Ultima
Set mainly in a fictional medieval Europe-like world called Britannia, the Ultima RPG series of games features the same protagonist, a nameless person from the Earth known only as “Stranger,” who in Ultima IV becomes the Avatar, an incarnation of virtue. One of the most influential RPG series, Ultima games are notable for open-ended gameplay, detailed interaction, and an in-depth morality system. Created by Richard Garriott and developed by Origin, the series has undergone several phases, also known as Ages. Each Age consists of a trilogy of games connected by common main creative ideas and an overarching story. The series has also spawned many spin-offs.
Ultimate Nullifier
While its ancient origins were previously unknown, it has been revealed that the Ultimate Nullifier is actually an aspect of Galactus. A powerful instrument in the Marvel Comics universe, the Nullifier resembles a small, hand-held metallic device with no apparent functionality, although it is likely that it appears differently to different people. It is capable of destroying any target the bearer directs it at, and is the only known weapon in the universe capable of inspiring fear in Galactus. The Ultimate Nullifier is generally kept within Galactus’ Worldship (Taa II), though at times Galactus has been known to carry it aboard his spherical starship. In the rare instances that the Nullifier has been stolen or shown to be kept in other locales (such as the Fantastic Four’s headquarters), later stories have shown the Nullifier to have returned to Galactus’ possession, usually with no explanation. In the Abraxas saga, Galactus demonstrated the ability to effortlessly recall the Nullifier to himself at will, even from the grasp of Abraxas, the universal embodiment of destruction. Morg took it from the hold in Galactus’ ship in an attempt to defeat Tyrant. The power of the Nullifier was temporarily contained by the Toady-Drone, which attached itself to Morg and fused them all together. Eventually the power was too great and it went off, destroying Galactus’ ship and all on board.
Ultimate Spider-Man (comic series)
In this 2000-01 storyline, Peter Parker is bitten by a spider that has been exposed to a “super soldier” serum called “the Oz Compound,” developed by Osborn Industries, during a school trip to tour the Osborn facilities. Peter soon discovered that he had been mutated, gaining superhuman strength and agility and various spider-like powers. Meanwhile, after mainlining the Oz Compound, Norman Osborn transformed into a monstrous, Green Goblin-like menace. Spider-Man battled the Goblin, as well as the criminal Shocker, the mutant Wolverine (on the run from Weapon X) and the rampaging Hulk, to name just a few. Peter revealed his dual identity to Mary Jane, and they began dating, though their relationship was ultimately rocky. At the end of the adventure, when Peter tore the mask off of a mystery man lurking around him and Mary Jane, he saw his own face staring back at him. Confused, he brought the lookalike to the Fantastic Four for a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) test, and when the results came back as Peter Parker, Spider-Man took off his own mask to prove that the man couldn’t be him, and must be a clone.
Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)
Television series, debuting in 2012. After one year, Spider-Man is finding the superhero life is full of dangerous pitfalls and avoidable collateral damage. Fortunately, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., offers to improve his performance with a special training program that offers to make Peter Parker the Ultimate Spider-man. Now the quintessential superhero loner must learn to get along with a new team of superheroes as fellow students, both in his professional and personal life.
Ultimate Universe
Beginning with Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (2000), in this series’ reality, Earth was all but devoid of heroes until very late in the 20th Century. At that time, a sudden upsurge of accidentally, and sometimes purposefully, super-powered individuals drove the public into an increased state of paranoia and anxiety. Due to an increase in mutant activity which fueled the hysteria, most of the super-powered beings were mislabeled mutants and treated with the same distrust as what, to most people, seemed like genetic aberrations. Nick Fury, a member of the government group S.H.I.E.L.D., has become responsible for any “unauthorized genetic mutations” that are above the age of 18, organizing them into the state-sponsored Ultimates team in the United States, as well as similar teams in Europe. These beings have been organized into the state-sponsored Ultimates team in the United States and similar teams in Europe. Targeted superbeings who do not join these teams can potentially be treated as criminals, although some masked vigilantes such as Daredevil seem to operate under the radar of the government. Additionally, mutants have not been coerced into service. The Earth of this universe (Earth-1610) has had very little contact with extraterrestrial forces. While the superhero team the Fantastic Four has discovered an older, decaying universe bordering their own known as the N-Zone, Earth-1610 has generally been untouched by extra-universal contact.
Ultimates, The
The world’s foremost superhuman strike force, the origins of Marvel Comics’ Ultimates go back to World War II super-operative Captain America (Steve Rogers), whom the U.S. government empowered in part to oppose the Nazis’ secret extraterrestrial Chitauri allies. Rogers appeared to die while helping destroy the Chitauri/Nazi war effort, and U.S. scientist tried for decades to duplicate his powers. In recent years, the super-soldier program’s lead scientist was geneticist Bruce Banner, reporting to General Ross, head of the S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence agency. Altruistic armored billionaire inventor Tony Stark soon joined as Iron Man. Enigmatic left-wing powerhouse Thor refused membership at first, but Captain America himself was found alive and revived from a state of suspended animation to join the team. Headquartered in the high-tech Triskellion complex, the team was backed by a huge support staff, a large conventional military force and black ops agents. The group soon expanded as intelligence veterans Hawkeye and Black Widow and mutant ex-terrorists Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were all promoted from the black ops division to the core team. Later allied with the European Super-Solider Initiative, the Ultimates became more controversial as they began operating in foreign territory, notably the Middle East. Thor quit, and a traitor within the group outed Banner as the Hulk. The global community grew wary as the Ultimates developed many more superagents as their reserves, and an anti-Ultimates sentiment accelerated when the team stripped a small “rogue” Middle Eastern nation of its nuclear capability. The Ultimates decided that they no longer wanted to be used for government services, after seeing what an impact they had on the residents of the countries they attacked. They decided to operate independently, financed by Tony Stark, without any help from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Ultra-Man
Ultra-Man originally hailed from the universe of Earth-3. Born on a Krypton that didn’t explode, an infant alien was rocketed to Earth. This Kryptonian was not weakened each time he was exposed to kryptonite, but instead gained a new “ultra-power.” Adopting the name Ultra-Man and using his powers for evil, he set out to conquer his adopted home-planet. Along the way, Ultra-Man encountered four other powerful beings: Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring, who banded together to better dominate their world as the Crime Syndicate of America (the mirror opposite of the Justice League of America).
After the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the multiverse no longer existed. Many of the Earths were merged to form one continuity with heroes from various dimensions now fighting alongside one another. In Grant Morrison’s JLA: Earth-2, the Crime Syndicate (now from “Amerika”) was said to exist in the antimatter universe of Qward. The Ultra-Man of his universe was a human astronaut named Lt. Clark Kent. After his shuttle exploded while on an exploration mission, an alien race (implied to be the Antimatter universe’s Kryptonians) reconstructed his body, and in the process gave him powers similar to Superman, though he needs to be near a substance called “Anti-Kryptonite” in order to sustain them.
Ultra-Man has been killed more than once, but has come back to life each time, having something of an awareness of his previous deaths. On Earth-3, another Ultra-Man appeared, who was leader of the Crime Society of America. In 2008’s The Brave and the Bold #11, a new Ultra-Man was shown, teaming up with Superman of New Earth and Mr. Mxyzptlk of the Antimatter Universe to combat Megistus. In this version, Ultra-Man had a similar costume to Ultra-Man from Earth-3, but had the background of the previous Ultra-Man from the Antimatter Universe. Ultra-Man was teleported back to his home universe at the end of The Brave and the Bold #12 .
Ultra-Man was originally created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, first appearing in Justice League of America#29 (1964), and redone by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, then redone again by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis for DC Comics’ “The New 52” maxi-series.
Ultraman
A follow-up to the Japanese series Ultra-Q, though not a sequel, the original series consisted of 40 episodes, which aired from July 1966 to April 1967. In the near future, sinister aliens and giant prehistoric monsters threaten civilization! The only one equipped to handle these disasters is the Science Patrol, a special police force with high-tech weapons and vehicles at their disposal. However, when the situation is more than they can handle, one of the Patrol’s members secretly transforms into an amazing, super-powered giant from space: Ultraman! The original Ultraman series has become a staple of Japanese pop culture. Created by Japan’s late special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, the show has become the model Japanese superhero to this day, inspiring many sequel shows and imitations, movies, specials and miniseries, such as: Ultra 7 (1967-1968), Return of Ultraman (1971-1972), Ultraman Ace (1972-1973), Ultraman Taro (1973-1974), Ultraman Leo (1974-1975), The Ultraman (1979-1980), the anime series Ultraman 80 (1980-1981), Ultraman: Towards the Future (1990), Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero(1993), Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997), Ultraman Dyna (1997-1998), Ultraman Gaia (1998-1999), Ultraman Neos (2000-2001), the direct-to-DVD miniseries Ultraman Cosmos (2001-2002), Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy (2004), Ultraman Nexus (2004-2005), Ultraman Max (2005-2006), and the forthcoming series Ultraman Moebius.
Ulysses
See Odysseus.
Uncanny X-Men
A continuation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original The X-Men Marvel Comics series, which had the descriptive “Uncanny” added to the cover beginning with issue #114, but it wasn’t until issue #142 that the official name was permanently changed to Uncanny X-Men. This epic run ended after editorial disputes in 1991.
Uncertainty principle
A succinct statement made by Werner Heisenberg in 1927 on the “uncertainty relation” between the position and the momentum (mass times velocity) of a subatomic particle, such as an electron. According to Heisenberg, “The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.” This relation has profound implications for such fundamental notions as causality and the determination of the future behavior of an atomic particle.
The origins of the uncertainty principle, often called the “principle of indeterminacy,” lie in a debate that began in early 1926 between Heisenberg and his closest colleagues on the one hand, who espoused the “matrix” form of quantum mechanics, and Erwin Schrödinger (of “Schrödinger’s cat” fame) and his colleagues on the other, who espoused the new “wave mechanics.” Most physicists were slow to accept “matrix mechanics” because of its abstract nature and its unfamiliar mathematics. They gladly welcomed Schrödinger’s alternative wave mechanics when it appeared in early 1926, since it entailed more familiar concepts and equations, and it seemed to do away with quantum jumps and discontinuities. In May 1926, Schrödinger published a proof that matrix and wave mechanics gave equivalent results: mathematically, they were the same theory. He also argued for the superiority of wave mechanics over matrix mechanics. This provoked an angry reaction, especially from Heisenberg, who insisted on the existence of discontinuous quantum jumps rather than a theory based on continuous waves.
Heisenberg had just begun his job as Niels Bohr’s assistant in Copenhagen when Schrödinger came to town in October 1926 to debate the alternative theories with Bohr. The intense debates in Copenhagen proved that neither interpretation of atomic events could be considered satisfactory. Both sides began searching for a satisfactory physical interpretation of the quantum mechanics equations in line with their own preferences. After Schrödinger showed the equivalence of the matrix and wave versions of quantum mechanics, and Max Born presented a statistical interpretation of the wave function, Jordan in Göttingen and Paul Dirac in Cambridge, England, created unified equations known as “transformation theory.” These formed the basis of what is now quantum mechanics.
Undead
As an adjective, neither living nor dead, but something of a mobile corpse, such as a vampire or zombie. According to legends and myths, such creatures tend to feed on the blood and/or flesh of living beings. As a noun, any such being or beings.
Underdog
Premiering on the NBC Saturday morning cartoon lineup in 1964, wearing his blue cape and red suit adorned with the letter “U,” the popular superhero was famous for his rhyming dialogue, including: “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here.” Disguised as mild-mannered Shoeshine Boy, he protected his city and his girlfriend, Polly Purebred.
William Watts “Buck” Biggers, who passed away in February 2013 at age 85, helped write and produce the stories. Biggers was working for Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, an advertising agency in New York, when General Mills asked the agency to create television cartoons (the titles included King Leonardo and Tennessee Tuxedo). He also sang in the chorus that performed the Underdog theme song. He went on to become vice president of promotion and creative services at NBC. He also wrote for several publications and wrote several novels.
Underdog aired 1964-67, and remained in syndication until 1973. The character of Underdog has appeared as a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for many years, and in 2007, Disney released a theatrical live-action film version of Underdog.
Underfoot
In the 16th expansion to the genre-defining series EverQuest, released in December 2009, the player journeys into the undiscovered depths, exploring a world unlike anything before experienced in Norrath. This expansion takes the player on a journey through exciting worlds, challenging dungeons, inventive creatures and thrilling monsters underground. The persistent online role-playing game (RPG) was published by Sony Online Entertainment.
Underground comix
A term that describes an art form that originated in the U.S. in the 1960s. Usually sold in what were known as “head shops,” underground comix generally reflected the rebellious mood of the 1960s counterculture movement: down with the establishment; make love, not war; drugs; rock ‘n’ roll; women’s liberation; and eventually, save the whales and most of the other social issues of the day. Though a few books were produced before it, Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix #1, first published in February 1968, is generally considered the one publication that started the underground comix movement. Soon after, many different titles appeared, and most selling as fast as they were produced. Underground comix reached their pinnacle just a few short years later in the early ‘70s.
Although still being produced, 1973 saw the beginning of the end for underground comix. The counterculture which gave rise to this new medium was changing: the revolutionary and rebellious years were over, the war in Vietnam was winding down, the market had become flooded with new (and many would say often inferior) titles, and a newspaper shortage forced production costs up. Probably the biggest factor was the Supreme Court ruling that allowed local communities to set their own standards as to what defined “obscene” or “pornographic.” This caused the heads shops, which had been the largest means of distribution for underground comix, to stop carrying them, since they couldn’t afford to shut down or to mount the potential court fights over carrying such items. Underground comix continued to be produced throughout the 1970s and later, but the lofty sales figures they had reached in the early ‘70s were clearly over. They did, however, give rise to a new art form: the so-called “newave” or “alternative” comics.
Understanding Comics
Scott McCloud’s 1993 “comic book about comics” that explains, via comic artwork, the inner workings of the medium, and examines many aspects of visual communication. Understanding Comics has been translated into 16 languages, excerpted in textbooks, and its ideas have been applied in other fields such as game design, animation, web development and interface design.
Winner of the comic book industry’s Harvey and Eisner awards, the Alph’art Award (aka Prix d’Angoulême) and a New York Times Notable Book for 1994 (mass market edition), the volume covered topics which included visual iconography, word-picture dynamics, time and motion, and the psychology of line styles and color.
Unico
The anime character is a special unicorn with the ability to make anyone he meets happy. The jealous gods bid the West Wind to exile young Unico to the Hill of Oblivion, where he was to stay alone forever. Luckily, the West Wind was a kind soul that instead hid Unico away from place to place, keeping him shielded from the eyes of the gods. Along the way, Unico must make new friends and even save the world from an evil power. Designed to be aired as a television series, it was not picked up by any network, so the creators edited the footage into two films, The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981) and Unico in the Island of Magic (1983).
Unidentified flying object (UFO)
In popular culture, the term (also known as UFO) refers to a suspected alien spacecraft, though as the name implies, its definition encompasses any unexplained aerial phenomenon. UFO sightings have been reported in various parts of the world throughout recorded history, raising questions about life on other planets and whether extraterrestrials have visited Earth. They became a major subject of interest and the inspiration behind numerous films and books following the post-World War II development of rocketry. The first widely-known UFO sighting occurred in 1947, when businessman Kenneth Arnold claimed he saw a group of nine high-speed objects near Mount Rainier in Washington while flying his small plane. Arnold estimated the speed of the crescent-shaped objects as several thousand miles per hour and said they moved “like saucers skipping on water.” In the newspaper report that followed, it was mistakenly stated that the objects were saucer-shaped, hence the subsequent popular term “flying saucer.”
Sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena increased, and in 1948, the U.S. Air Force began an investigation of these reports called Project Sign. The initial opinion of those involved with the project was that the UFOs were most likely sophisticated Soviet aircraft, although some researchers suggested that they might be spacecraft from other worlds, the so-called “extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH).” Within a year, Project Sign was succeeded by Project Grudge, which in 1952 was itself replaced by the longest-lasting of the official inquiries into UFOs, Project Blue Book, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. From 1952 to 1969, Project Blue Book compiled reports of more than 12,000 sightings or events, each of which was ultimately classified as (1) “identified” with a known astronomical, atmospheric, or artificial (human-caused) phenomenon or (2) “unidentified.” The latter category, approximately 6% of the total, included cases for which there was insufficient information to make an identification with a known phenomenon.
In the summer of 1952, a provocative series of radar and visual sightings occurred near National Airport in Washington, D.C. Although these events were eventually attributed to temperature inversions in the air over the city, not everyone was satisfied with this explanation. Meanwhile, the number of UFO reports had climbed to a record high. This led the Central Intelligence Agency to prompt the U.S. government to establish an expert panel of scientists to investigate the phenomena. The panel was headed by H.P. Robertson, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, and included other physicists, an astronomer, and a rocket engineer. The Robertson Panel met for three days in 1953, interviewing military officers and the head of Project Blue Book. They also reviewed films and photographs of UFOs. Their conclusions were that (1) 90% of the sightings could be easily attributed to astronomical and meteorological phenomena (e.g., bright planets and stars, meteors, auroras, ion clouds) or to such earthly objects as aircraft, balloons, birds and searchlights, (2) there was no obvious security threat, and (3) there was no evidence to support the ETH. Parts of the panel’s report were kept classified until 1979, and this long period of secrecy helped fuel suspicions of a government cover-up.
A second committee was set up in 1966 at the request of the Air Force to review the most interesting material gathered by Project Blue Book. Two years later, this committee, which made a detailed study of 59 UFO sightings, released its results as the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects—also known as “the Condon Report,” named for Edward U. Condon, the physicist who headed the investigation, which concluded that there was no evidence of anything other than commonplace phenomena in the reports and that UFOs did not warrant further investigation. This, together with a decline in sighting activity, led to the dismantling of Project Blue Book in 1969. Despite the failure of the ETH to make headway with the expert committees, a few scientists and engineers, most notably J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., who had been involved with projects Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book, concluded that a small fraction of the most-reliable UFO reports gave definite indications for the presence of extraterrestrial visitors. Hynek founded the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), which continues to investigate the phenomenon.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
The global address of documents, webpages and other resources on the internet, the first part of a URL is called a “protocol identifier,” and it indicates what protocol to use. One common protocol identifier is Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP or http). The second part is called a “resource name,” and it specifies the Internet Protocol (IP) address or the domain name where the resource is located. The protocol identifier and the resource name are separated by a colon and two forward slashes (://).
Uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
A power supply that includes a battery to maintain power and keep a computer running for several minutes after a power outage. This enables a user to save data that is in random access memory (RAM) and shut down the computer safely. There are two basic types of UPS systems: standbypowersystems (SPSs) and online UPS systems. Many UPSs now offer a software component that enables a user to automate backup and shutdown procedures in the event of a power failure while away from the computer. A typical consumer UPS is a surge protector that contains a high-capacity rechargeable battery.
United Federation of Planets
Composed of more than 150 planetary governments spread out over 8,000 light-years, the Federation is an interstellar federal alliance in the Star Trek universe that exists semi-autonomously under a single central government based on the principles of universal liberty, rights and equality. Federation members are united in various endeavors involving trade, exploration, science and defense. Member planets of the Federation share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and exploration. Located in the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Federation includes over 1,000 semi-autonomous colonies. Among its major neighboring sovereignties are the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union and the Ferengi Alliance. Other neighboring sovereignties are the Tzenkethi, the Tholian Assembly, the Breen Confederacy and the Xindi.
Founded in San Francisco, California, United States of America, Earth in 2161, the seeds of the Federation were planted during a temporary alliance in 2154, in the search for a Romulan drone ship. It was this search that first brought together the four species that would found the Federation: Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. After the crisis, these four species remained together, founding the precursor to the Federation, called the Coalition of Planets, a year later. Other species soon joined, including the Denobulans, the Rigelians and the Coridanites. Over the next several years, the ties between the members of the Coalition strengthened and became more structured, until the Coalition became the Federation in 2161. It is overseen by the Federation Council, which is comprised of representatives from member planets.
Although the Federation’s intentions were peaceful, around it were other, more belligerent powers such as the Klingon and Romulan Empires. As it expanded through the admittance of more and more worlds, it came into conflict with these powers. A war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation briefly erupted in 2267, but was halted by the powerful peace-loving race of Organians. Existing tensions eased considerably toward the end of the 23rd Century, with the Khitomer Conference of 2293 being a substantial turning point. This conference saw the signing of the Khitomer Accords, which effectively ended hostile relations. Free of major conflicts at the start of the 24th Century, the Federation began an unprecedented period of peaceful exploration in the galaxy as it had made peace with its main adversary of the previous century, the Klingon Empire. Relations with the Romulans remained hostile, albeit at a low “cold war” level.
There was also a series of local conflicts in the late 2340s, as the Federation came into contact with other militant races such as the Cardassians, the Talarians, the Tholians and the Tzenkethi. Then, in 2370, contact was made with the Dominion, the predominant ruling power over much of the Gamma Quadrant. After numerous skirmishes, misfortunes suffered by the Cardassian Union allowed for their eventual incorporation into the Dominion, and the subsequent Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion/ Cardassian forces were also joined by the reclusive but immensely powerful race known as the Breen. The ensuing war was the greatest crisis to be faced by the Federation, with the Federation forming an unlikely alliance with the Klingons and Romulans to defeat the Dominion. Thousands of Federation Starfleet vessels and millions of lives were lost in what turned out be the bloodiest conflict in Federation history, as of the late 24th Century. The most devastating and demoralizing offensive occurred in 2375, when the Breen hit the Federation at its heart, with a surprise attack on Starfleet Headquarters on Earth. The war and its aftermath allowed the Federation to establish new relations with many of its former adversaries, the Romulans in particular. In 2379, cooperation took place between the crew of the Federation Starfleet vessel the USS Enterprise-E and Romulan forces to defeat the Romulan Praetor Shinzon, whose actions would have destroyed both Earth and the Romulan Star Empire. It was hoped that this would mark the beginning of an end to hostility between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, marking the beginnings of détente with a long-time enemy of the Federation.
Universal serial bus (USB) drive
An external hard disk drive or optical disc drive that plugs into the universal serial bus (USB) port. A solid state storage module that plugs into the computer’s USB port. Using flash memory chips that hold up to one terabyte of data, a USB drive emulates a hard disk drive. USB drives are extremely popular for backup as well as data transfer from one machine to another. Their ever-increasing storage capacities have all but obsoleted writable CDs and DVDs.
Debuting at the turn of the 21st Century, USB drives are now known by many names, such as “flash drive,” “jump drive” and “stick,” among others. USB drive vendors use the data transfer ratings of CD-ROMs, where “x” equals 150KB per second, so a “90x” drive is 13.5MB/sec (90 x 150).
Universal serial bus (USB) port
The most common type of computer port used in modern computers, USB is also faster than older ports, such as serial and parallel ports. An external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 megabits per second (Mbps), a single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems and keyboards. USB also supports plug-and-play installation and the addition of components to a running computer without interruption of operation, known as “hot plugging.” Starting in 1996, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new machines. It wasn’t until the release of the best-selling iMac in 1998 that USB became widespread. Over the past few years, USB has become a widely-used cross-platform interface for both Macs and PCs, and it is expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports.
Universal Zetetic Society
See Flat Earth Society.
UNIX
A popular multi-user, multi-tasking operating system (OS) developed at Bell Labs in the early 1970s, designed to be a small, flexible system used exclusively by programmers. The UNIX OS is made up of the kernel, file system and a shell, which is the command line interface with more than 600 commands for manipulating data and text. UNIX was one of the first operating systems to be written in a high-level programming language, namely C. This natural portability, combined with its low price, made it a popular choice among universities. Bell Labs distributed UNIX in its source language form, so anyone who obtained a copy could modify and customize it for his own purposes. By the end of the 1970s, dozens of different versions of UNIX were running at various sites. After its breakup in 1982, AT&T began to market UNIX in earnest. It also began the long and difficult process of defining a standard version of UNIX. Due to its portability, flexibility, and power, UNIX has become a leading operating system for workstations, but historically has been less popular in the personal computer market. Most websites run under Linux, a UNIX variant. UNIX and C were freely distributed to government and academic institutions, causing it to be ported to a wider variety of machine families than any other operating system. As a result, UNIX became synonymous with “open systems” and thrives today on virtually every hardware platform.
Unreal
A third-person shooter survival game in which a player must find food, a weapon and ammunition, which are spread throughout the landscape. Enemies and interactive objects to help your defense may be anywhere in this game, which will support co-op play.
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable
The most common kind of copper telephone wiring, twisted pair is ordinary copper wire that connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. Two insulated copper wires are twisted around each other to reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires. Since some telephone or desktop locations require multiple connections, twisted pair is sometimes installed in two or more pairs, all within a single cable. As opposed to UTP, for some business locations, twisted pair is enclosed in a shield that functions as a ground. This is known as shielded twisted pair (STP).
Unstable molecules
A molecular fabric created by Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of Marvel Comics’ The Fantastic Four) that is able to adapt to a wide range of extreme matter and energy transformations without losing its original integrity. Unstable molecules compose the costumes of the Fantastic Four and some of their hero allies in the Marvel Universe, and can stand up to and recover from extreme circumstances, such as Richards’ elastic body and Johnny Storm’s flammability. Third-generation unstable molecules were introduced in Fantastic Four #1.
Ununbium
See Copernicium.
Ununhexium
See Livermorium.
Upworthy
A website “on a mission to change what the world pays attention to,” Upworthy was launched by MoveOn.org founder Eli Pariser in March 2012. Within its first six months, the new media outlet clocked 8.7 million unique monthly visitors. Upworthy headlines became notorious clickbait (intentionally, per Pariser), building curiosity by keeping the true topic of a story hidden until the site visitor clicked on the creatively worded link. By the end of 2013, Upworthy was cited by news sources as the fastest-growing media site of all time. Founded with the goal of promoting viral and uplifting content, the site was reaching 87 million people a month at its peak, but according to Upworthy’s internal numbers and Google Analytics, its unique monthly website visitors dropped from that high point down to 68 million in December 2013, then to 49 million the month after that. By November 2014, the site’s reach plummeted to about 20 million, less than a quarter of the traffic Upworthy experienced just twelve months prior. This was heavily blamed on Facebook, which had begun to introduce a number of alterations to the algorithm that controlled its newsfeed. Stilling running and posting new content today, Upworthy content remains positive by design. After the readership plummet, Amy O’Leary was hired as the new chief story officer, and focused on original reporting, hiring more writers, and de-sensationalizing the headlines. The site merged with GOOD Worldwide Inc. and partnered with Facebook to make original video content for the social network. Upworthy’s traffic remains steady at around 20 million, but Upworthy reports that about 200 million people are reached by its video and/or article content every month.
©2015-2024 nerDictionary.com. All rights reserved.
Photo and Image Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute. nerDictionary.com is a reference site intended to educate, and all images reposted herein are for that purpose.