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74-427: Spinnaker Software Corporation was a software company founded in 1982 known primarily for its line of non-curriculum based educational software , which was a major seller during the 1980s. It was founded by chairman Bill Bowman and president C. David Seuss. Spinnaker pioneered the educational software market and was the first company to mass market low cost, educational software. It went public on NASDAQ in 1991 and

148-495: A science fiction film ; he portrayed himself in the film Without Warning , an American production about an apocalyptic alien first-contact scenario presented in the form of a faux newscast. Clarke also became active in promoting the protection of gorillas and became a patron of the Gorilla Organization , which fights for the preservation of gorillas. When tantalum mining for mobile phone manufacture threatened

222-859: A wheelchair most of the time thereafter. Clarke was for many years a vice-patron of the British Polio Fellowship . In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours , Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka". The same year, he became the first chancellor of the International Space University , serving from 1989 to 2004. He also served as chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002. In 1994, Clarke appeared in

296-434: A 22-year-old American divorcee with a young son. They separated permanently after six months, although the divorce was not finalised until 1964. "The marriage was incompatible from the beginning", said Clarke. Marilyn never remarried and died in 1991. Clarke also never remarried, but was close to a Sri Lankan man, Leslie Ekanayake (13 July 1947 – 4   July 1977), whom Clarke called his "only perfect friend of

370-460: A British science fiction writer , science writer, futurist , inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey , widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time. Clarke was a science fiction writer, an avid populariser of space travel, and a futurist of a distinguished ability. He wrote many books and many essays for popular magazines. In 1961, he received

444-632: A commentator on science and technology, especially at the time of the Apollo space program . On 20 July 1969, Clarke appeared as a commentator for the CBS News broadcast of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Clarke lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death in 2008, first in Unawatuna on the south coast, and then in Colombo . Initially, he and his friend Mike Wilson travelled around Sri Lanka, diving in

518-485: A cosmos once thought to be province only of gods." A few days before he died, he had reviewed the manuscript of his final work, The Last Theorem , on which he had collaborated by e-mail with contemporary Frederik Pohl . The book was published after Clarke's death. Clarke was buried in Colombo in traditional Sri Lankan fashion on 22 March. His younger brother, Fred Clarke, and his Sri Lankan adoptive family were among

592-582: A different group plays a key role, however each type of role must be involved throughout the whole development process: Software companies possess various systems and procedures implemented and working internally across all the sub-teams. These include: There are also Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), which embed some of these functionalities in one package and are used across the groups. They are delivered from various vendors like Borland , ECM or Compuware . Well-established software companies typically have some way of measuring their own efficiency. This

666-639: A flat in Gray's Inn Road , where he got the nickname "Ego" because of his absorption in subjects that interested him, and later named his office filled with memorabilia as his "ego chamber". During the Second World War from 1941 to 1946, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist and was involved in the early-warning radar defence system, which contributed to the RAF's success during

740-408: A lifetime" in the dedication to his novel The Fountains of Paradise . Clarke is buried with Ekanayake, who predeceased him by three decades, in Colombo's central cemetery. In his biography of Stanley Kubrick , John Baxter cites Clarke's homosexuality as a reason why he relocated, due to more tolerant laws with regard to homosexuality in Sri Lanka . Journalists who enquired of Clarke whether he

814-468: A novella in 1948. It was very popular and considered ground-breaking work for some of the concepts it contained. Clarke revised and expanded the novella into a full novel, which was published in 1953. Clarke later rewrote and expanded this work a third time to become The City and the Stars in 1956, which rapidly became a definitive must-read in the field. His third science fiction novel, Childhood's End ,

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888-400: A number of different types of software companies: Organizing a software company is a very specialized type of management skill, where experienced persons can turn the organizational problem into a unique benefit. For example, having sub-teams spread in different time zones may allow a 24-hour company working day, if the teams, systems, and procedures are well established. A good example is

962-490: A number of various methodologies to produce the code. These can include: There are also some methodologies which combine both, such as the spiral model , Rational Unified Process (RUP) or MSF . Regardless of the methodology used, the product life cycle always consists of at least three stages: Each stage ideally takes 30% of the total time, with the remaining 10% in reserve. The UML sequence diagram of interaction between these groups may look like: At each stage

1036-529: A series of articles written by him on spacecraft and space travel. Clarke also contributed pieces to the "Debates and Discussions Corner", a counterpoint to a Urania article offering the case against space travel, and also his recollections of the Walt Disney film Fantasia . He moved to London in 1936 and joined the Board of Education as a pensions auditor. He and some fellow science fiction writers shared

1110-469: A simple dive shop near Trincomalee. He dived often at Hikkaduwa , Trincomalee, and Nilaveli . The Sri Lankan government offered Clarke resident guest status in 1975. He was held in such high esteem that when fellow science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein came to visit, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a helicopter to take them around the country. In the early 1970s, Clarke signed

1184-441: A storybook authoring tool and the first word processor ever designed and developed specifically for children, was created by Jim and Jack Pejsa, who also developed Movie Creator (licensed by Spinnaker to Fisher Price Corp.) an 8-track video and 3-track music production and editing workshop for children. Alphabet Zoo was produced by Dale Disharoon, a teacher from Chico, California. By early 1984 InfoWorld estimated that Spinnaker

1258-785: A superior alien intelligence. In the cases of Childhood's End , and the 2001 series, this encounter produces a conceptual breakthrough that accelerates humanity into the next stage of its evolution. This also applies in the far-distant past (but our future) in The City and the Stars (and its original version, Against the Fall of Night ). In Clarke's authorised biography, Neil McAleer writes: "many readers and critics still consider Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke's best novel." But Clarke did not use ESP in any of his later stories, saying, "I've always been interested in ESP, and of course, Childhood's End

1332-559: A three-book publishing deal, a record for a science fiction writer at the time. The first of the three was Rendezvous with Rama in 1973, which won all the main genre awards and spawned sequels that along with the 2001 series formed the backbone of his later career. In 1986, Clarke was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America . In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome , having originally contracted polio in 1962, and needed to use

1406-430: A video message to his friends and fans bidding them good-bye. Clarke died in Colombo on 19 March 2008, at the age of 90. His aide described the cause as respiratory complications and heart failure stemming from post-polio syndrome. Just hours before Clarke's death, a major gamma-ray burst (GRB) reached Earth. Known as GRB 080319B , the burst set a new record as the farthest object that can be seen from Earth with

1480-400: Is defined by numbers) and total anarchy (where there are no numbers at all). Whichever way the organization goes, they consider the pyramid describing the cost and risk of introducing change to already-begun development processes as a true model to manage changes. Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was

1554-409: Is more or less the way it worked out, though toward the end, novel and screenplay were being written simultaneously, with feedback in both directions. Thus, I rewrote some sections after seeing the movie rushes – a rather expensive method of literary creation, which few other authors can have enjoyed." The novel ended up being published a few months after the release of the movie. Due to

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1628-497: Is revived by advanced medical science . The novel details the threat posed to humanity by the alien monoliths, whose actions are not always as their builders had intended. Clarke's first venture into film was 2001: A Space Odyssey , directed by Stanley Kubrick . Kubrick and Clarke had met in New York City in 1964 to discuss the possibility of a collaborative film project. As the idea developed, they decided to loosely base

1702-639: Is usually done by defining the set of key performance indicators (KPI), such as A number of organizations are focused on reaching the optimum level of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), where "optimum" does not necessarily mean the highest. There are also other systems such as Carnegie-Mellon University 's SEMA , or particular ISO standards. Small software companies will often use light-weight approaches to their process, formalized or not. Each organization works out its own style, which lies somewhere between total technocracy (where all

1776-517: The Battle of Britain . Clarke spent most of his wartime service working on ground-controlled approach (GCA) radar, as documented in the semiautobiographical Glide Path , his only non-science fiction novel. Although GCA did not see much practical use during the war, after several years of development it proved vital to the Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949. Clarke initially served in the ranks and

1850-674: The BetterWorking brand of productivity software for adults. In 1990 Spinnaker bought Springboard , creator of Springboard Publisher and The Newsroom. Spinnaker acquired the budget software house Power Up! Software in 1991, adding to its suite of budget business products. Power Up! Software was originally based in San Mateo, California , with the UK Head office in Mytchett , Surrey . Spinnaker best seller during this time period

1924-601: The British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1953. Although he was not the originator of the concept of geostationary satellites , one of his most important contributions in this field was his idea that they would be ideal telecommunications relays. He advanced this idea in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the British Interplanetary Society in 1945. The concept

1998-532: The Inner Solar System and a spaceship crash on the Jovian moon Europa . The whereabouts of astronaut Dave Bowman (the "Star Child"), the artificial intelligence HAL 9000 , and the development of native life on Europa, protected by the alien Monolith , are revealed. Finally, in 3001: The Final Odyssey , astronaut Frank Poole 's freeze-dried body, found by a spaceship beyond the orbit of Neptune ,

2072-539: The Kalinga Prize , a UNESCO award for popularising science. Clarke's science and science fiction writings earned him the moniker "Prophet of the Space Age". His science fiction writings in particular earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership, made him one of the towering figures of the genre. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein , and Isaac Asimov were known as

2146-547: The Mirror subsequently published an apology, and Clarke chose not to sue for defamation . The Independent reported that a similar story was not published, allegedly because Clarke was a friend of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch . Clarke himself said, "I take an extremely dim view of people mucking about with boys", and Rupert Murdoch promised him the reporters responsible would never work in Fleet Street again. Clarke

2220-595: The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Later, at the home of Larry Niven in California, a concerned Heinlein attacked Clarke's views on United States foreign and space policy (especially the SDI), vigorously advocating a strong defence posture. Although the two later reconciled formally, they remained distant until Heinlein's death in 1988. 2001: A Space Odyssey , Clarke's most famous work,

2294-616: The geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) above the equator is officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union as the Clarke Orbit . His 1951 book, The Exploration of Space , was used by the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to convince President John F. Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon. Following the 1968 release of 2001 , Clarke became much in demand as

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2368-413: The naked eye . It occurred about 7.5 billion years ago, the light taking that long to reach Earth. Larry Sessions, a science writer for Sky and Telescope magazine blogging on earthsky.org, suggested that the burst be named the "Clarke Event". American Atheist Magazine wrote of the idea: "It would be a fitting tribute to a man who contributed so much, and helped lift our eyes and our minds to

2442-440: The stakeholders . He or she leads the sub-teams directly or via the managers/leaders depending on the size of the organization . Usually teams of up to 10 person are the most operational. In bigger organizations, there are in general two models of the hierarchy: All the teams are fully independent and they work separately on the different projects. The structure is quite simple and all the employees reports to one person, what make

2516-536: The "Big Three" of science fiction. Clarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel . In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the BIS, British Interplanetary Society . In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits . He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again in 1951–1953. Clarke emigrated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving . That year, he discovered

2590-628: The Betterworking series tripled Spinnaker's revenues and positioned it to acquire the pfs brand from SPC. In January 1991 Spinnaker bought the PFS line of business applications from Software Publishing Corporation , creators of Harvard Graphics . Employees of Spinnaker over the years included: Video executive Chris Deering , Network Associate's CEO Bill Larson, TV news producer Andrew Sugg, author Seth Godin , shark Kevin O'Leary , and comedy writer John Bowman Software company There are

2664-718: The Fisher-Price and Telarium/Windham Classics brands comprising more than ten titles each. The Windham Classics corporation went defunct circa 1985–86 or later. The Telarium Corporation went defunct in 1987. In response to a severe, if temporary, downturn in consumer purchases of personal computers in the mid-to-late 1980s, and the shift in the market from more entertainment-oriented machines from Commodore and Atari toward more small business and personal productivity software running on IBM PC clones , Spinnaker decided to phase out its educational and entertainment titles and focus on personal productivity. In 1985 Spinnaker created

2738-467: The July 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, when asked if he had had a bisexual experience, Clarke stated, "Of course. Who hasn't?" In his obituary, Clarke's friend Kerry O'Quinn wrote: "Yes, Arthur was gay ... As Isaac Asimov once told me, 'I think he simply found he preferred men.' Arthur didn't publicise his sexuality – that wasn't the focus of his life – but if asked, he

2812-596: The November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories in 1929; Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon in 1930; and The Conquest of Space by David Lasser in 1931. In his teens, he joined the Junior Astronomical Association and contributed to Urania , the society's journal, which was edited in Glasgow by Marion Eadie. At Clarke's request, she added an "Astronautics" section, which featured

2886-552: The Spinnaker Software titles of 1983 were three programs designed and programmed by Interactive Picture Systems : Trains , Aerobics , and Grandma's House for Apple II , Atari 800 and Commodore 64 systems. A well-known product of 1983 was In Search of the Most Amazing Thing by Tom Snyder Productions. Spinnaker's educational titles included such games as Alphabet Zoo and Kidwriter . Kidwriter,

2960-574: The United States and Sri Lanka. Clarke and Asimov first met in New York City in 1953, and they traded friendly insults and gibes for decades. They established an oral agreement, the "Clarke–Asimov Treaty", that when asked who was better, the two would say Clarke was the better science fiction writer and Asimov was the better science writer. In 1972, Clarke put the "treaty" on paper in his dedication to Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations . In 1984, Clarke testified before Congress against

3034-441: The book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001). For much of the later 20th century, Clarke, Isaac Asimov , and Robert A. Heinlein were informally known as the "Big Three" of science fiction writers. Clarke and Heinlein began writing to each other after The Exploration of Space was published in 1951, and first met in person the following year. They remained on cordial terms for many years, including during visits to

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3108-487: The coral waters around the coast with the Beachcombers Club. In 1957, during a dive trip off Trincomalee , Clarke discovered the underwater ruins of a temple, which subsequently made the region popular with divers. He described it in his 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane . This was his second diving book after the 1956 The Coast of Coral . Though Clarke lived mostly in Colombo, he set up a small dive school and

3182-439: The effect of making the book into a novelisation , and that Kubrick had manipulated circumstances to play down Clarke's authorship. For these and other reasons, the details of the story differ slightly from the book to the movie. The film contains little explanation for the events taking place. Clarke, though, wrote thorough explanations of "cause and effect" for the events in the novel. James Randi later recounted that upon seeing

3256-512: The form of recorded addresses. In July 2007, he provided a video address for the Robert A. Heinlein Centennial in which he closed his comments with a goodbye to his fans. In September 2007, he provided a video greeting for NASA 's Cassini probe 's flyby of Iapetus (which plays an important role in the book of 2001: A Space Odyssey ). In December 2007 on his 90th birthday, Clarke recorded

3330-511: The gorillas in 2001, he lent his voice to their cause. The dive shop that he set up continues to operate from Trincomalee through the Arthur C Clarke Foundation. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Clarke presented his television programmes Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World , Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers , and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe . On a trip to Florida in 1953, Clarke met and quickly married Marilyn Mayfield,

3404-410: The hectic schedule of the film's production, Kubrick and Clarke had difficulty collaborating on the book. Clarke completed a draft of the novel at the end of 1964 with the plan to publish in 1965 in advance of the film's release in 1966. After many delays, the film was released in the spring of 1968, before the book was completed. The book was credited to Clarke alone. Clarke later complained that this had

3478-506: The political environment in America in the 1980s, the film presents a Cold War theme, with the looming tensions of nuclear warfare not featured in the novel. The film was not considered to be as revolutionary or artistic as 2001 , but the reviews were still positive. Clarke's email correspondence with Hyams was published in 1984. Titled The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010 , and co-authored with Hyams, it illustrates his fascination with

3552-413: The premiere of 2001 , Clarke left the theatre at the intermission in tears, after having watched an eleven-minute scene (which did not make it into general release) where an astronaut is doing nothing more than jogging inside the spaceship, which was Kubrick's idea of showing the audience how boring space travels could be. In 1972, Clarke published The Lost Worlds of 2001 , which included his accounts of

3626-420: The product/project manager and the specialized "resource" manager. On one hand it optimizes the usage of human resources, on the other hand it may give rise to conflicts about which one manager has priority in the structure. There are also a number of variants of these structures, and a number of organizations have this structure spread and split within various departments and units. Software companies may use

3700-429: The production, and alternative versions of key scenes. The "special edition" of the novel A Space Odyssey (released in 1999) contains an introduction by Clarke in which he documents the events leading to the release of the novel and film. In 1982, Clarke continued the 2001 epic with a sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two . This novel was also made into a film, 2010 , directed by Peter Hyams for release in 1984. Because of

3774-413: The situation quite clear however it is not a good solution in terms of knowledge exchange and optimal usage of human resources. In this model there are dedicated managers/leaders for each main specialization, "renting" their people for particular projects led by product/project managers, who formally or informally buy the people and pay for their time. This leads to each private employee having two bosses –

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3848-404: The story on Clarke's short story, " The Sentinel ", written in 1948 as an entry in a BBC short-story competition. Originally, Clarke was going to write the screenplay for the film, but Kubrick suggested during one of their brainstorming meetings that before beginning on the actual script, they should let their imaginations soar free by writing a novel first, on which they would base the film. "This

3922-489: The test team in a time zone 8 hours ahead or behind the development team, who fix software bugs found by the testers. A professional software company normally consists of at least three dedicated sub-teams : In bigger software companies, greater specialization is employed, and quite often there are also: The manager of a software company is usually called the Head Of Development (HOD), and reports to

3996-788: The thousands in attendance. Clarke's papers were donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 2014. On 8 January 2024, a portion of Clarke's ashes were launched on the Peregrine Mission One to the Moon. The Peregrine spacecraft failed to land on the moon, and the spacecraft disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere on 19 January 2024. While Clarke had a few stories published in fanzines , between 1937 and 1945, his first professional sale appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946: " Loophole "

4070-484: The underwater ruins of the ancient original Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee . Clarke augmented his popularity in the 1980s, as the host of television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World . He lived in Sri Lanka until his death. Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka". He was knighted in 1998 and

4144-447: Was C. David Seuss. The game development was managed by Seth Godin . Telarium focused on prime quality text and published eight adventures, partly in cooperation with established writers like Michael Crichton , Byron Preiss , Ray Bradbury , and Arthur C. Clarke . Windham Classics focused on a nonviolent storyline appropriate for children and published five adventures. By December 1984 Spinnaker had established seven product lines, with

4218-696: Was a corporal instructor on radar at No.   2 Radio School, RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire. He was commissioned as a pilot officer (technical branch) on 27 May 1943. He was promoted to flying officer on 27 November 1943. He was appointed chief training instructor at RAF Honiley in Warwickshire and was demobilised with the rank of flight lieutenant . After the war, he attained a first-class degree in mathematics and physics from King's College London . After this, he worked as assistant editor at Physics Abstracts . Clarke served as president of

4292-598: Was about that. But I've grown disillusioned, partly because after all this time, they're still arguing about whether these things happen. I suspect that telepathy does happen." A collection of early essays was published in The View from Serendip (1977), which also included one short piece of fiction, " When the Twerms Came ". Clarke also wrote short stories under the pseudonyms of E. G. O'Brien and Charles Willis. Almost all of his short stories can be found in

4366-510: Was acquired by The Learning Company in 1994. The Learning Company was subsequently acquired by Mattel . One of the key elements of the business plan was to change the marketing of software aimed at home users: Instead of plastic bags, the software was put into brightly colored, durable plastic boxes. To reach non-tech-savvy parents as potential buyers, full-color advertisements were run in magazines like Good Housekeeping , Better Homes and Gardens and Newsweek . The budget for advertising

4440-529: Was also published in 1953, cementing his popularity. Clarke capped the first phase of his writing career with his sixth novel, A Fall of Moondust , in 1961, which is also an acknowledged classic of the period. During this time, Clarke corresponded with C. S. Lewis in the 1940s and 1950s and they once met in an Oxford pub, the Eastgate , to discuss science fiction and space travel. Clarke voiced great praise for Lewis upon his death, saying The Ransom Trilogy

4514-480: Was an integrated personal productivity application called "WindowWorks" which was an industry best seller, beating the Windows version of Microsoft Works to market by two years. WindowWorks was the first title ever bundled on a Compaq computer when it was selected to be included in the first price competitive Compaq released to a general public, as opposed to corporate market. WindowWorks and other Windows titles in

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4588-694: Was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya , in 2005. Clarke was born in Minehead , Somerset, England, and grew up in nearby Bishops Lydeard . As a boy, he lived on a farm, where he enjoyed stargazing , fossil collecting , and reading American science fiction pulp magazines . He received his secondary education at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton . Some of his early influences included dinosaur cigarette cards , which led to an enthusiasm for fossils starting about 1925. Clarke attributed his interest in science fiction to reading three items:

4662-509: Was extended well beyond the 1968 movie as the Space Odyssey series. In 1982, Clarke wrote a sequel to 2001 titled 2010: Odyssey Two , which was made into a film in 1984. Clarke wrote two further sequels which have not been adapted into motion pictures: 2061: Odyssey Three (published in 1987) and 3001: The Final Odyssey (published in 1997). 2061: Odyssey Three involves a visit to Halley's Comet on its next plunge through

4736-403: Was gay were told, "No, merely mildly cheerful." However, Michael Moorcock wrote: Everyone knew he was gay. In the 1950s, I'd go out drinking with his boyfriend. We met his protégés, western and eastern, and their families, people who had only the most generous praise for his kindness. Self-absorbed he might be and a teetotaller , but an impeccable gent through and through. In an interview in

4810-491: Was huge: In 1983 $ 1.5 million were spent on advertising compared to sales of $ 11.1 million. Robert Nason Baker of advertising agency Harold Cabot & Co., Boston designed the company logo and the multicoloured stripe that appeared on all printed material. The initial lineup for Christmas 1982 comprised four titles: FaceMaker and The Story Machine , learning games by San Francisco-based DesignWare, and two Snooper Troops strategy games by Tom Snyder Productions . Among

4884-596: Was initially named "Trillium", but Spinnaker changed the name shortly after its announcement and before launch to Telarium when another company claimed ownership of the Trillium name. Both corporations published adventure games ( interactive fiction ) based on literature works. The target groups were different, Telarium geared toward grown-up adventure players and Windham Classics geared toward children players. In marketing and sales issues, both subsidiaries worked closely together with their parent company. President of Telarium

4958-564: Was intended to get Spinnaker more shelf space at retailers. The first new product line was a collaboration with toy manufacturer Fisher-Price . Spinnaker was responsible for creating, marketing and distributing the software and paid royalties for using the Fisher-Price name. In October 1984 Spinnaker founded two subsidiaries, the Telarium Corporation and the Windham Classics Corporation. Telarium

5032-562: Was made a Knight Bachelor "for services to literature" at a ceremony in Colombo. The award of a knighthood had been announced in the 1998 New Year Honours list, but investiture with the award had been delayed, at Clarke's request, because of an accusation by the tabloid the Sunday Mirror of paying boys for sex. The charge was subsequently found to be baseless by the Sri Lankan police. According to The Daily Telegraph ,

5106-460: Was one of the few works of science fiction that should be considered literature. In 1948, he wrote " The Sentinel " for a BBC competition. Though the story was rejected, it changed the course of Clarke's career. Not only was it the basis for 2001: A Space Odyssey , but "The Sentinel" also introduced a more cosmic element to Clarke's work. Many of Clarke's later works feature a technologically advanced but still-prejudiced mankind being confronted by

5180-485: Was open and honest." Clarke accumulated a vast collection of manuscripts and personal memoirs, maintained by his brother Fred Clarke in Taunton, Somerset, England, and referred to as the "Clarkives". Clarke said some of his private diaries will not be published until 30 years after his death. When asked why they were sealed, he answered, "Well, there might be all sorts of embarrassing things in them." On 26 May 2000, he

5254-523: Was published in Wireless World in October of that year. Clarke also wrote a number of nonfiction books describing the technical details and societal implications of rocketry and space flight. The most notable of these may be Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics (1950), The Exploration of Space (1951), and The Promise of Space (1968). In recognition of these contributions,

5328-504: Was published in April, while " Rescue Party ", his first sale, was published in May. Along with his writing, Clarke briefly worked as assistant editor of Science Abstracts (1949) before devoting himself in 1951 to full-time writing. Clarke began carving out his reputation as a "scientific" science fiction writer with his first science fiction novel, Against the Fall of Night , published as

5402-403: Was the world's 16th-largest microcomputer -software company, with $ 10 million in 1983 sales. During the 1983–1988 time frame, Spinnaker consistently led the best seller charts for educational software. with Snooper Troops making the top ten list of bestselling games. Beginning in 1984, Spinnaker introduced several brands to structure its product line and target different audiences. Branding

5476-510: Was then duly knighted. Although he and his home were unharmed by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami , his "Arthur C. Clarke Diving School" (now called "Underwater Safaris") at Hikkaduwa near Galle was destroyed. He made humanitarian appeals, and the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation worked towards better disaster notification systems. Because of his post-polio deficits, which limited his ability to travel and gave him halting speech , most of Clarke's communications in his last years were in

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