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  • WriterDuet

    WriterDuet

    WriterDuet is a screenwriting software for writing and editing screenplays and other forms of mass media. == History == WriterDuet was founded in 2013 by Guy Goldstein. In April 2015, WriterDuet acquired the domain for Scripped.com after they closed, citing a serious technical failure. In August 2016, WriterDuet released a localized version of its software in China. In May 2018, WriterDuet included Bechdel test analysis functions to address issues of gender diversity in the screenwriting industry. In 2018, WriterDuet published WriterSolo, an offline version of their app that runs on the browser and opens/saves files on the computer, Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud. In July 2019, WriterDuet made the WriterSolo browser app and desktop app available as pay-what-you-want under the web address FreeScreenwriting.com. == Features == WriterDuet is primarily used to outline, write, and format screenplays to the standards recommended by the AMPAS. It also supports formats for theater, novels, and video games. The software is powered by Firebase allowing users to write together in real-time from multiple devices. WriterDuet's main competitors in the screenwriting industry are Final Draft, Celtx, and Movie Magic Screenwriter.

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  • General-Purpose Serial Interface

    General-Purpose Serial Interface

    General-Purpose Serial Interface, also known as GPSI, 7-wire interface, or 7WS, is a 7 wire communications interface. It is used as an interface between Ethernet MAC and PHY blocks. Data is received and transmitted using separate data paths (TXD, RXD) and separate data clocks (TXCLK, RXCLK). Other signals consist of transmit enable (TXEN), receive carrier sense (CRS), and collision (COL).

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  • The Morning After (web series)

    The Morning After (web series)

    The Morning After is a Hulu original web series that premiered on January 17, 2011, and ended April 24, 2014. It was produced by Hulu and Jace Hall's HDFilms, streaming Monday through Friday. The show originally featured Brian Kimmet and Ginger Gonzaga as hosts. Later shows used a rotation of hosts including Alison Haislip, Dave Holmes, Damien Fahey, Bradley Hasemeyer, Haley Mancini, Paul Nyhart, and Rachel Perry. The series advertises itself as "a smart, daily shot of pop culture to help Hulu users stay up to date" and typically highlights notable moments from television shows and current news in an entertaining fashion. In keeping with its focus on pop culture, The Morning After will sometimes stream an episode featuring past pop culture titled "From the Archives," such as its April Fools' Day episode. == History == While not the first original series to appear exclusively on Hulu, The Morning After is the company's first self-branded production. It was preceded by If I Can Dream, a reality series co-produced with 19 Entertainment and created by Simon Fuller. Hulu originated the idea in house, based on user feedback and observations from discussion boards hosted by the website. The concept was modeled after The Big Show with Olbermann and Patrick. The company sought out a production partner and ultimately chose Jace Hall and his team at HDFilms to executive produce. Initial stream of the series was held on January 17, 2011, and featured coverage of Piers Morgan, the Golden Globes, and The Bachelor. Senior VP of Content and Distribution Andy Forssell made the announcement for the show the same day. The show aired its last episode April 24, 2014. == Format == A typical episode usually begins with a cold open shared by the varying hosts listing the highlights to be covered. The topics focus on TV and Pop Culture Highlights from the previous night, with the intention of helping Hulu users digest hours of content in a matter of moments. The show has the hosts trade humorous remarks regarding the news and each other, taking turns reviewing the night's TV and injecting their own personality. The Morning After was named as an honoree by the Webbys on April 10, 2012, in the variety section of its online video category.

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  • AMiner (database)

    AMiner (database)

    AMiner (formerly ArnetMiner) is a free online service used to index, search, and mine big scientific data. == Overview == AMiner (ArnetMiner) is designed to search and perform data mining operations against academic publications on the Internet, using social network analysis to identify connections between researchers, conferences, and publications. This allows it to provide services such as expert finding, geographic search, trend analysis, reviewer recommendation, association search, course search, academic performance evaluation, and topic modeling. AMiner was created as a research project in social influence analysis, social network ranking, and social network extraction. A number of peer-reviewed papers have been published arising from the development of the system. It has been in operation for more than three years, and has indexed 130,000,000 researchers and more than 265 million publications. The research was funded by the Chinese National High-tech R&D Program and the National Science Foundation of China. AMiner is commonly used in academia to identify relationships between and draw statistical correlations about research and researchers. It has attracted more than 10 million independent IP accesses from 220 countries and regions. The product has been used in Elsevier's SciVerse platform, and academic conferences such as SIGKDD, ICDM, PKDD, WSDM. == Operation == AMiner automatically extracts the researcher profile from the web. It collects and identifies the relevant pages, then uses a unified approach to extract data from the identified documents. It also extracts publications from online digital libraries using heuristic rules. It integrates the extracted researchers’ profiles and the extracted publications. It employs the researcher name as the identifier. A probabilistic framework has been proposed to deal with the name ambiguity problem in the integration. The integrated data is stored into a researcher network knowledge base (RNKB). The principal other product in the area are Google Scholar, Elsevier's Scirus, and the open source project CiteSeer. == History == It was initiated and created by professor Jie Tang from Tsinghua University, China. It was first launched in March 2006. The following provide a list of updates in the past years: March 2006, Version 0.1, Functions include researcher profiling, expert search, conference search, and publication search. The system was developed in Perl; August 2006, Version 1.0, The system was re-implemented in Java; July 2007, Version 2.0, New functions include researcher interest mining, association search, survey paper finding (unavailable now); April 2008, Version 3.0, New functions include query understanding, new GUI, and search log analysis; November 2008, Version 4.0, New functions include graph search, topic modeling, NSF/NSFC funding information extraction; April 2009, Version 5.0, New functions include Profile edition, open API service, Bole search, course search (unavailable now); December 2009, Version 6.0, New functions include academic performance evaluation, user feedback, conference analysis; May 2010, Version 7.0, New functions include name disambiguation, paper-reviewer recommendation, ArnetPage creation; March 2012, Version II, renamed as AMiner, rewrote all the codes and redesign the GUI. New functions include: geographic search, ArnetAPP platform. June 2014, Version II, renamed as AMiner, rewrote all the codes and redesign the GUI. New functions include: geographic search, ArnetAPP platform. December 2015, a completely new version got online. May 2017, professional version got online. April 2018, New functions include Trend Analysis, a deep learning based Name Disambiguation == Resources == AMiner published several datasets for academic research purpose, including Open Academic Graph, DBLP+citation (a data set augmenting citations into the DBLP data from Digital Bibliography & Library Project), Name Disambiguation, Social Tie Analysis. For more available datasets and source codes for research, please refer to.

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  • UpScrolled

    UpScrolled

    UpScrolled is an Australian social media platform for microblogging and short-form online video sharing that was launched in June 2025 by Recursive Methods Pty Ltd. It was founded by Issam Hijazi. == History == UpScrolled was launched in June 2025 by Recursive Methods Pty Ltd. It was founded by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Australian app developer. UpScrolled is backed by the Tech for Palestine incubator. In January 2026, UpScrolled saw increased attention and number of downloads after the acquisition of TikTok by a group of pro-Donald Trump US investors, including Larry Ellison, which led to calls to boycott TikTok and migrate to other apps. TikTok was alleged to be suppressing pro-Palestinian content, as well as news surrounding the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on the platform. UpScrolled subsequently climbed to the top 10 of Apple's App Store list of free apps. The app saw a reported 2,850% increase in downloads between 22 and 24 January 2026. As of 27 January 2026, UpScrolled "had been downloaded about 400,000 times in the US and 700,000 globally since launching in June 2025". The app became the most downloaded app in the Apple App store on 29 January 2026, following allegations that TikTok was suppressing videos and content opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under its new ownership. By 2 February 2026, UpScrolled had reached 2.5 million users. According to the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, it has become the most downloaded social media app in the United States and Canada, with rising interest in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. On 14 February, UpScrolled was suspended from the Google Play Store; the suspension was reverted by 15 February. == Founder == Hijazi was born in Jordan. His parents and grandparents are from Safad, a northern Israeli city near the Lebanese border. He worked for IBM and Oracle prior to starting UpScrolled. Hijazi told Rest of World that he launched UpScrolled in response to Israel's genocide in Gaza which followed the October 7 attacks. He said, "I couldn't take it anymore. I lost family members in Gaza, and I didn't want to be complicit. So I was like, I'm done with this, I want to feel useful. I found this gap in the market, with a lot of people asking why there is no alternative to the Big Tech platforms for their content, which was getting censored." Hijazi also alleges that social media accounts that were posting pro-Palestinian content were getting shadow banned on larger platforms, and alleges that even his account was not exempt from being targeted by censors. Hijazi has further elaborated on the importance of social media independence to further the Palestinian cause. In January 2026, Web Summit Qatar announced that Hijazi would be an opening night speaker. Following the announcement, there was a surge in ticket sales for the summit. Hijazi lives in Sydney with his wife and daughter. He lost 60 family members during the Gaza war. == Features == UpScrolled's algorithm allows users to discover posts based on likes, comments, and shares with time decay and some randomness, all chronologically, with "no manipulation" according to the app's website. UpScrolled has an interface resembling a mix of Instagram and Twitter, allowing users to post and view text posts, photos, and videos. It also lets users send private messages to each other. The app is currently available for iOS and Android devices, with plans to upscale. UpScrolled does not include Israel as an option in its location selection menu. Cities such as Tel Aviv are included under "Occupied Territories of Palestine", and Palestine can also be set as the location. UpScrolled says that it is against censorship and shadow banning, and describes itself as "belong[ing] to the people who use it — not to hidden algorithms or outside agendas". Hijazi said, "The other platforms claim to be free speech platforms. But when it comes to anything on Palestine, that's a different story." UpScrolled states that it "does not tolerate hate speech, propaganda, or bad-faith behaviour, but it also refuses to silence voices quietly or without explanation". == User base and content == Al Jazeera reported that posts expressing pro-Palestinian sentiment or depicting the continued suffering in the Gaza Strip were "flooding" the app. Political and global issues such as the Gaza war are prominent. Content includes updates from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, posts by doctors working in Gaza, video essays about Palantir’s influence within the military and calls for boycotts of Israel. It has been used by Gazans to crowdfund and record daily life. Celebrity users of UpScrolled include American labour activist Chris Smalls and actor Jacob Berger, both of whom were on the July 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Political figures have also joined UpScrolled, such as South African politician and Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Esmail Qaani. One user said that most early users were attracted to the platform for the opportunity to criticize Zionism. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported that UpScrolled was observed to be "flooded" with antisemitic and anti-Israel content, including Holocaust denial and accusations that Israel carried out the 9/11 attacks. In a statement, UpScrolled said, "Our content moderation hasn't been able to keep up with the massive rise of users this week. We're working with digital rights experts to grow our Trust & Safety team and are beefing up our content moderation to prevent this. We apologise to all impacted users, thank you for being part of Upscrolled." The Times reported in February 2026 that UpScrolled was hosting content that could potentially breach UK law, including antisemitic content and posts promoting Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, as well as footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings and content praising the perpetrators of the 2019 Halle synagogue shooting and 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Antisemitic influencers Lucas Gage, Jake Shields, Stew Peters and Anastasia Maria Loupis have accounts on UpScrolled. UpScrolled’s policies prohibit threats, glorification of harm or support for terrorist or violent groups. Hijazi said harmful content was being uploaded to UpScrolled and the company had expanded its content moderation team and upgraded its technology infrastructure to deal with the issue. In May 2026, Moment magazine said that users had identified some antisemitic content, pornography and extremist videos on the platform. The magazine said there were gaps in content moderation due to the small size of the developer team. == Reception == In January 2026, the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) praised UpScrolled for "pledging to protect the free flow of ideas on its platform, including both support for and opposition to the Israeli government's human rights abuses." Guy Christensen, a pro-Palestinian social media celebrity, has encouraged his audience to download UpScrolled. Christensen characterized UpScrolled as having "no censorship, no ownership by billionaires who put their interests and biases onto you to control you". He compared the platform to others like TikTok, saying that Israel is behind censorship that wouldn't happen on UpScrolled. Jaigris Hodson, an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Royal Roads University in Canada, has argued that "Network effects mean that unless UpScrolled continues its explosive growth, people are unlikely to continue to choose it over the more established TikTok. At best, we might see a Twitter/X effect, which is where TikTok will host more pro-U.S. government content creators and those people who want to follow them, and UpScrolled will host more critical content creators and their followers."

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  • InteLex Past Masters

    InteLex Past Masters

    InteLex Past Masters is a collection of full-text web-based scholarly editions of classic works in the humanities. InteLex Corporation was founded in 1989 by its current chief executive officer, Mark Rooks, to produce electronic versions of the works of the great philosophers, based on existing scholarly editions. The company is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Its databases are marketed to academic institutions, with pricing based on the individual collections purchased. Content is provided in XML and searchable image format and is accessed through the InteLex Corporation website. In addition to philosophy, subject coverage includes religious studies, English literature, women's writing, social science, and history of science. InteLex databases are found in institutions in over 65 countries around the world.

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  • Packingham v. North Carolina

    Packingham v. North Carolina

    Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. 98 (2017), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a North Carolina statute that prohibited registered sex offenders from using social media websites was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of speech. In 2010, Lester Gerard Packingham, a registered sex offender, posted on Facebook under a pseudonym to comment favorably on a recent traffic court experience. Police then identified Packingham and charged him with violating North Carolina's law. Packingham moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that the state's law violated the First Amendment. The trial court dismissed this motion and ultimately convicted Packingham. A state appellate court initially reversed the trial court, holding that the law did violate the First Amendment, but the North Carolina Supreme Court, the state's highest court, disagreed and reinstated the conviction. In June 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the North Carolina Supreme Court's judgment. In the majority opinion authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Court held that social media—defined broadly to include Facebook, Amazon.com, The Washington Post, and WebMD, among many others—is a "protected space" under the First Amendment for lawful speech. The Court offered that North Carolina could protect children through less restrictive means, such as prohibiting "conduct that often presages a sexual crime, like contacting a minor or using a website to gather information about a minor". == Background == === North Carolina statute === In 2008, the state of North Carolina passed a law that made it a felony for a registered sex offender "to access a commercial social networking Web site where the sex offender knows that the site permits minor children to become members or to create or maintain personal Web pages". The law defined a "commercial social networking Web site" using four criteria. Specifically, the website must: be "operated by a person who derives revenue from membership fees, advertising, or other sources related to the operation of the Web site". facilitate "the social introduction between two or more persons for the purposes of friendship, meeting other persons, or information exchanges". allow "users to create Web pages or personal profiles that contain information such as the name or nickname of the user, photographs placed on the personal Web page by the user, other personal information about the user, and links to other personal Web pages on the commercial social networking Web site of friends or associates of the user that may be accessed by other users or visitors to the Web site". provide "users or visitors... mechanisms to communicate with other users, such as a message board, chat room, electronic mail, or instant messenger". The law exempted websites that "Provid[e] only one of the following discrete services: photo-sharing, electronic mail, instant messenger, or chat room or message board platform", as well as websites that have as their primary purpose "the facilitation of commercial transactions involving goods or services between [their] members or visitors". === Facts of the case === In 2002, Lester Gerard Packingham was convicted of taking "indecent liberties with a child", a felony that required him to register as a sex offender. A North Carolina court sentenced him to 10–12 months in prison with 24 months of supervised release. He was given no other special instructions on his behavior outside of prison other than to "remain away from" the minor. In 2010, after a state court dismissed a traffic ticket against Packingham, he submitted a post on Facebook under the name "J. R. Gerrard", stating: "Man God is Good! How about I got so much favor they dismissed the ticket before court even started? No fine, no court cost, no nothing spent. . . . . .Praise be to GOD, WOW! Thanks JESUS!" The Durham Police Department identified Packingham as the author of the post after cross-checking the time of the post with recently dismissed traffic tickets, and a grand jury indicted him for violating the North Carolina statute. === Lower court proceedings === Initially, Packingham moved to dismiss his indictment, arguing that it violated the First Amendment. A North Carolina Superior Court judge denied this motion, and he was convicted of violating the North Carolina social media law. Packingham appealed his conviction to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court's decision in 2013. Applying intermediate scrutiny, the court of appeals determined that North Carolina's law violated the First Amendment because it was too broad, applying to all registered sex offenders regardless of whether the offender had committed a crime involving a minor or whether the offender was a continuing threat to minors. The appeals court also stated that the law had been defined broadly enough to prohibit a registered sex offender from conducting a wide array of Internet activity, such as "conducting a 'Google' search, purchasing items on Amazon.com, or accessing a plethora of Web sites unrelated to online communication with minors". In 2015, the North Carolina Supreme Court, the state's highest court, reversed the court of appeals, holding that the law was "constitutional in all respects". The North Carolina Supreme Court found that the statute was a "limitation on conduct" and did not impede any free speech. The state had a vested interest in “forestalling the illicit lurking and contact of minors” by registered sex offenders and potential future victims, and upheld Packingham's conviction. == Supreme Court ruling == Packingham filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States. The federal government also filed a brief recommending that the Supreme Court grant certiorari, arguing that the North Carolina Supreme Court incorrectly decided the case in favor of the state. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in October 2016. Amicus briefs in support of Packingham were filed by the libertarian Cato Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union. The North Carolina Supreme Court filed a brief supporting its prior decision, urging the importance of protecting minors from being stalked online. === Oral argument === The oral argument took place in February 2017. Packingham’s lawyer, David T. Goldberg, argued that the law banned “vast swaths of First Amendment activity”, went too far in restricting which Internet sites could be accessed, and forbade use of the Internet in general. The law targeted speech on some of the platforms that Americans use most often, Goldberg noted, and that under the law Packingham could not even use Twitter to read the myriad messages discussing his own case. He further noted that the law imposes punishment without regard to whether the offender actually did anything wrong. North Carolina’s senior deputy Attorney General, Robert C. Montgomery, argued for the state, and claimed that communication through social media sites is a “crucial channel”. Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Montgomery to provide evidence as to the claim that by giving Packingham Internet privileges, he would commit another crime. Justice Stephen Breyer added that “It seems to be well-settled law that the state can’t (bar usage) unless there is a 'clear and present danger'." === Opinion of the Court === In June 2017 the Supreme Court delivered a judgment in favor of Packingham, unanimously voting to reverse the state court's ruling. Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the decision, joined by Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan. Kennedy explained the decision: "A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more." He continued that "By prohibiting sex offenders from using those websites, North Carolina with one broad stroke bars access to what for many are the principal sources for knowing current events, checking ads for employment, speaking and listening in the modern public square, and otherwise exploring the vast realms of human thought and knowledge." Citing Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition as a precedent, Kennedy also wrote: "It is well established that, as a general rule, the Government 'may not suppress lawful speech as the means to suppress unlawful speech'." === Concurring opinion === Justice Samuel Alito wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by John Roberts and Clarence Thomas. While Alito agreed that the state statute at issue violated the First Amendment, he noted that there are reasonable scenarios for which legal bans for sex offenders can be placed, such as for sites targeted at teenagers. Justice Gorsuch took no part in the decision of the case. == Impact == Packingham v. North Carolina was one of the first U.S. Supreme Court cases to ana

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  • Prix Ars Electronica

    Prix Ars Electronica

    The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria). In 2005, the Golden Nica, the highest prize, was awarded in six categories: "Computer Animation/Visual Effects," "Digital Musics," "Interactive Art," "Net Vision," "Digital Communities" and the "u19" award for "freestyle computing." Each Golden Nica came with a prize of €10,000, apart from the u19 category, where the prize was €5,000. In each category, there are also Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions. The Golden Nica trophy is a replica of the Greek Nike of Samothrace. It is a handmade gold-plated wooden statuette that is approximately 35 cm high with a wingspan of about 20 cm. "Prix Ars Electronica" is a phrase composed of French, Latin and Spanish words, loosely translated as "Electronic Arts Prize." == Golden Nica winners == === Computer animation / film / vfx === The "Computer Graphics" category (1987–1994) was open to different kinds of computer images. The "Computer Animation" (1987–1997) was replaced by the current "Computer Animation/Visual Effects" category in 1998. ==== Computer Graphics ==== 1987 – Figur10 by Brian Reffin Smith, UK 1988 – The Battle by David Sherwin, US 1989 – Gramophone by Tamás Waliczky, HU 1990 – P-411-A by Manfred Mohr, Germany 1991 – Having encountered Eve for the second time, Adam begins to speak by Bill Woodard, US 1992 – RD Texture Buttons by Michael Kass and Andrew Witkin, US 1993 – Founders Series by Michael Tolson, US 1994 – Jellylife / Jellycycle / Jelly Locomotion by Michael Joaquin Grey, US ==== Computer Animation ==== 1987 – Luxo Jr. by John Lasseter, US 1988 – Red's Dream by John Lasseter, US 1989 – Broken Heart by Joan Staveley, US 1990 – Footprint by Mario Sasso and Nicola Sani, IT 1991 – Panspermia by Karl Sims, US 1992 – Liquid Selves / Primordial Dance by Karl Sims, US 1993 – Lakmé by Pascal Roulin, BE 1994 – Jurassic Park by Dennis Muren, Mark Dippé and Steve Williams, US/CA Distinction: Quarxs by Maurice Benayoun, FR Distinction: K.O. Kid by Marc Caro, FR 1995 – God's Little Monkey by David Atherton and Bob Sabiston, US 1996 – Toy Story by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Ralph Eggleston, US 1997 – Dragonheart by Scott Squires, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), US ==== Computer Animation/Visual Effects ==== 1998 – The Sitter by Liang-Yuan Wang, TW Titanic by Robert Legato and Digital Domain, US 1999 – Bunny by Chris Wedge, US What Dreams May Come by Mass Illusions, POP, Digital Domain, Vincent Ward, Stephen Simon and Barnet Bain, US 2000 – Maly Milos by Jakub Pistecky, CA Maaz by Christian Volckman, FR 2001 – Le Processus by Xavier de l’Hermuzičre and Philippe Grammaticopoulos, FR 2002 – Monsters, Inc. by Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Pete Docter and David Silverman, US 2003 – Tim Tom by Romain Segaud and Cristel Pougeoise, FR 2004 – Ryan by Chris Landreth, US. Distinction: Parenthèse from Francois Blondeau, Thibault Deloof, Jérémie Droulers, Christophe Stampe, France Distinction: Birthday Boy from Sejong Park, Australia 2005 – Fallen Art by Tomek Baginski, Poland. Distinction: The Incredibles from Pixar Distinction: City Paradise by Gaëlle Denis (UK), Passion Pictures (FR) 2006 – 458nm by Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Tom Weber, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Distinction: Kein platz Für Gerold by Daniel Nocke / Studio Film Bilder, Germany Distinction: Negadon, the monster from Mars, by Jun Awazu, Japan 2007 – Codehunters by Ben Hibon, (UK) 2008 – Madame Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski. (Directors), Jason Walker (Special Visual Effects), National Film Board of Canada 2009 – HA'Aki by Iriz Pääbo, National Film Board of Canada 2010 – Nuit Blanche by Arev Manoukian (Director), Marc-André Gray (Visual Effects Artist), National Film Board of Canada 2011 – Metachaos by Alessandro Bavari (IT) 2012 – Rear Window Loop by Jeff Desom (LU) Distinction: Caldera by Evan Viera/Orchid Animation (US) Distinction: Rise of the Planet of the Apes by Weta Digital (NZ)/Twentieth Century Fox 2013 – Forms by Quayola (IT), Memo Akten (TR) Distinction: Duku Spacemarines by La Mécanique du Plastique (FR) Distinction: Oh Willy… by Emma De Swaef (BE), Marc James Roels (BE) / Beast Animation 2014 – Walking City by Universal Everything (UK) 2015 – Temps Mort by Alex Verhaest (BE)[1] Distinction: Bär by Pascal Floerks (DE) Distinction: The Reflection of Power by Mihai Grecu (RO/HU) === Digital Music === This category is for those making electronic music and sound art through digital means. From 1987 to 1998 the category was known as "Computer music." Two Golden Nicas were awarded in 1987, and none in 1990. There was no Computer Music category in 1991. 1987 – Peter Gabriel and Jean-Claude Risset 1988 – Denis Smalley 1989 – Kaija Saariaho 1990 – None 1991 – Category omitted 1992 – Alejandro Viñao 1993 – Bernard Parmegiani 1994 – Ludger Brümmer Distinction: Jonathan Impett 1995 – Trevor Wishart 1996 – Robert Normandeau 1997 – Matt Heckert 1998 – Peter Bosch and Simone Simons (joint award) 1999 – Come to Daddy by Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and Chris Cunningham (joint award) Distinction: Birthdays by Ikue Mori (JP) Distinction: Mego (label), Hotel Paral.lel by Christian Fennesz, Seven Tons For Free by Peter Rehberg (a.k.a. Pita) 2000 – 20' to 2000 by Carsten Nicolai Distinction: Minidisc by Gescom Distinction: Outside the Circle of Fire by Chris Watson 2001 – Matrix by Ryoji Ikeda 2002 – Man'yo Wounded 2001 by Yasunao Tone 2003 – Ami Yoshida, Sachiko M and Utah Kawasaki (joint award) 2004 – Banlieue du Vide by Thomas Köner 2005 – TEO! A Sonic Sculpture by Maryanne Amacher 2006 – L'île ré-sonante by Éliane Radigue 2007 – Reverse-Simulation Music by Mashiro Miwa 2008 – Reactable by Sergi Jordà (ES), Martin Kaltenbrunner (AT), Günter Geiger (AT) and Marcos Alonso (ES) 2009 – Speeds of Time versions 1 and 2 by Bill Fontana (US) 2010 – rheo: 5 horizons by Ryoichi Kurokawa (JP) 2011 – Energy Field by Jana Winderen (NO) 2012 – "Crystal Sounds of a Synchrotron" by Jo Thomas (GB) 2013 – frequencies (a) by Nicolas Bernier (CA) Distinction: SjQ++ by SjQ++ (JP) Distinction: Borderlands Granular by Chris Carlson (US) 2015 – Chijikinkutsu by Nelo Akamatsu (JP) Distinction: Drumming is an elastic concept by Josef Klammer (AT) Distinction: Under Way by Douglas Henderson (DE) 2017 – Not Your World Music: Noise In South East Asia by Cedrik Fermont (CD/BE/DE), Dimitri della Faille (BE/CA) Distinction: Gamelan Wizard by Lucas Abela (AU), Wukir Suryadi (ID) und Rully Shabara (ID) Distinction: Corpus Nil by Marco Donnarumma (DE/IT) === Hybrid art === 2007 – Symbiotica 2008 – Pollstream – Nuage Vert by Helen Evans (FR/UK) and Heiko Hansen (FR/DE) HeHe 2009 – Natural History of the Enigma by Eduardo Kac (US) 2010 – Ear on Arm by Stelarc (AU) 2011 – May the Horse Live in me by Art Orienté Objet (FR) 2012 – Bacterial radio by Joe Davis (US) Distinction: Free Universal Construction Kit (F.U.C.K.) by Golan Levin and Shawn Sims 2013 – Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Koen Vanmechelen (BE) 2015 – Plantas Autofotosintéticas, Gilberto Esparza (MX) 2017 – K-9_topology, Maja Smrekar (SI) === [the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant === 2009 – Open_Sailing by Open_Sailing Crew led by Cesar Harada. 2010 – Hostage by [Frederik De Wilde]. 2011 – Choke Point Project by P2P Foundation (NL). 2012 – qaul.net – tools for the next revolution by Christoph Wachter & Mathias Jud 2013 – Hyperform by Marcelo Coelho (BR), Skylar Tibbits (US), Natan Linder (IL), Yoav Reaches (IL) Honorary Mentions: GravityLight by Martin Riddiford (GB), Jim Reeves (GB) 2014 – BlindMaps by Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz and Ruben van der Vleuten 2015 – SOYA C(O)U(L)TURE by XXLab (ID) – Irene Agrivina Widyaningrum, Asa Rahmana, Ratna Djuwita, Eka Jayani Ayuningtias, Atinna Rizqiana === Interactive Art === Prizes in the category of interactive art have been awarded since 1990. This category applies to many categories of works, including installations and performances, characterized by audience participation, virtual reality, multimedia and telecommunication. 1990 – Videoplace installation by Myron Krueger 1991 – Think About the People Now project by Paul Sermon 1992 – Home of the Brain installation by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss 1993 – Simulationsraum-Mosaik mobiler Datenklänge (smdk) installation by Knowbotic Research 1994 – A-Volve environment by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau 1995 – the concept of Hypertext, attributed to Tim Berners-Lee 1996 – Global Interior Project installation by Masaki Fujihata 1997 – Music Plays Images X Images Play Music concert by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Toshio Iwai 1998 – World Skin, a Photo Safari in the Land of War installation by Jean-Baptiste Barrière and Maurice Benayoun 1999 – Difference Engine #3 by construct and Lynn Hershman 2000 – Vectorial Elevati

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  • Teaspiller

    Teaspiller

    Teaspiller was a US-based web application for customers to find accountants and hire them to do their taxes and accounting online. In 2013 the company was acquired by Intuit, Inc and added to its TurboTax product line. The Teaspiller employees and code were all acquired and the product was renamed as "TurboTax CPA select". It enabled accountants to work remotely with clients (share files, send secure messages, schedule appointments), as well as find new clients looking for their specific skills through a complex search algorithm. This was done through extended profiles containing licensing information, professional histories, user ratings, peer endorsements, association memberships, and practice areas. The service had been called an H&R Block killer by Business Insider as it helped customers find accountants to prepare tax returns online. As of 2011 it had 20,000 US accountants listed on the site. The application was built using the Django framework. == History == Teaspiller was built by Vemdara, LLC, a web company based in New York and founded in 2009 by Amit Vemuri (a former VP at Travelocity). The web application was launched in 2010. In 2013 the company was acquired by Intuit as part of their TurboTax product line and renamed as "TurboTax CPA select".

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  • Hardware-based encryption

    Hardware-based encryption

    Hardware-based encryption is the use of computer hardware to assist software, or sometimes replace software, in the process of data encryption. Typically, this is implemented as part of the processor's instruction set. For example, the AES encryption algorithm (a modern cipher) can be implemented using the AES instruction set on the ubiquitous x86 architecture. Such instructions also exist on the ARM architecture. However, more unusual systems exist where the cryptography module is separate from the central processor, instead being implemented as a coprocessor, in particular a secure cryptoprocessor or cryptographic accelerator, of which an example is the IBM 4758, or its successor, the IBM 4764. Hardware implementations can be faster and less prone to exploitation than traditional software implementations, and furthermore can be protected against tampering. == History == Prior to the use of computer hardware, cryptography could be performed through various mechanical or electro-mechanical means. An early example is the Scytale used by the Spartans. The Enigma machine was an electro-mechanical system cipher machine notably used by the Germans in World War II. After World War II, purely electronic systems were developed. In 1987 the ABYSS (A Basic Yorktown Security System) project was initiated. The aim of this project was to protect against software piracy. However, the application of computers to cryptography in general dates back to the 1940s and Bletchley Park, where the Colossus computer was used to break the encryption used by German High Command during World War II. The use of computers to encrypt, however, came later. In particular, until the development of the integrated circuit, of which the first was produced in 1960, computers were impractical for encryption, since, in comparison to the portable form factor of the Enigma machine, computers of the era took the space of an entire building. It was only with the development of the microcomputer that computer encryption became feasible, outside of niche applications. The development of the World Wide Web lead to the need for consumers to have access to encryption, as online shopping became prevalent. The key concerns for consumers were security and speed. This led to the eventual inclusion of the key algorithms into processors as a way of both increasing speed and security. == Implementations == === In the instruction set === ==== x86 ==== The X86 architecture, as a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) Architecture, typically implements complex algorithms in hardware. Cryptographic algorithms are no exception. The x86 architecture implements significant components of the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm, which can be used by the NSA for Top Secret information. The architecture also includes support for the SHA Hashing Algorithms through the Intel SHA extensions. Whereas AES is a cipher, which is useful for encrypting documents, hashing is used for verification, such as of passwords (see PBKDF2). ==== ARM ==== ARM processors can optionally support Security Extensions. Although ARM is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture, there are several optional extensions specified by ARM Holdings. === As a coprocessor === IBM 4758 – The predecessor to the IBM 4764. This includes its own specialised processor, memory and a Random Number Generator. IBM 4764 and IBM 4765, identical except for the connection used. The former uses PCI-X, while the latter uses PCI-e. Both are peripheral devices that plug into the motherboard. === Proliferation === Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors are also x86 devices, and have supported the AES instructions since the 2011 Bulldozer processor iteration. Due to the existence of encryption instructions on modern processors provided by both Intel and AMD, the instructions are present on most modern computers. They also exist on many tablets and smartphones due to their implementation in ARM processors. == Advantages == Implementing cryptography in hardware means that part of the processor is dedicated to the task. This can lead to a large increase in speed. In particular, modern processor architectures that support pipelining can often perform other instructions concurrently with the execution of the encryption instruction. Furthermore, hardware can have methods of protecting data from software. Consequently, even if the operating system is compromised, the data may still be secure (see Software Guard Extensions). == Disadvantages == If, however, the hardware implementation is compromised, major issues arise. Malicious software can retrieve the data from the (supposedly) secure hardware – a large class of method used is the timing attack. This is far more problematic to solve than a software bug, even within the operating system. Microsoft regularly deals with security issues through Windows Update. Similarly, regular security updates are released for Mac OS X and Linux, as well as mobile operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. However, hardware is a different issue. Sometimes, the issue will be fixable through updates to the processor's microcode (a low level type of software). However, other issues may only be resolvable through replacing the hardware, or a workaround in the operating system which mitigates the performance benefit of the hardware implementation, such as in the Spectre exploit.

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  • Telecommunications

    Telecommunications

    Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electrical or electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of transmission may be divided into communication channels for multiplexing, allowing for a single medium to transmit several concurrent communication sessions. Long-distance technologies invented during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries generally use electric power, and include the electrical telegraph, telephone, television, and radio. Early telecommunication networks used metal wires as the medium for transmitting signals. These networks were used for telegraphy and telephony for many decades. In the first decade of the 20th century, a revolution in wireless communication began with breakthroughs including those made in radio communications by Guglielmo Marconi, who won the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics. Other early pioneers in electrical and electronic telecommunications include co-inventors of the telegraph Charles Wheatstone and Samuel Morse, numerous inventors and developers of the telephone including Antonio Meucci, Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell, inventors of radio Edwin Armstrong and Lee de Forest, as well as inventors of television like Vladimir K. Zworykin, John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth. Since the 1960s, the proliferation of digital technologies has meant that voice communications have gradually been supplemented by data. The physical limitations of metallic media prompted the development of optical fibre. The Internet, a technology independent of any given medium, has provided global access to services for individual users and further reduced location and time limitations on communications. == Definition == At the 1932 Plenipotentiary Telegraph Conference and the International Radiotelegraph Conference in Madrid, the two organizations merged to form the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). They defined telecommunication as "any telegraphic or telephonic communication of signs, signals, writing, facsimiles and sounds of any kind, by wire, wireless or other systems or processes of electric signaling or visual signaling (semaphores)." The definition was later reconfirmed, according to Article 1.3 of the ITU Radio Regulations, which defined it as "Any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writings, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems". As such, slow communications technologies like postal mail and pneumatic tubes are excluded from the telecommunication's definition. The term telecommunication was coined in 1904 by the French engineer and novelist Édouard Estaunié, who defined it as "remote transmission of thought through electricity". Telecommunication is a compound noun formed from the Greek prefix tele- (τῆλε), meaning distant, far off, or afar, and the Latin verb communicare, meaning to share. Communication was first used as an English word in the late 14th century. It comes from Old French comunicacion (14c., Modern French communication), from Latin communicationem (nominative communication), noun of action from past participle stem of communicare, "to share, divide out; communicate, impart, inform; join, unite, participate in," literally, "to make common", from communis. == History == Many transmission media have been used for long-distance communication throughout history, from smoke signals, beacons, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs to wires and empty space made to carry electromagnetic signals. === Before the electrical and electronic era === Long-distance communication was used long before the discovery of electricity and electromagnetism enabled the invention of telecommunications. A few of the many ingenious methods for communicating over distances prior to that are described here. Homing pigeons have been used throughout history by different cultures. Pigeon post had Persian roots and was later used by the Romans to aid their military. Frontinus claimed Julius Caesar used pigeons as messengers in his conquest of Gaul. The Greeks also conveyed the names of the victors at the Olympic Games to various cities using homing pigeons. In the early 19th century, the Dutch government used the system in Java and Sumatra. And in 1849, Paul Julius Reuter started a pigeon service to fly stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, a service that operated for a year until the gap in the telegraph link was closed. In the Middle Ages, chains of beacons were commonly used on hilltops as a means of relaying a signal. Beacon chains suffered the drawback that they could only pass a single bit of information, so the meaning of the message, such as "the enemy has been sighted" had to be agreed upon in advance. One notable instance of their use was during the Spanish Armada, when a beacon chain relayed a signal from Plymouth to London. In 1792, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, built the first fixed visual telegraphy system (or semaphore line) between Lille and Paris. However semaphore suffered from the need for skilled operators and expensive towers at intervals of ten to thirty kilometres (six to nineteen miles). As a result of competition from the electrical telegraph, the last commercial line was abandoned in 1880. === Telegraph and telephone === On July 25, 1837, the first commercial electrical telegraph was demonstrated by English inventor Sir William Fothergill Cooke and English scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone. Both inventors viewed their device as "an improvement to the [existing] electromagnetic telegraph" and not as a new device. Samuel Morse independently developed a version of the electrical telegraph that he unsuccessfully demonstrated on September 2, 1837. His code was an important advance over Wheatstone's signaling method. The first transatlantic telegraph cable was successfully completed on July 27, 1866, allowing transatlantic telecommunication for the first time. After early attempts to develop a talking telegraph by Antonio Meucci and a telefon by Johann Philipp Reis, a patent for the conventional telephone was filed by Alexander Bell in February 1876 (just a few hours before Elisha Gray filed a patent caveat for a similar device). The first commercial telephone services were set up by the Bell Telephone Company in 1878 and 1879 on both sides of the Atlantic in the cities of New Haven and London. === Radio and television === In 1894, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi began developing wireless communication using the then-newly discovered phenomenon of radio waves, demonstrating, by 1901, that they could be transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the start of wireless telegraphy by radio. On 17 December 1902, a transmission from the Marconi station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, became the world's first radio message to cross the Atlantic from North America. In 1904, a commercial service was established to transmit nightly news summaries to subscribing ships, which incorporated them into their onboard newspapers. World War I accelerated the development of radio for military communications. After the war, commercial radio AM broadcasting began in the 1920s and became an important mass medium for entertainment and news. World War II again accelerated the development of radio for the wartime purposes of aircraft and land communication, radio navigation, and radar. Development of stereo FM broadcasting of radio began in the 1930s in the United States and the 1940s in the United Kingdom, displacing AM as the dominant commercial standard in the 1970s. On March 25, 1925, John Logie Baird demonstrated the transmission of moving pictures at the London department store Selfridges. Baird's device relied upon the Nipkow disk by Paul Nipkow and thus became known as the mechanical television. It formed the basis of experimental broadcasts done by the British Broadcasting Corporation beginning on 30 September 1929. === Vacuum tubes === Vacuum tubes use thermionic emission of electrons from a heated cathode for a number of fundamental electronic functions such as signal amplification and current rectification. The simplest vacuum tube, the diode invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming, contains only a heated electron-emitting cathode and an anode. Electrons can only flow in one direction through the device—from the cathode to the anode. Adding one or more control grids within the tube enables the current between the cathode and anode to be controlled by the voltage on the grid or grids. These devices became a key component of electronic circuits for the first half of the 20th century and were crucial to the development of radio, television, radar, sound recording and reproduction, long-distance telephone networks, and analogue and early digital computers. While some applications had used earlier technologies such as the sp

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  • FreePBX Distro

    FreePBX Distro

    The FreePBX Distro was a freeware unified communications software system that consisted of FreePBX, a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring, controlling and managing Asterisk PBX software. The FreePBX Distro included packages that offer VoIP, PBX, Fax, IVR, voice-mail and email functions. The FreePBX Distro Linux distribution was based on CentOS, which maintains binary compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. FreePBX has contributed to the popularity of Asterisk. As a result of CentOS Linux being discontinued and the last version of CentOS 7 going out of support on June 30, 2024, FreePBX 17 has moved over to and is supported on Debian Linux. FreePBX will no longer be providing a pre-configured FreePBX Distro, but will provide a script to install FreePBX on a fresh install of Debian Linux. In-place migration will not be possible, but will be possible by restoring a backup on the new version from the previous version. As FreePBX 16 will be supported until the release of FreePBX 18, FreePBX on this distribution will still work and be supported, however, there will be no further support for the underlying operating system. == Installation == The Official FreePBX Distro is installed from a ISO image available by web download, that includes the system CentOS, Asterisk, FreePBX GUI and assorted dependencies. This can then either be burned to DVD or written to a USB stick for installation == Support for telephony hardware == The FreePBX Distro has built-in support for cards from multiple vendors, including Digium, OpenVox, Alto, Rhino Equipment, Xorcom and Sangoma. The FreePBX Distro supports a large number of phone models via open-source modules. Supported VoIP phone manufacturers include Algo, AND, AudioCodes, Cisco, Cyberdata, Digium, Grandstream, Mitel/Aastra, Nortel/Avaya, Panasonic, Polycom, Sangoma, Snom, Xorcom and Yealink. == Development == FreePBX made its debut in 2004 as the AMP project (Asterisk Management Portal). The FreePBX Distro was released in 2011 as an turnkey solution for building a PBX using Asterisk, CentOS and FreePBX. FreePBX has over 1 million active production PBXs and over 20,000 new systems added each month. The core telephony engine is Asterisk, as configured by the Open Source FreePBX GUI. The last stable release is FreePBX Distro Stable SNG7-PBX16-64bit-2302-1 based on these main components: FreePBX 16 CentOS 7.8 Asterisk 16, 18, 19 (20 supported by upgrade once installed)

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  • LIVAC Synchronous Corpus

    LIVAC Synchronous Corpus

    LIVAC is an uncommon language corpus dynamically maintained since 1995. Different from other existing corpora, LIVAC has adopted a rigorous and regular "Windows" approach in processing and filtering massive media texts from representative Chinese speech communities such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Singapore, Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The contents are thus deliberately repetitive in most cases, represented by textual samples drawn from editorials, local and international news, cross-Taiwan Strait news, as well as news on finance, sports and entertainment. By 2023, more than 3 billion characters of news media texts have been filtered, of which 700 million characters have been processed and analyzed and have yielded an expanding Pan-Chinese dictionary of 2.5 million words from the Pan-Chinese printed media. Through rigorous analysis based on computational linguistic methodology, LIVAC has at the same time accumulated a large amount of accurate and meaningful statistical data on the Chinese language and on their diverse speech communities in the Pan-Chinese context, and the results show considerable and important long standing as well as evolving variations. The "Windows" approach is the most innovative feature of LIVAC and has enabled Pan-Chinese media texts to be quantitatively analyzed according to various attributes such as locations, time and subject domains. Thus, various types of comparative studies and applications in information technology as well as development of often related innovative applications have been possible. Moreover, LIVAC has allowed longitudinal developments to be taken into account, facilitating Key Word in Context (KWIC) search and comprehensive study of target words and their underlying concepts as well as linguistic structures over the past 25 years, based on the above mentioned variables of location, time and subject. Results from the extensive and accumulative data analysis contained in LIVAC have enabled the cultivation of textual databases of proper names, place names, organization names, new words, and bi-weekly and annual rosters of media figures. Related applications have included the establishment of verb and adjective databases, the formulation of sentiment indices, and related opinion mining, to measure and compare the popularity of global media figures in the Chinese media (LIVAC Annual Pan-Chinese Celebrity Rosters, later renamed as the Pan-Chinese Newsmaker Rosters). Notable among these are the decades long periodic reviews of the 25 years of annual pan-Chinese rosters since 2000 and compilation of new word databases (LIVAC Annual Pan-Chinese New Word Rosters). On this basis, the analysis of the emergence, diffusion and transformation of new words, and the publication of dictionaries of neologisms have been made possible. A recent focus is on the relative balance between disyllabic words and growing trisyllabic words in the Chinese language, and the comparative study of light verbs in three Chinese speech communities. as well as the link between the language use and use of language as a reflection of epochal change in China. A new LIVAC version 3.1 was launched in February 2024. == Corpus data processing == Accessing media texts, manual input, etc. Text unification including conversion from simplified to traditional Chinese characters, stored as Big5 and Unicode versions Automatic word segmentation Automatic alignment of parallel texts Manual verification, part-of-speech tagging Extraction of words and addition to regional sub-corpora Combination of regional sub-corpora to update the LIVAC corpus, and master lexical database == Labeling for data curation == Categories used include general terms and proper names, such as: general names, surnames, semi titles; geographical, organizations and commercial entities, etc.; time, prepositions, locations, etc.; stack-words; loanwords; case-word; numerals, etc. Construction of databases of proper names, place names, and specific terms, etc. Generate rosters: "new word rosters", "celebrity or media personality rosters", "place name rosters", compound words and matched words Other parts of speech tagging for sub-database, such as common nouns, numerals, numeral classifiers, different types of verbs, and of adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles marking mood, onomatopoeia, interjection, etc. == Applications == Compilation of Pan-Chinese dictionaries or local dictionaries Information technology research, such as predictive Chinese text input for mobile phones, automatic speech to text conversion, opinion mining Comparative studies on linguistic and cultural developments in the Pan-Chinese regions, especially in a critical period of history in modern China. Language teaching and learning research, and speech-to-text conversion Customized service on linguistic research and lexical search for international corporations and government agencies The above applications are provided by the following functions: Word Segmentation Search Phrase Search Example Sentence Selection Multi-word Comparison Word Cloud

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  • WebAR

    WebAR

    WebAR, previously known as the Augmented Web, is a web technology that allows for augmented reality functionality within a web browser. It is a combination of HTML, Web Audio, WebGL, and WebRTC. From 2020s more known as web-based Augmented Reality or WebAR, which is about the use of augmented reality elements in browsers. It was the focus of a Birds of a Feather meeting at ISMAR2012 and is now the focus of the W3C Augmented Web Community Group. == Features == Browser augmented reality for smartphones has a number of features that distinguish it from similar content in special apps. No special applications are needed for Web AR. A regular browser is enough. And it can run to a certain extent on most browsers. It is easy to set up marketing analytics. By connecting the website to services that collect statistics, it is convenient to receive geographic coordinates, demographic characteristics and other information about users. Ability to add a CTA button. It is extremely important for marketing websites to place it so that the user can add contact information or place an order after considering the offer. Rich content. Browser augmented reality for tablets and smartphones supports 2D and 3D graphics, animation and other formats. Image marker tracking. If a QR code is selected as an activator for an AR element or just a picture on a flat surface, the device can easily read it. Various activation ways. Web AR can be marker and markerless, attached to geolocation, it can also be hidden in a direct link. Game content. Even simple games with simple mechanics, transferred into augmented reality, can delight the website visitor. Cross-platform. You can view content that complements our usual reality using any modern smartphone model. == Limitations == Performance is simply better on an app, where there's capacity for more memory and programs are executed in native code therefore it provides better visuals, better animations and better interactivity than in WebAR experience. A web page can only have access to certain parts of the device you're using, whereas a native app can access all of a device's capabilities. Meaning if you want the convenience of WebAR, you need to be thinking of simple but effective experiences instead. Compatibility. Not every mobile device has the required HW for AR performance. == Implementation == Browser support is evolving quickly and can best be monitored using services like Can I Use. Since this is a web application, there are platforms that support the creation of WebAR that are similar to normal web development platforms. Something which enables the creation of 3D assets and environments using a web framework that looks similar to HTML. Applications (like for example – A-Frame) are supported by 8th Wall, which is by the end of 2021 the leading SLAM tracking SDK for WebAR on the market. WebAR is currently limited mostly by the browser – so how much the technology will develop rather depends on what the big players like Google and Apple develop. For iOS device users, Apple developed AR Quick Look, an extension that enables users to use ARKit on the web. For Android devices your browser should support WebXR, an API that allows users to view AR/VR content without installing extra plugins or software, and have ARCore installed. There are many tools and frameworks that help developers in expanding the immersive web with WebAR. For example, AR.js is an open-source library for Augmented Reality on the Web for improved WebAR performance on smartphones that includes marker-based technology (simplified QR-codes) and location-based AR. Apple at the WWDC Conference 2018, announced that it has developed a new file format, working together with Pixar, called USDZ Universal. This file will allow developers to create 3d models for augmented reality. USDZ format was created by Apple together with Pixar Animation Studio and allowed developers to create 3D models for AR. == Industries == Where WebAR can be used from virtual guides, which can help students navigate through campus to virtual film posters: E-commerce and Advertising. Education. Entertainment. Business. Fashion. == Examples == Promotion of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for which 8th Wall developed the AR platform that made this interactive WebAR promoting the Sony animated smash hit. Everyone can invite teenage Spiderman/Miles Morales into their homes for some one-on-one interaction, take pictures and share the experience with friends. Sony Pictures included the QR code to launch this WebAR site in print promotions for the movie. Also in 2017 the advertising of Jumanji: The Next Level gave us the world's first WebAR activation with usage of Amazon Lex to power voice interaction (the same tool that powers Amazon Alexa), the experience sends users on a wild 3D adventure into the world of Jumanji! This was a collaboration between Sony Pictures and Trigger - The Mixed Reality Agency. The WebAR technology is powered by 8th Wall. And you can check it via the link to the official YouTube recording of the experience. RPR & Microsoft's Holographic Retail Platform, where Web AR brings a new twist to online shopping by allowing users to interact with 3D holographic images of models right from their smartphones' browsers. This experience is designed to increase buyer confidence and reduce clothing returns, which are two of the greatest challenges to purchasing clothing online. Digital Porsche Brand Academy was developed by the Team of svarmony Technologies GmbH and it is the first-to-market training tool that uses augmented reality to provide Porsche employees an immersive experience learning about the company's history and values. The star of this WebAR experience is an animated avatar that serves as a tour guide for Porsche's past, present, and future. Employees can explore realistically animated Porsche-locations, take a ride in a virtual Porsche, help assemble a car, and test Porsche knowledge via a quiz. The Digital Porsche Brand Academy is a great starter kit for employees to establish a relationship with the brand and align with the company's plans. == Future == By freeing smartphone users from having to install numerous apps, WebAR can make Augmented Reality far more accessible for them and more beneficial for business. The further development of the WebAR can be accelerated by the widespread social acceptance of the headsets that can give the whole other level of AR experience. This means instant access to the information when the contextually relevant content is appearing as the person's real background is changing.

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  • Information Age

    Information Age

    The Information Age is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology. The onset of the Information Age has been linked to the development of the transistor in 1947. Advances in computer miniaturization, internet communication, and semiconductor technology enabled the rapid expansion of digital systems and global information networks. The Information Age transformed industries such as education, healthcare, finance, entertainment, and communication through digital infrastructure and connected technologies. The rise of smartphones and cloud-based services further accelerated global internet accessibility and digital interaction. == Digital applications and mobile technology == The expansion of Android and iOS ecosystems during the 21st century contributed to the widespread use of utility applications and mobile productivity tools. Applications related to calculations, scheduling, digital organization, and educational support became increasingly common on smartphones and tablets. Mobile utility software demonstrates how modern digital platforms support accessibility and everyday online services. Independent developers have contributed to this technological ecosystem through lightweight applications focused on mobile usability and internet-based functionality. == Influence on modern society == The Information Age has reshaped the way individuals communicate, consume information, and interact with digital services. Social media platforms, artificial intelligence systems, cloud storage, and mobile computing continue to influence modern economies and online communities worldwide. Emerging technologies such as the Internet of things, machine learning, and advanced automation are often associated with the transition toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution. == History == The digital revolution converted technology from analog format to digital format. By doing this, it became possible to make copies that were identical to the original. In digital communications, for example, repeating hardware was able to amplify the digital signal and pass it on with no loss of information in the signal. Of equal importance to the revolution was the ability to easily move the digital information between media and to access or distribute it remotely. One turning point of the revolution was the change from analog to digitally recorded music. During the 1980s, the digital format of optical compact discs gradually replaced analog formats, such as vinyl records and cassette tapes, as the popular medium of choice. === Previous inventions === Humans have manufactured tools for counting and calculating since ancient times, such as the abacus, astrolabe, equatorium, and mechanical timekeeping devices. More complicated devices started appearing in the 1600s, including the slide rule and mechanical calculators. By the early 1800s, the Industrial Revolution had produced mass-market calculators like the arithmometer and the enabling technology of the punch card. Charles Babbage proposed a mechanical general-purpose computer called the Analytical Engine, but it was never successfully built, and was largely forgotten by the 20th century, and unknown to most of the inventors of modern computers. The Second Industrial Revolution, in the last quarter of the 19th century, developed useful electrical circuits and the telegraph. In the 1880s, Herman Hollerith developed electromechanical tabulating and calculating devices using punch cards and unit record equipment, which became widespread in business and government. Meanwhile, various analog computer systems used electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic systems to model problems and calculate answers. These included an 1872 tide-predicting machine, differential analysers, perpetual calendar machines, the Deltar for water management in the Netherlands, network analyzers for electrical systems, and various machines for aiming military guns and bombs. The construction of problem-specific analog computers continued in the late 1940s and beyond, with FERMIAC for neutron transport, Project Cyclone for various military applications, and the Phillips Machine for economic modeling. Building on the complexity of the Z1 and Z2, German inventor Konrad Zuse used electromechanical systems to complete in 1941 the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer. Also, during World War II, Allied engineers constructed electromechanical bombes to break the German Enigma machine encoding. The base-10 electromechanical Harvard Mark I was completed in 1944, and was to some degree improved with inspiration from Charles Babbage's designs. === 1947–1969: Origins === In 1947, the first working transistor, the germanium-based point-contact transistor, was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain while working under William Shockley at Bell Labs. This led the way to more advanced digital computers. From the late 1940s, universities, the military, and businesses developed computer systems to digitally replicate and automate previously manually performed mathematical calculations, with the LEO being the first commercially available general-purpose computer. Digital communication became economical for widespread adoption after the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s. Claude Shannon, a Bell Labs mathematician, is generally credited with laying the foundations of digitalization in his pioneering 1948 article, A Mathematical Theory of Communication. In 1948, Bardeen and Brattain patented an insulated-gate transistor (IGFET) with an inversion layer. Their concept forms the basis of CMOS and DRAM technology today. In 1957, at Bell Labs, Frosch and Derick were able to manufacture planar silicon dioxide transistors, later a team at Bell Labs demonstrated a working MOSFET. The first integrated circuit milestone was achieved by Jack Kilby in 1958. Other important technological developments included the invention of the monolithic integrated circuit chip by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1959, made possible by the planar process developed by Jean Hoerni. In 1963, complementary MOS (CMOS) was developed by Chih-Tang Sah and Frank Wanlass at Fairchild Semiconductor. The self-aligned gate transistor, which further facilitated mass production, was invented in 1966 by Robert Bower at Hughes Aircraft and independently by Robert Kerwin, Donald Klein, and John Sarace at Bell Labs. In 1962, AT&T deployed the T-carrier for long-haul pulse-code modulation (PCM) digital voice transmission. The T1 format carried 24 pulse-code modulated, time-division multiplexed speech signals, each encoded in 64 kbit/s streams, leaving 8 kbit/s of framing information, which facilitated the synchronization and demultiplexing at the receiver. Over the subsequent decades, the digitisation of voice became the norm for all but the last mile (where analogue continued to be the norm right into the late 1990s). Following the development of MOS integrated circuit chips in the early 1960s, MOS chips reached higher transistor density and lower manufacturing costs than bipolar integrated circuits by 1964. MOS chips further increased in complexity at a rate predicted by Moore's law, leading to large-scale integration (LSI) with hundreds of transistors on a single MOS chip by the late 1960s. The application of MOS LSI chips to computing was the basis for the first microprocessors, as engineers began recognizing that a complete computer processor could be contained on a single MOS LSI chip. In 1968, Fairchild engineer Federico Faggin improved MOS technology with his development of the silicon-gate MOS chip, which he later used to develop the Intel 4004, the first single-chip microprocessor. It was released by Intel in 1971 and laid the foundations for the microcomputer revolution that began in the 1970s. MOS technology also led to the development of semiconductor image sensors suitable for digital cameras. The first such image sensor was the charge-coupled device, developed by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs in 1969, based on MOS capacitor technology. === 1969–1989: Invention of the internet, rise of home computers === The public was first introduced to the concepts that led to the Internet when a message was sent over the ARPANET in 1969. Packet switched networks such as ARPANET, Mark I, CYCLADES, Merit Network, Tymnet, and Telenet, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s using a variety of protocols. The ARPANET in particular led to the development of protocols for internetworking, in which multiple separate networks could be joined into a network of networks. The Whole Earth movement of the 1960s advocated the use of new technology. In the 1970s, the home computer was introduced, time-sharing computers, the video game console, the first coin-op vide

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