Skillz

Shaquan Ian Lewis, also known as Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz), is an American rapper known for his acclaimed 1996 album From Where???, a reference to his origins in Virginia, not the stereotypical New York City or Los Angeles rapper, and he's also known for his yearly "Rap Ups," which he has done annually since 2002 (except in 2013).

Biography

Skillz was born in Detroit, Michigan, and after spending his early childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina he then moved to Richmond, Virginia at a young age. He credits Run DMC for getting him involved in hip hop as a child. He fell in love with the culture and immediately began to practice all four elements religiously. He first made a name for himself by finishing in second place (Losing to MC Supernatural) in a national freestyle competition, which eventually resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records. At this time he went by the stage name Mad Skillz rather than just Skillz. Mad Skillz' Atlantic debut album, From Where???, and its single, "The Nod Factor", were released in 1996, but neither received much commercial or critical attention. The album's title was a reference to the regionalism in hip-hop, and at the time the state of Virginia did not have a large hip-hop scene. In the late-1990s more of a Virginia scene emerged, and he allied himself with fellow Virginia natives Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and The Neptunes. He made appearances on Timbaland's albums Tim's Bio in 1998, and Indecent Proposal in 2001; Timbaland made plans to sign Skillz to the Blackhand label he was developing; however, this label failed to materialize. He along with Danja Mowf, Lonnie B, and Kalonji The Immortal, members of Skillz' Supafriendz collective, also appeared on a remix of Aaliyah's hit single "Are You That Somebody" in 1998.

Skillz (company)

Skillz is an online multiplayer competition platform that can be integrated into IOS and Android games. Skillz operates cash competitions and free-to-enter virtual currency competitions in mobile games of skill. The company launched in 2012 in North America in stealth mode under the name Lookout Gaming.

History

Skillz was founded by Andrew Paradise and Casey Chafkin. Both are veterans of AisleBuyer, a Boston-based mobile checkout tech startup which was founded by Andrew Paradise and acquired by Intuit in 2012. Skillz has offices in San Francisco and Boston and has raised $10.3M in funding led by Atlas Ventures.

In April 2013, Skillz launched its platform on Android with ten titles and ten game studio partners. In its first two weeks, Skillz surpassed one million downloads and 100,000 real-money gaming registrations.

In May 2014, Skillz publicly announced the availability of its iOS SDK and reported that it has partnered with more than 300 game studios and has launched more than 150 games on the App Store.

OP

OP, O.P., Op, or Op. may refer to:

Arts

Internet and gaming

Mathematics

Organizations

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, hence the abbreviation OP used by members), more commonly known after the 15th century as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic de Guzman in France and approved by Pope Honorius III (1216–27) on 22 December 1216. Membership in this "mendicant" Order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries, though recently there has been a growing number of Associates, who are unrelated to the tertiaries) affiliated with the Order.

Founded to preach the Gospel and to combat heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organization placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages. The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers. The Dominican Order is headed by the Master of the Order, who is currently Bruno Cadoré. Members of the order generally carry the letters O.P., standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers, after their names.

Phosphorus pentoxide

Phosphorus pentoxide is a chemical compound with molecular formula P₄O₁₀ (with its common name derived from its empirical formula, P₂O₅). This white crystalline solid is the anhydride of phosphoric acid. It is a powerful desiccant and dehydrating agent.

Structure

Phosphorus pentoxide crystallizes in at least four forms or polymorphs. The most familiar one, a metastable form, shown in the figure, comprises molecules of P₄O₁₀. Weak van der Waals forces hold these molecules together in a hexagonal lattice (However, in spite of the high symmetry of the molecules, the crystal packing is not a close packing). The structure of the P₄O₁₀ cage is reminiscent of adamantane with T_dsymmetry point group. It is closely related to the corresponding anhydride of phosphorous acid, P₄O₆. The latter lacks terminal oxo groups. Its density is 2.30 g/cm³. It boils at 423 °C under atmospheric pressure; if heated more rapidly it can sublimate. This form can be made by condensing the vapor of phosphorus pentoxide rapidly, the result is an extremely hygroscopic solid.