Stacks (Mac OS)

Stacks are a feature first found in Apple's operating system, Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard". As the name implies, they "stack" files into a small organized folder on the Dock. At the WWDC07 Keynote Presentation, Steve Jobs stated that in Leopard, the user will be given a default stack called Downloads, in which all downloaded content will be placed.

In the initial release of Leopard, Stacks could be shown two ways, in a "fan" or a "grid". With the release of the 10.5.2 update, a third "list" view was added. This list view allows folder icons to display their contents in pop-out side menus. Originally, if the fan view was too long to fit within the screen, it was automatically displayed as a grid. The user could also choose to have a fan stack always display as a grid, but they could not choose to make it fan out (due to the reason above). After the update, the top item in the fan would allow the user to open the folder in the Finder.

The list view also shows an Options pop-out menu which, when opened, allows users to change the display method used by the Stack (fan, grid or list), the order items in the Stack are displayed (by name, date created, date modified, date added and kind), and the appearance of the Stack icon in the dock (folder or stack). These options are available in the other three methods by either right-clicking on the icon with the right button of a two-button mouse, or by holding down the Control key on the keyboard while simultaneously clicking with a one-button mouse. Holding down the primary mouse button will target the contextual menu as well.

System 7

System 7 (codenamed "Big Bang" and sometimes retroactively called Mac OS 7) is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Computer. It succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS 8 in 1997. Features added with the System 7 release included virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, and an improved user interface.

"System 7" is often used generically to refer to all 7.x versions. With the release of version 7.6 in 1997, Apple officially renamed the operating system "Mac OS", a name which had first appeared on System 7.5.1's boot screen. System 7 was developed for Macs that used the Motorola 680x0 line of processors, but was ported to the PowerPC after Apple adopted the new processor.

Development

The development of the Macintosh "Systems" up to System 6 followed a fairly smooth progression with the addition of new features and relatively small changes and upgrades over time. Major additions were fairly limited, notably adding Color QuickDraw and MultiFinder in System 6. Some perspective on the scope of the changes can be seen by examining the official system documentation, Inside Macintosh. This initially shipped in three volumes, adding another to describe the changes introduced with the Mac Plus, and another for the Mac II and Mac SE.

Mac OS 8

Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It represented the largest overhaul of the Mac OS since the release of System 7, some six years previously. It puts more emphasis on color than previous operating systems. Released over a series of updates, Mac OS 8 was an effort to integrate many of the technologies developed for Apple's overly-ambitious operating system known as Copland. Mac OS 8 helped modernize the Mac OS while Apple developed its next generation operating system, OS X. Mac OS 8 is one of Apple's most successful software releases, selling over 1.2 million copies in the first two weeks. Coming as it did at a difficult time in Apple's history, many pirate groups refused to traffic in the new operating system, encouraging people to buy it instead.

Mac OS 8.0 brought about the most visible changes in the line-up, including the introduction of the Platinum interface and a native PowerPC multi-threaded Finder. Mac OS 8.1 introduced a new, more efficient file system known as HFS Plus. Mac OS 8.5 was the first version of the Mac OS to require a PowerPC processor. It featured PowerPC native versions of QuickDraw and AppleScript, along with the Sherlock search utility. Its successor, Mac OS 9, was released on October 23, 1999.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. On August 28, 2009, it was released worldwide, and was made available for purchase from Apple's website and its retail stores at the price of US$29 for a single-user license. As a result of the low price, initial sales of Snow Leopard were significantly higher than that of its predecessors. The release of Snow Leopard came nearly two years after the introduction of Mac OS X Leopard, the second longest time span between successive Mac OS X releases (the time span between Tiger and Leopard was the longest).

Unlike those of previous versions of Mac OS X, the goals of Snow Leopard were improved performance, greater efficiency and the reduction of its overall memory footprint. Addition of new end-user features was not a primary consideration: its name signified its goal to be a refinement of the previous OS X version, Leopard. Much of the software in Mac OS X was extensively rewritten for this release in order to take advantage fully of modern Macintosh hardware. New programming frameworks, such as OpenCL, were created, allowing software developers to use graphics cards in their applications. This is also the first Mac OS release since System 7.1.1 that does not support Macs using PowerPC processors, as Apple now intends to focus on its current line of Intel-based products. As support for Rosetta was dropped in OS X Lion, Snow Leopard is the last version of Mac OS X that is able to run PowerPC-only applications.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network Studios. The series, set in a world in which imaginary friends coexist with humans, centers on an eight-year-old boy, Mac, who is pressured by his mother to abandon his imaginary friend, Bloo. After Mac discovers an orphanage dedicated to housing abandoned imaginary friends, Bloo moves into the home and is kept from adoption so long as Mac visits him daily. The episodes revolve around Mac and Bloo as they interact with other imaginary friends and house staff and live out their day-to-day adventures, often getting caught up in various predicaments.

McCracken conceived the series after adopting two dogs from an animal shelter and applying the concept to imaginary friends. The show first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television film. On August 20, it began its normal run of twenty-to-thirty-minute episodes on Fridays, at 7 pm. The series finished its run on May 3, 2009, with a total of six seasons and seventy-nine episodes. McCracken left Cartoon Network shortly after the series ended.

Mac (rapper)

McKinley Phipps (born July 30, 1977), better known as Mac, is an American rapper and songwriter from New Orleans' 3rd Ward, and would grow to be one of the most critically acclaimed on Master P's No Limit Records, both as a solo rapper and as a member of the super group 504 Boyz. He also collaborated with rapper B.G. on the album Chopper City released in 1996.

Early Music career

Mac was born Mckinley Phipps in New Orleans, Louisiana. He started his music career as a kid rapper in the year 1990. At 13 years old he made his solo debut album under the name of "Lil Mac", called The Lyrical Midget. The album was one of the earliest commercial hip-hop albums to come out of New Orleans, and featured some production from New Orleans producer Mannie Fresh. It was not very successful though Lil Mac would not be heard from for another 7 years.

Late 1990s: No Limit Records, Shell Shocked, and World War III

Family name

A family name (in Western contexts often referred to as a surname or last name) is typically a part of a person's personal name which, according to law or custom, is passed or given to children from one or both of their parents' family names. The use of family names is common in most cultures around the world, with each culture having its own rules as to how these names are formed, passed and used. But the practice is not universal, with some cultures not using family names (See mononym). Also, in most Slavic countries and in Greece, for example, there are different family name forms for male and female members of the family. Issues of family name arise especially on the passing of a name to a new-born child, on the adoption of a common family name on marriage, on renouncing of a family name and on changing of a family name.