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Marc Thorpe
Marc Thorpe (9 November 1946 – 24 November 2023) was an American artist and designer known for creating the ''Robot Wars''. Early life and education Born in San Francisco, Thorpe studied at California State University, Hayward, and the University of California, Davis. Career Earlier in his career, in 1974, Thorpe received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship to develop "behavioral sculptures" involving trained dolphins at Marineland in Florida. The project resulted in the documentary ''Betty and Eva'', which showcased the synchronized swimming patterns of the trained dolphins. From 1979 to 1990, Thorpe worked at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, contributing to special effects in films such as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'', ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', ''Return of the Jedi'', ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'', ''Dragonslayer'', ''Poltergeist'', ''Howard the Duck'', and ''The Hunt for Red October''. In 1994, Thorpe launched the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robot Wars (TV Series)
Robot Wars is a British robot combat television series that aired from 1998 to 2004 and was revived from 2016 to 2018. The show features teams controlling remote-operated robots in battles within an arena filled with hazards and powerful "House Robots." The original run aired on BBC Two, later moving to Channel 5, with spin-offs like Robot Wars Extreme. Hosts included Jeremy Clarkson, Craig Charles, Dara Ó Briain, and Angela Scanlon, with Jonathan Pearce as the announcer throughout. At its peak, Robot Wars attracted six million UK viewers and became a global success, airing in 45 countries. It also inspired live events and a successful toy range. Its merchandising was commercially successful, being one of the best-selling toy ranges of 2002. The show also inspired live events, with The Fighting Robot Association founded in 2003 and Roaming Robots acquiring the brand rights in 2013. Live shows continued under the name Extreme Robots from 2017 onward. History US Robot Wars e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poltergeist (1982 Film)
''Poltergeist'' is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor from a story by Spielberg. It stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Beatrice Straight, and was produced by Spielberg and Frank Marshall. The film focuses on a suburban family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct their youngest daughter. As Spielberg was contractually unable to direct another film while he made '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,'' Hooper was selected based on his work on '' The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' and '' The Funhouse''. The origin of ''Poltergeist'' can be traced to '' Night Skies'', which Spielberg conceived as a horror sequel to his 1977 film '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind''; Hooper was less interested in the sci-fi elements and suggested they collaborate on a ghost story. Accounts differ as to the level of Spielberg's involvement, but it is clear that he was frequently on se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2023 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1946 Births
1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1940s decade. Events January * January 6 – The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies of World War II recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four Allied-occupied Austria, occupation zones. * January 10 ** The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London. ** ''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age. * January 11 – Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BattleBots
''BattleBots'' is an American robot combat television series and company. The show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. The same competitions inspired the British TV program ''Robot Wars'', which acquired the name in 1995. Legally barred from the name "Robot Wars", American robot combat aficionados created a new company, BattleBots, under the ownership of Greg Munson and Trey Roski. The first official BattleBots event was hosted at the Long Beach Pyramid in Long Beach, California in August 1999, while a second event in Las Vegas was used to pitch the competition to television networks. For five seasons, ''BattleBots'' aired on the American Comedy Central and was hosted by Bil Dwyer, Sean Salisbury, and Tim Green. Comedy Central's first season premiered on August 23, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RunBot
RunBot is a miniature bipedal robot which belongs to the class of limit cycle walkers. Instead of using a central pattern generator it uses reflexes which generate the gait. The reflexes are triggered by ground contact sensors in the feet which then activate the motors. The generation of the walking gait is straightforward: when a foot touches the ground the ''other'' leg is lifted upwards so that the robot falls forward. This then causes this leg to touch the ground and so forth. The walking speed can be improved by means of reinforcement learning because there are only a few parameters in this scheme. RunBot was built in 2005 by Tao Geng as part of his PhD under supervision of Prof Woergoetter and after an idea by Dr Porr to use a walking robot to benchmark reflex based reinforcement learning rules. Its movements and adaptability are based on the work of neurophysiologist Nikolai Bernstein Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein (; 5 November 1896 – 16 January 1966) was a USSR, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's ''Skate or Die!'' The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991. Into the 21st century, EA develops and publishes games of established franchises, including ''Battlefield (video game series), Battlefield'', ''Need for Speed'', ''The Sims'', ''Medal of Honor (video game series), Medal of Honor'', ''Command & Conquer'', ''Dead Space'', ''Mass Effect'', ''Dragon Age'', ''Army of Two (series), Army of Two'', ''A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic * Mechanical energy, the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy * Mechanical system, a system that manages the power of forces and movements to accomplish a task * Mechanism (engineering), a portion of a mechanical device Other * Mechanical (character), one of several characters in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' * A kind of typeface in the VOX-ATypI classification See also * Machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ..., especially in opposition to an electronic item * '' Mechanical Animals'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Board Of Directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations (including the jurisdiction's corporate law) and the organization's own constitution and by-laws. These authorities may specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and how often they are to meet. In an organization with voting members, the board is accountable to, and may be subordinate to, the organization's full membership, which usually elect the members of the board. In a stock corporation, non-executive directors are elected by the shareholders, and the board has ultimate responsibility for the management of the corporation. In nations with codetermination (such as Germany and Sweden), the workers of a corporation elect a set fraction of the board's members. The board of directors appoints the ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Profile Records
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. He invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to be a partner. They each borrowed $17,000 from their parents, purchased the little used Panorama Records subsidiary from MCA, and Profile Records was born. Their tiny office opened at 250 West 57th street in NYC on May 1, 1981. With the success of “Genius Rap” by Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, they escaped financial ruin by a mere $2,000. From there it was Gidea Park's “Seasons of Gold” that brought more commercial and financial success, becoming Profile Records’ first hit to make the Billboard Hot 100. In 1982 the fledgling label gained international recognition with the club hit "I Specialize in Love", recorded by Sharon Brown, licensed to Virgin Records in the UK. The label cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editorial coverage of the entertainment industry, with particular focus on Hollywood film, television, and streaming media. History ''TheWrap'' was launched in January 2009 by Sharon Waxman, a former Hollywood correspondent for ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. The site was created to offer in-depth business coverage of the entertainment industry, including breaking news, analysis, and opinion. In November 2015, TheWrap expanded its editorial and digital operations with a series of key hires. Tim Molloy rejoined as Deputy Managing Editor, joining Thom Geier in leading editorial operations. Andrew Curry was named Director of Audience Development, overseeing editorial partnerships, social media strategy, and audience engagemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hunt For Red October (film)
''The Hunt for Red October'' (alternate on-screen Russian title: ''Красный октябрь'') is a 1990 American submarine spy thriller film directed by John McTiernan, produced by Mace Neufeld, and starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Sam Neill. The film is an adaptation of Tom Clancy's 1984 bestselling novel of the same name. It is the first installment of the film series with the protagonist Jack Ryan. The story is set during the late Cold War era and involves a rogue Soviet naval captain who wishes to defect to the United States with his officers and the Soviet Navy's newest and most advanced ballistic missile submarine, a fictional improvement on the Soviet Typhoon-class submarine. A CIA analyst correctly deduces his motive and must prove his theory before a violent confrontation between the Soviet Red Fleet and the United States Navy spirals out of control. The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
