title: Paul Pierce

text: The 2012–13 season did not go as planned for the Celtics, with All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo out with a torn ACL injury. On January 27, 2013, against the Miami Heat, Pierce recorded his first triple-double of the season with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. On February 10, 2013, against the Denver Nuggets, Pierce recorded his second triple-double of the season with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists becoming the oldest player, in a game of any length, to record at least 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists (previously held by Larry Bird). On March 29, 2013, against the Atlanta Hawks, Pierce recorded his third triple-double of the season with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Pierce finished the 2012–13 season with season averages of 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while the Celtics managed to clinch the 7th seed in the playoffs with a 41–40 season record (with one game not played because of the Boston Marathon bombing). The Celtics lost to the New York Knicks in the 1st round in six games. Pierce averaged 19.2 points per game while shooting a poor 36.8 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from three-point range along with 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the playoff series loss.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On June 28, 2013, the day of the NBA draft, the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets reached a deal to trade Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry for future first-round picks in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 drafts and Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, MarShon Brooks, and Keith Bogans. The deal was completed on July 12, 2013. Brooklyn also received D. J. White and the Celtics also received the right to swap first-round picks in the 2017 draft. Pierce convinced Garnett to waive his no-trade clause so that the deal could come to fruition. At an introductory press conference with Garnett and Terry following the trade, Pierce stated, "We are championship driven... We made a lot of money in our careers. We have won a number of awards. At this point right now, we are about winning a championship. Brooklyn gives us the best opportunity."


title: Paul Pierce

text: In 2013–14, Pierce appeared in 75 games (including 68 starts), averaging 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 28.0 minutes. He scored 1,000 points for the 15th straight season, becoming the only active NBA player and the sixth player in NBA history (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, John Havlicek, Elvin Hayes, Robert Parish) to score 1,000 points in 15 straight seasons. He passed Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing on the NBA's all-time scoring list (moving up to 18th in NBA history), moved into fifth place in all-time NBA history with 1,935 career three-pointers made, and had his most steals (86) in a season since 2007–08. On April 11, 2014, against Atlanta, Pierce became the fourth active player (along with Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Garnett) and the 18th player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points.


title: Paul Pierce

text: Prior to the season, the Nets were thought to be contenders to win the Eastern Conference. Pierce and Garnett were set to be the supporting cast to Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez. After scraping past the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs thanks to a last-second block from Pierce in Game 7, their attempt to get past the Heat and win a championship fell short. They lost to Miami in five games in the second round.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On July 17, 2014, Pierce signed a two-year, $11 million contract with the Washington Wizards. With 14 points against the Atlanta Hawks on November 25, 2014, Pierce passed Jerry West for 17th place on the NBA's career scoring list. Two weeks later, Pierce passed Reggie Miller for 16th place on the NBA's career scoring list with a season-high 28 points against the Boston Celtics. On January 14, 2015, Pierce passed Jason Kidd for fourth all-time in three-pointers made in a 105–99 win over the Chicago Bulls. Eleven days later, he recorded his 2,000th career three-pointer in a 117–115 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets. On February 2, 2015, he passed Alex English for 15th place on the NBA's career scoring list with 11 points against the Charlotte Hornets. Pierce finished the regular season averaging 11.9 points per game, a career low.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On May 9, 2015, Pierce made a two-point shot with three defenders on him at the buzzer to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 103–101 and take a 2–1 series lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. He finished the game with 13 points and 7 rebounds. In Game 6 of the series on May 15, the Wizards were down 94–91 with seconds remaining when Pierce launched a three-pointer, hoping to extend the Wizards' season by forcing overtime. The shot swished, apparently tying the score at the buzzer, but the play was reviewed, showing the clock expired before Pierce released the basketball.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On June 27, 2015, Pierce opted out of the second year of his contract with the Wizards to become a free agent.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On July 10, 2015, Pierce signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. He made his debut for the Clippers in the team's season opener against the Sacramento Kings on October 28, recording 12 points and 7 rebounds off the bench in a 111–104 win. With Lance Stephenson starting at small forward, Pierce began the season as a role player off the bench for the first time in his career. On December 16, Pierce scored six points against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the game, he hit a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter and became the fifth active player and 16th in NBA history to reach 26,000 points.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On September 26, 2016, Pierce announced that the 2016–17 season would be his last in the NBA. In what would be his last game in Boston, on February 5, 2017, Pierce started and played the first five minutes before heading to the bench—it was his first appearance for the Clippers since New Year's Eve. Although the crowd chanted his name in the final minutes, Pierce did not re-enter the game until there was 19 seconds left; he hit a three-pointer to finish the game for his only points of the contest. On April 10, 2017, he scored all of his 10 points in the final five minutes of the Clippers' 125–96 win over the Houston Rockets. He subsequently moved into 15th on the NBA career scoring list with 26,397 points. The Clippers finished the regular season with a 51–31 record and entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed. They went on to lose their first-round playoff series to the Utah Jazz in seven games, as Pierce's 19-year NBA career came to an end at the final buzzer of Game 7 on April 30, 2017. In his final game, he had six points and three rebounds in 21 minutes and averaged 11.1 minutes in the series. On June 28, 2017, he was waived by the Clippers.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On July 17, 2017, Pierce signed a ceremonial contract with the Boston Celtics in order to retire with the team. On August 18, 2017, the Celtics announced Pierce's jersey would be retired on February 11, 2018. His jersey was raised to the rafters of TD Garden in a postgame ceremony following the Celtics-Cavaliers game, becoming the 23rd person in Celtics history to be honored.


title: Paul Pierce

text: Pierce was a member of the United States national team for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, starting all nine games and averaging 19.8 points per game. Pierce was also selected for the United States national team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but did not compete because of minor off-season surgery.


title: Paul Pierce

text: In August 2017, Pierce joined ESPN as a studio analyst for "The Jump" and "NBA Countdown", after appearing as a guest analyst during the 2016 and 2017 NBA Finals for "NBA Countdown". His tenure with ESPN was inconsistent despite much fanfare. His role at the network was reduced in 2019 due to questions about his preparation for NBA segments and game predictions.


title: Paul Pierce

text: Pierce was fired by ESPN after streaming from his Instagram Live on April 2, 2021. During the livestream at a poker game, he featured several women wearing bikinis who were massaging his shoulders or twerking. Pierce also showcased himself drinking alcohol from a small cup and smoking a blunt while responding to fan messages. ESPN ended its relationship with Pierce on April 5, 2021, and had no further comment on the firing. Pierce later responded to news of his firing with a Twitter video of him laughing while also tweeting that "Big things are coming soon" and "I can't lose even when I lose, I'm winning".


title: Paul Pierce

text: Pierce and his ex-wife Julie (née Landrum) have three children; two daughters, Prianna and Adrian, and a son, Prince.


title: Paul Pierce

text: On September 25, 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back and had a bottle smashed over his head while at the Buzz Club, a late-night dance club in the Boston Theater District. He had to undergo lung surgery to repair the damage. Nevertheless, Pierce was the only Celtics player to start all 82 games in the 2000–01 season. Tony Battie, Pierce's teammate at the time, along with Battie's brother, saved him by rushing him to a nearby hospital. In 2003, two and a half years after the attack, Pierce pledged $2.5 million to help expand the high-tech surgical center at Tufts-New England Medical Center that helped make his recovery possible. Pierce stated, "This is an opportunity for me to give back to the hospital that was there for me when I needed it."


title: Paul Pierce

text: In August 2018, Pierce discussed battling depression for a year after his stabbing, revealing that he dealt with paranoia over crowds and post-traumatic stress stemming from the incident. He divulged this information as part of the NBA's initiative to focus on the mental health of its players.


title: Paul Pierce

text: Pierce's nickname, "the Truth", was bestowed on him by Shaquille O'Neal after a 112–107 Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Celtics on March 13, 2001, in which Pierce scored 42 points on 13-of-19 shooting. O'Neal pulled "Boston Herald" reporter Steve Bulpett over and gestured toward his notepad. "Take this down," said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the motherfucking truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is The Truth."


title: Paul Pierce

text: In January 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company EthereumMax that alleged the company is a pump and dump scheme, Pierce was named as a defendant along with media personality Kim Kardashian, former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., and other celebrities for promoting the EthereumMax token on their social media accounts. In February 2022, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media. In December 2022, Central California U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that the claims were insufficiently supported given heightened pleading standards for fraud.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz with supporting roles played by Dennis Burkley, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty, and Richard Dysart. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress. The film is based on the life and early death of Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis, a boy who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare genetic disorder known commonly as "lionitis" due to the disfiguring cranial enlargements that it causes. "Mask" won the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 58th ceremony, while Cher and Stoltz received Golden Globe Award nominations for their performances.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: In 1977 Azusa, California, Rocky Dennis, with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, is accepted without question by his freewheeling biker mother's boyfriends, his "extended motorcycle family," and his maternal grandparents who share his love of baseball card collecting; but is treated with fear, pity, awkwardness, and teasing by those unaware of his humanity, humor, and intelligence. Rocky's mother, Florence "Rusty" Dennis, is determined to give Rocky as normal a life as possible, in spite of her own wild ways as a member of the Turks biker gang, as well as her strained relationship with her parents. She fights for Rocky's inclusion in a mainstream junior high school, and confronts a principal who would rather classify Rocky as intellectually disabled and relegate him to a special education school, despite the fact that his condition has not affected his intelligence.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Rocky thrives at school, making friends by assisting a fellow student with remembering his locker combination, and winning over a class by using humor when faced with an awkward silence during roll call, where Rocky just repeats the prior new student's line, "Wow, thanks a lot." He shows his brilliance in history class by giving a unique rendition of the Greek myth about the Trojan Horse and it being the turning point of the Trojan War. Gradually overcoming discrimination and tutoring his classmates for $3 per hour, Rocky is asked by the principal to accept a job as a counselor's aide at Camp Bloomfield, a summer camp for blind children. At his graduation from junior high, Rocky takes home academic achievement prizes in mathematics, history, and science.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Rocky feels the need to leave his chronically depressed and drug-addicted mother, and helps her break her drug habit. At camp, Rocky falls in love with Diana Adams, a blind girl who cannot see (but feels) his deformed skull and is entranced by Rocky's kindness and compassion. Rocky uses his intelligence to explain to Diana words like "billowy," "clouds," "red," and "green" by using cotton balls as a touchable vision of "billowy clouds," a warm rock to explain "red" and "pink," and a frozen rock to explain "icy blue." At the end of camp, Diana introduces Rocky to her parents, who are quickly flabbergasted by Rocky's deformed appearance, and in response forbid Diana to spend time with him.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Later, Rocky faces the pain of separation from the two people to which he feels closest. His lifelong dream of a motorbike trip through Europe collapses when his best friend Ben, who was to come with him, reveals to him that he is permanently moving back to Michigan to go live with his father. This drives Rocky into berating Ben and calling him "stupid", then finally revealing to Ben that he conned him out of a Rube Walker card. Rocky also finds it difficult to thrive at high school, where none of his previous friends are. However, Rocky feels better after taking a bus trip by himself to visit Diana at the equestrian stables, located near Griffith Park. Diana reveals to Rocky that her parents had prevented her from receiving his phone messages and are sending her to a private boarding school for the blind. Despite this, Rocky vows that no matter how separated they're gonna be, they will always love each other, and will always be together.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: One evening when Rocky's biker family is visiting, Rocky is fighting a fierce headache and quietly withdraws to his room, removes the tacks from his map of Europe, and goes to bed. The next morning, Rusty tries to wake up Rocky for school and flies into a fit of grief-stricken rage when she realizes he has died. After destroying the kitchen, Rusty mourns the death of Rocky and says "Now you can go anywhere you want, baby." She then re-pins his map of Europe.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: The film ends with Rocky's biker family, Rusty, Gar, and Dozer, visiting his grave, leaving flowers and some 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers baseball cards by his headstone, as Rocky's voice is heard reciting the poem he wrote earlier for English class.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Rusty Dennis sold the film rights to Rocky's life story for $15,000, most of which went to pay medical bills for her son Joshua who was undergoing AIDS treatments. She originally hoped the film would focus on Rocky's life and intrepid personality rather than giving equal emphasis to her story, but was won over by Cher's role, stating: "Cher depicted the way I am very well. I always thought I was perfectly normal, that the rest of the world is nuts."


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: In 1984 camp scenes for the movie were filmed at Camp Bloomfield. Campers and staff got a preview of the finished film at Universal Studios in February, 1985.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Bogdanovich had originally intended to use several songs by Bruce Springsteen, the real Rocky Dennis' favorite singer. But due to an impasse at the time between Universal Pictures and Springsteen's label, Columbia Records, the songs were pulled from the film and replaced with songs by Bob Seger for the original theatrical release. Bogdanovich sued Universal for $19 million, alleging the film studio switched the music without his approval in violation of his final cut privilege. The Springsteen songs were eventually restored for the 2004 director's cut DVD of the film.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Reviews were mostly positive. , the film has a 93% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Roger Ebert wrote of the film, "A wonderful movie, a story of high spirits and hope and courage," with Stoltz's performance establishing a believable character that transcends his deformity and Cher's characterization of Rusty as "one of the most interesting movie characters in a long time." Gene Siskel described "Mask" as "superb" and also singled out Cher's portrayal of Rusty as the heart of the film, but criticized the marketing campaign that kept Stoltz's face secretive as a revival of a freak show mentality. Dolores Barclay of the Associated Press declared "Mask" was "directed with great sensitivity by Peter Bogdanovich" and carried by Cher and Stoltz's performances but believed the depiction of Rusty's biker friends was "perhaps a bit too sanitized to be believable." A contrasting review by Vincent Canby in "The New York Times" read in part, ""Mask" is one of those movies that try so hard to get their supposedly universal message across (don't we all hide behind a mask of one sort or another?) that they are likely to put your teeth on edge more often than they bring one little, lonely teardrop to the eye."


title: Mask (1985 film)

text: Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling in the 58th Academy Awards.


title: Disney XD

text: Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old.


title: Disney XD

text: Disney XD's programming consists of original first-run television series, current and former original series and made-for-TV films inherited from sister network Disney Channel, theatrically released films, and acquired programs from other distributors, along with a primetime block of programming involving competitive gaming.


title: Disney XD

text: The channel offers an alternate Spanish-language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English track removed as part of a package of Spanish-language television networks sold by subscription providers or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.


title: Disney XD

text: Disney XD was launched on February 13, 2009, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the "Phineas and Ferb" episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" being the first show to air on the channel. The channel debuted its first original series, "Aaron Stone", at 7:00 p.m. New animated series included in the channel's initial lineup were "Kid vs. Kat" and "Jimmy Two-Shoes".


title: Disney XD

text: The network took over the channel space of Toon Disney, an animation-focused channel that debuted on April 18, 1998, which eventually launched a live-action/animation block called Jetix in 2004. Jetix channels outside of the United States were relaunched under the Disney XD banner starting with the France-based service on April 1, 2009. Many of the channel's programs – particularly animated series – previously aired on Toon Disney, mainly as part of the Jetix programming block, which ran on Toon Disney until that channel's shutdown. Disney XD carries the same name as an unrelated mini-site and media player on Disney.com, which stood for Disney Xtreme Digital, though it has been stated that the "XD" in the channel's name does not have an actual meaning.


title: Disney XD

text: The channel's first original television movie, "Skyrunners", premiered on November 27, 2009. On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called "Marvel Universe", as a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. By June 2014, Disney XD agreed to a multi-picture development deal with Two 4 the Money and MarVista Entertainment with MarVista having global rights.


title: Disney XD

text: On November 17, 2016, it was announced that the "Pokémon" anime series would be moving to Disney XD from its previous broadcaster, Cartoon Network. The twentieth season, "", was the first season to air and was first broadcast as a sneak peek on December 5, 2016. "Pokémon" began its regular broadcast on May 12, 2017.


title: Disney XD

text: On August 12, 2017, Disney XD premiered a reboot of "DuckTales". In 2018, through a series of promos and news announcements, Disney announced that four of Disney XD's original series (those being "Star vs. the Forces of Evil", "Milo Murphy's Law", "DuckTales", and "") would be moving their premieres over to Disney Channel, while Disney XD would continue to air re-runs. In 2020, "DuckTales" and "Big Hero 6: The Series" were both moved back to Disney XD for their final seasons, which both ended in 2021.


title: Disney XD

text: Disney XD's schedule consists largely of animated and live-action programs aimed at pre-teens and young teenagers. Disney XD content is a mixture of former original series as well as programs inherited from sister network Disney Channel. In addition to full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during commercial breaks (such as "Two More Eggs"), which serve as filler for programs scheduled to end during the half-hour and last usually around one to three minutes.


title: Disney XD

text: In addition, Disney XD airs original made-for-TV movies from Disney Channel and theatrically released feature films.


title: Disney XD

text: Unlike Disney Channel (and similarly, fellow sister network Disney Junior)—whose advertising comes in the form of program promotions, underwriter sponsorships, and interstitials for Disney films, home video, and game releases produced by the channel—Disney XD operates as an advertiser-supported service running traditional television commercials in addition to promotions for the channel's shows.


title: Disney XD

text: The channel also airs a youth-oriented "plays of the week" countdown segment called "SportsCenter High-5", which is produced by ESPN's "SportsCenter" and airs periodically between shows. On January 27, 2019, the 2019 Pro Bowl aired on Disney XD, with the event becoming the first long-form sporting event that the network ever aired (it was also simulcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ABC). Disney XD would also air a portion of the 2020 Pro Bowl (which coincided with the death of Kobe Bryant), as well as the 2021 Pro Bowl Celebration and the 2022 Pro Bowl in its entirety.


title: Disney XD

text: Disney XD, similarly born of a merger between Jetix and Toon Disney, was formerly available around the world. Most of the international Disney XD networks have been closed down from 2019, due to the launch of Disney+.


title: Disney XD

text: On 6 January 2019, Disney XD closed down in Australia and New Zealand with programs moving to Disney Channel for that network's last year before its content was subsumed into Disney+. In India, the channel was rebranded as Marvel HQ on January 9, 2019. On October 1, 2019, Disney XD closed in Italy following the non-renewal of its Sky carriage agreement.


title: Disney XD

text: The Spanish and German versions were closed on 1 April 2020, followed by France's network a week later. XD in Singapore ceased on June 1, 2020, then the UK & Ireland and continental Africa domestic feeds on October 1, 2020. Together with the Southeast Asian, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern, feeds closing on December 31, 2020. The Japanese and Turkish channels also closed on January 31, 2021.


title: Disney XD

text: As of April 1, 2022, Disney XD only has two sister networks outside of North America; Poland as a full-time network, and the Netherlands as a time-share with Veronica TV.


title: Submachine gun

text: A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automatic firearm with notably less firepower than a machine gun (hence the prefix "sub-"). As a machine gun must fire rifle cartridges to be classified as such, submachine guns are not considered machine guns.


title: Submachine gun

text: The submachine gun was developed during World War I (1914–1918) as a close quarter offensive weapon, mainly for trench raiding. At its peak during World War II (1939–1945), millions of SMGs were made for use by regular troops, clandestine commandos and partisans alike. After the war, new SMG designs appeared frequently. However, by the 1980s, SMG usage decreased. Today, submachine guns have been largely replaced by assault rifles, which have a longer effective range and are capable of penetrating the helmets and body armor used by modern infantry. However, submachine guns are still used by military special forces and police SWAT teams for close-quarters battle (CQB) because they are "a pistol-caliber weapon that's easy to control, and less likely to overpenetrate the target".


title: Submachine gun

text: There are some inconsistencies in the classification of submachine guns. British Commonwealth sources often refer to SMGs as "machine carbines". Other sources refer to SMGs as "machine pistols" because they fire pistol-caliber ammunition, for example, the MP-40 and MP5, where "MP" stands for "Maschinenpistole" ("Submachine gun" in German, but cognate with the English term "Machine pistol"). However, the term "machine pistol" is also used to describe a handgun-style firearm capable of fully automatic or burst fire, such as the Stechkin, Beretta 93R and the H&K VP70. Also, personal defense weapons such as the FN P90 and H&K MP7 are often called submachine guns. In addition, some compact assault rifles, such as the Colt XM177 and HK53, have been historically referred to as submachine guns as they served in the latter's role.


title: Submachine gun

text: During World War I, Austria-Hungary introduced the world's first machine pistol: the Steyr Repetierpistole M1912/P16, and in addition, the Standschütze Hellriegel M1915 although it never saw use in combat. The Germans also experimented with machine pistols by converting pistols such as the Mauser C96 and Luger P-08 from semi-automatic to fully automatic operation and adding detachable stocks. Carbine-type automatic weapons firing pistol rounds were developed during the latter stages of World War I by Italy, Germany and the United States. Their improved firepower (800-1000RPM) and portability offered an advantage in trench warfare, where most troops were issued bolt-action rifles, such as the Gewehr 98 or Lee–Enfield.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1915, the Kingdom of Italy introduced the Villar-Perosa aircraft machine gun. It fired pistol-caliber 9mm Glisenti ammunition, but was not a true submachine gun, as it was originally designed as a mounted weapon. This odd design was then modified into the OVP 1918 carbine-type submachine gun, which then evolved into the 9×19mm Parabellum Beretta Model 1918 after the end of World War I. Both the OVP 1918 and the Beretta 1918 had a traditional wooden stock, a 25-round top-fed box magazine, and had a cyclic rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.


title: Submachine gun

text: The Germans initially used heavier versions of the P08 pistol equipped with a detachable stock, larger-capacity snail-drum magazine and a longer barrel. By 1918, Bergmann Waffenfabrik had developed the 9 mm Parabellum MP 18, the first practical submachine gun. This weapon used the same 32-round snail-drum magazine as the Luger P-08. The MP 18 was used in significant numbers by German stormtroopers employing infiltration tactics, achieving some notable successes in the final year of the war. However, these were not enough to prevent Germany's collapse in November 1918. After World War I, the MP 18 evolved into the MP28/II SMG,


title: Submachine gun

text: which incorporated a simple 32-round box magazine, selective fire, and other minor improvements. Though the MP18 had a rather short service life, it was influential in the design of later submachine guns, such as the Lanchester, Sten and PPD-40.


title: Submachine gun

text: The .45 ACP Thompson submachine gun had been in development at approximately the same time as the Bergmann and the Beretta. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe. Although it had missed its chance to be the first purpose-designed submachine gun to enter service, it became the basis for later weapons, and was much more successful than the other submachine guns produced during World War I.


title: Submachine gun

text: In the interwar period, the Thompson, nicknamed "Tommy Gun" or "Chicago Typewriter" became notorious in the U.S. due to its employment by the Mafia: the image of pinstripe-suited James Cagney types wielding drum-magazine Thompsons caused some military planners to shun the weapon. However, the FBI and other U.S. police forces themselves showed no reluctance to use and prominently display these weapons. Eventually, the submachine gun was gradually accepted by many military organizations, especially as World War II loomed, with many countries developing their own designs. The United States Marine Corps adopted the Thompson during this period, they used them during the Banana Wars in Central America and it was also used by the China Marines.


title: Submachine gun

text: During the 1924 uprising the soviets supplied four Thompsons to Estonian Communist militants; those were used against Estonian soldiers in a failed attempt to storm the Tallin barracks. Some of the defenders were armed with the MP18s; and this was possibly the first engagement were submachineguns were used on both sides.


title: Submachine gun

text: Germany transferred its MP 18s to the German police forces after World War I. They also saw use in the hands of various paramilitary "Freikorps" during the aftermath of the German Revolution. In the 1920s a new, more reliable box magazine was developed for the MP 18 to replace the older snail-drum magazines. In 1928 a new version of the MP 18, the MP 28, saw the light of day, it featured the new box magazine as standard, a bayonet lug and a single shot mode. The MP 28 was manufactured in Belgium and Spain and was widely exported from there, including to China and South America. Another variant based on the MP 18 was the MP 34 that was manufactured by the Germans through the Swiss front company Solothurn. The MP 34 was manufactured from the very best materials available and finished to the highest possible standard. Consequently, its production costs were extremely high. It was adopted by the Austrian police and army in the 1930s, and they were taken over by the Germans after German annexation of Austria in 1938. The MP35 was another interwar German submachine gun, designed by the Bergmann brothers. It was exported to Sweden and Ethiopia and also saw extensive use in the Spanish Civil War. About 40,000 of the type were manufactured until 1944, with many going into the hands of the Waffen SS. The Erma EMP was yet another submachine gun from this period, based on a design by Heinrich Vollmer, about 10,000 were manufactured. It was exported to Spain, Mexico, China and Yugoslavia, but also used domestically by the SS, as well as being produced under license in Francoist Spain.


title: Submachine gun

text: Changes in design accelerated during the war, with one major trend being the abandonment of complex and finely made pre-war designs like the Thompson submachine gun to weapons designed for cheap mass production and easy replacement like the M3 Grease Gun.


title: Submachine gun

text: The Italians were among the first to develop submachine guns during World War I. They were slow to produce them under Mussolini; the 9 mm Parabellum Beretta Model 38 (MAB 38) was not available in large numbers until 1943. The MAB 38 was made in a series of improved and simplified models all sharing the same basic layout. The MAB 38 has two triggers, the front for semi-auto and rear for full-auto. Most models use standard wooden stocks, although some models were fitted with an MP40-style under-folding stock and are commonly mistaken for the German SMG. The MAB 38 series was extremely robust and proved very popular with both Axis and Allied troops (who used captured MAB 38s). It is considered the most successful and effective Italian small arm of World War II. During the later years of the war, the TZ-45 submachine gun was manufactured in small numbers in the Italian Social Republic. A cheaper alternative to the MAB 38, it also sported an unusual grip safety.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1939, the Germans introduced the 9 mm Parabellum MP38 which was first used during the invasion of Poland of September that year. The MP38 production was still just starting and only a few thousand were in service at the time. It proved to be far more practical and effective in close-quarters combat than the standard-issue German Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle. From this experience, the simplified and modernized MP40 (commonly and erroneously referred to as the Schmeisser) was developed and made in large numbers; about a million were made during World War II. The MP40 was lighter than the MP38. It also used more stamped parts, making it faster and cheaper to produce. The MP38 and MP40 were the first SMGs to use plastic furniture and a practical folding stock, which became standard for all future SMG designs. The Germans used a large number of captured Soviet PPSh-41 submachine guns, some were converted to fire 9 mm Parabellum while others were used unmodified (the German 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge had identical dimensions to the 7.62×25mm Tokarev, albeit slightly less powerful).


title: Submachine gun

text: During the Winter War, the badly outnumbered Finnish used the Suomi KP/-31 in large numbers against the Russians with devastating effect. Finnish ski troops became known for appearing out of the woods on one side of a road, raking Soviet columns with SMG fire and disappearing back into the woods on the other side. During the Continuation War, the Finnish Sissi patrols often equipped every soldier with KP/-31s. The Suomi fired 9 mm Parabellum ammunition from a 71-round drum magazine (although often loaded with 74 rounds). "This SMG showed the world the importance of the submachine gun in modern warfare", prompting the development, adoption and mass production of submachine guns by most of the world's armies. The Suomi was used in combat until the end of the Lapland war, was widely exported and remained in service to the late 1970s. Inspired by captured examples of the Soviet PPS submachine gun, a gun that was cheaper and quicker to manufacture than the Suomi, the Finns introduced the KP m/44 submachine gun in 1944.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1940, the Soviets introduced the 7.62×25mm PPD-40 and later the more easily manufactured PPSh-41 in response to their experience during the Winter War against Finland. The PPSh's 71-round drum magazine is a copy of the Suomi's. Later in the war they developed the even more readily mass-produced PPS submachine gun - all firing the same small-caliber but high-powered Tokarev cartridges. The USSR went on to make over 6 million PPSh-41s and 2 million PPS-43s by the end of World War II. Thus, the Soviet Union could field huge numbers of submachine guns against the Wehrmacht, with whole infantry battalions being armed with little else. Even in the hands of conscripts with minimal training, the volume of fire produced by massed submachine guns could be overwhelming.


title: Submachine gun

text: Britain entered the war with no domestic submachine gun design but instead imported the expensive US M1928 Thompson. After evaluating their battlefield experience in the Battle of France and losing many weapons in the Dunkirk evacuation, the Royal Navy adopted the 9 mm Parabellum Lanchester submachine gun. With no time for the usual research and development for a new weapon, it was decided to make a direct copy of the German MP 28. Like other early submachine guns it was difficult and expensive to manufacture. Shortly thereafter, the simpler Sten submachine gun was developed for general use by the British armed forces, it was much cheaper and faster to make. Over 4 million Sten guns were made during World War II. The Sten was so cheap and easy to produce that towards the end of the war as their economic base approached crisis, Germany started manufacturing their own copy, the MP 3008. After the war, the British replaced the Sten with the Sterling submachine gun.


title: Submachine gun

text: The United States and its allies used the Thompson submachine gun, especially the simplified M1. The Thompson was still expensive and slow to produce. Therefore, the U.S. developed the M3 submachine gun or "Grease Gun" in 1942, followed by the improved M3A1 in 1944. While the M3 was no more effective than the Tommy Gun, it was made primarily of stamped parts and welded together and could be produced much faster and at a fraction of the cost of a Thompson; its much lower rate of fire made it a lot more controllable. It could be configured to fire either .45 ACP or 9 mm Luger ammunition. The M3A1 was among the longest-serving submachine gun designs, being produced into the 1960s and serving in US forces into the 1990s.


title: Submachine gun

text: France produced only about 2,000 of the MAS-38 submachine gun (chambered in 7.65×20mm Longue) before the Fall of France in June 1940. Production was taken over by the occupying Germans, who used them for themselves and also put them into the hands of the Vichy French.


title: Submachine gun

text: The Owen Gun is a 9 mm Parabellum Australian submachine gun designed by Evelyn Owen in 1939. The Owen is a simple, highly reliable, open bolt, blowback SMG. It was designed to be fired either from the shoulder or the hip. It is easily recognisable, owing to its unconventional appearance, including a quick-release barrel and butt-stock, double pistol grips, top-mounted magazine, and unusual offset right-side-mounted sights. The Owen was the only entirely Australian-designed and constructed service submachine gun of World War II and was used by the Australian Army from 1943 until the mid-1960s, when it was replaced by the F1 submachine gun. Only about 45,000 Owens were produced during the war for a unit cost of about A$30.


title: Submachine gun

text: While most other countries during World War II developed submachine guns, the Empire of Japan had only produced one, the Type 100 submachine gun, based heavily on the German MP28. Like most other small arms created in Imperial Japan, the Type 100 could be fitted with a bayonet. It used the 8×22mm Nambu cartridge, which was about half as powerful as a standard Western 9 mm Parabellum round. Production of the gun was even more inadequate: by the war's end, Japan had only manufactured about 7,500 of the Type 100, whereas Germany, America, and other countries in the war had produced well over a million of their own SMG designs.


title: Submachine gun

text: The German military concluded that most firefights took place at ranges of no more than about . They therefore sought to develop a new class of weapon that would combine the high volume of fire of the submachine gun with an intermediate cartridge that enabled the shooter to place accurate shots at medium ranges (beyond that of the range of the typical submachine gun). After a false start with the FG 42, this led to the development of the select-fire assault rifle (assault rifle is a translation of the German ). In the years following the war, this new format began to replace the submachine gun in military use to a large extent. Based on the StG44, the Soviet Union created the AK-47, which is to date the world's most produced firearm, with over 100 million made.


title: Submachine gun

text: After World War II, "new submachine gun designs appeared almost every week to replace the admittedly rough and ready designs which had appeared during the war. Some (the better ones) survived, most rarely got past the glossy brochure stage." Most of these survivors were cheaper, easier and faster to make than their predecessors. As such, they were widely distributed.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1945, Sweden introduced the 9 mm Parabellum Carl Gustaf m/45 with a design borrowing from and improving on many design elements of earlier submachine-gun designs. It has a tubular stamped steel receiver with a side folding stock. The m/45 was widely exported, and especially popular with CIA operatives and U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War. In U.S. service it was known as the "Swedish-K". In 1966, the Swedish government blocked the sale of firearms to the United States because it opposed the Vietnam War. As a result, in the following year Smith & Wesson began to manufacture an m/45 clone called the M76. The m/45 was used in combat by Swedish troops as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo, during the Congo Crisis during the early 1960s. Battlefield reports of the lack of penetrative power of the 9 mm Parabellum during this operation led to Sweden developing a more powerful 9 mm round designated "9 mm m/39B".


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1946, Denmark introduced the Madsen M-46, and in 1950, an improved model the Madsen M-50. These 9 mm Parabellum stamped steel SMGs featured a unique clamshell type design, a side folding stock and a grip-safety on the magazine housing. The Madsen was widely exported and especially popular in Latin America, with variants made by several countries.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1948, Czechoslovakia introduced the Sa vz. 23 series. This 9 mm Parabellum SMG introduced several innovations: a progressive trigger for selecting between semi-automatic and full auto fire, a telescoping bolt that extends forward wrapping around the barrel and a vertical handgrip housing the magazine and trigger mechanism. The vz. 23 series was widely exported and especially popular in Africa and the Middle East with variants made by several countries. The vz. 23 inspired the development of the Uzi submachine gun.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1949, France introduced the MAT-49 to replace the hodgepodge of French, American, British, German and Italian SMGs in French service after World War II. The 9 mm Parabellum MAT-49 is an inexpensive stamped steel SMG with a telescoping wire stock, a pronounced folding magazine housing and a grip safety. This "wildebeast like design" proved to be an extremely reliable and effective SMG, and was used by the French well into the 1980s. It was also widely exported to Africa, Asia and the Middle East.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1954, Israel introduced a 9 mm Parabellum open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine gun called the Uzi (after its designer Uziel Gal). The Uzi was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design with the magazine housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon. The Uzi has become the most popular submachine gun in the world, with over 10 million units sold, more


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1959, Beretta introduced the Model 12. This 9 mm Parabellum submachine gun was a complete break with previous Beretta designs. It is a small, compact, very well made SMG and among the first to use a telescoping bolt design. The M12 was designed for mass production and was made largely of stamped steel and welded together. It is identified by its tubular shape receiver, double pistol grips, a side folding stock and the magazine housed in front of the trigger guard. The M12 uses the same magazines as the Model 38 series.


title: Submachine gun

text: Submachine guns proved to be an important weapon system once again in the Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953). The Korean People's Army (KPA) and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) fighting in Korea received massive numbers of the PPSh-41, in addition to the North Korean Type 49 and the Chinese Type 50, which were both licensed copies of the PPSh-41 with small mechanical revisions. Though relatively inaccurate, the Chinese PPSh has a high rate of fire and was well-suited to the close-range firefights that typically occurred in that conflict, especially at night. United Nations Command forces in defensive outposts or on patrol often had trouble returning a sufficient volume of fire when attacked by companies of infantry armed with the PPSh. Some U.S. infantry officers ranked the PPSh as the best combat weapon of the war: while lacking the accuracy of the U.S. M1 Garand and M1 carbine, it provided more firepower at short distances. As infantry Captain (later General) Hal Moore, stated: "on full automatic it sprayed a lot of bullets and most of the killing in Korea was done at very close ranges and it was done quickly – a matter of who responded faster. In situations like that it outclassed and outgunned what we had. A close-in patrol fight was over very quickly and usually we lost because of it." U.S. servicemen, however, felt that their M2 carbines were superior to the PPSh-41 at the typical engagement range of 100–150 meters.


title: Submachine gun

text: Other older designs also saw use in the Korean war. The Thompson had seen much use by the U.S. and South Korean military, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as Limited Standard or Substitute Standard long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before the fall of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Mao Zedong's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies). US troops were surprised to encounter communist Chinese troops armed with Thompsons (amongst other captured US-made Nationalist Chinese and American firearms), especially during unexpected night-time assaults which became a prominent Chinese combat tactic in the conflict. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during the early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. Many Chinese Thompsons were captured and placed into service with American soldiers and marines for the remaining period of the war.


title: Submachine gun

text: In the 1960s, Heckler & Koch developed the 9 mm Parabellum MP5 submachine gun. The MP5 is based on the G3 rifle and uses the same closed-bolt roller-delayed blowback operation system. This makes the MP5 more accurate than open-bolt SMGs, such as the Uzi. The MP5 is also one of the most widely used submachine guns in the world, having been adopted by 40 nations and numerous military, law enforcement, and security organizations.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1969, Steyr introduced the MPi 69. This 9 mm Parabellum open-bolt, blowback-operated SMG has a telescoping bolt and is similar in appearance to the Uzi SMG. It has a vertical pistol-grip into which the magazine is inserted, a longer horizontal front grip area and a telescoping wire buttstock. The receiver is a squared stamped steel tube that partly nestles inside a large plastic molding (resembling a lower receiver) which contains the forward hand-grip, vertical pistol-grip and the fire control group, making the MPi 69 one of the first firearms to use a plastic construction in this way. It has a progressive trigger and is also unusual among modern SMGs, as the MPi 69 is cocked by a dual-purpose lever also used as the front sling attachment point.


title: Submachine gun

text: In the 1970s, extremely compact submachine guns, such as the .45ACP Mac-10 and .380 ACP Mac-11, were developed to be used with silencers or suppressors. While these SMGs received enormous publicity, and were prominently displayed in films and television, they were not widely adopted by military or law enforcement agencies. These smaller weapons led other manufacturers to develop their own compact SMGs, such as the Micro-UZI and the H&K MP5K.


title: Submachine gun

text: By the 1980s, the demand for new submachine guns was very low and could be easily met by existing makers with existing designs. However, following H&K's lead, other manufacturers began designing submachine guns based on their existing assault rifle patterns. These new SMGs offered a high degree of parts commonality with parent weapons, thereby easing logistical concerns.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1982, Colt introduced the Colt 9mm SMG based on the M16 rifle. The Colt SMG is a closed bolt, blowback operated SMG and the overall aesthetics are identical to most M16 type rifles. The magazine well is modified using a special adapter to allow the use of the smaller 9mm magazines. The magazines themselves are a copy of the Israeli UZI SMG magazine, modified to fit the Colt and lock the bolt back after the last shot. The Colt is widely used by US law enforcement and the USMC.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 1998, H&K introduced the last widely distributed SMG, the UMP "Universal Machine Pistol". The UMP is a 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP, closed-bolt blowback-operated SMG, based on the H&K G36 assault rifle. It features a predominantly polymer construction and was designed to be a more cost effective, lighter weight, and less complex design alternative to the MP5. The UMP has a side-folding stock and is available with four different trigger group configurations. It was also designed to use a wide range of Picatinny rail mounted accessories


title: Submachine gun

text: In 2004, Izhmash introduced the Vityaz-SN a 9 mm Parabellum, closed bolt straight blowback operated submachine gun. It is based on the AK-74 rifle and offers a high degree of parts commonality with the AK-74. It is the standard submachine gun for all branches of Russian military and police forces.


title: Submachine gun

text: In 2009, KRISS USA introduced the KRISS Vector family of submachine guns. Futuristic in appearance, the KRISS uses an unconventional delayed blowback system combined with in-line design to reduce perceived recoil and muzzle climb. The KRISS comes in 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 9×21mm, 10mm Auto, and .357 SIG. It also uses standard Glock pistol magazines.


title: Submachine gun

text: By 2010, compact assault rifles and personal defense weapons had replaced submachine guns in most roles. Factors such as the increasing use of body armor and logistical concerns have combined to limit the appeal of submachine guns. However, SMGs are still used by police (especially SWAT teams) for dealing with heavily armed suspects and by military special forces units for close-quarters combat, due to their reduced size, recoil and muzzle blast. Submachine guns also lend themselves to the use of suppressors, particularly when loaded with subsonic ammunition. Variants of the Sterling and Heckler & Koch MP5 have been manufactured with integral suppressors.


title: Submachine gun

text: First developed during the 1980s, the personal defense weapon (PDW) is touted as a further evolution of the submachine gun. The PDW was created in response to a NATO request for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns. The PDW is a compact automatic weapon that uses specially designed rifle-like cartridges to fire armor-piercing bullets and are sufficiently light to be used conveniently by non-combatant and support troops, and as an effective close quarters battle weapon for special forces and counter-terrorist groups.


title: Submachine gun

text: Introduced in 1991, the FN P90 features a bullpup design with a futuristic appearance. It has a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls. A simple blowback automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the proprietary FN 5.7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor. The P90 was designed to have a length no greater than an average-sized man's shoulder width, to allow it to be easily carried and maneuvered in tight spaces, such as the inside of an infantry fighting vehicle. The P90 is currently in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations.


title: Submachine gun

text: Introduced in 2001, the Heckler & Koch MP7 is a direct rival to the FN P90. It is a more conventional-looking design, and uses a short-stroke piston gas system as used on H&K's G36 and HK416 assault rifles, in place of a blowback system traditionally seen on submachine guns. The MP7 uses 20-, 30- and 40-round box magazines and fires the proprietary 4.6×30mm ammunition which can penetrate soft body armor. Due to the heavy use of polymers in its construction, the MP7 is much lighter than older SMG designs, being only with an empty 20-round magazine. The MP7 is currently in service with military and police forces in over 20 nations.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: In systems engineering, information systems and software engineering, the systems development life cycle (SDLC), also referred to as the application development life cycle, is a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system. The systems development life cycle concept applies to a range of hardware and software configurations, as a system can be composed of hardware only, software only, or a combination of both. There are usually six stages in this cycle: requirement analysis, design, development and testing, implementation, documentation, and evaluation.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: A systems development life cycle is composed of a number of clearly defined and distinct work phases which are used by systems engineers and systems developers to plan for, design, build, test, and deliver information systems. Like anything that is manufactured on an assembly line, an SDLC aims to produce high-quality systems that meet or exceed customer expectations, based on customer requirements, by delivering systems that move through each clearly defined phase, within scheduled time frames and cost estimates.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Computer systems are complex and often (especially with the recent rise of service-oriented architecture) link multiple traditional systems potentially supplied by different software vendors. To manage this level of complexity, a number of SDLC models or methodologies have been created, such as waterfall, spiral, Agile software development, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: SDLC can be described along a spectrum of agile to iterative to sequential methodologies. Agile methodologies, such as XP and Scrum, focus on lightweight processes which allow for rapid changes (without necessarily following the pattern of SDLC approach) along the development cycle. Iterative methodologies, such as Rational Unified Process and dynamic systems development method, focus on limited project scope and expanding or improving products by multiple iterations. Sequential or big-design-up-front (BDUF) models, such as waterfall, focus on complete and correct planning to guide large projects and risks to successful and predictable results. Other models, such as anamorphic development, tend to focus on a form of development that is guided by project scope and adaptive iterations of feature development.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: In project management a project can be defined both with a project life cycle (PLC) and an SDLC, during which slightly different activities occur. According to Taylor (2004), "the project life cycle encompasses all the activities of the project, while the systems development life cycle focuses on realizing the product requirements".


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The SDLC is not a methodology per se, but rather a description of the phases in the life cycle of a software application. In a broad sense, these phases are: investigation, analysis, design, build, test, implement, and maintenance and support. All software development methodologies follow the SDLC phases but the method of doing that varies vastly between methodologies. In the Scrum framework, for example, one could say a single user story goes through all the phases of the SDLC within a single two-week sprint. Contrast this to the waterfall methodology, as another example, where every business requirement (recorded in the analysis phase of the SDLC in a document called the Business Requirements Specification) is translated into feature/functional descriptions (recorded in the design phase in a document called the Functional Specification) which are then all built in one go as a collection of solution features typically over a period of three to nine months, or more. These methodologies are different approaches, yet they both contain the SDLC phases in which a requirement is born, then travels through the life cycle phases ending in the final phase of maintenance and support, after which the whole life cycle typically starts again for a subsequent version of the software application.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The product life cycle describes the process of building information systems in a very deliberate, structured, and methodical way, reiterating each stage of the product's life. The systems development life cycle, according to Elliott & Strachan & Radford (2004), "originated in the 1960s, to develop large scale functional business systems in an age of large scale business conglomerates. Information systems activities revolved around heavy data processing and number crunching routines".


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Several systems development frameworks have been partly based on SDLC, such as the structured systems analysis and design method (SSADM) produced for the UK government Office of Government Commerce in the 1980s. Ever since, according to Elliott (2004), "the traditional life cycle approaches to systems development have been increasingly replaced with alternative approaches and frameworks, which attempted to overcome some of the inherent deficiencies of the traditional SDLC".


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The system development life cycle framework provides a sequence of activities for system designers and developers to follow. It consists of a set of steps or phases in which each phase of the SDLC uses the results of the previous one.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The SDLC adheres to important phases that are essential for developers—such as planning, analysis, design, and implementation—and are explained in the section below. This includes evaluation of the currently used system, information gathering, feasibility studies, and request approval. A number of SDLC models have been created, including waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, synchronize, and stabilize. The oldest of these, and the best known, is the waterfall model, a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next. These stages can be characterized and divided up in different ways, including the following:


title: Systems development life cycle

text: In the following diagram, these stages of the systems development life cycle are divided into ten steps, from definition to creation and modification of IT work products:


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Not every project will require that the phases be sequentially executed; however, the phases are interdependent. Depending upon the size and complexity of the project, phases may be combined or may overlap.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: First, the IT system proposal is investigated. During this step, consider all current priorities that would be affected and how they should be handled. Before any system planning is done, a feasibility study should be conducted to determine if creating a new or improved system is a viable solution. This will help to determine the costs, benefits, resource requirements, and specific user needs to be required for completion. The development process can only continue once management approves the recommendations from the feasibility study.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The goal of analysis is to determine where the problem is, in an attempt to fix the system. This step involves breaking down the system in different pieces to analyze the situation, analyzing project goals, breaking down what needs to be created, and attempting to engage users so that definite requirements can be defined.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: In systems design, the design functions and operations are described in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, and other documentation. The output of this stage will describe the new system as a collection of modules or subsystems.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The design stage takes as its initial input the requirements identified in the approved requirements document. For each requirement, a set of one or more design elements will be produced as a result of interviews, workshops, and/or prototype efforts.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Design elements describe the desired system features in detail, and they generally include functional hierarchy diagrams, screen layout diagrams, tables of business rules, business process diagrams, pseudo-code, and a complete entity-relationship diagram with a full data dictionary. These design elements are intended to describe the system in sufficient detail, such that skilled developers and engineers may develop and deliver the system with minimal additional input design.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Environments are controlled areas where systems developers can build, distribute, install, configure, test, and execute systems that move through the SDLC. Each environment is aligned with different areas of the SDLC and is intended to have specific purposes. Examples of such environments include the:


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The code is tested at various levels in software testing. Unit, system, and user acceptance tests are often performed. This is a grey area as many different opinions exist as to what the stages of testing are and how much, if any iteration occurs. Iteration is not generally part of the waterfall model, but the means to rectify defects and validate fixes prior to deployment is incorporated into this phase.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The following are types of testing that may be relevant, depending on the type of system under development:


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Once a system has been stabilized through adequate testing, the SDLC ensures that proper training on the system is performed or documented before transitioning the system to its support staff and end users. Training usually covers operational training for those people who will be responsible for supporting the system as well as training for those end users who will be using the system after its delivery to a production operating environment.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: After training has been successfully completed, systems engineers and developers transition the system to its final production environment, where it is intended to be used by its end users and supported by its support and operations staff.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The deployment of the system includes various changes and enhancements before the decommissioning or sunset of the system. Maintaining the system is a very important aspect of SDLC. As key personnel change positions in the organization, new changes will be implemented. There are two approaches to system development: the traditional approach (structured) and object oriented. Information engineering includes the traditional system approach, which is also called the structured analysis and design technique. The object-oriented approach views an information system as a collection of objects that are integrated with each other to make a full and complete information system.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The final phase of the SDLC is to measure the effectiveness of the system and evaluate potential enhancements.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Systems analysis and design (SAD) is the process of developing information technology systems (ITS) that effectively use hardware, software, data, processes, and people to support the company's business objectives. It is a process of planning a new business system or replacing an existing system by defining its components or modules to satisfy specific requirements. System analysis and design can be considered the meta-development activity, which serves to set the stage and bound the problem. SAD can be leveraged to set the correct balance among competing high-level requirements in the functional and non-functional analysis domains. System analysis and design interact strongly with distributed enterprise architecture, enterprise I.T. Architecture, and business architecture, and relies heavily on concepts such as partitioning, interfaces, personae and roles, and deployment/operational modeling to arrive at a high-level system description. This high-level description is then further broken down into the components and modules which can be analyzed, designed, and constructed separately and integrated to accomplish the business goal. SDLC and SAD are cornerstones of full life cycle product and system planning.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Object-oriented analysis (OOA) is the process of analyzing a task (also known as a problem domain), to develop a conceptual model that can then be used to complete the task. A typical OOA model would describe computer software that could be used to satisfy a set of customer-defined requirements. During the analysis phase of problem-solving, a programmer might consider a written requirements statement, a formal vision document, or interviews with stakeholders or other interested parties. The task to be addressed might be divided into several subtasks (or domains), each representing a different business, technological, or other areas of interest. Each subtask would be analyzed separately. Implementation constraints, (e.g., concurrency, distribution, persistence, or how the system is to be built) are not considered during the analysis phase; rather, they are addressed during object-oriented design (OOD).


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The conceptual model that results from OOA will typically consist of a set of use cases, one or more UML class diagrams, and a number of interaction diagrams. It may also include some kind of user interface mock-up.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The input for object-oriented design is provided by the output of object-oriented analysis. Realize that an output artifact does not need to be completely developed to serve as input of object-oriented design; analysis and design may occur in parallel, and in practice the results of one activity can feed the other in a short feedback cycle through an iterative process. Both analysis and design can be performed incrementally, and the artifacts can be continuously grown instead of completely developed in one shot.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The SDLC phases serve as a programmatic guide to project activity and provide a flexible but consistent way to conduct projects to a depth matching the scope of the project. Each of the SDLC phase objectives are described in this section with key deliverables, a description of recommended tasks, and a summary of related control objectives for effective management. It is critical for the project manager to establish and monitor control objectives during each SDLC phase while executing projects. Control objectives help to provide a clear statement of the desired result or purpose and should be used throughout the entire SDLC process. Control objectives can be grouped into major categories (domains), and relate to the SDLC phases as shown in the figure.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: To manage and control any SDLC initiative, each project will be required to establish some degree of a work breakdown structure (WBS) to capture and schedule the work necessary to complete the project. The WBS and all programmatic material should be kept in the "project description" section of the project notebook. The WBS format is mostly left to the project manager to establish in a way that best describes the project work.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: There are some key areas that must be defined in the WBS as part of the SDLC policy. The following diagram describes the three key areas that will be addressed in the WBS in a manner established by the project manager. The diagram shows that coverage spans numerous phases of the SDLC but the associated MCD has a subset of primary mappings to the SDLC phases. For example, Analysis and Design is primarily performed as part of the Acquisition and Implementation Domain, and System Build and Prototype is primarily performed as part of delivery and support.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The upper section of the work breakdown structure (WBS) should identify the major phases and milestones of the project in a summary fashion. In addition, the upper section should provide an overview of the full scope and timeline of the project, and will be part of the initial project description effort leading to the project approval. The middle section of the WBS is based on the seven systems development life cycle phases as a guide for WBS task development. The WBS elements should consist of milestones and "tasks" as opposed to "activities" and have a definitive period (usually two weeks or more). Each task must have a measurable output (e.g. document, decision, or analysis). A WBS task may rely on one or more activities (e.g. software engineering, systems engineering) and may require close coordination with other tasks, either internal or external to the project. Any part of the project needing support from contractors should have a statement of work (SOW) written to include the appropriate tasks from the SDLC phases. The development of a SOW does not occur during a specific phase of SDLC but is developed to include the work from the SDLC process that may be conducted by external resources such as contractors.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Baselines are an important part of the systems development life cycle. These baselines are established after four of the five phases of the SDLC, and are critical to the iterative nature of the model . Each baseline is considered as a milestone in the SDLC.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Few people in the modern computing world would use a strict waterfall model for their SDLC as many modern methodologies have superseded this thinking. Some will argue that the SDLC no longer applies to models like Agile computing, but it is still a term widely in use in technology circles. The SDLC practice has advantages in traditional models of systems development that lends itself more to a structured environment. The disadvantage to using the SDLC methodology is when there is need for iterative development or (i.e. web development or e-commerce) where stakeholders need to review on a regular basis the software being designed.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: An alternative to the SDLC is the rapid application development (RAD), which combines prototyping, joint application development, and implementation of CASE tools. The advantages of RAD are speed, reduced development cost, and active user involvement in the development process.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The system lifecycle in systems engineering is a view of a system or proposed system that addresses all phases of its existence to include system conception, design and development, production and/or construction, distribution, operation, maintenance and support, retirement, phase-out, and disposal.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: The conceptual design stage is the stage where an identified need is examined, requirements for potential solutions are defined, potential solutions are evaluated, and a system specification is developed. The system specification represents the technical requirements that will provide overall guidance for system design. Because this document determines all future development, the stage cannot be completed until a conceptual design review has determined that the system specification properly addresses the motivating need.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: During this stage of the system lifecycle, subsystems that perform the desired system functions are designed and specified in compliance with the system specification. Interfaces between subsystems are defined, as well as overall test and evaluation requirements. At the completion of this stage, a development specification is produced that is sufficient to perform detailed design and development.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: For example, as the system analyst of Viti Bank, you have been tasked to examine the current information system. Viti Bank is a fast-growing bank in Fiji. Customers in remote rural areas are finding difficulty to access the bank services. It takes them days or even weeks to travel to a location to access the bank services. With the vision of meeting the customers' needs, the bank has requested your services to examine the current system and to come up with solutions or recommendations of how the current system can be provided to meet its needs.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: This stage includes the development of detailed designs that brings initial design work into a completed form of specifications. This work includes the specification of interfaces between the system and its intended environment, and a comprehensive evaluation of the systems logistical, maintenance and support requirements. The detail design and development is responsible for producing the product, process and material specifications and may result in substantial changes to the development specification.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: During the production and/or construction stage the product is built or assembled in accordance with the requirements specified in the product, process and material specifications, and is deployed and tested within the operational target environment. System assessments are conducted in order to correct deficiencies and adapt the system for continued improvement.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Once fully deployed, the system is used for its intended operational role and maintained within its operational environment.


title: Systems development life cycle

text: Effectiveness and efficiency of the system must be continuously evaluated to determine when the product has met its maximum effective lifecycle. Considerations include: Continued existence of operational need, matching between operational requirements and system performance, feasibility of system phase-out versus maintenance, and availability of alternative systems.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Barbara Pierce Bush (born November 25, 1981) is an American activist. She co-founded and is the chair of the board of the nonprofit organization Global Health Corps. She and her fraternal twin sister, Jenna, are the daughters of the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. She is also a granddaughter of former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, after whom she is named.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Barbara Pierce Bush was born on 25 November 1981 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. When the family lived in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas, she and her twin sister, Jenna, attended Preston Hollow Elementary School; Laura Bush served on Preston Hollow's Parent-Teacher Association at that time. Later, Barbara and Jenna attended The Hockaday School in Dallas. When her father became Governor of Texas in 1994, Barbara attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. She began Austin High School in 1996, graduating with the class of 2000. Barbara attended Yale University, where she was a legacy member of Kappa Alpha Theta. After graduating, she lived in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: She worked for the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, a subsidiary of the Smithsonian Institution. Previously, she had been working with AIDS patients in Africa: Tanzania, South Africa, and Botswana, among other places, through a program sponsored by the Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine's International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Barbara is the co-founder and president of a public health-focused nonprofit, Global Health Corps. Global Health Corps provides opportunities for young professionals from diverse backgrounds to work on the front lines of the fight for global health equity. In 2009, Global Health Corps won a Draper Richards Foundation Fellowship, and Bush was made a 2009 Echoing Green fellow for her work with Global Health Corps. Bush was also chosen as one of the 14 speakers selected from an applicant pool of 1,500 to speak at the TEDx Brooklyn event in December 2010, where she spoke about Global Health Corps.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: In 2011, Bush released a video with the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, calling on New York State to legalize same-sex marriage. "'I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality,'" she said in the brief message, sponsored by an advocacy group. "New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love.'" Bush joined other children of prominent Republican politicians—including Meghan McCain and Mary Cheney—in endorsing gay marriage.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Bush's graduation from Yale in May 2004 was given heavy media coverage. She and Jenna made several media appearances that summer prior to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, including giving a speech to the Republican Convention on August 31. She and Jenna took turns traveling to swing states with their father and also gave a seven-page interview and photo shoot in "Vogue". Jenna later confirmed that Barbara and Jenna also developed a friendship with John Kerry's daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa, who campaigned on behalf of their father, Kerry. Bush joined her mother on diplomatic trips to Liberia in January 2006 to attend the inauguration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and to Vatican City to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in February 2006.


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Unlike most of her relatives (but like her twin sister Jenna), Bush is not a member of the Republican Party. In 2010, Bush and her sister told "People" that they preferred not to identify with any political party, stating, "We're both very independent thinkers."


title: Barbara Bush (born 1981)

text: Bush and her sister authored the joint memoir "Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life", published in 2017. On October 7, 2018, she married screenwriter Craig Coyne in a private ceremony at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, with only 20 people attending. It was held then in part so that Bush's grandfather, George H. W. Bush, whose health was on the decline at the time, could attend. They held an additional wedding reception six months later in April 2019 with 100 guests. Their daughter, Cora, was born in September 2021.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen (September 4, 1913 – July 29, 1976) was an American gangster, boxer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: Mickey Cohen was born on September 4, 1913, in New York City to Jewish parents. Cohen's parents immigrated to the USA from Kyiv. He was first raised in New York City, moving with his mother and siblings to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles at an early age. At 8, he earned money as a newsboy, selling newspapers on the street. One of his brothers, either Louie or Harry, would drop Mickey off at his regular corner, Soto and Brooklyn Streets (now Cesar E. Chavez Avenue). In 1922, Mickey was sent to reform school for petty crimes including shoplifting and theft.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: As a teenager, Cohen began boxing in illegal prizefights in Los Angeles. In 1929, the 15-year-old moved from Los Angeles to Cleveland to train as a professional boxer with the alias of 'Irish Mickey Cohen'. His first professional boxing match was on April 8, 1930, against Patsy Farr in Cleveland. It was one of the preliminary fights on the card for the Paul Pirrone versus Jimmy Goodrich feature bout. In a match on June 12, 1931, Cohen fought and lost against future world featherweight champion Tommy Paul. Cohen was knocked out cold after 2:20 into the first round. It was during this round he earned the moniker "Gangster Mickey Cohen". On April 11, 1933, Cohen fought against Chalky Wright in Los Angeles. Wright won the match, and Mickey was incorrectly identified as "Mickey Cohen from Denver, Colorado" in the "Los Angeles Times" sports page report. His last fight was on May 14, 1933, against Baby Arizmendi in Tijuana, Mexico. He finished his career at 8-8 and 5 draws – 8 wins, 2 by knockout, 8 losses, 4 losses by knockout and 5 draws.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In Cleveland, Cohen met Lou Rothkopf, an associate of gangster Moe Dalitz. Cohen later moved to New York, where he became an associate of labor racketeer Johnny Dio's brother, Tommy Dioguardi, and as well as Owney Madden.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: During Prohibition, Cohen moved to Chicago and became involved in organized crime, working as an enforcer for the Chicago Outfit, where he briefly met Al Capone. During this period, Cohen was arrested for his role in the deaths of several gangsters in a card game.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: After a brief time in prison, Cohen was released and began running card games and other illegal gambling operations. He later became an associate of Capone's younger brother, Mattie Capone. While working for Jake Guzik, Cohen was forced to flee Chicago after an argument with a rival gambler.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In Cleveland, Cohen worked once more for Lou Rothkopf, an associate of Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. However, there was little work available for Cohen in Cleveland, so Lansky and Rothkopf arranged for Cohen to work with Siegel in Los Angeles.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In 1939, Cohen arrived in Los Angeles to work under Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. During their association, Cohen helped set up the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and ran its sports book operation. He also was instrumental in setting up the race wire, which was essential to Vegas betting. During this time, Cohen met prostitute Lavonne Weaver (working alias Simoni King), and the couple married in 1940.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In 1947, the crime families ordered the murder of Siegel due to his mismanagement of the Flamingo Hotel Casino, most likely because Siegel or his girlfriend Virginia Hill was skimming money. According to one account which does not appear in newspapers, Cohen reacted violently to Siegel's murder. Entering the Hotel Roosevelt, where he believed the killers were staying, Cohen fired rounds from his two .45 caliber semi-automatic handguns into the lobby ceiling and demanded that the assassins meet him outside in 10 minutes. However, no one appeared, and Cohen was forced to flee when the police arrived.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: Cohen's violent methods came to the attention of state and federal authorities investigating Jack Dragna's operations. During this time, Cohen faced many attempts on his life, including the bombing of his home on posh Moreno Avenue in Brentwood. Cohen soon converted his house into a fortress, installing floodlights, alarm systems, and a well-equipped arsenal kept, as he often joked, next to his 200 tailor-made suits. Cohen briefly hired Johnny Stompanato as bodyguard. However, in 1958 Stompanato was killed in self-defense by Cheryl Crane, the daughter of actress Lana Turner (whom he had been dating). Cohen covered the expense for Stompanato's funeral and then gave Turner's love letters to Stompanato to the press in an attempt to discredit the worst allegations of threats and violence that Crane had alleged she suffered at the hands of the violent, womanizing Stompanato.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In 1950, Cohen was investigated along with many other underworld figures by a U.S. Senate committee known as the Kefauver Commission. As a result of this investigation, Cohen was convicted of tax evasion in June 1951 and sentenced to prison for four years.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: Ben Hecht stated in his autobiography, "A Child of the Century", that Cohen called him to say he wanted to do his part in helping Hecht raise money to support Menachem Begin's Irgun in its activities. Cohen called together a parlor meeting of business associates and had Hecht address them on the importance of the cause. Each person was then asked to call out a sum he would donate. In some cases, Cohen told a donor "that's not enough," and they upped the pledge. Later, when Cohen was arrested, he called Hecht from prison to ask if he had access to some cash to help with his bail. When Hecht apologized, Cohen politely said goodbye, and they never spoke again.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: When he was released in October 1955, he became an international celebrity. He ran floral shops, paint stores, nightclubs, casinos, gas stations, a men's haberdashery, and even drove an ice cream van on San Vicente Boulevard in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, according to author Richard Lamparski.


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In 1957, "TIME" magazine wrote a brief article about Cohen's meeting with Evangelist Billy Graham. Cohen said: "I am very high on the Christian way of life. Billy came up, and before we had food he said—What do you call it, that thing they say before food? Grace? Yeah, grace. Then we talked a lot about Christianity and stuff." Allegedly when Cohen did not change his lifestyle, he was confronted by Christian acquaintances. His response: "Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians; why not a Christian gangster?"


title: Mickey Cohen

text: In 1961, Cohen was again convicted of tax evasion and sent to Alcatraz. He was the only prisoner ever bailed out of Alcatraz; his bond was signed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. After his appeals failed, Cohen was sent to a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia. His heavily armored Cadillac from this period was confiscated by the Los Angeles Police Department and is now on display at the Southward Car Museum in New Zealand. On August 14, 1963, during his time at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, inmate Burl Estes McDonald attempted to kill Cohen with a lead pipe. In 1972, Cohen was released from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he had spoken out against prison abuse. He had been misdiagnosed with an ulcer, which turned out to be stomach cancer. After undergoing surgery, he continued touring the United States and made television appearances, once with Ramsey Clark.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Q is a fictional character, as well as the name of a race, in "Star Trek" appearing in the "", "", "", "", and "" series and in related media. The most familiar Q is portrayed by John de Lancie. He is an extra-dimensional being of unknown origin who possesses immeasurable power over time, space, the laws of physics, and reality itself, being capable of altering it to his whim. Despite his vast knowledge and experience spanning untold eons (and much to the exasperation of the object[s] of his obsession), he is not above practical jokes for his own personal amusement, for a Machiavellian or manipulative purpose, or to prove a point. He is said to be almost completely omnipotent and he is continually evasive regarding his true motivations.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: The name "Q" applies to the names of the individuals portrayed (all male and female characters refer to each other as "Q"); it also applies to the name of their race and to the "Q Continuum" itself – an alternate dimension accessible to only the Q and their "invited" guests. The true nature of the realm is said to be beyond the comprehension of "lesser beings" such as humans, therefore it is shown to humans only in ways they can understand; e.g., a run-down gas station in the 'middle of nowhere'.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Beginning with the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" of "", Q became a recurring character, with pronounced comedic and dramatic chemistry with Jean-Luc Picard. He serves as a major antagonist throughout "The Next Generation", playing a pivotal role in both the first and final episodes. Q is initially presented as a cosmic force judging humanity to see if it is becoming a threat to the universe, but as the series progresses, his role morphs more into one of a teacher to Picard and the human race generally – albeit often in seemingly destructive or disruptive ways, subject to his own amusement. Other times, notably during "Deja Q" and "Voyager", Q appears to the crew seeking assistance.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Many "Star Trek" television episodes and novels have featured Q and often have titles that play on the letter "Q".


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Q debuted in "Encounter at Farpoint", where he puts Captain Picard and the "Enterprise" crew on trial, arguing that humanity is a dangerous race and should be destroyed. When they later save the life of a kidnapped alien, Q agrees to defer judgment, though he hints that it will not be the last time the crew sees him.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "Hide and Q", he forces the "Enterprise" crew to participate in a war game against monsters he summoned, then makes a wager with Picard. He grants Commander William Riker the powers of a Q, then promises that if Riker rejects the powers, then Q will leave them alone. Riker uses the powers to save his friends and starts to lose himself to them, but ultimately manages to reject them. Q attempts to go back on his word, but the Q Continuum forcibly recalls him.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "Q Who", he offers to divest himself of his powers and guide humanity through uncharted regions and prepare it for unknown threats. Picard argues that Q's services are unneeded (and unwanted), and Q rebuts him by teleporting the USS "Enterprise" to a distant system for their first encounter with the Borg. Unable to resist the Borg, Picard must ask Q to save the ship. Q returns the "Enterprise" home and tells Picard that other men would rather have died than ask for help. This episode also reveals Q has a past history and hostile relationship with Guinan.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "Deja Q", Q is punished by the Q Continuum by being made mortal; his committing of an uncharacteristically selfless act (sacrificing his life so that a race attacking him will not destroy the "Enterprise") garners the return of his powers. In the same episode, Q says that Picard is "the closest thing in this universe that I have to a friend."


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: The Q are mentioned in "". A woman named Ardra claims to be the Devil to subjugate a planet, displaying abilities similar to the Q. The crew speculate that she may be a member of the Q Continuum or even Q himself in a disguise before Picard points out Q would not be interested in a planet's economics. Ardra is exposed as a con artist using technology to simulate her powers.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "Qpid", Q attempts to repay Picard for saving him in "Deja Q" by helping him with his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Vash. He transports everyone to Sherwood Forest and casts himself as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Picard as Robin Hood, the crew as the Merry Men, and Vash as Maid Marian, then challenges them to rescue her. Q and Vash find themselves kindred spirits, and she ultimately decides to go with him and explore the universe together.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "True Q", Q reveals that a new crew member named Amanda Rogers is actually the daughter of two rogue members of the Q Continuum, then orders her to choose between remaining human and never using her powers, or coming with him to join the Continuum. After using her powers to save a planet, Amanda decides to join the Continuum.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Toward the end of "The Next Generation", Q is less antagonistic toward Picard. In "", Q apparently saves Picard and helps him better understand himself, giving Picard a chance to avoid the accident that gave him an artificial heart only for Picard to choose dying as himself over living the tedious life he would have lived without the inspiration of his near-death experience (although whether Q actually appeared in this episode or was merely a hallucination Picard experienced during surgery is deliberately left ambiguous).


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In "", Q reveals that the trial of humanity is not over and displaces Picard through different time periods where a temporal anomaly threatens the existence of humanity. After Picard resolves the situation, Q admits to having helped him find the solution and to having saved him from death. Q departs, stating that the trial of humanity is never over.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Q-Less", Vash decided to end her partnership with Q. Q follows her to the Deep Space Nine station and attempts to win her back. Q is blamed for a series of power failures, but denies it. Q taunts Commander Benjamin Sisko, only to get punched in the face, shocking him since Picard never did that. The power failures were actually caused by an alien life form disguised as a crystal that Vash was carrying. Q gives Vash his blessing to leave him.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "", Q pursues a rogue member of the Continuum, later named Quinn, who has been inadvertently released from his asteroid prison by the crew of that ship, and who seeks asylum on "Voyager". He demands that Q make him human, as he does not wish to be a member of the Continuum any more, but Q refuses, because Quinn intends to commit suicide if he becomes human. The two parties agree to allow Captain Janeway to mediate their dispute, and after Janeway eventually finds in favor of Quinn, he is made human and then commits suicide. Its subsequently revealed that Q chose to assist Quinn's suicide.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: Later, in the "Voyager" episode "The Q and the Grey", Q reappears on the "Voyager", asking Janeway to bear his child. He eventually reveals that the uncertainty and instability caused by Quinn's suicide divided the Continuum, causing a civil war between Quinn's followers (of which Q is a part) and the rest of the Continuum. Q believes that the birth of a new member of the Continuum could revitalize the Q by giving them something new to focus on after millennia of stagnation and boredom. Janeway refuses, and after she and her crew bring about a ceasefire in the Continuum, Q eventually mates with a female Q (Suzie Plakson) with whom he had been involved (referred to in "Star Trek" novels as 'Lady Q'), producing a son. Their progeny is born conscious and with all the power of any other Q, although lacking adult maturity. Q makes Janeway his godmother.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In the episode "", he appears on "Voyager" with his immature, rebellious son, who appears as a human teenager (played by John de Lancie's real-life son Keegan de Lancie, and referred to in the novels as "Little Q" or "q"). Q asks Janeway to mentor his son, and the two adults agree that the boy will remain on "Voyager", without his powers, and either learn how to be a responsible, accountable, and productive inhabitant of the cosmos, or spend eternity as an amoeba. Eventually, the young Q comes around, but the Continuum is not entirely convinced, so in negotiation with Q, they come to an agreement. Q must eternally guard, observe, and accompany the boy to ensure his proper behavior. Q thanks Janeway for her help by showing her a shortcut to Earth that will shave three years off "Voyager"'s journey. When she asks why he does not just send them directly to Earth, he says it would set a bad example for his son to do all the work for them.


title: Q (Star Trek)

text: In the "" episode "Veritas", Q appears in a flashback, challenging the senior crew of the USS "Cerritos" to an inexplicable 'game' to prove humanity's worth, dressing them up as chess pieces facing a football field filled with anthropomorphic cards and soccer balls. Later in the episode, he appears again to challenge the ensigns to a duel, but he is unceremoniously blown off by Ensign Mariner, who tells him to "go bother Picard." Q follows them anyway, complaining that Picard is always quoting Shakespeare and .