Seats
Civil Engineering - 120
Mechanical Engineering - 120
Electrical & Electronics Engineering - 120
Electronics & Communication Engineering - 120
Computer Science and Engineering - 60
Robotics - 60
Data Science - 60
Master of Technology (M.Tech)
Seats
Computer Science and Engineering (Computer Science) - 18
Computer Aided Structural Engineering (Civil) - 18
Production & Industrial Engineering (Mechanical) - 18
Power Electronics (Electrical& Electronics) - 18
Thermal Power Engineering (Mechanical) - 24
Master of Computer Applications (M.C.A.)
The minimum qualification for admission is B.Sc. Comp. Sc, BCA or B.Sc or B.Com degree with Mathematics or Statistics as one of the subjects with not less than 55% marks, excluding languages, in the qualifying examination.
Candidates with B.Sc. Comp Sc, BCA, B.Sc/ B.Com degree of the Mahatma Gandhi University or any other degree, accepted as equivalent there to by the Mahatma Gandhi University are alone eligible to apply.
The intake is 30.
Student life
Takshak
Takshak is the annual national technical fest of Mar Athanasius College of Engineering Kothamangalam.
The MacePost
The MacePost is a student operated newsletter website of the college, managed and maintained entirely by the student community of the college. It was launched on 15 July 2013. It provides information on the activities of the various clubs and departments, as well as news of the alumni.
Since 2017 The Macepost and the Mar Athanasius have managed the annual MACE Model United Nations (MACE MUN) Conference, a two-days international game aimed to build up a blend of diplomacy, debating and display of leadership skills in the context of a reproduction of the UN committees and UN General Assembly. The event has involved around 60 delegates from various years and branches of the college, most of which were participating for the first time.
Notable alumni
Murali Thummarukudy - Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Environment Programme
V. K Matthews - Founder chairman IBS software services
Ranjith Sankar - Malayalam screenwriter and film director
Arun Alat- Popular Malayalam language singer
T. G. Ravi, Actor
Dr. K. Poulose Jacob, Academician, Ex-Pro Vice Chancellor, Cochin University of Science & Technology
Niranj Suresh, Playback Singer
Alumni association
MACE Alumni Association (MACEAA) has nine chapters — seven abroad and two in India. Around 8000 (all old students, final-year students and teaching staff of MACE) are members of MACEAA.
See also
Mar Athanasius College
NSS College of Engineering
Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering
References
External links
MACE Official Home Page
TAKSHAK SASTHRAMELA
THE MACE POST
Mace 2003 ECE StudentsHome Page
Mace 1995 Alumni Home Page
CEE information
Mar Athanasius College Association Official Facebook Page
Macemoments Instagram page
Macemoments podcast
Macemoments
Christian universities and colleges in India
Engineering colleges in Ernakulam district
Colleges affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala
Educational institutions established in 1961
1961 establishments in Kerala
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda%20calculus
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Lambda calculus
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Lambda calculus (also written as λ-calculus) is a formal system in mathematical logic for expressing computation based on function abstraction and application using variable binding and substitution. It is a universal model of computation that can be used to simulate any Turing machine. It was introduced by the mathematician Alonzo Church in the 1930s as part of his research into the foundations of mathematics.
Lambda calculus consists of constructing lambda terms and performing reduction operations on them. In the simplest form of lambda calculus, terms are built using only the following rules:
producing expressions such as: (λx.λy.(λz.(λx.z x) (λy.z y)) (x y)). Parentheses can be dropped if the expression is unambiguous. For some applications, terms for logical and mathematical constants and operations may be included.
The reduction operations include:
If De Bruijn indexing is used, then α-conversion is no longer required as there will be no name collisions. If repeated application of the reduction steps eventually terminates, then by the Church–Rosser theorem it will produce a β-normal form.
Variable names are not needed if using a universal lambda function, such as Iota and Jot, which can create any function behavior by calling it on itself in various combinations.
Explanation and applications
Lambda calculus is Turing complete, that is, it is a universal model of computation that can be used to simulate any Turing machine. Its namesake, the Greek letter lambda (λ), is used in lambda expressions and lambda terms to denote binding a variable in a function.
Lambda calculus may be untyped or typed. In typed lambda calculus, functions can be applied only if they are capable of accepting the given input's "type" of data. Typed lambda calculi are weaker than the untyped lambda calculus, which is the primary subject of this article, in the sense that typed lambda calculi can express less than the untyped calculus can, but on the other hand typed lambda calculi allow more things to be proven; in the simply typed lambda calculus it is, for example, a theorem that every evaluation strategy terminates for every simply typed lambda-term, whereas evaluation of untyped lambda-terms need not terminate. One reason there are many different typed lambda calculi has been the desire to do more (of what the untyped calculus can do) without giving up on being able to prove strong theorems about the calculus.
Lambda calculus has applications in many different areas in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. Lambda calculus has played an important role in the development of the theory of programming languages. Functional programming languages implement lambda calculus. Lambda calculus is also a current research topic in category theory.
History
The lambda calculus was introduced by mathematician Alonzo Church in the 1930s as part of an investigation into the foundations of mathematics. The original system was shown to be logically inconsistent in 1935 when Stephen Kleene and J. B. Rosser developed the Kleene–Rosser paradox.
Subsequently, in 1936 Church isolated and published just the portion relevant to computation, what is now called the untyped lambda calculus. In 1940, he also introduced a computationally weaker, but logically consistent system, known as the simply typed lambda calculus.
Until the 1960s when its relation to programming languages was clarified, the lambda calculus was only a formalism. Thanks to Richard Montague and other linguists' applications in the semantics of natural language, the lambda calculus has begun to enjoy a respectable place in both linguistics and computer science.
Origin of the lambda symbol
There is some uncertainty over the reason for Church's use of the Greek letter lambda (λ) as the notation for function-abstraction in the lambda calculus, perhaps in part due to conflicting explanations by Church himself. According to Cardone and Hindley (2006):
By the way, why did Church choose the notation “λ”? In [an unpublished 1964 letter to Harald Dickson] he stated clearly that it came from the notation “” used for class-abstraction by Whitehead and Russell, by first modifying “” to “” to distinguish function-abstraction from class-abstraction, and then changing “” to “λ” for ease of printing.
This origin was also reported in [Rosser, 1984, p.338]. On the other hand, in his later years Church told two enquirers that the choice was more accidental: a symbol was needed and λ just happened to be chosen.
Dana Scott has also addressed this question in various public lectures.
Scott recounts that he once posed a question about the origin of the lambda symbol to Church's son-in-law John Addison, who then wrote his father-in-law a postcard:
Dear Professor Church,
Russell had the iota operator, Hilbert had the epsilon operator. Why did you choose lambda for your operator?
According to Scott, Church's entire response consisted of returning the postcard with the following annotation: "eeny, meeny, miny, moe".
Informal description
Motivation
Computable functions are a fundamental concept within computer science and mathematics. The lambda calculus provides a simple semantics for computation, enabling properties of computation to be studied formally. The lambda calculus incorporates two simplifications that make this semantics simple.
The first simplification is that the lambda calculus treats functions "anonymously", without giving them explicit names. For example, the function
can be rewritten in anonymous form as
(which is read as "a tuple of and is mapped to "). Similarly, the function
can be rewritten in anonymous form as
where the input is simply mapped to itself.
The second simplification is that the lambda calculus only uses functions of a single input. An ordinary function that requires two inputs, for instance the function, can be reworked into an equivalent function that accepts a single input, and as output returns another function, that in turn accepts a single input. For example,
can be reworked into
This method, known as currying, transforms a function that takes multiple arguments into a chain of functions each with a single argument.
Function application of the function to the arguments (5, 2), yields at once
,
whereas evaluation of the curried version requires one more step
// the definition of has been used with in the inner expression. This is like β-reduction.
// the definition of has been used with . Again, similar to β-reduction.
to arrive at the same result.
The lambda calculus
The lambda calculus consists of a language of lambda terms, which are defined by a certain formal syntax, and a set of transformation rules, which allow manipulation of the lambda terms. These transformation rules can be viewed as an equational theory or as an operational definition.
As described above, all functions in the lambda calculus are anonymous functions, having no names. They only accept one input variable, with currying used to implement functions with several variables.
Lambda terms
The syntax of the lambda calculus defines some expressions as valid lambda calculus expressions and some as invalid, just as some strings of characters are valid C programs and some are not. A valid lambda calculus expression is called a "lambda term".
The following three rules give an inductive definition that can be applied to build all syntactically valid lambda terms:
a variable, , is itself a valid lambda term
if is a lambda term, and is a variable, then (sometimes written in ASCII as ) is a lambda term (called an abstraction);
if and are lambda terms, then is a lambda term (called an application).
Nothing else is a lambda term. Thus a lambda term is valid if and only if it can be obtained by repeated application of these three rules. However, some parentheses can be omitted according to certain rules. For example, the outermost parentheses are usually not written. See Notation, below.
An abstraction is a definition of an anonymous function that is capable of taking a single input and substituting it into the expression .
It thus defines an anonymous function that takes and returns . For example, is an abstraction for the function using the term for . The definition of a function with an abstraction merely "sets up" the function but does not invoke it. The abstraction binds the variable in the term .
An application represents the application of a function to an input , that is, it represents the act of calling function on input to produce .
There is no concept in lambda calculus of variable declaration. In a definition such as (i.e. ), the lambda calculus treats as a variable that is not yet defined. The abstraction is syntactically valid, and represents a function that adds its input to the yet-unknown .
Bracketing may be used and may be needed to disambiguate terms. For example, and denote different terms (although they coincidentally reduce to the same value). Here, the first example defines a function whose lambda term is the result of applying x to the child function, while the second example is the application of the outermost function to the input x, which returns the child function. Therefore, both examples evaluate to the identity function .
Functions that operate on functions
In lambda calculus, functions are taken to be 'first class values', so functions may be used as the inputs, or be returned as outputs from other functions.
For example, represents the identity function, , and represents the identity function applied to . Further, represents the constant function , the function that always returns , no matter the input. In lambda calculus, function application is regarded as left-associative, so that means .
There are several notions of "equivalence" and "reduction" that allow lambda terms to be "reduced" to "equivalent" lambda terms.
Alpha equivalence
A basic form of equivalence, definable on lambda terms, is alpha equivalence. It captures the intuition that the particular choice of a bound variable, in an abstraction, does not (usually) matter.
For instance, and are alpha-equivalent lambda terms, and they both represent the same function (the identity function).
The terms and are not alpha-equivalent, because they are not bound in an abstraction.
In many presentations, it is usual to identify alpha-equivalent lambda terms.
The following definitions are necessary in order to be able to define β-reduction:
Free variables
The free variables of a term are those variables not bound by an abstraction. The set of free variables of an expression is defined inductively:
The free variables of are just
The set of free variables of is the set of free variables of , but with removed
The set of free variables of is the union of the set of free variables of and the set of free variables of .
For example, the lambda term representing the identity has no free variables, but the function has a single free variable, .
Capture-avoiding substitutions
Suppose , and are lambda terms and and are variables.
The notation indicates substitution of for in in a capture-avoiding manner. This is defined so that:
;
if ;
;
;
if and is not in the free variables of . The variable is said to be "fresh" for .
For example, , and .
The freshness condition (requiring that is not in the free variables of ) is crucial in order to ensure that substitution does not change the meaning of functions.
For example, a substitution is made that ignores the freshness condition can lead to errors: . This substitution turns the constant function into the identity by substitution.
In general, failure to meet the freshness condition can be remedied by alpha-renaming with a suitable fresh variable.
For example, switching back to our correct notion of substitution, in the abstraction can be renamed with a fresh variable , to obtain , and the meaning of the function is preserved by substitution.
β-reduction
The β-reduction rule states that an application of the form reduces to the term . The notation is used to indicate that β-reduces to .
For example, for every , . This demonstrates that really is the identity.
Similarly, , which demonstrates that is a constant function.
The lambda calculus may be seen as an idealized version of a functional programming language, like Haskell or Standard ML.
Under this view, β-reduction corresponds to a computational step. This step can be repeated by additional β-reductions until there are no more applications left to reduce. In the untyped lambda calculus, as presented here, this reduction process may not terminate.
For instance, consider the term .
Here .
That is, the term reduces to itself in a single β-reduction, and therefore the reduction process will never terminate.
Another aspect of the untyped lambda calculus is that it does not distinguish between different kinds of data.
For instance, it may be desirable to write a function that only operates on numbers. However, in the untyped lambda calculus, there is no way to prevent a function from being applied to truth values, strings, or other non-number objects.
Formal definition
Definition
Lambda expressions are composed of:
variables v1, v2, ...;
the abstraction symbols λ (lambda) and . (dot);
parentheses ().
The set of lambda expressions, , can be defined inductively:
If x is a variable, then
If x is a variable and then
If then
Instances of rule 2 are known as abstractions and instances of rule 3 are known as applications.
Notation
To keep the notation of lambda expressions uncluttered, the following conventions are usually applied:
Outermost parentheses are dropped: M N instead of (M N).
Applications are assumed to be left associative: M N P may be written instead of ((M N) P).
The body of an abstraction extends as far right as possible: λx.M N means λx.(M N) and not (λx.M) N.
A sequence of abstractions is contracted: λx.λy.λz.N is abbreviated as λxyz.N.
Free and bound variables
The abstraction operator, λ, is said to bind its variable wherever it occurs in the body of the abstraction. Variables that fall within the scope of an abstraction are said to be bound. In an expression λx.M, the part λx is often called binder, as a hint that the variable x is getting bound by appending λx to M. All other variables are called free. For example, in the expression λy.x x y, y is a bound variable and x is a free variable. Also a variable is bound by its nearest abstraction. In the following example the single occurrence of x in the expression is bound by the second lambda: λx.y (λx.z x).
The set of free variables of a lambda expression, M, is denoted as FV(M) and is defined by recursion on the structure of the terms, as follows:
FV(x) = {x}, where x is a variable.
FV(λx.M) = FV(M) \ {x}.
An expression that contains no free variables is said to be closed. Closed lambda expressions are also known as combinators and are equivalent to terms in combinatory logic.
Reduction
The meaning of lambda expressions is defined by how expressions can be reduced.
There are three kinds of reduction:
α-conversion: changing bound variables;
β-reduction: applying functions to their arguments;
η-reduction: which captures a notion of extensionality.
We also speak of the resulting equivalences: two expressions are α-equivalent, if they can be α-converted into the same expression. β-equivalence and η-equivalence are defined similarly.
The term redex, short for reducible expression, refers to subterms that can be reduced by one of the reduction rules. For example, (λx.M) N is a β-redex in expressing the substitution of N for x in M. The expression to which a redex reduces is called its reduct; the reduct of (λx.M) N is M[x := N].
If x is not free in M, λx.M x is also an η-redex, with a reduct of M.
α-conversion
α-conversion, sometimes known as α-renaming, allows bound variable names to be changed. For example, α-conversion of λx.x might yield λy.y. Terms that differ only by α-conversion are called α-equivalent. Frequently, in uses of lambda calculus, α-equivalent terms are considered to be equivalent.
The precise rules for α-conversion are not completely trivial. First, when α-converting an abstraction, the only variable occurrences that are renamed are those that are bound to the same abstraction. For example, an α-conversion of λx.λx.x could result in λy.λx.x, but it could not result in λy.λx.y. The latter has a different meaning from the original. This is analogous to the programming notion of variable shadowing.
Second, α-conversion is not possible if it would result in a variable getting captured by a different abstraction. For example, if we replace x with y in λx.λy.x, we get λy.λy.y, which is not at all the same.
In programming languages with static scope, α-conversion can be used to make name resolution simpler by ensuring that no variable name masks a name in a containing scope (see α-renaming to make name resolution trivial).
In the De Bruijn index notation, any two α-equivalent terms are syntactically identical.
Substitution
Substitution, written M[V := N], is the process of replacing all free occurrences of the variable V in the expression M with expression N. Substitution on terms of the lambda calculus is defined by recursion on the structure of terms, as follows (note: x and y are only variables while M and N are any lambda expression):
x[x := N] = N
y[x := N] = y, if x ≠ y
(M1 M2)[x := N] = M1[x := N] M2[x := N]
(λx.M)[x := N] = λx.M
(λy.M)[x := N] = λy.(M[x := N]), if x ≠ y and y ∉ FV(N)
To substitute into an abstraction, it is sometimes necessary to α-convert the expression. For example, it is not correct for (λx.y)[y := x] to result in λx.x, because the substituted x was supposed to be free but ended up being bound. The correct substitution in this case is λz.x, up to α-equivalence. Substitution is defined uniquely up to α-equivalence.
β-reduction
β-reduction captures the idea of function application. β-reduction is defined in terms of substitution: the β-reduction of (λV.M) N is M[V := N].
For example, assuming some encoding of 2, 7, ×, we have the following β-reduction: (λn.n × 2) 7 → 7 × 2.
β-reduction can be seen to be the same as the concept of local reducibility in natural deduction, via the Curry–Howard isomorphism.
η-reduction
η-reduction expresses the idea of extensionality, which in this context is that two functions are the same if and only if they give the same result for all arguments. η-reduction converts between λx.f x and f whenever x does not appear free in f.
η-reduction can be seen to be the same as the concept of local completeness in natural deduction, via the Curry–Howard isomorphism.
Normal forms and confluence
For the untyped lambda calculus, β-reduction as a rewriting rule is neither strongly normalising nor weakly normalising.
However, it can be shown that β-reduction is confluent when working up to α-conversion (i.e. we consider two normal forms to be equal if it is possible to α-convert one into the other).
Therefore, both strongly normalising terms and weakly normalising terms have a unique normal form. For strongly normalising terms, any reduction strategy is guaranteed to yield the normal form, whereas for weakly normalising terms, some reduction strategies may fail to find it.
Encoding datatypes
The basic lambda calculus may be used to model booleans, arithmetic, data structures and recursion, as illustrated in the following sub-sections.
Arithmetic in lambda calculus
There are several possible ways to define the natural numbers in lambda calculus, but by far the most common are the Church numerals, which can be defined as follows:
and so on. Or using the alternative syntax presented above in Notation:
A Church numeral is a higher-order function—it takes a single-argument function , and returns another single-argument function. The Church numeral is a function that takes a function as argument and returns the -th composition of , i.e. the function composed with itself times. This is denoted and is in fact the -th power of (considered as an operator); is defined to be the identity function. Such repeated compositions (of a single function ) obey the laws of exponents, which is why these numerals can be used for arithmetic. (In Church's original lambda calculus, the formal parameter of a lambda expression was required to occur at least once in the function body, which made the above definition of impossible.)
One way of thinking about the Church numeral , which is often useful when analysing programs, is as an instruction 'repeat n times'. For example, using the and functions defined below, one can define a function that constructs a (linked) list of n elements all equal to x by repeating 'prepend another x element' n times, starting from an empty list. The lambda term is
By varying what is being repeated, and varying what argument that function being repeated is applied to, a great many different effects can be achieved.
We can define a successor function, which takes a Church numeral and returns by adding another application of , where '(mf)x' means the function 'f' is applied 'm' times on 'x':
Because the -th composition of composed with the -th composition of gives the -th composition of , addition can be defined as follows:
can be thought of as a function taking two natural numbers as arguments and returning a natural number; it can be verified that
and
are β-equivalent lambda expressions. Since adding to a number can be accomplished by adding 1 times, an alternative definition is:
Similarly, multiplication can be defined as
Alternatively
since multiplying and is the same as repeating the add function times and then applying it to zero.
Exponentiation has a rather simple rendering in Church numerals, namely
The predecessor function defined by for a positive integer and is considerably more difficult. The formula
can be validated by showing inductively that if T denotes , then for . Two other definitions of are given below, one using conditionals and the other using pairs. With the predecessor function, subtraction is straightforward. Defining
,
yields when and otherwise.
Logic and predicates
By convention, the following two definitions (known as Church booleans) are used for the boolean values and :
(Note that is equivalent to the Church numeral zero defined above)
Then, with these two lambda terms, we can define some logic operators (these are just possible formulations; other expressions are equally correct):
We are now able to compute some logic functions, for example:
and we see that is equivalent to .
A predicate is a function that returns a boolean value. The most fundamental predicate is , which returns if its argument is the Church numeral , and if its argument is any other Church numeral:
The following predicate tests whether the first argument is less-than-or-equal-to the second:
,
and since , if and , it is straightforward to build a predicate for numerical equality.
The availability of predicates and the above definition of and make it convenient to write "if-then-else" expressions in lambda calculus. For example, the predecessor function can be defined as:
which can be verified by showing inductively that is the add − 1 function for > 0.
Pairs
A pair (2-tuple) can be defined in terms of and , by using the Church encoding for pairs. For example, encapsulates the pair (,), returns the first element of the pair, and returns the second.
A linked list can be defined as either NIL for the empty list, or the of an element and a smaller list. The predicate tests for the value . (Alternatively, with , the construct obviates the need for an explicit NULL test).
As an example of the use of pairs, the shift-and-increment function that maps to can be defined as
which allows us to give perhaps the most transparent version of the predecessor function:
Additional programming techniques
There is a considerable body of programming idioms for lambda calculus. Many of these were originally developed in the context of using lambda calculus as a foundation for programming language semantics, effectively using lambda calculus as a low-level programming language. Because several programming languages include the lambda calculus (or something very similar) as a fragment, these techniques also see use in practical programming, but may then be perceived as obscure or foreign.
Named constants
In lambda calculus, a library would take the form of a collection of previously defined functions, which as lambda-terms are merely particular constants. The pure lambda calculus does not have a concept of named constants since all atomic lambda-terms are variables, but one can emulate having named constants by setting aside a variable as the name of the constant, using abstraction to bind that variable in the main body, and apply that abstraction to the intended definition. Thus to use to mean M (some explicit lambda-term) in N (another lambda-term, the "main program"), one can say
N M
Authors often introduce syntactic sugar, such as , to permit writing the above in the more intuitive order
MN
By chaining such definitions, one can write a lambda calculus "program" as zero or more function definitions, followed by one lambda-term using those functions that constitutes the main body of the program.
A notable restriction of this is that the name is not defined in M, since M is outside the scope of the abstraction binding ; this means a recursive function definition cannot be used as the M with . The more advanced syntactic sugar construction that allows writing recursive function definitions in that naive style instead additionally employs fixed-point combinators.
Recursion and fixed points
Recursion is the definition of a function using the function itself. Lambda calculus cannot express this as directly as some other notations: all functions are anonymous in lambda calculus, so we can't refer to a value which is yet to be defined, inside the lambda term defining that same value. However, recursion can still be achieved by arranging for a lambda expression to receive itself as its argument value, for example in .
Consider the factorial function recursively defined by
.
In the lambda expression which is to represent this function, a parameter (typically the first one) will be assumed to receive the lambda expression itself as its value, so that calling it – applying it to an argument – will amount to recursion. Thus to achieve recursion, the intended-as-self-referencing argument (called here) must always be passed to itself within the function body, at a call point:
with to hold, so and
The self-application achieves replication here, passing the function's lambda expression on to the next invocation as an argument value, making it available to be referenced and called there.
This solves it but requires re-writing each recursive call as self-application. We would like to have a generic solution, without a need for any re-writes:
with to hold, so and
where
so that
Given a lambda term with first argument representing recursive call (e.g. here), the fixed-point combinator will return a self-replicating lambda expression representing the recursive function (here, ). The function does not need to be explicitly passed to itself at any point, for the self-replication is arranged in advance, when it is created, to be done each time it is called. Thus the original lambda expression is re-created inside itself, at call-point, achieving self-reference.
In fact, there are many possible definitions for this operator, the simplest of them being:
In the lambda calculus, is a fixed-point of , as it expands to:
Now, to perform our recursive call to the factorial function, we would simply call , where n is the number we are calculating the factorial of. Given n = 4, for example, this gives:
Every recursively defined function can be seen as a fixed point of some suitably defined function closing over the recursive call with an extra argument, and therefore, using , every recursively defined function can be expressed as a lambda expression. In particular, we can now cleanly define the subtraction, multiplication and comparison predicate of natural numbers recursively.
Standard terms
Certain terms have commonly accepted names:
is the identity function. and form complete combinator calculus systems that can express any lambda term - see
the next section. is , the smallest term that has no normal form. is standard and defined above. and defined above are commonly abbreviated as and .
Abstraction elimination
If N is a lambda-term without abstraction, but possibly containing named constants (combinators), then there exists a lambda-term T(,N) which is equivalent to N but lacks abstraction (except as part of the named constants, if these are considered non-atomic). This can also be viewed as anonymising variables, as T(,N) removes all occurrences of from N, while still allowing argument values to be substituted into the positions where N contains an . The conversion function T can be defined by:
T(, ) := I
T(, N) := K N if is not free in N.
T(, M N) := S T(, M) T(, N)
In either case, a term of the form T(,N) P can reduce by having the initial combinator I, K, or S grab the argument P, just like β-reduction of N P would do. I returns that argument. K throws the argument away, just like N would do if has no free occurrence in N. S passes the argument on to both subterms of the application, and then applies the result of the first to the result of the second.
The combinators B and C are similar to S, but pass the argument on to only one subterm of an application (B to the "argument" subterm and C to the "function" subterm), thus saving a subsequent K if there is no occurrence of in one subterm. In comparison to B and C, the S combinator actually conflates two functionalities: rearranging arguments, and duplicating an argument so that it may be used in two places. The W combinator does only the latter, yielding the B, C, K, W system as an alternative to SKI combinator calculus.
Typed lambda calculus
A typed lambda calculus is a typed formalism that uses the lambda-symbol () to denote anonymous function abstraction. In this context, types are usually objects of a syntactic nature that are assigned to lambda terms; the exact nature of a type depends on the calculus considered (see Kinds of typed lambda calculi). From a certain point of view, typed lambda calculi can be seen as refinements of the untyped lambda calculus but from another point of view, they can also be considered the more fundamental theory and untyped lambda calculus a special case with only one type.
Typed lambda calculi are foundational programming languages and are the base of typed functional programming languages such as ML and Haskell and, more indirectly, typed imperative programming languages. Typed lambda calculi play an important role in the design of type systems for programming languages; here typability usually captures desirable properties of the program, e.g. the program will not cause a memory access violation.
Typed lambda calculi are closely related to mathematical logic and proof theory via the Curry–Howard isomorphism and they can be considered as the internal language of classes of categories, e.g. the simply typed lambda calculus is the language of Cartesian closed categories (CCCs).
Reduction strategies
Whether a term is normalising or not, and how much work needs to be done in normalising it if it is, depends to a large extent on the reduction strategy used. Common lambda calculus reduction strategies include:
Normal order The leftmost, outermost redex is always reduced first. That is, whenever possible the arguments are substituted into the body of an abstraction before the arguments are reduced.
Applicative order The leftmost, innermost redex is always reduced first. Intuitively this means a function's arguments are always reduced before the function itself. Applicative order always attempts to apply functions to normal forms, even when this is not possible.
Full β-reductions Any redex can be reduced at any time. This means essentially the lack of any particular reduction strategy—with regard to reducibility, "all bets are off".
Weak reduction strategies do not reduce under lambda abstractions:
Call by value A redex is reduced only when its right hand side has reduced to a value (variable or abstraction). Only the outermost redexes are reduced.
Call by name As normal order, but no reductions are performed inside abstractions. For example, is in normal form according to this strategy, although it contains the redex .
Strategies with sharing reduce computations that are "the same" in parallel:
Optimal reduction As normal order, but computations that have the same label are reduced simultaneously.
Call by need As call by name (hence weak), but function applications that would duplicate terms instead name the argument, which is then reduced only "when it is needed".
Computability
There is no algorithm that takes as input any two lambda expressions and outputs or depending on whether one expression reduces to the other. More precisely, no computable function can decide the question. This was historically the first problem for which undecidability could be proven. As usual for such a proof, computable means computable by any model of computation that is Turing complete. In fact computability can itself be defined via the lambda calculus: a function F: N → N of natural numbers is a computable function if and only if there exists a lambda expression f such that for every pair of x, y in N, F(x)=y if and only if f =β , where and are the Church numerals corresponding to x and y, respectively and =β meaning equivalence with β-reduction. See the Church–Turing thesis for other approaches to defining computability and their equivalence.
Church's proof of uncomputability first reduces the problem to determining whether a given lambda expression has a normal form. Then he assumes that this predicate is computable, and can hence be expressed in lambda calculus. Building on earlier work by Kleene and constructing a Gödel numbering for lambda expressions, he constructs a lambda expression that closely follows the proof of Gödel's first incompleteness theorem. If is applied to its own Gödel number, a contradiction results.
Complexity
The notion of computational complexity for the lambda calculus is a bit tricky, because the cost of a β-reduction may vary depending on how it is implemented.
To be precise, one must somehow find the location of all of the occurrences of the bound variable in the expression , implying a time cost, or one must keep track of the locations of free variables in some way, implying a space cost. A naïve search for the locations of in is O(n) in the length n of . Director strings were an early approach that traded this time cost for a quadratic space usage. More generally this has led to the study of systems that use explicit substitution.
In 2014 it was shown that the number of β-reduction steps taken by normal order reduction to reduce a term is a reasonable time cost model, that is, the reduction can be simulated on a Turing machine in time polynomially proportional to the number of steps. This was a long-standing open problem, due to size explosion, the existence of lambda terms which grow exponentially in size for each β-reduction. The result gets around this by working with a compact shared representation. The result makes clear that the amount of space needed to evaluate a lambda term is not proportional to the size of the term during reduction. It is not currently known what a good measure of space complexity would be.
An unreasonable model does not necessarily mean inefficient. Optimal reduction reduces all computations with the same label in one step, avoiding duplicated work, but the number of parallel β-reduction steps to reduce a given term to normal form is approximately linear in the size of the term. This is far too small to be a reasonable cost measure, as any Turing machine may be encoded in the lambda calculus in size linearly proportional to the size of the Turing machine. The true cost of reducing lambda terms is not due to β-reduction per se but rather the handling of the duplication of redexes during β-reduction. It is not known if optimal reduction implementations are reasonable when measured with respect to a reasonable cost model such as the number of leftmost-outermost steps to normal form, but it has been shown for fragments of the lambda calculus that the optimal reduction algorithm is efficient and has at most a quadratic overhead compared to leftmost-outermost. In addition the BOHM prototype implementation of optimal reduction outperformed both Caml Light and Haskell on pure lambda terms.
Lambda calculus and programming languages
As pointed out by Peter Landin's 1965 paper "A Correspondence between ALGOL 60 and Church's Lambda-notation", sequential procedural programming languages can be understood in terms of the lambda calculus, which provides the basic mechanisms for procedural abstraction and procedure (subprogram) application.
Anonymous functions
For example, in Lisp the "square" function can be expressed as a lambda expression as follows:
(lambda (x) (* x x))
The above example is an expression that evaluates to a first-class function. The symbol lambda creates an anonymous function, given a list of parameter names, (x) – just a single argument in this case, and an expression that is evaluated as the body of the function, (* x x). Anonymous functions are sometimes called lambda expressions.
For example, Pascal and many other imperative languages have long supported passing subprograms as arguments to other subprograms through the mechanism of function pointers. However, function pointers are not a sufficient condition for functions to be first class datatypes, because a function is a first class datatype if and only if new instances of the function can be created at run-time. And this run-time creation of functions is supported in Smalltalk, JavaScript and Wolfram Language, and more recently in Scala, Eiffel ("agents"), C# ("delegates") and C++11, among others.
Parallelism and concurrency
The Church–Rosser property of the lambda calculus means that evaluation (β-reduction) can be carried out in any order, even in parallel. This means that various nondeterministic evaluation strategies are relevant. However, the lambda calculus does not offer any explicit constructs for parallelism. One can add constructs such as Futures to the lambda calculus. Other process calculi have been developed for describing communication and concurrency.
Semantics
The fact that lambda calculus terms act as functions on other lambda calculus terms, and even on themselves, led to questions about the semantics of the lambda calculus. Could a sensible meaning be assigned to lambda calculus terms? The natural semantics was to find a set D isomorphic to the function space D → D, of functions on itself. However, no nontrivial such D can exist, by cardinality constraints because the set of all functions from D to D has greater cardinality than D, unless D is a singleton set.
In the 1970s, Dana Scott showed that if only continuous functions were considered, a set or domain D with the required property could be found, thus providing a model for the lambda calculus.
This work also formed the basis for the denotational semantics of programming languages.
Variations and extensions
These extensions are in the lambda cube:
Typed lambda calculus – Lambda calculus with typed variables (and functions)
System F – A typed lambda calculus with type-variables
Calculus of constructions – A typed lambda calculus with types as first-class values
These formal systems are extensions of lambda calculus that are not in the lambda cube:
Binary lambda calculus – A version of lambda calculus with binary I/O, a binary encoding of terms, and a designated universal machine.
Lambda-mu calculus – An extension of the lambda calculus for treating classical logic
These formal systems are variations of lambda calculus:
Kappa calculus – A first-order analogue of lambda calculus
These formal systems are related to lambda calculus:
Combinatory logic – A notation for mathematical logic without variables
SKI combinator calculus – A computational system based on the S, K and I combinators, equivalent to lambda calculus, but reducible without variable substitutions
See also
Applicative computing systems – Treatment of objects in the style of the lambda calculus
Cartesian closed category – A setting for lambda calculus in category theory
Categorical abstract machine – A model of computation applicable to lambda calculus
Curry–Howard isomorphism – The formal correspondence between programs and proofs
De Bruijn index – notation disambiguating alpha conversions
De Bruijn notation – notation using postfix modification functions
Deductive lambda calculus – The consideration of the problems associated with considering lambda calculus as a Deductive system.
Domain theory – Study of certain posets giving denotational semantics for lambda calculus
Evaluation strategy – Rules for the evaluation of expressions in programming languages
Explicit substitution – The theory of substitution, as used in β-reduction
Functional programming
Harrop formula – A kind of constructive logical formula such that proofs are lambda terms
Interaction nets
Kleene–Rosser paradox – A demonstration that some form of lambda calculus is inconsistent
Knights of the Lambda Calculus – A semi-fictional organization of LISP and Scheme hackers
Krivine machine – An abstract machine to interpret call-by-name in lambda calculus
Lambda calculus definition – Formal definition of the lambda calculus.
Let expression – An expression closely related to an abstraction.
Minimalism (computing)
Rewriting – Transformation of formulæ in formal systems
SECD machine – A virtual machine designed for the lambda calculus
Scott–Curry theorem – A theorem about sets of lambda terms
To Mock a Mockingbird – An introduction to combinatory logic
Universal Turing machine – A formal computing machine that is equivalent to lambda calculus
Unlambda – An esoteric functional programming language based on combinatory logic
Notes
References
Further reading
Abelson, Harold & Gerald Jay Sussman. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. The MIT Press. .
Hendrik Pieter Barendregt Introduction to Lambda Calculus.
Henk Barendregt, The Impact of the Lambda Calculus in Logic and Computer Science. The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, Volume 3, Number 2, June 1997.
Barendregt, Hendrik Pieter, The Type Free Lambda Calculus pp1091–1132 of Handbook of Mathematical Logic, North-Holland (1977)
Cardone and Hindley, 2006. History of Lambda-calculus and Combinatory Logic. In Gabbay and Woods (eds.), Handbook of the History of Logic, vol. 5. Elsevier.
Church, Alonzo, An unsolvable problem of elementary number theory, American Journal of Mathematics, 58 (1936), pp. 345–363. This paper contains the proof that the equivalence of lambda expressions is in general not decidable.
Alonzo Church, The Calculi of Lambda-Conversion ()
Frink Jr., Orrin, Review: The Calculi of Lambda-Conversion
Kleene, Stephen, A theory of positive integers in formal logic, American Journal of Mathematics, 57 (1935), pp. 153–173 and 219–244. Contains the lambda calculus definitions of several familiar functions.
Landin, Peter, A Correspondence Between ALGOL 60 and Church's Lambda-Notation, Communications of the ACM, vol. 8, no. 2 (1965), pages 89–101. Available from the ACM site. A classic paper highlighting the importance of lambda calculus as a basis for programming languages.
Larson, Jim, An Introduction to Lambda Calculus and Scheme. A gentle introduction for programmers.
Schalk, A. and Simmons, H. (2005) An introduction to λ-calculi and arithmetic with a decent selection of exercises. Notes for a course in the Mathematical Logic MSc at Manchester University.
A paper giving a formal underpinning to the idea of 'meaning-is-use' which, even if based on proofs, it is different from proof-theoretic semantics as in the Dummett–Prawitz tradition since it takes reduction as the rules giving meaning.
Hankin, Chris, An Introduction to Lambda Calculi for Computer Scientists,
Monographs/textbooks for graduate students:
Morten Heine Sørensen, Paweł Urzyczyn, Lectures on the Curry–Howard isomorphism, Elsevier, 2006, is a recent monograph that covers the main topics of lambda calculus from the type-free variety, to most typed lambda calculi, including more recent developments like pure type systems and the lambda cube. It does not cover subtyping extensions.
covers lambda calculi from a practical type system perspective; some topics like dependent types are only mentioned, but subtyping is an important topic.Some parts of this article are based on material from FOLDOC, used with permission. External links
Graham Hutton, Lambda Calculus, a short (12 minutes) Computerphile video on the Lambda Calculus
Helmut Brandl, Step by Step Introduction to Lambda Calculus
Achim Jung, A Short Introduction to the Lambda Calculus-(PDF)
Dana Scott, A timeline of lambda calculus-(PDF)
David C. Keenan, To Dissect a Mockingbird: A Graphical Notation for the Lambda Calculus with Animated Reduction Raúl Rojas, A Tutorial Introduction to the Lambda Calculus-(PDF)
Peter Selinger, Lecture Notes on the Lambda Calculus-(PDF)
L. Allison, Some executable λ-calculus examples Georg P. Loczewski, The Lambda Calculus and A++
Bret Victor, Alligator Eggs: A Puzzle Game Based on Lambda Calculus Lambda Calculus on Safalra's Website
LCI Lambda Interpreter a simple yet powerful pure calculus interpreter
Lambda Calculus links on Lambda-the-Ultimate
Mike Thyer, Lambda Animator, a graphical Java applet demonstrating alternative reduction strategies.
Implementing the Lambda calculus using C++ Templates
Marius Buliga, Graphic lambda calculus
Lambda Calculus as a Workflow Model by Peter Kelly, Paul Coddington, and Andrew Wendelborn; mentions graph reduction as a common means of evaluating lambda expressions and discusses the applicability of lambda calculus for distributed computing (due to the Church–Rosser property, which enables parallel graph reduction for lambda expressions).
Shane Steinert-Threlkeld, "Lambda Calculi", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''
Anton Salikhmetov, Macro Lambda Calculus
1936 in computing
Articles with example Lisp (programming language) code
Computability theory
Formal methods
Models of computation
Theoretical computer science
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1709984
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence%20partitioning
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Equivalence partitioning
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Equivalence partitioning or equivalence class partitioning (ECP) is a software testing technique that divides the input data of a software unit into partitions of equivalent data from which test cases can be derived. In principle, test cases are designed to cover each partition at least once. This technique tries to define test cases that uncover classes of errors, thereby reducing the total number of test cases that must be developed. An advantage of this approach is reduction in the time required for testing software due to lesser number of test cases.
Equivalence partitioning is typically applied to the inputs of a tested component, but may be applied to the outputs in rare cases. The equivalence partitions are usually derived from the requirements specification for input attributes that influence the processing of the test object.
The fundamental concept of ECP comes from equivalence class which in turn comes from equivalence relation.
A software system is in effect a computable function implemented as an algorithm in some implementation programming language.
Given an input test vector some instructions of that algorithm get covered, ( see code coverage for details ) others do not.
This gives the interesting relationship between input test vectors:-
is an equivalence relation between test vectors if and only if the coverage foot print of the
vectors are exactly the same, that is, they cover the same instructions, at same step.
This would evidently mean that the relation cover would partition the domain of the test vector
into multiple equivalence class. This partitioning is called equivalence class partitioning of test input.
If there are equivalent classes, only vectors are sufficient to fully cover the system.
The demonstration can be done using a function written in C:
int safe_add( int a, int b )
{
int c = a + b;
if ( a > 0 && b > 0 && c <= 0 )
{
fprintf ( stderr, "Overflow (positive)!\n" );
}
if ( a < 0 && b < 0 && c >= 0 )
{
fprintf ( stderr, "Overflow (negative)!\n" );
}
return c;
}
On the basis of the code, the input vectors of are partitioned. The blocks we need to cover are the overflow in the positive direction, negative direction, and neither of these 2. That gives rise to 3 equivalent classes, from the code review itself.
To solve the input problem, we take refuge in the inequation
we note that there is a fixed size of Integer (computer science) hence, the z can be replaced with:-
and
with and
The values of the test vector at the strict condition of the equality that is and are called the boundary values, Boundary-value analysis has detailed information about it. Note that the graph only covers the overflow case, first quadrant for X and Y positive values.
In general an input has certain ranges which are valid and other ranges which are invalid. Invalid data here does not mean that the data is incorrect, it means that this data lies outside of specific partition. This may be best explained by the example of a function which takes a parameter "month". The valid range for the month is 1 to 12, representing January to December. This valid range is called a partition. In this example there are two further partitions of invalid ranges. The first invalid partition would be ≤ 0 and the second invalid partition would be ≥ 13.
... -2 -1 0 1 .............. 12 13 14 15 .....
--------------|-------------------|---------------------
invalid partition 1 valid partition invalid partition 2
The testing theory related to equivalence partitioning says that only one test case of each partition is needed to evaluate the behaviour of the program for the related partition. In other words, it is sufficient to select one test case out of each partition to check the behaviour of the program. To use more or even all test cases of a partition will not find new faults in the program. The values within one partition are considered to be "equivalent". Thus the number of test cases can be reduced considerably.
An additional effect of applying this technique is that you also find the so-called "dirty" test cases. An inexperienced tester may be tempted to use as test cases the input data 1 to 12 for the month and forget to select some out of the invalid partitions. This would lead to a huge number of unnecessary
test cases on the one hand, and a lack of test cases for the dirty ranges on the other hand.
The tendency is to relate equivalence partitioning to so called black box testing which is strictly checking a software component at its interface, without consideration of internal structures of the software. But having a closer look at the subject there are cases where it applies to grey box testing as well. Imagine an interface to a component which has a valid range between 1 and 12 like the example above. However internally the function may have a differentiation of values between 1 and 6 and the values between 7 and 12. Depending upon the input value the software internally will run through different paths to perform slightly different actions. Regarding the input and output interfaces to the component this difference will not be noticed, however in your grey-box testing you would like to make sure that both paths are examined. To achieve this it is necessary to introduce additional equivalence partitions which would not be needed for black-box testing. For this example this would be:
... -2 -1 0 1 ..... 6 7 ..... 12 13 14 15 .....
--------------|---------|----------|---------------------
invalid partition 1 P1 P2 invalid partition 2
valid partitions
To check for the expected results you would need to evaluate some internal intermediate values rather than the output interface. It is not necessary that we should use multiple values from each partition. In the above scenario we can take -2 from invalid partition 1, 6 from valid partition P1, 7 from valid partition P2 and 15 from invalid partition 2.
Equivalence partitioning is not a stand-alone method to determine test cases. It has to be supplemented by boundary value analysis. Having determined the partitions of possible inputs the method of boundary value analysis has to be applied to select the most effective test cases out of these partitions.
Limitations
In cases where the data ranges or sets involved approach simplicity (Example: 0-10, 11-20, 21-30), and testing all values would be practical, blanket test coverage using all values within and bordering the ranges should be considered. Blanket test coverage can reveal bugs that would not be caught using the equivalence partitioning method, if the software includes sub-partitions which are unknown to the tester. Also, in simplistic cases, the benefit of reducing the number of test values by using equivalence partitioning is diminished, in comparison to cases involving larger ranges (Example: 0-1000, 1001-2000, 2001-3000).
Further reading
The Testing Standards Working Party website
Parteg, a free test generation tool that is combining test path generation from UML state machines with equivalence class generation of input values.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Software_Testing_Techniques.html
References
Software testing
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1199034
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine%20Systems
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Peregrine Systems
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Peregrine Systems, Inc. was an enterprise software company, founded in 1981, that sold enterprise asset management, change management, and ITIL-based IT service management software. Following an accounting scandal and bankruptcy in 2003, Peregrine was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2005. Micro Focus which merged with the HP Software Division in 2017, now markets the Peregrine products as part of its IT Service Management solutions.
History
Peregrine Systems was founded in 1981 in Irvine, California. The founders and employees were Chris Cole, Gary Story, Ed Beck, Kevin Keyes and Richard Diederich. They started selling Peregrine Network Management System (PNMS) on a Series One computer while developing an MVS version. The MVS client/server solutions for PNMS became available in 1995.
In 1989, John Moores, founder of BMC Software and owner of the San Diego Padres Major League Baseball team, became a member of the Peregrine Board of Directors. He served as Chairman from March 1990 through July 2000 and then again in 2002. He resigned from the Board in 2003 during the company's bankruptcy filing. His involvement in the software industry continues today with investments through his venture capital firm JMI Equity. The legacy of his investments has been focused on ITSM software packages with the most recent investments made in ServiceNow.
Peregrine had offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific and grew its product line rapidly both organically and via acquisitions, including Harbinger Corporation in 2000, and Remedy Corporation in 2001.
Fraud
In 2004, a federal grand jury issued an indictment charging eight former executives of Peregrine Systems, Inc., one former outside auditor of Peregrine, and two outside business partners of Peregrine, with conspiracy to commit a multibillion-dollar securities fraud. The case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Securities and Exchange Commission had pursued a parallel civil enforcement action.
In 2003, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Peregrine with "massive financial fraud" for the purposes of inflating the company's revenue and stock price. Peregrine, without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint, agreed to a partial settlement.
Peregrine filed suit against its auditor Arthur Andersen in 2002 for $1 billion in damages, for allegedly allowing incorrect audits that overstated revenues by as much as $250 million to be filed for the 2000-2002 fiscal years. In 2003, the former Peregrine CFO, Matthew Gless, pleaded guilty to fraud charges. In 2008, the former Peregrine CEO, Stephen Gardner, was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison for his role in the fraud, which resulted in bankruptcy for the company. Although former chairman of the board, John Moores, sold more than $800 million of shares during Peregrine's fraudulent period, the court of appeals determined that there was insufficient evidence that Moores knew about the fraud that led to the company's bankruptcy.
Sentences
Stephen Gardner (former Peregrine CEO): 97 months in custody at the Federal Medical Center, Devens. Gardner died of a heart attack in July 2013 while in custody at FPC Cumberland.
Douglas Powanda (former Peregrine Executive Vice President for World Wide Sales): 78 months in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution, Bastrop, followed by two years of supervised release.
Matthew Gless (former Peregrine CFO): 63 months in custody followed by two years of supervised release.
Jeremy Crook (former Peregrine General Manager for Europe): 27 months in custody.
Andrew V. Cahill, Jr. (former Peregrine Executive Vice President for World Wide Sales, after Powanda): 22 months in custody followed by two years of supervised release. Released from prison on October 22, 2010.
Berd J Rassam (former Peregrine Controller): 19 months in custody followed by two years of supervised release.
Larry Rodda (former managing director of KPMG Consulting): Six months in custody, six months of home detention, two years of supervised release and $100 mandatory special assessment.
Richard Nelson (former Peregrine Corporate Counsel): One day in custody, six months home detention and 200 hours of community service.
Ilse Cappel (former Peregrine Assistant Treasurer): Five years of probation.
John Burnham Benjamin (former Peregrine Treasurer): Five years of probation.
Steven Spitzer (former head of Peregrine's Alliance Sales Program): Three years probation, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service plus a $110,000 civil penalty and barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company.
Gary Lenz (former Peregrine President & COO): Three years of probation.
Peter O'Brien (former Peregrine Director of Alliances): One year of probation.
Michael Whitt (owner of Barnhill Management Group): Civil penalty of $60,000, six months in federal prison, and six months in home confinement.
Charges dismissed:
Joseph Reichner (former Peregrine Vice President of Alliances)
Patrick Towle (former Peregrine Revenue accounting manager)
Dan Stulac (formerly led auditing team at Arthur Andersen)
Eric Paul Deller (former Peregrine General Counsel)
Bankruptcy
Peregrine filed for Chapter 11 protection on September 23, 2002 after laying off 1400 employees, or nearly half its workforce. When Peregrine filed for federal bankruptcy protection and eventually canceled its common stocks, more than $4 billion in shareholder equity was lost. After filing, the company sold the Remedy division of the company to BMC Software for more than $300 million. Peregrine exited Chapter 11 reorganization in August 2003, and the president and CEO, Gary Greenfield, left the company. Retired software executive John Mutch became president and CEO in August 2003.
Sale to HP
Hewlett Packard acquired Peregrine Systems in 2005 for $425 million. The Peregrine products are now sold as part of the HP IT Management Software (BTO) portfolio within the HP Software Division.
Products
AssetManager - IT Enterprise asset management software (acquired from Apsylog). It is now sold as HP AssetManager software.
ServiceCenter - ITIL-enabled IT service management software (developed internally, flagship service management offering). It is now sold as HP Service Manager software.
Connect-It - Data integration tool. It is now sold as HP Connect-It software.
Enterprise Discovery - Discovery and Inventory tool.
Knowlix - Knowledge management application (acquired from Knowlix).
InfraCenter for Workgroups – Integrated asset and help desk management software.
InfraTools – Software tools for infrastructure management.
Get-Services - Web-based application that lets employees create and manage change requests.
Get-Resources (Get.Resources!) - Web-based application providing that lets employees request IT resources from a predefined catalog of items with automatic routing to the service desk.
Get-Answers - Web-based knowledge management application (acquired from Knowlix).
Get-IT (Get.IT!) – Employee self-procurement software.
FacilityCenter - Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) product divested to TRIRIGA during financial collapse (acquired from Innovative Tech Systems as Span FM).
FacilityCenter Reserve - Room Booking system divested to TRIRIGA during financial collapse (acquired from Critical Path).
Fleet Anywhere - Company vehicle fleet management software divested to Maximus in 2002. (acquired from Prototype).
Rail Anywhere – Advanced and light rail management software for passenger and freight rail industries (acquired from based on software developed by KKO and applied to the Fleet Anywhere technology). (acquired from Prototype).
Harbinger.Net - Supply chain enablement products sold to Golden Gate Capital during financial collapse (acquired from Harbinger). (acquired from Prototype).
Extricity - e-commerce Business Process Management software sold to Golden Gate Capital in 2002 (acquired from Extricity).
Remedy ARS (Action Request System) - Automated business process management and customer support software, sold to BMC in 2002. (acquired from Remedy Corp).
TeleCenter – Software for managing telecommunications assets (acquired from Telco Research).
TRU - Telecoms based product line, sold to Symphony Services Corp (acquired from Telco Research).
Xanadu - IT infrastructure management appliance.
Tivoli ServiceDesk - IT Service Management software, acquired from IBM.
References
Defunct software companies of the United States
Companies based in San Diego
Defunct companies based in California
Hewlett-Packard acquisitions
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002
2005 mergers and acquisitions
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30240424
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolbox.com
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Toolbox.com
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Toolbox.com is a network of online business-to-business communities geared at professionals working in the information technology, human resources, and finance fields, allowing online collaboration between professionals utilizing discussion groups, blogs, and wikis.
After being acquired by The Corporate Executive Board Company in 2007, Toolbox.com was bought by Ziff Davis in January 2012.
History
Toolbox.com was founded in 1998 as ITtoolbox, one of the first online communities enabling professionals to share knowledge about information technology. Co-founder Daniel Morrison justified the need for ITtoolbox, saying that the site "helps professionals do their job better by tapping each other for insight and help."
In 2007, ITtoolbox was acquired by The Corporate Executive Board Company, with Daniel Morrison retaining a managing role in the site. Following the acquisition, ITtoolbox was renamed Toolbox for IT, the site as a whole was renamed Toolbox.com, and in November and December 2008 respectively, Toolbox.com officially launched two new communities for human resources and finance. Morrison considered the addition of a financial community to its network to be a key asset, especially due to the effects of the 2008 financial crisis
In 2012, Ziff Davis Media announced that it had acquired Toolbox.com for an unspecified amount. The company will incorporate Toolbox.com into its B2B operations, B2B Focus, which was formed by its acquisition of Focus Research.
References
External links
American social networking websites
Information technology organizations based in North America
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58740233
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serato
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Serato
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Serato (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a music software company.
History
Serato was founded in Auckland, New Zealand by Steve West and AJ Berstenshaw, who created a software that changes the tempo of a recorded track without changing the pitch.
Software
Serato produces software used in digital music mixing, including digital vinyl record mixing for DVS records. Serato also produces software for DJ mixing, which has visual components including wave form beatmatching and other information about the sound being produced by the system. The software works with mainstream hardware, such as Roland, Denon, and Pioneer.
In 2018 Serato changed the names of its DJ software from Serato DJ to Serato DJ Pro, and from Serato DJ Intro to Serato DJ Lite. The new versions use 64-bit software architecture. Serato also partners with hardware developers such as Pioneer to create Serato controllers.
Pyro
Serato developed a mobile app called Pyro, which automatically fades songs from a mobile device as they transition from track to track without prompting, and serves as a playlist creator drawing music from a device’s iTunes library. Pyro also comes preloaded with other song collections curated by different artists and labels.
References
External links
Official site
Pyro app
Music software
DJ software
Companies based in Auckland
Software companies of New Zealand
New Zealand Media and Entertainment
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44339245
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UOL%20HOST
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UOL HOST
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UOL HOST is a website hosting and cloud computing firm that it is owned and operated by Universo Online (UOL) Holding. UOL HOST's head office is based in São Paulo. Ricardo Dutra is UOL HOST's director.
History
UOL HOST was established in 2008. From 2008 to 2009, UOL HOST purchased the hosting firms Plug In, SouthTech, Digiweb, and CreativeHOST. In 2009, UOL HOST bought Insite, the fourth largest website hosting firm in Brazil. In the same year, UOL HOST obtained the Info Exame award in the hosting category.
The following year, UOL HOST and DHC Outsourcing paid R$693.5 million for the American outsourcing company Diveo Broadband Network. Later that year, UOL HOST started Microsoft Office based apps as well as an app for the automation of law firms using cloud computing technology. This app was named Painel do Advogado (Lawyer's Panel).
UOL HOST established a partnership with Traffic Sports and was the 2011 Copa América's official host.
In 2012, the firm started a cloud computing service targeting server management. In 2013, UOL HOST sponsored the automobile racer Átila Abreu at Stock Car championship.
In 2014, UOL HOST introduced UOL Cloud Gerenciado, a cloud computing and server monitoring solution targeting small to medium-sized businesses, as well as information technology professionals and an e-mail marketing tool.
Also in 2014, UOL HOST released its Academia UOL HOST portal, which compiles news, e-books, infographics, articles and tips on e-commerce, digital marketing, cloud computing and management for information technology professionals and entrepreneurs. UOL HOST also released Site Pronto, a tool in which entrepreneurs and companies can create, customize and update a website. Furthermore, the firm established a partnership with Google in order to provide management of Google Adwords sponsored links.
References
External links
UOL HOST Official Website
UOL HOST on Twitter
UOL HOST on Facebook
Information technology companies of Brazil
Companies based in São Paulo
Grupo Folha
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31421610
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIADS
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GIADS
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GIADS - German Improved Air Defence System - is the standard Air Command and Control System (ACC System / AC2 – System) of the German Air Force Tactical Command and Control Service (GAF TACCS).
Definition
GIADS is the standard ACC System of the GAF TACCS. It is operated in the static Control and Reporting Centres (CRC Erndtebrück and CRC Schönewalde) and the deployable CRC (on Holzdorf Air Base) in order to provide Airspace Surveillance, to control Air Force Operations, and to meet the military commitment of the Bundeswehr.
History
Up to the year 2000 the standard AC2 System of the GAF TACCS was ARKONA which had been taken over former the former East German Air Force. In the time to come it had to be replaced by the successor system GIADS. In July 2000 the first GIADS CRC in Schönewalde became operational. Since that time GIADS has been improve, further developed and introduced to the other German CRCs (including Deployable CRC). By the introduction of GIADS III in 2010/11, the probable final GAF AC2 System's generation might have been procured.
Prospect
GIADS lll should be replaced in line with the joint NATO procurement programme by the successor AC2 product, the Air Command and Control System (ACCS).
Functionality
Coincident / parallel RADAR data processing of up to 20 different civil/military sensors data sources
Correlation with civil flight plan data
Processing of a Recognized Air Picture (RAP)
Control of military aircraft and Surface to Air Missile (SAM) units
Data Recording an Replay function
Processing of up to 12,000 plots; 3,000 system tracks and 1,000 flight plan
ICAO Mode S capability
Advantages in comparison to ARKONA
Automatic selection of the most beneficial radar data source by Multi-Sensor-Tracking
Decisive enhancement of the Fighter Control capability
NATO Link 16 capability (interim / disposal solution)
Enhanced support (e.g. emergence cases, air space violations, critical air vehicles)
Data exchange with up to 24 external AC2 Systems
Improved IT-Security
In-Service Support Management
The GAF Material Command, followed by the GAF Weapon Systems Command – WSC (de: Waffensystemkommando der Luftwaffe – WaSysKdoLw), have been in charge of the GIADS In-Service Support Management (ISSM). Today this WSC provides the obsolescence management, the hardware and software configuration control and the software related instructions to that GAF C3 SSC and EADS, in charge of GIADS software change and maintenance.
Sources
50 Years of GAF TACCS 1960 – 2010, L. Fölbach 2001, www.foelbach.de
Mil. Glossary of studies, Federal office of foreign languages (de: Studienglossar, Bundessprachenamt) 50354, actual issue
External links
Luftwaffe official website
Der TACCS on the GAF Homepage
The German CRCs on the GAF Homepage
Air traffic control systems
Command and control
German Air Force
Information operations and warfare
Military technology
NATO
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90778
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loco
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Loco
|
Loco or El Loco may refer to:
Places
United States
Loco, Georgia, an unincorporated community
Loco, Oklahoma, a village
Loco, Texas, an unincorporated community
Loco Mountain (Meagher County, Montana), a mountain peak of the Crazy Mountains in Montana
Loco River, Puerto Rico
Elsewhere
Loco, Switzerland, a village and former municipality
People
Loco (Apache) (1823–1905), Apache chief
Loco (nickname), a list of people known as "Loco" or "El Loco"
Joe Loco (1921–1988), American jazz and pop pianist and arranger
Loco (rapper) (born 1989), South Korean rapper
Locó (footballer) (born 1984), Angolan footballer Manuel Armindo Morais Cange
El Loco (wrestler), ring name of Canadian professional wrestler Rami Sebei
Arts and entertainment
Amusement park attractions
El Loco (Adventuredome), a roller coaster at Adventuredome in Las Vegas
El Loco (roller coaster), a type of roller coaster manufactured by S&S Worldwide
Fictional characters
Loco (Gobots), in the Gobots toy line
Loco (MÄR), in the manga and anime series Märchen Awakens Romance
Loco, a grasshopper in the 1998 animated film A Bug's Life
Loco, in the spaghetti western film The Great Silence (1968), portrayed by Klaus Kinski
Loco, a character in the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire, played by Betty Grable
Games
Loco (video game), a 1984 game for the Commodore 64
Lego Loco, a 1998 children's computer game
Music
loco, a musical term meaning "in place"
Albums
Loco (Fun Lovin' Criminals album), 2001
Loco (God album), 1991
El Loco, a 1981 album by American rock band ZZ Top
Songs
"Loco" (Coal Chamber song), 1997
"Loco" (David Lee Murphy song), 2004
"Loco" (Enrique Iglesias song), 2013
"Loco" (Fun Lovin' Criminals song), 2001
"Loco" (Joel Fletcher song), 2014
"Loco" (Jowell & Randy song), 2010
Loco (composition), an orchestral composition by Jennifer Higdon
"Loco Loco", 2021 song by Serbian girl group Hurricane
"Loco", a 1999 song by Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández from the album Mi Verdad
"Loco", a 2009 song by Annie from Don't Stop
"Loco", a 1961 song by Bill Smith Combo
"Loco", a 2007 song by The Ripps
"Loco", a 2021 song by Itzy from the album Crazy in Love
"El Loco", a 2001 song by Babasónicos from Jessico
Computing
Loco Linux, a Linux distribution
LoCo team, a group of Linux and open source advocates
LOCO-1, a near-lossless image compression algorithm used in JPEG
Other uses
Loco (loa), a loa (spirit) in the Voodoo religion
Locomotive
Concholepas concholepas, a mollusk species called loco in Chile
See also
LOCOS (LOCal Oxidation of Silicon), a microfabrication process
Las Vegas Locomotives (Locos), a defunct United Football League team
Locoweed, an American term for some intoxicating plants, also slang for marijuana
Loko (disambiguation)
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26695292
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicon%20Ape
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Helicon Ape
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Helicon Ape is the piece of software by Helicon Tech destined to introduce Apache functionality on IIS web servers. Helicon Ape is realized as an ASP.NET module for IIS 7 (and higher), implementing functionality of more than 35 Apache modules, that allows using Apache configurations (leaving syntax intact) on IIS and extend standard IIS capabilities.
Aside from realization of Apache modules Helicon Ape possesses some proprietary modules for server-side debugging and profiling (mod_developer), SEO optimization (mod_linkfreeze) and hotlinking protection (mod_hotlink).
Helicon Ape has a GUI interface (see the screenshot) that allows easy configs editing (directives auto-completion and spell-check features supported) and browsing, includes a regular expressions tester and a password generation utility.
Modules
Here's the list of modules currently supported in Helicon Ape:
mod_asis - sends files that contain their own HTTP headers
mod_auth_basic - enables HTTP Basic Authentication functionality
mod_auth_digest - enables MD5 Digest Authentication functionality
mod_authn_anon - configures anonymous users access to authenticated areas
mod_authn_dbd - provides authentication based on user look-up in SQL database
mod_authn_default - rejects whatever credentials if no authentication is set
mod_authn_file - provides authentication based on user look-up in plain text password file
mod_authz_default - rejects any authorization request if no authentication is configured
mod_authz_groupfile - allows or denies access to particular areas of the site depending on user group membership
mod_authz_host - allows access control to particular parts of web server based on hostname, IP address or other characteristics of the client request
mod_authz_user - allows or denies access to portions of the web site for authenticated users
mod_cache - allows caching local or proxied content
mod_core - provides the use Helicon Ape core features
mod_dbd - allows managing of SQL database connections
mod_deflate - enables server output compression
mod_developer - brings extensive requests debugging functionality
mod_disk_cache - allows the use of disk-based storage engine for mod_cache
mod_env - grants control over the environment provided to CGI scripts and SSI pages
mod_evasive - protects your site(s) from HTTP DoS/DDoS attacks and brute force attacks
mod_expires - sets Expires HTTP header and max-age directive of Cache-Control HTTP header in server responses in relation to either the time the source file was last modified, or to the time of the client access
mod_filter - allows the use of context-sensitive content filters
mod_gzip - offers HTTP responses compression
mod_headers - modifies HTTP request and response headers
mod_hotlink - protects the content from hotlinking
mod_linkfreeze - changes links on pages to SEO-friendly format
mod_log_config - enables custom logging
mod_logio - logs input and output number of bytes received/sent per request
mod_mem_cache - allows the use memory-based storage engine for mod_cache
mod_mime - associates requested filename's extensions with the file's behavior (handlers and filters) and content (mime-type, language, character set and encoding)
mod_proxy - grants forward and reverse proxy functionality
mod_replace - allows editing of HTML body, HTTP request and response headers
mod_rewrite - rewrites requested URLs on the fly based on regular-expressions-based rules and various conditions
mod_setenvif - sets environment variables depending on whether different parts of the request match specified regular expressions
mod_so - emulates loading modules functions
mod_speling - corrects misspelled URLs by performing case-insensitive checks and allowing one misspelling
mod_usertrack - tracks and logs user activity on the site using cookies
Compatibility
Helicon Ape was designed specifically to benefit from all advantages of IIS 7 architecture, so 100% operability is ensured only on IIS 7 and higher (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2). On IIS6 (Windows Server 2003) Helicon Ape offers slightly limited functionality (see compatibility chart).
License
There are three license types available for Helicon Ape:
Free - for up to 3 sites; costs nothing
Per-site - for one extra site; costs $25
Server - for unlimited number of sites; costs $95; includes 45-day Trial period.
See also
Apache HTTP Server
Comparison of web server software
Helicon Tech
Internet Information Services
URL redirection
References
External links
Helicon Ape official page
Helicon Tech official blog
Web server software
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13591342
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Australian%20rules%20football%20families
|
List of Australian rules football families
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This is a List of Australian rules football families, that is families who have had more than one member play or coach in the Australian Football League (previously the VFL) as well as families who have had multiple immediate family members with notable playing or coaching careers in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), South Australian National Football League (SANFL) or Victorian Football League (VFL, formerly known as the VFA). Each family will have at least a father and child combination or a set of siblings. Many families have had two or more cousins play league football but they are not included unless one also had a father, child or sibling play.
Families with members playing or coaching in the AFL Women's competition, which launched in 2017, are also included.
A
Abbey
Angus Abbey ()
Son: Ross Abbey ()
Angus is Ross's father.
Abbott
Clarence Abbott (, , , , )
Les Abbott (, )
Clarrie and Les were brothers.
Abernethy
Bob Abernethy ()
Jim Abernethy ()
Bob and Jim were brothers.
Ablett
Len Ablett ()
Cousin once removed: Geoff Ablett (,/)
Cousin once removed: Kevin Ablett (,/)
Son: Luke Ablett ()
Cousin once removed: Gary Ablett Sr. (/)
Son: Gary Ablett Jr. (,)
Son: Nathan Ablett (,)
Gary is the brother of Geoff and Kevin and father of Gary Jr. and Nathan, Kevin is Luke's father. Len Ablett is the cousin of Gary Ablett's father. Gary Junior and Nathan are cousins of Shane Tuck (Hawthorn rookie list 2000, Richmond 2004–2009) and Travis Tuck (Hawthorn 2007–2009), who are the sons of the league's former games record holder, Michael Tuck. Two further members of the family, Michael and Ryan, were both rookie listed at AFL clubs and have competed in the VFL.
Adamson
Jack Adamson ()
Dave Adamson ()
Jack was the elder brother of Dave.
Ah Chee
Brendon Ah Chee (, )
Callum Ah Chee (,)
Brendon is the elder brother of Callum.
Ahmat
Matthew Ahmat (, )
Robert Ahmat (, )
Matthew and Robert are brothers.
Aish
Peter Aish (Norwood)
Michael Aish (Norwood)
Andrew Aish (Norwood)
Son: James Aish (, )
Andrew and Michael are brothers. Andrew is James's father.
Aitchison
Ern Aitchison ()
Jack Aitchison ()
Ern and Jack were brothers.
Aked/Edwards/O'Bree
Frank Aked Sr. (, )
Son: Frank Aked Jr. ()
Son-in-law: Arthur Edwards ()
Son: Allan Edwards (, , )
Son: Jake Edwards ()
Nephew: Shane O'Bree (, )
Arthur is the father of Allan, who is the father of Jake and the uncle of Shane. Arthur married the daughter of Frank Aked Sr.
Frank Sr. is Frank Jr.'s father. Arthur Edwards married Frank Jr.'s sister, making Frank Sr. the grandfather of Allan Edwards and the great-grandfather of Jake Edwards and Shane O'Bree.
Albiston
Harold Albiston (, )
Son: David Albiston ()
Alec Albiston (, )
Ken Albiston (, )
Alec, Harold and Ken were brothers. Harold is the father of David.
Allan (1)
Graeme Allan (, )
Son: Marcus Allan ()
Graeme is the father of Marcus.
Allan (2)
Ron Allan ()
Son: Barry Allan ()
Ron is Barry's father.
Allan (3)
Keith Allan (Central District)
Daughter: Jessica Allan ()
Daughter: Sarah Allan ()
Keith is the father of Sarah and Jessica.
Allen
George Allen ()
Tommy Allen ()
George and Tommy were brothers.
Allison
Tom Allison ()
Son: Brett Allison (, )
Tom is Brett's father.
Alves
Mark Alves ()
Stan Alves (, )
Mark and Stan are brothers.
Anderson (1)
Syd Anderson Sr. (Port Melbourne)
Syd Anderson ()
Claude Anderson ()
Son: Graeme R. Anderson ()
Son: Syd Anderson ()
Syd Sr. (played for Port Melbourne in the VFA) was the father of Syd (born 1918) and Claude, who was the father of Graeme and Syd (born 1949).
Anderson (2)
Frank Anderson ()
Son: Graeme F. Anderson ()
Frank was the father of Graeme.
Anderson (3)
Jed Anderson (, )
Joe Anderson ()
Jed and Joe are brothers
Anderson (4)
Bernie Anderson ()
Noel Anderson (, )
Bernie and Noel were brothers.
Anderson/Brown
Doug Anderson ()
Grandson: Fraser Brown ()
Doug Anderson was the grandfather of Fraser Brown.
Angus
George Angus ()
Son: Les Angus ()
Son: Geoff Angus ()
George was the father of Les. Les was the father of Geoff.
Angwin
Andy Angwin ()
Grandson: Laurence Angwin ()
Andy was the grandfather of Laurence.
Armstrong
Bert Armstrong ()
Lou Armstrong ()
Lou was the elder brother of Bert.
Arthur
Harold Arthur ()
Alan Arthur ()
Son: Graham Arthur ()
Alan is the father of Graham and brother of Harold.
Atkins (1)
Ernest Atkins ()
Son: Jack Atkins ()
Ernest is the father of Jack.
Atkins (2)
Paul Atkins ()
Simon Atkins (, )
Paul and Simon are twins.
Atkinson (1)
Art Atkinson ()
Bill Atkinson ()
Art and Bill were brothers.
Atkinson (2)
Bob Atkinson ()
Ted Atkinson ()
Son: John Atkinson ()
Bob and Ted were brothers. John is Ted's son.
Atley
Shaun Atley ()
Joe Atley ()
Shaun is the elder brother of Joe.
Aubrey
Bob Aubrey ()
Son: Graeme Aubrey ()
Bob is the father of Graeme.
Austen
Bob Austen ()
Col Austen (, )
Cecil Austen ()
Son: Geoff Austen (, )
Cecil is the brother of Bob and Col, and the father of Geoff.
B
Baggott
Jack Baggott (, )
Ron Baggott ()
Jack and Ron were brothers.
Bagshaw
Hartley Bagshaw (Sturt)
John Bagshaw (Sturt)
Paul Bagshaw (Sturt)
Guy Bagshaw (Sturt)
Hartley was John and Paul's father. Guy is Paul's son and Hartley's grandson.
Bailes
Barclay Bailes (, )
Ernie Bailes ()
Barclay and Ernie were brothers.
Bairstow
Mark Bairstow (, )
Son: Toby Bairstow ()
Son: Dylan Bairstow ()
Mark is the father of Toby and Dylan, who have all played for South Fremantle.
Baker
Reg Baker (, )
Selwyn Baker (, )
Ted Baker (, , , )
Reg, Selwyn and Ted were brothers
Ball
Ray Ball (, )
Son: Luke Ball (, )
Son: Matthew Ball ()
Luke and Matthew are the sons of Ray and the grandsons of Felix Russo.
Balme
Craig Balme (, )
Neil Balme (, , )
Craig and Neil are brothers.
Banks
Albert Banks (, )
Tom Banks ()
Albert and Tom were brothers
Bant
Chris Bant (, )
Horrie Bant (, , , )
Chris and Horrie were brothers.
Barassi
Ron Barassi Sr. ()
Son: Ron Barassi (, )
Ron Barassi is the son of Ron Barassi Senior.
Barham
Billy Barham ()
Jamie Barham (, )
Ricky Barham ()
Son: Jaxson Barham ()
Billy, Jamie and Ricky are brothers. Ricky is the father of Jaxson.
Barker (1)
George Barker ()
Syd Barker Sr. (, , )
Son: Syd Barker Jr. ()
Syd Senior was the brother of George and the father of Syd Junior.
Barker (2)
George Barker ()
Jack Barker ()
George and Jack were brothers.
Barlow
Kris Barlow ()
Paul Barlow (, )
Kris and Paul are brothers.
Barnes (1)
Bert Barnes ()
Son: Reg Barnes ()
Bert was the father of Reg.
Barnes (2)
Jack Barnes ()
Son: Ken Barnes ()
Jack was the father of Ken.
Barrot
Bill Barrot (, , , )
Wes Barrot (, )
Bill and Wes were brothers.
Barton
Bill Barton ()
Colin Barton ()
George Barton ()
Bill, Colin and George were brothers.
Bassett
Nathan Bassett ()
Scott Bassett (, , )
Nathan is the elder brother of Scott.
Batchelor
Vin Batchelor ()
Son: Keith Batchelor (, )
Vin was the father of Keith.
Batty
Ern Batty ()
Les Batty (, )
Ern and Les were brothers.
Baxter (1)
Ben Baxter ()
Son: Ray Baxter ()
Ben was the father of Ray.
Baxter (2)
Ray Baxter ()
Son: Darren Baxter (, )
Ray is the father of Darren.
Baxter (3)
Bernie Baxter ()
Bill Baxter ()
Ken Baxter ()
Bernie, Bill and Ken were brothers.
Bayes
Gavin Bayes ()
Mark Bayes ()
Gavin and Mark are brothers.
Beams
Claye Beams ()
Dayne Beams (, )
Claye and Dayne are brothers.
Beasy
Maurie Beasy ()
Son: Doug Beasy ()
Grandson: Brendan Whitecross ()
Maurie was the father of Doug, and the great-grandfather of Brendan.
Beckwith
Wally Beckwith (, umpire)
Son: John Beckwith ()
Wally was the father of John.
Bedford
Bill Bedford ()
Son: Peter Bedford (, )
Bill was the father of Peter.
Beers
Brian Beers (, )
Son: Mark Beers ()
Son: Tony Beers (, )
Brian is the father of Mark and Tony.
Belcher
Allan Belcher (, )
Vic Belcher ()
Alan and Vic were brothers.
Bell
Dennis Bell ()
John Bell ()
Dennis and John were brothers.
Bendle
Alby Bendle ()
Bill Bendle ()
Alby and Bill were brothers.
Bentley
Percy Bentley ()
Bruce Bentley ()
Percy was the father of Bruce.
Berry
Jarrod Berry (Brisbane)
Thomas Berry (Brisbane)
Jarrod and Thomas are brothers
Besanko
Barry Besanko ()
Neil Besanko (, )
Barry and Neil are brothers.
Beveridge
Jack Beveridge (, )
Grandson: Luke Beveridge (, , )
Jack was the grandfather of Luke.
Bewick
Darren Bewick (, )
Corey Bewick ()
Son: Rohan Bewick (, )
Son: Shaun Bewick (, )
Darren and Corey are brothers, Rohan and Shaun are Corey's identical twin sons. All have played for West Perth in the WAFL, Darren and Rohan have played in the AFL.
Bews
Andrew Bews (, , )
Son Jed Bews ()
Jed is the son of Andrew
Bickford
Albert Bickford (, )
Edric Bickford (, )
Son: George Bickford ()
Son: Stephen Bickford ()
Brother-in-law: Rod McGregor ()
Albert and Edric were brothers. Rod was married to their sister. Edric was the father of George, who is the father of Stephen.
Blackwell
Wayne Blackwell (, )
Son: Luke Blackwell (, , )
Wayne is the father of Luke.
Blake (1)
Rod Blake ()
Son: Mark Blake ()
Rod is the father of Mark.
Blake (2)
George Blake (, )
Mick Blake ()
Tom Blake (, )
Tom, George and Mick were all brothers.
Board
Terry J. Board ()
Son: Terry M. Board ()
Terry J. is the father of Terry M.
Boland
Brian Boland (, )
Son: Glenn Boland (, )
Brian was the father of Glenn.
Bolton
Darren Bolton ()
Son: Shai Bolton ()
Darren is the father of Shai.
Bond
Shane Bond (, )
Troy Bond (, , )
Shane and Troy are brothers.
Bootsma
Brad Bootsma (, )
Son: Josh Bootsma ()
Brad is the father of Josh.
Bosustow
Bob Bosustow ()
Son: Peter Bosustow (, )
Son: Brent Bosustow ()
Bob is the father of Peter and Peter is the father of Brent.
Bourke (1)
Tim Bourke ()
Damian Bourke (, )
Son: Jordon Bourke ()
Damian and Tim are brothers and Damian is the father of Jordon.
Bourke (2)
Frank Bourke ()
Francis Bourke ()
David Bourke (, )
Frank was the father of Francis and Francis is the father of David.
Bourke (3)
Barry Bourke ()
Darren Bourke ()
Barry is the father of Darren.
Bowden
Michael Bowden ()
Joel Bowden ()
Patrick Bowden (, )
Sean Bowden ()
Michael was the father of Patrick, Sean and Joel.
Bowey
Belinda Bowey
Brett Bowey
Jake Bowey
Brett is Belinda's brother and Jake's father.
Boyle
Stephen Boyle ()
Tim Boyle ()
Stephen is the father of Tim.
Braddy
Craig Braddy (, )
Shane Braddy ()
Craig is the elder brother of Shane.
Bradley
Rupe Bradley (, )
Syd Bradley ()
Rupe and Syd were brothers.
Bradshaw
Daniel Bradshaw (, , )
Darren Bradshaw ()
Daniel is the elder brother of Darren.
Brady
Campbell Brady ()
Laurie Brady ()
Campbell and Laurie were brothers.
Brain
Terry Brain ()
Peter Brain ()
Terry Brain Jr. ()
Terry was the father of Peter and Terry Jr.
Brayshaw
Ian Brayshaw ()
Mark Brayshaw (, )
Angus Brayshaw ()
Hamish Brayshaw ()
Andrew Brayshaw ()
Ian is the father of Mark, who is the father of Angus, Hamish and Andrew.
Brennan
Michael Brennan (, )
Jacob Brennan (, , )
Michael is the father of Jacob.
Brewer
Ian Brewer (, , )
Ross Brewer (, , )
Ian is the elder brother of Ross
Briedis
Arnold Briedis ()
Robert Briedis ()
Arnold and Robert are brothers.
Brittain
Craig Brittain ()
Wayne Brittain ( coach)
Wayne is the elder brother of Craig.
Broadbridge
Troy Broadbridge
Wayne Broadbridge
Wayne is the father of Troy.
Brooksby
Keegan Brooksby
Phil Brooksby
Phil is the father of Keegan.
Brophy
Bernie Brophy ()
Frank Brophy ()
Joe Brophy ()
Bernie, Frank and Joe were brothers.
Brown (1)
Mal Brown (, , , )
Campbell Brown (, )
Mal is the father of Campbell.
Brown (2)
Brian Brown (, )
Son: Jonathan Brown ()
Brian is the father of Jonathan.
Brown (3)
Jack Brown ()
Ted Brown (, )
Son: Vin Brown ()
Son: John Brown ()
Jack and Ted were brothers and Ted was the father of Vin and John.
Brown (4)
Mitch Brown ()
Nathan Brown (, )
Mitch and Nathan are identical twin brothers.
Brown (5)
Gavin Brown ()
Son: Callum Brown ()
Son: Tyler Brown ()
Daughter: Tarni Brown ()
Gavin is Callum, Tyler and Tarni's father.
Brown (6)
Paul Brown ()
Daughter: Millie Brown ()
Browne (1)
Murray Browne (, )
Son: Alex Browne ()
Murray is the father of Alex.
Browne (2)
Mort Browne ()
Son: Morton Browne ()
Mort was the father of Morton.
Browne (3)
Ricky Browne ()
Mark Browne ()
Mark and Ricky are brothers.
Browning
Keith Browning ()
Son: Mark Browning ()
Keith is the father of Mark.
Brownlees
Rupe Brownlees ()
Tom Brownlees ()
Rupe and Tom were brothers.
Brownless
Billy Brownless ()
Oscar Luke Brownless
Billy is Oscar Luke's father
Bruce
George Bruce (, )
Jim Bruce ()
Percy Bruce ()
George, Jim and Percy were brothers.
Bryce
Bob Bryce ()
George Bryce ()
Ted Bryce ()
Bob was the father of George and Ted.
Buckley (1)
Brian W. Buckley ()
Ben Buckley ()
Brian is the father of Ben.
Buckley (2)
Jack Buckley
Brian Buckley
Mark Buckley
Stephen Buckley (, )
Jack is the father of Brian who is the father of Mark and Stephen.
Buckley (3)
Ray Buckley ()
Nathan Buckley (, , )
Ray is the father of Nathan.
Buckley (4)
Jim Buckley ()
Dylan Buckley (, )
Jim is the father of Dylan.
Buckley (5)
Ben Buckley ()
Jack Buckley ()
Ben is the father of Jack.
Bunton
Haydn Bunton Sr. (, , )
Haydn Bunton Jr. (, , , )
Haydn Sr. was the father of Haydn Jr.
Burgmann
Jack Burgmann
Lloyd Burgmann
Shane Burgmann
Jack is the father of Lloyd and grandfather of Shane.
Burgoyne
Peter Burgoyne Snr.
Peter Burgoyne
Shaun Burgoyne
Trent Burgoyne
Peter (Snr.) is the father of Peter and Shaun.
Peter (Jnr.) is the father of Trent
Shaun is the brother-in-law of Erin Phillips and son-in-law of Greg Phillips.
Burke (1)
Gerald Burke ()
Rohan Burke ()
Gerald is the father of Rohan.
Burke (2)
Nathan Burke ()
Alice Burke ()
Nathan is the father of Alice.
Burleigh
Gordon Burleigh ()
Wal Burleigh ()
Gordon and Wal were brothers.
Burns
Allen Burns ()
Peter Burns (, )
Allen and Peter were brothers.
Burton
Peter Burton
Jay Burton
Matthew Burton
Travis Burton
Peter is the father of Matthew, Jay and Travis. All four played for Subiaco in the WAFL.
Busbridge
Bill Busbridge (Essendon)
Norm Busbridge (Essendon)
Bill and Norm were brothers.
Butler
Archie Butler
Charlie Butler
Archie and Charlie were brothers.
Buttsworth
Fred Buttsworth
Wally Buttsworth
Wally is the elder brother of Fred
Byrne (1)
Bill Byrne
Charlie Byrne
Charlie is the older brother of Bill
Byrne (2)
Rex Byrne
Tom Byrne
Rex and Tom were brothers.
C
Cable
Barry Cable
Shane Cable
Barry is Shane's father.
Cahill (1)
Laurie Cahill
Nephew: Darrell Cahill
Nephew: John Cahill
Laurie was the uncle of Darrell and John.
Cahill (2)
Pat Cahill
Ted Cahill
Pat and Ted were brothers.
Callan
Terry Callan
Tim Callan
Terry is the father of Tim.
Caldwell
Arthur Caldwell
Jim Caldwell
Arthur was the elder brother of Jim.
Calverley
Bruce Calverley
Des Calverley
Graham Calverley
Ray Calverley
Des is the brother of Bruce and the father of Graham and Ray. Graham is the elder brother of Ray.
Calwell
George Calwell
Clarrie Calwell
Bert Calwell
Brothers who played in 1910s-1920s
Cameron
Chris Cameron
Bill Cameron
Chris was the father of Bill.
Campbell
Des Campbell
Blake Campbell
Brad Campbell
Des is the father of Blake and Brad.
Campbell (2)
Colin Campbell
Norm Campbell
Colin and Norm were brothers.
Card
George Card
Ray Card
George was the father of Ray.
Carmody
Jack Carmody
John Carmody
Jack was the father of John.
Carr
Josh Carr
Matthew Carr
Josh and Matthew are brothers.
Carroll (1)
Nathan Carroll
Trent Carroll
Trent is the elder brother of Nathan.
Carroll (2)
Tom Carroll
Laurie Carroll
Dennis Carroll
Laurie is the father of Dennis and the brother of Tom.
Carruthers
Ron H. Carruthers
Ron E. Carruthers
Ron H. was the father of Ron E.
Cassin
Jack Cassin
John Cassin
Jack was the father of John.
Ceglar
David Ceglar
John Ceglar
David is the father of John.
Chadwick
Bert Chadwick
Bob Chadwick
Bert was the father of Bob.
Chamberlain
Cornelius Chamberlain
Jack Chamberlain
Leonard Chamberlain
Cornelius, Jack and Leonard were brothers.
Chandler
Gilbert Chandler
Allan Chandler
Gil was the brother of Allan.
Chanter
Fred Chanter
Vic Chanter
Fred was the father of Vic.
Chapman
Charlie Chapman
James Chapman
Charlie was the father of James.
Charles
John R. Charles
Justin Charles
John is the father of Justin.
Chitty
Bob Chitty
Peter Chitty
Peter was the elder brother of Bob.
Christensen
Damien Christensen
Marty Christensen
Allen Christensen
Damien was the elder brother of Marty.
Allen is the nephew of Damien and Marty
Christou
Jim Christou
John Christou
Jim is the elder brother of John.
Clark
Denis Clark
Michael Clark
Denis is the father of Michael.
Clarke (1)
Raphael Clarke
Xavier Clarke
Raphael and Xavier are brothers.
Clarke (2)
Tom Clarke
Jack Clarke
Tom was the father of Jack.
Clarke (3)
David Clarke
David Clarke
Tim Clarke
David E. is the father of Tim and David A.
Clarke (4)
Fred Clarke
Neil Clarke
Fred was the father of Neil.
Clay
Bert Clay
Ivor Clay
Bert and Ivor were twin brothers.
Clayton
Scott Clayton
Josh Clayton
Scott is the father of Josh.
Clegg
Brian Clegg
Ron Clegg
Ron was the elder brother of Brian.
Cloke
Peter Cloke (Richmond, North Adelaide, Oakleigh)
David Cloke
Cameron Cloke (Collingwood, Carlton, Port Adelaide, Williamstown, Preston)
Jason Cloke
Travis Cloke
David is the father of Cameron, Jason and Travis. Peter is David's elder brother.
Coates
George Coates ()
Michael Coates ()
George was the father of Michael.
Cochrane
Richard Cochrane (Central District)
Stuart Cochrane (, & Central District)
Richard is the father of Stuart.
Cock
Arthur Cock
Eric Cock
Herbert Cock
Arthur, Eric and Herbert were brothers.
Cockatoo-Collins
Che Cockatoo-Collins
David Cockatoo-Collins
Donald Cockatoo-Collins
Che, David and Donald are brothers.
Collier
Albert Collier
Harry Collier
Albert and Harry were brothers.
Collins (1)
Goldie Collins
Harry Collins
Norm Collins
Goldie, Harry and Norm were brothers. Both Harry and Norm died before the age of 30.
Collins (2)
Jim Collins
Allan Collins
Jack Collins
Jim is the father of Allan and Jack.
Collins (3)
Jack Collins
Daryl Collins
Denis Collins
Jack was the father of Denis and Daryl.
Collins (4)
Jack Collins
Geoff Collins
Mike Collins
Jack was the father of Geoff and Mike.
Comben
Aubrey Comben
Bruce Comben
John Comben
Aubrey was the father of Bruce and John.
Connolly
Barry Connolly
Chris Connolly
Barry is the father of Chris.
Considine
Bernie Considine
Frank Considine
Maurie Considine
Paul Considine
Bernie, Maurie and Frank are brothers, Paul is Maurie's son.
Conway
Isaac Conway
Sophie Conway
Isaac is the elder brother of Sophie. Both have been on Brisbane Lions lists, in the AFL and AFL Women's respectively.
Cook
Fred Cook
Keith Cook
Fred and Keith were twins.
Cooper
Graham Cooper
Ian Cooper
Graham is the elder brother of Ian.
Coppock
Fred Coppock
Kevin Coppock
Fred was the father of Kevin.
Cordner
Henry (Harry) Cordner
Edward Rae Cordner
George Denis (Denis) Cordner
Donald Pruen (Don) Cordner
Granddaughter: Harriet Cordner
John Pruen Cordner
Edward Pruen (Ted) Cordner
David Baillieu Cordner
Cousin: Laurence Osmaston (Larry) Cordner
Cousin: Joseph Alan (Alan) Cordner
Edward Rae Cordner was the brother of Harry Cordner and the father of Ted, Don, Denis and John Cordner.
Ted Cordner was the father of David Cordner. Edward Rae Cordner and Harry Cordner were first cousins of Larry Cordner and Alan Cordner (who were half-brothers).
Harriet Cordner is the granddaughter of 1946 Brownlow Medallist Don Cordner, she is the first grandfather-granddaughter recruit to play AFL in the Women's League (AFLW).
Cordy
Graeme Cordy
Neil Cordy
Brian Cordy
Ayce Cordy
Zaine Cordy
Brian, Graeme and Neil are brothers. Ayce and Zaine are sons of Brian.
Corrigan/Robertson
Tommy Corrigan
Leigh Robertson (born 21 May 1950)
Glenn Robertson (born 1 November 1952)
Leigh and Glenn are brothers, and are the grandsons of Tom Corrigan.
Cornes
Graham Cornes
Chad Cornes
Kane Cornes
Graham is the father of Chad and Kane.
Couch
Paul Couch
Tom Couch
Paul is the father of Tom.
Cousins
Bryan Cousins
Ben Cousins
Bryan is the father of Ben.
Coventry
Gordon Coventry
Hugh Coventry
Syd Coventry
Syd Coventry Jr.
James Walker
Alex Denney
Gordon and Syd were brothers. Syd was the father of Hugh and Syd Jr. James is Gordon's great-grandson.
Cranage
Paul Cranage
Sam Cranage
Paul is the father of Sam.
Crane
Jack Crane
Len Crane
Tom Crane
Jack was the elder brother of Len and Tom.
Crapper
Frank Crapper
Fred Crapper
Harry Crapper
All three are brothers.
Crawford
Justin Crawford
Shane Crawford
Shane is the elder brother of Justin.
Crimmins
Bryan Crimmins
Peter Crimmins
Bryan was the father of Peter.
Cross
Joel Cross (South Adelaide)
Mark Cross
Mark is the father of Joel.
Crosswell/Kavanagh
Brent Crosswell
Tom Kavanagh
Brent is the father of Tom.
Crouch
Brad Crouch
Matt Crouch
Brad and Matt are brothers.
Crow
Justin Crow
Max Crow
Max is the father of Justin
Cummings/Johnson
Percy Cummings
Robert Cummings
Trent Cummings
Joe Johnson
Percy Johnson
Percy Cummings is the father of Robert and Trent. Joe was the father of Percy Johnson and grandfather of Percy Cummings.
Cunningham (1)
Jack Cunningham
John Cunningham
Tom Cunningham
Tom was the father of Jack and Jack is the father of John.
Cunningham (2)
Daryl Cunningham
Geoff Cunningham
Daryl and Geoff are brothers.
Curran
Kevin Curran
Pat Curran
Kevin was the father of Pat.
D
Daicos
Peter Daicos
Josh Daicos
Nick Daicos
Peter is Josh's and Nick's father.
Dalton
Bill Dalton
Jack Dalton
Bill was the elder brother of Jack
Daly
Anthony "Bos" Daly
John "Bunny" Daly
Bunny was the elder brother of Bos
Daniher
Anthony Daniher
Darcy Daniher
Joe Daniher
Chris Daniher
Neale Daniher
Terry Daniher
Anthony is the father of Darcy and Joe and the brother of Chris, Neale and Terry.
Darcy
David Darcy
Luke Darcy
David is Luke's father.
Davey
Aaron Davey
Alwyn Davey
Aaron and Alwyn are brothers.
Davidson
Garry Davidson
Tom Davidson
Garry is the father of Tom.
Davis (1)
Craig Davis
Nick Davis
Craig is the father of Nick.
Davis (2)
Allan Davis
Chad Davis
Allan is the father of Chad.
Daykin
Bert Daykin
Percy Daykin
Richard Daykin
Bert was the elder brother of Percy and Richard.
Dayman
Clem Dayman
Les Dayman
Lisle Dayman (Son)
Les was the younger brother of Clem and is the grandfather of Chris McDermott who was the Adelaide Crows first captain.
Dean
Fred Dean
Ken Dean
Norm Dean
Fred was the father of Ken and Norm.
Dear
Greg Dear
Paul Dear
Harry Dear
Greg is the elder brother of Paul, Harry is the son of Paul
Deas
Bob Deas
Jack Deas
Jack was the elder brother of Bob
Delahunty
Hugh Delahunty
Mike Delahunty
Hugh is the elder brother of Mike.
Deledio
Wayne Deledio
Brett Deledio
Wayne is Brett's father
Deluca
Adrian Deluca
Fabian Deluca
Adrian is Fabian's elder brother
Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou
Jim Demetriou
Jim is the elder brother of Andrew.
Dempster
Graham Dempster
Sean Dempster
Graham is the father of Sean.
Dick
Alec Dick
Billy Dick
Robert Dick
Alec and Robert were brothers. Billy was the son of Alec.
Dimattina
Frank Dimattina
Paul Dimattina
Andrew Dimattina
Frank is the father of Paul and Andrew.
Dixon
Joe Dixon
Ben Dixon
Joe is the father of Ben.
Doig
George Doig
Norm Doig
Ron Doig Sr.
All three are first cousins. Another 14 members of the family have played in the WAFL over the years, for a combined total of 39 premierships and 35 runners-up.
Dowsing
Alf Dowsing
Rob Dowsing
Roy Dowsing
Alf was the father of Roy and the grandfather of Rob.
Doyle
Robert Doyle
Stephen Doyle
Robert is the father of Stephen.
Drum
Damian Drum
Marcus Drum
Damian is Marcus' uncle.
Duckworth
Billy Duckworth
John Duckworth
John is the elder brother of Billy.
Dugdale
Dean Dugdale
Glenn Dugdale
John Dugdale
John is the father of Dean and Glenn.
Dullard
Adrian Dullard
Tony Dullard
Adrian was the father of Tony.
Dummett
Alf Dummett
Charlie Dummett
Alf was the elder brother of Charlie.
Dunbar
Edgar Dunbar
Harold Dunbar
Hugh Dunbar
Edgar, Harold and Hugh were brothers.
Duncan
Mitch Duncan
Glen Rogers
Glen, who played for , is Mitch's father.
Dunell
Frank Dunell
Sam Dunell
Frank is the father of Sam.
Dunn
Harvey Dunn Jr.
Harvey Dunn Sr.
Harvey Sr. was the father of Harvey Jr.
Dunstan
Graeme Dunstan
Ian Dunstan
Maurie Dunstan
Maurie is the father of Graeme and Ian.
Dwyer
Anthony Dwyer
David Dwyer
Laurie Dwyer
Leo Dwyer
Leo was the father of Laurie and grandfather of Anthony and David. Leo was also the uncle of Keith Harper.
Dyer
Jack Dyer
Jack Dyer Jr.
Jack was the father of Jack Jr.
E
Eason
Alec Eason
Bill Eason
Dick Eason
Alec and Bill were brothers. Alec was the father of Dick.
Easton
Kevin Easton
Stephen Easton
Kevin was the father of Stephen.
Ebert
Brad Ebert
Brett Ebert
Craig Ebert
Jeff Ebert
Russell Ebert
Ricky Ebert
Russell is the brother of Craig and father of Brett. Craig is the father of Brad. Jeff is the brother of Russell and Craig.
Edmond
Bob Edmond
Jim Edmond
Bob was the elder brother of Jim.
Edwards (1)
Alan Edwards
Doug Edwards
Greg Edwards
Kym Edwards
Russell Edwards
Shane Edwards
Alan was the father of Doug, the grandfather of Greg and Russell and the great-grandfather of Kym and Shane.
Edwards (2)
Tyson Edwards
Jackson Edwards
Jackson is the son of Tyson.
Egan/Lovett
Alf Egan
Ted Lovett
Alf was the father of Ted.
Elliott
Bruce Elliott
Glenn Elliott
Robert Elliott
Bruce, Glenn and Robert are brothers.
Ellis
Kingsley Ellis
Lindsay Ellis
Ted Ellis
Ted was the father of Kingsley and Lindsay.
Emselle
Ken Emselle
Richie Emselle
Richie was the father of Ken.
Erwin
Michael Erwin
Mick Erwin
Mick is the father of Michael.
Evans (1)
Alfie Evans
Rodney Evans
Alfie was the father of Rodney.
Evans (2)
Neil Evans
Ron Evans
Ron was the elder brother of Neil.
Everitt
Andrejs Everitt
Peter Everitt
Peter is the elder brother of Andrejs.
F
Fanning
Fred Fanning
John Fanning
Fred was the father of John.
Farmer
Horrie Farmer
Horrie H. Farmer
Horrie H. was the father of Horrie.
Farrant
Doug Farrant
Gary Farrant
Gary is the elder brother of Doug.
Febey
Matthew Febey
Steven Febey
Matthew and Steven are twins.
Fehring
Arthur Fehring
Charlie Fehring
Charlie was the elder brother of Arthur.
Feldmann
Derek Feldmann
Rick Feldmann
Derek and Rick are brothers.
Fellowes
Graeme Fellowes
Wes Fellowes
Graeme is the father of Wes.
Ferguson
Jack T. Ferguson
John K. Ferguson
Jack was the father of John.
Fidge
John Fidge
Ted Fidge
John and Ted are brothers.
Fields
Neville Fields
Tom Fields
Neville is Tom's father.
Fincher
Charlie Fincher
Jack Fincher
Charlie was the elder brother of Jack.
Fleming
Ian Fleming
Keith Fleming
Ian and Keith were twins.
Fletcher (1)
Ken Fletcher
Dustin Fletcher
Ken is Dustin's father.
Fletcher (2)
Daniel Fletcher
Simon Fletcher
Daniel and Simon are brothers.
Flower
Robert Flower
Tom Flower
Robbie and Tom are brothers.
Fogarty
Tom Fogarty
Chris Fogarty
John Fogarty
Joe Fogarty
Tom Fogarty Jr.
Tom, Chris, John, and Joe were brothers. Tom Fogarty Jr. is the son of Tom B. Fogarty.
Foster
Jack Foster
Rob Foster
Jack was the father of Rob.
Fox
Arthur Fox Jr.
Arthur Fox Sr.
Arthur Sr. was the father of Arthur Jr.
Francis
Jack Francis
Jim Francis
Syd Francis
Jack, Jim and Syd were brothers.
Fraser (1)
Don Fraser Jr.
Don Fraser Sr.
Don Sr. was the father of Don Jr.
Fraser (2)
Ken Fraser
Mark Fraser
Ken is the father of Mark.
Freeborn
Glenn Freeborn
Scott Freeborn
Glenn is the elder brother of Scott.
Frost
Jack Frost
Sam Frost
Jack and Sam are brothers.
G
Galbally
Frank Galbally
Jack Galbally
Bob Galbally
Jack was the elder brother of Frank and Bob.
Gale
Brendon Gale
Jack Gale
Michael Gale
Jack was the grandfather of brothers Brendon and Michael.
Gallagher
Jim Gallagher
Ross Gallagher
Jim was the father of Ross.
Garbutt
Joe Garbutt Jr.
Joe Garbutt
Joe was the father of Joe Jr.
Gardner
Corrie Gardner
Eric Gardner
Mark Gardner
Corrie, Eric and Mark were brothers.
Gardiner (1)
Jack Gardiner
Vin Gardiner
Jack was the elder brother of Vin.
Gardiner (2)
Alex Gardiner Sr.
Alex Gardiner
Alex Sr. was the father of Alex.
Gardner
Corrie Gardner
Eric Gardner
Corrie was the elder brother of Eric.
Garlick
George Garlick Sr.
George Garlick
George Sr. was the father of George.
Gaspar
Damien Gaspar
Darren Gaspar
Travis Gaspar
Damien, Darren and Travis are brothers
Gaudion
Charlie Gaudion
Michael Gaudion
Charlie was the father of Michael.
Georgiades
John Georgiades
Mitch Georgiades Port Adelaide
John is the father of Mitch.
Gerrand
Bill Gerrand Sr.
Bill Gerrand Jr.
Bill was the father of Bill Jr.
Gibb
Len Gibb
Percy Gibb
Reg Gibb
Ray Gibb
Rupert Gibb
Reg was the father of Ray and brother of Len, Percy and Rupert.
Gibbs
Bryce Gibbs
Ross Gibbs
Ross is the father of Bryce.
Giles
Glenn Giles
Peter Giles
Glenn and Peter are brothers.
Gill (1)
Barry Gill
John Gill
John is the elder brother of Barry.
Gill (2)
Dick Gill
Frank Gill
Frank was the father of Dick.
Gillespie
Dave Gillespie
Doug Gillespie
Dave and Doug were twin brothers
Gilmore
Brian Gilmore
Daniel Gilmore
Brian is the grandfather of Daniel.
Glascott
David Glascott
Stuart Glascott
David is the elder brother of Stuart.
Gleeson
Adrian Gleeson
Martin Gleeson
Adrian is the uncle of Martin.
Glendinning
Gus Glendinning
Ross Glendinning
Gus was the father of Ross.
Goggin
Bill Goggin
Matt Goggin
Bill and Matt are brothers.
Gomez
Frank Gomez Sr.
Frank Gomez Jr.
Frank Sr. is the father of Frank Jr.
Goodes
Adam Goodes
Brett Goodes
Adam and Brett are brothers.
Goonan
Jim H. Goonan
Jimmy Goonan
Jim is the father of Jimmy.
Goss
Kevin Goss
Norm Goss Jr.
Norm Goss Sr.
Paul Goss
Norm is the father of Kevin, Norm and Paul.
Gotch
Brad Gotch
Graham Gotch
Xavier Gotch
Graham is the father of Brad. Brad is the father of Xavier.
Gotz
Bruce Gotz
Martin Gotz
Martin was the father of Bruce.
Gowans
Chris Gowans
James Gowans
Chris and James are twins.
Gowers
Billy Gowers
Andrew Gowers
Trevor Gowers
Andrew is the son of Trevor and father of Bill.
Grace
Jim Grace
Joe Grace
Mick Grace
Jim was the eldest brother; Joe was the youngest.
Graham
Ben Graham
Jack Graham
Ricky Graham
Jack was the father of Ricky and grandfather of Ben. Ricky is Ben's uncle.
Grainger
Gary Grainger
George Grainger
George is the father of Gary.
Grambeau
Mick Grambeau
Son: Shane Grambeau
Grant
Chris Grant
Daughter: Isabella Grant
Green (1)
Bob Green
Jack Green
Bob and Jack were brothers.
Green (2)
Jack Green Sr.
Jack Green Jr.
Jack Green III
Jack Sr. was the father of Jack Jr. and the grandfather of Jack III.
Greene
Russell Greene
Steven Greene
Russell is the father of Steven.
Greeves
Edward Greeves Jr.
Ted Greeves
Ted was the father of Edward.
Grima
Alex Grima: Glenelg, , rookie list,
Nathan Grima:
Todd Grima: Glenelg, rookie list, (VFL)
Nathan is the oldest brother, Alex is the youngest
Grimes
Dylan Grimes
Jack Grimes
Jack is the older brother of Dylan.
Grimley
Brett Grimley
Ken Grimley
Sam Grimley
Ken is the father of Brett, who is the father of Sam.
Guinane
Danny Guinane
Paddy Guinane
Danny was the father of Paddy.
Gull
Jim Gull
Stewart Gull
Jim was the father of Stewart.
Gunn/Ward
Bill Gunn ()
Callan Ward (, )
Bill Gunn is the grandfather of Callan Ward.
H
Hacker
Alf Hacker
Jack Hacker
Alf was the elder brother of Jack.
Hall
Grahame Hall
Peter Hall
Grahame was the father of Peter.
Hallahan
Jim Hallahan Jr.
Jim Hallahan Sr.
Mike Hallahan
Tom Hallahan
Jim Sr. was the father of Jim Jr. and Tom and the grandfather of Mike.
Halloran
Danny Halloran
Frank Halloran
Frank was the father of Danny.
Hammond
Billy Hammond
Charlie Hammond
Jack Hammond
Jack was the elder of the three brothers, and Billy was the younger.
Hanley
Pearce Hanley
Cian Hanley
Pearce is the elder brother of Cian. Both have been listed for the Brisbane Lions, whilst Pierce has also played for Gold Coast.
Hannebery
Dan Hannebery
Mark Hannebery
Matt Hannebery
Ian Aitken
Luke O'Sullivan
Matt is the father of Dan and younger brother of Mark. Luke O'Sullivan is the brother of Matt's wife. Ian Aitken is married to the sister of Matt's wife.
Hanton
Alex Hanton
Harold Hanton
Alec and Harold were twin brothers.
Hardiman
Jack Hardiman
Les Hardiman
Peter Hardiman
Jack was the father of Peter and Les.
Hardy
Charlie Hardy
Jack Hardy
Charlie was the father of Jack.
Hargrave
Ryan Hargrave
Steve Hargrave
Steve is the father of Ryan.
Harris (1)
Bernie Harris
Leon Harris
Leon is the elder brother of Bernie
Harris (2)
Brenton Harris
Darren Harris
Darren is the elder brother of Brenton
Hart
Arthur Hart
Don Hart
Eddie Hart
*
Arthur, Don, and Eddie were brothers.
Hartigan
Brent Hartigan
Dean Hartigan
Jack Hartigan
Jack was the father of Dean and grandfather of Brent.
Harvey (1)
Anthony Harvey
Robert Harvey
Robert is the elder brother of Anthony
Harvey (2)
Bill Harvey
Brent Harvey
Shane Harvey
Brent is the elder brother of Shane. Bill is their grandfather.
Hawking
Fred Hawking
Simon Hawking
Fred Hawking was a premiership player for the Geelong Cats. Simon Hawking is Fred Hawking’s grandson and played for Fitzroy, Brisbane, Sydney and Collingwood.
Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Michael Hawkins
Robb Hawkins
Tom Hawkins
Fred Le Deux
Jack, Michael and Robb are brothers. Jack is Tom's father. Fred is Tom's grandfather and Jack's father-in-law.
Hay (1)
Bill Hay
Phil Hay
Sted Hay
Bill, Phil and Sted were brothers.
Hay (2)
Ced Hay
Harold Hay
Ced and Harold were brothers.
Hayes
Phonse Hayes
John Hayes
Phonse and John were brothers.
Haynes
Tiah Haynes
John Haynes (Perth)
John is Tiah's father.
Heal
Graham Heal
Stan Heal
Stan was the father of Graham.
Healy
Gerard Healy
Greg Healy
Gerard and Greg are brothers.
Heenan
Jim F. Heenan
Jim P. Heenan
Jim F. was the father of Jim P.
Hellwig
Gordon Hellwig
Herman Hellwig
Herman was the father of Gordon.
Higgins/Orr
Shaun Higgins
Danielle Orr
Higgins is Orr's brother.
Hill
Bradley Hill
Stephen Hill
Stephen is the elder brother of Bradley.
Hinge
John Hinge
Mitch Hinge
John is the elder brother of Mitch.
Hinman
Arthur Hinman
Bill Hinman
Arthur and Bill were brothers
Hird
Allan Hird Sr.
Allan Hird Jr.
James Hird
Allan is the father of Allan Jr. and the grandfather of James.
Hiskins
Arthur Hiskins
Fred Hiskins
Rupe Hiskins
Stan Hiskins
Jack Hiskins
Arthur, Fred, Rupe and Stan were brothers. Jack was the son of Fred.
Hocking (1)
Garry Hocking
Steven Hocking
Brett rhode cosin
Hocking (2)
Graham Hocking
Heath Hocking
Graham is the father of Heath.
Hodgkin
Frank Hodgkin
Bob Hodgkin
Frank is the elder brother of Robert.
Hogan
Jesse Hogan
Tony Hogan
Tony () is the father of Jesse
Hoiles
John E. Hoiles
John M. Hoiles
John E. Hoiles is father of John M. Hoiles
Holland
Ben Holland
Nick Holland
Ben and Nick are brothers.
Hollick
Greg Hollick
Monique Hollick
Greg is the father of Monique.
Horman
George Horman
James Horman
James is the older brother of George.
Horkings
Ray Horkings
Reg Horkings
Reg was the father of Ray.
Hosking (1)
Ron Hosking
Scott Hosking
Ron is the father of Scott.
Hosking (2)
Jess Hosking
Sarah Hosking
Jess and Sarah are twin sisters.
Houghton
Gemma Houghton
Joel Houghton (Perth, Swan Districts & East Perth)
Gemma and Joel are siblings.
Houlihan
Adam Houlihan
Damian Houlihan
Ryan Houlihan
Adam, Damian and Ryan are brothers. Another sibling, Josh, was recruited by St Kilda but never played in the AFL.
Hovey
Ced Hovey
Jim Hovey
Ron Hovey
Wayne Hovey
Ron, Ced and Jim are brothers, Jim is the father of Wayne.
Howell (1)
Jack P. Howell
Jack Howell jnr
Scott Howell
Jack P was the father of Jack Jnr and the grandfather of Scott.
Howell (2)
Bevis Howell
Verdun Howell
Bevis and Verdun were brothers. Bevis won the 1952 Grogan Medal in Queensland
Howson
Herb Howson
Henry Howson
Henry and Herb were brothers.
Hudson
Paul Hudson
Peter Hudson
Peter is Paul's father. Simon Minton-Connell is Paul's cousin.
Huggard
Jack Huggard
Jackie Huggard
Jack was the father of Jackie.
Hughes
Frank 'Checker' Hughes
Frank Hughes Jr.
Frank was the father of Frank Jr.
Hughson
Mick Hughson
Les Hughson
Les Hughson Jr.
Fred Hughson
Denis Hughson
Les, Mick and Fred were brothers, Les was the father of Les Jr. and Fred was the father of Denis.
Hunter
Cameron Hunter
Ken Hunter
Ken is the father of Cameron.
Huntington
Jack Huntington
Les Huntington
Stan Huntington
Bill Huntington
Jack, Les and Stan were brothers. Bill is the son of Stan.
Huppatz
Eric Huppatz
Kevin Huppatz
Kevin was the son of Eric.
Hurn
William Hurn
Shannon Hurn
William is the father of Shannon.
I
Icke
Bill Icke
Laurie Icke
Steven Icke
Laurie is the brother of Bill and the father of Steven.
Incigneri
Len Incigneri
Matt Incigneri
Len and Matt were brothers.
Ion
Barry Ion
Graham Ion
Graham is the elder brother of Barry.
Irwin
Frank Irwin
Vince Irwin
Frank is the elder brother of Vince.
J
Jack
Brandon Jack
Kieren Jack
Brandon is the younger brother of Kieren, both are sons of rugby league legend Garry Jack.
Jakovich
Gary Jakovich
Allen Jakovich
Glen Jakovich
Gary (played for ), Allen and Glen are brothers.
James (1)
Brett James
Roger James
Paul James
Brett and Roger and Paul are siblings – Brett and Roger played AFL and SANFL and Paul played SANFL.
James (2)
John James
Michael James
John is the father of Michael.
James (3)
Max James
Heath James
Max is the father of Heath.
James (4)
Fred James
Les James
Syd James
Fred, Les and Syd were brothers.
Jarman
Andrew Jarman
Darren Jarman
Ben Jarman
Andrew and Darren are brothers. Ben is the son of Darren.
Jeffrey
Joel Jeffrey
Russell Jeffrey
Russell is Joel's father.
Jewell
Nick Jewell
Tony Jewell
Tony is the father of Nick.
John
Graeme John
Gareth John
Graeme is the father of Gareth.
Johns
Alwyn Johns
Keith Johns
Alwyn and Keith were brothers.
Johnson(1)
Bob B. Johnson
Bob C. Johnson
Bob C. is Bob B's father.
Johnson (2)
Alan Johnson
Chris Johnson
Alan is the father of Chris.
Johnson (3)
David Johnson
Mark Johnson
Mark is the elder brother of David.
Johnston
Jack Johnston
Charlie Johnston
Charlie and Jack are brothers.
Johnstone
Norm Johnstone
Travis Johnstone
Norm is the grandfather of Travis.
Jones (1)
Brett Jones
Chad Jones
Brett is the elder brother of Chad.
Jones (2)
Nathan Jones
Zak Jones
Nathan is the elder brother of Zak.
Jones (3)
Bob Jones
Liam Jones
Bob is Liam's father.
K
Kappler
Darren Kappler
David Kappler
Darren and David are brothers.
Kearney
Dan Kearney
Jim Kearney
Jim was the father of Dan.
Keating
Aaron Keating
Clark Keating
Aaron and Clark are brothers.
Keeffe
Lachlan Keeffe
Jessy Keeffe
Lachlan is the elder brother of Jessy. Lachlan has played for Collingwood in the AFL, and Jessy has been listed for Brisbane in the AFL Women's.
Kekovich
Brian Kekovich
Sam Kekovich
Brian and Sam are brothers.
Kellaway
Andrew Kellaway
Duncan Kellaway
Andrew and Duncan are brothers.
Kelly
Bill Kelly
Joe Kelly
Bill was the father of Joe.
Kelly (2)
Ernie Kelly
Harvey Kelly
Otto Kelly
All three were brothers
Kelly (3)
Craig Kelly
Jake Kelly
Craig is the father of Jake.
Kelly (4)
Phil Kelly
Josh Kelly
Phil is the father of Josh.
Kennedy (1)
John Kennedy Sr.
John Kennedy Jr.
Josh Kennedy
John Sr. is John Jr.'s father, Josh is John Jr.'s son and his maternal grandfather is Felix Russo.
Kennedy (2)
Des Kennedy
Matthew Kennedy
Des is the father of Matthew.
Kennedy (3)
James Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Ted was the elder brother of James
Kenny
Bill Kenny
Billy Kenny
Billy was the father of Bill.
Kernahan
David Kernahan
Harry Kernahan
Stephen Kernahan
Harry is the father of David and Stephen.
Kerr (1)
Laurie Kerr
Peter Kerr
Laurie is the father of Peter.
Kerr (2)
Daniel Kerr
Roger Kerr
Roger is the father of Daniel.
Kerr (3)
Alex Kerr
Bill Kerr
Alex and Bill were brothers.
Kick
Murray Kick
Ned Kick
Ned was the father of Murray.
King
Clinton King
Derek King
Derek was the father of Clinton. Derek's father Robert King played for Brighton in the VFA.
Kinnear
Bill Kinnear
Joe Kinnear
Joe was the elder brother of Bill. The son of Joe, Col Kinnear, coached the Sydney Swans.
Knight
Graham Knight
Phillip Knight
Graham is the father of Philip.
Knott
Dan Knott (footballer)
Arch Knott
Dan and Arch are brothers.
Kol
Michael Kol
Nigel Kol
Michael and Nigel are identical twins.
Krakouer
Andrew J. Krakouer
Andrew L. Krakouer
Jim Krakouer
Nathan Krakouer
Phil Krakouer
Jim, Phil and Andrew L. are brothers, Andrew J is Jim's son. Nathan is a cousin of Andrew J.
Kruse
Max Kruse, Sr. (Prahran)
Max Kruse, Jr. (Sydney Swans), (Glenelg)
Max Sr. is the father of Max Jr.
Kuhl
Harry Kuhl
Jim Kuhl
Harry was the father of Jim.
L
Laird
Chris Laird
Frank Laird
Chris and Frank were twin brothers.
Lane
Eddie Lane
Clarrie Lane
Eddie was the elder brother of Clarrie.
Lambert
Chris Lambert
Harold Lambert
Chris was the elder brother of Harold
Langdon
Ed Langdon
Tom Langdon
Tom is the elder brother of Ed
They are also related to the Cordner family. Their great-grandmother was Sylvia Cordner, a first cousin of Edward Rae, Harry, Larry and Alan Cordner, making Tom and Ed their first cousins thrice-removed.
Langford
Chris Langford
Will Langford
Lachlan Langford
Chris is the father of Will and Lachlan.
Lawrence
Barry Lawrence
Steven Lawrence
Barry is the father of Steven.
Leach
Arthur Leach
Fred Leach
Ted Leach
Arthur, Fred and Ted were brothers.
Leahy
Brian Leahy
John Leahy
Terry Leahy
Brian, John and Terry are all brothers.
LeCras
Peter LeCras
Brent LeCras
Mark LeCras
Peter (East Fremantle) is the father of Brent and Mark.
Leehane
Steve Leehane
Ted Leehane
Tom Leehane
Steve was the father of Ted and Tom.
Le Messurrier
Alfred Le Messurrier
Albert Le Messurrier
Alfred Roy Le Messurier
Edward Le Messurrier
Ernest Le Messurrier
The Le Messurrier's were a prominent Port Adelaide business family that played a large part in the early years of the Football Club.
Lenaghan
Denis Lenaghan
Mick Lenaghan
Denis is the elder brother of Mick.
Lester-Smith
Neil Lester-Smith
Rod Lester-Smith
Ryan Lester-Smith
Rod and Neil are brothers, Ryan is Neil's son. All have played for .
Liberatore
Tony Liberatore
Tom Liberatore
Tony is the father of Tom.
Lill
Alick Lill
John Lill
Alick was the father of John.
Linton
Alby "Curly" Linton
Alby Linton
Alby Sr. is the father of Alby.
Lisle/Milnes
Brian Milnes
Mark Lisle
Jordan Lisle
Brian is the grandfather of Jordan, and Mark is the father of Jordan.
Lloyd
Brad Lloyd
John Lloyd
Matthew Lloyd
John is the father of Brad and Matthew.
Lockwood
George Lockwood
Teddy Lockwood
George and Teddy were twin brothers
Longmire
John Longmire
Robert Longmire
Keith Williams
Keith Williams is the grandfather of John Longmire. Robert is the uncle of John.
Longmuir
Justin Longmuir
Troy Longmuir
Justin and Troy are brothers
Lonie
Nathan Lonie
Ryan Lonie
Nathan and Ryan are identical twins
Lord (1)
Alistair Lord
Stewart Lord
Alistair and Stewart are twin brothers.
Lord (2)
Jack Lord
John Lord
Jack was the father of John.
Lower
Ed Lower
Nick Lower
Ed and Nick are twins.
Lucas (1)
George Lucas
Peter Lucas
George was the father of Peter.
Lucas (2)
Jack Lucas
Kane Lucas
Jack is the father of Kane.
Luff
Bill Luff Sr.
Bill Luff
Bill Sr. was the father of Bill.
Lunn
Ron Lunn
Stephen Lunn
Ron is the father of Stephen.
Lugg
Gary Lugg
Rheanne Lugg
Gary is the father of Rheanne.
Lynch (1)
Fred Lynch
Paul Lynch
Fred is the father of Paul.
Lynch (2)
Bethany Lynch
Tom Lynch
Tom is Bethany's brother.
Lyon (1)
Garry Lyon
Peter Lyon
Peter is the father of Garry.
Lyon (2)
Maurie Lyon
Ross Lyon
Maurie is the father of Ross.
Lyons
Marty Lyons
Jarryd Lyons
Corey Lyons
Marty is the father of Jarryd and Corey.
M
Mackie
Gordon Mackie
Ken Mackie
Gordon was the elder brother of Ken.
MacPherson
Rod MacPherson
Stephen MacPherson
Darcy MacPherson
Rod is the elder brother of Stephen. Darcy is Stephen's son.
Madden
Justin Madden
Simon Madden
Justin and Simon are brothers.
Magin
Alik Magin
Rhys Magin
Alik is the younger brother of Rhys.
Maginness
Norm Maginness
Scott Maginness
Finn Maginness
Norm is the father of Scott and Scott is the father of Finn.
Malakellis
Spiro Malakellis
Tony Malakellis
Spiro is the elder brother of Tony.
Mann
Ken Mann
Peter Mann
Ken is the father of Peter.
Marchesi
Gerald Marchesi
Peter Marchesi
Val Marchesi
Val was the father of Gerald and Peter.
Marsham
Alan Marsham
Harry Marsham
Harry was the father of Alan.
Martyn
Bryan Martyn
Mick Martyn
Bryan was the father of Mick.
Matera
Peter Matera
Phillip Matera
Wally Matera
Brandon Matera
Wally is the elder brother of Peter and Phillip. Brandon is Wally's son.
Matthews (1)
Herbie Matthews
Herb Matthews Jr.
Herb Matthews Sr.
Norm Matthews
Herb, Sr. was Herbie's father and Herb, Jr. was his son. Norm was the second son of Herb Sr.
Matthews (2)
Kelvin Matthews
Leigh Matthews
Kelvin and Leigh are brothers.
Matthews (3)
Don Matthews
Norm Matthews
Norm was the father of Don.
May
Charlie May
Wally May
Charlie was the father of Wally.
Maynard
Brayden Maynard
Corey Maynard
Peter Maynard
Peter is the father of Brayden and Corey.
McAdam
Adrian McAdam
Gilbert McAdam
Greg McAdam
Adrian, Gilbert and Greg are brothers.
McAsey
Alan McAsey
Darren McAsey
Alan is the father of Darren.
McCabe
Bill McCabe
Bill McCabe Jr.
Bill was the father of Bill Jr.
McCarthy/Olle
Bernie McCarthy
Gavan McCarthy
John McCarthy
Matthew McCarthy
Shane McCarthy
Alan Olle
Shane is the father of John and Matthew. Bernie and Gavan are Shane's brothers. Alan was the grandfather of John and Matthew.
McCartin
Paddy McCartin
Tom McCartin
Paddy is the older brother of Tom.
McDonald (1)
Alex McDonald
Anthony McDonald
James McDonald
Alex, Anthony and James are brothers
McDonald (2)
Edwin McDonald
Arch McDonald
Fen McDonald
Edwin, Arch, and Fen are brothers
McDonald (3)
Oscar McDonald
Tom McDonald
Tom is the older brother of Oscar.
McFarlane
Alex McFarlane
Bill McFarlane
Alex is the uncle of Bill.
McGovern
Andrew McGovern
Jeremy McGovern
Mitch McGovern
Andrew is the father of Jeremy and Mitch.
McGrath (1)
Ashley McGrath
Cory McGrath
Toby McGrath
Marty McGrath
Dion Woods
Ashley, Cory and Toby are brothers. Marty and Dion Woods are cousins of Ashley, Cory & Toby.
McGrath (2)
Dennis McGrath
Tim McGrath
Dennis is the father of Tim.
McGrath (3)
Frank McGrath
Shane McGrath
Frank and Shane were brothers.
McHale
Jock McHale
John McHale
Jock was the father of John.
McIntosh
Ashley McIntosh
John McIntosh
John is the father of Ashley.
McKay
Abbie McKay
Andrew McKay
Abbie is Andrew's daughter.
McKenzie (1)
Bob McKenzie
Robert McKenzie
Bob is the father of Robert.
McKenzie (2)
Jack McKenzie
Jack McKenzie Jr.
Jack was the father of Jack Jr.
McKenzie (3)
Ken McKenzie
Alec McKenzie
Jack McKenzie
Ken, Alec and Jack were brothers.
McKernan
Corey McKernan
Shaun McKernan
Corey is the elder brother of Shaun.
McLaughlin
Hugh J. McLaughlin
Hugh E. McLaughlin
Hugh J. was the father of Hugh E.
McLean
Brock McLean
Ricky McLean
Rod McLean
Rod was the father of Ricky and Ricky is the uncle of Brock.
McLeish
John McLeish
Maurie McLeish
Maurie was the father of John.
McNamara
Bill McNamara
Pat McNamara
Bill was the father of Pat.
McPharlin
Ray McPharlin
Luke McPharlin
Ray was the grandfather of Luke.
McShane
Henry McShane
Jim McShane
Joe McShane
Henry, Jim and Joe were brothers. Additionally, three other brothers were leading players in Victoria prior to the commencement of the VFL.
McVeigh
Jarrad McVeigh
Mark McVeigh
Jarrad and Mark are brothers.
Merrington
Andrew Merrington
Gary Merrington
Gary is the father of Andrew.
Merrett
Jackson Merrett
Zach Merrett
Jackson and Zach are brothers.
Merryweather/Guthrie
Andrew Merryweather
Cameron Guthrie
Zach Guthrie
Andrew is the father of Cameron and Zach.
Metherell
Jack Metherell
Len Metherell
Len was the elder brother of Jack.
Michael
Clem Michael
Stephen Michael
Stephen is Clem's father.
Middlemiss
Glen Middlemiss
Russell Middlemiss
Russell is the father of Glen.
Miers
David Miers (Subiaco, Claremont)
Gryan Miers ()
David is the father of Gryan.
Mihocek
Brody Mihocek
Jack Mihocek
Jack is the father of Brody.
Milburn
Charlie Milburn
Pat Milburn
Charlie was the father of Pat.
Miller
Allan Miller
Greg Miller
Alan is the father of Greg.
Mills
Bert Mills
Arthur Mills
Bert and Arthur were brothers
Mitchell
Barry Mitchell
Tom Mitchell
Barry is the father of Tom.
Mithen
Kevin Mithen
Laurie Mithen
Kevin and Laurie are brothers.
Molloy (1)
Glenn Molloy
Graham Molloy
Glenn is the son of Graham.
Molloy (2)
Jarrod Molloy
Shane Molloy
Chloe Molloy
Shane is the father of Jarrod.
Chloe Molloy is a niece of Jarrod Molloy
Moloney (1)
Brian Moloney
Troy Moloney
Abbi Moloney
Brian is the father of Troy. Troy is the father of Abbi.
Moloney (2)
George Moloney Jr.
George Moloney Sr.
Vin Moloney
George Sr. was the father of George Jr. and Vin.
Moncrieff
Allan Moncrieff
Michael Moncrieff
Allan is the father of Michael.
Monohan
Jack Monohan Sr.
Jack Monohan Jr.
Jack senior was the father of Jack junior.
Montgomery
Allan Montgomery
Bill Montgomery
Ken Montgomery
Bill was the brother of Allan and the father of Ken.
Mooney
Cameron Mooney
Jason Mooney
Jason is Cameron's elder brother.
Moore (1)
Herbert Moore
Roy Moore
Herbert was the father of Roy.
Moore (2)
Andrew Moore
Kelvin Moore
Kelvin is the elder brother of Andrew
Moore (3)
Peter Moore
Son: Darcy Moore
Peter is the father of Darcy.
Morden
Clem Morden
Jim Morden
Jack O'Rourke, Snr.
Basil O'Rourke
Jack O'Rourke
Clem and Jim were brother. Jack O'Rourke, Snr. was married to their sister, and Basil and Jack were their nephews.
Moriarty
Dan Moriarty
Geoff Moriarty
Jack Moriarty
Geoff and Dan were brothers and Geoff was the father of Jack.
Morrison
Peter Morrison
Shane Morrison
Peter is the father of Shane.
Morrissey
George Morrissey
George Morrissey Jr.
George Sr. was the father of George.
Mort
Harry Mort
Ian Mort
Harry was the father of Ian.
Morton
Noel Morton
Cale Morton
Jarryd Morton
Mitch Morton
Noel played in the WAFL for Claremont and is the father of Mitch, Cale and Jarryd.
Morwood
Paul Morwood
Shane Morwood
Tony Morwood
All three are brothers
Motley
Geof Motley
Peter Motley
Geof is the father of Peter
Motlop
Daniel Motlop
Marlon Motlop
Shannon Motlop
Steven Motlop
Rod Waddell
Daniel, Steven and Shannon are brothers, Marlon is a cousin of Daniel, Steven and Shannon. Rod is an uncle of Daniel, Steven and Shannon.
Muller
Angie Muller
Nick Muller
Angie and Nick were brothers.
Munday
Jim Munday
Jim Munday Sr.
Jim Sr. was the father of Jim.
Murdoch
Brodie Murdoch
Jordan Murdoch
Brodie and Jordan are brothers
Murphy (1)
Frank Murphy
Len Murphy
Frank and Len were brothers
Murphy (2)
Leo Murphy
John Murphy
Marc Murphy
Leo was the father of John and grandfather of Marc.
Murphy (3)
Jack Murphy
John P. Murphy
Jack was the father of John.
Murray
Dan Murray
Kevin Murray
Dan was the father of Kevin.
N
Naismith
Charlie Naismith
Wally Naismith
Alby Naismith
Herb Naismith
Wally, twin brother of Charlie Naismith, was the father of Alby and Herb Naismth.
Nankervis (1)
Bruce Nankervis
Ian Nankervis
Bruce and Ian are brothers.
Nankervis (2)
Stephen Nankervis
Vic Nankervis
Stephen was the father of Vic.
Narkle
Keith Narkle
Phil Narkle
Keith is the elder brother of Phil.
Nash
Thomas Nash
Michael Nash
Robert Nash
Laurie Nash
Robert Nash Jr.
Robert was the father of Laurie and Robert Jr. Michael was Robert's father and Thomas's brother.
Neagle
Merv Neagle
Jay Neagle
Merv was the father of Jay.
Nelson
Sandy Nelson
Ben Nelson
Sandy is the father of Ben.
Nicholls
Geoff Nicholls
Reg Nicholls
Geoff was the elder brother of Reg.
Nisbet
Darryl Nisbet
Des Nisbet
Des was the father of Darryl.
Niven
Colin Niven
Ray Niven
Colin and Ray were brothers.
Nolan
Bernie Nolan
Herb Nolan
Jerry Nolan
Tom Nolan
Bernard, Herb, Jerry and Tom were brothers.
O
Oaten
Max Oaten
Michael Oaten
Max is the father of Michael.
Oatey
Jack Oatey
Peter Oatey
Robert Oatey
David Oatey
Jack was the father of Peter and Robert. David is the son of Robert
Oborne
Brad Oborne
Rod Oborne
Rod is the father of Brad.
O'Brien (1)
Dally O'Brien
Jock O'Brien
Jock was the elder brother of Dally.
O'Brien (2)
Craig O'Brien
Ron O'Brien
Ron is the father of Craig.
Obst
Ken Obst
Peter Obst
Andrew Obst
Trevor Obst
Brad Ebert
Ken was the father of Trevor and Peter and the grandfather of Andrew.
Brad Ebert is the grandson of Trevor Obst.
O'Connell
David O'Connell
John O'Connell
Michael O'Connell
John is the father of David and Michael.
O'Donnell (1)
Gary O'Donnell
Graeme O'Donnell
Graeme is the father of Gary.
O'Donnell (2)
Kevin O'Donnell
Simon O'Donnell
Kevin is the father of Simon.
Ogden
Gordon Ogden
Percy Ogden
Terry Ogden
Percy was the father of Gordon and Terry.
O'Halloran
Eddie O'Halloran
Kevin O'Halloran
Kevin was the father of Eddie.
O'Hara
Frank O'Hara
Jack O'Hara
Jim O'Hara
Frank, Jack and Jim were brothers.
O'Loughlin
Michael O'Loughlin
Ricky O'Loughlin
Michael and Ricky are brothers.
Oppy
Grant Oppy
Max Oppy
Max was the father of Grant.
O'Rourke
Jack O'Rourke, Snr.
Clem Morden
Jim Morden
Basil O'Rourke
Jack O'Rourke
Jack O'Rourke, Snr. was the brother-in-law of Clem and Jim Morden, and the father of Basil and Jack (who were, also, the nephews of Clem and Jim Morden).
Osborne
Graham Osborne
Richard Osborne
Richard is the elder brother of Graham.
O'Sullivan
Gabby O'Sullivan ()
John O'Sullivan (East Fremantle and Central District)
John is Gabby's father.
Ottens
Brad Ottens
Dean Ottens
Luke Ottens
Dean is the father of Brad and Luke.
Outen
Alby Outen
Alby Outen Jr.
Matt Outen
Wyn Outen
Alby, Matt, and Wyn were brothers; and Alby was the father of Alby Jr.
P
Pagan
Denis Pagan
Ryan Pagan
Denis is the father of Ryan.
Pannam
Albert Pannam
Alby Pannam
Charlie E. Pannam
Charlie H. Pannam
Charlie H. Pannam and Albert Pannam were brothers. Charlie was also the father of Alby and Charlie E.
Papley/Ross
Max Papley ()
Tom Papley ()
Ben Ross (, )
Michael Ross ()
Max Papley is the grandfather of Tom Papley and also grandfather to brothers Ben and Michael Ross.
Parker
Daniel Parker
Shane Parker
Shane and Daniel are brothers.
Pascoe
Barry Pascoe
Bob Pascoe
Bob is the elder brother of Barry
Paternoster
Jim Paternoster
Matt Paternoster
Jim and Matt were brothers
Pattinson
Artie Pattinson
George Pattinson
Artie was the father of George.
Pattison
Andy Pattison
Frank Pattison
Andy was the father of Frank.
Pavlich
Matthew Pavlich
Steven Pavlich
Steven is the father of Matthew.
Peake
Brett Peake
Brian Peake
Brian is the father of Brett.
Pender
Dan Pender
Jim Pender
Laurie Pender
Mick Pender
Dan, Jim, Laurie and Mick were brothers .
Pert
Brian Pert
Gary Pert
Brian is the father of Gary.
Phillipou
Peter Phillipou
Sam Phillipou
Peter is the father of Sam.
Phillips (1)
Garry Phillips
Ken Phillips
Ken is the father of Garry.
Phillips (2)
Greg Phillips
Erin Phillips
Erin is Greg's daughter.
Shaun Burgoyne is the son-in-law of Greg and brother-in-law of Erin
Phillips (3)
Ed Phillips
Tom Phillips
Tom is the older brother of Ed.
Picken
Billy Picken
Liam Picken
Marcus Picken
Billy is the father of Liam and Marcus.
Pickering
Liam Pickering
Michael Pickering
Michael was the father of Liam.
Pirrie
Dick Pirrie
Richard Pirrie
Kevin Pirrie
Stephen Pirrie
Richard was the father of Dick and Kevin and the grandfather of Stephen.
Pitura
John Pitura
Mark Pitura
John is the father of Mark.
Polak
Graham Polak
Troy Polak
Troy is the elder brother of Graham
Poulter
Joe Poulter
Ray Poulter
Joe was the father of Ray.
Powell
Matthew Powell (Australian footballer)
Tom Powell (footballer)
Matthew is the father of Tom.
Power
Luke Power
Sam Power
Luke is the elder brother of Sam.
Pratt
Bob Pratt
Bob Pratt Jr.
Bob was the father of Bob Jr.
Prescott
Ashley Prescott
David Prescott
David is the father of Ashley.
Price
Joe Price
Noel Price
Joe was the father of Noel.
Prior
Jaxon Prior
Michael Prior
Michael is the father of Jaxon.
Purdy
Harry Purdy
Harry F. Purdy
Harry was the father of Harry F.
Pyke
Don Pyke
Frank Pyke
James Pyke
Don and James are the sons of former WAFL player Frank
Q
Quinn (1)
Bob Quinn Port Adelaide
George Quinn Port Adelaide
Jack Quinn Jnr Port Adelaide
John Quinn Sr. Port Adelaide
Tommy Quinn Geelong and Port Adelaide
John Sidoli Port Adelaide
John Sr. was the father of Bob, Tommy, Jack and George. John Sidoli was John Sr's uncle and Bob, George, Jack and Tommy's great-uncle.
Quinn (2)
Billy Quinn
Roy Quinn
Billy was the father of Roy.
R
Raines
Andrew Raines
Geoff Raines
Geoff is Andrew's father.
Ralphsmith
Hugo Ralphsmith
Sean Ralphsmith
Sean is Hugo's father.
Rance
Alex Rance
Murray Rance
Murray is the father of Alex.
Randall
Pepa Randall
Trevor Randall
Viv Randall
Viv was the father of Trevor, Trevor is the grandfather of Pepa.
Rankin
Bert Rankin
Cliff Rankin
Doug Rankin
Georgie Rankin
Teddy Rankin
Tom Rankin
Teddy was the brother of Tom and father of Bert, Cliff and Doug, and the great-great-grandfather of Georgie. Cliff is the grandfather of Graeme O'Donnell and great-grandfather of Gary O'Donnell.
Rawle
George Rawle
Keith Rawle
George was the father of Keith.
Rawlings
Brady Rawlings
Jade Rawlings
Brady and Jade are brothers.
Rayson
Alan Rayson
Arthur Rayson
Noel Rayson
Arthur was the father of Alan and Noel.
Reedman
Jack Reedman
Sid Reedman
Jack and Sid were brothers.
Reeves/Caddy
John Reeves
Michael Reeves
Josh Caddy
Ned Reeves
John was the father of Michael. Josh Caddy is John's grandson, as is Ned.
Reid
Ben Reid
Bruce Reid Jr.
Bruce Reid Sr.
John Reid
Sam Reid
Bruce Sr. was the father of Bruce and John. Bruce Jr. is the father of Ben and Sam
Reiffel
Lou Reiffel
Ron Reiffel
Lou was the father of Ron.
Reilly
Jack 'Corp' Reilly- 204 games for South Fremantle, captain and B&F winner, 11 state games for Western Australia
Jim Reilly Played at Norwood during the 2nd world war
Graeme Reilly - 132 games for South Fremantle, Captain, 1 premiership, 1 interstate game
John Reilly - played 42 games for Carlton, 58 games for Footscray, 53 games for South Fremantle, 1 premiership, 3 interstate games
Jack and Jim are brothers. Graeme and John are sons of Jack.
Reynolds
Dick Reynolds
Joel Reynolds
Les Reynolds
Tom Reynolds
Dick and Tom were brothers and Joel is Dick's grandson. Les was the uncle of Dick. The Reynolds brothers had a cousin Max Oppy who also played league football.
Richards
Lou Richards
Ron Richards
Ed Richards
Lou is the elder brother of Ron. Ed is Ron's grandson. Charlie Pannam was their grandfather.
Richardson (1)
Alan Richardson
Rodger Richardson
Matthew Richardson
Alan and Rodger were brothers.
Alan is the father of Matthew.
Richardson (2)
Mark Richardson
Max Richardson
Wayne Richardson
Max and Wayne are brothers. Mark is Wayne's son.
Richardson (3)
Mike Richardson
Stephen Richardson
Mike and Stephen are twin brothers.
Rioli
Cyril Rioli
Daniel Rioli
Dean Rioli
Maurice Rioli
Willie Rioli
Maurice is Dean, Cyril and Willie's uncle, and Daniel's great uncle. Dean's father Sebastian, Cyril's father Cyril and Willie's father Willie Snr (all Maurice's brothers) played in the West Australian Football League for South Fremantle. Cyril Rioli is also Michael Long's nephew.
Rippon
Les Rippon
Harold Rippon
Norm Rippon
Les, Harold and Norm were brothers.
Roach
Michael Roach
Tom Roach
Michael is the father of Tom.
Robbins
Ben Robbins
Graham Robbins
Graham is the father of Ben.
Roberts (1)
Michael Roberts
Neil Roberts
Neil is the father of Michael.
Roberts (2)
Ken E. Roberts
Ken W. Roberts
Ken E. Roberts was the father of Ken W. Roberts.
Robertson (1)
Austin Robertson Jr.
Austin Robertson Sr.
Harold Robertson
Austin Robertson junior is the son of Austin and the nephew of Harold.
Robertson (2)
Keith Robertson
Rohan Robertson
Shane Robertson
Keith is the father of Rohan and Shane.
Robinson
Alex Robinson
Bill Robinson
Fred Robinson
Gordon Robinson
All four were brothers.
Robran
Barrie Robran
Matthew Robran
Jonathon Robran
Rodney Robran
Barrie is the elder brother to Rodney and the father of Matthew and Jonathan.
Rocca
Anthony Rocca
Saverio Rocca
Anthony and Saverio are brothers.
Rodan
David Rodan
Helen Roden
Helen is David's sister.
Rogers
Dave Rogers
Joe Rogers
Joe was the father of David.
Rollason
Ken Rollason
Neville Rollason
Neville was the father of Ken.
Rose
Bill Rose
Bob Rose
Kevin Rose
Ralph Rose
Robert Rose
Bob was the father of Robert junior. He was also the elder brother of Bill, Kevin and Ralph.
Ross (1)
Don Ross
Paul Ross
Don is the father of Paul.
Ross (2)
Jonathan Ross
Lester Ross
Lester is the father of Jonathan.
Round
Barry Round
David Round
Barry is the father of David.
Rowe (1)
Des Rowe
Percy Rowe
Percy was the father of Des.
Rowe (2)
James Rowe
Stephen Rowe
Stephen is the father of James.
Rugolo
Frank Rugolo
Joe Rugolo
Frank and Joe are brothers.
Ruscuklic
Alex Ruscuklic
Peter Ruscuklic
Alex is the elder brother of Peter.
Rush
Bob Rush
Bryan Rush
Gerald Rush
Kevin Rush
Leo Rush
The Rush's are all brothers; the only case of five brothers playing senior VFL/AFL football.
Russell (1)
Ivan Russell
Wally Russell
Wally was the father of Ivan.
Russell (2)
Kym Russell
Scott Russell
Kym is the elder brother of Scott
Russo
Felix Russo
Peter Russo
Felix is the father of Peter. Felix is also the grandfather of three players, Josh Kennedy, Luke Ball and Matthew Ball; as two of his daughters married footballers John Kennedy Jr. and Ray Ball.
Ryan
Phil Ryan
Ted Ryan
Phil was the elder brother of Ted.
Ryder
Revis Ryder
Paddy Ryder
Revis is the father of Paddy.
S
Sandford
Ben Sandford
Cecil Sandford
George Sandford
The three were brothers.
Sawley
Albert Sawley
Gordon Sawley
Gordon was the elder brother of Albert.
Scanlan
Joe Scanlan
Pat Scanlan
Kevin Scanlan
Joe and Pat were brothers and Pat was the father of Kevin.
Scarlett
John Scarlett
Matthew Scarlett
John is the father of Matthew.
Schache
Laurence Schache
Josh Schache
Laurence was the father of Josh.
Schimmelbusch
Daryl Schimmelbusch
Wayne Schimmelbusch
Daryl and Wayne are brothers.
Schwarze
Ben Schwarze
Troy Schwarze
Troy is the elder brother of Ben.
Scott
Brad Scott
Chris Scott
Bradley and Chris are identical twins.
Searl
Doug Searl
Sid Searl
Sid was the father of Doug.
Selleck
Roy Selleck Sr.
Roy Selleck
Roy Sr. was the father of Roy.
Selwood
Adam Selwood
Joel Selwood
Scott Selwood
Troy Selwood
All four are brothers (Adam and Troy are twins).
Serafini
Laurie Serafini
Renato Serafini
Renato is the elder brother of Laurie.
Sexton (1)
Ben Sexton
Michael Sexton
Michael is the elder brother of Ben.
Sexton (2)
Damian Sexton
Gerry Sexton
Gerry was the father of Damian.
Sharp
Alf Sharp
Mickey Sharp
Alf was the father of Mickey.
Shaw
Brayden Shaw
Heath Shaw
Neville Shaw
Ray Shaw
Reg Shaw
Rhyce Shaw
Robert Shaw
Tony Shaw
Reg was the father of Kelvin, Ray, Tony and Neville. Ray is the father of Heath and Rhyce. Brayden, the son of Tony, was drafted by Collingwood but never made his AFL debut. Robert is the cousin of Kelvin, Ray, Tony and Neville (his father is the brother of Reg).
Shea
Mark Shea
Paddy Shea
Mark was the elder brother of Paddy.
Sheahan (1)
John Sheahan
Maurie Sheahan
Maurie was the father of John.
Sheahan (2)
Fred Sheahan
Gerald Sheahan
Fred and Gerald were brothers.
Sheldon
Ken Sheldon
Sam Sheldon
Ken is the father of Sam.
Shelton (1)
Ian Shelton
Bill Shelton
Jack Shelton
Jack was the father of Bill and the uncle of Ian. Ian and Bill are cousins.
Shelton (2)
Jim Shelton
John Shelton
Jim was the father of John.
Shephard
Graeme Shephard
Heath Shephard
Graeme is the father of Heath.
Sholl
Brad Sholl
Brett Sholl
Craig Sholl
Lachlan Sholl
Craig and Brad are brothers. Brett is the first cousin of Craig and Brad. Lachlan is Brett's son.
Sidebottom
Allan Sidebottom
Garry Sidebottom
Beau McDonald
Garry is the elder brother of Allan, and the uncle of Beau McDonald.
Sierakowski
Brian Sierakowski
David Sierakowski
Will Sierakowski
Brian is the father of David and uncle of Will.
Silvagni
Sergio Silvagni
Stephen Silvagni
Alex Silvagni
Jack Silvagni
Ben Silvagni
Sergio is the father of Stephen. Alex is Stephen's first cousin once removed. Jack is the son of Stephen and the grandson of Sergio.
Simpkin
Jonathan Simpkin
Tom Simpkin
Jonathan is Tom's older brother.
Sinclair
Allan Sinclair
Callum Sinclair
Allan is Callum's father.
Slattery
Tyson Slattery
Wayne Slattery
Wayne is the father of Tyson.
Smith (1)
Len Smith
Norm Smith
Peter Smith
Norm was the younger brother of Len and the father of Peter.
Smith (2)
Michael Smith
Stan Smith
Stan is the father of Michael.
Smith (3)
Jesse W. Smith
Ross W. Smith
Jesse is the son of Ross.
Smith (4)
Brad Smith
Phil Smith
Phil is the father of Brad.
Smith (5)
Mal Smith
Nick Smith
Mal is the father of Nick.
Somerville
Trevor Somerville
John Somerville
Peter Somerville
John and Trevor were brothers, and John was Peter's father.
Spargo
Bob Spargo Sr
Bob Spargo jnr
Paul Spargo
Charlie Spargo
Ricky Spargo
Bob sr is the father of Bob Jr and Ricky.
Bob Jr is the father of Paul.
Paul is the father of Charlie
Stephenson
Jack Stephenson
John F. Stephenson
Jack was the father of John.
Stevens (1)
Gary Stevens
Anthony Stevens
Michael Stevens
Gary is Anthony's elder brother, Michael is the younger brother
Stevens (2)
Danny Stevens
Nick Stevens
Danny is the elder brother of Nick
Stevens/Talia
Arthur Stevens
Harvey Stevens
Grandson: Daniel Talia
Grandson: Michael Talia
Arthur was the father of Harvey, Harvey is the grandfather of brothers Daniel and Michael.
Stibbard
Neville Stibbard Sr.
Neville Stibbard
Robert Stibbard
Neville Sr. is the father of Neville and Robert.
Stokes
Jervis Stokes
Ray Stokes
Ray is the elder brother of Jervis
Strang
Bill Strang
Grandson: John Perry
Allan Strang
Colin Strang
Doug Strang
Geoff Strang
Gordon Strang
Bill was the father of Allan, Colin, Doug, Gordon, and Edna "Bob" Perry née Strang. Doug is the father of Geoff; Edna is the mother of John Perry.
Strom
Mim Strom
Zach Strom (South Fremantle)
Noah Strom (South Fremantle)
Mim, Zach and Noah are siblings.
Stynes
Brian Stynes
Jim Stynes
Brian is the younger brother of Jim.
Sullivan
Tony Sullivan
Chris Sullivan
Tony is the father of Chris.
Sumner
Byron Sumner
Tim Sumner
Byron and Tim are brothers.
Swallow
Andrew Swallow
David Swallow
Andrew is the elder brother of David.
T
Talia
See Stevens/Talia
Tanner
Gerald Tanner
Xavier Tanner
Gerald is the father of Xavier.
Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Robbie Tarrant
Chris is the elder brother of Robbie.
Taylor (1)
John Taylor Snr.
Don Taylor
John Taylor Jnr.
Laurie Taylor
John Taylor Snr. was the father of Don, John Jnr. and Laurie.
Taylor (2)
Cliff Taylor
Jason Taylor
Noel Taylor
Cliff was the father of Noel and the grandfather of Jason.
Thiessen
Tony Thiessen
James Thiessen
Tony is the father of James.
Thomas (1)
William Thomas
Len Thomas
William was the father of Len.
Thomas (2)
William 'Digger' Thomas
Ritchie Thomas
Digger Thomas was the father of Ritchie.
Thripp
Bill Thripp
Terry Thripp
Bill is the father of Terry.
Tippett
Kurt Tippett
Joel Tippett
Kurt and Joel are brothers
Tohill
Anthony Tohill
Anton Tohill
Anthony is Anton's father.
Toohey (1)
Jim Toohey Sr.
Jack Toohey
Jim Toohey Jr.
Jim Sr. was the father of Jack and Jim Jr.
Toohey (2)
Bernard Toohey
Gerard Toohey
Bernard and Gerard are brothers.
Tossol
John Tossol
Peter Tossol
John and Peter are brothers.
Tredrea
Gary Tredrea
Warren Tredrea
Gary is the father of Warren.
Tuck
Michael Tuck
Shane Tuck
Travis Tuck
Michael is the father of Shane and Travis. Nathan, Luke and Gary Ablett (Jr) are Travis and Shane's cousins.
Tuddenham
Des Tuddenham
Paul Tuddenham
Des is the father of Paul.
Turner (1)
Leo Turner
Michael Turner
Leo is the father of Michael.
Turner (2)
Ken Turner
Jamie Turner
Ken is the father of Jamie.
Twomey
Bill Twomey Sr.
Bill Twomey Jr.
Mick Twomey
Pat Twomey
David Twomey
Bill Sr. was the father of Bill, Mick and Pat the grandfather of David.
Tyson
Charles, Snr. Tyson ()
Charlie Tyson (, )
Edward Tyson (Prahran)
George Tyson (, )
Jack Tyson ()
Sam Tyson ( player and coach)
Ted Tyson ()
Charles Snr. was the father of Charlie, Edward, George, Jack and Sam. Ted was the son of Sam.
V
van Berlo
Jay van Berlo ()
Nathan van Berlo ()
Jay and Nathan are brothers.
Vinar
Eric Vinar ()
Paul Vinar ()
Paul was the elder brother of Eric.
Viney
Jay Viney ()
Todd Viney (, )
Son: Jack Viney ()
Todd is the elder brother of Jay and the father of Jack.
Voss
Brett Voss (, )
Michael Voss (, )
Brett and Michael are brothers.
W
Wagner
Corey Wagner
Josh Wagner
Josh and Corey are brothers.
Waite
Vin Waite
Jarrad Waite
Vin was the father of Jarrad.
Wakelin
Darryl Wakelin
Shane Wakelin
Darryl and Shane are identical twin brothers.
Walker
Daisy Walker
Will Walker
Daisy and Will are siblings.
Wallis (1)
Tom Wallis
Gary Wallis
Tom was the father of Gary.
Wallis (2)
Stephen Wallis
Mitch Wallis
Stephen is the father of Mitch.
Wallis (3)
Dean Wallis
Tom Wallis
Dean is the father of Tom.
Warburton
Keith Warburton
Peter Warburton
Keith was the father of Peter.
Ward
Eric Ward
Geoff Ward
Eric was the father of Geoff.
Ware
Norman Ware
Wally Ware
Bob Ware
Wally was the brother of Norm and the father of Bob.
Warhurst
Tom Warhurst Sr.
Tom Warhurst Jr.
Tom Sr. was the father of Tom Jr
Warner
Chad Warner
Travis Warner (South Fremantle)
Travis is Chad's father.
Warnock
Matthew Warnock
Robert Warnock
Matthew is Robert's elder brother.
Waterman
Chris Waterman
Jake Waterman
Chris is the father of Jake
Waters
Bryan Waters
Terry Waters
Bryan is the elder brother of Terry
Watson
Larry Watson
Tim Watson
Jobe Watson
Tim is the father of Jobe and the brother of Larry.
Way
Jack Way
Alec Way
Jack was the father of Alec.
Wearmouth
Dick Wearmouth
Ronnie Wearmouth
Dick was the father of Ronnie.
Weatherill
George Weatherill
Robert Weatherill
Robert was the elder brother of George.
Weideman
Murray Weideman
Mark Weideman
Sam Weideman
Murray is the father of Mark, who is the father of Sam.
Weller
Maverick Weller
Lachie Weller
Maverick is the older brother of Lachie.
Wells
Tom Wells
Tommy Wells
Tom was the father of Tommy.
Welsh (1)
Bill Welsh
Peter Welsh
Bill was the father of Peter.
Welsh (2)
Jack Welsh
Peter Welsh
Jack was the father of Peter.
Westhoff
Justin Westhoff
Leigh Westhoff
Matthew Westhoff
Nicholas Westhoff
Leigh, Justin and Matthew are brothers. Nick is a cousin.
Wheelahan
Danny Wheelahan
Martin Wheelahan
Danny was Martin's older brother.
Wheeler
Garry Wheeler
Terry Wheeler
Willie Wheeler (Williamstown)
Terry was Garry's older brother, Willie is their nephew.
Whelan
Marcus Whelan
Shane Whelan
Marcus was the father of Shane.
Whitnall
Graeme Whitnall
Lance Whitnall
Graeme is Lance's father.
Whitten
Don Whitten
Ted Whitten
Ted Whitten jnr
Ted was the father of Ted Jr. and elder brother of Don.
Wiggins
Patrick Wiggins
Simon Wiggins
Patrick and Simon are brothers.
Williams (1)
Fos Williams
Anthony Williams
Mark Williams
Stephen Williams
Fos was the father of Anthony, Mark and Stephen. Anthony and Mark were twins. Additionally Fos' brothers Alec, Frank and Glynn all played senior SANFL football while another brother, Thomas, played in the WAFL.
Williams (2)
Frank H. Williams
Frank P. Williams
Frank H. was the father of Frank P.
Williams (3)
Billy Williams
Rod Williams
Billy was the father of Rod.
Williams (4)
Les Williams
Gary Williams
Les is the father of Gary.
Williams (5)
John Williams
Mark Williams
John is the father of Mark.
Williams (6)
Richard Williams
Lyall Williams
Richard and Lyall were brothers.
Wilson (1)
Arnie Wilson
Ron Wilson
Arnie was the father of Ron.
Wilson (2)
Alf Wilson
Percy Wilson
Alf and Percy were brothers.
Woodfield
Les Woodfield
Clarrie Woodfield
Les was the elder brother of Clarrie.
Woolnough
Michael Woolnough
Marc Woolnough
Michael is the father of Marc.
Worland
Don Worland
John Worland
Don is the elder brother of John.
Worle
Len Worle
Tommy Worle
Tommy is the older brother of Len.
Worsfold
John Worsfold
Peter Worsfold
John is the elder brother of Peter.
Wright
John Wright
Michael Wright
Stephen Wright
Michael is the elder brother of Stephen, their father John played for Box Hill in the VFA.
Wynd
Garrey Wynd
Paul Wynd
Scott Wynd
Garrey is the father of Paul and Scott.
Y
Yates
Percy Yates
Stan Yates
Percy was the elder brother of Stan.
Yeates
John Yeates ()
Mark Yeates ()
John is the father of Mark.
Young
Garry Young
Maurie Young
Maurie was the elder brother of Garry.
Youren
George Youren
Colin Youren
George was the father of Colin.
Z
Zantuck
Shane Zantuck (, , )
Ty Zantuck (, )
Shane is the father of Ty.
References
Sources
Atkinson, G. (1982) Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking, The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. .
Blair, L. (2005) Immortals, John Wiley & Sons Australia: Milton, Qld. .
Hillier, K. (2004) Like Father Like Son, Pennon Publishing: Melbourne. .
Piesse, K. (2010) The Bears Uncensored, Cricketbooks.com.au: Melbourne. .
External links
Listing of players
Lists of players of Australian rules football
History of Australian rules football
Australian rules football culture
Australian rules football
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26044090
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneSoft
|
RuneSoft
|
Runesoft GmbH, stylised as RuneSoft (founded as e.p.i.c. interactive entertainment gmbh), is a German publisher founded in 2000 that ports games to alternative platforms such as Linux, Mac OS X, AmigaOS, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA. Alongside their own published games, they also ported Software Tycoon and Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom for Linux Game Publishing.
Starting in 2012 the company started to offer some of their game catalogue on the Desura digital distribution service.
Published titles
Released
Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe (2000) (Mac OS X and AmigaOS)
Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom (2001) (Linux, Mac OS X and MorphOS)
Earth 2140 (2001) (Linux, Mac OS X and AmigaOS)
Birdie Shoot (2002) (Windows, Mac OS X, and MorphOS)
The Feeble Files (2002) (Mac OS X and AmigaOS)
Gorky 17 (2002) (Mac OS X)
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood (2002) (Linux, Mac OS X, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA)
Blitzkrieg (2003) (Mac OS X)
Chicago 1930 (2003) (Mac OS X)
RHEM (2003) (Windows and Mac OS X)
Alida (2004) (Mac OS X)
Barkanoid 2 (2004) (Linux, Mac OS X, and MorphOS)
Airline Tycoon Deluxe (2005) (Linux, Mac OS X, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA, iPhone, Raspberry Pi)
Cold War (2005) (Mac OS X)
RHEM 2: The Cave (2005) (Windows and Mac OS X)
Ankh (2005) (Linux and Mac OS X)
Ankh: Heart of Osiris (2006) (Linux and Mac OS X)
Buku Sudoku (2006) (Mac OS X)
Ankh: Battle of the Gods (2007) (Mac OS X)
Jack Keane (2007) (Linux and Mac OS X)
101 Puppy Pets (2007) (Mac OS X)
Europa Universalis 3 (2007) (Mac OS X)
Global Conflicts: Palestine (2007) (Mac OS X)
Big Bang Board Games (2008) (Mac OS X)
Dream Pinball 3D (2008) (Mac OS X)
Global Conflicts: Latin America (2008) (Mac OS X)
RHEM 3: The Secret Library (2008) (Windows and Mac OS X)
Hearts of Iron III (2009) (Mac OS X)
RHEM 4: The Golden Fragments (2010) (Windows and Mac OS X)
Patrician IV (2010) (Mac OS X)
Buku Kakuro (Mac OS X)
Burning Monkey Mahjong (Mac OS X)
Burning Monkey Solitaire (Windows and Mac OS X)
Dr. Tool (R) Maths Trainer (Mac OS X)
Dr. Tool (R): Eye Trainer (Mac OS X)
Dr. Tool(R) Brain Jogging Vol. 2 (Mac OS X)
Mahjongg Mac (Mac OS X)
MangaJONGG (Mac OS X)
Metris IV (Mac OS X)
Murmeln and More (Mac OS X)
Solitaire Mac (Mac OS X)
The Legend of Egypt (Mac OS X)
The Legend of Rome (Mac OS X)
The Legend of the Tolteks (Mac OS X)
Toysight (Mac OS X)
Pet Doc (Mac OS X)
Lemurs (Mac OS X)
Northland (Linux and Mac OS X)
Software Tycoon (AmigaOS and Linux)
Strategy 6 (Mac OS X)
The 8th Wonder of the World (Mac OS X)
Winter Games (Mac OS X)
Officers: World War II (Mac OS X)
See also
Linux Game Publishing
References
External links
RuneSoft - Official website
www.epic-interactive.com Webpage before name change (archived, 2001)
German companies established in 2000
Video game companies established in 2000
Linux game porters
Video game companies of Germany
Video game development companies
Companies based in Baden-Württemberg
Tübingen
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46944115
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago%20Little%20Theatre
|
Chicago Little Theatre
|
A theater company formed in 1912, the Chicago Little Theatre spearheaded and lent its name to a historic, popular wave in American Theater, the Little Theatre Movement. Founded in its namesake city by Ellen Van Volkenburg and Maurice Browne, the company was an art theater formed in opposition to the commercial values which held sway at the time. The company performed work by contemporary writers and Greek classics, as well as pioneering puppetry and puppet plays. Poetic dramas, restrained acting and new concepts in scenography were hallmarks of the Chicago Little Theatre.
History
Founding
Already well ensconced by 1911 in the literary circles of Chicago, husband-and-wife artistic partners Maurice Browne and Ellen Van Volkenburg socialized with the Irish Players of the Abbey Theatre, led by Lady Gregory, when they toured the Midwest in that year. Inspired, they set out to create a theater company on that model, introducing European writers of the age whose work was not much produced in the United States, such as Ibsen, Shaw, Strindberg, Synge, Wilde, and Yeats.
After rehearsing extensively, in 1912 Van Volkenburg and Browne rented space for a theater in the Fine Arts Building (Chicago), bypassing the building's large auditorium In favor of a small space on the fourth floor that cost less than a quarter as much per year. The space was built out into a 91-seat house, its diminutive size the key to the company's name. Browne thought that "a small theatre would cost less than a large one; therefore ours was to be a little theatre."
Browne assumed directorship of the company, while Van Volkenburg, who was already an accomplished performer, became its leading actress. They were co-producers, with Van Volkenburg developing and directing the company's puppet productions. To the modern plays they were producing in the style of the Irish Players, the company added Greek classical dramas, which were well known to the Cambridge-educated Browne. Of the theater's repertoire, contemporary critic and founder of Theatre Arts Magazine, Sheldon Cheney, wrote, "The list bespeaks nothing if not breadth of view and courage. And these are qualities which the commercial producer so sadly lacks." Van Volkenburg pioneered "modern" puppetry in America, creating a puppet theater for the company that aspired to high artistic values, using new techniques she developed. Browne summed up the mission of the company in this way:
It is a repertory and experimental art theatre producing classical and modern plays, both tragedy and comedy, at popular prices. Preference is given in its productions to poetic and imaginative plays, dealing primarily whether as a tragedy or comedy with character in action. … The Chicago Little Theatre has for its object the creation of a new plastic and rhythmic drama in America.
Among the notable productions of the Chicago Little theater were The Stronger and Creditors by August Strindberg, On Baile's Strand and The Shadowy Water by William Butler Yeats and Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler. The company's signature piece was the classic play by Euripides, The Trojan Women. Browne and Van Volkenburg not only revived the play in Chicago, but toured it throughout the Western United States. It was on this tour that Nellie Cornish, who would provide a landing spot for the two at her Cornish School some years later, saw their work and was "deeply impressed." Van Volkenberg played Hecuba, and Browne in later years counted it among the best performances of any actress he had seen in his life in the theater.
Innovations
The Chicago Little Theatre's stage in the Fine Arts Building, in a room never having been designed to hold a theater, had very little wing space and had large pillars to contend with. So as a matter of practicality as well as aesthetics, the company embraced the new, non-representational forms of staging coming out of Europe utilizing "simplicity and suggestion." Turning also to Asian sources for inspiration, the Little Theater was perhaps the first theater to use screens in the Japanese style as scenic elements. But the theater's greatest achievement, arguably, was in lighting. Browne and his designers made revolutionary use of light to create space by pioneering in the use of dimmers to control their instruments. The Trojan Women, in the eyes of one contemporary writer was "a scenic triumph made possible through its remarkable lighting." The full, combined effect of simplicity, forced perspective and variable lighting were evident in that production:
The Trojan Women had one scene throughout: a massive stone wall lost to view beyond the line of the proscenium arch, formed the background. This stone wall, jaggedly cleft in the center, showed the sky beyond. Not only were the massive square of stone that formed the wall played on by different lights as the play proceeded; but the sky beyond the jagged cleft changed gradually from the intense blue of full day to the softer colors of dusk, thus giving differentiation. The red of the flaming city also flared beyond this cleft, and characters entered or leaving the scene stood out in dark silhouette against the fiery background.
Closing and legacy
Money had been hard to come by from the first days of the Chicago Little Theatre, and as the United States became involved in the First World War in 1917, interest in the company dropped off dramatically, placing the company in an impossible financial position. After only five years of operation, the theater was forced to close is doors.
Word of the closure of The Chicago Little Theatre reached Sheldon Cheney late in 1917. It had survived only a short time, but was highly influential. Cheney rendered an assessment of the importance of the company in unequivocal terms in the pages of Theatre Arts Magazine: "As this issue was going to press, we received a formal notice of the disbanding of the Chicago Little Theatre company. … With this dignified announcement there closes the most important chapter yet written in the history of the art theatre movement in this country."
The aesthetic and practice developed by Ellen Van Volkenburg and Maurice Browne at the Chicago Little Theatre traveled with them to a number of other ventures, most notably to the Cornish School of Music (later the Cornish School) in Seattle. Nellie Cornish approached them about joining her faculty on a visit to Chicago, but was rebuffed. Arriving at Cornish in 1918, after the collapse of the Chicago Little Theatre, the two accepted; they co-founded the Drama Department at the school. Van Volkenburg also instituted a program in puppetry.
References
Beard, DeAnna M. Toten. Sheldon Cheney’s Theatre Arts Magazine: Promoting a Modern American Theatre, 1916-1921. Plymouth, Scarecrow Press, 2010: reprinted in "Selected Articles": "Closing of the Chicago Little Theatre," by Sheldon Cheney, Theatre Arts Magazine, December 1917.
Browne, Maurice. Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography. London, Gollancz, 1955.
Chansky, Dorothy. Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience. Carbondale, Seattle, Southern Illinois University, 2004.
Cheney, Sheldon. The New Movement in the Theatre. New York, Mitchell Kennerley, 1914.
Cornish, Nellie C. Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish, Ellen Van Volkenburg Browne and Edward Nordhoff Beck, eds. Seattle, University of Washington, 1964.
Joseph, Helen Haiman. A Book of Marionettes. New York, B.W. Huebsch, 1920.
Lock, Charles. "Maurice Browne and the Chicago Little Theatre." Modern Drama 31.1, 1988.
Mackay, Constance D'Arcy. The Little Theatre in the United States. New York, Henry Holt, 1917.
Theatres in Chicago
Performing groups established in 1912
1912 establishments in Illinois
Organizations disestablished in 1917
1917 disestablishments in Illinois
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS%20%28computer%20program%29
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FIPS (computer program)
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FIPS (First nondestructive Interactive Partition Splitter) - is an MS-DOS program for non-destructive splitting of File Allocation Table (FAT) hard disk partitions.
Splitting partitions is an alternative to deleting the partitions and creating new ones using software such as fdisk, the advantage of which is that the data is not lost. The most common use is installing multiple operating systems on a single computer.
FIPS is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Limitations
FIPS only works on primary partitions that are formatted using the File Allocation Table (FAT) filesystem. Most new machines with Windows pre-installed use NTFS, leaving FIPS obsolete for its intended purpose of resizing existing Windows installations to install Linux. In addition, FIPS cannot grow partitions due to technical limitations with the design, and partitions shrunk with it have some wasted space since it does not shrink the File Allocation Table. The filesystem to be shrunk must also be defragmented before FIPS is run - since FIPS does not move data, any data near the end of the partition prevents it from being resized.
Alternatives
These limitations have caused it to be largely superseded by more modern tools with better filesystem support, more advanced resizing methods and more complete partitioning functionality, such as:
GNU Parted
GParted is a GTK+-based graphical version of Parted
QtParted is a Qt-based graphical version of Parted
Parted Magic
PartitionMagic
fdisk
cfdisk
diskpart
See also
gpart
TestDisk
References
External links
.
with still downloadable FIPS and documentation.
DOS software
Free system software
Free partitioning software
Discontinued software
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8630037
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CZ.NIC
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CZ.NIC
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CZ.NIC is a Czech interest association of legal persons established by leading Internet service providers in 1998. The main activity of the association is administration of domain names .cz and 0.2.4.e164.arpa (ENUM), administration of .cz top-level domains and education in the area of domain names. Currently, the employees of the association are intensively working on expanding the DNSSEC technology, developing the domain administration system and mojeID service and promoting new technologies and projects beneficial to the Internet infrastructure in the Czech Republic.
Authorized by the Ministry of the Interior, the CZ.NIC association coordinates the national security team CSIRT.CZ that has been participating in resolving incidents related to cyber security in networks operated in the Czech Republic since 2011.
The association operates a specialized learning center called CZ.NIC Academy and founded its own research organization CZ.NIC Laboratories, the purpose of which is, among others, to solve problems related to Internet security and the development of original tools for the development of the Internet infrastructure.
CZ.NIC is a member of EURid, the organization administering the European .eu domain as well as of other international companies with similar specialization (CENTR, ccNSO, etc.).
Projects
Turris Omnia
Turris Omnia is a powerful and extensible open-source router. It features an open Linux based operating system with automatic updates and extra security measures. Besides being a router, Turris Omnia is powerful enough to serve as small home server. Turris Omnia was crowdfunded through a campaign on Indiegogo.
Project: Turris
The Turris project is a service that helps users to protect their home networks by using a special router. In addition to normal home router functions, it is also able to analyze traffic between the Internet and a home network and identify suspicious data streams. If such data stream is detected, the router alerts the Turris central of a possible attack like a watchtower (that is what Turris means in Latin). The system central is capable to compare data from many connected Turris routers and evaluate the detected threat. If an attack is detected, updates are created and distributed throughout the Turris network to help protect all other users.
DNSSEC
In early 2008, CZ.NIC started trial operation of the DNSSEC security technology; it was definitely launched in the .cz domain area in the fall of 2008. Czech Republic was the fifth country to introduce this security technology. At present, the Czech national domain with 35% of its domains being secured is among the gTLDs with the highest use of DNSSEC.
Háčkyčárky.cz
Since 2004, the association pays attention to IDN, the system of domain names with diacritics. In connection with this, CZ.NIC operates the project “Háčkyčárky.cz” (“Acutescarons”), where Internet users can test whether their browsers and systems are compatible with the internationalized domains.
FRED
FRED (Free Registry for ENUM and Domain) is a registration system for domain administration, developed by employees of CZ.NIC as open source. It was first implemented in 2006 for the Czech ENUM domain administration; the following year, FRED started to be used for .cz domains. More information, including installation packages can be found at http://fred.nic.cz. The software can be freely used, modified and redistributed under the conditions laid down by the appropriate licenses. Since September 2008, the FRED registration system has been used by Angola; in 2009 it was followed by Tanzania and a year later by the Faroe Islands, Costa Rica and Estonia. At the beginning of 2014, they were joined by Albania and Macedonia. It is running in a test mode in several other countries.
BIRD
An open source routing daemon BIRD was developed at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague, as a school project of three students (including Ondřej Filip, the current CEO of CZ.NIC). Important development of the project came about in 2009, when BIRD became one of the first object of activities of the CZ.NIC Laboratories. The routing daemon is one of the most used solutions for peering centers around the world; its abilities are utilized by the American PAIX, the Moscow MSK-IX, the Frankfurt DE-CIX, or the London LINX. The representatives of the latter routing node honored BIRD with LINX Award 2010.
mojeID
MojeID is a service that allows users of the Czech Internet to use single login data (username and password) for logging into different websites and web services. It eliminates the need for repetitive registration. MojeID can be used for all services that support specifically the mojeID service or at least the OpenID technology. MojeID also allows storing the user data in one secure place while keeping it up to date.
Compared to OpenID, mojeID has a major advantage, which is different stages of identity verification. The first stage verifies that the user actually has access to the email box and mobile phone entered during registration. In the second stage, the user can request a further verification code to be sent to their postal address. The highest degree of verification is called validation, at which the user authentication is based on a personal visit to a CZ.NIC office, a valid electronic signature, or an officially certified written request.
Within the .cz domain zone, mojeID is used by a large number of e-shops, news sites and even some municipalities that use the authentication system, for example, during quick surveys or polls among residents.
Knot DNS
Knot DNS is a powerful authoritative DNS server supporting all major DNS protocol functions including zone transfers, dynamic updates and DNSSEC extension. Main advantages of this open source solution are performance, scalability, speed and the ability to add or remove zones on the fly without server downtime. Knot DNS was presented to the Czech and international public in November 2011. Four months later, CZ.NIC released its first final version.
National security team CSIRT.CZ
Based on the agreement between the Czech Ministry of the Interior and CZ.NIC, from January 2011 the .cz domain administrator coordinates the national security team CSIRT.CZ. It participates in resolving incidents related to cyber security in networks operating in the Czech Republic.
Academy
Specialized Learning Centre offers professional training in the field of Internet and web technologies. The lecturers of the CZ.NIC Academy are employees of the association, university professors and practitioners. CZ.NIC Academy operates two training centers - in Prague and Brno.
Laboratories
CZ.NIC Laboratories is a development and research institute of the CZ.NIC association that is engaged in research on the Internet, Internet protocols, network operation analysis, passive and active monitoring and design of prototypes for further development within CZ.NIC. The work of CZ.NIC Laboratories is focused on the benefit of the local Internet community; however, the scope of its work is international.
Domain history
Domains have been registered in the Czech Republic since 1991. Back then, those were the now non-existent .cs domains for the former Czechoslovakia. The computing center at Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague was in charge of the registration. Today's .cz Czech domain appeared with the disintegration of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The original rules for allocation of domains were relatively strict, as was usual at these times. The domain administrator also covered the costs of operation of the registration system and the registration, and the use of second-level domain names was free of charge.
The importance of the Internet in the Czech Republic has been gradually growing, together with the number of applications for registration of new domain names. This development logically brought along the pressure to relax the allocation rules. The first major breakthrough in this respect occurred in 1997 — since then, registering domain names has been possible for natural person as well. Furthermore, the relationship of the applicant to the registered domain name has stopped to be questioned.
Origin
With the increasing number of domain names, stronger position of the Internet in the commercial sector and the increasing costs of operating the system, it was necessary to institutionalize the registration process. Therefore, in 1998, the major ISPs represented in the NIX.CZ association founded an association of legal persons CZ.NIC. In September 1999, CZ.NIC officially took over the administration of the .cz domain. At the same time, the registration of second-level domain names became chargeable. In the period from September 1999 to 2003, there were further modifications and relaxation of the rules of domain registration. For example, a system of so-called special requests was established as a defense against speculators and in 2002, registration of domains without working name servers was allowed. The domain names identical to the endings of other top-level domains that had been blocked until then were released.
Commercial Registrars
At first, CZ.NIC had fulfilled the role of both registry administrator and the registrar. A fundamental change in this respect occurred in 2002, when there was a transition to more efficient decentralized domain administration. Thanks to this transition, other entities could enter the domain registration process. The aim of this measure was to separate the technical aspects of the operation of the registration system from the operation by domain names’ end holders and to introduce competitive environment, which would bring better services and lower prices, into the registration process. The decentralized domain administration system started its operation in autumn of 2003 and was immediately entered by first commercial registrars. Apart from commercial environment and price decrease, the decentralized system has brought other intriguing changes. The users have been enabled to register domains for a period longer than one year (up to 10 years), and the system have been further secured, in particular with respect to domain holder's rights. Due to the decentralization and making domains accessible to public, domain disputes have become a frequent occurrence. That is why the association introduced an arbitration clause into the Registration Rules in 2004. This clause allows for resolving disputes through Arbitration Court attached to the Chamber of Commerce and the Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic. The registration now includes accepting the commitment to respect the decisions of the Arbitration Court, which has simplified and accelerated the dispute resolution.
A new generation Decentralized System of Domains
In 2005, the CZ.NIC association decided that it would operate system of registration and domain administration on its own. Until then the system administration had been outsourced. The aim of this change was to ensure greater flexibility in changes in the system and to reduce the cost of its operation. A new generation Decentralized System of Domains (DSDng) was launched on October 1, 2007. It brought an abrupt drop in wholesale prices, simplification of rules for .CZ domain registration and a significant increase in the number of registered domains. After half a year, there were 400,000 domains on the Czech Internet and the growth rate doubled compared to the previous year. DSDng runs on the basis of the FRED software, developed by employees of CZ.NIC as open source. In September 2008, the system was implemented by Angola, in 2009 it was followed by Tanzania and a year later by the Faroe Islands, Costa Rica and Estonia.
References
External links
Association homepage
Czech eNum project
Members
Statutes, reports, etc.
Domain name registries
Internet in the Czech Republic
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardner%20Minshew
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Gardner Minshew
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Gardner Flint Minshew II (born May 16, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Raised in Brandon, Mississippi, Minshew grew up playing an air raid offense style of football under Wyatt Rogers, the father of Will Rogers. He became Brandon High School's starting quarterback as a freshman in 2011 after their varsity team starter fractured his arm in a game, and he proceeded to lead the Brandon Bulldogs to two Mississippi High School Activities Association championship games and one victory. He committed to Troy University, but left before ever playing college football for them and instead spent a year at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he took the Rangers to the NJCAA National Football Championship. From there, Minshew spent two seasons at East Carolina. He still had one year of NCAA Division I eligibility when he graduated, and enrolled at Washington State University as a graduate student to play for the Cougars in the aftermath of Tyler Hilinski's death. There, he set a Pac-12 Conference single-season record for passing yards, led the Cougars to an Alamo Bowl championship, and received the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
The Jaguars selected Minshew in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he beat Alex McGough and Tanner Lee in training camp to become Nick Foles' backup quarterback that season. Foles, however, fractured his clavicle in the first game of the season, leading Minshew to become the Jaguars' starting quarterback. When Foles departed in free agency, Minshew became Jacksonville's starter for the 2020 season, but he too suffered a major injury, fracturing multiple bones and tearing a ligament in his thumb. When Minshew returned, he split time with Mike Glennon on the field. Just before the 2021 season, Minshew was traded to the Eagles, where he backed up Jalen Hurts.
Early life and high school career
Minshew was born on May 16, 1996, in Flowood, Mississippi, and was raised in Brandon by Flint Minshew, a contractor, and Kim Minshew, a middle school math teacher. Kim was also a former women's basketball player at Mississippi State. Minshew and his father adopted Mike Leach's air raid offense playing style while Minshew was playing flag football in seventh grade. While doing so, he formed a strong bond with Wyatt Rogers, the area coach who initially taught him how to enact that style of play. Rogers was the father of future college football quarterback Will Rogers, and Minshew in turn became the younger Rogers's mentor.
Minshew began playing football for Brandon High School in 2011, serving as the starting quarterback for the all-freshman team until varsity quarterback Trey Polk broke his arm partway through the season. The next year, Minshew helped take the Brandon Bulldogs to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) 6A championship game, where they lost 31–23 to South Panola. Minshew had 223 passing yards and one touchdown in the title game. He took the Bulldogs to an MHSAA state championship victory as a senior in 2014, with 3,541 passing yards and 31 touchdowns en route to the finals. In four years of high school football, Minshew had 9,705 passing yards, 88 passing touchdowns, a .588 completion percentage, 1,417 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, and only 24 interceptions. He was ranked a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and two stars by 247Sports.com.
High school statistics
College career
Troy and Northwest Mississippi
Minshew's first two attempts at college football recruitment fell through: his primary recruiter at the University of Akron died in a car accident, while the coaching staff that recruited him for the University of Alabama at Birmingham left the program before he could matriculate. Finally, in December 2014, he committed to attending Troy University and playing football for the Trojans. He matriculated at Troy in January 2015, but left that May before he ever played in a game. In addition to describing the university as a poor fit, Minshew found it unlikely that he would unseat starting Trojans quarterback Brandon Silvers, and he began to look for other opportunities.
On June 3, 2015, Minshew signed a National Letter of Intent to transfer out of Troy and enroll at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he would play college football with the Rangers in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Northwest Mississippi coach Jack Wright told Minshew that he was unlikely to become the starting quarterback there either, but he won the role one week after transferring, with his competition also transferring out of Northwest. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 332 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown, in his NJCAA debut and was named the Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges (MACJC) Offensive Player of the Week. Minshew and the Rangers did not lose a game until October 16, when the East Mississippi Lions defeated them 49–16 in a second-half comeback. Minshew finished the game 18 of 37 for 211 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The Rangers then advanced to the postseason, where they faced East Central Community College in the semifinals. Minshew went 18 of 28 for 168 yards and three touchdowns in the 27–20 victory, becoming the sixth Ranger to throw for 2,500 or more yards in one season.
After defeating Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 34–24 in the MACJC Football Championship, the Rangers faced Rochester Community and Technical College in the NJCAA National Football Championship. Minshew completed 23 of 30 passes in Northwest Mississippi's 66–13 rout of Rochester, throwing for 421 yards and five touchdowns. After the 2015 NJCAA football season ended, Minshew was named an MACJC All-State Football First-Team selection, as well as an NJCAA All-American honorable mention. He finished the season with a 61 percent pass completion rate (223 of 367) and 28 touchdowns, and was first in the MACJC and second in the NJCAA with 3,288 passing yards.
East Carolina
2016 season
On May 3, 2016, Minshew signed a grant-in aid with East Carolina University, which enabled him to continue his football career with the Pirates at the NCAA Division I level. There, following the offseason departure of Kurt Benkert, Minshew was brought in to back up Philip Nelson. He made his East Carolina debut in Week 1, relieving Nelson midway through the third quarter of a 47–29 loss to Central Florida after the other quarterback suffered an injury. After entering the game, Minshew completed 12 of 27 passes for 192 yards, but was intercepted twice, and coach Scottie Montgomery was ambivalent towards Minshew's performance, telling reporters, "I would be remised if I said he did a great job". Nelson suffered another injury the next week at South Florida, and Minshew stepped in to complete 21 of 33 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown in the 38–22 loss. After that game, Montgomery told reporters, "He worked as well as he could." Montgomery also clarified that Minshew would not replace Nelson as the starting quarterback despite Nelson's injuries in consecutive games, saying, "If Philip's able to play, Philip is our starting quarterback right now. If he's not able to play, Gardner will be able to play and we're fine."
Minshew did not play again until November 5, replacing Nelson in the second quarter of a 45–24 loss to Tulsa. Minshew had career highs with 29 of 49 passes and 336 yards, but a number of on-field penalties hindered the Pirates. Montgomery attributed Nelson's benching to a nagging shoulder injury, but also suggested after the game that Minshew may get the start for East Carolina's Week 10 game against Southern Methodist, if only to preserve Nelson's health. Nelson ultimately started in the 55–31 loss to Southern Methodist, and was relieved by Minshew, the two combining for 284 passing yards. With Nelson still injured the next week, Minshew started in his first game for East Carolina on November 19, completing 16 of 25 for 238 yards and three touchdowns in the 66–31 loss to the Navy Midshipmen. He started again in the 2016 season finale, with 183 yards but two sacks in the 37–10 loss to Temple. Playing in seven games his sophomore season, Minshew completed 119 of 202 passes for 1,347 passing yards and eight touchdowns, with four interceptions.
2017 season
Although Thomas Sirk, a senior transfer from Duke University, was expected to become East Carolina's starting quarterback in 2017, Montgomery gave the title to Minshew after concerns about Sirk's history of Achilles tendon injuries, as well as Minshew's greater familiarity with his teammates. In the season opener against James Madison, Minshew completed 7 of 18 passes for 82 yards and one interception before he was benched at halftime in favor of Sirk. The reverse happened in the next game, with Minshew replacing Sirk after the latter suffered a hit to the head in the third quarter of a game against West Virginia. He went 7 for 13 with 137 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Brown, in the 56–20 loss. Minshew played his first full game of the season on September 16, completing 11 of 30 for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, including another 76-yard pass to Brown, in the 64–17 loss to Virginia Tech. After the Virginia Tech game, Montgomery elected to start Sirk against Connecticut, citing their respective advantages: Sirk was a better runner and Minshew a better passer, and East Carolina, he believed, would benefit from a stronger run game.
Minshew did not receive significant playing time again until October 14, when he relieved Sirk in the third quarter of a 63–21 loss to Central Florida. Montgomery was worried about protecting both of his quarterbacks and wanted Minshew to keep the ball in his hands as little as possible. He finished 6 of 12 for 69 yards and one touchdown. Minshew relieved Sirk the following week against Brigham Young when Sirk injured his throwing elbow. Entering the game with a 16–10 lead, Minshew completed six passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, bringing the Pirates to a 33–17 victory. Relieving Sirk in a 52–27 loss to Houston on November 4, Minshew completed 52 of 68 passes, setting East Carolina records for both attempts and completions, for 463 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Minshew played a complete game the next week against Tulane, completing 25 of 52 for 228 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but East Carolina lost 31–24 in overtime. East Carolina definitively took their next game, defeating Cincinnati 48–20 behind Minshew, who completed 31 of 45 for 444 yards and four touchdowns. Minshew and ECU finished the season with a loss: he completed 28 of 54 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times, and Memphis took the game 70–13. After throwing for 2,140 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior, Minshew graduated from East Carolina at the end of 2017 with a degree in communications.
Washington State
Minshew had one year of NCAA eligibility remaining after his early graduation from East Carolina, and although he had originally committed to playing for Alabama as a graduate student, he instead joined the Washington State Cougars. Minshew had reportedly not expected to play for Alabama, but used the announcement to draw interest from other schools, at which point Washington State head coach Mike Leach called him and asked, "You want to come lead the nation in passing?" Tyler Hilinski's January suicide had left the Cougars without a starting quarterback for the 2018 season, and Minshew was placed into competition with rising juniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon for the role. Minshew's familiarity with Leach's air raid offense helped promote him to starting quarterback just before the start of the season.
Washington State defeated Wyoming 41–19 in their 2018 season opener, with Minshew throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns in his team debut. The next week, he had three touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in Washington State's 31–0 shutout victory over San Jose State. Minshew did not suffer a loss with Washington State until Week 4, when he was the subject of a controversial hit from USC Trojans linebacker Porter Gustin. Pac-12 Conference officials determined that the hit did not meet the definition of targeting, and USC held on to win 39–36. Through the first six games of the season, Minshew had a 5–1 record and a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)-leading 2,422 passing yards, 313 passing attempts, and 215 completions. He was named the Rose Bowl Game's Pac-12 Player of the Week on October 8, following his performance against Oregon State, where he completed 30 of 40 for 430 yards and five touchdowns in the 56–37 win. On November 17, while helping Washington State to their tenth season win in a 69–28 defeat of Arizona, Minshew completed 43 of 55 passes for 473 yards with no interceptions and a school record-setting seven touchdown passes. His only other loss of the year came in the Apple Cup, when Minshew completed 26 of 35 passes for 152 yards but was intercepted twice, with Washington State falling to the Washington Huskies 28–15.
Washington State faced Iowa State in the 2018 Alamo Bowl, with Minshew completing 35 of 49 passes for 299 yards, leading Washington State to a 28–26 victory, and taking home the bowl's Offensive MVP award. His 35 completions in the game were also an Alamo Bowl record, three more than Nick Foles set with Arizona in 2010. Minshew finished his graduate season with 468 completed passes in 662 attempts, 38 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and 4,776 passing yards, breaking both Connor Halliday's Washington State single-season passing yards record and Jared Goff's single-season Pac-12 record. His 450th completion, made in the second quarter of the Alamo Bowl, also broke Halliday's Pac-12 single-season completions record. In addition to being named to the 2018 All-Pac-12 First Team, Minshew was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for his performance with Washington State. He finished in fifth place in Heisman Trophy voting, behind Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Dwayne Haskins and Will Grier.
NCAA Division I statistics
Professional career
Scouting and draft
In February 2019, Minshew was one of three Washington State football players, alongside Andre Dillard and James Williams, to receive an invitation from the National Football League (NFL) to that year's NFL Scouting Combine. As a quarterback whose style of offense prioritizes passing over rushing, his 40-yard dash speed at the combine did not stand out; coaches from various National Football League (NFL) teams also inquired as to why Minshew had attended four different colleges in as many years. Minshew had the second-largest hand size of any quarterback at the combine, with his span behind only Tyree Jackson's . Minshew was physically smaller than many of the other quarterbacks at the combine, and he told at least one coach, "I know I'm too short, too slow, but I won 11 fucking games last year". He was also confident that the popularity of other passing-heavy quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, and Baker Mayfield in the NFL would help his stock in the upcoming draft. 28 of 32 NFL teams also came to watch Minshew at Washington State's pro day, where he completed 41 of 46 passes. Of the five misses, three were dropped by the receiver, while two were true incompletions. Between the scouting combine, pro days, and Senior Bowl, Minshew spoke with all 32 NFL teams in the time leading up to the draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars ultimately selected Minshew in the sixth round, 178th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars
2019 season
After being drafted, Minshew spent the Jaguars' training camp in competition with Tanner Lee and Alex McGough for a chance to back up starting quarterback Nick Foles, and after both Lee and McGough were cut in August, Gardner won the job despite an unimpressive preseason, with the understanding that Foles would receive the majority of starts. When Foles fractured his left clavicle in the first quarter of the Week 1 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, however, Minshew stepped in to make his NFL debut, completing 22 of 25 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 40–26 loss. His 13 consecutive completed passes were the most of any debuting quarterback since at least 1979, and Minshew's 88 percent pass completion was the highest of any NFL player with at least 15 pass attempts in his debut. With no timetable for Foles' return and no third quarterback, Minshew became Jacksonville's starter. After narrowly losing to the Houston Texans in Week 2, Minshew picked up his first NFL win in Week 3, completing 20 of 30 passes for 204 yards in the 20–7 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Through his first three games, Minshew's 73.8 completion percentage and 110.6 passer rating were the highest of any NFL quarterback in that same time frame.
Minshew had a 4–4 record, 2,285 yards, 13 touchdown passes, four interceptions, and a 92.8 passer rating by the time that Foles was activated from the injured reserve on November 5 to take back the starting quarterback role. Foles struggled in his return, however, with only two touchdown drives in three starts, and while facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 1, he was benched at halftime in favor of Minshew. Although the Jaguars lost 28–11, unable to recoup their first-half deficit, Minshew completed 16 of 27 passes for 141 yards and successfully led the team to two scoring drives. The next day, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone announced that Minshew would start the Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Despite losing to the Chargers 45–10, Minshew was 24 for 37 with 162 yards and one touchdown, and his one touchdown, the 15th of the year, set a Jacksonville franchise record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback. In his next game, Minshew was 17 of 29 with 201 yards and two touchdowns in a 20–16 comeback victory over the Oakland Raiders, the last game to be played in the Oakland Coliseum, and he described seeing "more middle fingers today than I have in my whole life" after steering Jacksonville towards victory. Minshew and the Jaguars closed out the season with a 38–20 win over the Indianapolis Colts, during which Minshew threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Appearing in 14 games for Jacksonville as a rookie, Minshew had a 6–8 record for the year, with 285 completions in 470 attempts, 3,271 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also had 344 rushing yards in 67 carries.
2020 season
Foles was traded to the Chicago Bears in March 2020 in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, paving the way for Minshew to take over as the starting quarterback in the season. Joshua Dobbs, meanwhile, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers as Minshew's new backup. While defeating the Indianapolis Colts 27–20 in the first game of the season, Minshew completed 19 of 20 pass attempts for 173 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first NFL quarterback to throw for three or more touchdowns with a pass completion rate of 95 percent or higher. Although he threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, Minshew was also sacked twice, and the game-winning play of the 33–30 loss came on an interception by Harold Landry. His poor Week 3 performance against the Miami Dolphins, throwing 30 of 42 for 275 yards with a fumble and an interception in the 31–13 loss, led to accusations that the Jaguars were tanking their season.
During an October 11 loss to the Houston Texans in which he threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, Minshew suffered multiple fractures and a strained ligament in his right thumb, a series of injuries through which he continued playing until Jacksonville's 39–29 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on October 25. X-ray exams after that game revealed the extent of Minshew's injuries, which helped to explain his uncharacteristically poor performance through the first half of the season. At the time, he had a 65.9 percent pass completion rate, five interceptions, and three lost fumbles. In Minshew's absence, Mike Glennon took over as Jacksonville's starting quarterback, a role that he maintained even after Minshew was activated from the injured reserve. Glennon struggled in his Week 13 start, however, and he was pulled halfway through the third quarter of the Jaguars' Week 14 game in favor of Minshew. At that point, the Jaguars were trailing the Titans 31–3, and Minshew led the only Jacksonville touchdown drive in the game. Minshew started in Week 15 against the Baltimore Ravens, throwing for 226 yards and two touchdowns in a 40–14 loss, extending Jacksonville's losing streak to 13 games. Glennon was chosen to close out the season, starting the last two games against the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, respectively. Overall, Minshew appeared in nine games for the Jaguars during the 2020 season, recording 2,259 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions, as well as 153 rushing yards in 29 carries.
Philadelphia Eagles
2021 season
On August 28, 2021, the Jaguars traded Minshew to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft; in a corresponding move, the Eagles released quarterback Nick Mullens. Minshew made his first start of the season in Week 13, after starting quarterback Jalen Hurts was sidelined with an ankle injury. Facing the New York Jets, Minshew completed 20 of 25 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, lifting the Eagles to a 33–18 finish. He had a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating through the first half of the game, and tied Donovan McNabb with a 93.3 percent first-half completion rate, the highest by an Eagles quarterback in 30 years. Following that game, Minshew asked Nick Sirianni if he could become the Eagles' starting quarterback over Hurts, a request that Sirianni denied. In response, Minshew decided he was "going to do everything [he] can to put [him]self in that position at some point". Hurts' ankle injury recovered over the Eagles' subsequent bye week, and Minshew returned to the backup role for the Eagles' Week 15 game against the Washington Football Team. Minshew was asked to start again in the Eagles' regular-season finale against the rival Dallas Cowboys, giving Hurts an opportunity to rest before the 2021–22 NFL playoffs began the following week. Passing primarily to other reserve players on a roster that had been diminished by COVID-19 protocols, Minshew threw 19 of 33 for 186 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, while the Eagles lost 51–26 to the Cowboys.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
Records
Jacksonville Jaguars
Most passing touchdowns of any rookie (21)
Highest completion percentage in one game (88 percent, September 8, 2019)
Awards and honors
Personal life
Minshew was named after his father, Gardner Flint Minshew, a fact that most fans and sportswriters did not initially realize because the elder Minshew is often referred to by his middle name. He goes by "Minshew II" rather than "Minshew Jr." at his mother's request, as she did not want her son to be nicknamed "Junior" or "Bubba". His grandfather originally wanted Minshew to be named Beowulf, after the Old English hero, but his parents rejected the idea.
Outside of football, Minshew is known for his distinctive physical appearance and exercise habits, which have generated several nicknames. He began growing his signature Fu Manchu-style mustache at East Carolina, and it has been adopted by Minshew's fans, some of whom wear fake mustaches to his NFL games. During his tenure with Jacksonville, he also had a distinctive mullet, which he cut off after the 2020 season. This appearance awarded Minshew the nickname "Uncle Rico", based on the similarly-styled character from the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite. His decision to wear aviator sunglasses and a flight jacket before his first game at Lincoln Financial Field also drew comparisons to the film Top Gun. Minshew was also given the nickname "Jock Strap King" by Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette, after the quarterback's propensity for exercising in nothing but the eponymous underwear. The pornographic video service CamSoda once offered Minshew a one-million-dollar endorsement deal based on his exercise habit.
While playing for Northwest Mississippi, Minshew had a cameo appearance in the Netflix documentary miniseries Last Chance U. The film featured the college football program at East Mississippi, whose defeat of Minshew and Northwest Mississippi was featured in the series.
References
External links
Philadelphia Eagles bio
Washington State Cougars bio
1996 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
East Carolina Pirates football players
Jacksonville Jaguars players
Philadelphia Eagles players
Northwest Mississippi Rangers football players
People from Brandon, Mississippi
People from Flowood, Mississippi
Players of American football from Mississippi
Washington State Cougars football players
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint%20Functional%20Component%20Command%20%E2%80%93%20Network%20Warfare
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Joint Functional Component Command – Network Warfare
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The Joint Functional Component Command – Network Warfare (JFCC-NW) at Fort Meade, Maryland was a subordinate component command of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) active from 2005 to 2010. It was responsible for coordinating offensive computer network operations for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). JFCC-NW was created in 2005. It was merged into United States Cyber Command in October 2010.
The Commander, JFCC-NW (currently Admiral Michael S. Rogers) is dual-hatted as the Director, National Security Agency. This coordinated approach to information operations involves two other supporting commands. The Director, Defense Information Systems Agency also heads the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations. This organization is responsible for operating and defending U.S. worldwide information networks, a function closely aligned with the efforts of JFCC-NW.
Mission
JFCC-NW facilitates/facilitated cooperative engagement with other national entities in computer network defense and offensive information warfare as part of the global information operations mission.
The command was responsible for the highly classified, evolving mission of Computer Network Attack (CNA).
See also
Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations
References
United States Strategic Command
Net-centric
Command and control in the United States Department of Defense
Command and control systems of the United States military
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FoundationDB
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FoundationDB
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FoundationDB is a free and open-source multi-model distributed NoSQL database developed by Apple Inc. with a shared-nothing architecture. The product was designed around a "core" database, with additional features supplied in "layers." The core database exposes an ordered key–value store with transactions. The transactions are able to read or write multiple keys stored on any machine in the cluster while fully supporting ACID properties. Transactions are used to implement a variety of data models via layers.
The FoundationDB Alpha program began in January 2012 and concluded on March 4, 2013 with their public Beta release. Their 1.0 version was released for general availability on August 20, 2013. On March 24, 2015 it was reported that Apple has acquired the company. A notice on the FoundationDB web site indicated that the company has "evolved" its mission and would no longer offer downloads of the software.
On April 19, 2018, Apple open sourced the software, releasing it under the Apache 2.0 license.
Main features
The main features of FoundationDB included the following:
Ordered key–value store
In addition to supporting standard key-based reads and writes, the ordering property enables range reads that can efficiently scan large swaths of data.
Transactions
Transaction processing employs multiversion concurrency control for reads and optimistic concurrency for writes. Transactions can span multiple keys stored on multiple machines.
ACID properties
FoundationDB guarantees serializable isolation and strong durability via redundant storage on disk before transactions are considered committed.
Layers
Layers map new data models, APIs, and query languages to the FoundationDB core. They employ FoundationDB's ability to update multiple data elements in a single transaction, ensuring consistency. An example is their SQL layer.
Commodity clusters
FoundationDB is designed for deployment on distributed clusters of commodity hardware running Linux.
Replication
FoundationDB stores each piece of data on multiple machines according to a configurable replication factor. Triple replication is the recommended mode for clusters of 5 or more machines.
Scalability
FoundationDB is designed to support horizontal scaling though the addition of machines to a cluster while automatically handling data replication and partitioning.
Systems supported
FoundationDB supports packages for Linux, Windows, and macOS. The Linux version supports production clusters, while the Windows and macOS versions support local operation for development purposes. Configurations on Amazon EC2 are also supported.
Programming language bindings
FoundationDB supports language bindings for Python, Go, Ruby, Node.js, Java, PHP, and C, all of which are made available with the product.
Design limitations
The design of FoundationDB results in several limitations:
Long transactions
FoundationDB does not support transactions running over five seconds.
Large transactions
Transaction size cannot exceed 10 MB of total written keys and values.
Large keys and values
Keys cannot exceed 10 kB in size. Values cannot exceed 100 kB in size.
History
FoundationDB, headquartered in Vienna, VA, was started in 2009 by Nick Lavezzo, Dave Rosenthal, and Dave Scherer, drawing on their experience in executive and technology roles at their previous company, Visual Sciences.
In March 2015 the FoundationDB Community site was updated to state that the company had changed directions and would no longer be offering downloads of its product. The company was acquired by Apple Inc., which was confirmed March 25, 2015.
On April 19, 2018, Apple open sourced the software, releasing it under the Apache 2.0 license.
See also
Database transaction
Distributed database
Distributed transaction
List of formerly proprietary software
References
External links
FoundationDB blog
Applications of distributed computing
Databases
Distributed computing architecture
Distributed data stores
Key-value databases
NoSQL
Structured storage
Transaction processing
Apple Inc. acquisitions
Formerly proprietary software
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20ReBoot%20characters
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List of ReBoot characters
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This is a list of characters from the animated television series ReBoot.
Most ReBoot characters are named after technical computer terms or pieces of computer hardware.
Main characters
Bob
Guardian 452 and defender of Mainframe from both internal and external threats. Bob is often criticized by other Guardians for his unorthodox views regarding viruses: unlike other Guardians, who believe that viruses should simply be deleted on sight, Bob theorizes that viruses can be reprogrammed to live as Sprites (he cites Hexadecimal as proof of his theories). Despite this criticism, Bob is still respected as one of the finest Guardians ever to come out of the academy. Compared to Dot, he usually does things "on the fly", and is an extremely casual and laid-back hero in the first two seasons. After living and partially degrading in the harsh Web (under the alias "Interface") he became slightly more cautious, more sensitive, and less impulsive than he used to be. Despite their difference in personality, he and Dot developed romantic tension that finally resulted in them coupling at the end of Season 3.
He is equipped with a Guardian Keytool, "Glitch", which can transform into any device with a voice command. When a Guardian is first introduced to a Keytool, they exchange code. In Season 3 and 4, Bob bonded with Glitch (referred to in My Two Bobs as "Glitch-Bob") and gained energy-based Keytool powers as a result. As Glitch was broken at the time and because Bob's code was missing from Glitch (Megabyte stole the code from Glitch before crushing it at the end of Season 2) the merger did not quite work and continued use of his powers (including rebooting) was leading to total fragmentation. Eventually they were separated, with Glitch now upgraded in design and power and regained his original form.
While he was always in favour of non-violent solutions, in Season 4 he was now opposed to deletion of virals under any circumstances, which caused conflict with other characters like Matrix. The reasons for this change (as he had deleted viral Binomes by destroying ABC craft before) was not directly expressed on the show, but presumably it is the result of both Hexadecimal's reprogramming and his experiences of war-torn Mainframe. At the start of the "Code of Honor" webcomic, Turbo accuses Bob of causing a net-wide viral onslaught that's ruined tens of thousands of Systems, claiming his views have caused many Guardians to talk about "viral rights" and this led to the outbreak and the Collective's inability to hold it back. Bob has been left rattled by this, and attempted to take out Megabyte in a one-on-one battle before being called back.
Bob was voiced by Michael Benyaer in seasons 1 and 2, and Ian James Corlett in seasons 3 and 4, though Benyaer returned near the end of season 4 as the voice of the fake Bob and eventually as the voice of the real Bob, which led to a tongue-in-cheek comparison between the two where Dot commented that fake Bob "even sounds more like the real Bob". He later returns in ReBoot: The Guardian Code where he spots the new generation of Guardian and at first attacked them but helps them after knowing who they are and leading them to Hexadecimals lair.
Bob's name was chosen after members of the production team saw an episode of British sitcom Blackadder, and were amused by the way actor Rowan Atkinson pronounced the name. Bobs (Blitter Objects) were also a graphic element in Amiga computer systems.
Dot Matrix
The daughter of leading Mainframe scientist Welman Matrix, Dot originally was his assistant as a teenager. Now an adult and proprietor of Dot's Diner, Dot also acts as her younger brother Enzo's surrogate parent and guardian since the loss of their father. (What became of their mother is never mentioned in the series.) She later became the command.com of Mainframe in place of Phong. She is admired for her brilliant and invaluable tactical skills, which led to her becoming a workaholic with business interests in most of Mainframe. Although she and Bob took until Season 3 to admit it, they are attracted to one another and this sometimes leads to awkward moments between them. When their father was nullified in the Twin City explosion, Dot and Enzo became each other's only remaining family, and for a long while she was adamant about keeping him from Games.
As Command.Com, she had to fight two successive Viral Wars from a position of inferiority and was forced to make many morally grey decisions, such as having Enzo go into a Game and stay there until he grew into a new Matrix as an insurance policy. It is a sign of her tactical skill that she was able to keep fighting against Megabyte, even with the loss of Enzo and the Principal Office, and then be able to cause some serious damage to Daemon. The emotional stress of the Viral Wars took their toll after the defeat of Daemon, and she fell for Megabyte's plan to impersonate the original Bob out of a desire to get back to the good times and forget all the pain and horror. After this, she came up with a plan that captured Megabyte and his entire Neo-Viral army in one swoop, but this was undone when it was revealed they had only caught a copy of Megabyte and the real virus was inside the War Room.
Dot was voiced by Kathleen Barr. She also made an appearance in ReBoot: The Guardian Code along with Bob and Enzo while the new generations of Guardians entered Mainframe.
Her name is a reference to the method of using an array of dots to generate characters, symbols and images. The dot matrix was once widely used in the form of dot matrix displays and dot matrix printers. It is possible that her name may also be a hidden reference to a sentient machine with an identical name from the film Spaceballs.
Enzo Matrix
Dot's little brother, Enzo, hero-worships Bob and intends to become a Guardian. He has a crackling, mid-pubescent voice and often uses catch-phrases such as "alphanumeric" and "high-density" in place of real-world utterances like "cool" and "awesome" to express enthusiasm. Enzo is very energetic and loves to play games like Jet Ball and Circuit Racing, and eagerly heads into the Games. Despite his youth, Enzo has proven to be extremely good at the Games and has several times been responsible for winning them.
With the destruction of the Twin City, most of Mainframe's Sprites were nullified and Enzo grew up with few friends to play with (it is unknown why he did not have Binome friends; presumably they avoided him because of his father's supposed role in the Twin City's destruction). His main friend growing up was Frisket until he met AndrAIa and brought her to Mainframe. The two have become inseparable since then.
Guardian Matrix
When the Web invaded, Bob gave him a field rank as Guardian Cadet with the promise of sending him to the Super-Computer to be a real Guardian; when Bob was lost in the Web, Enzo found himself as the defender of Mainframe. He did well, gaining self-confidence and the approval of the populace, but eventually a Game came down he could not win, leading to his development into Matrix. When Mainframe was rebooted at the end of Season 3, Matrix had accidentally left his icon in "Game Sprite" mode, causing the system to recognize Enzo as missing, and so created a second Enzo using the last available data on him, which was some time before the episode "Talent Night".
It is revealed in "Talent Night" that the number on his shirt refers to his age, as written in binary notation, as it changes from "01" to "10" at the end of the episode.
Matrix
Adult Enzo Matrix, who, due to the dimensional difference of the game world (in the middle of season 3) aged quicker, making the time frame in the game world seem longer than it actually is. Ashamed of the child he used to be, whom he viewed as weak after his vicious defeat by the User Zaytan, he prefers to be addressed by his surname "Matrix" instead of his given name, which reminds him of his childhood. With a cold and gritty personality, violent behavior and a "built-like-a-tank" physique (so physically built, in fact, that he was able to match Megabyte physically in a fight) he is nothing like the child he used to be. He was tempered by what was from his perspective a lifetime of fighting. Although he is quick to anger he has still shown a desire to help those in need (albeit in a very gruff and violent way) and his quest to return to Mainframe has let him bring many systems back from the brink of annihilation. He harbors an unparalleled hatred towards viruses and will not hesitate to delete them in a violent and merciless manner. He is in love with AndrAIa, who has now matured as well, but is also quite jealous and protective of her. Deep down, he had a fear that he might become or already be a hate-driven, uncaring killer who had forgotten about his home and family and would end up like Megabyte; he had to face his fears and get past them in the episode "Number Seven" (based on The Prisoner). He would several times show an extreme temper, aiming a gun at Ray Tracer during arguments, and he instinctively raises his gun when surprised by something that might possibly be dangerous (including if he is bumped into).
His right eye was severely damaged in the lost game that took him from Mainframe, but was at some point replaced with a cybernetic eye during his travels. This eye grants him extended visual powers, such as magnified long-range vision and X-ray vision. Matrix has also acquired a firearm, the aptly named "Gun", which has many functions that Matrix invokes with voice commands. Gun operates in a fashion similar to a Guardian Keytool, possibly because Matrix idolized Bob as a child. Matrix's mechanical eye also works in conjunction with Gun for lock-on targeting and tracking purposes. One of his gun's functions is "Death Blossom Mode" (a reference to the movie, The Last Starfighter) which allows the gun to hover in midair spinning rapidly in 720 degrees autolocking to all targets in sight. It is being implied that the gun has extremely high caliber, from single solitary blasts to Full-Delete rounds among possible explosive capabilities when he is seen shooting pursuing ships from the Saucy Mare, a ship he recovered for the Crimson Binome to travel to the Web. Matrix also carried Bob's damaged Guardian Keytool, Glitch, having recovered it as Enzo after Megabyte launched Bob into the Web; although this was mostly symbolic, as Glitch was rendered virtually nonfunctional, Matrix did continue to use Glitch for stats and information about games and systems he encountered. Matrix returned Glitch to Bob when they were re-united in the Web.
In a sign of development, Matrix finally spared a virus's life by not killing Megabyte when he was beaten and at his mercy. Having spent so long apart from Mainframe, he is filled with the desire to defend his home by any means necessary, making it seem as though Matrix had become much more belligerent during the first part of Season 4, and this stance caused a great deal of friction between him and Bob in Daemon Rising. Once Daemon was beaten, the two were much more friendly to each other, though Matrix was always having to deal with anxieties of what to do now there was no-one left to fight.
While he sometimes views the young copy Enzo as somewhat of an annoyance and grim reminder of what he used to be, he has come to accept the young Enzo as a little brother and strives to prevent him from becoming like himself.
With his tough-guy attitude, similar look (missing eye, sleeveless vest, and fingerless gloves), and imitative dialogue ("Call me Matrix!"), Matrix is likely inspired by the character of Snake Plissken, or possibly the gruff, muscular, gun-toting, anti-hero, Cable, of Marvel Comic's X-Men franchise. Despite Matrix's appearance, his actual age is only "11" (in binary) due to accelerated game time.
Matrix was voiced by Paul Dobson.
Little Enzo
The new Enzo looks up to his older self as much as he does Bob, and briefly wanted to be just like him and demanded everyone call him "Little Matrix". When Daemon took over Mainframe, Enzo (whilst wearing the Guardian uniform that Bob gave the original Enzo in season two) saved the System with the help of Frisket, Hack and Slash, getting Matrix to snap out of Daemon's infection and help disinfect others so they could fight the virus.
By the start of the "Code of Honor" webcomic, he's already become a Guardian Cadet and is the star pupil of the academy. He's gained a next-gen keytool named Sparc, though it will only work for him when he proves he has "the heart of a Guardian".
Eyes in culture
Fictional characters with disfigurements
Frisket
A feral dog who likes Enzo, who acts in a threatening manner toward just about everyone other than Enzo and AndrAIa, with a particular dislike of Bob. Frisket has uncanny physical strength, comparable to that of Megabyte, being known to catch cannonballs (and ABCs) in his teeth. Frisket is extremely loyal to Enzo and would not hesitate to sacrifice his life to protect Enzo's. Frisket followed Enzo and AndrAIa into the games during season three.
His name is derived from the masking technique that is used by artists. Frisket was voiced by Scott McNeil. He later made a cameo appearance in ReBoot: The Guardian Code except this time he's a little nervous and afraid then his previous years and was the first one to saw Megabyte in his upgraded form before fleeing from him.
Phong
System administrator and keeper of the core for Mainframe who lives and studies in the Principal Office. He was also the command.com of Mainframe until passing the title to Dot. A wise old Italian sprite somewhat evocative of Confucius, he often dispenses advice in the form of confusing and vague philosophical quotes gleaned from old README files. Very fond of Pong, one must defeat him in a game to be considered worthy of his knowledge. Phong is immune to infection by viruses, but not super-viruses (Megabyte was never able to infect him, but Daemon infected him quite easily). When the Viral Wars started, Phong was an invaluable aide and comforter to Dot. He was captured by Megabyte, his head cut off (it was later reattached), and had data extracted from his mind, but he refused to surrender and fought Megabyte to the last. One of his passwords was revealed to be "Yaddi Yaddi Yadda!"
Phong always has the right equipment or knowledge, often handy in whatever sort of situation; in one episode, Bob was shocked to find that Phong had prepared a countermeasure specifically to handle a giant monster made entirely of Nulls stomping around the city. He acts a wise therapist whom many come to for advice about their problems, but the majority of the time his advice isn't very helpful and he urges for sprites to figure things out on their own.
The character Phong's name is an allusion to the game Pong—he has a rule that any who seek his advice must first play him in a game of physical Pong, shown on-screen in the first few episodes—and to Phong shading, an interpolation method (itself named after computer scientist Bui Tuong Phong) used in three-dimensional graphics rendering. Phong shading was used to render this character, as opposed to the simpler Gouraud shading used on other characters.
Main villains
Megabyte
The main antagonist of the series, Megabyte (voiced by Tony Jay) is a virus, originally operating out of the Silicon Tor in Sector 1000 and dominating most of G-Prime. Megabyte plots constantly to corrupt and control Mainframe in order to turn it into his own domain, "Megaframe", and from there infect the Super-Computer and then take the entire Net. His secondary objective is to destroy his sister Hexadecimal, which is apparently just viral sibling rivalry. He is a malignant virus able to infect other programs, and commands an army of infected Viral Binomes. He has a brutal, almost psychopathic nature and speaks with a deep British accent. Megabyte possesses fantastic physical strength, super agility and reflexes as well as the ability to jump great distances. He can quickly scale high walls with vicious Wolverine-like extendable claws on his knuckles, as well as finger tips with extending nails similar to Lady Deathstrike. He has an exceedingly cunning intellect as well as the ability to infect and control objects. Another ability he has shown is the ability to read memory from certain sprites, namely Phong (Infected). He also manages to steal Bob's exchanged Guardian code with Glitch. Megabyte has no sense of morality and consistently takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends. He also seems immune to the energy-draining effect of nulls (as he has been seen holding his pet null "Nibbles", whom he once called "Father"). Megabyte can also store codes to control programs and functions of what ever system he is in, provided he has been given said codes. These programs are controlled by buttons located under a panel in his left arm.
Megabyte also has a sense of humor and musical talents, as shown in the episode "Talent Night" when he crashed into Enzo's birthday party, accompanied by armed guards, but instead of his usual evil antics, he began to play a rock song on a forked guitar, which led to his and Bob's famous rock duel. Afterwards, Megabyte remarked "I've always wanted to do that", and left, but not before giving Enzo his guitar as a birthday gift.
Megabyte's origin is revealed in the fourth season. He and Hexadecimal were once one virus (Killabyte), who was scheduled for deletion by the Guardians, but upgraded into Gigabyte before it could be carried out. He mortally wounded Bob's partner and moved in toward Bob before being accidentally teleported away by Welman Matrix's gateway device. The results were devastating: the destruction of Mainframe's twin city (creating Lost Angles), everyone present being nullified (including Welman, who became Nibbles), and Gigabyte being split into Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Upon being separated, Megabyte observed his surroundings and walked off – intent to carry out his agenda on an unsuspecting city.
While always a villain, in earlier episodes Megabyte was often involved in humorous situations and rarely caused permanent damage; the exception to this was the first episode, "The Tearing", where he deliberately causes a whole Sector to be nullified. As time went on, and especially after ReBoot was no longer on the ABC Network, he became far more evil. He appears to have some small sense of honor, shown in one instance when Bob saves his life, Megabyte later let Dot go in the same episode, after which he commented "Now, we are even".
In the final episode of Season 2, Megabyte worked with Mainframe to close the Web portal that had opened in Mainframe, but not without heavy cost. Unfortunately, just before his "hardware" was fired at the portal to close it, he threw Bob into a rocket and sent it soaring into the portal. The portal was then closed, and he had his army move to crush the remaining defenders (CPUs) of Mainframe. For the first three episodes of Season 3 he had complete air supremacy and full run of Mainframe, while its defenders were trapped in the Principal Office. He also left Enzo alive so he could launch a propaganda campaign focusing on how the Guardian was an inexperienced boy, thus demoralizing the denizens of Mainframe. Obscenely, he also imprisoned Hexadecimal and forced her into becoming a living weapon, electrocuting her viciously via a collar at the slightest whim. "Rather good, isn't it?", he remarked to Enzo about his latest "weapon".
He was finally trapped behind an inverted Firewall that covered all of G-Prime. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards a rampaging Hexadecimal took out the Firewall; resulting in war between the viruses that devastated G-Prime (including the Tor) and neighboring Sectors. Needing a new base, and as the Principal Office shields were still offline (having been deactivated to provide energy for the Firewall) Megabyte was able to conquer it by force. Mainframe became Megabyte's long sought after Megaframe. Instead of re-building it "in his own image" (as he so frequently says), he more left it as a decaying and devastated system that was perpetually on the verge of crashing. When Matrix and Bob returned to the system, Mainframe's rebels were finally able to bring down the Viral forces. During the battle, Megabyte was confronted by Matrix, who was carrying his sidearm: Gun. Megabyte convinced Matrix to drop his weapon and fight him hand-to-hand, as the virus believed that "the boy" would be no match for him physically. However, this was proven to be false when Matrix ultimately defeated him in battle. Megabyte was enraged when Matrix spared his life, and as an act of desperation he tried to escape to the Super-Computer. However, Mouse managed to change the address of the portal Megabyte was using, and as a result he was trapped in the Web. He made a brief return in the form of a holographic simulation, which Megabyte had created to taunt anyone who went into the System's Core to prevent it from crashing.
Megabyte survived in the Web due to sharing some of Bob's Guardian code, and in the fourth season he became a Trojan Horse virus, gaining the ability to look and sound like any sprite or binome he is able to steal code from. He returned from the Web in the form of Bob circa Seasons 1–2, deliberately trying to confuse everyone over who the real Bob was in order to attack his enemies emotionally. He had also switched objectives from world conquest to personal revenge. His plan worked so well, he almost ended up married to Dot, until Glitch retook Bob's stolen code and forced him back into his Viral form. Megabyte immediately fought the real Bob, but he was surprised by Bob's increased power and was forced to retreat.
Afterwards, Megabyte began building an army of Neo-Virals, but was swiftly captured by the CPUs along with his whole horde, or so everyone thought. That Megabyte was in fact an alias, a fragile copy of himself, while the real Megabyte had infiltrated the Principal Office in the form of Frisket. He swiftly infected the War Room and had his enemies isolated throughout the building, telling them to prepare for "the Hunt".
At the start of the Code of Honor webcomic, he'd devastated Mainframe with his armies of infected "zombinomes" that the entire System was evacuated. He was seemingly killed when the firmware upgrade Gnosis was unleashed on Mainframe, but the second issue ended with him revealed still alive and working for Gnosis as an avatar created from Gnosis.
Megabyte has an unusual habit of separating his torso from his legs when he is plotting at the Tor, and has a hovering chair to move him around when in this state.
He has been in Games five times, showing the ability to infect the User's in-game avatar. His last two Games were played when he was disguised as Bob; he was able to reboot and handled the Games quite well, though he asked Matrix to cheat in Panzu Heavy X (My Two Bobs) when panicked about the number of opponents. His Game appearance in "Bad Bob", when a corrupted Game merged him with and a device stealing the Core energy, was the Megatruck. Bob drove him in this episode, and was alarmed to discover the Megatruck had no brakes.
His name is a reference to a megabyte.
He appears as a recurring villain in ReBoot: The Guardian Code where he is resurrected by a villainous hacker known as the Sourcerer in the real world as his agent when he was destroyed for unknown reasons and was given a new upgrade that made him stronger and a new look by him.
Nibbles
Megabyte's pet null, whom he refers to as "Father" several times throughout the series. Nibbles' identity as a Sprite does not become clear until the fourth season.
His name is a reference to a nibble or nybble, 1/2 of a byte.
Hack and Slash
Hack (voiced by Phil Hayes in season one, Scott McNeil in season two) and Slash (voiced by Garry Chalk) are twin robots, identical in form except that Hack is red and Slash is blue. The pair originally served Megabyte, carrying out his orders, often in a very incompetent manner - their first appearance had Bob tricking them into crashing into each other. By Season 2, they had degraded in villainy to the point where they twice ask Bob for help (the episode "Bad Bob", when trapped on a speeding Megatruck, and the episode "Nullzilla" after losing Megabyte's pet null) and also assist him in battling Gigabyte (saving him at one point). Hack and Slash have great physical strength. They once lifted and destroyed a very large bridge with ease in the episode Medusa, and both proved strong enough to punch the greatly sized Gigabyte out to the floor, or even high and far up in the sky. Hack is also once seen to have three arms.
In Season 3, they reconsidered their loyalties after being instructed to kill Cyrus, who had betrayed Megabyte. Though both were reluctant to carry out those orders, Slash freed Cyrus at the last moment. When Hack pointed out how mad Megabyte would be, Slash responded, "Ah, what's new? I miss Bob. Bob always stopped us before we did anything really bad. Now, nobody does". Meanwhile, Megabyte had grown weary of their incompetence and ordered them to take point when battling Hexadecimal. They were promptly blown to bits. Phong found and repaired them (as well as gave them PIDs), and they switched sides to Mainframe to work as bodyguards and gofers for Dot. Hack and Slash were the first regular characters to re-encounter the returned Bob and Matrix, and they were quite overjoyed to see them again.
In Season 4, they were often seen hanging around Enzo and helped him play a key role in stopping Daemon. They also assisted in a Game, the first one they were shown in since acquiring PiDs. Also, Hack refused to allow Slash to mention the "M" word out of fear that their old boss would ever come back. When Megabyte did return and began fighting Bob, Hack and Slash were unsure of whom to help. Later, they flew away screaming at the idea someone might be Megabyte. The two were last seen taking Dot out of the Command Center (and panicking), as Megabyte took over the Principal Office.
Hack and Slash are frequently torn apart, although they seem to take it in stride. They used to talk in very babbling and over-running dialogue, but halfway through Season 2 they became more coherent. They are quite dimwitted and bumbling, despite their strength. They have built-in jetpacks that allow them to perform and maintain VTOL flight. They can also control their limbs remotely - they often get blown up and can still operate every movable part even though they are literally in a thousand pieces.
Their names are a reference to the hack and slash genre of computer games, and the keyboard characters \ (hack) and / (slash).
Hexadecimal
Hexadecimal (voiced by Shirley Millner), the self-proclaimed "Queen of Chaos", is a virus operating out of Lost Angles. She is Megabyte's sister, serving as the chaos to his order. Her origin is revealed in the fourth season. She and Megabyte were once one virus (Killabyte), who was scheduled for deletion by the Guardians, but upgraded to Gigabyte before it could be carried out. He mortally wounded Bob's partner and moved in toward Bob before being accidentally teleported away by Welman Matrix's gateway device. The results were devastating: the destruction of Mainframe's twin city (creating Lost Angles), everyone present being nullified (including Welman, who became Nibbles), and Gigabyte being split into Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Upon being separated, Hexadecimal observed her surroundings and (with a mask change) exclaimed, "I like it here!".
Hexadecimal is melodramatic and extremely emotional, able to switch emotions by a simple wave of her hand (which changes the noh-styled mask she wears, and her emotions along with it). The masks change constantly in a slew of different ways, usually while obscured from the home viewer. Episodes 1 and 10 of season 2, and episode 4 of season 3 showed her mask changing on screen in an instant. She has transfinite power reserves, meaning that she has near limitless stores of energy to draw from, and as such, is quite powerful herself. Her powers include energy beams and fireballs, altering gravity (once causing Bob to stop and hover in midair) and being able to fly, shrugging off severe damage and controlling nulls (sprites downgraded to slug-like status for losing to the User in a game). She also has the power to open a portal to the net or web in her "looking glass", and has also been seen taking control of system programs like the system paint program. It is suggested that her powers are near infinite, but because of her madness she is unable to use them for anything constructive.
Her vast collection of masks serve to show her facial expression, thereby giving her a harlequin-like appearance. The expressions shown in these masks can range from happy, sad, scheming, and even homicidal rage. These masks also hold her power in check. When removed (as in the episode "Painted Windows"), her power escapes and continues to do damage to her environment, and she will overload and be destroyed if the mask is not replaced.
She is a benign virus, meaning she does not infect other entities. Instead, her primary motive is to simply cause random chaos for fun (and also to kill Megabyte, who kept trying to kill her, likely due to simple sibling rivalry). Due to her power and insanity, her fun nearly always led to Mainframe crashing. She even once nearly caused it unwittingly, when a Web Creature emerged from her mirror and possessed her. All of the nulls sensed this danger and covered her completely. The giant "Nullzilla" monster went on a rampage, as (according to Dot) the possessed-Hexadecimal was trying to escape.
In Web World Wars, Hexadecimal was charged with powering the Hardware that closed the web portal. Despite her interest in Bob, she knew of Megabyte's impending betrayal and even helped launch him into the Web. After closing the portal, she aimed the Hardware at the Principal Office. Megabyte merely saw this as a threat to force the Mainframers compliance to his whims, but she wanted to destroy the Core – not caring that that would destroy the entire System, including herself. Luckily, a Game Cube landed on top of the Hardware and the energy feedback from the Cube, along with the energy charge that she had already infused in the hardware, seriously damaged her. Megabyte subsequently had her rebuilt and had her enslaved as a weapon he could use against Mainframe (via a collar around her neck that caused her extreme pain when she did not comply with his wishes). This served only to further elevate her rage against Megabyte. Though she appeared to be completely restrained, Herr Doktor theorized she was faking and "liked being tied up", which Megabyte preferred not to think about. When she finally did escape Megabyte's control, her "rattling of her brother's bones" devastated G-Prime and the surrounding sectors. Spending the rest of her days lurking in Lost Angles, she made her presence known again with the return of Bob.
When Bob returned, she abducted him for demented party games and would eventually have killed him. However, he was able to defragment her head with his new powers. His glitch powers were able to replace her masks and her insanity with a real face (which looked exactly like her masks, but was able to move) and more harmless quirkiness. However, she still felt the need to off Herr Doktor and Bunnyfoot vengefully (and comedically) by turning them into biscuits. In the episode End Prog, with the System about to restart, Bob insisted that Phong give Hex an Icon (or PID) to register her with the Principal Office so she would be backed up. Mainframe restarted and a viral scan disinfected all the Virals, but Hexadecimal (with the icon) remained intact, remarking that the scan merely tickled.
Hex being her nickname for short, could also refer to her dark powers, and the Medusa Bug she used as a curse against everyone, in Web World Wars, Mouse comments referring to Hex, "Just tell the witch to be ready!", to which Hex responded, "I heard that! What a sweet thing to say!".
By Daemon Rising, she had begun openly and heavily trying to seduce Bob. In order to make him happy, she used her powers to drive out Daemon's forces; this weakened her powers enough for the viral scan, which had remained in her Icon, to start again, and she covered herself with Nulls to stop it. When the Null-cocoon fled as a Game landed on her, she became a normal, powerless Sprite; wearing a new costume of white lace and gold instead of black leather and red, with normal-looking eyes and black hair.
Strangely enough, Hex retained her control over Nulls, even though the rest of her powers had been stripped away. Upon revealing her origin to Dot, she began referring to her as "Sis". When Daemon conquered Mainframe, Hex was rejected as an abomination by Daemon for abandoning her viral code. At the end of the episode "Sacrifice", with Bob in danger of dying, she had given away her new life as a pure Sprite to become her old reckless and insane viral self just to stop Daemon. To do this, she absorbed Mainframe's core energy with the help of Phong, and became as powerful as Daemon herself to try to stop the infection. She did not succeed unfortunately, as Daemon's "cron virus" (a virus defined to attack at a specific time) took hold of the Net. "Ill" again, Hex did not realize the severity of the situation until Bob told her that she would not survive the crash, and she made the decision to fragment herself into the Net as a "benign virus" to undo everything that Daemon had done. She took the cure from Matrix's icon and then gave the young Enzo a special code on his icon that would later give his null-father the ability to talk once more. Before she went in, she told Bob that she had always loved him and told Dot to take care of him.
Her sacrifice symbolizes two themes previously stated in the show. "Love conquers all boundaries" (AndrAIa, S4 episode 3): Hexadecimal decides to fight Daemon's countdown due to her love for Bob and desire for him to survive. "Chaos will always triumph over Order; it is the way of things" ("Game Over"); Daemon's purpose is stated by Turbo to bring order to the Net, and the self-styled Queen of Chaos fights her to a standstill and cures the Net of the infection.
Her name is a reference to hexadecimal notation. She later returns in Reboot the Guardians Code where she has returned for unknown reasons and has been in Lost Angles bored with no one but herself until Megabyte returns in his new look and offers his sister to join him in conquering cyberspace and leaving Mainframe.
Scuzzy
Hexadecimal's familiar. A cat-sized animal with a video screen on its head. Named after SCSI, which stands for Small Computer System Interface. Scuzzy is last seen in "Firewall".
The User
The human operator of Mainframe is perceived by its denizens as a distant, impersonal, deity-like figure. Often destructive, it subjects the city to Game Cubes and assumes various avatars to do deadly battle with the unfortunates trapped within them. In layman's terms, the User is a computer owner that enjoys playing PC games, blissfully unaware of the havoc he/she is causing. Nonetheless, Mainframers dutifully petition the User to bestow upon them gifts such as increased memory and software upgrades, prayers which are sometimes answered despite the User's sadly limited means. Of all the characters depicted, only Fax Modem openly professed to deny the existence of the User, a position roundly regarded as wildly unorthodox and borderline insane. The User never appears on screen, although in the third-season finale its keystrokes could be heard as it entered the command to reboot the system. In the season finale of The Guardian Code, the User is finally revealed to be an overweight, bearded man who still lives with his mother and plays games in her basement.
Season one characters
Cecil
A video screen with a pair of arms, waiter at Dot's Diner before it was destroyed. Stereotypical French waiter complete with small moustache. He refers to himself as a "dedicated server", a play on his waiter job and Server (Computing). He greatly resembles the original Apple Macintosh, even his icon has rainbow stripes resembling the Macintosh logo. Although nearly the entire cast pronounces his name Cee-Cil, he has repeatedly asserted that it is actually pronounced Ceh-cil. (Unlike the rest of the cast, Dot pronounces it correctly.) Cecil was originally limited to moving along a rail within the Diner (in other words, he was nearly sessile); after the Diner's destruction, Cecil's rail arm was attached to a hoverboard, allowing him freedom of movement,The Cecil Hotel in Vancouver was fairly close to MainFrame Productions Studio, and the logo on Cecil's chest also closely resembles that club's logo.
Al's Diner
Al owns Al's Diner (also known as Al's Wait & Eat) on Level 31, and also serves as cook. According to his waiter, Al runs at 3 decahertz (30 Hz). Almost never seen, the only times he is explicitly shown on screen is when he is tied and completely covered up with rope in the episode "The Great Brain Robbery", and jumps in front of the camera in the third-season finale after the system is restored, having been apparently sped up he offers a fast and excited "Woo-hoo!" to the viewer. He is a one-binome with a chef's hat. One running gag throughout the series is that whenever his name is said, whether someone is directly talking to him, or his name is just mentioned in conversation, he responds with "What?".
Al's Waiter (Front Counter) Never named in the series, he is a binome that stands behind the counter at Al's Diner. He speaks and acts very slowly. He is one of the sprites who disappears in "Trust No One". He was also the first to be infected by the returned Megabyte in Season 4.
Al's Waiter (Roller Skater) Also never addressed by name, he is flamboyant one-binome who acts stereotypically camp. Has made Bob a bit uncomfortable on a few occasions.
Mike the TV
An annoying, ambulatory television set from Bob's apartment who is constantly pitching bizarre products (like the famous Bucket-O-Nothing, free for only $99.99.99) or simply rambling on until somebody shouts at him to shut up. He is a seemingly obvious reference to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory´s Mike Teavee. Speaking into a mic, he appears at random moments to irritate the rest of the cast. His remote control ran away, so he cannot be turned off. He temporarily lived in Hexadecimal's lair when Bob left him with her in order to "cheer her up" after the events of Painted Windows. Mike keeps the secret that it is his fault the web creature was released into Mainframe - when he played an opera for Hexadecimal, a singer's high note shattered her mirror and allowed the creature to get her - and thus he is (indirectly) responsible for everything that happens after that. Mike apparently joined Scuzzy as her helper. He stayed in her lair until he, Scuzzy, Hack, and Slash were scared away by Nullzilla and met up with Bob. In later seasons, he stars as a war correspondent for Mainframe, and during his brief infection by Daemon becomes a televangelist.
In the episode Enzo The Smart, Enzo slows the "clock cycles" of all the sprites making them dumber than they actually are. Mike the TV was the only character not affected because, as Enzo noted, he could not get any dumber.
Herr Doktor and Bunnyfoot
Megabyte's pair of one-binome evil scientists whose practices are disturbingly unethical. The Herr's hands are unlike any other binomes'; instead of mitten-like hands, he has actual fingers. This distinction is continually featured as comic relief in the series. The Doktor's fingers will be run over or somehow damaged, he will shout, "Mein digits!", and his hands will appear in bandages for the rest of the episode. Unlike the other Virals, he retained his Viral status and colors after Mainframe was restarted. The Herr's assistant Bunnyfoot is, in relation to other binomes, anatomically dishevelled, with his eye portion in the middle (he is a one binome rather than a zero binome) and has a brick as a foot, referencing Igor, the assistant of Doctor Victor Frankenstein who occasionally appears in some adaptations of Frankenstein. The pair were later turned into biscuits by a vengeful Hexidecimal but were restored when The User rebooted the system. Her Doktor was later seen as a Neo Viral though Bunnyfoot is unseen. Megabyte disguised himself as Her Doktor to escape custody.
Old Man Pearson
Old Man Pearson (voiced by Long John Baldry) wns a waste disposal system (analogous to a Windows Recycle Bin) and data dump in Sector 1001. Pearson is a cranky old binome with an Irish accent and is the former Codemaster known as Talon. As a Codemaster, Pearson possesses a Gibson Coil Pike weapon, a reference to science fiction writer William Gibson.
He may have been named for one of ReBoot's co-creators, Ian Pearson.
Captain Gavin Capacitor
Capain Gavin Capacitor (voiced by Long John Baldry) software pirate and captain of the Saucy Mare, he styles himself as "the Crimson Binome".
Capacitor is a one-binome armed with a hook for a left hand and a peg leg in place of his right leg. He fits the pirate stereotype perfectly, complete with pirate catchphrase mutations such as "Shiver me templates!" and "By the code!" At heart, he is a romantic, driven at times by a sense of honor, comradeship and a desire to never go down without fighting. Captain Capacitor was referenced to Long John Silver and Captain Hook.
He and his crew were only in the pirate game for the profit, raiding the Ports of Systems with lightning speed and co-ordination, but this ended when they arrived in Mainframe and Dot showed him that he could make more profit by legitimate business. Gavin then became a business partner of Mainframe until its Net Ports closed after the Web invasion. He did not get the chance to find new Systems to trade with, as Daemon took over and the Saucy Mare was forced to go on the run.
The pirates teamed up with Matrix, AndrAIa and Ray Tracer, entering the Web to find and retrieve Bob. From there, they returned to Mainframe and assisted Dot's rebels in the war against Megabyte. To Gavin's regret, he had to sacrifice the Mare in order to wipe out Megabyte's remaining airforce, and mourned its passing. After the System restart, he worked on unrevealed missions designed to harry Daemon.
His last name is a reference to capacitors. His first name is clarified to be a reference to ReBoot co-creator Gavin Blair (in the art book, he used Gavin Capacitor as his image, and all three co-creators had one character named after them in previous episodes).
The Crew of the Saucy Mare
Mr. Christopher Captain Capacitor's bookkeeper is a nerdy and timid zero-binome who's never seen without his laptop. His name is likely a tribute to Fletcher Christian, the Master's Mate from HMS Bounty. He may have also been named after Christopher Brough, president of Mainframe Entertainment. Mr. Christopher was referenced to Mr. Smee.
Princess Bula A giant one-binome on Captain Capacitor's crew with great physical strength, but she isn't very smart. Not actually a princess, but no one dares say otherwise. Mr. Christopher has a crush on her.
Miss Sally A female zero-binome pirate who serves as raider and look-out for the Mare. She once stole Glitch.
Mr. Andrew The one-binome pirate in charge of the steering wheel of Mare, who wears an eye-patch over his single eye. He was present during the search of Bob in the Web and at the Restart of Mainframe.
Mr. Jimmy A zero-binome who is in charge of the ship's prison.
Mr. Mitchell A wealthy one-binome whose appearance and manner recall Thurston Howell, III, in the sitcom Gilligan's Island.
He may have been named for one of ReBoot's co-creators, Phil Mitchell.
Mouse
Mouse (voiced by Louise Vallance) knew Bob from back when he arrested her from trying to hack into the Super-Computer. A hacker extraordinaire with a sugary Southern accent, she is equipped with a katana to cut her enemies into small pieces, and a high-tech craft called Ship. Sometimes she is seen with another, smaller sword, but she rarely uses it. It is probably a wakizashi to complete a samurai's daisho, which consists of the two aforementioned swords. She is first mentioned in the episode "The Crimson Binome", which hints at an untold encounter between Mouse and the pirate crew of the Saucy Mare; Bob, imprisoned in the ship's brig, finds Mouse's calling card (a stylized drawing of a mouse) on the wall, a clue to an avenue of escape. She first appears on-screen in "The Great Brain Robbery", hired as a mercenary by Megabyte (during the episode, she calls him "big guy" and "Megababe"); she turned against him when it became obvious she had been double-crossed and was endangering a young child. She later returned in Season 2 to save Bob and Dot from Gigabyte and ended up as part of the main cast from then on. She had been hired by the Guardians to discover if there was a Web Creature in Mainframe; during the subsequent Web War and then the Viral Wars, Mouse's hacking skills became a major asset in thwarting Mainframe's enemies, including developing a Firewall so complex that Daemon could not get through it, and was blocked from multiple Systems. Due to her invaluable assistance, Mouse is allowed to upgrade her icon (and AndrAIa's as well) to a full Mainframe icon which, among other things, created a backup of her that allowed her to be restored along with the native Mainframers after the system crashed ("End Prog").
Mouse's canines are developed into what looks like fangs, as specified in the episode "Trust No One"; she is capable of snarling in a very animal-like way, displaying these canines as a threat posture. In "The Great Brain Robbery", she growls in a feral fashion at Megabyte when he tells her that he "doublecrosses whomever he pleases". She becomes a dear friend to Dot as one whom Dot can confide into and lean on when no one else is around; during Dot's wedding, Mouse was her Sprite of Honor. At some point between the episodes "End Prog" and "Daemon Rising", Mouse begins dating Ray Tracer.
In the current webcomic, Mouse and Ray were both apparently killed in the same battle that claimed the life of Turbo. However, when Gnosis restored the net it is likely that they were both restored, as well.
Her name is a reference to the computer mouse.
Binky and Algernon
Sir Algernon Cholmondley-Worthington III and Binky Ffarquarson, also known as the British Binomes, appear in several episodes acting as pilots and very stereotypically British. In times of mortal peril they utter such lines as "steady on", "jolly good", "fancy a biscuit" and "I'll put a brew on". The plane they are piloting almost always gets shot down in some way. These characters are possibly modelled on Biggles and friends.
Cyrus
A one-binome that worked for Megabyte on his own free will without having been infected. In Season 1, he was helping Dot rescue and reformat an entire Sector in order to free it from Megabyte, but defected for mercenary reasons and helped Megabyte try to steal all of the PIDs in the Sectors so that they could be infected. The plan went bottom-up, and Cyrus was infected and turned into Megabyte's boot-shiner. In Season 3 he was put in charge of a propaganda campaign against Enzo's ability to act as guardian, designed to demoralize Enzo and the general population. However, when both he and Enzo ended up in a game, Cyrus was forced to help defeat the User; when he discovered Enzo wanted his help and trusted him despite all he had done, he not only helped, but also saved Enzo's life. In this game he rebooted into Dick Dastardly, and Frisket rebooted as Muttely who snickered at Cyrus' disapproval of being Dastardly. His redemption did not last long, as Megabyte recaptured him as the Firewall went up and ordered his execution. Cyrus escaped thanks to Slash, but he was horrified to find no way out of G-Prime. Somehow, he and Scuzzy found a way to breach the Firewall, allowing him to escape and Scuzzy to enter to free Hexadecimal. However, a very happy and disinfected Cyrus is seen leading the chorus line's dance in the musical number at the end of Season 3.
Season two characters
Lens
Codemaster Lens appears in one episode ("High Code") of the original series, but is a pivotal character in the webcomic continuation. He is a Net-born member of the Codemasters, one of the most feared and dangerous sects in cyberspace, who operate out of a city hidden in the depths of the Super-Computer.
Lens is a system bug, who was made an outcast when the User decided he was a mistake. He eventually became a Codemaster, possibly after having sought refuge in the refugee community outside the Codemaster's city. He later came to Mainframe to challenge Codemaster Talon, who had taken refuge in Mainframe, but is known to the Mainframers as "Old Man Pearson". Amazed by the Mainframers determination to stand by Pearson, he left the System in peace.
Lens had a distinct code of honor, barely spoke to other characters, and was described as a terrifying hunter by Phong. Using his Gibson-Coil pike, he was able to teleport, knock over buildings, wield energy bludgeons, and imprison Bob's Keytool, Glitch, behind a force field. Lens refers to himself as belonging to "The Sixty-Second Brotherhood", and by the titles "the Reaper" and "the Clear Unfolding".
He returns in the first issue of ReBoot: Code of Honor, initially as part of the Guild's delegation to meet the Guardians and reveal their Gnosis super-weapon. As with the other Codemasters, he wore stocky white battle-armour. When he discovered the Guildmaster intended to use Gnosis to unlock all Code Command Words and give the Guild ultimate power of the Net, Lens spoke out and was made an exile. He forewarned the Mainframers of the plot and led them in a failed strike against Gnosis; he is now partnered with Bob.
AndrAIa
(Pronounced like the name Andrea in Italian) A backup copy of a Game Sprite who met Enzo in an undersea-themed game. She fell in love with him at "first sight." The original AndrAIa piggy-backed her icon on Enzo's. This allowed the backup to escape the game and stay in Mainframe with Enzo, but the original remained in the game.
Because of the nature of the game from which she was born, AndrAIa has many mermaid-like qualities: she wears fish-skin garments, wears starfish in her hair (which can be used like a shuriken with boomerang qualities), and utilizes such armaments as paralysis-inducing fingernails and a trident in combat. She also possesses a superior hearing ability. In her younger form, she was new to the ways of Systems, not used to anything but fighting Users. She also appeared highly naive, such as believing Enzo's lies about being a Guardian (though she later admitted she always knew the truth, but didn't care because of her feelings for him). Over time, she began adapting and learning how to operate, and knew to try to keep Enzo's confidence up during his early days as Guardian. During the period of her and Enzo's journey through the Games in search of Bob and a way back home, she matures into a statuesque beauty who continually tries to temper her lover's cynicism, and provides a more relaxed and diplomatic counterpart to Matrix, however has shown to become very lonely when separated from Matrix. It is also during this time when AndrAIa improved as a warrior and gained engineering skills.
During their journey, she is more than often the voice of reason, and despite Matrix's jealousy, befriends the newcomer Ray Tracer whom assists them in entering the WEB. Before actually entering the dimension; however, AndrAIa is bitten by a Web creature that steals her energy as well as part of her code. Through the majority of the trip in the Web she remained in a comatose state while the others fought against the environment in search of Bob and the creature that bit her. Incidentally, Bob finds them and heals AndrAIa with the recovered code and energy.
During Daemon Rising, AndrAIa saves Matrix from being transported to the Super Computer and is infected by Daemon. After Daemon's defeat, AndrAIa becomes a bridesmaid in Dot's wedding and is last seen with Mouse in the Principal Office catacombs during the beginning of Megabyte's Hunt.
The AI in her name is capitalized, as her name is a reference to Artificial Intelligence. As an AI Game Sprite, she is designed to adapt to her surroundings and experiences; as a result, she is a more adjusted sprite than Matrix despite suffering the same traumas. She also gets on better with the new young Enzo than Matrix does, effectively being a second big sister (Dot is still his first). Also, andraia (Ανδρεια) is a Greek word meaning courageous.
She also has a great fondness for motorcycles.
Gigabyte
Gigabyte (voiced by Blu Mankuma) Class-5 (energy absorbing), malignant, extremely powerful super-virus, he is the upgraded form of Killabyte. A signal from Welman Matrix's experimental gateway accidentally locked onto Gigabyte and brought him to Mainframe. The gateway overloaded and Mainframe's twin city was destroyed in the explosion, becoming the small ruin called Lost Angles. Gigabyte was separated into Megabyte and Hexadecimal, making the siblings effectively opposite parts of the same whole; Megabyte representing order and Hexadecimal representing chaos.
Gigabyte was briefly reformed in Season 2 - his first appearance on the show - when Megabyte, possessed by a Web Creature, merged with Hexadecimal. Upon formation, he announced "I am become Gigabyte, Destroyer Of Systems!", a reference to the Bhagavad Gita. Luckily for Mainframe, Hexadecimal's power had been drained at the time and Gigabyte was not at full strength, forced to feed off the energy of individual Sprites. Mainframe was powered down to keep him from gaining power and the System's defenders, helped by the newly returned Mouse, attempted to keep him contained. He was finally beaten when Bob trapped him inside a Tear and used its energy to split Gigabyte once again.
His name comes from the unit of computer memory, measuring approximately one billion bytes (1,024 megabytes).
Fax Modem and Data Nully
CGI special agents. They are one-binomes modelled on Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the X-Files, and their names are references to the Fax Modem and Data Nully. Gillian Anderson, the actress who portrayed Dana Scully, also provided the voice for the character Data Nully. Modem believes there is no User and the Guardians drop Games on Systems to promote the User myth. They were called into Mainframe to investigate the rash of disappearances and helped battle the Web Creature behind them.
Turbo
Prime Guardian and leader of the Guardian Collective. He is equipped with a Guardian Keytool, Copland, which can transform into any device with a voice command. He speaks with a Texan accent.
Turbo was forced to order the destruction of Mainframe after a Web Creature arrived in the system. Turbo regretted the decision due to his friendship with Bob and secretly increased the countdown on the bomb he had hidden with Mouse. Although Bob got rid of the bomb, Turbo was considered by many to be an enemy after that. When Matrix encounters Turbo in a distant system, he is searching for Bob, the only Guardian known to not be infected by Daemon. Turbo informs Matrix of the Daemon threat, as well as the necessity of finding Bob. As he could still fight the infection, Turbo promised to work against Daemon from inside the Guardian Collective. However, when next the two met, Turbo had succumbed completely to Daemon's infection. As a result of that, Copland (following Turbo's own orders) had left him. After being partially cured by Bob's incomplete Guardian code, Turbo provided valuable information which helped Mainframe fight back against the super-virus.
After Daemon's defeat, Turbo returned to his position as Prime Guardian. He was later reunited with Copland when all of the keytools returned to free Glitch-Bob from his encasement. When a net-wide viral onslaught broke out in Code Of Honor, he became angry at Bob and his theories on reforming Viruses, blaming this idea (which was spreading in the Collective) for the viruses being able to attack tens of thousands of systems. He also has shown a disillusionment with the Guardian Collective and ideals, and secretly hired Matrix for an unknown purpose.
His name is possibly a reference to turbo mode which increased the clock speed of some early Intel processors (ex. 8088 and 80286) for faster performance.
Copland is possibly a reference to the unreleased Copland operating system created by Apple.
Class-M Webcreature
Not technically a virus, but attracted to them and later revealed to have been sent by Daemon. Its first act upon reaching Mainframe was to attack and bond with Hexadecimal (turning her into a creature resembling Spider-Man's enemy, Venom), causing the System's nulls to swarm over her in an attempt to keep the Webcreature from the rest of Mainframe. After Hexadecimal's powers were drained by the nulls, the creature escaped and bonded with Megabyte. In both cases, the resulting symbiote was highly animalistic and under the control of the Webcreature. It turned out the Webcreature, slowly growing from a spider-like blob into an immense fanged alien horror, needed to drain energy from others to remain stable outside of the Web - first it went for Hex and her transfinite energy reserves, then it had Megabyte merge with Hex to form the energy-absorbing Gigabyte, and finally it abducted scores of Sprites on Level 31 and slowly drained their energy in a larder. Its victims rescued and the CPUs keeping it cornered by direct torchlight (as it could not stand strong, bright lights), it finally escaped towards a Tear - as a Class M, it could turn Tears into Portals to the Web, and using that it escaped back to its home.
A Class-M in a System with Net access is a dangerous threat, as it could lead to the Web being able to invade the entire Net. As a result, Guardian protocol is to completely destroy such a System in order to be sure of terminating the Webcreature and any others that might also be there.
The term "Class-M" may be a joke reference to Star Trek's frequent use of the term "Class-M" planet.
Web Spores
An alien army that invaded Mainframe through the Class M's Web-Portal. They show a hive mentality and a sense of co-operative strategy, able to form traps for CPU attack craft. Their strategy is to send in Probes first, mostly unaggressive beings that inspect a System for potential threats, and then sending in the aggressive warrior Spores once they have worked out the layout. Their numbers are vast, capable of overrunning and crashing entire Systems, and only a CPU/ABC alliance was able to defeat them.
Season three characters
Powerlock
A large, overly muscled, gun-toting virus, modeled on action heroes and the gun-toting comic book anti-heroes of the early 90s (Most directly the Punisher, as indicated by the skull-like logo he wore on his chest). He was downloaded into an isolated System populated by energy beings called Spectrals. He was openly a member of the Hero Selective, the System's Sprite defenders against Games, and kept his viral nature hidden while he tried to cause System crashes. His true nature was discovered by Matrix and he was deleted. He had an unnamed partner, a Viral Spectral.
Ray Tracer (The Surfer)
A "second generation" Web search engine introduced in Season 3, he became a main character upon the return to Mainframe. He is unique in that as long as even a piece of his board exists, he will continue to live, as he and his board are the same entity. Though they may be separated, as long as one piece exists, it will regenerate and his body will as well. A side effect of this is that when he and his board are separated, any damage to his board is reflected on his person in the nature of the lights that circulate on his body shorting out. During Season 4 and beyond, he is romantically involved with Mouse. His icon resembles a Motorola logo, which is appropriate because Motorola helped to name his character (they also made a line of SURFR modems). He also speaks with a strong Australian accent.
An adrenaline junkie, Ray longs for adventure and loves the danger of exploring the treacherous realm known as the Web. Captured by the Guardians for unauthorized Net travel, he is rescued by a reluctant Matrix. After saving AndrAIa from a fleet of CPUs, he joins the crew of the Saucy Mare in searching for Bob in the Web, acting as their guide. Matrix is, at first, angered by the Surfer's presence, due to his seeming attraction for AndrAIa, but grows to respect him after he risks his life to repair AndrAIa's damaged code.
Ray was separated from the others when they neared the portal to Mainframe, but returned to Mainframe through the same portal Megabyte was sent through and remained to help the citizens evacuate into the Principal Office when the system was close to crashing. After the restart, during the war against Daemon, Turbo claimed to Mouse that Ray had been infected. After Daemon's defeat, Ray returned to Mainframe with the pre-season 3 Bob (unaware that he was Megabyte in disguise.) Through Season 4, Ray was featured on several brief occasions but had no speaking parts; in the Code of Honor webcomic, he has reappeared as a minor supporting character.
His name is a reference to a computer graphics technique, ray tracing, and his nickname a reference to web surfing. The symbiotic link between him and his board are similar to that of the Marvel character Silver Surfer, with the ability to easily travel in conditions that are otherwise dangerous to other beings. Also, in the series Ray's board is actually called a "baud", which is also a measurement of the rate of a transmission.
Unspecified-class Webcreatures
These resemble Hammerhead sharks with a vertical head and no eyes. They have the ability to drain energy from sprites. They are born from ball-shaped eggs connected by vein-like tubes. Newborns have no armour and sleek skin. Older Webcreatures develop a carapace-like hide that can withstand a lot of punishment. Their teeth can also chew through many substances, including sprites and metal. Although one is never seen, they can grow to a gargantuan size, roughly the size of a ship. Its bones are used to cover the Captain's ship as an armature for the other carapace pieces.
Web Riders
These are sprites that have survived the web, but at a cost. They no longer require sustenance from energy foods but are deformed. Newer sprites keep their original appearance while older ones start resembling webcreatures; in the case of Bob after his exile by Megabyte, his hair changed into a wave-pattern, silver scales began to grow on his face, and his uniform began melting into his skin. One of the elder sprites only has one hand, a vaguely peg leg, and a face resembling the M-class Webcreature. While these sprites do not speak normally like every other character, they do communicate through what appears to be dial-up modem clicks. While not technically viruses, they have proven to be quite hostile in nature.
Season four characters
Daemon
Voiced by Colombe Demers
A super-virus bent on infecting the entire Net, she succeeded in infecting the entire Guardian Collective, with the exception of only Bob and Matrix, and turned the Super Computer into her base of operations. She is religiously worshiped by those she infects, and known to them as "The Word" and addressed as "My Lady".
Daemon claims to strive for peace and unity in the Net and is different from other viruses in that she does not seem to believe that what she is doing is wrong, seeing herself as a messiah trying to "save" the Net. She speaks in a French accent and calls Mike the TV "Michel", and is depicted in the style of Joan of Arc, a petite female holy warrior. She is a disconcerting villain because while what she is doing is insanely evil, her personality is actually quite gentle and benign (like referring to Mike the TV as "little one" and giggling). Despite her seeming benevolence, her infection turns people peaceful at the cost of their free will - to the point where they do not care if they die doing Daemon's will. Her possessed Guardians use lethal force countering any and all resistance. A Guardian hit squad was sent to retrieve Matrix (whom they mistook for Bob) while in presumably the early stages of her infection, and they were far more hard-edged than the infected Guardians in Season 4. Daemon is complicated in her feelings. She has an interest in the concept of love, taking time to observe it and stating that sprites are lucky because they can feel love when viruses cannot— or at least so she believes, given that Hexidecimal later violently opposes her almost purely based out of romantic love for Bob once she returns to her viral state. However she also has pride as a virus because when she found out that Hexidecimal was helping the sprites and had become sprite-like, she was enraged. In fact Hexidecimal is the only character in the entire series Daemon shows true animosity towards, calling her an abomination and a disgrace to her kind. This animosity disappeared when Hex returned to her true form: Daemon wondering why they were still fighting and stating that, as viruses, they should be friends. When her attempts to persuade Hex fail, she proves to be completely willing to continue their battle before her hourglass necklace empties its top half, sending her into the final stage of her attempted attack on the net.
In "The Episode With No Name", Turbo revealed Daemon to be the one who sent the Web creature to attack Mainframe in the first place (during Season 2's "Nullzilla"). The reason for this is unknown, but as Season 2 also had a reference to the Web "getting out of control and invading Systems", it may have been a diversionary tactic to keep the Guardians looking elsewhere. (Better Scenario) Since Daemon's army of Guardians lost their Key-Tools after becoming fully infected, she had briefly lost her chance to fully infect the entire Net. Since Daemon had full access to the Super-Computer and its records, she eventually learned of KiloByte's upgrade to Class-5 Virus GigaByte (flash-back in Season 4, prequel to Season 1). Since GigaByte has many high level functions such as creating portals, it was necessary for Daemon to gain control GigaByte, unfortunately, soon after becoming GigaByte, he was pulled into a portal to MainFrame and was split in two, thus creating MegaByte and Hexadecimal. After learning of the split, Daemon sent the Web creature to force the merger of MegaByte and Hexadecimal to create GigaByte once more. But again, GigaByte's life was shortly lived as he was later split by Bob (Season 2).
Daemon's plot involves keeping Net travel available, forcing Systems to remain open by destroying their Port Control Towers so inhabitants cannot take their system off the Net. As infected Guardians lack Keytools, she needs to keep Systems on the Net to be able to infect them as her army cannot create Portals; this also keeps the Systems isolated from each other, as no one System can stand against the Super-Computer. Instead of infecting the Systems outright, she puts her infection in egg-shaped viral bombs which are then placed in System Cores. At a specific point in time, they detonate and the whole System is infected - 92% of the Net was infected as a result. Her plan was to infect the whole Net and then, at a specific point in time, she would die and release the Cron code that would cause everything on the Net to count down; when they reached zero, they would spontaneously delete. The Net would be unified in the peace of total oblivion.
Her name is a reference to services running on Unix systems in the background as well as the Greek word "daemon". "The Word" may be a reference to a unit of memory called a word. In her final scene she reveals that The Word is "Cron" ("I am not an entity, I am a time. My time is now. The Word is Cron."), and Bob realizes that she is a "cron virus"-an "end to all things" virus (possibly just an entry in a Unix system's "crontab" file, which is used by the "cron" process to run jobs at preselected times, chronologically). It may also be a reference to Cronos, the personification of time in Greek mythology. The chant that Daemon makes her followers say is a binary countdown. The first to do this is Daecon who counts down his deletion at 5 (101 in binary). The full binary countdown is 1010011010 which is the binary representation of the number 666.
Daecon
Daemon's main advisor and assistant, and under the influence of The Word. His name is probably a word play on a "Deacon." Not much else is known about him. His name and character follow Daemon's religious motif. He was deleted (and gave the viewer an early look into Daemon's eventual "attack") when he killed himself, due to failing Daemon's order to penetrate Mainframe.
Dixon Green
Bob's partner when he was in the Guardian Academy as a cadet. She was Glitch's original owner, and had a very flippant and single-minded personality. Her name is taken from the British TV show Dixon of Dock Green. Deleted due to damage inflicted by Killabyte, as Killabyte was being upgraded to Gigabyte.
Killabyte
A virus that had been captured and was waiting for deletion at the hands of Guardian Dixon Green. Moments before his demise, Killabyte received a user upgrade and escaped his bonds. Bob (then a cadet) attempted to subdue the upgraded Killabyte, but was unsuccessful and he lay unconscious as the virus drained Guardian Dixon Green. Killabyte would have killed Bob but was transformed into Gigabyte and then pulled from the Super Computer to Mainframe.
His name comes from another unit of computer memory, measuring approximately one thousand bytes. However his name is officially spelled "Killabyte", even though the spelling for KB is "Kilobyte".
Welman Matrix
Scientific genius and father of Dot and Enzo Matrix. He designed a gateway device that would have allowed Mainframers to connect to outside Systems, sending a series of pings into the Net to locate and contact Systems and then link to them. Unfortunately, Welman's experiment backfired due to his gateway pinging Killabyte and warping him into Mainframe as Gigabyte. The resulting explosion nullified Welman, split Gigabyte into the entities Hexadecimal and Megabyte, and destroyed Mainframe's sister city, the ruins of which were later to be known as Lost Angles. As a null, he was adopted as Nibbles by Megabyte, who apparently knew his true identity as he once referred to him as "Father."
In Season 4, Hexadecimal's powers over nulls allowed him to regain his sentient mind and mold with other nulls to form a body. While catching up with his family, the young Enzo was found to have adapted to his dad's transformation quite well ("Dad's a null monster now, it's so cool!."), though Phong informed Welman of Matrix also being his son, there was no apparent interaction between the two during the series except for Matrix being glad his father had returned.
Since Welman's ability to assert his personality is directly connected to Hexadecimal's well-being, she imbued young Enzo's icon with the same function before sacrificing herself to undo Daemon's Net-wide infection. When Enzo came in contact with him, Welman regained his sentient mind once more, and became able to move around by controlling a "Null-Bot", which he used to walk his daughter Dot down the aisle at her wedding. His robotic body is later infected by Megabyte at the end of season 4 and used to capture the young Enzo as everyone is forced to flee to the catacombs after Megabyte infiltrates the Principal Office. In Code Of Honor, he is initially enslaved to Megabyte and goes missing after the villain is destroyed.
A flashback in Daemon Rising shows him rehearsing a lecture about his theories, in an homage to Daniel Jackson from the Stargate movie/series. In fact, his gateway command even looks like a Stargate.
References
CGI characters
Fictional artificial intelligences
Lists of characters in Canadian television animation
Characters
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POV-Ray
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POV-Ray
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The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, most commonly acronymed as POV-Ray, is a cross-platform ray-tracing program that generates images from a text-based scene description. It was originally based on DKBTrace, written by David Kirk Buck and Aaron A. Collins for Amiga computers. There are also influences from the earlier Polyray raytracer because of contributions from its author, Alexander Enzmann. POV-Ray is free and open-source software, with the source code available under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license.
History
Sometime in the 1980s, David Kirk Buck downloaded the source code for a Unix ray tracer to his Amiga. He experimented with it for a while and eventually decided to write his own ray tracer named DKBTrace after his initials. He posted it to the "You Can Call Me Ray" bulletin board system (BBS) in Chicago, thinking others might be interested in it. In 1987, Aaron A. Collins downloaded DKBTrace and began working on an x86 port of it. He and David Buck collaborated to add several more features.
When the program proved to be more popular than anticipated, they could not keep up with demand for more features. Thus, in July 1991, David turned over the project to a team of programmers working in the "GraphDev" forum on CompuServe. At the same time, David felt that it was inappropriate to use his initials on a program he no longer maintained. The name "STAR-Light" (Software Taskforce on Animation and Rendering) was initially used, but eventually the name became "PV-Ray", and then ultimately "POV-Ray" (Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer), a name inspired by Dalí's painting, The Persistence of Memory.
Features of the application, and a summary of its history, are discussed in a February 2008 interview with David Kirk Buck and Chris Cason on episode 24 of FLOSS Weekly.
Features
POV-Ray has matured substantially since it was created. Recent versions of the software include the following features:
a Turing-complete scene description language (SDL) that supports macros and loops
a library of ready-made scenes, textures, and objects
support for a number of geometric primitives and constructive solid geometry
several kinds of light sources
atmospheric effects such as fog and media (smoke, clouds)
reflections, refractions, and light caustics using photon mapping
surface patterns such as wrinkles, bumps, and ripples, for use in procedural textures and bump mapping
radiosity
support for textures and rendered output in many image formats, including TGA, PNG, and JPEG, among others
extensive user documentation
One of POV-Ray's main attractions is its large collection of third-party-made assets and tools. A large number of tools, textures, models, scenes, and tutorials can be found on the web. It is also a useful reference for those wanting to learn how ray tracing and related 3D geometry and computer graphics algorithms work.
Current version
The current official version of POV-Ray is 3.7. This version introduces:
support for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), to allow the renderer to take advantage of multiple processors
support for high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI), including the OpenEXR and radiance file formats
improved bounding using BSP trees
Some of the main introduced features of the previous release (3.6) are:
extending UV mapping to more primitives
adding 16- and 32-bit integer data to a density file
improving 64-bit compatibility
In July 2006, Intel Corporation started using the beta version of 3.7 to demonstrate their new dual-core Conroe processor due to the efficiency of the SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) implementation.
Primitives
POV-Ray, in addition to standard 3D geometric shapes like tori, spheres, and heightfields, supports mathematically defined primitives such as the isosurface (a finite approximation of an arbitrary function), the polynomial primitive (an infinite object defined by a 15th order or lower polynomial), the julia fractal (a 3-dimensional slice of a 4-dimensional fractal), the superquadratic ellipsoid (an intermediate between a sphere and a cube), and the parametric primitive (using equations that represent its surface, rather than its interior).
POV-Ray internally represents objects using their mathematical definitions; all POV-Ray primitive objects can be described by mathematical functions. This is different from many computer programs that include 3D models, which typically use triangle meshes to compose all the objects in a scene.
This fact provides POV-Ray with several advantages and disadvantages over other rendering and modeling systems; POV-Ray primitives are more accurate than their polygonal counterparts: objects that can be described in terms of spheres, planar surfaces, cylinders, tori, and the like, are perfectly smooth and mathematically accurate in POV-Ray renderings, whereas polygonal artifacts may be visible in mesh-based modeling software. POV-Ray primitives are also simpler to define than most of their polygonal counterparts, e.g., in POV-Ray, a sphere is described simply by its center and radius; in a mesh-based environment, a sphere must be described by a multitude of small connected polygons (usually quads or triangles).
On the other hand, script-based primitive modeling is not always a practical method to create certain objects, such as realistic characters or complex man-made artifacts like cars. Those objects can and should be created first in mesh-based modeling applications such as Wings 3D and Blender, and then they can be converted to POV-Ray's own mesh format.
Examples of the scene description language
The following is an example of the scene description language used by POV-Ray to describe a scene to render. It demonstrates the use of a background colour, camera, lights, a simple box shape having a surface normal and finish, and the transforming effects of rotation.
#version 3.6;
// Includes a separate file defining a number of common colours
#include "colors.inc"
global_settings { assumed_gamma 1.0 }
// Sets a background colour for the image (dark grey)
background { color rgb <0.25, 0.25, 0.25> }
// Places a camera
// direction: Sets, among other things, the field of view of the camera
// right: Sets the aspect ratio of the image
// look_at: Tells the camera where to look
camera { location <0.0, 0.5, -4.0>
direction 1.5*z
right x*image_width/image_height
look_at <0.0, 0.0, 0.0> }
// Places a light source
// color: Sets the color of the light source (white)
// translate: Moves the light source to a desired location
light_source { <0, 0, 0>
color rgb <1, 1, 1>
translate <-5, 5, -5> }
// Places another light source
// color: Sets the color of the light source (dark grey)
// translate: Moves the light source to a desired location
light_source { <0, 0, 0>
color rgb <0.25, 0.25, 0.25>
translate <6, -6, -6> }
// Sets a box
// pigment: Sets a color for the box ("Red" as defined in "colors.inc")
// finish: Sets how the surface of the box reflects light
// normal: Sets a bumpiness for the box using the "agate" in-built model
// rotate: Rotates the box
box { <-0.5, -0.5, -0.5>,
<0.5, 0.5, 0.5>
texture { pigment { color Red }
finish { specular 0.6 }
normal { agate 0.25 scale 1/2 }
}
rotate <45,46,47> }
The following script fragment shows the use of variable declaration, assignment, comparison and the while loop construct:
#declare the_angle = 0;
#while (the_angle < 360)
box { <-0.5, -0.5, -0.5>
<0.5, 0.5, 0.5>
texture { pigment { color Red }
finish { specular 0.6 }
normal { agate 0.25 scale 1/2 } }
rotate the_angle }
#declare the_angle = the_angle + 45;
#end
Modeling
The POV-Ray program itself does not include a modeling feature; it is essentially a pure renderer with a sophisticated model description language. To accompany this feature set, third parties have developed a large variety of modeling software, some specialized for POV-Ray, others supporting import and export of its data structures, including the free and open-source 3D creation suite Blender.
A number of additional POV-Ray compatible modelers are linked from Povray.org: Modelling Programs.
In 2007, POV-Ray acquired the rights to Moray, an interactive 3-D modeling program long used with POV-Ray. However, as of December 2016, Moray development is stalled.
Software
Development and maintenance
Official modifications to the POV-Ray source tree are done and/or approved by the POV-Team. Most patch submission and/or bug reporting is done in the POV-Ray newsgroups on the news.povray.org news server (with a Web interface also available). Since POV-Ray's source is available there are unofficial forks and patched versions of POV-Ray available from third parties; however, these are not officially supported by the POV-Team.
Official POV-Ray versions currently do not support shader plug-ins. Some features, like radiosity and splines are still in development and may be subject to syntactical change.
Platform support
POV-Ray 3.6 is distributed in compiled format for Macintosh, Windows and Linux.
Support for Intel Macs is not available in the Macintosh version, but since Mac OS X is a version of Unix the Linux version can be compiled on it.
The 3.7 versions with SMP support are officially supported for Windows and Linux. Unofficial Macintosh versions for v3.7 can be found.
POV-Ray can be ported to any platform which has a compatible C++ compiler.
Licensing
Originally, POV-Ray was distributed under its own POV-Ray License. Namely, the POV-Ray 3.6 Distribution License and the POV-Ray 3.6 Source License, which permitted free distribution of the program source code and binaries, but restricts commercial distribution and the creation of derivative works other than fully functional versions of POV-Ray.
Although the source code of older versions is available for modification, due to the above 3.6 and prior license restrictions, it was not open source or free software according to the OSI or the FSF definition of the term. This was a problem as source code exchange with the greater FOSS ecosystem was impossible due to License incompatibility with copyleft licenses.
One of the reasons that POV-Ray was not originally licensed under the free software GNU General Public License (GPL), or other open source licenses, is that POV-Ray was developed before the GPL-style licenses became widely used; the developers wrote their own license for the release of POV-Ray, and contributors to the software worked under the assumption their contributions would be licensed under the POV-Ray 3.6 Licenses.
In 2013, with version 3.7, POV-Ray was relicensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 (or later). Thus POV-Ray is since then free software according to the FSF definition and also open source software according to the Open Source Definition.
See also
Blender – a free and open-source software program for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering
Kerkythea – a freeware ray-tracing program with enhanced Sketchup compatibility
Sunflow – an open-source rendering system for photo-realistic image synthesis, written in Java
YafaRay – a popular free open-source ray-tracing engine
References
External links
3D graphics software
Amiga raytracers
Articles with example code
Cross-platform software
Domain-specific programming languages
Free 3D graphics software
Free graphics software
Free software programmed in C++
Global illumination software
Rendering systems
Software using the GNU AGPL license
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University%20of%20California%2C%20San%20Diego
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University of California, San Diego
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The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or, colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is the southernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California, and offers over 200 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, enrolling 33,343 undergraduate and 9,533 graduate students. The university occupies near the coast of the Pacific Ocean, with the main campus resting on approximately . UC San Diego is ranked among the best universities in the world by major college and university rankings.
UC San Diego consists of four academic divisions (Arts and Humanities, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences), and seven graduate and professional schools (Jacobs School of Engineering, Rady School of Management, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, School of Global Policy and Strategy, School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the newly established Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science). The university has seven undergraduate residential colleges (Revelle, John Muir, Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sixth, and Seventh). UC San Diego received over 140,000 applications for Fall 2021, making it the second most applied to university in the United States. UC San Diego Health, the region's only academic health system, provides patient care, conducts medical research and educates future health care professionals at the UC San Diego Medical Center, Hillcrest, Jacobs Medical Center, Moores Cancer Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Institute for Genomic Medicine, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion and various express care and urgent care clinics throughout San Diego.
The university operates 19 organized research units (ORUs), including the Center for Energy Research, Qualcomm Institute, San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, as well as eight School of Medicine research units, six research centers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and two multi-campus initiatives, including the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. UC San Diego is also closely affiliated with several regional research centers, such as the Salk Institute, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, and the Scripps Research Institute. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, UC San Diego spent $1.354 billion on research and development in fiscal year 2019, ranking it 6th in the nation.
UC San Diego is considered one of the country's Public Ivies. As of February 2021, UC San Diego faculty, researchers and alumni have won 28 Nobel Prizes, the second most of any UC campus, as well as three Fields Medals, eight National Medals of Science, eight MacArthur Fellowships, and three Pulitzer Prizes. Additionally, of the current faculty, 29 have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, 70 to the National Academy of Sciences, 45 to the Institute of Medicine and 110 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
History
When the Regents of the University of California originally authorized the San Diego campus in 1956, it was planned to be a graduate and research institution, providing instruction in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Local citizens supported the idea, voting the same year to transfer to the university of mesa land on the coast near the preexisting Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Regents requested an additional gift of of undeveloped mesa land northeast of Scripps, as well as on the former site of Camp Matthews from the federal government, but Roger Revelle, then director of Scripps Institution and main advocate for establishing the new campus, jeopardized the site selection by exposing the La Jolla community's exclusive real estate business practices, which were antagonistic to minority racial and religious groups. This outraged local conservatives, as well as Regent Edwin W. Pauley. Revelle also got involved in a bitter debate with Jonas Salk over where Salk's proposed institute would be located relative to the new campus.UC President Clark Kerr satisfied San Diego city donors by changing the proposed name from University of California, La Jolla, to University of California, San Diego. The city voted to agree to its part of the deal in 1958, and the UC Board of Regents approved construction of the new campus in 1960. Because Revelle's tactless approaches to the clashes with Pauley and Salk had damaged his reputation with the Board of Regents, Kerr realized he could not nominate Revelle as the campus's first chancellor. Revelle's nomination would have become "an angry and drawn-out affair" and greatly detracted from the campus's future development. Herbert York, first director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was selected instead. York planned the main campus according to the "Oxbridge" model, relying on many of Revelle's ideas.
According to Kerr, "San Diego always asked for the best," though this created much friction throughout the UC system, including with Kerr himself, because UC San Diego often seemed to be "asking for too much and too fast." Kerr attributed UC San Diego's "special personality" to Scripps, which for over five decades had been the most isolated UC unit in every sense: geographically, financially, and institutionally. It was a great shock to the Scripps community to learn that Scripps was now expected to become the nucleus of a new UC campus and would now be the object of far more attention from both the university administration in Berkeley and the state government in Sacramento.
UC San Diego was the first general campus of the University of California to be designed "from the top down" in terms of research emphasis. Local leaders disagreed on whether the new school should be a technical research institute or a more broadly based school that included undergraduates as well. John Jay Hopkins of General Dynamics Corporation pledged one million dollars for the former while the City Council offered free land for the latter. The original authorization for the San Diego campus given by the UC Regents in 1956 approved a "graduate program in science and technology" that included undergraduate programs, a compromise that won both the support of General Dynamics and the city voters' approval.
Nobel laureate Harold Urey, a physicist from the University of Chicago, and Hans Suess, who had published the first paper on the greenhouse effect with Revelle in the previous year, were early recruits to the faculty in 1958. Maria Goeppert-Mayer, later the second female Nobel laureate in physics, was appointed professor of physics in 1960. The graduate division of the school opened in 1960 with 20 faculty in residence, with instruction offered in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, and earth science. Before the main campus completed construction, classes were held in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
By 1963, new facilities on the mesa had been finished for the School of Science and Engineering, and new buildings were under construction for Social Sciences and Humanities. Ten additional faculty in those disciplines were hired, and the whole site was designated the First College of the new campus (it was later renamed after Roger Revelle). York resigned as chancellor that year and was replaced by John Semple Galbraith. The undergraduate program accepted its first class of 181 freshman at Revelle College in 1964. Second College was founded in 1964, on the land deeded by the federal government, and named after environmentalist John Muir two years later. The School of Medicine also accepted its first students in 1966.
Political theorist Herbert Marcuse joined the faculty in 1965. A champion of the New Left, he reportedly was the first protester to occupy the administration building in a demonstration organized by his student, political activist Angela Davis. The American Legion offered to buy out the remainder of Marcuse's contract for $20,000; the Regents censured Chancellor William J. McGill for defending Marcuse on the basis of academic freedom, but further action was averted after local leaders expressed support for Marcuse. Further student unrest was felt at the university, as the United States increased its involvement in the Vietnam War during the mid-1960s, when a student raised a Viet Minh flag over the campus. Protests escalated as the war continued and were only exacerbated after the National Guard fired on student protesters at Kent State University in 1970. Over 200 students occupied Urey Hall, with one student setting himself on fire in protest of the war.
Early research activity and faculty quality, notably in the sciences, was integral to shaping the focus and culture of the university. Even before UC San Diego had its own campus, faculty recruits had already made significant research breakthroughs, such as the Keeling Curve, a graph that plots rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and was the first significant evidence for global climate change; the Kohn–Sham equations, used to investigate particular atoms and molecules in quantum chemistry; and the Miller–Urey experiment, which gave birth to the field of prebiotic chemistry.
Engineering, particularly computer science, became an important part of the university's academics as it matured. University researchers helped develop UCSD Pascal, an early machine-independent programming language that later heavily influenced Java; the National Science Foundation Network, a precursor to the Internet; and the Network News Transfer Protocol during the late 1970s to 1980s. In economics, the methods for analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility (ARCH), and with common trends (cointegration) were developed. UC San Diego maintained its research intense character after its founding, racking up 25 Nobel Laureates affiliated within 50 years of history; a rate of five per decade.
Under Richard C. Atkinson's leadership as chancellor from 1980 to 1995, the university strengthened its ties with the city of San Diego by encouraging technology transfer with developing companies, transforming San Diego into a world leader in technology-based industries. He oversaw a rapid expansion of the School of Engineering, later renamed after Qualcomm founder Irwin M. Jacobs, with the construction of the San Diego Supercomputer Center and establishment of the computer science, electrical engineering, and bioengineering departments. Private donations increased from $15 million to nearly $50 million annually, faculty expanded by nearly 50%, and enrollment doubled to about 18,000 students during his administration. By the end of his chancellorship, the quality of UC San Diego graduate programs was ranked 10th in the nation by the National Research Council.
The university continued to undergo further expansion during the first decade of the new millennium with the establishment and construction of two new professional schools — the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Rady School of Management—and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, a research institute run jointly with UC Irvine. UC San Diego also reached two financial milestones during this time, becoming the first university in the western region to raise over $1 billion in its eight-year fundraising campaign in 2007 and also obtaining an additional $1 billion through research contracts and grants in a single fiscal year for the first time in 2010. Despite this, due to the California budget crisis, the university loaned $40 million against its own assets in 2009 to offset a significant reduction in state educational appropriations. The salary of Pradeep Khosla, who became chancellor in 2012, has been the subject of controversy amidst continued budget cuts and tuition increases. In 2012, campus launched a 10-year, $2 billion fundraising campaign, which the campus completed 3 years early in 2019, making it the youngest university in the United States to have completed a $2 billion fundraiser.
On November 27, 2017, the university announced it would leave its longtime athletic home of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, an NCAA Division II league, to begin a transition to Division I in 2020. It joined the Big West Conference, already home to four other UC campuses (Davis, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara). The university transitioned to NCAA Division I competition on July 1, 2020. The transition period will run through the 2023–24 school year.
Campus
UC San Diego is located in the residential neighborhood of La Jolla of northern San Diego, bordered by the communities of La Jolla Shores, Torrey Pines, and University City. The main campus consists of 761 buildings that occupy , with natural reserves covering about and outlying facilities taking up the remaining area. The San Diego Freeway passes through the campus and separates Jacobs Medical Center and Mesa apartment housing from the greater part of the university. The Preuss School, a college-preparatory charter school established and administered by UC San Diego, also lies on the eastern portion of the campus.
Standing at the center of the university is the iconic Geisel Library, named after Dr. Seuss following a $20 million donation from his wife Audrey. Library Walk, a heavily traveled pathway leading from the library to Gilman Drive, lies adjacent or close to Price Center, Center Hall, International Center, and various student services buildings, including the Student Services Center and the Career Services building. The layout of the main campus centers on Geisel Library, which is roughly surrounded by the seven residential colleges of Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, Roosevelt, Sixth, Seventh, and the School of Medicine. The seven colleges maintain separate housing facilities for their students and each college's buildings are differentiated by distinct architectural styles. As residential colleges were added while the university expanded, buildings in newer colleges were designed with styles that were starkly different from that of the original campus. The disparate architectural styles led Travel + Leisure, in its October 2013 issue, to name the university as one of the ugliest campuses in America, likening it to "a cupboard full of kitchen appliances whose function you can't quite fathom."
In addition to its academic and housing facilities, the campus features eucalyptus groves, the Birch Aquarium and museum, and several major research centers. The Scripps Institution owns a sea port and several open ocean vessels for marine research. Several large shake facilities, including the world record holding Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table, used for earthquake simulations, are also maintained by the university.
The university has actively sought to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage on campus, earning a "gold" sustainability performance rating in the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) survey. It was also praised in The Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition for its strong commitment to sustainability in its academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.
Academic facilities
When the campus opened in 1964, it consisted only of Revelle College and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The school's rapid increase in enrollment and opening to undergraduate students over its first decade spurred major campus expansion. Muir, Marshall, and Warren Colleges were established and built during the late 1960s through 1980s as the student population continued to grow considerably. Initially, the campus followed a rough north–south axis alongside Historic Route 101, though construction in the following decades deviated from this, with the core of the campus shifting towards Geisel Library.
The school's two engineering departments were merged into the School of Engineering (renamed the Jacobs School of Engineering in 1987 in honor of Irwin Jacobs, founder of Qualcomm, and his wife Joan Jacobs) in 1982. New buildings have been continually added as the division expands. Major additions include: the San Diego Supercomputer Center, completed in 1986; Powell-Focht Bioengineering Hall, completed in 2003; and the Structural and Materials Engineering building, completed in 2012. Significant construction work on the previously undeveloped northern part of campus also took place during this time. Two graduate professional schools, the School of Global Policy and Strategy and Rady School of Management, were constructed in the area adjacent to and near the Supercomputer Center, as well as Roosevelt College, a transfer student apartment complex called The Village at Torrey Pines, and the RIMAC athletic facilities.
Arts facilities
UC San Diego's Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre District, located just south of Revelle College, houses the Mandell Weiss Center for the Performing Arts. The center's facilities are shared with the La Jolla Playhouse, a professional theatre which UC San Diego is partnered with. Specifically, four large performance venues are shared between the two organizations: the Mandell Weiss Forum, the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, and the Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre. These venues, on top of hosting UC San Diego Theatre and Dance departmental undergraduate and graduate productions, often host professional productions of plays and musicals, some of which later transfer to Broadway. Other theatre performance facilities at UC San Diego include the Molli and Arthur Wagner Dance Building, also located within the Theatre District, and the Arthur Wagner Theatre located in Revelle College's Galbraith Hall.
Other arts facilities include the 800-seat Mandeville Auditorium and Conrad Prebys Music Center, used by UC San Diego's music department, as well as Mandeville Center, the Visual Arts Facilities (VAF) building, and the Structural and Material Engineerings (SME) building, used by UC San Diego's visual arts department.
Public art
More than a dozen public art projects, part of the Stuart Collection, decorate the campus. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Sun God, a large winged creature by Niki de Saint Phalle located near the Faculty Club. Other collection pieces include Richard Fleischner's La Jolla Project (a collection of Stonehenge-like stone blocks), Do Ho Suh's Fallen Star (a house sitting atop an engineering building in Warren College), a table by Jenny Holzer, an installation by Bruce Nauman on the Powell Structural Systems Laboratory titled Vices and Virtues, and three metallic Eucalyptus trees by Terry Allen.
The collection also includes a work by Alexis Smith consisting of a path made of a large coiling snake whose head guides towards Geisel Library, with a quote from John Milton's Paradise Lost carved along its length: "And wilt thou not be loath to leave this Paradise, but shalt possess a Paradise within thee, happier far." The path circles around its own garden and a large granite book-shaped block. One of the newest additions to the collection is Tim Hawkinson's giant teddy bear made of six boulders located in between the newly constructed Calit2 buildings. Another notable campus sight was the graffiti staircase of Mandeville Hall, a series of corridors that had been tagged with graffiti by generations of students over decades of use; this was recently replaced with the Graffiti Art Park. Students in the university's visual arts department also create temporary public art installations as part of their coursework. The university is sponsoring a $56,000 performance art project to develop a sense of community at the sprawling campus.
Shepard Fairey, most notable for his Barack Obama "Hope" poster, painted a mural at the Ché Café, one of UC San Diego's most famous buildings and collectives, on an outside wall facing Scholars Drive, that features the likenesses of Martin Luther King Jr. and other political figures. Underground street artist, Swampy, created a large piece inside the Ché Café, visible through the courtyard depicting his signature mammoth skeleton. Local San Diego artist Mario Torero, in collaboration with university art students, painted a mural at the Café in commemoration of Angela Davis and Rigoberta Menchú, along with other notable political figures. The Ché Café remains a hub for underground and politically progressive artists. Torero was invited back to the university in 2009 to create a mural called "Chicano Legacy" based on content suggested by Chicano students. The mural is a $10,000 digital image on a canvas mounted on the exterior of Peterson Hall, which includes representations of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta as well as the kiosk structure at Chicano Park. In 2016 a mural entitled "Enduring Spell" was completed by El Mac in the Argo courtyard,
Transportation
UC San Diego maintains about 17,000 parking spaces and offers a number of alternative transportation options. The university runs a shuttle system, which is provided free for students, faculty, and staff, that services the main campus, UC San Diego Medical Center, university affiliated research centers, nearby apartment complexes and shopping centers in University City, and the Sorrento Valley train station. As part of a greater initiative to reduce the university's impact on the environment, a portion of the shuttle fleet has been refitted to exclusively use biodiesel fuel derived from vegetable oil. UCSD also reserves parking spaces for carpools, maintains a fleet of on-campus Zipcars, and provides free bike rentals.
The San Diego Association of Governments and the Metropolitan Transit System are planning to bring San Diego Trolley service to the local area. The project will extend the existing Blue Line north to UC San Diego and the University City area from Downtown San Diego. The extension will give the university campus two trolley stations, East and West. There is also a proposed station at the Veterans Administration hospital just south of UCSD. A major goal of the project is to ease traffic and parking on campus while providing more accessible transportation to nearby areas. Construction began in 2016, with the line in service in November 2021. As part of UCSD's existing public transit partnerships, all students have unlimited access to MTS regional buses and trolleys, as well as most North County Transit District transportation services upon paying a "transportation fee" in registration.
Construction
Several facilities are currently under construction at the UC San Diego campus. The North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood is partially completed, with students living in the completed facilities since Fall 2020. The Future College Living and Learning Neighborhood is scheduled to open in Fall 2023. Other planned facilities in development or under construction include the Nuevo East Student Housing, Nuevo West Graduate Housing, Viterbi Family Eye Research Center, Design and Innovation Building, and Franklin Antonio Hall.
There is also significant infrastructure construction, including the UCSD West and UCSD East trolley stations, which will connect the campus to the Downtown San Diego area.
Academics and administration
UC San Diego is a large, primarily residential, public research university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges that offers a four-year Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree to undergraduate students. The full-time undergraduate program comprises the majority of enrollments at the university. The university offers 125 bachelor's degree programs organized into five disciplinary divisions: arts and humanities, biological sciences, engineering, mathematics and physical sciences, and social sciences. Students are also free to design special majors or engage in dual majors. 38% of undergraduates major in the social sciences, followed by 25% in biological sciences, 18% in engineering, 8% in sciences and math, 4% in humanities, and 3% in the arts.
UC San Diego's comprehensive graduate program is composed of several divisions and professional schools, including the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, School of Medicine, Institute of Engineering in Medicine, School of Global Policy and Strategy, Jacobs School of Engineering, Rady School of Management, and Skaggs School of Pharmacy. The university offers 35 masters programs, 47 doctoral programs, five professional programs, and nine joint doctoral programs with San Diego State University and other UC campuses. UC San Diego has highly ranked graduate programs in biological sciences and medicine, economics, social and behavioral sciences, physics, and computer engineering.
The university also offers a continuing and public education program through UC San Diego Extension. Approximately 50,000 enrollees per year are educated in this branch of the university, which offers over 100 professional and specialized certificate programs. Courses are offered at Extension facilities, located both on the main campus and off-campus, and also online. UC San Diego Extension offers programs in Arts & Humanities, Business & Leadership, Data Analysis & Mathematics, Digital Arts, Education, Engineering, Environment & Sustainability, International Programs, Languages, Law, Occupational Safety & Health, Pre-College, Sciences, Technology, and Writing, as well as public programs such as the UC San Diego Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Helen Edison Lecture Series. UC San Diego Extension also plans to open a 66,000-square-foot hub at the corner of Park Boulevard and Market Street in East Village referred to as the Innovative Cultural and Education Hub. The project is slated to be completed in 2020 and plans to "advance the burgeoning tech ecosystem downtown, contribute to the city’s lively arts and culture scene, and connect in multiple ways with diverse neighborhoods such as Barrio Logan, the Diamond District, and Golden Hill."
Residential colleges
UC San Diego's undergraduate division is organized into seven residential colleges, each headed by its own provost. They all set their own general education requirements, manage separate administrative and advising staff, and grant unique degrees. In chronological order by date of foundation, the seven colleges are:
Revelle College, founded in 1964 as First College, emphasizes a "Renaissance education" through the Humanities sequence which integrates history, literature, and philosophy. It has highly structured requirements.
John Muir College, founded in 1967 as Second College, emphasizes a "spirit of self-sufficiency and individual choice" and offers loosely structured general-education requirements.
Thurgood Marshall College, founded in 1970 as Third College, emphasizes "scholarship, social responsibility and the belief that a liberal arts education must include an understanding of one's role in society".
Earl Warren College, founded in 1974 as Fourth College, requires students to pursue a major of their choice while also requiring two "programs of concentration" in disciplines unrelated to each other and their major "toward a life in balance".
Eleanor Roosevelt College, founded in 1988 as Fifth College, focuses its core education program on a cross-cultural interdisciplinary course sequence entitled "Making of the Modern World", has a foreign language requirement, and encourages studying abroad.
Sixth College, founded in 2001, has a focus on "historical and philosophical connections among culture, art, and technology."
Seventh College, founded in 2020, enrolled its first cohort of students in Fall 2020, with the theme "A Changing Planet."
Students affiliate with a college based upon its particular philosophy and environment as majors are not exclusive to specific colleges. Revelle and Sixth enroll the largest number of undergraduate students, followed by Warren, Muir, Roosevelt, and Marshall. Each undergraduate college sets different requirements for awarding graduation and provost's honors, separate from departmental and Phi Beta Kappa honors.
Governance
As one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system, UC San Diego is governed by a 26-member Board of Regents consisting of 18 officials appointed by the Governor of California, seven ex officio members, and a single student regent. The current president of the University of California is Michael Drake, and the administrative head of UC San Diego is Pradeep Khosla. Academic policies are set by the school's Academic Senate, a legislative body composed of all university faculty members. Nine vice chancellors manage academic affairs, research, diversity, marine sciences, student affairs, planning, external relations, business affairs, and health sciences and report directly to the chancellor.
Research
The Nature Index lists UC San Diego as 6th in the United States for research output by article count in 2019. In 2017, UC San Diego spent $1.13 billion on research, the 7th highest expenditure among academic institutions in the U.S. The university operates several organized research units, including the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS), the Center for Drug Discovery Innovation, and the Institute for Neural Computation. UC San Diego also maintains close ties to the nearby Scripps Research and Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 1977, UC San Diego developed and released the UCSD Pascal programming language. The university was designated as one of the original national Alzheimer's disease research centers in 1984 by the National Institute on Aging. In 2018, UC San Diego received $10.5 million from the National Nuclear Security Administration to establish the Center for Matters under Extreme Pressure (CMEC).
The university founded the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) in 1985, which provides high-performance computing for research in various scientific disciplines. In 2000, UC San Diego partnered with UC Irvine to create the Qualcomm Institute, which integrates research in photonics, nanotechnology, and wireless telecommunication to develop solutions to problems in energy, health, and the environment.
UC San Diego also operates the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), one of the largest centers of research in earth science in the world, which predates the university itself. Together, SDSC and SIO, along with funding partner universities Caltech, SDSU, and UC Santa Barbara, manage the High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network.
Rankings
National rankings
UC San Diego is ranked 13th and 16th in the U.S. by Academic Ranking of World Universities and Center for World University Rankings respectively. Washington Monthly ranked the university 12th in its 2021 National University ranking, based on its contribution to the public good as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. UC San Diego ranked fifth in the nation in terms of research and development expenditures in 2018, with $1.265 billion spent. Kiplinger in 2014 ranked UC San Diego 14th out of the top 100 best-value public colleges and universities in the nation, and 3rd in California. UC San Diego was ranked tied for 35th among national universities in the United States and tied for 8th among public universities by U.S. News & World Report'''s 2021 rankings. Money magazine ranked UC San Diego 46th in the country out of the nearly 1500 schools it evaluated for its 2014 Best Colleges ranking. ScienceWatch ranks UC San Diego 7th of federally funded U.S. universities, based on the citation impact of their published research in major fields of science and the social sciences and 12th globally by volume of citations.
Global rankings
Recognized as a Public Ivy, UC San Diego is a highly regarded research institution, ranked 11th in the world by the Nature Index, 14th in the world by the Scrimago Institutions Rankings, 14th in the world by the Lens Metric, 14th best university in the world according to TBS Rankings, 16th in U.S. News & World Report 's 2017 global university rankings, 15th in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 16th best university in the world by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies of Leiden University Ranking, 18th in the world by the Center for World University Rankings, 18th in the world by University Ranking by Academic Performance, and 5th best public university in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The University of California San Diego is ranked 15th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and is ranked 17th "Best University in the World" by the Center for World University Rankings for 2016. U.S. News & World Report named UC San Diego the 15th best university in the world for 2017 for research, global and regional reputation, international collaboration, and several highly cited papers. In 2017, UC San Diego was ranked 30th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. UC San Diego was also ranked 38th overall in the world, and 11th in biological sciences, 16th in life sciences, and medicine, 19th in economics and econometrics, 31st in mathematics, and 44th in computer science and information systems by QS World University Rankings. In 2015, the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University named UC San Diego 16th in the world for scientific impact.
Graduate school rankings
The UC San Diego School of Medicine is ranked tied for 18th for research and 12th for primary care in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego is ranked 17th in the world for faculty research and 8th for alumni entrepreneurship in the 2014 Financial Times’ Global MBA. In 2014 the Rady School ranked 1st in the nation in intellectual capital by Bloomberg Businessweek, which measured faculty research published in the top 20 business journals from 2009 to 2013. UC San Diego was named 8th in the nation among doctoral institutions for the number of students who study abroad for a full academic year, according to the Institute of International Education Open Doors report. Three doctoral programs at UC San Diego—biological sciences, bioengineering, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography—are 1st in the nation in the National Research Council's Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs report.
Departmental rankings
Departmental rankings (including specialties) in the national top 10 according to the 2018 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools report include biomedical engineering/bioengineering (2nd); neuroscience/neurobiology (2nd); biochemistry (10th); discrete mathematics and combinatorics (3rd); plasma physics (7th); econometrics (4th); public finance (8th); political science (9th); international politics (4th); comparative politics (4th); behavioral neuroscience (4th); cognitive psychology (8th); and time-based media/new media (3rd).
Departmental rankings in the global top 10 according to the 2015 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools report include: biology and biochemistry (6th); molecular biology and genetics (8th); neuroscience and behavior (6th); pharmacology and toxicology (5th); and psychiatry and psychology (8th).
Departmental rankings in the global top 20 according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2015 include chemistry (18th); computer science (14th); and economics/business (19th). Since introduced in 2017, the ARWU Subject Rankings has ranked mechanical engineering at UC San Diego as the top (1st) public university program in the US (2017-2020). Mechanical engineering at UC San Diego has also consistently ranked as a top 5 US overall and a top 10 program worldwide since the introduction of subject rankings by ARWU.
Departmental rankings in the global top 20 according to the QS World University Rankings for 2015 include earth and marine sciences (13th); biological sciences (14th); economics and econometrics (18th); and pharmacy and pharmacology (20th). Additional rankings within the global top 40 include politics and international studies (21st); medicine (22nd); mathematics (28th); linguistics (31st); and electrical engineering (34th).ScienceWatch placed UC San Diego 1st in social psychology, 2nd in oceanography, 3rd in international relations, 5th in molecular biology and genetics, 17th in engineering, and 18th in Neuroscience and Behavior using non-survey, quantitative based metrics to determine research impact.The Hollywood Reporter has ranked UC San Diego's graduate theatre program among the top ten drama schools in 2016 (6th), 2017 (5th), 2018 (4th), and 2019 (3rd), also ranking the undergraduate theatre program as one of the top five in the nation in 2018.25 Best Drama Schools for an Acting Degree , The Hollywood Reporter, Retrieved May 26, 2017
Admissions
UC San Diego is categorized by U.S. News & World Report as "most selective" for college admissions ratings within the United States. For the Fall 2018 admissions cycle, the school received 118,372 applications from both freshman and transfer applicants, the second highest among the University of California campuses. Of those 118,372 applications, 97,899 applications were from prospective freshman with UC San Diego granting admission to just 29,577 applicants giving the institution an acceptance rate of 30.2% for the fall 2018 admission cycle.
In 2009, UC San Diego mistakenly sent Admit Day welcome emails to all its 47,000 freshmen applicants, instead of just the 17,000 who had been admitted. However, school officials quickly realized the mistake and sent an apology email within two hours.
Graduate admissions are largely centralized through the Office of Graduate Studies. However, the Rady School of Management, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) handle their own admissions. For Fall 2012, the UC San Diego School of Medicine offered admission to 5% of its applicants.
Student life
{| class="wikitable" style="width:250px; float:right; clear:right; margin-left:1em;" class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Ethnic Enrollment, Fall
! Ethnicity !! 2020 Undergraduate !! 2016 Undergraduate !! 2020 Graduate !! 2016 Graduate
|-
! Black
| 3.0%
| 2.4%
| 2.6%
| 2.4%
|-
! Asian
| 37.4%
| 39.7%
| 17.7%
| 16%
|-
! White
| 19%
| 19.5%
| 26.6%
| 27.1%
|-
! Hispanic and Latino
| 20.8%
| 16.2%
| 8.3%
| 7.0%
|-
! Native American
| 0.4%
| 0.4%
| 0.5%
| 0.5%
|-
! Unreported/unknown
| 2.5%
| 2.6%
| 4.8%
| 8.0%
|-
! International
| 16.9%
| 19.2%
| 39.5%
| 39.2%
|}
In all, the university offers classical orchestras, intramural sports, and over 550 student organizations. 38 national and local Greek organizations are hosted on campus, with fraternity and sorority members representing 20% of the student population. The university operates on an academic quarter system, with three primary quarters beginning in late September and ending in mid-June. 44% of undergraduate students receive federal Pell Grants.
The undergraduate student body government is the Associated Students of the University of California, San Diego, organized as a cabinet and senate, while graduate students are represented by the Graduate Student Association, a proportional representative body with membership depending on the number of students in each graduate department. Additionally, graduate students who serve as teaching assistants are represented by the UC-wide union of Academic Student Employees. Each of the seven residential colleges has its own student council as well. Most student media publications distributed on-campus are services provided and governed by ASUCSD, including Triton TV, a film studio and TV station, and the KSDT radio station. A notable exception is The Guardian, which is directly governed by the university's Student Affairs department.
Price Center, often referred to as PC, is the main student hub and is located in the center of campus, just south of Geisel Library. The building houses multiple restaurants, the central bookstore, a movie theater, and office space for student organizations, organization advisers, and university faculty. A student referendum was passed in 2003 to expand the Price Center to nearly double its original size. The Price Center East expansion was officially opened to the public on May 19, 2008.
There are also three campus centers that cultivate a sense of community among faculty, staff, and certain students: the Cross-Cultural Center, the Women's Center, and the LGBT Resource Center. UC San Diego was the last UC campus to have such centers. All three, especially the Cross-Cultural Center that was created first, were founded in the mid-1990s as a result of student movements that demanded change despite opposition by the campus administration.
The Ché Café is a student worker cooperative and social center that is perhaps best known for its role as a venue for underground music scene. It is an on-and-off again vegan cafe and catering operation as well. The Ché also acts as a resource for the music and art departments on campus through hosting art shows, performances, and film screenings. Some of the most notable touring bands or musicians who have played at the Ché include: Bon Iver, Green Day, Rise Against, Jimmy Eat World, Matt & Kim, Billy Corgan, Blonde Redhead, Bomb the Music Industry!, The Get Up Kids, Deerhoof, Bright Eyes, Chumbawamba, Mike Watt, Hella, Dan Deacon, Unwound, and Jawbreaker. Prominent local San Diego bands such as The Locust and Pinback, and national tours such as Mates of State and The Dillinger Escape Plan have given the Ché Café some fame and praise as a radical vegan collective despite its small size and limited sound equipment.
Traditions
The student body government coordinates a wide variety of concerts and events during the year. UC San Diego begins the fall quarter with Welcome Week to introduce new students to campus clubs and activities, starting the week with the All Campus Dance. The Hullabaloo music festival takes place every November as part of the university's Founders' Celebration. Bear Garden, a carnival held near Price Center, takes place every quarter throughout the year. Additionally, events are frequently held at the Loft, a performance lounge within Price Center.
The Sun God Festival, named after the statue part of the Stuart Collection, is the largest and most significant event of the year, held annually in mid-May on the seventh week of the spring quarter. The festival has grown over its 30-year history into a 20,000 person event, featuring an eclectic mix of art, dance, and musical performances. Past performers have included: Kendrick Lamar, Porter Robinson, Macklemore, Silversun Pickups, Wiz Khalifa, Drake, T.I., Third Eye Blind, Ludacris, Michelle Branch, Sara Bareilles, The Roots, My Chemical Romance, and Joji. The 2017 festival featured ScHoolboy Q, DJ Mustard, Bad Suns, Manila Killa and Khalid.
Two other popular campus traditions are the Pumpkin Drop and the Watermelon Drop, which take place during Halloween and at the end of the spring quarter, respectively. The Watermelon Drop is one of the campus' oldest traditions, famously originating in 1965 from a physics exam question centering on the velocity on impact of a dropped object. A group of intrigued students pursued that line of thought by dropping a watermelon from the top floor of Revelle's Urey Hall to measure the distance from the splat to the farthest travelling piece of fruit. A variety of events surround the Watermelon Drop, including a pageant where an occasionally male but generally female "Watermelon Queen" is elected. The Pumpkin Drop is a similar event celebrated by the dropping of a large, candy-filled pumpkin from 11-story Tioga Hall, the tallest residential building on the Muir college campus.
Housing
The seven undergraduate residential colleges have separate, unique housing facilities for their students. First-year students are usually housed in the residence halls while upperclassmen live in the college apartments. Transfer students are housed in separate facilities from the residential colleges, in an area called The Village at Pepper Canyon. The housing facilities vary in design, though nearly all of them are of modern or brutalist style. The vast majority of entering freshmen and about 40 percent of all undergraduates in Fall 2012 chose to live in campus residence halls or apartments. Graduate students can choose to live in one of six apartment complexes apart from undergraduate housing. Three of these facilities are several minutes away from UC San Diego while the remaining are located on university grounds. Each residential college comes with a separate unique philosophy, general education writing sequence and events on top of having separate housing facilities.
Accommodations are made for students with specific needs. Undergraduate couples and families have the option of living in housing facilities that are normally available only to graduate students. The university also dedicates a portion of its facilities for those who wish to live in gender-neutral or LGBT housing.
Reflecting UC San Diego's diversity, International House, a complex of apartments located in Eleanor Roosevelt College, is dedicated to cross-cultural exchange between American and international students, housing about 350 students from more than 30 countries. International learning is fostered through formal programs including current affairs discussions, cultural nights, and a community newsletter. Upper-division undergraduates from all seven colleges, graduate students, faculty, and researchers are eligible to live in International House, located in the Eleanor Roosevelt College townhouses. Demand is very high for this special program and there is often a waitlist. Spaces in International House are not guaranteed and admission requires a separate application.
Housing plans also offer students access to dining facilities, which were named by PETA as the most vegan-friendly in the United States. Each student is allotted a certain number of "Dining Dollars" to purchase meals at any dining hall and groceries at any on-campus market. Distinct dining halls are located at each of the seven colleges, with markets located adjacent or near them, except at Eleanor Roosevelt College which shares a marketplace with Seventh College. In addition to the dining halls, there are also four specialty dining facilities and two food trucks on campus that accept dining dollars. UC San Diego currently offers two years guaranteed housing to both its incoming freshmen and its incoming transfer students. The university intends to reach a capacity that will enable them to offer a four-year housing guarantee.
Greek life
UCSD boasts a large Greek community and supports several fraternities and sororities, each belonging to one of three different governing councils. Social fraternities belong to the Interfraternity Council, while social sororities belong to the Panhellenic Council.
The university also sponsors a Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), which currently recognizes 8 fraternities and 7 sororities.
Greek life at UCSD is unique in comparison to other universities in that Greek organizations do not have chapter houses.
Athletics
On November 27, 2017, the university announced that its athletic programs have begun a 6-year transition process from NCAA Division II to Division I, where it will be a member of the Big West Conference. As of 2017 most of UC San Diego's 23 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams still participate in Division II, 12-member California Collegiate Athletic Association, and some compete independently. The water polo, fencing, and men's volleyball teams compete as part of Division I conferences. Before joining Division II in 2000, the school participated at the Division III level. The teams compete at the university's RIMAC facility, Triton Ballpark, and RIMAC Arena. University of California, San Diego was ranked #1 among all NCAA D2 schools in the country and #40 overall (for all divisions), according to the Next College Student Athlete's 2018 NCSA Power Rankings. The NCSA Power Rankings recognize the best colleges and universities in the U.S. for student-athletes. UC San Diego athletics also ranked #1 in men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's tennis, men's golf, women's rowing, softball, and baseball, among all NCAA D2 schools. Additionally, UC San Diego ranked #1 in Men's Water Polo and Men's Volleyball among NCAA D1 schools.
In all, the Tritons have won a total of 30 national championships in golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. The 2006–07 season was marked as UC San Diego's best since moving to Division II, with 19 athletic programs qualifying for post-season competition, including 17 for the NCAA Championships. Eight of those teams finished with a top five national ranking.
Until 2007, UC San Diego was the only Division II school that did not offer athletic scholarships. In 2005, the NCAA created a rule that made it mandatory for all D-II programs to award athletic grants. Consequently, a measure was proposed to begin offering $500 "grants-in-aid" to all 600 intercollegiate athletes in order to meet this requirement. A student referendum was passed in February 2007, authorizing a $329 annual student fee to fund a raise in coaches' salaries, hire more trainers, and provide all athletes with a $500 scholarship.
The athletic department considered a move to Division I in 2011. The student body would have needed to approve a doubling of student fees to allow the university to meet minimum scholarship requirements for D-I participation. However, students overwhelmingly rejected this measure in 2012, halting any efforts for a move to Division I at that time.
On May 24, 2016, students at UC San Diego passed the vote to move their athletics to NCAA Division I. The school's newspaper, The Guardian, reported that voter turnout was 35 percent of the undergraduate population, when the measure only needed 20 percent to pass.
The university offers 30 sports club teams, including badminton, baseball, cycling, dancesport, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, sailing, soccer, snow skiing, tennis, volleyball, ultimate, water polo, and waterskiing. The UC San Diego surf team has won the national championship six times and is consistently rated one of the best surfing programs in the United States. UC San Diego does not have a football team. However, the university participated in intercollegiate football for one year during the 1968 season. The newly recruited Tritons lost all seven games that they played.
Alumni
Notable UC San Diego living alumni include:
See also
TRI-D (rocket engine)
S*, a collaboration between seven universities and the Karolinska Institutet for training in bioinformatics and genomics
Notes
References
External links
UC San Diego Athletics website
UC San Diego College System
UC San Diego College Comparison
San Diego
University of California, San Diego
UCSD
UCSD
UCSD
Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Educational institutions established in 1960
1960 establishments in California
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20open-source%20software%20for%20mathematics
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List of open-source software for mathematics
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This is a list of open-source software to be used for high-order mathematical calculations. This software has played an important role in the field of mathematics. Open-source software in mathematics has become pivotal in education because of the high cost of textbooks.
Computer algebra systems
A computer algebra system is a type of software set that is used in manipulation of mathematical formulae. The principal objective of a computer algebra system is to systematize monotonous and sometimes problematic algebraic manipulation tasks. The primary difference between a computer algebra system and a traditional calculator is the ability to deal with equations symbolically rather than numerically. The precise uses and capabilities of these systems differ greatly from one system to another, yet their purpose remains the same: manipulation of symbolic equations. Computer algebra system often include facilities for graphing equations and provide a programming language for the users' own procedures.
Axiom
Axiom is a general-purpose computer algebra system. It has been in development since 1971 by IBM, originally named scratchpad. Richard Jenks originally headed it but over the years Barry Trager who then shaped the direction of the scratchpad project took the project. Project scratchpad was eventually sold to a numerical group called Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) and was renamed Axiom. After a failure to launch as a product, NAG decided to release it as a free software in 2001 with more than 300 man-years worth of research involved. Axiom is licensed under a Modified BSD license.
MAXIMA
This free software had an earlier incarnation, Macsyma. Developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s, it was maintained by William Schelter from 1982 to 2001. In 1998, Schelter obtained the permission to release MAXIMA as an open-source software under the GNU General Public license. Subsequently, he released the source code to the world later that year. Since his passing in 2001, a group of MAXIMA enthusiasts have continued to provide technical support.
GAP
GAP was initiated by RWTH Aachen university in 1986. This was the case until in 1997 when they decided to co-develop GAP further with CIRCA (Centre for Research in Computational Algebra). Unlike MAXIMA and Axiom, GAP is a system for computational discrete algebra with particular emphasis on computational group theory. In March 2005 the GAP Council and the GAP developers have agreed that status and responsibilities of "GAP Headquarters" should be passed to an equal collaboration of a number of "GAP Centres", where there is permanent staff involvement and an element of collective or organizational commitment, while fully recognizing the vital contributions of many individuals outside those centers.
Cadabra
A Computer Algebra System designed for the solution of problems in field theory. An unpublished computational program written in pascal called Abra inspired this open-source software. Abra was originally designed for physicists to compute problems present in quantum mechanics. Kespers Peeters then decided to write a similar program in C computing language rather in pascal, which he renamed Cadabra. However, Cadabra has been expanded for a wider range of uses, it is no longer restricted to physicists.
CoCoA
CoCoA (COmputations in COmmutative Algebra) is open-source software used for computing multivariate polynomials and initiated in 1987. Originally written in Pascal, CoCoA was later translated into C.
Xcas
Xcas/Giac is an open-source project developed at the Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble since 2000. Written in C++ language, maintained by Bernard Parisse's et al.and available for Windows, Mac, Linux and many others platforms. It has a compatibility mode with Maple, Derive and MuPAD software and TI-89, TI-92 and Voyage 200 calculators. The system was chosen by Hewlett-Packard as the CAS for their HP Prime calculator, which utilizes the Giac/Xcas 1.1.2 engine under a dual-license scheme.
PARI/GP
PARI/GP is a computer algebra system that facilitates number-theory computation. Besides support of factoring, algebraic number theory, and analysis of elliptic curves, it works with mathematical objects like matrices, polynomials, power series, algebraic numbers, and transcendental functions. Originally developed by Henri Cohen et al at Université Bordeaux I, France, it now is GPL software. The gp interactive shell allows GP-language scripting; the gp2c compiler compiles GP scripts into C; and the PARI C library allows C programs to use PARI/GP functions.
Sympy
Sympy is a computer algebra system written in Python.
Mathics
Mathics is an open-source GPL3 license version of the Wolfram Language.
Geometry
Geogebra
Geogebra (Geometry and Algebra) - combines geometric objects like circles and graphs of functions with its algebraic representation e.g. respresenting a circle with the radius . Designed for use in schools and educational settings.
Numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is an area of mathematics that creates and analyzes algorithms for obtaining numerical approximations to problems involving continuous variables. When an arbitrary function does not have a closed form as its solution, there would not be any analytical tools present to evaluate the desired solutions, hence an approximation method is employed instead.
Modelica
Modelica is an object-oriented, declarative, multi-domain modeling language for component-oriented modeling of complex systems including algebraic and differential equations. OpenModelica and Jmodelica are some of the opensource implementations of the language.
Octave
Octave (aka GNU Octave) is an alternative to MATLAB. Originally conceived in 1988 by John W. Eaton as a companion software for an undergraduate textbook, Eaton later opted to modify it into a more flexible tool. Development begun in 1992 and the alpha version was released in 1993. Subsequently, version 1.0 was released a year after that in 1994. Octave is a high level language with the primary intention in numerical computation.
Scilab
Inspired by MATLAB, Scilab was initiated in the mid-1980s at the INRIA (French national Institute for computer science and control). François Delebecque and Serge Steer developed it and it was released by INRIA in 1994 as an open-source software. Since 2008, Scilab has been distributed under the CeCILL license, which is GPL compatible. In 2010, Scilab Enterprise was founded to provide even more support to the software.
FreeMat
FreeMat is an alternative to MATLAB.
SciPy
SciPy is a python programming language library to take advantage of Python's ability to handle large data sets.
Gnuplot
Gnuplot in an open-source graphing program and has extensive graphing features, but it also has least squares fitting capabilities for a broad range of user-defined functions in two and three dimensions. http://www.gnuplot.info/
Statistics
Statistics is the study of how to collate and interpret numerical information from data. It is the science of learning from data and communicating uncertainty. There are two branches in statistics: ‘Descriptive statistics’’ and ‘’ Inferential statistics
Descriptive statistics involves methods of organizing, picturing and summarizing information from data. Inferential statistics involves methods of using information from a sample to draw conclusions about the Population.
Alternatives to SPSS
R Statistics Software, SOFA Statistics, PSPP and JASP are open source software competitors to SPSS, widely used for statistical analysis of sampled data. PSPP is maintained by the GNU project. SOFA Statistics is addressing beginners with basic features, while GNU-R Statistics Software has a large community that maintains R packages also beyond statistical analysis.
R
R is both a language and software used for statistical computing and graphing. R was originally developed by Bell Laboratories (Currently known as Lucent Technologies) by John Chambers. Since R is largely written in C language, users can use C or C++ commands to manipulate R-objects directly. Also, R runs on most UNIX platforms. R is currently part of the Free Software Foundation GNU project.
Demetra+
Demetra is a program for seasonal adjustments that was developed and published by Eurostat – European Commission under the EUPL license.
Multipurpose mathematics software
Such software were created with the original intent of providing a math platform that can be compared to proprietary software such as MATLAB and MATHEMATICA. They contain multiple other free software and hence have more features than the rest of the software mentioned.
SageMath
SageMath is designed partially as a free alternative to the general-purpose mathematics products Maple and MATLAB. It can be downloaded or used through a web site. SageMath comprises a variety of other free packages, with a common interface and language.
SageMath was initiated by William Stein, of Harvard University in 2005 for his personal project in number theory. It was originally known as ‘’HECKE and Manin’’. After a short while it was renamed SAGE, which stands for ‘’Software of Algebra and Geometry Experimentation’’. Sage 0.1 was released in 2005 and almost a year later Sage 1.0 was released. It already consisted of Pari, GAP, Singular and MAXIMA with an interface that rivals that of Mathematica.
Theorem provers
Recreational mathematics software
Golly
See also
List of open-source machine learning software
References
Mathematics open-source software
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20University%20of%20Essex%20people
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List of University of Essex people
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The following is a list of notable University of Essex people (in chronological or alphabetical order).
Chancellors
Rab Butler (1966–1982)
Sir Patrick Nairne (1982–1997)
Michael Nolan, Baron Nolan (1997–2002)
Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury (2003–2014)
Shami Chakrabarti (2014–2017)
John Bercow (2017–present)
Notable faculty
Vice-Chancellors
Sir Albert Sloman (1963–1987)
Martin Harris (1987–1993)
Ron J. Johnston (1993–1995)
Sir Ivor Crewe (1995–2007)
Colin Riordan (2007–2012)
Anthony Forster (2012–present)
Economics
George Christopher Archibald - Professor (1964–1971)
Anthony Barnes Atkinson - Professor of Economics (1971 to 1976)
Rex Bergstrom - Professor of Economics (1970–1992)
Graciela Chichilnisky - Chair in Economics (1980 to 1981)
Sanjeev Goyal - Professor of Economics (2003-2006)
Oliver Hart - Lecturer in Economics (1974 to 1975)
Ravi Kanbur - Professor in economics (1983–87)
David Laidler - Lecturer (1966–1969)
Richard Lipsey - Head Professor of Economics (1963–1969)
Sheri Markose - Professor of Economics
Michio Morishima - Visiting Professor of Economics (1968 to 1970)
Abhinay Muthoo - Head of Department of Economics (2000 to 2007); Professor of Economics (1998 to 2008); Reader (1995 to 1998); Lecturer (1992 to 1995).
Motty Perry - Professor of Economics
Peter C.B. Phillips - Lecturer in Economics (1972 to 1976)
Anthony Shorrocks - Professor of Economics
Anthony Venables - Lecturer in Economics (1978 to 1979)
Sciences
George Alfred Barnard - Professor of Mathematics (1966 to 1975)
Richard Bartle - FRSA, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Professor of Computer Science
Mohammed Ghanbari - Professor, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (1996 - )
Martin Henson - FRSA, Professor of Computer Science
Owen Holland - Professor of Computer Science
Edward Tsang - Director of Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents; Professor of Computer Science
Yorick Wilks - Professor of Computer Science and Linguistics
Humanities
Robert D. Borsley - Professor of Linguistics (2000 - )
Peter Carruthers - Lecturer, Philosophy Department (1985–1991)
Donald Davie - Professor of Literature (1964–1968)
Peter Kenneth Dews - Professor of Philosophy (1988 - )
Elaine Feinstein - Assistant Lecturer, English Literature (1967–1970)
David Musselwhite - Senior Lecturer, English Literature (1974–2010)
José Emilio Pacheco - Visiting Professor of Literature
Michael Podro - Professor of Art History (1973 to 1997)
Mark Sacks - Professor of Philosophy (1993–2008)
Derek Walcott - Nobel Laureate 1992, Professor of Poetry (2010 - 2015)
Dawn Adès, CBE - Professor of Art History
Law
Steve Peers, Professor of European laws
Social sciences
Brian Barry - Professor of Politics
Robin Blackburn - Professor of Sociology
Jean Blondel - Professor of Politics (1964 to 1984)
Kevin Boyle - former Director, Human Rights Centre (3 terms)
Hugh Brogan - Professor of History, (1974 to 1998)
Ian Craib - Professor of Sociology (1973–2003)
Vic Gatrell - Professor of British History (2003 - )
Paul Hunt - former Director, Human Rights Centre (2001 to 2003)
Bob Jessop - Professor, Department of Government (1975 to 1989)
Anthony King - Professor, Department of Government
Alan Knight - Lecturer, History Department (1973 to 1985)
Ernesto Laclau - Visiting Professor, Department of Government
Michael Mann
Geoffrey Martin - Professor, Department of History
Harvey Molotch - Professor of Sociology
Sir Nigel S. Rodley - current Head of Human Rights Centre (also a graduate: see below)
John Scott - Professor of Sociology (1994-2008) and Honorary Doctorate
Fatos Tarifa - guest lecturer
Peter Townsend - founding professor of Sociology
Notable alumni
Academia in economics
Erkin Bairam - Professor of Economics, University of Otago (1991–2001)
Panicos O. Demetriades - Professor of Financial Economics, University of Leicester
Jean Drèze - Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
Alan Harrison - Provost, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Colm Kearney - Professor of International Business, University College Dublin
Graham Loomes - Professor of Economics, University of Warwick
Christopher A. Pissarides - Nobel Laureate 2010 British-Cypriot Economists, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics
Michael Riordan - Professor of Economics, Columbia University
Norman Schofield - Professor of Political Economy, Washington University, St. Louis
Richard J. Smith - Professor of Econometric Theory and Economic Statistics, University of Cambridge
Yanis Varoufakis - Professor of Economics, University of Athens; Finance Minister of Greece (2015 onward)
John Whalley - Professor of International Trade at University of Western Ontario
Academia in other areas
Martin J. Ball - Professor of Speech Language Pathology, Linköping University, Sweden
Stephen J. Ball - Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education of University College London
Richard Barbrook - Senior Lecturer in Humanities and Social Science, University of Westminster
John Barrell - Professor of English, University of York
David M. Barrett - Professor of Political Science, Villanova University
John Fauvel - historian of mathematics, Open University
James Gomez - Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Stephen F. Jones - academic in the field of Eastern European affairs
Kusuma Karunaratne - Sri Lankan academic; university administrator; professor and scholar in the fields of Sinhalese language, comparative literature, and sociology, University of Colombo
Ernesto Laclau - Post-Marxist political theorist at Northwestern University; Visiting Professor at Essex's Department of Government
Jill Marsden - scholar of the work of philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche; lecturer at the University of Bolton
Maxine Molyneux - Professor of Sociology, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London
John Warwick Montgomery - American lawyer, theologian and academic known for his work in the field of Christian apologetics; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought at Patrick Henry College
Farish Ahmad Noor - Senior Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Alberto Pérez-Gómez - Professor of Architectural History, McGill University
Nigel S. Rodley - international human rights lawyer and academic, University of Essex
Deborah Sugg Ryan - Professor of Design History and Theory, University of Portsmouth
Michael Tappin - academic associated with Keele University
Michael Taylor - Professor of Politics, University of Washington
Nathan Widder - Professor of Political Theory, Royal Holloway, University of London
Jonathan Wilson - Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate; Director of the Center for Humanities, Tufts University
Wong Chin Huat - Malaysian political scientist, activist and columnist
Politics and government
Martin Docherty-Hughes - Scottish National Party politician
Óscar Arias - President of Costa Rica and 1987 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Ian Austin - Former MP for Dudley North
John Bercow - Speaker of the House of Commons
John Biehl - Chilean lawyer, political scientist and diplomat
Thozamile Botha - South African politician
Virginia Bottomley - Conservative Party politician
Dragiša Burzan - Serbian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, former Foreign Minister of Montenegro
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury - Speaker of the Bangladesh National Assembly
Fátima Choi - Director of Audit, Macau SAR, China
James Duddridge - Conservative Party politician, MP for Rochford and Southend East
Sean Farren - former Northern Irish politician
Anne Gibson, Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen - British trade unionist
Reshef Hen - former member of the Knesset
Peter Housden - Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government
John Howarth - Labour Party Politician, MEP for South East England
Omar Asghar Khan - Pakistani social activist, economist and politician
Hon. Andrew Wan Siu-kin - Politician, Deputy Chairman of The Democratic Party of Hong Kong, Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong, Member of Housing Authority
Leung Yiu-chung - member of the Hong Kong SAR Legislative Council
Edward Lord - Liberal Democrat politician and a leading figure in English local government
Siobhain McDonagh - Labour Party politician
Priti Patel - Conservative Party politician
Donald C. Pogue - Chief Judge, United States Court of International Trade
Dimitrij Rupel - first Foreign Minister of Republic of Slovenia
Mark Shields - Deputy Commissioner of the Jamaica Constabulary Force from 2005 to 2009
Duncan Shipley-Dalton - former Northern Irish politician
David Triesman, Baron Triesman - Labour Party Member in the House of Lords; Chairman of the English Football Association
Yanis Varoufakis - Professor of Economics, University of Athens; Finance Minister of Greece (2015 onward)
Hoshyar Zebari - Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs
Business and economics
Richard Douthwaite - economist, co-founder of Feasta
Már Guðmundsson - Former Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland
Hanif Lalani - ex-CEO of BT Global Services
Charles Mbire - Ugandan businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist
Thorarinn G. Petursson - Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Iceland
George Provopoulos - Governor of the Bank of Greece and European Central Bank Governing Council Member.
Actors and directors
Nick Broomfield - documentary filmmaker
Stephen Daldry - film and theatre director (East 15 Acting School), BAFTA award-winner
Blake Harrison - actor (Neil from The Inbetweeners) (East 15 Acting School)
Vera Kolodzig - actress in theatre productions and several Portuguese soap operas (East 15 Acting School)
Mike Leigh - film and theatre director (East 15 Acting School)
Alison Steadman - actress (East 15 Acting School), twice nominated for BAFTA award
David Yates - multi-BAFTA winning English film and television director
Law and order
Peter Joslin - Chief Constable of Warwickshire
Michael J. Todd - Chief Constable of Greater Manchester from 2002 until 2008
Mark Watson-Gandy – barrister
Media and journalism
Dotun Adebayo - radio presenter on BBC FiveLive
Chris Boucher - television screenwriter, script editor and novelist
Brian Hanrahan - BBC foreign correspondent
Nick Margerrison - radio presenter on Kerrang!Radio
Musicians
Gilad Atzmon - Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist
Clint Boon - keyboardist and lead singer of the Inspiral Carpets
John Etheridge - British jazz/fusion guitarist associated with the Canterbury Scene
Steve Chandra Savale - Asian Dub Foundation guitarist
Architecture and urban planning
Daniel Libeskind - architect of the Freedom Tower and Memory Foundations on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City
Philosophy
Simon Critchley - British philosopher, academic at the New School for Social Research
Ajahn Dhammanando, monastic and teacher at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.
William McNeill - British philosopher, academic at DePaul University
Literary figures and artists
Kee Thuan Chye - Malaysian dramatist, poet and journalist
Charlie Connelly - author and broadcaster
Nick Dear - writer for stage, screen and radio
Mark Felton - author and historian
Fraser Harrison - English writer
Nigel Jenkins - Welsh poet and writer
John Lawton – novelist
Marianne Majerus - photographer
Okello Oculi - Ugandan novelist and poet
Ben Okri - Booker Prize winner
Douglas Oliver - English contemporary poet and novelist
Kate Rhodes - British poet
Mike Ripley – novelist
Michelene Wandor - English playwright and poet
Nathan Zach - Israeli poet
The Kipper Kids - Performance Artists (at East 15 Acting School)
Science and technology
Richard Bartle - co-creator of MUD1, the first ever MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)
Phil O'Donovan - founder of Cambridge Silicon Radio; developer of bluetooth technology
Nigel Roberts - Internet naming pioneer, Board Director at ICANN
Roy Trubshaw - co-creator of MUD1, the first ever MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)
Rodolfo Neri Vela - Mexico's first astronaut
Human rights
Akram H. Chowdhury - founder of the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims
Alex Neve - Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada
Carry Somers - Founder and Global Operations Director of Fashion Revolution UK
References
Essex, University of
University of Essex
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netkey
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Netkey
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Netkey is a company that provides applications and management software for self-service kiosks and digital signage. The Netkey software suite consists of packaged applications, an integrated development environment (IDE) for the assembly of kiosk applications, and server software providing kiosk and digital signage remote monitoring, content management and scheduling, data and usage capture, and reporting. The company also has a professional services group that provides business consulting, software configuration and installation, customization, and application design.
History
Netkey was founded by Alex Richardson in 1983 at Yale University’s Science Park technology incubator. The original name of the company was Lexitech. In 2000, Alex Richardson changed the name of the company from Lexitech to Netkey after raising substantial Venture Capital from five (5) leading institutional venture capital firms. Richardson established Netkey's software development center, its operational management team, recruited both its Board and Advisory Board of Directors, and established its worldwide direct and indirect sales organization. He also established the company's IP (Intellectual Property) program. Richardson is co-holder of two multi-channel technology patents. In 2006, he was inducted into the Kiosk Industry Hall of Fame and in 2007 received the Kioskcom "Kiosk Innovator of the Year" award for his interactive store window innovations. The company has been awarded three patents for technology related to kiosk software. In 2002, the company was named the "premier provider of kiosk software" and the market share and technology leader by industry analysts Frost & Sullivan. In 2007 Netkey acquired Webpavement, a provider of digital signage software. On November 2, 2009, it was announced that NCR Corporation purchased Netkey.
Notable clients
Netkey's customers include:
Bally Total Fitness
Big Y
Toys R Us
Cabela's
Carnival Cruise Lines
Fidelity Investments
Hot Topic
Menards
Pitney Bowes
Swift Transportation
Target
United States Postal Service
References
External links
NCR Netkey home
Alex Kiosk Hall of Fame
Selling Machine Partners
Software companies based in Connecticut
East Haven, Connecticut
Companies based in New Haven County, Connecticut
NCR Corporation
Software companies of the United States
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper%20prototyping
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Paper prototyping
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In human–computer interaction, paper prototyping is a widely used method in the user-centered design process, a process that helps developers to create software that meets the user's expectations and needs—in this case, especially for designing and testing user interfaces. It is throwaway prototyping and involves creating rough, even hand-sketched, drawings of an interface to use as prototypes, or models, of a design. While paper prototyping seems simple, this method of usability testing can provide useful feedback to aid the design of easier to use products. This is supported by many usability professionals.
History
Paper prototyping started in the mid 1980s and then became popular in the mid 1990s when companies such as IBM, Honeywell, Microsoft, and others started using the technique in developing their products. Today, paper prototyping is used widely in user centered design by usability professionals. More recently, digital paper prototyping has been advocated by companies like Pidoco due to advantages in terms of collaboration, flexibility and cost.
Benefits
Paper prototyping saves time and money since it enables developers to test product interfaces (from software and websites to cell phones and microwave ovens) before they write code or begin development. This also allows for easy and inexpensive modification to existing designs which makes this method useful in the early phases of design. Using paper prototyping allows the entire creative team to be involved in the process, which eliminates the chance of someone with key information not being involved in the design process. Another benefit of paper prototyping is that users feel more comfortable being critical of the mock up because it doesn't have a polished look.
There are different methods of paper prototyping, each of them showing several benefits regarding the communication within the development team and the quality of the product to be developed: In the development team paper prototypes can serve as a visual specification of the graphical user interface, and by this means assure the quality of a software. Prototyping forces a more complete design of the user interface to be captured. In team meetings they provide a communication base between the team members. Testing prototypes at an early stage in development helps to identify software usability problems even before any code is written. The costs and annoyances of later changes are reduced, the support burden is lowered, and the overall quality of the software or website is increased.
Paper prototyping is the quick way to generate the digital ideas by sketching on the paper. In tight VPC workshop, the quick ideas need to be explored and evaluated. Usually, paper prototyping is preferred as the tools to generate the ideas by visually and evaluate in the team and with target customers.
Drawbacks
While paper prototyping has its many benefits as a quick and easy way to receive feedback on initial design ideas, this method also has certain drawbacks that should be known before starting the prototyping process. One of the most important factors in prototyping is the context for which the prototype is being created. Depending on the current stage of development, a paper prototype may not be the best choice for conveying the proposed design ideas. Paper prototypes should only be used in the beginning stages of the design process– typically as the first form of prototype created–since minimal functionality can actually be expressed with paper components. They help flesh out ideas, encourage experimentation with unconventional designs, and provide rapid feedback on basic usability, but ultimately, paper prototypes would not serve as sufficient products to present to any clients.
Another large drawback of paper prototypes is the level of imagination required from test participants in interpreting how to interact with the design. Since all interactions are being staged by a facilitator during paper prototype testing sessions, there is a potential for the feedback to be skewed as a result. Users have to imagine what their interactions would look like in a digital space; however, their mental models may not be representative of how the future state of the interface would actually be implemented. Furthermore, users are often distracted by the whimsical performance of the facilitator as they move around components, as well as by their own acting to fake interactions, which would also impact the quality of feedback.
Lastly, paper prototypes can only be tested in person, since test participants are instructed to physically interact with the prototype by pretending to "press" on buttons or moving around components to simulate how the website would change after an action has been taken. However, with an increasingly digitized world and a movement toward remote work, this poses an obstacle for conducting paper prototype testing. In addition, it is difficult to recruit participants from geographically dispersed areas with the constraint of in-person testing. In consequence, this might create bias in the feedback, since it would be ideal to receive insight into the needs of different user groups with a geographically diverse sample population.
Usage
Paper prototypes should be considered when the following is true:
When the tools the designer wants to use in creating a prototype are not available.
When the designer wants to make a sincere effort to allow all members of a team, including those with limited software skills, to take part in the design process.
When tests of a design lead to a great deal of drawings.
When the ideas need to be generated fast and evaluated in a short period of time
When there is a cocreation workshop need customers and designers to get the ideas together
The most important areas of application of paper prototypes are the following:
Communication in the Team
One of the major applications of paper prototyping is brainstorming in the development team, to collect and visualize ideas on how an interface might look. The interface is built up step by step, meeting the expectations of all team members. To probe the applicability of the software design, typical use cases are played through and possible pitfalls are identified. The prototype can then be used as a visual specification of the software.
Usability Testing
Paper prototypes can be used for usability testing with real users. In such a test, the user performs realistic tasks by interacting with the paper prototype. The prototype is manipulated by another person reflecting the software's reactions to the user input actions. Though seemingly unsophisticated, this method is very successful at discovering usability issues early in the design process.
Three techniques of paper prototyping used for usability testing are comps (short for compositions), wireframes, and storyboards. Comps are visual representations, commonly of websites, that demonstrate various aspects of the interface including fonts, colors, and logos. A wireframe is used to demonstrate the page layout of the interface. Lastly, the storyboards are a series or images that are used to demonstrate how an interface works. These three techniques are useful and can be turned into paper prototypes.
Design testing
Especially in web design, paper prototypes can be used to probe the illegibility of a design: A high-fidelity design mockup of a page is printed and presented to a user. Among other relevant issues the user is asked to identify the main navigation, clickable elements, etc. Paper prototyping is also the recommended design testing technique in the contextual design process.
Information architecture
By applying general and wide paper prototypes, the information architecture of a software or web site can be tested. Users are asked where they would search for certain functionality or settings in software, or topics in a web site. According to the percentage of correct answers, the information architecture can be approved or further refined.
Rapid prototyping
Paper prototyping is often used as the first step of rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping involves a group of designers who each create a paper prototype and test it on a single user. After this is done, the designers share their feedback and ideas, at which point, each of them creates a second prototype—this time using presentation software. Functionality is similarly unimportant, but in this case, the aesthetics are closer to the final product. Again each designer's computer prototype is tested on a single user, and the designers meet to share feedback. At this point, actual software prototypes can be created. Usually after these steps have been taken, the actual software is user-friendly the first time around, which saves programming time.
See also
Prototyping
Software prototyping
User-centered design
Cardboard engineering
External links
- One of the core articles used to describe the principles of paper-prototyping.
References
User interfaces
Software design
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard%20Jones%20%28American%20football%20coach%29
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Howard Jones (American football coach)
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Howard Harding Jones (August 23, 1885 – July 27, 1941) was an American football player and coach who served as the head coach at Syracuse University (1908), Yale University (1909, 1913), Ohio State University (1910), the University of Iowa (1916–1923), Duke University (1924) and the University of Southern California (1925–1940), compiling a career record of 194–64–21. His 1909 Yale team, 1921 Iowa team, and four of his USC teams (1928, 1931, 1932, 1939) won national championships. Jones coached USC in five Rose Bowls, winning all of them. Before coaching, Jones played football at Yale (1905–1907), where he played on three national title-winning teams. He was a member of the inaugural class of inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951; his younger brother, Tad, joined him as a member in 1958.
Early life and playing career
Jones was born in Excello, Ohio, near Middletown. He played football for three seasons at Yale University, from 1905 to 1907. During his three years, the Yale Bulldogs never lost a game, going 28–0–2. Yale claims national championships for all three seasons.
Coaching career
Syracuse, Yale and Ohio State
After graduating in 1908, Jones became the head coach at Syracuse University on the advice of Walter Camp, leading the Orangemen to a 6–3–1 record before returning to Yale as the head coach. He led Yale to a 10–0 record in 1909, a season in which Yale claims another national championship. Yale's 15–0 victory over Syracuse in 1909 was significant in that it was the first time that two brothers had ever faced each other as opposing head coaches. Syracuse was then coached by Howard Jones's brother, Tad Jones.
After the 1909 season, Howard Jones served a one-year stint as head football coach at Ohio State University in 1910, leading the Buckeyes to a 6–1–3 record. Jones spent four of his next five years in private business, returning only to coach Yale to a 5–2–3 record in 1913. A lack of team talent drove him toward greener pastures, and he would eventually enjoy great success at the University of Iowa and the University of Southern California.
Iowa
Reed Lane, a businessman on the Iowa Athletic Board, was a classmate of Jones's when they both attended a Yale preparatory school. When Jesse Hawley left after the 1915 season, Iowa offered Jones a contract to become Iowa's 11th head football coach on the recommendation of Lane. Jones accepted a five-year contract at $4,500 annually, the longest commitment and most money ever offered to a coach at Iowa.
Jones's first two years were highlighted by a 67–0 loss to Minnesota in 1916 and a 47–0 loss to Nebraska in 1917. Jones vowed he would never lose by such scores again, and he did not; they remained the two worst losses of his career. In 1918, Iowa defeated Minnesota for the first time in school history. It would be the first of five straight wins over Minnesota for Jones, and Nebraska never again scored a point on a Jones-coached team.
The loss of Fred Becker hurt Iowa during that time. Becker was Iowa's first first team All-American as a sophomore in 1916. He could have been a potential star for Jones, but he played just one season before enlisting for the service with the outbreak of World War I. Becker was killed in combat just ten months after being named an All-American.
World War I altered the college football landscape. Eligibility rules were relaxed in the Big Ten Conference in 1918. Iowa's athletic director also left to serve in the war, so Jones was appointed to that position as well. Iowa's game with Coe College in 1918 was played with no fans in the stands, as public officials feared a flu epidemic. Iowa reportedly won, 27–0. In 1918 and 1919, Iowa fell just short of the Big Ten title, with losses to Illinois costing the Hawkeyes the crown in both seasons. Jones also coached the Iowa baseball team in 1919. In 1920, Iowa had the top two scorers in the Big Ten and finished with a 5–2 record.
Still, Iowa had not won a conference title in 21 years. All that changed in 1921, when Iowa finished with a perfect 7–0 record and won the Big Ten title outright. The most notable win of the season was a 10–7 triumph over Notre Dame. It was Jones's first meeting with Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne. The win snapped a 20-game winning streak for Rockne and Notre Dame, which would be the longest winning streak of Rockne's career. One of the criticisms fans had of the previous Iowa coach, Hawley, was that he could not convince talented Iowa players to play at Iowa. Jones succeeded in that respect; the 1921 Hawkeyes started 11 native Iowans.
Despite the graduations of many key players, Iowa again posted a perfect 7–0 final record in 1922. Iowa again went 5–0 in the Big Ten, capturing its second straight Big Ten crown. It is the only time in Iowa history that the Hawkeyes have won consecutive conference titles. The most notable win of the 1922 season was a victory over Yale, then coached by Howard's brother, Tad. It was the first time a "western" team had ever defeated Yale in New Haven. Iowa’s winning streak from 1920–1923 under Jones lasted 20 games and almost three full years.
Howard Jones's wife was not fond of Iowa City, and he demanded a new contract, which would allow him to coach and live in Iowa City only during football season. A conflict between Jones and the chairman of the Athletics Board at Iowa contributed to the tension, and Jones eventually resigned as head coach and athletic director at Iowa.
Duke and USC
Jones coached in 1924 at Trinity College, now known as Duke University, before leaving for USC in 1925. In 16 seasons at USC, Jones coached seven Pacific Coast Conference championship teams and four more national champions, and won each of the five Rose Bowls in which his Trojans played . In the 1920s, USC won two Rose Bowls, in 1923 and 1930. Heading into the 1930 Rose Bowl, USC had defeated its crosstown rival UCLA 76–0 in their first meeting.
Moments before a USC-Stanford game, Jones visited the Stanford locker room and discovered Stanford All-American halfback Bobby Grayson was nursing an injured knee. Jones returned to the USC quarters and instructed his players to avoid hitting Grayson in the crippled leg. They never did.
In 1939 and 1940, Jones's teams again won the Rose Bowl. In those two Rose Bowl games, USC faced teams that were unbeaten, untied and unscored-upon. First it was Duke, which led after an early fourth quarter 23-yard field goal by Tony Ruffa, but backup USC quarterback Doyle Nave completed four straight passes to "Antelope" Al Krueger who outmaneuvered Eric "The Red" Tipton, scoring the winning touchdown with one minute remaining. Krueger's touchdown marked the first points scored against Duke during the season. In the 1940 Rose Bowl, the Trojans defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 14–0, ending a 23-game Tennessee winning streak and scoring the first points scored against the Volunteers all season.
USC historian Al Wesson remarked, "Howard lived and breathed football. If it were not for football, he would have starved to death – couldn't possibly have made a living in business."
One of the players Jones coached while at USC was legendary film star John Wayne.
Wesson also recalled, "His assistants tried to get him to organize the practices and let them do most of the heavy work. He'd promise to do it, but after 15 minutes on the field, he'd be down on the ground showing them personally how to block, following every play on the dead run, and acting as though he were still playing end at Yale. He just couldn't relax and let others do the heavy work."
Jones lived in Toluca Lake, California. On the hot morning of July 27, 1941, while home alone and washing and waxing his car, Jones fell ill and called his doctor, who lived nearby. By the time he arrived, Jones was dead; he had suffered a heart attack. The sudden, unexpected death was a shock to family, friends and fans: Several thousand people attended his funeral at First Methodist Church in Hollywood. He was buried in Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum at Middletown, Ohio.
Coaching style and personality
Jones was known for being completely absorbed in the sport and aloof outside of it. While he and Notre Dame's Knute Rockne were the two most famous coaches in America in the 1930s, beyond football their personalities were completely different: Rockne was a natural showman, Jones was a terrible public speaker and humorless. His appearance, described as "stone-faced" and "severe-looking" kept him intimidating.
Though quiet off the field, when coaching, Jones was intimidating and energetic. Although his players and assistant coaches had a hard time relating to him, all had absolute confidence in his abilities. While admired for his integrity and scruples, Jones's formidable personality led him to be an authoritarian coach at times, and he did not tolerate discussion. Jones did not like spending time on recruiting, relying mostly on his assistants, and recruited only very few players. His assistants Bob McNeish, Hobbs Adams and Jeff Cravath are credited with bring in the players who enabled USC to win two more Rose Bowls after lean years in the mid-1930s.
Honors
All told, Jones's career record was 194–64–21, a .733 winning percentage, in over 28 seasons at Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Iowa, Duke and Southern California. He was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees in 1951.
Head coaching record
Football
References
External links
1885 births
1941 deaths
American football tight ends
Duke Blue Devils baseball coaches
Duke Blue Devils football coaches
Iowa Hawkeyes athletic directors
Iowa Hawkeyes baseball coaches
Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches
Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches
Syracuse Orange football coaches
USC Trojans football coaches
Yale Bulldogs football coaches
Yale Bulldogs football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
People from Butler County, Ohio
Sportspeople from Iowa City, Iowa
Sports coaches from Los Angeles
Coaches of American football from Ohio
Players of American football from Ohio
Baseball coaches from Ohio
Educators from Ohio
Players of American football from Los Angeles
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-machine
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X-machine
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The X-machine (XM) is a theoretical model of computation introduced by Samuel Eilenberg in 1974.<ref
name="Eil74">S. Eilenberg (1974)
Automata, Languages and Machines, Vol. A.
Academic Press, London.</ref>
The X in "X-machine" represents the fundamental data type on which the machine operates; for example, a machine that operates on databases (objects of type database) would be a database-machine. The X-machine model is structurally the same as the finite-state machine, except that the symbols used to label the machine's transitions denote relations of type X→X. Crossing a transition is equivalent to applying the relation that labels it (computing a set of changes to the data type X), and traversing a path in the machine corresponds to applying all the associated relations, one after the other.
Original theory
Eilenberg's original X-machine was a completely general theoretical model of computation (subsuming the Turing machine, for example), which admitted deterministic, non-deterministic and non-terminating computations. His seminal work published many variants of the basic X-machine model, each of which generalized the finite-state machine in a slightly different way.
In the most general model, an X-machine is essentially a "machine for manipulating objects of type X". Suppose that X is some datatype, called the fundamental datatype, and that Φ is a set of (partial) relations φ: X → X. An X-machine is a finite-state machine whose arrows are labelled by relations in Φ. In any given state, one or more transitions may be enabled if the domain of the associated relation φi accepts (a subset of) the current values stored in X. In each cycle, all enabled transitions are assumed to be taken. Each recognised path through the machine generates a list φ1 ... φn of relations. We call the composition φ1 o ... o φn of these relations the path relation corresponding to that path. The behaviour of the X-machine is defined to be the union of all the behaviours computed by its path relations. In general, this is non-deterministic, since applying any relation computes a set of outcomes on X. In the formal model, all possible outcomes are considered together, in parallel.
For practical purposes, an X-machine should describe some finite computation. An encoding function α: Y → X converts from some input data type Y into the initial state of X, and a decoding function β: X → Z, converts back from the final state(s) of X into some output data type Z. Once the initial state of X is populated, the X-machine runs to completion, and the outputs are then observed. In general, a machine may deadlock (be blocked), or livelock (never halt), or perform one or more complete computations. For this reason, more recent research has focused on deterministic X-machines, whose behaviour can be controlled and observed more precisely.
Example
A compiler with a peep-hole optimizer can be thought of as a machine for optimizing program structure. In this Optimizer-machine, the encoding function α takes source code from the input-type Y (the program source) and loads it into the memory-type X (a parse tree). Suppose that the machine has several states, called FindIncrements, FindSubExprs and Completed. The machine starts in the initial state FindIncrements, which is linked to other states via the transitions:
FindIncrements →DoIncrement FindIncrements
FindIncrements →SkipIncrement FindSubExprs
FindSubExprs →DoSubExpr FindSubExprs
FindSubExprs →SkipSubExpr Completed
The relation DoIncrement maps a parsed subtree corresponding to "x := x + 1" into the optimized subtree "++x". The relation DoSubExpr maps a parse tree containing multiple occurrences of the same expression "x + y ... x + y" into an optimized version with a local variable to store the repeated computation "z := x + y; ... z ... z". These relations are only enabled if X contains the domain values (subtrees) on which they operate. The remaining relations SkipIncrement and SkipSubExpr are nullops (identity relations) enabled in the complementary cases.
So, the Optimizer-machine will run to completion, first converting trivial additions into in-place increments (while in the FindIncrements state), then it will move on to the FindSubExprs state and perform a series of common sub-expression removals, after which it will move to the final state Completed. The decoding function β will then map from the memory-type X (the optimized parse-tree) into the output-type Z (optimized machine code).
Convention
When referring to Eilenberg's original model, "X-machine" is typically written with a lower-case "m", because the sense is "any machine for processing X". When referring to later specific models, the convention is to use a capital "M" as part of the proper name of that variant.
1980s
Interest in the X-machine was revived in the late 1980s by Mike Holcombe,<ref
name="Hol88a">M. Holcombe (1988)
'X-machines as a basis for dynamic system specification',
Software Engineering Journal 3(2), pp. 69-76.</ref> who noticed that the model was ideal for software formal specification purposes, because it cleanly separates control flow from processing. Provided one works at a sufficiently abstract level, the control flows in a computation can usually be represented as a finite-state machine, so to complete the X-machine specification all that remains is to specify the processing associated with each of the machine's transitions. The structural simplicity of the model makes it extremely flexible; other early illustrations of the idea included Holcombe's specification of human-computer interfaces,<ref
name="Hol88b">M. Holcombe (1988)
'Formal methods in the specification of the human-machine interface',
International J. Command and Control, Communications and Info. Systems. 2, pp. 24-34.</ref>
his modelling of processes in cell biochemistry,<ref
name="Hol86">M. Holcombe (1986)
'Mathematical models of cell biochemistry'.
Technical Report CS-86-4, Dept of Computer Science, Sheffield University.</ref>
and Stannett's modelling of decision-making in military command systems.<ref
name="Sta87">M. Stannett (1987)
'An organisational approach to decision-making in command systems.'
International J. Command and Control, Communications and Info. Systems. 1, pp. 23-34.</ref>
1990s
X-machines have received renewed attention since the mid-1990s, when Gilbert Laycock's deterministic Stream X-Machine was found to serve as the basis for specifying large software systems that are completely testable.<ref
name="HI98">M. Holcombe and F. Ipate (1998)
Correct Systems - Building a Business Process Solution.
Springer, Applied Computing Series.</ref> Another variant,
the Communicating Stream X-Machine offers a useful testable model for biological processes
and future swarm-based satellite systems.
<ref
name="HRRT05">
M. G. Hinchey, C. A. Rouff, J. L. Rash and W. F. Truszkowski (2005)
'Requirements of an Integrated Formal Method for Intelligent Swarms',
in Proceedings of FMICS'05, September 5–6, 2005, Lisbon, Portugal.
Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 125-133.</ref>
2000s
X-machines have been applied to lexical semantics by Andras Kornai, who models word meaning by `pointed' machines that have one member of the base set X distinguished. Application to other branches of linguistics, in particular to a contemporary reformulation of Pāṇini were pioneered by Gerard Huet and his co-workers
Major variants
The X-machine is rarely encountered in its original form, but underpins several subsequent models of computation. The most influential model on theories of software testing has been the Stream X-Machine. NASA has recently discussed using a combination of Communicating Stream X-Machines and the process calculus WSCSS in the design and testing of swarm satellite systems.
Analog X Machine (AXM)
The earliest variant, the continuous-time Analog X-Machine (AXM), was introduced by Mike Stannett in 1990 as a potentially "super-Turing" model of computation;<ref
name="Sta90">M. Stannett (1990)
'X-machines and the Halting Problem: Building a super-Turing machine'.
Formal Aspects of Computing 2, pp. 331-41.</ref>
it is consequently related to work in hypercomputation theory.<ref
name="Cop02">B. J. Copeland (2002)
'Hypercomputation'.
Minds and Machines 12, pp. 461-502.</ref>
Stream X-Machine (SXM)
The most commonly encountered X-machine variant is Gilbert Laycock's 1993 Stream X-Machine (SXM) model,
which forms the basis for Mike Holcombe and Florentin Ipate's theory of complete software testing, which guarantees known correctness properties, once testing is over. The Stream X-Machine differs from Eilenberg's original model, in that the fundamental data type X is of the form Out* × Mem × In*, where In* is an input sequence, Out* is an output sequence, and Mem is the (rest of the) memory.
The advantage of this model is that it allows a system to be driven, one step at a time, through its states and transitions, while observing the outputs at each step. These are witness values, that guarantee that particular functions were executed on each step. As a result, complex software systems may be decomposed into a hierarchy of Stream X-Machines, designed in a top-down way and tested in a bottom-up way. This divide-and-conquer approach to design and testing is backed by Florentin Ipate's proof of correct integration, which proves how testing the layered machines independently is equivalent to testing the composed system.
Communicating X-Machine (CXM)
The earliest proposal for connecting several X-machines in parallel is Judith Barnard's 1995 Communicating X-machine (CXM or COMX) model,<ref
name="BTWM95">J. Barnard, C. Theaker, J. Whitworth and M. Woodward (1995) 'Real-time communicating X-machines for the formal design of real-time systems', in Proceedings of DARTS '95, Universite Libre, Brussels, Belgium, 9–11 November 2005</ref><ref
name="Bar96">J. Barnard (1996)
COMX: A methodology for the formal design of computer systems using Communicating X-machines.
PhD Thesis, Staffordshire University.</ref>
in which machines are connected via named communication channels (known as ports); this model exists in both discrete- and real-timed variants.<ref
name="AldBarn97">A. Alderson and J. Barnard (1997)
'On Making a Crossing Safe',
Technical Report SOCTR/97/01, School of Computing, Staffordshire University.
(Citeseer)
</ref> Earlier versions of this work were not fully formal and did not show full input/output relations.
A similar Communicating X-Machine approach using buffered
channels was developed by Petros Kefalas. The focus of this work was on expressiveness in the composition of components. The ability to reassign channels meant that some of the testing theorems from Stream X-Machines did not carry over.
These variants are discussed in more detail on a separate page.
Communicating Stream X-Machine (CSXM)
The first fully formal model of concurrent X-machine composition was proposed in 1999 by Cristina Vertan and Horia Georgescu, based on earlier work on communicating automatata by Philip Bird and Anthony Cowling.<ref
name="BC94">P. R. Bird and A. J. Cowling (1994)
'Modelling logic programming using a network of communicating machines', in
Proc. 2nd Euromicro Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Processing, Malaga, 26–28 January 1994, pp. 156-161.
Abstract</ref> In Vertan's model, the machines communicate indirectly, via a shared communication matrix (essentially an array of pigeonholes), rather than directly via shared channels.
Bălănescu, Cowling, Georgescu, Vertan and others have studied the formal properties of this CSXM model in some detail. Full input/output relations can be shown. The communication matrix establishes a protocol for synchronous communication. The advantage of this is that it decouples each machine's processing from their communication, allowing the separate testing of each behaviour. This compositional model was proven equivalent to a standard Stream X-Machine, so leveraging the earlier testing theory developed by Holcombe and Ipate.
This X-machine variant is discussed in more detail on a separate page.
Object X-Machine (OXM)
Kirill Bogdanov and Anthony Simons developed several variants of the X-machine to model the behaviour of objects in object-oriented systems. This model differs from the Stream X-Machine approach, in that the monolithic data type X is distributed over, and encapsulated by, several objects, which are serially composed; and systems are driven by method invocations and returns, rather than by inputs and outputs.
Further work in this area concerned adapting the formal testing theory in the context of inheritance, which partitions the state-space of the superclass in extended subclass objects.
A "CCS-augmented X-machine" (CCSXM) model was later developed by Simons and Stannett in 2002 to support complete behavioural testing of object-oriented systems, in the presence of asynchronous communication<ref
name="SS02">M. Stannett and A. J. H. Simons (2002)
'CCS-Augmented X-Machines',
Technical Report CS-2002-04, Department of Computer Science, Sheffield University, UK.</ref> This is expected to bear some similarity with NASA's recent proposal; but no definitive comparison of the two models has as yet been conducted.
See also
Stream X-Machine
X-Machine Testing
Communicating X-Machine
Downloadable technical reports
M. Stannett and A. J. H. Simons (2002) Complete Behavioural Testing of Object-Oriented Systems using CCS-Augmented X-Machines. Tech Report CS-02-06, Dept of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. Download
J. Aguado and A. J. Cowling (2002) Foundations of the X-machine Theory for Testing. Tech Report CS-02-06, Dept of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. Download
J. Aguado and A. J. Cowling (2002) Systems of Communicating X-machines for Specifying Distributed Systems. Tech Report CS-02-07, Dept of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. Download
M. Stannett (2005) The Theory of X-Machines - Part 1. Tech Report CS-05-09, Dept of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. Download
External links
http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~ajc/csxms/index.html - Tony Cowling's Communicating SXM Systems pages
http://x-machines.com - Mike Stannett's Theory of X-Machines'' site
References
Theory of computation
Models of computation
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffpack
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Diffpack
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Diffpack is a programming environment for developing simulation software for scientific and engineering applications. Diffpack has its main focus on the numerical modeling and solution of partial differential equations, in particular by the finite element method and the finite difference method (finite volume method is also supported to some extent).
Features
The Diffpack software consists of a family of C++ libraries for general tasks related to numerical solution of partial differential equations, plus a set of Perl and Python scripts that ease the development of simulation programs and problem solving environments for scientific or engineering research. The package was one of the first to explore object-oriented programming and the C++ language for advanced, high-performance computing.
History
Diffpack has been actively developed since 1991, with main contributions from University of Oslo and the research institutes SINTEF and Simula Research Laboratory. The initiators and main contributors to Diffpack in the 1990s were Hans Petter Langtangen and Are Magnus Bruaset. Version 1.0 of the software was released in the public domain in 1995, with a new version in 1997.
The Norwegian company Numerical Objects AS took over the rights of Diffpack 1997 and commercialized the product. In 2003, the German company inuTech GmbH purchased Diffpack and is now the principal maintainer and developer of the software.
Adoption
Past and present Diffpack customers include AREVA NP, Air Force Research Laboratory, Robert Bosch GmbH, Cambridge University, Canon, CEA, CalCom, DaimlerChrysler, Furukawa, Harvard University, Intel, Mitsubishi, NASA, Nestle, Nippon Steel, Shell, Siemens, Stanford University, Statoil, Veritas, VAI GmbH, and Xerox. Diffpack applications have been built in diverse areas, such as oil and gas, mechanical engineering, telecommunication, medicine and finance. The customer activities span from simple prototype applications to projects involving several man-years of simulator development.
See also
List of finite element software packages
List of numerical analysis software
References
Diffpack website
Computational Partial Differential Equations - Numerical Methods and Diffpack Programming (book)
inuTech GmbH
Scientific simulation software
Finite element software
Finite element software for Linux
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitchX
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BitchX
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BitchX is a free IRC client and has been considered to be the most popular ircII-based IRC client. The initial implementation, written by "Trench" and "HappyCrappy", was a script for the IrcII chat client. It was converted to a program in its own right by panasync (Colten Edwards). BitchX 1.1 final was released in 2004. It is written in C and is a TUI application utilizing ncurses. GTK+ toolkit support has been dropped. It works on all Unix-like operating systems, and is distributed under a BSD license. It is originally based on ircII-EPIC and eventually it was merged into the EPIC IRC client. It supports IPv6, multiple servers and SSL and a subset of UTF-8 (characters contained in ISO-8859-1) with an unofficial patch.
BitchX has frequently been noted to be a popular IRC client for Unix-like systems.
The latest official release is version 1.2
BitchX does not yet support Unicode.
Security
It was known that early versions of BitchX were vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack in that they could be caused to crash by passing specially-crafted strings as arguments to certain IRC commands. This was before format string attacks became a well-known class of vulnerability.
The previous version of BitchX, released in 2004, has security problems allowing remote IRC servers to execute arbitrary code on the client's machine (CVE-2007-3360, CVE-2007-4584).
On April 26, 2009, Slackware removed BitchX from its distribution, citing the numerous unresolved security issues.
The aforementioned vulnerabilities were fixed in the sources for the 1.2 release.
See also
Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat Client
References
External links
Unix Internet Relay Chat clients
Free Internet Relay Chat clients
Internet Relay Chat clients
Free software programmed in C
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2883534
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve%20Shirley
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Steve Shirley
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Dame Vera Stephanie "Steve" Shirley (previously Brook, née Buchthal; born 16 September 1933) is a British information technology pioneer, businesswoman and philanthropist.
Early life
Shirley was born as Vera Buchthal to Arnold Buchthal, a judge in Dortmund who was Jewish and who lost his post to the Nazi regime, and a non-Jewish Viennese mother. In July 1939 Shirley arrived, at the age of five together with her nine-year-old sister Renate, in Britain as a Kindertransport child refugee, and recognized how lucky she was to have been saved. She was placed in the care of foster parents living in the Midlands town of Sutton Coldfield. She was later re-united with her biological parents, but said she "never really bonded with them". Shirley attributes her early childhood trauma as being the driving force behind her ability to keep up with changes in her life and career.
After attending a convent school, she moved to Oswestry, near the Welsh border, where she attended the Oswestry Girls' High School. Mathematics was not taught at the school, so she received permission after assessment to take those lessons at the local boys school. She would later recall that, after her Kindertransport and wartime experiences, "in Oswestry I had six wonderful years of peace".
Biography
After leaving school, Shirley decided not to go to university (botany was the "only science then available to my gender") but sought employment in a mathematics/technical environment. At the age of 18, she became a British citizen and changed her name to Stephanie Brook.
In the 1950s, Shirley worked at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill, building computers from scratch and writing code in machine language. She took evening classes for six years to obtain an honours degree in mathematics. In 1959, she moved to CDL Ltd, designers of the ICT 1301 computer.
After marriage to a physicist, Derek Shirley, in 1962, Shirley founded, with a capital of £6, the software company Freelance Programmers, (later F International, then Xansa, since acquired by Steria and now part of the Sopra Steria Group). Having experienced sexism in her workplace, "being fondled, being pushed against the wall", she wanted to create job opportunities for women with dependents, and predominantly employed women, with only three male programmers in the first 300 staff, until the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made that practice illegal. She also adopted the name "Steve" to help her in the male-dominated business world, given that company letters signed using her real name were not responded to. Her team's projects included programming Concorde's black box flight recorder.
She served as an independent non-executive director for Tandem Computers, The Atomic Energy Authority (later AEA Technology) and the John Lewis Partnership.
Shirley retired in 1993 at the age of 60 and has since focused on her philanthropy.
Honours
Shirley received her BSc in 1956 and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours for services to industry; Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to information technology.; and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the IT industry and philanthropy.
In 1987, she gained the Freedom of the City of London. She was the first female President of the chartered British Computer Society from 1989 to 1990 and Master of the IT livery company 1992/93. In 1985, she was awarded a Recognition of Information Technology Award. In 1999 she received the Mountbatten Medal.
She was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of Birkbeck College in 2001.
She has donated most of her wealth (from the internal sale to the company staff and later the flotation of FI Group) to charity. Beneficiaries include the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the Oxford University, through the Shirley Foundation. Her late son Giles (1963–1998) was autistic and she became an early member of the National Autistic Society. She has instigated and funded research in this field, for example through the Autism Research Centre led by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen and via Autistica.
In 2003, Shirley received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for her contribution to autism research and for her pioneering work in harnessing information technology for the public good.
In 1991, Shirley was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham, since then she has been honoured by the University of Cambridge, also in 1994 by Solent University and 28 other UK Universities.
In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.
In January 2014, the Science Council named Shirley as one of the "Top 100 practising scientists" in the UK.
In 2018 she was made Fellow of the Computer History Museum, and became the first woman to win the lifetime achievement award of the Chartered Management Institute 'for her stellar contribution to British engineering and technology'.
In August 2021 Shirley will unveil a blue plaque in Oswestry commemorating her school years in the town, the plaque will be on The Broadwalk close to St Oswald's Parish Church.
Philanthropy
The Shirley Foundation, based in the UK, was set up by Shirley in 1986 with a substantial gift to establish a charitable trust fund which spent out in 2018 in favour of Autistica. Its current mission is facilitation and support of pioneering projects with strategic impact in the field of autism spectrum disorders with particular emphasis on medical research. The fund has supported many projects through grants and loans including: Autism at Kingwood which supports people with autism spectrum disorders to enjoy full and active lives; Prior's Court, the foundation's largest benefaction, with a residential school for 70 autistic pupils and Young Adult Centre for 20 autistic students; Autism99, the first online autism conference attended by 165,000 people from 33 countries. She addresses conferences around the world (many remotely) and is in frequent contact with parents, carers and those with autism spectrum disorders. Her autistic son Giles died following an epileptic seizure at the age of 35.
From May 2009 until May 2010, Shirley served as the UK's Ambassador for Philanthropy, a government appointment aimed at giving philanthropists a "voice".
In 2012, Shirley donated the entirety of her art collection, including works by Elisabeth Frink, Maggi Hambling, Thomas Heatherwick, Josef Herman and John Piper to Prior's Court School and the charity Paintings in Hospitals.
In 2013, appearing on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday with Clare Balding, Shirley discussed why she had given away more than £67 million of her personal wealth to different projects. In her 2012 memoirs Let IT Go, she writes "I do it because of my personal history; I need to justify the fact that my life was saved."
Sponsored publications
Design for Disability
The Art of Prior's Court School
The History of Autism – Conversations with the Pioneers
Autism Works
Books
Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story – From Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist (with Richard Askwith, 2012, revised 2018)
My Family in Exile (2015)
So To Speak (2020) an anthology of 30 of Dame Stephanie's speeches
''Ein unmögliches Leben: Die außergewöhnliche Geschichte einer Frau, die die Regeln der Männer brach und ihren eigenen Weg ging' (2020)
See also
Arnold Buchthal
Dina St Johnston
Rosa Buchthal
F International
References
External links
Listen to an oral history interview with Dame Stephanie Shirley – a life story interview recorded for the National Life Stories project Oral History of British Science at the British Library
IEEE oral history
"Why do ambitious women have flat heads?" (TED2015)
1933 births
Autism activists
BBC 100 Women
English memoirists
Philanthropists from the West Midlands (county)
English women in business
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Disability rights activists from the United Kingdom
English businesspeople
English computer scientists
Fellows of the British Computer Society
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
German people of Austrian descent
Kindertransport refugees
Living people
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Presidents of the British Computer Society
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
People from Sutton Coldfield
People from Oswestry
21st-century women engineers
British health activists
British women memoirists
Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)
Jewish women philanthropists
Jewish British philanthropists
21st-century English women
21st-century English people
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression%20theory
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Decompression theory
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Decompression theory is the study and modelling of the transfer of the inert gas component of breathing gases from the gas in the lungs to the tissues and back during exposure to variations in ambient pressure. In the case of underwater diving and compressed air work, this mostly involves ambient pressures greater than the local surface pressure, but astronauts, high altitude mountaineers, and travellers in aircraft which are not pressurised to sea level pressure, are generally exposed to ambient pressures less than standard sea level atmospheric pressure. In all cases, the symptoms caused by decompression occur during or within a relatively short period of hours, or occasionally days, after a significant pressure reduction.
The term "decompression" derives from the reduction in ambient pressure experienced by the organism and refers to both the reduction in pressure and the process of allowing dissolved inert gases to be eliminated from the tissues during and after this reduction in pressure. The uptake of gas by the tissues is in the dissolved state, and elimination also requires the gas to be dissolved, however a sufficient reduction in ambient pressure may cause bubble formation in the tissues, which can lead to tissue damage and the symptoms known as decompression sickness, and also delays the elimination of the gas.
Decompression modeling attempts to explain and predict the mechanism of gas elimination and bubble formation within the organism during and after changes in ambient pressure, and provides mathematical models which attempt to predict acceptably low risk and reasonably practicable procedures for decompression in the field. Both deterministic and probabilistic models have been used, and are still in use.
Efficient decompression requires the diver to ascend fast enough to establish as high a decompression gradient, in as many tissues, as safely possible, without provoking the development of symptomatic bubbles. This is facilitated by the highest acceptably safe oxygen partial pressure in the breathing gas, and avoiding gas changes that could cause counterdiffusion bubble formation or growth. The development of schedules that are both safe and efficient has been complicated by the large number of variables and uncertainties, including personal variation in response under varying environmental conditions and workload.
Physiology of decompression
Gas is breathed at ambient pressure, and some of this gas dissolves into the blood and other fluids. Inert gas continues to be taken up until the gas dissolved in the tissues is in a state of equilibrium with the gas in the lungs, (see: "saturation diving"), or the ambient pressure is reduced until the inert gases dissolved in the tissues are at a higher concentration than the equilibrium state, and start diffusing out again.
The absorption of gases in liquids depends on the solubility of the specific gas in the specific liquid, the concentration of gas, customarily measured by partial pressure, and temperature. In the study of decompression theory the behaviour of gases dissolved in the tissues is investigated and modeled for variations of pressure over time.
Once dissolved, distribution of the dissolved gas may be by diffusion, where there is no bulk flow of the solvent, or by perfusion where the solvent (blood) is circulated around the diver's body, where gas can diffuse to local regions of lower concentration. Given sufficient time at a specific partial pressure in the breathing gas, the concentration in the tissues will stabilise, or saturate, at a rate depending on the solubility, diffusion rate and perfusion.
If the concentration of the inert gas in the breathing gas is reduced below that of any of the tissues, there will be a tendency for gas to return from the tissues to the breathing gas. This is known as outgassing, and occurs during decompression, when the reduction in ambient pressure or a change of breathing gas reduces the partial pressure of the inert gas in the lungs.
The combined concentrations of gases in any given tissue will depend on the history of pressure and gas composition. Under equilibrium conditions, the total concentration of dissolved gases will be less than the ambient pressure, as oxygen is metabolised in the tissues, and the carbon dioxide produced is much more soluble. However, during a reduction in ambient pressure, the rate of pressure reduction may exceed the rate at which gas can be eliminated by diffusion and perfusion, and if the concentration gets too high, it may reach a stage where bubble formation can occur in the supersaturated tissues. When the pressure of gases in a bubble exceed the combined external pressures of ambient pressure and the surface tension from the bubble - liquid interface, the bubbles will grow, and this growth can cause damage to tissues. Symptoms caused by this damage are known as Decompression sickness.
The actual rates of diffusion and perfusion, and the solubility of gases in specific tissues is not generally known, and it varies considerably. However mathematical models have been proposed which approximate the real situation to a greater or lesser extent, and these models are used to predict whether symptomatic bubble formation is likely to occur for a given pressure exposure profile.
Decompression involves a complex interaction of gas solubility, partial pressures and concentration gradients, diffusion, bulk transport and bubble mechanics in living tissues.
Dissolved phase gas dynamics
Solubility of gases in liquids is influenced by the nature of the solvent liquid and the solute, the temperature, pressure, and the presence of other solutes in the solvent. Diffusion is faster in smaller, lighter molecules of which helium is the extreme example. Diffusivity of helium is 2.65 times faster than nitrogen. The concentration gradient, can be used as a model for the driving mechanism of diffusion. In this context, inert gas refers to a gas which is not metabolically active. Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is the most common example, and helium (He) is the other inert gas commonly used in breathing mixtures for divers. Atmospheric nitrogen has a partial pressure of approximately 0.78 bar at sea level. Air in the alveoli of the lungs is diluted by saturated water vapour (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), a metabolic product given off by the blood, and contains less oxygen (O2) than atmospheric air as some of it is taken up by the blood for metabolic use. The resulting partial pressure of nitrogen is about 0,758 bar.
At atmospheric pressure the body tissues are therefore normally saturated with nitrogen at 0.758 bar (569 mmHg). At increased ambient pressures due to depth or habitat pressurisation, a diver's lungs are filled with breathing gas at the increased pressure, and the partial pressures of the constituent gases will be increased proportionately. The inert gases from the breathing gas in the lungs diffuse into blood in the alveolar capillaries and are distributed around the body by the systemic circulation in the process known as perfusion. Dissolved materials are transported in the blood much faster than they would be distributed by diffusion alone. From the systemic capillaries the dissolved gases diffuse through the cell membranes and into the tissues, where it may eventually reach equilibrium. The greater the blood supply to a tissue, the faster it will reach equilibrium with gas at the new partial pressure. This equilibrium is called saturation. Ingassing appears to follow a simple inverse exponential equation. The time it takes for a tissue to take up or release 50% of the difference in dissolved gas capacity at a changed partial pressure is called the half-time for that tissue and gas.
Gas remains dissolved in the tissues until the partial pressure of that gas in the lungs is reduced sufficiently to cause a concentration gradient with the blood at a lower concentration than the relevant tissues. As the concentration in the blood drops below the concentration in the adjacent tissue, the gas will diffuse out of the tissue into the blood, and will then be transported back to the lungs where it will diffuse into the lung gas and then be eliminated by exhalation. If the ambient pressure reduction is limited, this desaturation will take place in the dissolved phase, but if the ambient pressure is lowered sufficiently, bubbles may form and grow, both in blood and other supersaturated tissues. When the partial pressure of all gas dissolved in a tissue exceeds the total ambient pressure on the tissue it is supersaturated, and there is a possibility of bubble formation.
The sum of partial pressures of the gas that the diver breathes must necessarily balance with the sum of partial pressures in the lung gas. In the alveoli the gas has been humidified and has gained carbon dioxide from the venous blood. Oxygen has also diffused into the arterial blood, reducing the partial pressure of oxygen in the alveoli. As the total pressure in the alveoli must balance with the ambient pressure, this dilution results in an effective partial pressure of nitrogen of about 758 mb (569 mmHg) in air at normal atmospheric pressure. At a steady state, when the tissues have been saturated by the inert gases of the breathing mixture, metabolic processes reduce the partial pressure of the less soluble oxygen and replace it with carbon dioxide, which is considerably more soluble in water. In the cells of a typical tissue, the partial pressure of oxygen will drop, while the partial pressure of carbon dioxide will rise. The sum of these partial pressures (water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen) is less than the total pressure of the respiratory gas. This is a significant saturation deficit, and it provides a buffer against supersaturation and a driving force for dissolving bubbles. Experiments suggest that the degree of unsaturation increases linearly with pressure for a breathing mixture of fixed composition, and decreases linearly with fraction of inert gas in the breathing mixture. As a consequence, the conditions for maximising the degree of unsaturation are a breathing gas with the lowest possible fraction of inert gas – i.e. pure oxygen, at the maximum permissible partial pressure. This saturation deficit is also referred to as inherent unsaturation, the "Oxygen window". or partial pressure vacancy.
The location of micronuclei or where bubbles initially form is not known. The incorporation of bubble formation and growth mechanisms in decompression models may make the models more biophysical and allow better extrapolation. Flow conditions and perfusion rates are dominant parameters in competition between tissue and circulation bubbles, and between multiple bubbles, for dissolved gas for bubble growth.
Bubble mechanics
Equilibrium of forces on the surface is required for a bubble to exist. The sum of the Ambient pressure and pressure due to tissue distortion, exerted on the outside of the surface, with surface tension of the liquid at the interface between the bubble and the surroundings must be balanced by the pressure on the inside of the bubble. This is the sum of the partial pressures of the gases inside due to the net diffusion of gas to and from the bubble. The force balance on the bubble may be modified by a layer of surface active molecules which can stabilise a microbubble at a size where surface tension on a clean bubble would cause it to collapse rapidly, and this surface layer may vary in permeability, so that if the bubble is sufficiently compressed it may become impermeable to diffusion. If the solvent outside the bubble is saturated or unsaturated, the partial pressure will be less than in the bubble, and the surface tension will be increasing the internal pressure in direct proportion to surface curvature, providing a pressure gradient to increase diffusion out of the bubble, effectively "squeezing the gas out of the bubble", and the smaller the bubble the faster it will get squeezed out. A gas bubble can only grow at constant pressure if the surrounding solvent is sufficiently supersaturated to overcome the surface tension or if the surface layer provides sufficient reaction to overcome surface tension. Clean bubbles that are sufficiently small will collapse due to surface tension if the supersaturation is low. Bubbles with semipermeable surfaces will either stabilise at a specific radius depending on the pressure, the composition of the surface layer, and the supersaturation, or continue to grow indefinitely, if larger than the critical radius. Bubble formation can occur in the blood or other tissues.
A solvent can carry a supersaturated load of gas in solution. Whether it will come out of solution in the bulk of the solvent to form bubbles will depend on a number of factors. Something which reduces surface tension, or adsorbs gas molecules, or locally reduces solubility of the gas, or causes a local reduction in static pressure in a fluid may result in a bubble nucleation or growth. This may include velocity changes and turbulence in fluids and local tensile loads in solids and semi-solids. Lipids and other hydrophobic surfaces may reduce surface tension (blood vessel walls may have this effect). Dehydration may reduce gas solubility in a tissue due to higher concentration of other solutes, and less solvent to hold the gas. Another theory presumes that microscopic bubble nuclei always exist in aqueous media, including living tissues. These bubble nuclei are spherical gas phases that are small enough to remain in suspension yet strong enough to resist collapse, their stability being provided by an elastic surface layer consisting of surface-active molecules which resists the effect of surface tension.
Once a micro-bubble forms it may continue to grow if the tissues are sufficiently supersaturated. As the bubble grows it may distort the surrounding tissue and cause damage to cells and pressure on nerves resulting in pain, or may block a blood vessel, cutting off blood flow and causing hypoxia in the tissues normally perfused by the vessel.
If a bubble or an object exists which collects gas molecules this collection of gas molecules may reach a size where the internal pressure exceeds the combined surface tension and external pressure and the bubble will grow. If the solvent is sufficiently supersaturated, the diffusion of gas into the bubble will exceed the rate at which it diffuses back into solution, and if this excess pressure is greater than the pressure due to surface tension the bubble will continue to grow. When a bubble grows, the surface tension decreases, and the interior pressure drops, allowing gas to diffuse in faster, and diffuse out slower, so the bubble grows or shrinks in a positive feedback situation. The growth rate is reduced as the bubble grows because the surface area increases as the square of the radius, while the volume increases as the cube of the radius. If the external pressure is reduced due to reduced hydrostatic pressure during ascent, the bubble will also grow, and conversely, an increased external pressure will cause the bubble to shrink, but may not cause it to be eliminated entirely if a compression-resistant surface layer exists.
Decompression bubbles appear to form mostly in the systemic capillaries where the gas concentration is highest, often those feeding the veins draining the active limbs. They do not generally form in the arteries provided that ambient pressure reduction is not too rapid, as arterial blood has recently had the opportunity to release excess gas into the lungs. The bubbles carried back to the heart in the veins may be transferred to the systemic circulation via a patent foramen ovale in divers with this septal defect, after which there is a risk of occlusion of capillaries in whichever part of the body they end up in.
Bubbles which are carried back to the heart in the veins will pass into the right side of the heart, and from there they will normally enter the pulmonary circulation and pass through or be trapped in the capillaries of the lungs, which are around the alveoli and very near to the respiratory gas, where the gas will diffuse from the bubbles though the capillary and alveolar walls into the gas in the lung. If the number of lung capillaries blocked by these bubbles is relatively small, the diver will not display symptoms, and no tissue will be damaged (lung tissues are adequately oxygenated by diffusion). The bubbles which are small enough to pass through the lung capillaries may be small enough to be dissolved due to a combination of surface tension and diffusion to a lowered concentration in the surrounding blood, though the Varying Permeability Model nucleation theory implies that most bubbles passing through the pulmonary circulation will lose enough gas to pass through the capillaries and return to the systemic circulation as recycled but stable nuclei. Bubbles which form within the tissues must be eliminated in situ by diffusion, which implies a suitable concentration gradient.
Isobaric counterdiffusion (ICD)
Isobaric counterdiffusion is the diffusion of gases in opposite directions caused by a change in the composition of the external ambient gas or breathing gas without change in the ambient pressure. During decompression after a dive this can occur when a change is made to the breathing gas, or when the diver moves into a gas filled environment which differs from the breathing gas. While not strictly speaking a phenomenon of decompression, it is a complication that can occur during decompression, and that can result in the formation or growth of bubbles without changes in the environmental pressure. Two forms of this phenomenon have been described by Lambertsen:
Superficial ICD (also known as Steady State Isobaric Counterdiffusion) occurs when the inert gas breathed by the diver diffuses more slowly into the body than the inert gas surrounding the body. An example of this would be breathing air in an heliox environment. The helium in the heliox diffuses into the skin quickly, while the nitrogen diffuses more slowly from the capillaries to the skin and out of the body. The resulting effect generates supersaturation in certain sites of the superficial tissues and the formation of inert gas bubbles.
Deep Tissue ICD (also known as Transient Isobaric Counterdiffusion) occurs when different inert gases are breathed by the diver in sequence. The rapidly diffusing gas is transported into the tissue faster than the slower diffusing gas is transported out of the tissue. This can occur as divers switch from a nitrogen mixture to a helium mixture or when saturation divers breathing hydreliox switch to a heliox mixture.
Doolette and Mitchell's study of Inner Ear Decompression Sickness (IEDCS) shows that the inner ear may not be well-modelled by common (e.g. Bühlmann) algorithms. Doolette and Mitchell propose that a switch from a helium-rich mix to a nitrogen-rich mix, as is common in technical diving when switching from trimix to nitrox on ascent, may cause a transient supersaturation of inert gas within the inner ear and result in IEDCS. They suggest that breathing-gas switches from helium-rich to nitrogen-rich mixtures should be carefully scheduled either deep (with due consideration to nitrogen narcosis) or shallow to avoid the period of maximum supersaturation resulting from the decompression. Switches should also be made during breathing of the largest inspired oxygen partial pressure that can be safely tolerated with due consideration to oxygen toxicity.
Decompression sickness
Vascular bubbles formed in the systemic capillaries may be trapped in the lung capillaries, temporarily blocking them. If this is severe, the symptom called "chokes" may occur. If the diver has a patent foramen ovale (or a shunt in the pulmonary circulation), bubbles may pass through it and bypass the pulmonary circulation to enter the arterial blood. If these bubbles are not absorbed in the arterial plasma and lodge in systemic capillaries they will block the flow of oxygenated blood to the tissues supplied by those capillaries, and those tissues will be starved of oxygen. Moon and Kisslo (1988) concluded that "the evidence suggests that the risk of serious neurological DCI or early onset DCI is increased in divers with a resting right-to-left shunt through a PFO. There is, at present, no evidence that PFO is related to mild or late onset bends."
Bubbles form within other tissues as well as the blood vessels. Inert gas can diffuse into bubble nuclei between tissues. In this case, the bubbles can distort and permanently damage the tissue. As they grow, the bubbles may also compress nerves as they grow causing pain.
Extravascular or autochthonous bubbles usually form in slow tissues such as joints, tendons and muscle sheaths. Direct expansion causes tissue damage, with the release of histamines and their associated affects. Biochemical damage may be as important as, or more important than mechanical effects.
The exchange of dissolved gases between the blood and tissues is controlled by perfusion and to a lesser extent by diffusion, particularly in heterogeneous tissues.
The distribution of blood flow to the tissues is variable and subject to a variety of influences. When the flow is locally high, that area is dominated by perfusion, and by diffusion when the flow is low. The distribution of flow is controlled by the mean arterial pressure and the local vascular resistance, and the arterial pressure depends on cardiac output and the total vascular resistance. Basic vascular resistance is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and metabolites, temperature, and local and systemic hormones have secondary and often localised effects, which can vary considerably with circumstances. Peripheral vasoconstriction in cold water decreases overall heat loss without increasing oxygen consumption until shivering begins, at which point oxygen consumption will rise, though the vasoconstriction can persist.
The composition of the breathing gas during pressure exposure and decompression is significant in inert gas uptake and elimination for a given pressure exposure profile. Breathing gas mixtures for diving will typically have a different gas fraction of nitrogen to that of air. The partial pressure of each component gas will differ from that of nitrogen in air at any given depth, and uptake and elimination of each inert gas component is proportional to the actual partial pressure over time. The two foremost reasons for use of mixed breathing gases are the reduction of nitrogen partial pressure by dilution with oxygen, to make Nitrox mixtures, primarily to reduce the rate of nitrogen uptake during pressure exposure, and the substitution of helium (and occasionally other gases) for the nitrogen to reduce the narcotic effects under high partial pressure exposure. Depending on the proportions of helium and nitrogen, these gases are called Heliox, if there is no nitrogen, or Trimix, if there is nitrogen and helium along with the essential oxygen. The inert gases used as substitutes for nitrogen have different solubility and diffusion characteristics in living tissues to the nitrogen they replace. For example, the most common inert gas diluent substitute for nitrogen is helium, which is significantly less soluble in living tissue, but also diffuses faster due to the relatively small size and mass of the He atom in comparison with the N2 molecule.
Blood flow to skin and fat are affected by skin and core temperature, and resting muscle perfusion is controlled by the temperature of the muscle itself. During exercise increased flow to the working muscles is often balanced by reduced flow to other tissues, such as kidneys spleen and liver. Blood flow to the muscles is also lower in cold water, but exercise keeps the muscle warm and flow elevated even when the skin is chilled. Blood flow to fat normally increases during exercise, but this is inhibited by immersion in cold water. Adaptation to cold reduces the extreme vasoconstriction which usually occurs with cold water immersion. Variations in perfusion distribution do not necessarily affect respiratory inert gas exchange, though some gas may be locally trapped by changes in perfusion. Rest in a cold environment will reduce inert gas exchange from skin, fat and muscle, whereas exercise will increase gas exchange. Exercise during decompression can reduce decompression time and risk, providing bubbles are not present, but can increase risk if bubbles are present. Inert gas exchange is least favourable for the diver who is warm and exercises at depth during the ingassing phase, and rests and is cold during decompression.
Other factors which can affect decompression risk include oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide levels, body position, vasodilators and constrictors, positive or negative pressure breathing. and dehydration (blood volume). Individual susceptibility to decompression sickness has components which can be attributed to a specific cause, and components which appear to be random. The random component makes successive decompressions a poor test of susceptibility. Obesity and high serum lipid levels have been implicated by some studies as risk factors, and risk seems to increase with age. Another study has also shown that older subjects tended to bubble more than younger subjects for reasons not yet known, but no trends between weight, body fat, or gender and bubbles were identified, and the question of why some people are more likely to form bubbles than others remains unclear.
Decompression model concepts
Two rather different concepts have been used for decompression modelling. The first assumes that dissolved gas is eliminated while in the dissolved phase, and that bubbles are not formed during asymptomatic decompression. The second, which is supported by experimental observation, assumes that bubbles are formed during most asymptomatic decompressions, and that gas elimination must consider both dissolved and bubble phases.
Early decompression models tended to use the dissolved phase models, and adjusted them by more or less arbitrary factors to reduce the risk of symptomatic bubble formation. Dissolved phase models are of two main groups. Parallel compartment models, where several compartments with varying rates of gas absorption (half time), are considered to exist independently of each other, and the limiting condition is controlled by the compartment which shows the worst case for a specific exposure profile. These compartments represent conceptual tissues and are not intended to represent specific organic tissues, merely to represent the range of possibilities for the organic tissues. The second group uses serial compartments, where gas is assumed to diffuse through one compartment before it reaches the next. A recent variation on the serial compartment model is the Goldman interconnected compartment model (ICM).
More recent models attempt to model bubble dynamics, also by simplified models, to facilitate the computation of tables, and later to allow real time predictions during a dive. The models used to approximate bubble dynamics are varied, and range from those which are not much more complex that the dissolved phase models, to those which require considerably greater computational power.
None of the decompression models can be shown to be an accurate representation of the physiological processes, although interpretations of the mathematical models have been proposed which correspond with various hypotheses. They are all approximations which predict reality to a greater or lesser extent, and are acceptably reliable only within the bounds of calibration against collected experimental data.
Range of application
The ideal decompression profile creates the greatest possible gradient for inert gas elimination from a tissue without causing bubbles to form, and the dissolved phase decompression models are based on the assumption that bubble formation can be avoided. However, it is not certain whether this is practically possible: some of the decompression models assume that stable bubble micronuclei always exist. The bubble models make the assumption that there will be bubbles, but there is a tolerable total gas phase volume or a tolerable gas bubble size, and limit the maximum gradient to take these tolerances into account.
Decompression models should ideally accurately predict risk over the full range of exposure from short dives within the no-stop limits, decompression bounce dives over the full range of practical applicability, including extreme exposure dives and repetitive dives, alternative breathing gases, including gas switches and constant PO2, variations in dive profile, and saturation dives. This is not generally the case, and most models are limited to a part of the possible range of depths and times. They are also limited to a specified range of breathing gases, and sometimes restricted to air.
A fundamental problem in the design of decompression tables is that the simplified rules that govern a single dive and ascent do not apply when some tissue bubbles already exist, as these will delay inert gas elimination and equivalent decompression may result in decompression sickness. Repetitive diving, multiple ascents within a single dive, and surface decompression procedures are significant risk factors for DCS. These have been attributed to the development of a relatively high gas phase volume which may be partly carried over to subsequent dives or the final ascent of a sawtooth profile.
The function of decompression models has changed with the availability of Doppler ultrasonic bubble detectors, and is no longer merely to limit symptomatic occurrence of decompression sickness, but also to limit asymptomatic post-dive venous gas bubbles. A number of empirical modifications to dissolved phase models have been made since the identification of venous bubbles by Doppler measurement in asymptomatic divers soon after surfacing.
Tissue compartments
One attempt at a solution was the development of multi-tissue models, which assumed that different parts of the body absorbed and eliminated gas at different rates. These are hypothetical tissues which are designated as fast and slow to describe the rate of saturation. Each tissue, or compartment, has a different half-life. Real tissues will also take more or less time to saturate, but the models do not need to use actual tissue values to produce a useful result. Models with from one to 16 tissue compartments have been used to generate decompression tables, and dive computers have used up to 20 compartments.
For example: Tissues with a high lipid content can take up a larger amount of nitrogen, but often have a poor blood supply. These will take longer to reach equilibrium, and are described as slow, compared to tissues with a good blood supply and less capacity for dissolved gas, which are described as fast.
Fast tissues absorb gas relatively quickly, but will generally release it quickly during ascent. A fast tissue may become saturated in the course of a normal recreational dive, while a slow tissue may have absorbed only a small part of its potential gas capacity. By calculating the levels in each compartment separately, researchers are able to construct more effective algorithms. In addition, each compartment may be able to tolerate more or less supersaturation than others. The final form is a complicated model, but one that allows for the construction of algorithms and tables suited to a wide variety of diving. A typical dive computer has an 8–12 tissue model, with half times varying from 5 minutes to 400 minutes. The Bühlmann tables use an algorithm with 16 tissues, with half times varying from 4 minutes to 640 minutes.
Tissues may be assumed to be in series, where dissolved gas must diffuse through one tissue to reach the next, which has different solubility properties, in parallel, where diffusion into and out of each tissue is considered to be independent of the others, and as combinations of series and parallel tissues, which becomes computationally complex.
Ingassing model
The half time of a tissue is the time it takes for the tissue to take up or release 50% of the difference in dissolved gas capacity at a changed partial pressure. For each consecutive half time the tissue will take up or release half again of the cumulative difference in the sequence ½, ¾, 7/8, 15/16, 31/32, 63/64 etc. Tissue compartment half times range from 1 minute to at least 720 minutes. A specific tissue compartment will have different half times for gases with different solubilities and diffusion rates. Ingassing is generally modeled as following a simple inverse exponential equation where saturation is assumed after approximately four (93.75%) to six (98.44%) half-times depending on the decompression model.
This model may not adequately describe the dynamics of outgassing if gas phase bubbles are present.
Outgassing models
For optimised decompression the driving force for tissue desaturation should be kept at a maximum, provided that this does not cause symptomatic tissue injury due to bubble formation and growth (symptomatic decompression sickness), or produce a condition where diffusion is retarded for any reason.
There are two fundamentally different ways this has been approached. The first is based on an assumption that there is a level of supersaturation which does not produce symptomatic bubble formation and is based on empirical observations of the maximum decompression rate which does not result in an unacceptable rate of symptoms. This approach seeks to maximise the concentration gradient providing there are no symptoms, and commonly uses a slightly modified exponential half-time model. The second assumes that bubbles will form at any level of supersaturation where the total gas tension in the tissue is greater than the ambient pressure and that gas in bubbles is eliminated more slowly than dissolved gas. These philosophies result in differing characteristics of the decompression profiles derived for the two models: The critical supersaturation approach gives relatively rapid initial ascents, which maximize the concentration gradient, and long shallow stops, while the bubble models require slower ascents, with deeper first stops, but may have shorter shallow stops. This approach uses a variety of models.
The critical supersaturation approach
J.S. Haldane originally used a critical pressure ratio of 2 to 1 for decompression on the principle that the saturation of the body should at no time be allowed to exceed about double the air pressure. This principle was applied as a pressure ratio of total ambient pressure and did not take into account the partial pressures of the component gases of the breathing air. His experimental work on goats and observations of human divers appeared to support this assumption. However, in time, this was found to be inconsistent with incidence of decompression sickness and changes were made to the initial assumptions. This was later changed to a 1.58:1 ratio of nitrogen partial pressures.
Further research by people such as Robert Workman suggested that the criterion was not the ratio of pressures, but the actual pressure differentials. Applied to Haldane's work, this would suggest that the limit is not determined by the 1.58:1 ratio but rather by the critical pressure difference of 0.58 atmospheres between tissue pressure and ambient pressure. Most Haldanean tables since the mid 20th century, including the Bühlmann tables, are based on the critical difference assumption .
The M-value is the maximum value of absolute inert gas pressure that a tissue compartment can take at a given ambient pressure without presenting symptoms of decompression sickness. M-values are limits for the tolerated gradient between inert gas pressure and ambient pressure in each compartment. Alternative terminology for M-values include "supersaturation limits", "limits for tolerated overpressure", and "critical tensions".
are a way of modifying the M-value to a more conservative value for use in a decompression algorithm. The gradient factor is a percentage of the M-value chosen by the algorithm designer, and varies linearly between the maximum depth of the specific dive and the surface. They are expressed as a two number designation, where the first number is the percentage of the deep M-value, and the second is a percentage of the shallow M-value. The gradient factors are applied to all tissue compartments equally and produce an M-value which is linearly variable in proportion to ambient pressure.
For example: A 30/85 gradient factor would limit the allowed supersaturation at depth to 30% of the designer's maximum, and to 85% at the surface.
In effect the user is selecting a lower maximum supersaturation than the designer considered appropriate. Use of gradient factors will increase decompression time, particularly in the depth zone where the M-value is reduced the most. Gradient factors may be used to force deeper stops in a model which would otherwise tend to produce relatively shallow stops, by using a gradient factor with a small first number. Several models of dive computer allow user input of gradient factors as a way of inducing a more conservative, and therefore presumed lower risk, decompression profile.
The Variable Gradient Model adjusts the gradient factors to fit the depth profile on the assumption that a straight line adjustment using the same factor on the deep M-value regardless of the actual depth is less appropriate than using an M-value linked to the actual depth. (the shallow M-value is linked to actual depth of zero in both cases)
The no-supersaturation approach
According to the thermodynamic model of Hugh LeMessurier and Brian Andrew Hills, this condition of optimum driving force for outgassing is satisfied when the ambient pressure is just sufficient to prevent phase separation (bubble formation).
The fundamental difference of this approach is equating absolute ambient pressure with the total of the partial gas tensions in the tissue for each gas after decompression as the limiting point beyond which bubble formation is expected.
The model assumes that the natural unsaturation in the tissues due to metabolic reduction in oxygen partial pressure provides the buffer against bubble formation, and that the tissue may be safely decompressed provided that the reduction in ambient pressure does not exceed this unsaturation value. Clearly any method which increases the unsaturation would allow faster decompression, as the concentration gradient would be greater without risk of bubble formation.
The natural unsaturation increases with depth, so a larger ambient pressure differential is possible at greater depth, and reduces as the diver surfaces. This model leads to slower ascent rates and deeper first stops, but shorter shallow stops, as there is less bubble phase gas to be eliminated.
The critical volume approach
The critical-volume criterion assumes that whenever the total volume of gas phase accumulated in the tissues exceeds a critical value, signs or symptoms of DCS will appear. This assumption is supported by doppler bubble detection surveys. The consequences of this approach depend strongly on the bubble formation and growth model used, primarily whether bubble formation is practicably avoidable during decompression.
This approach is used in decompression models which assume that during practical decompression profiles, there will be growth of stable microscopic bubble nuclei which always exist in aqueous media, including living tissues.
Efficient decompression will minimize the total ascent time while limiting the total accumulation of bubbles to an acceptable non-symptomatic critical value. The physics and physiology of bubble growth and elimination indicate that it is more efficient to eliminate bubbles while they are very small. Models which include bubble phase have produced decompression profiles with slower ascents and deeper initial decompression stops as a way of curtailing bubble growth and facilitating early elimination, in comparison with the models which consider only dissolved phase gas.
Residual inert gas
Gas bubble formation has been experimentally shown to significantly inhibit inert gas elimination.
A considerable amount of inert gas will remain in the tissues after a diver has surfaced, even if no symptoms of decompression sickness occur. This residual gas may be dissolved or in sub-clinical bubble form, and will continue to outgas while the diver remains at the surface. If a repetitive dive is made, the tissues are preloaded with this residual gas which will make them saturate faster.
In repetitive diving, the slower tissues can accumulate gas day after day, if there is insufficient time for the gas to be eliminated between dives. This can be a problem for multi-day multi-dive situations. Multiple decompressions per day over multiple days can increase the risk of decompression sickness because of the build up of asymptomatic bubbles, which reduce the rate of off-gassing and are not accounted for in most decompression algorithms. Consequently, some diver training organisations make extra recommendations such as taking "the seventh day off".
Decompression models in practice
Deterministic models
Deterministic decompression models are a rule based approach to calculating decompression. These models work from the idea that "excessive" supersaturation in various tissues is "unsafe" (resulting in decompression sickness). The models usually contain multiple depth and tissue dependent rules based on mathematical models of idealised tissue compartments. There is no objective mathematical way of evaluating the rules or overall risk other than comparison with empirical test results. The models are compared with experimental results and reports from the field, and rules are revised by qualitative judgment and curve fitting so that the revised model more closely predicts observed reality, and then further observations are made to assess the reliability of the model in extrapolations into previously untested ranges. The usefulness of the model is judged on its accuracy and reliability in predicting the onset of symptomatic decompression sickness and asymptomatic venous bubbles during ascent.
It may be reasonably assumed that in reality, both perfusion transport by blood circulation, and diffusion transport in tissues where there is little or no blood flow occur. The problem with attempts to simultaneously model perfusion and diffusion is that there are large numbers of variables due to interactions between all of the tissue compartments and the problem becomes intractable. A way of simplifying the modelling of gas transfer into and out of tissues is to make assumptions about the limiting mechanism of dissolved gas transport to the tissues which control decompression. Assuming that either perfusion or diffusion has a dominant influence, and the other can be disregarded, can greatly reduce the number of variables.
Perfusion limited tissues and parallel tissue models
The assumption that perfusion is the limiting mechanism leads to a model comprising a group of tissues with varied rates of perfusion, but supplied by blood of approximately equivalent gas concentration. It is also assumed that there is no gas transfer between tissue compartments by diffusion. This results in a parallel set of independent tissues, each with its own rate of ingassing and outgassing dependent on the rate of blood flowing through the tissue. Gas uptake for each tissue is generally modelled as an exponential function, with a fixed compartment half-time, and gas elimination may also be modelled by an exponential function, with the same or a longer half time, or as a more complex function, as in the exponential-linear elimination model.
The critical ratio hypothesis predicts that the development of bubbles will occur in a tissue when the ratio of dissolved gas partial pressure to ambient pressure exceeds a particular ratio for a given tissue. The ratio may be the same for all tissue compartments or it may vary, and each compartment is allocated a specific critical supersaturation ratio, based on experimental observations.
John Scott Haldane introduced the concept of half times to model the uptake and release of nitrogen into the blood. He suggested 5 tissue compartments with half times of 5, 10, 20, 40 and 75 minutes. In this early hypothesis it was predicted that if the ascent rate does not allow the inert gas partial pressure in each of the hypothetical tissues to exceed the environmental pressure by more than 2:1 bubbles will not form. Basically this meant that one could ascend from 30 m (4 bar) to 10 m (2 bar), or from 10 m (2 bar) to the surface (1 bar) when saturated, without a decompression problem. To ensure this a number of decompression stops were incorporated into the ascent schedules. The ascent rate and the fastest tissue in the model determine the time and depth of the first stop. Thereafter the slower tissues determine when it is safe to ascend further. This 2:1 ratio was found to be too conservative for fast tissues (short dives) and not conservative enough for slow tissues (long dives). The ratio also seemed to vary with depth. Haldane's approach to decompression modeling was used from 1908 to the 1960s with minor modifications, primarily changes to the number of compartments and half times used. The 1937 US Navy tables were based on research by O. D. Yarbrough and used 3 compartments: the 5- and 10-minute compartments were dropped. In the 1950s the tables were revised and the 5- and 10-minute compartments restored, and a 120-minute compartment added.
In the 1960s Robert D. Workman of the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) reviewed the basis of the model and subsequent research performed by the US Navy. Tables based on Haldane's work and subsequent refinements were still found to be inadequate for longer and deeper dives. Workman proposed that the tolerable change in pressure was better described as a critical pressure difference, and revised Haldane's model to allow each tissue compartment to tolerate a different amount of supersaturation which varies with depth. He introduced the term "M-value" to indicate the maximum amount of supersaturation each compartment could tolerate at a given depth and added three additional compartments with 160, 200 and 240-minute half times. Workman presented his findings as an equation which could be used to calculate the results for any depth and stated that a linear projection of M-values would be useful for computer programming.
A large part of Albert A. Bühlmann's research was to determine the longest half time compartments for Nitrogen and Helium, and he increased the number of compartments to 16. He investigated the implications of decompression after diving at altitude and published decompression tables that could be used at a range of altitudes. Bühlmann used a method for decompression calculation similar to that proposed by Workman, which included M-values expressing a linear relationship between maximum inert gas pressure in the tissue compartments and ambient pressure, but based on absolute pressure, which made them more easily adapted for altitude diving. Bühlmann's algorithm was used to generate the standard decompression tables for a number of sports diving associations, and is used in several personal decompression computers, sometimes in a modified form.
B.A. Hills and D.H. LeMessurier studied the empirical decompression practices of Okinawan pearl divers in the Torres Strait and observed that they made deeper stops but reduced the total decompression time compared with the generally used tables of the time. Their analysis strongly suggested that bubble presence limits gas elimination rates, and emphasized the importance of inherent unsaturation of tissues due to metabolic processing of oxygen. This became known as the thermodynamic model. More recently, recreational technical divers developed decompression procedures using deeper stops than required by the decompression tables in use. These led to the RGBM and VPM bubble models. A deep stop was originally an extra stop introduced by divers during ascent, at a greater depth than the deepest stop required by their computer algorithm. There are also computer algorithms that are claimed to use deep stops, but these algorithms and the practice of deep stops have not been adequately validated.
A "Pyle stop" is a deep stop named after Richard Pyle, an early advocate of deep stops, at the depths halfway between the bottom and the first conventional decompression stop, and halfway between the previous Pyle stop and the deepest conventional stop, provided the conventional stop is more than 9 m shallower. A Pyle stop is about 2 minutes long. The additional ascent time required for Pyle stops is included in the dive profile before finalising the decompression schedule. Pyle found that on dives where he stopped periodically to vent the swim-bladders of his fish specimens, he felt better after the dive, and based the deep stop procedure on the depths and duration of these pauses. The hypothesis is that these stops provide an opportunity to eliminate gas while still dissolved, or at least while the bubbles are still small enough to be easily eliminated, and the result is that there will be considerably fewer or smaller venous bubbles to eliminate at the shallower stops as predicted by the thermodynamic model of Hills.
For example, a diver ascends from a maximum depth of , where the ambient pressure is , to a decompression stop at , where the pressure is . The first Pyle stop would take place at the halfway pressure, which is corresponding to a depth of . The second Pyle stop would be at . A third would be at which is less than below the first required stop, and therefore is omitted.
The value and safety of deep stops additional to the decompression schedule derived from a decompression algorithm is unclear. Decompression experts have pointed out that deep stops are likely to be made at depths where ingassing continues for some slow tissues, and that the addition of deep stops of any kind should be included in the hyperbaric exposure for which the decompression schedule is computed, and not added afterwards, so that such ingassing of slower tissues can be taken into account. Deep stops performed during a dive where the decompression is calculated in real-time are simply part of a multi-level dive to the computer, and add no risk beyond that which is inherent in the algorithm.
There is a limit to how deep a "deep stop" can be. Some off-gassing must take place, and continued on-gassing should be minimised for acceptably effective decompression. The "deepest possible decompression stop" for a given profile can be defined as the depth where the gas loading for the leading compartment crosses the ambient pressure line. This is not a useful stop depth - some excess in tissue gas concentration is necessary to drive the outgassing diffusion, however this depth is a useful indicator of the beginning of the decompression zone, in which ascent rate is part of the planned decompression.
A study by DAN in 2004 found that the incidence of high-grade bubbles could be reduced to zero providing the nitrogen concentration of the most saturated tissue was kept below 80 percent of the allowed M value and that an added deep stop was a simple and practical way of doing this, while retaining the original ascent rate.
Diffusion limited tissues and the "Tissue slab", and series models
The assumption that diffusion is the limiting mechanism of dissolved gas transport in the tissues results in a rather different tissue compartment model. In this case a series of compartments has been postulated, with perfusion transport into one compartment, and diffusion between the compartments, which for simplicity are arranged in series, so that for the generalised compartment, diffusion is to and from only the two adjacent compartments on opposite sides, and the limit cases are the first compartment where the gas is supplied and removed via perfusion, and the end of the line, where there is only one neighbouring compartment. The simplest series model is a single compartment, and this can be further reduced to a one-dimensional "tissue slab" model.
Bubble models
Bubble decompression models are a rule based approach to calculating decompression based on the idea that microscopic bubble nuclei always exist in water and tissues that contain water and that by predicting and controlling the bubble growth, one can avoid decompression sickness. Most of the bubble models assume that bubbles will form during decompression, and that mixed phase gas elimination occurs, which is slower than dissolved phase elimination. Bubble models tend to have deeper first stops to get rid of more dissolved gas at a lower supersaturation to reduce the total bubble phase volume, and potentially reduce the time required at shallower depths to eliminate bubbles.
Decompression models that assume mixed phase gas elimination include:
The arterial bubble decompression model of the French Tables du Ministère du Travail 1992
The U.S. Navy Exponential-Linear (Thalmann) algorithm used for the 2008 US Navy air decompression tables (among others)
Hennessy's combined perfusion/diffusion model of the BSAC'88 tables
The Varying Permeability Model (VPM) developed by D.E. Yount and others at the University of Hawaii
The Reduced Gradient Bubble Model (RGBM) developed by Bruce Wienke at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Goldman Interconnected Compartment Model
In contrast to the independent parallel compartments of the Haldanean models, in which all compartments are considered risk bearing, the Goldman model posits a relatively well perfused "active" or "risk-bearing" compartment in series with adjacent relatively poorly perfused "reservoir" or "buffer" compartments, which are not considered potential sites for bubble formation, but affect the probability of bubble formation in the active compartment by diffusive inert gas exchange with the active compartment. During compression, gas diffuses into the active compartment and through it into the buffer compartments, increasing the total amount of dissolved gas passing through the active compartment. During decompression, this buffered gas must pass through the active compartment again before it can be eliminated. If the gas loading of the buffer compartments is small, the added gas diffusion through the active compartment is slow. The interconnected models predict a reduction in gas washout rate with time during decompression compared with the rate predicted for the independent parallel compartment model used for comparison.
The Goldman model differs from the Kidd-Stubbs series decompression model in that the Goldman model assumes linear kinetics, where the K-S model includes a quadratic component, and the Goldman model considers only the central well-perfused compartment to contribute explicitly to risk, while the K-S model assumes all compartments to carry potential risk. The DCIEM 1983 model associates risk with the two outermost compartments of a four compartment series. The mathematical model based on this concept is claimed by Goldman to fit not only the Navy square profile data used for calibration, but also predicts risk relatively accurately for saturation profiles. A bubble version of the ICM model was not significantly different in predictions, and was discarded as more complex with no significant advantages. The ICM also predicted decompression sickness incidence more accurately at the low-risk recreational diving exposures recorded in DAN's Project Dive Exploration data set. The alternative models used in this study were the LE1 (Linear-Exponential) and straight Haldanean models. The Goldman model predicts a significant risk reduction following a safety stop on a low-risk dive and significant risk reduction by using nitrox (more so than the PADI tables suggest).
Probabilistic models
Probabilistic decompression models are designed to calculate the risk (or probability) of decompression sickness (DCS) occurring on a given decompression profile. Statistical analysis is well suited to compressed air work in tunneling operations due to the large number of subjects undergoing similar exposures at the same ambient pressure and temperature, with similar workloads and exposure times, with the same decompression schedule. Large numbers of decompressions under similar circumstances have shown that it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate all risk of DCS, so it is necessary to set an acceptable risk, based on the other factors relevant to the application. For example, easy access to effective treatment in the form of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on site, or greater advantage to getting the diver out of the water sooner, may make a higher incidence acceptable, while interfering with work schedule, adverse effects on worker morale or a high expectation of litigation would shift acceptable incidence rate downward. Efficiency is also a factor, as decompression of employees occurs during working hours.
These methods can vary the decompression stop depths and times to arrive at a decompression schedule that assumes a specified probability of DCS occurring, while minimizing the total decompression time. This process can also work in reverse allowing one to calculate the probability of DCS for any decompression schedule, given sufficient reliable data.
In 1936 an incidence rate of 2% was considered acceptable for compressed air workers in the UK. The US Navy in 2000 accepted a 2% incidence of mild symptoms, but only 0.1% serious symptoms. Commercial diving in the North Sea in the 1990s accepted 0.5% mild symptoms, but almost no serious symptoms, and commercial diving in the Gulf of Mexico also during the 1990s, accepted 0.1% mild cases and 0.025% serious cases. Health and Safety authorities tend to specify the acceptable risk as as low as reasonably practicable taking into account all relevant factors, including economic factors. To analyse probability of mild and severe symptoms it is first necessary to define these classes of manifestation, as applicable to the analysis.
The necessary tools for probability estimation for decompression sickness are a biophysical model which describes the inert gas exchange and bubble formation during decompression, exposure data in the form of pressure/time profiles for the breathing gas mixtures, and the DCS outcomes for these exposures, statistical methods, such as survival analysis or Bayesian analysis to find a best fit between model and experimental data, after which the models can be quantitatively compared and the best fitting model used to predict DCS probability for the model. This process is complicated by the influence of environmental conditions on DCS probability. Factors that affect perfusion of the tissues during ingassing and outgassing, which affect rates of inert gas uptake and elimination respectively, include immersion, temperature and exercise. Exercise is also known to promote bubble formation during decompression.
The distribution of decompression stops is also known to affect DCS risk. A USN experiment using symptomatic decompression sickness as the endpoint, compared two models for dive working exposures on air using the same bottom time, water temperature and workload, with the same total decompression time, for two different depth distributions of decompression stops, also on air, and found the shallower stops to carry a statistically very significantly lower risk. The model did not attempt to optimise depth distribution of decompression time, or the use of gas switching, it just compared the effectiveness of two specific models, but for those models the results were convincing.
Another set of experiments was conducted for a series of increasing bottom time exposures at a constant depth, with varying ambient temperature. Four temperature temperature conditions were compared: warm during the bottom sector and decompression, cold during bottom sector and decompression, warm at the bottom and cold during decompression, and cold at the bottom and warm during decompression. The effects were very clear that DCS incidence was much lower for divers that were colder during the ingassing phase and warmer during decompression than the reverse, which has been interpreted as indicating the effects of temperature on perfusion on gas uptake and elimination.
A retrospective statistical analysis of a large data set of case reports of air and nitrox dives published in 2017 indicated that for an acceptable risk of 2% for mild symptoms, and 0.1% for severe symptoms, using a linear-exponential degassing model, the severe symptom risk was the limiting factor. One of the factors complicating this analysis was the variability in methods for distinguishing between mild and severe cases.
Saturation decompression
Saturation decompression is a physiological process of transition from a steady state of full saturation with inert gas at raised pressure to standard conditions at normal surface atmospheric pressure. It is a long process during which inert gases are eliminated at a very low rate limited by the slowest affected tissues, and a deviation can cause the formation of gas bubbles which can produce decompression sickness. Most operational procedures rely on experimentally derived parameters describing a continuous slow decompression rate, which may depend on depth and gas mixture.
In saturation diving all tissues are considered saturated and decompression which is safe for the slowest tissues will theoretically be safe for all faster tissues in a parallel model. Direct ascent from air saturation at approximately 7 msw produces venous gas bubbles but not symptomatic DCS. Deeper saturation exposures require decompression to saturation schedules.
The safe rate of decompression from a saturation dive is controlled by the partial pressure of oxygen in the inspired breathing gas. The inherent unsaturation due to the oxygen window allows a relatively fast initial phase of saturation decompression in proportion to the oxygen partial pressure and then controls the rate of further decompression limited by the half-time of inert gas elimination from the slowest compartment. However, some saturation decompression schedules specifically do not allow an decompression to start with an upward excursion. Neither the excursions nor the decompression procedures currently in use (2016) have been found to cause decompression problems in isolation, but there appears to be significantly higher risk when excursions are followed by decompression before non-symptomatic bubbles resulting from excursions have totally resolved. Starting decompression while bubbles are present appears to be the significant factor in many cases of otherwise unexpected decompression sickness during routine saturation decompression.
Application of a bubble model in 1985 allowed successful modelling of conventional decompressions, altitude decompression, no-stop thresholds, and saturation dives using one setting of four global nucleation parameters.
Research continues on saturation decompression modelling and schedule testing. In 2015 a concept named Extended Oxygen Window was used in preliminary tests for a modified saturation decompression model. This model allows a faster rate of decompression at the start of the ascent to utilise the inherent unsaturation due to metabolic use of oxygen, followed by a constant rate limited by oxygen partial pressure of the breathing gas. The period of constant decompression rate is also limited by the allowable maximum oxygen fraction, and when this limit is reached, decompression rate slows down again as the partial pressure of oxygen is reduced. The procedure remains experimental as of May 2016. The goal is an acceptably safe reduction of overall decompression time for a given saturation depth and gas mixture.
Validation of models
It is important that any theory be validated by carefully controlled testing procedures. As testing procedures and equipment become more sophisticated, researchers learn more about the effects of decompression on the body. Initial research focused on producing dives that were free of recognizable symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). With the later use of Doppler ultrasound testing, it was realized that bubbles were forming within the body even on dives where no DCI signs or symptoms were encountered. This phenomenon has become known as "silent bubbles".
The presence of venous gas emboli is considered a low specificity predictor of decompression sickness, but their absence is recognised to be a sensitive indicator of low risk decompression, therefore the quantitative detection of VGE is thought to be useful as an indicator of decompression stress when comparing decompression strategies, or assessing the efficiency of procedures.
The US Navy 1956 tables were based on limits determined by external DCS signs and symptoms. Later researchers were able to improve on this work by adjusting the limitations based on Doppler testing. However the US Navy CCR tables based on the Thalmann algorithm also used only recognisable DCS symptoms as the test criteria. Since the testing procedures are lengthy and costly, and there are ethical limitations on experimental work on human subjects with injury as an endpoint, it is common practice for researchers to make initial validations of new models based on experimental results from earlier trials. This has some implications when comparing models.
Efficiency of stop depth distribution
Deep, short duration dives require a long decompression in comparison to the time at depth, which is inherently inefficient in comparison with saturation diving. Various modifications to decompression algorithms with reasonably validated performance in shallower diving have been used in the effort to develop shorter or safer decompression, but these are generally not supported by controlled experiment and to some extent rely on anecdotal evidence. A widespread belief developed that algorithms based on bubble models and which distribute decompression stops over a greater range of depths are more efficient than the traditional dissolved gas content models by minimising early bubble formation, based on theoretical considerations, largely in the absence of evidence of effectiveness, though there were low incidences of symptomatic decompression sickness. Some evidence relevant to some of these modifications exists and has been analysed, and generally supports the opposite view, that deep stops may lead to greater rates of bubble formation and growth compared to the established systems using shallower stops distributed over the same total decompression time for a given deep profile.
The integral of supersaturation over time may be an indicator of decompression stress, either for a given tissue group or for all the tissue groups. Comparison of this indicator calculated for the combined Bühlmann tissue groups for a range of equal duration decompression schedules for the same depth, bottom time, and gas mixtures, has suggested greater overall decompression stress for dives using deep stops, at least partly due to continued ingassing of slower tissues during the deep stops.
Effects of inert gas component changes
Gas switching during decompression on open circuit is done primarily to increase the partial pressure of oxygen to increase the oxygen window effect, while keeping below acute toxicity levels. It is well established both in theory and practice, that a higher oxygen partial pressure facilitates a more rapid and effective elimination of inert gas, both in the dissolved state and as bubbles.
In closed circuit rebreather diving the oxygen partial pressure throughout the dive is maintained at a relatively high but tolerable level to reduce the ongassing as well as to accelerate offgassing of the diluent gas. Changes from helium based diluents to nitrogen during ascent are desirable for reducing the use of expensive helium, but have other implications. It is unlikely that changes to nitrogen based decompression gas will accelerate decompression in typical technical bounce dive profiles, but there is some evidence that decompressing on helium-oxygen mixtures is more likely to result in neurological DCS, while nitrogen based decompression is more likely to produce other symptom if DCS occurs. However, switching from helium rich to nitrogen rich decompression gas is implicated in inner ear DCS, connected with counter-diffusion effects. This risk can be reduced by sufficient initial decompression, using high oxygen partial pressure and making the helium to nitrogen switch relatively shallow.
Altitude exposure, altitude diving and flying after diving
The USAF conducted experiments on human subjects in 1982 to validate schedules for air diving no decompression limits before immediate excursions to altitude and for altitude diving allowing immediate flying after the dive to an altitude of . Another test series in 2004 was made to validate predictions of a bubble-model for altitude decompression using previously untested exposure profiles. Parameters included exertion, altitudes from , prebreathe time and exposure time, but these exposures did not include recent dives.
Experiments with an endpoint of DCS symptoms using profiles near the no-decompression exposure limits for recreational diving were carried out to determine how DCS occurrence during or after flight relates to the length of pre-flight surface interval. The dives and PFSI were followed by a four-hour exposure at 75 kPa, equivalent to the maximum permitted commercial aircraft cabin altitude of . DCS incidence decreased as surface interval increased, with no incidence for a 17 hour surface interval. Repetitive dives profiles usually needed longer surface intervals than single dives to minimise incidence. These tests have helped inform recommendations on time to fly.
In flight transthoracic echocardiography has shown that there is a low but non-zero probability of decompression sickness in commercial pressurised aircraft after a 24 hour pre-flight surface interval following a week of multiple repetitive recreational dives, indicated by detection of venous gas bubbles in a significant number of the divers tested.
Current research
Research on decompression continues. Data is not generally available on the specifics, however Divers Alert Network (DAN) has an ongoing citizen science based programme run by DAN (Europe) which gathers data from volunteer recreational divers for analysis by DAN research staff and other researchers. This research is funded by subscription fees of DAN Europe members. The Diving Safety Laboratory is a database to which members can upload dive profiles from a wide range of dive computers converted to a standard format and other data about the dive. Data on hundreds of thousands of real dives is analysed to investigate aspects of diving safety. The large amounts of data gathered is used for probabilistic analysis of decompression risk. The data donors can get immediate feedback in the form of a simple risk analysis of their dive profiles rated as one of three nominal levels of risk (high, medium and low) based on comparison with Bühlmann ZH16c M-values computed for the same profile.
Listed projects (not all directly related to decompression) include:
Gathering data on vascular gas bubbles and analysis of the data
Identification of optimised ascent profile
Investigating the causes of unexplained diving incidents
Stress in recreational diving
Correlation between patent foramen ovale (PFO) and risk of decompression illness
Diving with asthma and diabetes and managing the associated risk
Physiology and pathophysiology of breath-hold
Hypothermia and diving
Headache and diving
Blood changes associated with diving
Decompression risk of air travel after diving
Physiological effects of rebreather diving
Effects of decompression stress on endothelial stem cells and blood cells
Early decompression stress biomarkers
The effects of normobaric oxygen on blood and in DCI first aid
Practical effectiveness of models
Bubble models for decompression were popular among technical divers in the early 2000s, although there was little data to support the effectiveness of the models in practice. Since then, several comparative studies have indicated relatively larger numbers of venous gas emboli after decompression based on bubble models, and one study reported a higher rate of decompression sickness. The deeper decompression stops earlier in the ascent appear to be less effective at controlling bubble formation than the hypotheses suggested. This failure may be due to continued ingassing of slower tissues during the extended time at greater depth, resulting in these tissues being more supersaturated at shallower depths. The optimal decompression strategy for deep bounce dives remains unknown (2016).
The practical efficacy of gas switches from helium based diluent to nitrox for accelerating decompression has not been demonstrated convincingly. These switches increase risk of inner ear decompression sickness due to counterdiffusion effects.
Teaching of decompression theory
Decompression is an area where you discover that, the more you learn, the more you know that you really don't know what is going on. For behind the "black-and-white" exactness of table entries, the second-by-second countdowns of dive computers, and beneath the mathematical purity of decompression models, lurks a dark and mysterious physiological jungle that has barely been explored.
— Karl E. Huggins, 1992
Exposure to the various theories, models, tables and algorithms is needed to allow the diver to make educated and knowledgeable decisions regarding their personal decompression needs. Basic decompression theory and use of decompression tables is part of the theory component of training for commercial divers, and dive planning based on decompression tables, and the practice and field management of decompression is a significant part of the work of the diving supervisor. Recreational divers are trained in the theory and practice of decompression to the extent that the certifying agency specifies in the training standard for each certification. This may vary from a rudimentary overview sufficient to allow the diver to avoid decompression obligation for entry level divers, to competence in the use of several decompression algorithms by way of personal dive computers, decompression software, and tables for advanced technical divers. The detailed understanding of decompression theory is not generally required of either commercial or recreational divers.
See also
Decompression models:
Notes
1. autochthonous: formed or originating in the place where found
References
Sources
Further reading
Gribble, M. de G. (1960); A comparison of the High-Altitude and High-Pressure syndromes of decompression sickness, Br. J. Ind. Med., 1960, 17, 181.
Hills. B. (1966); A thermodynamic and kinetic approach to decompression sickness. Thesis
Scientific theories
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig%20Larman
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Craig Larman
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Craig Larman (born 1958) is a Canadian computer scientist, author, and organizational development consultant. With Bas Vodde, he is best known for formulating LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum), and for several books on product and software development.
Education and career
Larman received a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in computer science from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, focusing on artificial intelligence and object-oriented programming languages.
Starting in the late 1970s, Larman worked as a software developer in APL, Lisp, Prolog, and Smalltalk, using iterative and evolutionary methods, which strongly influenced his interest in methods and technologies in software development, that later became a focus of his consulting and writing.
In the 1990s he was a volunteer organizer at the OOPSLA conferences, which exposed him to early introductions to the Agile software development methods Scrum and Extreme Programming presented at the conference, which led to his interest and work in those areas.
Starting in the late 1990s he served as chief scientist at Valtech, a global consulting and outsourcing company based in Paris, France, with an outsourcing division in Bengaluru, India. While in Bengaluru, Larman worked on the development of scaling Agile development to outsourcing, formulated as part of Large-Scale Scrum.
In 2005 while consulting at Nokia Networks in Helsinki on the introduction of Scrum and other Agile methods for large-scale development, he met Bas Vodde, who worked within the company with the same remit. This led to their collaboration culminating in formulating and writing about LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum).
Contributions
In 1997 Larman authored Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis & Design, a very popular textbook that contributed to the subsequent widespread adoption of object-oriented development. In this he introduced the GRASP principles of object-oriented design, contributing to the codification of software design principles.
In 2005 Larman was the co-creator of LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum), contributing to the application of Agile software development to large-scale product development. In 2017 the Scrum Alliance—a global non-profit educational certification body for Scrum and Agile software development subjects -- adopted LeSS for scaling development, citing its contribution.
Selected publications
Books
1997 - Applying UML and Patterns -
1999 - Java 2 Performance and Idiom Guide - (with Rhett Guthrie)
2001 - Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and the Unified Process -
2003 - Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager's Guide -
2004 - Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development -
2008 - Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Thinking and Organizational Tools for Large-Scale Scrum - (with Bas Vodde)
2010 - Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum - (with Bas Vodde)
2016 - Large-Scale Scrum: More with LeSS - (with Bas Vodde)
Articles
Larman, Craig. "Protected variation: The importance of being closed." IEEE Software 18.3 (2001): 89–91.
References
External links
Craig Larman Home Page
LeSS Works Home Page
Canadian software engineers
Canadian technology writers
Living people
1958 births
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21462386
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinix
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Tinix
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Tinix (Try It as miNIX-like operating system), is a tutorial operating system (OS) written by Yu Yuan. It is used to teach fundamentals rather than to do work. In his book "Writing OS DIY", Yu provides all source code for Tinix.
Tinix borrows many concepts and methods from Minix. The book compensates for practical computer programming skills, especially in x86 assembly language, lacking in Andrew S. Tanenbaum's book "Operating Systems: Design and Implementation", 1987, 1997, 2006.
References
Unix variants
Free software operating systems
Microkernels
Microkernel-based operating systems
Educational operating systems
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35842939
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre%20Heidari
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Andre Heidari
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Andre Heidari is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He played college football for the USC Trojans. As a true freshman in 2011, he completed 88.2% of his field goals, the third highest field goal percentage in the nation, and all 50 of his PAT attempts. He was named First Team All-Pac-12, Sports Illustrated All-American Honorable Mention, and First Team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele. He was also a 2011 Lou Groza Award semifinalist.
Early years
Heidari attended Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, California where his 2010 honors included UnderArmour All-American, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100 and Cal-Hi Sports All-State third team as a senior placekicker and punter. As a 2009 junior, 59 of his 70 kickoffs were touchbacks and 20 of his punts pinned opponents within the 20-yard line (with a long of 63 yards) as he made the All-Southwest Yosemite League second team.
College career
As a true freshman in 2010, Heidari was the starting placekicker and kickoff specialist for USC. In 12 games, he completed 15 of 17 field goals and all 50 of his PAT tries. His 88.2% field goal percentage was third in the nation among kickers with at least 10 made field goals (and the best among freshmen and sophomore kickers). He made nine consecutive field goals before a miss at Notre Dame and was 4-of-5 on field goals of at least 40 yards in 2011 (with a 50-yarder). Of his 76 kickoffs in 2011, 25 pinned opponents within the 20-yard line (including 10 touchbacks). He also made four tackles.
He was one of 20 semifinalists for the 2011 Groza Award. He made the 2011 CBSSports.com, CollegeFootball News.com and Phil Steele Freshman All-American first team and YahooSports.com Freshman All-American second team. He made 2011 SI.com All-American honorable mention. He made the 2011 All-Pac-12 first team. He made the 2011 ESPN.com, CBSSports.com and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team.
In the opening game of the 2012 season against Hawaii, Heidari tore his meniscus in his right leg. With an injury, Heidari returned to make a 28-yard field goal to end the first half.
Professional career
On June 10, 2015, Heidari was assigned to the Los Angeles KISS of the Arena Football League (AFL).
References
External links
USC Trojans bio
All-American college football players
Players of American football from California
USC Trojans football players
American people of Iranian descent
Living people
1993 births
Los Angeles Kiss players
Sportspeople of Iranian descent
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1197079
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanka%20Linux%20User%20Group
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Lanka Linux User Group
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Lanka Linux User Group, also known as LK-LUG, is an organization in Sri Lanka for promoting free software. Since its beginnings in 1998 with 40 members, hundreds of Linux enthusiasts from several countries have joined.
Members include both home and business users of Linux. Activities of the group include helping each other over the mailing lists, educating the general public by participating at exhibitions, workshops and media, and encouraging the use of free and open-source software (FOSS) in national ICT programmes.
LK-LUG also is working on localisation of the Linux desktop to the Sinhala language, and has so far localised some major components. There also exist a Sinhala Font package developed by LK-LUG. A Live-CD based Linux distribution is available.
See also
History of Sinhala software
References
External links
LK-LUG Home Page
Linux user groups
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7893653
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows%20software%20trace%20preprocessor
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Windows software trace preprocessor
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The Windows software trace preprocessor (WPP; the preprocessor and related support tools are known as WPP Software Tracing) is a preprocessor that simplifies the use of WMI event tracing to implement efficient software tracing in drivers and applications that target Windows 2000 and later operating systems. WPP was created by Microsoft and is included in the Windows DDK. Although WPP is wide in its applicability, it is not included in the Windows SDK, and therefore is primarily used for drivers and driver support software produced by software vendors that purchase the Windows DDK.
Background
Software tracing is a specialized use of logging to record information about a program's execution. This information is commonly used for debugging. In contrast to event logging, the primary purpose of which is to produce records of events that can be audited by system administrators (see for example Event Viewer) or analyzed by management tools, software tracing is primarily a debugging aid for software developers. As such, many of the non-functional requirements of event logging, such as localizability or a standards-based output format, are explicitly non-goals for most applications of software tracing. On the other hand, software tracing has special requirements for performance that are not generally as important in event logging. For example, one common use of software tracing, in/out tracing, produces output at the entry point and return of functions or methods so that a developer can visually follow the execution path, often including parameters and return values, in a debugger or text-based log file (this can be seen as a run-time analog of a sequence diagram). This type of tracing, although useful for developers, can greatly hurt performance of a software product if it cannot be disabled (either at compile-time via conditional compilation, or at run-time via flags).
Additional considerations special to software tracing include the following:
In proprietary software, tracing data may include sensitive information about the product's source code.
If tracing is enabled or disabled at run-time, many methods of tracing require a significant amount of additional data be included in the binary, which can indirectly hurt performance even when tracing is disabled.
If tracing is enabled or disabled at compile-time, getting trace data for an issue on a customer machine depends on the customer being willing and able to install a special, tracing enabled, version of your software.
Certain types of software, such as drivers, need to meet strict performance requirements even with tracing enabled.
Due to the first two considerations, traditional methods of software tracing use conditional compilation to enable or disable tracing (and inclusion of tracing data) at compile-time. For example, using the C preprocessor, one might define a macro DebugOut as follows:
#ifdef _DEBUG
#define DebugOut(msg, ...) \
DebugPrintf( "(" ":" TO_STRING() ")\t" \
msg, __VAR_ARGS__)
#else
#define DebugOut(msg, ...)
#endif
where TO_STRING is a macro that converts the line number () to a string and DebugPrintf is a printf-like function that might for example output text to the debugger.
Then, the following code:
DebugOut("Error %d occurred\n", error_code);
would produce output similar to the following on debug builds only:
SomeFunction(file.c:78) Error 217 occurred
Another technique for certain types of tracing (particularly in/out tracing) is to use instrumentation. While this technique can address many of the major concerns, it is not always available (typically only in managed code).
WMI event tracing is an example of a technology that addresses in particular performance of tracing in performance-critical code such as drivers. It can also address the concern of controlling the distribution of sensitive trace information by letting a developer define the human-readable tracing data ("Error %d occurred\n" in the example above) separately from the code so that it is not built into the product (in the code, a specific message is referred to by its message number). However, there are some important limitations:
WMI event tracing cannot, by itself, automatically generate the "SomeFunction(file.c:78)" part of the trace message. This is a limitation of all such technologies, not specific to WMI event tracing.
Requiring the human-readable part of the tracing data to be separated from the code can decrease the readability of the code.
Using this technique can introduce significant development overhead for "one-shot" tracing messages.
Operation of WPP
WPP is run prior to compilation (in other words, before even the C preprocessor), and generates a trace message header for each file that it processes (by default this header is filename.tmh, where filename is the name of the processed source file). This header must then be explicitly included into the source file, for example:
// File: file.cxx
// This file is an example of using WPP
#include "file.tmh"
WPP's understanding of C/C++ syntax is very limited. In particular, it does not expand macros (except in special circumstances where it is necessary), nor does it handle pragmas or perform any semantic analysis.
A developer specifies one or more tracing macros that WPP should handle, via a configuration file, special annotations in comments, command line parameters, or some combination of these methods. Each time WPP encounters one of the macros that it is supposed to handle, it generates a trace message macro. In other words, if for example DoTrace is a tracing macro, WPP will generate a separate macro for each occurrence of DoTrace. The generated trace message macros are disambiguated by file name and line number, and, using various preprocessor tricks, WPP in turn defines the original tracing macro so that it will expand the appropriate trace message macro at each occurrence.
How trace message macros are generated by WPP depends on a template file (the format of the file is undocumented). The default template files included with WPP specify that the string of a trace message should be included in an annotation (using the __annotation feature of the Microsoft Compiler). These strings are not included in the compiled code, but are included in the debugger symbol file in a format that tools included with WPP can understand. The trace message macros also include the logic for enabling or disabling tracing via flags and the calls to WMI event tracing APIs.
Limitations
Because WPP doesn't expand macros, it won't recognize an instantiation of a tracing macro that is included in the definition of another macro. For example, if DoTrace is a tracing macro, and a macro CheckForErrors is defined as:
#define CheckForErrors(error_code) \
if (IsError(error_code)) \
{ \
DoTrace("Error %d occurred\n", err); \
HandleError(error_code); \
}
then WPP will not generate the trace message macros for DoTrace where CheckForErrors occurs. WPP provides an ad hoc workaround for this issue, but there still exists a small class of macros that cannot be expressed even using the workaround.
The default template file generates code that will only work properly with the Microsoft compiler. Although this is not an inherent limitation of the preprocessor, the fact that the template file (which controls what code is generated in the trace message header) uses an undocumented format means that in practice WPP will only work properly with the Microsoft compiler.
Earlier versions of WPP caused compiling errors when more than one trace macro header was included into a source file (for example, if a source file with tracing included a header that had tracing in inline functions). This is fixed in the most recent version. Note that this is also a limitation of the template file, not the WPP tool itself.
Because trace message macros are disambiguated by file and line number, there can be only one tracing macro per line in the source code.
External links
WPP Software Tracing Reference on MSDN
Microsoft software
Windows administration
Windows components
Debugging
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41410554
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictive%20policing%20in%20the%20United%20States
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Predictive policing in the United States
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In the United States, the practice of predictive policing has been implemented by police departments in several states such as California, Washington, South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Tennessee, New York, and Illinois. Predictive policing refers to the usage of mathematical, predictive analytics, and other analytical techniques in law enforcement to identify potential criminal activity. Predictive policing methods fall into four general categories: methods for predicting crimes, methods for predicting offenders, methods for predicting perpetrators' identities, and methods for predicting victims of crime.
In the United States technology has been described in the media as a revolutionary innovation capable of "stopping crime before it starts". However, a RAND Corporation report on implementing predictive policing technology describes its role in more modest terms:
Predictive policing methods are not a crystal ball: they cannot foretell the future. They can only identify people and locations at increased risk of crime ... the most effective predictive policing approaches are elements of larger proactive strategies that build strong relationships between police departments and their communities to solve crime problems.
In November 2011, TIME Magazine named predictive policing as one of the 50 best inventions of 2011, using the term "pre-emptive policing".
Methodology
Predictive policing uses data on the times, locations and nature of past crimes, to provide insight to police strategists concerning where, and at what times, police patrols should patrol, or maintain a presence, in order to make the best use of resources or to have the greatest chance of deterring or preventing future crimes. This type of policing detects signals and patterns in crime reports to anticipate if crime will spike, when a shooting may occur, where the next car will be broken into, and who the next crime victim will be. Algorithms are produced by taking into account these factors, which consist of large amounts of data that can be analyzed. The use of algorithms creates a more effective approach that speeds up the process of predictive policing since it can quickly factor in different variables to produce an automated outcome. From the predictions the algorithm generates, they should be coupled with a prevention strategy, which typically sends an officer to the predicted time and place of the crime. The use of automated predictive policing supplies a more accurate and efficient process when looking at future crimes because there is data to back up decisions, rather than just the instincts of police officers. By having police use information from predictive policing, they are able to anticipate the concerns of communities, wisely allocate resources to times and places, and prevent victimization.
Police may also use data accumulated on shootings and the sounds of gunfire to identify locations of shootings. The city of Chicago uses data blended from population mapping crime statistics, and whether to improve monitoring and identify patterns. PredPol, founded in 2012 by a UCLA professor, is one of the market leaders for predictive policing software companies. Its algorithm is formed through an examination of the near-repeat model, which infers that if a crime occurs in a specific location, the properties and land surrounding it are at risk for succeeding crime. This algorithm takes into account crime type, crime location, and the date and time of the crime in order to calculate predictions of future crime occurrences. Another software program that is utilized for predictive policing is operation LASER, which is used in Los Angeles to attempt to reduce gun violence. However, LASER was discontinued in 2019 due to a list of reasons, but specifically because of the inconsistencies when labeling people. Furthermore, some police departments have also discontinued their usage of the program given the racial-biases and ineffective methods associated with it. While the idea behind the predictive policing model is helpful in some ways, it has always had the potential to technologically reiterate social biases, which would inevitably increase the pre-existing patterns of inequality.
History
Attempting to predict crimes within police departments can first be traced back to work conducted by the Chicago School of Sociology on parole recidivism in the 1920s. Involved in this process was sociologist Ernest Burgess, who used the research to craft the actuarial approach. The approach works to find and weigh certain factors that correlate with the prediction of future crime. Soon this spread into various parts of the justice system, leading to the creation of prediction instruments such as the Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR) and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG).
In 2008, Police Chief William Bratton at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began working with the acting directors of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to explore the concept of predictive policing in crime prevention. In 2010, researchers proposed that it was possible to predict certain crimes, much like scientists forecast earthquake aftershocks.
In 2009, the NIJ held its first predictive policing symposium. At the event, Kristina Rose, acting director of the NIJ, claimed that the Shreveport, Los Angeles, D.C. Metropolitan, New York, Chicago, and Boston Police Departments were interested in implementing a predictive policing program. Today, predictive policing programs are currently used by the police departments in several U.S. states such as California, Washington, South Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, New York and Illinois.
From 2012, NOPD started a secretive collaboration with Palantir Technologies in the field of predictive policing. According to the words of James Carville, he was impetus of this project and "[n]o one in New Orleans even knows about this".
In 2020 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision which found predictive policing to be a law-enforcement tool that amounted to nothing more than reinforcement of a racist status quo. The court also held that to grant the government exigent circumstances exemption in this case would be a broad rebuke to the landmark Terry vs Ohio case which set the standard for unlawful search and seizure. Predictive policing, which is typically applied to so-called 'High crime areas' - "relies on biased input to make biased decisions about where police should focus their proactive efforts", and without it police are still able to fight crime adequately in minority communities.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of predictive policing has been tested through multiple studies with varying findings. In 2015, the New York Times published an article that analyzed predictive policing's effectiveness, citing numerous studies and explaining their results.
A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that there was no statistical evidence that crime was reduced when predictive policing was implemented. The study cites that predictive policing is only half of the effectiveness. Carefully executed human action is the second half of its effectiveness. This prediction and execution is highly dependent on the reliability of the input of the data. If the data is unreliable the effectiveness of predictive policing can be disputed.
Another study conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 2010, found its accuracy to be twice that of its current practices. In Santa Cruz, California, the implementation of predictive policing over a 6-month period resulted in a 19 percent drop in the number of burglaries. In Kent, 8.5 percent of all street crime occurred in locations predicted by PredPol, beating the 5 percent from police analysts.
A study from the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in an evaluation of a 3-year pilot of the Precobs (pre crime observation system) software said no definite statements can be made about the efficacy of the software. The 3-year pilot project will enter a second phase in 2018.
A particular strategy of predictive policing called hot spot policing has had a positive effect on crime. Evidence provided by the National Institute of Justice shows that this method has decreased the frequency of multiple, violent, and drug and alcohol offenses among others. However, without careful execution and sufficient data implementation this method can perpetuate implicit bias and racial profiling.
According to the RAND Corporation study, the quality of data used for predictive policing can be severely insufficient if data censoring, systematic bias, and relevance is deficient. Data censoring is the implementation of data that omits crime in certain areas. Systematic bias can result when data is collected that shows a certain number of crimes, but does not sufficiently report when the crimes took place. Relevance is the usefulness of data that drives predictive policing.
Documentation of these deficiencies have been reported to cause ineffective and discriminatory policing. One specific data collection reported on the “Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black.” This report showed that black drivers were significantly more likely to be stopped and searched while driving. These biases can be fed into the algorithms used to implement predictive policing and lead to higher levels of racial profiling and disproportionate arrests.
According to the RAND study, the effectiveness of predictive policing requires and depends on the input of data that is high in quality and quantity. Without thoroughly sufficient data, predictive policing results in negative and inaccurate outcomes. Furthermore, it is also cited that predictive policing is inaccurately referred to as the “end of crime.” However, the effectiveness of predictive policing depends fundamentally on the tangible action taken based on predictions.
Criticisms
A coalition of civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a statement criticizing the tendency of predictive policing to proliferate racial profiling. The ACLU's Ezekiel Edwards forwards the case that such software is more accurate at predicting policing practices than it is in predicting crimes.
Some recent research is also critical of predictive policing. Kristian Lum and Isaac William have examined the consequences of training such systems with biased datasets in 'To predict and serve?'. Saunders, Hunt and Hollywood demonstrate that the statistical significance of the predictions in practice verge on being negligible.
In a comparison of methods of predictive policing and their pitfalls Logan Koepke comes to the conclusion that it is not yet the future of policing but 'just the policing status quo, cast in a new name'.
In a testimony made to the NYC Automated Decision Systems Task Force, Janai Nelson, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, urged NYC to ban the use of data derived from discriminatory or biased enforcement policies. She also called for NYC to commit to full transparency on how the NYPD uses automated decision systems, as well as how they operate.
According to an article in the Royal Statistical Society, 'the algorithms were behaving exactly as expected – they reproduced the patterns in the data used to train them' and that 'even the best machine learning algorithms trained on police data will reproduce the patterns and unknown biases in police data'.
In 2020, following protests against police brutality, a group of mathematicians published a letter in Notices of the American Mathematical Society urging colleagues to stop work on predictive policing. Over 1,500 other mathematicians joined the proposed boycott.
Some applications of predictive policing have targeted minority neighborhoods and lack feedback loops.
Cities throughout the United States are enacting legislation to restrict the use of predictive policing technologies and other “invasive” intelligence-gathering techniques within their jurisdictions.
Following the introduction of predictive policing as a crime reduction strategy, via the results of an algorithm created through the use of the software PredPol, the city of Santa Cruz, California experienced a decline in the number of burglaries reaching almost 20% in the first six months the program was in place. Despite this, in late June of 2020 in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota along with a growing call for increased accountability amongst police departments, the Santa Cruz City Council voted in favor of a complete ban on the use of predictive policing technology.
Accompanying the ban on predictive policing, was a similar prohibition of facial recognition technology. Facial recognition technology has been criticized for its reduced accuracy on darker skin tones - which can contribute to cases of mistaken identity and potentially, wrongful convictions.
In 2019, Michael Oliver, of Detroit, Michigan, was wrongfully accused of larceny when his face registered as a “match” in the Data Works Plus software to the suspect identified in a video taken by the victim of the alleged crime. Oliver spent months going to court arguing for his innocence - and once the judge supervising the case viewed the video footage of the crime, it was clear that Oliver was not the perpetrator. In fact, the perpetrator and Oliver did not resemble each other at all - except for the fact that they are both African-American which makes it more likely that the facial recognition technology will make an identification error.
With regards to predictive policing technology, the mayor of Santa Cruz, Justin Cummings, is quoted as saying, “this is something that targets people who are like me,” referencing the patterns of racial bias and discrimination that predictive policing can continue rather than stop.
For example, as Dorothy Roberts explains in her academic journal article, Digitizing the Carceral State, the data entered into predictive policing algorithms to predict where crimes will occur or who is likely to commit criminal activity, tends to contain information that has been impacted by racism. For example, the inclusion of arrest or incarceration history, neighborhood of residence, level of education, membership in gangs or organized crime groups, 911 call records, among other features, can produce algorithms that suggest the over-policing of minority or low-income communities.
See also
"The Minority Report"
Pre-crime
Crime hotspots
Racial profiling
References
Criminology
Law enforcement in the United States
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37285117
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Cowon%20products
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List of Cowon products
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This is a list of the products manufactured by Korean consumer electronics and software corporation Cowon Systems, Inc.
Plenue brand
Cowon D3 Plenue
On , the Cowon D3 Plenue was announced. The Cowon D3 Plenue constitutes Cowon's first foray into the Android-based portable media player market. The Cowon D3 Plenue's third iteration has a battery life of up to 30 hours when listening to hi-res files and 45 hours when playing MP3 files. The PD3 has Bluetooth, a dual DAC, and a volume wheel to its 2021 player. It is equipped with a 3.7-inch AMOLED display that supports 480x800 resolution, and supports a powerful video playback function that allows you to enjoy full HD video with 1920x1080 resolution without any additional conversion. In addition, the HDMI output function that can be connected to an external TV and the NTFS format support that can directly store and view high-capacity files of 4GB or more are superior to normal Android smartphones in the video viewing environment.
Cowon Z2 Plenue
On , the Cowon Z2 Plenue was announced for release and on January 26, 2012, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon Z2 Plenue. The Cowon Z2 Plenue is widely considered to be the successor to the earlier D3 Plenue, upon which it improves in a number of ways, most notably its speed. The Z2 features a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 320 MHz Mali-200 GPU, and an 800 MHz Mali-VE6 "Full HD" VPU. An Engadget reviewer called the Cowon Z2 Plenue “stunningly quick” and stated: “the touch response was just as good as on our Galaxy S II. In fact, that's indicative of the overall system.” The Z2 features a 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass-covered Super AMOLED touchscreen with pixel dimensions of 480×800 and have storage space ranging from 8 to 32GB. In addition, through the 3.7-inch AMOLED display, full HD video without any conversion process can be accessed, and it can be used as a home media player such as transferring large files of 4GB or more and HDMI output. The Cowon Z2 Plenue offers both black and white colours. The Z2 was awarded the iF product design award in the year of its release. In particular, it is equipped with a 1 GHz powerful processor (CPU) and a full HD video and 3D graphics processor to enhance multimedia and various application driving capabilities.
Cowon A5 Plenue
On February 29, 2012, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon A5 Plenue. The Cowon A5 Plenue is a portable media player that has a 4.8 inch 800x480 pixel thin-film-transistor (TFT) touchscreen, JetEffect sound engine, Android 2.3 OS with custom UI, 1 GHz CPU, 800 MHz vídeo chip, Mali GPU, microSD slot, and a 32GB or 64GB storage.
Cowon Q7 Plenue
On May 9, 2012, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon Q7 Plenue. The Cowon Q7 Plenue is an electronic tablet and dictionary and runs on the Android operating system (Android OS). The Android OS allows for the device to use a variety of applications, including dictionaries, video apps, and the ability to listen to music. The design of the Cowon Q7 Plenue has rounded edges and a curved backside.
Cowon D Plenue
On December 2, 2015, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon D Plenue. The Cowon D Plenue can support sample rates of up to 192 kHz and file formats such as AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, WMA, and MP3. It has 32GB of storage, expandable mircoSD, 3.7-inch screen, 100 hours of battery life. The product has dimensions of 7.7 x 5.3 x 1.5 cm and weighs 94g. The Cowon D Pluenue has a punchy bass, insightful midrange, and good tonal balance.
Cowon 2 Plenue Mark Ⅱ
In January 2018, Cowon Systems Inc. released Cowon 2 Plenue Mark Ⅱ. Cowon 2 Plenue Mark Ⅱ When used in conjunction with a SoundPlus amplifier, the Cowon 2 Plenue Mark Ⅱ can play PCM and DSD files up to 24-bit/192 kHz. The JetEffect 7 and BBE for EQ are included. It is 200g in weight. The balanced output of 3.24Vrms expresses high quality powerful and clear sound, and the Cowon 2 Plenue Mark Ⅱ can enhance the playback length to 10 hours and 30 minutes to enjoy music for a long period with plenty of time. Furthermore, System Tolerance is enhanced by consistent, high-quality sound.
Cowon R2 Plenue
In September 2019, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon R2 Plenue. The Cowon R2 Plenue is 11 cm tall and 14mm thick and weighs at 154g. The device is made out of glass, aluminium, and contoured plastic. A microSD card slot is located on the left side of the frame. The PR2's on-board memory of 128GB can be expanded to 256GB. Cowon estimates that it will be good for well over 100,000 tunes. Physical controls for volume up/down, play/pause, and skip forwards/backwards are on the right. It has a 3.7in AMOLED touch-screen in 800 x 400 resolution.
MP3 players
Cowon S9
On December 8, 2008, Cowon Systems, Inc. released the Cowon S9, a touchscreen portable media player. It supports audio and video file types such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC, as well as DivX and Xvid. The S9 is 2.2in wide and 4.17in high and weighing in at less than 80g. The 3.3-inch AMOLED display is one of the S9's most appealing features. The screen has a 480 x 272 resolution, exhibiting rich, vibrant colours on anything that happens to tickle its pixels. The video quality is good, the visuals are sharp, and the user interface is easy to use.
Cowon J3
Cowan J3 was released on March 29, 2010. Cowon J3 has a 3.3in AMOLED screen, 8/16GB internal memory, microSD card slot, JetEffect 3.0 EQ engine, and FM radio with recording.
Cowon X7
Cowon X7 was released on October 14, 2010. Cowon X7 has a 120/160GB hard drive, 4.3in screen, JetEffect 3.0 audio engine, 103 hours music, 10 hours video battery, and Divx video support. The Cowon X7 also has a FM radio, an image viewer a sound recorder, Bluetooth, and an AMOLED touchscreen. The X7 produces a balanced and open sound, with enough of room for high-quality AIFF, FLAC, and WAV files (AACs and MP3s also work).
Cowon C2
In April 2011, the Cowon C2 was announced as a replacement for the Cowon D2. The Cowon C2 has a 2.6-inch diagonal resistive touchscreen, 320 x 240 pixels resolution, 16GB of memory, MicroSD Slot, JetEffect 3.0 BBE+ Audio Enhancement, 84g (2.96 ounces) in weight, and 12.8mm (0.5-inches) thick. Its 2.6-inch resistive touch panel accommodates both music and video. The device has a battery life that lasts around 55 hours, as well as an integrated microSD card for expansion and the company's world-class audio quality.
Cowon X9
On , the Cowon X9 was announced. The Cowon X9 is the MP3 player with the world's longest battery life, claiming a continuous music playback time of 110 hours. Cowon X9 has an internal memory of 16/32GB, a microSD card slot, JetEffect 5 audio engine, 4.3in 272 x 480 pixel screen, and a resistive touchscreen.
Cowon D20
On Cowon D20 released a third revision of their Cowon D2 media player, with the main differences being the removal of a kickstand slot on the right hand side (replaced with a built-in loudspeaker), an enhanced battery life of approximately 90 hours of audio playback, and an updated UI. The Cowon D20 can play 90 hours of music, in addition to 13 hours of video, on a single charge, which is enough to keep the music going for a long weekend. The player has a 2.5-inch, 320 x 240 resistive touchscreen, 8GB to 32GB of built-in storage, an SD card slot, and Cowon's recognizable UI.
Portable media players
Cowon P5
On July 29, 2008, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon P5. The Cowon P5 is 800x480 pixels on a 5-inch touchscreen panel powered by a 700 MHz RMI Alchemy AU1250 CPU and Cowon's Widget+Haptic UI. It is a 138.8 x 88.5 x 20.0-mm PMP and features standard USB and USB-host connections, T-DMB broadcast TV, FM radio, Bluetooth, TV-out (component, S-Video, and composite), stereo speakers, and up to 80GB of storage (which sounds like brushed aluminium to us). It comes pre-loaded with a Win CE Internet browser (a WiFi dongle can be added via the USB jack), MS Office document viewer, electronic dictionary, and support for AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, OGM, DivX, Xvid, MPEG4, WMV9, MP3, WMA, AC3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC.
Cowon O2
On October 13, 2008, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon O2, a light and portable flash PMP based on flash memory. The Cowon O2 is 4.7 by 2.9in and weighs at 200g. The device features a 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen with 480 x 272 resolution, which makes it suitable for watching videos, but it also means processing power in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. The 4.3in 480 x 272 resolution LCD touchscreen is the most visible feature. The Cowon O2 has a memory of 16 or 32GB of onboard flash RAM scalable to 48 or 64GB using SDHC memory cards. It is compatible with AVI, ASF, H.264, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, and WMV files. All of these things contribute to it being such a versatile player.
Cowon V5, V5W and V5S
Cowon V5
In January 2010, Cowon V5 was available to the public by Cowon Systems Inc. The Cowon V5 has a Windows CE 6.0 underlying operating system, a 4.8-inch resistive touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixel resolution, HDMI / USB sockets, integrated speaker, voice recorder, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8/16/32GB of internal storage, an SDHC expansion slot, and battery life for 45 hours of music playback or 10 hours with video.
Cowon V5W
In July 2010, Cowon announced the Cowon V5W, an upgrade to the V5 model, as a new media player. The support for WiFi networking is the main difference between the new device and its predecessor. The V5W includes a 4.8-inch WVGA touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixel resolution, up to 64GB of flash storage, an HDMI output, WiFi b/g and a S/PDIF output. It runs a bespoke Cowon UI on top of Windows CE 6.0 and runs a custom Cowon UI. Flash support, an SD card slot, and Full HD video playback through the HDMI output are all included. Cowon's JetEffect 3.0 audio processing technology is used. The battery life is said to be up to 45 hours of music, 10 hours of video, or 300 hours of standby.
Cowon V5S
On February 17, 2011, the Cowon V5S was released. The V5S has a 12.2 cm (4.8 inches) screen with a resolution of '1920 x 1080p,' which can play full HD video lectures without transcoding. It also offers a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output capability, allowing you to see Full HD images on a big screen at home by connecting it to a digital TV. It also has 64 GB of internal memory, and the external SD card support feature make storing and using large-capacity videos easy.
Cowon 3D
On December 10, 2010, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon 3D. The Cowon 3D is the world's first glasses-free 3D PMP that the company introduced and was released in the domestic market in December 2010. On May 26, 2011, Cowon System stated that Cowon 3D, the world's first unmanned 3D PMP, will be available starting June 10 at Japan's top general shops, including Yodobashi Camera, Big Camera, and Soap. Cowon 3D has HD video playback, wireless Internet HDM digital output via wireless LAN, and a 4.8-inch 3D display.
Cowon R7
On December 7, 2011, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon R7. The Cowon R7 focuses on the original purpose of the PMP. The Cowon R7 has a PIXI clear LCD, 7-inch PMP R7, 7-inch wide screen, and 7-inch Clear LCD with 16.7 million colors. The product can view videos ranging from high-definition movies to videos for educational purposes. It supports famous Internet lectures such as Megastudy, Etus, and Vitaedu, and is equipped with Doosan Donga's English-Korean/Korean-English dictionary and new Korean dictionary as standard. Additional functions such as music listening, digital picture frame function, HDMI video output, voice recording, and document reader are also available. In addition, large files over 4GB can be freely transferred and played back. It supports 65 hours of music, 10 hours of video, and 450 hours of standby time. The R7 has up to 64GB of internal storage, a MicroSD slot for expansion, and a HDMI output. The product's display is limited to 800x480 pixels and is 13.6mm thick, weighing 355g. The R7 supports Flash but does not have internet connectivity. The Cowon R7 includes built-in media players (including full 1080P HD video), voice recorders, document and photo viewers, a selection of games, and study tools. Cowon R7 is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.
Cowon G7
On January 15, 2013, Cowon introduced the 7-inch PMP Cowon G7. The Cowon G7 has a 7-inch clear LCD, 'JetEffect 5', a total of 48 realistic sounds, and 16GB/64GB of memory. This product will be released in a total of four models according to capacity and options, and the 16GB (GB) product is priced at 289,000 won and 64GB at 389,000 won. It also supports learning-specific functions such as playback speed adjustment, section repeat, and voice recording. The battery lasts 60 hours of continuous music playback, 10 hours of video playback, and 370 hours in standby mode.
Headphones
Cowon EM1
In December 2012, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon EM1 headphones. The Cowon EM1 comes with a set of silicone ear tips and two pairs of smaller and larger sizes that will suit most ears. The flat cable is one of the EM1's most striking features. Unlike circular cables, this cable does not tangle. Furthermore, the rubber coating on this cable is non-sticky, which is beneficial. The Cowon EM1 includes large 10 mm dynamic drivers enclosed in a well-crafted plastic/rubber composite shell that looks nice to boot. The Cowon EM1 has a 16.0Ω impedance, 103.0 decibels sound sensitivity, a frequency range between 20 and 22000, and a diaphragm diameter of 0.39 inches. It comes in the colours of red, black, and white and has a closed acoustic design. It is 0.3 ounces in weight and a cable length of 1.2 meters.
It is made with high-quality materials crafted with great attention to detail. The EM1's have a dual-tone black and silver finish. The EM1 has an integrated microphone hidden under a sturdy Play/Pause/Call Answer button. The 1.2 m overall cable length makes it simple to use without putting too much strain on the chord. The 3.5 mm jack is gold-plated, as is customary in high-end audio equipment, to reduce noise and improve electrical contact with the audio source.
Cowon EC2
On April 1, 2013, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon EC2 headphones. The Cowon EC2 has a 16.0Ω impedance, less than 103 sound sensitivity, a frequency range between 20 and 22000, a diaphragm diameter of 0.39 inches, and a closed acoustic design. It only comes in the colour of white and has an ear canal attachment. It is 2.4 ounces in weight and a cable length of 1.2 meters.
Cowon XE1
The Cowon XE1 has a 16.0Ω impedance, less than 113 sound sensitivity, a frequency range between 10 and 22000, and a diaphragm diameter of 0.61 inches. It only comes in the colour of red and has a closed acoustic design. It is 0.6 ounces in weight and a cable length of 1.2 meters.
Cowon EH2
On April 29, 2013, Cowon Systems Inc. released the Cowon EH2 headphones. The Cowon EH2 has a 32.0Ω impedance, less than 105 sound sensitivity, and a frequency range between 20 and 22000. It only comes in the colour of silver and has a closed acoustic design. The Cowon EH2's body materials are fabric, metal, silicone, and stainless steel. It has a cable length of 1.2 meters.
Cowon CE1
The Cowon CE1 has a 16.0Ω impedance, a frequency range between 10 and 22000, and a diaphragm diameter of 0.39 inches. It only comes in the colour of white and has a closed acoustic design. It has a cable length of 1.2 meters.
Cowon EK2
The Cowon EK2 has a 16.0Ω impedance, less than 103 sound sensitivity, a frequency range between 20 and 22000, and a diaphragm diameter of 0.39 inches. It comes in the colour of black, white, green, and red. It is 2.08 ounces in weight and a cable length of 1.2 meters.
Other products
Cowon N2
In October 2006, Cowon Systems Inc. released Cowon N2 car navigation device. The Cowon N2 features the WIN CE 5.0 operating system, a 500 MHz AMD Alchemy processor, Samsung 7-inch TFT CLD with 16.7 million colours - WQVGA (480x234) and a 500:1 contrast ratio with a 450 cd brightness display, 32MB ROM (for BOOT and OS storage), and a memroy of 128MB RAM (for work) /4 GB external with a total data size around 598MB. The memory can contain 875 tracks in MP3 format (calculated assuming each song is around 4MB), around 30 million data points for lot numbers, around 1.2 million points of interest (POIs) in the database, and approximately 5 million phone numbers in the database. It comes in the colour of blue and is 540g in weight and 191 x 120 x 26 mm in size. The Cowon N2 also features two SD card slots, USB 2.0, earphones, and an AV input. It is a all-in-one GPS and provides a real-width map with incredible precision, rated as the best in the business, as well as a PC version editor, a car account book, and a variety of interfaces.
Cowon L3
In February 2009, the L3 PMP/GPS navigator was announced by Cowon System, which features a 7-inch touchscreen display, dual-core processor (each core running at 480 MHz), and DMB digital television. The L3's large display runs at 800 x 480 WVGA and comes with 128MB of SDRAM, 4GB of storage, and an SD card. The Cowon L3 supports AVI, ASF, WMV video and MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV, and OGG audio formats, and it measures to be 180.4 x 112.2 x 18.3mm and weighs 318g.
Cowon W2
At the CES 2010, Cowon Systems revealed the Cowon W2, a 4.8-inch 1024 x 600 Atom-based MID with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a brushed aluminium chassis that runs Windows 7 on a 1.33 GHz processor.
Cowon AC1
The Cowon AC1 was released in December 2011. The Cowon Auto Capsule AC1 is a pill-shaped gadget with a length of 4 inches and a diameter of 1.5 inches. The device is divided into two sections that operate separately. A circular button sits on one end, with an LED indication and the AC1's 2-megapixel 720p camera on the other. A microSD card slot and a speaker are hidden behind a detachable lid on this end. Meanwhile, the gadget has a pair of connectors for a 12-volt power adaptor and an analog video output on the other end. When the AC1 is plugged in, it instantly powers up and enters what's known as real-time recording mode. The status LED around the unit's lone button flashes blue in this condition, and the gadget starts to save a video cache of its view out the windshield. At a frame rate of 30 frames per second, HD video is captured in a 16:9 format with a resolution of 1,280x720 pixels. The lens has a field of vision of 150 degrees, which is more than enough to see the whole front end of our test car (a 2013 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec). It can also record monaural audio with its built-in microphone but don't expect it to be high quality.
See also
Cowon
iAUDIO
JetEffect
JetAudio
References
Electronics lists
Lists of products
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen%20Seidel
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Kathleen Seidel
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Kathleen Seidel is a researcher and weblog publisher from Peterborough, New Hampshire, best known for investigations and writing on autism. Her inquiries into the work and conduct of Mark Geier and his son David Geier regarding chelation therapy and a hormone-altering drug called Lupron, led to medical board actions in multiple states that suspended Mark Geier from medical practice, and caused David Geier to be arraigned for allegedly practising medicine without a license.
Early life
The oldest of seven children, Seidel grew up in Anaheim, California, the daughter of a chemical engineer father and a mother who taught severely disabled children. She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she majored in English and Russian literature and book arts, and then attended Columbia University to receive a masters' degree in library science.
Pre-blogging career
Seidel then worked at a children's library in Asheville for three years before she returned to New York City, where she met Dave, whom she would later marry. She then worked for a few years at Orbis International and the Taconic Foundation before moving with her husband to New Hampshire in 1995 to raise their family. One of their children was diagnosed with autism in 2000.
Blogging
She is known for running the website Neurodiversity.com, whose goal has been described as "honoring the variety of human wiring." She is known for criticizing those who argue that vaccines cause autism. For instance, in 2007, with regard to claims of a mercury-autism link, she said, "Some people say, 'My child is a toxic waste dump,' People don't understand the stigma. I don't want someone looking at my family member that way." One of Seidel's most influential submissions was to the editors of the journal Autoimmunity Reviews, after the Geiers published a paper in that journal. She received no response, but the paper was subsequently retracted. She has been called "the Erin Brockovich of autism spectrum disorders," (specifically, by Irving Gottesman) and has been called "vicious" by the Geiers themselves. She and her husband, Dave, have two children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. She has also criticized Boyd Haley for marketing OSR#1 as a dietary supplement (it has since been pulled from the shelves).
Subpoena
Seidel was the subject of a subpoena from Clifford Shoemaker, a vaccine-injury lawyer, requiring her to be deposed and to produce documents production in a case in which she was not involved, Sykes v. Bayer, and was defended by Public Citizen. The subpoena seems to have been motivated by a post on her blog, neurodiversity.com, about the lawsuit. As David Ardia at PBS's Idea Lab blog put it: "Seidel's post mainly focused on developments in the lawsuit, but some of her language was critical of the Sykes and their case. For example, she indicated that the Sykes have "aggressively promoted the overwhelmingly discredited scientific hypothesis that autism is a consequence of mercury poisoning" and called their lawsuit "a hydra-headed quest for revenge, for compensation, and for judicial validation of autism causation theories roundly rejected by the greater scientific community, by numerous courts, and by a great number of individuals and families whose interests they purport to represent."
One of the other criticisms revolved around her husband Dave Seidel, a Wikipedia editor, making edits to Geier's Wikipedia page and the pages of other autism-associated figures. David Gorski wrote on his blog, Respectful Insolence, "Reading the subpoena makes it mind-numbingly obvious that Shoemaker hopes to turn up evidence that Kathleen has accepted support from the federal government or vaccine manufacturers, which, I’m guessing, he hopes to use to slime her and destroy her credibility. There’s nothing there, but Shoemaker thinks there is, and that’s enough." She described the subpoena as "very broad" and filed a motion to quash. Shoemaker was sanctioned as a result. Her role in exposing the Geiers' quackery is explained by Seth Mnookin as follows: "The Geiers’ use of Lupron on autistic children first received widespread attention in 2006, when Kathleen Seidel put together a blockbuster 16-part series on her website, neurodiversity.com." She is mentioned in an article in New York by Andrew Solomon, which also discusses the subpoena, which it says was served on March 26, 2008.
Encryption survey
In 2016, along with Bruce Schneier and Saranya Vijayakumar, Seidel co-authored a survey regarding the effectiveness of restrictions on the exports of encryption products from the United States on their availability in other countries, as well as laws requiring encryption software to be made with a backdoor that the government can access. In their survey, the authors stated that such bans still leave those who want to keep the government from accessing their data through a backdoor with many foreign alternatives to American or British software.
References
External links
Neurodiversity Main Page
Sykes v. Seidel
The Blogger and the Doctor, an article in The Baltimore Sun pertaining to her investigation into Mark Geier's activities.
Olmsted on Autism: Is Kathleen Seidel Toxic?, by Dan Olmsted
Living people
American bloggers
People from Peterborough, New Hampshire
University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
American librarians
American women librarians
Autism activists
Columbia University School of Library Service alumni
Disability rights activists from the United States
Activists from New Hampshire
People from Anaheim, California
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQLite
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SQLite
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SQLite (, ) is a database engine, written in the C language. It is not a standalone app; rather, it is a library that software developers embed in their apps. As such, it belongs to the family of embedded database. It is the most widely deployed database engine, as it is used by several of the top web browsers, operating systems, mobile phones, and other embedded systems.
SQLite has bindings to many programming languages. It generally follows PostgreSQL syntax but does not enforce type checking. This means that one can, for example, insert a string into a column defined as an integer.
History
D. Richard Hipp designed SQLite in the spring of 2000 while working for General Dynamics on contract with the United States Navy. Hipp was designing software used for a damage-control system aboard guided-missile destroyers, which originally used HP-UX with an IBM Informix database back-end. SQLite began as a Tcl extension.
The design goals of SQLite were to allow the program to be operated without installing a database management system or requiring a database administrator. Hipp based the syntax and semantics on those of PostgreSQL 6.5. In August 2000, version 1.0 of SQLite was released, with storage based on gdbm (GNU Database Manager). SQLite 2.0 replaced gdbm with a custom B-tree implementation, adding transaction capability. SQLite 3.0, partially funded by America Online, added internationalization, manifest typing, and other major improvements.
In 2011, Hipp announced his plans to add a NoSQL interface (managing documents expressed in JSON) to SQLite databases and to develop UnQLite, an embeddable document-oriented database.
SQLite is one of four formats recommended for long-term storage of datasets approved for use by the Library of Congress.
Design
Unlike client–server database management systems, the SQLite engine has no standalone processes with which the application program communicates. Instead, the SQLite library is linked in and thus becomes an integral part of the application program. Linking may be static or dynamic. The application program uses SQLite's functionality through simple function calls, which reduce latency in database access: function calls within a single process are more efficient than inter-process communication.
SQLite stores the entire database (definitions, tables, indices, and the data itself) as a single cross-platform file on a host machine. It implements this simple design by locking the entire database file during writing. SQLite read operations can be multitasked, though writes can only be performed sequentially.
Due to the server-less design, SQLite applications require less configuration than client–server databases. SQLite is called zero-conf because it does not require service management (such as startup scripts) or access control based on GRANT and passwords. Access control is handled by means of file-system permissions given to the database file itself. Databases in client–server systems use file-system permissions that give access to the database files only to the daemon process.
Another implication of the serverless design is that several processes may not be able to write to the database file. In server-based databases, several writers will all connect to the same daemon, which is able to handle its locks internally. SQLite, on the other hand, has to rely on file-system locks. It has less knowledge of the other processes that are accessing the database at the same time. Therefore, SQLite is not the preferred choice for write-intensive deployments. However, for simple queries with little concurrency, SQLite performance profits from avoiding the overhead of passing its data to another process.
SQLite uses PostgreSQL as a reference platform. "What would PostgreSQL do" is used to make sense of the SQL standard. One major deviation is that, with the exception of primary keys, SQLite does not enforce type checking; the type of a value is dynamic and not strictly constrained by the schema (although the schema will trigger a conversion when storing, if such a conversion is potentially reversible). SQLite strives to follow Postel's rule.
Features
SQLite implements most of the SQL-92 standard for SQL, but lacks some features. For example, it only partially provides triggers and cannot write to views (however, it provides INSTEAD OF triggers that provide this functionality). Its support of ALTER TABLE statements is limited.
SQLite uses an unusual type system for a SQL-compatible DBMS: instead of assigning a type to a column as in most SQL database systems, types are assigned to individual values; in language terms it is dynamically typed. Moreover, it is weakly typed in some of the same ways that Perl is: one can insert a string into an integer column (although SQLite will try to convert the string to an integer first, if the column's preferred type is integer). This adds flexibility to columns, especially when bound to a dynamically typed scripting language. However, the technique is not portable to other SQL products. A common criticism is that SQLite's type system lacks the data integrity mechanism provided by statically typed columns in other products. The SQLite web site describes a "strict affinity" mode, but this feature has not yet been added. However, it can be implemented with constraints like CHECK(typeof(x)='integer').
Tables normally include a hidden rowid index column, which gives faster access. If a database includes an Integer Primary Key column, SQLite will typically optimize it by treating it as an alias for rowid, causing the contents to be stored as a strictly typed 64-bit signed integer and changing its behavior to be somewhat like an auto-incrementing column. Future versions of SQLite may include a command to introspect whether a column has behavior like that of rowid to differentiate these columns from weakly typed, non-autoincrementing Integer Primary Keys.
SQLite with full Unicode function is optional.
Several computer processes or threads may access the same database concurrently. Several read accesses can be satisfied in parallel. A write access can only be satisfied if no other accesses are currently being serviced. Otherwise, the write access fails with an error code (or can automatically be retried until a configurable timeout expires). This concurrent access situation would change when dealing with temporary tables. This restriction is relaxed in version 3.7 when write-ahead logging (WAL) is turned on, enabling concurrent reads and writes.
Version 3.6.19 released on October 14, 2009 added support for foreign key constraints.
SQLite version 3.7.4 first saw the addition of the FTS4 (full-text search) module, which features enhancements over the older FTS3 module. FTS4 allows users to perform full-text searches on documents similar to how search engines search webpages. Version 3.8.2 added support for creating tables without rowid, which may provide space and performance improvements. Common table expressions support was added to SQLite in version 3.8.3. 3.8.11 added a newer search module called FTS5, the more radical (compared to FTS4) changes requiring a bump in version.
In 2015, with the json1 extension and new subtype interfaces, SQLite version 3.9 introduced JSON content managing.
As per version 3.33.0, the maximum supported database size is 281 TB.
Development and distribution
SQLite's code is hosted with Fossil, a distributed version control system that is itself built upon an SQLite database.
A standalone command-line program is provided in SQLite's distribution. It can be used to create a database, define tables, insert and change rows, run queries and manage an SQLite database file. It also serves as an example for writing applications that use the SQLite library.
SQLite uses automated regression testing prior to each release. Over 2 million tests are run as part of a release's verification. Starting with the August 10, 2009 release of SQLite 3.6.17, SQLite releases have 100% branch test coverage, one of the components of code coverage. The tests and test harnesses are partially public-domain and partially proprietary.
Notable uses
Operating systems
SQLite is included by default in:
Android
BlackBerry 10 OS
FreeBSD where starting with 10-RELEASE version in January 2014, it is used by the core package management system.
illumos
iPhone.
Mac OS X 10.4 onwards （Apple adopted it as an option in macOS's Core Data API from the original implementation）
Maemo
MeeGo
MorphOS since version 3.10
NetBSD
Solaris 10 where the Service Management Facility database is serialized for booting.
Symbian OS
Tizen
webOS
Middleware
ADO.NET adapter, initially developed by Robert Simpson, is maintained jointly with the SQLite developers since April 2010.
ODBC driver has been developed and is maintained separately by Christian Werner. Werner's ODBC driver is the recommended connection method for accessing SQLite from OpenOffice.org.
COM (ActiveX) wrapper making SQLite accessible on Windows to scripted languages such as JScript and VBScript. This adds SQLite database capabilities to HTML Applications (HTA).
Web browsers
The browsers Google Chrome, Opera, Safari and the Android Browser all allow for storing information in, and retrieving it from, a SQLite database within the browser, using the Web SQL Database technology, although this is rapidly becoming deprecated (namely superseded by IndexedDB). Internally, these Chromium based browsers use SQLite databases for storing configuration data like site visit history, cookies, download history etc.
Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird store a variety of configuration data (bookmarks, cookies, contacts etc.) in internally managed SQLite databases. Until Firefox version 57 ("Firefox Quantum"), there was a third-party add-on that used the API supporting this functionality to provide a user interface for managing arbitrary SQLite databases.
Several third-party add-ons can make use of JavaScript APIs to manage SQLite databases.
Web application frameworks
Laravel
Bugzilla
Django's default database management system
Drupal
Trac
Ruby on Rails's default database management system
web2py
Others
Adobe Systems uses SQLite as its file format in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, a standard database in Adobe AIR, and internally within Adobe Reader.
As with most Apple software, Apple Photos uses SQLite internally.
Audacity uses SQLite as its file format, as of version 3.0.0.
Evernote uses SQLite to store its local database repository in Windows.
Skype
The Service Management Facility, used for service management within the Solaris and OpenSolaris operating systems
Flame (malware)
BMW IDrive Sat Nav system
TomTom GPS systems, for the NDS map data
Programming language support
Language bindings to SQLite for a large number of programming languages exist.
See also
Comparison of relational database management systems
List of relational database management systems
SpatiaLite
SQL compliance
References
Citations
Sources
External links
2000 software
C (programming language) libraries
Cross-platform free software
Embedded databases
Free computer libraries
Free database management systems
Public-domain software with source code
RDBMS software for Linux
Relational database management systems
Serverless database management systems
Symbian software
Public-domain software
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43981985
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaa3D
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Vaa3D
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Vaa3D (in Chinese ‘挖三维’) is an Open Source visualization and analysis software suite created mainly by Hanchuan Peng and his team at Janelia Research Campus, HHMI and Allen Institute for Brain Science. The software performs 3D, 4D and 5D rendering and analysis of very large image data sets, especially those generated using various modern microscopy methods, and associated 3D surface objects. This software has been used in several large neuroscience initiatives and a number of applications in other domains. In a recent Nature Methods review article, it has been viewed as one of the leading open-source software suites in the related research fields. In addition, research using this software was awarded the 2012 Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences.
Creation
Vaa3D was created in 2007 to tackle the large-scale brain mapping project at Janelia Farm of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The initial goal was to quickly visualize any of the tens of thousands of large 3D laser scanning microscopy image stacks of fruit fly brains, each with a few gigabytes in volume. Low level OpenGL-based 3D rendering was developed to provide direct rendering of multi-dimensional image stacks. C/C++ and Qt were used to create cross-platform compatibility so the software can run on Mac, Linux and Windows. Strong functions for synchronizing multiple 2D/3D/4D/5D rendered views, generating global and local 3D viewers, and virtual finger, allow Vaa3D be able to streamline a number of operations for complicated brain science tasks, for example, brain comparison and neuron reconstruction. Vaa3D also provides an extensible plugin interface that currently hosts dozens of open source plugins contributed by researchers worldwide.
3D visualization of 3D, 4D, and 5D image data
Vaa3D is able to render 3D, 4D, and 5D data (X, Y, Z, Color, Time) quickly. The volume rendering is typically at the scale of a few gigabytes and can be extended to the scale of terabytes per image set. The visualization is made fast by using OpenGL directly.
Vaa3D handles the problem of large data visualization via several techniques. One way is to combine both the synchronized and asynchronized data rendering, which displays the full resolution data only when the rotation or other dynamic display of the data is paused, and otherwise displays only a coarse level image.
An alternative method used in Vaa3D is to combine both global and local 3D viewers. The global 3D viewer optionally displays only the downsampled image while the local 3D viewer displays full resolution image but only at certain local areas. Intuitive 3D navigation is done by determining a 3D region of interest using the Virtual Finger technique followed by generating in real-time a specific 3D local viewer for such a region of interest.
Fast 3D human-machine interaction, virtual finger and 3D WYSIWYG
3D visualization of an image stack is essentially a passive process to observe the data. The combination of an active way to input a user's preference of specific locations quickly greatly increase the efficiency of exploration of the 3D or higher-dimensional image contents. Nonetheless, ‘exploring 3D image content’ requires that a user is able to efficiently interact with and quantitatively profile the patterns of image objects using a graphical user interface of 3D image-visualization tools. Virtual Finger, or 3D-WYSIWYG ('What You See in 2D is What You Get in 3D') technique allows efficient generation and use of the 3D location information from 2D input of a user on the typical 2D display or touch devices.
The Virtual Finger technique maps the identified 2D user input via 2D display devices, such as a computer screen, back to the 3D volumetric space of the image. Mathematically, this is an often difficult inverse problem. However, by utilizing the spatial sparseness and continuity information in many 3D image data sets, this inverse problem can be well solved, as shown in a recent paper.
The Vaa3D's Virtual Finger technology allows instant and random-order exploration of complex 3D image content, similar to using real fingers explore the real 3D world using a single click or stroke to locate 3D objects. It has been used to boost the performance of image data acquisition, visualization, management, annotation, analysis and the use of the image data for real-time experiments such as microsurgery.
Rendering of surface objects
Vaa3D displays three major types of 3D surface objects:
Point cloud: a set of 3D spherical objects, each with a different color, type, size, and other properties. This is often used to model a population of cells or similar particle-like objects.
Relational data (graph, tube-connected network): each node in the graph has a specific size and type and is connected to other nodes. This is often used to model neuron morphology, network topology, etc.
Irregular surface objects: Each 3D surface has irregular shape and is modeled using complicated surface mesh.
These 3D surface objects are also often arranged as "sets". Vaa3D can display multiple sets of any of these surface objects, which can also be overlaid on top of image voxel data using different overlaying relationships. These features are useful for colocalization, quantification, comparison, and other purposes.
Applications
The software has been used in a number of applications such as the following examples.
Neuron reconstruction and quantification
Vaa3D provides a Vaa3D-Neuron package to reconstruct, quantify, and compare 3D morphology of single neurons of a number of species.
Vaa3D-Neuron allows several ways of neuron tracing.
Manual tracing: A user can use 3D Virtual Finger to manually reconstruct or edit a neuron structure quickly in 3D.
Semi-automatic tracing: A user can specify some key termini points where the neuron tracing must reach as prior, and then ask Vaa3D to complete the 3D reconstruction automatically. The user can then edit the 3D reconstruction manually as well.
Fully automatic tracing: A user can use the very fast All-Path-Pruning 1 or All-Path-Pruning 2 to automatically trace an entire neuron in 3D, and use NeuronCrawler to trace very large image stack (tens of gigabytes per neuron data set). The user may also use several other automated neuron tracing algorithms ported to Vaa3D include FarSight Snake Tracing, NeuTube tracing (tube fitting), and MOST ray bursting based tracing. Wrapper methods such as UltraTracer, that extend any of these base tracers to arbitrarily large multidimensional image volumes, have also been developed and integrated in Vaa3D.
Single cell analysis for C. elegans, fruitfly, and mouse
Vaa3D was used to extract single cells from several studies of the nematode C. elegans, the insect fruitfly, mouse, and other species. The primary functions used were 3D image segmentation for extracting and quantifying single cells' gene expression levels, and fast cell counting in specific brain areas. Vaa3D also provides methods to annotate these cells and identify their names.
Vaa3D also provides a SRS (Simultaneous Segmentation and Recognition) algorithm for 3D segmentation of complicated cells, which are often touching each other. This was done by adaptively mapping an predefined "atlas" (layout map of some cells) to an image iteratively using the Expectation Maximization algorithm until convergence. SRS has been shown to reduce over-segmentation and under-segmentation errors compared to usually used watershed segmentation method.
Brain mapping and 3D image registration
Vaa3D has been used in several brain mapping projects, in terms of both pattern alignment (registration) and multiplexing based analysis.
Pattern alignment and registration: Vaa3D provides a series of plugins and functions to align 3D image patterns, and then synchronize the 3D display of these aligned patterns.
Multiplexing based analysis: Vaa3D includes an pattern Atlas Manager which displays a series of aligned image patterns in a spread-sheet, with which subsets of these patterns can be colored in different ways and blended together for colocalization analysis.
Extensions
Vaa3D can be extended using a plugin interface. A wizard called "Plugin Creator" is provided to generate a basic template of a new plugin.
The following main categories of plugins are currently released.
Plugin Creator Wizard
Color channel management
Data IO and Conversion
Atlas Generation
C. elegans applications
Cell Counting (machine learning based or image segmentation based)
Image Filters
Image Geometry
Image Registration
Image Segmentation
Image Stitching and Large Image Visualization
Movie Generation
Neuron Tracing
Neuron Toolbox
Synchronization Toolbox
FlyWorkstation utilities (for Janelia Farm Fly workstation)
Vaa3D has also been extended to support ITK, Matlab, Bioformats, OpenCV and other widely used software. One extension, called Vaa3D-TeraFly, is to visualize terabytes of image data using a Google-Earth style dive-in view of data.
See also
Main Vaa3D website
Vaa3D Documentation Site Hosted by Google Code
Vaa3D Discussion Forum
References
3D imaging
Computational neuroscience
Data visualization software
Image processing software
Mesh generators
Science software
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30548716
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HamSphere
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HamSphere
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HamSphere is a subscription-based internet service which simulates amateur radio communication using VoIP connections over the Internet. The simulator allows licensed radio amateurs and unlicensed enthusiasts to communicate with one another using a simulated ionosphere. It was designed by Kelly Lindman, a radio amateur with call sign 5B4AIT.
The system allows realistic worldwide connections between amateur radio operators as well as radio enthusiasts. In general it is similar to other VoIP applications (such as Skype), but with the unique addition of characteristics such as channel selection by tuning, modulation, noise effects and shortwave propagation simulation.
Before using the system it is necessary for a radio amateur's call sign to be validated. The HamSphere system relies on different amateur online callbooks for verification before his or her call sign is added to the list of validated users.
The system may be used without a verified radio amateur license and has a callsign generator providing unique unofficial HamSphere callsigns.
The software is written to run on Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X or Linux using Java. Also available are mobile editions of the software running on Apple mobile devices (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) available from the Apple App Store, and on Android devices from the Google Play Store. The software is available for download as a free trial, but requires a yearly subscription after the free trial expires.
Uses
Operators using the HamSphere software can operate it in two modes:
Simulation mode. This is the unique feature of HamSphere allowing the user to maintain connections under natural realistic conditions. Signals may vary and interference is present giving the user the impression that he or she is using a real shortwave transceiver.
Simulation off mode. This mode entails connection to other operators with the reliability of VoIP (noise-free) while maintaining the other typical characteristics of radio communication.
Operating modes
The HamSphere software has two modulation types:
Double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission or DSB is the default mode of operation where the operator uses speech audio/phone.
Continuous wave or CW where the operator utilizes a built-in Morse Code keyer.
Propagation model
The mathematical algorithm for the wave propagation is based on a stochastic model and pre recorded signal envelope. Multipath propagation is achieved by inducing multiple simulated electromagnetic paths digitally thus producing signal fading and audio distortion.
Detector and Filters
Signals are received and converted into audible form by using a product detector mixing the local oscillator signal with the received signal, very similar to Software-defined radio. The digital artifact of the decoded audio signal is later filtered with a 17-order FIR filter with a bandwidth of 2.8 kHz.
See also
EchoLink
eQSO
Internet Radio Linking Project
Radio over IP
Wide-Coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System
References
The HamSphere help file, from v 3.0.3.2 of the software
Short User Manual HamSphere
External links
HamSphere Home
VoIP software
Amateur radio software for Windows
Amateur radio software for Linux
Internet software for Linux
Amateur radio software
Amateur radio software for macOS
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24073726
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooler%20Master
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Cooler Master
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Cooler Master Technology Inc. is a computer hardware manufacturer based in Taiwan. Founded in 1992, the company produces computer cases, power supplies, air and liquid CPU coolers, laptop cooling pads, and computer peripherals. Alongside its retail business, Cooler Master also is an original equipment manufacturer of cooling devices for other manufacturers including NVIDIA (VGA coolers), AMD (CPU and VGA coolers), and EVGA (motherboard heatsinks). The company has sponsored major eSports events. Some of Cooler Master's products have won awards including the iF product design award.
History
Facilities
The company headquarters of Cooler Master is located in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan and has a manufacturing facility in Huizhou, China. To support international operations, the company also has branch offices in various continents, including United States (Fremont, California and Chino, California), the Netherlands (Eindhoven), Italy (Milano), France (Paris), Germany (Augsburg), Russia (Moscow), and Brazil (São Paulo).
Products
The company in March 2020 continues to release its own gaming headsets, with products like the MH670 headphones allowing customization through the Cooler Master configuration app, named Portal. It also makes esports mice.
One of its main current products is the Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler, which PCWorld says is "arguably the most popular CPU air cooler for the budget-minded crowd wanting to upgrade from the stock options." The company also makes other air coolers, liquid coolers, PC cases, fans, and power supplies.
In January 2020, the company changed its applicator style to a new wide-tipped applicator, with Cooler Master stating that it was to alarm fewer parents about the older syringe shape.
The KFConsole, a home video game console launched in December 2020, is part of a partnership between Cooler Master and KFC.
CM Storm
CM Storm is a subsidiary brand created in 2008. Products are developed using research collected from partnerships with gaming organizations in eSports including Mousesports and Frag Dominant. In September 2009, CM Storm launched the Sentinel Advanced mouse with a programmable organic light-emitting diode display. In January 2012, CM Storm launched the QuickFire Ultimate keyboard. In January 2013, CM Storm launched the Sirus S gaming headset featuring an inline remote with volume control and microphone mute button. As of 2018, Cooler Master no longer sells products under the CM Storm brand.
See also
List of companies of Taiwan
List of computer hardware manufacturers
Noctua (company)
References
External links
Cooler Master Global Home page
1992 establishments in Taiwan
Computer enclosure companies
Computer power supply unit manufacturers
Technology companies established in 1992
Manufacturing companies based in New Taipei
Electronics companies of Taiwan
Computer hardware cooling
Taiwanese brands
Computer peripheral companies
Computer keyboard companies
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42168
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data%20communication
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Data communication
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Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibers, wireless communication using radio spectrum, storage media and computer buses. The data are represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage, radiowave, microwave, or infrared signal.
Analog transmission is a method of conveying voice, data, image, signal or video information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that of a variable. The messages are either represented by a sequence of pulses by means of a line code (baseband transmission), or by a limited set of continuously varying waveforms (passband transmission), using a digital modulation method. The passband modulation and corresponding demodulation is carried out by modem equipment. According to the most common definition of digital signal, both baseband and passband signals representing bit-streams are considered as digital transmission, while an alternative definition only considers the baseband signal as digital, and passband transmission of digital data as a form of digital-to-analog conversion.
Data transmitted may be digital messages originating from a data source, for example, a computer or a keyboard. It may also be an analog signal such as a phone call or a video signal, digitized into a bit-stream, for example, using pulse-code modulation or more advanced source coding schemes. This source coding and decoding is carried out by codec equipment.
Distinction between related subjects
Courses and textbooks in the field of data transmission as well as digital transmission and digital communications have similar content.
Digital transmission or data transmission traditionally belongs to telecommunications and electrical engineering. Basic principles of data transmission may also be covered within the computer science or computer engineering topic of data communications, which also includes computer networking applications and networking protocols, for example routing, switching and inter-process communication. Although the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) involves transmission, TCP and other transport layer protocols are covered in computer networking but not discussed in a textbook or course about data transmission.
The term tele transmission involves the analog as well as digital communication. In most textbooks, the term analog transmission only refers to the transmission of an analog message signal (without digitization) by means of an analog signal, either as a non-modulated baseband signal, or as a passband signal using an analog modulation method such as AM or FM. It may also include analog-over-analog pulse modulatated baseband signals such as pulse-width modulation. In a few books within the computer networking tradition, "analog transmission" also refers to passband transmission of bit-streams using digital modulation methods such as FSK, PSK and ASK. Note that these methods are covered in textbooks named digital transmission or data transmission, for example.
The theoretical aspects of data transmission are covered by information theory and coding theory.
Protocol layers and sub-topics
Courses and textbooks in the field of data transmission typically deal with the following OSI model protocol layers and topics:
Layer 1, the physical layer:
Channel coding including
Digital modulation schemes
Line coding schemes
Forward error correction (FEC) codes
Bit synchronization
Multiplexing
Equalization
Channel models
Layer 2, the data link layer:
Channel access schemes, media access control (MAC)
Packet mode communication and Frame synchronization
Error detection and automatic repeat request (ARQ)
Flow control
Layer 6, the presentation layer:
Source coding (digitization and data compression), and information theory.
Cryptography (may occur at any layer)
It is also common to deal with the cross-layer design of those three layers.
Applications and history
Data (mainly but not exclusively informational) has been sent via non-electronic (e.g. optical, acoustic, mechanical) means since the advent of communication. Analog signal data has been sent electronically since the advent of the telephone. However, the first data electromagnetic transmission applications in modern time were telegraphy (1809) and teletypewriters (1906), which are both digital signals. The fundamental theoretical work in data transmission and information theory by Harry Nyquist, Ralph Hartley, Claude Shannon and others during the early 20th century, was done with these applications in mind.
Data transmission is utilized in computers in computer buses and for communication with peripheral equipment via parallel ports and serial ports such as RS-232 (1969), FireWire (1995) and USB (1996). The principles of data transmission are also utilized in storage media for Error detection and correction since 1951.
Data transmission is utilized in computer networking equipment such as modems (1940), local area networks (LAN) adapters (1964), repeaters, repeater hubs, microwave links, wireless network access points (1997), etc.
In telephone networks, digital communication is utilized for transferring many phone calls over the same copper cable or fiber cable by means of pulse-code modulation (PCM), i.e. sampling and digitization, in combination with Time division multiplexing (TDM) (1962). Telephone exchanges have become digital and software controlled, facilitating many value added services. For example, the first AXE telephone exchange was presented in 1976. Since the late 1980s, digital communication to the end user has been possible using Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) services. Since the end of the 1990s, broadband access techniques such as ADSL, Cable modems, fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) have become widespread to small offices and homes. The current tendency is to replace traditional telecommunication services by packet mode communication such as IP telephony and IPTV.
Transmitting analog signals digitally allows for greater signal processing capability. The ability to process a communications signal means that errors caused by random processes can be detected and corrected. Digital signals can also be sampled instead of continuously monitored. The multiplexing of multiple digital signals is much simpler to the multiplexing of analog signals.
Because of all these advantages, and because recent advances in wideband communication channels and solid-state electronics have allowed scientists to fully realize these advantages, digital communications has grown quickly. Digital communications is quickly edging out analog communication because of the vast demand to transmit computer data and the ability of digital communications to do so.
The digital revolution has also resulted in many digital telecommunication applications where the principles of data transmission are applied. Examples are second-generation (1991) and later cellular telephony, video conferencing, digital TV (1998), digital radio (1999), telemetry, etc.
Data transmission, digital transmission or digital communications is the physical transfer of data (a digital bit stream or a digitized analog signal[1]) over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibers, wireless communication channels, storage media and computer buses. The data are represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage, radiowave, microwave, or infrared signal.
While analog transmission is the transfer of a continuously varying analog signal over an analog channel, digital communications is the transfer of discrete messages over a digital or an analog channel. The messages are either represented by a sequence of pulses by means of a line code (baseband transmission), or by a limited set of continuously varying wave forms (passband transmission), using a digital modulation method. The passband modulation and corresponding demodulation (also known as detection) is carried out by modem equipment. According to the most common definition of digital signal, both baseband and passband signals representing bit-streams are considered as digital transmission, while an alternative definition only considers the baseband signal as digital, and passband transmission of digital data as a form of digital-to-analog conversion.
Data transmitted may be digital messages originating from a data source, for example a computer or a keyboard. It may also be an analog signal such as a phone call or a video signal, digitized into a bit-stream for example using pulse-code modulation (PCM) or more advanced source coding (analog-to-digital conversion and data compression) schemes. This source coding and decoding is carried out by codec equipment.
Serial and parallel transmission
In telecommunications, serial transmission is the sequential transmission of signal elements of a group representing a character or other entity of data. Digital serial transmissions are bits sent over a single wire, frequency or optical path sequentially. Because it requires less signal processing and less chances for error than parallel transmission, the transfer rate of each individual path may be faster. This can be used over longer distances as a check digit or parity bit can be sent along it easily.
In telecommunications, parallel transmission is the simultaneous transmission of the signal elements of a character or other entity of data. In digital communications, parallel transmission is the simultaneous transmission of related signal elements over two or more separate paths. Multiple electrical wires are used which can transmit multiple bits simultaneously, which allows for higher data transfer rates than can be achieved with serial transmission. This method is used internally within the computer, for example the internal buses, and sometimes externally for such things as printers, The major issue with this is "skewing" because the wires in parallel data transmission have slightly different properties (not intentionally) so some bits may arrive before others, which may corrupt the message. A parity bit can help to reduce this. However, electrical wire parallel data transmission is therefore less reliable for long distances because corrupt transmissions are far more likely.
Communication channels
Some communications channel types include:
Data transmission circuit
Full-duplex
Half-duplex
Multi-drop:
Bus network
Mesh network
Ring network
Star network
Wireless network
Point-to-point
Simplex
Asynchronous and synchronous data transmission
Asynchronous serial communication uses start and stop bits to signify the beginning and end of transmission. This method of transmission is used when data are sent intermittently as opposed to in a solid stream.
Synchronous transmission synchronizes transmission speeds at both the receiving and sending end of the transmission using clock signals. The clock may be a separate signal or embedded in the data. A continual stream of data is then sent between the two nodes. Due to there being no start and stop bits the data transfer rate is more efficient.
See also
Computer networking
Communication
Information theory
Internetworking
Media (communication)
Network security
Node-to-node data transfer
Packet switching
Signal processing
Telecommunication
Transmission (disambiguation)
References
Computer networking
Mass media technology
Telecommunications
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5091321
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris%20DiBona
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Chris DiBona
|
Chris DiBona ('cdibona', born October 1971) is the director of open source at Google. His team oversees license compliance and supports the open source developer community through programs such as the Google Summer of Code and through the release of open source software projects and patches on Google Code. In his former work on Google's public sector software, he looked after Google Moderator and the polling locations API and election results.
Before joining Google, he was an editor at Slashdot and co-founded Damage Studios. DiBona has a B.S. in computer science from George Mason University and a M.S. in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He also co-edited Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution and Open Sources 2.0.
FLOSS Weekly
He formerly co-hosted FLOSS Weekly (a podcast that was spun off from the popular This Week in Tech) with Leo Laporte. The show premiered on April 7, 2006, and features prominent guests from the free software/open source community. He also appeared on This Week in Tech and CrankyGeeks from time to time and was in the documentary Revolution OS. On July 29, 2007, Laporte announced that due to commitment issues, DiBona was stepping down as host of FLOSS Weekly.
Science Foo Camp
DiBona runs Science Foo Camp annually with Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media and Timo Hannay of Nature on the Google campus in Mountain View, California.
TechTV
DiBona was a Linux commentator on TechTV's The Screen Savers, during 2004 and parts of 2005. His stories concentrated on fun applications and consumer use of Linux.
Other activities
DiBona formerly served on the board of Our Good Works, a non-profit that looks after the volunteer matching website Allforgood.org. He serves on the board of the Linux Foundation. DiBona served on the advisory board of imeem, a San Francisco, Ca. based social networking firm, and advises PicPlz, a San Francisco start-up. He's a visiting scientist (formally a visiting scholar) at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and an advisor to Mixed Media Labs, app.net project. He also advises Ingenuitas on their sightmachine project. He's also an associate in Google Ventures.
References
External links
DiBona's Weblog
1971 births
Living people
Google employees
American men podcasters
American podcasters
MIT Sloan School of Management faculty
Open source advocates
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16391
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgement%20of%20Paris
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Judgement of Paris
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The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War and in later versions of the story to the foundation of Rome.
Sources of the episode
As with many mythological tales, details vary depending on the source. The brief allusion to the Judgement in the Iliad (24.25–30) shows that the episode initiating all the subsequent action was already familiar to its audience; a fuller version was told in the Cypria, a lost work of the Epic Cycle, of which only fragments (and a reliable summary) remain. The later writers Ovid (Heroides 16.71ff, 149–152 and 5.35f), Lucian (Dialogues of the Gods 20), Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca, E.3.2) and Hyginus (Fabulae 92), retell the story with skeptical, ironic or popularizing agendas. It appeared wordlessly on the ivory and gold votive chest of the 7th-century BC tyrant Cypselus at Olympia, which was described by Pausanias as showing:
The subject was favoured by ancient Greek vase painters as early as the sixth century BC, and remained popular in Greek and Roman art, before enjoying a significant revival as an opportunity to show three female nudes, in the Renaissance.
Mythic narrative
It is recounted that Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles). However, Eris, goddess of discord was not invited, for it was believed she would have made the party unpleasant for everyone. Angered by this snub, Eris arrived at the celebration with a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides, which she threw into the proceedings as a prize of beauty. According to some later versions, upon the apple was the inscription καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, "To/for the fairest one").
Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus to judge which of them was fairest, and eventually he, reluctant to favor any claim himself, declared that Paris, a Trojan mortal, would judge their cases, for he had recently shown his exemplary fairness in a contest in which Ares in bull form had bested Paris's own prize bull, and the shepherd-prince had unhesitatingly awarded the prize to the god.
With Hermes as their guide, the three candidates bathed in the spring of Ida, then met Paris on Mount Ida. While Paris inspected them, each attempted with her powers to bribe him; Hera offered to make him king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered wisdom and skill in war, and Aphrodite, who had the Charites and the Horai to enhance her charms with flowers and song (according to a fragment of the Cypria quoted by Athenagoras of Athens), offered the world's most beautiful woman (Euripides, Andromache, l.284, Helena l. 676). This was Helen of Sparta, wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris accepted Aphrodite's gift and awarded the apple to her, receiving Helen as well as the enmity of the Greeks and especially of Hera. The Greeks' expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy is the mythological basis of the Trojan War.
The story of the Judgement of Paris naturally offered artists the opportunity to depict a sort of beauty contest between three beautiful female nudes, but the myth, at least since Euripides, rather concerns a choice among the gifts that each goddess embodies. The bribery involved is ironic and a late ingredient.
According to a tradition suggested by Alfred J. Van Windekens, "cow-eyed" Hera was indeed the most beautiful, not Aphrodite. However, Hera was the goddess of the marital order and of cuckolded wives, amongst other things. She was often portrayed as the shrewish, jealous wife of Zeus, who himself often escaped from her controlling ways by cheating on her with other women, mortal and immortal. She had fidelity and chastity in mind and was careful to be modest when Paris was inspecting her. Aphrodite, though not as beautiful as Hera, was the goddess of sexuality, and was effortlessly more sexual and charming before him. Thus, she was able to sway Paris into judging her as the fairest. Athena's beauty is rarely commented on in the myths, perhaps because Greeks held her up as an asexual being, able to "overcome" her "womanly weaknesses" to become both wise and talented in war (both considered male domains by the Greeks). Her rage at losing makes her join the Greeks in the battle against Paris's Trojans, a key event in the turning point of the war.
In art
The subject became popular in art from the late Middle Ages onwards. All three goddesses were usually shown nude, though in ancient art only Aphrodite is ever unclothed, and not always. The opportunity for three female nudes was a large part of the attraction of the subject. It appeared in illuminated manuscripts and was popular in decorative art, including 15th-century Italian inkstands and other works in maiolica, and cassoni. As a subject for easel paintings, it was more common in Northern Europe, although Marcantonio Raimondi's engraving of c. 1515, probably based on a drawing by Raphael, and using a composition derived from a Roman sarcophagus, was a highly influential treatment, which made Paris's Phrygian cap an attribute in most later versions.
The subject was painted many (supposedly 23) times by Lucas Cranach the Elder, and was especially attractive to Northern Mannerist painters. Rubens painted several compositions of the subject at different points in his career. Watteau and Angelica Kauffman were among the artists who painted the subject in the 18th century. The Judgement of Paris was painted frequently by academic artists of the 19th century, and less often by their more progressive contemporaries such as Renoir and Cézanne. Later artists who have painted the subject include André Lhote, Enrique Simonet (El Juicio de Paris 1904), and Salvador Dalí.
Ivo Saliger (1939), Adolf Ziegler (1939), and Joseph Thorak (1941) also used the classic myth to propagate German renewal during the Nazi period.
In Discordianism
Kallistēi is the word of the ancient Greek language inscribed on Eris' Apple of Discord. In Greek, the word is καλλίστῃ (the dative singular of the feminine superlative of καλος, beautiful). Its meaning can be rendered "to the fairest one". Calliste (Καλλίστη; Mod. Gk. Kallisti) is also an ancient name for the isle of Thera.
The word Kallisti (Modern Greek) written on a golden apple, has become a principal symbol of Discordianism, a post-modernist religion. In non-philological texts (such as Discordian ones) the word is usually spelled as καλλιστι. Most versions of Principia Discordia actually spell it as καλλιχτι, but this is definitely incorrect; in the afterword of the 1979 Loompanics edition of Principia, Gregory Hill says that was because on the IBM typewriter he used, not all Greek letters coincided with Latin ones, and he didn't know enough of the letters to spot the mistake. Zeus' failure to invite Eris is referred to as The Original Snub in Discordian mythology.
Cultural references
The story is the basis of an opera, The Judgement of Paris, with a libretto by William Congreve, that was set to music by four composers in London, 1700–1701. Thomas Arne composed a highly successful score to the same libretto in 1742. The opera Le Cinesi (The Chinese Women) by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1754) concludes with a ballet, The Judgement of Paris, sung as a vocal quartet. Francesco Cilea's 1902 opera Adriana Lecouvreur also includes a Judgement of Paris ballet sequence.
The story is the basis of an earlier opera, Il pomo d'oro, in a prologue and five acts by the Italian composer Antonio Cesti, with a libretto by Francesco Sbarra (1611–1668). It was first performed before the imperial court in a specially constructed open-air theatre Vienna in 1668. The work was so long it had to be staged over the course of two days: the Prologue, Acts One and Two were given on July 12; Acts Three, Four and Five on July 14. The staging was unprecedented for its magnificence (and expense). The designer Ludovico Ottavio Burnacini provided no fewer than 24 sets and there were plenty of opportunities for spectacular stage machinery, including shipwrecks and collapsing towers.
Novelist Gore Vidal named his 1952 book, The Judgment of Paris, after this story.
The Judgement of Paris was burlesqued in the 1954 musical The Golden Apple. In it, the three goddesses have been reduced to three town biddies in smalltown Washington state. They ask Paris, a traveling salesman, to judge the cakes they have made for the church social. Each woman (the mayor's wife, the schoolmarm, and the matchmaker) makes appeals to Paris, who chooses the matchmaker. The matchmaker, in turn, sets him up with Helen, the town floozy, who runs off with him.
The Judgement of Paris is featured in the 2003 TV miniseries Helen of Troy. The event is brief, and only Hera and Aphrodite offer bribes. All three goddesses remain fully clothed. Aphrodite gives Paris a vision of Helen, while Helen has a reciprocal vision of Paris.
In the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys series, the contest is altered somewhat with Aphrodite and Athena entering but Artemis is the third goddess contestant instead of Hera (offering the one who chooses her the chance to be renowned as a great warrior). The Golden Apple appears as a gift from Aphrodite with the ability to make any mortal woman fall in love with the man holding it and to make a mortal man and woman soul mates if they simultaneously touch it. The other major differences beside the presence of Artemis and the role of the apple are the fact that it is Ëlaus who is the judge and the goddesses appear in swimsuits and not nude.
Gallery
Classical literature sources
Chronological listing of classical literature sources for The Judgement of Paris, including the Apple of Discord':
Homer, Iliad 24. 25 ff (trans. Murray) (Greek epic C8th BC)
Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1290 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek tragedy C5th BC)
Euripides, Hecuba 629 ff (trans. Coleridge)
Euripides, Hecuba 669 ff
Euripides, The Trojan Women 924 ff (trans. Coleridge)
Euripides, Helen 20 ff (trans Coleridge)
Euripides, Helen 675 ff
Euripides, Andromache 274 ff (trans. Coleridge)
Gorgias, The Encomium on Helen 5 (The Classical Weekly Feb. 15, 1913 trans. Van Hook p. 123) (Greek philosophy C5th BC)
P. Oxy. 663, Cratinus, Argument of Cratinus' Dionysalexandrus 2. 12-9 (trans. Grenfell & Hunt) (Greek poetry C5th BC)
Scholiast on P. Oxy. 663, Argument of Cratinus' Dionysalexandrus 2. 12-9 (The Oxyrhynchus Papyri trans. Grenfell & Hunt 1904 Vol 4 p. 70)
Isocrates, Helen 41–52 (trans. Norlin) (Greek philosophy C4th BC)
Plato, Republic 2. 379e ff (trans. Shorey) (Greek philosophy C4th BC)
Scholiast on Plato, Republic 2. 379e ff (Plato The Republic Books I-V trans. Shorey Vol 5 1937 1930 p. 186)
Aristotle, Rhetorica 1. 6. 20 ff (trans. Rhys Roberts) (Greek philosophy C4th BC)
Aristotle, Rhetorica 2. 23. 12 ff
Xenophon, Banquet (or Symposium) 4. 19. 20 ff (trans. Brownson) (Greek philosophy C4th BC)
Lycophron, Alexandria 93 ff, (trans. A. Mair) (Greek epic C3rd BC)
Scholiast on Alexandria 93 ff (Callimachus and Lycophron trans. A. Mair Aratus trans. G. Mair 1921 p. 501)
Callimachus, Hymn 5. 17 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd BC)
Herodas, Mime 1. 35 (trans. Headlam ed. Knox) (Greek poetry C3rd BC)
Catullus, The Poems of Catullus 61. 17 (trans. Cornish) (Latin poetry C1st BC)
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 17. 7. 4 ff (trans. Oldfather) (Greek history C1st BC)
Scholiast on Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 17. 7. 4 ff (Diodorus of Sicily trans. Oldfather 1963 Vol 8 pp. 135)
Horace, Carminum 3. 3. 19 (trans. Bennett) (Roman lyric poetry C1st BC)
Scholiast on Horace, Carminum 3. 3. 19 (Horace Odes and Erodes trans. Bennett 1901 p. 312)
Cicero, The Letters to his Friends 1. 9. 13 ff (trans. Williams) (Roman epigram C1st BC)
Ovid, Heroides 16. 137 (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st BC to C1st AD)
Ovid, Heroides 17. 115 ff
Ovid, Fasti 4. 120 ff (trans. Frazer) (Roman epic C1st BC to C1st AD)
Ovid, Fasti 6. 44 ff
Strabo, Geography 13. 1. 51 (trans. Jones) (Greek geography C1st BC to C1st AD)
Lucan, Pharsalia 9. 971 ff (trans. Riley) (Roman poetry C1st AD)
Scholiast on Lucan, Pharsalia 9. 971 (The Pharsalia of Lucan Riley 1853 p. 378)
Petronius, Satyricon 138 ff (trans. Heseltine) (Roman satire C1st AD)
Scholiast on Petronius, Satyricon 138 ff (Petronius and Seneca Apocolocyntosis trans. Heseltine & Rouse 1925 p. 318)
Pliny, Natural History 34. 19. 77 ff (trans. Rackham) (Roman history C1st AD)
Lucian, The Carousal, or The Lapiths 35 ff (trans. Harmon) (Assyrian satire C2nd AD)
Lucian, The Judgement of the Goddesses 1–16 (end) (trans. Harmon) (Assyrian satire C2nd AD)
Lucian, The Dance 45 ff (trans. Harmon)
Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 301 ff (trans. Harmon)
Pseudo-Lucian, Charidemus 10 ff (trans. Macleod)
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Epitome 3. 3 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythography C2nd AD)
Scholiast on Pseudo-Apollodorus, Epitome 3. 3 (Apollodorus The Library trans. Frazer 1921 Vol 2 pp. 172–73)
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 92 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythography C2nd AD)
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 18. 12 ff (trans. Frazer) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD)
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 19. 5 ff
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 30 ff (trans. Adlington & Gaselee) (Latin prose C2nd AD)
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 30–33 (trans. Adlington & Gaselee)
Longus, Daphnis and Chloe Book 3 (The Athenian Society's Publications IV: Longus 1896 p. 108) (Greek romance C2nd AD)
P. Oxy. 1231, Sappho, Book 1 Fragment 1. 13 ff (The Oxyrhynchus Papyri trans. Grenfell & Hunt 1914 Vol 10 p. 40) (Greek poetry C2nd AD)
Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks 2. 29 P. ff (trans. Butterworth) (Christian philosophy C2nd to C3rd AD)
Tertullian, Apologeticus 15. 15 ff (trans. Souter & Mayor) (Christian philosophy C2nd to C3rd AD)
Athenaeus, Banquet of the Learned 12. 2 (trans. Yonge) (Greek rhetoric C2nd to C3rd AD)
Psudeo-Proclus, Cypria (Hesiod the Homeric Hymns and Homerica trans. Evelyn-White pp. 488–91) (C2nd to C5th AD)
Colluthus, The Rape of Helen 59–210 (trans. Mair) (Greek epic C5th to C6th AD)
Scholiast on Colluthus, The Rape of Helen 59 ff (Oppian Colluthus Tryphiodorus trans. Mair 1928 pp. 546–47)
Servius, Servius In Vergilii Aeneidos 1. 27 ff (trans. Thilo) (Greek commentary C4th to 11th AD)
First Vatican Mythographer, Scriptores rerum mythicarum 208 (ed. Bode) (Greek and Roman mythography C9th AD to C11th AD)
Second Vatican Mythographer, Scriptores rerum mythicarum 205 (ed. Bode) (Greek and Roman mythography C11th AD)
Tzetzes, Scholia on Lycophron Cassandra (or Alexandria) 93 (Scholia on Lycophron ed. Müller 1811 p. 93) (Byzantine commentary C12th AD)
See also
Feast of the Gods (art)
Trojan War
Notes
References
Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Bull, Malcolm, The Mirror of the Gods, How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods, Oxford UP, 2005, .
Kerényi, Carl, The Heroes of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1959.
Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
External links
The Judgment of Paris
Full-text of Bulfinch's Mythology
Trojan War
Discordianism
el:Πάρις#Η «Κρίση του Πάρι»
Deeds of Zeus
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covario
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Covario
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Covario, Inc. was an American search marketing agency and technology firm based in San Diego, California. The company specialized in international search engine marketing services and provided software tools for SEO, paid search, social media marketing, analytics, and local search optimization. Its customer base included technology, consumer electronics, financial services, retail, ecommerce, media, entertainment, publishing, and consumer packaged goods organizations. Covario was acquired by the Dentsu Aegis Network in September 2014, and combined with iProspect, the network's performance marketing arm, in early 2015.
History
Covario was founded as "SEMDirector" in 2006 by Dema Zlotin, Curt Nelson, and Russ Mann as a spin-out of Zlotin and Nelson's software development consulting firm Silicon Space, Inc. SEMDirector focused on B2B Search Marketing. The company initially focused on Pay per click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) software analytics. In 2008, the company changed its name to Covario, Inc. In 2012, the company created two business units: the Covario search marketing agency, and the Rio SEO platform of software tools. The company hosts a website which includes a blog and search engine marketing resources.
In 2010, Covario acquired Netconcepts of Madison, Wisconsin, a developer of SEO automation software. In 2012, Covario rebranded its SaaS (software-as-a-service)-based software business unit under the Rio SEO name. In June 2012, Rio SEO acquired Top Local Search, a developer of local search optimization software for national brands and multi-location businesses. In November 2012, Rio SEO acquired Meteor Solutions, developer of social media advertising and analytics software.
Until 2014, Covario, Inc. encompassed the Covario search agency, which provided global SEO/SEM and content marketing services, as well as Rio SEO, which markets and develops SEO automation tools, analytics, and social media software.
For three years in a row, Covario was named search agency of the year by OMMA (The Magazine of Online Media, Marketing and Advertising). The firm was awarded the OMMA search agency of the year award in 2011 and again in 2012 and 2013.
In 2012, Rio SEO was named the leader in SEO Automation in the first Forrester review of SEO platforms.
On November 6, 2013, Covario Inc. co-founder and CEO Russ Mann became chairman of the firm, turning over the CEO duties to Mike Gullaksen and Jeff Johnson, formerly co-managing directors. Gullaksen and Johnson led Covario as co-chief executive officers, along with Claire Long, the company's chief financial and operating officer.
On September 17, 2014, the search and content marketing business of Covario, Inc. was acquired by Dentsu Aegis (owned by Japanese holding company Dentsu, which transitioned the Covario agency unit into its iProspect performance marketing agency. However, Rio SEO, a software unit of Covario, remained an independent operating company.
Tools
Covario's Rio SEO business unit offers software tools for analyzing and automating search marketing tasks. Covario received its first SEO patent, granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, for a "Centralized Web-based Software Solution for Search Engine Optimization."
The company's software includes tools for tracking SEO analytics, automating the identification of popular keywords, tracking SEO and website changes and automatically optimizing websites for ecommerce without need for IT resources. Tools include a suite of local and mobile SEO tools for franchise operators, retailers, and other local businesses, and tools for social media marketing promotion. In January 2013, Rio SEO released its SEO Social Media Suite and SEO Social Advertising software, which integrate social advertising solutions into its SEO software.
Corporate affairs
Covario had over 220 employees internationally with offices in Chicago, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Toronto and São Paulo. Clients included Fortune 500 and Internet 1000 advertisers, including IBM, Intel, Nikon, Sony Pictures and T-Mobile. So far, Covario has raised $21.5 million in venture capital from Voyager Capital, Dubilier & Co. and FT Ventures.
Dentsu Aegis, owned by Japanese holding company Dentsu, agreed on September 17, 2014, to acquire the search and content marketing agency business of Covario, Inc. Dentsu Aegis plans to transition the Covario agency unit into its iProspect performance marketing agency.
Separately, Rio SEO, the software unit of Covario, announced it will remain an independent operating company.
References
2006 establishments in California
Companies based in San Diego
American companies established in 2006
Digital marketing companies of the United States
Search engine optimization companies
Privately held companies based in California
Dentsu Aegis Network brands
2014 mergers and acquisitions
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738012
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac%20OS%20X%20Public%20Beta
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Mac OS X Public Beta
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The Mac OS X Public Beta (internally code named "Kodiak") was the first publicly available version of Apple Computer's Mac OS X (now named macOS) operating system to feature the Aqua user interface. It was released to the public on September 13, 2000 for US$29.95. Its release was significant as the first publicly available evidence of Apple's ability to ship the long-awaited "next-generation Mac operating system" after the Copland failure. It allowed software developers and early adopters to test a preview of the upcoming operating system and develop software for the forthcoming operating system before its final release. It is the only public version of Mac OS X to have a code name not based on a big cat until the release of 10.9 Mavericks in 2013. The US version had a build number of 1H39 and the international version had build number 2E14.
Successor OS
The Public Beta succeeded Mac OS X Server 1.0, the first public release of Apple's new NeXT OPENSTEP-based operating system, which used a variant of the classic Mac OS's "Platinum" user interface look and feel. The Public Beta introduced the Aqua user interface to the world. Fundamental user interface changes were revealed with respect to fonts, the Dock, the menu bar (with an Apple logo at the center that was later repositioned to the left of the menu bar and made an active interface element). System icons were much larger and more detailed, and new interface eye candy was prevalent.
Technical changes
The beta's arrival marked some fundamental technical changes, most courtesy of an open source Darwin 1.2.1 core, including two features that Mac users and developers had been anticipating for almost a decade: preemptive multitasking and protected memory. To illustrate the benefits of the latter, at the MacWorld Expo in June 2000, Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated Bomb.app, a test application intended to crash.
Native software
The Public Beta included many of the standard programs bundled with macOS for decades to come, such as TextEdit, Preview, Mail, QuickTime Player and Terminal. Also included with the Public Beta, but not in any subsequent versions of Mac OS X, were a simple MP3 player (iTunes had not yet been introduced), Sketch, a basic vector drawing program demonstrating features of Quartz, and HTMLEdit, a WYSIWYG HTML editor inherited from WebObjects.
Native shrinkware applications were few and far between. Early adopters had to turn to open source or shareware alternatives, giving rise to an active homebrew software community around the new operating system. Many programs in use on early Mac OS X systems were inherited from OPENSTEP or Rhapsody developer releases (e.g. OmniWeb or Fire), or were simple wrapper apps that provided a graphical interface to a command-line Unix program.
The poor state of the Carbon API contrasted with the relative maturity of Cocoa gave rise to an anti-Carbon bias among Mac OS X users.
Expiration
The Mac OS X Public Beta was expired on May 14, 2001; approximately two months after the release of Mac OS X 10.0, the completed version of the operating system released in March 2001. As a result, it will not run on later PowerPC-based Macintosh computers released after early 2001, nor on current Macintosh hardware, which uses the x86 or ARM64 processor architectures. Using the Mac OS X Public Beta on compatible equipment today requires setting the hardware clock to a date prior to the expiration date.
The expiration date forced users to purchase a copy of the final release rather than continuing to use the Public Beta, as well as reassured industry observers skeptical after the Copland and Rhapsody failures that Apple would actually release a next-generation operating system this time. Owners of the Public Beta version were entitled to a $30 discount on the price of the first full version of Mac OS X 10.0. Only the Aqua GUI and related components of the Public Beta were subject to expiry; the underlying Darwin command-line based OS continued to function.
References
2000 software
MacOS
PowerPC operating systems
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1871177
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LK201
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LK201
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The LK201 was a detachable computer keyboard introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts in 1982. It was first used by Digital's VT220 ANSI/ASCII terminal and was subsequently used by the Rainbow-100, DECmate-II, and Pro-350 microcomputers and many of Digital's computer workstations such as the VAXstation and DECstation families.
The keyboard layout was new at the time, adding a set of cursor and miscellaneous keys between the main keyboard and the numeric keypad. The cursor keys were arranged in what has now become the standard "Inverted T" arrangement seen on essentially all contemporary full-sized computer keyboards. The keyboard also added a Compose key to allow typing of all of the characters in the terminal's extended character set using two-stroke mnemonics, for instance produced . An LED on the keyboard indicated an ongoing compose sequence.
Ergonomic considerations caused the keyboard to be designed with a very low profile; it was very thin, especially when compared to the keyboard used on the VT100. The keyboard connected using a modular connector over which flowed power and asynchronous serial data.
At the time of its introduction, the differences between the new layout and the traditional Teletype Model 33 and VT100 layouts proved disruptive, but the LK201's key arrangement was emulated by the even more successful Model M keyboard and through it become the de facto standard for all full-sized computer keyboards. Today's standard layout differs primarily in the restoration of the Escape Key found on the VT100 and that the numeric keypad has two double-height keys instead of one, decreasing the number pad keys from 18 to 17. The VT220 Compose key would survive in the European ISO standard but not in the U.S. ANSI standard.
Follow-on keyboards from Digital refined the design introduced with the LK201. One notable departure from the basic LK201 design was a Unix-oriented keyboard, the LK421, that omitted the added middle group of cursor and miscellaneous function keys but included a dedicated Escape Key. Many Unix users preferred a narrower, ASCII-oriented keyboard rather than the rather-wide LK201 arrangement and the Escape Key was essential for several popular Unix editors.
References
External links
BSD documentation on LK201 keyboard
More pictures of the LK201 including internals
LK201 Keycode and Keyboard Division Chart (in color) (jpg 67k) (The scancode of Right Shift is xab, not xae which is (Left) Shift only (see the next reference).
LK201 Keycodes and Keyboard Divisions
Computer keyboard models
DEC hardware
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3266646
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVCS
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PVCS
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PVCS Version Manager (originally named Polytron Version Control System) is a software package by Serena Software Inc., for version control of source code files.
PVCS follows the "locking" approach to concurrency control; it has no merge operator built-in (but does, nonetheless, have a separate merge command). However PVCS can also be configured to support several users simultaneously attempting to edit the file; in this case the second chronological committer will have a branch created for them so that both modifications, instead of conflicting, will appear as parallel histories for the same file. This is unlike Concurrent Versions System (CVS) and Subversion where the second committer needs to first merge the changes via the update command and then resolve conflicts (when they exist) before actually committing.
Originally developed by Don Kinzer and published by Polytron in 1985, through a history of acquisitions and mergers, the product was at times owned by Sage Software of Rockville (1989), Maryland (unrelated to Sage Software of the UK), Intersolv 1992, Micro Focus International 1998 and Merant PLC 2001. The latter was acquired by Serena Software in 2004, which was then acquired by Silver Lake Partners in 2006.
Synergex ported both the PVCS Version Manager and the PVCS Configuration Builder (an extended make utility, including a variant of the command line tool make) to various Unix platforms and OpenVMS.
In 2009, Serena Software clarified that it will continue to invest in PVCS and provide support to PVCS customers for the foreseeable future.PVCS Version Manager 8.5 release (2014) introduces both new feature and new platform support.
In 2016, Micro Focus International announced the acquisition of Serena Software to again become the custodians of PVCS.
See also
List of version control software
References
External links
Version control systems
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1267354
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TU%20Wien
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TU Wien
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TU Wien (TUW; ; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recognition in teaching as well as in research, and it is a highly esteemed partner of innovation-oriented enterprises. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties and about 5,000 staff members (3,800 academics).
The university's teaching and research is focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences.
History
The institution was founded in 1815 by Emperor Francis I of Austria as the k.k. Polytechnische Institut (Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute). The first rector was Johann Joseph von Prechtl. It was renamed the Technische Hochschule (College of Technology) in 1872. When it began granting doctoral and higher degrees in 1975, it was renamed the Technische Universität Wien (Vienna University of Technology).
Academic reputation
As a university of technology, TU Wien covers a wide spectrum of scientific concepts from abstract pure research and the fundamental principles of science to applied technological research and partnership with industry.
TU Wien is ranked #192 by the QS World University Ranking, #406 by the Center of World University Rankings, and it is positioned among the best 401-500 higher education institutions globally by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The computer science department has been consistently ranked among the top 100 in the world by the QS World University Ranking and The Times Higher Education World University Rankings respectively.
Organization
TU Wien has eight faculties led by deans: Architecture and Planning, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Mathematics and Geoinformation, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and Physics.
The University is led by the Rector and four Vice Rectors (responsible for Research, Academic Affairs, Finance as well as Human Resources and Gender). The Senate has 26 members. The University Council, consisting of seven members, acts as a supervisory board.
Research
Development work in almost all areas of technology is encouraged by the interaction between basic research and the different fields of engineering sciences at TU Wien. Also, the framework of cooperative projects with other universities, research institutes and business sector partners is established by the research section of TU Wien. TU Wien has sharpened its research profile by defining competence fields and setting up interdisciplinary collaboration centres, and clearer outlines will be developed.
Research focus points of TU Wien are introduced as computational science and engineering, quantum physics and quantum technologies, materials and matter, information and communication technology and energy and environment.
The EU Research Support (EURS) provides services at TU Wien and informs both researchers and administrative staff in preparing and carrying out EU research projects.
Notable faculty and alumni
Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen (1903–1992), Austrian locomotive designer and engineer
Alexander Meissner (1883 – 1958), Austrian engineer and physicist, co-inventor of the Electronic oscillator
Alfred Preis (1911–1993), designer of the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor
Benno Mengele (1898–1971), Austrian electrical engineer
Camillo Sitte (1843-1903), Austrian architect
Christian Andreas Doppler, (1803–1853), Austrian mathematician and physicist
Edmund Hlawka (1916-2009), Austrian mathematician
Edo Šen (1877–1949), Croatian architect
Ernst Hiesmayr (1920-2006), architect, artist and former rector of the Technical University Vienna
Ferdinand Piëch (born 1937), Austrian business magnate, engineer and executive who is currently the chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group
Franz Pitzinger (1858–1933), Constructor General of the Austrian Navy
Gottfried Ungerboeck (1940), inventor of trellis modulation, IBM Fellow
Günter Blöschl (born 1961), Austrian hydrologist
Hannspeter Winter (1941-2006), Austrian plasma physicist
Heinz Zemanek (1920-2014), Austrian computer pioneer
Hellmuth Stachel (born 1942), Austrian mathematician
Herman Potočnik (1892–1929), Slovene space pioneer
Hermann Knoflacher (born 1940), Austrian engineer
Hubert Petschnigg (1913–1997), architect (completed his studies at TU Graz)
Hugo Ehrlich (1879–1936), Croatian architect
Ignaz Sowinski (1858–1917), architect
Ina Wagner (born 1946), Austrian physicist, sociologist, professor of computer science 1987 – 2011, TU's second ever female professor
Ingeborg Hochmair (born 1953), electrical engineer, developed the first microelectronic, multi-channel cochlear implant
Irfan Skiljan, author of the image viewer software Irfanview
Jörg Streli (1940–2019), Austrian architect
Karl Gölsdorf (1861–1916), Austrian engineer and locomotive designer
Leon Kellner, grammarian, Shakespearean, and Zionist
Marie-Therese Hohenberg, Austrian architect (born 1972)
Milan Vidmar (1885-1962), Slovene electrical engineer
Milutin Milanković (1879–1958), Serbian geophysicist and civil engineer
Ottó Titusz Bláthy (1860–1939), Hungarian mechanical engineer
Paul Eisler (1907–1992), inventor of the printed circuit
Paul Schneider-Esleben (1915–2005), visiting professor of architecture
Peter Schattschneider (1950), Austrian physicist
Peter Skalicky (born 1941), rector of the Vienna University of Technology from 1991-2011
Richard von Mises (1883–1953), scientist
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Austrian philosopher and transdisciplinary researcher
Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887–1953), early Modern architect
Siegfried Becher (1806–1873), professor of economics
Silke Bühler-Paschen, professor of physics
Tillman Gerngross, Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, leading entrepreneur and bioengineer, founder of GlycoFi and Adimab
Viktor Kaplan (1876–1934), inventor of the Kaplan turbine
Vinzenz Bronzin (1872-1970), Italian mathematics professor, and pioneering finance theorist
Yordan Milanov (1867–1932), one of the leading Bulgarian architects from the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century
Zvonimir Richtmann (1901–1941), Croatian physicist, philosopher, politician and publicist
Library
The University Library was founded in 1815. The Main Library building was designed by the architects Justus Dahinden, Reinhard Gieselmann, Alexander Marchart, Roland Moebius & partners. Completed in 1987, it features owl sculptures by the Swiss artist Bruno Weber. The Main Library has six floors of open access areas and reading rooms, with around 700 study desks.
Sports
The University hosted the IFIUS World Interuniversity Games in October 2007.
See also
TU Austria
Notes and references
External links
Continuing Education Center – TU Wien (MBA programs, MSc programs, certified)
Curricula (fields of study and courses)
TISS Information System (e.g. links to Publications Database)
TU Wien on Youtube (English playlist)
Universities and colleges in Vienna
Educational institutions established in 1815
Engineering universities and colleges in Austria
1815 establishments in the Austrian Empire
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47518866
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluentd
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Fluentd
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Fluentd is a cross platform open-source data collection software project originally developed at Treasure Data. It is written primarily in the Ruby programming language.
Overview
Fluentd was positioned for "big data", semi- or un-structured data sets. It analyzes event logs, application logs, and clickstreams. According to Suonsyrjä and Mikkonen, the "core idea of Fluentd is to be the unifying layer between different types of log inputs and outputs.", Fluentd is available on Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows.
History
Fluentd was created by Sadayuki Furuhashi as a project of the Mountain View-based firm Treasure Data. Written primarily in Ruby, its source code was released as open-source software in October 2011.
The company announced $5 million of funding in 2013.
Treasure Data was then sold to Arm Ltd. in 2018.
Users
Fluentd was one of the data collection tools recommended by Amazon Web Services in 2013, when it was said to be similar to Apache Flume or Scribe. Google Cloud Platform's BigQuery recommends Fluentd as default real-time data-ingestion tool, and uses Google's customized version of Fluentd, called google-fluentd, as a default logging agent.
Fluent Bit
Fluent Bit is a log processor and log forwarder which is being developed as a CNCF sub project under the umbrella of Fluentd project. Fluentd is written by C and Ruby and built as a Ruby gem so it consumes some amount of memory resources. On the other hand, since Fluent Bit is written only in C and has no dependencies, the consumed memory usage much decreased compared to Fluentd which makes it easy to run on the embedded Linux and container environment.
References
Further reading
Goasguen, Sébastien (2014). 60 Recipes for Apache CloudStack: Using the CloudStack Ecosystem, "Chapter 6: Advanced Recipes". O'Reilly Media.
External links
Source Code on GitHub
Big data companies
Data warehousing products
Data security
Computer security companies
Free software
System administration
Data mining and machine learning software
Free science software
Free data analysis software
Free artificial intelligence applications
Computer logging
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32682210
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GroupServer
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GroupServer
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GroupServer is a computer software application from OnlineGroups.net for managing electronic mailing lists.
GroupServer is a Web-based mailing list manager designed for large sites. It provides email interaction like a traditional mailing list manager but also supports reading, searching, and posting of messages and files via the Web. Users have forum-style profiles, and can manage their email addresses and other settings using the same Web interface. It supports features such as Atom feeds, a basic CMS, statistics, multiple verified addresses per user, and bounce detection, and is able to be heavily customized.
GroupServer is coded primarily in Zope and Python and currently maintained by OnlineGroups.net. GroupServer is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public License.
History
GroupServer was first released in 2005. It was developed by OnlineGroups.net. Initial open source release support came via E-Democracy.org with funding from the UK Local e-Democracy National Project.
Features
GroupServer is free software for managing electronic mail discussion lists with an optimized web interface. It runs on Linux and most Unix-like systems, and requires Python 2.1.3 or newer. GroupServer works with Unix style mail servers such as Postfix.
Features include:
Read and post messages via the web.
Administer membership and post in one web interface.
Share uploaded files.
Search messages and files.
Multiple email addresses on a profile.
Multiple groups on a site
Skinnable and customisable.
See also
List of mailing list software
Google Groups
Yahoo! Groups
Electronic mailing list
LISTSERV
Mailing list
References
Further reading
Reviews
Meet Open Source Server Messaging Needs With GroupServer
Open Source Alternative to Mailman and Google Groups Released
External links
GroupServer homepage
Free software programmed in Python
Mailing list software for Linux
Free mailing list software
Free email software
Email
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36609929
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola%20Photon%20Q
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Motorola Photon Q
|
The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (XT897) is a smartphone manufactured by Motorola which runs on Sprint's 4G LTE network. The "Photon Q" has a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. It runs the Android operating system and includes a built-in, sliding keyboard similar to the one on the Motorola Droid 4.
As of 2018 it is still the most modern Android phone with a landscape slide-out QWERTY keyboard. As such, there is still demand for this phone, including those in the Android developer community. Enthusiasts and free developers have shown that it is possible to desolder the on-board SIM IC and connect a SIM socket/card to use this phone in other networks or countries.
Software
The Photon Q launched with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and was considered a flagship/halo device for the operating system, thanks to its 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus. On April 25, 2013, the Photon Q was upgraded to the 4.1.2 Jelly Bean version of Android. However, it was excluded from future Android upgrades, and will remain with 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Motorola has not provided any public-facing explanation for why Android 4.4, KitKat was not released for the device - or any future Android releases. The Photon Q did not receive Motorola's benchmarked two year target for software upgrades, which was later dropped, again without any public explanation.
Community software
LineageOS
Version 14.1 (tracking Android 7.1 Nougat) was updated until February 2019 at which time LineageOS 14.1 was discontinued for all devices.
Team Win Recovery Project
Currently supported (as of May 2018) with 3.0.2-0 as the latest version available for download from the official TWRP website.
SailfishOS 3.0
Available through a community port, latest (as of July 2019) is 3.1.0.9.
Hardware
The processor of the Moto Photon Q is a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus dual core CPU. It includes 1GB of RAM, and notable for its time, a micro-HDMI port. The Snapdragon S4 family of processors were jointly supported by Qualcomm and Google through the Android 6.0, Marshmallow release cycles. The Photon Q shares most of its platform underpinnings with the Motorola Droid RAZR (XT925), CDMA RAZR HD (XT926), Atrix HD (MB886), and Droid RAZR M (XT907), albeit shipping with Sprint adaptations.
The device is compatible with Motorola Lapdock devices. While Motorola's Webtop desktop shell was not supported, the device works with Lapdock 100 and Lapdock 500 in "mirror mode" with the final ice cream sandwich update, however support and functionality were discontinued with the Jellybean update.
Additionally, it functions as an admirable Android laptop solution when paired with LineageOS or another modern community ROM with multi-window support.(reference?!)
References
Android (operating system) devices
Linux-based devices
Smartphones
Photon Q
Mobile phones introduced in 2012
Discontinued smartphones
Mobile phones with an integrated hardware keyboard
Slider phones
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy%20Johnson%20%28Marvel%20Cinematic%20Universe%29
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Daisy Johnson (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
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Daisy Johnson is a fictional character portrayed by Chloe Bennet appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe multimedia franchise. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and adapted for television by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, the character first appeared in the 2013 pilot episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Johnson is initially introduced as a computer hacker known as "Skye"; the character's real name of Daisy Johnson is revealed over the course of the second season, with the character being known as such for the rest of the series. The character evolves throughout her appearances from a hacker, to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and ultimately an Inhuman superhero known to the public as Quake. Aspects of this interpretation were later integrated into the comics version of the character.
Fictional character biography
Daisy Johnson was born in China to Calvin Johnson and his Inhuman wife Jiaying, but was soon taken by Hydra agents which infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and raised as an orphan by nuns. Taking the name "Skye" since she disliked the name the orphanage gave her, she became a skilled hacktivist, opposing organisations like S.H.I.E.L.D..
Being a hacker led to Skye's involvement with Coulson, who decided to recruit her, and have Ward, and then May, train her to be a formidable field agent. Ward unfortunately turns out to be a Hydra mole, devastating and enraging Skye, who had harbored romantic feelings for him prior to realizing his true colors. After reuniting with her father, Skye chooses to drive him away, knowing him to be a monster and murderer, though his wishes for her to fulfill her destiny—by unlocking her Inhuman abilities—are granted when she unintentionally comes into contact with the Terrigen Mists, which give her earthquake-generating abilities. Skye soon meets Jiaying, who helps Skye control her abilities. Skye's loyalties are tested when Jiaying attempts to start a war with S.H.I.E.L.D., and she ultimately sides with S.H.I.E.L.D. Now using her birth name, Johnson forms a S.H.I.E.L.D. team of Inhumans named the Secret Warriors, including Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, Lincoln Campbell, and Joey Gutierrez.
After briefly being connected to Hive, and watching Lincoln Campbell, with whom she developed a romantic relationship, sacrifice himself for her, Johnson leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. and becomes known as the powered vigilante "Quake" to the public. She later returns to S.H.I.E.L.D. following the fight with Eli Morrow in the fourth season of the series. While traveling through time to stop the Chronicoms from changing history in season seven, she enters into a relationship with time-displaced Agent Daniel Sousa and discovers she had an older half-sister, Kora, who had died in her timeline. After helping an the earlier timeline version of Kora join the team, Daisy continues to work with her and Sousa one year after defeating the Chronicoms.
Concept and creation
Daisy Johnson was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Gabriele Dell'Otto for Secret War #2. When the character of Skye was introduced to the series, it was always intended that she would be the MCU version of Johnson, as executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen explained, "there are always the series of clearances, but we always knew we wanted to evolve Skye into something else. Daisy Johnson was the main character that we wanted to go for. We got confirmation on that very early on, so we’ve been on that track ever since." Bennet was cast as Skye in December 2012, out of more than 400 actresses who auditioned for the role. Unlike the comic version, Skye is an Inhuman; Jed Whedon explained that "We’ve created a different origin for her...we merged those two ideas together also because there are such rabid fans out there that if we stick to original story points from the comics, they will smell story points from miles away. Those two factors led us to coming up with a different notion of how she got her powers."
Skye's initial costume design was intended to keep her relatable, with inspiration coming from street style blogs, but as she became a more experienced S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the second season, she received a more tactical outfit. For the third season, Bennet cut her hair to further her character's transformation to Daisy Johnson, as she is portrayed in the comics, though she did not cut her hair as short as her comic counterpart; Bennet explained that "the comic book version of Daisy Johnson has very short, Miley Cyrus-esque hair. We wanted to stay true to the comic book character fans love; I wanted to please them but also make sure there was still some movement and length and sexiness in the hair." Bennet also received a superhero costume for the third season, again bringing the character closer to the version in the comics. Foley felt that "one of the most important things was that the symbol be incorporated into her costume but especially onto the gauntlets, And it’s also on the back of her suit, which was a fun little touch that we added. As far as the silhouette, we wanted to stay true to the comics and pay tribute to those original designs. I also wanted to incorporate the gold color that I’ve seen in some of the illustrations of her suit throughout the comics, which is why we have the gold lines that we see on the suit. Finally, for me personally, I wanted a nod to her tactical look from last season, so if you look at the style lines around the top of the costume, you will see that they’re similar to her tactical hood from Season 2." The suit was "made out of printed EuroJersey, which works well for these costumes because it’s a four-way stretch that gives Chloe the ability to move and do her stunts... But there is a lot more leather in her suit than in some of the others." Legacy Effects created Johnson's iconic gauntlets from the comics, making them "out of flexible materials painted to look like metal" so as not to injure anyone during stunts. During a single-shot fight sequence in "The Dirty Half Dozen", Bennet broke her arm and finished the second season without wearing a cast.
Characterization
Bennet, talking about Skye's commitment to S.H.I.E.L.D., stated that "I think at the beginning she came into S.H.I.E.L.D. thinking it was this government-run, CIA-type thing, where they’re not for the people and their motives were not good ones. But throughout the [first] season, being on the team and seeing what was happening, she really got to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is there. It really is to protect people, and the intention behind the organization is pure....I think she finds a parallel between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Coulson, and I think that’s why she’s committed to it so deeply." Elaborating on this, Bennet said "she’s always had this unspoken bond with Coulson that’s a very father/daughter relationship where clearly the love they have for each other is evident in a very caring way."Going into the second season, Bennet noted on the character, "I think she’s always someone who will wear her heart on her sleeve, but I think she’s much smarter about it now, if that makes any sense. I don’t think she’s the type of person who can halfass anything, and that includes emotions. If she feels something, she feels something. But she knows how to control it more". Talking about the changes to the character after it was revealed that she was Daisy Johnson and an Inhuman, Tancharoen said "With this discovery will come some consequences, especially in her relationships with everyone around her, specifically Coulson...Needless to say, it’s going to be a very complex, emotional journey for her. We have the ability on a television show to really explore the emotional journey of that. What does that mean now that she has this ability? Does she even want it?" Explaining some of these changes in the character, Bennet stated that "I make sure to try to keep the season one Daisy weaved through the new, badass Daisy....[but] she's changed a lot. She went into S.H.I.E.L.D. hating organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D., and now she's the epitome of S.H.I.E.L.D. She believes in everything that they believe in." Discussing the reveal that Skye is actually Daisy Johnson, Maurissa Tancharoen explained thatJohnson is a character that we always liked. We always knew there was a potential to evolve Skye into something else. It took a little bit of time, but we were happy when we were able to land on Daisy Johnson, and actually have that work in our mythology. But as with everything that we do on the show, we pull from the properties, and we do our own spin to it. So we are kind of merging a few concepts and storylines. We've spent a season and a half with Skye. We've seen her evolve as a person, we've grown to like her as a person, we've seen her evolve as an agent. And now, finally bringing her to her origin story—I think there's just a lot more emotional weight to it, because you already know her as just Skye, and now she will have this ability that she may not understand, that she may not want ... We're going to focus on Skye, and how that affects the people around her, and how the relationships may shift. Because we've seen through the course of our series so far; we've spoken about how S.H.I.E.L.D. treats gifteds or views them, and they're categorized, things like that. What does that mean when one of your own is now considered someone with an ability? How do you categorize her?Whedon elaborated that "We're going to walk her through the steps of discovering what this really means, and coming to terms with it. All that stuff is really interesting to us, and in television, because we have time to explore, we can take her origin on all sorts of different paths." Additionally, Whedon talked about how the character would be referred to on the show after the reveal, saying, "She's still Skye, because she thinks she's Skye. I think her dad thinks she's Daisy, and we'll see if she ever gets to the point where she believes that that's something that she would want to call herself. But right now, she has her own identity."
Discussing the character becoming leader of the Secret Warriors, Bennet said, "What makes her such a good leader is how much she's been through, so she can relate to everyone on the team and she really has so much empathy and that's what I love about playing her. She really genuinely cares about everyone so deeply and it wears heavily on her because she obviously went through this big Inhuman change...And so what I think makes her such a good kind of...unconventional leader is that she's really kind of still learning and I think that's so realistic that leaders are—it's almost like when you grow up and you realize that your parents are just humans, parenting." Wen noted how the character "has evolved from being so anti-establishment into suddenly being someone who wants to create an establishment that would help and enhance the betterment of the world", to which Bennet said, "she was lost for a really long time, she was an orphan and she wanted to find her parents and all of a sudden she does and it's not what she expected. You know, when your mom tries to kill you and your dad is Hyde. So she's kind of grown into this."
Entering the fourth season, Bennet felt that, after the events of the final episode of season three, Johnson was "in a darker place. She's mourning. She cares about the team so much that she feels like she is protecting them by kind of pushing them away, because I think she feel like everything bad happens around her and she can't help but cause problems. Her way of taking care of the people she cares about is kind of pushing them away, which... is not the best thing." She also added that physically, Johnson would not be in great shape, since she is no longer under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s monitoring "containing and helping me grow my powers" so there would be "repercussions of her kind of using these powers and... abusing her body".
Reception
Bennet received nominations for 'Favorite TV Actress' and 'Favorite Female TV Star – Family Show' at the 28th and 29th Kids' Choice Awards, respectively.
Other appearances
Web series
Daisy Johnson appears in the six-part digital series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot, with Bennet reprising her role.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears in Marvel Rising: Initiation, with Bennet reprising her role.
Quake appears in Marvel Rising: Ultimate Comics, with Bennet reprising her role.
Film
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears in the 2018 animated feature film Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, with Bennet reprising her role.
Video games
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a team-up character in Marvel Heroes, with Bennet's likeness used for an alternate costume.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight, with Bennet's likeness used for an alternate costume.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers, through the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. DLC, with Bennet's likeness used.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, with Bennet's likeness used.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a playable character in Marvel: Contest of Champions, with Bennet's likeness used.
Daisy Johnson / Quake appears as a playable character in the match-three mobile game Marvel Puzzle Quest.
References
External Links
Daisy Johnson on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
Female characters in television
Fictional American secret agents
Fictional Chinese American people
Fictional characters who can manipulate sound
Fictional characters with earth or stone abilities
Fictional female secret agents and spies
Fictional hackers
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Inhumans
Marvel Cinematic Universe characters
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents
Television characters introduced in 2013
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68563889
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty%20Blocks
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Betty Blocks
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Betty Blocks BV is a Dutch software-as-a-service provider. It is based in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. Chris Obdam is the chief executive officer of the company.
It is a no-code development platform which helps build mobile and web applications.
History
The company was founded in 2016 by Chris and Tim Obdam.
In 2017, ING Group invested three million euros in the company. In the same year, it was also included Gartner Quadrant list.
In 2018, the company partnered with VX.
In 2019, NIBC Bank invested an undisclosed amount in the company.
In August 2021, NIBC Bank along with others, invested 33 million euros for further development of its platform.
Software
The software is an application development platform that works by visual modeling rather than programming and allows non-technical users to build their own web, mobile, or backend applications without writing any code. It simplifies the development of software with simplified steps. Currently, it is further developing to improve the software for citizen developers.
References
Software companies of the Netherlands
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4033394
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jornada%20%28PDA%29
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Jornada (PDA)
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The Jornada was a line of personal digital assistants or PDAs manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. The Jornada was a broad product line that included Palm-Size PCs, Handheld PCs, and Pocket PCs. The first model was the 820, released in 1998, and the last was the 928 model in 2002 when Compaq and HP merged. The Jornada line was then succeeded by the more popular iPAQ model PDAs. All Jornada models ran Microsoft Operating Systems that were based on Windows CE.
Model variations
Handheld PCs
Jornada 820/820e
It ran on the Windows CE 2.11 operating system, Handheld PC Professional Edition 3.0, had a small trackpad with two buttons and a built-in miniature keyboard. It had 16 MB of RAM, 16 MB of ROM, Intel StrongARM CPU at 190 MHz, 640x480 256 color screen, 1 CF Type II, 1 PC card. It had a 10-hour battery life, and allowed for sending and receiving of faxes through its built-in modem. There is a software update to Handheld PC Professional Edition 3.01/Service Pack 1, and a 16 MB RAM upgrade card, bringing the RAM to a total of 32 MB. There is also an extended battery available, giving the Jornada 820 15 hours of running time, versus 10 in the standard battery. The Jornada 820 was bundled with TrueSync 2.0 to allow native synchronisation support for the Franklin Rex Classic and Rex Pro PDA.
The Jornada 820e was identical to the Jornada 820 except that it lacked the integrated 56 kbit/s modem.
Jornada 620LX
The Jornada 620LX was released in 1997. It is a HVGA Handheld PC running Windows CE 2.0. The device has a Hitachi SH3 processor clocking at 75MHz with 16MB of integrated RAM. The device has PCMCIA and CF cards. The screen is 8-bit (256 colours) and is touchscreen. It also features a serial and infrared connection.
Jornada 680/680e
The Jornada 680 was released in 1998. It was an HVGA Handheld PC running the Windows CE 2.11 based Handheld PC Professional 3.0. The device had a 133 MHz Hitachi SH3 processor with 16 MB of integrated RAM and a 16 MB ROM. The internal RAM/ROM configuration could be upgraded to 32 MB/HPC 3.01 through a user upgrade kit. The HP HVGA screen operated at 256 colours with a driver update providing 64K color support. Compact flash cards (including those of at least 4GB) and PCMCIA memory cards could be used simultaneously. The PCMCIA card slot could be used for modems, network cards (including WiFi), VGA adapters and many more.
The Jornada 680e was identical to the Jornada 680 except that it lacked the integrated 56 kbit/s modem.
Jornada 690/690e
The Jornada 690 was released in 1999. It was an HVGA Handheld PC running the Windows CE 2.11 based Handheld PC Professional 3.01. The device had a 133 MHz Hitachi SH3 processor with 32 MB of integrated RAM and a 16 MB ROM. The HP HVGA screen operated at 64K colour.
The Jornada 690e was identical to the Jornada 690 except that it lacked the integrated 56 kbit/s modem.
Jornada 710
The Jornada 710 was released in 2001 into the European / Middle Eastern Market place. It featured 32 MB of RAM, a Compact Flash slot, a PC card slot, a smart card slot, 640x240 16-bit display, and a 206 MHz StrongARM SA1110 CPU. It also ran on HPC2000, however the package differed from the higher end 720 and 728, making the 710 a lower cost alternative. The 710 did not ship with an integrated 56 kbit/s modem, and it is not possible to add one as an upgrade. It had a scaled down CD bundle and came without a docking cradle.
Jornada 720
The Jornada 720 was released in 2000. It featured 32 MB of RAM, a Compact Flash slot, a PC card slot, a Smart card slot, 56K Modem, 640x240 16-bit display, a 206 MHz StrongARM CPU, and has 9 hours of battery life. It ran under the Windows CE 3.0 based HPC2000.
Jornada 728
The Jornada 728 was released in 2002. It featured 64 MB of RAM, a Compact Flash slot, a PC card slot, a smart card slot, 56K Modem, 640x240 16-bit display, and a 206 MHz StrongARM SA1110 CPU. It runs on the Windows CE 3.0 based Handheld PC 2000 and contains a slightly higher OS revision than the 710 or 720, providing the user with native PPTP VPN functionality. The Jornada 728 contained a slightly higher spec battery package, giving it a 14 hour runtime, and was also cosmetically different from the previous 700 series releases by using light purple and grey tones instead of the monochromatic blue chassis of its predecessors. This was the last Handheld PC produced by HP.
There are a number of 728 handhelds in existence with only 32 MB of RAM, but they are otherwise identical in spec to the 64MB model.
Palm-Size PCs
Jornada 420
The Jornada 420 debuted in 1999. It was notable for being the first Palm-Size PC with a color screen, and ran on Windows CE 2.11. It had a touch-screen, a speaker, and featured full e-mail capabilities.
Jornada 430/430se
Also produced in 1999.
The se model came with free earphones and a clip case.
James Bond sported a HP Jornada 430se in the 1999 film The World Is Not Enough. For a limited period of time, consumers could purchase the 430se and receive with the device a collectible Bond keychain and a coupon for three free Bond movies.
Pocket PCs
Jornada 520 series
The Jornada 520 series was HP's answer to an affordable Pocket PC, and could be described as a stripped down version of the 540 series. It featured 16 MB of RAM, a Type I CompactFlash slot, a 256 color screen, and a 133 MHz SH3 processor. It ran on a variant of Windows CE 3.0 dubbed "Pocket PC 2000". The 520 allowed for an optional flip cover like the 540 models, but was only capable of supporting a serial cable for synchronization. The Jornada 520 series had the same form factor as the 540, but was silver.
Jornada 540 series
The Jornada 540 series was one of the original models of Pocket PC, when the platform was first announced. Sharing the Operating System, CPU and memory card slot of the 520 series, it featured a 12-bit display (originally advertised as 16-bit display) and USB connectivity. Two models were made available that were identical except for the amount of RAM. The 545 had 16 MB RAM and the 548 had 32 MB RAM.
Jornada 560 series
The Jornada 560 series was the first to run on the Pocket PC 2002 operating system and the only Pocket PC Jornada to use the StrongARM processor. It debuted in October 2001, and featured a reflective LCD screen with an ambient light sensor, and had a completely redone form factor. It also featured a flashable ROM that allowed for updates to the operating system. The Windows Mobile 2003 operating system, however, was never released by HP for this model.
Phones
Jornada 928
The Jornada 928 was Hewlett-Packard's sole Pocket PC phone under the Jornada branding and only available in the United Kingdom. It ran on the Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition operating system, and had 64 MB of RAM with 32 MB flashable ROM. It used a Texas Instruments OMAP 710 processor clocked at 150 MHz. The phone was a European GSM Dual band device capable of accessing GPRS.
Integrated solutions
HP Labs in Bristol used the GPRS Jornada devices initially with the 568 and later the 928 to create some of the first connected solutions and wearable computing in Bristol ranging from interactive tours of the city to instant language translation trials were also conducted by HP senior executives with major clients such as Disney to explore the use of the technologies in business applications.
Prototypes
Hewlett-Packard's Appliances and Calculators Organization (ACO) in Melbourne, Australia, also worked on the HP Jornada X25 (F1904A) aka "Calypso", a PDA based on a customized Linux version provided by Lineo Australia and Taiwan. It came with a StrongARM 133 MHz processor, 8 MB of flash, 32 MB of RAM, compact flash card expansion port, infra-red connectivity and USB. Similar to the Windows CE-based HP Xpander, which was cancelled in November 2001, the X25 project was cancelled close to release in early 2002 as well. Between 140 and 200 units were manufactured in a pre-production run.
See also
Handheld PC
iPAQ
Linux on the HP Jornada
List of HP Pocket Computers
Palm-size PC
Pocket PC
Smartphone
Windows CE
References
External links
NetBSD's port to ARM-based handhelds, including Jornada 710/720/728
NetBSD's port to SH-3 based handhelds, including Jornada 620LX/680/690
JLime - Linux port for Jornada 7xx, 6xx
Windows CE devices
Windows Mobile Professional devices
Windows Mobile Classic devices
Embedded Linux
Mobile computers
Jornada
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1096021
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworks%20%28engineering%29
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Earthworks (engineering)
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Earthworks are engineering works created through the processing of parts of the earth's surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock.
Shoring structures
An incomplete list of possible temporary or permanent geotechnical shoring structures that may be designed and utilised as part of earthworks:
Mechanically stabilized earth
Earth anchor
Cliff stabilization
Grout curtain
Retaining wall
Slurry wall
Soil nailing
Tieback (geotechnical)
Trench shoring
Caisson
Dam
Gabion
Ground freezing
Gallery
Excavation
Excavation may be classified by type of material:
Topsoil excavation
Earth excavation
Rock excavation
Muck excavation – this usually contains excess water and unsuitable soil
Unclassified excavation – this is any combination of material types
Excavation may be classified by the purpose:
Stripping
Roadway excavation
Drainage or structure excavation
Bridge excavation
Channel excavation
Footing excavation
Borrow excavation
Dredge excavation
Underground excavation
Civil engineering use
Typical earthworks include road construction, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms. Other common earthworks are land grading to reconfigure the topography of a site, or to stabilize slopes.
Military use
In military engineering, earthworks are, more specifically, types of fortifications constructed from soil. Although soil is not very strong, it is cheap enough that huge quantities can be used, generating formidable structures. Examples of older earthwork fortifications include moats, sod walls, motte-and-bailey castles, and hill forts. Modern examples include trenches and berms.
Equipment
Heavy construction equipment is usually used due to the amounts of material to be moved — up to millions of cubic metres. Earthwork construction was revolutionized by the development of the (Fresno) scraper and other earth-moving machines such as the loader, the dump truck, the grader, the bulldozer, the backhoe, and the dragline excavator.
Mass haul planning
Engineers need to concern themselves with issues of geotechnical engineering (such as soil density and strength) and with quantity estimation to ensure that soil volumes in the cuts match those of the fills, while minimizing the distance of movement. In the past, these calculations were done by hand using a slide rule and with methods such as Simpson's rule. Earthworks cost is a function of hauled amount x hauled distance. The goal of mass haul planning is to determine these amounts and the goal of mass haul optimization is to minimize either or both.
Now they can be performed with a computer and specialized software, including optimisation on haul cost and not haul distance (as haul cost is not proportional to haul distance).
See also
, construction/engineering vehicles used for earthworks civil engineering
Calculation software
The table below provides a list of software used in the engineering and construction industries to plan, execute and cost these earthworks.
Earthwork software is generally a subset of CAD software, in which case it often an add-on to a more general CAD package such as AutoCAD. In that case, earthwork software is principally used to calculate cut and fill volumes which are then used for producing material and time estimates. Most products offer additional functionality such as the ability to takeoff terrain elevation from plans (using contour lines and spot heights); produce shaded cut and fill maps; produce cross sections and visualize terrain in 3D. The means by which volumes are calculated in software can differ quite considerably leading to potentially different results with the same input data. Many software products use methods based on triangulated irregular networks (TINS) and triangular prism volume algorithms, however other calculation methods are in use based on rationalizing elevations into high density grids or cross-sections.
A few programs are specialised in earthworks transport optimization and planning the construction works.
References
External links
Finding Volume of Earthwork using Simpson's Rule
Fortification (architectural elements)
Civil engineering
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62622869
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Gentoo%20Linux%20derivatives
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List of Gentoo Linux derivatives
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This is a list of Gentoo Linux derivatives.
Calculate Linux
Chromium OS and Chrome OS
Container Linux (formerly CoreOS)
FireballISO
FireballISO (or "Fireball") is a VMware virtual appliance that builds a security-hardened Live CD containing a stripped-down custom version of Gentoo Linux. The original intent of the project is focused on providing firewall and networking services to a network, but the appliance can be customized in almost limitless ways to build bootable ISOs that can do many different things. When burned to a CD-ROM, it will allow a perhaps otherwise unused, old computer to boot it and act as a network security device. It may also be used in a virtual environment as a secure cloud appliance. Notable features in the generated ISO include:
(Version 1.4) Encryption is now truly optional (there were issues with how 1.3 handled unencrypted builds). Many updates to Gentoo Hardened files, including compiler-provided increased stack protection. Extensive cleanups to build script; now supports "test" build which can be customized to make a different ISO than the "deployment" build, suitable for testing or other purposes. Many features removed (tunnels, DSL support, etc.) to make appliance more generic.
(Version 1.3) Except for the files required early in the boot process (such as the kernel and initramfs), the contents can now be optionally encrypted, which makes it much more difficult and time-consuming for someone that may steal the ISO to access the contents. Default encryption is 256-bit AES. See the documentation for issues related to encryption.
(Version 1.2) All programs updated and recompiled with Hardened Gentoo kernel and compiler toolchain, resulting in increased protection from several kinds of overflows and other security vulnerabilities.
IPv4 and IPv6 support
iptables and ip6tables firewalls
SSH server for full command-line access
DNS cache and DHCP server
tcpdump & other networking utilities
Perl and Python scripting languages
NTP client
Extremely customizable, just like a regular Gentoo Linux system
Unnecessary programs removed from generated ISO; can be customized for even smaller size
Low hardware requirements for ISO: Pentium computer with a CD-ROM drive capable of booting, and two network interface cards, or equivalent virtual environment. No hard disk, monitor, or keyboard is needed for the unencrypted configuration (though a monitor and keyboard might be useful for troubleshooting configurations as needed). A keyboard and monitor are required at start-up if encryption is used.
The virtual appliance can be updated just like a normal Gentoo system, allowing new Live CD images to be generated with the latest security fixes, bug corrections, additional features, and updated configurations. The Live CD should be re-generated as often as important changes are released by the authors of the various software packages it contains.
Release history
Fireball Release 1 - March 3, 2009
Fireball Release 1.1 - June 22, 2009
Fireball Release 1.2 - December 30, 2010
Fireball Release 1.3 - January 13, 2012
Fireball Release 1.4 - March 6, 2015
Fireball Release 1.5 - June 9, 2017
Funtoo
Funtoo Linux( ) is a Linux distribution based on Gentoo Linux, created by Daniel Robbins (the founder and former project leader of Gentoo Linux) in 2008. It's developed by a core team of developers, and built around a basic vision of improving the core technologies previously used by Gentoo Linux.
History
In early 2008, Daniel Robbins proposed to resolve the Gentoo Foundation problems. But he had left the project in 2004, and his offer was refused. The Funtoo project was born as an initiative to implement his vision, with aims to share innovations.
Features
Funtoo is a source based Linux distribution.
Core technologies
Funtoo features in addition to native UTF-8 by default include:
Kits
In July 2017 Funtoo switched from plain portage approach to splitting the portage tree into kits. This should tie software updates together and help with the dependency problems of a rolling release distribution. Kits also are gaining maturity status as they are tested and as patches are applied.
Git
Funtoo uses Git to store the Portage tree. The tree is split into kits now with meta-repo being the repo holding all the kits as submodules.
Metro
Metro is an automatable software package for building stages used in installing Funtoo.
boot-update
boot-update provides a unified mechanism for configuring the GNU GRUB2 and GRUB Legacy boot loader versions.
Core networking
Funtoo has its own core networking solution to allow users to simplify the creation of complex network interfaces based on pre-created profiles.
Kernel
Since May 2015 Funtoo offers a pre-build generic kernel with stage3 Although Funtoo is a source-based distribution, it should be possible to use a prebuilt Linux kernel. Funtoo no longer encourages the use of the Sabayon kernel; however, with many improvements to Funtoo's design and init process, one should be able to load a binary kernel plus initrd from a preferred distribution hosting a precompiled/preconfigured kernel. Ubuntu's kernel linux-3.2.0-17-generic has been tested and is known to work. This can benefit those who like to avoid building custom kernels. Using a generic kernel from another distribution should be straightforward if using boot-update.
Other differences
There are multitude of users blog posts or discussions about difference between Gentoo and Funtoo.
The most marked difference between the two would be no systemd support in Funtoo, but still delivering for example a working Gnome desktop without the systemd need.
Incognito
Nova
Pentoo
Sabayon Linux
Redcore Linux
Tin Hat Linux
Tin Hat is a Security-focused Linux distribution derived from Hardened Gentoo Linux. It aims to provide a very secure, stable, and fast desktop environment that lives purely in RAM. Tin Hat boots from CD, or optionally from USB flash drive, but it does not mount any file system directly from the boot device. Instead, Tin Hat employs a large SquashFS image from the boot device which expands into tmpfs upon booting. This makes for long boot times, but fast speeds during use.
Design goal
The central design consideration in Tin Hat is to construct an operating system that can hide data from an attacker even if he has physical access to the computer. Physical access to a computer with unencrypted filesystems does not secure the data and an attacker could easily retrieve the data. Encrypting the filesystem provides protection from such an attack, but many implementations of encryption do not hide the fact that data is encrypted on the filesystem. For example, the LUKS encryption system includes metadata which detail the block cipher and block cipher mode used in encryption. This information does not help the attacker decrypt the filesystem, but it does reveal that it contains encrypted data and not random data. However, Tin Hat stores its filesystem in the RAM, leaving no data in the computer's hard drive. If the user stores any data via a more permanent means than RAM, the encrypted data is indiscernible from random data.
Tin Hat's preferred method of encryption is via loop-aes v3.
Beyond these considerations, Tin Hat has to also protect against more common exploits based on networking or security holes in software. The hardening model chosen is PaX/Grsecurity which is already provided by the Hardened Gentoo project. Hardening of the kernel and the toolchain make most code born exploits less likely. A non-modular compiled kernel further frustrates the insertion of malicious kernel modules.
References
This article uses content from this page, where it is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Ututo
Hroontoo
Hroontoo is a Gentoo based homemade (LiveCd) console distro for linux administrators.
It's created in 2010.
VidaLinux
VidaLinux (VLOS) was an operating system based on Gentoo Linux. A GNOME-based OS, VidaLinux installs with the Red Hat Anaconda installer. VidaLinux tries to provide most appropriate tools and support for home and office use, such as PPC support and RealPlayer.
History
As of December 3, 2009, VLOS has been rebuilt with Daniel Robbins' fork of Gentoo Linux called Funtoo.
Versions
Vidalinux comes in two different flavors; one can be downloaded, while the other must be purchased. While the downloaded version technically has all the same software packages as the purchased version, the difference is that the purchased version (which can be bought for 25 USD) contains many binaries of often used programs, while the downloaded version forces the user to download ebuilds of these packages and build the binaries themselves, which requires more time.
Version History
1.0 October 4, 2004
1.1 December 20, 2004
1.2 August 1, 2005
1.2.1 January 18, 2006
1.2.1-r2 January 30, 2006
1.3 18 October 2006
References
External links
List of distributions based on Gentoo on the Gentoo wiki.
Gentoo Linux
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora%20%28social%20network%29
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Diaspora (social network)
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Diaspora (stylized as diaspora*) is a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network. It consists of a group of independently owned nodes (called pods) which interoperate to form the network. The social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it from being subject to corporate take-overs or advertising. According to its developer, "our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora."
The project was founded by Dan Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, Raphael Sofaer and Ilya Zhitomirskiy, students at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. The group received crowdfunding in excess of $200,000 via Kickstarter. A consumer alpha version was released on 23 November 2010.
Diaspora software is licensed under the terms of GNU-AGPL-3.0. Its development is managed by the Diaspora Foundation, which is part of the Free Software Support Network (FSSN). The FSSN is in turn run by Eben Moglen and the Software Freedom Law Center. The FSSN acts as an umbrella organization to Diaspora development and manages Diaspora's branding, finances and legal assets.
History
Inception
The Diaspora project was founded in 2010 by four students at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Ilya Zhitomirskiy, Dan Grippi, Max Salzberg, and Raphael Sofaer. The word diaspora is Greek in origin and refers to a scattered or dispersed population.
The founders started the project after being motivated by a February 2010 speech of the Columbia University law professor Eben Moglen. In his speech, delivered to the Internet Society's New York Chapter, "Freedom in the Cloud", Moglen described centralized social networks as "spying for free." In an interview for The New York Times, Salzberg said "When you give up that data, you're giving it up forever ... The value they give us is negligible in the scale of what they are doing, and what we are giving up is all of our privacy." Sofaer said, "We don't need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn't all that hard to do. All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren't really rare things. The technology already exists".
The group decided to address this problem by creating a distributed social network. To obtain the necessary funds the project was launched on April 24, 2010 on Kickstarter, a crowd funding website. The first 39 days were assigned to raise the US$10,000 that they estimated would be needed to get started. However, the initial funding goal was met in just 12 days and the project eventually raised more than US$200,000 from more than 6000 backers (making it the second most successful Kickstarter project of its time). Grippi said, "We were shocked. For some strange reason, everyone just agreed with this whole privacy thing." Among the donors was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who contributed an undisclosed amount, saying "I donated. I think it is a cool idea."
"Diaspora is trying to destroy the idea that one network can be totally dominant," stated Sofaer in laying down the aim of Diaspora.
Early work and launch
Work on the Diaspora software began in May 2010. Finn Brunton, a teacher and digital media researcher at New York University, described their method as "a return of the classic geek means of production: pizza and ramen and guys sleeping under the desks because it is something that it is really exciting and challenging." A developer preview was released on September 15 and received criticism for various security flaws. The feedback of its users, however, led to quick improvements.
The first Diaspora "pod" was launched by the development team on November 23, 2010; as a private, invitation-only alpha test. A redesigned website was published in preparation for the alpha release, with the old site still available as a blog section. According to Terry Hancock of Free Software Magazine, September 2011, it was "already quite usable for some purposes". While it supported text, photographs, and links, it still lacked some features, including link preview, the ability to upload or embed videos (although videos could be linked to on other services) and chat. Animated GIFs were supported, however.
Since its release, features of Diaspora have appeared in similar forms in other social networks. In a September 2011 message the developers noted similarities such as Google+'s "circles" (a version of Diaspora's aspects) and new sets of user privacy controls implemented by Facebook. They said "we can't help but be pleased with the impact our work has had". His supposition that Google borrowed heavily from Diaspora was a particular point of pride for Zhitomirskiy, although Google denied that Diaspora had influenced their designs.
In October 2011, Diaspora announced that it was starting a fundraising campaign. Maxwell Salzberg explained, "The key right now is to build something that our community wants to use and that makes a difference in our users' lives. In the future, we will work with our community to determine with them how we could best turn Diaspora* into a self-sustaining operation." Within days of commencing the campaign over US$45,000 had been raised when PayPal froze Diaspora's account without explanation. After a large number of complaints to PayPal from Diaspora users and the threat of legal action, the account was unfrozen with an apology from a PayPal executive, but still without explanation. This incident prompted the acceptance of other payment processors, including Stripe and Bitcoin.
The Diaspora Project website was started on September 29, 2011. Its declared mission is "to build a new and better social web, one that's 100% owned and controlled by you and other Diasporans."
Further development
On November 12, 2011 co-founder Zhitomirskiy committed suicide, at the age of twenty-two. Reports linked pressures related to Diaspora to his death. Zhitomirskiy's mother, Inna Zhitomirskiy, said, "I strongly believe that if Ilya did not start this project and stayed in school, he would be well and alive today." Diaspora co-founder Maxwell Salzberg disagreed. Salzberg stated, "Yes, I agree that being a startup founder is stressful. But it wasn't the stress of work that killed Ilya. He had his own issues. He was sick." Zhitomirskiy's mother, Inna Zhitomirskiy, did not comment on reports of his history of mental illness.
The beta stage was originally scheduled for November 2011, but was postponed due to the need to add new design features and also Zhitomirskiy's death. In February 2012, the developers indicated that they had completed work on the software back-end to improve both pod up-time and website response time. The next phase of work involved changes to the user interface and its associated terminology to reflect the way users are actually interacting, as the software moves towards beta status, anticipated for later on in 2012.
In February 2012, the developers wrote that their own research indicated a change in the focus for the project. They stated that, unlike other social networking websites, on which users mostly interact with people they know in real life, on Diaspora users mostly interact with people from all over the world whom they do not know. Whereas traditional social media mostly deals with user's trivial daily details, much of the traffic on Diaspora deals with ideas and social causes. As a result, the developers decided to make changes to the interface to better facilitate more lengthy and detailed conversations on complex subjects as the project progresses towards beta status.
By May 2012, development was underway to allow a high degree of customization of user posts, permitting users to post different media, such as text, photos and video with a high degree of personalization and individual expression. The developers felt that allowing individual creativity in posts would differentiate the Diaspora platform from competitors.
In June 2012, the development team was scheduled to move to Mountain View, California as part of work with startup accelerator Y Combinator. In August 2012 the developers focus changed to working on creating makr.io, as part of their YCombinator class.
In August 2012, the remaining founders formally handed the project over to its community. Since that date, Diaspora has been fully developed and managed by its community members. The focus of the community development team has been on creating stable software releases to act as a basis for further development, which included adopting a semantic versioning system for releases, improving the performance of data federation between pods, and enabling as many volunteers as possible to write code for the project. The project has also adopted the Loomio platform to enable democratic group decision-making.
In October 2012, the project made its first community release at 0.0.1.0, dropping all references to the Alpha/Beta branding it had previously used. At the same time development was moved to a development branch, leaving the master branch for stable releases.
Features
Diaspora is intended to address privacy concerns related to centralized social networks. It is constructed of a network of nodes, called pods, hosted by many different individuals and institutions. Each node operates a copy of the Diaspora software, which is a personal web server with social networking capabilities. Users of the network can host a pod on their own server or create an account on any existing pod of their choice. From that pod, they can interact with other users on all other pods. Diaspora users retain ownership of their data and do not assign ownership rights. The software is specifically designed to allow users to download all their images and text that have been uploaded at any time.
The developers consider the distributed nature of the network crucial to its design and success:
Diaspora has been specifically noted by NPR for its policy that allows the use of pseudonyms, in contrast to competitor Facebook, which does not.
The Diaspora software allows user posts to be designated as either "public" or "limited". In the latter case, posts may only be read by people assigned to one of the groups, termed aspects, which the user has approved to view the post. Each new account is assigned several default aspects – friends, family, work and acquaintances – and the user can add as many custom aspects as they like. It is possible to follow another user's public posts without the mutual friending required by other social networks. Users can also send private messages, called conversations. A user can filter their news stream by aspect.
Posts in Diaspora can include hashtags and 'mentions' (a username preceded by a @ symbol). Users can upload photos to posts, and can format text and links using Markdown. Posts can be propagated to connected accounts on WordPress, Twitter and Tumblr. Diaspora supports embedding of media from YouTube, Vimeo and a number of other sites, and also supports OpenGraph previews. A key part of the original Diaspora software design concept was that it should act as a "social aggregator", allowing posts to be easily imported from Facebook, the pre-2018 Tumblr, and Twitter. As Village Voice writer Nick Pinto explained, "the idea is that this lowers the barriers to joining the network, and as more of your friends join, you no longer need to bounce communications through Facebook. Instead, you can communicate directly, securely, and without running exchanges past the prying eyes of Zuckerberg and his business associates." , the API for this feature was still under discussion.
Friendica instances are also a part of the Diaspora social network since Friendica natively supports the Diaspora protocol.
Reception
While the project was still in the alpha stage, it started getting noticed. In December 2010, ReadWriteWeb named the project as one of its Top 10 Start-Ups of 2010, saying "Diaspora certainly represents the power of crowd funding, as well as an interest in making sure the social Web is not centralized in one company". On 7 January 2011 Black Duck Software named the project one of its Open Source Rookies of 2010, for being "the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network". In July 2011, Konrad Lawson, blogging for the Chronicle of Higher Education, suggested Diaspora as an alternative to Facebook and Google+.
On September 14, 2011 Terry Hancock of Free Software Magazine endorsed the Diaspora network in an article entitled Why You Should Join Diaspora Now, Like Your Freedom Depends On It, calling it "good enough" for mainstream use. In explaining his reasoning for encouraging people to sign up he stated:
On November 14, 2011 Suw Charman-Anderson wrote in firstpost.com, in connection to Zhitomirskiy's death, about why Diaspora's slower growth can be an advantage:
Diaspora was nominated for "Best Social Network" in the 2011 Mashable.com Awards.
Action against ISIS
The distributed design attracted members of the militant Islamist extremist group ISIS, in 2014, after their propaganda campaigns were censored by Twitter. Diaspora developers issued a statement urging users to report offensive content and helping pod admins to identify users' accounts associated with ISIS. Since the network is federated, there is no central point of control for blocking content. On 20 August 2014, the Diaspora Foundation stated that "all of the larger pods have removed the [ISIS]-related accounts and posts."
See also
Comparison of software and protocols for distributed social networking
Data portability
Mastodon (software)
GNU social, a social network operating on the OStatus protocol
Identi.ca, a distributed microblogging platform (does not accept new registrations)
List of social networking websites
Tent, a protocol for open, decentralized social networking
Timeline of social media
References
External links
The Diaspora Project
Internet properties established in 2010
Social information processing
Social networking websites
Kickstarter-funded software
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paws%20%28film%29
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Paws (film)
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Paws is an independent 1997 Australian family comedy film that was released on 25 September 1997 in Australia and filmed in Sydney, New South Wales.
The film stars 15-year-old guitarist Nathan Cavaleri who has adventures with PC – a talking Jack Russell Terrier (voiced by comedian Billy Connolly). The dog is computer literate– skills acquired from his former master allowing him to create a computer program that translates his words into English, with Zac subsequently designing a portable version that can be 'concealed' in a bow tie – and the pair must a stop a valuable disk from falling into the wrong hands.
Plot
Alex, a computer programmer from a cold place very far away, receives a visit from an intruder named Anja, but before she breaks in; he writes an important message to a colleague, at a greyhound racetrack, named Susie, transfers it to a floppy disk and gives it to his dog, PC warning him that he should give it only to Susie and trust no one. He hides PC just before Anja breaks in with her vicious dog, Sibelius and threatens him for money. He tells her that the money is in the retirement fund, after which she kills him. But later she finds that the money is missing and sees the initials SA on the file name which she discovers, in the nearby address book; to stand for Susie Arkwright and starts spying on Susie.
PC reaches Susie's neighbourhood but gets hit by a car and is taken in by the family of 14-year-old Zac (the film's main narrator along with PC) who had recently moved to Sydney from Melbourne with his mother Amy, step-father Stephen and his younger sister Binky. Zac thinks the disk is one of his and keeps it. Zac is then introduced to his new neighbour Susie, who grew up in Sydney, and her daughter Samantha who moved from London and live next door and they recognise PC. Then they learn of Alex's death and PC continues to stay with Zac's family. PC uses Zac's computer to make a translation programme that could translate any language or sound into plain English, even his barking. He demonstrates it to Zac who gives him a new voice with a Scottish accent and installs the software onto a palmtop computer with a microphone in a bow tie so he can talk away from the desktop.
Zac's relationship with PC is strained and after a spate of incidents, often involving Anja and Sibelius, the dog decides to tell him the truth. PC was originally from Iceland where Alex wrote computer programmes and he was married to Anja who was his assistant but she never loved him. Anja stole Alex's programmes and made at least a million dollars from them. Alex got heartbroken when he found the money which he withdrew and fled to Australia with PC to escape from her but Anja found him somehow.
Zac finds the floppy disk which has a clue on where to find information on where to find the money. Zac goes with PC and Sammy to Alex's flat and completes the crossword puzzle on the computer to see a video of Alex saying "A note to follow so" followed by a picture of a pea-like object. After singing Do-Re-Mi they figure that the password is LAP then they see another video of Alex this time saying "Well done. The rest is in and under your nose. Bonne Chance". Anja arrives and threatens them with a dagger so Zac deletes the file to stop her but she kidnaps PC.
Back home Stephen, who Zac had previously seen taking a loan from Anja, agrees to help them and they go to the greyhound track where Alex and Susie worked. PC tricks Sibelius into letting him out of the cage but when Zac comes to help him he lets out Anja's dog who chases after them. Sammy deciphers the clue but takes "LAP in" to be the French word for rabbit and tells PC who is then catapulted into the commentator's box where he announces that the money is in the rabbit. Anja takes this to mean the mechanical rabbit on the track and starts tearing it apart but gets stuck and is dragged around the track not finding any money. Binky find's Sammy's Hollywood pin badge, which Alex gave her, and asks "What's a Hollywood?", and Sammy explains that it is a place in L.A. then they realise that the clue means L.A. pin and they find jewelry inside it.
The film ends with PC making out with Sammy's dog Cordelia.
Cast
Release
The film was released theatrically on 25 September 1997 in Australia and on 15 February 1998 in the United Kingdom where it was rated PG uncut but in its VHS release in the UK, later that year, the film was re-rated U with nine seconds of cuts removing the instances of "bum" and "crappy" to tone down the language. However, the uncut version has since been released on digital distribution in the UK given the legislation covering BBFC certificates on physical home video formats does not apply to online video services.
References
External links
Paws at Oz Movies
1997 films
1990s adventure films
1990s crime comedy films
Australian films
Australian children's comedy films
Australian independent films
Films about dogs
Films set in Sydney
Films shot in Sydney
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films
Films directed by Karl Zwicky
1990s children's films
1997 comedy films
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music%20engraving
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Music engraving
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Music engraving is the art of drawing music notation at high quality for the purpose of mechanical reproduction. The term music copying is almost equivalent—though music engraving implies a higher degree of skill and quality, usually for publication. The name of the process originates in plate engraving, a widely used technique dating from the late sixteenth century. The term engraving is now used to refer to any high-quality method of drawing music notation, particularly on a computer ("computer engraving" or "computer setting") or by hand ("hand engraving").
Traditional engraving techniques
Elements of music engraving style
Mechanical music engraving began in the middle of the fifteenth century. As musical composition increased in complexity, so too did the technology required to produce accurate musical scores. Unlike literary printing, which mainly contains printed words, music engraving communicates several different types of information simultaneously. To be clear to musicians, it is imperative that engraving techniques allow absolute precision. Notes of chords, dynamic markings, and other notation line up with vertical accuracy. If text is included, each syllable matches vertically with its assigned melody. Horizontally, subdivisions of beats are marked not only by their flags and beams, but also by the relative space between them on the page. The logistics of creating such precise copies posed several problems for early music engravers, and have resulted in the development of several music engraving technologies.
Movable type
Similar to book printing, music printing began in the fifteenth century with the use of movable type. The central problem posed to early music engravers using moveable type was the proper integration of notes, staves, and text. Often, staff lines were hand drawn prior to printing, or added to the printed music afterward. Ottavio Petrucci, one of the most innovative music printers working at the turn of the sixteenth century, used a triple impression technique that printed staves, text, and notes in three separate steps.
Plate engraving
Although plate engraving had been used since the early fifteenth century for creating visual art and maps, it was not applied to music until 1581. In this method, a mirror image of a complete page of music was engraved onto a metal plate. Ink was then applied to the grooves, and the music print was transferred onto paper. Metal plates could be stored and reused, which made this method an attractive option for music engravers. Copper was the initial metal of choice for early plates, but by the eighteenth century pewter became the standard material due to its malleability and lower cost.
At first, plates were engraved freely by hand. Eventually, music engravers developed a number of tools to aid in their process, including:
Scorers for staves and bar lines, the use of which inspired the term musical score
Elliptical gravers for crescendos and diminuendos
Flat gravers for ties and ledger lines
Punches for note heads, clefs, accidentals, and letters
Plate engraving was the methodology of choice for music printing until the late nineteenth century, at which point its decline was hastened by the development of photographic technology. Nevertheless, the technique has survived to the present day, and is still occasionally used by select publishers such as G. Henle Verlag in Germany.
Hand copying
Historically, a musician was required to draw his own staff lines (staves) onto blank paper. Eventually, staff paper was manufactured pre-printed with staves as a labor-saving technique. The musician could then write music directly onto the lines in pencil or ink.
In the twentieth century, music staff paper was sometimes printed on vellum or onionskin—a durable, semi-transparent material that made it easier for the musician to correct mistakes and revise the work, and also made it possible to reproduce the manuscript through the ozalid process. Also at this time, a music copyist was often employed to hand-copy individual parts (for each performer) from a composer's full score. Neatness, speed, and accuracy were desirable traits of a skilled copyist.
Other techniques
Lithography: Similar to metal plate engraving, the music was etched onto limestone and then burned onto the surface with acid to preserve the stone plates for future use.
Stencils, stamps, and dry transfers, including the Notaset, a system inspired by the Letraset used in the twentieth century. Brushing ink through stencils was a high-quality technique used by Amersham-based company Halstan & Co.
Music typewriters: Originally developed in the late nineteenth century, this technology did not become popular until the mid-1900s. The machines required the use of pre-printed manuscript paper. This technique produced low-quality results and was never widely used.
Computer music engraving
With the advent of the personal computer since the 1980s, traditional music engraving has been in decline, as it can now be accomplished by computer software designed for this purpose. There are various such programs, known as scorewriters, designed for writing, editing, printing and playing back music, though only a few produce results of a quality comparable to high-quality traditional engraving. Scorewriters have many advanced features, such as the ability to extract individual parts from an orchestral/band score, to transcribe music played on a MIDI keyboard, and conversely to play back notation via MIDI.
Beginning in the 1980s, WYSIWYG software such as Sibelius, Mozart, MuseScore, and Finale first let musicians enter complex music notation on a computer screen, displaying it just as it will look when eventually printed. Such software stores the music in files of proprietary or standardized formats, usually not directly readable by humans.
Other software, such as GNU LilyPond and Philip's Music Writer, reads input from ordinary text files whose contents resemble a computer macro programming language that describes bare musical content with little or no layout specification. The software translates the usually handwritten description into fully engraved graphical pages to view or send for printing, taking care of appearance decisions from high level layout down to glyph drawing. The music entry process is iterative and is similar to the edit-compile-execute cycle used to debug computer programs.
Beside ready-made applications there are also some programming libraries for music engraving, such as Vexflow (Javascript library), Verovio (C++, Javascript and Python), Guido Engine (C++ library), and Manufaktura Controls (.NET libraries). The main purpose of these libraries is to reduce time required for development of software with score rendering capabilities.
Overview of music engraving libraries divided by programming languages
See also
Rastrum
References
Further reading
Elaine Gould. Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation Faber Music Ltd, London.
Ted Ross. Teach Yourself The Art of Music Engraving & Processing Hansen Books, Florida.
Clinton Roemer. The Art of Music Copying: The Preparation of Music for Performance. Roerick Music Co., Sherman Oaks, California.
External links
Musical Engraving on Metal Plates: a Traditional Craft Demonstrated (video documentary in German and English)
Musical notation
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiHouse
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WikiHouse
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WikiHouse is an open-source project for designing and building houses. It endeavours to democratise and simplify the construction of sustainable, resource-light dwellings. The project was initiated in the summer of 2011 by Alastair Parvin and Nick Ierodiaconou of 00, a London-based strategy and design practice, in collaboration with Tav of Espians, James Arthur now with 00 and Steve Fisher of Momentum Engineering. It was launched at the Gwangju Design Biennale in Gwangju, South Korea. The project has since grown to become a worldwide community of contributors.
Concept
WikiHouse enables users to download Creative Commons-licensed files from its online library, customize them using SketchUp, and then use them to create jigsaw puzzle-like pieces out of plywood with a CNC router. Construction of WikiHouse structures requires no special parts because the cut pieces of wood snap together with wedge and peg connections inspired by classical Korean architecture. The frame of a WikiHouse can be assembled in less than a day by people with no formal training in construction. The frame must then be finished with cladding, insulation, wiring, and plumbing before it can be inhabited. The WikiHouse project is maintained by Open Systems Lab.
History
After winning a cash prize at TEDGlobal in June 2012, the project invested the prize money into a partnership with the Brazilian youth mobilization project Dharma and the analysis agency BrazilIntel to build WikiHouses in the poorest favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The goal of the partnership, dubbed WikiHouseRio, is to provide a single "maker lab" where one CNC router can be shared by the community while also allowing and encouraging community members to develop their own designing and building skills. The WikiHouse team plans to eventually create similar maker labs in other underdeveloped communities around the world. There are also plans to use WikiHouses as disaster-relief housing in earthquake-prone countries such as Haiti, Japan, and New Zealand.
By December 2013, while there were no inhabited WikiHouses, there were a few completed prototypes in addition to a usable walkers' shelter in Fridaythorpe, England. These WikiHouses are single-story, square-shaped structures with sloped roofs and small foundations that measure about . By 2015, several additional WikiHouses had been built, including the following buildings and at the following events:
Maker Faire 2013 in Queens
WikiHouse 4.0 at the London Design Festival
FOUNDhouse microhouse
WikiHouse at MAKlab in Glasgow
Chop Shop in western Scotland
Space Craft Systems project in New Zealand
WikiSHED fork
WikiHouse at the 2015 Vienna Open
Impact
Media reaction to WikiHouse has focused largely on the experimental nature of the project, comparisons with IKEA furniture, and the potential difficulty in finding and costs of using CNC routers. American science fiction author Bruce Sterling also gave a review of the WikiHouse design, describing it favorably as a dwelling "I could quite likely build and inhabit, personally".
See also
Open-source architecture
Open-source hardware
List of open-source hardware projects
OpenDesk
References
External links
Alastair Parvin's TED Talk: Architecture for the people by the people
Open-source hardware
Prefabricated houses
Open content projects
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United%20States%20Army%20Reserve%20Command
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United States Army Reserve Command
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United States Army Reserve Command (USARC) commands all United States Army Reserve units and is responsible for overseeing unit staffing, training, management and deployment. Approximately 205,000 Army Reserve soldiers are assigned to USARC. The major subordinate commands which report directly to USARC consist of operational commands, functional commands, support commands, and training commands. In turn, USARC itself reports to United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), where both are garrisoned in the same location at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Mission
U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) mission is to provide trained and ready units and individuals to mobilize and deploy in support of the national military strategy. USARC is responsible for all of the operational tasks involved in training, equipping, managing, supporting, mobilizing and retaining Soldiers under its command. USARC has over 20 offices, each with an individual mission and function that contributes to the accomplishment of USARC's overall mission.
Operational groups such as personnel, logistics, operations, training and resource management are responsible for the daily work involved in managing, training and equipping the Army Reserve's Soldiers and units across the continental United States.
Special staff offices provide technical support and guidelines to USARC and Army Reserve units across the country. These offices include public affairs, safety and enterprise services.
The Executive staff includes the leaders of the USARC and their personal staff. The leaders are the Commanding General, the Deputy Commanding General, the Chief of Staff and the Command Sergeant Major. The personal staff includes the Staff Judge Advocate (legal), Inspector General, Historian and Chaplain.
Establishment of the Chief, Army Reserve
As the evolutionary process continued, there were more congressional hearings and investigations and major reorganizations of the Army, including Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's failed attempt between 1965 and 1966 to merge units of the Army Reserve into the National Guard. In 1967, Congress passed watershed legislation in the form of the Reserve Forces Bill of Rights and Vitalization Act. In essence that act, among other features, prescribed reserve leadership for reserve units. For the Army, the act created a statutory Chief, Army Reserve (CAR) who served as an advisor to the Chief of Staff on Army Reserve matters. Command and Control of the Army Reserve, however, was under Continental Army Command (CONARC) until 1973 and after that under Forces Command (FORSCOM). The act also virtually eliminated bitter congressional deliberation over reserve component policy—for a while.
Congress Directs Design of a Command and Control Plan
In 1988, the House Committee on Appropriations Surveys and Investigation rekindled the debate. The committee uncovered two command and control reporting chains for the Army Reserve: FORSCOM and the CAR. Unlike the Air Force Reserve and the Navy Reserve, the CAR did not have sole command of the Army Reserve. In 1989, Congress directed the Army to design a command and control plan for the Army Reserve. Congress and the Army, with FORSCOM in the lead, began the struggle, at times difficult, to produce a mutually agreeable arrangement for the Army Reserve.
FORSCOM, the Office of the Chief Army Reserve (OCAR), the Department of the Army, and Congress each had its own plan. Command and Control options spanned from the creation of an independent major command to a major subordinate command under FORSCOM.
Major Subordinate Command Status
On 18 January 1990, the CAR and the FORSCOM commander reached an agreement, a major step in the evolution of the new command. The Army's plan called for the command to be organized as a major subordinate command. FORSCOM was to develop overall policy for units of the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR), while the Reserve Command was to prepare implementation procedures, plans, and programs in accordance with FORSCOM guidance. Integration of the active component and reserve component into a total force was the ultimate objective.
U.S. Army Reserve Command Planning Group
As the plans were staffed and reviewed, FORSCOM pushed forward in March 1990 by creating the U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) Planning Group charged with providing the functional nucleus to plan and develop the details for establishing the USARC (e.g., table of distribution and allowance, organization and functions manual, etc.). The USARC Planning Group was to evolve into the heart of the new USARC headquarters. Meanwhile, Congress and the Army had differing views on the next course of action. In the midst of this came another negotiated agreement between the OCAR and FORSCOM, the management of USAR funds.
U.S. Army Reserve Command (Provisional)
Permanent Order 183-13 dated 1 October 1990 established the U.S. Army Reserve Command (Provisional). Congress legally formalized this arrangement in November 1990 with passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991. The act assigned to the command all Army Reserve forces in the continental United States, save those assigned to Special Operations Forces and those forces as directed by the Secretary of Defense. The act set a test period of two years for operation of the Command and required the Secretary of the Army during the test period to submit semiannual reports on the command to the Committee on Armed Services of both congressional houses. The act directed the Secretary of the Army to establish an independent commission assisting the Secretary of the Army in evaluating the progress and effectiveness of the command. Twenty-three years after passage of the Reserve Forces Bill of Rights and Vitalization Act, the CAR was in statutory command of the Army Reserve.
Evolution of a Fully Operational Command
There was much to be done in a year, the time schedule for evolution of the USARC into a fully operational command. Congress directed the development of a concept plan for the new command. FORSCOM and the USARC Planning Group worked for months on resolving differences, for example, in the organization and functions manual. Other actions ranged from developing a plan to transition functions from the Continental U.S. Armies and FORSCOM to the USARC to finding a home for the USARC and hiring personnel. Evolution into a fully operational command came on 18 October 1991 with Permanent Order 54-15.
In the spring of 1990, building 906 at Fort Gillem served as the temporary headquarters for the planning group from which the USARC evolved. The USARC occupied two other temporary sites, including a leased facility at Camp Creek Business Center, Camp Creek Parkway, Atlanta, until the fall of 1997 when the command relocated to its permanent home on Fort McPherson. In 2011, the Headquarters moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Subordinate units
Operational and Functional Commands
Army Reserve Aviation Command, at Fort Knox, Kentucky
1st Mission Support Command, at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico
7th Mission Support Command, Kaiserslautern, Germany;
200th Military Police Command, at Fort Meade, Maryland
335th Signal Command (Theater), in East Point, Georgia
377th Sustainment Command (Theater), in Belle Chasse, Louisiana
76th Operational Response Command, in Salt Lake City, Utah
79th Theater Sustainment Command, in Los Alamitos, California
412th Theater Engineer Command, in Vicksburg, Mississippi
416th Theater Engineer Command, in Darien, Illinois
Army Reserve Medical Command, in Pinellas Park, Florida
3rd Medical Command (Deployment Support), in Forest Park, Georgia
807th Medical Command (Deployment Support), at Fort Douglas, Utah
Military Intelligence Readiness Command, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia
U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Support Commands
9th Mission Support Command, at Fort Shafter, HI, under operational control of Army Pacific - providing support in Hawaii, Alaska, American Samoa, Japan, South Korea, Guam, and Saipan.
63rd Readiness Division, in Mountain View, CA - providing support in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas
81st Readiness Division, at Fort Jackson, SC - providing support in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico
85th Support Command, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, provides training and logistical support to First Army
88th Readiness Division, at Fort Snelling, MN - providing support in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio
99th Readiness Division, at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, NJ - providing support in New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Maine, Connecticut, and Virginia
U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command, in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Training Commands
75th Training Command (Mission Command Training), in Houston, TX
Southern Training Division, in Houston, TX
Atlantic Training Division, at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, NJ
Gulf Training Division, in Birmingham, AL
Great Lakes Training Division, at Fort Sheridan, IL
Pacific Training Division, in Dublin, CA
80th Training Command (The Army School System), in Richmond, VA
94th Training Division (Force Sustainment), at Fort Lee, VA
100th Training Division (Operational Support), at Fort Knox, KY
102nd Training Division (Maneuver Support), at Fort Leonard Wood, MO
84th Training Command (Combat Support Training), at Fort Knox, KY
78th Training Division (Operations), at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, NJ
86th Training Division (Decisive Action), at Fort McCoy, WI
91st Training Division (Operations), in Jolon, CA
108th Training Command (Initial Entry Training), in Charlotte, NC, under operational control of Training and Doctrine Command
95th Training Division (Initial Entry Training), at Fort Sill, OK
98th Training Division (Initial Entry Training), at Fort Benning, GA
104th Training Division (Leader Training), at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, WA
Lineage
Unit insignia
The Shoulder sleeve insignia of USARC is described as "On a disc divided vertically blue and scarlet with a yellow border, in diameter overall, two white eagles' heads conjoined back to back, beaks yellow, eyes detailed black." The two eagles' heads are symbolic in reference to the command's motto, "Twice the Citizen," and their Reserve mission. The eagle faces in both directions, denoting vigilance and a wide-ranging scope of ability and expertise. Red, white and blue are the colors of the United States, while gold stands for excellence.
The distinctive unit insignia for USARC is a silver color metal and enamel device in width overall, consisting of a shield divided palewise silver and blue charged with a tree in full foliage counter changed of the field, all upon two silver sabres saltirewise, points down, the tips overlaying a scarlet motto scroll enclosing the device and terminating at the sword hilts, bearing the inscription "TWICE THE CITIZEN" in silver letters. The symbolism of blue and scarlet, with silver (white), represents the United States, while red stands for courage and sacrifice. The dual responsibilities of citizenship and military service are denoted by the two sabers, and the integration of peaceful with soldierly vocations is represented by the tree on the shield. The nature of these two-fold duties is further symbolized by the division and counter change of the shield, which also recalls the motto of the Command. The tree represents the pursuit and preservation of peace through strength, endurance and growth. The USARC distinctive unit insignia was first authorized on 7 March 1991.
Unit honors
References
External links
USARC Home Page
Reserve Components of the United States Army Primer, 2006
Army Reserve
1908 establishments in the United States
Military units and formations established in 1908
Command
Reserve Command
Military units and formations in North Carolina
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368150
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uplink%20%28video%20game%29
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Uplink (video game)
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Uplink (also known in North America as Uplink: Hacker Elite) is a simulation video game released in 2001 by the British company Introversion Software. The player takes charge of a freelance computer hacker in a fictional futuristic 2010, and must break into foreign computers, complete contracts and purchase new hardware to hack into increasingly harder computer systems.
The game, which was Introversion's first release, was generally well received in Europe, and was released in North America by the publisher Strategy First as Uplink: Hacker Elite in 2003. Uplink was later ported to Android and iOS systems in 2012.
Plot
In the game, the player assumes the role of a hacker in the year 2010, who begins work for the Uplink Corporation, which is a worldwide company providing work for hackers. The player amasses money, software, gateway hardware and skill in the course of performing jobs for various clients, and hacking servers of global corporations for profit.
The storyline of the game begins with the player receiving a delayed e-mail from a deceased top ranking Uplink agent concerning the research done by the Andromeda Research Corporation, related to the Andromeda organization a "Anti-capitalist, Techno-anarchist" group which proclaims the destruction of the Internet (however, this email can be cancelled by player). It is constructing a computer virus known as Revelation using artificial life research as a base in an attempt to destroy the Internet. One of the companies, Arunmor, attempts to cross their plans by developing Faith, a counter virus that can purge Revelation.
The player can choose to side with ARC or Arunmor or even ignore the plot in its entirety, concentrating on freelance hacking, in which case the storyline plays out without the player's participation.
During the missions Andromeda uses stolen information about "The Darwin Project," digital lifeforms that exist and reproduce on the internet and puts it into the Revelation virus. Thus allowing it to behave like a normal human virus allowing it to spread quickly. Numerous attacks on ARC and Arunmor systems also occur in the storyline. Including a mission leading the chief technical director of Arunmor being framed for bank fraud. The government is also said to be helping fund Arunmor's "faith" anti-virus and is looking to raid ARC and arrest people involved yet lack the evidence to do so before the launch of "Revelation."
After, the Revelation virus is released the final mission of the game begins and the storylines playout. The Arunmor storyline ends with the destruction of Revelation. Which leads to a federal raid of Andromeda leading to the arrest of suspected staff members in the company along with a number of Uplink agents, the leader of Andromeda then issues a statement, making no apologies for releasing Revelation, as he argues that the internet became more of an extension of Western capitalism to serve the interest of elites, rather than promote free speech and anonymity. He also says that you will never be safe on the web. Saying that people's lives are on file and waiting for people to tamper with. He goes on to that people's lives are being destroyed by computer technology despite its perceived benefits. He is then sentenced to 8 years in prison. Andromeda then shutdowns operations while shares rise to a new high for Arunmor as they release "faith" to the public. It is also suggested the government is oblivious to the possible hacks available within Uplink. While the ending of ARC's storyline ends with the destruction of the internet due to Revelation (including the players gateway,) and causes Uplink to cease operations.
Style
Uplink focuses on emulating highly stylized, Hollywood-esque hacking, as seen in movies such as Hackers, Sneakers, WarGames and Swordfish. References to these movies can be found throughout the game, including joke servers for companies such as Steve Jackson Games (which has been raided by the Secret Service) and a nuclear missile control system from WarGames. It also features at least three references to the movie Sneakers, including one which can be found in the first version of the game (and was later removed in an update released by Introversion) which is a cheat code in which the user has to enter "TooManySecrets" (an anagram to the phrase "Setec Astronomy") as the username thus allowing them to access a cheat menu. Another reference to the anagram is the password "MySocratesNote", sent to the player in an e-mail which starts the plotline. In addition, the voice print sections use the phrase "Hello. I am the system administrator. My voice is my passport. Verify me." which is similar to the one Sneakers used.
Most of the 'hacking' is of the form: "there is a security system of type X, level Y that is stopping me from accessing or changing something I need to access or change, so I need to have an anti-X program of level Y+". There is some need for rapid selection of programs to run, but there is no actual difficulty in running them (provided that one can afford them).
The game has a certain number of unusual features, including an in-game IRC client and in earlier versions a multi-monitor feature requiring another copy of the game running on a second computer. The latter was removed in later versions due to lack of stability and popularity and, as it was called "Network", was often confused with multiplayer gaming (that the game does not offer).
Soundtrack
The game uses several songs originally made in S3M, mod and xm format. The original song files are included on the bonus CD-ROM of the game, a disc that was originally given as a free addition to those who referred the game to others. The disc also includes several songs which were not used in the final game.
The Blue Valley by Karsten Koch
Deep in Her Eyes by Peter 'Skaven' Hajba
Mystique Parts 1 and 2 by Robert 'Timelord' Gergely
Symphonic by Simon 'Hollywood' Carless
Release
Uplink was first released in October 2001, and was initially sold digitally and distributed by mail. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Linux (2012) directly by Introversion, and ported to and released for Mac by Contraband and Ambrosia Software respectively. Chris Delay stated in an interview with PC Gamer UK that they did not pay for advertising of the game at all — it became known purely by word of mouth. A version released in the US was published and distributed by Strategy First under the title Uplink: Hacker Elite. Legal proceedings were undertaken when Strategy First filed for bankruptcy and ceased paying Introversion royalties, but the Hacker Elite version remains available from various sources. The game is now also available via Valve's Steam online distribution service, via GOG.com, as well as via the Ubuntu Software Center. Uplink was also released for iOS on 7 June 2012. An Android version debuted as part of The Humble Bundle for Android 3, on 15 August 2012.
Hacker Elite royalties
A version released in the US was published and distributed by Strategy First under the title Uplink: Hacker Elite. Strategy First ran into financial difficulties, and ceased paying royalties to Introversion shortly before filing for bankruptcy protection, but continued to sell the game in competition with Introversion.
On 20 January 2006 Introversion announced they were taking legal action against all retailers of Uplink: Hacker Elite, except Stardock. It transpired that, while filing for bankruptcy would have caused a breach of contract, Strategy First persuaded Canadian courts to grant a moratorium preventing termination of the contract. Strategy First has resumed paying limited royalties.
Stores and services currently reselling Hacker Elite in North America include:
Direct2Drive, IGN's digital distribution service (as of July 2006).
Strategy First's online store.
As some versions of Uplink: Hacker Elite have been modified, many game mods and patches will not run with the Hacker Elite version.
Reception
The iOS and PC versions received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
The editors of Computer Gaming World presented Uplink: Hacker Elite with their 2003 "Adventure Game of the Year" award. They summarized it as "an immersive, original, and suspenseful little game."
References
External links
Modlink — Modding website
2001 video games
Ambrosia Software games
Android (operating system) games
Cyberpunk video games
Hacking video games
Introversion Software games
IOS games
Linux games
MacOS games
Spy video games
Windows games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games set in 2010
Video games scored by Peter Hajba
Strategy First games
Single-player video games
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66259694
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape%20in%20Greek%20mythology
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Rape in Greek mythology
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Rape in Greek mythology is a common motif. The struggle to escape from sexual pursuit is one of the most popular motifs of classical mythology. In the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats writes:
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
This type of pursuit and struggle could be those of gods assaulting mortals, or mortals upon other mortals, and less commonly also the attacks of mortals upon gods (for example, Ixion's assault of Hera) and gods upon other gods (Poseidon and Demeter, Hephaestus and Athena). Other supernatural beings like satyrs and centaurs were often depicted attacking nymphs and maidens. Greek mythology depicts women as vulnerable to assault, able to escape only through death, or metamorphosis like Daphne who becomes a laurel tree. The consequence of fleeing sexual violence is another type of force on the body, the loss of the human form — women who survive sexual violence become pregnant, and when gods are the rapists, produce a hero child.
Background
Called the Golden Age of Athens, the cultural development of the 5th century BC produced a wealth of art and drama. Froma Zeitlin writes:
"We must also remember that Greek culture is one that already finds the mythic a problematic category when confronted with other modes of apprehending reality. After all, the status of mythic stories of abduction and rape of women as founding events in human culture (such as the abduction of Helen as the cause of the Trojan War) or as acts committed by the very gods who are worshiped as religious powers prove to puzzle, embarrass and scandalize the sensibilities of the Greek themselves as soon as a skeptical or ethical eye is trained on these narratives."
Theater
In Greek drama, rape and seduction are sometimes ambiguous. Helen of Sparta is sometimes raped by Paris, and sometimes seduced. The details depend on the playwright. The scene in Iphigeneia at Aulis (Euripides), taking place before the Trojan War, attempts to generalize the rape of Helen, presenting it as the rape of all women, in support of the pan-Hellenic concept of Greeks against barbarians. Helen becomes a symbol of all Greek women who must be protected from barbarian rapists.
Euripides, in his plays, gives attention to women as victims of war. Clytemnestra, usually depicted as wicked, is humanized, and to an extent, justified, when she addresses her husband in Iphigeneia at Aulis:
You married me against my will and took me by force, having killed my husband; my infant you hurled to the ground having torn it from my breast
Cassandra is shown on stage in Agamemnon, the defeated Trojan, raped at the fall of Troy, clothed in barbaric costume. Clytemnestra comments on her barbaric speech, comparing her to a swallow, a possible reference to Prokne, whose husband Tereus raped her sister Philomela and tore out her tongue. The sisters murdered Prokne's son in revenge, and Prokne became a nightingale whose song sounded like her murdered son's name (Itys). Aeschylus makes other comparisons between Cassandra and Prokne later in the play.
Of the drama produced in the Golden Age of Athens era, The Suppliants by Aeschylus opens with the 50 female descendants of Io (who was raped by Zeus) who are forced to marry against their will and raped. They kill their husbands on the eve of their wedding.
In the play Hippolytus by Euripides, Phaedra, stepmother of Hippolytos falsely accuses the protagonist of rape. Hippolytos, son of Hippolyta and Theseus, has previously announced his rejection of Aphrodite and heterosexual lifestyle, claiming association with Artemis and stating he will remain chaste and not take on the burdens of ruling. Upon Phaedra's false accusations Hippolytos' father exiles him and beseeches Poseidon to kill his son.
Depictions in Art
In the 5th century BC the city of Athens, then newly relieved from the tyrant Pisistratus by the reforms of Cleisthenes, red-figure pottery was the latest trend in ceramic arts. In black figure pottery from earlier times gods were spectators of the scenes between satyrs and maenads on Dionysiac vases, or between heroes and their women. Attic red figure pottery represent the first known depictions of gods assaulting mortal women, showing the god pursuing the woman with one arm outstretched, holding a phallic symbol in the other, or otherwise having caught the women and grabbing her. Women are depicted as shocked, terrified, with arms raised in resistance or self-defense. and usually attempting to flee. Fathers are often shown enthroned, yet unable to intercede to prevent the rape. This depiction of rape becomes established in the popular culture of Athens until the end of the period known as the "Golden Age of Athens".
Parthenoi
In Greek tradition Athena carried the title Parthenos. Associated myths of the parthenoi, holy maidens dedicated to Athena, tell of her priestesses engaging in hieros gamos - sexual acts with the gods, and Athena's outrage and punishment of the priestesses.
Some of the parthenoi myths concern women who reject the traditional role of women and remain unmarried by choice (anumpheutos), hunting with Artemis, instead of participating in the oikos. Outside male control, these women are also denied male protection, and are pursued by the gods for sex.
The change in status following rape (or attempted rape) is irrevocable and the parthenos is changed in some way from her existence prior to the assault. Daphne is a parthenos who wanted to become a huntress with Artemis, remaining unmarried and rejecting the typically feminine. Seen by Apollo who desires and pursues her, Daphne escapes him only by turning into a laurel tree. Aura, another parthenos and huntress noted for running was pursued by Dionysus. Aura outruns the god, but later, drinking water that he has changed into wine, she becomes drunk and is raped when she falls asleep. After giving birth to twins, Aura kills and eats one, and is about to eat the other when Artemis intercedes. Throwing herself into the river, Aura is transformed into a stream.
The Rape of Persephone
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is the oldest known and most complete and significant version of the Persephone myth. Homer describes Persephone as thalere (nubile, ripened) and says she is one of the bathykolpos (deep-breasted) Oceanids. She is a virgin who is gathering flowers with the Oceanid maidens when she is traumatically torn from the world of her childhood and abducted to the underworld, kicking and screaming. From the Hymn:
I sing of Demeter, she of lovely hair, a deity worthy of worship
And the other one, her thin-ankled daughter, who Aidoneus
Stole, and whom deep-voiced, far-sounding Zeus, gave (to him)
Far from Demeter of the golden weapon, she of the splendid fruit,
While she was playing with the deep-breasted maidens of Okeanos:
Picking blossoms, roses, crocuses, and fair violets
On the gentle meadow, iris and hyacinth,
And narcissus, which Gaia-obliging the plans of Zeus for Hades-
Sent forth as bait for the blushing maiden"
References
Ancient Greek culture
Rape
Rape in fiction
Greek mythology
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