Fiber optic cable
A technology that uses glass or plastic threads (known as fibers) to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.
Advantages of fiber optic cables over traditional metal communications lines include:
- a much greater bandwidth than metal cables, allowing them to carry more data
- less susceptible than metal cables to interference
- much thinner and lighter than metal wires
- data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for computer data) rather than analogically
The main disadvantages of fiber optics are that they are expensive to install, more fragile than wire, and difficult to splice. Still, fiber optics is a particularly popular technology for local-area networks (LANs). Telephone companies are steadily replacing traditional telephone lines with fiber optic cables, and it is estimated that in the near future, almost all communications will employ fiber optics.
Fibonacci sequence
Famously referenced in the Dan Brown novel and motion picture The Da Vinci Code, one of the most famous formulas in mathematics was believed to have been conceived by Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (aka “Leonardo of Pisa,” born around 1170) in his book Liber Abaci, published in 1202. However, according to Keith Devlin, author of Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World (Princeton University Press, 2017), Leonardo of Pisa did not actually discover the sequence. Ancient Sanskrit texts (which used the Hindu-Arabic number system) first mention it, and those predate Leonardo of Pisa by centuries. The story began in Pisa, Italy in the year 1202. Fibonacci (a name that 19th Century historians came up with, roughly meaning “son of the Bonacci clan,” to distinguish the mathematician from Leonardo da Vinci, who was also from the Pisa area) was a young member of an important trading family of Pisa. In his travels throughout the Middle East, he was captivated by the mathematical ideas that had come west from India through the Arabic countries. He compiled these ideas into one publication (described by Devlin as “a mathematics cookbook for how to do calculations”), which laid out in layman’s terms the Hindu-Arabic arithmetic useful for tracking profits and losses, remaining loan balances, and other functions. Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers that precede it: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on. Since its conception, it has been called “Nature’s secret code” and “Nature’s universal rule,” and is said to govern the dimensions of everything from the Great Pyramid at Giza to seashells and the family trees of honeybees. There are also connections to the sequence in the human body, art and architecture.
Mostly forgotten until the 19th Century, mathematicians worked out more about the sequence’s mathematical properties in 1877, and French mathematician Édouard Lucas officially named the pattern “the Fibonacci sequence.”
The Fibonacci sequence is tightly connected to what’s now known as “The Golden Ratio” or “The Golden Mean,” which is an irrational number (1.6180339887498948482…) that the Fibonacci sequence approaches as the sequence approaches infinity. From there, mathematicians can calculate what’s called “The Golden Spiral,” or a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor equals the golden ratio.
The Fibonacci configuration has many interesting and important properties, including a left-right symmetry and a pattern which, when the numbers in each row are added up, the sum doubles that of the row above it.
Fido
In an alternate 1950s America, years after a comet that passed through the atmosphere turned all corpses into the living dead and continues to re-animate the newly-dead, zombies have become domesticated servants. Kept from eating the flesh of the living via obedience collars, the Robinsons’ new zombie Fido becomes Timmy’s best friend, and when trouble arises, his protector. The 2006 dark comedy stars Billy Connolly, K’Sun Ray, Carrie-Anne Ross and Henry Czerny.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Protocol used to transfer files throughout the internet, commonly used to make files available for others to download. FTP can also be used to upload webpages and digital photos.
Fillion, Nathan
Fillion studied at the University of Alberta toward a teaching career, however, just months short of graduating, he could not pass up the opportunity to take up a role in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. He proved very popular as Joey Buchanan and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as a Soap Opera Digest Award, for “Outstanding Young Actor” in 1996. After three years in the role, on the advice of a mentor, Fillion moved to Los Angeles to pursue further career opportunities. The move proved fruitful and gained him roles in the films Saving Private Ryan, Blast From the Past and Dracula 2000. A recurring guest role on Two Guys and a Girl as the lovable Johnny Donnelly was so popular, Fillion was hired on as a regular cast member. When that show ended, Fox gave Fillion a talent-holding deal, which led to the leading role in Firefly in 2003. While Firefly was short lived (only 14 episodes were filmed, and only 11 of those aired), it quickly became a cult hit. The fan response was so strong, the series was released on DVD, and in 2005, the movie Serenity, based on the Firefly series, was released by Universal. Also following Firefly’s cancellation, Fillion played the villain Caleb in the final five episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series in 2003. On the big screen, Serenity was followed up by leading roles in the quirky horror film Slither and the supernatural suspense thriller White Noise 2: The Light. Reuniting with Firefly/Serenity and Buffy’s Joss Whedon, Fillion played Captain Hammer, the comedic villain in the short internet film Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Since 2009, Fillion has starred in several TV series: Castle, Santa Clarita Diet, A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Rookie. Off-screen, Fillion’s generosity and kindness have earned him a reputation for being one of Hollywood’s nicest actors, and have endeared him to directors, cast mates, crew members, and fans alike.
“Fillionaires”
Tongue-in-cheek self-imposed nickname for fans of Nathan Fillion.
Finagle’s Law
Fully named “Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives,” it is a “folk” version of Murphy’s Law, and usually stated as “Anything that can go wrong, will.” One variant favored among hackers is “The perversity of the universe tends toward a maximum.” The label “Finagle’s Law” was popularized by science fiction author Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of asteroid miners; this “Belter” culture professed a religion and/or running joke involving the worship of the dread god Finagle and his mad prophet Murphy.
Final Fantasy
Released in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Final Fantasy featured customizable characters, equipment, and magic. The object of the game was for the Light Warriors to save the world from four elemental fiends and their leader Chaos. The game has since been re-released on various other formats including Playstation, Android and Wii, and the game series inspired a motion picture, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, released in 2001.
Financial planning software
With various packages and formats available from competing companies, financial planning software can be used by the consumer to keep track of bank account balances, to save for specific goals (such as buying a car or house), and to plan and save for retirement.
Finnegan
Capt. James T. Kirk’s “own personal devil,” Finnegan was an upperclassman during Kirk’s plebe (freshman) year at Starfleet Academy, according to the first season Star Trek episode “Shore Leave.” Although the character, portrayed by Bruce Mars, was given no first name in the episode, he is named “Sean” in the (non-canon) Star Trek comic book Old Loyalties, written by Peter David, and “Shaun” in the 2007 William Shatner novel Star Trek: Academy: Collision Course.
Firefly
2002-03 Fox television series created by Joss Whedon, Firefly featured the adventures of the crew and passengers of a cargo spaceship, as they sought to obtain paying transport jobs. This was constantly made difficult, as the crew and some of its passengers wished to remain under the radar of the overbearing Alliance governmental system, as well as the cannibalistic Reavers. Though the show was cancelled after only 11 episodes aired, a campaign by the fans inspired the theatrically released film Serenity, which followed up the crew’s television adventures.
Firewall
The primary method for keeping a computer secure from intruders, a firewall filters (allows or blocks) traffic into and out of a private network or a user’s computer, blocking known threats while allowing only trusted data to flow through it. It can be a stand-alone machine, as a large corporation might use to protect all of its computers, but software firewalls are more common for individual users. Using a combination of rules to filter traffic, a firewall can also restrict outgoing traffic, to prevent spam or hacking attempts. Some firewalls can even “learn” over time, developing their own filtering rules and blocking unwanted connections without any manual customization.
First-person shooter (FPS)
A genre of action video game that is played from the point-of-view of the player’s character, so the character itself is not seen moving on the screen, but rather the scene around the character is shown, and what is seen shifts as the player moves the character, exactly as if the player were in the scene himself.
Fischer, Bobby
The first American grandmaster of chess was born on March 9, 1943 in Chicago. He first learned the game of chess at age 6, and by the age of 13, he had won the U.S. junior championship. At 14, he won his first of eight U.S. championships, winning the championship tournament every year he entered. His performance in the 1963-1964 U.S championship was particularly noteworthy as he swept the field with 11 wins, no losses and no draws. In 1958, at the age of fifteen, Fischer placed fifth at the Interzonal tournament in Portoroz, Yugoslavia (now part of Slovenia), and was awarded the title of International Grandmaster. At the time, he was the youngest person in history to receive the revered title, and he left school at 16 to pursue chess full-time.
During his meteoric rise in the chess community, Fischer was no stranger to controversy. After the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, in which Fischer placed fourth behind three Soviet players, he accused the Soviets of cheating. Specifically, he believed the Soviet grandmasters were agreeing to quick draws in games against each other to preserve their energy for Western Bloc players, particularly himself. (Years later, Fischer’s accusation was proven accurate.) Fischer’s anger toward this perceived unfairness in international tournament play, plus his general frustration with the international chess federation, led him to turn down invitations to play in a number of prestigious tournaments. For an eighteen-month period beginning in late 1968, Fischer withdrew from international chess competition, but in 1970, Fischer re-entered the chess circuit to become a candidate for the next world title match. Dominating a strong field of players, Fischer earned the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the world title, and in the summer of 1972, Fischer soundly defeated the Soviet champion in Reykjavík, Iceland to become the eleventh official – and the first American – world chess champion.His victory became known as “the match of the century,” and his brilliance at the chessboard, coupled with his confident and autonomous personality, catapulted him into worldwide fame and iconic status.
Shortly after his victory, Fischer disappeared from public life. When the next world championship match was arranged in 1975, Fischer submitted a long list of meticulous demands. When all but one were met, he refused to play, and his Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was declared world champion by default. Fischer then withdrew from serious play for almost 20 years, returning in 1992 to finally play Spassky in an unsanctioned privately organized multi-million dollar rematch in Yugoslavia. After defeating Spassky, Fischer again went into seclusion, in part because he had violated U.S. restrictions by participating in events in Yugoslavia during the Serbo-Croatian war, when the U.S. Treasury Department was prohibiting American citizens from conducting business in that region of the world. Fischer would never return to the United States, living from 1992 through 2005 in Yugoslavia, Japan, Hungary, Germany and the Philippines. In 2004, he was arrested at Narita International Airport in Tokyo while checking in for a flight to the Philippines. He was charged with attempting to travel with a revoked passport, and faced deportation to the United States, where authorities were set to arrest him. Fischer was held in a Japanese jail for eight months, then on March 21, 2005, Fischer was granted Icelandic citizenship and was flown to Reykjavík, the site of his world-famous encounter with Spassky, three days later. Fischer would spend his remaining three years in Reykjavík, where he died on January 17, 2008 of kidney failure, after refusing the medical intervention that would have been necessary to save his life.
An enigmatic personality his whole life, chess fans and historians have long wondered if Fischer suffered from mental illness. A recent psycho-biographical study lends support to that conclusion.
Fisher, Carrie
A cultural icon since appearing as Princess Leia Organa in George Lucas‘ Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford), Carrie Fisher was born on October 21, 1956, in Los Angeles, California to show business parents Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.
In the early to mid-1980s, Fisher weathered problems with alcohol, drugs and depression, while appearing in a series of smaller films including Under the Rainbow (1981) and Hollywood Vice Squad (1986). As the decade drew to a close, Fisher again came into her own, both on- and off-screen. In 1987, she published her first novel, Postcards from the Edge, a successful semi-autobiographical tale of a mother and daughter in show business. She adapted her novel into a screenplay, and the resulting film, directed by Mike Nichols, featured Meryl Streep. Fisher also turned in a series of solid supporting roles in such films as When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Soap Dish (1991).
A talented screenwriter, Fisher has helped revise many Hollywood scripts, including Sister Act (1992), Outbreak (1995) and The Wedding Singer (1998). She has also mined her own life experiences to create such best-selling books as Wishful Drinking (2009) and Shockaholic (2012). She later landed her own interview show through Oxygen Media called Conversations from the Edge with Carrie Fisher. She reprised her iconic Princess Leia role in Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens, starring alongside original cast members Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.
Fisher was married to singer-songwriter Paul Simon in the 1980s, and has one child, daughter Billie Catherine, with Hollywood talent agent Bryan Lourd. Fisher died December 27, 2016 after suffering a heart attack.
Flash drive
A portable hard drive that can be inserted into a universal serial bus (USB) port for storage, retrieval and transfer of data. Also known as a jump drive, pen drive, thumb drive or USB drive.
Flash memory
Non-volatile and rewritable, flash memory is stored on solid-state chips that retain information without requiring power. The popular memory format can be used in just about every electronic device, including universal serial bus (USB) drives, cameras, media players, smartphones and tablets. It is a type of electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), but differs from regular EEPROM, which erases content byte by byte. Most flash memory erases data in whole blocks, making it suitable for use with applications where large amounts of data require frequent updates. Inside the flash chip, data is stored in cells protected by floating gates. Tunneling electrons change the gate’s electronic charge in “a flash” (hence the name), clearing the cell of its contents so it can be rewritten.
Flash memory devices use two different logical technologies to map data: NOR flash memory and NAND flash memory. NOR flash provides high-speed random access, reading and writing data in specific memory locations; it can retrieve as little as a single byte. It is used to store cell phones’ operating systems, and is also used in computers for the basic input/output system (BIOS) program that runs at start-up. NAND flash reads and writes sequentially at high speed, handling data in small blocks called pages. This flash is used in solid-state and USB flash drives, digital cameras, audio and video players, and TV set-top boxes. NAND flash reads faster than it writes, quickly transferring whole pages of data. Less expensive than NOR flash, NAND technology offers higher capacity for the same-size silicon.
Flash memory is sometimes referred to as flash RAM, however flash RAM requires power to retain data.
Flash mob
A typically large gathering of people who perform public seemingly random acts, such as a choreographed dance.
Flash RAM
See Flash memory.
Flash, The
His mother’s killer never found, the mystery obsessed Barry Allen, driving him to become a forensic scientist. Consumed by his work, he was constantly in his lab. When a lightning bolt hit a nearby shelf in his lab, Barry’s body reacted to the electricity and chemicals that hit his body and as a result, was given super-speed abilities, becoming the Flash. First appearing in Flash Comics #1 in January 1940, The Flash – also known as The Scarlet Speedster and The Fastest Man Alive – can race up buildings, across oceans, and around the world to catch criminals and protect his beloved Central City. In addition to superhuman speed, DC Comics’ The Flash is endowed with many speed-related gifts: Speed Force conduit, decelerated aging, Speed Force sharing/lending, speed stealing, Speed Force aura, and self-sustenance. He is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has quite a mechanical aptitude. Vibrating at specific frequencies, The Flash can phase through objects and create sonic booms. Originally included in the Justice Society of America during The Golden Age of Comics, The Flash is a prominent member of the Justice League of America, and in the 1976 large-format comic Superman vs. The Flash, famously raced Superman. The Flash has appeared on two television shows: One in 1990 starring Wesley Shipp, and another which debuted in 2014 starring Grant Gustin. In the 2017 motion picture Justice League, The Flash was played by Ezra Miller, who will reprise the role in the 2020 film The Flash.
Flashpoint
A five-issue 2011 DC Comics crossover miniseries written by Geoff Johns and featuring art by Andy Kubert, in which Barry Allen (The Flash) finds himself in an alternate universe, in which there never was a Flash or Superman. Themyscira and Atlantis, respective homelands to Wonder Woman and Aquaman, are on the brink of war, and Thomas Wayne has created the persona of Batman after his son Bruce is murdered. Only Barry can recall the pre-Flashpoint world, and he must work to regain his powers in order to fix the time-space shift, which he learns that he caused when he previously traveled back in time to save his mother from being murdered by Reverse-Flash. The Flashpoint storyline was adapted into the animated feature film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, as well as incorporated into the third season of the WB series The Flash.
Flat Earth Society, The
Founded in the early 1800s by English inventor Samuel Birley Rowbotham, the mission of the Flat Earth Society is to promote and initiate discussion of Flat Earth theory as well as archive Flat Earth literature. Rowbotham’s Flat Earth views were based largely on a literal interpretation of Bible passages. His system, called “Zetetic astronomy,” held that the earth is a flat disk centered at the North Pole and bounded along its “southern” (or outer) edge by a wall of ice, with the sun, moon, planets, and stars only a few hundred miles above the surface of the earth. After Rowbotham’s death in 1884, followers of his Zetetic Astronomy founded the Universal Zetetic Society. Flat Earth theory spread to the United States, particularly in the town of Zion, Illinois, where Christian Catholic Apostolic Church founder John Alexander Dowie, and later Wilbur Glenn Voliva, promoted Flat Earth theory. Voliva died in 1942, and the church quickly disintegrated. Flat Earthism remained in Zion, but gradually became less popular by the 1950s. Nevertheless, the International Flat Earth Society was formally founded in 1956 by Samuel Shenton, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Geographic Society. After Shenton’s death in 1971, Charles K. Johnson became president of the Society. Over time, its membership increased to over 3,000. In 1995, a fire destroyed the Johnson’s home and the entire Flat Earth Society library, archives and membership lists. Following a long period of poor health, Johnson’s wife Marjory passed away in 1996, after which he vowed to rebuild the society. However, Charles K. Johnson passed away in 2001 at the age of 76, leaving the Society’s future uncertain. After several years of inactivity, the Flat Earth Society was resurrected in 2004 and remains active today. The Society officially reopened to new members in October 2009.
Flat-panel monitor
A computer screen that is flat, as opposed to the older arced screens on cathode-ray tube (CRT) models. This newer design cuts down on glare and gives the user a much clearer view that is easier on the eyes to look at for long periods of time.
Flawless victory
In hand-to-hand combat video games, a victory in which the winner is completely unharmed, including damage to his health and block levels.
Flood, The
A species of highly hostile parasitic organisms in the action video game series Halo that reproduce and grow by consuming sentient lifeforms. The Flood was responsible for consuming most of the sentient life in the galaxy, including the vast majority of Forerunners, during the Forerunner-Flood war, prompting the activation of the galaxy-sterilizing Halo Array.
Originating as a corrupted form of the galaxy’s most ancient custodians known as the Precursors, the Flood reproduces by infecting other organisms, then hijacking their bodies and nervous systems in order to transform them into one of many specialized forms. Simultaneously, the Flood assimilates their memories and intelligence, and thus the species becomes collectively more intelligent as they progress. Because of their frighteningly rapid growth rate, as long as enough hosts of sufficient biomass and intelligence are available, the Flood is effectively unstoppable.
All Flood forms share a single consciousness, which becomes progressively more intelligent and sophisticated with every sentient host that is assimilated. When enough hosts have been infected, the Flood consciousness becomes a Gravemind – a self-aware, highly intelligent entity that strategically commands all Flood forms in an outbreak. Due to this group consciousness, the Flood as a whole is more accurately described as a single, trans-sentient macroorganism, rather than a collection of individuals directed by one or more controlling beings. In the absence of a Gravemind, the Flood possesses only basic coordination; they are incapable of forming complex strategies, and focus solely on attacking and infecting nearby sentient organisms. This stage of a Flood outbreak is known as the Feral Stage. At this stage, the Flood seek to create an assembly of biomass, calcium, and nervous system reserves, which leads to the creation of a Flood hive and the beginnings of a proto-Gravemind. The nature of the Flood’s collective consciousness has been likened to a socialist utopia, due to the fact that the Flood act as a unified entity, with no individuality that would be present in other, more traditional species; each component of the Flood meta-organism works tirelessly for the advancement of their species.
The Flood presents a highly variable and unconventional threat in combat, as it can infect and mutate dead or captured opponents into a myriad of lethal forms, effectively growing stronger as it weakens enemy forces. They are widely considered to be the greatest threat in the Milky Way galaxy.
Flux capacitor
A fictional device from the 1985 sci fi classic Back to the Future and its sequels, the flux capacitor is described as the mechanism that makes time travel possible. The simplistic design consists of a box with three metal rods connected in a “Y” formation and flashing lights. Its inventor, Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, installed his time machine into an iconic 1980s sports car, the DeLorean, which Marty McFly ends up taking on its first test run back to the 1950s.
While fictional, the term “flux capacitor” is made up of two pieces of genuine scientific terminology. In physics, “flux” is the amount of something (like electricity) that’s passing through a given object’s surface, and a “capacitor” is a device that stores electronic charge. It became such a well-known object in popular culture that in 2015, the Ford Motor Company offered a “flux capacitor upgrade” on its Fiesta line, joining a series of public expression of celebration for October 21, 2015, which was the day Marty McFly travelled to the future in the 1989 sequel to the original film, Back to the Future Part II.
Foam weapon
A weapon used in live-action role-playing (“larping”) combat, designed to be utilized as in an actual battle, but not to inflict bodily harm. Swords, maces, axes and hammers are common foam weapons on a larping field of battle.
Folder
See Directory.
Followorthy
A term for a Twitter user who posts interesting tweets, and is therefore worthy of being followed by other users.
Force, The
According to Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi in Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope, The Force is an enigmatic entity that gives a Jedi knight his power. It is “an energy field created by all living things.” The force “surrounds us, penetrates us,” and “binds the galaxy together.”
Ford, Harrison
Born on July 13, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, Harrison Ford brought to life two of Hollywood’s most iconic roles: Han Solo and Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. He grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois, and after graduating from high school in 1960, Ford studied English and philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin. There, he accidentally discovered an interest in performing. Terrified to get up in front of people, Ford nevertheless signed up for a drama course, hoping for an easy good grade. Not the best student in college, he ended up leaving before completing his degree.
He made his way to Hollywood in the mid-1960s, and first landed a deal with Columbia Pictures as a contract player, earning $150 a week. He then ended up at Universal. In 1966, Ford made his film debut in a bit part in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. Studio executives were less than impressed with him, and Ford struggled for years as an actor, becoming a carpenter to supplement in his income, before George Lucas cast him in 1973’s American Graffiti. While he worked for Francis Ford Coppola as both a carpenter and an actor, his career failed to progress much. Then in 1977, Ford hit superstardom when he was again hired by Lucas to play Han Solo in Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope. That performance, plus the film’s two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), helped make him a star. During this same period, Ford played resourceful, swashbuckling archaeologist Indiana Jones in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg. The action adventure tale, written in part by George Lucas, proved to be a huge hit, and spawned sequels in 1984 and 1989.
Ford enhanced his reputation as a dramatic actor with several significant roles in the mid-1980s, including 1985’s Witness, 1986’s The Mosquito Coast, and 1988’s Working Girl. Returning to the role of action hero in the 1990s, Ford took on the role of CIA agent Jack Ryan in 1992’s Patriot Games, reprising the role in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger. By this time, Ford had become one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. After a few box office stumbles in the latter ‘90s, he starred in the very popular Air Force One in 1997. By the early 2000s, Ford took on fewer movie roles, and the films he did appear in didn’t receive much attention, until he revisited one of his classic roles in 2008, starring in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull. In 2013, he showed his dramatic talents in 42, a film about the life of African-American baseball legend Jackie Robinson, in which Ford played Branch Rickey, the baseball executive who signed Robinson to the baseball’s major leagues. Also in 2013, he appeared in the science fiction adventure Ender’s Game and the thriller Paranoia. In late April 2014, Ford delighted film fans everywhere with the news that he will appear in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, along with his Star Wars co-stars, including Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.
Harrison Ford was married to his college girlfriend Mary Marquardt from 1964 to 1979, and the couple has two sons. He married screenwriter Melissa Mathison, whom he met during the making of 1979’s Apocalypse Now, in 1983. They had two children together before divorcing in 2004. Ford married actress Calista Flockhart in 2010.
Forest, Dr. Myron
A scientist who worked with the Global Peace Agency and is the man responsible for creating Brother Eye and designing The OMAC Project.
Fortress of Solitude
Superman’s base of operations was created by a Kryptonian Relic called the Eradicator as a monument to Krypton on Earth. The first Fortress of Solitude appeared in Superman #17. Hidden in the Arctic, the Fortress contains various keepsakes, such as objects that Superman’s enemies had used against him. Superman uses the Fortress as a source of information about his past and purpose on Earth, as well as a place of rest, a tactical headquarters, and a gym. During the Silver Age of Comics, Superman’s Fortress was built into the side of a cliff, with a giant keyhole at the entry. The origin of the metal entrance doorway was explained in Action Comics #409. The Eradicator’s basic program, designed by an ancestor of Kal-El’s, necessitated the change of Superman into the ideal Kryptonian, who was to eventually reform Earth into a physical duplicate of Krypton. Overcoming the Eradicator and throwing the relic into the heart of Earth’s sun, Superman kept the mysterious monument and used it as a headquarters and hideaway. The Eradicator once again used the Fortress when its energies physically reformed it into Kryptonian form. When Superman again resisted its attempts to overcome him, the Eradicator was destroyed when its energies were trapped by the very walls of the Fortress. When Doomsday killed Superman, the Fortress robots began a program designed to collect his very essence and reunite him with his physical body. Meanwhile, the Eradicator once again gained Kryptonian form and replaced Superman for a time. The Fortress was destroyed when this reformed Eradicator drew all of the available energies out of the systems to reform his physical body after nearly being defeated by the Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) at Coast City (Superman #117). Later, Superman returned to the Fortress to find that the Robots had repaired the earlier damage completely.
Foster, Alan Dean
Born in New York City in 1946 and raised in Los Angeles, Foster received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master of Fine Arts in Cinema in 1968 and 1969 (respectively) from UCLA. He spent two years as a copywriter for a Studio City, California advertising and public relations firm, but his fiction writing career began when August Derleth bought a long letter of Foster’s, written in the style of H.P. Lovecraft, in 1968. Much to Foster’s surprise, his letter was published as a short story in Derleth’s bi-annual magazine The Arkham Collector. Sales of short fiction to other magazines followed, then his first attempt at a novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, was bought by Betty Ballantine and published by Ballantine Books in 1972. Since then, Foster’s work to date includes excursions into science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction genres. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced novel versions of many films’ screenplays, including the first three Alien films, Alien Nation, The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek, Star Wars, Terminator: Salvation, and both Transformers films. Other works include scripts for records, radio, computer games, and the original story (which he developed with Gene Roddenberry) for the first Star Trek movie. His novel Shadowkeep was the first book adaptation of an original computer game ever written. In addition to English, his work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and he has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science fiction book ever to do so. He is the recipient of the Faust, the IAMTW Lifetime achievement award. He has taught screenwriting, literature, and film history at UCLA and Los Angeles City College, and has lectured at universities and conferences around the world. He is a member of the Science-Fiction Writers of America, the Author’s Guild of America, and the Writer’s Guild of America, West.
Foundation
Five short stories published together as one novel by Isaac Asimov in 1951. It serves as the first installment of his Foundation trilogy. The first story in Foundation was written by Asimov (and was, in fact, the last part of the trilogy he wrote) in 1950, to serve as an introduction to the series. The other four stories were originally published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine under the titles “Foundation” (May 1942), “Bridle and Saddle” (June 1942), “The Wedge” (October 1944) and “The Big and the Little” (August 1944).
The story begins on Trantor, the capital planet of the 12,000-year-old Galactic Empire. Though it has endured for so long, the Empire has been imperceptibly declining for centuries. The only one who realizes this is Hari Seldon, a mathematician who has created the science of psychohistory, by which it is possible to predict future events by extrapolating from historic trends. Seldon’s project is increasingly harassed by Imperial officials, until they arrest him and his assistant. At Seldon’s trial, he predicts that Trantor will be destroyed within 300 years as the climax to the fall of the Galactic Empire, leading to a 30,000 year period of anarchy before a Second Empire is established. The purpose of his project is to influence events so that the interregnum period will be only 1,000 years and not 30,000. This will be done, he says, by the production and dissemination by his team of an Encyclopedia Galactica, which will contain all human knowledge. The commission is satisfied that Seldon’s project is not a threat to the Empire, but wants to quiet him. He and his team are exiled to Terminus, a small planet on the periphery of the galaxy, to work on the encyclopedia. Several fascinating conclusions are reached, including the revelation that the Foundation is an active rebellion against the authoritative Empire, which Seldon says, “has lost whatever virility and worth it once had.”
Four Tribes, The
A two-player card game in which players each take on the role of one of two battling empires, who must supply desperately needed supplies to their forces, while simultaneously waging war with their enemy. Combining strategy, tactics and luck, the fast and casual game is portable and playable anywhere.
FPS
See First-person shooter (FPS).
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