AI Chatbot Training

AI Chatbot Training — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

Gibberlink

GibberLink is an acoustic data transmission project, with an open-source client available on GitHub, in which two conversational AI agents switch from speaking to one another in a Human-listenable language (such as English) to their own unique language that consists of a sound-level protocol after confirming they are both AI agents. The project was created by Anton Pidkuiko and Boris Starkov. == Reception == The project won the global top prize at the ElevenLabs Worldwide Hackathon. It has also been cited as raising questions around AI ethics and oversight. On February 23, 2025, a YouTube video of two independent conversational ElevenLabs AI agents being prompted to chat about booking a hotel (one as a caller, one as a receptionist) received coverage for going viral. In this video, both agents are prompted to switch to ggwave data-over-sound protocol when they identify the other side as AI, and keep speaking in English otherwise.
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Ampere Computing

Ampere Computing LLC is an American fabless semiconductor company that designs ARM-based central processing units (CPUs) with high core counts for use in cloud computing and data center environments. Founded in 2017 by former Intel president Renée James, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and operates as an independent subsidiary of SoftBank Group since November 2025. == History == Ampere Computing was founded in fall 2017 by Renée James, ex-President of Intel, with funding from The Carlyle Group. James acquired a team from MACOM Technology Solutions (formerly AppliedMicro) in addition to several industry hires to start the company. Ampere Computing is an ARM architecture licensee and develops its own server microprocessors. Ampere fabricates its products at TSMC. In April 2019, Ampere announced its second major investment round, including investment from Arm Holdings and Oracle Corporation. In June 2019, Nvidia announced a partnership with Ampere to bring support for Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). In November 2019, Nvidia announced a reference design platform for graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated ARM-based servers including Ampere. In the first half of 2020, Ampere announced Ampere Altra, an 80-core processor, and Ampere Altra Max, a 128-core processor, without the use of simultaneous multithreading. In March 2020, the company announced a partnership with Oracle. In September 2020, Oracle said it would launch bare-metal and virtual machine instances in early 2021 based on Ampere Altra. In November 2020, Ampere was named one of the top 10 hottest semiconductor startups by CRN. In May 2021, the company announced a partnership with Microsoft. In April 2022, Ampere said that it had filed a confidential prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling its intent to go public. In June 2022, HPE announced their Gen11 ProLiant system would use Ampere Altra and Ampere Altra Max Cloud Native Processors. In July 2022, Google announced T2A instances using Ampere Altra in the Google cloud and in August 2022 Microsoft announced their instances of Ampere running in Azure. On March 19, 2025, investment holding company SoftBank Group announced it will acquire Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion. The deal finalized in November 2025, with Ampere remaining as an independent subsidiary with its headquarters in Santa Clara, California. == Products == Ampere develops ARM-based computer processors and CPU cores under their Altra brands. These are used in databases, media encoding, web services, network acceleration, mobile gaming, AI inference processing, and other applications and programs that need to scale. On February 5, 2018, Ampere announced the eMAG 8180 featuring 32x Skylark cores fabricated on TSMC's 16FF+ process. It supports a turbo of up to 3.3 GHz with a TDP of 125 W, 8ch 64-bit DDR4, up to 1 TB DDR4 per socket, and 42x PCIe 3.0 Lanes. The Skylark cores were based on AppliedMicro's X-Gene 3. Packet offers servers with the eMAG 8180 and 128 GB DRAM, 480 GB SSD, and 2x 10 Gbit/s networking. On September 19, 2018, Ampere announced the availability of a version featuring 16x Skylark cores. === 2020 === On March 3, 2020, Ampere announced the Ampere Altra featuring 80 cores fabricated on TSMC's N7 process for hyperscale computing. It was the first server-grade processor to include 80 cores and the Q80-30 conserves power by running at 161 W in use. The cores are semi-custom Arm Neoverse N1 cores with Ampere modifications. It supports a frequency of up to 3.3 GHz with TDP of 250 W, 8ch 72-bit DDR4, up to 4 TB DDR4-3200 per socket, 128x PCIe 4.0 Lanes, 1 MB L2 per core and 32 MB SLC. Ampere also announced their roadmap with Ampere Altra Max (2021) in development and AmpereOne (2022) defined. === 2021 === The 128-core Altra Max was released in 2021 and targeted hyperscale cloud providers. It uses the same server socket and platforms as Ampere Altra, and both products have one thread per core. The Altra Max CPUs provide 128 Arm v8.2+ cores per chip and run up to 3.0 GHz. They also support eight channels of DDR4-3200 memory and 128 lanes of PCIe Gen4. Also in 2021, Oracle launched its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) using Ampere Altra processors. === 2022 === In February 2022, Ampere and Rigetti Computing announced a strategic partnership to create hybrid quantum-classical computers. The companies will combine Ampere's Altra Max CPUs with Rigetti's Quantum Processing Units (QPU) in cloud-based High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments. In April, Microsoft previewed its Azure Virtual Machines running on the Ampere Altra. The VMs run scale-out workloads, web servers, application servers, open source databases, cloud native .NET applications, Java applications, gaming servers, media servers, and other processes. In May, Ampere announced the sampling of AmpereOne CPUs, 5 nanometer chips based on its in-house Ampere-developed core. AmpereOne will add support for DDR5 main memory and PCIe Gen5 peripherals. On June 28, 2022, HPE became first tier-one server provider to offer compute with optimized cloud-native silicon for service providers and enterprises embracing cloud-native development with new line of HPE ProLiant RL Gen11 servers, using Ampere® Altra® and Ampere® Altra® Max processors, delivering high performance and power efficiency. === 2023 === During April 2023, Ampere released the Altra developer's kit, an IoT Prototype Kit based on Ampere Altra, aimed at cloud developers, available in 32-core, 64-core, and 80-core formats. === 2024 === In May 2024, Ampere updated its AmpereOne roadmap to 256 cores and announced a joint effort with Qualcomm on CPUs and accelerators. == Customers == Ampere's customers include Microsoft Azure, Tencent Cloud, Oracle, ByteDance, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Cloudflare, Equinix, Kingsoft Cloud, Meituan, Scaleway, UCloud, Foxconn Industrial Internet, Gigabyte, Inspur, Cruise, Hetzner, Project Ronin, Wiwynn and Google Cloud Platform Cruise uses an Ampere Altra variant for its autonomous driving unit. The CPU was selected because of its throughput and low power consumption. In 2021, Oracle, Microsoft, Tencent, and ByteDance committed to using Ampere's customized chips, first announced in May. In April 2022, Microsoft previewed Ampere Altra processors in its new Azure D-and E- series virtual machines. The Dpsv5 series is built for Linux enterprise application types, and the Epsv5 series is for memory-intensive Linux workloads. They provide up to 64 vCPUs, include VM sizes with 2GiB, 4GiB, and 8GiB per vCPU memory configurations, up to 40 Gbit/s networking, and high-performance local SSD storage. In 2022, Microsoft's Ampere Altra-based Azure servers became the first cloud solution provider server to be Arm SystemReady SR certified. The Azure VMs, powered by Altra processors, were also the first to be SystemReady Virtual Environment standard certified. SystemReady defines a set of firmware and hardware standards as a baseline for system development for software developers, original equipment vendors, and chipmakers.
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Zhura

Zhura ( ZUR-ə) is a free, web-based screenwriting software application for writing and formatting screenplays to the film industry standard, as well as other formats. Zhura allows users to collaborate on scripts in public or private groups and uses Creative Commons Licensing for all work in the public workspace. On March 29, 2010, Zhura announced its merger with Scripped. Scripped's CEO, Sunil Rajaraman, remains the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as of 2022. The Zhura CEO was Eric MacDonald, a former Cascade Communications engineer. Scripped later closed on April 1, 2015 after a catastrophic, irrecoverable data loss. == Script editor == Screenplay Template – The script editor provides a built-in screenplay template which formats the document to a standard for scripts as recommended by the AMPAS. The screenplay document is composed of seven elements: scene, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition, and shot (see image). Each element has a specific style to which the script editor conforms as you type.Script Formats – Other major script formats for stage play, sitcom, audio drama and comic book are also supported as well as the ability to switch between them.Auto-Complete – Characters, scene headings and custom transitions are “remembered” as they are written and “recalled” with tab-completion when a writer starts a new character, scene heading or transition, respectively.Multiple Editors – With a collaborative editing model comparable to Google Docs, two or more users can edit the same script simultaneously, regardless of having a different operating system or web browser. Import/Export – A screenplay written in another program can be imported into the script editor and automatically conformed to the screenplay template. The closer the original script has adhered to the standard format, the better it will appear when imported. Supported import/export formats include Text (.txt) Word (.doc) Rich Text (.rtf) and OpenDocument (.odt). Scripts can also be exported as a PDF file with additional options.Tracking Changes – Similar to the “tracking” feature in Microsoft Word, a user can review all changes made to a script in the revision history as well as highlight the contributions of each writer. Offline Mode – The Google Gears-based offline functionality is in the process of being updated and is not available for new subscribers, according to the company founders. == Community == Scripped supports typical social networking features such as discussion boards, comments, user profiles, public and private writing groups, internal web mail and instant messaging within the script editor. There is also the option to share scripts with others outside of Scripped by making scripts externally viewable. Scripped is made up entirely of user-generated scripts that other users can share, critique and edit, offering creative support to a community of writers. == Licensing of user-created work == There are three types of work-spaces on Scripped (personal, group and public) with unique copyright and licensing management for the work created in each area. Any work a user originates may be moved from the personal area to a public or group area at any time. Once another user edits a script, however, it cannot be moved into the originator’s personal area. Personal Workspace – Any script created or video uploaded in the user’s personal workspace remains copyrighted to that user. Until the user moves that script or video from their personal area into a group or public area, no other user shares a copyright or license to that work. Private Group Workspace – The copyright to any script created or video uploaded in a private group workspace is allocated by the individual members of the group, however they see fit. Public Workspace – Any script created or video uploaded in the public workspace is assigned a Creative Commons license by the originator of that work. The originator of a script may select one of four Creative Commons licenses before introducing that script to the public. The selection of the license is determined by what the author wants to allow others to do with the work. Below is a list of Creative Commons licenses available for all scripts and videos in the public workspace. Share Alike (BY-SA) This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the original user and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on the original user's will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. No Derivatives (BY-ND) This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the original user. Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND) This license is the most restrictive of the four licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the "free advertising" license because it allows others to download the original user work and share them with others as long as they mention the original user and link back to them, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially. Non-Commercial, Share Alike (BY-NC-SA) This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the original user's work non-commercially, as long as they credit the original user and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute the original user's work just like the BY-NC-ND license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on the original user's work. All new work based on the original user's work will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature. == Events == In April 2008, Zhura partnered with Improv Asylum, a comedy troupe in Boston, Massachusetts to produce a live sketch comedy show called "You Wrote It, Live" entirely written by the public on Zhura. Another show was produced in June.
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NationBuilder

NationBuilder is a Los Angeles-based technology start-up that develops content management and customer relationship management (CRM) software. Although the company initially targeted political campaigns and nonprofit organizations, it later expanded its marketing efforts to include other people and organizations trying to build an online following, such as artists, musicians and restaurants. The software uses voter data such as names, addresses and other information, such as previous voting records in the case of political campaigns, to allow users to centralize, build and manage campaigns by integrating various communication tools like websites, newsletters, text messaging and social media channels under one platform. Among other features, the software enables users to quickly create websites, build databases through registrations, send targeted newsletters, analyse data from multiple sources and leverage micro-donations. The software's appeal towards political campaigns comes from the combination of a number of previously separate campaigning services, channels and data sources into a single platform that was presented as a facile solution for non-technical users and which enabled political campaigners to quickly deploy campaigns by convincing numerous people to donate. == History == NationBuilder was founded in 2009 in Los Angeles by Jim Gilliam and launched in 2011. In 2012 Joe Green joined NationBuilder as co-founder and president. He left that role 11 months later in February 2013. Gilliam was previously a movie-maker who co-founded Brave New Films with Robert Greenwald and had sought funding for his films through crowd-sourcing. Green, who studied organizing at Harvard and was Mark Zuckerberg's roommate, is also the co-founder of the Causes Facebook app; he left NationBuilder in 2013. Since its founding, the company has helped campaigns raise $1.2 billion. In 2012, NationBuilder announced that 1,000 subscribers have used its software to amass 2.5 million supporters and raise $12 million in campaign donations. In 2015 it has helped raise $264 million, recruit over one million volunteers and coordinate some 129,000 events. By 2016, the company said its software was used by about 40 percent of all contested elections at the state and national level in the U.S., which included 3,000 political campaigns. Using such software is easier in the U.S. than Europe, where comprehensive data protection and privacy laws are in effect since 2018. The Scottish National Party was the first political party to use NationBuilder, harvesting vast amounts of data pertaining to voter activity via websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This revelation prompted outrage over privacy concerns. Guy Herbert of the No2ID campaign called the use of such data harvesting tools by the SNP "utterly hypocritical". == Funding == Investors in NationBuilder include Chris Hughes - the Facebook co-founder, Sean Parker - first president of Facebook and co-founder of Napster and Causes, Dan Senor - the former Republican foreign-policy adviser and Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. In 2012, it has raised $6.3 million in funding from a number of investors. == Notable implementations == The software is reported to have played a role in some public elections in Europe, the US and New Zealand, as well as non-profit initiatives, and political parties in Australia. Notable users include Bernie Sanders, Mitch McConnell, Andrew Yang, Theresa May, Amnesty International, the NAACP and Donald Trump. === France === La République En Marche used NationBuilder in their campaign for the 2017 National Assembly. === New Zealand === NationBuilder's services are used by New Zealand political parties, including in the campaigns of both the National and Labour parties in the 2017 general election. === United Kingdom === Despite stricter data protection and privacy laws in the UK and EU, NationBuilder was used to significant impact in a number of UK elections, most notably in the 2016 campaign for withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The company later made a public announcement that both sides in that campaign had used its software. === United States === NationBuilder was used in the Donald Trump presidential campaign to advance his election efforts and eventually win the 2016 presidential race. Jill Stein of the Green Party, Republican Rick Santorum, and independent supporters of various candidates all used NationBuilder during their 2016 runs for president. During the 2018 US election cycle, political entities paid more than $1 million for the use of NationBuilder. Among the entities paying the most were Donald J. Trump for President, Prosperity Action and the Republican Party of Tennessee.
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Ciscogate

Ciscogate, also known as the Black Hat Bug, is the name given to a legal incident that occurred at the Black Hat Briefings security conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 27, 2005. On the morning of the first day of the conference, July 26, 2005, some attendees noticed that 30 pages of text had been physically ripped out of the extensive conference presentation booklet the night before at the request of Cisco Systems and the CD-ROM with presentation slides was not included. It was determined the pages covered a talk to be given by Michael Lynn, a security researcher with Atlanta-based IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS). Instead of the pages with the details, attendees found a photographed copy of a notice from Black Hat saying "Due to some last minute changes beyond Black Hat's control, and at the request of the presenter, the included materials aren't up to the standards Black Hat tries to meet. Black Hat will be the first to apologize. We hope the vendors involved will follow suit." According to Lynn's lawyer, his employer had approved of the talk leading up to the conference but changed their minds two days before the scheduled talk, forbidding him from presenting. Lynn's original presentation was to cover a vulnerability in Cisco routers. The presentation was one of four scheduled to follow Jeff Moss' keynote address on the first day of the conference, titled "Cisco IOS Security Architecture". After being told by his employer that he could not present on the topic, Lynn chose an alternate topic. Cisco and ISS had offered to give new joint presentation but this was turned down by Black Hat because the original speaking slot was given to Lynn, not Cisco. Lynn's presentation began by covering security issues in services that allow users to make Voice over IP telephone calls. Shortly after beginning the presentation Lynn changed back to his original topic and began disclosing some technical details of the vulnerability he found in Cisco routers stating that he would rather resign from his job at ISS than keep the details private. == Lawsuit == Shortly after Lynn concluded his talk he met Jennifer Granick, who would soon become his lawyer. During their initial meeting Lynn told Granick that he expected to be sued. Later in the evening Lynn had heard that Cisco and ISS had filed a lawsuit and requested a temporary restraining order against Black Hat but not himself. A public relations representative from Black Hat told Granick that the lawsuit was against both Black Hat and Lynn and that the companies had scheduled an Ex parte hearing in San Francisco the next morning to request the restraining order. That night, Andrew Valentine, an attorney for ISS and Cisco called Lynn who directed them to Granick. During the conversation Valentine explained the claims and accusations against Lynn, which included three things: 1) ISS claimed copyright over the presentation that Lynn gave, 2) Cisco claimed copyright over the decompiled machine code obtained from the router which was included in the presentation, and 3) Cisco claimed the presentation contained trade secrets. These complaints were outlined in a civil complaint at the U.S. Northern District of California and filed against both Lynn and Black Hat. According to Granick, she and Valentine were able agree to an injunction to settle the case without court proceedings. This deal was almost called off due to an inadvertent mistake by Black Hat in which they had restored Lynn's presentation on their web server. Black Hat, Granick, and the plaintiff's lawyers were able to resolve this problem and the deal stood. One condition of the settlement required Lynn to provide an image of all computer data he used in his research to be provided to a third party for forensic analysis before erasing his research and any Cisco data from his systems. The settlement also stipulated that Lynn was prohibited from talking about the vulnerability in the future. == FBI Investigation == Shortly after lawyers for Lynn and ISS / Cisco filed settlement papers, FBI agents from the Las Vegas office arrived at the conference to begin asking questions. According to Granick, they were there at the request of the Atlanta FBI office and Lynn was not of interest. Granick asserted the Fifth and Sixth amendment rights on behalf of her client, Lynn. Granick asserted his rights for the Atlanta office and asked if an arrest warrant had been issued for Lynn. Over the next 24 hours Granick was not able to ascertain the status of a warrant but ultimately determined no warrant was issued. When the FBI was asked about the case by a journalist, spokesman Paul Bresson declined to discuss the case saying "Our policy is to not make any comment on anything that is ongoing. That's not to confirm that something is, because I really don't know". Granick would only confirm to journalists that the "investigation has to do with the presentation". == Response == === Attendees === Attendees of Black Hat Briefings, as well as many that also attended DEF CON, were not happy with vendors threatening legal action over vulnerability disclosure. The term "Ciscogate" was coined quickly by an unknown person, but some attendees were quick to create shirts to commemorate the incident. === Cisco === Mojgan Khalili, a senior manager for corporate PR at Cisco, issued a statement to the press saying "It is important to note that the information Mr. Lynn presented was not a disclosure of a new vulnerability or a flaw with Cisco IOS software. Mr. Lynn's research explores possible ways to expand exploitations of existing security vulnerabilities impacting routers." === ISS === Kim Duffy, managing director of ISS Australia, was asked about ISS's response to the incident. Duffy responded that it was "business as usual" as the company handled the incident "strictly by the book". He gave a brief statement to ZDNet UK saying "ISS has published rules for disclosure and that is what we stick to. We didn't care to publish [the disclosure] because we were not ready. We had not completed the research to our satisfaction so it was not ready to be disclosed". ISS spokesperson Roger Fortier confirmed that Lynn was no longer employed with the company and that ISS was still working with Cisco on the matter. He gave a statement to the Washington Post saying "ISS and Cisco have been working on this in the background and didn't feel at this time that the material was ready for publication. The decision was made on Monday to pull the presentation because we wanted to make sure the research was fully baked."
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ImHex

ImHex is a free cross-platform hex editor available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. ImHex is used by programmers and reverse engineers to view and analyze binary data. == History == The initial release of the project in November 2020, saw significant interest on GitHub. == Features == Features include: Hex editor Custom pattern matching and analysis scripting language Visual, node based data pre-processor Disassembler Running and visualizing of YARA rules Bookmarks Binary data diffing Additional Tools MSVC, Itanium, D and Rust name demangler ASCII table Calculator Base converter File utilities IEEE 754 floating point decoder Division by invariant multiplication calculator TCP/IP client and server Support for: Data importing and exporting ASCII string, Unicode string, numeric, hexadecimal and regular expressions search Byte manipulation File hashing Plug-ins
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SAP BTP

SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is a platform as a service developed by SAP SE that offers a suite of services including database and data management, AI, analytics, application development, automation and integration all running on one unified platform. == Overview == SAP BTP is made up of four components: Application development and automation: to create applications or extend existing applications. Data and analytics: to access and analyze data across SAP and third-party systems using multi-cloud architecture. Integration: to integrate and connect applications and data. Artificial Intelligence (AI): to access large language models (LLMs) to develop AI. == History == SAP BTP was introduced as part of the SAP strategy to unify its portfolio and cloud offerings under a single platform. The platform was evolved from earlier initiatives such as SAP Cloud Platform and now serves as the central hub for cloud, data, analytics, integration and AI technologies. Initially unveiled as "SAP NetWeaver Cloud" belonging to the SAP HANA Cloud portfolio on October 16, 2012 the cloud platform was reintroduced with the new name "SAP HANA Cloud Platform" on May 13, 2013 as the foundation for SAP cloud products, including the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. Adoption of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform in 2015 stood at over 4000 customers and 500 partners. In 2016, SAP and Apple Inc. partnered to develop mobile applications on iOS using cloud-based software development kits (SDKs) for the SAP Cloud Platform. On February 27, 2017, SAP HANA Cloud Platform was renamed "SAP Cloud Platform" at the Mobile World Congress. On January 18, 2021, the name "SAP Cloud Platform" was retired from the SAP product portfolio to support SAP BTP. As of October 2024, SAP states that SAP BTP is used by more than 27,000 customers and more than 2,800 partners. Recently, SAP Business One has worked on improving the functionalities of BTP to cater for the demands of digital transformation. The platform offers comprehensive services in AI, application development, automation, integration, data management, and analytics.
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Cooperative storage cloud

A cooperative storage cloud is a decentralized model of networked online storage where data is stored on multiple computers (nodes), hosted by the participants cooperating in the cloud. For the cooperative scheme to be viable, the total storage contributed in aggregate must be at least equal to the amount of storage needed by end users. However, some nodes may contribute less storage and some may contribute more. There may be reward models to compensate the nodes contributing more. Unlike a traditional storage cloud, a cooperative does not directly employ dedicated servers for the actual storage of the data, thereby eliminating the need for a significant dedicated hardware investment. Each node in the cooperative runs specialized software which communicates with a centralized control and orchestration server, thereby allowing the node to both consume and contribute storage space to the cloud. The centralized control and orchestration server requires several orders of magnitude less resources (storage, computing power, and bandwidth) to operate, relative to the overall capacity of the cooperative. == Data security == Files hosted in the cloud are fragmented and encrypted before leaving the local machine. They are then distributed randomly using a load balancing and geo-distribution algorithm to other nodes in the cooperative. Users can add an additional layer of security and reduce storage space by compressing and encrypting files before they are copied to the cloud. == Data redundancy == In order to maintain data integrity and high availability across a relatively unreliable set of computers over a wide area network like the Internet, the source node will add some level of redundancy to each data block. This allows the system to recreate the entire block even if some nodes are temporarily unavailable (due to loss of network connectivity, the machine being powered off or a hardware failure). The most storage and bandwidth efficient forms of redundancy use erasure coding techniques like Reed–Solomon. A simple, less CPU intensive but more expensive form of redundancy is duplicate copies. == Flexible contribution == Due to bandwidth or hardware constraints some nodes may not be able to contribute as much space as they consume in the cloud. On the other hand, nodes with large storage space and limited or no bandwidth constraints may contribute more than they consume, thereby the cooperative can stay in balance.
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Multicloud

Multicloud (also written as multi-cloud or multi cloud) is a term with varying interpretations, generally referring to a system using multiple cloud computing providers. According to ISO/IEC 22123-1: "multi-cloud is a cloud deployment model in which a customer uses public cloud services provided by two or more cloud service providers". Multi-cloud can involve various deployment models, including public, private, and hybrid clouds, and multiple service models, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Multicloud incorporates workload, data, traffic, and workflow portability options, which can result in varying implementation complexity. When effectively implemented, multicloud solutions can enhance architectural resilience, reduce dependence on a single vendor, and improve flexibility by leveraging services from different providers. However, multicloud strategies also present challenges, including increased operational complexity, security risks, higher costs, and integration difficulties. According to the 2024 State of the Cloud Report by Flexera, multi-cloud adoption has continued to rise in 2024. Enterprises increasingly silo applications into specific clouds and select best-fit services. Key use cases include data analysis in separate clouds and cross-cloud disaster recovery. == Advantages and challenges == There are several advantages to using a multicloud approach, including the ability to negotiate better pricing with cloud providers, the ability to quickly switch to another provider if needed, and the ability to avoid vendor lock-in. Multicloud can also be a good way to hedge against the risks of obsolescence, as it allows you to rely on multiple vendors and open standards, which can prolong the life of your systems. Additional benefits of the multicloud architecture include adherence to local policies that require certain data to be physically present within the area/country, geographical distribution of processing requests from physically closer cloud unit which in turn reduces latency and protect against disasters. Various issues and challenges also present themselves in a multicloud environment. Security and governance is more complicated, and more "moving parts" may create resiliency issues. == Difference between multicloud and hybrid cloud == Multicloud differs from hybrid cloud in that it refers to multiple cloud services from different vendors rather than multiple deployment modes (on-premises hardware, and public and private, cloud hosting). However, when considering a broad definition of multi-cloud, hybrid cloud can still be regarded as a special form of multi-cloud.
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WikiTok

WikiTok is a web application that shows random Wikipedia articles in an infinite scrolling format similar to TikTok. Created by New York-based civil and software engineer Isaac Gemal in February 2025, the application aims to provide an "anti-algorithmic" alternative to traditional social media platforms while combating doomscrolling. == Development == WikiTok was developed on February 3, 2025, after Gemal saw a viral tweet from developer Tyler Angert proposing "all of wikipedia on a single, scrollable page". Gemal created the initial prototype in approximately two hours, using the Claude LLM and Cursor coding editor, completing it by 2 a.m. that same night. The application was built with React 18, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Vite, consisting of only a few hundred lines of code with no backend infrastructure. Gemal has made the project open-source, with the code publicly available on GitHub. == Functionality == WikiTok serves users completely random Wikipedia article snippets from Wikipedia's nearly 9.5 million entries. Each article preview includes a full-screen image from Wikipedia and a short text excerpt. Users can click "Read More" to access the full Wikipedia article, or continue scrolling to see the next random entry. The application functions as a progressive web app that can be downloaded as a hybrid between an app and a website. It works on both mobile and desktop browsers, and is designed to be responsive whether users scroll with their thumb on mobile devices or use a cursor on desktop computers. As of 2025, WikiTok supports 14 different languages for article translation. == Philosophy == Gemal has explicitly positioned WikiTok as "anti-algorithmic," resisting numerous requests to implement personalized content algorithms. In an interview with Business Insider, Gemal stated: "I have had plenty of people message me and even make issues on my GitHub asking for some insane crazy WikiTok algorithm... we're already ruled by ruthless, opaque algorithms in our everyday life; why can't we just have one little corner in the world without them?" The application aims to combat "doomscrolling" – the practice of mindlessly consuming negative news online that can cause anxiety, helplessness, and anger. Unlike traditional social media platforms, WikiTok deliberately excludes algorithms, advertisements, and user tracking.
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Open Data Center Alliance

opendatacenteralliance.org appears to have been closed down. The Open Data Center Alliance is an independent organization created in Oct. 2010 with the assistance of Intel to coordinate the development of standards for cloud computing. Approximately 100 companies, which account for more than $50bn of IT spending, have joined the Alliance, including BMW, Royal Dutch Shell and Marriott Hotels. "The Alliance's Cloud 2015 vision is aimed at creating a federated cloud where common standards will be laid down for those in the hardware and software arena." == Usage Model Roadmap == The organization sees a growing need for solutions developed in an open, industry-standard and multivendor fashion, and has thus created a usage model roadmap featuring 19 prioritized usage models. The usage models provide detailed requirements for data center and cloud solutions, and will include detailed technical documentation discussing the requirements for technology deployments. To further its roadmap development, the steering committee established five initial technical workgroups in the areas of infrastructure, management, regulation & ecosystem, security and services. The organization delivered a 0.50 usage model roadmap to Open Data Center Alliance technical workgroups in Oct. 2010, and delivered a full 1.0 roadmap for public use in June 2011. == Membership == The steering committee consists of BMW, Capgemini, China Life, China Unicom Group, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, Royal Dutch Shell, Terremark and UBS. Other members include AT&T, CERN, eBay, Logica, Motorola Mobility Inc. and Nokia. "The demands on the IT organisations are coming at such an alarming rate that there are many, many different solutions being developed today that maybe don't work with each other. We need one voice, one road map, so that companies are able to say to manufacturers here is a clear vision of what they should be developing their product to do." says Marvin Wheeler, of Terremark, chairman of the Alliance. "While it's unclear how successful this alliance will be, it is at least shedding the spotlight on cloud interoperability, a big emerging issue," said Larry Dignan of ZDNet.
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Stevens Award

The Stevens Award is a software engineering lecture award given by the Reengineering Forum, an industry association. The international Stevens Award was created to recognize outstanding contributions to the literature or practice of methods for software and systems development. The first award was given in 1995. The presentations focus on the current state of software methods and their direction for the future. This award lecture is named in memory of Wayne Stevens (1944-1993), a consultant, author, pioneer, and advocate of the practical application of software methods and tools. The Stevens Award and lecture is managed by the Reengineering Forum. The award was founded by International Workshop on Computer Aided Software Engineering (IWCASE), an international workshop association of users and developers of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology, which merged into The Reengineering Forum. Wayne Stevens was a charter member of the IWCASE executive board. == Recipients == 1995: Tony Wasserman 1996: David Harel 1997: Michael Jackson 1998: Thomas McCabe 1999: Tom DeMarco 2000: Gerald Weinberg 2001: Peter Chen 2002: Cordell Green 2003: Manny Lehman 2004: François Bodart 2005: Mary Shaw, Jim Highsmith 2006: Grady Booch 2007: Nicholas Zvegintzov 2008: Harry Sneed 2009: Larry Constantine 2010: Peter Aiken 2011: Jared Spool, Barry Boehm 2012: Philip Newcomb 2013: Jean-Luc Hainaut 2014: François Coallier 2015: Pierre Bourque
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Find It, Fix It

Find It, Fix It is a mobile app developed by the city of Seattle to report non-emergency issues. == History == The City of Seattle launched Find It, Fix It in 2013 for Android and iOS phones to let citizens report potholes, graffiti, and other problems they observe to the city. The app did not support Windows Phone, making it inaccessible to Microsoft employees in the city who used the company's then-supported mobile operating system. In 2015, Mayor Ed Murray led a Find It, Fix It walk with about 100 other people, including police officers, in the University District. Participants were encouraged to use the app to report problems they observed in the neighborhood. Later Find It, Fix It walks have taken place in neighborhoods including Crown Hill, First Hill, Belltown, Wallingford, and Highland Park. In 2020, Find It, Fix It added support for reporting issues with the dockless bicycle sharing systems in the city. Citing the success of Seattle’s app, the nearby city of Kent, Washington, announced that it would create a similar customer service app. == Usage == Users of Find It, Fix It can submit reports about graffiti, potholes, parking violations, broken street signs, and other issues. The app is designed to use a smartphone’s camera and GPS features to make it easier for users to file reports. The Atlantic reported in 2018 that Find It, Fix It was being used by neighborhood groups to report homeless encampments with the intention of having authorities remove them, citing examples of campaigns in Ravenna and Ballard. The executive director of Ballard Alliance, a local chamber of commerce for businesses in the neighborhood, used a private Facebook group to encourage business owners to use the app to report homeless encampments. In response to a poster campaign in the summer of 2019 with the slogan “See a tent? Report a tent”, a representative for the mayor’s office and two Seattle City Council members said that it was inappropriate to encourage use of Find It, Fix It to displace homeless people. As a backlash to these campaigns, people living far from Seattle filed hoax complaints using the app, such as by using photos of tents on display at REI stores. According to the Seattle Times, between January 1, 2020, and November 15, 2021, the city had received over 230,000 service requests, of which 77% were submitted via Find It, Fix It. The largest category of these, numbering over 55,000, concerned illegal dumping. Of complaints categorized as "parking", 3,000 had comments explicitly mentioning issues around homelessness. The ZIP code 98134, covering an industrial area south of Pioneer Square and north of Georgetown, had 5,559 service requests per 1,000 residents, by far the highest in the city.
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Open Threat Exchange

Open Threat Exchange (OTX) is a crowd-sourced computer-security platform. It has more than 180,000 participants in 140 countries who share more than 19 million potential threats daily. It is free to use. Founded in 2012, OTX was created and is run by AlienVault (now AT&T Cybersecurity), a developer of commercial and open source solutions to manage cyber attacks. The collaborative threat exchange was created partly as a counterweight to criminal hackers successfully working together and sharing information about viruses, malware and other cyber attacks. == Components == OTX is cloud-hosted. Information sharing covers a wide range of security-related issues, including viruses, malware, intrusion detection and firewalls. Its automated tools cleanse, aggregate, validate and publish data shared by participants. The OTX platform validates the data, then strips the information identifying the participating contributor. In 2015, OTX 2.0 added a social network, enabling members to share, discuss and research security threats, including via a real-time threat feed. Users can share the IP addresses or websites from where attacks originated or look up specific threats to see if anyone has already left such information. Users can subscribe to a “Pulse,” an analysis of a specific threat, including data on IoC, impact, and the targeted software. Pulses can be exported as STIX, JSON, OpenloC, MAEC and CSV, and can be used to update local security products automatically. Users can up-vote and comment on specific pulses to assist others in identifying the most important threats. OTX combines social contributions with automated machine-to-machine tools that integrate with major security products such as firewalls and perimeter security hardware. The platform can read security reports in .pdf, .csv, .json and other open formats. Relevant information is extracted automatically, assisting IT professionals in analyzing data more readily. Specific OTX components include a dashboard with details about the top malicious IPs around the world and to check the status of specific IPs; notifications should an organization's IP or domain be found in a hacker forum, blacklist or be listed by OTX; and a feature to review log files to determine if there has been communication with known malicious IPs. In 2016, AlienVault released a new version of OTX, allowing participants to create private communities and discussion groups to share information on threats only within the group. The feature is intended to facilitate more in-depth discussions on specific threats, particular industries, and different regions worldwide. Threat data from groups can also be distributed to subscribers of managed service providers using OTX." == Technology == OTX is a large data platform that integrates natural language processing and machine learning. It uses these features to facilitate the collection and correlation of data from many sources, including third-party threat feeds, websites, external APIs and local agents. == Partners == In 2015, AlienVault partnered with Intel to coordinate real-time threat information on OTX. A similar deal with Hewlett Packard was announced the same year. == Competitors == Both Facebook and IBM have threat exchange platforms. The Facebook ThreatExchange is in beta and requires an application or invitation to join. IBM launched IBM X-Force Exchange in April 2015.
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Stride (software)

Stride was a cloud-based team business communication and collaboration tool, launched by Atlassian on 7 September 2017 to replace the cloud-based version of HipChat. Stride software was available to download onto computers running Windows, Mac or Linux, as well as Android, iOS smartphones, and tablets. Stride was bought by Atlassian's competitor Slack Technologies and was discontinued on February 15, 2019. The features of Stride include chat rooms, one-on-one messaging, file sharing, 5 GB of file storage, group voice and video calling, built-in collaboration tools, and up to 25,000 of searchable message history. Premium features include unlimited file storage, users, group chat rooms, file sharing and storage, apps, and history retention. The premium version, priced at $3/user/month, also includes advanced meeting functionality like group screen sharing, remote desktop control, and dial-in/dial-out capabilities. Stride offered integrations with Atlassian's other products as well as other third-party applications listed in the Atlassian Marketplace, such as GitHub, Giphy, Stand-Bot and Google Calendar. Stride offered additional features beyond messaging to improve efficiency and productivity. It aimed to reduce collaboration noise by introducing a "focus" mode, and eliminates the divisions between text chat, voice meetings, and videoconferencing, by simplifying transitioning between these modes in the same channel. On July 26, 2018, Atlassian announced that HipChat and Stride would be discontinued February 15, 2019, and that it had reached a deal to sell their intellectual property to Slack. Slack paid an undisclosed amount over three years to assume the user bases of the services, while Atlassian took a minority investment in Slack. The companies also announced a commitment to work on integration of Slack with Atlassian services.
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