text:
Form

Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.

Form may also refer to:

 * Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
 * Form (education), a class, set, or group of students
 * Form (religion), an academic term for prescriptions or norms on religious practice
 * Form, a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass used by a hare
 * Form, or rap sheet, slang for a criminal record

People

 * Andrew Form, American film producer
 * Fluent Form, Australian rapper and hip hop musician

Arts, entertainment, and media

 * Form (arts organisation), a Western Australian arts organisation
 * Form (visual art), a three-dimensional geometrical figure; one of the seven elements of art
 * Poetic form, a set of structural rules and patterns to which a poem may adhere
 * Musical form, a generic type of composition or the structure of a particular piece
 * The Forms (band), an American indie rock band

Computing and technology

 * Form (computer virus), the most common computer virus of the 1990s
 * Form (HTML), a document form used on a web page to, typically, submit user data to a server
 * Form (programming), a component-based representation of a GUI window
 * FORM (symbolic manipulation system), a program for symbolic computations
 * Google Forms, cloud-based survey software
 * Oracle Forms, a Rapid Application Development environment for developing database applications
 * Windows Forms, the graphical API within the Microsoft .NET Framework for access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements
 * XForms, an XML format for the specification of user interfaces, specifically web forms
 * Form Energy, an American energy storage startup company. It is focused on utility-scale iron-air batteries.

Martial arts

 * Kata (型 or 形), the detailed pattern of defence-and-attack
 * Taeguk (Taekwondo) (형), the "forms" used to create a foundation for the teaching of Taekwondo
 * Taolu (套路), forms used in Chinese martial arts and sport wushu

Mathematics

 * Algebraic form (homogeneous polynomial), which generalises quadratic forms to degrees 3 and more, also known as quantics or simply forms
 * Bilinear form, on a vector space V over a field F is a mapping V × V → F that is linear in both arguments
 * Differential form, a concept from differential topology that combines multilinear forms and smooth functions
 * First-order reliability method, a semi-probabilistic reliability analysis method devised to evaluate the reliability of a system
 * Indeterminate form, an algebraic expression that cannot be used to evaluate a limit
 * Modular form, a (complex) analytic function on the upper half plane satisfying a certain kind of functional equation and growth condition
 * Multilinear form, which generalises bilinear forms to mappings VN → F
 * Quadratic form, a homogeneous polynomial of degree two in a number of variables

Philosophy

 * Argument form, a.k.a. Logical form or Test form - replacing the different words, or sentences, that make up the argument with letters, along the lines of algebra; the letters represent logical variables
 * Intelligible form, a substantial form as it is apprehended by the intellect
 * Substantial form, asserts that ideas organize matter and make it intelligible
 * Theory of forms, asserts that ideas possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality
 * Value-form, an approach to understanding the origins of commodity trade and the formation of markets

Science

 * Form (botany), a formal taxon at a rank lower than species
 * Form (zoology), informal taxa used sometimes in zoology
 * Form, object of study of Morphology
 * "-form", a term used in science to describe large groups, often used in taxonomy
 * Isoform, several different forms of the same protein

Sports

 * Form (exercise), a proper way of performing an exercise
 * Form (horse racing), or racing form, a record of a racehorse's performance
 * Kata, a choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone

Other uses

 * Form (cigarette), a Finnish cigarette brand
 * Form, a backless bench formerly used for seating in dining halls, school rooms and courtrooms
 * Form, the relation a word has to a lexeme
 * Formwork, a mold used for concrete construction

title: Form


text:
Richard Farnsworth

Richard William Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000) was an American actor and stuntman. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award: in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman, and in 2000 for Best Actor in The Straight Story, making him the oldest nominee for the award at the time. Farnsworth was also known for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, as well as Anne of Green Gables (1985); Sylvester (1985), and Misery (1990).

Early life
Farnsworth was born on September 1, 1920, in Los Angeles, California. His mother was a homemaker and his father was an engineer.

Career
Farnsworth gradually moved into acting in Western movies. He made uncredited appearances in numerous films, including Gone with the Wind (1939), Red River (1948), The Wild One (1953), and The Ten Commandments (1956). In 1960, credited as Dick Farnsworth, he appeared as a Gault ranch hand in the "Street of Hate" episode of the TV Western Laramie.

He received his first acting credit in 1963 and went on to act in Western films and television shows. He had a role in Roots (1977) and co-starred with Wilford Brimley in The Boys of Twilight (1992). His breakthrough came when he played stagecoach robber Bill Miner in the 1982 Canadian film,The Grey Fox. He appeared as a baseball coach in The Natural (1984). In 1985, he was the brother to Marilla and father figure to Anne in Anne of Green Gables and starred as a soft-spoken, sage cowboy with horse training wisdom for Melissa Gilbert in Sylvester. His other prominent roles included a wealthy and ruthless oil man in The Two Jakes (1990) and the suspicious sheriff in the film version of Stephen King's Misery (1990).

Personal life and death
Farnsworth had a long marriage and had two children. After becoming a widower, he lived on a ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico.

On the night of October 6, 2000, suffering from terminal cancer that left him partially paralyzed and in great pain, Farnsworth died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico.

Awards and nominations
Comes a Horseman (1979)
 * National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor (won)
 * National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (won, tied with Robert Morley in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?)
 * Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (nominated)
 * New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (runner-up)

The Grey Fox (1982)
 * Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor (won)
 * London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actor of the Year (won, tied with James Mason in The Shooting Party)
 * Taormina Film Fest: Golden Mask (won)
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated)

Anne of Green Gables (1985)
 * Gemini Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor (won)

Chase (1985)
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (nominated)

The Straight Story (1999)
 * Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Award for Best Actor (won)
 * Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead (won)
 * New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (won)
 * Academy Award for Best Actor (nominated)
 * Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (nominated)
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated)
 * Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor (nominated)
 * Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (runner-up)
 * Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor (nominated)
 * Satellite Award for Best Actor Motion Picture – Drama (nominated)
 * Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (runner-up)

Note: Farnsworth was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1997. In addition, Farnsworth received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for his contributions in the motion pictures on August 17, 1992; the star is located at 1560 Vine Street.

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

title: Richard Farnsworth


text:
1992 in film

The year 1992 in film involved many significant film releases.

Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 1992 by worldwide gross are as follows:

Events

 * August 24 – Production begins on Jurassic Park.
 * October 29 - After just 15 months in the role, Brandon Tartikoff resigns as chairman of Paramount Pictures.
 * November 2 - 20th Century Fox chairman Joe Roth announces he is leaving to set up an independent production company at Walt Disney Studios. Roth was replaced by Peter Chernin.

By country/region

 * List of American films of 1992
 * List of Argentine films of 1992
 * List of Australian films of 1992
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 1992
 * List of British films of 1992
 * List of Canadian films of 1992
 * List of French films of 1992
 * List of Hong Kong films of 1992
 * List of Indian films of 1992
 * List of Hindi films of 1992
 * List of Kannada films of 1992
 * List of Malayalam films of 1992
 * List of Marathi films of 1992
 * List of Tamil films of 1992
 * List of Telugu films of 1992
 * List of Japanese films of 1992
 * List of Mexican films of 1992
 * List of Pakistani films of 1992
 * List of Russian films of 1992
 * List of South Korean films of 1992
 * List of Spanish films of 1992

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 1992
 * List of animated feature films of 1992
 * List of avant-garde films of 1992
 * List of crime films of 1992
 * List of comedy films of 1992
 * List of drama films of 1992
 * List of horror films of 1992
 * List of science fiction films of 1992
 * List of thriller films of 1992
 * List of western films of 1992

Births

 * January 5
 * Mike Faist, American actor
 * Suki Waterhouse, English actress, model and singer
 * January 8 - Dali Benssalah, French-Algerian actor
 * January 11 – Laysla De Oliveira, Canadian actress
 * January 19 – Logan Lerman, American actor
 * January 23 - Jack Reynor, Irish-American actor
 * January 27 - James Bloor, English writer and actor
 * January 31 - Nabiyah Be, Brazilian actress and singer
 * February 6 – Nora Fatehi, Canadian actress, model, dancer, singer, and producer
 * February 9 – Avan Jogia, Canadian actor
 * February 10 – Karen Fukuhara, American actress
 * February 11
 * Blair Dunlop, English folk musician and actor
 * Georgia Groome, actress
 * Taylor Lautner, actor
 * February 14 – Freddie Highmore, English actor
 * February 15 – Greer Grammer, actress
 * February 16 - Jimmy Tatro, American actor, comedian, writer and YouTube personality
 * February 20 - Ray Nicholson, American actor
 * February 23 - Samara Weaving, Australian actress and model
 * February 26 - Toby Sebastian, British actor and musician
 * February 29 - Jessie T. Usher, American actor
 * March 5 - Amber Anderson, English actress and model
 * March 7 - Bel Powley, English actress
 * March 10
 * Emily Osment, American actress
 * Sawyer Spielberg, American actor and director
 * March 12 - Austin Swift, American actor
 * March 13
 * George MacKay, British actor
 * Kaya Scodelario, British actress
 * March 15
 * Sosie Bacon, American actress
 * Anna Shaffer, British actress
 * March 16
 * Diego Calva, Mexican actor
 * Kim Mi-soo, South Korean actress and model (died 2022)
 * March 17
 * Eliza Bennett, English actress and singer
 * John Boyega, British actor
 * March 25 - Elizabeth Lail, American actress
 * March 26 - Haley Ramm, American actress
 * March 28 - Daisy Bevan, English actress
 * March 31 - Caitlin Carver, American actress
 * April 2 - Sammi Kane Kraft, American baseball player, musician and actress (died 2012)
 * April 4 – Alexa Nikolas, actress
 * April 8 - Shelby Young, American actress
 * April 10 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
 * April 11 - Jessica Madsen, English actress
 * April 12 – Giorgio Cantarini, actor
 * April 18 - Chloe Bennet, American actress and singer
 * April 23 – Syd tha Kyd, singer and DJ
 * April 24
 * Joe Keery, American actor and musician
 * Jack Quaid, American actor
 * April 25 - Adria Arjona, American actress
 * May 4
 * Courtney Jines, actress
 * Ashley Rickards, actress
 * Miles Robbins, American musician and actor
 * May 7 – Alexander Ludwig, actor
 * May 10 - Sophie Vavasseur, Irish actress
 * May 12 - Malcolm David Kelley, American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor
 * May 16 – Davika Hoorne, Thai actress
 * May 18 – Spencer Breslin, American actor
 * May 20 - Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
 * May 21 - Olivia Olson, American actress and singer-songwriter
 * May 29 – Erica Lindbeck, actress, voice actress
 * June 3 - Dilraba Dilmurat, Chinese actress
 * June 10 - Kate Upton, American model and actress
 * June 11 - Anna Sawai, New Zealand actress and singer of Japanese descent
 * June 12 – Ryan Malgarini, American actor
 * June 14 – Daryl Sabara, actor
 * June 23 - Yoson An, Chinese-born New Zealand actor and filmmaker
 * June 26 – Jennette McCurdy, actress and singer
 * June 27 - Vanessa Grasse, English actress
 * June 29 - Souheila Yacoub, Swiss actress
 * June 30 – Chay Suede, Brazilian actor
 * July 1 - Rhea Chakraborty, Indian actress
 * July 3 – Nathalia Ramos, actress
 * July 7 – Manjot Singh, Indian actor
 * July 8 - Sky Ferreira, American singer-songwriter and actress
 * July 9 – Douglas Booth, actor
 * July 12 – Woo Do-hwan, South Korean actor
 * July 15 - Vaishali Takkar, Indian actress (died 2022)
 * July 17
 * Jonno Davies, English actor
 * Billie Lourd, American actress
 * July 20
 * Paige Hurd, American actress
 * Jordan Rodrigues, Australian actor
 * July 22
 * Selena Gomez, actress and singer
 * Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Ukrainian-Russian actor
 * July 30 – Julia Ragnarsson, actress
 * July – Francesca Hayward, ballerina, actress, and singer
 * August 2
 * Charli XCX, English singer
 * Hallie Eisenberg, American former child actress
 * August 3 – Christine Ko, actress
 * August 4 – Dylan and Cole Sprouse, actors
 * August 12 – Cara Delevingne, British actress and model
 * August 20
 * Neslihan Atagül, actress
 * Demi Lovato, actress and singer
 * August 22 - Ari Stidham, American actor
 * August 30 - Jessica Henwick, English actress, writer and director
 * September 11 - Vinnie Bennett, New Zealand actor
 * September 12 - Alexia Fast, Canadian actress
 * September 16 – Nick Jonas, singer (Jonas Brothers)
 * September 17 - Danny Ramirez, American actor
 * September 27 - Sam Lerner, American actor
 * September 28 – Skye McCole Bartusiak, actress (died 2014)
 * September 30
 * Baifern, Thai actress
 * Ezra Miller, actor
 * October 3 - Lyna Khoudri, French-Algerian actress
 * October 9 – Tyler James Williams, actor
 * October 11 - Cardi B, American rapper and actress
 * October 12 – Josh Hutcherson, actor
 * October 13 – Aaron Dismuke, voice actor
 * October 15
 * Ncuti Gatwa, Rwandan-Scottish actor
 * Vincent Martella, American actor, voice actor and singer
 * October 17
 * Nanami Sakuraba, Japanese actress
 * Barry Keoghan, actor
 * October 21
 * Hari Nef, American actress
 * Natasha Bassett, Australian actress
 * October 30 - Tequan Richmond, American actor and rapper
 * October 31 - Vanessa Marano, American actress
 * November 6 - Robert Aramayo, English actor
 * November 7 - Mary Chieffo, American actress
 * November 10 - Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, Bangladeshi actress and model
 * November 11 - Ashleigh Cummings, Australian actress
 * November 18
 * John Karna, American actor
 * Nathan Kress, American actor
 * November 23 – Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer
 * December 8 - Katie Stevens, American actress and singer
 * December 10 - Melissa Roxburgh, Canadian actress
 * December 14 - Tori Kelly, American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer
 * December 17
 * Jordan Garrett, American actor
 * Thomas Law, English actor
 * December 18 – Bridgit Mendler, American singer and actress
 * December 22 - Shioli Kutsuna, Japanese-Australian actress
 * December 23 - Spencer Daniels, American actor

title: 1992 in film


text:
User:Gbleem

Fork Wikipedia
There is one thing that I have seen in open source software that I have seen very little of in relation to Wikipedia. That is forking. There are some forks out there but not enough. Get some space on a server and get out there and fork Wikipedia.

I'm Jeff. I'm a 39 year old man (as of 2007, b. June 2, 1968) living in a little town in the mountains in South Korea next to some cows. Before October of 2006 I was living in Kansas City, Missouri.

Personal Sandbox

Fred Rogers
He wasn't a sniper or ever in the armed forces. See Fred RogersKairos (talk) 23:37, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

title: User:Gbleem


text:
1991 in film

The year 1991 in film involved numerous significant events. Notable films released this year included The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Thelma & Louise, JFK, Boyz n the Hood, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 1991 by worldwide gross are as follows:

Events

 * February 14 – The Silence of the Lambs is released and becomes only the third film after It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) to win the top five categories at the Academy Awards: Best Picture; Best Director (Jonathan Demme); Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins); Best Actress (Jodie Foster); and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally). It is also the first, and to date only, Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film.
 * March 20 - Frank Mancuso Sr. leaves as the head of Paramount Pictures.
 * July 1 - Brandon Tartikoff is appointed as chairman of Paramount Pictures.
 * July 3 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.
 * August 7 - Sony Pictures Entertainment is formed, acquiring Columbia Pictures Industries. As a result of this new formation, Tri-Star Pictures drops the hyphen from its name and becomes TriStar Pictures, while RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video becomes Columbia-TriStar Home Video.
 * October – Mark Canton replaces Frank Price as chairman of Columbia Pictures.
 * November 22 – Walt Disney Pictures releases Beauty and the Beast, based on the original fairy tale and Jean Cocteau's 1946 film. The film became one of the most prestigious and greatest animated and romantic films in cinema history. It went on to become the first animated film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Awards
Academy Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
 * Barton Fink, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, United States

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
 * Close to Eden (Urga), directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, France / USSR

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
 * La Casa del sorriso (The House of Smiles), directed by Marco Ferreri, Italy

By country/region

 * List of American films of 1991
 * List of Argentine films of 1991
 * List of Australian films of 1991
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 1991
 * List of British films of 1991
 * List of Canadian films of 1991
 * List of French films of 1991
 * List of Hong Kong films of 1991
 * List of Indian films of 1991
 * List of Hindi films of 1991
 * List of Kannada films of 1991
 * List of Malayalam films of 1991
 * List of Marathi films of 1991
 * List of Tamil films of 1991
 * List of Telugu films of 1991
 * List of Japanese films of 1991
 * List of Mexican films of 1991
 * List of Pakistani films of 1991
 * List of South Korean films of 1991
 * List of Soviet films of 1991
 * List of Spanish films of 1991

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 1991
 * List of animated feature films of 1991
 * List of avant-garde films of 1991
 * List of crime films of 1991
 * List of comedy films of 1991
 * List of drama films of 1991
 * List of horror films of 1991
 * List of science fiction films of 1991
 * List of thriller films of 1991
 * List of western films of 1991

Births

 * January 1 - Mark L. Young, American actor
 * January 2 – Ben Hardy, English actor
 * January 4 – Charles Melton, American actor and model
 * January 7 - Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, American actress and singer
 * January 9 - Laura-Leigh, American actress
 * January 13
 * Genevieve Gaunt, English actress
 * Jennifer Paredes, American Actress
 * January 15
 * Ayeza Khan, Pakistani actress and model
 * Lulu Popplewell, English comedian and actress
 * January 17 – Willa Fitzgerald, American actress
 * January 18 – Britt McKillip, Canadian actress, singer
 * January 19 – Erin Sanders, American actress
 * January 21
 * Craig Roberts, Welsh actor and director
 * Brittany Tiplady, Canadian actress
 * January 25
 * Ariana DeBose, American actress, dancer and singer
 * Rupert Simonian, British actor
 * January 27 – Cristo Fernández, Mexican actor
 * January 28 – Calum Worthy, Canadian actor, musician
 * February 10 – Emma Roberts, American actress
 * February 12 – Tanaya Beatty, Canadian actress
 * February 17
 * Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter
 * Bonnie Wright, English actress
 * February 18 – Malese Jow, American actress
 * February 21
 * Joe Alwyn, English actor
 * Rose Reynolds, British actress and singer
 * February 24 - O'Shea Jackson Jr., American actor and rapper
 * February 25 – Tony Oller, American singer, songwriter and actor
 * February 26 - Lex Scott Davis, American actress
 * February 28
 * Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
 * Rudy Mancuso, American internet personality, musician and actor
 * March 2 – Jake Picking, German-born American actor
 * March 5 – Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, English-Australian actress
 * March 6 – Tyler, The Creator, American rapper
 * March 7 – Daisy Head, English actress
 * March 8 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor
 * March 9 – Domo Genesis, American rapper
 * March 12 - Lauren Holt, American actress, comedian and singer
 * March 17 – Kristjan Lüüs, Estonian actor
 * March 19 – Garrett Clayton, American actor
 * March 22 - Dominique Fishback, American actress
 * March 23 – Madelyn Deutch, American actress, director, musician and writer
 * March 25 – Seychelle Gabriel, American actress
 * March 28 – Amy Bruckner, American actress
 * March 29
 * Irene, South Korean singer, rapper and actress
 * Samantha Win, Canadian actress
 * March 31 – Elliot Barnes-Worrell, English actor
 * April 4 – Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress
 * April 7 - Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter and actress
 * April 9 – Amber Lee Connors, American voice actress
 * April 10
 * AJ Michalka, American singer and actress
 * Sergiusz Żymełka, Polish actor
 * April 13 – Dylan Penn, American actress and model
 * April 19 – Mehazabien Chowdhury, Bangladeshi actress and model
 * April 21 – Frank Dillane, English actor
 * April 22 – Leonie Benesch, German actor
 * May 6 – Shamier Anderson, Canadian actor
 * May 17 – Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor, comedian and rapper
 * May 21 – Sarah Ramos, American actress
 * June 1 – Zazie Beetz, American actress
 * June 7 – Emily Ratajkowski, English-born American actress and model
 * June 11 – Kärt Tammjärv, Estonian actress
 * June 15 – Lindsay Seidel, American voice actress
 * June 18 – Willa Holland, American actress
 * June 24 – Dexter Darden, American actor
 * June 26 – Will Attenborough, British actor
 * June 28 - Daniel Zovatto, Costa Rican-American actor
 * June 29
 * Tajja Isen, Canadian actress and singer-songwriter
 * Addison Timlin, American actress
 * July 5 – Jason Dolley, American actor
 * July 6 – Victoire Thivisol, French actress
 * July 7 – Eve Hewson, Irish actress
 * July 8 – Thuso Mbedu, South African actress
 * July 9 – Mitchel Musso, American actor
 * July 11 – Kentaro Sakaguchi, actor and model
 * July 12 – Erik Per Sullivan, American actor
 * July 16 – Alexandra Shipp, American actress
 * July 29 – Jahmil French, Canadian actor (died 2021)
 * August 4 - Lucinda Dryzek, English actress
 * August 12 – Lakeith Stanfield, American actor
 * August 13 - Nikita Hopkins, American screenwriter, visual artist and former child voice actor
 * August 16 – Evanna Lynch, Irish actress
 * August 17 – Austin Butler, American actor
 * August 22 – Naomi Ackie, English actress
 * August 23 - Jake Manley, Canadian actor
 * August 26 – Dylan O'Brien, American actor
 * August 27 – Young Mazino, American actor
 * August 28 – Kyle Massey, American actor
 * September 4 - Carter Jenkins, American actor
 * September 5 – Skandar Keynes, English actor
 * September 9
 * Yang Yang, Chinese actor
 * Kelsey Chow, American actress
 * September 17 – Mena Massoud, Egyptian-born Canadian actor and singer
 * September 19 – Tyler Neitzel, American actor
 * September 20 – Spencer Locke, American actress
 * September 25 – Alix Bénézech, French actress
 * September 27 – Thomas Mann, American actress
 * October 3 - Derek Klena, American actor and singer
 * October 5 – Xiao Zhan, Chinese actor
 * October 6 – Roshon Fegan, American actor, dancer, and rapper
 * October 18
 * Tyler Posey, American actor and musician
 * Toby Regbo, English actor
 * October 19 – Samantha Robinson, American actress
 * October 23 – Sophie Oda, American actress
 * October 25 – Lorina Kamburova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2021)
 * October 27 – Bryan Craig, American actor
 * October 28 – Mart Müürisepp, Estonian actor
 * October 31 – Jordan-Claire Green, American actress
 * November 1 – Anthony Ramos, American actor and singer-songwriter
 * November 4 – Tanya Reynolds, English actress
 * November 8 – Riker Lynch, American actor, singer, musician
 * November 10 - Genevieve Buechner, Canadian actress
 * November 11
 * Christa B. Allen, American actress
 * Travis Tope, American actor
 * November 13
 * Matt Bennett, American actor
 * Devon Bostick, Canadian actor
 * November 15 – Shailene Woodley, American actress
 * December 12 – Jaime Lorente, Spanish actor
 * December 15 – Eunice Cho, American actress
 * December 19 – Keiynan Lonsdale, Australian actor, dancer and singer-songwriter
 * December 20
 * Jillian Rose Reed, American actress
 * Colin Woodell, American actor
 * December 24 – Sofia Black-D'Elia, American actress
 * December 27 - Chloe Bridges, American actress

title: 1991 in film


text:
Sweet and Lowdown

Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film La Strada, the film tells the story of jazz guitarist Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn) who falls in love with mute laundress Hattie (Samantha Morton). Like several of Allen's other films (e.g., Zelig), the film is occasionally interrupted by interviews with critics and biographers like Allen, Nat Hentoff, Daniel Okrent, and Douglas McGrath, who comment on the film's plot as if the characters were real-life people.

The film received generally positive reviews upon release, with Penn and Morton receiving Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

Plot
Emmet Ray is a jazz guitarist who achieved some acclaim in the 1930s with a handful of recordings for RCA Victor, but faded from public view under mysterious circumstances. Although he is a talented musician, Ray's personal life fell into shambles after his disappearance from public view. He's often late in or even absent from performances with his quintet due to heavy drinking. He spends extravagantly, and is a womanizer and a pimp. When he's not playing music or pursuing women, he shoots rats at garbage dumps and watches passing trains.

Ray idolizes famed guitarist Django Reinhardt, so much that he's said to have fled a nightclub performance with severe stage fright upon hearing a false rumor that Reinhardt was in the audience.

On a double date with his drummer, Ray meets Hattie, a shy, mute laundress. After overcoming initial frustration due to communication difficulties, Ray and Hattie form an affectionate and close relationship. However, Ray is convinced that a musician of his stature should never settle down with one woman. Because of this, Ray marries socialite Blanche Williams. But Williams sees Ray as a colorful example of lower-class life and a source of inspiration for her literary writing. During their marriage, Ray is tormented by nightmares and shouts out Hattie's name in his sleep.

When Williams cheats on Ray with mobster Al Torrio, Ray leaves her and finds Hattie. He assumes that she will take him back, but discovers that she is happily married and raising a family. Ray is despondent, and laments that leaving Hattie was a mistake. Woody Allen and the rest of the documentary experts remark that Ray's final compositions were legendary, finally reaching the quality of Reinhardt's.

Cast

 * Sean Penn as Emmet Ray
 * Samantha Morton as Hattie
 * Anthony LaPaglia as Al Torrio
 * Uma Thurman as Blanche Williams
 * James Urbaniak as Henry
 * John Waters as Mr. Haynes
 * Gretchen Mol as Ellie
 * Denis O'Hare as Jake
 * Molly Price as Ann
 * Brian Markinson as Bill Shields
 * Tony Darrow as Ben
 * Daniel Okrent as A.J. Pickman
 * Brad Garrett as Joe Bedloe
 * Kaili Vernoff as Gracie
 * Ben Duncan as Himself
 * Douglas McGrath as Himself
 * Nat Hentoff as Himself
 * Woody Allen as Himself

Development
After his 1969 directing debut Take the Money and Run, Allen signed a contract to direct a series of films with United Artists. Told to "write what you want to write," Allen, a clarinetist and avid jazz enthusiast, wrote The Jazz Baby, a drama screenplay about a jazz musician set in the 1930s. Allen said later that the United Artists executives were "stunned ... because they had expected a comedy. [They] were very worried and told me, 'We realize that we signed a contract with you and you can do anything you want. But we want to tell you that we really don't like this.'" Allen went along with United Artists, writing and directing Bananas instead. In 1995, he dismissed The Jazz Baby as having been "probably too ambitious."

In 1998, Allen returned to the project, rewriting the script and changing its name to Sweet and Lowdown. Allen had originally planned to play Ray himself, but eventually cast Sean Penn. Allen also considered Johnny Depp, but Depp was busy at the time. Penn had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but Allen later said, "I had no problem with him whatsoever ... He gave it his all and took direction and made contributions himself ... a tremendous actor."

Allen, in a retrospective, said that he told Samantha Morton to "play [her] part like Harpo Marx. And she said, 'Who is Harpo Marx?' and I realized how young she was. Then I told her about him [and] she went back and saw the films."

Filming
Sweet and Lowdown was filmed entirely in New York and New Jersey but is set in the Chicago area and California.

The film was the first of Allen's that was edited by Alisa Lepselter, who has edited all of Allen's films since. Lepselter succeeded Susan E. Morse, who edited Allen's films for the previous twenty years.

It was also the first of three films where Allen collaborated with Chinese cinematographer Zhao Fei. Allen had first noticed Zhao with his award-winning work on Raise the Red Lantern, some years earlier.

Music
The music for the film was arranged and conducted by Dick Hyman. All of the guitar solos are played by guitarist Howard Alden.

Additional rhythm guitarists were Bucky Pizzarelli and James Chirillo. Chirillo played rhythm guitar on the track "Sweet Georgia Brown." Pizzarelli created all other rhythm tracks.

Soundtrack

 * When Day Is Done (1926) - Written by Robert Katscher – Performed by Django Reinhardt
 * Clarinet Marmalade (1918) – Written by Larry Shields and Henry Ragas – Performed by Ted Lewis and His Orchestra
 * Parlez-moi d'Amour (1930) – Written by Jean Lenoir – Performed by Howard Alden
 * Mystery Pacific (1936–7) – Written by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli – Performed by Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli and [Kelly Friesen
 * Limehouse Blues (1922) – Lyrics by Philip Braham – Written by Douglas Furber – Arranged by Dick Hyman
 * It Don't Mean a Thing (1931) – Lyrics by Irving Mills – Written by Duke Ellington
 * Out of Nowhere (1931) – Lyrics by Edward Heyman – Written by Johnny Green
 * I'll See You in My Dreams (1924) – Lyrics by Gus Kahn – Written by Isham Jones
 * Sweet Georgia Brown (1925) – Music by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard – Lyrics by Kenneth Casey
 * Unfaithful Woman (1999) – Written by Dick Hyman
 * Shine (1910) – Lyrics by Cecil Mack, Lew Brown – Music by Ford Dabney
 * After You've Gone (1918) – Lyrics by Henry Creamer – Written by Turner Layton
 * I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles (1919) – Lyrics by James Brockman, Nat Vincent, James Kendis – Music by John W. Kellette
 * There'll Be Some Changes Made (1921) – Lyrics by Billy Higgins – Music by W. Benton Overstreet
 * Viper Mad (1937) – Written by Clarence Williams (musician) and Sidney Bechet – Performed by Sidney Bechet
 * Indiana (1917) – Written by Ballard MacDonald and James F. Hanley – Performed by Red Nichols
 * Aloha Oe (1908) – Written by Queen Liliuokalani – Performed by Dick Monday
 * Abide with Me (1847) – Lyrics by Henry F. Lyte – Music by William H. Monk
 * 12th Street Rag (1919) – Written by Euday L. Bowman – Performed by Howard Alden
 * The Peanut Vendor (1927) – Written by Moïse Simons – English Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Marion Sunshine
 * All of Me (1931) – Written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons
 * Caravan (1936) – Written by Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol and Irving Mills – Performed by Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra
 * Old Fashioned Love (1923) – Music by James P. Johnson – Lyrics by Cecil Mack
 * Just A Gigolo (1929) – Written by Irving Caesar – Written by Leonello Casucci and Julius Brammer
 * Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You) (1931) – Lyrics by Bert Kalmar – Music by Harry Ruby
 * 3:00 AM Blues (1999) – Written by Dick Hyman
 * Liebestraum No. 3 (1850) – Written by Franz Liszt – Performed by Django Reinhardt
 * Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down (1927) – Written by Ray Ludwig and Howdy Quicksell – Performed by Bix Beiderbecke
 * Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (1931) – Lyrics by Ted Koehler, Billy Moll – Music by Harry Barris
 * Hot Lips (1922) – Written by Henry Busse, Henry Lange and Lou Davis – Performed by Henry Busse and His Orchestra
 * You Were Meant for Me (1929) – Lyrics by Arthur Freed – Music by Nacio Herb Brown
 * Avalon (1920) – Written by Buddy G. DeSylva, Al Jolson and Vincent Rose – Performed by Django Reinhardt
 * Lulu's Back in Town (1935) – Music by Harry Warren – Lyrics by Al Dubin
 * Sweet Sue, Just You (1928) – Lyrics by Will J. Harris – Music by Victor Young – Performed by Howard Alden

Reception
Sweet and Lowdown received generally positive reviews from critics. It currently holds a 77% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 61 reviews, with the consensus: "Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting." The film carries a 70 on Metacritic indicating generally favorable reviews.

Morton's performance was met with critical acclaim, with Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek saying that she "quietly explodes [the film] ... Her performance is like nothing I've seen in recent years."

Awards and nominations
Sweet and Lowdown was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Penn) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Morton). The pair were also nominated for Golden Globe Awards in the acting categories for Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. The film received three nominations from the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay.

In addition, Morton was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, the National Society of Film Critics Awards, and for an Empire Award for Best British Actress. At the London Film Critics Circle Awards, Morton won British Supporting Actress of the Year.

title: Sweet and Lowdown


text:
Z-transform

In mathematics and signal processing, the Z-transform converts a discrete-time signal, which is a sequence of real or complex numbers, into a complex valued frequency-domain (the z-domain or z-plane) representation.

It can be considered a discrete-time equivalent of the Laplace transform (the s-domain or s-plane). This similarity is explored in the theory of time-scale calculus.

While the continuous-time Fourier transform is evaluated on the s-domain's vertical axis (the imaginary axis), the discrete-time Fourier transform is evaluated along the z-domain's unit circle. The s-domain's left half-plane maps to the area inside the z-domain's unit circle, while the s-domain's right half-plane maps to the area outside of the z-domain's unit circle.

One of the means of designing digital filters is to take analog designs, subject them to a bilinear transform which maps them from the s-domain to the z-domain, and then produce the digital filter by inspection, manipulation, or numerical approximation. Such methods tend not to be accurate except in the vicinity of the complex unity, i.e. at low frequencies.

History
The foundational concept now recognized as the Z-transform, which is a cornerstone in the analysis and design of digital control systems, was not entirely novel when it emerged in the mid-20th century. Its embryonic principles can be traced back to the work of the French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace, who is better known for the Laplace transform, a closely related mathematical technique. However, the explicit formulation and application of what we now understand as the Z-transform were significantly advanced in 1947 by Witold Hurewicz and colleagues. Their work was motivated by the challenges presented by sampled-data control systems, which were becoming increasingly relevant in the context of radar technology during that period. The Z-transform provided a systematic and effective method for solving linear difference equations with constant coefficients, which are ubiquitous in the analysis of discrete-time signals and systems.

The method was further refined and gained its official nomenclature, "the Z-transform," in 1952, thanks to the efforts of John R. Ragazzini and Lotfi A. Zadeh, who were part of the sampled-data control group at Columbia University. Their work not only solidified the mathematical framework of the Z-transform but also expanded its application scope, particularly in the field of electrical engineering and control systems.

The development of the Z-transform did not halt with Ragazzini and Zadeh. A notable extension, known as the modified or advanced Z-transform, was later introduced by Eliahu I. Jury. Jury's work extended the applicability and robustness of the Z-transform, especially in handling initial conditions and providing a more comprehensive framework for the analysis of digital control systems. This advanced formulation has played a pivotal role in the design and stability analysis of discrete-time control systems, contributing significantly to the field of digital signal processing.

Interestingly, the conceptual underpinnings of the Z-transform intersect with a broader mathematical concept known as the method of generating functions, a powerful tool in combinatorics and probability theory. This connection was hinted at as early as 1730 by Abraham de Moivre, a pioneering figure in the development of probability theory. De Moivre utilized generating functions to solve problems in probability, laying the groundwork for what would eventually evolve into the Z-transform. From a mathematical perspective, the Z-transform can be viewed as a specific instance of a Laurent series, where the sequence of numbers under investigation is interpreted as the coefficients in the (Laurent) expansion of an analytic function. This perspective not only highlights the deep mathematical roots of the Z-transform but also illustrates its versatility and broad applicability across different branches of mathematics and engineering.

Definition
The Z-transform can be defined as either a one-sided or two-sided transform. (Just like we have the one-sided Laplace transform and the two-sided Laplace transform.)

Bilateral Z-transform
The bilateral or two-sided Z-transform of a discrete-time signal $$x[n]$$ is the formal power series $$X(z)$$ defined as:

$$

where $$n$$ is an integer and $$z$$ is, in general, a complex number. In polar form, $$z$$ may be written as:
 * $$z = A e^{j\phi} = A\cdot(\cos{\phi}+j\sin{\phi})$$

where $$A$$ is the magnitude of $$z$$, $$j$$ is the imaginary unit, and $$\phi$$ is the complex argument (also referred to as angle or phase) in radians.

Unilateral Z-transform
Alternatively, in cases where $$x[n]$$ is defined only for $$n \ge 0$$, the single-sided or unilateral Z-transform is defined as:

$$

In signal processing, this definition can be used to evaluate the Z-transform of the unit impulse response of a discrete-time causal system.

An important example of the unilateral Z-transform is the probability-generating function, where the component $$x[n]$$ is the probability that a discrete random variable takes the value. The properties of Z-transforms (listed in ) have useful interpretations in the context of probability theory.

Inverse Z-transform
The inverse Z-transform is:

$$

where $$C$$ is a counterclockwise closed path encircling the origin and entirely in the region of convergence (ROC). In the case where the ROC is causal (see Example 2), this means the path $$C$$ must encircle all of the poles of $$X(z)$$.

A special case of this contour integral occurs when $$C$$ is the unit circle. This contour can be used when the ROC includes the unit circle, which is always guaranteed when $$X(z)$$ is stable, that is, when all the poles are inside the unit circle. With this contour, the inverse Z-transform simplifies to the inverse discrete-time Fourier transform, or Fourier series, of the periodic values of the Z-transform around the unit circle:

$$

The Z-transform with a finite range of $$n$$ and a finite number of uniformly spaced $$z$$ values can be computed efficiently via Bluestein's FFT algorithm. The discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT)—not to be confused with the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)—is a special case of such a Z-transform obtained by restricting $$z$$ to lie on the unit circle.

Region of convergence
The region of convergence (ROC) is the set of points in the complex plane for which the Z-transform summation converges (i.e. doesn't blow up in magnitude to infinity):

 * $$\mathrm{ROC} = \left\{ z : \left|\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}x[n]z^{-n}\right| < \infty \right\} $$

Example 1 (no ROC)
Let $$x[n] = (.5)^n\. $$ Expanding $$x[n]$$ on the interval $$(-\infty, \infty)$$ it becomes

 * $$x[n] = \left \{\dots, (.5)^{-3}, (.5)^{-2}, (.5)^{-1}, 1, (.5), (.5)^2, (.5)^3, \dots \right \} = \left \{\dots, 2^3, 2^2, 2, 1, (.5), (.5)^2, (.5)^3, \dots \right\}.$$

Looking at the sum

 * $$\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}x[n]z^{-n} \to \infty.$$

Therefore, there are no values of $$z$$ that satisfy this condition.

Example 2 (causal ROC)

Let $$x[n] = (.5)^n \, u[n] $$ (where $$u$$ is the Heaviside step function). Expanding $$x[n]$$ on the interval $$(-\infty, \infty)$$ it becomes

 * $$x[n] = \left \{\dots, 0, 0, 0, 1, (.5), (.5)^2, (.5)^3, \dots \right \}.$$

Looking at the sum

 * $$\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}x[n]z^{-n} = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}(.5)^nz^{-n} = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\left(\frac{.5}{z}\right)^n = \frac{1}{1 - (.5)z^{-1}}.$$

The last equality arises from the infinite geometric series and the equality only holds if $$|(.5)z^{-1}| < 1 ,$$ which can be rewritten in terms of $$z$$ as $$|z| > (.5).$$ Thus, the ROC is $$|z| > (.5).$$ In this case the ROC is the complex plane with a disc of radius 0.5 at the origin "punched out".

Example 3 (anti causal ROC)

Let $$x[n] = -(.5)^n \, u[-n-1] $$ (where $$u$$ is the Heaviside step function). Expanding $$x[n]$$ on the interval $$(-\infty, \infty)$$ it becomes

 * $$x[n] = \left \{ \dots, -(.5)^{-3}, -(.5)^{-2}, -(.5)^{-1}, 0, 0, 0, 0, \dots \right \}.$$

Looking at the sum

 * $$\begin{align}

\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}x[n] \, z^{-n} &= -\sum_{n=-\infty}^{-1}(.5)^n \, z^{-n} \\ &= -\sum_{m=1}^{\infty}\left(\frac{z}{.5}\right)^{m} \\ &= -\frac{(.5)^{-1}z}{1 - (.5)^{-1}z} \\ &= -\frac{1}{(.5)z^{-1}-1} \\ &= \frac{1}{1 - (.5)z^{-1}} \\ \end{align}$$

and using the infinite geometric series again, the equality only holds if $$|(.5)^{-1} z| < 1$$ which can be rewritten in terms of $$z$$ as $$|z| < (.5).$$ Thus, the ROC is $$|z| < (.5).$$ In this case the ROC is a disc centered at the origin and of radius 0.5.

What differentiates this example from the previous example is only the ROC. This is intentional to demonstrate that the transform result alone is insufficient.

Examples conclusion
Examples 2 & 3 clearly show that the Z-transform $$X(z)$$ of $$x[n]$$ is unique when and only when specifying the ROC. Creating the pole–zero plot for the causal and anticausal case show that the ROC for either case does not include the pole that is at 0.5. This extends to cases with multiple poles: the ROC will never contain poles.

In example 2, the causal system yields a ROC that includes $$|z| = \infty$$ while the anticausal system in example 3 yields an ROC that includes $$|z| = 0 .$$

In systems with multiple poles it is possible to have a ROC that includes neither $$|z| = \infty$$ nor $$|z| = 0 .$$ The ROC creates a circular band. For example,

 * $$x[n] = (.5)^n \, u[n] - (.75)^n \, u[-n-1]$$

has poles at 0.5 and 0.75. The ROC will be 0.5 < $|z|$ < 0.75, which includes neither the origin nor infinity. Such a system is called a mixed-causality system as it contains a causal term $$(.5)^n \, u[n]$$ and an anticausal term $$-(.75)^n \, u[-n-1] .$$

The stability of a system can also be determined by knowing the ROC alone. If the ROC contains the unit circle (i.e., $|z|$ = 1) then the system is stable. In the above systems the causal system (Example 2) is stable because $|z|$ > 0.5 contains the unit circle.

Let us assume we are provided a Z-transform of a system without a ROC (i.e., an ambiguous $$x[n]$$). We can determine a unique $$x[n]$$ provided we desire the following:
 * Stability
 * Causality

For stability the ROC must contain the unit circle. If we need a causal system then the ROC must contain infinity and the system function will be a right-sided sequence. If we need an anticausal system then the ROC must contain the origin and the system function will be a left-sided sequence. If we need both stability and causality, all the poles of the system function must be inside the unit circle.

The unique $$x[n]$$ can then be found.

Properties
Parseval's theorem
 * $$\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty} x_1[n]x^*_2[n] \quad = \quad \frac{1}{j2\pi}\oint_C X_1(v)X^*_2(\tfrac{1}{v^*})v^{-1}\mathrm{d}v$$

Initial value theorem: If $$x[n]$$ is causal, then
 * $$x[0]=\lim_{z\to \infty}X(z).$$

Final value theorem: If the poles of $$(z - 1) X(z)$$ are inside the unit circle, then
 * $$x[\infty]=\lim_{z\to 1}(z-1)X(z).$$

Table of common Z-transform pairs
Here:
 * $$u : n \mapsto u[n] = \begin{cases} 1, & n \ge 0 \\ 0, & n < 0 \end{cases}$$

is the unit (or Heaviside) step function and
 * $$\delta : n \mapsto \delta[n] = \begin{cases} 1, & n = 0 \\ 0, & n \ne 0 \end{cases}$$

is the discrete-time unit impulse function (cf Dirac delta function which is a continuous-time version). The two functions are chosen together so that the unit step function is the accumulation (running total) of the unit impulse function.

Relationship to Fourier series and Fourier transform
For values of $$z$$ in the region $$|z| {=} 1$$, known as the unit circle, we can express the transform as a function of a single real variable $$\omega$$ by defining $$z {=} e^{j \omega}.$$ And the bi-lateral transform reduces to a Fourier series:

$$

which is also known as the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) of the $$x[n]$$ sequence. This $$2\pi$$-periodic function is the periodic summation of a Fourier transform, which makes it a widely used analysis tool. To understand this, let $$X(f)$$ be the Fourier transform of any function, $$x(t)$$, whose samples at some interval $$T$$ equal the $$x[n]$$ sequence. Then the DTFT of the $$x[n]$$ sequence can be written as follows.

$$

where $$T$$ has units of seconds, $$f$$ has units of hertz. Comparison of the two series reveals that $$ \omega {=} 2\pi fT$$ is a normalized frequency with unit of radian per sample. The value $$\omega{=}2\pi$$ corresponds to $ f {=} \frac{1}{T}$. And now, with the substitution $ f{=}\frac{\omega }{2\pi T},$ $$ can be expressed in terms of $$X( \tfrac{\omega - 2\pi k}{2\pi T} )$$ (a Fourier transform):

$$

As parameter T changes, the individual terms of $$ move farther apart or closer together along the f-axis. In $$ however, the centers remain 2$\pi$ apart, while their widths expand or contract. When sequence $$x(nT)$$ represents the impulse response of an LTI system, these functions are also known as its frequency response. When the $$x(nT)$$ sequence is periodic, its DTFT is divergent at one or more harmonic frequencies, and zero at all other frequencies. This is often represented by the use of amplitude-variant Dirac delta functions at the harmonic frequencies. Due to periodicity, there are only a finite number of unique amplitudes, which are readily computed by the much simpler discrete Fourier transform (DFT). (See .)

Bilinear transform
The bilinear transform can be used to convert continuous-time filters (represented in the Laplace domain) into discrete-time filters (represented in the Z-domain), and vice versa. The following substitution is used:
 * $$s =\frac{2}{T} \frac{(z-1)}{(z+1)}$$

to convert some function $$H(s)$$ in the Laplace domain to a function $$H(z)$$ in the Z-domain (Tustin transformation), or
 * $$z =e^{sT}\approx \frac{1+sT/2}{1-sT/2}$$

from the Z-domain to the Laplace domain. Through the bilinear transformation, the complex s-plane (of the Laplace transform) is mapped to the complex z-plane (of the z-transform). While this mapping is (necessarily) nonlinear, it is useful in that it maps the entire $$j\omega$$ axis of the s-plane onto the unit circle in the z-plane. As such, the Fourier transform (which is the Laplace transform evaluated on the $$j\omega$$ axis) becomes the discrete-time Fourier transform. This assumes that the Fourier transform exists; i.e., that the $$j\omega$$ axis is in the region of convergence of the Laplace transform.

Starred transform
Given a one-sided Z-transform $$X(z)$$ of a time-sampled function, the corresponding starred transform produces a Laplace transform and restores the dependence on $$T$$ (the sampling parameter):
 * $$\bigg. X^*(s) = X(z)\bigg|_{\displaystyle z = e^{sT}}$$

The inverse Laplace transform is a mathematical abstraction known as an impulse-sampled function.

Linear constant-coefficient difference equation
The linear constant-coefficient difference (LCCD) equation is a representation for a linear system based on the autoregressive moving-average equation:

 * $$\sum_{p=0}^{N}y[n-p]\alpha_{p} = \sum_{q=0}^{M}x[n-q]\beta_{q} .$$

Both sides of the above equation can be divided by $$\alpha_0$$ if it is not zero. By normalizing with $$\alpha_0{=}1,$$ the LCCD equation can be written

 * $$y[n] = \sum_{q=0}^{M}x[n-q]\beta_{q} - \sum_{p=1}^{N}y[n-p]\alpha_{p}.$$

This form of the LCCD equation is favorable to make it more explicit that the "current" output $$y[n]$$ is a function of past outputs $$y[n-p],$$ current input $$x[n],$$ and previous inputs $$x[n-q].$$

Transfer function
Taking the Z-transform of the above equation (using linearity and time-shifting laws) yields:

 * $$Y(z) \sum_{p=0}^{N}z^{-p}\alpha_{p} = X(z) \sum_{q=0}^{M}z^{-q}\beta_{q}$$

where $$X(z)$$ and $$Y(z)$$ are the z-transform of $$x[n]$$ and $$y[n],$$ respectively. (Notation conventions typically use capitalized letters to refer to the z-transform of a signal denoted by a corresponding lower case letter, similar to the convention used for notating Laplace transforms.)

Rearranging results in the system's transfer function:

 * $$H(z) = \frac{Y(z)}{X(z)} = \frac{\sum_{q=0}^{M}z^{-q}\beta_{q}}{\sum_{p=0}^{N}z^{-p}\alpha_{p}} = \frac{\beta_0 + z^{-1} \beta_1 + z^{-2} \beta_2 + \cdots + z^{-M} \beta_M}{\alpha_0 + z^{-1} \alpha_1 + z^{-2} \alpha_2 + \cdots + z^{-N} \alpha_N}.$$

Zeros and poles
From the fundamental theorem of algebra the numerator has $$M$$ roots (corresponding to zeros of $$H$$) and the denominator has $$N$$ roots (corresponding to poles). Rewriting the transfer function in terms of zeros and poles
 * $$H(z) = \frac{(1 - q_1 z^{-1})(1 - q_2 z^{-1})\cdots(1 - q_M z^{-1}) } { (1 - p_1 z^{-1})(1 - p_2 z^{-1})\cdots(1 - p_N z^{-1})} ,$$

where $$q_k$$ is the $$k^\text{th}$$ zero and $$p_k$$ is the $$k^\text{th}$$ pole. The zeros and poles are commonly complex and when plotted on the complex plane (z-plane) it is called the pole–zero plot.

In addition, there may also exist zeros and poles at $$z{=}0$$ and $$z{=}\infty.$$ If we take these poles and zeros as well as multiple-order zeros and poles into consideration, the number of zeros and poles are always equal.

By factoring the denominator, partial fraction decomposition can be used, which can then be transformed back to the time domain. Doing so would result in the impulse response and the linear constant coefficient difference equation of the system.

Output response
If such a system $$H(z)$$ is driven by a signal $$X(z)$$ then the output is $$Y(z) = H(z)X(z).$$ By performing partial fraction decomposition on $$Y(z)$$ and then taking the inverse Z-transform the output $$y[n]$$ can be found. In practice, it is often useful to fractionally decompose $$\textstyle \frac{Y(z)}{z}$$ before multiplying that quantity by $$z$$ to generate a form of $$Y(z)$$ which has terms with easily computable inverse Z-transforms.

title: Z-transform


text:
Javier Bardem

Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

A son of actress Pilar Bardem, he first became known for such Spanish films as Jamón jamón (1992), Boca a boca (1995), Carne trémula (1997), Los lunes al sol (2002), and Mar adentro (2004). He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls (2000), a criminal with cancer in Biutiful (2010), and Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos (2021). His portrayal of assassin Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' western film No Country for Old Men (2007) won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Bardem has also starred in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Sam Mendes's James Bond spy film Skyfall (2012), Terrence Malick's drama To the Wonder (2013), Darren Aronofsky's horror film mother! (2017), Asghar Farhadi's mystery drama Everybody Knows (2018), Denis Villeneuve's science fiction films Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), and Disney's live-action remake The Little Mermaid (2023).

Bardem has been married since 2010 to actress Penélope Cruz, with whom he shares two children. In January 2018, Bardem became the ambassador of Greenpeace for the protection of Antarctica.

Early life
Bardem was born on 1 March 1969 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, Spain. His mother, Pilar Bardem (1939–2021), was an actress, and his father, José Carlos Encinas Doussinague (1931–1995), was the son of a cattle rancher. According to Pilar's memoirs, José had a "capricious and violent will," and shot up the front door. He changed jobs more than 10 times, leading to evictions and the children going hungry. The two separated shortly after Javier's birth. His mother raised him and his elder siblings, Carlos and Mónica, alone (another sibling died shortly after birth), both of whom have also pursued an acting career. His father died of leukemia in 1995.

Bardem comes from a long line of filmmakers and actors dating back to the earliest days of Spanish cinema. He is a grandson of actors Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro (sister of actresses Mercedes and Guadalupe), and a nephew of screenwriter and director Juan Antonio Bardem. On the latter's side, he is a cousin of filmmaker Miguel Bardem. He comes from a political background, as his uncle Juan Antonio was imprisoned by the Franco regime for his anti-fascist films. Bardem was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith by his grandmother.

As a child, he spent time at theatres and on film sets. At age six, he made his first film appearance, in Fernando Fernán Gómez's El Pícaro (The Scoundrel). He also played rugby for the junior Spanish National Team. Though he grew up in a family full of actors, Bardem did not see himself going into the family business, and painting was his preferred medium. He went on to study painting for four years at Madrid's Escuela de Artes y oficios. In need of money, he took acting jobs to support his painting but felt he was a bad painter and eventually abandoned it as a career.

In 1989, for the Spanish comedy show El Día Por Delante (The Day Ahead), he had to wear a Superman costume for a comedic sketch, a job that made him question whether he wanted to be an actor at all. Bardem also worked as a stripper (for one day) during his struggling acting career.

1990–1999: Early roles
Bardem came to notice in a small role in his first major motion picture, The Ages of Lulu, when he was 21, in which he appeared along with his mother, Pilar Bardem. He also appeared in minor roles in Amo tu cama rica and High Heels. Bigas Luna, the director of Lulu, was sufficiently impressed to give him the leading male role in his next film, Jamón Jamón in 1992, in which Bardem played a would-be underwear model and bullfighter. The film, which also starred his eventual wife Penélope Cruz, was a major international success. Bardem featured in Sancho Gracia's Huidos, and starred in Bigas Luna's next film Golden Balls (1993).

Bardem's talent did not go unnoticed in the English-speaking world. In 1997, John Malkovich was the first to approach him, then a 27-year-old, for a role in English, but the Spanish actor turned down the offer because his English was still poor. His first English-speaking role came that same year, in with director Álex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango, playing a santería-practicing bank robber.

2000–2011: Breakthrough and acclaim
After starring in about two dozen films in his native country, he gained international recognition in Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls in 2000, portraying Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. He received praise from his idol Al Pacino; the message Pacino left on Bardem's answering machine was something he considers one of the most beautiful gifts he has ever received. For that role, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, the first for a Spaniard. Immediately after, he turned down the role of Danny Witwer in Minority Report which eventually went to Colin Farrell. Instead, in 2002, Bardem starred in Malkovich's directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs. Malkovich originally had Bardem in mind for the role of the detective's assistant, but the movie's time trying to find financing gave Bardem time to learn English and take on the lead role of the detective. "I will always be grateful to him because he really gave me my very first chance to work in English", Bardem has said of Malkovich.

Bardem won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his role in Mar Adentro (2004), released in the United States as The Sea Inside, in which he portrayed the quadriplegic turned assisted suicide activist Ramón Sampedro. He made his Hollywood debut in a brief appearance as a crime lord who summons Tom Cruise's hitman to do the dirty work of dispatching witnesses in the crime drama Collateral. He stars in Miloš Forman's 2006 film Goya's Ghosts opposite Natalie Portman, where he plays a twisted monk during the Spanish Inquisition.

In 2007, Bardem acted in two film adaptations: the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men, and the adaptation of the Colombian novel Love in the Time of Cholera with Giovanna Mezzogiorno by Gabriel García Márquez. In No Country for Old Men, he played a sociopathic assassin, Anton Chigurh. For that role, he became the first Spaniard to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He won a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Bardem's rendition of Chigurh's trademark word, "What business is it of yours where I'm from, friendo?" (in response to the convenience store owner's query, "Y'all gettin' any rain up your way?"), was named Top HollyWORDIE of 2007 in the annual survey by the Global Language Monitor. Chigurh was named No. 26 in Entertainment Weekly magazine's 2008 "50 Most Vile Villains in Movie History" list. Bardem's life's work was honored at the 2007 Gotham Awards, produced by Independent Feature Project. In 2014, Belgian psychiatry professor Samuel Leistedt and 10 associates watched 400 movies over the course of three years and identified 126 psychopathic characters: Bardem's rendition of Chigurh was voted the most realistic psychopath.

Francis Ford Coppola singled out Bardem as an heir to, and even improvement on, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro, referring to Bardem as ambitious, hungry, unwilling to rest on his laurels and always "excited to do something good." Bardem was attached to play the role of Tetro's mentor in Coppola's film Tetro, but the director felt the character should be female, so he was replaced by fellow Spaniard Carmen Maura. Bardem was originally cast to play fictional filmmaker Guido Contini in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Nine but dropped out due to exhaustion. The part eventually went to Daniel Day-Lewis. He went on to star alongside Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) where he earned his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination.

2012–present: Established career

In 2010, he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Biutiful directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, who specifically wrote the film with Bardem in mind. After being overlooked by the Globes and SAG, Bardem was the unexpected Oscar nominee on 25 January 2011, becoming the first all Spanish-language Best Actor nominee ever. He won his 5th Goya Award, this time for Best Actor in Biutiful, dedicating the win to his wife, Penélope Cruz, and newborn son. Around this same time, he was offered the lead role of "Gunslinger" Roland Deschain in Ron Howard's film adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower novels. If he had signed, he would have starred in the TV series as well. Then Eon Productions offered him a role as villain Raoul Silva in the James Bond film Skyfall. With Universal deciding not to go forward with the ultra-ambitious adaptation of the 8-novel Stephen King series, and to end months of speculation, Bardem officially confirmed his role in Skyfall during an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC's Nightline.

Bardem received the 2,484th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 8 November 2012. The star is located outside the El Capitan Theatre. With his movie Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony (2012), he demonstrated the suffering of the Sahrawi people in refugee camps. He publicly denounced the UN as unwilling to definitively resolve the human crisis there.

Bardem portrayed the main antagonist, Armando Salazar, in 2017's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth film in the series. In September 2017, Bardem starred with Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris in the horror film Mother! by director Darren Aronofsky, which focuses on a couple whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of unexpected guests. In 2018, Bardem once again appeared on screen alongside his spouse Penélope Cruz in Asghar Farhadi's feature film Everybody Knows.

In 2021, Bardem portrayed Stilgar in Denis Villeneuve's science fiction drama Dune. That same year, he starred as Julio Blanco in Fernando León de Aranoa's workplace satire The Good Boss. His leading performance portraying a manipulative factory boss was considered among the finest of his career by critics, and clinched him a Goya Award. Also in 2021, he starred as Desi Arnaz, alongside Nicole Kidman as his on-screen wife Lucille Ball, in Amazon Studios' and Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos. Despite unfavorable reactions in response to his casting as Arnaz, Bardem's portrayal received praise. For his performance, he received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, as well as his third Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, his fourth nomination overall.

Bardem was set to play Frankenstein's Monster in the upcoming remake of the Bride of Frankenstein, directed by Bill Condon. He appeared in the 2022 film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and played King Triton in Disney's 2023 live-action/CGI movie, The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall. In 2024, Bardem reprised the role of Stilgar in Dune: Part Two and he will also work once again with Kidman in the upcoming Netflix and Skydance Animation film, Spellbound. On 10 July 2023, Deadline announced that Bardem will star with Brad Pitt in F1 for Apple TV+, with Warner Bros. Pictures handling theatrical distribution.

Personal life

Bardem's native language is Spanish, and he is also fluent in English. He is a fan of heavy metal music, and credits the band AC/DC for helping him learn to speak English, in some respects. He is also a fan of Pearl Jam. Bardem does not drive, only getting behind the wheel for film roles, and he refers to himself as a "worker" or "entertainer," not an actor.

Although Bardem was raised as a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Spain in 2005, Bardem stated that if he were gay, he would get married "right away tomorrow, just to fuck with the Church" (mañana mismo, sólo para joder a la Iglesia). He has later said that while he does not believe strongly in the supernatural, he does not deny it. "We are just this little tiny spot in the whole universe, so of course there must be other things, other people, other creatures, other lives and other dimensions. Sure, I believe in it". In the same interview, Bardem stated that he thinks science and belief "should go together".

Despite the villainous characters he has played throughout his acting career, Bardem has a self-confessed “hatred” of violence which stems from a fight in a nightclub in his early twenties which left him with a broken nose.

In May 2011 Bardem teamed up with The Enough Project's co-founder John Prendergast to raise awareness about conflict minerals in eastern Congo.

In 2007, Bardem began dating Penélope Cruz, his co-star in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Bardem and Cruz have maintained a low public profile, refusing to discuss their personal lives. The couple married in July 2010 in The Bahamas. They have two children: a son, named Leo Encinas Cruz, born on 23 January 2011, in Los Angeles; and a daughter, named Luna Encinas Cruz, born on 22 July 2013, in Madrid.

During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Bardem and Cruz signed an open letter denouncing Israel's actions as genocide.

In September 2018, at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of Everybody Knows Bardem told Ikon London Magazine about acting together with his spouse: "I find it very easy. In a sense that we play what we are supposed to play and then we go back to our daily life which is way more interesting than any fiction. And it is real."

In July 2019, Bardem signed a manifesto urging PSOE and Podemos parties to reach an agreement to form a ministry after the April 2019 elections in Spain.

In November 2019, during the March for Climate in Madrid, Bardem gave a speech on stage where he called both the mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida and the US president Donald Trump "stupid". He later apologized, declaring that "the insult illegitimizes any speech and conversation."

Awards and nominations
Over his career, he has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:

 * 73rd Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, nomination, for Before Night Falls (2000)
 * 80th Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, win, No Country for Old Men (2008)
 * 83rd Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, nomination, Biutiful (2010)
 * 94th Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, nomination, Being the Ricardos (2021)

title: Javier Bardem


text:
BASF

BASF SE, an initialism of its original name , is a European multinational company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

BASF comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries, operating six integrated production sites and 390 other production sites across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas and Africa. BASF has customers in over 190 countries and supplies products to a wide variety of industries. Despite its size and global presence, BASF has received relatively little public attention since it abandoned the manufacture and sale of BASF-branded consumer electronics products in the 1990s.

The company began as a dye manufacturer in 1865. Fritz Haber worked with Carl Bosch, one of its employees, to invent the Haber-Bosch process by 1912, after which the company grew rapidly. In 1925, the company merged with several other German chemical companies to become the chemicals conglomerate IG Farben. IG Farben would go on to play a major role in the economy of Nazi Germany. It extensively employed forced and slave labor during the Nazi period, and produced the notorious Zyklon B chemical used in The Holocaust. IG Farben was disestablished by the Allies in 1945. BASF was reconstituted from the remnants of IG Farben in 1952. It was part of the German economic miracle, and has since expanded considerably. It has received modern criticism for its poor environmental record.

At the end of 2019, the company employed 117,628 people, with over 54,000 in Germany. , BASF posted sales of €59.3 billion and income from operations before special items of about €4.5 billion. Between 1990 and 2005, the company invested €5.6 billion in Asia, specifically in sites near Nanjing, Shanghai and Jiangmen in China and Mangalore in India. BASF is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock Exchange. The company delisted its ADR from the New York Stock Exchange in September 2007. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

History
BASF is an acronym for. It was founded by Friedrich Engelhorn on 6 April 1865 in Mannheim, in the German-speaking state of Baden. Engelhorn had been responsible for setting up a gasworks and street lighting for the town council in 1861. The gasworks produced tar as a by-product from coal, and Engelhorn used this to extract aniline for the production of dyes. BASF was set up in 1865, to produce other chemicals necessary for dye production, notably soda and acids. The plant, however, was erected on the other side of the Rhine river at Ludwigshafen because the town council of Mannheim was afraid that the air pollution from the chemical plant could bother the inhabitants of the town. In 1866, the dye production processes were also moved to the BASF site.

Aniline dyes (1869)
The discovery in 1857 by William Henry Perkin that aniline could be used to make intense colouring agents had led to the commercial production of synthetic dyes in England from aniline extracted from coal tar. BASF recruited Heinrich Caro, a German chemist with experience of the dyestuff industry in England, to be the first head of research. Caro developed a synthesis for alizarin (a red dye used for dying textile fabrics) and applied for a British patent on 25 June 1869. Coincidentally, Perkin applied for a virtually identical patent on 26 June 1869, and the two companies came to a mutual commercial agreement about the process.

Further patents were granted for the synthesis of methylene blue and eosin, and in 1880, research began to try to find a synthetic process for indigo dye, though this was not successfully brought to the market until 1897. In 1901, some 80% of the BASF production was dyestuffs.

Solvay process soda (1880)
Sodium carbonate (soda) was produced by the Leblanc process until 1880, when the much cheaper Solvay process became available. BASF ceased to make its own and bought it from the Solvay company thereafter.

Knietsch sulfuric acid (1890)
Sulfuric acid was initially produced by the lead chamber process, but in 1890, a unit using the contact process was brought on stream, producing the acid at higher concentration (98% instead of 80%) and a lower cost. This development followed extensive research and development by Rudolf Knietsch, for which he received the Liebig Medal in 1904.

Haber's ammonia (1913)
The development of the Haber process from 1908 to 1912, made it possible to synthesize ammonia (a major industrial chemical as the primary source of nitrogen), and, after acquiring exclusive rights to the process, in 1913, BASF started a new production plant in Oppau, adding fertilizers to its product range. BASF also acquired and began mining anhydrite for gypsum at the Kohnstein in 1917.

IG Farben (1921)
In 1916, BASF started operations at a new site in Leuna, where explosives were produced during the First World War. On 21 September 1921, an explosion occurred in Oppau, killing 565 people. The Oppau explosion was the biggest industrial accident in German history. Under the leadership of Carl Bosch, BASF founded IG Farben with Hoechst, Bayer, and three other companies, thus losing its independence. BASF was the nominal survivor, as all shares were exchanged for BASF shares before the merger. Rubber, fuels, and coatings were added to the range of products.

In 1935, IG Farben and presented the magnetophon – the first tape recorder – at the Radio Exhibition in Berlin.

World War II
After the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933, IG Farben co-operated with the National Socialist government, profiting from guaranteed volumes and prices and, in time, from forced ("unfree") labour provided through governmental concentration camps. BASF (leader of the chemical industry of the IG Farben) built a 24km2 chemical factory in Auschwitz named "IG Auschwitz", the largest chemical factory in the world at the time. IG Farben became notorious through its production of Zyklon-B, the lethal gas used to kill prisoners in German extermination camps during the Holocaust.

IG Farben made extensive use of forced labor during WWII consisting mostly of drafted "service-duty" Germans, foreign workers from German-occupied territories, and prisoners of war. By 1943, nearly one-half of all IG Farben workers were forced laborers housed in factory-camp facilities. This number did not include the 51,445 concentration camp laborers supplied by the Nazis. Spread out over 23 facilities, it is estimated that 31,50033,500 of those concentration camp inmates were killed by authorities or died from starvation, exhaustion, or disease.

The Ludwigshafen site was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War but was subsequently rebuilt. The allies dissolved IG Farben in November 1945.

Both the Ludwigshafen and Oppau plants were of strategic importance for the war because the German military needed many of their products (e.g., synthetic rubber and gasoline). As a result, they were major targets for air raids. During the war, Allied bombers attacked the plants a total of 65 times.

Bombing took place from the autumn of 1943 and saturation bombing inflicted extensive damage. Production virtually stopped by the end of 1944.

Due to a shortage of male workers during the war, women were conscripted to work in the factories, joined later by prisoners of war and foreign civilians. Concentration camp inmates did not work at the Ludwigshafen and Oppau plants.

In July 1945, the American military administration confiscated all IG Farben assets. That same year, the Allied Commission decreed that IG Farben should be dissolved. The sites at Ludwigshafen and Oppau were controlled by French authorities.

BASF refounded (1952)
On 28 July 1948, an explosion occurred at a BASF site in Ludwigshafen, killing 207 people and injuring 3818. In 1952, BASF was refounded under its name following the efforts of former Nazi Party member Carl Wurster, who served in Nazi Germany as Wehrwirtschaftsführer (war economy leader). With the German economic miracle in the 1950s, BASF added synthetics such as nylon to its product range. BASF developed Polystyrene in the 1930s and invented Styropor in 1951.

Post-WW2 20th century
In the 1960s, production abroad was expanded and plants were built in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. Following a change in corporate strategy in 1965, greater emphasis was placed on higher-value products such as coatings, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and fertilizers. Following German reunification, BASF acquired a site in Schwarzheide, Eastern Germany, on 25 October 1990.

In 1968, BASF (together with Bayer AG) bought the German coatings company Herbol. BASF completely took over the Herbol branches in Cologne and Würzburg in 1970. Under new management, the renewal and expansion of the trademark continued. After an extensive reorganisation and an increasing international orientation of the coatings business, Herbol became part of the new founded Deco GmbH in 1997.

BASF bought the Wyandotte Chemical Company, and its Geismar, Louisiana chemical plant in the early 1970s. The plant produced plastics, herbicides, and antifreeze. BASF soon tried to operate union-free, having already reduced or eliminated union membership in several other US plants. Challenging the Geismar OCAW union resulted in a labor dispute that saw members locked out from 1984 to 1989, and eventually winning their case. A worker solidarity committee at BASF's headquarters plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, took donations from German workers to support the American strikers and organized rallies and publicity in support. The dispute was the subject of an academic study. The union also exposed major accidental releases of phosgene, toluene and other toxic gases, these being publicized in the local media and through a video, Out of Control. A court threw out a $66,700 fine against BASF for five environmental violations as "too small".

BASF's European coatings business was taken over by AkzoNobel in 1999.

21st century
BASF bought the Engelhard Corporation for $4.8 billion in 2006. Other acquisitions in 2006, were the purchase of Johnson Polymer and the construction chemicals business of Degussa.

The acquisition of Johnson Polymer was completed on 1 July 2006. The purchase price was $470 million on a cash and debt-free basis. It provided BASF with a range of water-based resins that complements its portfolio of high solids and UV resins for the coatings and paints industry and strengthened the company's market presence, particularly in North America.

The acquisition of Degussa AG's construction chemicals business was completed in 2006. The purchase price for equity was about €2.2 billion. In addition, the transaction was associated with a debt of €500 million.

The company agreed to acquire Ciba (formerly part of Ciba-Geigy) in September 2008. The proposed deal was reviewed by the European Commissioner for Competition. On 9 April 2009, the acquisition was officially completed.

On 19 December 2008, BASF acquired U.S.-based Whitmire Micro-Gen together with U.K.-based Sorex Ltd. Sorex is a manufacturer of branded chemical and non-chemical products for professional pest management. In March 2007 Sorex was put up for sale with a price tag of about £100 million.

In December 2010, BASF completed the acquisition of Cognis.

In May 2015, BASF agreed to sell parts of its pharmaceutical ingredients business to Swiss drug manufacturer Siegfried Holding for a fee of €270 million, including assumed debt.

Since 2016, BASF has partnered with a subsidiary of Xinjiang Zhongtai Group, a company sanctioned under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, to operate a plant in Korla.

In October 2017, BASF announced it would buy seed and herbicide businesses from Bayer for €5.9 billion ($7 billion), as part of Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto.

The company announced the start of a US$10 billion investment project in the south-western Chinese city of Zhanjiang, in November 2019. The project was approved in 2022. This ″Verbund″ site is intended for the production of engineering plastics and TPU. The site would be the third-largest BASF site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium. The first plant started up in 2022, and the entire site is expected to be completed by 2030.

In August 2019, BASF agreed to sell its global pigments business to Japanese fine chemical company DIC for €1.15 billion ($1.28 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis.

In September 2019, BASF signed an agreement with DuPont Safety & Construction, a subsidiary business unit of DuPont, to sell its ultrafiltration membrane business, Inge GmbH. According to BASF executives, Inge GmbH and its products fit better with DuPont and their business strategy.

In February 2023, BASF announced that the company is planning to close one of its two ammonia factories at its site in Ludwigshafen, this comes as part of the companies plans to cut costs as the organisation has struggled with high energy costs. The result of the organisations plans will lead to increased production in China while resulting in the loss of 2,600 jobs. The Zhanjiang plant extends over 400 hectares and serves mainly the electronic industry and the automotive industry. In September 2023 BASF broke ground on its Zhanjiang syngas plant; the plant was due to be commissioned by 2025. In November 2023 the firm closed a $5bn 15-year investment deal in China, with Chinese banks.

As of April 2023, BASF had 30 production facilities in China. CEO Martin Brudermüller held that Chinese revenue is essential to grow his European business in the face of "Europe’s high energy costs and stringent environmental rules."

Past activity
With the help of then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, BASF's Jürgen Hambrecht signed the Gazprom Nord Stream-Yuzhno-Russkoye deal in 2004 with a 49-51 structure, as opposed to the older 50-50 split of for example BP's TNK-BP project. Putin at the time insisted on majority Russian ownership of any joint-venture in Russian territory since that time.

BASF expanded to Podolsk, Russia, in 2012, and to Kazan in 2013.

Dicamba lawsuit
On 27 January 2020, the first-ever lawsuit concerning Dicamba-related products began in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The lawsuit involves a peach farmer who alleged that Dicamba-based herbicides caused significant damage to his crops and trees. It had also been filed in November 2016, when Dicamba was still owned by Monsanto. On 14 February 2020, the jury involved in the lawsuit ruled against BASF its co-defendant Bayer, which had acquired Monsanto and its products, and found in favor of the peach grower, Bader Farms owner Bill Bader. BASF and Bayer were also ordered to pay Bader $15 million in damages. On 15 February 2020, Monsanto and BASF were ordered to pay an additional $250 million in punitive damages.

Finances
For the fiscal year 2017, BASF reported earnings of €6.1 billion, with an annual revenue of €64.5 billion, an increase of 12% over the previous fiscal cycle. BASF's shares traded at over €69 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at €63.7 billion in November 2018. In October 2019, BASF reported a drop of operating income for July to September amounting to 24 percent, along with a drop in EBIT earnings of €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion). The US–China trade war as well as uncertainties related to Brexit were identified as contributing factors. However, overall third quarter profit beat expectations as the acquisition of Bayer AG's agrochemical and seed business help to offset some of the effects of the trade war.

Business segments and leadership

BASF operates in a variety of markets. As of 2020 its business is organized in the segments of Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solutions, Agricultural Solutions, and Oil and Gas.

Chemicals
BASF produces a wide range of chemicals such as solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals, and inorganic chemicals (such as Z-Cote). The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile, and automotive industries.

Plastics
BASF's plastic products include high-performance materials in thermoplastics, foams, and urethanes.

Engineering Plastics BASF's Engineering Plastics consists of the "4 Ultras" – Ultramid polyamide (PA) nylon-based resins, Ultradur, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Ultraform, polyacetal (POM), and Ultrason, polysulfone (PSU) and polyethersulfone (PES).

Styrenics BASF Styrenics consists of the Foams and Copolymers. BASF's styrenic copolymers have applications in electronics, building and construction, and automotive components. In 2011 BASF and INEOS blended their global business activities in the fields of styrene monomers (SM), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene butadiene copolymers (SBC) and other styrene-based copolymers (SAN, AMSAN, ASA, MABS) into a joint venture named Styrolution.

Polyurethanes BASF's Polyurethanes business consists of diverse technologies and finished products. Urethane chemicals are raw materials used in rigid and flexible foams commonly used for insulation in the construction and appliance industries, furniture, packaging, and transportation.

Foams Foams like Styropor are generally used as insulating materials. They are eco-efficient and offer advantages over other materials in terms of cost-effectiveness, preservation of resources and environmental protection. Investments made for insulating materials usually pay for themselves within a short time and contribute to retaining and even enhancing the value of buildings.

Polyamides and Intermediates BASF manufactures polyamide precursors and polyamide.

Biodegradable plastics BASF developed a biodegradable plastic with a high content of polylactic acid.

Performance products
BASF produces a range of performance chemicals, coatings and functional polymers. These include raw materials for detergents, textile and leather chemicals, pigments and raw materials for adhesives, paper chemicals. Customers are the automotive, oil, paper, packaging, textile, sanitary products, detergents, construction materials, coatings, printing, and leather industries.

Functional Solutions
BASF's Functional Solutions segment consists of the Catalysts, Construction Chemicals and Coatings divisions. These divisions develop customer-specific products, in particular for the automotive and construction industries.

Agricultural
BASF supplies agricultural products and chemicals including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and seed treatment products. The company also researches nutrigenomics. BASF opened a new crop protection technology center in Limburgerhof, Germany in 2016.

Biotechnology
BASF was cooperating with Monsanto Company in research, development and marketing of biotechnology. In correlation to this work, BASF has licensed many gene editing tools including CRISPR Cas9 and CRISPR Cas12a (Cpf1).

The BASF Plant Science subsidiary produces the Amflora and Starch Potato genetically modified potato with reduced amylose. In 2010 BASF conducted Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs approved trials of genetically modified potatoes in the United Kingdom. Starch Potato was authorised for use in the USA in 2014.

Other GM crops are Phytaseed Canola varieties with phytase, sulfonylurea herbicide tolerant soybean and drought tolerant corn (with cold shock protein B) developed with Monsanto.

Oil and gas
BASF explores for and produces oil and gas through its subsidiary Wintershall Dea.

Leadership
Each of the divisions of BASF has a President. They are governed by a Chairman and CEO.
 * Friedrich Engelhorn
 * Heinrich von Brunck
 * Carl Bosch
 * Carl Wurster
 * Bernhard Timm
 * Matthias Seefelder
 * Jürgen Strube 1990-2003
 * Jürgen Hambrecht 2003-2011
 * Kurt Bock 2011-2018
 * Martin Brudermüller 2018-present

Investors
75% of the BASF shares are held by institutional investors (BlackRock more than 5%). 36% of the shares are held in Germany, 11% in the UK and 17% in the U.S.

Production
BASF's recent success is characterized by a focus on creating resource efficient product lines after completely abandoning consumer products. This strategy was reflected in production by a re-focus towards integrated production sites. The largest such integrated production site is located in Ludwigshafen employing 33,000 people.

Integrated production sites are characterized by co-location of many individual production lines (producing a specific chemical), which share an interconnected material flow. Piping is used ubiquitously for volume materials. All production lines use common raw material sourcing and feed back waste resources, which can be used elsewhere (e.g. steam of various temperatures, sulfuric acid, carbon monoxide). The economic incentive for this approach is high resource and energy efficiency of the overall process, reduced shipping cost and associated reduced risk of accidents. Due to the high cost of such an integrated production site, it establishes a high entry barrier for competitors trying to enter the market for volume chemicals.

BASF built a new chemical complex in Dahej, Gujarat at a cost of $100 million. This facility has South Asia's first methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter for processing crude MDI. BASF has 8 production facilities in India.

BASF SE has succeeded in developing a semi-crystalline polyamide that allows light to pass through largely unhindered, known as Ultramid.

Environmental record
According to the 2022 "Top 100 Polluters Indexes" published by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst's "Political Economy Research Institute" (PERI), BASF was ranked the #2 largest polluter of air and #14 largest polluter of water in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In 2006, BASF was included in the Climate Leadership Index for their efforts in relation to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

The BASF Company and Columbia University formed a partnership to further research "environmentally benign and sustainable energy sources". The company has recently reported their emissions in 2006 to be "1.50 million metric tons of waste," which is a decrease from previous years. The amount of waste BASF produces has continued to fall.

While BASF publishes its environmental information in the US and Europe, Greenpeace has expressed deep concerns at BASF's refusal to release environmental information on its operations in China.

In May 2009, a BASF Plant in Hannibal, Missouri, United States, accidentally discharged chromium into the Mississippi River. The local Department of Natural Resources performed tests in December 2009 showing the chromium levels did not exceed regulatory safety limits. BASF worked with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) to resolve questions regarding the elevated level of hexavalent chromium that was detected in the effluent from one of its permitted outfalls into the Mississippi River. The state department of health reviewed the test results and determined that the amounts found were well below recommended public health screening levels.

In 2013, BASF reported a spill of several hundred kilogrammes of the chelating agent Trilon-B (tetrasodium Edta) into the river Rhine from BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has instituted an eco-efficiency analysis to promote green engineering principles.

Corporate Social Responsibility
BASF works on supporting water, sanitation, education and health programmes as part of its social responsibility commitments. In a unique program technically supported by Edward & Cynthia Institute of Public Health, BASF implemented Project SAFE ( Safety and Farm Efficiency).

title: BASF


text:
User:Paul A

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Talk:St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

There are way too many redirects here. We really need to get things under control. And besides, shouldn't it be "St. John's"? -- Zoe