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Mabinogion

The Mabinogion are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys", complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.

Scholars from the 18th century to the 1970s predominantly viewed the tales as fragmentary pre-Christian Celtic mythology, or in terms of international folklore. There are certainly components of pre-Christian Celtic mythology and folklore; however, since the 1970s, an understanding of the integrity of the tales has developed, with investigation of their plot structures, characterisation, and language styles. They are now seen as a sophisticated narrative tradition, both oral and written, with ancestral construction from oral storytelling, and overlay from Anglo-French influences.

The first modern publications were English translations by William Owen Pughe of several tales in journals in 1795, 1821, and 1829. However it was Lady Charlotte Guest in 1838–45 who first published the full collection, bilingually in Welsh and English. She is often assumed to be responsible for the name "Mabinogion", but this was already in standard use in the 18th century. Indeed, as early as 1632 the lexicographer John Davies quotes a sentence from Math fab Mathonwy with the notation "Mabin" in his Antiquae linguae Britannicae ... dictionarium duplex, article "Hob". The later Guest translation of 1877 in one volume has been widely influential and remains actively read today. The most recent translation is a compact version by Sioned Davies. John Bollard has published a series of volumes with his own translation, with copious photography of the sites in the stories. The tales continue to inspire new fiction, dramatic retellings, visual artwork, and research.

Etymology
The name first appears in 1795 in William Owen Pughe's translation of Pwyll in the journal Cambrian Register under the title "The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances". The name appears to have been current among Welsh scholars of the London-Welsh Societies and the regional eisteddfodau in Wales. It was inherited as the title by the first publisher of the complete collection, Lady Charlotte Guest. The form mabynnogyon occurs once at the end of the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi in one manuscript. It is now generally agreed that this one instance was a mediaeval scribal error which assumed 'mabinogion' was the plural of 'mabinogi', which is already a Welsh plural occurring correctly at the end of the remaining three branches.

The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although clearly derived from the Welsh mab, which means "son, boy, young person". Eric P. Hamp, of the earlier school traditions in mythology, found a suggestive connection with Maponos, "the Divine Son", a Gaulish deity. Mabinogi properly applies only to the Four Branches, which is a tightly organised quartet very likely by one author, where the other seven are so very diverse (see below). Each of these four tales ends with the colophon "thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi" (in various spellings), hence the name.

Translations
Lady Charlotte Guest's work was helped by the earlier research and translation work of William Owen Pughe. The first part of Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion appeared in 1838, and it was completed in seven parts in 1845. A three-volume edition followed in 1846, and a revised edition in 1877. Her version of the Mabinogion was the most frequently used English version until the 1948 translation by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones, which has been widely praised for its combination of literal accuracy and elegant literary style. Several more, listed below, have since appeared.

Date of stories
Dates for the tales in the Mabinogion have been much debated, a range from 1050 to 1225 being proposed, with the consensus being that they are to be dated to the late 11th and 12th centuries. The stories of the Mabinogion appear in either or both of two medieval Welsh manuscripts, the White Book of Rhydderch or Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch, written c. 1350, and the Red Book of Hergest or Llyfr Coch Hergest, written about 1382–1410, though texts or fragments of some of the tales have been preserved in earlier 13th century and later manuscripts. Scholars agree that the tales are older than the existing manuscripts, but disagree over just how much older. It is clear that the different texts included in the Mabinogion originated at different times (though regardless their importance as records of early myth, legend, folklore, culture, and language of Wales remains immense).

Thus the tale of Culhwch ac Olwen, with its primitive warlord Arthur and his court based at Celliwig, is generally accepted to precede the Arthurian romances, which themselves show the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (1134–36) and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes. Those following R. S. Loomis would date it before 1100, and see it as providing important evidence for the development of Arthurian legend, with links to Nennius and early Welsh poetry. By contrast, The Dream of Rhonabwy is set in the reign of the historical Madog ap Maredudd (1130–60), and must therefore either be contemporary with or postdate his reign, being perhaps early 13th C.

Much debate has been focused on the dating of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. Ifor Williams offered a date prior to 1100, based on linguistic and historical arguments, while later Saunders Lewis set forth a number of arguments for a date between 1170 and 1190; Thomas Charles-Edwards, in a paper published in 1970, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints, and while critical of the arguments of both scholars, noted that the language of the stories best fits the 11th century, (specifically 1050–1120), although much more work is needed. In 1991, Patrick Sims-Williams argued for a plausible range of about 1060 to 1200, which seems to be the current scholarly consensus (fitting all the previously suggested date ranges).

Stories
The collection represents the vast majority of prose found in medieval Welsh manuscripts which is not translated from other languages. Notable exceptions are the Areithiau Pros. None of the titles are contemporary with the earliest extant versions of the stories, but are on the whole modern ascriptions. The eleven tales are not adjacent in either of the main early manuscript sources, the White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1375) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400), and indeed Breuddwyd Rhonabwy is absent from the White Book.

Four Branches of the Mabinogi
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) are the most clearly mythological stories contained in the Mabinogion collection. Pryderi appears in all four, though not always as the central character.

 * Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed (Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed) tells of Pryderi's parents and his birth, loss and recovery.
 * Branwen ferch Llŷr (Branwen, daughter of Llŷr) is mostly about Branwen's marriage to the King of Ireland. Pryderi appears but does not play a major part.
 * Manawydan fab Llŷr (Manawydan, son of Llŷr) has Pryderi return home with Manawydan, brother of Branwen, and describes the misfortunes that follow them there.
 * Math fab Mathonwy (Math, son of Mathonwy) is mostly about the eponymous Math and Gwydion, who come into conflict with Pryderi.

Native tales
Also included in Guest's compilation are five stories from Welsh tradition and legend:
 * Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig (The Dream of Macsen Wledig)
 * Lludd a Llefelys (Lludd and Llefelys)
 * Culhwch ac Olwen (Culhwch and Olwen)
 * Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy)
 * Hanes Taliesin (The History of Taliesin)

The tales Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy have interested scholars because they preserve older traditions of King Arthur. The subject matter and the characters described events that happened long before medieval times. After the departure of the Roman Legions, the later half of the 5th century was a difficult time in Britain. King Arthur's twelve battles and defeat of invaders and raiders are said to have culminated in the Battle of Badon.

There is no consensus about the ultimate meaning of The Dream of Rhonabwy. On one hand it derides Madoc's time, which is critically compared to the illustrious Arthurian age. However, Arthur's time is portrayed as illogical and silly, leading to suggestions that this is a satire on both contemporary times and the myth of a heroic age.

Rhonabwy is the most literary of the medieval Welsh prose tales. It may have also been the last written. A colophon at the end declares that no one is able to recite the work in full without a book, the level of detail being too much for the memory to handle. The comment suggests it was not popular with storytellers, though this was more likely due to its position as a literary tale rather than a traditional one.

The tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig is a romanticised story about the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus, called Macsen Wledig in Welsh. Born in Hispania, he became a legionary commander in Britain, assembled a Celtic army and assumed the title of Roman Emperor in 383. He was defeated in battle in 385 and beheaded at the direction of the Eastern Roman emperor.

The story of Taliesin is a later survival, not present in the Red or White Books, and is omitted from many of the more recent translations.

Romances
The tales called the Three Welsh Romances (Y Tair Rhamant) are Welsh-language versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are based on Chrétien's poems or if they derive from a shared original. Though it is arguable that the surviving Romances might derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, it is probable that he in turn based his tales on older, Celtic sources. The Welsh stories are not direct translations and include material not found in Chrétien's work.

 * Owain, neu Iarlles y Ffynnon (Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain)
 * Peredur fab Efrog (Peredur son of Efrawg)
 * Geraint ac Enid (Geraint and Enid)

Influence on later works

 * Kenneth Morris, himself a Welshman, pioneered the adaptation of the Mabinogion with The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (1914) and Book of the Three Dragons (1930).
 * Evangeline Walton adapted the Mabinogion in the novels The Island of the Mighty (1936), The Children of Llyr (1971), The Song of Rhiannon (1972) and Prince of Annwn (1974), each one of which she based on one of the branches, although she began with the fourth and ended by telling the first. These were published together in chronological sequence as The Mabinogion Tetralogy in 2002.
 * Y Mabinogi is a film version, produced in 2003. It starts with live action among Welsh people in the modern world. They then 'fall into' the legend, which is shown through animated characters. It conflates some elements of the myths and omits others.
 * The tale of "Culhwch and Olwen" was adapted by Derek Webb in Welsh and English as a dramatic recreation for the reopening of Narberth Castle in Pembrokeshire in 2005.
 * Lloyd Alexander's award-winning The Chronicles of Prydain fantasy novels for younger readers are loosely based on Welsh legends found in the Mabinogion. Specific elements incorporated within Alexander's books include the Cauldron of the Undead, as well as adapted versions of important figures in the Mabinogion such as Prince Gwydion and Arawn, Lord of the Dead.
 * Alan Garner's novel The Owl Service (Collins, 1967; first US edition Henry Z. Walck, 1968) alludes to the mythical Blodeuwedd featured in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. In Garner's tale three teenagers find themselves re-enacting the story. They awaken the legend by finding a set of dinner plates (a "dinner service") with an owl pattern, which gives the novel its title.
 * The Welsh mythology of The Mabinogion, especially the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, is important in John Cowper Powys's novels Owen Glendower (1941), and Porius (1951). Jeremy Hooker sees The Mabinogion as having "a significant presence […] through character's knowledge of its stories and identification of themselves or others with figures or incidents in the stories". Indeed, there are "almost fifty allusions to these four […] tales"' (The Four Branches of the Mabinogi) in the novel, though "some ... are fairly obscure and inconspicuous". Also in Porius Powys creates the character Sylvannus Bleheris, Henog of Dyfed, author of the Four Pre-Arthurian Branches of the Mabinogi concerned with Pryderi, as a way linking the mythological background of Porius with this aspect of the Mabinogion.
 * J. R. R. Tolkien's mythic fantasy The Silmarillion was influenced by the Mabinogion. The name Silmarillion is also meant to reflect the name Mabinogion. Tolkien also worked on a translation of Pwyll Prince of Dyfed, held at the Bodleian Library.

Translations and retellings

 * Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer). Tales of Arthur: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84851-112-5. (Contains "The History of Peredur or The Fortress of Wonders", "The Tale of the Countess of the Spring", and "The History of Geraint son of Erbin", with textual notes.)
 * Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer). Companion Tales to The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2007. ISBN 1-84323-825-X. (Contains "How Culhwch Got Olwen", "The Dream of Maxen Wledig", "The Story of Lludd and Llefelys", and "The Dream of Rhonabwy", with textual notes.)
 * Bollard, John K. (translator), and Anthony Griffiths (photographer). The Mabinogi: Legend and Landscape of Wales. Gomer Press, Llandysul, 2006. ISBN 1-84323-348-7. (Contains the Four Branches, with textual notes.)
 * Caldecott, Moyra (retold by), and Lynette Gussman (illustrator). Three Celtic Tales. Bladud Books, Bath, 2002. ISBN 1-84319-548-8. (Contains "The Twins of the Tylwyth Teg", "Taliesin and Avagddu" and "Bran, Branwen and Evnissyen")
 * Davies, Sioned. The Mabinogion. Oxford World's Classics, 2007. ISBN 1-4068-0509-2. (Omits "Taliesin". Has extensive notes.)
 * Ellis, T. P., and John Lloyd. The Mabinogion: a New Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1929. (Omits "Taliesin"; only English translation to list manuscript variants.)
 * Ford, Patrick K. The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. ISBN 0-520-03414-7. (Includes "Taliesin" but omits "The Dream of Rhonabwy", "The Dream of Macsen Wledig" and the three Arthurian romances.)
 * Gantz, Jeffrey. Trans. The Mabinogion. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1976. ISBN 0-14-044322-3. (Omits "Taliesin".)
 * Guest, Lady Charlotte. The Mabinogion. Dover Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-486-29541-9. (Guest omits passages which only a Victorian would find at all risqué. This particular edition omits all Guest's notes.)
 * Jones, Gwyn and Jones, Thomas. The Mabinogion. Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. (Omits "Taliesin".)
 * Everyman's Library edition, 1949; revised in 1989, 1991.
 * Jones, George (Ed), 1993 edition, Everyman S, ISBN 0-460-87297-4.
 * 2001 Edition, (Preface by John Updike), ISBN 0-375-41175-5.
 * Knill, Stanley. The Mabinogion Brought To Life. Capel-y-ffin Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4895-1528-5. (Omits Taliesin. A retelling with General Explanatory Notes.) Presented as prose but comprising 10,000+ lines of hidden decasyllabic verse.

Welsh text and editions

 * Branwen Uerch Lyr. Ed. Derick S. Thomson. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. II. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976. ISBN 1-85500-059-8
 * Breuddwyd Maxen. Ed. Ifor Williams. Bangor: Jarvis & Foster, 1920.
 * Breudwyt Maxen Wledig. Ed. Brynley F. Roberts. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. XI. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2005.
 * Breudwyt Ronabwy. Ed. Melville Richards. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1948.
 * Culhwch and Olwen: An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale. Rachel, Bromwich and D. Simon Evans. Eds. and trans. Aberystwyth: University of Wales, 1988; Second edition, 1992.
 * Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys. Ed. Brynley F. Roberts. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. VII. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975.
 * Historia Peredur vab Efrawc. Ed. Glenys Witchard Goetinck. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. 1976.
 * Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch. Ed. J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1973.
 * Math Uab Mathonwy. Ed. Ian Hughes. Aberystwyth: Prifysgol Cymru, 2000.
 * Owein or Chwedyl Iarlles y Ffynnawn. Ed. R.L. Thomson. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1986.
 * Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi. Ed. Ifor Williams. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1951. ISBN 0-7083-1407-4
 * Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet. Ed. R. L. Thomson. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. I. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1986. ISBN 1-85500-051-2
 * Ystorya Gereint uab Erbin. Ed. R. L. Thomson. Medieval and Modern Welsh Series Vol. X. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1997.
 * Ystoria Taliesin. Ed. Patrick K. Ford. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992. ISBN 0-7083-1092-3

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Graphics card

A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics accelerator, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a display device such as a monitor. Graphics cards are sometimes called discrete or dedicated graphics cards to emphasize their distinction to an integrated graphics processor on the motherboard or the central processing unit (CPU). A graphics processing unit (GPU) that performs the necessary computations is the main component in a graphics card, but the acronym "GPU" is sometimes also used to erroneously refer to the graphics card as a whole.

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.

Usually, a graphics card comes in the form of a printed circuit board (expansion board) which is 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).

Graphics cards are often preferred over integrated graphics for increased performance.

History
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.

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

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).

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

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, video 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.

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

Discrete vs integrated graphics
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.

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".

Power demand
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.

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.

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 of the Founders Edition variant feature a "dual axial flow through" cooler design, which includes fans above and below the card to dissipate as much heat as possible towards the rear of the computer case. A similar design was used by the Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 Pulse graphics card.

Size
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 modern high-end graphics cards such as the RTX 4090 exceeding 300mm 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.

Multicard scaling
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. Usually, 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.

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 for training artificial intelligence.

3D graphics APIs
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.

Specific usage
Some GPUs are designed with specific usage in mind:

 * 1) Gaming
 * 2) * GeForce GTX
 * 3) * GeForce RTX
 * 4) * Nvidia Titan
 * 5) * Radeon HD
 * 6) * Radeon RX
 * 7) * Intel Arc
 * 8) Cloud gaming
 * 9) * Nvidia Grid
 * 10) * Radeon Sky
 * 11) Workstation
 * 12) * Nvidia Quadro
 * 13) * AMD FirePro
 * 14) * Radeon Pro
 * 15) * Intel Arc Pro
 * 16) Cloud Workstation
 * 17) * Nvidia Tesla
 * 18) * AMD FireStream
 * 19) Artificial Intelligence Cloud
 * 20) * Nvidia Tesla
 * 21) * Radeon Instinct
 * 22) Automated/Driverless car
 * 23) * Nvidia Drive PX

Industry
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.

Market
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.

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.

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

Graphics processing unit
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.

Heat sink
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.

Video BIOS
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.

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.

Video memory
The memory capacity of most modern graphics cards ranges from 2 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, 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 and 15 GHz.

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, as well as textures, vertex buffers, and compiled shader programs.

RAMDAC
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. (This is not a problem with LCD displays, as they have little to no flicker.) 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 the VGA standard being phased out in favor of digital formats, RAMDACs have started to disappear from graphics cards.

Output interfaces
The most common connection systems between the graphics card and the computer display are:

Video Graphics Array (VGA) (DE-15)

Also known as D-sub, VGA is an analog-based standard adopted in the late 1980s designed for CRT displays, also called VGA connector. Today, the VGA analog interface is used for high definition video resolutions including 1080p and higher. Some problems of this standard are electrical noise, image distortion and sampling error in evaluating pixels. 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.

Digital Visual Interface (DVI)

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. There were also some rare high-end CRT monitors that 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.

Video-in video-out (VIVO) for S-Video, composite video and component video

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 plus composite video in and out), or 6 connectors (S-Video in and out, component YPBPR out and composite in and out).

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)

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.

DisplayPort

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. 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.

Motherboard interfaces

Chronologically, connection systems between graphics card and motherboard were, mainly:

 * S-100 bus: Designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, it is the first industry-standard bus for the microcomputer industry.
 * ISA: Introduced in 1981 by IBM, it became dominant in the marketplace in the 1980s. It is an 8- or 16-bit bus clocked at 8 MHz.
 * NuBus: Used in Macintosh II, it is a 32-bit bus with an average bandwidth of 10 to 20 MB/s.
 * MCA: Introduced in 1987 by IBM it is a 32-bit bus clocked at 10 MHz.
 * EISA: Released in 1988 to compete with IBM's MCA, it was compatible with the earlier ISA bus. It is a 32-bit bus clocked at 8.33 MHz.
 * VLB: An extension of ISA, it is a 32-bit bus clocked at 33 MHz. Also referred to as VESA.
 * PCI: Replaced the EISA, ISA, MCA and VESA buses from 1993 onwards. PCI allowed dynamic connectivity between devices, avoiding the manual adjustments required with jumpers. It is a 32-bit bus clocked 33 MHz.
 * UPA: An interconnect bus architecture introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1995. It is a 64-bit bus clocked at 67 or 83 MHz.
 * USB: Although mostly used for miscellaneous devices, such as secondary storage devices or peripherals and toys, USB displays and display adapters exist. It was first used in 1996.
 * AGP: First used in 1997, it is a dedicated-to-graphics bus. It is a 32-bit bus clocked at 66 MHz.
 * PCI-X: An extension of the PCI bus, it was introduced in 1998. It improves upon PCI by extending the width of bus to 64 bits and the clock frequency to up to 133 MHz.
 * PCI Express: Abbreviated as PCIe, it is a point-to-point interface released in 2004. In 2006, it provided a data-transfer rate that is double of AGP. It should not be confused with PCI-X, an enhanced version of the original PCI specification. This is standard for most modern graphics cards.

The following table is a comparison between features of some interfaces listed above.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Graphics card


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Node-to-node data transfer

In telecommunications, node-to-node data transfer is the movement of data from one node of a network to the next. In the OSI model it is handled by the lowest two layers, the data link layer and the physical layer.

In most communication systems, the transmitting point applies source coding, followed by channel coding, and lastly, line coding. This produces the baseband signal. The presence of filters may perform pulse shaping. Some systems then use modulation to multiplex many baseband signals into a broadband signal. The receiver un-does these transformations in reverse order: demodulation, trellis decoding, error detection and correction, decompression.

Some communication systems omit one or more of these steps, or use techniques that combine several of these steps together. For example, a Morse code transmitter combines source coding, channel coding, and line coding into one step, typically followed by an amplitude modulation step. Barcodes, on the other hand, add a checksum digit during channel coding, then translate each digit into a barcode symbol during line coding, omitting modulation.

Source coding

 * See main article Data compression

Source coding is the elimination of redundancy to make efficient use of storage space and/or transmission channels.

Examples of source coding are:
 * Huffman coding
 * Morse code
 * Binary coding

Channel coding

 * See main article Error correction and detection.

In digital telecommunications, channel coding is a pre-transmission mapping applied to a digital signal or data file, usually designed to make error-correction (or at least error detection) possible.

Error correction is implemented by using more digits (bits in cases of binary channel) than the number strictly necessary for the samples and having the receiver compute the most likely valid message that could have resulted in the received one.

Types of channel coding include:
 * Parity checks
 * Hamming code
 * Reed-Muller code
 * Reed-Solomon code
 * Turbo coding

Line coding

 * See main article Line code

Line coding consists of representing the digital signal to be transported, by an amplitude- and time-discrete signal, that is optimally tuned for the specific properties of the physical channel (and of the receiving equipment). The waveform pattern of voltage or current used to represent the 1s and 0s of a digital signal on a transmission link is called line encoding. After line coding, the signal can directly be put on a transmission line, in the form of variations of the current. The common types of line encoding are unipolar, polar, bipolar and Manchester encoding.

Line coding should make it possible for the receiver to synchronise itself to the phase of the received signal. It is also preferred for the line code to have a structure that will enable error detection.

Examples of line coding include: (see main article line code)
 * B8ZS
 * HDB3
 * 2B1Q
 * AMI
 * Gray coding

Modulation
Modulation is the process of varying a carrier signal, typically a sine wave to use that signal to convey information. One of the three key characteristics of a signal are usually modulated: its phase, frequency or amplitude.

In digital modulation, the changes in the signal are chosen from a fixed list (the modulation alphabet) each entry of which conveys a different possible piece of information (a symbol). In analogue modulation, the change is applied continuously in response to the data signal.

Modulation is generally performed to overcome signal transmission issues such as to allow
 * Easy (low loss, low dispersion) propagation as electromagnetic waves
 * Multiplexing, the transmission of multiple data signals in one frequency band, on different carrier frequencies.
 * Smaller, more directional antennas

Carrier signals are usually high frequency electromagnetic waves.

Examples of modulation include:
 * amplitude modulation
 * frequency modulation
 * Phase-shift keying

title: Node-to-node data transfer


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Wong Fei-hung

Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun; 19 August 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero. His recent fame was due to becoming the protagonist of numerous martial arts films and television series. Even though he was considered an expert in the Hung Ga style of Chinese martial arts, his real public fame was as a physician who practiced and taught acupuncture, Dit Da and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine in the now famous Po Chi Lam, a medical clinic in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong Province. A museum dedicated to him was built in his birthplace in Foshan, Guangdong.

Alternative names
Wong's original given name was Sek-cheung or Xixiang before it was changed to Fei-hung (Feihong). His courtesy name was Dat-wan or Dayun.

Life
Wong was born in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County, which is a present day part of Foshan City, Guangdong Province, during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor in the Qing dynasty. His ancestral home was in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County, Canton Prefecture, Guangdong Province, which is now part of Xiqiao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City.

At the age of five, Wong started learning Hung Ga from his father, Wong Kei-ying. He often accompanied his father on trips from Foshan to Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong Province, where his father peddled medicine and performed martial arts in the streets. When he was 13, he encountered Lam Fuk-sing (林福成; Lin Fucheng), an apprentice of "Iron Bridge Three" Leung Kwan, in Douchi Street in Foshan Town. Lam taught him how to use the sling and the essential moves of the martial art Iron Wire Fist. Later, he learned the Shadowless Kick from Sung Fai-tong (宋輝鏜; Song Huitang).. Wong Fei-hung was very personable like his father and made many friends in the Martial and Medical World i.e. 10 Tigers of Guandong etc. With these friendships and chance meetings he was able to be exposed to vast amounts of knowledge that were openly shared with him. For this reason he was able to enhance his father's teachings to formulate a style that included much of what is seen in Southern Chinese Styles today.

In 1863, Wong started a martial arts school in Shuijiao (水腳) in Saikwan (Xiguan), which is a present day location of Liwan District, Guangzhou City. His students were mainly metal labourers and street vendors. In 1886, Wong opened his family's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; Baozhilin), in Ren'an (仁安), which is a present day part of Xiaobei Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City. In legend, around the 1860s or 1870s, Wong was recruited by Liu Yongfu, the commander of the Black Flag Army, to be the medical officer and martial arts instructor for the regular soldiers and the local militia in Guangzhou. He also followed the Black Flag Army to fight the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895.

In 1912, the Republic of China was established following the collapse of the Qing dynasty. During the chaotic early years of the Republican era, many businessmen who operated places of entertainment in Guangzhou decided to hire guards (or bouncers) to protect their businesses on-site in case trouble broke out. As Wong was trained in martial arts, he was hired by various businesses to be one of such guards.

In 1919, when the Chin Woo Athletic Association opened a branch in Canton, Wong was invited to perform at the opening ceremony. In the same year, Wong Hon-sam, one of Wong's sons, who was working as a bodyguard in Wuzhou, Guangxi, was murdered by a rival known as "Devil Eye" Leung (鬼眼梁), who was apparently jealous that Wong Hon-sam was better than him in martial arts. Wong was so affected by this incident that he stopped teaching his other sons martial arts.

Between August and October 1924, Wong's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam, was destroyed when the Nationalist government was suppressing the uprising by the Guangzhou Merchant Volunteers Corps. Wong felt so dejected and saddened by the loss of Po Chi Lam that he fell into depression and became ill. He died from illness on 17 April 1925 in Chengxi Fangbian Hospital (城西方便醫院), which is the present day location of the Guangzhou First People's Hospital (廣州市第一人民醫院) at Panfu Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District. He was buried at the foot of Baiyun Mountain.

Wong's fourth wife, Mok Kwai-lan, and his sons, along with his students Lam Sai-wing and Dang Sai-king (鄧世瓊; Deng Shiqiong), moved to Hong Kong and opened martial arts schools there.

Wong's grave location is currently unknown. It is also believed that his grave, along with others within the cemetery were long expunged for future developments.

Fighting style
Wong was a master of Hung Ga. He systematised the predominant style of Hung Ga and choreographed its version of the Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist, which incorporates his Ten Special Fist techniques. Wong is famous for using the Shadowless Kick. He named the techniques of his skills when he performed them.

Wong was adept at using weapons, such as the staff and southern tiger fork. One tale, possibly fictional, recounts how Wong defeated a group of 30 gangsters on the docks of Guangzhou with a staff.

Among Wong's students, the more notable ones include Lam Sai-wing (林世榮; Lin Shirong), Leung Foon (梁寬; Liang Kuan), Dang Fong (Deng Fang), and Ling Wan-kai (凌雲階; Ling Yunjie).

Wong is sometimes incorrectly identified as one of the "Ten Tigers of Canton". His father, Wong Kei-ying, was one of the ten but Wong himself was not. Wong is also sometimes referred to as the "Tiger after the Ten Tigers".

According to a folklore, So Chan also taught Wong Fei-hung in drunken boxing.

Family

After his first wife died of illness in 1871, Wong was widowed for 25 years. In 1896, he married his second wife and had two sons and two daughters with her. Some time after she died of illness, Wong remarried again in 1902. His third wife bore him two sons before falling victim to a deadly illness. His fourth and final wife stayed with him from 1915 up till his death. The personal names of his first three wives are unknown. He had four known children.

 * Spouses
 * Wong's first wife was surnamed "Lo" or "Law" . She married Wong in 1871 and died of illness three months after their marriage.
 * Wong's second wife was surnamed "Ma" . She married Wong in 1896 and died of illness. She bore Wong two sons and two daughters.
 * Wong's third wife was surnamed "Sam" or "Sum" . She married Wong in 1902 and died of illness. She bore Wong two sons.
 * Wong's fourth wife, Mok Kwai-lan, married Wong in 1915. She outlived him and died in Hong Kong on 11 March 1982. As Wong believed that his first three wives died because of a curse on him, he never took another formal spouse; Mok was actually his concubine in name.

 * Sons
 * Wong Hon-syu, born to Wong's third wife.
 * Wong Hon-hei, also born to Wong's third wife.
 * Wong Hon-lam, born to Wong's second wife.
 * Wong Hon-sam, also born to Wong's second wife.

At present, there is no information on Wong's two daughters.
 * Daughters

Wong had at least three grandsons and six granddaughters. His descendants currently live in Australia, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
 * Descendants

Legacy
In 1996, the Wong Fei-hung Lion Dance Martial Arts Museum was built in his hometown in Foshan.

A Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall was built in 2000 and was officially opened in January 2001 in his honour in Foshan, Chancheng District.

Alleged photos
The first alleged photo was said to have been provided by his fourth spouse Mok Kwai-lan to Leung Ting of the Real Kung Fu (真功夫) magazine in 1976. Decades later, it was first exhibited at the Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall in 2000 and was controversially seen and even promoted by martial artists as a photo of Wong Fei-hung. This was dismissed in 2009 by New Martial Hero's article that the man in the photo was of that of his fourth son, Wong Hon-hei.

In 2005, another alleged photo of Wong Fei-hung once taken by one of his students Kwong Kei-tim (鄺祺添) was discovered by the museum staff in Hong Kong. The man in the photo bears a close resemblance to his son, whose photo was the first to be often mistaken for his own father's back then. His fourth spouse Mok Kwai-lan once stated that her husband was quite superstitious and believed that having photos taken of oneself would shorten one's lifespan, so Wong only had one picture of himself taken in his lifetime, namely the one taken by his student Kwong.

Film and television
Over 100 films and television series featuring Wong have been produced since 1949, mostly in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong actor Kwan Tak-hing starred as Wong in over 70 films between the 1940s and 1980s and earned himself the nickname "Master Wong". Other prominent actors who portrayed Wong on screen include Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China film series and Vincent Zhao in the television series Wong Fei Hung Series.

 * List of notable Wong Fei-hung films:
 * Challenge of the Masters (1976), starring Gordon Liu.
 * Drunken Master (1978), starring Jackie Chan. Yuen Siu-tien co-starred as Beggar So.
 * Magnificent Butcher (1979), starring Kwan Tak-hing. Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Wei Pak co-starred as Wong's students Wing, Foon and Chik.
 * Martial Club (1981), starring Gordon Liu.
 * Once Upon a Time in China (1991), starring Jet Li. This is the first part of a series of six films on Wong Fei-hung. Vincent Zhao took over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li in two of the movies.
 * Great Hero from China (1992), starring Chin Kar-lok.
 * Iron Monkey (1993), starring Yu Rongguang as Iron Monkey and Donnie Yen as Wong Kei-ying. Angie Tsang appeared as a young Wong Fei-hung.
 * Last Hero in China (1993), starring Jet Li.
 * Drunken Master II (1994), starring Jackie Chan. Ti Lung co-starred as Wong Kei-ying.
 * Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Sammo Hung appeared briefly as Wong Fei-hung.
 * Rise of the Legend (2014), starring Eddie Peng.
 * Television series:
 * Wong Fei Hung Series (1996) is a Hong Kong television series on five stories about Wong Fei-hung. The series was produced by Tsui Hark and starred Vincent Zhao as Wong Fei-hung. This television series is sometimes regarded as a television series counterpart to the Once Upon a Time in China films.
 * The Young Wong Fei Hung (2002) is a Chinese television series featuring Ashton Chen as young Wong Fei-hung.
 * Wong Fei Hung – Master of Kung Fu (2005) is a Hong Kong television series starring Bosco Wong.
 * Grace Under Fire (2011), a Hong Kong television series about Wong Fei-hung's concubine, Mok Kwai-lan.

Video games

 * Wong is featured as a selectable companion to the main character Lex the Bookworm from the word-forming puzzle video game Bookworm Adventures 2, released in 2009 by Popcap Games. Wong has the ability to stun the enemy and powers Lex up every 4 turns. He is unlocked after Book 5, Chapter 3. In the game, his name is misspelled as "Wong Fei-Hong."
 * Wong is introduced in 2017 as a playable character in The Curious Expedition, a video game released in 2015. In the game, he is an explorer competing with other great minds, and he uses martial arts instead of regular attack methods to fight enemies. He also appears in its sequel as one of the rival explorers.
 * The characters of Lee Rekka in SNK's The Last Blade series and Master Huang in IGS's Martial Masters are based on Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China film series.
 * Fei Fong Wong, the lead character in the Square video game Xenogears, was named after Wong Fei-hung (his name being written the same in katakana as Wong's name is written). Another protagonist, Citan Uzuki, closely resembles Wong, being both a physician and martial artist dressed in traditional Chinese garments.

Theme song
The Chinese folk song "On the General's Orders" is popularly associated with Wong Fei-hung because it was used as the theme song in various Wong Fei-hung movies. It was the opening theme of the 1978 film Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan. In the Once Upon a Time in China film series, the song's title was changed to A Man Should Better Himself. It was sung in Cantonese by George Lam and its lyrics were written by James Wong. Jackie Chan sang the song in Mandarin in the second film. The version "A Man Should Better Himself" is the best known rendition of the song to date.

A rearranged version was rewritten and sung by Dayo Wong as the theme song of Men Don't Cry.

Other appearances

 * In Will Thomas' third mystery novel, The Limehouse Text, his Victorian detective Cyrus Barker trained in martial arts in Guangdong by Wong Fei-hung.
 * Stan Sakai has mentioned his plans to include a character based on Wong Fei-hung in a future issue of his comic book Usagi Yojimbo.
 * Wong Fei-hung is a character in the collectible card game Shadowfist."Wong Fei Hung migrated to the West Bank of the Philippines in the Cagayan Valley and left behind his family of Filipino blood. And until now, his family's traditional treatment as a Chinese - Filipino a Chinese herbal medicine continues until today. his last son in the Philippines his full name is Emmanuel Chan Borja Bataller. Emmanuel Chan Borja Bataller migrated to Davao in Mindanao of the Philippines in the 1920's

title: Wong Fei-hung


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Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal (indigenous name: Isatabu) is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second-largest by population (after Malaita). The island is mainly covered in dense tropical rainforest and has a mountainous hinterland.

Guadalcanal was first charted by Westerners during the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568. The name comes from the village of Guadalcanal, in the province of Seville, in Andalusia, Spain, birthplace of Pedro de Ortega Valencia, a member of Mendaña's expedition.

During 1942 and 1943, it was the scene of the Guadalcanal campaign and saw bitter fighting between Japanese and U.S. troops. The Americans were ultimately victorious. At the end of World War II, Honiara, on the north coast of Guadalcanal, became the new capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and later the capital of independent nation of Solomon Islands.

Geography
Guadalcanal is the largest island in Solomon Islands, with a total land area of 5,302 km2, and has a population of 155,605 people, making it the second-most populous island in the country after Malaita. Mount Popomanaseu is the island's highest point and the highest in Solomon Islands, with an elevation of 7,661 ft above sea level. The Mbokokimbo River is the island's longest river, with a total length of 98.7 km.

Topography
List of peaks in Guadalcanal by elevation

 * Mount Popomanaseu – 7,661 ft
 * Mount Makarakomburu – 7,580 ft
 * Mount Tanareirei – 6,736 ft
 * Mount Namolava – 6,427 ft
 * Makaratanggoe – 6,339 ft
 * Mount Latinarau – 6,296 ft
 * Mount Kaichui – 6,273 ft
 * Mount Vatuchichi – 6,217 ft
 * Mount Tambunanguu – 6,188 ft
 * Mount Tohasa – 5,719 ft
 * Mount Pinau – 5,669 ft
 * Mount Nasuha – 5,348 ft
 * Mount Tatuve – 5,056 ft
 * Mount Ngalighombe – 4,987 ft
 * Mount Vatupochau – 4,613 ft
 * Mount Kemau – 4,596 ft
 * Mount Vatunjae – 4,491 ft
 * Mount Chaunapaho – 4,449 ft
 * Mount Tingge Tingge – 4,432 ft
 * Chupu Tambu – 4,406 ft
 * Mount Hanihanikaro – 4,262 ft
 * Mount Vatu Horoi – 4,170 ft
 * Lumulumuchichi – 4,150 ft
 * Mount Lambuhila – 4,055 ft
 * Mount Manuchuma – 4,055 ft
 * Mount Vatutora – 4,052 ft
 * Mount Rauramba – 3,930 ft
 * Mount Vausu – 3,783 ft
 * Mount Vuro – 3,681 ft
 * Mount Taluva – 3,451 ft
 * Mount Gallego – 3,415 ft
 * Mount Popori – 3,153 ft
 * Mount Valivalisi – 3,100 ft
 * Mount Na Vatu – 2,953 ft
 * Mount Tughuruloki – 2,621 ft
 * Mount Mbelapoke – 2,421 ft
 * Mount Vungana – 2,349 ft
 * Mount Esperance – 2,008 ft

River system
List of longest rivers by length

 * Mbokokimbo River – 98.7 km
 * Lungga River – 80.4 km
 * Mbalisuna River – 76.6 km
 * Mberande River – 75.5 km
 * Mongga River – 59.8 km
 * Itina River – 48.6 km
 * Aola River – 47.6 km
 * Simiu River – 46 km
 * Rere River – 43.2 km
 * Kombito River – 33.1 km
 * Matanikau River – 20.5 km
 * Koloula River – 17.2 km

Early history
The island has been settled since at least 4500–2500 BC based on archaeological finds at Poha Cave and Vatuluma Posovi. During the period 1200-800 BC, Austronesian Lapita peoples settled the islands.

A Spanish expedition from Peru in 1568 under the command of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira were the first Europeans to see the island. Mendaña's subordinate, Pedro de Ortega Valencia, named the island after his home town Guadalcanal in Andalusia, Spain. In the years that followed the discovery, the island was variously referred to as Guadarcana, Guarcana, Guadalcana, and Guadalcanar, which reflected different pronunciations of its name in Andalusian Spanish.

European settlers, whalers, and missionaries began to arrive in the 18th and 19th centuries. With these outsiders also arrived foreign institutions such as forced labour. Beginning during the 1860s, about 60,000 natives from many parts of the Solomon Islands were indentured and sent to Australia or Fiji by British authorities to work on plantations. This system continued into the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Germans and the British vied for control of the Solomons. Germany established a protectorate over the northern Solomons in 1884, while in 1893, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was proclaimed, which included the island of Guadalcanal. Germany eventually handed over most of their protectorate to Britain, though, in 1899. By the early 20th century, large agricultural plantations (specialising in copra), run mainly by Australians, were established in the region. Guadalcanal was not seriously affected by World War I. In 1932, the British confirmed the name Guadalcanal in line with the town in Andalusia, Spain.

Second World War

In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Japanese drove the Americans out of the Philippines, the British out of British Malaya, and the Dutch out of the East Indies. The Japanese then began to expand into the western Pacific, occupying many islands in an attempt to build a defensive ring around their conquests and threaten the lines of communication from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. The Japanese reached Guadalcanal in May 1942.

When an American reconnaissance mission spotted construction of a Japanese airfield at Lunga Point on the north coast of Guadalcanal, the situation became critical. This new Japanese airfield represented a threat to Australia, so the United States as a matter of urgency, despite not being adequately prepared, conducted its first amphibious landing of the war. The initial landings of the 1st Marine Division on 7 August 1942 secured the airfield without too much difficulty, but holding the airfield for the next six months was one of the most hotly contested campaigns in the entire war for the control of ground, sea, and skies.

Immediately after landing on the island, the U.S. Navy Seabees began finishing the airfield begun by the Japanese. It was then named Henderson Field after a Marine aviator killed in combat during the Battle of Midway. Aircraft operating from Henderson Field during the campaign were a hodgepodge of Marine, Army, Navy, and Allied aircraft that became known as the Cactus Air Force. They defended the airfield and threatened any Japanese ships that ventured into the vicinity during daylight hours. At night, though, Japanese naval forces were able to shell the airfield and deliver troops with supplies, retiring before daylight. The Japanese used fast ships to make these runs, and this became known as the Tokyo Express. So many ships from both sides were sunk in the many engagements in and around the Solomon Island chain that the nearby waters were referred to as Ironbottom Sound. The Battle of Cape Esperance was fought on 11 October 1942 off the northwest coast of Guadalcanal. In the battle, United States Navy ships intercepted and defeated a Japanese formation of ships on their way down "the Slot" to reinforce and resupply troops on the island, but suffered losses, as well. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November marked the turning point in which Allied naval forces took on the extremely experienced Japanese surface forces at night and forced them to withdraw after sharp action. Some Japanese viewpoints consider these engagements, and the improving Allied surface capability to challenge their surface ships at night, to be just as significant as the Battle of Midway in turning the tide against them.

After six months of hard combat in and around Guadalcanal and dealing with jungle diseases that took a heavy toll of troops on both sides, Allied forces had brought the Japanese advance to a halt. Guadalcanal was a major turning point in the war, as it stopped further Japanese expansion. Remaining Japanese forces evacuated the island at Cape Esperance on the northwest coast in February 1943. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on 9 February 1943.

Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for the campaign:
 * USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60) was a World War II escort carrier.
 * USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) was an amphibious assault ship.

To date, the only U.S. Coast Guardsman recipient of the Medal of Honor is Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro, awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism on 27 September 1942 at Point Cruz. Munro provided a shield and covering fire and helped evacuate 500 besieged Marines from a beach at Point Cruz; he was killed during the evacuation. During the Battle for Henderson Field, the Medal of Honor was also awarded to John Basilone, who later died on Iwo Jima.

After the war, American and Japanese groups have repeatedly visited Guadalcanal to search for remains of missing soldiers. Some 7,000 Japanese remain missing on the island, and islanders still bring the Japanese groups bones that the islanders say are those of unearthed Japanese soldiers.

Postwar years
Immediately after the Second World War, the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was moved to Honiara on Guadalcanal from its previous location at Tulagi in the Florida Islands. In 1952, the high commissioner for the Western Pacific moved from Fiji to Honiara, and the post was combined with that of the governor of the Solomon Islands. The airfield which was the cause of the fighting in 1942, and which became well known as Henderson Field, is now the international airport for the Solomon Islands. It sits about five miles to the east of Honiara. The secondary airfield, known as "Fighter Two", is now the local golf course.

Civil war
In early 1999, long-simmering tensions between the local Guale people on Guadalcanal and more recent migrants from the neighbouring island of Malaita erupted into violence. The Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army, later called Isatabu Freedom Movement, began terrorising Malaitans in the rural areas of the island in an effort to force them out of their homes. About 20,000 Malaitans fled to the capital, and others returned to their home island; Guale residents of Honiara fled. The city became a Malaitan enclave and the Malaita Eagle Force took over government. The Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy deployed vessels to the area to protect the expatriate community resident mostly in Honiara. In 2003, the Pacific Forum negotiated the intervention of RAMSI or Operation Helpem Fren involving Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific island nations.

Vilu War Museum
About 25 km (15 mi) from Honiara to the west, Vilu War Museum houses an outdoor collection of remains of various parts of military equipment and of several aircraft. Several memorials for the American, Australian, Fijian, New Zealand, and Japanese soldiers who died were erected, as well.

Fauna
The island hosts a native marsupial known as the phalanger or grey cuscus, Phalanger orientalis. The only other mammals are bats and rodents.

Many species of colourful parrots are found there, and estuarine crocodiles inhabit the island's shores. In recent times, these crocodiles have been found only on the Weather Coast in the south of the island, but during World War II, they were found along the north coast in the vicinity of the airstrip where the fighting was taking place, as evidenced by names such as Alligator Creek.

Venomous snakes are rare on the island and are not considered to be a serious threat, but a kind of centipede there has a particularly nasty bite. The Guadalcanal Watersheds form a site that has been identified by BirdLife International as an important bird area, because it supports populations of threatened or endemic bird species. At 376,146 ha (1,452 sq mi), it covers some 70% of the island, extending along the southern coast inland to the central highlands, and contains riverine and lowland tropical rainforest, as well as the greatest contiguous area of cloud forest in the Solomons. Although it also contains gardens and old village sites, most of it has never been permanently inhabited. Significant birds for which the site was identified include chestnut-bellied imperial pigeons, Woodford's rails, Guadalcanal moustached kingfishers, Meek's lorikeets, Guadalcanal honeyeaters, Guadalcanal thicketbirds, and Guadalcanal thrushes. Potential threats to the site include logging and invasive species.

title: Guadalcanal


text:
Non-simultaneous double squeeze

In bridge, a non-simultaneous double squeeze is a double squeeze in which the pressure is not applied to both opponents at the same trick. Before categorizing a little more about it we will show a diagram for the four basic matrices.

1) When the club ace is played West is squeezed immediately and has to shed a spade. North plays the now useless jack of hearts and East still has an idle card to throw, the three of hearts. But when the heart deuce is led up to the ace, East is squeezed on his turn in the pointed suits. This is a positional squeeze.

2) When the club ace is played West can shed a heart, but East is squeezed and has to give up his spade guard. When the heart deuce is led to the ace it is West who is squeezed in the pointed suits. This is an automatic squeeze.

3) When the club ace is played West is squeezed immediately and has to shed a spade. North plays the now useless jack of hearts and East still has an idle card to throw, the three of hearts. A spade is led to the king and the heart ace is cashed. On that card East is squeezed in the pointed suits. This is a positional squeeze.

4)When the club ace is played West is squeezed immediately and has to shed a spade. Two hearts are cashed and East is squeezed between the pointed suits on the second of them. This is an automatic squeeze.

In all double squeezes the second squeeze card is opposed to (that is in the other hand than) the first squeeze card (it could be in the same hand in diagram (2) though). The double menace is always in the same hand than the first squeeze card. In matrices (1) and (2) the second squeeze executes immediately after the first. For that reason the squeeze card is an entry to North. In matrices (3) and (4) we cross to the North hand and then execute the squeeze, two tricks later than the first one. But that could even be later as demonstrated by the following diagram, which is a somehow extreme variation of (4).

We have an eight card ending and by playing the club ace West is squeezed, forced to give up a spade. East will be squeezed five tricks later on the heart ten.

title: Non-simultaneous double squeeze


text:
Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers (Menara Berkembar Petronas), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked pair of 88-story supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at 451.9 m. From 1998 to 2004, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the completion of Taipei 101. The Petronas Towers are the world's tallest twin skyscrapers and remained the tallest buildings in Malaysia until 2019, when they were surpassed by The Exchange 106. The Petronas Towers are a major landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with the nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower and Merdeka 118, and are visible in many places across the city.

History and architecture
The Petronas Towers' structural system is a tube in tube design, invented by Bangladeshi-American architect Fazlur Rahman Khan. Applying a tube-structure for extreme tall buildings is a common phenomenon. The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements. The circular sectors are similar to the bottom part of the Qutub Minar.

The towers were designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli. A distinctive postmodern style was chosen to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Planning on the Petronas Towers started on 1 January 1992 and included rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Seven years of construction followed at the former site of the original Selangor Turf Club, beginning on 1 March 1993 with excavation, which involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down 30 m below the surface. The construction of the superstructure commenced on 1 April 1994. Interiors with furniture were completed on 1 January 1996, the spires of Tower 1 and Tower 2 were completed on 1 March 1996, 3 years after its construction was started, and the first batch of Petronas personnel moved into the building on 1 January 1997. The building was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, on 31 August 1999. The twin towers were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. It was the tallest structure in Malaysia at the time of its completion. Test boreholes found that the original construction site effectively sat on the edge of a cliff. One half of the site was decayed limestone while the other half was soft rock. The entire site was moved 61 m to allow the buildings to sit entirely on the soft rock. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. 104 concrete piles, ranging from 60 to 114 m deep, were bored into the ground. The concrete raft foundation, comprising 13200 m3 of concrete was continuously poured through a period of 54 hours for each tower. The raft is 4.6 m thick, weighs 32500 tonne and held the world record for the largest concrete pour until 2007. The foundations were completed within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete. As a result of the Malaysian government specifying that the buildings be completed in six years, two construction consortia were hired to meet the deadline, one for each tower. Tower 1, the west tower (left in the top-right photograph) was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation (JA Jones Construction Co., MMC Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, Ho Hup Construction Co. Bhd and Mitsubishi Corp) while Tower 2, the east tower (right in the top-right photograph) was built by a South Korean consortium led by the Samsung C&T Corporation (Kukdong Engineering & Construction and Syarikat Jasatera Sdn Bhd).

Early into construction a batch of concrete failed a routine strength test causing construction to come to a complete halt. All the completed floors were tested but it was found that only one had used a bad batch and it was demolished. As a result of the concrete failure, each new batch was tested before being poured. The halt in construction had cost US$700,000 per day and led to three separate concrete plants being set up on the site to ensure that if one produced a bad batch, the other two could continue to supply concrete. The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. Tower 2 (Samsung C&T) became the first to reach the world's tallest building at the time.

Due to the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation as a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 metre concrete cores and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space. Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Petronas Philharmonic Hall, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Notable events

 * On 15 April 1999, Felix Baumgartner set the world record for BASE jumping (since broken) by jumping off a window cleaning crane on the Petronas Towers.
 * Thousands of people were evacuated on 12 September 2001 after a bomb threat the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Bomb disposal squads found no explosives in the towers, but they nevertheless evacuated the premises. Workers and shoppers were allowed to return three hours later, around noon. No one was hurt during the evacuation.
 * On the evening of 4 November 2005, a fire broke out in the cinema complex of the Suria KLCC shopping centre below the Petronas Towers, triggering panic among patrons. There were no reports of injuries. The buildings were largely empty, except the shopping mall, Suria KLCC, because of the late hour; the only people involved were moviegoers and some diners in restaurants.
 * On the morning of 1 September 2009, French urban climber Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices, scaled to the top of Tower Two in just under 2 hours after two previous efforts had ended in arrest. In his first attempt on 20 March 1997, police arrested him at the 60th floor, 28 floors away from the "summit". His second attempt, on 20 March 2007, exactly 10 years later, was also stopped on the same floor, though on the other tower.

Anchor tenants
Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas and a number of its subsidiaries and associate companies, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies. A number of companies have offices in Tower Two, including SapuraOMV Upstream (Sarawak) Inc., Huawei Technologies, AVEVA, Al Jazeera English, Carigali Hess, Bloomberg, Boeing, IBM, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, McKinsey & Co, WIPRO Limited, TCS, HCLTech, Krawler, Microsoft, The Agency (a modelling company) and Reuters.

Floor distribution
(the given chart is the floor arrangement according to the level arrangement.)

Suria KLCC
Suria KLCC is a 140000 m2 upscale retail center at the foot of the Petronas Towers. It features mostly foreign luxury goods and high-street labels. Its attractions include an art gallery, an underwater aquarium and also a Science center. Boasting approximately 300 stores, Suria KLCC is touted as one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia. The Petronas Philharmonic Hall, also built at the base of the towers, is frequently associated with Suria KLCC's floorspace. During holidays or celebration days, Suria KLCC is the top spot to see the decorations especially at the main entrances and also in Centre Court. It also promotes the uniqueness and beauty of Malaysia's cultural diversity towards the visitors.

KLCC Park
Spanning 17 acre below the building is the KLCC Park with jogging and walking paths, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground.

Skybridge
The towers feature a double decker skybridge connecting the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors, holding the record for the highest 2-story bridge in the world. The skybridge also functions as a crucial design feature facilitating movement between the two towers during high winds. The bridge is 170 m above the ground and 58.4 m long, weighing 750 tons. The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors going to higher levels have to change elevators here. Dynamic analyses were performed and iterated to support the final design by studying the structural behavior of the twin towers to time-varying loads such as earthquakes and wind. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but tickets are limited to about 1,000 people per day, with around half available to be purchased online, and the other half obtained on a first-come, first-served basis. Initially, the visit was free but in 2010, the tickets started being sold by Petronas. Visitors can choose to opt for package one which is just a visit to the skybridge or go for package two to go to the skybridge and all the way to level 86. Visitors are only allowed on the 41st floor as the 42nd floor can only be used by the tenants of the building.

The skybridge also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower. The total evacuation triggered by a bomb hoax on 12 September 2001 (the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City) showed that the bridge would not be useful if both towers need to be emptied simultaneously, as the capacity of the staircases was insufficient for such an event. Plans thus call for the lifts to be used if both towers need to be evacuated, and a successful drill following the revised plan was conducted in 2005.

There is a two hinged arch that supports the skybridge with arch legs, each 51 m long, that are bolted to level 29 of each of the towers. After being constructed on the ground, the skybridge was lifted into place on the towers over a period of three days in July 1995. Residing on the 41st and 42nd floors, the skybridge connects a conference room, an executive dining room and a prayer room.

Lift system
The main bank of lifts is located in the centre of each tower. All main lifts are double-decker with the lower deck of the lift taking passengers to even-numbered floors and upper deck to odd-numbered floors. To reach an odd-numbered floor from ground level, passengers must take an escalator to the upper deck of the lift.

There are 29 double-deck passenger elevators, but there are different sets that service certain floors of the towers, specifically two sets of six of these double-deck passenger elevators to floors 1–23 and 1–37 respectively. Another set of 5 passenger lifts transport passengers to the 41st and 42nd floors where they can switch lifts to reach the upper zones of the buildings, each double-deck passenger lift with the capacity of 52 passengers or, 26 passengers per deck. There are also 6 heavy-duty elevators for utility.

The lift system information of the Petronas Towers
 * PL7A-PL7C (Tower 1) & PL8A-PL8C (Tower 2) (Parking & Podium Passenger Lift): P5-P1, C, G, 1, 2, 2M, 3–5 (PL7A & PL8A non-stop at level 2M)
 * SL6 (Tower 1) & SL7 (Tower 2) (Parking & Podium Service Lift): P5-P1, 1, 2, 2M, 3–5 (SL7 non-stop at level 2M)
 * PL14 (Tower 1) & PL15 (Tower 2) (Concert Passenger Lift): G, 2, 2M, 3, 4
 * A1-A6 (Tower 1) & A7-A12 (Tower 2) (Bank A Passenger Lift): G/1, 8–23
 * B1-B6 (Tower 1) & B7-B12 (Tower 2) (Bank B Passenger Lift): G/1, 23–37
 * - (Tower 1) & - (Tower 2) (Conference Shuttle Lift): 36, 37, 40–43
 * C1-C6 (Tower 1) & C7-C12 (Tower 2) (Bank C Passenger Lift): 41/42, 44–61
 * D1-D3 (Tower 1) & D4-D6 (Tower 2) (Bank D Passenger Lift): 41/42, 61, 69–83
 * E1-E3 (Tower 1) & E4-E6 (Tower 2) (Bank E Passenger Lift): 41/42, 61–73
 * TE1-TE2 (Tower 1) & TE3-TE4 (Tower 2) (Upper Level Passenger Lift): 83, 85, 86
 * - (Tower 1) & - (Tower 2) (Shuttle Lift): G/1, 41/42
 * S1-S2 (Tower 1) & S4-S5 (Tower 2) (Service Lift): P1, C, G, 2–6, 8–38, 40–84
 * S3 (Tower 1) & S6 (Tower 2) (Lower Level Service Lift): P1, C, G, 2–6, 8–37
 * F1-F2 (Tower 1) & F3-F4 (Tower 2) (Fireman Service Lift): P1, C, CM, G, 1–6, 8–38, 40–84, 84M1, 84M2, 85, 86 (F1 & F3 non-stop at Level 1)

Service building
The service building is to the east of the Petronas Towers and contains the chiller plant system and the cooling towers to keep the Petronas Towers cool and comfortable.

Ticketing system
In order to visit the Petronas Towers, visitors must first purchase tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or at the counter. Discounted tickets for seniors are available for those 55 years of age and above. Queues for tickets can get quite long sometimes. The complete ticketing system is provided by the Malaysian-based Longbow Technologies Sdn Bhd.

In popular culture

 * The towers are prominently featured and mentioned by name in the 1999 film Entrapment, with numerous scenes filmed at the towers, with the climax set on the skybridge. CGI was used to add slums to the bottom of the towers.
 * The towers appear in the first episode of the US TV series 24.
 * Several scenes of the Bollywood film Don: The Chase Begins Again were also filmed in the Petronas Towers and its skybridge.
 * In Part 1 of the Phineas and Ferb episode "Phineas and Ferb Save Summer!", the towers are visible during the musical number "Summer All Over the World".
 * Eidos Interactive has twice used the towers for inspiration in their video games. In the 2002 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, the Malaysia-based levels Basement Killing, The Graveyard Shift, and The Jacuzzi Job all take place in the Petronas Towers. In 2010's Just Cause 2, the fictional Panau Falls Casino is based on the Petronas Towers.
 * A 2002 episode of the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures titled "When Pigs Fly" (Season 3, Episode 6), features the towers.
 * A 2002 episode of The Amazing Race 3 ("Why Did You Have to Take Your Pants Off?!") featured the Petronas Towers as part of a task in which the competing team had to have their photograph taken in front of the towers. The towers were seen again 21 seasons later on an episode of The Amazing Race 24 ("Smarter, Not Harder").
 * The towers made an appearance in the animated series Totally Spies! in an episode titled "Man or Machine".
 * The opening of the 2010 film Fair Game had scenes with the twin towers along with the skyline of Kuala Lumpur.
 * A number of scenes for the 2012 Hong Kong-Chinese action film Viral Factor included shots of the twin towers.
 * In the 2016 film Independence Day: Resurgence, the towers are dropped onto the London Tower Bridge by aliens, with a character commenting: "They like to get the landmarks".
 * In the 2009 History Channel original program Life After People, the towers make an appearance in the episode titled "Bound and Buried", and it is stated that the towers would survive approximately 500 years without human maintenance, eventually collapsing from the weathering and erosion of Malaysia's tropical climate.
 * The towers are seen on the cover of the 2005 album Controversy Loves Company by American pop punk band The Audition.

title: Petronas Towers


text:
Dead Man

Dead Man is a 1995 American acid Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital, and Robert Mitchum in his final film performance. The movie, set in the late 19th century, follows William Blake, a meek accountant on the run after murdering a man. He has a chance encounter with enigmatic Native American spirit-guide "Nobody", who believes Blake is the reincarnation of the visionary English poet William Blake.

Described by Jarmusch as a "Psychedelic Western", the film is shot entirely in monochrome. Neil Young composed the guitar-dominated soundtrack with portions he improvised while watching the movie footage. Many have considered it a premier postmodern Western. It has been compared to Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian.

Plot
William Blake, an accountant from Cleveland, Ohio, rides by train to the frontier company town of Machine to take up a promised accounting job in the town's metal works. During the trip, the train fireman warns Blake against the enterprise. Arriving in town, Blake notes the hostility of the townsfolk towards him. He then discovers that the position has already been filled, and John Dickinson, the ferocious owner of the company, drives Blake from the workplace at gunpoint.

Jobless and without money or prospects, Blake meets Thel Russell, a former prostitute who sells paper flowers. He lets her take him home. Thel's ex-boyfriend Charlie surprises them in bed, shoots at Blake, and accidentally kills Thel when she shields Blake with her body. The bullet passes through Thel and wounds Blake, who kills Charlie with Thel's gun before climbing out the window and fleeing the town on Charlie's horse. Company owner Dickinson is Charlie's father and hires three killers — Cole Wilson, Conway Twill, and Johnny "The Kid" Pickett — to bring Blake back "dead or alive".

Blake awakens to find a large Native American man trying to dislodge the bullet from his chest. The man, calling himself Nobody, reveals that the bullet is too close to Blake's heart to remove, rendering Blake effectively a walking dead man. When he learns Blake's full name, Nobody decides Blake is a reincarnation of William Blake, a poet whom he idolizes but of whom Blake is ignorant. He decides to care for Blake and to use Native methods to help ease him into death.

Blake learns of Nobody's past, marked by prejudice from Euro-Americans who objected to his Indigenous ancestry, and equally from Native Americans who objected that his mother and father were from two opposing tribes, Piikáni and Apsáalooke, respectively. As a child, English soldiers abducted and brought him to Europe as a model savage. He was briefly educated before returning home, where his stories of the white man and his culture were laughed off by fellow Native Americans. They thus dub him Xebeche: "He who talks loud, saying nothing". Nobody resolves to escort Blake to the Pacific Ocean to return him to his proper place in the spirit world.

Blake and Nobody travel west, leaving a trail of dead and encountering wanted posters announcing growing bounties for Blake's death or capture. Nobody leaves Blake alone in the wild when he decides Blake must undergo a vision quest. On his quest, Blake kills two U.S. Marshals, experiences visions of nature spirits, and grieves over the remains of a dead fawn his pursuers accidentally kill. He paints his face with the fawn's blood and rejoins Nobody. Meanwhile, the most ferocious member of the bounty hunter posse, Cole Wilson, has killed his comrades (eating one of them) and continued his hunt alone.

At a trading post, a bigoted missionary identifies Blake and attempts to kill him but instead dies at Blake's hands. Shortly after, Blake is shot again, and his condition rapidly deteriorates. Nobody hurries to take him by the river to a Makah village and persuades the tribe to give him a canoe for Blake's ship burial. Delirious, Blake trudges through the village, where the people pity him, before he collapses from his injuries.

He awakens in a canoe on a beach wearing a Native American funeral dress. Nobody bids Blake farewell and then pushes the canoe out to sea. As he floats away, Blake sees Cole approaching Nobody. Too weak to cry out, he can only watch as the two shoot and kill each other. Looking up at the sky one last time, Blake dies as his canoe drifts out to sea.

Cast

 * Johnny Depp as William Blake, a meek accountant from Cleveland, Ohio
 * Gary Farmer as Nobody, a strong and opinionated Native American forcibly raised by whites and later given the mocking name Xebeche, or "He Who Talks Loud, Saying Nothing", by fellow natives
 * Crispin Glover as Train Fireman, a coal-covered boilerman who welcomes Blake to the "hell" of Machine
 * Lance Henriksen as Cole Wilson, an infamous bounty hunter and murderous cannibal
 * Michael Wincott as Conway Twill, a talkative bounty hunter
 * Eugene Byrd as Johnny "The Kid" Pickett, a young bounty hunter
 * John Hurt as John Scholfield, the business manager of Dickinson's factory
 * Robert Mitchum as John Dickinson, a shotgun-toting industrialist in Machine
 * Iggy Pop as Salvatore "Sally" Jenko, a cross-dressing, Bible-reading fur trader at a campsite
 * Gabriel Byrne as Charlie Dickinson, Thel's ex-boyfriend and John Dickinson's son
 * Jared Harris as Benmont Tench, a knife-toting fur trader at Sally's campsite
 * Mili Avital as Thel Russell, a former prostitute who makes and sells paper flowers
 * Billy Bob Thornton as Big George Drakoulias, a mountain man at Sally's campsite
 * Michelle Thrush as Nobody's girlfriend
 * Gibby Haynes as Man with gun in alley
 * Alfred Molina as Trading Post Missionary, a corrupt missionary and businessman

Cultural allusions
The film contains many references to William Blake poetry. Xebeche aka Nobody recites from several Blake poems, including Auguries of Innocence, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and The Everlasting Gospel. When bounty hunter Cole warns his companions against drinking from standing water, it references the Proverb of Hell (from the aforementioned Marriage), "Expect poison from standing water". Thel's name is also a reference to Blake's The Book of Thel.

The scenes with Thel culminating in the bedroom murder scene visually enact Blake's poem, "The Sick Rose": "O rose, thou art sick. / The invisible worm, / That flies in the night / In the howling storm: / Has found out thy bed / Of crimson joy: / And his dark secret love / Does thy life destroy." The film's soundtrack album and promotional music video also features Depp reciting passages from Blake's poetry to music Neil Young composed for the film.

Although the film is set in the 19th century, Jarmusch included a number of references to 20th century American culture. Benmont Tench, the man at the campsite played by Jared Harris, is named after Benmont Tench, keyboardist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Billy Bob Thornton's character, Big George Drakoulias, is named for record producer George Drakoulias. The name of Mitchum's character is a reference to rock producer Jim Dickinson.

The marshals chasing Blake are named Lee Hazlewood and Marvin Throne-berry, after Lee Hazlewood and Marv Throneberry, and also an allusion to the American actor Lee Marvin. Nobody's name ("He Who Talks Loud, Saying Nothing") is a reference to the James Brown song "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". Michael Wincott's character is shown in possession of a teddy bear. Also, when asked his name, Xebeche answers, "My name is Nobody." My Name Is Nobody was an Italian Western film from 1973 starring Henry Fonda and Terence Hill, and the clever answer of Ulysses to Polyphemus when asked the same question.

Portrayal of Native Americans
According to film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, Dead Man is generally regarded as well-researched in regard to Native American culture. The film is also described as one of few about Native Americans to be directed by a non-native that offers a nuanced understanding of the individual differences between Native American tribes with considerable detail given that is relatively free of common stereotypes. Regarding the character Nobody, Jarmusch stated: "I wanted to make an Indian character who wasn’t either a) the savage that must be eliminated, the force of nature that’s blocking the way for industrial progress, or b) the noble innocent that knows all and is another cliché. I wanted him to be a complicated human being."

The film intentionally leaves conversations in the Cree and Blackfoot languages untranslated and without subtitles, for the exclusive understanding of members of those nations, including several in-jokes aimed at Native American viewers. Nobody was also played by a First Nations actor, Gary Farmer, who is Cayuga.

Reception
The film was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

In its theatrical release, Dead Man earned $1,037,847 on a budget of $9 million. Then, it was the most expensive of Jarmusch's films, due in part to the costs of ensuring accurate period detail.

Critical responses were mixed. Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half (out of four) stars, noting "Jim Jarmusch is trying to get at something here, and I don't have a clue what it is". Desson Howe and Rita Kempley, both writing for The Washington Post, offered largely negative reviews. Greil Marcus, however, mounted a spirited defense of the film, titling his review "Dead Again: Here are 10 reasons why 'Dead Man' is the best movie of the end of the 20th century."

Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum dubbed the film an acid western, calling it "as exciting and as important as any new American movie I've seen in the 90s" and went on to write a book on the film, Dead Man (ISBN 0-85170-806-4) published by the British Film Institute. The film has a 70% approval rating on website Rotten Tomatoes based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's consensus reads: "While decidedly not for all tastes, Dead Man marks an alluring change of pace for writer-director Jim Jarmusch that demonstrates an assured command of challenging material". Metacritic reports a score of 62 out of 100 from 20 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".

In July 2010, The New York Times chief film critic A. O. Scott capped a laudatory "Critics' Picks" video review of the film by calling it "One of the very best movies of the 1990s."

The Criterion Collection added the film to their collection, due to its "profound and unique revision of the western genre".

Soundtrack
Neil Young recorded the soundtrack by improvising (mostly on his electric guitar, with some acoustic guitar, piano and organ) as he watched the newly edited film alone in a recording studio. Jarmusch encouraged Young's improvisational music, as it would add to the film's spontaneous narrative. The soundtrack album consists of seven instrumental tracks by Young, with dialog excerpts from the film and Johnny Depp reading the poetry of William Blake interspersed between the music.

In other media
Gary Farmer makes a cameo appearance as Nobody in Jarmusch's subsequent film Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, in which he repeats one of his signature lines of dialogue, "Stupid fucking white man!"

Johnny Depp makes a brief cameo as William Blake in Mika Kaurismäki's film L.A. Without a Map.

Rudy Wurlitzer's unproduced screenplay Zebulon inspired Jarmusch's film. Wurlitzer later rewrote the screenplay as the novel The Drop Edge of Yonder (2008).

title: Dead Man