Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions telling a computer what to do and how to do it. We can also say software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some purposes. In other words software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware, software is intangible, meaning it "cannot be touched".^[1] Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only. Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes, and records.^[2]
Examples of computer software include:

• Application software includes end-user applications of computers such as word processors or video games, and ERP software for groups of users.
• Middleware controls and co-ordinates distributed systems.
• Programming languages define the syntax and semantics of computer programs. For example, many mature banking applications were written in the COBOL language, originally invented in 1959. Newer applications are often written in more modern programming languages.
• System software includes operating systems, which govern computing resources. Today^[when?] large^[quantify] applications running on remote machines such as Websites are considered^{[by whom?]} to be system software, because^{[citation needed]} the end-user interface is generally through a graphical user interface, such as a web browser.
• Testware is software for testing hardware or a software package.
• Firmware is low-level software often stored on electrically programmable memory devices. Firmware is given its name because it is treated like hardware and run ("executed") by other software programs.
• Shrinkware is the older name given to consumer-purchased software, because it was often sold in retail stores in a shrink-wrapped box.
• Device drivers control parts of computers such as disk drives, printers, CD drives, or computer monitors.
• Programming tools help conduct computing tasks in any category listed above. For programmers, these could be tools for debugging or reverse engineering older legacy systems in order to check source code compatibility.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Overview 3 Types of software 3.1 System software 3.2 Programming software 3.3 Application software 4 Software topics 4.1 Architecture 4.2 Documentation 4.3 Library 4.4 Standard 4.5 Execution 4.6 Quality and reliability 4.7 License 4.8 Patents 5 Design and implementation 6 Industry and organizations 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

The first theory about software was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem (Decision problem).^[3] The term "software" was first used in print by John W. Tukey in 1958.^[4] Colloquially, the term is often used to mean application software. In computer science and software engineering, software is all information processed by computer system, programs and data.^[4] The academic fields studying software are computer science and software engineering.
The history of computer software is most often traced back to the first software bug in 1946^{[citation needed]}. As more and more programs enter the realm of firmware, and the hardware itself becomes smaller, cheaper and faster as predicted by Moore's law, elements of computing first considered to be software, join the ranks of hardware. Most hardware companies today have more software programmers on the payroll than hardware designers^{[citation needed]}, since software tools have automated many tasks of Printed circuit board engineers. Just like the Auto industry, the Software industry has grown from a few visionaries operating out of their garage with prototypes. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were the Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet of their times^{[citation needed]}, who capitalized on ideas already commonly known before they started in the business. In the case of Software development, this moment is generally agreed to be the publication in the 1980s of the specifications for the IBM Personal Computer published by IBM employee Philip Don Estridge. Today his move would be seen as a type of crowd-sourcing.
Until that time, software was bundled with the hardware by Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Data General, Digital Equipment and IBM^{[citation needed]}. When a customer bought a minicomputer, at that time the smallest computer on the market, the computer did not come with Pre-installed software, but needed to be installed by engineers employed by the OEM. Computer hardware companies not only bundled their software, they also placed demands on the location of the hardware in a refrigerated space called a computer room. Most companies had their software on the books for 0 dollars, unable to claim it as an asset (this is similar to financing of popular music in those days). When Data General introduced the Data General Nova, a company called Digidyne wanted to use its RDOS operating system on its own hardware clone. Data General refused to license their software (which was hard to do, since it was on the books as a free asset), and claimed their "bundling rights". The Supreme Court set a precedent called Digidyne v. Data General in 1985. The Supreme Court let a 9th circuit decision stand, and Data General was eventually forced into licensing the Operating System software because it was ruled that restricting the license to only DG hardware was an illegal tying arrangement.^[5] Soon after, IBM 'published' its DOS source for free, and Microsoft was born. Unable to sustain the loss from lawyer's fees, Data General ended up being taken over by EMC Corporation. The Supreme Court decision made it possible to value software, and also purchase Software patents. The move by IBM was almost a protest at the time. Few in the industry believed that anyone would profit from it other than IBM (through free publicity). Microsoft and Apple were able to thus cash in on 'soft' products. It is hard to imagine today that people once felt that software was worthless without a machine. There are many successful companies today that sell only software products, though there are still many common software licensing problems due to the complexity of designs and poor documentation, leading to patent trolls.
With open software specifications and the possibility of software licensing, new opportunities arose for software tools that then became the de facto standard, such as DOS for operating systems, but also various proprietary word processing and spreadsheet programs. In a similar growth pattern, proprietary development methods became standard Software development methodology.

[edit] Overview

Software includes all the various forms and roles that digitally stored data may have and play in a computer (or similar system), regardless of whether the data is used as code for a CPU, or other interpreter, or whether it represents other kinds of information. Software thus encompasses a wide array of products that may be developed using different techniques such as ordinary programming languages, scripting languages, microcode, or an FPGA configuration.
The types of software include web pages developed in languages and frameworks like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Word developed in languages like C, C++, Java, C#, or Smalltalk. Application software usually runs on an underlying software operating systems such as Linux or Microsoft Windows. Software (or firmware) is also used in video games and for the configurable parts of the logic systems of automobiles, televisions, and other consumer electronics.
Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. At the lowest level, executable code consists of machine language instructions specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Programs are an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.

[edit] Types of software

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes^{[citation needed]}: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.

[edit] System software

System software provides the basic functions for computer usage and helps run the computer hardware and system. It includes a combination of the following:

• Device drivers
• Operating systems
• Servers
• Utilities
• Window systems

System software is responsible for managing a variety of independent hardware components, so that they can work together harmoniously. Its purpose is to unburden the application software programmer from the often complex details of the particular computer being used, including such accessories as communications devices, printers, device readers, displays and keyboards, and also to partition the computer's resources such as memory and processor time in a safe and stable manner.

[edit] Programming software

Programming software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing computer programs, and software using different programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include:

• Compilers
• Debuggers
• Interpreters
• Linkers
• Text editors

An Integrated development environment (IDE) is a single application that attempts to manage all these functions..

[edit] Application software

Application software is developed to aid in any task that benefits from computation. It is a broad category, and encompasses software of many kinds, including the internet browser being used to display this page. This category includes:

• Business software
• Databases
• Decision making software
• Educational software
• Image editing
• Industrial automation
• Mathematical software
• Medical software
• Molecular modeling software
• Quantum chemistry and solid state physics software
• Simulation software
• Spreadsheets
• Telecommunications (i.e., the Internet and everything that flows on it)
• Video games
• Word processing

[edit] Software topics

[edit] Architecture

Users often see things differently than programmers. People who use modern general purpose computers (as opposed to embedded systems, analog computers and supercomputers) usually see three layers of software performing a variety of tasks: platform, application, and user software.

• Platform software: Platform includes the firmware, device drivers, an operating system, and typically a graphical user interface which, in total, allow a user to interact with the computer and its peripherals (associated equipment). Platform software often comes bundled with the computer. On a PC you will usually have the ability to change the platform software.
• Application software: Application software or Applications are what most people think of when they think of software. Typical examples include office suites and video games. Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. Sometimes applications are bundled with the computer, but that does not change the fact that they run as independent applications. Applications are usually independent programs from the operating system, though they are often tailored for specific platforms. Most users think of compilers, databases, and other "system software" as applications.
• User-written software: End-user development tailors systems to meet users' specific needs. User software include spreadsheet templates and word processor templates. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. Depending on how competently the user-written software has been integrated into default application packages, many users may not be aware of the distinction between the original packages, and what has been added by co-workers.

[edit] Documentation

Most software has software documentation so that the end user can understand the program, what it does, and how to use it. Without clear documentation, software can be hard to use—especially if it is very specialized and relatively complex like Photoshop or AutoCAD.
Developer documentation may also exist, either with the code as comments and/or as separate files, detailing how the programs works and can be modified.

[edit] Library

An executable is almost always not sufficiently complete for direct execution. Software libraries include collections of functions and functionality that may be embedded in other applications. Operating systems include many standard Software libraries, and applications are often distributed with their own libraries.

[edit] Standard

Since software can be designed using many different programming languages and in many different operating systems and operating environments, software standard is needed so that different software can understand and exchange information between each other. For instance, an email sent from a Microsoft Outlook should be readable from Yahoo! Mail and vice versa.

[edit] Execution

Computer software has to be "loaded" into the computer's storage (such as the hard drive or memory). Once the software has loaded, the computer is able to execute the software. This involves passing instructions from the application software, through the system software, to the hardware which ultimately receives the instruction as machine code. Each instruction causes the computer to carry out an operation – moving data, carrying out a computation, or altering the control flow of instructions.
Data movement is typically from one place in memory to another. Sometimes it involves moving data between memory and registers which enable high-speed data access in the CPU. Moving data, especially large amounts of it, can be costly. So, this is sometimes avoided by using "pointers" to data instead. Computations include simple operations such as incrementing the value of a variable data element. More complex computations may involve many operations and data elements together.

[edit] Quality and reliability

Software quality is very important, especially for commercial and system software like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Linux. If software is faulty (buggy), it can delete a person's work, crash the computer and do other unexpected things. Faults and errors are called "bugs." Many bugs are discovered and eliminated (debugged) through software testing. However, software testing rarely – if ever – eliminates every bug; some programmers say that "every program has at least one more bug" (Lubarsky's Law). All major software companies, such as Microsoft, Novell and Sun Microsystems, have their own software testing departments with the specific goal of just testing. Software can be tested through unit testing, regression testing and other methods, which are done manually, or most commonly, automatically, since the amount of code to be tested can be quite large. For instance, NASA has extremely rigorous software testing procedures for many operating systems and communication functions. Many NASA based operations interact and identify each other through command programs called software. This enables many people who work at NASA to check and evaluate functional systems overall. Programs containing command software enable hardware engineering and system operations to function much easier together.

[edit] License

The software's license gives the user the right to use the software in the licensed environment. Some software comes with the license when purchased off the shelf, or an OEM license when bundled with hardware. Other software comes with a free software license, granting the recipient the rights to modify and redistribute the software. Software can also be in the form of freeware or shareware.

[edit] Patents

Software can be patented in some but not all countries; however, software patents can be controversial in the software industry with many people holding different views about it. The controversy over software patents is about specific algorithms or techniques that the software contains, which may not be duplicated by others and considered intellectual property and copyright infringement depending on the severity.

[edit] Design and implementation

Design and implementation of software varies depending on the complexity of the software. For instance, design and creation of Microsoft Word software will take much more time than designing and developing Microsoft Notepad because of the difference in functionalities in each one.
Software is usually designed and created (coded/written/programmed) in integrated development environments (IDE) like Eclipse, Emacs and Microsoft Visual Studio that can simplify the process and compile the program. As noted in different section, software is usually created on top of existing software and the application programming interface (API) that the underlying software provides like GTK+, JavaBeans or Swing. Libraries (APIs) are categorized for different purposes. For instance, JavaBeans library is used for designing enterprise applications, Windows Forms library is used for designing graphical user interface (GUI) applications like Microsoft Word, and Windows Communication Foundation is used for designing web services. Underlying computer programming concepts like quicksort, hashtable, array, and binary tree can be useful to creating software. When a program is designed, it relies on the API. For instance, if a user is designing a Microsoft Windows desktop application, he/she might use the .NET Windows Forms library to design the desktop application and call its APIs like Form1.Close() and Form1.Show()^[6] to close or open the application and write the additional operations him/herself that it need to have. Without these APIs, the programmer needs to write these APIs him/herself. Companies like Sun Microsystems, Novell, and Microsoft provide their own APIs so that many applications are written using their software libraries that usually have numerous APIs in them.
Computer software has special economic characteristics that make its design, creation, and distribution different from most other economic goods.^[7][8] A person who creates software is called a programmer, software engineer, software developer, or code monkey, terms that all have a similar meaning.

[edit] Industry and organizations

A great variety of software companies and programmers in the world comprise a software industry . Software can be quite a profitable industry: Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft was the richest person in the world in 2009 largely by selling the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software products. The same goes for Larry Ellison, largely through his Oracle database software. Through time the software industry has become increasingly specialized.
Non-profit software organizations include the Free Software Foundation, GNU Project and Mozilla Foundation. Software standard organizations like the W3C, IETF develop software standards so that most software can interoperate through standards such as XML, HTML, HTTP or FTP.
Other well-known large software companies include Novell, SAP, Symantec, Adobe Systems, and Corel, while small companies often provide innovation.

[edit] See also

• [List of software]]

[edit] References

1. ^ "Wordreference.com: WordNet 2.0". Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. http://www.wordreference.com/definition/software. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
2. ^ software..(n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved 2007-04-13, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/software
3. ^ Hally, Mike (2005:79). Electronic brains/Stories from the dawn of the computer age. British Broadcasting Corporation and Granta Books, London. ISBN 1-86207-663-4.
4. ^ ^{a b} John Tukey, 85, Statistician; Coined the Word 'Software', New York Times, Obituaries, July 28, 2000 [1]
5. ^ Tying Arrangements and the Computer Industry: Digidyne Corp. vs. Data General
6. ^ "MSDN Library". http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
7. ^ v. Engelhardt, Sebastian (2008): "The Economic Properties of Software", Jena Economic Research Papers, Volume 2 (2008), Number 2008-045. (in Adobe pdf format)
8. ^ "Why Open Source Is The Optimum Economic Paradigm for Software" by Dan Kaminsky 1999

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_software

Prototype

Lee Wagner (1910–1993) was circulation director of McFadden Publications in New York in the 1930s—and later for Cowles Media Co.—distributing movie celebrity magazines. In 1948, he printed The TeleVision Guide for the New York area. On the cover was silent film star Gloria Swanson, star of her short-lived "Gloria Swanson Hour." Wagner later added regional editions for New England and Baltimore-Washington areas. Five years later, he sold the editions to Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications, but remained as a consultant until 1963.^[1]

[edit] Annenberg/Triangle era

The national TV Guide was first published on April 3, 1953. Its premiere issue cover featured a photograph of Lucille Ball with her newborn son Desi Arnaz, Jr.
TV Guide as a national publication resulted from Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications' purchase of numerous regional television listing publications such as TV Forecast, TV Digest, Television Guide and TV Guide. The launch as a national publication with local listings in April 1953 became an almost instant success with the magazine becoming the most read and circulated magazine in the country by the 1960s. The initial cost was just 15¢ per copy. In addition to subscriptions, TV Guide was sold from grocery store counters nationwide. Until the 1980s, each issue's features were promoted in a television commercial. Under Triangle Publications, TV Guide continued to grow not only in circulation, but in recognition as the authority on television programming with articles from both staff and contributing writers. Over the decades the shape of the logo has changed to reflect the modernization of the television screen. At first, the logo had various color backgrounds (usually black, white, blue or green) until the familiar red background became a standard in the 1960s with occasional changes to accommodate a special edition.
Under Triangle Publications, TV Guide was first based in a small office in downtown Philadelphia until moving to more spacious national headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania in the late 1950s. The new facility, complete with a large lighted TV Guide logo at the building's entrance, was home to management, editors, production personnel, subscription processors as well as a vast computer system holding data on every show and movie available for listing in the popular weekly publication. Printing of the national color section of TV Guide took place at Triangle's Gravure Division plant adjacent to Triangle's landmark Philadelphia Inquirer Building on North Broad Street in Philadelphia. The color section was then sent to regional printers to be wrapped around the local listing sections. Triangle's Gravure Division was known for performing some of the highest quality printing in the industry with almost always perfect registration.
Triangle Publications in addition to TV Guide owned The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, 16 radio and television stations (WFIL AM-FM-TV Philadelphia, PA, WNHC AM-FM-TV New Haven, CT, KFRE AM-FM-TV Fresno, CA, WNBF AM-FM-TV Binghamton, NY, WFBG AM-FM-TV Altoona, PA and WLYH-TV Lancaster/Lebanon, PA) The Daily Racing Form, The Morning Telegraph, Seventeen, and various cable TV interests. It was under Triangle's ownership of WFIL in Philadelphia that Dick Clark and American Bandstand came to popularity. Triangle Publications sold its Philadelphia newspapers to Knight Newspapers in 1969, its radio and television stations during the early 1970s to Capital Cities Communications and various other interests retaining only TV Guide, Seventeen Magazine and the Daily Racing Form. Triangle Publications was sold to News America Corporation in 1988 for $3 billion, one of the largest media deals of the time.

[edit] News Corporation era

The advent of cable TV was hard on TV Guide. Cable channels began to be listed in TV Guide in 1980 or 1981, depending on the edition. Channels were also different, depending on the edition. Each channel was designated by an oblong bullet of 3 letters; for example, (ESN) represented ESPN. To save channel space, some cable channels (mainly pay channels) had an asterisk by them, which meant that it was only listed in the evening grid (and later the Pay-TV Movie Guide). Channels like (MAX) and (DIS) (Cinemax and Disney, respectively) initially started only in the grids but later expanded to the listings as well.
As the years went on, cable channels were added. To help offset this, the issue of May 11–17, 1985 introduced a smaller font with some other cosmetic changes – a show's length was listed after the show's title, not in the description as it was previously. Another listings change took place in 1996; the show's title was no longer listed in all-uppercase, but mixed case as well.
Because most cable systems published their own listing magazine reflecting their channel lineup, and now have a separate guide channel on the remote that opens up to available programming, a printed listing of programming in a separate magazine became less valuable. The sheer amount and diversity of cable TV programming made it hard for TV Guide to provide listings of the extensive array of programming that came directly over the cable system. TV Guide also could not match the ability of the cable box to store personalized listings. TV Guide's circulation went from almost 20 million in 1970 to less than three million in 2007.
By 2003, there was also a list of cable channels (also broadcast channels in some editions) that were listed in the grids only. From its inception until 2003, TV Guide offered listings for the entire week, 24 hours a day. Beginning with the June 21, 2003 issue (in just a few select markets), the 5am-5pm Monday-Friday listings were condensed down to four grids: 5am-8am, 8am-11am, 11am-2pm, 2pm-5pm. If programming differed from one weekday to the next, "Various Programs" was listed. This change became permanent in all TV Guide editions beginning with the 2003 Fall Preview issue. Beginning in January 2004, the midnight-5am listings (and also 5am-8am on the Saturday and Sunday listings) did not include any out-of-town broadcast stations, just the edition's home market. Starting in June 2004 in most editions the channel lineup page showing the stations for each local edition was dropped. Starting in July 2004 the overnight listings were taken out entirely, replaced by a grid that ran from 11pm-2am and had the edition's home market broadcast stations, with a handful of cable stations. It also listed a small selection of late-night movies on some channels. The daytime grids also changed from the 5am-5pm listings, to 7am-7pm. In early 2005 more channels were added to the prime-time and late night grids. The magazine also changed format to start the week's issue with Sunday listings, rather than Saturday listings, changing a tradition that started from the magazine's first issue.
On May 18, 2005, TV Guide launched TV Guide Talk, a weekly podcast available for free. The podcast was headlined by TV Guide reporter/personality Michael Ausiello, and was co-hosted by his co-workers, Angel Cohn, Daniel Manu, and Maitland McDonagh. The podcast was discontinued in 2008 with Ausiello's move to Entertainment Weekly. TV Guide was purchased from News Corporation in 1999 by United Video Satellite Group, parent company of the Prevue Networks, which itself was later purchased by the maker of the VCR Plus+ device and schedule system, Gemstar-TV Guide International, partially owned by News Corp.

[edit] Gemstar era

On July 26, 2005, Gemstar-TV Guide announced that TV Guide would change in format from its digest size format to a larger full-size national magazine that will offer more stories and fewer TV listings. All 140 local editions were also eliminated, being replaced by two editions, one for Eastern/Central time zones and one for Pacific/Mountain. The change in format was attributed to the increase in the Internet, cable TV channels (like TV Guide Network), electronic program guides and digital video recorders as the sources of choice for viewers' program listings.
The new version of TV Guide went on sale on October 17, 2005, and featured Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on the cover. The listings format, now consisting entirely of grids, also changed to start the week's issue with Monday listings rather than Sunday listings.
In September 2006, TV Guide launched a redesigned website with expanded original editorial and user-generated content not included in the print magazine.
On December 22, 2006, TV Guide introduced the magazine's first ever two-week edition. The edition, which has Rachael Ray on the cover, was issued for the week of December 25, 2006 to January 7, 2007. In early 2008, the daytime Monday-Friday and late night grids were eliminated from the listings section, and the television highlights section was compressed into a six-page review of the week, rather than the previous two pages for each night.
With the acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide by Macrovision on May 2, 2008, that company, which purchased Gemstar-TV Guide to mostly take advantage of their lucrative and profitable VCR Plus and electronic program guide patents, stated they wanted to sell both the magazine and TV Guide Network, along with the company's TVG horse racing channel to other parties.

[edit] OpenGate Capital era

On October 13, 2008, Macrovision sold the money-losing magazine to equity fund OpenGate Capital for $1.^[2] As part of the sale, however, the companion website was retained by Macrovision^[3] (who then sold it to One Equity Partners^[4][5]), with all editorial connections between the magazine and website severed, including the end of Matt Roush's presence on TVGuide.com.^[6] The editorial content of the magazine was launched on a new site, TVGuideMagazine.com, which didn't feature TV Guide's listings in any form. However, TVGuidemagazine.com was shut down on June 1, 2010 and TV Guide Magazine and TVGuide.com entered into a deal to restore content from the magazine to the TVGuide.com website,^[7] which Lionsgate bought along with the TV Guide Network in January 2009.^[8]
In January 2009, the magazine cut several networks from the grid listings, including DIY Network and MTV, citing "space concerns"; however, two cuts, those of The CW and TV Guide Network,^[9][10] were seen as suspicious and arbitrary, as the guide carries several channels which have the same schedule night after night or are low-viewed and could have easily been cut, while several Fox networks continue to be listed due to agreements with the former News Corporation ownership. It is likely that the network's removal from TV Guide listings was related to the "divorce" of the website and network from the magazine.
In early February 2009, the listings for The CW and MTV were readded after much protest to the magazine's email addresses, with the listings for several low-viewed networks removed as a consequence.^[11] The other listings were slowly re-added, until TV Guide Network's schedule returned to the listings pages in June 2010 with their logo prominent within the grids as part of the deal with Lionsgate's TV Guide division mentioned above.

[edit] U.S. TV

In 1998, the TV Guide brand and magazine was acquired by United Video Satellite Group, parent company of the Prevue Channel (now TV Guide Network). Like its predecessor, the original TV Guide Channel scrolled TV listings on the bottom portion of the screen. Until around 2002, the programs on the TV Guide Channel generally only lasted from 30 seconds to a minute, and thus usually appeared once to twice per hour. For instance, a show might appear at 12:25 and again at 1:55. However, over the early 2000s, the channel's focus shifted to full-length programs featuring celebrity gossip and movie talk.
In May 2007, Gemstar Media, a subsidiary of Gemstar-TV Guide Inc., renamed the TV Guide Channel to the TV Guide Network, stating that the new name reflects a new direction towards more original content and entertainment features in addition to its traditional listings function.
Today, TV Guide Network runs programs such as the weekly entertainment news magazine, The 411, and red-carpet event coverage (originally hosted by Joan and Melissa Rivers). In mid-2007, the mother-daughter duo were unceremoniously dropped by TV Guide in favor of both Lisa Rinna and Joey Fatone, whose popularities had been on the rise in the wake of their recent appearances on Dancing With the Stars.
To further distinguish itself from other television guides, TV Guide re-branded itself as TV GUIDE Magazine. The original name is now capitalized and "Magazine" always follows.^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Guide

Tulisan rintisan atau stub adalah tulisan pendek (satu kalimat hingga dua paragraf) yang diharapkan dapat merintis jalan bagi terbentuknya artikel yang utuh. Sebutan ini juga kadang digunakan untuk artikel yang belum rampung diterjemahkan (biasanya dari Wikipedia Bahasa Inggris), meskipun artikel terjemahannya sudah cukup panjang.
Hampir setiap artikel dalam Wikipedia adalah upaya gotong-royong dari banyak orang, yang masing-masing menyumbang sedikit atau banyak pengetahuannya untuk menyempurnakan artikel tersebut, baik itu menambahkan informasi, pranala (link), memperbaiki ejaan, menambahkan gambar, mewikifikasi, dan tugas-tugas lain yang menjadikan suatu artikel itu baik.
Janganlah ragu untuk mengklik tab Sunting dan turut-serta mengembangkan artikel Wikipedia semampu Anda.

Daftar isi [sembunyikan] 1 Kriteria tulisan rintisan 2 Menghapus status rintisan 3 Templat rintisan 4 Lihat pula

Kriteria tulisan rintisan

Suatu tulisan rintisan adalah tulisan yang pendek (sekitar satu kalimat hingga dua paragraf) dan tidak memberikan informasi secara lengkap, tetapi masih memiliki konteks. Berbeda dengan tulisan tanpa konteks atau yang tidak menjelaskan judul artikel, yang dianggap sebagai tulisan rintisan biasanya memberikan penjelasan yang singkat mengenai subyek artikel serta mengapa artikel tersebut layak dimasukkan ke dalam Wikipedia.
Berikut adalah suatu pedoman umum mengenai struktur suatu tulisan rintisan yang baik:

1. Definisi dari judul atau subyek halaman, cukup dengan satu kalimat. Judul harus diberi huruf tebal. (misal, "Tono adalah pemain bola basket Indonesia kelahiran Surabaya")
2. Penjelasan mengapa subyek tersebut cukup penting atau layak menjadi artikel ensiklopedia. Satu kalimat akan cukup memadai. (misal, "Tono merupakan pemain basket Indonesia pertama yang menjadi pemain NBA")
3. Sertai dengan rujukan yang cukup (misal pranala surat kabar atau kantor berita)

Jika Anda sudah terbiasa dengan Wikipedia, tidak ada salahnya untuk menambahkan hal-hal berikut

1. Templat rintisan yang sesuai (lihat daftarnya)
2. Pranala luar yang relevan dengan subyek dalam pembahasan (opsional). (misal, situs pribadi Tono)
3. Kategori yang cocok. (misal, Olahragawan Indonesia)
4. Interwiki, jika ada.
5. Kotak info
6. Kotak navigasi

Artikel yang cukup lengkap, tapi tidak diwikifikasi atau copy edit dengan baik, umumnya tidak dianggap sebagai suatu rintisan. Artikel-artikel seperti ini harus diberi tag pemeliharaan yang sesuai (misal, {{wikify}}). Meskipun demikian, templat rintisan biasanya tetap diberikan.
Harap diperhatikan bahwa artikel pendek yang mengandung informasi yang terlalu sedikit atau tidak jelas, dapat dinominasikan untuk dihapus atau digabung ke artikel lain yang terkait. Wikipedia bukanlah suatu kamus, tapi memiliki proyek saudara - Wiktionary - yang dapat digunakan untuk memasukkan entri-entri yang layak masuk ke dalam kamus. Jika artikel Anda sangat pendek dan merupakan suatu definisi kata, pertimbangkan untuk memasukkannya ke Wiktionary, atau tambahkan informasi tambahan sehingga layak masuk ensiklopedia.

Menghapus status rintisan

Jika suatu tulisan dianggap telah cukup dikembangkan dan menjadi suatu artikel lengkap dan bukan lagi rintisan, siapapun dapat menghapus tag "rintisan" dari artikel tersebut. Tidak dibutuhkan pengumuman resmi atau keterlibatan pengurus untuk melakukan hal ini.

Templat rintisan

Templat rintisan digunakan untuk menandai suatu tulisan sebagai tulisan rintisan. Untuk melihat daftar templat rintisan yang sudah ada, lihat daftar alfabetis atau daftar menurut topik.
Untuk keseragaman, templat rintisan dibuat dengan menggunakan templat {{base-stub}}. Berikut contoh isi suatu templat rintisan:

{{base-stub
|[[akuntansi]]
|[[Berkas:Book template.gif|30px]]}}{{#if:{{{kat|}}}||<includeonly>
[[Kategori:Rintisan bertopik akuntansi|{{PAGENAME}}]]</includeonly>}}<noinclude>
[[Kategori:Templat rintisan|{{PAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>

Keterangan:

1. Baris kedua (dalam contoh di atas: [[akuntansi]]) diisi dengan topik terkait dengan rintisan tersebut, dilengkapi dengan pranala ke topik tersebut.
2. Baris ketiga (dalam contoh di atas: [[Berkas:Book template.gif|30px]]) diisi dengan gambar yang digunakan.
3. Baris keempat (dalam contoh di atas: [[Kategori:Rintisan bertopik akuntansi|{{PAGENAME}}]]) diisi dengan kategori rintisan.

Standar penamaan templat rintisan berbentuk "nama-topik-stub".

1. Semua huruf kecil.
2. Kata dipisahkan dengan tanda "-".
3. Diakhiri dengan "stub".

sumber Wikipedia

Suaminya sudah lama meninggal karena sakit
Sang ibu sering kali merasa sedih memikirkan anak satu-satunya.
Anaknya mempunyai tabiat yang sangat buruk yaitu suka mencuri, berjudi,
mengadu ayam dan banyak lagi

Ibu itu sering menangis meratapi nasibnya yang malang, Namun ia sering
berdoa memohon kepada Tuhan: “Tuhan tolong sadarkan anakku yang kusayangi,
supaya tidak berbuat dosa lagi

Aku sudah tua dan ingin menyaksikan dia bertobat sebelum aku mati”

Namun semakin lama si anak semakin larut dengan perbuatan jahatnya, sudah
sangat sering ia keluar masuk penjara karena kejahatan yang dilakukannya

Suatu hari ia kembali mencuri di rumah penduduk desa, namun malang dia
tertangkap
Kemudian dia dibawa ke hadapan raja utk diadili dan dijatuhi hukuman pancung
pengumuman itu diumumkan ke seluruh desa, hukuman akan dilakukan keesokan
hari
di depan rakyat desa dan tepat pada saat lonceng berdentang menandakan
pukul enam pagi

Berita hukuman itu sampai ke telinga si ibu dia menangis meratapi anak
yang dikasihinya dan berdoa berlutut kepada Tuhan “Tuhan ampuni anak
hamba, biarlah hamba yang sudah tua ini yang menanggung dosa nya”

Dengan tertatih tatih dia mendatangi raja dan memohon supaya anaknya
dibebaskan
Tapi keputusan sudah bulat, anakknya harus menjalani hukuman

Dengan hati hancur, ibu kembali ke rumah Tak hentinya dia berdoa supaya
anaknya diampuni, dan akhirnya dia tertidur karena kelelahan Dan dalam
mimpinya dia bertemu dengan Tuhan

Keesokan harinya, ditempat yang sudah ditentukan, rakyat berbondong2
manyaksikan hukuman tersebut Sang algojo sudah siap dengan pancungnya dan
anak sudah pasrah dengan nasibnya

Terbayang di matanya wajah ibunya yang sudah tua, dan tanpa terasa ia
menangis menyesali perbuatannya Detik-detik yang dinantikan akhirnya tiba

Sampai waktu yang ditentukan tiba, lonceng belum juga berdentang sudah
lewat lima menit dan suasana mulai berisik, akhirnya petugas yang bertugas
membunyikan lonceng datang

Ia mengaku heran karena sudah sejak tadi dia menarik tali lonceng tapi
suara dentangnya tidak ada
Saat mereka semua sedang bingung, tiba2 dari tali lonceng itu mengalir
darah Darah itu berasal dari atas tempat di mana lonceng itu diikat

Dengan jantung berdebar2 seluruh rakyat menantikan saat beberapa orang
naik ke atas menyelidiki sumber darah

Tahukah anda apa yang terjadi?

Ternyata di dalam lonceng ditemui tubuh si ibu tua dengan kepala hancur
berlumuran darah
dia memeluk bandul di dalam lonceng yang menyebabkan lonceng tidak berbunyi,
dan sebagai gantinya, kepalanya yang terbentur di dinding lonceng

Seluruh orang yang menyaksikan kejadian itu tertunduk dan meneteskan air mata
Sementara si anak meraung raung memeluk tubuh ibunya yang sudah diturunkan
Menyesali dirinya yang selalu menyusahkan ibunya Ternyata malam sebelumnya
si ibu dengan susah payah memanjat ke atas dan mengikat dirinya di lonceng
Memeluk besi dalam lonceng untuk menghindari hukuman pancung anaknya

Demikianlah sangat jelas kasih seorang ibu utk anaknya Betapapun jahat si
anak, ia tetap mengasihi sepenuh hidupnya.

Marilah kita mengasihi orang tua kita masing masing selagi kita masih mampu
karena mereka adalah sumber kasih Tuhan bagi kita di dunia ini

Sesuatu untuk dijadikan renungan utk kita..

Agar kita selalu mencintai sesuatu yang berharga yang t ida k bisa dinilai
dengan apapun

There is a story living in us that speaks of our place in the world

It is a story that invites us to love what we love and simply be ourselves

Ambillah waktu untuk berpikir, itu adalah sumber kekuatan
Ambillah waktu untuk bermain, itu adalah rahasia dari masa muda yang abadi
Ambillah waktu untuk berdoa, itu adalah sumber ketenangan
Ambillah waktu untuk belajar, itu adalah sumber kebijaksanaan
Ambillah waktu untuk mencintai dan dicintai, itu adalah hak istimewa yang
diberikan Tuhan
Ambillah waktu untuk bersahabat, itu adalah jalan menuju kebahagiaan
Ambillah waktu untuk tertawa, itu adalah musik yang menggetarkan hati
Ambillah waktu untuk memberi, itu membuat hidup terasa berarti
Ambillah waktu untuk bekerja, itu adalah nilai keberhasilan

Gunakan waktu sebaik mungkin, karena waktu tidak akan bisa diputar kembali (: (: (:

Beberapa ekor lalat nampak terbang berpesta di atas sebuah tong sampah di depan sebuah rumah. Suatu ketika, anak pemilik rumah keluar dan tidak menutup kembali pintu rumah. Kemudian nampak seekor lalat bergegas terbang memasuki rumah itu. Si lalat langsung menuju sebuah meja makan yang penuh dengan makanan lezat.

"Saya bosan dengan sampah-sampah itu, ini saatnya menikmati makanan segar," katanya. Setelah kenyang, si lalat bergegas ingin keluar dan terbang menuju pintu saat dia masuk, namun ternyata pintu kaca itu telah terutup rapat. Si lalat hinggap sesaat di kaca pintu memandangi kawan-kawannya yang melambai-lambaikan tangannya seolah meminta agar dia bergabung kembali dengan mereka.

Si lalat pun terbang di sekitar kaca, sesekali melompat dan menerjang kaca itu, dengan tak kenal menyerah si lalat mencoba keluar dari pintu kaca. Lalat itu merayap mengelilingi kaca dari atas ke bawah dan dari kiri ke kanan bolak-balik, demikian terus dan terus berulang-ulang. Hari makin petang, si lalat itu nampak kelelahan dan kelaparan.

Esok paginya, nampak lalat itu terkulai lemas terkapar di lantai. Tak jauh dari tempat itu, nampak serombongan semut merah berjalan beriringan keluar dari sarangnya untuk mencari makan. Dan ketika menjumpai lalat yang tak berdaya itu, serentak mereka mengerumuni dan beramai-ramai menggigit tubuh lalat itu hingga mati. Kawanan semut itu pun beramai-ramai mengangkut bangkai lalat yang malang itu menuju sarang mereka.

Dalam perjalanan, seekor semut kecil bertanya kepada rekannya yang lebih tua, "Ada apa dengan lalat ini, Pak? Mengapa dia sekarat?" "Oh.., itu sering terjadi, ada saja lalat yang mati sia-sia seperti ini. Sebenarnya mereka ini telah berusaha, dia sungguh-sungguh telah berjuang keras berusaha keluar dari pintu kaca itu. Namun ketika tak juga menemukan jalan keluar, dia frustasi dan kelelahan hingga akhirnya jatuh sekarat dan menjadi menu makan malam kita.

"Semut kecil itu nampak manggut-manggut, namun masih penasaran dan bertanya lagi, "Aku masih tidak mengerti, bukannya lalat itu sudah berusaha keras? Kenapa tidak berhasil?"

Masih sambil berjalan dan memanggul bangkai lalat, semut tua itu menjawab, "Lalat itu adalah seorang yang tak kenal menyerah dan telah mencoba berulang kali, hanya saja dia melakukannya dengan cara-cara yang sama." Semut tua itu memerintahkan rekan-rekannya berhenti sejenak seraya melanjutkan perkataannya, namun kali ini dengan mimik dan nada lebih serius, "Ingat anak muda, jika kamu melakukan sesuatu dengan cara yang sama tapi mengharapkan hasil yang berbeda, maka nasib kamu akan seperti lalat ini."

"Para pemenang tidak melakukan hal-hal yang berbeda, mereka hanya melakukannya dengan cara yang berbeda."

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