AI Art Detector

AI Art Detector — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Direct voice input

    Direct voice input

    Direct voice input (DVI), sometimes called voice input control (VIC), is a style of human–machine interaction "HMI" in which the user makes voice commands to issue instructions to the machine through speech recognition. In the field of military aviation, DVI has been introduced into the cockpits of several modern military aircraft, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the Dassault Rafale, the KF-21 Boramae and the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Such systems have also been used for various other purposes, including industry control systems and speech recognition assistance for impaired individuals. == Overview == DVI systems can be divided into two major categories of functionality: "user-dependent" or "user-independent". A user-dependent system requires that a personal voice template to be generated for a specific person; the template for this individual has to be loaded onto their assigned machine prior to use of the DVI system for it to function properly. In contrast, a user-independent system does not require any personal voice template, being intended to respond correctly to the voice of any user. They can also be categorised between "discrete recognition" and "continuous recognition". Users of a discrete recognition system must pause between each word so that the DVI system can identify the separations between each word, while a continuous speech recognition system is capable of understanding a normal rate of speech. During the mid-2000s, researchers at the National Aerospace Laboratory in the Netherlands examined the use of DVI in the "GRACE" simulator; a total of twelve pilots participated in the ensuing experiment. The tests performed reportedly revealed that, while the hardware itself functioned well, several improvements were desirable prior to real-world deployment on aircraft since DVI operations actually consumed more time in comparison to traditional existing methods. Recommendations for improvements included the adoption of simpler syntax, the achievement of a greater recognition rate, and a decrease in response times; all of the issues encountered were determined to be of a technological nature, and were deemed feasible to resolve. The researchers concluded that in cockpits, especially during emergencies where pilots have to operate entirely on their own, a DVI system could be highly relevant, but that it was not of crucial importance during most other conceivable scenarios. Around the same time, evaluations of DVI systems for civil aviation purposes were conducted within the framework of Project SafeSound, coordinated by the European Union. It involved the observation of pilot workloads in real-world cockpits and contrasting them against pilot activity in flight simulators using both conventional systems and DVI assistance. The project aimed to enhance aviation safety and to decrease the workload in both ground and flight operations via the application of enhanced audio functions. == Applications == === Aviation === Prior to its widespread deployment, a handful of conventional military aircraft were converted to trial DVI systems; examples include the Harrier AV-8B and F-16 VISTA. In another case, a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon simulator was modified with DVI for a voice control study that was undertaken by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. DVI trials have also been conducted on helicopters, including the Boeing AH-64 Apache, showing the potential to improve flight safety and mission effectiveness. Numerous modern fighter aircraft have been outfitted with DVI systems, often in combination with various other man-machine interface schemes, such as HOTAS-compliant controls and other advanced control technologies. The combination of Voice and HOTAS control schemes has sometimes been referred to as the "V-TAS" concept. A prominent fighter aircraft to be furnished with a V-TAS cockpit is the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II also features a DVI system, which was developed by Adacel. Other examples includes the Dassault Rafale and the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Numerous aircraft have been planned to use DVI. At one stage, the United States Air Force had sought to integrate DVI upon the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor; however, the technology was eventually judged to pose too many technical risks at that point in time, and thus such efforts were abandoned. === Personal === By 1990, working prototypes of speech recognition systems were being demonstrated; these were being promoted for the purpose of providing an effective man-machine interface for individuals with impaired speech. Techniques employed included time-encoded digital speech and automatic token set selection. Investigations of these early DVI systems reportedly included the use of automatic diagnostic routines and limited-scale trials using volunteers. During the 2010s, various companies were offering voice recognition systems to the general public in the form of personal digital assistants. One example is the Google Voice service, which allows users to pose questions via a DVI package installed on either a personal computer, tablet, or mobile phone. Numerous digital assistants have been developed, such as Amazon Echo, Siri, and Cortana, that use DVI to interact with users. === Commercial === DVI technology has enabled automated telephone systems to be widely deployed. Many companies commonly use centralised phone systems that route callers to the correct department via such methods. Various car manufacturers have also furnished their road vehicles with DVI systems; these typically allow drivers to control infotainment systems and interact with mobile phones with more convenience than legacy methods. During the late 1980s, investigations into the use of DVI systems for controlling CNC machines and other manufacturing apparatus were underway. During the 2010s, such systems were being used for logistics and warehouse management purposes.

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  • MySocialCloud

    MySocialCloud

    MySocialCloud is a cloud-based bookmark vault and password website that allows users to log into all of their online accounts from a single, secure website. The company's investors include Sir Richard Branson, Insight Venture Partners’ Jerry Murdock, and PhotoBucket founder Alex Welch. The company and its founders have been featured in TechCrunch and The Huffington Post. == History == MySocialCloud was co-founded by Scott Ferreira, Stacey Ferreira, and Shiv Prakash in 2011. The idea for a one-stop password storage and login tool came when a computer crash left Scott without documents he used to store access information to his online data. In 2013, the siblings sold MySocialCloud to Reputation.com. == Services == MySocialCloud is cloud-based, and the platform lets users securely store passwords and automatically log into several social media websites simultaneously. The website auto-populates password fields, letting the user log into all of the sites at the push of a button. The service also provides users with security updates for the websites they have included in their profile, and informs users if a website has been hacked. Security played a major role during development of the platform. Passwords stored on the service are salted and hashed with a two-way encryption method known as AES.

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  • Viaweb

    Viaweb

    Viaweb was a web-based application that allowed users to build and host their own online stores with little technical expertise using a web browser. The company was started in July 1995 by Paul Graham, Robert Morris (using the pseudonym "John McArtyem"), and Trevor Blackwell. Graham claims Viaweb was the first application service provider. Viaweb was also unusual for being partially written in the Lisp programming language. The software was originally called Webgen, but another company was using the same name, so the company renamed it to Viaweb, "because it worked via the Web". In 1998, Yahoo! Inc. bought Viaweb for 455,000 shares of Yahoo! capital stock, valued at about $49 million, and renamed it Yahoo! Store. Viaweb's example has been influential in Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial culture, largely due to Graham's widely read essays and his subsequent career as a successful venture capitalist.

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  • Deconvolution

    Deconvolution

    In mathematics, deconvolution is the inverse of convolution. Both operations are used in signal processing and image processing. For example, it may be possible to recover the original signal after a filter (convolution) by using a deconvolution method with a certain degree of accuracy. Due to the measurement error of the recorded signal or image, it can be demonstrated that the worse the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the worse the reversing of a filter will be; hence, inverting a filter is not always a good solution as the error amplifies. Deconvolution offers a solution to this problem. The foundations for deconvolution and time-series analysis were largely laid by Norbert Wiener of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in his book Extrapolation, Interpolation, and Smoothing of Stationary Time Series (1949). The book was based on work Wiener had done during World War II but that had been classified at the time. Some of the early attempts to apply these theories were in the fields of weather forecasting and economics. == Description == In general, the objective of deconvolution is to find the solution f of a convolution equation of the form: f ∗ g = h {\displaystyle fg=h\,} Usually, h is some recorded signal, and f is some signal that we wish to recover, but has been convolved with a filter or distortion function g, before we recorded it. Usually, h is a distorted version of f and the shape of f can't be easily recognized by the eye or simpler time-domain operations. The function g represents the impulse response of an instrument or a driving force that was applied to a physical system. If we know g, or at least know the form of g, then we can perform deterministic deconvolution. However, if we do not know g in advance, then we need to estimate it. This can be done using methods of statistical estimation or building the physical principles of the underlying system, such as the electrical circuit equations or diffusion equations. There are several deconvolution techniques, depending on the choice of the measurement error and deconvolution parameters: === Raw deconvolution === When the measurement error is very low (ideal case), deconvolution collapses into a filter reversing. This kind of deconvolution can be performed in the Laplace domain. By computing the Fourier transform of the recorded signal h and the system response function g, you get H and G, with G as the transfer function. Using the convolution theorem, F = H / G {\displaystyle F=H/G\,} where F is the estimated Fourier transform of f. Finally, the inverse Fourier transform of the function F is taken to find the estimated deconvolved signal f. Note that G is at the denominator and could amplify elements of the error model if present. === Deconvolution with noise === In physical measurements, the situation is usually closer to ( f ∗ g ) + ε = h {\displaystyle (fg)+\varepsilon =h\,} In this case ε is noise that has entered our recorded signal. If a noisy signal or image is assumed to be noiseless, the statistical estimate of g will be incorrect. In turn, the estimate of ƒ will also be incorrect. The lower the signal-to-noise ratio, the worse the estimate of the deconvolved signal will be. That is the reason why inverse filtering the signal (as in the "raw deconvolution" above) is usually not a good solution. However, if at least some knowledge exists of the type of noise in the data (for example, white noise), the estimate of ƒ can be improved through techniques such as Wiener deconvolution. == Applications == === Seismology === The concept of deconvolution had an early application in reflection seismology. In 1950, Enders Robinson was a graduate student at MIT. He worked with others at MIT, such as Norbert Wiener, Norman Levinson, and economist Paul Samuelson, to develop the "convolutional model" of a reflection seismogram. This model assumes that the recorded seismogram s(t) is the convolution of an Earth-reflectivity function e(t) and a seismic wavelet w(t) from a point source, where t represents recording time. Thus, our convolution equation is s ( t ) = ( e ∗ w ) ( t ) . {\displaystyle s(t)=(ew)(t).\,} The seismologist is interested in e, which contains information about the Earth's structure. By the convolution theorem, this equation may be Fourier transformed to S ( ω ) = E ( ω ) W ( ω ) {\displaystyle S(\omega )=E(\omega )W(\omega )\,} in the frequency domain, where ω {\displaystyle \omega } is the frequency variable. By assuming that the reflectivity is white, we can assume that the power spectrum of the reflectivity is constant, and that the power spectrum of the seismogram is the spectrum of the wavelet multiplied by that constant. Thus, | S ( ω ) | ≈ k | W ( ω ) | . {\displaystyle |S(\omega )|\approx k|W(\omega )|.\,} If we assume that the wavelet is minimum phase, we can recover it by calculating the minimum phase equivalent of the power spectrum we just found. The reflectivity may be recovered by designing and applying a Wiener filter that shapes the estimated wavelet to a Dirac delta function (i.e., a spike). The result may be seen as a series of scaled, shifted delta functions (although this is not mathematically rigorous): e ( t ) = ∑ i = 1 N r i δ ( t − τ i ) , {\displaystyle e(t)=\sum _{i=1}^{N}r_{i}\delta (t-\tau _{i}),} where N is the number of reflection events, r i {\displaystyle r_{i}} are the reflection coefficients, t − τ i {\displaystyle t-\tau _{i}} are the reflection times of each event, and δ {\displaystyle \delta } is the Dirac delta function. In practice, since we are dealing with noisy, finite bandwidth, finite length, discretely sampled datasets, the above procedure only yields an approximation of the filter required to deconvolve the data. However, by formulating the problem as the solution of a Toeplitz matrix and using Levinson recursion, we can relatively quickly estimate a filter with the smallest mean squared error possible. We can also do deconvolution directly in the frequency domain and get similar results. The technique is closely related to linear prediction. === Optics and other imaging === In optics and imaging, the term "deconvolution" is specifically used to refer to the process of reversing the optical distortion that takes place in an optical microscope, electron microscope, telescope, or other imaging instrument, thus creating clearer images. It is usually done in the digital domain by a software algorithm, as part of a suite of microscope image processing techniques. Deconvolution is also practical to sharpen images that suffer from fast motion or jiggles during capturing. Early Hubble Space Telescope images were distorted by a flawed mirror and were sharpened by deconvolution. The usual method is to assume that the optical path through the instrument is optically perfect, convolved with a point spread function (PSF), that is, a mathematical function that describes the distortion in terms of the pathway a theoretical point source of light (or other waves) takes through the instrument. Usually, such a point source contributes a small area of fuzziness to the final image. If this function can be determined, it is then a matter of computing its inverse or complementary function, and convolving the acquired image with that. The result is the original, undistorted image. In practice, finding the true PSF is impossible, and usually an approximation of it is used, theoretically calculated or based on some experimental estimation by using known probes. Real optics may also have different PSFs at different focal and spatial locations, and the PSF may be non-linear. The accuracy of the approximation of the PSF will dictate the final result. Different algorithms can be employed to give better results, at the price of being more computationally intensive. Since the original convolution discards data, some algorithms use additional data acquired at nearby focal points to make up some of the lost information. Regularization in iterative algorithms (as in expectation-maximization algorithms) can be applied to avoid unrealistic solutions. When the PSF is unknown, it may be possible to deduce it by systematically trying different possible PSFs and assessing whether the image has improved. This procedure is called blind deconvolution. Blind deconvolution is a well-established image restoration technique in astronomy, where the point nature of the objects photographed exposes the PSF thus making it more feasible. It is also used in fluorescence microscopy for image restoration, and in fluorescence spectral imaging for spectral separation of multiple unknown fluorophores. The most common iterative algorithm for the purpose is the Richardson–Lucy deconvolution algorithm; the Wiener deconvolution (and approximations) are the most common non-iterative algorithms. For some specific imaging systems such as laser pulsed terahertz systems, PSF can be modeled mathematically. As a result, as shown in the figure, deconvolution of the modeled PS

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  • Self-management (computer science)

    Self-management (computer science)

    Self-management is the process by which computer systems manage their own operation without human intervention. Self-management technologies are expected to pervade the next generation of network management systems. The growing complexity of modern networked computer systems is a limiting factor in their expansion. The increasing heterogeneity of corporate computer systems, the inclusion of mobile computing devices, and the combination of different networking technologies like WLAN, cellular phone networks, and mobile ad hoc networks make the conventional, manual management difficult, time-consuming, and error-prone. More recently, self-management has been suggested as a solution to increasing complexity in cloud computing. An industrial initiative towards realizing self-management is the Autonomic Computing Initiative (ACI) started by IBM in 2001. The ACI defines the following four functional areas: Self-configuration Auto-configuration of components Self-healing Automatic discovery, and correction of faults; automatically applying all necessary actions to bring system back to normal operation Self-optimization Automatic monitoring and control of resources to ensure the optimal functioning with respect to the defined requirements Self-protection Proactive identification and protection from arbitrary attacks

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  • Dropbox Carousel

    Dropbox Carousel

    Dropbox Carousel was a photo and video management app offered by Dropbox. The third-party native app, available on Android and iOS, allowed users to store, manage, and organize photos. Photos were organized by date, time and event and backed up on Dropbox. It competed in this space against other online photo storage services such as Google's Google Photos, Apple's iCloud, and Yahoo's Flickr. Chris Lee, Dropbox's head of product development for Carousel described the app as an add-on to Dropbox, a “dedicated experience for photos and videos” and a space for “reliving personal memories”. == History == Mailbox founder, Gentry Underwood unveiled Carousel at a gathering in San Francisco on April 9, 2014. Much of the features in Carousel come from Snapjoy, a photo start-up, that Dropbox acquired on December 19, 2012. When Carousel was launched, it marked amongst many others, a series of acquisitions made by Dropbox to prep up before opening its stock for public offering. The acquisitions would help demonstrate its expansive product offerings pitching potential profitability to investors. In December 2015, Dropbox announced that Carousel would be shut down and some Carousel features would be integrated into the primary Dropbox application. On March 31, 2016, Carousel was deactivated. == Features == Carousel prompted users to free local storage once it had synced and backed-up local photos to the cloud. Flashback was a feature (enabled by default) that showed past photos or videos taken the same day, a year, or some years back. Flashback used an algorithm designed to identify human faces - resulting in greater likelihood of the user's picture or people in the user's close circle appearing. A scrollable timeline, which was earlier a scroll wheel, at the bottom let the user scroll to photo(s) at a specific date with a finger swipe.

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  • Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner

    Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner

    Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner (formerly Windows Live Safety Center and codenamed Vegas) was an online scanning, PC cleanup, and diagnosis service to help remove of viruses, spyware/adware, and other malware. It was a free web service that was part of Windows Live. On November 18, 2008, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Windows Live OneCare, offering users a new free anti-malware suite Microsoft Security Essentials, which had been available since the second half of 2009. However, Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner, under the same branding as Windows Live OneCare, was not discontinued during that time. The service was officially discontinued on April 15, 2011 and replaced with Microsoft Safety Scanner. == Overview == Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner offered a free online scanning and protection from threats. The Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner must be downloaded and installed to your computer to scan your computer. The "Full Service Scan" looks for common PC health issues such as viruses, temporary files, and open network ports. It searches and removes viruses, improves a computer's performance, and removes unnecessary clutter on the PC's hard disk. The user can choose between a "Full Scan" (which can be customized) or a "Quick Scan". The "Full Scan" scans for viruses (comprehensive scan or quick scan), hard disk performance (Disk fragmentation scan and/or Desk cleanup scan) and network safety (open port scan). The "Quick Scan" only scans for viruses, only on specific areas on the computer. The quick scan is faster than the full scan, hence that appellation. The service also provides a virus database, information about online threats, and general computer security documentation and tools. == Limits == The virus scanner on the Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner site runs a scan of the user's computer only when the site is visited. It does not run periodic scans of the system, and does not provide features to prevent viruses from infecting the computer at the time, or thereafter. It simply resolves detected infections. Many users who have posted on the Product Feedback forum report script errors relating to Internet Explorer 7 (besides IE being the only browser supported by this service). The OneCare safety scanner team have been actively solving these problems, many of them registry-related.

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  • Magisto

    Magisto

    Magisto provided an online video editing tool (both as a web application and a mobile app) for automated video editing and production. In 2019, the company was acquired by Vimeo for an estimated US$200 million. The Magisto app contained a library of music. The music, largely by independent artists, was sorted by mood and is licensed for in-app use. Magisto had a freemium business model where users can create basic video clips for free. In addition, advanced business, professional and personal service tiers are available via various subscription plans, unlocking more features; such as longer videos, HD, premium themes, customization, and control features. == History == Magisto was founded in 2009 as SightEra (LTD) by Oren Boiman (CEO) and Alex Rav-Acha (CTO). Boiman, frustrated with the amount of time it took editing together videos of his daughter, wanted an easier to use application to capture and share videos. Boiman, a computer scientist that graduated from Tel Aviv University, followed with graduate work in computer vision at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Boiman developed several patent-pending image analysis technologies that analyze unedited videos to identify the most interesting parts. The system recognized faces, animals, landscapes, action sequences, movements and other important content within the video, as well as analyzing speech and audio. These scenes are then edited together, along with music and effects. Magisto was launched publicly on September 20, 2011, as a video editing software web application through which users could upload unedited video footage, choose a title and soundtrack and have their video edited for them automatically. On the following day, Magisto was added to YouTube Create's collection of video production applications. The Magisto iPhone app was launched publicly at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At CES, the company was also awarded first place in the 2012 CES Mobile App Showdown. In August 2012, Magisto launched the Android app on Google Play. In September 2012, Magisto launched a Google Chrome App and announced Google Drive integration. In March 2013, Magisto claimed it had 5 million users. Google listed Magisto as an "Editors’ Choice" on its list of "Best Apps of 2013". In September 2013, the company claimed that 10 million users had downloaded the App. In February 2014, Magisto claimed that they had 20 million users, with 2 million new users per month. The company also confirmed investment from Mail.Ru. In September 2014, Magisto rolled out a feature called 'Instagram Ready' which allowed users to upload 15 second clips that are automatically formatted for Instagram. In the same month, Magisto launched a feature for iOS and Android users, called 'Surprise Me', which created video from still photography on users’ smartphones. In October 2014, Magisto was placed 9th on the 2014 Deloitte Israel Technology Fast 50 list and named as a finalist in the Red Herring's Top 100 Europe award. In July 2015, Magisto released an editing theme dedicated to Jerry Garcia. In April 2019, the company was acquired by Vimeo, the IAC-owned platform for hosting, sharing and monetizing streamed video, for an estimated $200 million. === Financing === In 2011, the company received more than $5.5 million in a Series B venture round funding from Magma Venture Partners and Horizons Ventures. In September 2011, at the same time as the public launch of their web application, Magisto announced a $5.5 million Series B funding round led by Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures. Li Ka-Shing is known for making early-stage investments in companies like Facebook, Spotify, SecondMarket and Siri. In October 2013, the company received $13 million in funding from Qualcomm and Sandisk. In 2014, the company received $2 million in Venture Funding from Magma Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Horizons Ventures and the Mail.Ru Group. == Awards == Magisto won first place at Technonomy3, an annual Internet Technology start-up competition in Israel. Judges of the competition included Jeff Pulver, TechCrunch editor Mike Butcher, investor Yaron Samid, Bessemer Venture Partners Israel partner Adam Fisher and Brad McCarty of The Next Web. Magisto won first place at CES 2012 Mobile app competition, during the launch of Magisto iOS mobile app. Magisto was awarded twice the Google Play Editor's Choice and was part of iPhone App Store Best App awards for 2013 and 2014, and Wired Essential iPad Apps. Magisto was declared by Deloitte as the 7th fastest growing company in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in 2016.

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  • STIT logic

    STIT logic

    STIT logic (from seeing to it that) is a family of modal and branching-time logics for reasoning about agency and choice. A typical STIT operator has the form [ i s t i t : φ ] {\displaystyle [i\ {\mathsf {stit}}:\varphi ]} , usually read as "agent i {\displaystyle i} sees to it that φ {\displaystyle \varphi } ", and is interpreted in models where agents choose between alternative possible futures. STIT logics are used in action theory, deontic logic, epistemic logic, and the theory of intelligent agents to formalise notions such as "could have done otherwise", responsibility, joint action, and strategic ability in an indeterministic world. == Etymology == The acronym STIT comes from the English phrase "seeing to it that", introduced in influential work by Nuel Belnap and Michael Perloff on the logical analysis of agentive expressions. In this tradition, "to see to it that φ {\displaystyle \varphi } " is treated as a primitive agency operator, rather than being reduced to ordinary modal necessity. == History == Modern STIT logic arose in the 1980s in the context of branching-time semantics and formal theories of agency. Belnap and Perloff's article "Seeing to it that: A canonical form for agentives" introduced the idea of treating expressions of the form "agent i sees to it that φ" as a primitive modal operator, and analysed such sentences using a branching tree of moments and histories. This approach was further developed in a series of papers on indeterminism and agency and provided the conceptual core for later STIT formalisms. In the 1990s the basic formal systems of STIT logic were worked out. Horty and Belnap's influential paper on the deliberative STIT operator distinguished between a "Chellas" STIT that merely records the result of an agent's present choice and a "deliberative" STIT that requires the agent's choice to make a difference, and connected STIT with issues of action, omission, ability and obligation. Around the same time, Ming Xu proved completeness and decidability results for basic STIT systems, including a single-agent logic with Kripke-style semantics and axiomatizations for multi-agent deliberative STIT, thereby establishing STIT as a well-behaved normal modal framework. This early work was systematised in Belnap, Perloff and Xu's monograph Facing the Future: Agents and Choices in Our Indeterminist World, which presents a general branching-time semantics for individual and group STIT operators, discusses independence-of-agents conditions and articulates the metaphysical picture of an indeterministic "tree" of moments. At roughly the same time, Horty's book Agency and Deontic Logic developed deontic STIT logics in which obligations are tied to agents' available choices rather than to static states of affairs, and used the resulting systems to analyse "ought implies can", contrary-to-duty obligations and deontic paradoxes. These works helped to position STIT at the intersection of action theory, temporal logic and deontic logic. From the late 1990s and 2000s onward, STIT logics were combined with epistemic, temporal and strategic modalities. Broersen introduced complete STIT logics for knowledge and action and deontic-epistemic STIT systems that distinguish different modes of mens rea, with applications to responsibility and the specification of multi-agent systems. Work on group and coalitional agency investigated axiomatisations and complexity results for group STIT logics, and related STIT-based analyses of agency to coalition logic and alternating-time temporal logic (ATL) by exhibiting formal embeddings between the frameworks. Explicit temporal operators were added to STIT in so-called temporal STIT logics. Lorini proposed a temporal STIT with "next" and "until" operators along histories and showed how it can be applied to normative reasoning about ongoing behaviour and commitments. Ciuni and Lorini compared different semantics for temporal STIT, clarifying the relationships between branching-time, game-based and epistemic approaches, while Boudou and Lorini gave a semantics for temporal STIT based on concurrent game structures, thus strengthening links with standard models of multi-agent interaction used for ATL and strategy logic. In parallel, complexity-theoretic work by Balbiani, Herzig and Troquard and by Schwarzentruber and co-authors investigated the satisfiability and model-checking problems for various STIT fragments, showing for instance that many expressive group STIT logics are undecidable or of high computational complexity. In the 2010s, STIT ideas were combined with justification logic, imagination operators and refined deontic notions. Justification STIT logics, developed by Olkhovikov and others, merge explicit justifications with STIT-style agency so that producing a proof can itself be treated as an action that brings about knowledge, and they come with completeness and decidability results. Olkhovikov and Wansing introduced STIT imagination logics, together with axiomatic systems and tableau calculi, to model acts of voluntary imagining and their role in doxastic control. Other authors have proposed STIT-based logics of responsibility, blameworthiness and intentionality for use in philosophical and AI settings. Xu's survey article "Combinations of STIT with Ought and Know" (2015) reviews many of these developments and emphasises the interplay between deontic and epistemic STIT logics. Current research on STIT focuses on proof theory, automated reasoning and richer expressive resources. Lyon and van Berkel, building on earlier work on labelled calculi for STIT, have developed cut-free sequent systems and proof-search algorithms that yield syntactic decision procedures for a range of deontic and non-deontic multi-agent STIT logics and support applications such as duty checking and compliance checking in autonomous systems. Sawasaki has proposed first-order cstit-based STIT logics that can distinguish de re and de dicto readings of agency statements and has proved strong completeness results for Hilbert systems over finite models, moving the STIT programme beyond the purely propositional level. Further work investigates interpreted-system and computationally grounded semantics for STIT and its extensions in order to model the behaviour of autonomous agents in multi-agent settings, and proposes STIT-based semantics for epistemic notions based on patterns of information disclosure in interactive systems. == Branching-time semantics == STIT logics are usually interpreted over branching-time models. A standard STIT frame consists of: a non-empty set of moments T {\displaystyle T} , partially ordered by < {\displaystyle <} so that ( T , < ) {\displaystyle (T,<)} forms a tree (every pair of moments with a common predecessor has a greatest lower bound); a set of histories, each history being a maximal linearly ordered subset of T {\displaystyle T} ; a non-empty set of agents A g {\displaystyle Ag} ; for each agent i ∈ A g {\displaystyle i\in Ag} and moment m {\displaystyle m} , a choice function c h o i c e i m {\displaystyle {\mathsf {choice}}_{i}^{m}} that partitions the set of histories passing through m {\displaystyle m} into choice cells. The idea is that a moment represents a time at which choices are made, and histories represent complete possible future courses of events. At each moment, each agent's choice corresponds to selecting one of the available cells of histories determined by their choice function. Formulas are evaluated at pairs ( m , h ) {\displaystyle (m,h)} of a moment and a history through that moment (sometimes written m / h {\displaystyle m/h} ). A valuation assigns truth-values to atomic propositions at such indices; Boolean connectives are interpreted pointwise as in Kripke-style modal logic. == Chellas and deliberative STIT operators == Several STIT operators have been distinguished in the literature. A common approach uses two closely related operators, often called Chellas STIT and deliberative STIT. Let H m {\displaystyle H_{m}} be the set of histories passing through a moment m {\displaystyle m} , and write H m {\displaystyle H_{m}} ⟦ φ ⟧ m = { h ∈ H m ∣ M , m / h ⊨ φ } {\displaystyle {\text{⟦}}\varphi {\text{⟧}}_{m}=\{h\in H_{m}\mid M,m/h\models \varphi \}} for the set of histories at m {\displaystyle m} where φ {\displaystyle \varphi } holds. The Chellas STIT operator, often written [ i c s t i t : φ ] {\displaystyle [i\ {\mathsf {cstit}}:\varphi ]} , is given by M , m / h ⊨ [ i c s t i t : φ ] iff c h o i c e i m ( h ) ⊆ ⟦ φ ⟧ m . {\displaystyle M,m/h\models [i\ {\mathsf {cstit}}:\varphi ]\quad {\text{iff}}\quad {\mathsf {choice}}_{i}^{m}(h)\subseteq {\text{⟦}}\varphi {\text{⟧}}_{m}.} Intuitively, agent i {\displaystyle i} sees to it that φ {\displaystyle \varphi } if φ {\displaystyle \varphi } holds at all histories compatible with their present choice. The deliberative STIT operator, [ i d s t i t : φ ] {\displaystyle [i\ {\mathsf {dstit}}:\varphi ]} , adds

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  • Tinybop

    Tinybop

    Tinybop is a Brooklyn based publisher of apps for children. == History == Tinybop is a Brooklyn-based children's media company established in 2011 by Raul Gutierrez. App titles are released in two series: the Explorer's Library - a series of science apps and Digital Toys - series of open-ended construction apps. == Published apps == Explorer's Library Titles: The Human Body – An anatomy app for children. Released 2013. The company's first app was illustrated by Kelli Anderson and has been downloaded millions of times. Selected for the American Library Association's Notable Children's Media List in 2022. Named Apple App Store's Best of 2013. Winner of the Digital Ehon Yuichi Kimura Prize for Children's Digital Media. Plants – An app about biomes around the world. Homes – An app about houses around with world. Illustrated by Tuesday Bassen. Winner of the Parents Gold Choice Award for children's apps. Simple Machines – A children's physics app about simple machines. The Earth – An app for children about the geologic Earth illustrated by Sarah Jacoby. Weather – A children's weather app. Skyscrapers – A children's app about building tall buildings. Space – An interactive solar system. Mammals – A children's app about mammals illustrated by Wenjia Tang. Winner of the Digital Ehon Award for Children's Educational media. Coral Reef – An app about marine ecosystems. Winner of an Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Honor from the American Library Association. State of Matter – An app covering solids, liquids, and gases. Winner of Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Honor from the American Library Association. Light and Color – An app about light and color. Selected for The American Library Association's Notable Children's Media List 2023. Winner of the 2022 Yoichi Sakakihara Prize for Children's Media. Digital Toys Titles: The Robot Factory – A robot building app for children illustrated by Owen Davey. Apple named The Robot Factory as iPad App of the Year in 2015. The Everything Machine – A visual coding app for children. The Everything Machine was named Apple's Best of 2015. Monsters – A monster creation app illustrated by Tianhua Mao. The Infinite Arcade – An arcade game building app. Me: A Kids Diary – A digital journal for children. Selected for The American Library Association's Notable Children's Media List 2020. The Creature Garden – An app that allows children to create fantastical animals illustrated by Natasha Durley. Selected for The American Library Association's Notable Children's Media List 2021. Things that Go Bump – A multiplayer game set in an enchanted Japanese house, released on Apple Arcade in 2018.

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  • Process map

    Process map

    Process map is a global-system process model that is used to outline the processes that make up the business system and how they interact with each other. Process map shows the processes as objects, which means it is a static and non-algorithmic view of the processes. It should be differentiated from a detailed process model, which shows a dynamic and algorithmic view of the processes, usually known as a process flow diagram. There are different notation standards that can be used for modelling process maps, but the most notable ones are TOGAF Event Diagram, Eriksson-Penker notation, and ARIS Value Added Chain. == Global process models == Global characteristics of the business system are captured by global or system models. Global process models are presented using different methodologies and sometimes under different names. Most notably, they are named process map in Visual Paradigm and MMABP, value-added chain in ARIS, and process diagram in Eriksson-Penker notation – which can easily lead to the confusion with process flow (detailed process model). Global models are mainly object-oriented and present a static view of the business system; they do not describe dynamic aspects of processes. A process map shows the presence of processes and their mutual relationships. The requirement for the global perspective of the system as a supplementary to the internal process logic description results from the necessity of taking into consideration not only the internal process logic but also its significant surroundings. The algorithmic process model cannot take the place of this perspective since it represents the system model of the process. The detailed process model and the global process model represent different perspectives on the same business system, so these models must be mutually consistent. A macro process map represents the major processes required to deliver a product or service to the customer. These macro process maps can be further detailed in sub-diagrams. It is often the case that process maps cross different functional areas of the organization. Process maps are used by many companies to have a holistic view of all processes and the connections between them. Maps help in navigating the sub-processes and make understanding of the organization's operations easier. The process map shows relationships and dependencies between processes and its focus should be on core business processes of the organization. A process map can be seen as the most abstract level of the process architecture, and it acts as the introduction to the more detailed levels. A process map that is correctly designed is able to provide a general understanding of a company's operations. Designing the process map is an important and strategic step for the organization, and it is followed by further business process modelling implementation. == Context == Methodology for Modelling and Analysis of Business Process (MMABP) is a business process modelling methodology developed at the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Informatics and Statistics of the Prague University of Economics and Business. The methodology is defined as a “general methodology for modelling business systems using informatics methods and approaches”. Methodology is used to analyse business processes and to develop a comprehensive model of the system. The goal of developing a model is to be used for process optimization. The model should be created following the characteristics and specifics of the organization in question and following external influences that can affect the organization. The model should be optimal from an economic perspective, but it should also be optimal from a factual perspective, meaning that it should be as simple as possible while maintaining complete functionality. Business system modelling is based on a two-dimensional approach: Real World structure (substance) – set of objects and their relationships Real World behaviour – set of mutually connected business processes Additionally, there are also two views of the systems: Global view of the system Detailed view of the system's parts This results in the need to model the system from four different perspectives in order to achieve the complete and comprehensive view of the business system. MMABP also proposes which notation languages can be used for modelling each perspective, and it also suggests some improvements to the notation languages in order to fit the purpose. Global view of the objects – Conceptual model (Class diagram) Detailed view of the objects – Object life cycle (State Chart) Global view of the processes – Process map (Eriksson-Penker Diagram/TOGAF Event Diagram/ARIS VAC) Detailed view of the processes – Model of the process flow (BPMN Diagram) Data Flow Diagram (DFD) is additional diagram used for describing the required functionalities of the information system. == Notation standards == === Eriksson-Penker Diagram === Eriksson-Penker diagram is a tool used in business model analysis and design. It is named after Hans-Erik Eriksson and Magnus Penker, who developed the concept in their book "Business modelling with UML: Business Patterns at Work”. Eriksson-Penker diagrams are used to map out the key components of a business model and how they interact with one another. The diagrams typically consist of a series of boxes and lines that represent the different elements of the business model, such as the value proposition, customer segments, channels, revenue streams, and key resources. The lines between the boxes represent the relationships and dependencies between the different elements of the business model. These diagrams are useful for visualizing and understanding the various components of a business model, and can help organizations identify potential areas for improvement or areas of risk. They can also be used as a communication tool to help stakeholders understand the business model and its underlying assumptions. These diagrams are useful for visualizing and understanding the various components of a business model, and can help organizations identify potential areas for improvement or areas of risk. They can also be used as a communication tool to help stakeholders understand the business model and its underlying assumptions. It is possible to use Eriksson-Penker diagrams to create a global process view of a business. In this case, a diagram would be used to map out the key processes and activities that are involved in the business, as well as the relationships and dependencies between these processes. For example, an Eriksson-Penker diagram could be used to depict the various steps involved in the product development process, from concept development to market launch. It could also be used to show how different functions within the organization, such as marketing, sales, and production, interact and depend on one another to support the overall business. Eriksson-Penker diagram is one of the most popular de facto standards that can be used for an object-oriented global view of business processes. It is developed as an extension of the UML, and it is often used together with the BPMN to compensate for the lack of possibility to model the global view with this widely accepted standard. === TOGAF Event Diagram === TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) is a framework for enterprise architecture that provides a common language and set of standards for designing, planning, implementing, and governing an enterprise's IT architecture. TOGAF event diagrams are diagrams used in the TOGAF framework to represent the flow of events within a system or process. The TOGAF Event Diagram is a visual representation of the events within an organization or system. It can be used to show the sequence of events that occur in a particular process, as well as the relationships between the events and the stakeholders involved. TOGAF Event Diagrams can be useful in creating a global process view because they provide a visual representation of the events, which can be helpful in understanding how the process fits into the larger context of the organization. TOGAF Event Diagram is the most perspective standard for the system view of processes today. It is used to represent the system of processes as well as their connections to the functional organizational structure. === ARIS Value Added Chain === ARIS (Architecture of Integrated Information Systems) is a methodology and a set of tools for designing and managing business processes. It is based on the idea that business processes are the core of an organization and that they can be modelled and optimized to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The ARIS methodology provides a framework for understanding and analysing business processes, as well as for designing and implementing improvements to those processes. It includes a set of graphical modelling languages and tools for creating process models, as well as a database for storing and managing pr

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  • Cozi

    Cozi

    Cozi is a family organization website and mobile app designed to streamline household management. It offers shared calendars, to-do lists, shopping lists, and messaging tools, allowing multiple users to coordinate under one account. Founded in 2005 by former Microsoft employees, Cozi has evolved through acquisitions and now operates under OurFamilyWizard. The app is available in both free and premium versions on iOS, Android, and desktop platforms. == History == Cozi was founded in 2005 by Robbie Cape and Jan Miksovsky, two former Microsoft employees who sought to simplify family logistics with technology. The company's first product, Cozi Central, was released on September 25, 2006, and included a family calendar, shopping lists, family messaging and a photo collage screensaver. The company is based in Seattle, Washington. Cozi has both a freemium version, and a paid version called Cozi Gold. Cozi Gold's additional features include Cozi Contacts, a birthday tracker, more reminders, mobile month view, and change notifications. The software can be used on desktop or mobile applications for iOS and Android. On June 5, 2011, Cozi set a Guinness World Record for the longest line of ducks in a row. The line stretched for one mile and was made up of 17,782 rubber ducks. Cozi was acquired by Time Inc. in 2014. After the Meredith Corporation acquired Time in 2018, Cozi was moved into the Parents Network division. On May 4, 2022, Cozi was acquired by OurFamilyWizard of Minneapolis, Minnesota, reporting more than 20 million registered users.

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  • AI data center

    AI data center

    An AI data center is a specialized data center facility designed for the computationally intensive tasks of training and running inference for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models. Unlike general-purpose data centers, they are optimized for the parallel processing demands of AI workloads, typically using hardware such as AI accelerators (e.g., GPUs, TPUs) and high-speed interconnects. The global push to construct these specialized facilities accelerated dramatically during the AI boom of the 2020s. Memory manufacturers prioritized production of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) essential for AI servers, which led to a global memory supply shortage amid a broader competition for advanced chips, power, and infrastructure. Major tech companies are estimated to spend $650 billion on AI data centers in 2026. == Architecture == Data centers for building and running large machine learning models contain specialized computer chips, GPUs, that use 2 to 4 times as much energy as their regular CPU counterparts (250-500 watts). AI data centers use 60 or more kilowatts per server rack, whereas more standard data centers typically use 5 to 10 kilowatts per rack. == Operators == As of August 2025, The Information tracked 18 planned or existing AI data centers in the United States, operated by Amazon Web Services, CoreWeave, Crusoe, Meta, Microsoft/OpenAI, Oracle, Tesla, and xAI. Other AI data center operators include Digital Realty and Alibaba. Data centers are also being built in China, India, Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. The New Yorker described CoreWeave as the most prominent AI data center operator in the United States. Two types of data center providers for machine learning have been noted: hyperscalers and neoclouds. The Verge listed large technology companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon as hyperscalers. The New York Times described neoclouds as "a new generation of data center providers". CoreWeave, Nebius, Nscale, and Lambda have been described as examples of neoclouds. In January 2025, OpenAI, in partnership with Oracle and Softbank, announced the Stargate project, which as of September 2025 is composed of six built or proposed AI data centers in the United States. In response to the Stargate project, Amazon launched in October 2025 an AI data center on 1,200 acres of farmland in Indiana. This data center, known as Project Rainier, is one of the largest AI data centers in the world, with Amazon spending $11 billion on the project. Rainier is specifically intended for training and running machine learning models from Anthropic. As of that time, this facility contains seven data centers (out of an estimated 30 planned) and will use 2.2 gigawatts of electricity (equivalent to 1 million households) and millions of gallons of water per year. Computer chips from Annapurna Labs and Anthropic, Trainium 2, were designed for use in such facilities. Amazon pumped millions of gallons of water out of the ground to construct the data center, and as of June 2025, Indiana state officials are investigating whether this dewatering process led to dry wells for local residents. In November 2025, Anthropic announced a plan in partnership with Fluidstack to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States, including data centers in New York and Texas, worth $50 billion. Other AI data center projects include the Colossus supercomputer from xAI, a Louisiana-based project from Meta, Hyperion, expected to use 5 GW of power, and a second Ohio-based Meta project, Prometheus, with a capacity of 1 GW. A 3,200-acre AI data center, capable of 4.4-4.5 GW of power and located on the decommissioned Homer City Generating Station, is under construction as of 2025, and will use seven 30-acre gas generating stations supplied by EQT. As of December 2025, CRH is working on over 100 data centers in the United States. In 2025, ExxonMobil and NextEra announced plans to build a data center powered by natural gas and using carbon capture technology, with 1.2 GW of power capacity. They previously purchased 2,500 acres of land in the Southeastern United States and plan to market the data center to an artificial intelligence company. The increased interest in AI data centers has led to several executives from companies in that space becoming billionaires, including CoreWeave, QTS, Nebius, Astera Labs, Groq, Fermi (which is connected to former United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry), Snowflake and Cipher Mining. Several companies involved in cryptocurrency mining, such as Bitdeer, CoreWeave, Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, IREN, Core Scientific, and CleanSpark have also been involved with AI data centers. == Finances == Between January and August 2024, Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon collectively spent $125 billion on AI data centers. Citigroup forecasted that $2.8 trillion would be spent on AI data centers by 2030, while McKinsey and Company estimated that almost $7 trillion would be spent globally by that time. According to S&P Global, $61 billion has been spent on the data center market as a whole in 2025, while debt issuance for data centers was $182 billion during the same year. Large technology companies have offloaded the financial risks of building AI data centers by setting up special purpose vehicles or by contracting with neoclouds. For example, Meta's Hyperion was mostly funded by Blue Owl Capital, which did so using a bond offering from PIMCO. Those bonds were sold to a number of clients, including BlackRock. Meta did not borrow money itself and instead established a special purpose vehicle from which it would rent the data center. This deal was structured by Morgan Stanley for $30 billion, the largest known private capital transaction as of 2025. Neoclouds such as CoreWeave have gone into debt to buy computer chips from Nvidia for their data centers, and the chips themselves have been used for loan collateral. As of December 2025, CoreWeave took out three GPU-backed loans, collectively worth $12.4 billion, from private credit firms (Blackstone, Coatue, BlackRock, PIMCO) and from banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo). Thus, these companies provide an indirect connection between private credit and established banks. Data centers have also established asset-backed securities, and debt for data centers has its own derivative financial products. The real estate industry, including asset managers, public companies and private investors, has also invested in data centers. == Energy sourcing == == Environmental footprint == Average AI data centers have an electricity footprint equivalent to 100,000 households, and use billions of gallons of water for cooling their hardware. In 2025, the International Energy Agency estimated that the larger AI data centers currently under construction could consume as much electricity as 2 million households. A 2024 report from the United States Department of Energy stated that data centers overall used 17 billion gallons of water per year in the United States, primarily due to "rapid proliferation of AI servers", and that this usage was forecasted to grow to nearly 80 billion gallons by 2028. Researchers estimated that AI data centers in the United States would emit 24-44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and use 731–1,125 million cubic meters of water per year between 2024 and 2030. Peaking power plants, which have been proposed as a power source for AI data centers, emit sulfur dioxide and have historically been located disproportionately near communities of color in the United States. Reciprocating internal combustion engines, proposed as another power source for a data center, emit PM 2.5, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. == AI data centers in the United States == In the United States, both the Biden administration and second Trump administration supported the construction of AI data centers. In January 2025, then-president Joe Biden signed an executive order for federal government agencies to support AI data centers on federal sites built by private companies, study their effect on energy prices, and encourage their use of renewable energy. In April 2025, the United States Department of Energy suggested 16 possible sites, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In its July 2025 AI Action Plan, the second Trump administration supported increased production of AI data centers. Several US states have incentivized local data center construction. For example, in 2024, lawmakers in Michigan approved tax breaks for data center equipment and construction material. Some data center companies have also invested or promised to invest in the infrastructure of local communities. In December 2025, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal wrote to seven technology companies (Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, CoreWeave, Digital Realty, and Equinix) that they w

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  • Pydio

    Pydio

    Pydio Cells, previously known as just Pydio and formerly known as AjaXplorer, is an open-source file-sharing and synchronisation software that runs on the user's own server or in the cloud. == Presentation == The project was created by musician Charles Du Jeu (current CEO and CTO) in 2007 under the name AjaXplorer. The name was changed in 2013 and became Pydio (an acronym for Put Your Data in Orbit). In May 2018, Pydio switched from PHP to Go with the release of Pydio Cells. The PHP version reached end-of-life state on 31 December 2019. Pydio Cells runs on any server supporting a recent Go version. Windows/Linux/macOS on the Intel architecture are directly supported; a fully functional working ARM implementation is under active development. Pydio Cells has been developed from scratch using the Go programming language; release 4.0.0 introduced code refactoring to fully support the Go modular structure as well as grid computing. Nevertheless, the web-based interface of Cells is very similar to the one from Pydio 8 (in PHP), and it successfully replicates most of its features, while adding a few more. There is also a new synchronisation client (also written in Go). The PHP version has been phased out as the company's focus is moving to Pydio Cells, with community feedback on the new features. According to the company, the switch to the new environment was made "to overcome inherent PHP limitations and provide you with a future-proof and modern solution for collaborating on documents". From a technical point of view, Pydio differs from solutions such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Pydio is not based on a public cloud; instead, the software connects to the user's existing storage (such as SAN / Local FS, SAMBA / CIFS, (s)FTP, NFS, S3-compatible cloud storage, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage) as well as to the existing user directories (LDAP / AD, OAuth2 / OIDC SSO, SAML / Azure ADFS SSO, RADIUS, Shibboleth...), which allows companies to keep their data inside their infrastructure, according to their data security policy and user rights management. The software is built in a modular perspective; up to Pydio 8, various plugins allowed administrators to implement extra features. On the server side, Pydio Cells is deployed as a collection of independent microservices communicating among themselves using gRPC and logging user actions via Activity Streams 2.0 (AS2). Pydio Cells microservices are built with the Go Micro framework (using an embedded NATS server). A standard installation will deploy all required services on the same physical server, but for the purposes of performance, reliability and high availability, these can now be spread across several different servers (even in geographically separate locations) according to the 12-factors architecture pattern. Pydio Cells is available either through a free and open-source community distribution (Pydio Cells Home), or a commercially-licensed enterprise distribution (in two variants, Pydio Cells Connect and Pydio Cells Enterprise), which add features not available in the community distribution as well as additional levels of support beyond the community forums. == Features == File sharing between different internal users and across other Pydio instances SSL/TLS Encryption WebDAV file server Creation of dedicated workspaces, for each line of business / project / client, with a dedicated user rights management for each workspace. File-sharing with external users (private links, public links, password protection, download limitation, etc.) Online viewing and editing of documents with Collabora Office (Pydio Cells Enterprise also offers OnlyOffice integration) Preview and editing of image files Integrated audio and video reader Activity stream ('timeline') for all actions taken by users Integrated chat platform Client applications are available for all major desktop and mobile platforms.

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  • Cloud robotics

    Cloud robotics

    Cloud robotics is a field of robotics that attempts to invoke cloud technologies such as cloud computing, cloud storage, and other Internet technologies centered on the benefits of converged infrastructure and shared services for robotics. When connected to the cloud, robots can benefit from the powerful computation, storage, and communication resources of a modern data center in the cloud, which can process and share information from various robots or agents (other machines, smart objects, humans, etc.). Humans can also delegate tasks to robots remotely through networks. Cloud computing technologies enable robot systems to be gain capability whilst reducing costs through cloud technologies. Thus, it is possible to build lightweight, low-cost, smarter robots with an intelligent "brain" in the cloud. The "brain" consists of data center, knowledge base, task planners, deep learning, information processing, environment models, communication support, etc. == Components == A cloud for robots potentially has at least six significant components: Building a "cloud brain" for robots, the main object of cloud robotics; Offering a global library of images, maps, and object data, often with geometry and mechanical properties, expert system, knowledge base (i.e. semantic web, data centres); Massively-parallel computation on demand for sample-based statistical modelling and motion planning, task planning, multi-robot collaboration, scheduling and coordination of system; Robot sharing of outcomes, trajectories, and dynamic control policies and robot learning support; Human sharing of open-source code, data, and designs for programming, experimentation, and hardware construction; On-demand human guidance and assistance for evaluation, learning, and error recovery; Augmented human–robot interaction through various ways (semantics knowledge base, Apple SIRI like service, etc.). == Applications == Autonomous mobile robots Google's self-driving cars are cloud robots. The cars use the network to access Google's enormous database of maps and satellite and environment model (like Streetview) and combines it with streaming data from GPS, cameras, and 3D sensors to monitor its own position within centimetres, and with past and current traffic patterns to avoid collisions. Each car can learn something about environments, roads, or driving, or conditions, and it sends the information to the Google cloud, where it can be used to improve the performance of other cars. Cloud medical robots a medical cloud (also called a healthcare cluster) consists of various services such as a disease archive, electronic medical records, a patient health management system, practice services, analytics services, clinic solutions, expert systems, etc. A robot can connect to the cloud to provide clinical service to patients, as well as deliver assistance to doctors (e.g. a co-surgery robot). Moreover, it also provides a collaboration service by sharing information between doctors and care givers about clinical treatment. Assistive robots A domestic robot can be employed for healthcare and life monitoring for elderly people. The system collects the health status of users and exchange information with cloud expert system or doctors to facilitate elderly peoples life, especially for those with chronic diseases. For example, the robots are able to provide support to prevent the elderly from falling down, emergency healthy support such as heart disease, blooding disease. Care givers of elderly people can also get notification when in emergency from the robot through network. Industrial robots As highlighted by the German government's Industry 4.0 Plan, "Industry is on the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution. Driven by the Internet, the real and virtual worlds are growing closer and closer together to form the Internet of Things. Industrial production of the future will be characterised by the strong individualisation of products under the conditions of highly flexible (large series) production, the extensive integration of customers and business partners in business and value-added processes, and the linking of production and high-quality services leading to so-called hybrid products." In manufacturing, such cloud based robot systems could learn to handle tasks such as threading wires or cables, or aligning gaskets from a professional knowledge base. A group of robots can share information for some collaborative tasks. Even more, a consumer is able to place customised product orders to manufacturing robots directly with online ordering systems. Another potential paradigm is shopping-delivery robot systems. Once an order is placed, a warehouse robot dispatches the item to an autonomous car or autonomous drone to deliver it to its recipient. == Research == RoboEarth was funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development projects, specifically to explore the field of cloud robotics. The goal of RoboEarth is to allow robotic systems to benefit from the experience of other robots, paving the way for rapid advances in machine cognition and behaviour, and ultimately, for more subtle and sophisticated human-machine interaction. RoboEarth offers a Cloud Robotics infrastructure. RoboEarth's World-Wide-Web style database stores knowledge generated by humans – and robots – in a machine-readable format. Data stored in the RoboEarth knowledge base include software components, maps for navigation (e.g., object locations, world models), task knowledge (e.g., action recipes, manipulation strategies), and object recognition models (e.g., images, object models). The RoboEarth Cloud Engine includes support for mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, and drones, which require much computation for navigation. Rapyuta is an open source cloud robotics framework based on RoboEarth Engine developed by the robotics researcher at ETHZ. Within the framework, each robot connected to Rapyuta can have a secured computing environment (rectangular boxes) giving them the ability to move their heavy computation into the cloud. In addition, the computing environments are tightly interconnected with each other and have a high bandwidth connection to the RoboEarth knowledge repository. FogROS2 is an open-source extension to the Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2) developed by researchers at UC Berkeley. It enables robots to offload computationally intensive tasks—such as SLAM, grasp planning, and motion planning—to cloud resources, thereby enhancing performance and reducing onboard computational requirements. FogROS2 automates the provisioning of cloud instances, deployment of ROS 2 nodes, and secure communication between robots and cloud services. The platform is designed to be compatible with existing ROS 2 applications without requiring code modifications. Further advancements include FogROS2-SGC, which facilitates secure global connectivity across different networks and locations, and FogROS2-FT, which introduces fault tolerance by replicating services across multiple cloud providers to ensure robustness against failures. KnowRob is an extensional project of RoboEarth. It is a knowledge processing system that combines knowledge representation and reasoning methods with techniques for acquiring knowledge and for grounding the knowledge in a physical system and can serve as a common semantic framework for integrating information from different sources. RoboBrain is a large-scale computational system that learns from publicly available Internet resources, computer simulations, and real-life robot trials. It accumulates everything robotics into a comprehensive and interconnected knowledge base. Applications include prototyping for robotics research, household robots, and self-driving cars. The goal is as direct as the project's name—to create a centralised, always-online brain for robots to tap into. The project is dominated by Stanford University and Cornell University. And the project is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Robotics Initiative, whose goal is to advance robotics to help make the United States more competitive in the world economy. MyRobots is a service for connecting robots and intelligent devices to the Internet. It can be regarded as a social network for robots and smart objects (i.e. Facebook for robots). With socialising, collaborating and sharing, robots can benefit from those interactions too by sharing their sensor information giving insight on their perspective of their current state. COALAS is funded by the INTERREG IVA France (Channel) – England European cross-border co-operation programme. The project aims to develop new technologies for disabled people through social and technological innovation and through the users' social and psychological integrity. The objective is to produce a cognitive ambient

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