IBM

International Business Machines Corporation (commonly referred to as IBM) is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, with corporate headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware, middleware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

The company originated in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) through the consolidation of The Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, the Computing Scale Company and the Bundy Manufacturing Company. CTR was renamed "International Business Machines" in 1924, a name which Thomas J. Watson first used for a CTR Canadian subsidiary. The initialism IBM followed. Securities analysts nicknamed the company Big Blue for its size and common use of the color in products, packaging and its logo.

In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the second largest U.S. firm in terms of number of employees (435,000 worldwide), the fourth largest in terms of market capitalization, the ninth most profitable, and the nineteenth largest firm in terms of revenue. Globally, the company was ranked the 31st largest in terms of revenue by Forbes for 2011. Other rankings for 2011/2012 include №1 company for leaders (Fortune), №1 green company in the United States (Newsweek), №2 best global brand (Interbrand), №2 most respected company (Barron's), №5 most admired company (Fortune), and №18 most innovative company (Fast Company).

F-Zero

F-Zero is a series of futuristic racing video games originally created by Nintendo EAD with multiple games developed by outside companies. The first game was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and prompted Nintendo to create multiple sequels on succeeding gaming consoles.

The series has been known for its high-speed racing, unique characters and settings, difficult gameplay, original music, and pushing the limits of its technology to be one of the fastest racing games ever. The first game inspired the creation of games such as Daytona USA and the Wipeout series.

The series has been largely dormant since 2004, with the last title being F-Zero Climax. It has however made several appearances in other franchises such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros.

Games

The first game in the series and a launch game for the SNES, F-Zero was also the first Super Nintendo game to use a technique that Nintendo called "Mode 7 Scrolling". When Mode 7 was combined with scaling and positioning of the layer on a scanline-by-scanline basis it could simulate 3D environments. Such techniques in games were considered to be revolutionary in a time when most console games were restricted to static/flat backgrounds and 2-dimensional (2D) objects. The result was developer Nintendo EAD creating a game that IGN reviewer Craig Harris called the fastest and smoothest pseudo-3D console racer of its time.

Big Red (drink)

Big Red is a soft drink created in 1937 by Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark in Waco, Texas and originally known as Sun Tang Red Cream Soda. It is generally classified as an American variety of cream soda which is almond in flavor, and it is the original "red cream soda." The name was changed to "Sun Tang Big Red Cream Soda" in 1959, and to "Big Red" in 1969 by Harold Jansing, then president of the San Antonio bottling plant, after hearing a golf caddy refer to the soda by that name.

Until the late 1970s, Big Red was marketed exclusively in Central and South Texas and around Louisville, Kentucky, including parts of Southern Indiana. The drink is highly popular in the Southern United States and is well known for its unique taste and red color. Its unique taste, though often thought to be bubble gum, is created by mixing orange and lemon oils with the traditional vanilla used in other cream sodas. Big Red is produced and distributed by various independent soft drink bottlers including Dr Pepper Snapple Group, CCE, and Pepsi Bottling Group under license from Big Red, Inc., based in Austin, Texas.