FM Towns

The FM Towns (エフエムタウンズ, Efu Emu Taunzu) system is a Japanese PC variant, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with regular PCs. In 1993, the FM Towns Marty was released, a gaming console compatible with existing FM Towns games.

The "FM" part of the name means "Fujitsu Micro" like their earlier products, while the "Towns" part is derived from the code name the system was assigned while in development, "Townes". This refers to Charles Townes, one of the winners of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, following a custom of Fujitsu at the time to code name PC products after Nobel Prize winners. The e in "Townes" was dropped when the system went into production to make it clearer that the term was to be pronounced like the word "towns" rather than the potential "tow-nes".

History

Fujitsu, which had the best-selling 8-bit home computer FM-7, and the Fujitsu Micro 16s PC in early 1980s in Japan, decided to release a new home computer after the FM-7 was overcome by NEC's PC-8801 computer. From this experience, Fujitsu learned that software sales drove hardware sales. In order to acquire usable software quickly, the new computer was to be based on Fujitsu's "FMR50" system architecture. The FMR50 system, released at 1986, was another x86/DOS-based computer similar to NEC's popular PC-9801. The FMR50 computers were sold to moderate success in Japanese offices, particularly in Japanese government offices. There were hundreds of software packages available for the FMR, including Lotus 1-2-3, Wordstar, Multiplan, and dBASE III. With this basis of compatibility, the more multimedia-friendly FM Towns was born.

Fujitsu

Fujitsu Ltd. (富士通株式会社, Fujitsū Kabushiki-Kaisha), commonly referred to as Fujitsu, is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In 2010, it was the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues (after IBM and HP).

Fujitsu chiefly makes computing products, but the company and its subsidiaries also offer a diversity of products and services in the areas of personal computing, Enterprise Computing, including x86, SPARC and Mainframe server products, as well as storage products, telecommunications, advanced microelectronics, and air conditioning. It has approximately 162,000 employees and its products and services are available in over 100 countries.

Fujitsu is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices.

History

1935 to 2000

Fujitsu is the second oldest IT company after IBM, established on June 20, 1935, under the name Fuji Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturing (富士電気通信機器製造, Fuji Denki Tsūshin Kiki Seizō), as a spin-off of the Fuji Electric Company, itself a joint venture between the Furukawa Electric Company and the German conglomerate Siemens which had been founded in 1923. Despite its connections to the Furukawa zaibatsu, Fujitsu escaped the Allied occupation of Japan after the Second World War mostly unscathed.

Former

A former is a structural member of an aircraft fuselage, of which a typical fuselage has a series from the nose to the empennage, typically perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The primary purpose of formers is to establish the shape of the fuselage and reduce the column length of stringers to prevent instability. Formers are typically attached to longerons, which support the skin of the aircraft.

The Former-and-Longeron technique was adopted from boat construction (also called stations and stringers), and was typical of light aircraft built until the advent of structural skins such as fiberglass and other composite materials. Many of today's light aircraft, and homebuilt aircraft in particular, are still designed in this way.

They are also found in the cores of potentiometers in which the resistive material is wrapped round.

Notes

FMR1

FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation 1) is a human gene that codes for a protein called fragile X mental retardation protein, or FMRP. This protein, most commonly found in the brain, is essential for normal cognitive development and female reproductive function. Mutations of this gene can lead to fragile X syndrome, mental retardation, premature ovarian failure, autism, Parkinson's disease, developmental delays and other cognitive deficits.

FMR1 gene expression

The FMR1 gene is located on the X chromosome and contains a DNA segment called CGG trinucleotide. In most people, the CGG segment is repeated in the gene approximately 5-44 times. Increased expression of the CGG segment on the FMR1 gene is associated with impaired cognitive and reproductive function. If a person has 45-54 repeats this is considered the “gray zone” or borderline risk, 55-200 repeats is called premutation and more than 200 repeats is considered a full mutation of the FMR1 gene according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. The first complete DNA sequence of the repeat expansion in someone with the full mutation was generated by scientists in 2012 using SMRT sequencing.

FMR

FMR may refer to: