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WMVP

WMVP (1000 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, carrying a sports radio format. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area as the market affiliate of ESPN Radio, the flagship station of the Chicago Bears, Chicago White Sox, and the Chicago Wolves (the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes) and is the home of local personalities David Kaplan, Tom Waddle and John Jurkovic. Formerly an ESPN Radio owned-and-operated station, WMVP's studios are co-located with WLS-TV in the Chicago Loop while the transmitter is located in Downers Grove. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WMVP is simulcast over the second HD subchannel of WTBC-FM and is available online.

From 1926 to 1987, 1000 AM was WCFL, the radio voice of the Chicago Federation of Labor. WMVP is a Class A radio station, broadcasting at 50,000 watts, the maximum power for commercial AM stations. It shares 1000 AM, a clear channel frequency, with KNWN in Seattle and XEOY in Mexico City. WMVP uses a directional antenna to avoid interfering with those other stations. WMVP's powerful nighttime signal allows it to be heard by listeners around the Midwestern United States and Central Canada.

Early years
In 1922, the American Federation of Labor began discussions regarding owning and operating its own radio station. By 1925, the AFL decided not to enter the broadcasting business but to purchase time for organized labor's message on commercially operated radio. The dream stayed alive with the Chicago Federation of Labor, who believed having an owned and operated radio station would be an effective way to spread its message. In 1924, the Federation gave its approval to work toward establishing a radio station. The original plan for WCFL called for it to be a non-commercial station, operating on the support of its listeners; in a sense it was one of the first large-scale efforts at public radio. Spearheading the drive to make WCFL a reality was the Federation's Secretary, Edward Nockels; without his efforts, there would have been no radio station at all.

WCFL officially began on December 4, 1925; the Federation's hopes were temporarily dashed when the US Department of Commerce (there was no Federal Communications Commission until 1934 and no Federal Radio Commission which preceded it until 1927) refused to grant WCFL a wavelength on January 13, 1926. Just five days after what could have become an end to the station, the Federation announced it would go ahead with building it anyway. The first WCFL transmitter stood on Chicago's Navy Pier (then called Municipal Pier); the Federation was able to lease the pier's North Tower for 10 years at $1 per year and its willingness to make WCFL available for city broadcasts. Initially the Illinois Manufacturers' Association attempted to keep WCFL off the air by protesting the use of public property for the station's transmitter and broadcasting site. The station purchased the land in Downers Grove where the current transmitter operates in 1928 and broke ground there in 1932. The Federation originally purchased 100 acre of land in the western suburb; 20 of them were allotted for the WCFL transmitter, while the other 80 were subdivided as lots for 258 homes and 72 businesses in "WCFL Park". Nockels believed having a union-based community spring up around the WCFL transmitter would be beneficial to both those purchasing lots and building homes and to the station itself. The labor union entered the real estate business shortly before the Great Depression hit. After selling no lots in the early part of the 1930s, the Federation put WCFL Park on hold, reviving it again in 1939 with the building of a model home on one of the lots, all of which would eventually be divested.

AM 1000 began operation as WCFL in test broadcasts on June 19, 1926; the Commerce Department granted it call letters on July 10, 1926. It was officially on the air the next day on 610 kc. with 1,000 watts of power, one of the last non-profit radio stations to take to the airwaves. The first broadcast consisted of two hours of music. In November 1926, with an eye toward being self-sustaining, the Federation added a shortwave station to the Navy Pier transmitter site, planning to use WCFL Radio Telegraph to help offset broadcasting costs. The station initially used studios at Navy Pier, but during the winter of 1926–1927 found that the weather often made them inaccessible. By 1927, WCFL was broadcasting from 623 South Wabash in Chicago (today the home of Columbia College, Chicago, ) producing a quarterly radio magazine, and operating on 620 kHz; the frequency being shared with the Lane Tech High School radio station, WLTS. In 1928, WCFL applied to the Federal Radio Commission for an increase in its transmitter power and hours of operation. Several other radio stations were now also operating on the 620 kHz frequency along with WCFL and the Lane Tech station. The commission disagreed with the reasoning that such increases were necessary to serve union members. Further, it cut the operating power of WCFL to only 1,500 watts. General Order 40 brought WCFL to the 970 kc. frequency, shared with KJR in Seattle, still at 1,500 watts and now allowed to operate in daylight only. The Federal Radio Commission had labeled the station as a "propaganda" type, not truly worthy of a license. The FRC would grant WCFL a 5,000-watt license in 1932, but it would take some years of expensive discussions to attain clear-channel, 50,000-watt status.

While the original idea of a self-supporting WCFL was based on each Federation member's donation of $1 a year for all station operating expenses, by 1926, 30% of the membership had donated. The donations continued to spiral downward as time passed, especially after 1928, when WCFL's operating power was cut and it was limited to "dawn to dusk" broadcasting—from sunrise to sunset. The dawn-to-dusk operation limitations were lifted in 1929, but there was still no clear channel yet for WCFL. 1929 found the station notifying the Federation that unless members made their dollar donations, WCFL would need to implement some type of commercial broadcasting to stay afloat. This was the reason why the transmitter land had been purchased in 1928, but no construction was able to be done on the Downers Grove transmitter site until 1932. By 1930, commercials had become a reality on WCFL; the station did not show a profit until 1940.

In 1927, WCFL broadcast the Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey championship boxing match at Soldier Field, challenging the National Broadcasting Company's exclusive claim to the event. This led to an arrangement whereby WCFL became one of three affiliates in Chicago of the Blue Network of NBC; WCFL broadcast non-sponsored, or sustaining, NBC programs not carried by WENR or WLS, as well as selected major sporting events and any broadcast speeches by union leaders aired by the network. WCFL became a member of the Mutual Broadcasting System in December 1949. When the Federal Communications Commission forced NBC to sell the Blue Network, WCFL's affiliation continued with the network through its new identity as the American Broadcasting Company, ending with the merger of WENR and WLS in 1959. Prior to this, the station offered selected programming from the network. WCFL was also to become an affiliate of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System in 1933, but that network collapsed after only a month of operations, prior to its planned westward expansion from New York. The usual broadcast day included dance and classical music, comedy, as well as radio programs in 11 different languages designed to reach out to Chicago's immigrant population.

Television, WCFL-FM, and evolution to Top 40
WCFL was also involved in early experimental television broadcasts, and operated a shortwave repeater station, W9XAA, in the 1930s. This was the first television station in Chicago. On June 19, 1928, Ulises Armand Sanabria, a local television pioneer, made the first Chicago television broadcast using the WCFL Navy Pier transmitter to send the video portion of the signal and Chicago radio station WIBO for the audio portion. Those with receivers were able to see a head and shoulders view of Edward Nockels, the Federation secretary and driving force behind WCFL. It's also possible the broadcast was simulcast by the WCFL shortwave station, W9XAA. Accounts of later broadcasts at WMAQ specify their shortwave station was used for this purpose. As the Federation tried to revive their "WCFL Park" real estate project near the Downers Grove transmitter, the decision was made to abandon W9XAA in 1937, preferring to concentrate on gaining more transmitter power for WCFL. New Federal Communications Commission rules insisted that shortwave stations have a minimum of 5,000 watts of power; the cost to WCFL to upgrade to this level would have been around $10,000. In the 1941 NARBA reallocation, WCFL moved to 1000 kHz. The same year, it was granted a Class 1-B clear channel license, and increased its power to 10,000 watts. In 1948, its power was increased to 50,000 watts.

In the fall of 1937, the station was one of several Chicago radio stations to donate airtime to Chicago Public Schools for a pioneering program in which the school district provided elementary school students with distance education amid a polio outbreak-related school closure.

In 1948, the Federation was granted a license for an FM radio station, WCFL-FM on 104.3 MHz. Its transmitter was atop the American Furniture Mart, where WCFL's studios and offices had been located since 1931. WCFL-FM went on the air March 12, 1949, and simulcast its sister AM station's programming for six hours a day–from 3 p.m. to 9 pm. This time the Federation was impatient for its new radio station to become profitable, having gone from 1926 to 1940 before WCFL was "in the black". On January 10, 1950, WCFL-FM went off the air permanently; the Federation believed its dollars were better spent for its AM radio station. (Today, the frequency is occupied by WBMX, and the call letters belong to a station in Morris, Illinois that is now owned by University of Northwestern – St. Paul.)

During the 1940s, the Federation's thoughts turned once again to television, and in 1953, it applied for VHF channel 11 in Chicago. The Federation lost the bid to the city's educational groups, who would put WTTW on the air in 1955. An early 1960s try netted the Federation a license for Chicago UHF channel 38. In June 1968, plans were made for building a transmitter and antenna atop Chicago's John Hancock Center, as well as other construction needs to get WCFL-TV on the air. By late 1970, the Federation had begun to look at other uses for the station's license which didn't involve the organization. Christian Communications purchased WCFL-TV in August 1975, with the FCC approving the license transfer in early 1976. At the time of the sale, WCFL-TV had yet to be on the air; it became WCFC-TV and, later, WCPX-TV.

The station carried general entertainment over the decades, but by the late 1950s, WCFL evolved into a popular music station, which had banned all Elvis Presley records from its playlist in late November 1957. The pre-Top 40 talent lineup included Dan Sorkin in the morning, Mike Rapchak following him and Sid McCoy's all-night jazz program. It was Sorkin who introduced a young Chicago comedian, Bob Newhart, to Warner Bros. in 1959. Bob Elson did both White Sox games and interviewed celebrities at The Pump Room; his sports cohort, Milo Hamilton, also wore two hats, talking football and playing music. Rapchak, who quit on the air in 1965 due to WCFL's new format, returned there in 1978, once again playing big band and jazz music.

Top 40 at the "Voice of Labor"
Between 1963 and 1965, WLS was the only Top 40 station in Chicago. This situation was unusual, as most major cities had two or even three stations featuring pop music. Consequently, WLS had become somewhat complacent as it had no real competitors. This all changed in 1965, when WCFL became a Top 40 music station, competing with WLS. The station also moved from the American Furniture Mart where it had been since 1931, to the then new Marina City, where it remained for the next 20 years. While the station itself was on the 16th floor of the Commercial Building (today the Hotel Chicago Downtown), WCFL also had a "VIP Room" on the fifth floor where the "WCFL VIPs" (DJs) hosted various events such as record parties and autograph sessions for listeners who were members of the WCFL VIP Club. One of the station's first promotions was the "Bold" campaign-describing itself as a bold, new way of presenting today's music and its listeners (who wore "I'm Bold!" buttons) as bold enough to want a change.

General Manager Ken Draper ran the station from 1965 to 1968 and brought many of the original staffers with him from the big Cleveland station KYW/WKYC he had run before. These included not only DJs but also chief engineer Mike King (later, Jim Loupas), and members of the crack newsroom team, which included the unstoppable Jeff Kamen. WCFL gained fame in 1966 when Kamen followed Chicago Civil Rights leader and comedy star Dick Gregory to Mississippi and was beaten by KKK members while reporting on a voter registration protest. The network TV film of the attack was seen by millions, with a still picture appearing on newspapers' front pages. Prior to Draper's establishment of an eight-person news department, news was gathered by taking the copy from the station's news wires and reading it on the air.

In their Top 40 years, some famous disc jockeys on WCFL included Jim Runyon, Joel Sebastian, Dick Williamson, (who was already with WCFL at the time of the format change), Jim Stagg, Ron Britain, ("America's First Psychedelic Disk Johnny"), who did a second stint at the station in 1978, the legendary Dick Biondi,   whose Mutual Radio syndicated Dick Biondi's Young America show was heard here 3 years before his actual arrival,  Barney Pip, Ron Riley, and Sid McCoy and Yvonne Daniels with late night jazz during the earliest days of the change to Top 40. In late 1966, WKYC popular afternoon DJ Jerry Ghan (now Jerry G. Bishop) also decided to follow Draper to WCFL for morning drive. Later, WIND's former long-time morning man Howard Miller, who was a decided departure from the youthful staff, came to helm WCFL's 6-9AM spot in 1968. He was replaced before long by Clark Weber, long-time WLS morning man. The DJ secretary during this era was Connie Szerszen, who went on to forge her own career on the air in Chicago radio, appearing on WIND and other stations. WCFL general manager Ken Draper also hired Carole Simpson as one of radio's first female newscasters; Carole went on to a big career with ABC-TV. Also on staff at that time was continuity director Barbara Sternig, who left for Los Angeles once the Beatles broke up, became Rona Barrett's writer, and later Senior Reporter in Hollywood for the National Enquirer. Draper is also credited with the introduction of the Sound 10/WCFL survey, which became a competitor to the WLS "Silver Dollar Survey" that station issued weekly beginning in 1960. From 1966 to 1970, the station produced six "branded" record albums. Later in the "SuperCFL" era, Larry Lujack and Art Roberts   came to WCFL.

WCFL's coverage of the Beatles 1965 and 1966   U.S. tours was provided by Jim Stagg, who traveled with the group. The station began a weekly British Countdown program with British DJ Paul Michael, in 1965.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, WCFL also featured a popular Sunday night program of "underground" album-oriented music called Ron Britain's Subterranean Circus. Due to madcap DJ Britain's sure ear for the innovative and his highly inventive sketches, plus WCFL's powerful AM nighttime signal, these programs gained huge listenership not just in the Chicago area, but in other parts of the country as well. Britain's "Sub Circus" made WCFL one of the few AM stations to feature this kind of music, which was a major staple of "underground" FM stations. The station also supported local bands with its Sunday evening "Chicago Countdown", hosted by Ron Britain, featuring the recordings of Chicago area music groups.

The comedy feature Chickenman, a satire based on the Batman TV series, originated on Jim Runyon's morning drive-time show in the fall of 1966. It was created by WCFL staffer Dick Orkin, who was also brought from Cleveland to Chicago by Ken Draper. All the voices were done by Orkin, Runyon, and Jane Roberts, who also did WCFL's morning traffic reports as "Trooper 36-24-36" (She became Mrs. Jim Runyon.). The Chickenman program was subsequently syndicated to radio stations worldwide.

In August 1968, sales manager Lew Witz replaced Draper as WCFL general manager. Witz continued to make changes to the station during his tenure. It was Witz who lured Larry Lujack away from WLS in 1972, and the "less talk-more music" philosophy continued. On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon announced his resignation from the office of President of the United States. The announcement occurred at 8 pm. Chicago time, but there was no acknowledgement of it on WCFL's airwaves until 11:30 pm. Witz defended his decision by saying there was ample local and national coverage of the story so there was no need to interrupt the music on WCFL. Gary Deeb, media critic for the Chicago Tribune, blasted Witz in print, saying it was this decision and many others like it that turned WCFL from, "a bright, civic-minded 50,000 watt rock powerhouse into a sonic slum". By the time the station prepared to enter its "Beautiful Music" phase in early 1976, Witz had totally done away with WCFL's news department. Under the management of Witz, the station's turntables used for transferring music onto tape cartridges for broadcast were speeded up from 45rpm to 48rpm. This was meant to make for a "brighter sound" than the station's main rival, WLS, and meant that since it was faster, more music could be aired. Witz also insisted his on-air personalities broadcast false time checks, in the event listeners might be part of Arbitron ratings households.

An internet radio tribute station to this era of WCFL was launched on Labor Day 2013, including original airchecks, commercials, jingles and Chickenman episodes; jingle producer TM Productions waived its licensing fees to assist J. R. Russ, developer of the internet station.

The end of "Super CFL" and the sale to Mutual
On March 15, 1976, after two years of falling ratings, WCFL abruptly dropped its Top 40 format in favor of The World's Most Beautiful Music, leaving WLS as Chicago's only AM Top 40 station. Station management released all disc jockeys who did not have "no cut" clauses in their contracts with the official explanation of the format change as "being more in keeping with the labor movement". Larry Lujack, still under contract with the station, stayed on at WCFL playing easy listening music until moving back to WLS in September 1976. The easy listening format was already heard in stereo on FM beautiful music stations WLOO and WLAK. By 1978, the easy sounds were replaced by a gold-based adult contemporary format.

WCFL and the Chicago Federation of Labor enjoyed the support of Mayor Richard J. Daley throughout his 1955–1976 administration. He proclaimed January 11, 1966, as "WCFL Day in Chicago" to mark the 40th anniversary of the station. In 1976, when it became evident it was time for the Federation to sell the radio station, Federation President William A. Lee turned to his long-time friend, Mayor Daley, for advice.

After deciding its profit margin was too small for the Chicago Federation of Labor to maintain, on April 10, 1978, it was announced that WCFL would be sold to the Mutual Broadcasting System, at the time a subsidiary of the Amway Corporation, for $12 million. The history of the first and longest-lived labor radio station was over; after nearly 52 years, the "Voice of Labor" had been stilled. The station began to identify itself as "Mutual/CFL". A magazine-type news/talk format was adopted, with sports talk in the evening hours and the syndicated Larry King Show overnight, but ratings remained low. In January 1981, WCFL flipped to a middle of the road format playing adult standards and pop hits of the 1950s and '60s mixed in with some softer oldies and AC cuts, and even a few currents. Ratings were still low; and later that year, WCFL evolved into an adult contemporary format.

Religious years
On November 4, 1983, WCFL was sold by Mutual to Statewide Broadcasting. Statewide switched WCFL to adult contemporary Christian music about 10 hours a day and teaching programs the rest of the time on May 22, 1984. WCFL sold brokered programming in 30-minute blocks of time to Christian radio organizations and preachers. The format was profitable but received low ratings. At that time, WCFL advertised its call letters as standing for "Winning Chicago For The Lord". In early 1985, the station moved from Marina City into the backup studio at its original transmitter building in Downers Grove. Statewide Broadcasting specialized in religious formats but merged with a secular company called Heftel Broadcasting in early 1987. Although no longer in use, the former call letters WCFL, rendered massively in stainless steel, remain on the exterior wall of the transmitter building off 39th Street in Downers Grove.

1000 WLUP
Following the Heftel takeover, WCFL remained religious alongside AOR-formatted WLUP (which had been purchased by Heftel in 1979) until just after the stroke of midnight on April 29, 1987. The call letters of the station were changed to WLUP, and its FM sister station became WLUP-FM. WLUP-FM remained an AOR station, while WLUP switched to a full service rock format focusing on personality, comedy and talk programs with a few rock cuts an hour. After 7 pm, WLUP and WLUP-FM simulcast the AOR format until dawn. As it concentrated on Spanish radio, Heftel sold its English-language stations, including WLUP-AM-FM; Evergreen Media bought WLUP-AM-FM in 1988. From October 1992 until August 1993, WLUP (AM) was the first Chicago affiliate for The Howard Stern Show.

WMVP
Initially, the AM and FM stations remained the same under Evergreen. But on September 27, 1993, WLUP-FM switched to a full-service talk/comedy format, while WLUP (AM) became all-sports. To differentiate between WLUP-FM and to reflect the new format, WLUP's call sign changed to WMVP, for "Most Valuable Player". WMVP's schedule included some nationally syndicated shows such as The Fabulous Sports Babe and Ferrall on the Bench as well as play-by-play of local sports games. Despite broadcasting 24/7, the station trailed in the ratings to (at the time) daytime-only WSCR and to WMAQ's Sports Huddle at night. WMVP dropped its all sports format at 6 a.m. on June 5, 1996, the day before the Chicago Bulls opened the NBA Finals against the Seattle SuperSonics, and returned to mostly simulcasting WLUP-FM. WMVP did carry its own night-time sports talk program, and play-by-play broadcasts of the White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls, and would later air some shows from hosts who were moved over from the FM beginning that September.

Evergreen later merged with Chancellor and sold WLUP-FM to Bonneville International in July 1997, with WMVP permanently splitting from WLUP-FM. WMVP began airing its own talk/sports format, simply called "AM 1000". In August 1998, WMVP was sold by Chancellor to ABC/Disney, and flipped back to sports on October 12, this time affiliated with co-owned ESPN Radio.

Good Karma Brands takeover
On August 28, 2019, it was announced by ESPN Radio that day-to-day management of the station would move from direct purview by ESPN to a management agreement with Good Karma Brands, a company owned by Craig Karmazin which has had sustained success running ESPN Radio stations to the north in Madison and Milwaukee, along with Cleveland and West Palm Beach, Florida. General manager, Jim Pastor, retired at the end of the year, with Good Karma beginning to operate the station on September 29, 2019, under a lease with Disney (no information about a conversion to an eventual station purchase has been revealed).

The lease makes WMVP a sister station to GKB's Milwaukee cluster of WTMJ, WKTI, WGKB, and WAUK, and the Madison market's WTLX (WTMJ carries a local news/talk format, with WGKB airing local format of Black talk). No changes to personnel and facilities in the near future are currently expected under the lease agreement, though the station's morning schedule was adjusted in August 2020 due to the national network's large-scale schedule overhaul.

In late June 2021, GKB entered into an agreement with Hubbard Broadcasting to simulcast WMVP in HD Radio, over WSHE-FM (100.3)'s HD2 subchannel to allow FM access to the station in some manner. In December 2021, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that GKB planned to acquire WMVP outright. The deal was filed with the FCC on December 20, and did not include WMVP's current transmitter site. The purchase was consummated on March 1, 2022. In August 2023, Good Karma applied to the FCC to move WMVP's transmitter from its longtime site in Downers Grove to WCPT's transmitter site near Joliet.

On November 1, 2022, the NFL's Chicago Bears announced that they would move their radio flagship to WMVP starting in the 2023 season, replacing a 22-season long stint with WBBM.

title: WMVP


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Radiological Society of North America

The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is a non-profit organization and an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical imaging professionals representing 31 radiologic subspecialties from 145 countries around the world. Based in Oak Brook, Illinois, it was established in 1915.

The Society hosts an annual conference in Chicago and develops educational resources such as courses, workshops and webinars. RSNA also publishes five peer-reviewed radiology journals, offers quality improvement tools, sponsors research to advance quantitative imaging biomarkers, and conducts outreach to enhance radiology education and patient care in low-income and middle-income countries.

Annual meeting
RSNA hosts the world's largest annual medical imaging conference, a five-day event starting the last Sunday of November at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago.

Journals
RSNA publishes six peer-reviewed journals: Radiology, offering radiology research and reviews; RadioGraphics, dedicated to continuing education in radiology; Radiology: Artificial Intelligence, highlights the emerging applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the field of imaging across multiple disciplines; Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, emphasizes research advances and technical developments in medical imaging that drive cardiothoracic medicine; Radiology: Imaging Cancer , covers the best clinical and translational cancer imaging studies across organ systems and modalities, including leading-edge technological developments; Radiology Advances , an open access journal focusing on the publication of a broad spectrum of high-quality international radiology and medical imaging research.

Case Collection
RSNA Case Collection is an online resource of clinical cases intended to be used as an education and point-of-care tool. Developed by and created for radiologists, RSNA Case Collection includes image-focused case reports from across radiology subspecialties, and consists of images, relevant patient information, final and differential diagnoses, case discussions and references. All cases will undergo careful peer review before they are assigned a DOI - allowing them to be fully citable.

RSNA's Case Collection is supported by an active Twitter presence.

Imaging AI Certificate Program
The RSNA Imaging AI Certificate program is a radiology-specific imaging AI certificate program that combines a case-based curriculum and on-demand learning with practical application.

The program is for radiologists, radiology residents, physicists, data scientists and clinical researchers seeking foundational-level AI knowledge who want to learn how to safely evaluate, implement, use and monitor performance of AI-based tools for medical imaging.

The Foundational Certificate course is the only course currently available within the program and the curriculum includes six modules. More advanced certificate courses will be available in the future.

RadiologyInfo.org
Available in English and Spanish, RadiologyInfo.org is the public information website developed and funded by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology. It was established to inform and educate the general public about what radiology is and what radiologists do. Approximately half a million people visit RadiologyInfo.org each month.

Research and Education Foundation
The RSNA R&E Foundation supports radiology research through grant funding, training opportunities and industry initiatives that advance innovation in radiology. The Foundation has awarded $70 million in grants since 1984.

Board of Directors
, the president is Curtis P. Langlotz, MD, PhD.

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

title: Radiological Society of North America


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Bernina Range

The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers. Piz Bernina (4049 m), its highest peak, is the most easterly four-thousand-metre peak in the Alps. The peak in the range which sees the most ascents is Piz Palü.

The Bernina Range is separated from the Albula Range in the north-west by the Maloja Pass and the Upper Engadin valley; from the Livigno Range in the east by the Bernina Pass; from the Bergamo Alps in the south by the Adda valley (Valtellina); and from the Bregaglia Range in the south-west by the Muretto Pass. The Bernina Range is drained by the rivers Adda, Inn and Maira (Mera in Italy).

The term Bernina Alps can also be used in an extended sense to include both the Bernina and Bregaglia ranges; this is the area coloured red on the map (right) and labelled 'Bernina Alpen'.

Peaks

The main peaks of the Bernina Range are:

Glaciers
Main glaciers :

 * Morteratsch Glacier
 * Roseg Glacier
 * Pers Glacier
 * Tschierva Glacier
 * Palü Glacier
 * Scerscen Superiore Glacier
 * Scerscen Inferiore Glacier
 * Fellaria Glacier

Passes
The main passes of the Bernina Range are:

Mountain huts
There are several manned and unmanned mountain huts in the Bernina Range.

title: Bernina Range


text:
RSNA

RSNA may refer to:
 * Radiological Society of North America
 * Robust Security Network Association

title: RSNA


text:
Ina'am Al-Mufti

Ina'am Qaddoura Al-Mufti (إنعام قدورة المفتي; February 26, 1929 – 6 November 2018) was the first Jordanian woman to hold a governmental position.

Biography
Qaddoura established the Ministry of Social Development, Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, Women Issues Organization, Jubilee School of Amman, Children's Trust, Union of Jordanian Women, and National Union for Jordanian Business Women. She was also a part of UNESCO, spoke on several radio shows spreading awareness, and was a part of writing a book used in all schools in the kingdom.

Qaddoura was a member of the Senate, the Upper House of the National Assembly of Jordan.

Honorary office and memberships
Honorary office and memberships:
 * Member of several universities like the University of Applied Sciences, Mutah University, Yarmouk University, Faculty of Princess Tharwat,
 * A member of the King Hussein Foundation and the Noor Al Hussein Foundation and its projects,
 * A member of the International Council of the Federation of World Colleges,
 * A member of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development,
 * A member of the Steering Committee (adult education) \ UNESCO,
 * A member of the Senate,
 * Member of the Board of Education in the Ministry of Education,
 * President of the Alumni Club American University in Cairo \ Amman,
 * Member of the Arab Thought Forum,
 * Member of the Committee on Education and Culture and the media,
 * A member of the committee on health, environment and social development,
 * A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee

title: Ina'am Al-Mufti


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Elisabeth Bridge (Budapest)

Elisabeth Bridge (Erzsébet híd, ) is the third newest bridge of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. The bridge is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube in the Budapest area, spanning only 290 m. It is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, a popular queen and empress of Austria-Hungary, who was assassinated in 1898. Today, her large bronze statue sits by the bridge's Buda side connection in the middle of a small garden.

The original eclectic flamboyant style bridge was built between 1897 and 1903. It was destroyed during World War II, and a significantly simplified brutalist version was built without any ornamentation between 1961 and 1964.

Its two ends are:
 * March 15 Square (with the oldest church in Pest, Inner City Parish Church, built in the 13th century) and the famous Mátyás Pince restaurant.
 * Döbrentei Square in Buda with the monument of Saint Gellért on the Gellért Hill, a sculpture of Queen Elisabeth, and the Rácz Baths and Rudas Baths nearby. A luxury spa hotel is currently being built in the area.

History
The original permanent crossing, a decorative suspension bridge of chains, was built between 1897 and 1903, amid a corruption scandal. The Buda end of Erzsébet bridge runs directly into the massive foot of Gellért Hill, necessitating a complicated arrangement of roads to connect to the bridge. The bridge was designed in such a way because a wealthy nobleman, a member of the city council, owned the particular area of the riverbank. He wanted to make a fortune by selling the piece of land for bridge construction purposes, bribing the other councilmen and engineers for that purpose. He managed to sell the land at greatly inflated prices. In the era of horse-drawn carriages the geometry issue was not considered significant and the resulting cost overruns were covered up, therefore no prosecution took place. In recent decades, many motorists have been permanently injured or killed in the sharp turn that immediately follows the bridgehead. After an accident in 2004, which killed a family, a speed limit of 40 km/h was posted for the west-bound lanes.

The original Erzsébet Bridge, along with many other bridges all over the country, was blown up at the end of World War II by retreating Wehrmacht sappers. This is the only bridge in Budapest which could not be rebuilt in its original form. Pictures and some salvaged elements from the old bridge can be seen on the grass in front of the Museum of Transport in City Park.

The currently standing slender white cable bridge was built on the very same location between 1961 and 1964, because the government could not afford to construct entirely new foundations for the bridge. The main spar cables of the bridge are hexagonal in cross section, composed of thousands of elementary steel wires of seven different diameters, partly because early computers were unable to provide a solution for a circular cross section main cable batch.

The design, by Pál Sávoly and based on that of Mülheim Bridge, Cologne, was a first in Central Europe and not without weaknesses. BKV tram traffic and its heavy tracks had to be removed from the bridge in 1973 after signs of cracks appeared in the structure.

The special lighting for Elisabeth Bridge has been created by renowned Japanese lighting designer Motoko Ishii and Japan contributed 120 million forints (EUR 450,000) to the costs. The Budapest City Council has paid 150 million forints for the project. 2009 marks the 140th anniversary of establishing diplomatic links between the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Japan, and the 50th anniversary of re-establishing diplomatic links between Japan and Hungary.

Statue of Elisabeth of Bavaria
Following her assassination in 1898 there was such an outpouring of grief that when an appeal was made in 1900 to erect a memorial to Elisabeth of Bavaria in Budapest, it was over subscribed. Successive committees organized to a number of competitions to select a suitable design, but it wasn't until 1919 and the fifth attempt that a design by the sculptor György Zala was selected. It then took another 13 years for the memorial to be completed and installed on the Pest side of the bridge. It was damaged by the German army when they blew up the bridge in 1945. It was quickly repaired, but then more damage was found which required its removal in 1953. It wasn't until 1957 that a full restoration was completed and it was installed in its present location on the Buda side of the bridge.

title: Elisabeth Bridge (Budapest)


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Darth Rage

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE. Golbez 06:21, Jun 18, 2005 (UTC)

Darth Rage
This appears to be an non-canon Star Wars character created by the guy who runs SuperShadow.com. I checked Google and all the sites list on the first page of results are either subdomains or belong to SuperShadow. For those who don't know, SS is known to make up total lies (like having scripts for a third trilogy of movies and he managed to fool not only a bunch of small sites, but also whoever created this article. Kross 14:11, Jun 12, 2005 (UTC)
 * I vote for Deletion, by the way.--Kross 14:15, Jun 12, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Unverifiable as anything more than non-notable fanfic.  On a side note, the primary author's IP address is associated with numerous instances of vandalism.  --Dachannien 16:50, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * Keep Jinkleberries 19:53, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Above user appears to be a joke account... I could be wrong about that though.--Chanting Fox 19:54, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Definitely a joke account... this guy's voting to keep everything currently on VFD from the looks of it. --Chanting Fox 19:56, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * This person made 37 votes within 7 minutes. They've also received a vandalism warning today.Tobycat 21:02, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Pure unverifiable SuperShadow nonsense. Nufy8 22:52, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Ditto. --maru 05:11, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages.  Please do not edit this page .


text:
Stephen Melville

General Stephen Alexander Melville (31 December 1904 – 17 June 1977) was a South African Air Force officer. He commanded air force formations in East Africa, North Africa, Madagascar, and Italy during the Second World War, and rose to Air Chief of Staff (1954–56) and Commandant General of the South African Defence Force (1958–60).

Early life
Melville was born in Matatiele, Natal, on 31 December 1904, and was educated at Grey College, Bloemfontein. He then worked in a bank, and later joined the Merchant Navy as a stoker. He joined the South African Mounted Rifles in 1924 as a trooper before transferring to the Artillery. In 1929, after a short boxing career in South Africa and the United States, Melville was trained as a pilot and transferred to the South African Air Force.

Air Force career
Melville commanded air force formations in the East African Campaign, Battle of Madagascar and Italian Campaign during the Second World War. For his service, Melville was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and Mentioned in Despatches in July 1943.

Melville served as Air Chief of Staff from 1954 to 1956, as Inspector-General from 1956 to 1958, and as Commandant General, the head of the Union Defence Force, from 1958 to 1960. He was awarded the Star of South Africa in June 1960.

Melville later served on the Armaments Board until 1974. He was also the Government's representative on the Rand Water Board.

Awards and decorations

 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)
 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg Order of St. Anne with Swords (Russia)

title: Stephen Melville


text:
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is the name of two communes in France:

 * Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Essonne
 * Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Cemetery, often referred to as "Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois"
 * Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Loiret

title: Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois


text:
Thomas Miller, Lord Glenlee

Sir Thomas Miller, 1st Baronet FRSE (3 November 1717 – 27 September 1789), known as Lord Barskimming (1766–88) and Lord Glenlee (from 1788) during his judicial service, was a Scottish advocate, judge, politician and landowner. He was a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783, and served as the society's first vice-president, 1783 to 1786.

Early life
He was born in Edinburgh on 3 November 1717 the second son of Janet Hamilton and her husband, William Miller of Glenlee WS, Kirkcudbrightshire, and of Barskimming in Ayrshire.

He studied law at the University of Glasgow (1730) and the University of Edinburgh (1738).

Career
He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1742, appointed sheriff-depute of Kirkcudbright in 1748 and elected joint town-clerk of the city of Glasgow. In 1755 he resigned the office of sheriff-depute to become solicitor of the Excise in Scotland. He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1759, and promoted to Lord Advocate in 1760. From 1762 until 1764 he also held the title of Rector of the University of Glasgow.

He was Member of Parliament for Dumfries Burghs from 1761 to 1766, and Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1763. He was raised to the bench and appointed Lord Justice Clerk in 1766, taking the judicial title Lord Barskimming. In 1788, he became Lord President of the Court of Session and was created Lord Glenlee, Baronet of Glenlee, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.

His Edinburgh address in 1775 was Browns Square. Around 1780 he bought the Dean estate, of Nisbet family fame, and lived at Dean House (later replaced by Dean Cemetery).

He died at Barskimming, Ayrshire, on 27 September 1789 and was interred in the family vault at Stair, Ayrshire.

Family
In 1752 he married Margaret Murdoch daughter of John Murdoch of Rosebank, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and together they had one son Sir William Miller, Lord Glenlee (1755-1846). He married again in 1768 to Anne Lockhart.

He was brother to Patrick Miller of Dalswinton.

title: Thomas Miller, Lord Glenlee


text:
Tawfiq Al-Nimri

Tawfiq Nimri (توفيق نمري; June 10, 1918 – October 23, 2011) was a Jordanian singer and composer.

He was the first Jordanian to collect, write, sing, and compose Jordanian folkloric music. He presented and appeared in more than 750 works, many of which were covered by other Arab singers such as Wadih El Safi, Nasri Shamseddine and Omar Al-Abdallat. Tawfiq's last performance was with the Lebanese singer Wadih El Safi.

Early life and education
Nimri was born in the town of Al Husn, Jordan, in 1918, he spent his childhood with his grandfather Rizqalla Al-Nimri after the death of his father. Tawfiq's childhood name was Fad'ous (Arabic: فـدعوس); the name was given by one of sheikhs whose name was the same, he was later renamed Tawfiq by the principal of his school. He is best known for Folkloric songs. He studied at the Catholic School for two years, during which was the supervisor of the chorale of the church. He learned the Greek language to perform hymns in Greek Byzantine style.

Career
Nimri joined the British Army during World War II, and was assigned to Haifa-Baghdad Road as a payroll officer. As entertainment, Nimri often played his oud and sang with the British soldiers – he even learned to play and sing the German love song Lili Marlene.

Nimri left after seven years in service and relocated in 1949 to Ramallah where he worked at a local radio station and composed many songs, one of which was performed during the visit of Abdullah I of Jordan. Ten years later, he moved to Amman where he joined Jordan Radio and performed/composed many songs.

title: Tawfiq Al-Nimri


text:
Google data centers

Google data centers are the large data center facilities Google uses to provide their services, which combine large drives, computer nodes organized in aisles of racks, internal and external networking, environmental controls (mainly cooling and humidification control), and operations software (especially as concerns load balancing and fault tolerance).

There is no official data on how many servers are in Google data centers, but Gartner estimated in a July 2016 report that Google at the time had 2.5 million servers. This number is changing as the company expands capacity and refreshes its hardware.

Locations
The locations of Google's various data centers by continent are as follows:

Original hardware
The original hardware (circa 1998) that was used by Google when it was located at Stanford University included:

 * Sun Microsystems Ultra II with dual 200 MHz processors, and 256 MB of RAM. This was the main machine for the original Backrub system.
 * 2 × 300 MHz dual Pentium II servers donated by Intel, they included 512 MB of RAM and 10 × 9 GB hard drives between the two. It was on these that the main search ran.
 * F50 IBM RS/6000 donated by IBM, included 4 processors, 512 MB of memory and 8 × 9 GB hard disk drives.
 * Two additional boxes included 3 × 9 GB hard drives and 6 x 4 GB hard disk drives respectively (the original storage for Backrub). These were attached to the Sun Ultra II.
 * SSD disk expansion box with another 8 × 9 GB hard disk drives donated by IBM.
 * Homemade disk box which contained 10 × 9 GB SCSI hard disk drives.

Production hardware
As of 2014, Google has used a heavily customized version of Debian Linux. They migrated from a Red Hat-based system incrementally in 2013.

The customization goal is to purchase CPU generations that offer the best performance per dollar, not absolute performance. How this is measured is unclear, but it is likely to incorporate running costs of the entire server, and CPU power consumption could be a significant factor. Servers as of 2009–2010 consisted of custom-made open-top systems containing two processors (each with several cores ), a considerable amount of RAM spread over 8 DIMM slots housing double-height DIMMs, and at least two SATA hard disk drives connected through a non-standard ATX-sized power supply unit. The servers were open top so more servers could fit into a rack. According to CNET and a book by John Hennessy, each server had a novel 12-volt battery to reduce costs and improve power efficiency.

According to Google, their global data center operation electrical power ranges between 500 and 681 megawatts. The combined processing power of these servers might have reached from 20 to 100 petaflops in 2008.

Network topology
Details of the Google worldwide private networks are not publicly available, but Google publications make references to the "Atlas Top 10" report that ranks Google as the third largest ISP behind Level 3.

In order to run such a large network, with direct connections to as many ISPs as possible at the lowest possible cost, Google has a very open peering policy.

From this site, we can see that the Google network can be accessed from 67 public exchange points and 69 different locations across the world. As of May 2012, Google had 882 Gbit/s of public connectivity (not counting private peering agreements that Google has with the largest ISPs). This public network is used to distribute content to Google users as well as to crawl the internet to build its search indexes. The private side of the network is a secret, but a recent disclosure from Google indicate that they use custom built high-radix switch-routers (with a capacity of 128 × 10 Gigabit Ethernet port) for the wide area network. Running no less than two routers per datacenter (for redundancy) we can conclude that the Google network scales in the terabit per second range (with two fully loaded routers the bi-sectional bandwidth amount to 1,280 Gbit/s).

These custom switch-routers are connected to DWDM devices to interconnect data centers and point of presences (PoP) via dark fiber.

From a datacenter view, the network starts at the rack level, where 19-inch racks are custom-made and contain 40 to 80 servers (20 to 40 1U servers on either side, while new servers are 2U rackmount systems. Each rack has an Ethernet switch). Servers are connected via a 1 Gbit/s Ethernet link to the top of rack switch (TOR). TOR switches are then connected to a gigabit cluster switch using multiple gigabit or ten gigabit uplinks. The cluster switches themselves are interconnected and form the datacenter interconnect fabric (most likely using a dragonfly design rather than a classic butterfly or flattened butterfly layout ).

From an operation standpoint, when a client computer attempts to connect to Google, several DNS servers resolve  into multiple IP addresses via Round Robin policy. Furthermore, this acts as the first level of load balancing and directs the client to different Google clusters. A Google cluster has thousands of servers, and once the client has connected to the server additional load balancing is done to send the queries to the least loaded web server. This makes Google one of the largest and most complex content delivery networks.

Google has numerous data centers scattered around the world. At least 12 significant Google data center installations are located in the United States. The largest known centers are located in The Dalles, Oregon; Atlanta, Georgia; Reston, Virginia; Lenoir, North Carolina; and Moncks Corner, South Carolina. In Europe, the largest known centers are in Eemshaven and Groningen in the Netherlands and Mons, Belgium. Google's Oceania Data Center is located in Sydney, Australia.

Data center network topology
To support fault tolerance, increase the scale of data centers and accommodate low-radix switches, Google has adopted various modified Clos topologies in the past.

Project 02
One of the largest Google data centers is located in the town of The Dalles, Oregon, on the Columbia River, approximately 80 miles (129 km) from Portland. Codenamed "Project 02", the complex was built in 2006 and is approximately the size of two American football fields, with cooling towers four stories high. The site was chosen to take advantage of inexpensive hydroelectric power, and to tap into the region's large surplus of fiber optic cable, a remnant of the dot-com boom. A blueprint of the site appeared in 2008.

Summa papermill
In February 2009, Stora Enso announced that they had sold the Summa paper mill in Hamina, Finland to Google for 40 million Euros. Google invested 200 million euros on the site to build a data center and announced additional 150 million euro investment in 2012. Google chose this location due to the availability and proximity of renewable energy sources.

Floating data centers
In 2013, the press revealed the existence of Google's floating data centers along the coasts of the states of California (Treasure Island's Building 3) and Maine. The development project was maintained under tight secrecy. The data centers are 250 feet long, 72 feet wide, 16 feet deep. The patent for an in-ocean data center cooling technology was bought by Google in 2009 (along with a wave-powered ship-based data center patent in 2008  ). Shortly thereafter, Google declared that the two massive and secretly-built infrastructures were merely "interactive learning centers, [...] a space where people can learn about new technology."

Google halted work on the barges in late 2013 and began selling off the barges in 2014.

Software
Most of the software stack that Google uses on their servers was developed in-house. According to a well-known Google employee, C++, Java, Python and (more recently) Go are favored over other programming languages. For example, the back end of Gmail is written in Java and the back end of Google Search is written in C++. Google has acknowledged that Python has played an important role from the beginning, and that it continues to do so as the system grows and evolves.

The software that runs the Google infrastructure includes:
 * Google Web Server (GWS) – custom Linux-based Web server that Google uses for its online services.
 * Storage systems:
 * Google File System and its successor, Colossus
 * Bigtable – structured storage built upon GFS/Colossus
 * Spanner – planet-scale database, supporting externally-consistent distributed transactions
 * Google F1 – a distributed, quasi-SQL DBMS based on Spanner, substituting a custom version of MySQL.
 * Chubby lock service
 * MapReduce and Sawzall programming language
 * Indexing/search systems:
 * TeraGoogle – Google's large search index (launched in early 2006)
 * Caffeine (Percolator) – continuous indexing system (launched in 2010).
 * Hummingbird – major search index update, including complex search and voice search.
 * Borg declarative process scheduling software

Google has developed several abstractions which it uses for storing most of its data:
 * Protocol Buffers – "Google's lingua franca for data", a binary serialization format which is widely used within the company.
 * SSTable (Sorted Strings Table) – a persistent, ordered, immutable map from keys to values, where both keys and values are arbitrary byte strings. It is also used as one of the building blocks of Bigtable.
 * RecordIO – a sequence of variable sized records.

Software development practices
Most operations are read-only. When an update is required, queries are redirected to other servers, so as to simplify consistency issues. Queries are divided into sub-queries, where those sub-queries may be sent to different ducts in parallel, thus reducing the latency time.

To lessen the effects of unavoidable hardware failure, software is designed to be fault tolerant. Thus, when a system goes down, data is still available on other servers, which increases reliability.

Index
Like most search engines, Google indexes documents by building a data structure known as inverted index. Such an index obtains a list of documents by a query word. The index is very large due to the number of documents stored in the servers.

The index is partitioned by document IDs into many pieces called shards. Each shard is replicated onto multiple servers. Initially, the index was being served from hard disk drives, as is done in traditional information retrieval (IR) systems. Google dealt with the increasing query volume by increasing number of replicas of each shard and thus increasing number of servers. Soon they found that they had enough servers to keep a copy of the whole index in main memory (although with low replication or no replication at all), and in early 2001 Google switched to an in-memory index system. This switch "radically changed many design parameters" of their search system, and allowed for a significant increase in throughput and a large decrease in latency of queries.

In June 2010, Google rolled out a next-generation indexing and serving system called "Caffeine" which can continuously crawl and update the search index. Previously, Google updated its search index in batches using a series of MapReduce jobs. The index was separated into several layers, some of which were updated faster than the others, and the main layer wouldn't be updated for as long as two weeks. With Caffeine, the entire index is updated incrementally on a continuous basis. Later Google revealed a distributed data processing system called "Percolator" which is said to be the basis of Caffeine indexing system.

Server types
Google's server infrastructure is divided into several types, each assigned to a different purpose:
 * Web servers coordinate the execution of queries sent by users, then format the result into an HTML page. The execution consists of sending queries to index servers, merging the results, computing their rank, retrieving a summary for each hit (using the document server), asking for suggestions from the spelling servers, and finally getting a list of advertisements from the ad server.
 * Data-gathering servers are permanently dedicated to spidering the Web. Google's web crawler is known as GoogleBot. They update the index and document databases and apply Google's algorithms to assign ranks to pages.
 * Each index server contains a set of index shards. They return a list of document IDs ("docid"), such that documents corresponding to a certain docid contain the query word. These servers need less disk space, but suffer the greatest CPU workload.
 * Document servers store documents. Each document is stored on dozens of document servers. When performing a search, a document server returns a summary for the document based on query words. They can also fetch the complete document when asked. These servers need more disk space.
 * Ad servers manage advertisements offered by services like AdWords and AdSense.
 * Spelling servers make suggestions about the spelling of queries.

Security
In October 2013, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. National Security Agency intercepted communications between Google's data centers, as part of a program named MUSCULAR. This wiretapping was made possible because, at the time, Google did not encrypt data passed inside its own network. This was rectified when Google began encrypting data sent between data centers in 2013.

Environmental impact
Google's most efficient data center runs at 35 C using only fresh air cooling, requiring no electrically powered air conditioning.

In December 2016, Google announced that—starting in 2017—it would purchase enough renewable energy to match 100% of the energy usage of its data centers and offices. The commitment will make Google "the world's largest corporate buyer of renewable power, with commitments reaching 2.6 gigawatts (2,600 megawatts) of wind and solar energy".

title: Google data centers


text:
Pieter Grobbelaar

General Pieter Grobbelaar, (16 September 1908 – 22 June 1988) was a South African military commander. He served as Army Chief of Staff from 1953 to 1958, and Commandant General of the South African Defence Force from 1961 to 1965.

Military career
Grobbelaar joined the South African Army as a part-time Citizen Force soldier in 1929 and became a full-time Permanent Force member in 1933.

During the Second World War, Grobbelaar commanded the 7th Reconnaissance Battalion as a lieutenant colonel, and was second-in-command of the 12th Motorised Brigade, 6th Armoured Division during the Italy.

After the war, Grobbelaar served as Officer Commanding Orange Free State Command, Northern Transvaal Command and the South African Military College.

Grobbelaar served as Army Chief of Staff from 1953 to 1958, as Inspector-General from 1958 to 1959, as Deputy Commandant-General from 1959 to 1960, and as Commandant General of the South African Defence Force from 1961 to 1965.

title: Pieter Grobbelaar


text:
Gene Okerlund

Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling. Okerlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan. He was signed to a lifetime contract with WWE and later worked for promotional programs. He has been described by some journalists as the best interviewer in the history of professional wrestling.

Early career
Eugene Arthur Okerlund was born on December 19, 1942, in Brookings, South Dakota to Arthur and Helen Okerlund. He grew up in Sisseton and was raised on an Indian reservation. He graduated from Sisseton High School in 1960. He was an all-around athlete, participating in basketball, baseball, football and track. After studying broadcast journalism at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), Okerlund landed a job as a disc jockey at KOIL, a popular radio station in Omaha, Nebraska. Okerlund later moved to Minneapolis where he worked for WDGY as a radio host under the alias of Gene Leader. He later left that position to become Program Director at KDWB. Okerlund also worked in Minneapolis for a local television station in the front office.

Okerlund played with the Harold Johnson Orchestra and fronted the band Gene Carroll and the Shades. The band released "Is It Ever Gonna Happen" on the album In This Corner, on Norton Records in 1962.

American Wrestling Association (1970–1984)
Okerlund left the radio industry for a position at the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1970, where he occasionally filled in for ailing ring announcer and interviewer Marty O'Neill, eventually becoming O'Neill's permanent replacement by the end of the decade. While there, Jesse "The Body" Ventura gave him the moniker "Mean" Gene. According to Ventura, "In an interview, I laughingly called him 'the Mean Gene Hot Air Machine,' and the 'Mean Gene' stuck, I'm proud that I gave him a nickname that will stick with him forever." His first interview was with Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan, acting terrified when both were jumped from behind.

World Wrestling Federation (1984–1993)
He stayed with the AWA until the end of 1983, when he was one of many AWA personnel to join the expanding World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

He stayed with the WWF for nine years as their top interviewer and was a host of such WWF shows as ''All-American Wrestling. '' He sang the national anthem at the inaugural WrestleMania and Tutti Frutti on The Wrestling Album. Okerlund's interviews were memorable, most notably those involving Hulk Hogan, who began his interviews with "Well, you know, Mean Gene …". He also notably teamed up with Hulk Hogan to face the duo of George Steele and Mr. Fuji in a winning effort.  At SummerSlam 1989, Okerlund was booked to do an interview with Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude prior to Rude's match with The Ultimate Warrior. However, the planned backdrop for the interview inexplicably fell backwards, infamously causing mayhem backstage. At Survivor Series 1990, Okerlund was next to the giant egg where it hatched and out came the Gobbledy Gooker (played by Héctor Guerrero). As fans in attendance at the Hartford Civic Center started to boo, a rock and roll rendition of "Turkey in the Straw" began to play and Okerlund and Guerrero danced in the ring.

World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001)
Okerlund appeared at SummerSlam 1993 and made his final WWF appearance of the 1990s on the September 18, 1993, edition of Superstars. He then left the WWF entirely when his contract expired. He stated in an RF shoot interview, that although he probably could have re-negotiated a new contract, he was never actually offered one, thus opting to become an interviewer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He claimed at the time of his hiring with WCW that he had not been on speaking terms with McMahon for the past few years he was working in the WWF.

He debuted on the November 6, 1993, edition of WCW Saturday Night. He was mostly used in a mentor role. Three years later, his contract with WCW expired and he was off television for two months in the fall of 1996. His last appearance for a time was at WCW Fall Brawl on September 15, 1996. Okerlund had talks with the WWF during this time, however, they could not come to terms. Okerlund signed a new contract with WCW and returned on the November 11, 1996, edition of WCW Monday Nitro. Okerlund wrestled twice in WCW; the first was in mid-2000 when he and Buff Bagwell faced Chris Kanyon and fellow announcer Mark Madden, with Bagwell and Okerlund winning. However, Madden wanted Okerlund back in the ring the next week in a one on one match-up. The two did wrestle again and Okerlund won the match with the assistance of Pamela Paulshock. After that, he was with WCW until March 2001 when the company was purchased by the WWF.

Return to the WWF/WWE (2001–2018)
Shortly before WWF's purchase of WCW in 2001, Okerlund rejoined his old promotion (renamed WWE in 2002). His first assignment back with the WWF was the Gimmick Battle Royal during WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001, along with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. He hosted WWE Confidential in 2002, which lasted for two years. Okerlund would also host WWE Madison Square Garden Classics, a weekly series, airing on the MSG Network, featuring classic WWE matches that took place at Madison Square Garden from the last four decades and the WWE Classics On Demand Hall of Fame section, which takes a look at a different WWE Hall of Famer each month.

Okerlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006, by Hulk Hogan. In June 2008, Okerlund began hosting WWE Vintage Collection, a program which showcases archive footage from the extensive WWE video library.

Okerlund conducted the interviews on the three-hour "Old School" episode of Raw on November 15, 2010, where he interviewed John Cena, Randy Orton, members of The Nexus and Mae Young in similar fashion as to how interviews were done in the 1980s. In November 2016, Okerlund became the narrator for the WWE Network original animated series WWE Story Time, keeping that spot until his death with Jerry Lawler taking over the voiceover work for the show.

On January 22, 2018, at Raw 25 Years, Okerlund made his final WWE appearance where he interviewed the then WWE Champion, AJ Styles.

Other media
On November 12, 1985, Okerlund, along with Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan, Ricky Steamboat, Davey Boy Smith, Corporal Kirchner, Dynamite Kid and Big John Studd, appeared on The A-Team. That same year, Okerlund even interviewed Liberace (one of the highest paid entertainers at the time) at his penthouse at Trump Tower.

He appeared as himself, along with Jesse Ventura in the 1989 action movie No Holds Barred, as well as in the comedy films Repossessed in 1990, as the commentators for the exorcism, and Ready to Rumble in 2000.

Okerlund lent his voice to the 2000 snowboarding game SSX as the announcer for the in-game level "Merqury City Meltdown".

Okerlund was one of the professional wrestling legends on the WWE Network's show Legends' House.

Okerlund appeared as a "Celebrity Prognosticator" on ESPN Radio's The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on November 27, 2013.

In 2018, Okerlund appeared in a Mountain Dew Kickstart commercial featuring Kevin Hart who during the commercial semi-impersonated Randy Savage.

He made an appearance at the WrestleCade 2018 weekend event that took place November 23–25, 2018 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Personal life
While in high school in Sisseton, South Dakota, he formed a band, "Gene Carroll & The Shades," recording a single in 1959, "Red Devil / Do You Remember" (M&L 1001). As "Gene Carroll," he had a second single in 1962, "Is It Ever Gonna Happen / Holly" (Wausau C-1100). The band played parties throughout the Midwest and the Dakotas, and in 2009 were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame.

In his AWA days, Okerlund was given the nickname "Mean Gene" by Jesse "The Body" Ventura – an irony, considering that throughout the years many wrestlers and promotion staff considered Okerlund the friendliest person in the game. Okerlund was close friends with Hulk Hogan, The Iron Sheik and Bobby Heenan.

Okerlund had been married to his wife Jeanne since March 27, 1964, and had two sons, Todd and Tor, along with three grandsons. Todd starred on the University of Minnesota ice hockey team from 1983 to 1987, and played on the 1988 United States Olympics team that competed in Calgary, playing four games with the NHL's New York Islanders.

In 2004, Okerlund had a kidney transplant. In his later years, Okerlund suffered from polycystic kidney disease. He also enjoyed boating, golfing, and spending time at his cabin in Big Sandy Lake during the summer.

Death
Okerlund died on the morning of January 2, 2019, at the age of 76 in a Sarasota, Florida hospital. It was revealed by his son, Todd Okerlund, that he had received three kidney transplants and had suffered a fall which caused his health to deteriorate in the weeks leading up to his death. Later that day, condolences were sent by some fellow WWE superstars and wrestling alumni on various social media sites, including: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, among many others.

Awards and accomplishments

 * New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Class of 2005
 * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Class of 2016
 * World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)
 * Slammy Award (2 times)
 * Best Commentator (1986)
 * Best Head (1987) with Bam Bam Bigelow
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1995) 900 hotline advertisements promo
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2016)
 * Nebraska Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee (2019)

title: Gene Okerlund


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Rudolph Hiemstra

General Rudolph Christiaan Hiemstra (10 March 1912  – 26 July 2007) was a South African Air Force commander who served as Commandant General of the South African Defence Force.

Military career
Hiemstra joined the South African Air Force in 1931. He did not serve in the Second World War because of his political opposition to South Africa's involvement in the war and sympathy for Nazi Germany, and was transferred to the civil service, from which he returned to the defence force when the National Party government came to power in 1948.

Hiemstra was Military Attaché in Sweden, France and the United Kingdom. Among other appointments, he was officer commanding 2 Squadron SAAF, The Flying Cheetahs.

Hiemstra served as Adjutant General, interrupted by his attendance at the Imperial Defence College, as Inspector General from 1959 to 1960, as Deputy Commandant General from 1961 to 1965, and as Commandant General of the South African Defence Force from 1965 to 1972. In 1966, the Commandant General was appointed Secretary for Defence over and above his appointment as head of the South African Defence Force.

In May 1967, the dual title of Commandant General and Secretary for Defence was dispensed with by the elimination of the title "Secretary for Defence". The Commandant General, as permanent head of the Department of Defence as well as of the South African Defence Force filled the post of Commandant General, which post embraced the functions signified by the former dual title. At the same time the rank of Commandant General, instituted in September 1956, was changed to that of general.

Awards and decorations
In 1960, Hiemstra was awarded the Star of South Africa for exceptional services. He was also awarded the Southern Cross Medal and appointed a Knight of the Order of Prince Henry from Portugal.

Death
Hiemstra died on 26 July 2007, aged 95, in 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He was survived by six children, sixteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Among his influential brothers were Dr Louis W. Hiemstra, who made his in mark in the field of journalism, and Judge Victor Hiemstra of Pretoria.

title: Rudolph Hiemstra


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Widad Kawar

Widad Kawar (وداد قعوار) is a Palestinian art historian and collector of Palestinian and Jordanian ethnic and cultural arts. She has collected over 2,000 dresses, costumes, textiles, and jewelry over 50 years, seeking to preserve a culture that has been largely dispersed by conflict. Kawar is known as Umm l'ibas al-falastini—the mother of Palestinian dress.

Biography
Kawar was born in Tulkarm city to a Palestinian Christian family in 1931. Her family moved to Bethlehem in 1941. Her father Jalil was a teacher and head of juvenile school system in British Mandate government of Palestine. She studied at the American University of Beirut.

Kawar has made her collection available for public viewing and has mounted exhibits of Palestinian dress around the world. She has written many books on Palestinian embroidery and is seeking to establish a Gallery of Cultural Embroidery. She collaborated with Margaret Skinner on A Treasury of Stitches: Palestinian Embroidery Motifs, 1850–1950 (Rimal/Melisende). She additionally wrote Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage (Rimal/Melisende).

Widad is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Center for Oriental Research. She has established the Tiraz Centre which runs small museum in Amman, housing her collection and dedicated to the preservation of Palestinian and Jordanian cultural traditions.

In 2012, Kawar won the Prince Klaus International Award for culture and development.

title: Widad Kawar


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Hugo Biermann

Hugo Hendrik Biermann, (6 August 1916 – 27 March 2012) was a senior officer in the South African Navy. He served as Chief of the Navy from 1952 to 1972 and Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1972 until 1976, the only naval officer to have served in the post.

Early life
Biermann's father, also named Hugo Hendrick, joined the Orange Free State postal service at the age of 12, and later joined the South African Railways and Harbours as a telegraphist. Born in Johannesburg on 6 August 1916, Biermann was one of four children. His brothers Phillip and Stefanus (Chips) served on whalecatchers that had been converted to minesweepers during the Second World War. His brother Stefanus reached the rank of rear admiral in the South African Navy. Biermann started school in the Transvaal until his father was transferred to Cape Town. He completed his schooling at Jan van Riebeeck High School and, after leaving school at the age of 16, joined the South African Training Ship General Botha.

After two years training on the General Botha from 1932 to 1933, Biermann entered the British Merchant Navy as a cadet and served until 1938, when he was transferred to the Maritime Department of the South African Railways and Harbours.

Second World War
Biermann began his naval career in 1938 as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. In January 1940, he was called up for full-time service and transferred to the Seaward Defence Force. Promoted lieutenant in mid 1941 he commanded HMSAS Imhoff, HMSAS Roodepoort and HMSAS Aristea, before being promoted to lieutenant commander in command of the salvage vessel HMSAS Gamtoos.

The crew of the HMSAS Gamtoos cleared several Mediterranean ports of sunken and scuttled ships, and at Marseilles, Biermann blew a hole in the harbour wall so that he could enter the Vieux Port and begin work. The Gamtoos went on to salvage the Sidi Aissa, towing it away to clear the valuable graving dock at La Ciotat by 14 December 1944. This earned Biermann appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (Military Division). The citation for his OBE reads: On the recommendation of the British Admiralty, the then Lieutenant-Commander H. H. Biermann, an officer in the South African Naval Forces [SANF], was appointed an Officer of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire "for distinguished service during the invasion of Southern France."

Post-war and rise to senior command
After the Second World War, and with the establishment of the South African Navy (Permanent Force) in May 1946, Biermann was appointed lieutenant commander in the Permanent Force and made captain of the Algerine class minesweeper, HMSAS Bloemfontein, commissioning it in Devonport on 8 September 1947. He was also the Senior Officer of the minesweeping squadron.

In 1950, Biermann was transferred to Defence Headquarters and served on the staff of the then Director-General of the South African Naval Forces. Two years later he attended the British Naval Staff Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and was appointed as naval attaché at South African House, London with the rank of commander.

Frans Erasmus reshuffle
Defence Minister Frans Erasmus embarked on a process of ridding the Defence Force of officers associated with the Smuts government and replacing them with others whom he considered more Nationalist, one which Afrikaners would feel more at home. In 1952, Erasmus posted Brigadier Pieter de Waal as a Military attache to the United States, replacing him with Biermann, one of only seven Afrikaans officers in the navy in 1948. Then Commander Biermann was appointed Naval and Marine Chief of Staff (the head of the navy) on 1 December 1952, and promoted to the rank of commodore, jumping two ranks. During his tenure the Simonstown Agreement was signed on 30 June 1955. He held commodore rank until 1 April 1957, with the handing over of the Simon's Town Naval Base, he was promoted to rear admiral. Biermann was made vice admiral on 1 December 1965, when his position was simultaneously retitled as Chief of the Navy.

In 1972, Biermann took over the position of Commandant General of the South African Defence Force and promoted to Admiral, the first time this rank was used in the South African Navy. The title was changed to Chief of the South African Defence Force a year later.

In 1977, Biermann authored '''The South African Response. The Southern Oceans and the Security of the Free World: New Studies in Global Strategy''.

The navy's submarine base was named after him.

Contribution to yachting in South Africa
Following the success of Bruce Dalling and the yacht Voortrekker in the 1968 Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, Biermann, then chairman of the Springbok Ocean Racing Trust, suggested that South Africa host an ocean race of its own.

The South African Ocean Racing Trust (as the SAORT became known) selected the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro, who were willing to co-operate in the organising of the race and the race would be known as the Cape to Rio. The first race was organised for 1971, with the organisers anticipating at most 15 entries into the race. However, the race attracted a large amount of interest and 58 boats entered the 1971 race.

Awards and decorations
Biermann received the Star of South Africa on 13 May 1960 in recognition of his exceptionally meritorious services. He was the last recipient of this honour prior to the declaration of the Republic of South Africa on 31 May 1961, which has Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher on the back above the pre-2000 Coat of arms of South Africa. He was also appointed Grand Cross of Naval Merit of the Order of May from Admiral Guillermo Brown of Argentina, and the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique of Portugal. He was the very first recipient of the Southern Cross Decoration, which he received upon his retirement as Chief of the South African Defence Force in 1976.

Personal life
In 1940, Biermann married Margaret (Peggy) Cruyws. She died in 2008 at the age of 90. The couple had two children, Hugo Hendrik and Diana. Biermann died on 27 March 2012 at the age of 95 in a retirement home, Silvermine Village, near Cape Town. He was buried with full military honours.

title: Hugo Biermann


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Muhanna Al-Dura

Mohanna Durra (مهنا دره),, (1938 – 24 January 2021) was a Jordanian painter widely regarded as a pioneer of the Jordanian Arts Movement and for being the first to introduce Cubism and abstract art into the Jordanian visual arts community. He was a professor at the Faculty of Fine Art and Design at University of Jordan and served as the President of the Jordan Association of Fine Arts.

Early life
Born in Amman, Jordan in 1938 to a Lebanese father and a Turkish mother, Al-Dura was raised in a striking red hilltop villa in downtown Amman. The house is only a few blocks away from Amman's popular tourist attraction, the Roman amphitheater, and is commonly believed to rest atop an ancient Roman cemetery. As a child, spooky folklore about his neighborhood sparked a fascination with ghouls and "ignited fantasy in what was beyond the observable, physical world."

Education & Career
A notoriously rebellious youth with a penchant for drawing, he was sent by his father to study art with George Allief (also known as George Aleef), a former Russian officer with the Tsarist army. Allief taught him the basics of watercolor, drawing and painting, and the European understanding of perspective. These lessons with Allief marked the young artist's transition from childhood drawing to the disciplined work of a professional artist. According to Dura's memoirs, Allief taught his students to meticulously render a matchbox as an exercise in perspective.

Among Durra’s drawings, there is a portrait for Durra’s first teacher George Allief (also known as ''George Aleef). Durra shared the story behind this portrait with artmejo: "When I returned home from Rome, George Aleef, who was my teacher before my departure and who had taught me the scholastic method, the classic lessons about art, he was afraid that I had become so modern in throwing colours on the canvas that he came to my studio and he was almost angry! But then he sat on a chair and I painted him while he was talking, and after he saw [the portrait I had done of him] he forgave me and pardoned me and he said to me “in spite of the fact that you betrayed my teaching, you still have something, a gift".

Following the formative years with Allief, the young Muhanna met Dutch painter, William Hallowin, who introduced him to Rembrandt and the Dutch school which sparked an obsession with the power of light. In 1954, he was sent to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome to become the first Jordanian to receive a formal art education. He claims to have been disillusioned by the academy and committed himself to studying the classics through art in museums and churches. After graduating in 1958, Durra returned to Amman to teach history of art at the Teachers' Training College. In 1964, Durra established the Fine Arts Section at the Department of Culture and Art, Amman, and then established the Jordan Institute of Fine Arts in 1970.

Between 1960 and 1970, Al-Durra returned to Rome, where he experimented with abstraction and cubism. In 1970, he returned to Jordan to receive the Kawkab Decoration from King Hussein. Around that time, Durra established an art studio; the first Jordanian to establish an art studio to teach local students. Among his notable students was the Princess Wijdan Ali who is best known for her attempts to revive the traditions of Islamic art. Another student was Nawal Abdallah, who is one of the leading lights of Jordan's contemporary arts scene.

Work
Durra was best known for his portraits and also for the way he treated shifting masses of colour. He was also acknowledged as the first artist to introduce cubism and abstract art to the Jordanian arts community. Durra was Jordanian artist by nature, and his depiction of the Bedouin and local Jordanian were key subjects in his early years.

Select list of paintings

 * Blue Man Árabe, 1966
 * Cubista Paisaje Urbano, 1966
 * Portrait of Two Women, 1975
 * Composition No. 3, oil on canvas, 75 X 95 cm, 1977
 * Autumn Dew, 1981
 * Old Salti Woman, 1964

Honours and recognition
Durra served as a diplomat in Italy, Tunisia, Egypt and later Russia, as Ambassador to the Arab League in Moscow.

In 2002 the Postal Authorities of Jordan issued a 200 fils postage stamp in honor of Mohanna Durra displaying one of his paintings.

In November 2006 the Ministry of Culture named an art gallery after Muhanna Durra, and held a national symposium about his art with the participation of prominent Jordanian artists and critics.

Other awards include:

 * 1965 Decorated Knight of the Holy Order of St. Sylvester by Pope Paul VI
 * 1970 Order of the Star of Jordan by King Hussein
 * 1977 The first State Appreciation Award for his contribution to the cultural development of Jordan
 * 1978 Golden Medal of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage
 * 1980 Golden Pioneer Medal and Appreciation Award of the Union of Arab Artists
 * 1992 Elected active member of the International Informatization Academy
 * 2006 Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity
 * 2008 Distinction of Al-Hussein Decoration from his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan (First Order)

Exhibitions
Durra held numerous solo exhibitions in Rome, Florence, the USSR, various Arab and European capitals, Washington D.C., Plazzo Venezia, the 1988 Venice Biennale Exhibition, and the Fine Arts National Museum of Valletta, Malta. He later held solo exhibitions in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts and the Austrian Parliament Central Hall in Vienna. In 2000, "Muhanna Forever: Pioneer of Modern Art in Jordan" was exhibited at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts and in 2006, he had a solo show at Lines Gallery, Amman, Jordan.

Durra's work is represented in various national and international collections, including that of the Vatican, the Imperial Court of Japan, the President of the Philippines, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada, David Rockefeller, The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Fannie Mae Bank in Washington, D.C., Bonn City Hall, Washington, D.C. City Hall, the University of San Francisco, Georgetown University, as well as several Jordanian institutes.

title: Muhanna Al-Dura