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Night or nighttime is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of sunrise and sunset. Moonlight, airglow, starlight, and light pollution dimly illuminate night. The duration of day, night, and twilight varies depending on the time of year and the latitude. Night on other celestial bodies is affected by their rotation and orbital periods. The planets Mercury and Venus have much longer nights than Earth. On Venus, night lasts 120 Earth days. The Moon's rotation is tidally locked, rotating so that the near side of the Moon always faces Earth. Nightfall across the near the side of the Moon results in the lunar phases visible from Earth.
Organisms respond to the changes brought by nightfall, including darkness, increased humidity, and lower temperatures. Their responses include direct reactions and adjustments to circadian rhythms, governed by an internal biological clock. These circadian rhythms, regulated by exposure to light and darkness, affect an organism's behavior and physiology. Animals more active at night are called nocturnal and have adaptations for low light, including different forms of night vision and the heightening of other senses. Diurnal animals are active during the day and sleep at night; mammals, birds, and some others dream while asleep. Fungi respond directly to nightfall and increase their biomass. With some exceptions, fungi do not rely on a biological clock. Plants store energy produced through photosynthesis as starch granules to consume at night. Algae engage in a similar process, and cyanobacteria transition from photosynthesis to nitrogen fixation after sunset. In arid environments like deserts, plants evolved to be more active at night, with many gathering carbon dioxide overnight for daytime photosynthesis. Night-blooming cacti rely on nocturnal pollinators such as bats and moths for reproduction. Light pollution disrupts the patterns in ecosystems and is especially harmful to night-flying insects.
Historically, night has been a time of increased danger and insecurity. Many daytime social controls dissipated after sunset. Theft, fights, murders, taboo sexual activities, and accidental deaths all became more frequent due in part to reduced visibility. Cultures have personified night through deities associated with some or all of these aspects of nighttime. The folklore of many cultures contains "creatures of the night," including werewolves, witches, ghosts, and goblins, reflecting societal fears and anxieties. The introduction of artificial lighting extended daytime activities. Major European cities hung lanterns housing candles and oil lamps in the 1600s. Nineteenth-century gas and electric lights created unprecedented illumination. The range of socially acceptable leisure activities expanded, and various industries introduced a night shift. Nightlife, encompassing bars, nightclubs, and cultural venues, has become a significant part of urban culture, contributing to social and political movements.
Astronomy[edit]
A planet's rotation causes nighttime and daytime. When a place on Earth is pointed away from the Sun, that location experiences night. The Sun appears to set in the West and rise in the East due to Earth's rotation.[1] Many celestial bodies, including the other planets in the solar system, have a form of night.[1][2]
Earth[edit]
The length of night on Earth varies depending on the time of year. Longer nights occur in winter, with the winter solstice being the longest.[3] Nights are shorter in the summer, with the summer solstice being the shortest.[3] Earth orbits the Sun on an axis tilted 23.44 degrees.[4] Nights are longer when a hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun and shorter when a hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun.[5] As a result, the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere will be the shortest night of the year for the Southern Hemisphere.[5]
Night's duration varies least near the equator. The difference between the shortest and longest night increases approaching the poles.[6] At the equator, night lasts roughly 12 hours throughout the year.[7] The tropics have little difference in the length of day and night.[6] At the 45th parallel, the longest winter night is roughly twice as long as the shortest summer night.[8] Within the polar circles, night will last the full 24 hours of the winter solstice.[5] The length of this polar night increases closer to the poles. Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States, experiences 65 days of polar night.[9] At the pole itself, polar night lasts 179 days from September to March.[9]
Over a year, there is more daytime than nighttime because of the Sun's size and atmospheric refraction. The Sun is not a single point.[10] Viewed from Earth, the Sun ranges in angular diameter from 31 to 33 arcminutes.[11] When the center of the Sun falls level with the western horizon, half of the Sun will still be visible during sunset. Likewise, by the time the center of the Sun rises to the eastern horizon, half of the Sun will already be visible during sunrise.[12] This shortens night by about 3 minutes in temperate zones.[13] Atmospheric refraction is a larger factor.[10] Refraction bends sunlight over the horizon.[13] On Earth, the Sun remains briefly visible after it has geometrically fallen below the horizon.[13] This shortens night by about 6 minutes.[13] Scattered, diffuse sunlight remains in the sky after sunset and into twilight.[14]
There are multiple ways to define twilight, the gradual transition to and from darkness when the Sun is below the horizon.[15] "Civil" twilight occurs when the Sun is between 0 to 6 degrees below the horizon. Nearby planets like Venus and bright stars like Sirius are visible during this period.[16] "Nautical" twilight continues until the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon.[17] During nautical twilight, the horizon is visible enough for navigation.[18] "Astronomical" twilight continues until the Sun has sunk 18 degrees below the horizon.[16][19] Beyond 18 degrees, refracted sunlight is no longer visible.[19] The period when the sun is 18 or more degrees below either horizon is called astronomical night.[17]
Similar to the duration of night itself, the duration of twilight varies according to latitude.[19] At the equator, day quickly transitions to night, while the transition can take weeks near the poles.[19] The duration of twilight is longest at the summer solstice and shortest near the equinoxes.[20] Moonlight, starlight, airglow, and light pollution create the skyglow that dimly illuminates nighttime.[21][22] The amount of skyglow increases each year due to artificial lighting.[21]
Other celestial bodies[edit]
Night exists on the other planets and moons in the solar system.[1][2] The length of night is affected by the rotation period and orbital period of the celestial object.[23] The lunar phases visible from Earth result from nightfall on the Moon.[24] The Moon has longer nights than Earth, lasting about two weeks.[23] This is half of the synodic lunar month, the time it takes the Moon to cycle through its phases.[25] The Moon is tidally locked to Earth; it rotates so that one side of the Moon always faces the Earth.[26] The side of the Moon facing away from Earth is called the far side of the Moon and the side facing Earth is called the near side of the Moon. During lunar night on the near side, Earth is 50 times brighter than a full moon.[27] Because the Moon has no atmosphere, there is an abrupt transition from day to night without twilight.[28]
Night varies from planet to planet within the Solar System. Mars's dusty atmosphere causes a lengthy twilight period. The refracted light ranges from purple to blue, often resulting in glowing noctilucent clouds.[29] Venus and Mercury have long nights because of their slow rotational periods.[30] The planet Venus rotates once every 243 Earth days.[31] Because of its unusual retrograde rotation, nights last 116.75 Earth days.[32] The dense greenhouse atmosphere on Venus keeps its surface hot enough to melt lead throughout the night.[33][34] Its planetary wind system, driven by solar heat, reverses direction from day to night. Venus's winds flow from the equator to the poles on the day side and from the poles to the equator on the night side.[35][36] On Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, the temperature drops over 1,000 °F (538 °C) after nightfall.[37]
The day-night cycle is one consideration for planetary habitability or the possibility of extraterrestrial life on distant exoplanets.[38] Some exoplanets, like those of TRAPPIST-1, are tidally locked. Tidally locked planets have equal rotation and orbital periods, so one side experiences constant day, and the other side constant night. In these situations, astrophysicists believe that life would most likely develop in the twilight zone between the day and night hemispheres.[39][40]
Biology[edit]
Living organisms react directly to the darkness of night.[42] Light and darkness also affect circadian rhythms, the physical and mental changes that occur in a 24-hour cycle.[43] This daily cycle is regulated by an internal "biological clock" that is adjusted by exposure to light.[43] The length and timing of nighttime depend on location and time of year.[44] Organisms that are more active at night possess adaptations to the night's dimmer light, increased humidity, and lower temperatures.[45]
Animals[edit]
Animals that are active primarily at night are called nocturnal and usually possess adaptations for night vision.[46] In vertebrates' eyes, two types of photoreceptor cells sense light.[47] Cone cells sense color but are ineffective in low light; rod cells sense only brightness but remain effective in very dim light.[48] The eyes of nocturnal animals have a greater percentage of rod cells.[47] In most mammals, rod cells contain densely packed DNA near the edge of the nucleus. For nocturnal mammals, this is reversed with the densely packed DNA in the center of the nucleus, which reduces the scattering of light.[49] Some nocturnal animals have a mirror, the tapetum lucidum, behind the retina. This doubles the amount of light their eyes can process.[50]
The compound eyes of insects can see at even lower levels of light. For example, the elephant hawk moth can see in color, including ultraviolet, with only starlight.[46] Nocturnal insects navigate using moonlight, lunar phases, infrared vision, the position of the stars, and the Earth's magnetic field.[51] Artificial lighting disrupts the biorhythms of many animals.[52] Night-flying insects that use the moon for navigation are especially vulnerable to disorientation from increasing levels of artificial lighting.[53] Artificial lights attract many night-flying insects that die from exhaustion and nocturnal predators.[54] Decreases in insect populations disrupt the overall ecosystem because their larvae are a key food source for smaller fish.[55] Dark-sky advocate Paul Bogard described the unnatural migration of night-flying insects from the unlit Nevada desert into Las Vegas as "like sparkling confetti floating in the beam's white column".[56]
Some nocturnal animals have developed other senses to compensate for limited light. Many snakes have a pit organ that senses infrared light and enables them to detect heat. Nocturnal mice possess a vomeronasal organ that enhances their sense of smell. Bats heavily depend on echolocation.[57] Echolocation allows an animal to navigate with their sense of hearing by emitting sounds and listening for the time it takes them to bounce back.[57] Bats emit a steady stream of clicks while hunting insects and home in on prey as thin as human hair.[58]
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People and other diurnal animals sleep primarily at night.[59] Humans, other mammals, and birds experience multiple stages of sleep visible via electroencephalography.[60] The stages of sleep are wakefulness, three stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) including deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.[61] During REM sleep, dreams are more frequent and complex.[62] Studies show that some reptiles may also experience REM sleep.[63] During deep sleep, memories are consolidated into long-term memory.[64] Invertebrates most likely experience a form of sleep as well. Studies on bees, which have complex but unrelated brain structures, have shown improvements in memory after sleep, similar to mammals.[65]
Compared to waking life, dreams are sparse with limited sensory detail. Dreams are hallucinatory or bizarre, and they often have a narrative structure.[66] Many hypotheses exist to explain the function of dreams without a definitive answer.[66] Nightmares are dreams that cause distress. The word "night-mare" originally referred to nocturnal demons that were believed to assail sleeping dreamers, like the incubus (male) or succubus (female).[67] It was believed that the demons could sit upon a dreamer's chest to suffocate a victim, as depicted in John Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare.[67]
Fungi[edit]
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Fungi can sense the presence and absence of light, and the nightly changes of most fungi growth and biological processes are direct responses to either darkness or falling temperatures.[44] By night, fungi are more engaged in synthesizing cellular components and increasing their biomass.[68] For example, fungi that preys on insects will infect the central nervous system of their prey, allowing the fungi to control the actions of the dying insect. During the late afternoon, the fungi will pilot their prey to higher elevation where wind currents can carry its spores further. The fungi will kill and digest the insect as night falls, extending fruiting bodies from the host's exoskeleton.[69] Few species of fungi have true circadian rhythms.[44] A notable exception is Neurospora crassa, a bread mold, widely used to study biorhythms.[70]
Plants[edit]
During the day, plants engage in photosynthesis and release oxygen. By night, plants engage in respiration, consuming oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.[71] Plants can draw up more water after sunset, which facilitates new leaf growth.[72] As plants cannot create energy through photosynthesis after sunset, they use energy stored in the plant, typically as starch granules.[73] Plants use this stored energy at a steady rate, depleting their reserves almost right at dawn.[73] Plants will adjust their rate of consumption to match the expected time until sunrise. This avoids prematurely running out of starch reserves,[73] and it allows the plant to adjust for longer nights in the winter.[74] If a plant is subjected to artificially early darkness, it will ration its energy consumption to last until dawn.[74]
Succulent plants, including cacti, have adapted to the limited water availability in arid environments like deserts.[75] The stomata of cacti do not open until night.[76] When the temperature drops, the pores open to allow the cacti to store carbon dioxide for photosynthesis the next day, a process known as crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM).[76][77] Cacti and most night-blooming plants use CAM to store up to
Cartoon
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A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist,[1] and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.
The concept originated in the Middle Ages, and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, beginning in Punch magazine in 1843, cartoon came to refer – ironically at first – to humorous artworks in magazines and newspapers. Then it also was used for political cartoons and comic strips. When the medium developed, in the early 20th century, it began to refer to animated films that resembled print cartoons.[2]
Fine art[edit]
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A cartoon (from Italian: cartone and Dutch: karton—words describing strong, heavy paper or pasteboard) is a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a design or modello for a painting, stained glass, or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link the component parts of the composition when painted on damp plaster over a series of days (giornate).[3] In media such as stained tapestry or stained glass, the cartoon was handed over by the artist to the skilled craftsmen who produced the final work.
Such cartoons often have pinpricks along the outlines of the design so that a bag of soot patted or "pounced" over a cartoon, held against the wall, would leave black dots on the plaster ("pouncing"). Cartoons by painters, such as the Raphael Cartoons in London, Francisco Goya's tapestry cartoons, and examples by Leonardo da Vinci, are highly prized in their own right. Tapestry cartoons, usually colored, could be placed behind the loom, where the weaver would replicate the design. As tapestries are worked from behind, a mirror could be placed behind the loom to allow the weaver to see their work; in such cases the cartoon was placed behind the weaver.[2][4]
Mass media[edit]
In print media, a cartoon is a drawing or series of drawings, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from 1843, when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages,[5] particularly sketches by John Leech.[6] The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster in London.[7]
Sir John Tenniel—illustrator of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—joined Punch in 1850, and over 50 years contributed over two thousand cartoons.[8]
Cartoons can be divided into gag cartoons, which include editorial cartoons, and comic strips.
Modern single-panel gag cartoons, found in magazines, generally consist of a single drawing with a typeset caption positioned beneath, or, less often, a speech balloon.[9] Newspaper syndicates have also distributed single-panel gag cartoons by Mel Calman, Bill Holman, Gary Larson, George Lichty, Fred Neher and others. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon (as did Arno himself).[10] The roster of magazine gag cartoonists includes Charles Addams, Charles Barsotti, and Chon Day.
Bill Hoest, Jerry Marcus, and Virgil Partch began as magazine gag cartoonists and moved to syndicated comic strips. Richard Thompson illustrated numerous feature articles in The Washington Post before creating his Cul de Sac comic strip. The sports section of newspapers usually featured cartoons, sometimes including syndicated features such as Chester "Chet" Brown's All in Sport.
Editorial cartoons are found almost exclusively in news publications and news websites. Although they also employ humor, they are more serious in tone, commonly using irony or satire. The art usually acts as a visual metaphor to illustrate a point of view on current social or political topics. Editorial cartoons often include speech balloons and sometimes use multiple panels. Editorial cartoonists of note include Herblock, David Low, Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters, and Gerald Scarfe.[2]
Comic strips, also known as cartoon strips in the United Kingdom, are found daily in newspapers worldwide, and are usually a short series of cartoon illustrations in sequence. In the United States, they are not commonly called "cartoons" themselves, but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless, the creators of comic strips—as well as comic books and graphic novels—are usually referred to as "cartoonists". Although humor is the most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also represented in this medium. Some noteworthy cartoonists of humorous comic strips are Scott Adams, Charles Schulz, E. C. Segar, Mort Walker and Bill Watterson.[2]
Political[edit]
Political cartoons are like illustrated editorials that serve visual commentaries on political events. They offer subtle criticism which are cleverly quoted with humour and satire to the extent that the criticized does not get embittered.
The pictorial satire of William Hogarth is regarded as a precursor to the development of political cartoons in 18th century England.[11] George Townshend produced some of the first overtly political cartoons and caricatures in the 1750s.[11][12] The medium began to develop in the latter part of the 18th century under the direction of its great exponents, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, both from London. Gillray explored the use of the medium for lampooning and caricature, and has been referred to as the father of the political cartoon.[13] By calling the king, prime ministers and generals to account for their behaviour, many of Gillray's satires were directed against George III, depicting him as a pretentious buffoon, while the bulk of his work was dedicated to ridiculing the ambitions of revolutionary France and Napoleon.[13] George Cruikshank became the leading cartoonist in the period following Gillray, from 1815 until the 1840s. His career was renowned for his social caricatures of English life for popular publications.
By the mid 19th century, major political newspapers in many other countries featured cartoons commenting on the politics of the day. Thomas Nast, in New York City, showed how realistic German drawing techniques could redefine American cartooning.[14] His 160 cartoons relentlessly pursued the criminal characteristic of the Tweed machine in New York City, and helped bring it down. Indeed, Tweed was arrested in Spain when police identified him from Nast's cartoons.[15] In Britain, Sir John Tenniel was the toast of London.[16] In France under the July Monarchy, Honoré Daumier took up the new genre of political and social caricature, most famously lampooning the rotund King Louis Philippe.
Political cartoons can be humorous or satirical, sometimes with piercing effect. The target of the humor may complain, but can seldom fight back. Lawsuits have been very rare; the first successful lawsuit against a cartoonist in over a century in Britain came in 1921, when J. H. Thomas, the leader of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), initiated libel proceedings against the magazine of the British Communist Party. Thomas claimed defamation in the form of cartoons and words depicting the events of "Black Friday", when he allegedly betrayed the locked-out Miners' Federation. To Thomas, the framing of his image by the far left threatened to grievously degrade his character in the popular imagination. Soviet-inspired communism was a new element in European politics, and cartoonists unrestrained by tradition tested the boundaries of libel law. Thomas won the lawsuit and restored his reputation.[17]
Scientific[edit]
Cartoons such as xkcd have also found their place in the world of science, mathematics, and technology. For example, the cartoon Wonderlab looked at daily life in the chemistry lab. In the U.S., one well-known cartoonist for these fields is Sidney Harris. Many of Gary Larson's cartoons have a scientific flavor.
Comic books[edit]
The first comic-strip cartoons were of a humorous tone.[18] Notable early humor comics include the Swiss comic-strip book Mr. Vieux Bois (1837), the British strip Ally Sloper (first appearing in 1867) and the American strip Yellow Kid (first appearing in 1895).
In the United States in the 1930s, books with cartoons were magazine-format "American comic books" with original material, or occasionally reprints of newspaper comic strips.[19]
In Britain in the 1930s, adventure comic magazines became quite popular, especially those published by DC Thomson; the publisher sent observers around the country to talk to boys and learn what they wanted to read about. The story line in magazines, comic books and cinema that most appealed to boys was the glamorous heroism of British soldiers fighting wars that were exciting and just.[20] DC Thomson issued the first The Dandy Comic in December 1937. It had a revolutionary design that broke away from the usual children's comics that were published broadsheet in size and not very colourful. Thomson capitalized on its success with a similar product The Beano in 1938.[21]
On some occasions, new gag cartoons have been created for book publication.
Animation[edit]
Because of the stylistic similarities between comic strips and early animated films, cartoon came to refer to animation, and the word cartoon is currently used in reference to both animated cartoons and gag cartoons.[22] While animation designates any style of illustrated images seen in rapid succession to give the impression of movement, the word "cartoon" is most often used as a descriptor for television programs and short films aimed at children, possibly featuring anthropomorphized animals,[23] superheroes, the adventures of child protagonists or related themes.
In the 1980s, cartoon was shortened to toon, referring to characters in animated productions. This term was popularized in 1988 by the combined live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, followed in 1990 by the animated TV series Tiny Toon Adventures.
See also[edit]
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
- Caricature
- Comics
- Comics studies
- List of cartoonists
- List of editorial cartoonists
- List of comic strips
References[edit]
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
- ^ a b c d Becker 1959
- ^ Constable 1954, p. 115.
- ^ Adelson 1994, p. 330.
- ^ Punch.co.uk. "History of the Cartoon". Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- ^ Adler & Hill 2008, p. 30.
- ^ "Substance and Shadow: Original Editorial Accompanying "Cartoon, No. I"". Victorian web.org. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ "Sir John Tenniel". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ Bishop 2009, p. 92.
- ^ Maslin, Michael (May 5, 2016). "The Peter Arno Cartoons That Help Rescue The New Yorker". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ a b Press 1981, p. 34.
- ^ Chris Upton. "Birth of England's pocket cartoon". The Free Library.
- ^ a b Rowson 2015.
- ^ Adler & Hill 2008, p. 24.
- ^ Adler & Hill 2008, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Morris & Tenniel 2005, p. 344.
- ^ Samuel S. Hyde, "'Please, Sir, he called me "Jimmy!' Political Cartooning before the Law: 'Black Friday', J.H. Thomas, and the Communist Libel Trial of 1921", Contemporary British History (2011) 25(4), pp. 521–550.
- ^ Harvey, R. C. (2001). "Comedy at the Juncture of Word and Image". In Varnum, Robin; Gibbons, Christina T. (eds.). The Language of Comics: Word and Image. University Press of Mississippi. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-57806-414-4.
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Vortex
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Vortex created by the passage of an aircraft wing, revealed by colored smoke 
Vortices formed by milk when poured into a cup of coffee 
A Kármán vortex street is demonstrated in this photo, as winds from the west blow onto clouds that have formed over the mountains in the desert. This phenomenon observed from ground level is extremely rare, as most cloud-related Kármán vortex street activity is viewed from space In fluid dynamics, a vortex (pl.: vortices or vortexes)[1][2] is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved.[3][4] Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in the wake of a boat, and the winds surrounding a tropical cyclone, tornado or dust devil.
Vortices are a major component of turbulent flow. The distribution of velocity, vorticity (the curl of the flow velocity), as well as the concept of circulation are used to characterise vortices. In most vortices, the fluid flow velocity is greatest next to its axis and decreases in inverse proportion to the distance from the axis.
In the absence of external forces, viscous friction within the fluid tends to organise the flow into a collection of irrotational vortices, possibly superimposed to larger-scale flows, including larger-scale vortices. Once formed, vortices can move, stretch, twist, and interact in complex ways. A moving vortex carries some angular and linear momentum, energy, and mass, with it.
Overview[edit]
In the dynamics of fluid, a vortex is fluid that revolves around the axis line. This fluid might be curved or straight. Vortices form from stirred fluids: they might be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools, in the wake of a boat or the winds around a tornado or dust devil.
Vortices are an important part of turbulent flow. Vortices can otherwise be known as a circular motion of a liquid. In the cases of the absence of forces, the liquid settles. This makes the water stay still instead of moving.
When they are created, vortices can move, stretch, twist and interact in complicated ways. When a vortex is moving, sometimes, it can affect an angular position.
For an example, if a water bucket is rotated or spun constantly, it will rotate around an invisible line called the axis line. The rotation moves around in circles. In this example the rotation of the bucket creates extra force.
The reason that the vortices can change shape is the fact that they have open particle paths. This can create a moving vortex. Examples of this fact are the shapes of tornadoes and drain whirlpools.
When two or more vortices are close together they can merge to make a vortex. Vortices also hold energy in its rotation of the fluid. If the energy is never removed, it would consist of circular motion forever.
Properties[edit]
Vorticity[edit]
The Crow instability of a jet aeroplane's contrail visually demonstrates the vortex created in the atmosphere (gas fluid medium) by the passage of the aircraft. A key concept in the dynamics of vortices is the vorticity, a vector that describes the local rotary motion at a point in the fluid, as would be perceived by an observer that moves along with it. Conceptually, the vorticity could be observed by placing a tiny rough ball at the point in question, free to move with the fluid, and observing how it rotates about its center. The direction of the vorticity vector is defined to be the direction of the axis of rotation of this imaginary ball (according to the right-hand rule) while its length is twice the ball's angular velocity. Mathematically, the vorticity is defined as the curl (or rotational) of the velocity field of the fluid, usually denoted by and expressed by the vector analysis formula , where is the nabla operator and is the local flow velocity.[5]
The local rotation measured by the vorticity must not be confused with the angular velocity vector of that portion of the fluid with respect to the external environment or to any fixed axis. In a vortex, in particular, may be opposite to the mean angular velocity vector of the fluid relative to the vortex's axis.
Vortex types[edit]
In theory, the speed u of the particles (and, therefore, the vorticity) in a vortex may vary with the distance r from the axis in many ways. There are two important special cases, however:
A rigid-body vortex - If the fluid rotates like a rigid body – that is, if the angular rotational velocity Ω is uniform, so that u increases proportionally to the distance r from the axis – a tiny ball carried by the flow would also rotate about its center as if it were part of that rigid body. In such a flow, the vorticity is the same everywhere: its direction is parallel to the rotation axis, and its magnitude is equal to twice the uniform angular velocity Ω of the fluid around the center of rotation.
An irrotational vortex - If the particle speed u is inversely proportional to the distance r from the axis, then the imaginary test ball would not rotate over itself; it would maintain the same orientation while moving in a circle around the vortex axis. In this case the vorticity is zero at any point not on that axis, and the flow is said to be irrotational.
Irrotational vortices[edit]
Pathlines of fluid particles around the axis (dashed line) of an ideal irrotational vortex. (See animation.) In the absence of external forces, a vortex usually evolves fairly quickly toward the irrotational flow pattern[citation needed], where the flow velocity u is inversely proportional to the distance r. Irrotational vortices are also called free vortices.
For an irrotational vortex, the circulation is zero along any closed contour that does not enclose the vortex axis; and has a fixed value, Γ, for any contour that does enclose the axis once.[6] The tangential component of the particle velocity is then . The angular momentum per unit mass relative to the vortex axis is therefore constant, .
The ideal irrotational vortex flow in free space is not physically realizable, since it would imply that the particle speed (and hence the force needed to keep particles in their circular paths) would grow without bound as one approaches the vortex axis. Indeed, in real vortices there is always a core region surrounding the axis where the particle velocity stops increasing and then decreases to zero as r goes to zero. Within that region, the flow is no longer irrotational: the vorticity becomes non-zero, with direction roughly parallel to the vortex axis. The Rankine vortex is a model that assumes a rigid-body rotational flow where r is less than a fixed distance r0, and irrotational flow outside that core regions.
In a viscous fluid, irrotational flow contains viscous dissipation everywhere, yet there are no net viscous forces, only viscous stresses.[7] Due to the dissipation, this means that sustaining an irrotational viscous vortex requires continuous input of work at the core (for example, by steadily turning a cylinder at the core). In free space there is no energy input at the core, and thus the compact vorticity held in the core will naturally diffuse outwards, converting the core to a gradually-slowing and gradually-growing rigid-body flow, surrounded by the original irrotational flow. Such a decaying irrotational vortex has an exact solution of the viscous Navier–Stokes equations, known as a Lamb–Oseen vortex.
Rotational vortices[edit]
Saturn's north polar vortex A rotational vortex – a vortex that rotates in the same way as a rigid body – cannot exist indefinitely in that state except through the application of some extra force, that is not generated by the fluid motion itself. It has non-zero vorticity everywhere outside the core. Rotational vortices are also called rigid-body vortices or forced vortices.
For example, if a water bucket is spun at constant angular speed w about its vertical axis, the water will eventually rotate in rigid-body fashion. The particles will then move along circles, with velocity u equal to wr.[6] In that case, the free surface of the water will assume a parabolic shape.
In this situation, the rigid rotating enclosure provides an extra force, namely an extra pressure gradient in the water, directed inwards, that prevents transition of the rigid-body flow to the irrotational state.
Vortex formation on boundaries[edit]
Vortex structures are defined by their vorticity, the local rotation rate of fluid particles. They can be formed via the phenomenon known as boundary layer separation which can occur when a fluid moves over a surface and experiences a rapid acceleration from the fluid velocity to zero due to the no-slip condition. This rapid negative acceleration creates a boundary layer which causes a local rotation of fluid at the wall (i.e. vorticity) which is referred to as the wall shear rate. The thickness of this boundary layer is proportional to (where v is the free stream fluid velocity and t is time).
If the diameter or thickness of the vessel or fluid is less than the boundary layer thickness then the boundary layer will not separate and vortices will not form. However, when the boundary layer does grow beyond this critical boundary layer thickness then separation will occur which will generate vortices.
This boundary layer separation can also occur in the presence of combatting pressure gradients (i.e. a pressure that develops downstream). This is present in curved surfaces and general geometry changes like a convex surface. A unique example of severe geometric changes is at the trailing edge of a bluff body where the fluid flow deceleration, and therefore boundary layer and vortex formation, is located.
Another form of vortex formation on a boundary is when fluid flows perpendicularly into a wall and creates a splash effect. The velocity streamlines are immediately deflected and decelerated so that the boundary layer separates and forms a toroidal vortex ring.[8]
Vortex geometry[edit]
In a stationary vortex, the typical streamline (a line that is everywhere tangent to the flow velocity vector) is a closed loop surrounding the axis; and each vortex line (a line that is everywhere tangent to the vorticity vector) is roughly parallel to the axis. A surface that is everywhere tangent to both flow velocity and vorticity is called a vortex tube. In general, vortex tubes are nested around the axis of rotation. The axis itself is one of the vortex lines, a limiting case of a vortex tube with zero diameter.
According to Helmholtz's theorems, a vortex line cannot start or end in the fluid – except momentarily, in non-steady flow, while the vortex is forming or dissipating. In general, vortex lines (in particular, the axis line) are either closed loops or end at the boundary of the fluid. A whirlpool is an example of the latter, namely a vortex in a body of water whose axis ends at the free surface. A vortex tube whose vortex lines are all closed will be a closed torus-like surface.
A newly created vortex will promptly extend and bend so as to eliminate any open-ended vortex lines. For example, when an airplane engine is started, a vortex usually forms ahead of each propeller, or the turbofan of each jet engine. One end of the vortex line is attached to the engine, while the other end usually stretches out and bends until it reaches the ground.
When vortices are made visible by smoke or ink trails, they may seem to have spiral pathlines or streamlines. However, this appearance is often an illusion and the fluid particles are moving in closed paths. The spiral streaks that are taken to be streamlines are in fact clouds of the marker fluid that originally spanned several vortex tubes and were stretched into spiral shapes by the non-uniform flow velocity distribution.
Pressure in a vortex[edit]
A plughole vortex The fluid motion in a vortex creates a dynamic pressure (in addition to any hydrostatic pressure) that is lowest in the core region, closest to the axis, and increases as one moves away from it, in accordance with Bernoulli's principle. One can say that it is the gradient of this pressure that forces the fluid to follow a curved path around the axis.
In a rigid-body vortex flow of a fluid with constant density, the dynamic pressure is proportional to the square of the distance r from the axis. In a constant gravity field, the free surface of the liquid, if present, is a concave paraboloid.
In an irrotational vortex flow with constant fluid density and cylindrical symmetry, the dynamic pressure varies as P∞ − K/r2, where P∞ is the limiting pressure infinitely far from the axis. This formula provides another constraint for the extent of the core, since the pressure cannot be negative. The free surface (if present) dips sharply near the axis line, with depth inversely proportional to r2. The shape formed by the free surface is called a hyperboloid, or "Gabriel's Horn" (by Evangelista Torricelli).
The core of a vortex in air is sometimes visible because water vapor condenses as the low pressure of the core causes adiabatic cooling; the funnel of a tornado is an example. When a vortex line ends at a boundary surface, the reduced pressure may also draw matter from that surface into the core. For example, a dust devil is a column of dust picked up by the core of an air vortex attached to the ground. A vortex that ends at the free surface of a body of water (like the whirlpool that often forms over a bathtub drain) may draw a column of air down the core. The forward vortex extending from a jet engine of a parked airplane can suck water and small stones into the core and then into the engine.
Evolution[edit]
Vortices need not be steady-state features; they can move and change shape. In a moving vortex, the particle paths are not closed, but are open, loopy curves like helices and cycloids. A vortex flow might also be combined with a radial or axial flow pattern. In that case the streamlines and pathlines are not closed curves but spirals or helices, respectively. This is the case in tornadoes and in drain whirlpools. A vortex with helical streamlines is said to be solenoidal.
As long as the effects of viscosity and diffusion are negligible, the fluid in a moving vortex is carried along with it. In particular, the fluid in the core (and matter trapped by it) tends to remain in the core as the vortex moves about. This is a consequence of Helmholtz's second theorem. Thus vortices (unlike surface waves and pressure waves) can transport mass, energy and momentum over considerable distances compared to their size, with surprisingly little dispersion. This effect is demonstrated by smoke rings and exploited in vortex ring toys and guns.
Two or more vortices that are approximately parallel and circulating in the same direction will attract and eventually merge to form a single vortex, whose circulation will equal the sum of the circulations of the constituent vortices. For example, an airplane wing that is developing lift will create a sheet of small vortices at its trailing edge. These small vortices merge to form a single wingtip vortex, less than one wing chord downstream of that edge. This phenomenon also occurs with other active airfoils, such as propeller blades. On the other hand, two parallel vortices with opposite circulations (such as the two wingtip vortices of an airplane) tend to remain separate.
Vortices contain substantial energy in the circular motion of the fluid. In an ideal fluid this energy can never be dissipated and the vortex would persist forever. However, real fluids exhibit viscosity and this dissipates energy very slowly from the core of the vortex. It is only through dissipation of a vortex due to viscosity that a vortex line can end in the fluid, rather than at the boundary of the fluid.
Further examples[edit]
The visible core of a vortex formed when a C-17 uses high engine power at slow speed on a wet runway. 
Kármán vortex streets formed off the island of Tristan da Cunha - In the hydrodynamic interpretation of the behaviour of electromagnetic fields, the acceleration of electric f
Windows Vista #3
Windows Vista theme by rsebes
Download: Vista_rsebes.p3t
(9 backgrounds)
Windows Vista Version of the Windows NT operating system 
Screenshot of Windows Vista Ultimate, showing its desktop, taskbar, Start menu, Windows Sidebar, Welcome Center, and glass effects of Windows AeroDeveloper Microsoft Source model Released to
manufacturingNovember 8, 2006[2] General
availabilityJanuary 30, 2007[3] Final release Service Pack 2[4] (6.0.6002.24170) / July 21, 2017[5] Marketing target Consumer and Business Update method Platforms IA-32 and x86-64 Kernel type Hybrid (NT) Userland Windows API, NTVDM, SUA License Proprietary commercial software Preceded by Windows XP (2001) Succeeded by Windows 7 (2009) Official website Windows Vista (archived at the Wayback Machine) Support status Mainstream support ended on April 10, 2012[6]
Extended support ended on April 11, 2017[6]Part of a series of articles on Windows Vista New features Siblings Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on November 8, 2006, and over the following two months, it was released in stages to business customers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released internationally and was made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace; it is the first release of Windows to be made available through a digital distribution platform.[7]
Development of Windows Vista began in 2001 when it was codenamed "Longhorn"; originally envisioned as a minor successor to Windows XP, it gradually included numerous new features from the then-next major release of Windows codenamed "Blackcomb", after which it was repositioned as a major release of Windows, and it consequently underwent a protracted development that was unprecedented for Microsoft. Most new features were prominently based on a new presentation layer codenamed Avalon, a new communications architecture codenamed Indigo, and a relational storage platform codenamed WinFS — all built on the premature .NET Framework; however, this proved to be untenable due to incompleteness of technologies and ways in which new features were added, and Microsoft changed the project in 2004. Many new features were eventually reimplemented during development, but Microsoft ceased using managed code to develop the operating system.[8]
New features of Windows Vista include a graphical user interface and visual style referred to as Windows Aero; a content index and desktop search platform called Windows Search; new peer-to-peer technologies to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices on a home network; and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker. Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs. There are major architectural overhauls to audio, display, network, and print sub-systems; deployment, installation, servicing, and startup procedures are also revised. It is the first release of Windows built on Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative and emphasized security with the introduction of many new security and safety features such as BitLocker and User Account Control.
The ambitiousness and scope of these changes, and the abundance of new features earned positive reviews, but Windows Vista was the subject of frequent negative press and significant criticism. Criticism of Windows Vista focused on driver, peripheral, and program incompatibility; digital rights management; excessive authorization from the new User Account Control; inordinately high system requirements when contrasted with Windows XP; its protracted development; longer boot time; and more restrictive product licensing. Windows Vista deployment and satisfaction rates were consequently lower than those of Windows XP, and it is considered a market failure;[9][10] however, its use surpassed Microsoft's pre-launch two-year-out expectations of achieving 200 million users[11] (with an estimated 330 million users by 2009).[12] On October 22, 2010, Microsoft ceased retail distribution of Windows Vista; OEM supply ceased a year later.[13] Windows Vista was succeeded by Windows 7 in 2009.
Mainstream support for Windows Vista ended on April 10, 2012 and extended support ended on April 11, 2017.[6]
Development[edit]
Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename "Longhorn", in May 2001,[14] five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship in October 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and "Blackcomb", which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times in three years. In some builds of Longhorn, their license agreement said "For the Microsoft product codenamed 'Whistler'". Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it had revised its plans. For this reason, Longhorn was reset to start work on componentizing the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and over time re-incorporating the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. However, some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and assembly. Longhorn became known as Vista in 2005. Vista in Spanish means view.[15][16]
Longhorn[edit]
Desktop screenshot of Windows Longhorn build 4074, showing the Start menu, an early version of Windows Desktop Sidebar, Windows Explorer, and the Slate visual style The early development stages of Longhorn were generally characterized by incremental improvements and updates to Windows XP. During this period, Microsoft was fairly quiet about what was being worked on, as their marketing and public relations efforts were more strongly focused on Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, which was released in April 2003. Occasional builds of Longhorn were leaked onto popular file sharing networks such as IRC, BitTorrent, eDonkey and various newsgroups, and so most of what is known about builds before the first sanctioned development release of Longhorn in May 2003 is derived from these builds.
After several months of relatively little news or activity from Microsoft with Longhorn, Microsoft released Build 4008, which had made an appearance on the Internet around February 28, 2003.[17] It was also privately handed out to a select group of software developers. As an evolutionary release over build 3683, it contained several small improvements, including a modified blue "Plex" theme and a new, simplified Windows Image-based installer that operates in graphical mode from the outset, and completed an install of the operating system in approximately one third the time of Windows XP on the same hardware. An optional "new taskbar" was introduced that was thinner than the previous build and displayed the time differently. The most notable visual and functional difference, however, came with Windows Explorer. The incorporation of the Plex theme made blue the dominant color of the entire application. The Windows XP-style task pane was almost completely replaced with a large horizontal pane that appeared under the toolbars. A new search interface allowed for filtering of results, searching for Windows help, and natural-language queries that would be used to integrate with WinFS. The animated search characters were also removed. The "view modes" were also replaced with a single slider that would resize the icons in real-time, in the list, thumbnail, or details mode, depending on where the slider was. File metadata was also made more visible and more easily editable, with more active encouragement to fill out missing pieces of information. Also of note was the conversion of Windows Explorer to being a .NET application.
Most builds of Longhorn and Vista were identified by a label that was always displayed in the bottom-right corner of the desktop. A typical build label would look like "Longhorn Build 3683.Lab06_N.020923-1821". Higher build numbers did not automatically mean that the latest features from every development team at Microsoft was included. Typically, a team working on a certain feature or subsystem would generate their working builds which developers would test with, and when the code was deemed stable, all the changes would be incorporated back into the main development tree at once. At Microsoft, several "Build labs" exist where the compilation of the entirety of Windows can be performed by a team. The name of the lab in which any given build originated is shown as part of the build label, and the date and time of the build follow that. Some builds (such as Beta 1 and Beta 2) only display the build label in the version information dialog (Winver). The icons used in these builds are from Windows XP.
At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May 2003, Microsoft gave their first public demonstrations of the new Desktop Window Manager and Aero. The demonstrations were done on a revised build 4015 which was never released. Several sessions for developers and hardware engineers at the conference focused on these new features, as well as the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (previously known as "Palladium"), which at the time was Microsoft's proposed solution for creating a secure computing environment whereby any given component of the system could be deemed "trusted". Also at this conference, Microsoft reiterated their roadmap for delivering Longhorn, pointing to an "early 2005" release date.[18]
Development reset[edit]
By 2004, it had become obvious to the Windows team at Microsoft that they were losing sight of what needed to be done to complete the next version of Windows and ship it to customers. Internally, some Microsoft employees were describing the Longhorn project as "another Cairo" or "Cairo.NET", referring to the Cairo development project that the company embarked on through the first half of the 1990s, which never resulted in a shipping operating system (though nearly all the technologies developed in that time did end up in Windows 95 and Windows NT[19]). Microsoft was shocked in 2005 by Apple's release of Mac OS X Tiger. It offered only a limited subset of features planned for Longhorn, in particular fast file searching and integrated graphics and sound processing, but appeared to have impressive reliability and performance compared to contemporary Longhorn builds.[20] Most Longhorn builds had major Windows Explorer system leaks which prevented the OS from performing well, and added more confusion to the development teams in later builds with more and more code being developed which failed to reach stability.
In a September 23, 2005 front-page article in The Wall Street Journal,[21] Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, who had overall responsibility for the development and delivery of Windows, explained how development of Longhorn had been "crashing into the ground" due in large part to the haphazard methods by which features were introduced and integrated into the core of the operating system, without a clear focus on an end-product. Allchin went on to explain how in December 2003, he enlisted the help of two other senior executives, Brian Valentine and Amitabh Srivastava, the former being experienced with shipping software at Microsoft, most notably Windows Server 2003,[22] and the latter having spent his career at Microsoft researching and developing methods of producing high-quality testing systems.[23] Srivastava employed a team of core architects to visually map out the entirety of the Windows operating system, and to proactively work towards a development process that would enforce high levels of code quality, reduce interdependencies between components, and in general, "not make things worse with Vista".[24] Since Microsoft decided that Longhorn needed to be further componentized, work started on builds (known as the Omega-13 builds, named after a time travel device in the film Galaxy Quest[25]) that would componentize existing Windows Server 2003 source code, and over time add back functionality as development progressed. Future Longhorn builds would start from Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and continue from there.
This change, announced internally to Microsoft employees on August 26, 2004, began in earnest in September, though it would take several more months before the new development process and build methodology would be used by all of the development teams. A number of complaints came from individual developers, and Bill Gates himself, that the new development process was going to be prohibitively difficult to work within.
As Windows Vista[edit]
By approximately November 2004, the company had considered several names for the final release, ranging from simple to fanciful and inventive. In the end, Microsoft chose Windows Vista as confirmed on July 22, 2005, believing it to be a "wonderful intersection of what the product really does, what Windows stands for, and what resonates with customers, and their needs". Group Project Manager Greg Sullivan told Paul Thurrott "You want the PC to adapt to you and help you cut through the clutter to focus on what's important to you. That's what Windows Vista is all about: "bringing clarity to your world" (a reference to the three marketing points of Vista—Clear, Connected, Confident), so you can focus on what matters to you".[26] Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin also loved the name, saying that "Vista creates the right imagery for the new product capabilities and inspires the imagination with all the possibilities of what can be done with Windows—making people's passions come alive."[27]
After Longhorn was named Windows Vista in July 2005, an unprecedented beta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers from July 2005 to February 2006. The first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature-complete with the release of the "February CTP", released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of the work between that build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance, application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded over 5 million times. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users.[28]
At the Intel Developer Forum on March 9, 2006, Microsoft announced a change in their plans to support EFI in Windows Vista. The UEFI 2.0 specification (which replaced EFI 1.10) was not completed until early 2006, and at the time of Microsoft's announcement, no firmware manufacturers had completed a production implementation which could be used for testing. As a result, the decision was made to postpone the introduction of UEFI support to Windows; support for UEFI on 64-bit platforms was postponed until Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 and 32-bit UEFI would not be supported, as Microsoft did not expect many such systems to be built because the market was quickly moving to 64-bit processors.[29][30]
While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season, it announced in March 2006 that the release date would be pushed back to January 2007 in order to give the company—and the hardware and software companies that Microsoft depends on for providing device drivers—additional time to prepare. Because a release to manufacturing (RTM) build is the final version of code shipped to retailers and other distributors, the purpose of a pre-RTM build is to eliminate any last "show-stopper" bugs that may prevent the code from responsibly being shipped to customers, as well as anything else that consumers may find troublesome. Thus, it is unlikely that any major new features would be introduced; instead, work would focus on Vista's fit and finish. In just a few days, developers had managed to drop Vista's bug count from over 2470 on September 22 to just over 1400 by the time RC2 shipped in early October. However, they still had a way to go before Vista was ready to RTM. Microsoft's internal processes required Vista's bug count to drop to 500 or fewer before the product could go into escrow for RTM.[31] For most of the pre-RTM builds, only 32-bit editions were released.
On June 14, 2006, Windows developer Philip Su posted a blog entry which decried the development process of Windows Vista, stating that "The code is way too complicated, and that the pace of coding has been tremendously slowed down by overbearing process."[32] The same post also described Windows Vista as having approximately 50 million lines of code, with about 2,000 developers working on the product. During a demonstration of the speech recognition feature new to Windows Vista at Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting on July 27, 2006, the software recognized the phrase "Dear mom" as "Dear aunt". After several failed attempts to correct the error, the sentence eventually became "Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all".[33] A developer with Vista's speech recognition team later explained that there was a bug with the build of Vista that was causing the microphone gain level to be set very high, resulting in the audio being received by the speech recognition software being "incredibly distorted".[34]
Windows Vista build 5824 (October 17, 2006) was supposed to be the RTM release, but a bug, where the OOBE hangs at the start of the WinSAT Assessment (if upgraded from Windows XP), requiring the user to terminate msoobe.exe by pressing Shift+F10 to open Command Prompt using either command-line tools or Task Manager prevented this, damaging development and lowering the chance that it would hit its January 2007 deadline.[35]
Development of Windows Vista came to an end when Microsoft announced that it had been finalized on November 8, 2006, and was concluded by co-president of Windows development, Jim Allchin.[36] The RTM's build number had also jumped to 6000 to reflect Vista's internal version number, NT 6.0.[37] Jumping RTM build numbers is common practice among consumer-oriented Windows versions, like Windows 98 (build 1998), Windows 98 SE (build 2222), Windows Me (build 3000) or Windows XP (build 2600), as compared to the business-oriented versions like Windows 2000 (build 2195) or Server 2003 (build 3790). On November 16, 2006, Microsoft made the final build available to MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers.[38] A business-oriented Enterprise edition was made available to volume license customers on November 30, 2006.[39] Windows Vista was launched for general customer availability on January 30, 2007.[3]
New or changed features[edit]
New features introduced by Windows Vista are very numerous, encompassing significant functionality not available in its predecessors.
End-user[edit]
- Windows Aero is the new graphical user interface, which Jim Allchin stated is an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open.[40] Microsoft intended the new interface to be cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing than those of previous Windows versions, and it features advanced visual effects such as blurred glass translucencies and dynamic glass reflections and smooth window animations.[41] Laptop users report, however, that enabling Aero reduces battery life[42][43] and reduces performance. Windows Aero requires a compositing window manager called Desktop Window Manager.
- Windows Shell offers a new range of organization, navigation, and search capabilities: Task Panes in Windows Explorer are removed, with the relevant tasks moved to a new command bar. The navigation pane can now be displayed when tasks are available, and it has been updated to include a new "Favorite Links" that houses shortcuts to common locations. An incremental search search box now appears at all times in Windows Explorer. The address bar has been replaced with a breadcrumb navigation bar, which means that multiple locations in a hierarchy can be navigated without needing to go back and forth between locations. Icons now display thumbnails depicting contents of items and can be dynamically scaled in size (up to 256 × 256 pixels). A new preview pane allows users to see thumbnails of items and play tracks, read contents of documents, and view photos when they are selected. Groups of items are now selectable and display the number of items in each group. A new details pane allows users to manage metadata. There are several new sharing features, including the ability to directly share files. The Start menu also now includes an incremental search box — allowing the user to press the ⊞ Win key and start typing to instantly find an item or launch a program — and the All Programs list uses a vertical scroll bar instead of the cascading flyout menu of Windows XP.[41]
- Windows Search is a new content index desktop search platform that replaces the Indexing Service of previous Windows versions to enable incremental searches for files and non-file items — documents, emails, folders, programs, photos, tracks, and videos — and contents or details such as attributes, extensions, and filenames across compatible applications.[41]
- Windows Sidebar is a translucent panel that hosts gadgets that display details such as feeds and sports scores on the Windows desktop; the Sidebar can be hidden and gadgets can also be placed on the desktop itself.[41]
- Internet Explorer 7 is a significant revision over Internet Explorer 6 with a new user interface comprising additional address bar features, a new search box, enhanced page zoom, RSS feed functionality, and support for tabbed browsing (with an optional "quick tabs" feature that shows thumbnails of each open tab). Anti-phishing software is introduced that combines client-side scanning with an optional online service; it checks with Microsoft the address being visited to determine its legitimacy, compares the address with a locally stored list of legitimate addresses, and uses heuristics to determine whether an address's characteristics are indicative of phishing attempts. In Windows Vista, it runs in isolation from other applications (protected mode); exploits and malicious software are restricted from writing to any location beyond Temporary Internet Files without explicit user consent.
- Windows Media Player 11 is a significant update to Microsoft's Windows Media Player for playing and organizing photos, tracks, and videos. New features include an updated GUI for the media library, disc spanning, enhanced audio fingerprinting, instant search capabilities, item organization features, synchronization features, the ability to share the media library over a network with other Windows Vista machines, Xbox 360 integration, and
Lil Monsters
Lil Monsters theme by xBiG_BOSSx
Download: LilMonsters.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop MenonThis program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.Kubrick Tribute
Kubrick Tribute theme by YASAI
Download: KubrickTribute.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop MenonThis program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.Star Wars Vader Time
Star Wars Vader Time theme by PenguinRage and EVILEMPIRE
Download: VaderTime_by_PenguinRage.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop MenonThis program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts theme by Septimus
Download: kingdomhearts.p3t
(1 background)
Kingdom Hearts 
Genre(s) Developer(s) - Square
- Square Enix
- Jupiter
- h.a.n.d.
- BitGroove Inc.
- Success
- indieszero
Publisher(s) - Square
- Square Enix
Creator(s) Composer(s) Yoko Shimomura Platform(s) First release Kingdom Hearts
March 28, 2002Latest release Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
November 11, 2020Parent series Final Fantasy Kingdom Hearts[a] is a series of action role-playing games created by Japanese game designers Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, being developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company, and is under the leadership of Nomura, a longtime Square Enix employee.
Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney properties based in an original fictional universe. The series centers on the main character, Sora, and his journey and experiences with various Disney characters, as well as some from Square Enix properties, such as Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You, and Einhänder, in addition to original characters and locations created specifically for the series.
The series consists of thirteen games available for multiple platforms, and future games are planned. Most of the games in the series have been positively received and commercially successful. As of March 2022, the Kingdom Hearts series has shipped more than 36 million copies worldwide. A wide variety of related merchandise has been released along with the games, including soundtracks, action figures, companion books, light novels, a collectible card game, and a manga series.
Media[edit]
Games[edit]
Release timeline 2002 Kingdom Hearts 2003 2004 Chain of Memories 2005 Kingdom Hearts II 2006 2007 Re:Chain of Memories 2008 Coded 2009 358/2 Days 2010 Birth by Sleep Re:coded 2011 2012 Dream Drop Distance 2013 1.5 Remix χ 2014 2.5 Remix 2015 (Unchained / Union) χ 2016 2017 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue 2018 2019 Kingdom Hearts III 2020 Dark Road Melody of Memory 2021 2022 2023 2024 Missing-Link TBA Kingdom Hearts IV - Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the series, released in Japan on March 28, 2002, for PlayStation 2.[1][2] Tetsuya Nomura served as game director, his first time in this position. Kingdom Hearts introduced the main characters (Sora, Kairi, and Riku) of the series, and established the plot's framework involving hearts and dark beings known as the Heartless. It also established the role of Disney characters in the series, with character cameos from the Final Fantasy series. Kingdom Hearts was released in North America on September 17, 2002,[1][2] and featured additional content that was not in the original Japanese version. The game was later re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on December 26, 2002.[1][2] Final Mix includes the content from the North American release and additional enemies, cutscenes, and weapons.[3]
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a direct sequel to the first game. It was released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan on November 11, 2004.[4][5] Chain of Memories was touted as a bridge between the two PlayStation 2 games, introducing and previewing plot elements that would be explored in the next game.[6] The gameplay system is a departure from the original and employs card game mechanics in real time. Players construct decks out of cards that correspond to different actions in battle, such as attacking or using magic. It was remade into a PlayStation 2 game titled Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which contains polygonal graphics instead of the sprites used in the original game. The remake was released in Japan as a second disc packaged with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix on March 29, 2007, and in North America as a standalone game on December 2, 2008.[7][8]
- Kingdom Hearts II takes place one year after the events of Chain of Memories. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 22, 2005.[9][10] The game further explores the "heart" concept by involving a new group of enemies, the Nobodies, which are the cast-off shells of those who have become Heartless. The gameplay is similar to that of the first Kingdom Hearts game, with the addition of the Reaction Command, which performs reflex-sensitive actions in battle. Kingdom Hearts II was revised into Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which contains more material than the original release, such as additional cutscenes and bosses. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was released with Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories in a collection titled Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, which was released in Japan on March 29, 2007.[11]
- Kingdom Hearts Coded is an episodic mobile phone game that picks up directly after Kingdom Hearts II. The "preinstall" episode was released in Japan on November 18, 2008, and eight episodes were released between June 3, 2009, and January 28, 2010.[12] The game was remade for the Nintendo DS as Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and features updated gameplay combining that of two later entries in the series, 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep. Unlike the original version, Re:coded was released internationally: October 7, 2010, in Japan;[13] January 11, 2011, in North America;[14] and January 14, 2011, in Europe.[15]
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on May 30, 2009. It is primarily set between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, focusing on Roxas' time in Organization XIII and his motives for leaving. It is the first game in the series to feature cooperative multiplayer in addition to the traditional use of AI-controlled partners.[16][17] Gameplay is mission-based with optional objectives that yield additional rewards. The game also has a unique panel system which governs character improvement, special abilities, and equipped weapons.
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the series, released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on January 9, 2010, and in North America on September 7, 2010, with additional content.[18] The game is set ten years before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game, revealing the origins of the villain, Xehanort.[19] It consists of four scenarios, three of which focus on one of the game's three protagonists, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. The game was re-released in Japan under the title Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix on January 20, 2011, with the content from the English versions as well as new features, such as an additional fifth scenario.
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was released on March 29, 2012, in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. The game focuses on Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam under Yen Sid in anticipation of Xehanort's return and their subsequent conflicts with enemies from their past.[20] In addition to similar systems inherited from Birth by Sleep, this game features "Dream Eaters" which serve as both enemies and allies. Players may collect and breed friendly Dream Eaters and train them to become more powerful. The English edition came out on July 20, 2012, in Europe while it came out on July 31, 2012, for North America.
- Kingdom Hearts χ: At Tokyo Game Show 2012, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts χ, previously known as Kingdom Hearts for PC Browsers.[21] It is a browser game for PCs, and is only playable in Japan since July 18, 2013. It features cartoon-like 2D models and is a prequel to the series, detailing the events leading up to the Keyblade War.
- Kingdom Hearts: Unchained χ: An international port of Kingdom Hearts χ that was released for Android and iOS devices.[22] Unchained χ was released in Japan on September 3, 2015,[23] in North America on April 7, 2016,[24] and in Europe on June 16, 2016.[25] Later in April 2017, it was rebranded as Kingdom Hearts: Union χ, featuring an all-new story that expanded and diverged from the original.[26] In January 2019, the game was available on the Amazon Appstore for Amazon devices.[27] The app was rebranded once again to Kingdom Hearts: Union χ Dark Road with the release of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.[28] The game was shut down and converted into a cutscene viewer in May 2021.[29]
- Kingdom Hearts Dark Road is a mobile game accessed within Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross],[28] which released worldwide on June 22, 2020.[30] The game is set 70 years before Birth by Sleep and explores the origins of Xehanort and his eventual turn to darkness,[31] and was developed by the same team working on Union χ.[32] Following the shutdown of Union χ, Dark Road was converted into an offline game and received its final story update in August 2022.[33]
- Kingdom Hearts: Unchained χ: An international port of Kingdom Hearts χ that was released for Android and iOS devices.[22] Unchained χ was released in Japan on September 3, 2015,[23] in North America on April 7, 2016,[24] and in Europe on June 16, 2016.[25] Later in April 2017, it was rebranded as Kingdom Hearts: Union χ, featuring an all-new story that expanded and diverged from the original.[26] In January 2019, the game was available on the Amazon Appstore for Amazon devices.[27] The app was rebranded once again to Kingdom Hearts: Union χ Dark Road with the release of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.[28] The game was shut down and converted into a cutscene viewer in May 2021.[29]
- Kingdom Hearts III: In September 2010, Tetsuya Nomura stated that his team was too busy with other projects such as Final Fantasy XV (known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII at the time) to work on Kingdom Hearts III. He also stated that his team was researching how to create the high-definition graphics of the game, which depended on the technical restrictions of the next generation consoles.[34] On June 10, 2013, at the E3 Sony press conference, after years of rumors and speculations, Nomura introduced a teaser for Kingdom Hearts III, which stated it was in development for the PlayStation 4. It was announced the next day to be in development for the Xbox One as well.[35] In Kingdom Hearts III, the series protagonist Sora embarks on a journey to regain his lost "Power of Waking" while Sora's friends, Riku and King Mickey, search for the Keyblade wielders Aqua, Terra, and Ventus in preparation for their final battle against Xehanort. The game concludes the "Dark Seeker Saga".[36] The game was released on January 25, 2019, in Japan and on January 29 worldwide.[37][38]
- Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind: A port of Kingdom Hearts III with the Re Mind DLC included that was released for Windows and the Nintendo Switch. It was initially released on Windows exclusively via the Epic Games Store on March 30, 2021, followed by a Steam release three years later on June 13, 2024.[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was announced during Sora's reveal as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on October 5th, 2021, and released as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebration on February 10, 2022.[41]
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a rhythm-based game for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[42][43] It released in Japan on November 11, 2020, and worldwide on November 13.[44] Featuring 140 songs, it sees players travel to each stage in a Gummi ship, and features gameplay similar to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.[42][43][45] Melody of Memory continues Kairi's story from the end of Kingdom Hearts III,[45] with Nomura saying the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind title screen laid "some of the groundwork for it".[32]
Other[edit]
- A Kingdom Hearts game was developed for V CAST, Verizon Wireless's broadband service, and was released on February 1, 2005, in the United States.[46][47] It was one of the launch games for the V CAST services.[48] The game, developed by Superscape and published by Disney Mobile with no involvement from Square Enix, features gameplay akin to the first Kingdom Hearts game, modified for the input method of mobile phones.[49] The game's storyline features Sora struggling to free himself from a nightmare induced by Maleficent's magic.
- Kingdom Hearts Mobile was a Kingdom Hearts-themed social game in which players could play mini-games together. Unlike Kingdom Hearts for the V CAST and Kingdom Hearts Coded, this game does not have a storyline and focuses more on socializing. The service operated in conjunction with Kingdom Hearts Coded, as new avatar costumes became available after the player completed an episode of Kingdom Hearts Coded. Kingdom Hearts-related media such as wallpapers, ringtones, graphics, and other items could be purchased and downloaded through the service for mobile phones.
- Kingdom Hearts VR Experience: Announced in September 2018, Kingdom Hearts VR Experience is a free, 10-minute interactive video "featuring iconic moments [and music] from the Kingdom Hearts games" with the ability to unlock additional content by progressing through the experience.[50] The first part was released in Japan on January 23, 2019, with the second part releasing in early 2019.[51][52] The first part had initially been scheduled to release on January 18, 2019,[52] after initial release dates of December 25, 2018, for the first part, with the second part releasing on January 18, 2019.[53]
Collections[edit]
- Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan on March 14, 2013.[54] The collection includes remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Re:Chain of Memories, which include gameplay enhancements and trophy support. In addition, a "Theater Mode" has been added, consisting of high definition cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.[55] The collection was released in North America on September 10, 2013[56] in Australia on September 12, 2013,[57] and in Europe on September 13, 2013.[58]
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix: After the announcement of HD 1.5 Remix, Nomura stated that it would be "pretty unnatural" if Kingdom Hearts II did not receive an HD update.[59] In the credits of HD 1.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded were shown, hinting at another collection.[60] On October 14, 2013, the collection was announced for the PlayStation 3, and included the previously mentioned games, with Re:coded appearing as HD cinematics, similar to 358/2 Days in HD 1.5 Remix.[60] The collection was released in Japan on October 2, 2014,[61] North America on December 2, 2014, Australia on December 4, 2014, and Europe on December 5, 2014.[62]
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue: In the credits of HD 2.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance were shown as well as the inclusion of a secret ending related to the game, hinting at a possible additional collection.[63] In September 2015, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The collection features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance as well as Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, a cinematic telling of the backstory behind the events of Kingdom Hearts χ, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, a new game taking place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from the perspective of Aqua.[64] It was released in Japan on January 12, 2017, and in North America and Europe on January 24, 2017,[65] with a later release on February 18, 2020, for the Xbox One,[66] and on March 30, 2021, and June 13, 2024, for Windows via Epic Games Store and Steam respectively.[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 10, 2022.[41]
- The following are repackaged versions of the above collections:
- Kingdom Hearts Starter Pack: HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: A collector's pack released in Japan includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix.
- Kingdom Hearts Collector's Pack: HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: A collector's pack released in Japan includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix, a code to get an Anniversary Set for Kingdom Hearts χ, music, and a booklet with art from the series.[61]
- Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: In October 2016, Square-Enix announced a single-disc compilation release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for the PlayStation 4. The compilation was released on March 9, 2017, in Japan; March 28, 2017, in North America; and March 31, 2017, in Europe.[67] It was later released on February 18, 2020, for the Xbox One,[66] and on March 30, 2021, and June 13, 2024, for Windows via Epic Games Store and Steam respectively.[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 10, 2022.[41]
- Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far: Announced in early October 2018, this bundle collects the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix PlayStation 4 collection and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. It was released in North America on October 30, 2018, for the PlayStation 4.[68]
- Kingdom Hearts: All-In-One-Package: This bundle contains everything in The Story So Far, along with Kingdom Hearts III. It was released digitally on the PlayStation 4 in North America on January 29, 2019.[69] The bundle became available physically in North America on March 17, 2020.[70]
- Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud: This bundle contains cloud versions of everything in the All-In-One-Package, along with the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind DLC. It was released on the Nintendo Switch on February 10, 2022.[41] A non-cloud version, simply titled Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, was later made available for Steam on June 13, 2024. [71]
Future[edit]
- Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link: In April 2022, Square Enix revealed Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was in development for iOS and Android devices. It is set in Scala ad Caelum between the events of Union X and Dark Road. A closed beta was originally set for late 2022.[72][73] However, it was delayed to October 30, 2023 for its closed beta. The game is set for a 2024 launch on mobile devices.
- Kingdom Hearts IV: Though Kingdom Hearts III was the end of the "Dark Seeker Saga" which revolved around Xehanort, it had been decided where certain characters end up in order to potentially continue their stories in future games.[74] In January 2020, Nomura said there would need to be "more time" before the next main entry in the series,[32] later noting in September that Yozora would "definitely... be involved" in the future of the series, in an unexpected and surprising way.[75] In April 2022, Square Enix revealed Kingdom Hearts IV was in development, confirmed that Sora, Donald, and Goofy would return, and that the game would be set in Quadratum, a realistic world inspired by Tokyo. Kingdom Hearts IV will be the start of the "Lost Master arc".[72] In March 2023, during a Kingdom Hearts concert breath concert, Nomura vaguely announced something happened that determined the "direction of the series" going forward.[76]
Common elements[edit]
Disney and Square Enix characters[edit]
Kingdom Hearts features a mixture of familiar Disney and Square Enix characters, as well as several new characters designed and created by Nomura.[77] In addition to original locations, the Kingdom Hearts series features many worlds from Disney films. Sora must visit these worlds and interact with various Disney characters to protect them from enemies. Often, his actions in these worlds closely follow the storylines of their respective Disney films. The main characters try not to interfere with the affairs of other worlds, as it could negatively affect the universe's order.[78][79] Various Final Fantasy characters also make appearances within several worlds throughout the series. This includes Moogles, small creatures who are another common element in the games. They provide the player with a synthesis shop in order to create and purchase items used in the game. The main cast from The World Ends with You also makes an appearance in the series in Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III features characters from Pixar films such as the Toy Story series and Monsters, Inc., as well as Schwarzgeist, one of the bosses from Einhänder.[80][81][82] Nevertheless, the usage of Disney characters is not without restrictions. For example, Nomura had requested the use of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Kingdom Hearts III, but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney.[83]
Story[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (April 2022)NeoGAF 
Type of siteInternet forum Available in English Owner NeoGaf LLC
(100% — Tyler Malka)Created by Jim Cordeira URL neogaf.com Commercial Yes Registration Optional[α] Launched 1999 (as Gaming-Age Forums) Current status Active Written in PHP, MySQL (powered by XenForo 2.2) NeoGAF is an Internet forum primarily dedicated to the discussion of video games. Founded as an adjunct to a video game news site under the name Gaming-Age Forums, on April 4, 2006 it changed its name to NeoGAF and became independently hosted and administered.
In 2017, site owner Tyler "Evilore" Malka was accused of sexual harassment. The allegations resulted in moderator resignations, mass exodus off the site and later site policy changes. Former members and moderators would later launch the new forum ResetEra.
History[edit]
NeoGAF began as "The Gaming-Age Forums", a forum for gaming website Gaming-Age. As Gaming-Age outgrew its hosting, IGN took over hosting of Gaming-Age's forums. After IGN ceased hosting of GAF in mid-2001, GAF moved to ezboard, and the administration of GAF became more estranged from Gaming Age.[1]
As the Gaming-Age staff became gradually more divorced from the day-to-day operation of GAF, problems with the new Gamesquad hosting cropped up. As software bugs in vBulletin 2, the version GAF was using at the time, continued to worsen, the Gamesquad hosting became increasingly more impractical, until the forums' database became corrupted, forcing a move to new hosting in order to change software and salvage what was left of the forums' database. In the spring of 2004, a fundraiser was held to move GAF to new hosting. On June 6, 2004, GAF took its newest form (known as NeoGAF to long-time posters) and moved to new hosting and new software, vBulletin 3.
On April 4, 2006, the forums were relaunched as NeoGAF, the former in-moniker, by its administrators. NeoGAF also features its own front page, an upfront admission that the forum's audience had drifted from that of its birthing news site, but yet mandated a single portal to represent the forum's members.
In an interview with VG247 in 2013, Tyler Malka claimed that he was offered $5 million to sell the website, turning down the offer.[2] One year later he stated in a forum post that the offer doubled, later saying he also turned down the deal.[3]
Sexual misconduct allegations against Malka and moderators exodus[edit]
On October 21, 2017, film director Ima Leupp described in a Facebook post, as part of the #MeToo phenomenon, a trip she took with NeoGAF owner Tyler "Evilore" Malka two years before. She said that while she and Malka were drinking together in a New Orleans hotel room in April 2015, she became very sick. While cleaning up in the shower, she said he approached her "fully naked" from behind without her consent.[4][5][6][7][8]
Following the sexual harassment scandal, half of the site's moderation staff resigned, and many users posted "suicide threads" wherein they demanded to be banned from the forum. The website went offline soon after.[9][10] Afterwards, NeoGAF was restored, suspending the off-topic sections of the board, and announcing that politics would henceforth be a prohibited subject of discussion and that moderation would become anonymous.[11]
Reception[edit]
Industry response[edit]
Members of the video games industry have been known to be members of the website, such as David Jaffe and Cliff Bleszinski.[12]
In 2007, in a thread discussing the resignation of Peter Moore from Microsoft, one user making fun of Microsoft's vice president of global marketing Jeff Bell received a personal message asking them "And your contribution to society is ... what?" The account was later found to be Jeff Bell's.[13] Malka later said he saw a shift on the forums with people in the games industry being more careful of what they post.[14]
In a 2009 thread post on NeoGAF dedicated to the game Scribblenauts, user "Feep" relayed the experience of discovering during E3 that he was able to go back in time with a time machine to collect a dinosaur in order to defeat an army of robot zombies that could not be defeated with regular weapons.[15][16][17] The story, memorialized as "Post 217", led to the games artist Edison Yan creating a desktop wallpaper image of the story, in appreciation of the positive fan response to the game, and the terms "Post Two One Seven", "Feep", and "Neogaf" were included as summonable objects in the game.[18] Scribblenauts' director Jeremiah Slaczka credited the word-of-mouth popularity of "Post 217" for part of the game's success at E3, and noted that he had contacted Feep to gain his permission to include "Feep" (appearing as a robot zombie) within the game.[19]
Describing the development struggles of 2017's Rime, Tequila Works co-founder Raúl Rubio Munárriz said that reading the forum's reactions reduced him to tears for two days and that if he had read them early on in development, the game would have been cancelled. "Partly because I just don't understand the cruelty, but more importantly because I could see those years over those two days, and I began to understand that maybe people can love something so much that they can hate it."[20]
Criticism[edit]
One of the biggest critics of NeoGAF was game designer and former Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack. In June 2008, he issued a challenge to forum users. He asked users to say whether they were for or against the then upcoming Silicon Knights game Too Human. Once the game was released, if the game received negative reception, Dyack would have "Owned by GAF" under his forum name. If positive reception, users who voted against the game would have had "Owned by Too Human."[21] Dyack would later go on the 1UP Yours podcast, explaining his challenge was an experiment to expose the lack of accountability on online forums, adding that NeoGAF would crumble if it doesn't reform itself.[22] He was later permanently banned from the site in August that same year after calling it the worst online forum.[23][24]
Circa 2017, NeoGAF was criticized for biased moderation and banning political dissidents. Tyler "Evilore" Malka made a post admitting biased moderation by at least one former member of the moderation staff. Malka stated that the ex-moderator banned hundreds of members without justification. Malka also made the declaration that discussion should be encouraged with different points of view, saying that people on the website have been "driven out, character assassinated, labeled traitor for not sounding angry enough, or for not being entirely on board with ostracizing someone else for the same reasons."[25]
In the media[edit]
In 2007, the website partnered up with The Get-Well Gamers Foundation to launch a donation campaign to bring video games to children in hospitals. NeoGAF raised $5,600 in cash and inventory donations over the October to December period.[26]
An exchange on the forum inspired members to start the development of Dudebro II in 2010. The game was intended to be a satirical take on the machismo found in some modern titles and was planned to feature Jon St. John, the voice of Duke Nukem, as the lead.[27] The team's last statement, in late 2017, disassociated the game from NeoGAF due to the sexual harassment controversy, claiming a new and unrelated team would be created to continue development.[28]
In June 2015, a Reddit sub-community devoted towards mocking NeoGAF became one of five communities shut down by the site.[29][30] Reddit argued the ban hit groups "that allow their communities to use the subreddit as a platform to harass individuals when moderators don’t take action."[31]
Vice News noted the site was one of the largest drivers of traffic to Hillary Clinton's website during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[32]
ResetEra[edit]
Several former NeoGAF members established ResetEra on October 24, 2017, after NeoGAF's owner, Tyler Malka faced sexual misconduct accusations.[33][34]
From November 2017 to March 2018, ResetEra hosted Q&A sessions with Insomniac Games, Chucklefish, LizardCube, DotEmu, and Tom Happ and Dan Adelman, the creators of Axiom Verge.[35]
ResetEra moderators enacted the site's first game ban by barring all promotion of the game Hogwarts Legacy, citing a "far-right" YouTube channel run by then-lead designer Troy Leavitt, and comments criticized for transphobia made by author J. K. Rowling.[36] In January 2023, the ban was extended to include any discussion of the game.[37][38]
In October 2021, ResetEra was purchased for 4.5 million dollars by MOBA Network,[39] a Swedish company that focuses on managing web-based forums for video games and esports. In a statement, MOBA Network claimed that it wants to "increase advertising revenue through a higher share of direct sales, implementation of new ad formats, and a long-term product development strategy."[40]
ResetEra is cited for hat tips by PCGamesN and other publications.[41] Game developers and journalists have visited the forums, including journalist Geoff Keighley; Cory Barlog, Creative Director at Santa Monica Studio; James Stevenson, the Community Director for Insomniac Games; and Thomas Mahler, director of Moon Studios; among others.[42][43][44]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Registration requires admin approval and is required for creating threads and posting messages.
References[edit]
- ^ Oxford, Nadia (April 8, 2010). "The Story of NeoGAF". GamePro. IDG. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
- ^ Donaldson, Alex (May 17, 2013). "The story of NeoGAF part three: money, money, money". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ Cook, Dave (May 22, 2014). "NeoGAF's owner turned down $10 million offer for the site". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ Klepek, Patrick (October 23, 2017). "Inside the Sexual Misconduct Allegations Rocking NeoGAF's Last 48 Hours". Vice. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (October 22, 2017). "NeoGAF Goes Dark After Sexual Misconduct Allegation Against Owner". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Robertson, Adi (October 23, 2017). "Games forum NeoGAF in chaos after owner accused of sexual misconduct". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Good, Owen (October 22, 2017). "NeoGAF goes silent following allegations against owner". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Philips, Tom (October 23, 2017). "NeoGAF offline after owner accused of sexual misconduct". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Cade Onder (October 22, 2017). "Gaming forum NeoGAF goes up in smoke after sexual harassment allegations against founder". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ Crecente, Brian (October 22, 2017). "Video Game Forum NeoGAF Offline Amid Sexual Assault Allegations Against Owner". Glixel. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ EviLore (October 24, 2017). "The state of NeoGAF". NeoGaf. Archived from the original on November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ Donaldson, Alex (May 15, 2013). "The story of NeoGAF part one: humble beginnings". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ Rea, Jared (July 18, 2007). "Jeff Bell asks message board user: "And your contribution to society is ... what?"". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
- ^ Donaldson, Alex (May 16, 2013). "The story of NeoGAF part two: scandal and control". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ McElroy, Griffon (June 5, 2009). "Hands-on: Scribblenauts". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
- ^ Ashley, Robert (June 11, 2009). "Scribblenauts: How a Nobody Game Became the Talk of This Year's E3". Crispy Gamer. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
- ^ Harold, Charles (June 8, 2009). "A game to help you think creatively". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
- ^ Fletcher, JC (June 15, 2009). "Celebrate a legendary Scribblenauts moment with this wallpaper". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
- ^ Broder, Aaron (September 8, 2009). "Q&A: Scribblenauts emerges as breakthrough game for 5th Cell". Tech Flash. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ Maxwell, Ben (May 2017). "The Year's Essential Adventure is Finally Here". Edge. United Kingdom: Future plc. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Bennett, Colette (June 25, 2008). "Denis Dyack makes bet with NeoGAF forum users about Too Human". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- ^ Kollar, Philip (July 3, 2008). "Dyack on 1UP Yours: Forums Need Reform". 1UP Yours. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- ^ bleahy (August 19, 2008). "NeoGAF Bans 'Too Human' Creator, Denis Dyack". G4tv.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
- ^ Garratt, Patrick (August 20, 2008). "Dyack: I posted on NeoGAF because it's "the worst forum"". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
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- If the fluid rotates like a rigid body – that is, if the angular rotational velocity Ω is uniform, so that u increases proportionally to the distance r from the axis – a tiny ball carried by the flow would also rotate about its center as if it were part of that rigid body. In such a flow, the vorticity is the same everywhere: its direction is parallel to the rotation axis, and its magnitude is equal to twice the uniform angular velocity Ω of the fluid around the center of rotation.
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