document_title: Borg (Star Trek)

question_text: when do the borg first appear in voyager

question_tokens: when do the borg first appear in voyager

text: Borg (Star Trek)

text: Concept[edit]

text: In the text commentary to the collector's edition of Star Trek: First Contact, Michael Okuda revealed that Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) writers began to develop the idea of the Borg as early as the Season 1 episode, "Conspiracy", which introduced a coercive, symbiotic life form that took over key Federation personnel. It was thwarted by the Enterprise crew and presumably never heard of again (the 'alien conspiracy' plotline itself was scrapped when it became clear that the concept was too grim for Star Trek's target audience).[citation needed] Plans to feature the Borg as an increasingly menacing threat were subsequently scrapped in favor of a more subtle introduction, beginning with the mystery of missing colonies on both sides of the Neutral Zone in "The Neutral Zone" and culminating in the encounter between Borg and the Enterprise crew in "Q Who?".

text: The Borg represented a new antagonist and regular enemy that was lacking during the first season of TNG; the Klingons were allies and the Romulans mostly absent. The Ferengi were originally intended as the new enemy for the United Federation of Planets, but their comical appearance and devotion to capitalist accumulation by free enterprise failed to portray them as a convincing threat. The Borg, however, with their frightening appearance, their immense power, and their sinister motive, became the signature villains for the TNG and Voyager eras of Star Trek. In Voyager episode "Q2", even Q tells his son "don't provoke the Borg."

text: "Resistance is futile"[edit]

text: Individual Borg rarely speak, though they do send a collective audio message to their targets, stating that "resistance is futile", generally followed by a declaration that the target in question will be assimilated and its "biological and technological distinctiveness" will be added to their own. The exact phrasing varies and evolves over the various series episodes and film. One phrase, from TNG, is:

text: "We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile."

text: The complete phrase used in Star Trek: First Contact, as performed by Jeff Coopwood[3] is:

text: "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."[4]

text: The phrase "resistance is futile" became prevalent in popular culture from its use in the television show TNG.[5][6][7][8]

text: The Borg uttered the phrase in several Star Trek episodes and the film Star Trek: First Contact (which used the phrase as the tagline for the 1996 film). Patrick Stewart's delivery of the line, as Locutus, in "The Best of Both Worlds" was ranked no. 93 in TV Land's list of "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases".[9] It was used as the title for an episode of the TV series Dexter. The phrase appears in several preceding TV series, including Doctor Who episode "The Deadly Assassin" (1976), where it is used by the Master through the voice of his mouthpiece, Chancellor Goth, and on Space: 1999 (series 2, episode 24, 1976) where it was used by Maya responding to "The Dorcons", during an attack on Moonbase Alpha.[10] As well as the Borg bearing remarkable resemblance to Lord Dread and the bio-dreads of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, the similar phrase "resistance was futile" was used in reference to Lyman Taggert, the human who became Lord Dread.[11] This comic book also antedates the appearance of the Borg in TNG.

text: Origin[edit]

text: The origin of the Borg is never made clear, though they are portrayed as having existed for hundreds of thousands of years (as attested by Guinan and the Borg Queen). In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen merely states that the Borg were once much like humanity, "flawed and weak", but gradually developed into a partially synthetic species in an ongoing attempt to evolve and perfect themselves.

text: In TNG's "Q Who?", Guinan mentions that the Borg are "made up of organic and artificial life [...] which has been developing for [...] thousands of centuries." In the later episode of Star Trek: Voyager, "Dragon's Teeth", Gedrin, of the race the Vaadwaur, says that before he and his people were put into suspended animation 892 years earlier (1482), the Borg had assimilated only a few colonies in the Delta Quadrant and were considered essentially a minor nuisance, which suggests the Borg began expansion through space only around 1,000 years ago. Now awake in the 24th century, he is amazed to see that the Borg control a vast area of the Delta Quadrant. Seven of Nine comments that the Borg's collective memories of that time period are fragmentary, though it is never established why that is.

text: The Star Trek Encyclopedia speculates that a connection could exist between the Borg and V'ger, the vessel encountered in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In this movie, Spock states, "Any show of resistance would be futile, Captain," which could be paraphrased as the Borg's "Resistance is futile". This idea of a connection is advanced in William Shatner's novel The Return. The connection was also suggested in a letter included in Starlog no. 160 (November 1990). The letter writer, Christopher Haviland, also speculated that the original Borg drones were members of a race called "the Preservers", which Spock had suggested in the original series episode "The Paradise Syndrome" might be responsible for why so many humanoids populate the galaxy. It was confirmed in the TNG episode "The Chase" that an ancient species seeded hundreds, if not thousands of planets with their DNA, creating the Humans, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and many more. Coincidentally, in the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (written by Gene Roddenberry), the V'ger entity notes that the Ilia probe is resisting the programming given to it because of residual memories and feelings for Captain Decker, from its precise replication of the Deltan lieutenant. When V'ger becomes aware of this, it decides that "the resistance was futile, of course".

text: The extra section of the non-canon game Star Trek: Legacy contains the supposed "Origin of the Borg", which tells the story of V'ger being sucked into a black hole. V'ger was found by a race of living machines which gave it a form suitable to fulfilling its simplistic programming. Unable to determine who its creator could be, the probe declared all carbon-based life an infestation of the creator's universe, leading to assimilation. From this, the Borg were created, as extensions of V'ger's purpose. Drones were made from those assimilated and merged into a collective consciousness. The Borg Queen was created out of the necessity for a single unifying voice. With thoughts and desires of her own, she was no longer bound to serve V'ger.

text: In the graphic novel Star Trek: The Manga, the Borg resulted from an experiment in medical nanotechnology gone wrong. An alien species under threat of extinction by an incurable disease created a repository satellite containing test subjects infused with body parts, organs, and DNA of multiple species along with cybernetic enhancements put in place by advanced medical technology. The satellite was maintained by nanomachines, which also maintained the medical equipment on board. The medical facility is parked in orbit by a black hole, and along with the anomalous states of time around the black hole, allows long-term research to continue at an accelerated time scale rather than in real-time speed. As the medical facility deteriorates, so does the programming of the nanomachines. The nanomachines began infusing themselves into the patients, interpreting them as part of the satellite in need of repair. Among the patients is the daughter of the head medical researcher of the satellite. The satellite eventually falls apart in an encounter with an away team from the Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk. In the final moments of the satellite's destruction and the escape of the crew members of the Enterprise with the patients, the subjects display qualities inherently resembling the Borg: injection of nanomachines in a fashion like assimilation, rapid adaptation to weaponry, and a hive mind consciousness, as all the subjects begin following the whim of the daughter. As succumbing to the disease was inevitable, and the corrupt nanomachine programming infused itself into the bodies, the final image of the page of the manga Borg origin is left with the daughter turned Borg Queen, stating, "Resistance is futile."

text: In the novel Lost Souls (the third book in the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy), the Borg are revealed to be the survivors of the Caeliar city Mantilis. Thrown across the galaxy in the Delta Quadrant and back in time to about 4500 BC by the destruction of Erigol at the climax of Gods of Night, the first book in the trilogy, a group of human survivors from the starship Columbia NX-02 and Caeliar scientists try to survive in a harsh arctic climate. Most of the human survivors die of exposure, while several Caeliar are absorbed into their race's gestalt to give life to the others in their group mind.

text: The Caeliar offer the remaining humans a merging of human and Caeliar, to allow both groups to survive. The human survivors are resistant and as time goes on, the Caeliar called Sedin becomes the sole survivor of her group, her mental processes and her form both degrading as time goes on. When the humans return to Sedin for help, she forces them to merge with her, unwilling to allow herself to die when a union can save her life. The forced merging of the humans and the mostly decayed Caeliar results in the creation of the first Borg, the name being created due to the fragmented thought of the first drone as he was assimilated (his last thought was that he would not become some cyborg, with his individuality ceasing before he could finish thinking the final word). The gestalt group mind is perverted to become the collective, driven by Sedin's desperate hunger and need to add the strength, technology, and life-force of others to her own. Ironically, while the Caeliar were–albeit accidentally–involved in the creation of the Borg, they also provide the means to end it; in the 24th century, the Caeliar absorb the entire Borg collective back into themselves, ending the cyborgs' centuries-long reign of terror.

text: Characteristics[edit]

text: General design[edit]

text: Though Borg costumes are all unique, they share several common characteristics. Borg commonly have one eye (most often the left eye) replaced with a sophisticated ocular implant which allows them to see beyond the human visual spectrum, though it may not always be added to them. This implant usually projects a red laser beam, particularly in later appearances. They also usually have one arm replaced with a prosthetic one, bearing one of a variety of multipurpose tools in place of a humanoid hand. Since different drones have slightly different roles, the arm may be specialized for medical purposes, or weaponized for tactical usage. Another defining feature is flat white skin, giving them an almost zombie-like appearance. This skin was originally dry and human-looking, but it later had a more "slick" look to it, with veins showing.

text: Due to their cybernetic enhancements, all Borg are far stronger than humans to varying degrees (depending on the species from which the drone came). Some Borg drones are just able to easily overpower most humans and similar species, while others are strong enough to pick up or lift such species off the ground or shove or toss them across a room. However they rarely, if ever, run to their destination and most species can outpace them. Borg drones are resistant to phaser fire, being completely immune to the stun setting. In addition, all Borg drones possess personal shielding which collectively adapts to phaser fire. In various episodes, phasers tend to become ineffective after a dozen shots at most, depending on the settings and time between shots. Phaser frequencies can be altered to penetrate the shield, but the Borg adapt more quickly with each change in modulation. Due to this, crews have been known to employ a variety of other countermeasures such as holodeck-generated bullets and mêlée weapons, as demonstrated in Star Trek: First Contact. The Borg hive mind can lead to certain downsides: Borg drones have a weakness in that they usually ignore anything which does not present itself as a direct threat (unless specifically directed to attack), allowing armed but passive Starfleet crew to walk among them relatively unscathed until threatening behavior was observed.

text: The most important cybernetic component of any Borg is their "cortical node", which controls every other implanted "fixed location" cybernetic device within a Borg's body, and is most often implanted in the forehead above the usually retained organic right eye. If the cortical node fails, the afflicted individual Borg eventually dies, as it cannot be replicated or repaired. Successful replacement of the node can be carried out on a Borg vessel if the failure is detected promptly before the afflicted Borg's impending death.

text: Travel[edit]

text: The Borg are a spacefaring race, and their primary interstellar transport is known as a "Borg Cube" due to its shape. A cube was first seen in the Next Generation episode "Q Who?" upon the Borg's first contact with the Federation Starfleet in 2365. Common capabilities of cubes include high warp (transwarp) capabilities, self-regeneration and multiple-redundant systems, adaptability to assault, and various beam (tractor beams and cutting beams) and missile weapons. Different types and size of Cube have been observed, as well as Borg Spheres, which are launched from a Cube in similar fashion to an escape pod, as seen in First Contact.

text: As with most other spacefaring races, the Borg also have transporter capability, and their ability to survive in the vacuum of space means they have no need for environment or hazmat suits.

text: Assimilation[edit]

text: Assimilation is the process by which the Borg integrate beings, cultures, and technology into their collective. "You will be assimilated" is one of the few on-screen phrases employed by the Borg when communicating with other species. The Borg are portrayed as having found and assimilated thousands of species and billions to trillions of individual life-forms throughout the galaxy. The Borg designate each species with a number assigned to them upon first contact; humanity for example being 'Species 5618'.

text: When first introduced, the Borg are said to be more interested in assimilating technology than people, roaming the universe as single-minded marauders that have assimilated starships, planets, and entire societies to collect new technology. They are discriminating in this area, finding certain races, for example the Kazon, to be technologically inferior and not worthy of assimilation. A Borg infant found aboard the first cube introduced (TNG: "Q Who?") shows that the Borg will even assimilate the children of a conquered race. The Borg then place the assimilated children into maturation chambers, to quickly and fully grow them into mature drones that can be of use.

text: In their second appearance, "The Best of Both Worlds", they capture and assimilate Captain Jean-Luc Picard into the collective by surgically altering him, creating Locutus of Borg, meaning "he who has spoken" or "he who speaks", in Latin, fitting as he speaks to Federation humans for them. After this, life-form assimilation becomes much more prominent in their overall behavior, as they learn about the nuances in tactics, as well as what they consider diplomacy with the human race.

text: The method of assimilating individual life-forms into the collective has been represented differently over time. The only constant is that the infant, and fetal humanoids have been grown in an accelerated state and surgically receive implants connected directly into the brain (cannot be removed without death), as well as ocular devices, tool-enhanced limbs, armor, and other prosthetics. In Star Trek: First Contact, the method of adult assimilation is depicted with the more efficient injection of nanoprobes into the individual's bloodstream through a pair of tubules that spring forth from the drone's hand (while in "The Best of Both Worlds" and Star Trek: Borg, at least some Borg were shown with a syringe like prosthetic that also acted as a data port that allowed them to interface directly with technology and share data between each other). Assimilation by tubules is depicted on-screen as being a usually fast-acting process, with the victim's skin pigmentation turning gray and mottled with visible dark tracks forming within moments of contact, though it seems that the longer the victim is being injected, the quicker they can be fully transformed. The individual is then taken away for complete assimilation by drones. The tubules can also allow for direct interfacing with technology, while they are also shown to be able to reconfigure and enhance such technology into Borg technology. Sometimes assimilated Borg have been noted to be neither male nor female.[12] One theory could be that their reproductive systems have been removed upon assimilation, yet drones such as Captain Picard and Seven of Nine are easily identified as male and female. The other reason may be that the species from whence they came was gender-less. Drones who have escaped the collective have also been shown to have a gender. The individual has all traces of individuality removed and implants are attached to the new drone so it can become an integrated part of the collective. This method of assimilation is also shown to be much more surgical in nature.[1] In Star Trek: First Contact a captured crew member is shown to have a forearm and an eye physically removed and replaced with cybernetic implants.

text: Because assimilation depends on nanoprobes, species with extremely advanced immune systems are able to resist assimilation. Thus far, Species 8472 is the only race shown to be capable of completely rejecting assimilation attempts, but other species, such as the Hirogen, have also proved more than a match, both physically and technologically against the Borg.[13] Phlox was able to partially resist the assimilation process in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Regeneration".

text: Nanoprobes are microscopic machines that inhabit a Borg's body, bloodstream, and many cybernetic implants. The probes perform the function of maintaining the Borg cybernetic systems, as well as repairing damage to the organic parts of a Borg. They generate new technology inside a Borg when needed, as well as protecting them from many forms of disease. Borg nanoprobes, each about the size of a human red blood cell, travel through the victim's bloodstream and latch on to individual cells. The nanoprobes rewrite the cellular DNA, altering the victim's biochemistry, and eventually form larger, more complicated structures and networks within the body such as electrical pathways, processing and data-storage nodes, and ultimately prosthetic devices that spring forth from the skin, similar to cancers or tumors, which can lead to severe deformation in the skin. In "Mortal Coil", Seven of Nine states that the Borg assimilated the nanoprobe technology from "Species 149". In addition, the nanoprobes work to maintain and repair their host's mechanical and biological components on a microscopic level, allowing both sets of components regenerative capabilities.

text: Though used by the Borg to exert control over another being, reprogrammed nanoprobes were used by the crew of the starship Voyager in many instances as medical aids. In one instance, the probes were used to revive crewman Neelix 18 hours, 49 minutes, and 13 seconds after death by repairing his body, and are used to treat various visitors' ailments. The ability to perform such a feat was thanks to a species that the Borg had previously assimilated.

text: The capability of nanoprobes to absorb improved technologies they find into the Borg collective is shown in the Voyager episode "Drone", where Seven of Nine's nanoprobes are fused with the Doctor's mobile emitter which uses technology from the 29th century of the history line of the Federation, creating an individual 29th-century drone existing outside the collective, with capabilities far surpassing that of late 24th-century drones. The attempt by the Borg to assimilate this drone is unsuccessful, so its enhanced capabilities are not disseminated throughout the collective.

text: The Borg do not try to immediately assimilate any being with which it comes to contact; in fact, Borg drones tend to completely ignore beings that are identified as too weak to be a threat and too inferior to be worth assimilating. Captain Picard and his team walk safely past a group of Borg drones in a scene from the film Star Trek: First Contact because they are unarmed, while the drones fulfill a programmed mission. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Mortal Coil", Seven of Nine told Neelix that the Kazon were "unworthy" of assimilation and would only detract from the Borg's quest for perceived perfection.

text: Maturation chamber[edit]

text: The Borg use maturation chambers as the means of assimilating children that have been captured.

text: The child is kept in the maturation chamber for a period of 17 cycles.[14] Information conflicts as to how long 17 cycles is. Based on information from Star Trek: Voyager (Mortal Coil) and Star Trek: Voyager (Drone), the time equates to about six months, but in "Collective", Seven of Nine mentions that she was in her maturation chamber for five years.

text: During this time spent in the maturation chamber, nanoprobes are introduced into the child's body along with cybernetic implants which are either surgically implanted or constructed by the nanoprobes. The child's physical age is also accelerated. When the children emerge from the maturation chambers, they have physically grown into adult drones, being no different from a drone that was already an adult when assimilated.

text: The appearance of maturation chambers has changed over time, originally seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Q Who") and later in Star Trek: Voyager (Drone) and (Collective).

text: Unicomplex[edit]

text: The Unicomplex is a location in the fictional Star Trek universe that is considered the central base for the Borg pseudo-race. It is located in an unknown area of the Delta Quadrant and is the center of all processing activity for the Borg collective, as well as the home of the Borg Queen. The Unicomplex resembles a patchwork-like collection of thousands of cubes, connected by assorted conduits and transportation hubs. Borg cubes frequently cross into and out of the Unicomplex on their way to other parts of the galaxy, using transwarp conduits. The Unicomplex primarily appears in the episodes leading towards the conclusion of Star Trek: Voyager. The Unicomplex was destroyed in 2378 after the Borg Queen assimilated a neurolytic pathogen from the future by Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who had traveled back in time, as seen in the Star Trek: Voyager series finale, "Endgame".

text: Borg Collective[edit]

text: Also referred to as the "hive mind" or "collective consciousness", the Borg Collective is a civilization with a group mind. Each Borg individual, or drone, is linked to the collective by a sophisticated subspace network that ensures each member is given constant supervision and guidance. The collective is broadcast over a subspace domain similar to that used by the transporter. Being part of the collective offers significant biomedical advantages to the individual drones. The mental energy of the group consciousness can help an injured or damaged drone heal or regenerate damaged body parts or technology. The collective consciousness not only gives them the ability to "share the same thoughts", but also to adapt with great speed to defensive tactics used against them.[15]

text: Borg Queen[edit]

text: Before the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg exhibited no hierarchical command structure, instead using a structure with no control center and distributed processing. First Contact introduced the Borg Queen, who is not named as such in the film, but is referred to by that name during the credits. The Queen is played by Alice Krige in this film and in the finale of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame". The character also appeared in Voyager's two-part episodes "Dark Frontier" and "Unimatrix Zero", but was portrayed by Susanna Thompson (due to Krige's unavailability during the filming of those episodes). Whether or not all of these appearances represent exactly the same Queen is never confirmed.

text: The Borg Queen is the focal point within the Borg collective consciousness and a unique drone within the collective, who originates from Species 125, who brings "order to chaos", referring to herself as "we" and "I" interchangeably. In First Contact, the Queen's dialogue suggests she is an expression of the Borg Collective's overall intelligence, not a controller but the avatar of the entire Collective as an individual. This sentiment is contradicted by Star Trek: Voyager, where she is seen explicitly directing, commanding, and in one instance even overriding the Collective. She also identified herself as having originally been a member of Species 125. The introduction of the Queen radically changed the canon understanding of the Borg function with the authors of The Computers of Star Trek noting "It was a lot easier for viewers to focus on a villain rather than a hive-mind that made decisions based on the input of all its members."[16] First Contact writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore have defended the introduction of the Queen as a dramatic necessity, noting on the film's DVD audio commentary that they had initially written the film with drones, but finding that it was essential for the main characters to have someone to interact with, beyond mindless drones.

text: In First Contact, the Borg Queen is seen as apparently present during Picard's former assimilation at the start as flashbacks in Picard's mind, and was believed destroyed along with that Borg cube years earlier. Here, she instead directs her attentions to Data. After he is captured by her drones, she tries to tempt him to join her by playing on his desire to be more human. She claims that she desires a semi-independent non-Borg being as an intellectual companion. This Queen is partially destroyed when her organic components are liquefied as a result of Data rupturing one of the Enterprise's warp core plasma coolant conduits. Picard finishes her off by breaking her spinal column with his own hands. The Queen is also destroyed in the Voyager episode "Endgame".

text: In the Star Trek: The Experience attraction The Borg Invasion 4-D, the Borg Queen reappears after Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant, but as Admiral Janeway attempts to kill her, she activates a transporter, allowing her to survive.

text: In the post-Star Trek Nemesis novels, the Borg Queen is not a single, irreplaceable entity, but the product of a program called "the Royal Protocol" that shares its name with a Starfleet document outlining requirements when dealing with foreign royalty. This program is used to create a Borg Queen from any female Borg (though Borg drones supposedly have no gender), commanding the technology within her to alter and adapt to the protocol's specifications. In the relaunch novels, one of the leaders of Starfleet Intelligence gets her hands on the Royal Protocol, and with the use of an emergency medical hologram, turns herself into a new kind of Borg Queen who cares about and loves her drones.

text: Alternatively, in the game Star Trek: Legacy, bonus content unlockable throughout the course of the game offers further information on the role of the queen. It is suggested that the females of a particular species have a natural ability to filter and control the immense 'traffic' of thought present in the collective consciousness of the Borg. These females, in a sense, serve as regulators or signal boosters even assisting in maintaining the complete consciousness over the thousands of lightyears of Borg space. This also presents the possibility of multiple queens, which would be a suitable explanation for why, on more than one occasion, a Starfleet officer has 'killed the queen'. In the illustration accompanying the explanation, all the females distinctly resemble the queen portrayed on screen, suggesting that this is Species 125, mentioned by the Borg Queen as her original species in "Dark Frontier".

text: In the novel Before Dishonor by Peter David, Admiral Janeway is assimilated while exploring a supposedly "dead" Borg supercube and is later transformed into the Borg Queen. She is later stopped by Seven of Nine, who introduced a virus into the Borg ship. This leads to the events of the Destiny trilogy.

text: In the Mirror Universe novella The Worst of Both Worlds by Greg Cox, the Borg are led by a king.

text: Character history[edit]

text: The Next Generation[edit]

text: The Borg first appear in the Star Trek: The Next Generation second-season episode "Q Who?", when the omnipotent life-form Q hurls the Enterprise-D across the galaxy to challenge Jean-Luc Picard's assertion that his crew is ready to face the unexplored galaxy's unknown dangers and mysteries. The Enterprise crew is quickly overwhelmed by the relentless Borg, and Picard eventually begs for and receives Q's help in returning the ship to its previous coordinates in the Alpha Quadrant. At the episode's conclusion, Picard suggests to Guinan that Q did "the right thing for the wrong reason" by showing the dangers they will eventually face. It is suggested that the Borg may have been responsible for the destruction of Federation and Romulan colonies in the final episode of season one, "The Neutral Zone".[17]

text: The Borg next appear in The Next Generation's third-season finale and fourth-season premiere, "The Best of Both Worlds". In the third-season cliffhanger, Picard is abducted and subsequently assimilated by the Borg and transformed into Locutus, the Latin term for "he who has spoken" or "he who speaks". "Locutus" is the Borg method of describing the former Picard as the representative of the Borg in all future contacts related to humanity. Picard's knowledge of Starfleet is gained by the collective, and the single cube easily wipes out all resistance in its path, notably the entire Starfleet armada at Wolf 359, which consisted of 40 starships, some of which were sent from the Klingon Empire. The Enterprise crew manages to capture Locutus and gain information through him which allows them to destroy the cube. Picard is later "deassimilated", a process quite different from what happened to Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (Seven of Nine had to be completely "re-schooled" on humanity, while Picard merely needed to be reminded of humanity. This could be because unlike Seven of Nine, Picard was assimilated for only a short while, while Seven of Nine was assimilated as a child).

text: In the fifth-season episode "I, Borg", the Enterprise crew rescues a solitary adolescent Borg who is given the name "Hugh" by Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge. The crew faces the moral decision of whether or not to use Hugh (who begins to develop a sense of independence as a result of a severed link to the collective consciousness of the Borg) as an apocalyptic means of delivering a devastating computer virus, in the form of a topological paradox problem, that would theoretically destroy the Borg, or to humanely allow him to return to the Borg with his individuality intact.[18] They decide to return him without the virus. This is followed up in the sixth-season cliffhanger "Descent", which depicts a group of rogue Borg who had "assimilated" individuality through Hugh. These rogue Borg fell under the control of the psychopathic android Lore, the "older brother" of Data.

text: In cult leader-like fashion, Lore had manipulated them into following him by appealing to their restored emotions and exploiting their new-found senses of individuality and fear, hoping to turn them on the Federation. Lore also corrupts Data through the use of the emotion chip he had stolen from Noonien Soong (Data and Lore's creator). In the end, Data's ethical subroutines are restored (having been suppressed by Lore through use of the emotion chip) and he manages to deactivate Lore after a battle in which a renegade Borg faction led by Hugh attacks the main complex. Data reclaims the emotion chip, Lore is mentioned as needing to be dismantled (for safety) and the surviving Borg fall under the leadership of Hugh. The fate of these deassimilated Borg is not revealed, though non-canon material suggests that they remained on the planet and established a permanent colony.

text: First Contact[edit]

text: The Borg return as the antagonists in one of the Next Generation films, Star Trek: First Contact. After again failing to assimilate Earth by a direct assault in the year 2373, the Borg travel back in time to the year 2063 to try to stop Zefram Cochrane's first contact with the Vulcans, which would have erased the Federation from history. The Enterprise-E crew follows the Borg back in time, and restores the original timeline. First Contact introduces the Borg Queen, a recurring character on Star Trek: Voyager.

text: Parts of this destroyed Borg sphere, along with at least two drones, are shown to have crash landed in the Arctic in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Regeneration".

text: Deep Space Nine[edit]

text: The only appearance the Borg made on this series was in the premiere episode Emissary. Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was an officer on the USS Saratoga, one of the ships in the Starfleet armada dispatched to Wolf 359. The Saratoga was hailed by the Borg cube with Locutus speaking as their representative. The Borg opened fire on the Saratoga, leading to the deaths of most of the ship's personnel, including Sisko's wife Jennifer. This created great resentment in Sisko when dealing with Picard; for Sisko, Picard was the living embodiment of the suffering the Borg inflicted at Wolf 359, making their meeting in "Emissary" tense when Picard gave Sisko his orders for taking over the station. Sisko found it hard to separate Jean-Luc Picard from the Borg drone who was responsible for his wife's death.

text: Despite their absence for the vast majority of the series beyond the pilot, references to the Borg, as well as the Wolf 359 massacre, are made occasionally throughout the series. In fact, the USS Defiant, a primary starship setting from the third season onwards, is explicitly stated to have been designed as a countermeasure against the Borg though it is later used against the Dominion.[19] In addition, the battle from Star Trek: First Contact is used as a plot point in Season 5 as Starfleet is spread thin to deal with a Dominion incursion.

text: In First Contact, the Defiant is heavily damaged during a battle with the Borg; the ship is later declared 'adrift, but salvageable', which allowed Deep Space Nine's producers to retain their signature starship.

text: Voyager[edit]

text: The Borg make frequent appearances in Star Trek: Voyager, which takes place in the Delta Quadrant, the region of the galaxy from which the Borg are believed to have originated. The Borg are first discovered by Voyager in the third-season episode "Blood Fever". Chakotay discovers the body of what the local humanoids refer to as "the Invaders"; which turns out to be the Borg. In "Scorpion", the Borg are engaged in a war of attrition against Species 8472, whose biological defences, developed as a feature of their evolution in fluidic space, are a match for the Borg's nanoprobes. In one of the few instances of the Borg negotiating, in exchange for safe passage through Borg space, the Voyager crew devises a way to destroy the otherwise invulnerable Species 8472. A Borg drone, Seven of Nine, is dispatched to Voyager to facilitate this arrangement as Captain Janeway refuses to allow the Borg to use neural implants for communication with the Voyager crew.

text: After successfully driving Species 8472 back into their fluidic space, Seven of Nine attempts to assimilate Voyager but is severed from the hive mind and stripped of most of her Borg implants, becoming a member of Voyager's crew. Seven of Nine's rediscovery of her individuality becomes a recurring theme throughout the series. Flashbacks and allusions in several episodes, such as "The Raven", establish that before her assimilation, Seven of Nine was Annika Hansen, the child of scientists who studied the Borg in the Delta Quadrant independent of the Federation. Unfortunately her parents were assimilated into the collective with her, but her father makes a temporary appearance in the final episode of Voyager.

text: In "Drone", an advanced Borg drone is created when Seven of Nine's nanoprobes are fused with the Doctor's mobile emitter in a transporter accident. The drone, who adopts the moniker "One", involuntarily sends a signal to the collective, bringing a sphere to Voyager. One destroys the Borg ship and lets himself die to protect Voyager from further Borg pursuits.

text: In "Infinite Regress" it was revealed that all Borg starships have a device called a vinculum which connects all the minds of the drones, eliminates individual thoughts, and disseminates information to the Borg Collective.

text: In "Dark Frontier", Captain Kathryn Janeway decides to attack the Borg in the hopes of stealing a transwarp coil to aid Voyager's journey home. The Borg Queen learns of the plot and offers Seven of Nine a deal to spare Voyager in exchange for her rejoining the collective. Voyager recovers the transwarp coil and uses it, with the Delta Flyer, to save Seven from the Queen. Voyager uses the transwarp coil to travel 20,000 light-years before it burns out.

text: In "Collective", the crew of Voyager stumble upon a severely damaged cube that is holding Tom Paris, Neelix, Harry and Chakotay hostage. The crew later finds out that the ship is run by five Borg children who left their maturation chambers early. There are no living adult drones on board the ship due to a pathogen that somehow infected the entire vessel. The children sent a message to the collective that they were attacked. The collective replied and told them they were irrelevant. Seven of Nine is sent to assist in repairs and negotiate a trade for the prisoners. Voyager is soon attacked by the cube when the Borg children attempt to rip the main deflector off of the hull so they can rejoin the collective. When the cube's leader dies, Seven takes the children onto Voyager, has their non-essential Borg components removed. Most of the deassimilated children were returned to their home planets; one chose to remain with Voyager, and was eventually given the provisional rank of Cadet.

text: In "Q2", Q's son places Voyager in danger and brings Borg onto the ship. Q intercedes, saves Voyager and angrily warns his son about provoking the Borg.

text: In the Voyager finale, "Endgame", an elderly Admiral Janeway from the future travels back in time, to aid in Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant through the use of a Borg transwarp hub. This hub is one of six such structures scattered across the galaxy, which allow Borg ships to traverse galactic distances in mere minutes. The future Janeway uses the hub and travels to Unicomplex 1, the primary control center of the Borg and the residence of the Queen. She deliberately infects herself with a neurolytic pathogen, and when she was assimilated, the pathogen rapidly spreads and infects a majority of the collective and kills the Queen. With the Queen dead, the hive mind is fractured and Borg technology ceases to adapt to weapons fire. Without the adaptations against transphasic torpedoes, Voyager fires the torpedoes at the transwarp conduits holding the transwarp network together and they are easily destroyed. On the way, a Borg sphere pursues and captures Voyager, but upon arrival at Earth, it is destroyed from the inside by Voyager's transphasic torpedo.

text: Enterprise[edit]

text: The Borg make their last canon appearance in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Regeneration", the remnants of the destroyed sphere from Star Trek: First Contact are discovered in the Arctic along with two frozen drones. Once unearthed, the Borg quickly revive and assimilate the human scientists who found them before stealing an unarmed research ship, modifying it to match Starfleet technology in a matter of hours. The drones manage to send a transmission toward the Delta Quadrant before they are destroyed. According to dialogue, their transmission would reach its destination in 200 years, essentially establishing a closed time loop with the events of "Q Who", explaining why the cube in the latter episode was already en route to Earth[citation needed]. Although the Borg never identify themselves as such in dialogue, the episode's events prompt characters to allude to Zefram Cochrane's claims that "strange cybernetic creatures from the future" tried to interfere with First Contact.

text: Writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens developed an unproduced idea for an episode which would have featured Alice Krige as a Starfleet medical technician who encounters the Borg and is assimilated – thereby becoming the Borg Queen.[20]

text: Other media[edit]

text: In the non-canonical Star Trek: The Manga story 'Side Effects' written by Chris Dows, the crew of the Enterprise under James T. Kirk discovers an alien station operating near a black hole. The commander of the station appears to be abducting races in a desperate attempt to cure a strange plague among his people. Using his own daughter as a guinea pig, he is able to create a cure for the plague, though the end result is always assimilation into the consciousness of his daughter, the future Borg Queen, for those cured.

text: In the Star Trek novel Probe, which takes place following the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the Borg are mentioned obliquely in communication with the whale-probe as spacefaring "mites" (the whale-probe's term for humanoid races) who traveled in cubical and spherical spacefaring vessels; the Borg apparently attacked the whale-probe and damaged its memory in some fashion before the events of the film.

text: In the Star Trek Game Star Trek: Legacy, the Borg are featured midway through the TOS era as "Assimilated Klingon ships". In the final mission, once the player has completed the primary objective, a confrontation with T'urell ensues; she departs, and the player must destroy a Borg Sphere.

text: The Peter David novel Vendetta reveals that the planet killer weapon from the Original Series episode "The Doomsday Machine" is a prototype for a weapon against the Borg, with a woman whose race were destroyed by the Borg trying to use the weapon against them despite the damage she will cause on her journey due to its need to consume planets. David revisited this concept in a 2007 sequel novel, Before Dishonor, which features the Enterprise-E working with Spock and Seven of Nine to reactivate the original planet killer to stop the Borg.

text: In William Shatner's novel The Return, Spock is nearly assimilated by the Borg, but is saved because he mind-melded with V'ger, an earlier form of the Borg, causing the Borg to register an "imprint" of the Collective already in Spock's mind and spare him as they assume that he is already a Borg. Using the information he subconsciously acquired in the meld, Spock is able to lead a crew of Enterprise officers- consisting of the Enterprise-D senior staff, himself, Admiral McCoy, and the resurrected Kirk- in a Defiant-class ship to destroy the Borg central node, severing all branches of the Collective from each other and limiting their future threat.

text: In David Mack's novel trilogy Star Trek: Destiny, set over a year after Star Trek: Nemesis, the Borg stage a massive invasion of local space using the totality of their forces. Due to Kathryn Janeway crippling their infrastructure in "Endgame", the Borg fear for their survival and thus attempt to exterminate the Federation and its neighbors. They wipe out the populations of numerous Federation worlds before being dismantled by the Caeliar, the advanced species that spawned them. The crews of the Enterprise-E, the Titan, and the Aventine had made contact with the Caeliar, learned of their role in the creation of the Borg from Erika Hernandez, and convinced them to end the threat of the Borg once and for all.

text: In the Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover comic, Assimilation2, the Borg join forces with the Cybermen, but the Enterprise-D crew are later forced to work with the Eleventh Doctor and the Borg when the Cybermen subvert the Collective, resulting in them restoring the Borg to full strength and erasing the Borg/Cyberman alliance from existence.[21]

text: In the video game Star Trek: Armada, the Borg invades a Dominion cloning facility to create a clone of Jean-Luc Picard to assimilate him into Locutus.

text: In video games[edit]

text: The Borg appear as antagonists to the player in the following Star Trek videogame titles:

text:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Birth of the Federation
Star Trek: A Final Unity
Star Trek: Armada
Star Trek: Armada II
Star Trek: Away Team
Star Trek: Borg
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
Star Trek: Elite Force II
Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
Star Trek: Encounters
Star Trek: Invasion
Star Trek: Legacy
Star Trek: Conquest
Star Trek Online
Star Trek: Borg Contact

text: They also appear as the main characters in one of the Star Trek arcade games, Star Trek: Borg Contact, where players must squeeze two handles without letting go.

text: Activision at one point planned to release Star Trek: Borg Assimilator, in which the player would play a Borg, but later canceled the game.

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The depiction of the Borg cube in "Q Who" garnered the episode an Emmy Award nomination.[22]


document_title: List of iPod models

question_text: when did the ipod 4th gen come out

question_tokens: when did the ipod 4th gen come out

root

text: List of iPod models

text: Models[edit]

text:
Model
Generation
Image
Capacity
Connection
Original release date
Minimum OS to sync
Rated battery life (hours)

Classic
1st

5, 10 GB
FireWire
October 23, 2001
Mac: 9, 10.1
audio: 10

First model, with mechanical scroll wheel. 10 GB model released later.

2nd

10, 20 GB
FireWire
July 17, 2002
Mac: 10.1
Win: 2000
audio: 10

Touch-sensitive wheel. FireWire port had a cover. Hold switch revised. Windows compatibility through Musicmatch.

3rd

10, 15, 20, 30, 40 GB
FireWire (USB for syncing only)
April 28, 2003
Mac: 10.1
Win: 2000
audio: 8

First complete redesign with all-touch interface, dock connector, and slimmer case. Musicmatch support dropped with later release of iTunes 4.1 for Windows.

4th
(Photo)
(Color)

20, 40 GB
FireWire or USB
July 19, 2004
Mac: 10.2
Win: 2000
audio: 12

Adopted Click Wheel from iPod Mini, hold switch redesigned.

photo:
30, 40, 60 GB
FireWire or USB
October 26, 2004
Mac: 10.2
Win: 2000
audio: 15
slideshow: 5

color:
20, 60 GB
June 28, 2005

Premium spin-off of 4th generation iPod With Color Screen, plus picture viewing. Later reintegrated into main iPod line.

5th

30, 60, 80 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)
October 12, 2005
Mac: 10.3
Win: 2000
30 GB
audio: 14
video: 2
(later 3.5)
60/80 GB
audio: 20
video: 3/6.5

Second full redesign with a slimmer case, and larger screen with video playback. Offered in black or white. Hardware and firmware updated with 60 GB model replaced with 80 GB model on September 12, 2006.

6th

80, 120, 160 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)
September 5, 2007
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
80 GB
audio: 30
video: 5
120 GB
audio: 36
video: 6
160 GB
2007 model
audio: 40
video: 7
2009 model
audio: 36
video: 6

Introduced the "Classic" suffix. New interface and anodized aluminum front plate. Silver replaces white. In September 2008 the hardware and firmware was updated with a 120 GB model replacing the 80 GB model and the 160 GB model was discontinued. In September 2009, the 120 GB model was replaced with a 160 GB model. Discontinued on September 9, 2014.

Mini
1st

4 GB
USB or FireWire
January 6, 2004
Mac: 10.1
Win: 2000
audio: 8

New smaller model, available in 5 colors. Introduced the "Click Wheel".

2nd

4, 6 GB
USB or FireWire
February 22, 2005
Mac: 10.2
Win: 2000
audio: 18

Brighter color variants with longer battery life. Click Wheel lettering matched body color. Gold color discontinued. Later replaced by iPod Nano.

Nano
1st

1, 2, 4 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)
September 7, 2005
Mac: 10.3
Win: 2000
audio: 14
slideshow: 4

Replaced Mini. Available in black or white and used flash memory. Color screen for picture viewing. 1 GB version released later.

2nd

2, 4, 8 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)
September 12, 2006
Mac: 10.3
Win: 2000
audio: 24
slideshow: 5

Anodized aluminum casing and 6 colors available.

3rd

4, 8 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)
September 5, 2007
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 24
video: 5

2" QVGA screen, colors refreshed with chrome back, new interface, video capability, smaller Click Wheel.

4th

4, 8, 16 GB
USB
September 9, 2008
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 24
video: 4

Revert to tall form and all-aluminum enclosure with nine color choices, added accelerometer for shake and horizontal viewing. 4 GB model limited release in select markets.

5th

8, 16 GB
USB
September 9, 2009
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 24
video: 5

First iPod to include a video camera; also included a larger screen, FM radio, speaker, pedometer, and a polished exterior case while retaining the similar colors as the 4th generation model.

6th

8, 16 GB
USB
September 1, 2010
Mac: 10.5
Win: XP
audio: 24

First iPod Nano to include multi-touch screen; clip from iPod Shuffle added. Video playback, speakers and camera removed.

7th

16 GB
USB
September 12, 2012
Mac: 10.6
Win: XP
audio: 30
video: 3.5

Revert to tall form factor with larger 2.5" multi-touch screen. Clip removed. Video playback restored and Bluetooth added. Discontinued July 27, 2017[1]

Shuffle
1st

512 MB, 1 GB
USB
(no adaptor required)
January 11, 2005
Mac: 10.2
Win: 2000
audio: 12

New entry-level model. Uses flash memory and has no screen.

2nd

1, 2 GB
USB
September 12, 2006
Mac: 10.3
Win: 2000
audio: 12

Smaller clip design with anodized aluminum casing. 4 color options added later. Colors were later refreshed twice.

3rd

2, 4 GB
USB
March 11, 2009
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 10

Smaller design with controls relocated to right earbud cable. Introduced with two colors, and features VoiceOver. More colors and 2 GB model added in September 2009.

4th

2 GB
USB
September 1, 2010
Mac: 10.5
Win: XP
audio: 15

Controls returned to the body of the iPod. Introduced with five colors, and features VoiceOver. Discontinued July 27, 2017[1]

Touch
1st

8, 16, 32 GB
USB (FireWire for charging only)[2]
September 5, 2007
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 22
video: 5

First iPod with Wi-Fi and a Multi-touch interface. Features Safari browser and wireless access to the iTunes Store and YouTube. 32 GB model later added. iOS 2.0 and App Store access requires an upgrade fee.

2nd

8, 16, 32 GB
USB
September 9, 2008
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 36
video: 6

New tapered chrome back with Nike+ functionality, volume buttons, and built-in speaker added. iOS 2.0 and App Store access standard. Bluetooth support added but not made active until iOS 3.0, which requires an upgrade fee.

3rd
32, 64 GB
USB
September 9, 2009
Mac: 10.4
Win: XP
audio: 30
video: 6

Updated to include the upgraded internals from the iPhone 3GS; includes Voice Control support and bundled remote earphones.

4th

8, 16, 32, 64 GB
USB
September 1, 2010
Mac: 10.5
Win: XP
audio: 40
video: 7

New thinner design including two cameras for FaceTime and HD video recording, hold button moved to top right corner, Retina Display similar to iPhone 4, Apple A4 chip. White-colored version added on October 4, 2011.

5th

16, 32, 64 GB
USB
September 12, 2012
Mac: 10.6
Win: XP
audio: 40
video: 8

New aluminum design with colored case options. Features improved cameras along with A5 processor, Siri, and longer 4" Retina Display. First 16 GB models released have no color choices and have no iSight camera, In early 2014 16 GB models were released that have iSight cameras and color choices.

6th

16, 32, 64, 128 GB
USB
July 15, 2015
Mac: 10.7
Win: 7
audio: 40
video: 8

Updated with a new lineup of six colors, a new 128 GB model, and improved internals. The improved internals feature new cameras and the A8 processor with M8 motion coprocessor, 1GB of RAM (2X more than the previous generation), and AC Wi-Fi.[3]

Sources: Apple Inc.[4], Mactracker[5]

tag: table

text: The software bundled with the first generation iPod was Macintosh-only, so Windows users had to use third-party updates like ephPod or XPlay to manage their music. When Apple introduced the second generation of iPods in July 2002, they sold two versions, one that included iTunes for Macintosh users and another that included Musicmatch Jukebox for Windows users.[6] In October 2003, Apple released the Windows version of iTunes,[7] and started selling iPods that included both Macintosh and Windows versions of iTunes so that they could be used with either platform. Current iPods no longer ship with iTunes, which must be downloaded from Apple's website.

tag: p

text: In December 2004, Apple unveiled its first limited edition iPods, with either Madonna’s, Tony Hawk’s, or Beck’s signature or No Doubt's band logo engraved on the back for an extra US$50.[8] On 26 October 2004, Apple introduced a special edition of its fourth generation monochrome iPod, designed in the color scheme of the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by Irish rock band U2. It had a black case with a red click wheel and the back had the engraved signatures of U2's band members. This iPod was updated alongside the iPod Photo and fifth generation iPod.[9]

text: On October 31, 2012, Apple released a special edition 4 GB red iPod nano as part of the Product Red campaign. An 8 GB version was released three weeks later and both of them sold for the same price as the standard models. US$10 from each sale is donated to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria. On September 5, 2007, Apple also added a Product Red iPod Shuffle model. They did not disclose how much will be donated to charity from this model. Apple also released Special Edition Harry Potter iPods to accompany the iPod Photo. These were engraved with the Hogwarts Crest on the back and were only available to purchasers of the Harry Potter audiobooks. They were updated when the fifth generation iPods were released, but were only available for a limited time.

text: On July 27, 2017, Apple discontinued all iPod Shuffles, iPod Mini, iPod Classics, and iPod Nanos. Apple plans to keep the iPod Touch, as it is the most popular iPod device. However, the 7th generation iPod Touch is yet to be released, leaving the most recent iPod touch device the current 6th Generation iPod Touch.

text: Timeline of iPod models and related products


document_title: Barcode

question_text: when did they start putting barcodes on products

question_tokens: when did they start putting barcodes on products

text: Barcode

text: History[edit]

text: This article duplicates the scope of other articles, specifically, Universal Product Code#History. Please discuss this issue on the talk page and edit it to conform with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. (December 2013)

text: In 1948 Bernard Silver, a graduate student at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US overheard the president of the local food chain, Food Fair, asking one of the deans to research a system to automatically read product information during checkout.[4] Silver told his friend Norman Joseph Woodland about the request, and they started working on a variety of systems. Their first working system used ultraviolet ink, but the ink faded too easily and was expensive.[5][6]

text: Convinced that the system was workable with further development, Woodland left Drexel, moved into his father's apartment in Florida, and continued working on the system. His next inspiration came from Morse code, and he formed his first barcode from sand on the beach. "I just extended the dots and dashes downwards and made narrow lines and wide lines out of them."[5] To read them, he adapted technology from optical soundtracks in movies, using a 500-watt incandescent light bulb shining through the paper onto an RCA935 photomultiplier tube (from a movie projector) on the far side. He later decided that the system would work better if it were printed as a circle instead of a line, allowing it to be scanned in any direction.

text: On 20 October 1949 Woodland and Silver filed a patent application for "Classifying Apparatus and Method", in which they described both the linear and bullseye printing patterns, as well as the mechanical and electronic systems needed to read the code. The patent was issued on 7 October 1952 as US Patent 2,612,994. In 1951, Woodland moved to IBM and continually tried to interest IBM in developing the system. The company eventually commissioned a report on the idea, which concluded that it was both feasible and interesting, but that processing the resulting information would require equipment that was some time off in the future.

text: IBM offered to buy the patent, but its offer was not high enough. Philco purchased their patent in 1962 and then sold it to RCA sometime later.[5]

text: Collins at Sylvania[edit]

text: During his time as an undergraduate, David Collins worked at the Pennsylvania Railroad and became aware of the need to automatically identify railroad cars. Immediately after receiving his master's degree from MIT in 1959, he started work at GTE Sylvania and began addressing the problem. He developed a system called KarTrak using blue and red reflective stripes attached to the side of the cars, encoding a six-digit company identifier and a four-digit car number.[5] Light reflected off the stripes was fed into one of two photomultipliers, filtered for blue or red.[citation needed]

text: The Boston and Maine Railroad tested the KarTrak system on their gravel cars in 1961. The tests continued until 1967, when the Association of American Railroads (AAR) selected it as a standard, Automatic Car Identification, across the entire North American fleet. The installations began on 10 October 1967. However, the economic downturn and rash of bankruptcies in the industry in the early 1970s greatly slowed the rollout, and it was not until 1974 that 95% of the fleet was labeled. To add to its woes, the system was found to be easily fooled by dirt in certain applications, which greatly affected accuracy. The AAR abandoned the system in the late 1970s, and it was not until the mid-1980s that they introduced a similar system, this time based on radio tags.[7]

text: The railway project had failed, but a toll bridge in New Jersey requested a similar system so that it could quickly scan for cars that had purchased a monthly pass. Then the U.S. Post Office requested a system to track trucks entering and leaving their facilities. These applications required special retroreflector labels. Finally, Kal Kan asked the Sylvania team for a simpler (and cheaper) version which they could put on cases of pet food for inventory control.

text: Computer Identics Corporation[edit]

text: In 1967, with the railway system maturing, Collins went to management looking for funding for a project to develop a black-and-white version of the code for other industries. They declined, saying that the railway project was large enough, and they saw no need to branch out so quickly.

text: Collins then quit Sylvania and formed the Computer Identics Corporation.[5] As its first innovations, Computer Identics moved from using incandescent light bulbs in its systems, replacing them with helium–neon lasers, and incorporated a mirror as well, making it capable of locating a barcode up to several feet in front of the scanner. This made the entire process much simpler and more reliable, and typically enabled these devices to deal with damaged labels, as well, by recognizing and reading the intact portions.

text: Computer Identics Corporation installed one of its first two scanning systems in the spring of 1969 at a General Motors (Buick) factory in Flint, Michigan.[5] The system was used to identify a dozen types of transmissions moving on an overhead conveyor from production to shipping. The other scanning system was installed at General Trading Company's distribution center in Carlstadt, New Jersey to direct shipments to the proper loading bay.

text: Universal Product Code[edit]

text: In 1966 the National Association of Food Chains (NAFC) held a meeting on the idea of automated checkout systems. RCA, who had purchased the rights to the original Woodland patent, attended the meeting and initiated an internal project to develop a system based on the bullseye code. The Kroger grocery chain volunteered to test it.

text: In the mid-1970s, the NAFC established the Ad-Hoc Committee for U.S. Supermarkets on a Uniform Grocery-Product Code to set guidelines for barcode development. In addition, it created a symbol-selection subcommittee to help standardize the approach. In cooperation with consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., they developed a standardized 11-digit code for identifying products. The committee then sent out a contract tender to develop a barcode system to print and read the code. The request went to Singer, National Cash Register (NCR), Litton Industries, RCA, Pitney-Bowes, IBM and many others.[8] A wide variety of barcode approaches were studied, including linear codes, RCA's bullseye concentric circle code, starburst patterns and others.

text: In the spring of 1971, RCA demonstrated their bullseye code at another industry meeting. IBM executives at the meeting noticed the crowds at the RCA booth and immediately developed their own system. IBM marketing specialist, Alec Jablonover, remembered that the company still employed Woodland, and he[who?] established a new facility in North Carolina to lead development.

text: In July 1972, RCA began an eighteen-month test in a Kroger store in Cincinnati. Barcodes were printed on small pieces of adhesive paper, and attached by hand by store employees when they were adding price tags. The code proved to have a serious problem; the printers would sometimes smear ink, rendering the code unreadable in most orientations. However, a linear code, like the one being developed by Woodland at IBM, was printed in the direction of the stripes, so extra ink would simply make the code "taller" while remaining readable. So on 3 April 1973, the IBM UPC was selected as the NAFC standard. IBM had designed five versions of UPC symbology for future industry requirements: UPC A, B, C, D, and E.[9]

text: NCR installed a testbed system at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, near the factory that was producing the equipment. On 26 June 1974, Clyde Dawson pulled a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum out of his basket and it was scanned by Sharon Buchanan at 8:01 am. The pack of gum and the receipt are now on display in the Smithsonian Institution. It was the first commercial appearance of the UPC.[10]

text: In 1971, an IBM team was assembled for an intensive planning session, thrashing out, 12 to 18 hours a day, how the technology would be deployed and operate cohesively across the system, and scheduling a roll-out plan. By 1973, the team were meeting with grocery manufacturers to introduce the symbol that would need to be printed on the packaging or labels of all of their products. There were no cost savings for a grocery to use it, unless at least 70% of the grocery's products had the barcode printed on the product by the manufacturer. IBM projected that 75% would be needed in 1975. Yet, although this was achieved, there were still scanning machines in fewer than 200 grocery stores by 1977.[11]

text: Economic studies conducted for the grocery industry committee projected over $40 million in savings to the industry from scanning by the mid-1970s. Those numbers were not achieved in that time-frame and some predicted the demise of barcode scanning. The usefulness of the barcode required the adoption of expensive scanners by a critical mass of retailers while manufacturers simultaneously adopted barcode labels. Neither wanted to move first and results were not promising for the first couple of years, with Business Week proclaiming "The Supermarket Scanner That Failed" in a 1976 article.[10][12]

text: On the other hand, experience with barcode scanning in those stores revealed additional benefits. The detailed sales information acquired by the new systems allowed greater responsiveness to customer habits, needs and preferences. This was reflected in the fact that about 5 weeks after installing barcode scanners, sales in grocery stores typically started climbing and eventually leveled off at a 10–12% increase in sales that never dropped off. There was also a 1–2% decrease in operating cost for those stores, and this enabled them to lower prices and thereby to increase market share. It was shown in the field that the return on investment for a barcode scanner was 41.5%. By 1980, 8,000 stores per year were converting.[11]

text: Sims Supermarkets were the first location in Australia to use barcodes, starting in 1979.[13]

text: The global public launch of the barcode[when?] was greeted with minor skepticism from conspiracy theorists, who considered barcodes to be an intrusive surveillance technology, and from some Christians, pioneered by a 1982 book The New Money System 666 by Mary Stewart Relfe, who thought the codes hid the number 666, representing the number of the beast.[14] Television host Phil Donahue described barcodes as a "corporate plot against consumers".[15]

text: Industrial adoption[edit]

text: In 1981, the United States Department of Defense adopted the use of Code 39 for marking all products sold to the United States military. This system, Logistics Applications of Automated Marking and Reading Symbols (LOGMARS), is still used by DoD and is widely viewed as the catalyst for widespread adoption of barcoding in industrial uses.[16]

text: Use[edit]

text: Barcodes such as the UPC have become a ubiquitous element of modern civilization, as evidenced by their enthusiastic adoption by stores around the world; most items other than fresh produce from a grocery store now have UPC barcodes.[citation needed] This helps track items and also reduces instances of shoplifting involving price tag swapping, although shoplifters can now print their own barcodes.[17] In addition, retail chain membership cards (issued mostly by grocery stores and specialty "big box" retail stores such as sporting equipment, office supply, or pet stores) use barcodes to uniquely identify consumers, allowing for customized marketing and greater understanding of individual consumer shopping patterns. At the point of sale, shoppers can get product discounts or special marketing offers through the address or e-mail address provided at registration.

text: They are widely used in the healthcare and hospital settings, ranging from patient identification (to access patient data, including medical history, drug allergies, etc.) to creating SOAP Notes[18] with barcodes to medication management. They are also used to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications, track the organization of species in biology,[19] and integrate with in-motion checkweighers to identify the item being weighed in a conveyor line for data collection.

text: They can also be used to keep track of objects and people; they are used to keep track of rental cars, airline luggage, nuclear waste, registered mail, express mail and parcels. Barcoded tickets allow the holder to enter sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, fairgrounds, and transportation, and are used to record the arrival and departure of vehicles from rental facilities etc. This can allow proprietors to identify duplicate or fraudulent tickets more easily. Barcodes are widely used in shop floor control applications software where employees can scan work orders and track the time spent on a job.

text: Barcodes are also used in some kinds of non-contact 1D and 2D position sensors. A series of barcodes are used in some kinds of absolute 1D linear encoder. The barcodes are packed close enough together that the reader always has one or two barcodes in its field of view. As a kind of fiducial marker, the relative position of the barcode in the field of view of the reader gives incremental precise positioning, in some cases with sub-pixel resolution. The data decoded from the barcode gives the absolute coarse position. An "address carpet", such as Howell's binary pattern and the Anoto dot pattern, is a 2D barcode designed so that a reader, even though only a tiny portion of the complete carpet is in the field of view of the reader, can find its absolute X,Y position and rotation in the carpet.[20][21]

text: Some 2D barcodes embed a hyperlink to a web page. A capable cellphone might be used to read the pattern and browse the linked website, which can help a shopper find the best price for an item in the vicinity. Since 2005, airlines use an IATA-standard 2D barcode on boarding passes (Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP)), and since 2008 2D barcodes sent to mobile phones enable electronic boarding passes.[22]

text: Some applications for barcodes have fallen out of use. In the 1970s and 1980s, software source code was occasionally encoded in a barcode and printed on paper (Cauzin Softstrip and Paperbyte[23] are barcode symbologies specifically designed for this application), and the 1991 Barcode Battler computer game system used any standard barcode to generate combat statistics.

text: In the 21st century, many artists have started using barcodes in art, such as Scott Blake's Barcode Jesus, as part of the post-modernism movement.

text: Symbologies[edit]

text: The mapping between messages and barcodes is called a symbology. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of single digits/characters of the message as well as the start and stop markers into bars and space, the size of the quiet zone required to be before and after the barcode as well as the computation of a checksum.

text: Linear symbologies can be classified mainly by two properties:

text:
Characters in discrete symbologies are composed of n bars and n − 1 spaces. There is an additional space between characters, but it does not convey information, and may have any width as long as it is not confused with the end of the code.
Characters in continuous symbologies are composed of n bars and n spaces, and usually abut, with one character ending with a space and the next beginning with a bar, or vice versa. A special end pattern that has bars on both ends is required to end the code.

tag: ul

text:
A two-width, also called a binary bar code, contains bars and spaces of two widths, "wide" and "narrow". The precise width of the wide bars and spaces is not critical; typically it is permitted to be anywhere between 2 and 3 times the width of the narrow equivalents.
Some other symbologies use bars of two different heights, or the presence or absence of bars. These are normally also considered binary bar codes.
Bars and spaces in many-width symbologies are all multiples of a basic width called the module; most such codes use four widths of 1, 2, 3 and 4 modules.

text: Some symbologies use interleaving. The first character is encoded using black bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded by varying the width of the white spaces between these bars. Thus characters are encoded in pairs over the same section of the barcode. Interleaved 2 of 5 is an example of this.

text: Stacked symbologies repeat a given linear symbology vertically.

text: The most common among the many 2D symbologies are matrix codes, which feature square or dot-shaped modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2D symbologies also come in circular and other patterns and may employ steganography, hiding modules within an image (for example, DataGlyphs).

text: Linear symbologies are optimized for laser scanners, which sweep a light beam across the barcode in a straight line, reading a slice of the barcode light-dark patterns. Stacked symbologies are also optimized for laser scanning, with the laser making multiple passes across the barcode.

text: In the 1990s development of charge coupled device (CCD) imagers to read barcodes was pioneered by Welch Allyn. Imaging does not require moving parts, as a laser scanner does. In 2007, linear imaging had begun to supplant laser scanning as the preferred scan engine for its performance and durability.

text: 2D symbologies cannot be read by a laser, as there is typically no sweep pattern that can encompass the entire symbol. They must be scanned by an image-based scanner employing a CCD or other digital camera sensor technology.

text: Scanners (barcode readers)[edit]

text: The earliest, and still the cheapest, barcode scanners are built from a fixed light and a single photosensor that is manually "scrubbed" across the barcode.

text: Barcode scanners can be classified into three categories based on their connection to the computer. The older type is the RS-232 barcode scanner. This type requires special programming for transferring the input data to the application program.

text: "Keyboard interface scanners" connect to a computer using a PS/2 or AT keyboard–compatible adaptor cable (a "keyboard wedge"). The barcode's data is sent to the computer as if it had been typed on the keyboard.

text: Like the keyboard interface scanner, USB scanners are easy to install and do not need custom code for transferring input data to the application program. On PCs running Windows the HID interface emulates the data merging action of a hardware "keyboard wedge", and the scanner automatically behaves like an additional keyboard.

text: Many phones are able to decode barcodes using their built-in camera, as well. Google's mobile Android operating system uses both their own Google Goggles application or third party barcode scanners like Scan.[24] Nokia's Symbian operating system features a barcode scanner,[25] while mbarcode[26] is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system. In Apple iOS 11, the native camera app can decode QR Codes and can link to URLs, join wireless networks, or perform other operations depending on the QR Code contents[27]. Other paid and free apps are available with scanning capabilities for other symbologies or for earlier iOS versions[28]. With BlackBerry devices, the App World application can natively scan barcodes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browser. Windows Phone 7.5 is able to scan barcodes through the Bing search app. However, these devices are not designed specifically for the capturing of barcodes. As a result, they do not decode nearly as quickly or accurately as a dedicated barcode scanner or portable data terminal.

text: Quality control and verification[edit]

text: Barcode verification examines scanability and the quality of the barcode in comparison to industry standards and specifications. Barcode verifiers are primarily used by businesses that print and use barcodes. Any trading partner in the supply chain can test barcode quality. It is important to verify a barcode to ensure that any reader in the supply chain can successfully interpret a barcode with a low error rate. Retailers levy large penalties for non-compliant barcodes. These chargebacks can reduce a manufacturer's revenue by 2% to 10%.[29]

text: A barcode verifier works the way a reader does, but instead of simply decoding a barcode, a verifier performs a series of tests. For linear barcodes these tests are:

text:
Edge determination
Minimum reflectance
Symbol contrast
Minimum edge contrast
Modulation
Defects
Decode
Decodability

text: 2D matrix symbols look at the parameters:

text:
Symbol contrast
Modulation
Decode
Unused error correction
Fixed (finder) pattern damage
Grid non-uniformity
Axial non-uniformity[30]

text: Depending on the parameter, each ANSI test is graded from 0.0 to 4.0 (F to A), or given a pass or fail mark. Each grade is determined by analyzing the scan reflectance profile (SRP), an analog graph of a single scan line across the entire symbol. The lowest of the 8 grades is the scan grade, and the overall ISO symbol grade is the average of the individual scan grades. For most applications a 2.5 (C) is the minimal acceptable symbol grade.[31]

text: Compared with a reader, a verifier measures a barcode's optical characteristics to international and industry standards. The measurement must be repeatable and consistent. Doing so requires constant conditions such as distance, illumination angle, sensor angle and verifier aperture. Based on the verification results, the production process can be adjusted to print higher quality barcodes that will scan down the supply chain.

text: Barcode verifier standards[edit]

text: Barcode verifiers should comply with the ISO/IEC 15426-1 (linear) or ISO/IEC 15426-2 (2D).

text: This standard defines the measuring accuracy of a barcode verifier.

text: The current international barcode quality specification is ISO/IEC 15416 (linear) and ISO/IEC 15415 (2D). The European Standard EN 1635 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 15416. The original U.S. barcode quality specification was ANSI X3.182. (UPCs used in the US – ANSI/UCC5).

text: This standard defines the quality requirements for barcodes and matrix codes (also called optical codes).

text: As of 2011 the ISO workgroup JTC1 SC31 was developing a Direct Part Marking (DPM) quality standard: ISO/IEC TR 29158.[32]

text: International standards are available from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).[33]

text: These standards are also available from local/national standardization organizations, such as ANSI, BSI, DIN, NEN and others.

text: Benefits[edit]

text: In point-of-sale management, barcode systems can provide detailed up-to-date information on the business, accelerating decisions and with more confidence. For example:

text:
Fast-selling items can be identified quickly and automatically reordered.
Slow-selling items can be identified, preventing inventory build-up.
The effects of merchandising changes can be monitored, allowing fast-moving, more profitable items to occupy the best space.
Historical data can be used to predict seasonal fluctuations very accurately.
Items may be repriced on the shelf to reflect both sale prices and price increases.
This technology also enables the profiling of individual consumers, typically through a voluntary registration of discount cards. While pitched as a benefit to the consumer, this practice is considered to be potentially dangerous by privacy advocates.

text: Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in logistics and supply chain management.

text:
When a manufacturer packs a box for shipment, a Unique Identifying Number (UID) can be assigned to the box.
A database can link the UID to relevant information about the box; such as order number, items packed, quantity packed, destination, etc.
The information can be transmitted through a communication system such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) so the retailer has the information about a shipment before it arrives.
Shipments that are sent to a Distribution Center (DC) are tracked before forwarding. When the shipment reaches its final destination, the UID gets scanned, so the store knows the shipment's source, contents, and cost.

text: Barcode scanners are relatively low cost and extremely accurate compared to key-entry, with only about 1 substitution error in 15,000 to 36 trillion characters entered.[34][unreliable source?] The exact error rate depends on the type of barcode.

text: Types of barcodes[edit]

text: Linear barcodes[edit]

text: A first generation, "one dimensional" barcode that is made up of lines and spaces of various widths that create specific patterns.

text:
Example
Symbology
Continuous or discrete
Bar widths
Uses

Australia Post barcode
Discrete
4 bar heights
An Australia Post barcode as used on a business reply paid envelope and applied by automated sorting machines to other mail when initially processed in fluorescent ink .

Codabar
Discrete
Two
Old format used in libraries and blood banks and on airbills (out of date)

Code 25 – Non-interleaved 2 of 5
Continuous
Two
Industrial

Code 25 – Interleaved 2 of 5
Continuous
Two
Wholesale, libraries International standard ISO/IEC 16390

Code 11
Discrete
Two
Telephones (out of date)

Farmacode or Code 32
Discrete
Two
Italian pharmacode – use Code 39 (no international standard available)

Code 39
Discrete
Two
Various – international standard ISO/IEC 16388

Code 49
Continuous
Many
Various

Code 93
Continuous
Many
Various

Code 128
Continuous
Many
Various – International Standard ISO/IEC 15417

CPC Binary
Discrete
Two

DX film edge barcode
Neither
Tall/short
Color print film

EAN 2
Continuous
Many
Addon code (magazines), GS1-approved – not an own symbology – to be used only with an EAN/UPC according to ISO/IEC 15420

EAN 5
Continuous
Many
Addon code (books), GS1-approved – not an own symbology – to be used only with an EAN/UPC according to ISO/IEC 15420

EAN-8, EAN-13
Continuous
Many
Worldwide retail, GS1-approved – International Standard ISO/IEC 15420

Facing Identification Mark
Discrete
Two
USPS business reply mail

GS1-128 (formerly named UCC/EAN-128), incorrectly referenced as EAN 128 and UCC 128
Continuous
Many
Various, GS1-approved – just an application of the Code 128 (ISO/IEC 15417) using the ANS MH10.8.2 AI Datastructures. It is not a separate symbology.

GS1 DataBar, formerly Reduced Space Symbology (RSS)
Continuous
Many
Various, GS1-approved

Intelligent Mail barcode
Discrete
4 bar heights
United States Postal Service, replaces both POSTNET and PLANET symbols (formerly named OneCode)

ITF-14
Continuous
Two
Non-retail packaging levels, GS1-approved – is just an Interleaved 2/5 Code (ISO/IEC 16390) with a few additional specifications, according to the GS1 General Specifications

JAN
Continuous
Many
Used in Japan, similar and compatible with EAN-13 (ISO/IEC 15420)

Japan Post barcode
Discrete
4 bar heights
Japan Post

KarTrak ACI
Discrete
Coloured bars
Used in North America on railroad rolling equipment

MSI
Continuous
Two
Used for warehouse shelves and inventory

Pharmacode
Discrete
Two
Pharmaceutical packaging (no international standard available)

PLANET
Continuous
Tall/short
United States Postal Service (no international standard available)

Plessey
Continuous
Two
Catalogs, store shelves, inventory (no international standard available)

PostBar
Discrete
4 bar heights
Canadian Post office

POSTNET
Discrete
Tall/short
United States Postal Service (no international standard available)

RM4SCC / KIX
Discrete
4 bar heights
Royal Mail / PostNL

RM Mailmark C
Discrete
4 bar heights
Royal Mail

RM Mailmark L
Discrete
4 bar heights
Royal Mail

Telepen
Continuous
Two
Libraries (UK)

Universal Product Code (UPC-A and UPC-E)
Continuous
Many
Worldwide retail, GS1-approved – International Standard ISO/IEC 15420

text: Matrix (2D) barcodes[edit]

text: A matrix code, also termed a 2D barcode or simply a 2D code, is a two-dimensional way to represent information. It is similar to a linear (1-dimensional) barcode, but can represent more data per unit area.

text:
Example
Name
Notes

Aztec Code
Designed by Andrew Longacre at Welch Allyn (now Honeywell Scanning and Mobility). Public domain. – International Standard: ISO/IEC 24778

Code 1
Public domain. Code 1 is currently used in the health care industry for medicine labels and the recycling industry to encode container content for sorting.[35]

ColorCode
ColorZip[36] developed colour barcodes that can be read by camera phones from TV screens; mainly used in Korea.[37]

Color Construct Code
Color Construct Code is one of the few barcode symbologies designed to take advantage of multiple colors.[38][39]

CrontoSign

CrontoSign (also called photoTAN) is a visual cryptogram[40] containing encrypted order data and a one-time-use TAN.[41]

CyberCode
From Sony.

d-touch
readable when printed on deformable gloves and stretched and distorted[42][43]

DataGlyphs
From Palo Alto Research Center (also termed Xerox PARC).[44]
Patented.[45] DataGlyphs can be embedded into a half-tone image or background shading pattern in a way that is almost perceptually invisible, similar to steganography.[46][47]

Data Matrix
From Microscan Systems, formerly RVSI Acuity CiMatrix/Siemens. Public domain. Increasingly used throughout the United States. Single segment Data Matrix is also termed Semacode. – International Standard: ISO/IEC 16022.

Datastrip Code
From Datastrip, Inc.

Digimarc Barcode
The Digimarc Barcode is a unique identifier, or code, based on imperceptible patterns that can be applied to marketing materials, including packaging, displays, ads in magazines, circulars, radio and television[48]

DotCode
Standardized as AIM Dotcode Rev 3.0. Public Domain. Used to track individual cigarette and pharmaceutical packages.

Dot Code A
Also known as Philips Dot Code.[49] Patented in 1988.[50]

digital paper
patterned paper used in conjunction with a digital pen to create handwritten digital documents. The printed dot pattern uniquely identifies the position coordinates on the paper.

DWCode
Introduced by GS1 US and GS1 Germany, the DWCode is a unique, imperceptible data carrier that is repeated across the entire graphics design of a package[51]

EZcode
Designed for decoding by cameraphones;[52] from ScanLife.[53]

High Capacity Color Barcode
Developed by Microsoft; licensed by ISAN-IA.

Han Xin Barcode
Barcode designed to encode Chinese characters introduced by Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility in 2011.

HueCode
From Robot Design Associates. Uses greyscale or colour.[54]

InterCode
From Iconlab, Inc. The standard 2D barcode in South Korea. All 3 South Korean mobile carriers put the scanner program of this code into their handsets to access mobile internet, as a default embedded program.

MaxiCode
Used by United Parcel Service. Now Public Domain

MMCC
Designed to disseminate high capacity mobile phone content via existing colour print and electronic media, without the need for network connectivity

NexCode
NexCode is developed and patented by S5 Systems.

Nintendo e-Reader#Dot code
Developed by Olympus Corporation to store songs, images, and mini-games for Game Boy Advance on Pokémon trading cards.

PDF417
Originated by Symbol Technologies. Public Domain. – International Standard: ISO/IEC 15438

Qode
American proprietary and patented 2D barcode from NeoMedia Technologies, Inc.[53]

QR code
Initially developed, patented and owned by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave for car parts management; they have chosen not to exercise their patent rights. Can encode Latin and Japanese Kanji and Kana characters, music, images, URLs, emails. De facto standard for Japanese cell phones. Used with BlackBerry Messenger to pick up contacts rather than using a PIN code. The most frequently used type of code to scan with smartphones. Public Domain. – International Standard: ISO/IEC 18004

AR Code
A type of marker used for placing content inside augmented reality applications. Some AR Codes can contain QR codes inside, so that content AR content can be linked to.[55] See also ARTag.

ShotCode
Circular barcodes for camera phones. Originally from High Energy Magic Ltd in name Spotcode. Before that probably termed TRIPCode.

Snapcode, also called Boo-R code
used by Snapchat, Spectacles, etc.[56][57][58][59]

SPARQCode
QR code encoding standard from MSKYNET, Inc.

VOICEYE
Developed and patented by VOICEYE, Inc. in South Korea, it aims to allow blind and visually impaired people to access printed information. It also claims to be the 2D barcode that has the world's largest storage capacity.

text: Example images[edit]

text:
First, Second and Third Generation Barcodes

GTIN-12 number encoded in UPC-A barcode symbol. First and last digit are always placed outside the symbol to indicate Quiet Zones that are necessary for barcode scanners to work properly

EAN-13 (GTIN-13) number encoded in EAN-13 barcode symbol. First digit is always placed outside the symbol, additionally right quiet zone indicator (>) is used to indicate Quiet Zones that are necessary for barcode scanners to work properly

"Wikipedia" encoded in Code 93

"*WIKI39*" encoded in Code 39

'Wikipedia" encoded in Code 128

An example of a stacked barcode. Specifically a "Codablock" barcode.

PDF417 sample

Lorem ipsum boilerplate text as four segment Data Matrix 2D

"This is an example Aztec symbol for Wikipedia" encoded in Aztec Code

Text 'EZcode'

High Capacity Color Barcode of the URL for Wikipedia's article on High Capacity Color Barcode

"Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia" in several languages encoded in DataGlyphs

Two different 2D barcodes used in film: Dolby Digital between the sprocket holes with the "Double-D" logo in the middle, and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound in the blue area to the left of the sprocket holes

The QR Code for the Wikipedia URL. "Quick Response", the most popular 2D barcode in Japan, is promoted by Google. It is open in that the specification is disclosed and the patent is not exercised.[60]

MaxiCode example. This encodes the string "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia"

ShotCode sample

detail of Twibright Optar scan from laser printed paper, carrying 32 kbit/s Ogg Vorbis digital music (48 seconds per A4 page)

A KarTrak railroad Automatic Equipment Identification label on a caboose in Florida

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: In architecture, a building in Lingang New City by German architects Gerkan, Marg and Partners incorporates a barcode design,[61] as does a shopping mall called Shtrikh-kod (the Russian for barcode) in Narodnaya ulitsa ("People's Street") in the Nevskiy district of St. Petersburg, Russia.[62]

text: In media, in 2011, the National Film Board of Canada and ARTE France launched a web documentary entitled Barcode.tv, which allows users to view films about everyday objects by scanning the product's barcode with their iPhone camera.[63][64]

text: In professional wrestling, the WWE stable D-Generation X incorporated a barcode into their entrance video, as well as on a T-shirt.[65][66]

text: In video games, the protagonist of the Hitman video game series has a barcode tattoo on the back of his head.

text: In the films Back to the Future Part II and The Handmaid's Tale, cars in the future are depicted with barcode licence plates.

text: In music, Dave Davies of The Kinks released a solo album in 1980, AFL1-3603, which featured a giant barcode on the front cover in place of the musician's head. The album's name was also the barcode number.

text: The April, 1978 issue of Mad Magazine featured a giant barcode on the cover, with the blurb "[Mad] Hopes this issue jams up every computer in the country...for forcing us to deface our covers with this yecchy UPC symbol from now on!"


document_title: List of FA Cup broadcasters

question_text: what us channel is the fa cup final on

question_tokens: what us channel is the fa cup final on

text: List of FA Cup broadcasters

text: The FA Cup is broadcast live around the world. The below list details what channels show live coverage and in what country.[1]

text: Summary of FA Cup broadcasters[edit]

text:
FA Cup Broadcasters

Country
Flag
Broadcaster(s)

United Kingdom

BT SportBBC Sport

Argentina

Etv

Armenia

Armenina Second TV Channel

Australia

Nine Network

Austria

ORF (Final only)

Azerbaijan

AzTV

Belgium

Eleven Sports

Bolivia

ESPN

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sport Klub

Brazil

ESPN

Bulgaria

Nova Sport

Chile

ESPN

China

GDTV  Tencent (online)  Sohu (online)  PPTV (online)  Sina (online)

Colombia

ESPN

Croatia

Sport Klub

Czech Republic

Nova Sport

Denmark

SBS Media

Ecuador

ESPN

France

TF1

Georgia

Setanta Sports

Germany

Eurosport

Greece

Nova Sports

Hong Kong

Now TV  Viu TV

Hungary

TV2 Group

Iceland

365 Media

India (Sub-continent)

Sony network(STAR)

Indonesia

beIN Sports (all matches)  SCTV (Semi-Final + Final)

Israel

Charlton

Italy

Fox Sports

Japan

STAR Sports

Korea (South)

Bein sports tv

Macedonia

Sport Klub

Malaysia

Astro

Mexico

Sky Mexico

Middle East & North Africa

beIN Sports

Montenegro

Sport Klub

Myanmar

Shwe Lan Thin Sky Net

Netherlands

Fox Sports Eredivisie

Norway

Viasat 4 (MTG)

Paraguay

ESPN

Peru

ESPN

Philippines

beIN Sports

Portugal

Sport TV

Republic of Ireland

Eir SportTV3 (Final only)

Romania

Pro TV

Russia

RTR

Serbia

Sport Klub

Singapore

SingTel

Slovenia

Sport Klub

Spain

Teledeporte

Sub-Saharan Africa

Supersport

Sweden

Viasat

Turkey

TRT  TT Net

United States

FOX Sports

Uruguay

ESPN

Vietnam

SCTV


document_title: Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon

question_text: what is an honor graduate in the air force

text: Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon

text: U.S. Air Force[edit]

text: The Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon was established on 3 April 1976 by order of the Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Charles Jones. The ribbon is awarded to graduates of Air Force basic training who have obtained an honor graduate designation and demonstrate excellence in all areas of academic and military training.[5]

text: An airman must achieve at least a 90% on his/her physical fitness level during the final AFBMT physical fitness test. The AFBMT physical fitness test has four parts: 1.5-mile run time (60%), number of sit ups in a minute (10%), number of push ups in a minute (10%), and waist measurement (20%). If the trainee fails to reach a score of at least 90%, the airman is ineligible no matter how well he or she performed in other areas of basic training. Additionally, the airman must average over a 90 percent on all the written examinations, and never fail a graded inspection (graded inspections are conducted randomly after week #3). The airman must never receive a negative mark in a written evaluation. Current regulations limit the number of selectees to no more than ten percent of the graduating squadron.[6]

text: The U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon is a one-time award and may not be presented retroactively. Those awarded are entitled to wear the Air Force Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon for the rest of their U.S. Air Force careers.

text: U.S. Coast Guard[edit]

text: The Coast Guard Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon was created on 3 March 1984, with the first presentation in April of that same year to Seaman apprentice Scott Woodard. The Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon is presented to the service member who graduates at the top of their basic training instruction class.

text: Retroactive presentations of the Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon may be awarded upon application from the service member to the United States Coast Guard. In such cases, the award will be presented for basic training graduation prior to 1984, only with supporting documentation and a written request from the service member.

text: U.S. Navy[edit]

text: The Navy Recruit Honor Graduate Ribbon was created in 2015. On 18 August 2015, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus released a statement authorizing the establishment of the Recruit Honor Graduate Ribbon.[7] This ribbon is awarded to "initial accession enlisted personnel of the U.S. Navy who are designated as Honor Graduates." No more than three percent of each training group will be designated as honor graduates.

text: Fifteen recruits from Recruit Division 281 at Recruit Training Command (RTC), Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, were first awarded the ribbon on 20 August 2015.[8] No retroactive awards will be made.[9] In the Navy's military award order of precedence, the ribbon is worn after the Navy Ceremonial Guard Ribbon and before the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.[3]