title: Lumen Field

text: Qwest Field hosted the second and final Seattle Bowl in late 2002, in which Wake Forest beat Oregon 38–17. The inaugural Seattle Bowl was played a year earlier at Safeco Field, but the game was discontinued when organizers could not secure financing before 2003. Later attempts to revive the Seattle Bowl were unsuccessful. The Seattle Sports Commission is pushing for a proposal of a new bowl game. In 2008 a business plan was begun for a game in 2010 that would be a fundraiser for Seattle Children's Hospital.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lower division NCAA teams have played at the stadium throughout the years. From 2003 to 2008, the Division II football teams from Western Washington University and Central Washington University met each year in a rivalry game called "The Battle in Seattle." Central won all but the 2004 game, and each meeting attracted more than 11,000. Western (of Bellingham) discontinued its football program after the 2008 season, but Central (of Ellensburg) agreed to continue the series with Western Oregon University (of Monmouth) for games in 2009 and 2010. "Battle in Seattle VII" saw Central make a comeback to win 23–21 in front of 5,374.


title: Lumen Field

text: On October 31, 2009, the Division I FCS Eastern Washington University Eagles played a home game in Seattle for the first time. Along with the goal of drawing alumni from the metropolitan area, the athletic directors from both Eastern Washington (of Cheney) and Washington State had expressed the importance of connecting with alumni at receptions and other events on the western side of the state. Billed as the "Showdown on the Sound", the game was a 47–10 victory over the Portland State Vikings. According to Eastern's athletic director, Qwest Field's rental was $50,000 for the day.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field has been used for high school football. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association puts on the annual Emerald City Kickoff Classic at the stadium. The event is a season-opening series of games between some of the best teams in the state.


title: Lumen Field

text: The stadium features a meeting between one of the best teams in Washington and one of the best from another state in the "Best of the West" game. On September 4, 2004, Washington's Bellevue High School and California's De La Salle High School played in front of over 25,000, a state high school event attendance record. Bellevue ended De La Salle's national-record 151-game winning streak in a 39–20 win. On September 16, 2009, Bellevue defeated another highly regarded California school at Qwest Field in a 30–16 victory over Long Beach Polytechnic. "USA Today" had recently rated both teams highly with Long Beach third and Bellevue at 16th in the nation.


title: Lumen Field

text: After the organizer of the event announced a match-up between Washington's Skyline High School and Oregon's Jesuit High School in 2009, he said that he proposed the possibility of televising games to Fox Sports, but Fox did not televise the game. Skyline went on to shut out Jesuit 17–0 during that year's Emerald City Classic.


title: Lumen Field

text: Within Lumen Field, a large art piece called "The State of Football" pays tribute to high school football in the state of Washington. The piece features a depiction of Washington and holds replica football helmets from every high school football team in the state. The installation is part of the Stadium Art Program commissioned through First & Goal's lease of the facility, costing nearly $1.75 million.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field is also designed for soccer. The stadium meets FIFA sight line requirements and provides separate locker rooms for soccer teams. Camera locations were chosen for optimal television coverage of the sport. Numerous exhibition games have taken place at Lumen Field, including high-profile clubs such as Manchester United, Barcelona, Celtic, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara. These games have proved to be highly popular, and the first sell-out of 66,772 fans at the stadium was a soccer match between Manchester United and Celtic. National teams such as Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and China have played exhibition games at the stadium. The artificial turf has been temporarily overlaid with grass for international matches.


title: Lumen Field

text: Seattle was the site of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B opening round between the national teams of the United States, Costa Rica, Canada, and Cuba. Two matches of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup opening round were also played at the stadium on July 4, 2009. In the second match, the United States comfortably defeated Grenada, who were playing in their first major international competition, 4–0. The Gold Cup returned in 2013 with Panama beating Martinique and Mexico defeating Canada in opening group play matches. CenturyLink Field also hosted three matches during the 2016 Copa América Centenario, a special inter-continental tournament, including two group stage fixtures and a quarterfinal match between the United States and Ecuador attended by 47,322 spectators.


title: Lumen Field

text: On November 22, 2009, Seattle was the site of the 14th annual MLS Cup between Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy, where Salt Lake won the Cup on penalty kicks (5–4) in front of 46,011. The stadium was the eighth venue to host the event and had the fourth-largest attendance for an MLS Cup. The MLS Cup returned to Seattle in 2019, with the Sounders hosting Toronto FC as the higher seed. The Sounders won in front of 69,274 spectators, setting a new record for a sporting event at Lumen Field and recording the second-highest cup attendance in league history.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field was among the 58 facilities in the United States being considered for FIFA World Cup matches had the country's bid for the tournament in 2018 or 2022 been successful. When discussing Seattle as a candidate, Sunil Gulati of the U.S. Soccer Federation called it "a world-class facility". Seattle finally hosted a World Cup qualifier on June 11, 2013; the qualifier, which was the city's second overall and the first since 1976, saw the United States top Panama 2–0 in front of a raucous crowd of 40,847. The United States will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico; Lumen Field was one of the 23 finalist venues named by the organizing committee in 2018 after the bid was awarded by FIFA.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field was subsequently announced as one of the 11 American venues, as well as one of five current MLS venues selected to host matches in June 2022; together with BC Place in Vancouver, both will be the only host venues based in the Pacific Northwest out of 16 total. Under preliminary plans by the city government, it would cost up to $10.5 million to host the World Cup matches, including installation of a temporary grass surface, policing the venue and practice fields, and managing a fan festival at the Seattle Center or on the city's waterfront.


title: Lumen Field

text: The first sporting event at the stadium was a double-header on July 28, 2002, that included both the Sounders Select Women and the men's Seattle Sounders of the USL team. The women defeated the Vancouver Breakers 4–3, while the men beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 4–1 in front of 25,515 people. The USL team began using the facility regularly as their home field in 2003. Although team management was concerned with the high rent and the underused seating capacity, they were drawn by the sponsorship opportunities and location. The Sounders increased their average attendance from 2,583 at Seattle's Memorial Stadium in 2002 to 3,452 at the new stadium in 2003. In 2005, the Sounders beat the Richmond Kickers 2–1 in a penalty shootout for the USL championship in front of 8,011. Scott Jenkins scored the final goal and announced his retirement after the game.


title: Lumen Field

text: In 2008, the MLS expansion franchise Sounders FC decided to develop the Starfire Sports Complex in nearby Tukwila, and the USL team played most of the season at that facility. At the time, team management thought that practicing and playing at Starfire could provide a better transition for those hoping to play for the new MLS team. The last match for the USL Sounders at Qwest Field was the 2008 season opener against the rival Portland Timbers. The game ended in a scoreless draw in front of 10,184.


title: Lumen Field

text: The potential to draw an MLS expansion team helped drive public support for building the stadium in 1997. In 1996, Seattle was considered for one of the 10 original MLS teams; however, the region lacked an adequate outdoor stadium. In 2007, it was announced that Seattle would be the home of an expansion team. The first Sounders FC regular season match was at the stadium on March 19, 2009. Fredy Montero scored the first goal in a 3–0 Seattle victory.


title: Lumen Field

text: Before the opening of their first season, the Sounders already had the highest number of season ticket holders in the MLS after they sold all 22,000 of the offered season ticket packages. The team created a web site that was used to identify seating arrangements for season ticket holders based on personal interests including preferred method for watching a game and foreign team preference. For the first half of the inaugural season, the upper and lower sections were tarped off, limiting the seating capacity to 27,700. The club hoped to create an intimate environment as well as a supply-and-demand factor that would reward season ticket holders and encourage early purchase of seats. The stadium has continuously sold out league matches in the limited seating configuration. However, majority owner Joe Roth has said that he "won't be happy" until the entire venue is open.


title: Lumen Field

text: The stadium was designed to easily open seating sections in stages if needed. After repeated sellout crowds, additional sections were opened, increasing total capacity to 32,400. In the Sounders' first year they set an MLS record with an average home attendance of 30,943 people. Official capacity was increased to 35,700 after the 2009 season. In 2011, The Sounders continued to hold the highest average attendance in the league with 38,496. Official capacity was increased again to 38,500 with the opening of the Hawk's Nest for the 2012 season. The team averaged 44,247 spectators in the 2015 MLS season, its all-time record. , the regular season MLS capacity at Lumen Field is listed as 37,722 seats, with four matches scheduled to use larger sections of the stadium.


title: Lumen Field

text: The Sounders set the state's single game soccer attendance record when they hosted Manchester United in front of 67,052 in July 2011. On October 15, 2011, additional seats were available for a record crowd of 64,140 during the final regular season home match, a Sounders 2–1 win followed by ceremonies honoring retiring goalkeeper Kasey Keller. And on October 7, 2012, another attendance record was broken when 66,452 fans were present for a 3–0 win over the Portland Timbers, following a ceremony awarding retired Forward Roger Levesque a Golden Scarf. Most recently, the Sounders set a stadium attendance record of 69,274 when Seattle hosted the 2019 MLS Cup Final against Toronto FC, winning 3-1 for their 2nd MLS Cup trophy.


title: Lumen Field

text: CenturyLink Field has hosted two U.S. Open Cup tournament finals. On October 5, 2010, the tournament's 81-year-old attendance record was broken when Sounders FC defeated the Columbus Crew 2–1 in front of 31,311. That record was broken one year later when CenturyLink Field again hosted the final on October 4, 2011 as 36,615 spectators watched Seattle defeat the Chicago Fire 2–0. The stadium has also hosted a CONCACAF Champions League tournament final; on May 4, 2022, the Sounders defeated Pumas UNAM 3–0 in the second leg of the final before a tournament-record crowd of 68,741 to win 5–2 on aggregate, becoming the first MLS team to win the tournament under its current format.


title: Lumen Field

text: Like the Seahawks, the Sounders have received attention for sellout crowds and boisterous fans. "The Seattle Times" reported that a "new standard for attendance and game-day atmosphere has been set" due to the loud sellout crowds. The passionate Emerald City Supporters have dubbed the general admission sections behind the south goal the "Brougham End" for the street that runs along the south edge of the complex.


title: Lumen Field

text: OL Reign played against Portland Thorns FC at the stadium on August 29, 2021, as part of a doubleheader with the Sounders and Timbers. The Reign defeated the Thorns 2–1 in front of 27,248, breaking the NWSL's attendance record. The Reign later announced on December 15 that they would move into the stadium for the 2022 season, leaving their previous home, Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, as plans to build a soccer-specific stadium in the city stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The stadium's capacity is reduced to 10,000 seats for most OL Reign home matches.


title: Lumen Field

text: The stadium became a yearly site for Supercross races in 2005. Seattle had been left out of the circuit since the Kingdome hosted the race in 1999. It takes more than 650 truckloads of dirt to build the course for the event that around 50,000 spectators attend. The stadium has also been used for public speaking engagements. For example, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, delivered a 28-minute speech to 50,817 people on April 12, 2008.


title: Lumen Field

text: The Lumen Field Event Center connects to the stadium's west field plaza and consists of two exhibition halls, a conference room, and a concourse. The center hosts pre-game events for the Seahawks and Mariners. According to the Public Stadium Authority's website, the event center contributes more than half a billion dollars to the region's economy. Originally debuting as the Washington State Stadium Exhibition Center, the center became known as the Seahawks Exhibition Center upon the stadium's opening in 2002; it was then renamed the Qwest Field Event Center in 2004 via Qwest's acquisition of naming rights to the complex. The center was renamed again as the CenturyLink Field Event Center in June 2011 following the acquisition of Qwest by CenturyLink, then received its current name following the latter company's rebranding in 2020.


title: Lumen Field

text: The Event Center had previously been called "the worst venue in town" for concerts, but in 2006, AEG Live and First & Goal formed a partnership to create a new theater within the Event Center space. Washington Mutual (WaMu) obtained the naming rights to the new theater in a 10-year deal, calling it the WaMu Theater. The theater space can be assembled on an as-needed basis within the building and equipment, including the wide stage, can be dismantled and stored in the stadium. The theater's acoustics were improved by installing panels on the ceiling and a large curtain. Depending on the seating configuration, the capacity can be 3,300, 4,000, or 7,000. Seal performed the inaugural concert on November 6, 2006. Though the naming rights deal was terminated following the bankruptcy of Washington Mutual in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the theater retained the WaMu name while AEG sought a new sponsor for it; the theater still retains the name , with the meaning of the WaMu abbreviation altered to represent "Washington Music" instead.


title: Lumen Field

text: During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Event Center was contracted for use as a field hospital. The temporary hospital was erected in April 2020 with 250 beds under the management of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Army Corps of Engineers. On April 8, the state government announced that the field hospital would be dismantled and relocated to another state by the federal government, as the pandemic's spread in Washington had slowed. In March 2021, the Event Center was converted into a mass vaccination center with capacity for 4,000 to 5,000 doses per week administered by the city government in partnership with First & Goal and Swedish Health Services. The Event Center was also used as a vote center during the 2020 and 2022 elections by King County.


title: Lumen Field

text: During a Seahawks football game on January 8, 2011, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) recorded what was dubbed a "Beast Quake", for Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch, a player whose performance on one running play excited the Qwest Field stadium crowd enough for the resultant shaking to be recorded on PNSN instruments. In 2014 and 2015 additional sensors were added in and around the stadium. Motivations for the experiment included conducting a quick-reaction exercise for the seismometer network team to install sensors and interpret results, and to test the ability to handle increased web traffic from interested visitors from the general public. Shaking was detected at the stadium after a 90-yard touchdown run during a January 10, 2015 playoff game, dubbed a "Kam Quake" for the player making the run, Kam Chancellor. The PNSN scientists stated that the biggest event of all was the "Dance Quake", which was caused by all the jumping and dancing that followed Marshawn Lynch's touchdown and 2-point conversion during 2014–15 NFC Championship Game on January 18, 2015. PNSN has also recorded seismic activity from Sounders fans; multiple earthquakes were recorded on November 10, 2019, during the MLS Cup final between the Sounders and Toronto FC. Further "RaveQuakes" were recorded on May 4, 2022, during the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Final between the Sounders and Pumas UNAM.


title: Lumen Field

text: The stadium was originally named Seahawks Stadium. The name was changed to Qwest Field in June 2004 after the telecommunications carrier bought the naming rights for $75 million for a period of 15 years. According to the agreement, the proceeds must be used for maintenance and upgrades. A portion of any profit then goes into a $10 million fund Allen guaranteed for youth playfields. As a result of CenturyLink's acquisition of Qwest, the stadium was officially renamed CenturyLink Field on June 23, 2011. CenturyLink renewed its naming rights contract in 2017, paying $162.7 million for the stadium from 2019 to 2033. Although CenturyLink changed its corporate name to Lumen Technologies in September 2020, the stadium was to retain the CenturyLink Field name due to a clause in the contract that permits a one-time name change only if a corporate takeover occurs. Despite that clause, the name was changed to Lumen Field on November 19 following approval from the Washington State Public Stadium Authority.


title: Lumen Field

text: After the stadium was renamed for CenturyLink in 2011, fans and media outlets speculated on potential nicknames for the venue. An informal reader poll conducted by "The Seattle Times" showed that "The Clink" was a popular suggestion; it was subsequently used among fans and locals. From 2009 to 2018, the field was entitled "The Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field" during Sounders FC matches as part of a sponsorship deal with Microsoft. However, when Zulily took over the Sounders FC sponsorship before the start of the 2019 season, the field was left unnamed; the deal did not include naming rights to the field. A new sponsorship with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians was announced in September 2022, renaming the field to "Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field".


title: Lumen Field

text: In addition to its 48 concession stands, restaurants and lounges are located throughout the stadium. Along with typical fare, local Pacific salmon sandwiches, Dungeness crab cakes, and microbrews are served. In 2006, Levy Restaurants replaced Aramark in a five-year deal to provide the food and beverage service for the stadium and exhibition center. Delaware North Sportservice took over operations in 2013; the Seahawks subsequently created their own in-house vendor, First & Goal Hospitality, to provide the service in 2017. Levy regained the food and beverage service at the stadium in 2020 via a partnership with First & Goal Hospitality; the service continued to operate under the latter's brand as part of the agreement.


title: Lumen Field

text: In May 2007, Seattle-based Jones Soda outbid The Coca-Cola Company to sign a five-year contract for the pouring rights of non-alcoholic beverages at the stadium, making it the only venue in the NFL that did not have a contract with either Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Jones Soda, known for unusual and holiday-themed soda flavors such as Blue Bubblegum and Turkey & Gravy, said it was working to develop football-related soda flavors, such as "grass-stain". In June 2010, the Seahawks and Jones Soda announced their mutual decision to end the Jones sponsorship, following which Coca-Cola reclaimed the vending rights with a new five-year agreement.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field is bordered by the Pioneer Square, International District, and Industrial District neighborhoods of Seattle. The stadium's referendum approval required a transportation management program to coordinate transportation options. First & Goal's facility lease agreement also included a provision to ease gridlock. A "Dual Event Agreement" with T-Mobile Park was established so that two events with a combined attendance of over 58,000 would not occur within four hours of each other. The agreement was also implemented to coordinate mass transit to the stadiums on game days. Local and regional buses service the area with stops within three blocks of the stadium, and the county's Metro Transit bus service formerly offered express routes from several area park and ride lots for games. Trains service the stadium through Seattle's King Street Station and overflow tracks accommodate extra trains during events. Regional commuter trains operate on Sundays if the Seahawks have a home game. Trains also run for mid-day Sounders FC games on Saturdays. In 2008, the commuter trains carried 64,000 event goers to the two nearby stadiums. Amtrak, primarily through the Pacific Northwest corridor's Cascades route, also serves the station. On July 18, 2009, Link light rail service between SeaTac and downtown began in time for an exhibition match between the Sounders and Chelsea. The light rail system's 1 Line connects to the baseball and football stadiums via the Stadium station. The International District/Chinatown station also offers convenient access to the north entrance.


title: Lumen Field

text: Lumen Field is located near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 to the east. It is bordered by State Route 99 and the south portal of the State Route 99 tunnel to its west, while the State Route 519 corridor connects I-90 to the neighborhood. Local governments compromised with both the Seahawks and Mariners on the location of new ramps over the train tracks that run along the east sides of Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park. An overpass for South Royal Brougham Way, the road that borders the south edge of the Lumen Field complex, to improve access and safety was completed in May 2010. The stadium has 2,000 parking spaces in its parking garage and 8,400 in the surrounding lots to accommodate automobile traffic. Beginning in December 2011, construction of the Stadium Place mixed-use development project replaced much of the north lot. The developer must replace the 500 lost parking spots and turn over parking revenue to the Public Stadium Authority per an agreement with King County.


title: Sam Robards

text: Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film "A.I. Artificial Intelligence".


title: Sam Robards

text: Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Robards, Jr. (1922–2000) and actress Lauren Bacall (1924–2014). He is the only child from their marriage, though he has seven half-siblings; five through his father (three elder, two younger), and through his mother's marriage to Humphrey Bogart, half-siblings Stephen Humphrey and Leslie Bogart. Robards was seven when his parents divorced, which Bacall later blamed on the elder Robards' alcoholism. Robards recalled he was devastated by the divorce, and said he was raised "basically alone." Afterwards, he resided with his mother in New York. Several years after the divorce, Sam moved to Europe with his mother and for a time lived in London, where he attended the American School in London, later returning to New York City where he attended Collegiate School.


title: Sam Robards

text: Robards attended Sarah Lawrence College, but was expelled after his freshman year due to poor grades and bad behavior. In the fall of 1980, he attended the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.


title: Sam Robards

text: Robards began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of "Album", and made his feature-film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film "Tempest". In 1985, Robards starred alongside Kevin Costner and future wife Suzy Amis in "Fandango". Robards acted opposite his father in the 1988 film "Bright Lights, Big City", which was their only collaboration before his death in 2000. Also in 1988, he was cast in the lead role of Kevin Keegan in the CBS drama "TV 101" which was scheduled opposite Top 10 shows "Roseanne" and "Matlock"; the series was cancelled amidst a controversial abortion story line.


title: Sam Robards

text: In 1990, he played the role of Chris Elliott's friend, Larry, on the Fox sitcom "Get a Life", but left after the first season. In 1994, Robards starred in two films: Robert Altman's film "Prêt-à-Porter", where he was a part of an ensemble that included his mother; and Alan Rudolph's biographical film of Dorothy Parker, "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle", where he portrayed the first editor of "The New Yorker", Harold Ross.


title: Sam Robards

text: His film résumé also includes "Casualties of War", "Beautiful Girls", "American Beauty", "A.I. Artificial Intelligence", "Life as a House", "The Other Side of the Tracks", and "The Art of Getting By".


title: Sam Robards

text: Robards's television credits include a recurring role on and appearances on "Spin City", "The West Wing", "Law & Order", "", "Sex and the City", "The Outer Limits", and "Body of Proof". He had recurring roles on the series "Gossip Girl" (ended in 2012) and "Treme" (ended in 2013), and a regular role on "Twisted" (cancelled in 2014).


title: Sam Robards

text: In the theatre, Robards was nominated for Broadway's 2002 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role – Play) for Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck". In July 2008, Robards took over the role of Richard Hannay in the New York City theatrical run of "The 39 Steps".


title: Sam Robards

text: In 1986, he married actress Suzy Amis, his co-star in "Fandango". They had a son, Jasper, before their divorce in 1994. In 1997, Robards married Danish model Sidsel Jensen. They have two sons, Calvin and Sebastian.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: Sucker Punch Productions, LLC is an American video game developer based in Bellevue, Washington. It is best known for creating character action games for PlayStation consoles such as "Sly Cooper", "Infamous", and "Ghost of Tsushima". The studio has been a part of PlayStation Studios since 2011. As of 2020, the company employs about 160 people.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: Sucker Punch Productions was founded in October 1997 by Brian Fleming, Bruce Oberg, Darrell Plank, Tom and Cathy Saxton, and Chris Zimmerman. The founders worked at Microsoft before joining the video game industry. Despite having a difficult time finding a publisher and funding, the group's first project, "", was released in 1999. While it did not perform well commercially, it was well received by critics, which encouraged the team to develop another platform game in 2002 named "Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus". The team approached Sony Computer Entertainment to publish the game, which became an unexpected commercial success and spawned a franchise with two sequels: "" (2004) and "" (2005).


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: After working on three "Sly Cooper" games, the team continued its partnership with Sony and pivoted to making an open-world, comic book-inspired superhero game titled "Infamous" (2009). "Infamous" was a modest success and Sucker Punch followed it up with two sequels, "Infamous 2" (2011) and "Infamous Second Son" (2014). After the release of "Infamous 2", Sony acquired Sucker Punch for an undisclosed sum. Following the release of "Second Son", the studio spent six years working on the next game, "Ghost of Tsushima" (2020), which went on to become one of Sony's fastest-selling original games for the PlayStation 4, selling more than 9.73 million copies.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: Sucker Punch Productions was founded in October 1997 by Brian Fleming, Chris Zimmerman, Bruce Oberg, Darrell Plank, Tom Saxton, and Cathy Saxton, who first met while they worked at Microsoft. Zimmerman was "disenchanted" with his career in Microsoft and wanted to do something different. He approached co-workers Fleming and Oberg and shared his idea about starting a video game company. The brand name was created from one of several names the team had unsuccessfully proposed as project codenames at Microsoft. Zimmerman shared the name options with his wife to get her opinion, and she advised the team not to use "Sucker Punch" as the studio's name. The team went against her advice since the target audience for video games at that time was mostly young men, a group which the name "Sucker Punch" would resonate with. After the establishment of the studio, the team began working on their first game. Seeing the release of games like "" on PlayStation, the team felt they lacked the necessary skills and experience to compete with them. Instead, the team decided to develop their new game for Nintendo 64, codenamed "Puzzle Factory". This first game was inspired by a computer game named "The Incredible Machine" and was to feature 3D visuals, but the plan was scrapped. Two of the founders, Tom and Cathy Saxton, left Sucker Punch Productions in 1998.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: After purchasing a development kit from Nintendo, the founders began self-funding a platform game named "Sprocket". The team pitched the game to publishers when it was halfway through production as they thought this path would pose less risk. Activision and Acclaim Entertainment were among the approached parties, but most of them were not interested. They also pitched it to Sony, the manufacturers of the PlayStation series of consoles, which declined since "Sprocket" was made for the Nintendo 64, one of PlayStation's competitors. THQ nearly agreed to publish the game, but that deal fell apart several weeks before E3 1999. Electronic Arts once offered to sign a deal with Sucker Punch for a PlayStation 2 title, though it would have required the company to cancel "Sprocket". While the founders were pitching the project, development of the game progressed smoothly. A total of seventeen people worked on the game. "Sprocket"s production was nearly complete when Ubi Soft agreed to publish the game after seeing positive press reaction to it. The project, which was later renamed "" following a trademark dispute, received generally positive reviews when it was released in 1999, however, it was not commercially successful, with Fleming describing the audience response as "tepid".


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: Following the critical success of "Rocket", Sucker Punch developed another character action game. The project, titled "Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus", stars a raccoon thief as its protagonist. According to Fleming, "the sight gag of a raccoon putting on a mask somehow seemed super funny to us." Learning from the frustrating process of pitching "Rocket" to publishers, Sucker Punch decided to approach a publisher first. Fleming observed that the most successful platform games at that time were the ones released by console manufacturers. The team approached Sony who agreed to publish the game for the PlayStation 2. Working with Sony allowed the team to streamline its development goals since they were developing the game for one platform. As the game was developed for young players, the team initially worried about Cooper being a thief and if that would enforce a message to young players that stealing was acceptable. The writers remedied this by introducing Sly as a master thief who only steals from other thieves. "Thievius Raccoonus" are Latin-style words invented by the team. Development of the game lasted for 3 years, during which time Plank departed the team. Creative director Nate Fox described the launch of "Sly Cooper" as a tense experience for the team as Sucker Punch was an unproven studio at that time, and they were unsure about whether the market would be interested in such a "wacko game". "Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus" was released in 2002 and was both a commercial and critical success selling about 1 million copies, surpassing the studio's expectations.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: "Thievius Raccoonus" success enabled the studio to pursue a sequel. Fleming said that the sequel was about Sly and his companions collaborating with each other to "pull off strings of big heists", while Fox said that it was inspired by Hollywood heist films. To help differentiate the game from "Thievius Raccoonus", the sequel features improved gameplay and artificial intelligence, a larger cast of characters, and more open levels. "" was released in 2004 to generally positive reviews. It was followed by a sequel, "", though its development was rushed. The team only had 11-and-a-half months to complete its production. Despite this, the game received generally positive reviews when it was released in 2005. "Sly 3" was the last game in the "Sly Cooper" series developed by Sucker Punch. The studio was not directly involved in the creation of "" (2013), which was developed externally by Sanzaru Games. Sanzaru previously collaborated with Sucker Punch on "The Sly Collection" for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: The success of the "Sly Cooper" franchise elevated Sucker Punch's stature as a development studio, although they wanted to work on something new in order to stay relevant. The studio pitched four projects to Sony, including a project named "Nasty Little Things" in which the player character would summon little creatures from their tattoos and go on adventures with them, and a project named "Uncharted", in which the player character must survive on an island filled with dinosaurs. Sony ultimately greenlighted "True Hero", in which the player must make different decisions as a superhero. "True Hero", which would ultimately become "Infamous". It was initially pitched as a superhero game with gameplay that resembled "Animal Crossing", though this idea was scrapped six months later, and the game pivoted to become a superhero origin story inspired by comic books such as "" and "DMZ". "Infamous" was also the studio's first open-world game, with development lasting three years by a team of 60 people. It received generally positive reviews and sold nearly 2 million copies as in 2010.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: With the success of the first game, Sucker Punch began working on a sequel. "Infamous 2" was released in June 2011 to generally positive reviews. Sucker Punch was a second-party developer for Sony for more than a decade, and "Sly" and "Infamous" are both intellectual properties owned by Sony. Sony announced in August 2011 that it would fully acquire Sucker Punch for an undisclosed sum. With the acquisition, Sucker Punch also became part of SCE Worldwide Studios. The acquisition talks had lasted about two years. Fleming, commenting on the acquisition in 2013, added that Sucker Punch's nature as a "one-team shop", the increasing team size, and its long history of collaboration with Sony, in particular its product development team at Foster City Studio, as the key reasons why Sucker Punch agreed to Sony's acquisition.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: With Sony's support and funding, the studio continued to make "Infamous" games, releasing the standalone expansion "" in October 2011. It quickly became PlayStation Network's fastest-selling game, until its record was broken by "Journey" in 2012. Following the release of "Festival of Blood", the team commenced working on "Infamous Second Son", the next main game in the "Infamous" series. Sucker Punch elected to set the sequel in their hometown of Seattle as they could draw from their personal experiences in the open world's design. It also replaces the series protagonist Cole MacGrath with a new character named Delsin Rowe. More than 110 people worked on the game, though the number was still considered to be small for a big-budget triple-A game. "Second Son" was released for the PlayStation 4 in March 2014. The game received generally positive reviews and was a commercial success, selling more than 1 million copies in nine days. Sucker Punch released a standalone expansion titled "" in August 2014. The studio was hit with layoffs in the same month.


title: Sucker Punch Productions

text: Following the release of "Second Son", the team began brainstorming their next game. Sucker Punch wanted to create an open-world game with a large emphasis on melee combat. The team considered themes such as pirates and Scottish folk heroes, and a playable prototype named "Prophecy". "Prophecy", which is set in a steampunk city, was created in 2015 or 2016 and leaked in 2020. The team ultimately decided that the game would be set in feudal Japan and would feature a samurai as the protagonist. The art and the environment teams had a difficult time transitioning into the project as the game was a huge departure stylistically from the "Infamous" franchise, which has a "punk rock" aesthetic. This caused a significantly longer production time compared to other Sucker Punch titles, with development lasting for about six years. The game, titled "Ghost of Tsushima", was released in July 2020 as one of PlayStation 4's last first-party exclusive titles. It was a huge commercial success and quickly became one of Sony's fastest-selling new intellectual properties. By November 2020 it sold over 5 million copies. As a result of the game's success, directors Jason Connell and Fox became tourism ambassadors for the island of Tsushima in 2021, and a film based on the game is in development.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Rohan Narayana Murty is a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, founder of the Murty Classical Library of India and founder and chief technical officer of the digital transformation company Soroco, which specialises in automation using artificial intelligence sources.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Murty is the son of N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, and his wife Sudha Murty, an engineer and author. Shrinivas Kulkarni, a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology, is his maternal uncle, and is said to have been a major influence on Murty. He grew up with a deep passion for programming since his childhood.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Murty studied at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore. After completing his twelfth standard board exams, he moved to the US and took an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Cornell University. This was followed by a PhD in computer engineering from Harvard University, which he obtained in 2011. The subject of his doctoral thesis was opportunistic wireless networks, networks that work by continually seeking and using underused portions of the spectrum, and vacating them if any incumbent returns. His PhD was supported by a Siebel Scholars Fellowship and a Microsoft Research Fellowship.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Murty married Lakshmi Venu, daughter of TVS Motors Chairman Venu Srinivasan, in June 2011, and the couple divorced in 2015. Murty then married Aparna Krishnan, the daughter of Kochi-based retired SBI employee Savithri Krishnan and former Indian Navy officer Commander KR Krishnan, in December 2019. Murty's elder sister, Akshata, is married to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.


title: Rohan Murty

text: In June 2013, Murty was appointed as an executive assistant at the Chairman's Office reporting to Narayana Murthy at Infosys, when Narayana Murthy returned to the company. His appointment as Vice President at Infosys was subject to approval by the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Murty left Infosys on 14 June 2014, when his father stepped down as Executive Chairman. As of 1 June 2013, Murty is said to have owned Infosys shares worth $347 million.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Murty is on leave from being a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He previously had a "shadow role" with Catamaran Ventures, a $127-million venture capital fund headed by N.R.N. Murthy.


title: Rohan Murty

text: Although he does not read Sanskrit, when Murty was a doctoral student of computer science at Harvard, he took a class focussing on Kumarila Bhatta's "Shlokavartika", which got him interested in ancient Indian philosophy and sciences.


title: Rohan Murty

text: He is the founder of the Murty Classical Library of India, a continuation of the Clay Sanskrit Library Project headed by Sheldon Pollock. In 2016, he rejected a petition asking that Pollock be removed from the position of chief editor of the Murty Classical Library.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Yulia Olegovna Volkova (; born 20 February 1985), better known by the alternative spelling of Julia, is a Russian singer best known for being a member of the Russian girl group t.A.T.u., along with Lena Katina. Formed in Moscow, Russia by Ivan Shapovalov in March 1999, the group signed a record deal with Universal Music Russia, and eventually Universal's sub-label Interscope Records in 2001.


title: Julia Volkova

text: The group's first single, "All the Things She Said", topped the charts in countries including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom, but also generated controversy due to the girls kissing onscreen. The group recorded three studio albums in English, including their bestselling "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane", three Russian albums, and four compilation albums. They also worked on other projects, including the 2011 film "You and I", and opened T.A. Music, a Russia-based record label. In March 2011, t.A.T.u.'s management issued a press release officially stating that the duo had split.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Volkova signed a solo contract with Gala Records in June 2011, and released her debut single, "All Because of You", in November 2011. The song was also released in a Russian-language version under the title "Сдвину мир" (I'll Change the World). Her worldwide debut single, titled "Didn't Wanna Do It", was released on 21 August 2012.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Volkova was born on 20 February 1985 in Moscow, Russia, to a middle-class family. Her father, Oleg Volkov, was a businessman and her mother, Larissa Volkova, was a hairdresser. At the age of 6, Volkova enrolled in music school and began learning how to play the piano. When she was 9, she became a member of Russia's children's chorus Neposedy, where she would meet future fellow t.A.T.u. singer, Lena Katina. At age 11, Volkova transferred to a school fostering artistic talent, and three years later left Neposedy to join t.A.T.u. She has insisted that she was banned from Neposedy for misbehaving, but Neposedy representatives deny this, saying that she simply graduated as all of their members did at a certain age.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Creator and former manager of t.A.T.u., Ivan Shapovalov, formulated the image of the duo in order to capitalise on the common fascination and fantasy of schoolgirl lesbians, and to appeal to a diverse fan base.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Shapovalov managed the act until 2004, when the two performers came out and revealed that Shapovalov had implemented the lesbian persona, and that they were even told what to say in interviews.


title: Julia Volkova

text: t.A.T.u. soon became the most successful Russian group of all time, scoring a number of hits with "All the Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us", and "All About Us". They also took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and finished third with "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia", only three points behind the winner, Turkey. They recorded three English-language studio albums: "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane", "Dangerous and Moving", and "Waste Management"; three Russian-language studio albums were issued: "200 Po Vstrechnoy", "Lyudi Invalidy", and "Vesyolye Ulybki".


title: Julia Volkova

text: Many Russian websites started claiming Volkova had left t.A.T.u. to go solo in March 2009. The official blog rejected the claims that she had quit, but stated that both girls would be doing separate solo projects from now on and t.A.T.u was no longer a full-time job. However, in early January, the duo released a video in which they said they were still together and were planning more songs in 2010.


title: Julia Volkova

text: It was announced in March 2011 that t.A.T.u. was officially disbanded. The duo celebrated their twelve years together, and released two remix albums, titled "Waste Management Remixes pt. 1" and "Waste Management Remixes pt. 2".


title: Julia Volkova

text: After the breakup of t.A.T.u., Volkova made an announcement on her YouTube channel, launching her website and mentioning that she was working on a solo album in Moscow and Los Angeles.


title: Julia Volkova

text: On 16 August 2011, Volkova announced on her website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, that she had officially signed with Russian label Gala Records, a subsidiary of EMI records. She also stated that her new single, "All Because of You/Сдвину мир", would be released in late August, with an accompanying video. Two weeks after the announcement, her official site reported that the singer would be returning to the studio to complete an additional recording session for "All Because of You/Сдвину мир", and that the single would be officially released in October. For a third time, the release was postponed until November. Though fans hoped for "All Because of You" to premiere on the radio prior to Volkova's South American tour, it was planned to premiere during her first performance in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November 2011. The Russian version, "Сдвину мир", premiered on Lenta.ru on 11 November 2011. The song was recorded in Sweden and was produced by Niclas Molinder, Joacim Persson, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, and Tobias Lundgren. A music video accompanied it, directed by Evan Winter. The music video was released on 2 December 2011, premiering on Ello.com and Volkova's website.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Volkova also announced she would travel to South America for a promotional tour, where she would perform some songs by t.A.T.u. and some of her solo material. "All Because of You" peaked at number 247 in her native Russia.


title: Julia Volkova

text: On 1 March 2012, it was reported by the press that Volkova was one of the 25 artists in the final selection who would be competing in order to represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Russian broadcaster RTR later confirmed her participation. She entered the competition together with Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan as a duo, with the song "Back to Her Future". They finished in second place with 29.25 points, behind the winning entry, "Party for Everybody", by Russian ethno-pop band Buranovskiye Babushki, with 38.51 points.


title: Julia Volkova

text: On 11 July 2012, Volkova's Facebook administrator announced on the t.A.T.u. page that Volkova was finishing her second single, titled "Didn't Wanna Do It", due out in July 2012. It was to be her first worldwide single.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In 2014, Volkova held a series of performances with her former bandmate Lena Katina under their previous name, t.A.t.u, which culminated in a television performance for the Olympic Games in Russia. However, shortly after, Katina accused Volkova of blackmailing her, putting an end to t.A.T.u as a band. Volkova denied the accusations. A single they had recorded, "Любовь в каждом мгновении" ("Love in Every Moment"), was released as a collaboration rather than as a t.A.t.u song, and also included the artists Ligalize and Mike Tompkins. In 2013, Volkova launched her own line of shoes, C & C shoes by Julia Volkova.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In 2016, Volkova talked for the first time about her disease, revealing that in 2012, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. During a complex surgery to remove the tumour, her laryngeal nerve was damaged, causing her to lose her voice. She has sought further treatment to recover her singing ability.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Volkova made her film début alongside Lena Katina and Mischa Barton in the film "You and I", the story of two teenage girls who meet and fall in love at a Moscow t.A.T.u. concert. The film is based on the novel "t.A.T.u. Come Back", which was in turn based on true events.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In August 2011, Volkova participated in the shooting of the movie "Zombie Fever" (previously titled "Fear Mongers" and also "9½ Zombies"). According to the post on her official site, "Zombie Fever" is a Russian-language zombie horror/comedy movie shot on location in Minsk, Belarus. Produced by New Wave Production in the style of such films as "Zombieland" or "Shaun of the Dead", "Zombie Fever" premiered on 15 August 2013 in Russia under the local title "Zombie holidays 3D". Volkova plays the heroine, Natasha.


title: Julia Volkova

text: The video for the song "Любовь в каждом мгновении" ("Love in Every Moment") was launched as a short film named "Together Apart" in 2014 as part of project CORNETTO's CUPIDITY. In the film, Volkova is one of the cupids who try to make a young couple, in a long-distance romance, get together.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Also on 18 February 2014, the singer/actress made a cameo in an episode of the Slovak daily television series "Panelák".


title: Julia Volkova

text: In April 2021, Volkova announced that she would be standing in the September 2021 Russian legislative elections as the United Russia Party candidate to represent Ivanovo in the State Duma. In the primary election for the party's nomination, Volkova received only 919 votes, losing to Mikhail Kizeev, a relatively unknown member of the Ivanovo Oblast Duma, who received over 36,000 votes.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In May 2004, Volkova announced that she was pregnant by her then longtime boyfriend Pavel Sidorov, which caused some controversy due to Sidorov already having a wife and daughter. Their daughter, Viktoria Pavlovna "Vika" Volkova, was born on 23 September 2004, in Moscow. Volkova does not keep in contact with Sidorov.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In 2007, Volkova had a long-term relationship with Uzbek businessman Parviz Yasinov. The press reported that she and Yasinov got married. Volkova gave birth to a boy named Samir on 27 December 2007, again in Moscow. In 2008, it was speculated by the media that she was diagnosed with postpartum depression, but it was never confirmed. In 2010, Volkova confirmed that she and Yasinov had broken up, but denied claims that she had been separated from her son.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In 2012, Volkova was diagnosed with stage I papillary thyroid cancer. She underwent surgery at a Moscow hospital, during which her thyroid was removed, along with the tumor itself. During the surgery, her vocal nerves were damaged and she lost the ability to speak properly. The tumor did not metastasize and she did not require chemotherapy; instead, she underwent hormonal therapy. Volkova later underwent two surgeries to restore her vocal cords in Israel and was treated twice in Germany. The treatments were unsuccessful, however. She was later able to recover her voice after getting another surgery in South Korea. In 2019, she had a relapse of cancer, underwent a course of treatment, and became cancer-free again in October of the same year.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In March 2013, Volkova confirmed in "Hello Magazine" that she converted to Islam in 2010, saying, "I don't wear typical Muslim clothes, but I converted to Islam because it's the closest to my heart." When asked if she would want to live in a Muslim country, she answered, "Why not?" In 2017, she returned to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In many interviews, Volkova has officially confirmed that she is bisexual, stating, "I still like boys and girls. Even my current husband, Volodya, sitting in front of me, would confirm that he knows about my stories with girls. For me, this is a current issue. Quite recently, I had a girlfriend that I liked ... This is not even the echoes of the past, this is what I now live in..."


title: Julia Volkova

text: In September 2014, Volkova appeared as a contestant on a Ukrainian game show called "Lie Detector" and made comments considered to be homophobic. The show's host asked the singer if she would condemn her son for being gay, to which Volkova responded, "Yes, I would condemn him because I believe that a real man must be a real man...a man has no right to be a fag". In spite of this, she also said, "Two girls together—not the same thing as two men together. It seems to me that lesbians look aesthetically much nicer..." She also stated the she is not "against gays" and that they are still "better than murderers, thieves, or drug addicts". Nevertheless, her perspective on male homosexuality sparked outrage on social media, where she was seen as extremely hypocritical and biased.


title: Julia Volkova

text: Her former bandmate, Lena Katina, reacted by saying, "God is teaching us to live in love, to be tolerant and not to judge other people!...I think everybody should be free to love who they love and be with who they want to spend their life with!" Later that month, Volkova appeared to have addressed the comments at a concert, stating, "[I]t is impossible to love each other and then just forget everything. It is impossible. And I am very happy to see those people here today with whom this relationship survived. And this relationship will go a long long time no matter what". She went on to say, "The only thing that is important is feeling...inside" and "I love you very much, honestly, and I never said I don't".


title: Julia Volkova

text: The feud between Volkova and Katina started when Volkova expressed her opinion on Katina's solo career back in 2010, saying: "She has the right to [sing t.A.T.u. songs], but it's so stupid, absolutely stupid. If you do a solo career, it means that you do your own work. Her stuff that she makes, I think, is silly and very soon her career will wither away and disappear." Katina responded to this via her YouTube page, saying: "I saw Julia's interview. Of course I got upset. But I want to tell everybody that I have a completely opposite attitude towards the whole situation, Julia's project included. I believe she's a very talented person and I sincerely hope that she'll be successful in all the things she plans." The group officially disbanded in 2011.


title: Julia Volkova

text: In a January 2012 interview, Volkova stated that she no longer communicates with Lena Katina. The duo reunited briefly in 2012–14 with a performance at The Voice of Romania while promoting the re-released edition of "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane"; a concert in Kyiv; and a pre-opening performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. On 17 February 2014, Katina posted a video message on her official YouTube channel stating that she would no longer be working with Volkova. However, on 20 February, Volkova posted a video message saying that there is "no big reunion" but t.A.T.u. were having "joint projects". She also criticised Katina's "meaning" behind the video and confirmed that they would be shooting a video for the new single. On 5 March 2014, Volkova posted another video message on her official YouTube channel in response to Katina's video. She stated that despite "reasons of severe trepidation on the part of Lena about [Volkova] and [her] behaviour," collaboration between the two was possible, referring to the release of their new single as well as their music video.


title: Julia Volkova

text: On 22 May 2014, both singers introduced the video "Together Apart" at the Cannes Film Festival, which was part of Cornetto Ru's "A Sight of Cupid" project containing several short films about love. The video accompanied their song "Любовь в каждом мгновении" ("Love in Every Moment"), which was recorded together with musicians Ligalize and Mike Tompkins.


title: Julia Volkova

text: The duo publicly reunited again in May 2016 at the 25th anniversary celebration of the children's musical group Neposedy, which both had been members of before the formation of t.A.T.u. There, together with the children, Katina sang her song "All Around the World"; together with Volkova, she sang "Нас не догонят" ("Not Gonna Get Us").


title: Graphics card

text: A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer monitor. Graphics cards are sometimes called discrete or dedicated graphics cards to emphasize their distinction to integrated graphics. A graphics processing unit that performs the necessary computations is the main component of a graphics card, but the acronym "GPU" is sometimes also used to refer to the graphics card as a whole.


title: Graphics card

text: Most graphics cards are not limited to simple display output. The graphics processing unit can be used for additional processing, which reduces the load from the central processing unit. Additionally, computing platforms such as OpenCL and CUDA allow using graphics cards for general-purpose computing. Applications of general-purpose computing on graphics cards include AI training, cryptocurrency mining, and molecular simulation.


title: Graphics card

text: Usually, a "graphics card" comes in the form of a printed circuit board (expansion board) which are to be inserted into an expansion slot. Others may have dedicated enclosures, and they are connected to the computer via a docking station or a cable. These are known as external GPUs (eGPUs).


title: Graphics card

text: Graphics cards historically supported different computer display standards as they evolved. For the IBM PC compatibles, common early standards were MDA, CGA, Hercules, EGA and VGA.


title: Graphics card

text: In the late 1980s the like of Radius produced graphics cards for the Apple Macintosh II with discrete 2D QuickDraw capabilities.


title: Graphics card

text: 3dfx Interactive was one of the first companies to develop a consumer-facing GPU with 3D acceleration (with the Voodoo series) and the first to develop a graphical chipset dedicated to 3D, but without 2D support (which therefore required the presence of a 2D card to work).


title: Graphics card

text: NVIDIA RIVA 128 was one of the first consumer-facing GPU integrated 3D processing unit and 2D processing unit on a chip.


title: Graphics card

text: Nowadays, the majority of modern graphics cards are built with either AMD-sourced or Nvidia-sourced graphics chips. Most graphics cards offer various functions such as 3D rendering, 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, and the ability to connect multiple monitors (multi-monitor). Graphics cards also have sound card capabilities to output sound along with video output for connected TVs or monitors with integrated speakers.


title: Graphics card

text: Within the industry, graphics cards are sometimes called "graphics add-in-boards", abbreviated as "AIB"s, with the word "graphics" usually omitted.


title: Graphics card

text: As an alternative to the use of a graphics card, video hardware can be integrated into the motherboard, CPU, or a system-on-chip as integrated graphics. Motherboard-based implementations are sometimes called "on-board video". Some motherboards support using both integrated graphics and the graphics card simultaneously to feed separate displays. The main advantages of integrated graphics are: a low cost, compactness, simplicity, and low energy consumption. Integrated graphics often has less performance than a graphics card because the graphics processing unit inside integrated graphics needs to share system resources with the CPU. On the other hand, a graphics card has a separate random access memory (RAM), cooling system, and dedicated power regulators. A graphics card can offload work and reduce memory-bus-contention from the CPU and system RAM, therefore the overall performance for a computer could improve in addition to increased performance in graphics processing. Such improvements to performance can be seen in video gaming, 3D animation, and video editing.


title: Graphics card

text: Both AMD and Intel have introduced CPUs and motherboard chipsets which support the integration of a GPU into the same die as the CPU. AMD advertises CPUs with integrated graphics under the trademark Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), while Intel brands similar technology under "Intel Graphics Technology".


title: Graphics card

text: As the processing power of graphics cards increased, so did their demand for electrical power. Current high-performance graphics cards tend to consume large amounts of power. For example, the thermal design power (TDP) for the GeForce Titan RTX is 280 watts. When tested with video games, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founder's Edition averaged 300 watts of power consumption. While CPU and power supply manufacturers have recently aimed toward higher efficiency, power demands of graphics cards continued to rise, with the largest power consumption of any individual part in a computer. Although power supplies have also increased their power output, the bottleneck occurs in the PCI-Express connection, which is limited to supplying 75 watts.


title: Graphics card

text: Modern graphics cards with a power consumption of over 75 watts usually include a combination of six-pin (75 W) or eight-pin (150 W) sockets that connect directly to the power supply. Providing adequate cooling becomes a challenge in such computers. Computers with multiple graphics cards may require power supplies over 750 watts. Heat extraction becomes a major design consideration for computers with two or more high-end graphics cards.


title: Graphics card

text: As of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 series, Ampere architecture, a custom flashed RTX 3090 named "Hall of Fame" has been recorded to reach a peak power draw as high as 630 watts. A standard RTX 3090 can peak at up to 450 watts. The RTX 3080 can reach up to 350 watts, while a 3070 can reach a similar, if not slightly lower peak power draw. Ampere cards are the first cards to feature a pass through cooler design to dissipate as much heat as possible, especially with large power consumptions.


title: Graphics card

text: Graphics cards for desktop computers have different size profiles, which allows graphics cards to be added to smaller-sized computers. Some graphics cards are not of the usual size, and are named as "low profile". Graphics card profiles are based on height only, with low-profile cards taking up less than the height of a PCIe slot, some can be as low as "half-height". Length and thickness can vary greatly, with high-end cards usually occupying two or three expansion slots, and with dual-GPU cards such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 generally exceeding in length. A lower profile card is preferred when trying to fit multiple cards or if graphics cards run into clearance issues with other motherboard components like the DIMM or PCIE slots. This can be fixed with a larger computer case such as mid-tower or full tower. Full towers are usually able to fit larger motherboards in sizes like ATX and micro ATX.


title: Graphics card

text: Some graphics cards can be linked together to allow scaling graphics processing across multiple cards. This is done using either the PCIe bus on the motherboard or, more commonly, a data bridge. Generally, the cards must be of the same model to be linked, and most low end cards are not able to be linked in this way. AMD and Nvidia both have proprietary scaling methods, CrossFireX for AMD, and SLI (since the Turing generation, superseded by NVLink) for Nvidia. Cards from different chip-set manufacturers or architectures cannot be used together for multi-card scaling. If graphics cards have different sizes of memory, the lowest value will be used, with the higher values disregarded. Currently, scaling on consumer-grade cards can be done using up to four cards. The use of four cards requires a large motherboard with a proper configuration. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 590 graphics card can be configured in a four-card configuration. As stated above, users will want to stick to cards with the same performances for optimal use. Motherboards including ASUS Maximus 3 Extreme and Gigabyte GA EX58 Extreme are certified to work with this configuration. A large power supply is necessary to run the cards in SLI or CrossFireX. Power demands must be known before a proper supply is installed. For the four card configuration, a 1000+ watt supply is needed. With any relatively powerful graphics card, thermal management cannot be ignored. Graphics cards require well-vented chassis and good thermal solutions. Air or water cooling are usually required, though low end GPUs can use passive cooling. Larger configurations use water solutions or immersion cooling to achieve proper performance without thermal throttling.


title: Graphics card

text: SLI and Crossfire have become increasingly uncommon as most games do not fully utilize multiple GPUs, due to the fact that most users cannot afford them. Multiple GPUs are still used on supercomputers (like in Summit), on workstations to accelerate video and 3D rendering, visual effects, for simulations, and in training artificial intelligence.


title: Graphics card

text: A graphics driver usually supports one or multiple cards by the same vendor and has to be written for a specific operating system. Additionally, the operating system or an extra software package may provide certain programming APIs for applications to perform 3D rendering.


title: Graphics card

text: As of 2016, the primary suppliers of the GPUs (graphics chips or chipsets) used in graphics cards are AMD and Nvidia. In the third quarter of 2013, AMD had a 35.5% market share while Nvidia had 64.5%, according to Jon Peddie Research. In economics, this industry structure is termed a duopoly. AMD and Nvidia also build and sell graphics cards, which are termed graphics add-in-boards (AIBs) in the industry. (See Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units and Comparison of AMD graphics processing units.) In addition to marketing their own graphics cards, AMD and Nvidia sell their GPUs to authorized AIB suppliers, which AMD and Nvidia refer to as "partners". The fact that Nvidia and AMD compete directly with their customer/partners complicates relationships in the industry. AMD and Intel being direct competitors in the CPU industry is also noteworthy, since AMD-based graphics cards may be used in computers with Intel CPUs. Intel's integrated graphics may weaken AMD, in which the latter derives a significant portion of its revenue from its APUs. As of the second quarter of 2013, there were 52 AIB suppliers. These AIB suppliers may market graphics cards under their own brands, produce graphics cards for private label brands, or produce graphics cards for computer manufacturers. Some AIB suppliers such as MSI build both AMD-based and Nvidia-based graphics cards. Others, such as EVGA, build only Nvidia-based graphics cards, while XFX, now builds only AMD-based graphics cards. Several AIB suppliers are also motherboard suppliers. Most of the largest AIB suppliers are based in Taiwan and they include ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE, and Palit. Hong-Kong-based AIB manufacturers include Sapphire and Zotac. Sapphire and Zotac also sell graphics cards exclusively for AMD and Nvidia GPUs respectively. The United States is also home to EVGA, and XFX which sell graphics cards exclusively for Nvidia and AMD respectively.


title: Graphics card

text: Graphics card shipments peaked at a total of 114 million in 1999. By contrast, they totaled 14.5 million units in the third quarter of 2013, a 17% fall from Q3 2012 levels. Shipments reached an annual total of 44 million in 2015. The sales of graphics cards have trended downward due to improvements in integrated graphics technologies; high-end, CPU-integrated graphics can provide competitive performance with low-end graphics cards. At the same time, graphics card sales have grown within the high-end segment, as manufacturers have shifted their focus to prioritize the gaming and enthusiast market.


title: Graphics card

text: Beyond the gaming and multimedia segments, graphics cards have been increasingly used for general-purpose computing, such as big data processing. The growth of cryptocurrency has placed a severely high demand on high-end graphics cards, especially in large quantities, due to their advantages in the process of cryptocurrency mining. In January 2018, mid-to-high-end graphics cards experienced a major surge in price, with many retailers having stock shortages due to the significant demand among this market. Graphics card companies released mining-specific cards designed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and without video output ports. The graphics card industry took a setback due to the 2020-21 chip shortage.


title: Graphics card

text: A modern graphics card consists of a printed circuit board on which the components are mounted. These include:


title: Graphics card

text: A graphics processing unit (GPU), also occasionally called visual processing unit (VPU), is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. Because of the large degree of programmable computational complexity for such a task, a modern graphics card is also a computer unto itself.


title: Graphics card

text: A heat sink is mounted on most modern graphics cards. A heat sink spreads out the heat produced by the graphics processing unit evenly throughout the heat sink and unit itself. The heat sink commonly has a fan mounted to cool the heat sink and the graphics processing unit. Not all cards have heat sinks, for example, some cards are liquid-cooled and instead have a water block; additionally, cards from the 1980s and early 1990s did not produce much heat, and did not require heat sinks. Most modern graphics cards need proper thermal solutions. They can be water-cooled or through heat sinks with additional connected heat pipes usually made of copper for the best thermal transfer.


title: Graphics card

text: The video BIOS or firmware contains a minimal program for the initial set up and control of the graphics card. It may contain information on the memory and memory timing, operating speeds and voltages of the graphics processor, and other details which can sometimes be changed.


title: Graphics card

text: Modern Video BIOSes do not support full functionalities of graphics cards; they are only sufficient to identify and initialize the card to display one of a few frame buffer or text display modes. It does not support YUV to RGB translation, video scaling, pixel copying, compositing or any of the multitude of other 2D and 3D features of the graphics card, which must be accessed by software drivers.


title: Graphics card

text: The memory capacity of most modern graphics cards ranges from 2 GB to 24 GB. But with up to 32 GB as of the last 2010s, the applications for graphics use are becoming more powerful and widespread. Since video memory needs to be accessed by the GPU and the display circuitry, it often uses special high-speed or multi-port memory, such as VRAM, WRAM, SGRAM, and etc. Around 2003, the video memory was typically based on DDR technology. During and after that year, manufacturers moved towards DDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4, GDDR5, GDDR5X, and GDDR6. The effective memory clock rate in modern cards is generally between 2 GHz to 15 GHz.


title: Graphics card

text: Video memory may be used for storing other data as well as the screen image, such as the Z-buffer, which manages the depth coordinates in 3D graphics, textures, vertex buffers, and compiled shader programs.


title: Graphics card

text: The RAMDAC, or random-access-memory digital-to-analog converter, converts digital signals to analog signals for use by a computer display that uses analog inputs such as cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays. The RAMDAC is a kind of RAM chip that regulates the functioning of the graphics card. Depending on the number of bits used and the RAMDAC-data-transfer rate, the converter will be able to support different computer-display refresh rates. With CRT displays, it is best to work over 75 Hz and never under 60 Hz, to minimize flicker. (With LCD displays, flicker is not a problem) Due to the growing popularity of digital computer displays and the integration of the RAMDAC onto the GPU die, it has mostly disappeared as a discrete component. All current LCD/plasma monitors and TVs and projectors with only digital connections, work in the digital domain and do not require a RAMDAC for those connections. There are displays that feature analog inputs (VGA, component, SCART, etc.) "only". These require a RAMDAC, but they reconvert the analog signal back to digital before they can display it, with the unavoidable loss of quality stemming from this digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion. With VGA standard being phased out in favor of digital, RAMDACs are beginning to disappear from graphics cards.


title: Graphics card

text: Also known as D-sub, VGA is an analog-based standard adopted in the late 1980s designed for CRT displays, also called VGA connector. Some problems of this standard are electrical noise, image distortion and sampling error in evaluating pixels.


title: Graphics card

text: Today, the VGA analog interface is used for high definition video including 1080p and higher. While the VGA transmission bandwidth is high enough to support even higher resolution playback, the picture quality can degrade depending on cable quality and length. The extent of quality difference depends on the individual's eyesight and the display; when using a DVI or HDMI connection, especially on larger sized LCD/LED monitors or TVs, quality degradation, if present, is prominently visible. Blu-ray playback at 1080p is possible via the VGA analog interface, if Image Constraint Token (ICT) is not enabled on the Blu-ray disc.


title: Graphics card

text: Digital Visual Interface is a digital-based standard designed for displays such as flat-panel displays (LCDs, plasma screens, wide high-definition television displays) and video projectors. In some rare cases, high-end CRT monitors also use DVI. It avoids image distortion and electrical noise, corresponding each pixel from the computer to a display pixel, using its native resolution. It is worth noting that most manufacturers include a DVI-I connector, allowing (via simple adapter) standard RGB signal output to an old CRT or LCD monitor with VGA input.


title: Graphics card

text: These connectors are included to allow connection with televisions, DVD players, video recorders and video game consoles. They often come in two 10-pin mini-DIN connector variations, and the VIVO splitter cable generally comes with either 4 connectors (S-Video in and out + composite video in and out), or 6 connectors (S-Video in and out + component P out + component P out + component Y out [also composite out] + composite in).


title: Graphics card

text: HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed video data and compressed/uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant device ("the source device") to a compatible digital audio device, computer monitor, video projector, or digital television. HDMI is a digital replacement for existing analog video standards. HDMI supports copy protection through HDCP.


title: Graphics card

text: DisplayPort is a digital display interface developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). The interface is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor, though it can also be used to transmit audio, USB, and other forms of data.


title: Graphics card

text: The VESA specification is royalty-free. VESA designed it to replace VGA, DVI, and LVDS. Backward compatibility to VGA and DVI by using adapter dongles enables consumers to use DisplayPort fitted video sources without replacing existing display devices. Although DisplayPort has a greater throughput of the same functionality as HDMI, it is expected to complement the interface, not replace it.


title: Lyre

text: The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke that lies in the same plane as the sound table, and consists of two arms and a crossbar.


title: Lyre

text: The lyre has its origins in ancient history. Lyres were used in several ancient cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The earliest known examples of the lyre have been recovered at archeological sites that date to c. 2700 BCE in Mesopotamia. The oldest lyres from the Fertile Crescent are known as the eastern lyres and are distinguished from other ancient lyres by their flat base. They have been found at archaeological sites in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, and the Levant.


title: Lyre

text: The round lyre or the Western lyre also originated in Syria and Anatolia, but was not as widely used and eventually died out in the east c. 1750 BCE. The round lyre, called so for its rounded base, reappeared centuries later in ancient Greece c. 1400 B.C.E., and then later spread throughout the Roman Empire. This lyre served as the origin of the European lyre known as the Germanic lyre or rotte that was widely used in north-western Europe from pre-Christian to medieval times.


title: Lyre

text: The earliest reference to the word "lyre" is the Mycenaean Greek "ru-ra-ta-e", meaning "lyrists" and written in the Linear B script. In classical Greek, the word "lyre" could either refer specifically to an amateur instrument, which is a smaller version of the professional cithara and eastern-Aegean barbiton, or "lyre" can refer generally to all three instruments as a family. The English word comes via Latin from the Greek.


title: Lyre

text: Hornbostel–Sachs classifies the lyre as a member of the lute-family of instruments which is one of the families under the chordophone classification of instruments. Hornbostel–Sachs divide lyres into three groups Bowl lyres (), Box lyres () and Tube lyres (). In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke that lies in the same plane as the sound table, and consists of two arms and a crossbar.


title: Lyre

text: There is evidence of the development of many forms of lyres from the period 2700 B.C.E through 700 B.C.E. Lyres from the ancient world are divided by scholars into two separate groups, the eastern lyres and the western lyres, which are defined by patterns of geography and chronology.


title: Lyre

text: Eastern lyres, also known as flat-based lyres, are lyres which originated in the Fertile Crescent (Mesoptamia) in what is present day Syria, Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt. The eastern lyres all contain sound boxes with flat bases. They are the oldest lyres with iconographical evidence of their existence, such as depictions of the eastern lyre on pottery, dating back to 2700 B.C.E.


title: Lyre

text: While flat-based lyres originated in the East, they were also later found in the West after 700 BCE. By the Hellenistic period (c. 330 BCE) what was once a clearly divided use of flat-based lyres in the East and round-based lyres in the West had disappeared, as trade routes between the East and the West dispersed both kinds of instruments across more geographic regions.


title: Lyre

text: Bull lyres are a type of eastern lyre that have a flat base and bull's head on one side. The "lyres of Ur", are bull lyres excavated in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), which date to 2500 BC and are considered to be the world's oldest surviving stringed instruments. However, older pictorial evidence of bull lyres exist in other parts of Mesopotamia and Elam, including Susa.


title: Lyre

text: Thick lyres are a type of flat-based eastern lyre that comes from Egypt (2000–100 BCE) and Anatolia (c1600 BCE). The thick lyre is distinguished by a thicker sound box which allowed for the inclusion of more strings. These strings were held on a larger 'box-bridge' than the other type of eastern lyres, and the sound hole of the instrument was cut in the body of the lyre behind the box-bridge.


title: Lyre

text: While similar to the bull lyre in size, the thick lyre did not contain the head of an animal, but did depict images of animals on the arms or yoke of the instrument. Like the bull lyre, the thick lyre did not use use a plectrum but was plucked by hand.


title: Lyre

text: While the clearest examples of the thick lyre are extent to archaeological sites in Egypt and Anatolia, similar large lyres with thicker soundboxes have been found in Mesopotamia (1900–1500 BCE). However, these Mesopotamia lyres lack the box-bridge found in the instruments from Egypt and Anatolia.


title: Lyre

text: Thin lyres are a type of flat-based eastern lyre with a thinner soundbox where the sound hole is created by leaving the base of the resonator open. The earliest known example of the thin lyre dates to c. 2500 B.C.E. in Syria. After this, examples of the thin lyre can be found throughout the Fertile Crescent. The thin lyre is the only one of the ancient eastern lyres that is still used in instrument design today among current practitioners of the instrument. As a means of support, players of the thin lyre wear a sling around the left wrist which is also attached to the base of the lyre's right arm. It is played using a plectrum or pic to strike the strings; a technique later used by the Greeks on the western lyres.


title: Lyre

text: There are several regional variations in the design of thin lyres. The Egyptian thin lyre was characterized by arms that bulged outwards asymmetrically; a feature also found later in Samaria (c375–c323 BCE). In contrast, thin lyres in Syria and Phoenicia (c. 700 BCE) were symmetrical in shape and had straight arms with a perpendicular yoke which formed the outline of a rectangle.


title: Lyre

text: The kinnor is an ancient Israelite musical instrument that is thought to be a type of thin lyre based on iconographic archaeological evidence. It is the first instrument from the lyre family mentioned in the Old Testament. Its exact identification is unclear, but in the modern day it is generally translated as "harp" or "lyre", and associated with a type of lyre depicted in Israelite imagery, particularly the Bar Kochba coins. It has been referred to as the "national instrument" of the Jewish people, and modern luthiers have created reproduction lyres of the "kinnor" based on this imagery.


title: Lyre

text: Giant lyres are a type of flat-based eastern lyre of immense size that typically required two players. Played from a standing position, the instrument stood taller than the instrumentalists. The oldest extent example of the instrument was found in the ancient city of Uruk in what is present day Iraq, and dates to c.2500 BCE. Well preserved giant lyres dating to c. 1600 B.C.E. have been found in Anatolia. The instrument reached the height of its popularity in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (c. 1353—1336 B.C.E.). A giant lyre found in the ancient city of Susa (c2500 BCE) is suspected to have been played by only a single instrumentalist, and giant lyres in Egypt dating from the Hellenistic period most likely also required only a single player.


title: Lyre

text: Western lyres, sometimes referred to as round-based lyres, are lyres from the ancient history that were extent in the Aegean, Greece and Italy. They initially contained only round rather than flat bases; but by the Hellenistic period both constructs of lyre could be found in these regions. Like the flat-based Eastern lyres, the round-based lyre also originated in northern Syria and southern Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BCE. However, this round-based construction of the lyre was less common than its flat-based counterparts in the east, and by c1750 BCE the instrument had died out completely in this region. The round-based lyre re-appeared in the West in Ancient Greece where it was sole form of lyre used between 1400 BCE and 700 BCE.


title: Lyre

text: Like the eastern flat-based lyre, the western round-based lyre also had several sub-types. Homer described two different western lyres in his writings, the phorminx and kitharis. However, both of terms have not had uniform meaning across time, and their use during Homer's time was later altered. Today, scholars divide instruments referred to as kitharis into two subgroups, the round-based cylinder kithara and the flat-based concert kithara.


title: Lyre

text: In Ancient Greece, recitations of lyric poetry were accompanied by lyre playing. The earliest picture of a Greek lyre appears in the famous sarcophagus of Hagia Triada (a Minoan settlement in Crete). The sarcophagus was used during the Mycenaean occupation of Crete ().


title: Lyre

text: The lyre of classical antiquity was ordinarily played by being strummed like a guitar or a zither, rather than being plucked with the fingers as with a harp. A pick called a plectrum was held in one hand, while the fingers of the free hand silenced the unwanted strings.


title: Lyre

text: A classical lyre has a hollow body or sound-chest (also known as soundbox or resonator), which, in ancient Greek tradition, was made out of turtle shell. Extending from this sound-chest are two raised arms, which are sometimes hollow, and are curved both outward and forward. They are connected near the top by a crossbar or yoke. An additional crossbar, fixed to the sound-chest, makes the bridge, which transmits the vibrations of the strings. The deepest note was that closest to the player's body; since the strings did not differ much in length, more weight may have been gained for the deeper notes by thicker strings, as in the violin and similar modern instruments, or they were tuned by having a slacker "tension". The strings were of gut. They were stretched between the yoke and bridge, or to a tailpiece below the bridge. There were two ways of tuning: one was to fasten the strings to pegs that might be turned, while the other was to change the placement of the string on the crossbar; it is likely that both expedients were used simultaneously.


title: Lyre

text: Lyres were used without a fingerboard, no Greek description or representation having ever been met with that can be construed as referring to one. Nor was a bow possible, the flat sound-board being an insuperable impediment. The pick, or plectrum, however, was in constant use. It was held in the right hand to set the upper strings in vibration; when not in use, it hung from the instrument by a ribbon. The fingers of the left hand touched the lower strings (presumably to silence those whose notes were not wanted).


title: Lyre

text: Before Greek civilization had assumed its historic form, there was likely to have been great freedom and independence of different localities in the matter of lyre stringing, which is corroborated by the antique use of the chromatic (half-tone) and enharmonic (quarter-tone) tunings - pointing to an early exuberance, and perhaps also to a bias towards refinements of intonation. The number of strings on the classical lyre therefore varied, with three, four, six, seven, eight and ten having been popular at various times.


title: Lyre

text: The priest and biographer Plutarch (c. 100 AD) wrote of the musicians of the archaic period Olympus and Terpander, that they used only three strings to accompany their recitation; but there is no evidence for or against this dating from that period. The earliest known lyre had four strings, tuned to create a tetrachord or series of four tones filling in the interval of a perfect fourth. By doubling the tetrachord a lyre with seven or eight strings was obtained. Likewise the three-stringed lyre may have given rise to the six-stringed lyre depicted on many archaic Greek vases. The accuracy of this representation cannot be insisted upon, the vase painters being little mindful of the complete expression of details; yet one may suppose their tendency would be rather to imitate than to invent a number. It was their constant practice to represent the strings as being damped by the fingers of the left hand of the player, after having been struck by the plectrum held in the right hand.


title: Lyre

text: According to ancient Greek mythology, the young god Hermes stole a herd of sacred cows from Apollo. In order not to be followed, he made shoes for the cows which were facing backwards, making it appear that the animals had walked in the opposite direction. Apollo, following the trails, could not follow where the cows were going. Along the way, Hermes slaughtered one of the cows and offered all but the entrails to the gods. From the entrails and a tortoise/turtle shell, he created the Lyre. Apollo, figuring out it was Hermes who had his cows, confronted the young god. Apollo was furious, but after hearing the sound of the lyre, his anger faded. Apollo offered to trade the herd of cattle for the lyre. Hence, the creation of the lyre is attributed to Hermes. Other sources credit it to Apollo himself.


title: Lyre

text: Some of the cultures using and developing the lyre were the Aeolian and Ionian Greek colonies on the coasts of Asia (ancient Asia Minor, modern day Turkey) bordering the Lydian empire. Some mythic masters like Musaeus, and Thamyris were believed to have been born in Thrace, another place of extensive Greek colonization. The name "kissar" (cithara) given by the ancient Greeks to Egyptian box instruments reveals the apparent similarities recognized by Greeks themselves. The cultural peak of ancient Egypt, and thus the possible age of the earliest instruments of this type, predates the 5th century classic Greece. This indicates the possibility that the lyre might have existed in one of Greece's neighboring countries, either Thrace, Lydia, or Egypt, and was introduced into Greece at pre-classic times.


title: Lyre

text: Other instruments known as lyres have been fashioned and used in Europe outside the Greco-Roman world since at least the Iron Age. The remains of what is thought to be the bridge of a 2300-year-old lyre were discovered on the Isle of Skye, Scotland in 2010 making it Europe's oldest surviving piece of a stringed musical instrument. Material evidence suggests lyres became more widespread during the early Middle Ages, and one view holds that many modern stringed instruments are late-emerging examples of the lyre class. There is no clear evidence that non-Greco-Roman lyres were played exclusively with plectra, and numerous instruments regarded by some as modern lyres are played with bows.


title: Lyre

text: Lyres appearing to have emerged independently of Greco-Roman prototypes were used by the Germanic and Celtic peoples of the early Middle Ages. These are sometimes called "psalteries". Dates of origin, which probably vary from region to region, cannot be determined, but the oldest known fragments of such instruments are thought to date from the fifth century AD, with the Discovery of the Abingdon Lyre in England.


title: Lyre

text: Some instruments called "lyres" were played with a bow in Europe and parts of the Middle East, namely the Arabic rebab and its descendants, including the Byzantine lyra.


title: Lyre

text: After the bow made its way into Europe from the Middle-East, it was applied to several species of those lyres that were small enough to make bowing practical. The dates of origin and other evolutionary details of the European bowed lyres continue to be disputed among organologists, but there is general agreement that none of them were the ancestors of modern orchestral bowed stringed instruments, as once was thought.


title: Lyre

text: There came to be two different kinds of bowed European lyres: those with fingerboards, and those without.


title: Lyre

text: The last surviving examples of instruments within the latter class were the Scandinavian talharpa and the Finnish jouhikko. Different tones could be obtained from a single bowed string by pressing the fingernails of the player's left hand against various points along the string to fret the string.


title: Lyre

text: The last of the bowed lyres with a fingerboard was the "modern" () Welsh crwth. It had several predecessors both in the British Isles and in Continental Europe. Pitch was changed on individual strings by pressing the string firmly against the fingerboard with the fingertips. Like a violin, this method shortened the vibrating length of the string to produce higher tones, while releasing the finger gave the string a greater vibrating length, thereby producing a tone lower in pitch. This is the principle on which the modern violin and guitar work.


title: Lyre

text: The term is also used metaphorically to refer to the work or skill of a poet, as in Shelley's "Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is" or Byron's "I wish to tune my quivering lyre, / To deeds of fame, and notes of fire".


title: Lyre

text: In 2017 the lyre was "sampled" on the album "20s A Difficult Age" by Marcus Orelias; the album featured Michael Levy, a skilled lyre player, on various songs.


title: Lyre

text: Over time, the name in the wider Hellenic space came to be used to label mostly bowed lutes such as the Byzantine lyra, the Pontic lyra, the Constantinopolitan lyra, the Cretan lyra, the lira da braccio, the Calabrian lira, the lijerica, the lyra viol, the lirone.


title: Maluku Islands

text: The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: "Kepulauan Maluku") or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Lying within Wallacea (mostly east of the biogeographical Weber Line), the Maluku Islands have been considered as a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania.


title: Maluku Islands

text: The islands were known as the Spice Islands because of the nutmeg, mace and cloves that were exclusively found there, the presence of which sparked colonial interest from Europe in the sixteenth century.


title: Maluku Islands

text: The Maluku Islands formed a single province from Indonesian independence until 1999, when it was split into two provinces. A new province, North Maluku, incorporates the area between Morotai and Sula, with the arc of islands from Buru and Seram to Wetar remaining within the existing Maluku Province. North Maluku is predominantly Muslim, and its capital is Sofifi on Halmahera island. Maluku province has a larger Christian population, and its capital is Ambon. Though originally Melanesian, many island populations, especially in the Banda Islands, were massacred in the seventeenth century during the Dutch–Portuguese War, also known as the Spice War. A second influx of immigrants primarily from Java began in the early twentieth century under the Dutch and continues in the Indonesian era, which has also caused a lot of controversy as the Transmigrant programs have done so and even thought to have led to the Maluku Riots.


title: Maluku Islands

text: Between 1999 and 2002, conflict between Muslims and Christians killed thousands and displaced half a million people.


title: Maluku Islands

text: The first recorded word that can be identified with "Maluku" comes from Nagarakretagama, an Old Javanese eulogy of 1365. Canto 14 stanza 5 mentioned "Maloko", which Pigeaud identified with Ternate or Moluccas.


title: Maluku Islands

text: A theory holds that "Maluku" comes from the phrase "Moloko Kie Raha" or "Moloku Kie Raha". In Ternate language, "raha" means "four", while "kie" here means "mountain". "Kie raha" or "four mountains" refers to Ternate, Tidore, Bacan, and Jailolo (the name "Jailolo" has been used in the past to refer to Halmahera island), all of which have their own "kolano" (a local title for kings rooted in Panji tales).


title: Maluku Islands

text: It is unclear what the meaning of "Moloko" or "Moloku" is. One possible meaning is in Ternate language, it meant "to hold or grasp", in which case "Moloko Kie Raha" could be understood to mean "Confederation of the Four Mountains". Another possibility is that the word originates from the word "maloko", which is a combination of the particle "ma-" and the root "loko" in North Halmahera languages means variety of words relating to location of mountains, in which case "Maloko Kie Raha" in the phrase "Ternate se Tidore, Moti se Mara "Maloko Kie Raha"" means "Ternate, Tidore, Moti, and Mara the place of the four mountains” or with the shifting of pronunciation of "loko" towards "luku", means "Ternate, Tidore, Moti, and Mara the world of the four mountains".