China Product
Early life and education
Although Weir would later become known for the visually distinctive art style of his games, he received little formal art training, other than occasional art and cartooning classes while growing up.
At college he produced a weekly comic in his college newspaper called he Absolute Sum of All Evil. grain belt conveyor
Game designing powered belt conveyor
Weir writes most of his games in a language called ActionScript 3 for the Flash platform, with the intent that they be played in a web browser. He takes responsibility for the graphics, the programming, and the design of the games. inclined belt conveyor
Weir funds his work through a bid-based model, where casual gaming portals such as Kongregate or Armor Games bid to sponsor Flash projects in exchange for privileges such as their logo appearing in the final game, site exclusivity, or other benefits. Weir's games are developed start to finish, and then offered up for sponsorship as a complete product. Says Weir, "That means that I get to maintain creative freedom, although it does introduce uncertainty. I never quite sure if a game is going to get sponsors interested at all."
The advertising and sponsorship money Weir receives from his games, in combination with his work writing for website GameSetWatch, is enough to fully financially support him.
Necropolis
Screenshot of Necropolis showcasing the game's memorably dark and gloomy presentation.
Weir's first complete Flash game was Necropolis. Released in October 2008 and sponsored by Spanish gaming portal MiniJuegos.com, it cast players as "Ms. Lilian Trevithick, lady adventurer and radical steam technician, who has come to the infamous Necropolis of Ao in search of adventure".
The game presents the action from a top down perspective. Players explore 25 procedurally-generated levels, looking on each level for treasure, a lever to unlock the stairs to the next level, and then the stairs themselves. At the same time the player tries to avoid harmful spike and steam traps. Players are asked to manage three statistics: Dodge, representing their ability to avoid damage from traps; Detect, representing their ability to discern hidden traps; and Disable, representing their ability to disarm traps to proceed past them. Players also collect health tonics, which can be consumed to restore life energy, and disposable tools, which can be used to disarm traps, as well as a range of equipment which can be used to boost some or all of the three statistics. Gold can also be found, which serves no purpose during the game but acts as a scoring mechanism.
Necropolis bears many similarities to roguelike games, being essentially an exploration of a procedurally-generated dungeon. Its distinctive features are its pensive looping music and its dark, shadow-filled presentation.
Critical reception
Necropolis received little critical attention. Jay Is Games featured it in a "Link Dump Friday" after the release and popularity of The Majesty of Colors, and felt its most noteworthy qualities were its female protagonist and its creator, Gregory Weir.
The Majesty of Colors
Screenshot of The Majesty of Colors. The player controls the tentacle of the sea-creature pictured bottom-right.
The Majesty of Colors, also known as (I Fell In Love With) The Majesty of Colors, was Weir's second fully-formed game, and was released in December 2008. It casts players in the role of a tentacled sea creature, and offers them a chance to interact with humans, creatures, and objects in and around an area of sea. The player's actions can be benevolent towards the humans and creatures, or destructive. The actions of the player determine which of five different endings will be shown. Weir described the game as "pixel-horror".
The game is memorable for its blocky pixel art style. Said Weir, "What I try to do is fit the art to the game. Majesty is really a very simple game, with simple controls and a simple-minded protagonist, so I went for blocky pixel art, which is both easy to make and evokes a simpler era of video games." Although the visuals seem simple and low-tech, they are actually more complex than they look, making use of alpha blending and large moving textures. The most complex visual element is the creature's tentacle, which utilises an inverse kinematic system more commonly used in 3D animation.
Weir claims to have been inspired by a TIGSource competition themed around H. P. Lovecraft's commonplace book. Says Weir, "I had the idea of an enormous creature from beneath the waves discovering the world above. When I think of the deep ocean, I imagine darkness and a lack of color. When I think of color at its simplest, balloons come to mind: floating spheres in primary shades."
Early design rough for The Majesty of Colors showing a centrally-placed creature with multiple tentacles.
In deciding on the art style, Weir drew inspiration from Daniel Benmergui's Flash game I Wish I Were the Moon, "which had similarly surreal premises and simple gameplay". Weir decided that a similar "chunky, low-res pixel style" would work well for Majesty. Original designs involved a creature with two independently-controlled tentacles, but during development Weir cut the control down to a single limb, suggesting but not showing additional tentacles through the position of the creature's body.
The finished game presents some of the story through evocative prose. However, Weir has since stated he feels this was a mistake, saying without text it would have been a "cleaner, purer game". "In retrospect," he said, "I probably should have given the player more credit, and gone lighter on the narration text."
Weir claims that development of Majesty cost him nothing other than his personal living expenses. The game was coded in the Flex compiler and IDE FlashDevelop, which are freely available. The sounds used in the game were obtained from website soundsnap.com, which provides free sound effects and loops. The game art was created by Weir in the open-source graphics editor GIMP. Weir obtained sponsorship for the game by posting it on the FlashGameLicence website and directly emailing potential sponsors. Weir has stated that although he is pleased with his experiences with FlashGameLicence, most of the sponsorship interest in the game came as a result of his direct emails. The game was first posted on FlashGameLicence on November 15, 2008 and a sponsorship deal with Kongregate worth "several thousand dollars" was finalised by December 10 of that year. Weir claims the sponsorship money, when combined with advertising revenue and a secondary site-locked sponsorship, represents "over a hundred dollars for each hour [Weir] spent on the game".
Critical reception
The Majesty of Colors was critically well-received and gained endorsements on sites ranging from Kotaku to Penny Arcade. Said Weir, "I think that Majesty appeal is that it provides a very unified aesthetic, and makes players feel what it would be like to be a titanic, tentacled horror from beneath the waves who really only wants to be loved."
Kotaku's Maggie Greene called Majesty an "artistic timewaster" and "a weird, lovely little game". Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins described it as "an electronic poem". Jay Is Games noted Majesty's similarity to I Wish I Were The Moon, but thought that Majesty was more compelling because its interface was "more concrete and personal" and because of the strength of its narration. Jay Is Games also praised Majesty's pixel art and its strong focus on emotion and atmosphere, with the only criticism being a disappointment that the game didn't support more unscripted interactions between the sea creature and its environment. Play This Thing described Majesty as "a poetic exploration of alienation and social interaction" and a "precious snowflake of content that unfolds like one of those paper-folded fortune tellers kids play with", but complained that ultimately all decisions in the game result in one of only five endings, creating an incentive to game the experience.
The Majesty of Colors was nominated for "Best Game" in the 2008 Tank Awards at Newgrounds, and nominated for "Most Creative Game" at the 2009 Mochi Awards at that year's Flash Gaming Summit.. Daniel Kronovet of the Daily Californian awarded it a "Krony Award", calling it "beautiful".
As of January 2009, The Majesty of Colors had been played 700,000 times.
Bars of Black and White
Screenshot of Bars of Black and White demonstrating the game's hand-drawn visual style.
In January of 2009 Weir made a resolution to "release at least one new game each month for the year of 2009". The first of these games was Bars of Black and White, released in late January of that year.
At face value Bars is a room escape game, where the player is given the role of an anonymous apartment-dweller who discovers their front door has become inexplicably locked, trapping them in their apartment (along with the comment "Weird... I don't remember ever having a key."). The game environment is filled with non-sequitur mysteries and each mystery when solved arms the player with new items, new information, or transforms the environment. The game is presented from a first-person perspective and interaction is by way of the mouse. The player's chief tool is a barcode scanner, which can be used by clicking the left mouse button and dragging the mouse cursor across any of the many barcodes embedded in the environment. When scanned, barcodes produce a string of text. Some of these lines of text provide clues or passcodes necessary to advance through the game but many merely produce ominous warnings such as "THEY ARE FEEDING YOU POISON AND LIES" and "YOUR LIFE IS NOT REAL".
Bars of Black and White is presented through hand-drawn black-and-white still images. Said Weir, "I wanted the strong black-and-white aesthetic combined with sketchy line drawing to reflect the fact that the protagonist perceptions of the world are not entirely accurate." Unlike Weir's previous games, there is no musical accompaniement, only a track of ambient outdoor noise including bird chirps. The player later discovers this sound is diagetic, being played by a tape player hidden behind a wall.
The game explores themes of reality, paranoia, and sanity. The facade of the apartment peels back as the game progresses, with hidden observation stations lurking behind the apartment walls and a window ostensibly showing the outside world revealed as an implausible fake opening onto a painted background. Barcodes are hidden in steadily more ludicrous locations, including fence palings and the stripes of a zebra, and the increasingly ominous text prompts the player to question whether the game's protagonist is at the centre of a complex conspiracy, or merely losing their grip on reality.
The game's format, structure, and story evoke the conventions of the room escape genre, along with games such as Silent Hill 4, which featured a protagonist locked in his apartment under mysterious and disturbing circumstances.
Critical reception
As of July 2009, Bars of Black and White had been played 1.25 million times. Jay Is Games called it "truly compelling and emotionally evocative". IGN called it "short but poignant".
Criticism largely focused on the game's short length (it can be completed in less than ten minutes) and the fact that unobservant players can complete the entire game without encountering its central conceit, the barcode scanner.
Exploit
Screenshot of Exploit showing one of the game's more complex puzzles.
Developed in February 2009 and released in early March of that year, Exploit is "a game about totalitarianism, computer security, and terrorism". It was the second game released pursuant to Weir's goal of creating a game every month of 2009. It casts players in the role of a hacker attempting to gain access to a range of government and corporate computer networks. Gameplay takes the form of a series of static puzzles. Players control orange "ports" located around the edge of a grid. Clicking on a port using a mouse causes it to fire a "packet" into the grid, which interacts with objects located on the grid in a variety of ways. The goal in each puzzle is to cause at least one packet to reach a green "root node" located somewhere on the grid. Success requires planning and careful timing.
The game features over 50 puzzles, divided across a "story mode" (which sets the levels in the context of a narrative) and a "challenge mode" (which contains more difficult free-standing levels). There is also a level editor where users can create their own levels and share them with other players by distributing unique codes. Exploit features a soundtrack by Evan Merz which Weir has made available for free download through his blog Ludus Novus. The game was sponsored by casual games portal Kongregate.
Critical reception
Exploit was generally well-received and developed a small but active following of fans who create and share levels.
Kyle Moore at Jay Is Games gave it a positive review, calling particular attention to the game's story mode. "Weir delivers the story brilliantly, without overdoing it with any cutscenes or voice acting. " said Moore. "The minimalist approach not only makes the story feel more real [...], but it also draws the focus onto the puzzling aspect of the game." He continued, "As for the music, it's not much to write home about, but does a nice job of adding tension."
Play This Thing were also generally positive, calling Exploit "a nice jaunt into a 21st century brand of cyberpunk that borders on contemporary fiction". They were not hugely impressed by the game's hacking theme, saying, "The game itself doesnt have a whole lot to do with actual hacking; its an abstract logic tracing game with time sensitivity on a turn-based cycle," and adding that the game's depiction of encryption systems presented them as more effective than they actually are in real life.
As of July 2009, Exploit had been played 1.1 million times.
Sugarcore
Screenshot of Sugarcore showing typical play.
Sugarcore is a game by Gregory Weir which Weir describes as "a game about bullets, naturally-occurring candy formations, and the hazards of gardening". Although the game was developed in October and November of 2008, prior to completion of The Majesty of Colors, it remained unpublished due to a lack of sponsors until March 2009, when Weir finally released it (sponsor-less) as the third of Weir's "12 games for 2009".
The game casts the player as a "candy miner", tasked with extracting valuable candy from a colourful rotating ball of confectionary. Each of the game's level presents a different ball composition with different goals. Missiles are launched towards the ball on a regular schedule and the player must rotate the ball to ensure each missile hits its desired target. The ball is made up of several layers of confectionary and often the player is required to help the missile steer past worthless or dangerous outer layers to hit key targets deeper inside, including the titular "sugarcore" which, when hit, detonates the ball and ends the level.
The game was conceived as "a radial Breakout" and shares elements with that game such as brightly coloured layered bricks which are destroyed by incoming projectiles. As of July 2009 it had been played 315,000 times.
Influences
Among the games that Weir has suggested influence his work is Shadow of the Colossus, which he praises as "an incredibly emotional work", drawing attention to that game's schism between the goal of killing huge creatures while at the same time feeling ambivalent about the morality of those actions.
He also speaks fondly of Planescape: Torment, which he says "continually asks the question, 'What can change the nature of a man?'" He adds, "It gives a lot of answers over the course of the game, but never holds one up as the correct one."
He has also referenced Knytt, saying, "It manages to create better atmosphere with a few hundred pixels and some sound loops than any multi-million-dollar triple-A video game title."
External links
Ludus Novus (Gregory Weir's blog) - including playable versions of many of Weir's games.
References
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bernardi, Joe (March 18, 2009). "Gregory Weir". Whose Fault Is That: Interviews With Wonderful People. http://www.whosefaultisthat.net/2009/03/gregory-weir/. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ Intervista a Gregory Weir as translated at Ludus Novus
^ a b Weir, Gregory (October 17, 2008). "Necropolis". Luds Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2008/10/17/necropolis/. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ Dora (May 15, 2009). "Link Dump Friday". Casual Gameplay @ Jay Is Games. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/05/link_dump_friday_113.php. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k Weir, Gregory (January 7, 2009). "Postmortem: (I Fell In Love With) The Majesty of Colors". GameSetWatch. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/01/postmortem_i_fell_in_love_with.php. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
^ Greene, Maggie (December 14, 2008). "Weird Artistic Timewaster: The Majesty of Colors". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5109654/weird-artistic-timewaster-the-majesty-of-colors. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ Holkins, Jerry (February 16, 2009). "The Return of Hattori Hanzo". Penny Arcade. http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/2/16/. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ Psychotronic (December 11, 2008). "The Majesty of Colors". Casual Gameplay @ Jay Is Games. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/12/the_majesty_of_colors.php. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ the99th (December 12, 2008). "The Majesty of Colors: I Am The Monster". Play This Thing!. http://playthisthing.com/majesty-colors. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ Newgrounds staff (December 2008). "The 2008 Tank Awards!". Newgrounds. http://www.newgrounds.com/awards2008.html?page=games. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ Flash Gaming Summit 2009: The Mochis
^ The Krony Awards: The Majesty of Colors
^ Weir, Gregory (January 4, 2008). "New Year's Resolution 2009". Ludus Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2009/01/04/new-years-resolution-2009/. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ a b c d e f Weir, Gregory (July 8, 2009). "Six Months of Games". Ludus Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2009/07/08/six-months-of-games/#more-536. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ Jess (January 29, 2009). "Bars of Black and White". Casual Gameplay @ Jay Is Games. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/01/bars_of_black_and_white.php. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ Claiborne, Samuel J. (June 16, 2009). "Sam's Take On Bars of Black and White". IGN. http://au.games.ign.com/articles/995/995307p1.html. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^ a b c Weir, Gregory (February 27, 2009). "Preview of Exploit". Ludus Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2009/02/27/preview-of-exploit/. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
^ Moore, Kyle E. (March 4, 2009). "Exploit". Casual Gameplay @ Jay Is Games. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/03/exploit.php. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
^ the99th (November 3, 2009). "Exploit: Little Brother's Got Your Back". Play This Thing!. http://playthisthing.com/exploit. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
^ Weir, Gregory (March 30, 2009). "Sugarcore Released". Ludus Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2009/03/30/sugarcore-released/. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
^ Weir, Gregory (November 3, 2008). "An Update on myself". Ludus Novus. http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/03/an-update-on-myself/. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
Categories: Game designers
Monday, April 26, 2010
Gregory Weir
Hitachi Data Systems
China Product
Corporate history
The current Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) was founded in 1989 when Hitachi and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) acquired National Advanced Systems (NAS) from National Semiconductor and renamed it Hitachi Data Systems. But before that company had a history that stretched back to Itel, an early player in the mainframe market. Itel Computer Products Group sold National Semiconductors IBM compatible mainframes, and in 1979 National Semiconductor took it over and formed National Advanced Systems (NAS). NAS shifted from manufacturing mainframes and began marketing systems from Hitachi. Then, in 1999, Hitachi bought out EDS share, and HDS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi. For many years, HDS sold both Hitachi IBM-compatible mainframes and storage systems, but in 1998 exited the mainframe business and shifted its focus to enterprise storage.
Itel was an equipment leasing company founded in 1967 by Peter Redfield and Gary Friedman, initially focusing on leasing IBM mainframes. Through creative financial arrangements and investments, Itel was able to lease IBM mainframes to customers at costs below what customers would have paid IBM, making them the second to IBM itself in revenues due to leasing of IBM mainframes. a19 light bulb
A joint venture between National Semiconductor and Hitachi formed in 1977 was contracted by Itel to manufacture IBM-compatible mainframes branded as Advanced Systems. In the face of initial success of having shipped 200 such systems and netting profits of $73 million, Itel had increased their investments and personnel to market their Advanced Systems brand and hence committed themselves to long term contracts with National Semiconductor and Hitachi. While Itel had not expected quick change in semiconductor technologies, Charlie Sporck, CEO of National Semiconductor, saw opportunities by tempting Itel to longer term commitments in response to request by Itel for lower prices in order to compete with IBM. Itel succumbed to commitment. neon undercar kits
Thereafter, news was abound that IBM was releasing a new technologically superior line of computers, to which customers responded by holding back purchases causing Itel's inventory to build up drastically. Even though Hitachi had agreed to Itel's request to cut back on shipment, National Semiconductor was adamant in implementing what the industry had termed as National's blackmailing of Itel. In 1979, Redfield was forced to resign as CEO, and National Semiconductor took over the whole of Itel Advanced Systems, including its sales and marketing team. budweiser neon lights
National renamed the division to National Advanced Systems (NAS), assembling and selling IBM-compatibles where the CPU was imported from Hitachi. National and Hitachi quite often depended on IBM's gradual and restrained roll-out of newer models to feed on IBM's technology and market share and hence NAS enjoyed occasional successes.
However, IBM had invested and obtained significant success in semiconductor technologies which enabled them to build more powerful computers at lower costs. They were also introducing the Unix operating system gradually into their computers. IBM had also introduced the Personal Computer. By 1985, competing technologies from Honeywell, Prime, NCR and Control Data were gradually being forced off the mainframe market. NAS, as well as Amdahl (the other IBM-compatible mainframe maker) was no exception to facing the technological and sales pressure from IBM.
In 1983, National Semiconductor and its subsidiary NAS was sued by IBM for $2.5 billion on charges of using computer technology stolen from IBM, as result of investigation by the United States Government into National's collaboration with Hitachi engaging in industrial espionage to obtained technology secrets from IBM, a case which illustrated the effects of desperation the onslaught of IBM technology had on its competitors.
On February 28, 1989, National Semiconductor and Hitachi announced their agreement that Hitachi and EDS would jointly acquire NAS for $398 million in cash , of which Hitachi would own 80%. Memorex Telex and National had earlier, on January 10, 1989, announced plans on a joint venture "under which each company would own half of the unit and National would get $250 million plus four million shares of Memorex Telex". However, National proceeded to negotiate with Hitachi after Memorex's offer expired as National had felt that the Hitachi-EDS offer was a better deal as it entailed no further financial obligation or commitment on the part of National after the sale besides reaping a pre-tax profit of $200 million from the sale. By that time, Memorex Telex was able to arrange financing for the deal, but National had already accepted the Hitachi-EDS deal.
The acquisition was envisaged to provide Hitachi a better presence in the United States to compete with IBM. The entity was renamed Hitachi Data Systems.
Corporate affairs
The company has its corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, California and has business offices in the United States, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Products and services
Partial list of hardware products
Universal Storage Platform. The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform (USP-V & USP-VM) family is HDS high-end storage platform focused on consolidation for enterprise storage needs, including virtualization of internal and external heterogeneous into one pool.
USP-V / USP-VM products are also OEMed and resold by Sun Microsystems as its Sun StorageTek 9990V & 9985V Systems , and by HP as its HP StorageWorks XP 24000 / XP 20000 Systems
Adaptable Modular Storage. The Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 line is designed for fault tolerant mission critical storage needs and uses a symmetric active-active controller architecture.
Hitachi High-performance NAS (HNAS). The Hitachi High-performance NAS line offers best-in-class performance and scalability, Intelligent Tiering with dynamic data migration (Hierarchical storage management), and Cluster Namespace (CNS) for unified file administration.
Technology Partners
Hitachi Data Systems has three types of partners: Solution, Technology and Developer.
Partners include:
Abrevity
Agfa
Akorri
Alero
Applimation
APTARE
Arkivio
Atempo
BlueArc
Brocade
BusTech
CA, Inc.
CaminoSoft Corp
Carestream Health
Ceyoniq
Ciena Corporation
Cisco
COI
CommVault
Configuresoft, Inc.
Continuity Software
Crossroads Systems
CSP
Cyberdigm
DecaSoft
Diligent
Dream Security
EASY SOFTWARE
Emulex
Enigma Data Solutions
FileTek
For The Record
Fujifilm
Gwava
Hewlett-Packard
IBM
Incipient, Inc.
Index Engines
Innovation Data Processing
Intellitactics, Inc
Intense Technologies Limited
Intercom
Kazeon
Kraftway
Laserfiche
Mawell
Message Gate
Messaging Architects
Microsoft
Mimosa Systems
Mobius (an ASG Company)
Moonwalk
NDMA
Newgen
Nice
Nikoyo
North King Technology
Open Text Corporation
Optimal Systems
Oracle Corporation
Princeton Softech
Procedo
Qlogic
QStar Technologies Inc.
Redwood Software
Sanpulse
SAP AG
SenSage
Seven Ten Storage
Softnext
Solix
STAR STORAGE
StoredIQ
Sun Microsystems
Surety
Symantec
TeamQuest
Tek-Tools
TERASYSTEM
Torpedo
Union Information Systems
Verint Systems
Verismart
Visus
VMware
Windfire System
ZANTAZ
ZipLip
Zoral
References
^ "Hitachi Data Systems Corporation Company Profile". Yahoo Financel accessdate=2009-01-21. http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/103/103884.html.
^ "Microsoft Solutions Partners". Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/partner-profile-hitachi.mspx. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
^ "Vendor profile: Hustling Hitachi Data Systems has EMC in its sights". Computerworld Storage Network World Online. http://www.snwonline.com/voice/hustling_hitachi_02-10-2003.asp. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
^ "National Semiconductor Corporation". Funding Universe. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/National-Semiconductor-Corporation-Company-History.html.
^ "Sierra Adds Power to I.B.M". The New York Times. February 13, 1985.
^ AP (November 16, 1983). "I.B.M. SUIT MAY ASK $2.5 BILLION". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/16/business/ibm-suit-may-ask-2.5-billion.html.
^ Peter Carey (May 22, 1983). "The selling of IBM secrets". Boca Raton News. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19830522&id=yTMQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1IwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7268,6364925.
^ LAWRENCE M. FISHER (February 28, 1989). "Partners Buy A Computer Subsidiary". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/28/business/partners-buy-a-computer-subsidiary.html.
^ "Hitachi Data Systems Corporation". Business Week. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1006425. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
^ "Hitachi Universal Storage Plaform V". Hitachi Data Systems. http://www.hds.com/products/storage-systems/universal-storage-platform-v.html. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
^ "Sun Microsystem's website product page". Sun Microsystems. http://www.sun.com/storage/disk_systems/data_center/9990v/. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
^ "Vendor profile: Hustling Hitachi Data Systems has EMC in its sights". Computerworld Storage Network World Online. http://www.snwonline.com/voice/hustling_hitachi_02-10-2003.asp. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
^ "Hitachi AMS family overview". Hitachi Data Systems. http://www.hds.com/assets/pdf/hitachi-ams-2000-family-overview.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
^ "Hitachi NAS platform overview". Hitachi Data Systems. http://www.hds.com/products/storage-systems/network-attached-storage/hitachi-high-performance-nas-platform.html. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ Hitachi Web site. DS Partners. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
See also
National Semiconductor
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hitachi Hard disks
Hitachi Data Systems Home Page
Hitachi Data Systems Blogs
Hitachi Data Systems Forums Home Page
Itel Corporation Company History
IEEE Annals January-March 2005 (vol. 27 no. 1), The Rise and Fall of Plug-Compatible Mainframes
Categories: Computer companies of the United States
EMD SDP40
China Product
Design
Like its predecessor in EMD's catalog, the SDP35, the SDP40 is essentially a high-horsepower freight locomotive with additional equipment for passenger train service.
In 1966, EMD updated their locomotive catalog with entirely new models, all powered by the new 645 diesel. These included six-axle models SD38, SD40 and SD45, in addition to the SDP40. All shared standardized components, including the frame, cab, generator, trucks, traction motors, and air brakes. The primary difference was the power output: SD38 = 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) from a non-turbocharged V16, SD40 = {convert|3000|hp|abbr=on|lk=in|sigfig=3}} from a turbocharged V16, and SD45 = 3,600 hp (2,680 kW) from a turbocharged V20. frp cooling towers
The SD40 and SDP40 were so similar that EMD published common operator's and service manuals to cover both. cross flow cooling tower
Besides horsepower, the primary characteristic of a passenger locomotive at the time was the ability to provide steam to the passenger cars, for heating, cooking, and sometimes cooling. Secondary characteristics could include a higher gear ratio for faster running, addition of the graduated-release feature to the air brakes, type F tight-lock couplers to keep equipment together in the event of a derailment, or extra signals and communication equipment. Of these, the steam generator was the largest, and had the greatest impact on the locomotive's appearance. To fit a steam generator to the freight-only SD40, the designers had to move all the machinery forward about two feet on the frame, add a compartment behind the radiators for the boiler, and divide the fuel tank into fuel and water sections. copeland air compressor
Aesthetics
Earlier passenger diesels, like the EMD E8, ALCO PA, FM Erie-built and Baldwin Sharknose, were streamlined cab units designed for good looks and the appearance of speed. The SDP40 instead has the rugged appeal of a high-horsepower road-switcher. This look was contemporary to, and eventually overtaken by cowl units like the GE U30CG and EMD FP45, SDP40F and F40PH.
Visually, the SDP40 is a hood unit distinguished only by the shape of its rear end behind the radiators, with its flat end having no number boards, shuttered boiler air intake on each side, extra exhaust stacks over the boiler, cantilevered walkway around the flat end, and very steep rear steps. EMD applied this same end to the passenger SDP35, SDP45, and GP40P locomotives, as well as the freight DD35, DDA40X and SD40T-2.
Amtrak's SDP40F locomotive, although sharing several mechanical specifications, is visually a much different locomotive. Seven years separate their introductions, and the SDP40F was actually based on the SD40-2. It had a full-width carbody, similar to the FP45. It was also six feet longer than the SDP40.
Original Owners
Passenger locomotive purchases in Canada, the United States and Mexico during the 1960's were limited to 111 units. In most cases, the purchaser intended to save costs by replacing older, less powerful locomotives.
The Great Northern Railway purchased the first six SDP40s in 1966, to replace older F-units on the Western Star and smaller regional trains. These were followed in 1967 by eight more powerful SDP45 locomotives ordered for the Empire Builder. After the startup of Amtrak in 1971, Great Northern Railway successor Burlington Northern Railroad converted all fourteen SDP passenger locomotives to freight service.
One SDP40, former Great Northern Railway 323, was temporarily renumbered 1976 and painted in red, white and blue for the United States Bicentennial in 1976.
NdeM's 14 were ordered in two groups: Ten in 1968 and four in 1970. In 1998, the government of Mexico privatized the NdeM, and the locomotives were split between two successor companies. Eight went to TFM, which was later purchased KCS and became KCSM. These eight have roamed freely in the United States. The other six went to Ferromex.
Roster
Order
Built
Serial
Phase
1st No.
2nd No.
3rd No.
4th No.
5th No.
6th No.
7th No.
Disposition
7870-
5/66
31592
Ia2
GN 320
BN 9850
BN 6394
Scrapped MK Rail July 1996
7870-2
5/66
31593
Ia2
GN 321
BN 9851
BN 6395
MRL 290
Rebuilt, Active
7870-
5/66
31594
Ia2
GN 322
BN 9852
BN 6396
Wrecked June 1984, scrapped
7870-4
5/66
31595
Ia2
GN 323
BN 9853
BN 6397
BN 1976
BN 6397
BNSF 6325
GCFX 3093
Rebuilt, Active
7870-
5/66
31596
Ia2
GN 324
BN 9854
BN 6398
BNSF 6326
GN 6326
Stored Dead - Reporting mark changed from BNSF to GN to make way for new deliveries
7870-
5/66
31597
Ia2
GN 325
BN 9855
BN 6399
BNSF 6327
MNTX 6327
Retired June 2008, donated to the Minnesota Transportation Museum May 2009.
710917
5/68
33371
IIb_
NdeM 8522
FNM 8522
TFM 1314
KCSM 1314
Scrapped December 2008 by Progress Rail in Mayfield, KY
710918
5/68
33372
IIb_
NdeM 8523
FNM 8523
TFM 1315
KCSM 1315
710919
5/68
33373
IIb_
NdeM 8524
FXE ????
710920
5/68
33374
IIb_
NdeM 8525
FXE ????
710921
5/68
33375
IIb_
NdeM 8526
FXE ????
710922
5/68
33376
IIb_
NdeM 8527
FXE ????
Was once derelict - rebuilt into FNM 13099, FXE 3212, or FXE 3227?
710923
5/68
33377
IIb_
NdeM 8528
FNM 8528
TFM 1316
KCSM 1316
Scrapped December 2008 by Progress Rail in Mayfield, KY
710924
5/68
33378
IIb_
NdeM 8529
FNM 8529
TFM 1317
KCSM 1317
Scrapped December 2008 by Progress Rail in Mayfield, KY
710925
5/68
33379
IIb_
NdeM 8530
FNM 8530
TFM 1318
KCSM 1318
KCS 3057
710926
5/68
33380
IIb_
NdeM 8531
FNM 8531
TFM 1319
KCSM 1319
Rebuilt to SD22ECO August 2009
711392
5/70
36156
IIb2
NdeM 8532
FXE ????
711393
5/70
36157
IIb2
NdeM 8533
FNM 8533
TFM 1320
KCSM 1320
Rebuilt to SD22ECO August 2009
711394
5/70
36158
IIb2
NdeM 8534
FXE ????
711395
5/70
36159
IIb2
NdeM 8535
FNM 8535
TFM 1321
KCSM 1321
Phases refer to SD40s in general.
Rebuilds
FNM 13099 was rebuilt by the San Luis Potosi shops, but the original locomotive number is unknown. The steam generator air intake was plated over during the rebuild.
FXE 3212 was rebuilt from an SDP40, but the original locomotive number is unknown. This rebuild resulted in removal of most of the steam generator compartment and installation of rear switching steps.
FXE 3227 appears to have been rebuilt from an SDP40, but the original locomotive number is unknown. The steam generator air intake was plated over during the rebuild, but it retained the full compartment and vertical rear steps.
MRL 290 was wrecked in 1988, and subsequently sold to MRL. It is listed in rosters and lettered as an SDP40-2XR. Its steam generator air intake was plated over during the rebuild, but it retained the full compartment and vertical rear steps.
GCFX 3093 sources suggest was remanufactured by Alstom to SD40-2 specifications. Much of the steam generator compartment was removed to permit installation of compliant rear switching steps.
KCS 1319 was rebuilt by EMD in London, ON during August 2009 into an SD22ECO, keeping its external appearance.
KCS 1320 was rebuilt by EMD in London, ON during August 2009 into an SD22ECO, keeping its external appearance.
A consideration when rebuilding an SDP40 is that the rear corner steps do not comply with current Federal Regulations. The bottom step must be further out than the upper steps to provide a place to stand. Since the steam generator compartment extends to the end of the frame, it must be removed to install compliant switching steps. FXE 3212 and GCFX 3093 are examples. See:
49 CFR 231.29 Road locomotives with corner stairways
49 CFR 231.30 Locomotives used in switching service
The KCS pair rebuilt into SD22ECOs took a different approach: The bottom steps of the rear ladders were moved out to meet the requirement.
Preservation
BNSF donated 6327 - former Great Northern 325 and their last SDP40 in service - to the Minnesota Transportation Museum in May 2009.
References
Moran, Miles (1975). "And Passenger Service Too". Railroad Modeler 5 (8): 4047.
Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
Shine, Joseph W. (1992). Great Northern Color Pictorial - Volume 2: Division Assignment, Second Generation Diesels, The Big Sky Blue Era. La Mirada, CA: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 0961687479
Strauss, John F. Jr. (1998). Great Northern Color Pictorial - Volume 5: Rocky's Robe of Many Colors. La Mirada, CA: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 1885614225
Sarberenyi, Robert. EMD SD40, SD40A, and SDP40 Original Owners. Retrieved on August 27, 2006
The UNofficial EMD Homepage. Retrieved on May 1, 2009
EMD's SD40, SD40A, and SDP40 - Original Owners. Retrieved on May 5, 2009
Great Northern Empire - GN EMP SDP40 Roster. Retrieved on May 5, 2009
KCS NAFTA Rosters. Retrieved on May 5, 2009
Service Department (1966). SD40 - SDP40 Operator's Manual. La Grange, IL: Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation
Progress Rail KCS loco scrapping observed. Retrieved on June 13, 2009
SD22ECO rebuilds 1319 and 1320 observed. Retrieved on August 27, 2009
See also
List of GM-EMD locomotives
List of GMD Locomotives
v d e
6- and 8-axle diesel-electric locomotives built by GM-EMD
Six-axle road power
SD7 SD9 SD18 SD24 SD28 SD35 SDP35 SD38 SD38AC SD38-2 SD39 SDL39 SD40 SD40X SD40A SD40-2 SD40-2W SD40T-2 SD40-2S SDP40 SDP40F SD45 SD45X SD45-2 SD45T-2 SDP45 SD50 SD60 SD60F SD60I SD60M SD70 SD70I SD70M SD70MAC SD70M-2 SD70ACe SD75M SD75I SD80MAC SD89MAC SD90MAC
Eight-axle road power
DD35 DD35A DDA40X DDM45
See also: List of GM-EMD locomotives
Categories: EMD locomotives | C-C locomotives | Passenger locomotives | Diesel locomotives of the United States | Railway locomotives introduced in 1966Hidden categories: Unusual parameters of Infobox locomotive template
Special Agent Oso
China Product
Cast/Characters
This is a full list of the show's cast in the English and hispanoamerican dubbed version.
Character (English/Hispanoamerican) pierre cardin pens
Voiced by in the English Version zebra pens
Voiced by in the Hispanoamerican Dubbed Version floating pens
Other Information
Special Agent Oso/Agente Especial Oso
Sean Astin
Hector Emmanuel Gmez
A special agent appearing as a colourful panda in training to help children. He has a computerized assistant named "Paw Pilot" who tells Oso the 'three special steps' he needs to accomplish for his current mission. When he accomplishes the tasks, he gets a reward called the "Digi-Medal". Oso is a children's parody of James Bond.
Paw Pilot or Paw Guide/Garra gua
Meghan Strange
Natalia Sosa
She is the computerized assistant of Oso who tells the missions and the three special steps that Oso has to complete. She appears in a paw-shaped computer that Oso carries on his outfit.
Mr. Dos/Seor Dos
Gary Anthony Williams
Agustn Lpez Lezama
Oso's boss. He tells the assignments that Special Agent Oso needs to accomplish. He is not seen, but only can be heard in Oso's watch.
Special Agent Wolfie or Special Agent Johnson/Agente Especial Lobito
Phill Lewis
Vctor Ugarte
One of the two special agents that assist Oso in his training. He is a blue wolf. His line is "A-WOOO-tstanding!".
Special Agent Dotty/Agente Especial Dotty
Amber Hood
Mireya Mendoza
One of the two special agents that assist Oso in his training. She is a spotted orange cat, and the only female special agent. Her line is "Spot on!".
Whirly Bird or Help Bird/Helipjaro
Cam Clarke
Javier Olgun
He is Oso's talking aeroplane where he takes Oso to the place where someone needs help.
R.R Rapide
Cam Clarke
N/A
He is Oso's French talking train which is hard of hearing and first appears in the 15th episode, The Boy With The Golden Gift. He doesn't star in the Hispanoamerican Dubbed version.
Shutterbug
N/A
N/A
He is Oso's camera who keep the eye out for someone who needs help. He resembles as a ladybug. He doesn't star in the Hispanoamerican Dubbed version.
Episodes
Main article: List of Special Agent Oso episodes
There are currently 47 episodes in the whole series, 47 in series 1 and currently working on a series 2.
Series No.
Status
Episodes No.
Other Information
1
Series finished
47
Series 1 has finished and 47 episodes have been produced, but still airing on several countries.
2
Currently being produced
0
A second series has been confirmed and currently being produced.
Three Special Steps
Main article: List of Special Agent Oso episodes
The Three Special Steps are the steps that Paw Pilot gives Oso to follow when he is on his special assignments. Oso has a matter of time to finish the three special steps. In the episode list the three special steps are separated by commas, not 'and'.
Training Exercises
Main articles: Special Agent Oso#Training Exercises (not Special Assignments) and List of Special Agent Oso episodes
The training exercises are Oso's training task. They are given by Wolfie or Dotty. Oso usually fails the first try, but in the special assignments he remembers something about the training exercise, thanks to the person he is helping. He tries a second time and completes the training exercise, then earns a Digi-Medal.
Special Assignments
Main articles: List of Special Agent Oso episodes and Special Agent Oso#Three Special Steps
The special assignments are missions when Oso helps other kids do whatever they need help with. Oso tries to complete the Three Special Steps that Paw Pilot gives him.
Training Exercises (not Special Assignments)
(The exercises are named after James Bond movies.)
Series 1
To Grandma With Love/Gold Flower
Wolfie tells Oso to climb Mount Aconcagua in Mendoza, Argentina. Oso learns to climb with both arms and legs.
Dotty tells Oso to space walk towards the satellite in outer space. Oso learns to keep the tether straight.
Never Say No Brushing Again/The Girl With The Golden Book
Dotty tells Oso to repair her spacejet. The Rectangle Door can be Unlocked by Top & Bottom Latches.
Dotty tells Oso how to identify a Hidden Agent. It was Oso.
Live and Jump Rope/A View To A Kitten
Dotty tells Oso how to Jump on Laser Beams. Oso learns how to jump when it get to his feet.
Dotty Tells Oso how to find a buried spy plane in the Sahara Desert. Oso listens for the beeps.
A View To A Book/Diamonds Are For Kites
Wolfie tells Oso how to drive. Oso Knows How to Slow Down on a Sharp Turn
Wolfie tells Oso how to Get Across a Ravine. Oso Knows how to Tie Gently.
The Boy With The Golden Gift/Birthdays Are Forever
Dotty tells Oso to solve the mystery picture. Oso learns to fold the paper to make triangles. The mystery picture is R.R. Rapide.
Dotty tells Oso to put the air brake pipes onto R.R. Rapide to make him slow down. Oso learns to put the each opening of the pipe on each side of the air brake box
Carousel Royale/Leaf Raker
Wolfie Tells Oso to Load up the Statue on R.R. Rapide. Oso learns to close the crane claw.
Dotty tells Oso how to Step up Without Gagdets. Oso learns to use a step stool.
Thunder Berries/Flowers Are Forever
Dotty tells Oso to put invisibility paint on his motorcycle. Oso learns how to remove the paint by using the water hose.
Dotty tells Oso to fly a plane over the field and come back safely. Oso learns how to get the plane in the air by pulling the steering wheel.
For Your Nice Bunny/For Pancakes With Love
Dotty tells Oso to bring an envelope downstairs, out side the building, and following the path to go through the gate while being chased by dogs. Oso learns how to latch a gate. Inside the envelope is dog food.
In space, Dotty tells Oso to fix a solar panel from a satellite. Oso learns how to be gentle.
License To Clean/On Her Cousin's Special Salad
Dotty tells Oso to go in a cave and find a red gem. Oso learns to use a flashlight.
Wolfie tells Oso to go underwater and find a submarine with two stars. Oso learns to use a brush.
Hide Another Day/Live And Let Dry
Wolfie tells Oso to put the pen together, blindfolded. Oso learns to find something under the table.
Wolfie tells Oso to kayak down the river and find the blue flag. Oso learns to wipe the water off the mask.
Dr. Off/License To Dress
Dotty tells Oso to follow her and Wolfie to the underground tunnel. Oso learns to hold the remote and point it to the entrance to the tunnel.
Wolfie tells Oso to wear the scuba gear over his tuxedo to swim to the yacht for a fancy party. Oso learns to zip up the zipper to keep his tuxedo from getting wet.
Octo-Puzzle/One Suitcase Is Now Enough
Dotty Tells Oso To Find the Red Sports Car. Oso learns to look at a picture.
Dotty Tells Oso to Enter the Special Gadget Room. Oso learns to turn it and fit in the different way.
Three Wheels Are Not Enough/A Zoo to a Thrill
Dotty tells Oso to close the Spacejet Door. Oso learns to turn the handle to the right.
Wolfie tells Oso to find the disc that's hidden behind the painting. Oso learns to catch the disc as it come out of the slot.
The Girl Who Cheered Me/License to Twirl
Wolfie tells Oso to find the box with the blue moon from his train R. R. Rapide to his helicopter Whirly Bird. Oso learns to shout really loud.
Wolfie tells Oso to sail his boat till he reach a submarine. Oso learns to lower the anchor he needs to give the wheel a good hard spin.
For Show and Tell Only/Piggy Bank Royale
Wolfie tells Oso to help R. R. Rapide to take his boat to the sea. Oso learns to couple the couplings together.
Dotty tells Oso how to avoid a meteor shower. Oso learns to fly above the meteors, where it is safe.
Hopscotch Royale/Goldringer
Wolfie tells Oso to cross a swamp on a path of stones without spilling a tube of sponge creature capsules. Oso learns to hop on one foot.
Dotty tells Oso to fire a laser pointer at a target on a mountainside. Oso learns to aim by sighting down his arm.
The Living Flashlight/Sandcastle Royale
Wolfie tells Oso to launch the deep sea probe from the submarine into the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Oso learns to match the symbols correctly - plus on plus, and minus on minus.
Wolfie tells Oso to follow his footprints through the forest to find him. Oso learns to follow the footprints that shaped like a paw.
License to Chill/GoldenFly
Dotty tells Oso to paint a car black. Oso learns to wait for the paint to dry before he can touch the car.
Wolfie tells Oso to steer his boat to the dock and parked the boat. Oso learns to follow the light.
Tie Another Day/You Only Start Pre-School Once
Dotty tells Oso to ride a horse and get it to jump over the tallest fence. Oso learns to pull the reins tight.
Dotty tells Oso to get to the Unique Special Agent Car Wash. Oso learns to look at the Eye Scanner.
Goldfeather/Live and Let Ride
Wolfie tells Oso to ride a zipline from his iceberg to his own. Oso learns to run fast and jump.
Dotty tells Oso to blast off into space. Oso learns to type his name (Training Exercise Code Word).
For Your Pies Only/The Plates Are Not Enough
Dotty tells Oso to ride his new motorcycle all around the track in less than one minute. Oso learns to go around the mud puddles.
Dotty tells Oso to snowboard down a mountain. Oso learns to go to the left.
For Your Ice Only/Coldfingers
Dotty tells Oso to cross a narrow metal beam to get the red flag. Oso learns to hold his arms out to steady himself.
Dotty tells Oso to ski down a mountain without falling. Oso learns to put on gloves.
Nobody Draws It Better/ThunderBubble
Wofie tells Oso to get into the Ice Base and open the Ice Base gate. Oso learns to say the password. The password is Down.
Wolfie tells Oso to help him get his boat from the passageway into the lake. Oso learns to stop adding water.
Series 2
No episodes have been made for Series 2 yet.
Missions
Main article: List of Special Agent Oso episodes
DVD releases
Title
Release date
Episodes included
Other features
Region 2
Region 1
Region 4
Training In Ready
May 11, 2010
TBA
TBA
To Grandma With Love/Gold Flower
Never Say No Brushing Again/The Girl With The Golden Book
Live And Jump Rope/A View To A Kitten
A View To Book/Diamonds Are For Kites
Further information: List of Special Agent Oso episodes#DVD releases
Broadcast
Country / Region
Channel
Title
United States
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
Special Agent Oso
Turkey
Disney channel
Latin America
Playhouse Disney Channel
Oso: Agente Especial
Brazil
Agente Especial Urso
Southeast Asia
Playhouse Disney
Special Agent Oso
Poland
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
Agent Specjalny OSO
Scandinavia
Playhouse Disney
Special-agent OSO
Arab League
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney Morning
Special Agent Oso
Southern Africa
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
special agent OSO
Portugal
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
Agente Especial Oso
Spain
Playhouse Disney
France
Playhouse Disney
Agent Special OSO
Italy
Playhouse Disney
Agente Speciale OSO
Greece
ET1
Japan
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
OSO
India
Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney
Special Agent Oso
United Kingdom
Playhouse Disney
Special Agent Oso
External links
Official Website
Disney Channel press release for Special Agent Oso
Special Agent Oso on TV.com
Spanish Wikipedia
Special Agent Oso on Spanish Wikipedia
Special Agent Oso on Spanish Wikipedia (Printable Version)
Special Agent Oso on Spanish Wikipedia (PDF Version)
Notes
^ http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/42239
Preceded by
Imagination Movers
Playhouse Disney Shows
2009
Succeeded by
Jungle Junction
Categories: Disney Channel shows | 2009 American television series debuts | Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
Johnny Weissmuller
China Product
Early life
Weissmller was an ethnic German born to Peter Weissmller and his wife Elisabeth Kersch, in Banat, Romania. The ship's roster from his family's arrival at Ellis Island lists his birthplace as Mea, in border area of Serbia,. It has been claimed that he was actually named Peter by his parents, but when he arrived in the US he used his brother's name, Johnny, because it was more American. However, the records of St Rochus Church in Freidorf show that Johann, son of Peter Weissmller and Elizabeth Kersch, was baptized there on 6 May 1904. The passenger manifest of the S.S. Rotterdam, which arrived in New York on 26 January 1905, lists Peter Weissmller, a 29-year-old laborer, his 24-year-old wife Elisabeth, and seven-month-old Johann, The family is listed as Germans, last residence Temesvr, despite the fact that they lived for a long time in Freidorf (Szabadfalu). They were going to join their brother-in-law Johann Ott of Windber, Pennsylvania. On November 5, 1905, Johann Peter Weissmller was baptized at St John Cantius Catholic Church in Windber. In the 1910 census, Peter and Elizabeth Weisenmller as well as John and Eva Ott were living at 1521 Cleveland Ave in the 22nd Ward of Chicago, with sons John, age six, born in Temesvr and Peter Jr., age five, born in Illinois. Peter Weissmller and John Ott were both brewers, Ott immigrating in 1902, Weissmller in 1904. The ethnic group known as Banat Swabians had lived for several centuries in that region and developed a distinctive dialect and cultural traits.
R. Brever, B. Skelton, Johnny Weissmuller. c. 1925 hein gericke motorcycle jacket
When Weissmller was a small child, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Rotterdam as steerage passengers. They left Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived at Ellis Island in New York harbor twelve days later as Peter, Elisabeth and Johann Weissmller. The passenger list records them as ethnic Germans and citizens of Romania. After a brief stay in Chicago, visiting relatives, they moved to the coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania. (For most of Weissmller's career, show business biographies incorrectly listed him as having been born in Pennsylvania. Some sources state that Weissmller lied about his birthplace in order to ensure his place on the US Olympic swimming team.) Peter Weissmuller worked as a miner, and his youngest son, Peter Weissmller, Jr., was born in Windber on 3 September 1905. Peter Jr. is listed on one census as born in Illinois. motorcycle leather racing suit
At age nine, Weissmller contracted polio. At the suggestion of his doctor, he took up swimming to help battle the disease. After the family moved from Western Pennsylvania to Chicago, Weissmller continued swimming and eventually earned a spot on the YMCA swim team. While living in Chicago, Weissmller's father owned a bar for a time and his mother became head cook at a famed restaurant. After Peter's business failed, he began drinking heavily and abusing both his wife and children. Elizabeth Weissmller eventually filed for, and was granted, a divorce (various biographies erroneously state that Weissmller's father died of tuberculosis leaving her a widow). According to draft registration records for World War I, Peter and Elizabeth were apparently still together as late as 1917. On his paperwork, Peter was listed as a brewer, working for the Elston and Fullerton Brewery. He and his family were living at 226 West North Avenue in Chicago. In his book, Tarzan, My Father, Johnny Weissmuller Jr. stated that although rumors of Peter Weissmller living to "a ripe old age, remarrying along the way and spawning a large brood of little Weissmllers" were reported, no one in the family was aware of his ultimate fate. Peter signed his consent for 19-year old John "Weissmuller"'s passport application in 1924, preceding Johnny's Olympic competition in France. In the 1930 federal census, Elizabeth Weissmller, age 49, has listed with her, her sons John P. and Peter J., and Peter's wife Dorothy. Elizabeth is listed as a widow. leather motorcycle racing suit
Careers
Swimming
Medal record
Men swimming
Competitor for the United States
Olympic Games
Gold
1924 Paris
100 m freestyle
Gold
1924 Paris
400 m freestyle
Gold
1924 Paris
4 x 200 m freestyle
Gold
1928 Amsterdam
100 m freestyle
Gold
1928 Amsterdam
4 x 200 m freestyle
Men water polo
Bronze
1924 Paris
Team
As a teen, Weissmuller attended Lane Technical H.S. before dropping out to work various jobs including a stint as a lifeguard at a Lake Michigan beach. While working as an elevator operator and bellboy at the Illinois Athletic Club, Weissmuller caught the eye of swim coach William Bachrach. Bachrach trained Weissmuller and in August 1921, Weissmuller won the national championships in the 50-yard and 220-yard distances. Though he was foreign-born, Weissmuller gave his birthplace as Tanneryville, Pennsylvania, and his birth date as that of his younger brother, Peter Weissmuller. This was to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team, and was a critical issue in being issued an American passport. (This comment seems to be contradicted by data on his actual passport application - On his 1924 passport application, he listed his date of birth as June 2, 1904, and his place of birth as Windbar, Pennsylvania. His father, Peter signed an affidavit to this effect, giving his 19-year-old son permission to travel abroad to participate in the Paris Olympics and for other competitions in England and Belgium. His passport was issued in May, 1924.)
On July 9, 1922, Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record on the 100-meters freestyle, swimming it in 58.6 seconds. He won the title in that distance at the 1924 Summer Olympics, beating Kahanamoku for the gold. He also won the 400-meters freestyle and the 4 x 200 meters relay. As a member of the American water polo team, he also won a bronze medal. Four years later, at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won another two Olympic titles.
In all, he won five Olympic gold medals, one bronze medal, won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. Johnny Weissmuller never lost a race and retired from his amateur swimming career undefeated.
Motion pictures
In 1929, Weissmuller signed a contract with BVD to be a model and representative. He traveled throughout the country doing swim shows, handing out leaflets promoting that brand of swimwear, signing autographs and going on talk shows. In that same year, he made his first motion picture appearance as an Adonis, wearing only a fig leaf, in a movie entitled Glorifying the American Girl. He appeared as himself in the first of several Crystal Champions movie shorts featuring Weissmuller and other Olympic champions at Silver Springs, Florida.
He co-starred with Esther Williams in Billy Rose's Aquacade during the San Francisco World's Fair, 193941, pursuing her throughout a span of two years.
His acting career began when he signed a seven year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. Tarzan author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character.
Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane (with whom he had a brief affair[citation needed]) and Cheeta the Chimpanzee. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Then, in 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO and starred in six more Tarzan movies with markedly reduced production values. Unlike MGM, RKO allowed Weissmuller to play other roles, though a three picture contract with Pine-Thomas Productions led to only one film, Swamp Fire, being made, co-starring Buster Crabbe. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for RKO. Another co-star was Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller's last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies, (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (During an appearance on television's The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s, Weissmuller explained how the famous yell was created. Recordings of three vocalists were spliced together to get the effect soprano, an alto, and a hog caller).
When Weissmuller finally left that role, he immediately traded his loincloth costume for a slouch hat and safari suit for the role of Jungle Jim (1948) for Columbia. He made thirteen Jungle Jim films between (1948) and (1954). Within the next year, he appeared in three more jungle movies, playing himself. In 1955, he began production of the Jungle Jim television adventure series for Screen Gems, a film subsidiary of Columbia. His costars were Martin Huston and Dean Fredericks. The show produced only twenty-six episodes, which were subsequently played repeatedly on network and syndicated television. Aside from a first screen appearance as Adonis and the role of Johnny Duval in the 1946 film Swamp Fire, Weissmuller played only three roles in films during the heyday of his Hollywood career: Tarzan, Jungle Jim, and himself.
After movies
In the late 1950s, Weissmuller moved back to Chicago and started a swimming pool company. He lent his name to other business ventures, but did not have a great deal of success. He retired in 1965 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
According to David Wallechinsky's Complete Book of the Olympics, while playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Cuba in 1958, Weissmuller's golf cart was suddenly captured by rebel soldiers. Weissmuller sized up the situation, got out of the cart and gave his trademark Tarzan yell. The shocked rebels soon began to jump up and down, calling "Tarzan! Welcome to Cuba!" Johnny and his companions were not only not kidnapped, but were given a rebel escort to the golf course.
Sometime in the 1960s, Weissmuller built a doomed tourist attraction called Tropical Wonderland, aka Tarzan's Jungleland, on US 1 in Titusville, Florida. In September 1966, Weissmuller joined former screen Tarzans James Pierce and Jock Mahoney to appear with Ron Ely as part of the publicity for the upcoming premiere of the Tarzan TV series. The producers also approached Weissmuller to guest star as Tarzan's father, but nothing came of it.
In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. That same year, he made a cameo appearance with former co-star Maureen O'Sullivan in The Phynx (1970).
Weissmuller lived in Florida until the end of 1973, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel for a time. In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney, in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and he also made his final public appearance in that year when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Weissmuller had five wives: band and club singer Bobbe Arnst (married 1931 divorced 1933); actress Lupe Vlez (married 1933 divorced 1939); Beryl Scott (married 1939 divorced 1948); Allene Gates (married 1948 divorced 1962); and Maria Baumann (married 1963 his death 1984).
With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (September 23, 1940 July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (b. June 1, 1942), and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944 November 19, 1962).
Declining health and death
In 1974, Weissmuller broke both his hip and leg, marking the beginning of years of declining health. While hospitalized he learned that, in spite of his strength and lifelong daily regimen of swimming and exercise, he had a serious heart condition. In 1977, Weissmuller suffered a series of strokes. In 1979, he entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California for several weeks before moving with his last wife, Maria, to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie.
On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. At his request, he was buried in Acapulco at Valley of the Light Cemetery where, also at his request, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played.
Influence
His former co-star and movie son, Johnny Sheffield, wrote of him, "I can only say that working with Big John was one of the highlights of my life. He was a Star (with a capital "S") and he gave off a special light and some of that light got into me. Knowing and being with Johnny Weissmuller during my formative years had a lasting influence on my life."
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnny Weissmuller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
Filmography
Film
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1929
Glorifying the American Girl
Adonis
Cameo appearance in the segment "Loveland"
1931
Swim or Sink
Himself
Short subject
Water Bugs
Himself
Short subject
1932
Tarzan, the Ape Man
Tarzan
The Human Fish
Himself
Short subject
1934
Tarzan and His Mate
Tarzan
1936
Tarzan Escapes
Tarzan
1939
Tarzan Finds a Son!
Tarzan
1941
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Tarzan
1942
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Tarzan
1943
Tarzan Triumphs
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan Triumphs
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Stage Door Canteen
Himself
1945
Tarzan and the Amazons
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Amazons
1946
Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
Swamp Fire
Johnny Duval
1947
Tarzan and the Huntress
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress
1948
Tarzan and the Mermaids
Tarzan
Complete title: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Mermaids
Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim
1948
The Lost Tribe
Jungle Jim
1950
Mark of the Gorilla
Jungle Jim
Captive Girl
Jungle Jim
Alternative title: Jungle Jim and the Captive Girl
Jungle Jim in Pygmy Island
Jungle Jim
Alternative title: Pygmy Island
1951
Fury of the Congo
Jungle Jim
Jungle Manhunt
Jungle Jim
1952
Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land
Jungle Jim
Voodoo Tiger
Jungle Jim
1953
Savage Mutiny
Jungle Jim
Valley of Head Hunters
Jungle Jim
Killer Ape
Jungle Jim
1954
Jungle Man-Eaters
Jungle Jim
Cannibal Attack
Johnny Weissmuller
1955
Jungle Moon Men
Johnny Weissmuller
Devil Goddess
Johnny Weissmuller
1970
The Phynx
Himself
1976
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Stagehand #2
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1956-1958
Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim
26 episodes
References
^ "Interview with Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.". germanhollywood.com. http://www.germanhollywood.com/tarzan_myfather1.html.
^ "Johnny Weissmuller." Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
^ "Serbia: Monument to Tarzan". The New York Times. 2007-02-17. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/17/world/europe/17briefs-tarzanmonument.html?%20(ex=1172725200&en=a945f654fa0398cc&ei=5070.
^ "Businessweek report."
^ Bio in Sports Illustrated
^ a b Rasmussen, Frederick N. (2008-08-17). "From the pool to Hollywood stardom". baltimoresun.com. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-id.backstory17aug17,0,2204240.column. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
^ a b Weissmuller, Jr., Johnny; Weissmuller, Johnny; Reed, William (2002). Tarzan, My Father. Burroughs, Danton. ECW Press. pp. 2528. ISBN 1-550-22522-7.
^ The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind. Macmillan. 2007. p. 943. ISBN 0-312-37659-6.
^ Christopher, Paul J.; Smith, Alicia Marie (2006). Greatest Sports Heroes of All Times: North American Edition. Encouragement Press, LLC. p. 204. ISBN 1-933-76609-3.
^ Kirsch, George B.; Othello, Harris; Nolte, Claire Elaine (2000). Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 488. ISBN 0-313-29911-0.
^ Simonton, Dean Keith (1994). Greatness: Who Makes History and Why. Guilford Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-898-62201-8.
^ The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography, By Esther Williams, Digby Diehl, Published by Harcourt Trade, 2000, ISBN 0156011352, 9780156011358.
^ a b Fury, David (1994). Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to "Tarzan" on Screen and Television. McFarland & Company. p. 57. ISBN 0-899-50771-9.
^ Sisson, Richard; Zacher, Christian; Cayton, Andrew Robert Lee (2007). The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. p. 902. ISBN 0-253-34886-2.
^ Weissmuller, Johnny, Jr.; Weissmuller, Johnny; Reed, William (2002). Tarzan, My Father. Burroughs, Danton. ECW Press. p. 83. ISBN 1-550-22522-7.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)
Further reading
Fury, David A. Fury. Johnny Weissmuller: Twice the Hero (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Artist's Press. 2000) ISBN 0924556021
Weissmuller, Johnny Jr. Tarzan My Father, Toronto: ECW Press 2002
External links
Johnny Weissmuller at the Internet Movie Database
Tarzan Fan Site
Louis S. Nixdorff, 1928 Olympic games collection, 1926-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
The passenger list of the ship that brought the Weissmullers to Ellis Island
"Serbia: Monument to Tarzan", The New York Times, February 17, 2007. The article states that Johnny Weissmuller was born in Serbia.
Johnny Weissmuller at Find a Grave
v d e
Tarzan movies
Silent films (8)
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) The Romance of Tarzan (1918) The Revenge of Tarzan (1920) The Son of Tarzan (1920) The Adventures of Tarzan (1921) Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) Tarzan the Mighty (1928) Tarzan the Tiger (1929)
With
Johnny Weissmuller (12)
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) Tarzan and His Mate (1934) Tarzan Escapes (1936) Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) Tarzan Triumphs (1943) Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948)
With Lex Barker (5)
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) Tarzan's Peril (1951) Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952) Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)
With Gordon Scott (6)
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955) Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) Tarzan and the Trappers (1958) Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)
Competing films
Tarzan the Fearless (1933) The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935) Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) Tarzan Revenge (1938) Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)
Later RKO series films
and independent films
Tarzan Goes to India (1962) Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963) Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) Tarzan and the Great River (1967) Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968) Tarzan's Deadly Silence (1970)
Later films
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) Tarzan of the Apes (1999) Tarzan (1999) Tarzan & Jane (2002) Tarzan II (2005)
v d e
Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m Freestyle
1896: Alfrd Hajs | 1904: (100 yards) Zoltn Halmay | 1906: Charles Daniels | 1908: Charles Daniels | 1912: Duke Kahanamoku | 1920: Duke Kahanamoku | 1924: Johnny Weissmuller | 1928: Johnny Weissmuller | 1932: Yasuji Miyazaki | 1936: Ferenc Csk | 1948: Walter Ris | 1952: Clarke Scholes | 1956: Jon Henricks | 1960: John Devitt | 1964: Don Schollander | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Jim Montgomery | 1980: Jrg Woithe | 1984: Rowdy Gaines | 1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Alexander Popov | 1996: Alexander Popov | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2008: Alain Bernard
v d e
Olympic Champions in Men's 400 m Freestyle
1904: (440 yards) Charles Daniels | 1906: Otto Scheff | 1908: Henry Taylor | 1912: George Hodgson | 1920: Norman Ross | 1924: Johnny Weissmuller | 1928: Alberto Zorrilla | 1932: Buster Crabbe | 1936: Jack Medica | 1948: William Smith | 1952: Jean Boiteux | 1956: Murray Rose | 1960: Murray Rose | 1964: Don Schollander | 1968: Mike Burton | 1972: Brad Cooper | 1976: Brian Goodell | 1980: Vladimir Salnikov | 1984: George DiCarlo | 1988: Uwe Daler | 1992: Yevgeny Sadovyi | 1996: Danyon Loader | 2000: Ian Thorpe | 2004: Ian Thorpe | 2008: Park Taehwan
v d e
Olympic Champions in Men's 4200 m Freestyle Relay
1908: Great Britain (Derbyshire, Radimilovic, Foster, Taylor) | 1912: Australasia (Healy, Champion, Boardman, Hardwick) | 1920: USA (McGillivray, Kealoha, Ross, Kahanamoku) | 1924: USA (Weissmuller, O'Connor, Glancy, Breyer) | 1928: USA (Weissmuller, Clapp, Laufer, Kojac) | 1932: Japan (Yusa, Miyazaki, Yokoyama, Toyoda) | 1936: Japan (Yusa, Sugiura, Arai, Taguchi) | 1948: USA (Ris, McLane, Wolf, Smith) | 1952: USA (Moore, Woolsey, Konno, McLane) | 1956: Australia (O'Halloran, Devitt, Rose, Henricks) | 1960: USA (Harrison, Blick, Troy, Farrell) | 1964: USA (Schollander, Clark, Saari, Ilman) | 1968: USA (Schollander, Spitz, Nelson, Rerych) | 1972: USA (Spitz, Kinsella, Tyler, Genter) | 1976: USA (Bruner, Furniss, Naber, Montgomery) | 1980: Soviet Union (Kopliakov, Salnikov, Stukolkin, Krylov) | 1984: USA (Heath, Larson, Float, Hayes) | 1988: USA (Dalbey, Cetlinski, Gjertsen, Biondi) | 1992: Unified Team (Lepikov, Pyshnenko, Tayanovich, Sadovyi) | 1996: USA (Davis, Hudepohl, Schumacher, Berube) | 2000: Australia (Thorpe, Klim, Pearson, Kirby) | 2004: USA (Phelps, Lochte, Vanderkaay, Keller) | 2008: USA (Phelps, Lochte, Berens, Vanderkaay)
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Frank Merrill
Actors to portray Tarzan
1932-1948
Succeeded by
Buster Crabbe
Persondata
NAME
Weissmuller, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Weissmller, Peter Johann
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Swimmer and actor
DATE OF BIRTH
June 2, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH
Temesvr, Austria-Hungary (now Timioara, Romania)
DATE OF DEATH
January 20, 1984
PLACE OF DEATH
Acapulco, Mexico
Categories: Tarzan films | Actors from Chicago, Illinois | American Roman Catholics | Austrian Americans | American film actors | American television actors | American swimmers | Austro-Hungarian Empire immigrants to the United States | Olympic swimmers of the United States | Olympic water polo players of the United States | Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics | Water polo players at the 1924 Summer Olympics | Water polo players at the 1928 Summer Olympics | European American sportspeople | Deaths from lung disease | Danube Swabian | Naturalized citizens of the United States | People from Timioara | People from Somerset County, Pennsylvania | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States | People from Elk Grove Village, Illinois | 1904 births | 1984 deathsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009 | Articles needing additional references from October 2008 | All articles needing additional references
Whole wheat flour
China Product
Overview
The word "whole" refers to the fact that all of the grain (bran, germ, and endosperm) is used and nothing is lost in the process of making the flour. This is in contrast to white, refined flours, which contain only the endosperm. Because the whole flour contains the remains of all of the grain, it has a textured, brownish appearance.
Benefits chainsaws prices
Whole wheat flour is more nutritious than refined white flour. However, in a process called food fortification, some micronutrients are added back to the white flour (required by law in some jurisdictions). Fortified white wheat flour does not, however, contain the macronutrients of the wheat's bran and germ (especially fiber and protein). Whole wheat is a good source of calcium, iron, fiber, and other minerals like selenium. manual wood splitter
Drawbacks carbide chain saw
Whole wheat flour has a shorter shelf life than white flour, as the higher oil content leads to rancidification. It is also more expensive.
Usually, whole wheat flour is not the main ingredients of baked goods, as it adds a certain "heaviness" which prevents them from rising as well as white flours. This adds to the cost per volume of the baked item as it requires more flour to obtain the same volume, due to the fewer and smaller air pockets trapped in the raised goods. Thus, many baked goods advertised as whole wheat are not entirely whole wheat; they may contain some refined white wheat, as long as the majority of the wheat used is whole wheat.
Nevertheless, it is possible to make a high-rising, light loaf of 100% whole wheat bread, so long as one increases the water content of the dough (the bran and germ in whole wheat absorb more water than plain white flour), kneads the dough for a longer period of time to develop the gluten adequately, and allows for a longer rise before shaping the dough. Some bakers let the dough rise twice before shaping. The addition of fats, such as butter or oil, and milk products (fresh milk, powdered milk, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.) can also greatly assist the rise.
White whole wheat
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.
White whole wheat flour is flour produced from soft white wheat varieties. Instead of being made from red wheat, the most common type in the United States, like most whole wheat flour, white whole wheat is made from white wheat, more common in the United Kingdom. The difference is that soft white wheat has a lower gluten content as well as lacking the tannins and phenolic acid that red wheat does, causing white whole wheat to appear and taste more like refined red wheat; it is whitish in color and does not taste bitter.
White whole wheat has almost the same nutrient content as red whole wheat. However, soft white whole wheat has a lower gluten content and contains a lower protein content (between 9% and 11%) when compared with harder wheats like red (1516% protein content) or golden wheat.[citation needed]
Standardization of the food products
ISO 11050
References
^ Nutrition Facts Comparison of whole wheat and white flour
"White wheat: Best thing since ...", USA Today
Whole Wheat Bread, Mayo Clinic
See also
Wheat flour
Whole grain
Categories: FlourHidden categories: Articles with limited geographic scope | USA-centric | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from May 2008
Random number generation
China Product
Practical applications and uses
Main article: Applications of randomness
Random number generators have applications in gambling, statistical sampling, computer simulation, cryptography, completely randomized design, and other areas where a random number is useful in producing an unpredictable result. flavoured condom
Note that, in general, where unpredictability is paramountuch as in security applicationsardware generators are generally preferred, where feasible, over pseudo-random algorithms. lubricated condom
Random number generators are very useful in developing Monte Carlo method simulations as debugging is facilitated by the ability to run the same sequence of random numbers again by starting from the same random seed. They are also used in cryptography so long as the seed is secret. Sender and receiver can generate the same set of numbers automatically to use as keys. condom factory
The generation of pseudo-random numbers is an important and common task in computer programming. While cryptography and certain numerical algorithms require a very high degree of apparent randomness, many other operations only need a modest amount of unpredictability. Some simple examples might be presenting a user with a "Random Quote of the Day", or determining which way a computer-controlled adversary might move in a computer game. Weaker forms of randomness are also closely associated with hash algorithms and in creating amortized searching and sorting algorithms.
Some applications which appear at first sight to be suitable for randomization are in fact not quite so simple. For instance, a system that 'randomly' selects music tracks for a background music system must only appear to be random, and may even have ways to control the selection of music; a true random system would have no restriction on the same item appearing two or three times in succession.
Online poker sites, such as PokerStars, have said they use a random number generator as their software gaming method, but individual statistics gathered from hundreds of multiple players and tens of thousands of played hands show that the outcome of games are nowhere near the statistical occurences that happen when using standard playing cards in live games. Therefore, the 'randomness' has been called in to question by many players over recent years. Just as the music system that 'appears' to be random yet may have ways to control the selection of music, the random number generator used in online software poker games may also be able to control the outcome of cards which will appear thereby benefiting, almost 'chosing', the winner and loser of each game. Moreover, there is talk that the actual player is 'randomly' chosen by the program to be a pre-determined winner before the games even begin by where they are randomly seated. At this time, that theory has yet to be proven.
"True" random numbers vs. pseudorandom numbers
Main article: Pseudorandom number generator
There are two principal methods used to generate random numbers. One measures some physical phenomenon that is expected to be random and then compensates for possible biases in the measurement process. The other uses computational algorithms that produce long sequences of apparently random results, which are in fact completely determined by a shorter initial value, known as a seed or key. The latter type are often called pseudorandom number generators.
A "random number generator" based solely on deterministic computation cannot be regarded as a "true" random number generator, since its output is inherently predictable. How to distinguish a "true" random number from the output of a pseudo-random number generator is a very difficult problem. However, carefully chosen pseudo-random number generators can be used instead of true random numbers in many applications. Rigorous statistical analysis of the output is often needed to have confidence in the algorithm.
Generation methods
Physical methods
Main article: hardware random number generator
The earliest methods for generating random numbers dice, coin flipping, roulette wheels are still used today, mainly in games and gambling as they tend to be too slow for most applications in statistics and cryptography.
A physical random number generator can be based on an essentially random atomic or subatomic physical phenomenon whose unpredictability can be traced to the laws of quantum mechanics. Sources of entropy include radioactive decay, thermal noise, shot noise, avalanche noise in Zener diodes, clock drift, the timing of actual movements of a hard disk read/write head, and radio noise. However, physical phenomena and tools used to measure them generally feature asymmetries and systematic biases that make their outcomes not uniformly random. A randomness extractor, such as a cryptographic hash function, can be used to obtain uniformly distributed bits from a non-uniformly random source, though at a lower bit rate.
Recently, a team in Bar-Ilan University in Israel has been able to create a physical random bit generator at a 300 Gbit/sec rate, making it the fastest ever.
Various imaginative ways of collecting this entropic information have been devised. One technique is to run a hash function against a frame of a video stream from an unpredictable source. Lavarand used this technique with images of a number of lava lamps. HotBits measures radioactive decay with GM tubes, while Random.org uses variations in the amplitude of atmospheric noise recorded with a normal radio.
Another common entropy source is the behavior of human users of the system. While people are not considered good randomness generators upon request, they generate random behavior quite well in the context of playing mixed strategy games. Some security-related computer software requires the user to make a lengthy series of mouse movements or keyboard inputs to create sufficient entropy needed to generate random keys or to initialize pseudorandom number generators.
Computational methods
Pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) are algorithms that can automatically create long runs of numbers with good random properties but eventually the sequence repeats (or the memory usage grows without bound). The string of values generated by such algorithms is generally determined by a fixed number called a seed. One of the most common PRNG is the linear congruential generator, which uses the recurrence
to generate numbers. The maximum number of numbers the formula can produce is the modulus, m. To avoid certain non-random properties of a single linear congruential generator, several such random number generators with slightly different values of the multiplier coeffient a can be used in parallel, with a "master" random number generator that selects from among the several different generators.[citation needed]
A simple pen-and-paper method for generating random numbers is the so-called middle square method suggested by John Von Neumann. While simple to implement, its output is of poor quality.
Most computer programming languages include functions or library routines that purport to be random number generators. They are often designed to provide a random byte or word, or a floating point number uniformly distributed between 0 and 1.
Such library functions often have poor statistical properties and some will repeat patterns after only tens of thousands of trials. They are often initialized using a computer's real time clock as the seed. These functions may provide enough randomness for certain tasks (for example video games) but are unsuitable where high-quality randomness is required, such as in cryptographic applications, statistics or numerical analysis. Better pseudo-random number generators such as the Mersenne Twister are widely available. Much higher quality random number sources are available on most operating systems; for example /dev/random on various BSD flavors, Linux, Mac OS X, IRIX, and Solaris, or CryptGenRandom for Microsoft Windows.
An example of a simple pseudo-random number generator that is computationally fast, has good (albeit not cryptographically strong) randomness properties, is given by the following "Multiply-With-Carry" generator of G. Marsaglia (note that this example is not thread safe):
m_w = <choose-initializer>; /* must not be zero */
m_z = <choose-initializer>; /* must not be zero */
uint get_random()
{
m_z = 36969 * (m_z & 65535) + (m_z >> 16);
m_w = 18000 * (m_w & 65535) + (m_w >> 16);
return (m_z << 16) + m_w; /* 32-bit result */
}
Generation from a probability distribution
There are a couple of methods to generate a random number based on a probability density function. These methods involve transforming a uniform random number in some way. Because of this, these methods work equally well in generating both pseudo-random and true random numbers. One method, called the inversion method, involves integrating up to an area greater than or equal to the random number (which should be generated between 0 and 1 for proper distributions). A second method, called the acceptance-rejection method, involves choosing an x and y value and testing whether the function of x is greater than the y value. If it is, the x value is accepted. Otherwise, the x value is rejected and the algorithm tries again.
Post-processing and statistical checks
Even given a source of plausible random numbers (perhaps from a quantum mechanically based hardware generator), obtaining numbers which are completely unbiased takes care. In addition, behavior of these generators often changes with temperature, power supply voltage, the age of the device, or other outside interference. And a software bug in a pseudo-random number routine, or a hardware bug in the hardware it runs on, may be similarly difficult to detect.
Generated random numbers are sometimes subjected to statistical tests before use to ensure that the underlying source is still working, and then post-processed to improve their statistical properties.
See also: Statistical randomness
Other considerations
Random numbers uniformly distributed between 0 and 1 can be used to generate random numbers of any desired distribution by passing them through the inverse cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the desired distribution. Inverse CDFs are also called quantile functions. To generate a pair of statistically independent standard normally distributed random numbers (x, y), one may first generate the polar coordinates (r, ), where r~22 and ~UNIFORM(0,2) (see Box-Muller transform).
Some 0 to 1 RNGs include 0 but exclude 1, while others include or exclude both.
The outputs of multiple independent RNGs can be combined (for example, using a bit-wise XOR operation) to provide a combined RNG at least as good as the best RNG used. This is referred to as software whitening.
Computational and hardware random number generators are sometimes combined to reflect the benefits of both kinds. Computational random number generators can typically generate pseudo-random numbers much faster than physical generators, while physical generators can generate true randomness.
Low-discrepancy sequences as an alternative
Some computations making use of a random number generator can be summarized as the computation of a total or average value, such as the computation of integrals by the Monte Carlo method. For such problems, it may be possible to find a more accurate solution by the use of so-called low-discrepancy sequences, also called quasirandom numbers. Such sequences have a definite pattern that fills in gaps evenly, qualitatively speaking; a truly random sequence may, and usually does, leave larger gaps.
Activities and demonstrations
The SOCR resource pages contain a number of hands-on interactive activities and demonstrations of random number generation using Java applets.
See also
Flipism
Hardware random number generator
List of random number generators
PP (complexity)
Procedural generation
Randomization
Randomized algorithm
Random number generator attack
Random password generator
Randomness
Slot machine
Random.org
References
^ Walker, John. "HotBits: Genuine Random Numbers". http://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
^ Haahr, Mads. "Introduction to Randomness and Random Numbers". http://random.org/randomness/. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
^ Halprin, Ran; Naor, Moni (PDF). Games for Extracting Randomness. Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science. http://www.neko.co.il/games4rand.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-27. Main site
^ TrueCrypt Foundation. "TrueCrypt Beginner's Tutorial, Part 3". http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=tutorial3. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
^ Marsaglia, George (1999-01-12). "sci.stat.math". http://groups.google.com/group/sci.crypt/browse_thread/thread/ca8682a4658a124d/. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
^ The MathWorks. "Common generation methods". http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/toolbox/stats/index.html?/access/helpdesk/help/toolbox/stats/bqttfc1.html. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Random
RandomResult.com free random results and drawings
Categories: Information theory | RandomnessHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from June 2009 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2009
