AI Code Model Ranking

AI Code Model Ranking — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

Linux Trace Toolkit

The Linux Trace Toolkit (LTT) is a set of tools that is designed to log program execution details from a patched Linux kernel and then perform various analyses on them, using console-based and graphical tools. LTT has been mostly superseded by its successor LTTng (Linux Trace Toolkit Next Generation). LTT allows the user to see in-depth information about the processes that were running during the trace period, including when context switches occurred, how long the processes were blocked for, and how much time the processes spent executing vs. how much time the processes were blocked. The data is logged to a text file and various console-based and graphical (GTK+) tools are provided for interpreting that data. In order to do data collection, LTT requires a patched Linux kernel. The authors of LTT claim that the performance hit for a patched kernel compared to a regular kernel is minimal; Their testing has reportedly shown that this is less than 2.5% on a "normal use" system (measured using batches of kernel makes) and less than 5% on a file I/O intensive system (measured using batches of tar). == Usage == === Collecting trace data === Data collection is Started by: trace 15 foo This command will cause the LTT tracedaemon to do a trace that lasts for 15 seconds, writing trace data to foo.trace and process information from the /proc filesystem to foo.proc. The trace command is actually a script which runs the program tracedaemon with some common options. It is possible to run tracedaemon directly and in that case, the user can use a number of command-line options to control the data which is collected. For the complete list of options supported by tracedaemon, see the online manual page for tracedaemon. === Viewing the results === Viewing the results of a trace can be accomplished with: traceview foo This command will launch a graphical (GTK+) traceview tool that will read from foo.trace and foo.proc. This tool can show information in various interesting ways, including Event Graph, Process Analysis, and Raw Trace. The Event Graph is perhaps the most interesting view, showing the exact timing of events like page faults, interrupts, and context switches, in a simple graphical way. The traceview command is a wrapper for a program called tracevisualizer. For the complete list of options supported by tracevisualizer, see the online manual page for tracevisualizer.
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Blue check

A blue check is used on social media platforms, notably X (formerly known as Twitter), to indicate the authenticity of an account. Since November 2022, Twitter users whose accounts are at least 90 days old and have a verified phone number receive verification upon subscribing to X Premium or Verified Organizations; this status persists as long as the subscription remains active. When introduced in June 2009, the system provided the site's readers with a means to distinguish genuine notable account holders, such as celebrities and organizations, from impostors or parodies. Until November 2022, a blue checkmark displayed against an account name indicated that Twitter had taken steps to ensure that the account was actually owned by the person or organization whom it claimed to represent. The checkmark does not imply endorsement from Twitter, and does not mean that tweets from a verified account are necessarily accurate or truthful in any way. People with verified accounts on Twitter are often colloquially referred to as "blue checks" on social media and by reporters. In November 2022, the verification program was modified heavily by new owner Elon Musk, extending verification to any account with a verified phone number and an active subscription to an eligible X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) plan. These changes faced criticism from users and the media, who believed that the changes would ease impersonation, and allow accounts spreading misleading information to feign credibility. In a related change, Twitter introduced additional gold and gray checkmarks, used by Verified Organizations and government-affiliated accounts, respectively. Twitter claims that the changes to verification are required to "reduce fraudulent accounts and bots". Twitter users who had been verified through the previous system were known as "legacy verified" accounts; legacy verification was deprecated in April 2023, and stripped from accounts who do not meet the new payment requirements. Musk later implied that he had been personally paying for the X Premium subscriptions of several notable celebrities. == Until November 2022 == In June 2009, after being criticized by Kanye West and sued by Tony La Russa over unauthorized accounts run by impersonators, the company launched their "Verified Accounts" program. Twitter stated that an account with a "blue tick" verification badge indicates "we've been in contact with the person or entity the account is representing and verified that it is approved". After the beta period, the company stated in their FAQ that it "proactively verifies accounts on an ongoing basis to make it easier for users to find who they're looking for" and that they "do not accept requests for verification from the general public". Originally, Twitter took on the responsibility of reaching out to celebrities and other notable people to confirm their identities in order to establish a verified account. In July 2016, Twitter announced a public application process to grant verified status to an account "if it is determined to be of public interest" and that verification "does not imply an endorsement". In 2016, the company began accepting requests for verification, but it was discontinued the same year. Twitter explained that the volume of requests for verified accounts had exceeded its ability to cope; rather, Twitter determines on its own whom to approach about verified accounts, limiting verification to accounts which are "authentic, notable, and active". In November 2020, Twitter announced a relaunch of its verification system in 2021. According to the new policy, Twitter verifies six different types of accounts; for three of them (companies, brands, and influential individuals like activists), the existence of a Wikipedia page will be one criterion for showing that the account has "Off Twitter Notability". === Controversy === On June 21, 2014, actor William Shatner raised an issue with several Engadget editorial staff and their verification status on Twitter. Besides the site's social media editor, John Colucci, Shatner also targeted several junior members of the staff for being "nobodies", unlike some of his actor colleagues who did not bear such distinction. Shatner claimed Colucci and the team were bullying him when giving a text interview to Mashable. Over a month later, Shatner continued to discuss the issue on his Tumblr page, to which Engadget replied by defending its team and discussing the controversy surrounding the social media verification. Twitter's practice and process for verifying accounts came under scrutiny again in 2017 after the company verified the account of white supremacist and far-right political activist, Jason Kessler. Many who criticized Twitter's decision to verify Kessler's account saw this as a political act on the company's behalf. In response, Twitter put its verification process on hold. The company tweeted, "Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon." As of November 2017, Twitter continued to deny verification of Julian Assange's account following his requests. In November 2019, Dalit activists of India alleged that higher-caste people get Twitter verification easily and trended hashtags #CancelAllBlueTicksInIndia and #CasteistTwitter. Critics have said that the company's verification process is not transparent and causes digital marginalisation of already marginalised communities. Twitter India rejected the allegations, calling them "impartial" and working on a "case-by-case" policy. == Since November 2022 == On April 20, 2023, Twitter (known as X since July 2023) began removing verification status for users of public interest, causing a controversy among Twitter users. The website's system was altered, allowing any individual to receive verification for a monthly fee, an act which saw significant criticism. Following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk on October 28, 2022, Musk told Twitter employees to introduce paid verification by November 7 through Twitter Blue. The Verge reported that the updated Blue subscription would cost $19.99 per month, and users would lose their verification status if they did not join within 90 days. Following backlash, Musk tweeted, in response to author Stephen King, a lowered $8 price on November 1, 2022. Twitter confirmed the new price of $7.99 per month on November 5, 2022. The new verification system began rollout on November 9, 2022, a day after the 2022 United States elections. The decision to delay its rollout was to address concerns about users potentially spreading misinformation about voting results by posing as news outlets and lawmakers. At the same time, Twitter introduced a secondary gray "Official" label on some high-profile accounts, but removed them hours after launch. Less than 48 hours later, Twitter reinstated the gray "Official" label, after multiple users were suspended for deliberately impersonating reporters and high-profile athletes like LeBron James. A viral tweet from an account purporting to be the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company caused the company's stock to fall after announcing "insulin is free now". As a result, Twitter disabled new Blue subscriptions on November 11, 2022. === Announcement === In October 2022, Casey Newton of Platformer reported that executives at Twitter began discussing the possibility of users being forced to pay for Twitter Blue in order to keep their verification status. Musk publicly announced that verification was "being revamped right now" after Newton's article; according to The Verge, Twitter planned to increase the price of Twitter Blue from US$4.99 per month to US$19.99 per month. Users would have had 90 days to subscribe or face losing their verification status, and employees were told to implement paid verification by November 9 or risk getting fired. Upon the news that Twitter Blue would cost US$19.99 per month, author Stephen King expressed displeasure towards Twitter and stated that he would leave. Musk, replying to King's tweet, proposed that the service should cost US$7.99 instead. In a separate tweet, Musk wrote that Twitter Blue subscribers would receive priority in replies, mentions, and search, fewer advertisements, and longer audio and video. Although paid verification was expected to be launched by November 7, the reintroduction of Twitter Blue was delayed until after the 2022 United States elections on November 9, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times. The announcement of paid verification resulted in several accounts facetiously impersonating Musk, such as those of comedians Kathy Griffin and Sarah Silverman, being suspended. In response, Musk announced that impersonators using Twitter Blue "will be permanently suspended". An "official
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List of UPnP AV media servers and clients

This is a list of UPnP AV media servers and client application or hard appliances. == UPnP AV media servers == === Software === === Cross-platform === Allonis myServer, a multi-faceted media player/organizer with a DLNA/UPnP server, controller, and renderer, including conversion. Runs on Microsoft Windows. Supports most all HTML5 devices as remote controls. Asset UPnP (DLNA compatible) from Illustrate. An audio specific UPnP/DLNA server for Windows, QNAP, macOS and Linux. Features audio WAVE/LPCM transcoding from a range of audio codecs, ReplayGain and playlists. FreeMi UPnP Media Server, very simple server, historically used to stream to the STB Freebox, based on .net/mono. Home Media Server, a free media server/player/controller for Windows, Linux, macOS, individual device settings, transcoding, external and internal subtitles, restricted device access to folders, uploading files, Internet-Radio, Internet-Television, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), DMR-control and "Play To", Music (Visualization), Photo (Slideshow), support for 3D-subtitles, support for BitTorrent files, Web-navigation with HTML5 player, Digital Media Renderer (DMR) emulation for AirPlay and Google Cast devices. Jellyfin, a free and open-source suite of multimedia applications designed to organize, manage, and share digital media files to networked devices. JRiver Media Center, a multi-faceted media player/organizer with a DLNA/UPnP server, controller, and renderer, including conversion. Supports Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux. Kodi (previously XBMC), a cross platform open source software media-player/media center for Android, Apple TV, Linux, macOS and Windows. LimboMedia, a free cross platform home- and UPnP/DLNA mediaserver with android app and WebM transcoding for browser playback (build with java and FFmpeg). MinimServer, a Java-based highly configurable uPnP/DNLA music server with additional consideration given to Classical Music, supports transcoding with MinimStreamer, supports Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and various NAS devices. Neutron Music Player, acts as a cross platform UPnP/DLNA Media Renderer server available for Android, iOS, BlackBerry 10 & PlayBook platforms. Supports gapless playback and has possibility to output rendered audio further to the high-resolution internal DAC or external USB DAC or another UPnP/DLNA Media Renderer with all supported DSP effects applied. Plex, a cross-platform and closed source software media player and entertainment hub for digital media, available for macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, as well as mobile clients for iOS (including Apple TV (2nd generation) onwards), Android, Windows Phone, and many devices such as Xbox. Supports on-the-fly transcoding of video and music. PonoMusic World. Based on the JRiver Media Center software, includes similar features along with a store for purchasing HD audio tracks. PS3 Media Server, a free cross platform Java based UPnP DLNA server especially good for AVC and other current HD media codecs with on-the-fly transcoding. Serviio, is available with a free and a pro license. It can stream media files (music, video or images) to renderer devices (e.g. a TV set, Blu-ray player, games console or mobile phone) on a local area network. TVMOBiLi, a cross platform, high performance UPnP/DLNA Media Server for Windows, macOS and Linux. TwonkyMedia server, a cross-platform multimedia server and entertainment hub for digital media, available for Android, Apple TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox 360. Universal Media Server, a free (open source) DLNA-compliant UPnP Media Server for Windows, macOS and Linux (originally based on the PS3 Media Server). It is able to stream videos, audio and images to any DLNA-capable device. It contains more features than most paid UPnP/DLNA Media Servers. It streams to many devices including TVs (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Philips and more.), PS3, Xbox(One/360), smartphones, Blu-ray players and more. vGet Cast, a simple, cross platform (Chrome App) DLNA server and controller for single, local video files. Vuze, an open-source Java-based BitTorrent client which contains MediaServer plugin. Wild Media Server, a media server/player/controller for Windows, Linux, macOS, individual device settings, transcoding, external and internal subtitles, restricted device access to folders, uploading files, Internet-Radio, Internet-Television, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), DMR-control and "Play To", Music (Visualization), Photo (Slideshow), support for 3D-subtitles, support for BitTorrent files, Web-navigation with HTML5 player, Digital Media Renderer (DMR) emulation for AirPlay and Google Cast devices. === Android === BubbleUPnP Android UPnP/DLNA server, player, controller and renderer CastLab Android UPnP/DLNA server. Pixel Media Server, Android UPnP/DLNA Media Server. Supports all popular Video and Audio files. It also support external subtitle file (SRT) Plato is an Android UPnP client app that can play videos and audio. Toaster Cast Android UPnP/DLNA server, controller and renderer vGet, Android App that can play videos embedded in websites on DLNA renderers. Media Cast UPnP, Android UPnP client app that can play videos/Audio. Media Server Pro is a DLNA server that allows individual file selections for sharing. Slick UPnP A minimal and intuitive open-source Android UPnP client app that can play video/audio. (It is not DMS) YAACC Open source UPnP controller, renderer and server app === Linux === === Microsoft Windows === Sundtek Streamingserver a native Windows TV Server providing DVB, ATSC and ISDB-T via UPnP/DLNA, it also supports streaming media files (it only supports TV devices from Sundtek). Stream What You Hear, a Windows application that streams the sound of your computer (i.e.: “what you hear”) to UPnP/DLNA device such as TVs, amps, network receivers, game consoles, etc... TVersity Media Server, a Windows application that streams multimedia content from a personal computer to UPnP, DLNA and mobile devices (Chromecast is also supported). It was the first media server to offer real-time transcoding (back in 2005). TVersity Screen Server, a Windows application that mirrors the screen of a personal computer to UPnP, DLNA and mobile devices. DVBViewer, a Windows application, mainly for TV/Radio recording/playback, but with the ability to stream live TV/radio as well as multimedia files via UPnP/DLNA. DivX, a Windows application, mainly for video encoding into DivX format, but has the ability to stream multimedia files via DLNA. foobar2000, a freeware audio player for Windows. Highly customizable, audio only. Download of dlna-extension from the developers' webpage necessary. Home Media Center, a free and open source media server compatible with DLNA. Includes web interface for streaming content to web browser (Android, iOS, ...), subtitles integration and Windows desktop streaming. This server is easy to use. KooRaRoo Media, a commercial DLNA media server and organizer for Windows. Includes on-the-fly transcoding, per-file and per-folder parental controls, powerful organizing features with dynamic playlists, Internet radio streaming, "Play To" functionality and remote device control, burned-in and external subtitles, extensive format support including RAW photo formats. Streams all files to all devices. Media Go, media player and tagger MediaMonkey, a free media player/tagger/editor with an UPnP/DLNA client and server for Microsoft Windows MusicBee, an audio player, supports UPnP via a plugin. Mezzmo, a commercial software package. Mezzmo streams music, movies, photos and subtitles to the UPnP and DLNA-enabled devices. It automatically finds and organizes music, movies and photos, imports multimedia files from iPad, iPhone, iPod, Audio CDs, iTunes, Windows Media Player and WinAmp. DLNA server supports all popular media file formats with real time transcoding to meet the device specifications. PlayOn, a commercial UPnP/DLNA media server for Windows, includes a transcoder for streaming web video. TVble, a cloud connected (Rotten tomatoes/TMDB etc.), Torrent streaming, DLNA enabled media server. Allows single file or playlist downloads. Windows Media Connect from Microsoft, a free UPnP AV MediaServer and control point (server and client) for Microsoft Windows WMC version 2.0 can be installed for usage with Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP WMC version 3.0 can be installed for usage with Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP WMC version 4.0 comes pre-installed on Windows Vista with its Windows Media Player 11 WMC can also refer to Windows Media Center. From the Windows Media Center entry in Wikipedia: In May 2015, Microsoft announced that Windows Media Center would be discontinued on Windows 10, and that it would be uninstalled when upgrading; but stated that those upgrading from a version of Windows that included the Media Center application would receive the paid Windows DVD Player app to maintain DVD playback functio
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Abjjad

Abjjad is an Arabic reading application that was launched in June 2012 by Eman Hylooz. Abjjad offers users the ability to download and read thousands of books offline through its iOS and Android applications. In December of 2020, Abjjad had more than 1.5 million registered accounts. == About Abjjad == Abjjad was founded in June 2012 by Eman Hylooz as a reader community dedicated to Arab readers, authors, and book lovers. Abjjad developed into a smart electronic platform to provide Arabic electronic books with ease to Arab readers everywhere after discovering a large gap in the world of Arab publishing, which is the legal electronic publishing, by forming strategic partnership with Arab publishers such as Dar Al-Shorouk, Dar Al Tanweer, Dar Al Adab, and Dar Al Saqi. == History == In May 2012, Oasis500 provided Abjjad with the seed funding to launch the website. In June 2012, Abjjad was launched with a budget of 15 thousand dollars. Within the first three months more than 10 thousand members were registered in Abjjad. Abjjad has participated in different local and international forums to meet several investors and entrepreneurs. In October 2012 Abjjad participated in Global thinkers forum in Amman, Jordan where Eman Hylooz, founder & CEO, presented the concept of Abjjad, its vision and future plans In mid-December 2012 Abjjad participated in Global Entrepreneurship in Dubai where it was presented to investors as a start-up and a new project in the Middle East. In February 2013 Abjjad was one of ten startups MENA apps has nominated from Jordan and Palestine to participate in startup Turkey. In May 2013 Abjjad participated in World Economic Forum in Amman, Jordan and later in June 2013 participated in Arab Net in Dubai. By the end of 2013, Abjjad won the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Best Arab Start-Up Business Award for 2013. During 29 October 2013 till January 2014 Abjjad has launched their campaign for crowd funding through Eureeca Abjjad managed to raise US$161,000 in 88 days from 43 regional donors, over US$40,000 over its initial target. By the end of 2020. Abjjad had raised a $1 million investment round led by Jordan Entrepreneurship Fund, Ramal Capital Fund, and JordInvest Fund. Because the funds will be used to acquire users and e-books, Abjjad hopes to become the largest Arab electronic library as well as the largest income-generating platform for Arab authors and publishers, while also providing readers with a unique digital reading experience. == Features == The ability to read an unlimited number of books from an electronic library containing thousands of Arabic and translated books. Abjjad ebook library is constantly expanding and cooperating with new publishing houses to add more books. Reading offline without an internet connection. The application allows the user to download books in seconds and read them anywhere. Intuitive feature which include the ability to flip the pages of the book, highlight the reader's favorite quotes, and add notes, in addition to night reading mode and the option to modify the style and size of the front. The ability to interact with other readers and read their book reviews. More than 1.5 million Arabic readers make up the Abjjad reader community, and the user can read and connect with their reviews, book ratings, and favorite quotes. A virtual personal library that enables the user to rate and organize books by placing them on one of the three shelves: I will read it, currently readings, and/or read it. Abjjad's library includes various genres and literary fields, such as: reference books, novels, stories, literature, psychological books, philosophy, biography, politics, history, religion, self-improvement and human development books, as well as international books translated into Arabic. The library includes the most famous works of Arab authors such as: Naguib Mahfouz, Mahmoud Darwish, Radwa Ashour, Tayeb Salih. Aside from Arabic translation of works by well-known worldwide authors including: Elif Shafak, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mark Manson, and others. == Statistics == In December of 2020, Abjjad had more than 1.5 million registered accounts. == Awards and honors == 2013: Won the Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Best Arabic Startup 2014: Won the Golden Award for Jawa's "Best Online Community" 2015: Won the Business Women of the Year Award by Bank al Etihad 2016: Won the Said Khoury Award for Entrepreneurs and Innovators 2016: Won the Best Application in the Arabic Region Award by His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah in Kuwait. 2019: Won the Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Arabic Language for the best artistic, cultural or intellectual world to serve the Arabic language. == Abjjad in the media == Abjjad has taken a huge interest in the Middle Eastern and western media; the author of Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East, Christopher M. Schroeder, has interviewed Eman Hylooz and wrote about her experience with Abjjad in his book. In addition, France24-Monte Carlo Doualiya has interviewed Ms. Hylooz on Retweet program to discuss Abjjad idea and provide the latest statistics of the website. Moreover, Sky News Arabia interviewed Hylooz to relate her experience with Oasis500 and Eureeca in Abjjad's crowdinvestment campaignPage text. furthermore, Al-Aan TV interviewed Ms.Hylooz in ArabNet in Dubai, 2013. Abjjad has been mentioned on Oasis500 website as one of the five startups which the company funded and gained different prizes. Wamda, Mediame and crowdfundinsider have discussed Abjjad's experience in the crowd investment on Eureeca. And the expert in the Arabic literature in English, M. Lynx Qualey, has interviewed Eman Hylooz in March 2013 to talk about Abjjad's story of success, how it differs from other social networks and what are its future plans. Abjjad was also featured in "Hashtag Arabi" website when it launched its premium subscription called "Abjjad Unlimited" in 2017 with the support of the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation. In her interview with the Jordan Times, Eman also discussed her background in computer science and software development, which helped her found Abjjad.
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Personoid

Personoid is the concept coined by Stanisław Lem, a Polish science-fiction writer, in Non Serviam, from his book A Perfect Vacuum (1971). His personoids are an abstraction of functions of human mind and they live in computers; they do not need any human-like physical body. In cognitive and software modeling, personoid is a research approach to the development of intelligent autonomous agents. In frame of the IPK (Information, Preferences, Knowledge) architecture, it is a framework of abstract intelligent agent with a cognitive and structural intelligence. It can be seen as an essence of high intelligent entities. From the philosophical and systemics perspectives, personoid societies can also be seen as the carriers of a culture. According to N. Gessler, the personoids study can be a base for the research on artificial culture and culture evolution. == Personoids on TV and cinema == Welt am Draht (1973) The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
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Haul video

A haul video is a video recording posted to the Internet in which a person discusses items that they recently purchased, sometimes going into detail about their experiences during the purchase and the cost of the items they bought. The posting of haul videos (or hauls) was a growing trend between 2008 and 2016. Often the items bought are books, clothing, groceries, household goods, makeup, or jewellery. == Details == The posting of haul videos grew as a trend between 2008 and 2016. By late 2010, nearly a quarter of a million haul videos had been shared on the website YouTube alone. Certain videos have each received tens of millions of views. Many young adults (mostly women) have displayed their shopping hauls, while including their beauty and design commentary in the narration. The videos are often grouped by store name or by the type of product (cosmetics, accessories, shoes, postage stamps, etc.). Before haul videos became an online trend, millions of people spent time watching other people, in technical product videos unbox their latest new gadgets and technology. The trend of "unboxing videos" had emerged during 2006. Haul videos have led to celebrity status for some people. Other haul video bloggers have entered sponsorship deals and advertising programs from major brands. The videos are rarely negative about the products being reviewed. This aspect of the genre of haul videos makes sponsorship by brand advertisers particularly appealing. Brands including J.C. Penney contacted haulers as part of their marketing efforts for Back to School 2010. Haul videos also convinced three San Francisco Bay Area area natives to launch HaulBlog–a parody site that creates fake haul videos which poke fun at the phenomenon. The site is also home to the original monthly web series "The Haul Monitor" a humorous commentary show that features haul videos from around the community. == Fashion media == Sarah Sykes and John Zimmerman of Carnegie Mellon University, HCII and School of Design wrote an article "Making Sense of Haul Videos: Self-created Celebrities Fill a Fashion Media Gap". They discuss their analysis and research project examining what makes video bloggers so popular on YouTube, as well as how it affects fashion media through the production of haul videos. == Federal Trade Commission == The United States Federal Trade Commission recently enacted laws to regulate many types of online publishers and content creators. The posted information includes blogging and podcasting in text, images, audio, and video. While any publishers (including the haul-video creators) are allowed to accept free merchandise and advertising, the gifts or payments must be fully (and clearly) disclosed to reveal being paid by a brand name, as a sponsor, to review a product. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is also closely monitoring such Internet activities.
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Artificial Intelligence for Digital Response

Artificial Intelligence for Digital Response (AIDR) is a free and open source platform to filter and classify social media messages related to emergencies, disasters, and humanitarian crises. It has been developed by the Qatar Computing Research Institute and awarded the Grand Prize for the 2015 Open Source Software World Challenge. Muhammad Imran stated that he and his team "have developed novel computational techniques and technologies, which can help gain insightful and actionable information from online sources to enable rapid decision-making" - according to him the system "combines human intelligence with machine learning techniques, to solve many real-world challenges during mass emergencies and health issues". == How to use == It can be used by logging in with ones Twitter credentials and by collecting tweets by specifying keywords or hashtags, like #ChileEarthquake, and possibly a geographical region as well. == Use == It has been deployed in conjunction with UNICEF in Zambia to classify short messages related to AIDS/HIV received through the U-Report platform. AIDR was used for the first time during the 2010 Pakistan floods. The first real test of AIDR took place during the 2014 Iquique earthquake in Chile. == Related talks and events == Muhammad Imran delivered a keynote talk on the science behind the AIDR system at the International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (ISCRAM). Abdelkader Lattab and Ji Lucas also presented the system at the 2016 QCRI-IBM Data Science Connect event.
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Digital zombie

A digital zombie is a person so engaged with digital technology or social media they are unable to separate themselves from a persistent online presence. Writing in 2017, University of Sydney researcher Andrew Campbell expressed concerns over whether or not the individual can truly live a full and healthy life while they are preoccupied with the digital world. Other individuals have also begun referencing certain types of behaviour with being a digital zombie. Stefanie Valentic, managing editor of EHS Today, refers to it as people hunting digital creatures through their smartphones in public spaces, always fixed on their phones. The University of Warwick has used the term to argue that further research needs to be done with people who exist in digital form after death to help people grieve their loss. == Modern applications == === Distracted walking === The term digital zombie can refer to a person performing distracted walking, which has been labelled dangerous by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. They created the "Digital Deadwalkers" campaign after physicians became aware of the risks associated with walking across intersections and sidewalks while paying attention only to smartphones and not one's surroundings. Also stating that the name is derived from the fact that "they're oblivious to everyone else, so it's like they're dead-walking, sleepwalking." === Living through media === The Department of Sociology, University of Warwick has also identified the term, digital zombie, to refer to an individual who has died but is digitally resurrected, reanimated and socially active. These digital zombies do things in death they did not do when they were alive as they "live" again through a digital self on a digital medium. Dead celebrities sometimes become digital zombies when they are reanimated to appear in commercial advertisements (such as Audrey Hepburn and Bob Monkhouse). Other accidental digital zombies include Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson who were both digitally resurrected and recreated to perform "live" on stage years after their death. Researchers at the University of Warwick have carried out research into the area of human-computer interaction. in an effort to understand the affect these digital zombies have on grief and bereavement. === Mobile gaming === Writer for EHS Today, Stefanie Valentic, has made observations with the mobile phone video game Pokémon Go, which offers players the experience to hunt and collect digital creatures called Pokémon through their smartphone in real world. Players can be observed simultaneously gazing at their phone while also obliviously walking around their environments looking for Pokémon. Stefanie references these individuals as "digital zombies" since they walk around with no cognition of their surroundings while engaged with their phone. == Health risks == === Heavy use of technology === Research by the University of Sydney has begun looking at how new technology such as digital media and smartphones impact our lives and questioning whether they can create new compulsions and obsessions. The research demonstrates that increased heavy technological use can have negative health consequences similar to drugs, smoking, and alcohol. Marcel O'Gorman, an associate professor of English at the University of Waterloo, has commented on the body of research examining how technology impacts cognition, stating currently that there is no empirical evidence to support any theories that suggest that technology can damage memory and attention span. === Heightened risk to children === Manfred Spitzer, a German psychiatrist, has raised concerns with providing digital devices to children. During the early childhood stage while their brains are rapidly growing, increased exposure to digital devices may deprive them of necessary development required to facilitate brain growth. These concerns are also shared by Korean doctors who believe giving digital devices, like smartphones to children, limits their cognitive development.
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Clubhouse (app)

Clubhouse is an American social audio app for iOS and Android developed by Alpha Exploration Co. that enables users to participate in real-time, audio-only communication within virtual "rooms". Launched in March 2020 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, the platform is characterized by its "drop-in" nature, where users can join live discussions on a wide range of topics as either listeners or speakers. The application gained attention in early 2021, operating on an invite-only model and featuring appearances from public figures such as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg. During this period, Clubhouse reached a reported valuation of approximately $4 billion and contributed to the expansion of similar social audio features like Twitter Spaces and Spotify Greenroom. The app later expanded to Android in May 2021 and removed its waitlist in July 2021, opening access to the general public. == History == Clubhouse began as an invite only social media startup by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth in Fall 2019. Originally designed for podcasts with the name Talkshow, the app was rebranded as "Clubhouse" and officially released for the iOS operating system in March 2020 and as of May 2021 the Android systems as well. Clubhouse was valued at $100 million after receiving funding from notable angel investors. These investors included Ryan Hoover (Founder, Product Hunt), Balaji Srinivasan (Former CTO, Coinbase), James Beshara (Co-Founder, Tilt.com), and several venture capitalists, including a $12 million Series A investment from the venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, in May 2020. The app gained popularity in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had 600,000 registered users by December 2020. In January 2021, CEO Paul Davison announced that the active weekly user base on the app consisted of approximately 2 million individuals. The company announced that it would start working on an Android version of the app. In that month, the app became widely used in Germany when German podcast hosts Philipp Klöckner and Philipp Gloeckler began an invite-chain over a Telegram group. It brought German influencers, journalists, and politicians to the platform. Clubhouse raised their Series B at a $1 billion valuation. On February 1, 2021, Clubhouse had an estimated 3.5 million downloads on a global level which grew rapidly to 8.1 million downloads by February 15. This significant growth in popularity was because celebrities such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances on the app. In the same month, Clubhouse hired an Android Software Developer. A year after the app's release, the number of weekly active users was greater than 10 million, but the user base declined 21% during three weeks from late February to early March. This decline was reportedly caused by a decrease in the number of Clubhouse users after its initial release. During its initial roll out, the app was accessible only by invitation, and invitation codes on eBay were selling at up to $400. On April 5, 2021, Clubhouse partnered with Stripe to launch its first monetizing feature called Clubhouse Payments. Although testing began with only 1,000 users, after a week, the company rolled out the functionality to another 60,000 or more users in the US. In the same month, Twitter entered in discussions to purchase Clubhouse for $4 billion. The talks ended with no acquisition. Later, the company raised their Series C round of funding at a $4 billion valuation. The app also received interest in a partnership, with the National Football League announcing a content deal that month; Twitter Spaces later poached Clubhouse's exclusive NFL deal with 20 official NFL Spaces scheduled for the 2021-22 season. Finally, On May 9, 2021, Clubhouse launched a beta version of the Android app for users in the US, and on May 21, 2021, Clubhouse became available worldwide for Android users. In July 2021, Clubhouse announced a partnership with TED to offer exclusive talks. and on July 21, 2021, the company discarded its invitation system and made the application available to all, though a wait list for registration was still applied in order to manage new traffic. As of the time of the announcement, the company stated it had 10 million users on the wait list. On September 23, 2021, the company announced a new feature named "Wave". In October 2021, Clubhouse rolled out new features called "Replays and Clips". In April 2023, the company announced it was reducing its staff by half amid a "resetting" due to post-pandemic market shifts. == Features == === Rooms === The primary feature of Clubhouse is real-time virtual "rooms" in which users can communicate with each other via audio. Rooms are divided into different categories based on levels of privacy. Moderator roles are denoted by a green star that appears next to the user's name. When a user joins a room, they are initially assigned to the role of a "listener" and cannot unmute themselves. Listeners can notify the moderators of their intent to join the stage and speak by clicking on the "raise hand" icon. Users who are invited to the stage become "speakers" and can unmute themselves. Users can exit a room by tapping the "leave quietly" button or with the help of peace sign emoji. === Houses === In August 2022, Clubhouse announced a feature called Houses, an invite-based version of the rooms. === Events === A lot of conversations in Clubhouse are of spontaneous nature. However, users can schedule conversations by creating events. While scheduling an event, users can first name the event and then set the date and time at which the conversation will begin. Users can also add co-hosts to help moderate the event. Once the event has been created, it is added to the Clubhouse "bulletin". The bulletin shows upcoming scheduled events and allows users to set notifications for events by clicking the bell icon corresponding to the event. Users can access the bulletin by clicking on the calendar icon at the top of the home page. === Clubs === At the Clubhouse, clubs are user communities that regularly discuss a common interest. Many clubs are present in Clubhouse which represents a wide array of topics. Users can find clubs by name under the search tab. A club consists of three categories of users: "Admin", "Leader", and "Member". Members can create private rooms and invite more users into the club. Leaders have all the privileges of a member. Apart from that, they are authorized to create/schedule club-branded open rooms. An admin can modify club settings, add/delete users, change user privileges and create/schedule any type of room. There are three types of clubs: "Open", "By Approval", and "Closed" for membership. Any user can join an open club by pressing the "Join The Club" button on the club profile. In case of approval, users need to apply and wait for membership by clicking the "Apply To Join" button on the club profile. The admins of the respective club are privileged to accept or reject the user's request. In a closed club, membership is limited to users selected by the club admin. All users of a club will be notified when a public room within the club is created. The club creation is restricted to active users and whoever creates the club will become the club admin. Eligible users can create a club by going to their profile, press the "+" sign present in the "Member of" section. Clubs in which a user is a member are shown on their profile page. The first club to half a million members was the Human Behavior Club founded by The Digital Doctor (Dr. Sohaib Imtiaz). === Backchannel === Backchannel is the messaging function which allows users to interact individually or within a group via text. The Backchannel feature was initially leaked on June 18, 2021, in response to the launch of Spotify Greenroom. This is notable step because, until this point, Clubhouse was voice only with no way to hyperlink or message. It was entirely dependent on Instagram and Twitter for text messaging. The feature was initially leaked in the App Store, which the company says was an accident on Twitter. A month later, after multiple failed attempts, the Clubhouse Backchannel finally launched on July 14, 2021. === Explore === The homepage of Clubhouse provides access to ongoing chat rooms, which are recommended based on the people and clubs that are followed by the user. As the users tap on the magnifying glass icon, they will be redirected to the explore page. On that page, users can search for people and clubs to follow and also find conversations categorized by topics. === Clubhouse Payments === This is the direct payment service provided by the app, which allows users to send money to content creators. It includes those users who had enabled this functionality in their profile. Money can be sent from users to the creator by clicking on their profile. Press "Send Money" then enter the amount you want to send. When a user does this for the first time, they'll be prompted to reg
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Web series

A web series, also known as a short-form series or web show, is a collection of short scripted or unscripted online videos released on the Internet (i.e., World Wide Web), generally in episodic form. A single installment of a web series can be called a webisode or an episode. The scale of a web series is small, and a typical episode can be anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes long (though some may run up to 20 minutes). Web series first emerged in the mid-1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. Web series are distributed online on video-sharing websites and apps, such as YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok, and can be watched on devices such as smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops, and Smart TVs (or television sets connected to the Internet with a media streaming device). They can also be released on social media platforms. Because of the nature of the Internet, a web series may be interactive and immersive. Web series are classified as new media. Web series are different from streaming television series, as the latter are designed to be watched on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hotstar, with the streaming services offering original productions made for and by them, as well as acquiring the rights to distribute licensed content. The length of a streaming television series episode is 30 to 60 minutes (runtimes can also be longer). Although the design of a web series can be similar to that of a television series, its development and production do not entail the same financial investment required for a television series. The popularity of some web series, however, has led to them being optioned for television. Web series differ from short-form content in that the latter are vertical videos specifically designed for smartphone viewing and intended for fast-paced consumption, with runtimes typically ranging from less than one minute to three minutes. There are film festivals for web series, like Webfest Berlin, NYC Web Fest, LA Web Fest, and Vancouver Web Fest. Awards organizations have also been established to celebrate excellence in web series, such as the Streamys, Webbys, IAWTV Awards, and Indie Series Awards. Most major award ceremonies have also created web series and digital media award categories, including the Emmy Awards and the Canadian Screen Awards. == History == === 1990s === In April 1995, "Global Village Idiots", an episode of the reality-based program Rox on public access cable television in Bloomington, Indiana, was uploaded to the Internet, making Rox the first show distributed via the web. The same year, Scott Zakarin created The Spot, an episodic online story that integrated photos, videos, and blogs into the storyline. Likened to Melrose Place-on-the-Web, The Spot featured a rotating cast of characters playing trendy twenty-somethings who rented rooms in a fabled Santa Monica, California beach house called "The Spot". The Spot earned Infoseek's "Cool Site of the Year," an award which later became the Webby. In January 1999, Showtime licensed the animated sci-fi web series WhirlGirl, making it the first independently produced web series licensed by a national television network. In February 1999, the show premiered simultaneously on Showtime and online. The character occasionally appeared on Showtime, for example, hosting a "Lethal Ladies" programming block, but spent most of her time online, appearing in 100 webisodes. === 2000s === As broadband bandwidth increased in speed and availability, delivering high-quality video over the Internet became a reality. In the early 2000s, the Japanese anime industry began broadcasting original net animation (ONA), a type of original video animation (OVA) series, on the Internet. Early examples of the ONA series include Infinite Ryvius: Illusion (2000), Ajimu (2001), and Mahou Yuugi (2001). In 2000, The Brothers Chaps launched the Adobe Flash-created web series Homestar Runner. After being put on hiatus in 2010, it returned in 2014. In 2002, Matt Jolly (better known as "Krinkels") released the first episode of Madness Combat to Newgrounds. The show is still ongoing, with the latest episode "Madness Combat 12: Contravention" released on Twitch in September 2024. In 2003, Microsoft launched MSN Video, offering NBC-related content. Its web series, Weird TV 2000, a spin-off of the syndicated television series Weird TV, featured dozens of shorts, comedy sketches, and mini-documentaries produced exclusively for MSN Video. The video-sharing site YouTube was launched in early 2005, allowing users to share television programs. YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim said the inspiration for YouTube first came from Janet Jackson's role in the 2004 Super Bowl incident, when her breast was exposed during her performance, and later from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Karim could not easily find video clips of either event online, which led to the idea of a video-sharing site. From 2003 to 2006, many independent web series gained significant popularity, most notably the science fiction series Red vs. Blue by Rooster Teeth. The series was distributed independently via online portals YouTube and Revver, as well as the Rooster Teeth website, acquiring over 100 million social media views during its run. (Rooster Teeth would eventually create the computer-animated web series RWBY in 2013.) In 2004, the adult-animated series Salad Fingers was created, which amassed a cult following. The comedy show The Burg, hailed as the internet's first sitcom and starring Kelli Giddish and Lindsey Broad, rapidly gained an audience and press attention before its creators signed a creation deal with Michael Eisner. The drama Sam Has 7 Friends, which ran in the summer and fall of 2006, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and was temporarily removed from the Internet when it was also acquired by Eisner. In 2004–2005, Spanish producer Pedro Alonso Pablos recorded a series of video interviews featuring actors and directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Santiago Segura, Álex de la Iglesia, and Keanu Reeves, which were distributed through his own website. lonelygirl15, California Heaven, "The Burg", and SamHas7Friends also gained popularity during this time, acquiring audiences in the millions. (Science fiction thriller lonelygirl15 was so successful that it secured a sponsorship deal with Neutrogena in 2007.) In 2004, Stewart St. John, executive producer and head writer of 1990s webisodies The Spot, revived the brand for online audiences as The Spot (2.0), with a new cast, and as a separate soap opera on Sprint PCS Vision-enabled cell phones, creating the first American mobile phone series. St. John and partner Todd Fisher produced over 2,500 daily videos of the mobile soap, driving story lines across platforms to its web counterpart. In 2007, the creators of lonelygirl15 followed up on the show's success with KateModern, a comedy-drama series that debuted on social network Bebo, and took place in the same fictional universe as their previous show. Big Fantastic created and produced the soap opera Prom Queen, financed and distributed by Michael Eisner's production firm Vuguru, and debuted the series on MySpace. Vuguru partnered with Mark Cuban's channel HDNet to release All-for-nots, a mockumentary series by The Burg creators Kathleen Grace and Thom Woodley, which debuted at the SXSW Festival in 2008. These web series highlighted interactivity with the audience in addition to the narrative on relatively low budgets. In contrast, the eight-episode show Sanctuary, starring actor/producer Amanda Tapping, cost $4.3 million to produce. Both Sanctuary and Prom Queen were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. Award-winning producer/director Marshall Herskovitz created the drama Quarterlife, which debuted on MySpace and was later distributed on NBC. In 2008, major television studios began releasing web series, such as the ABC comedy show Squeegies, the NBC sci-fi show Gemini Division, and the Bravo reality series The Malan Show. Warner Bros. relaunched The WB as an online network beginning with original mystery web series, Sorority Forever, created and produced by Big Fantastic and executive produced by McG. Meanwhile, MTV announced a new original web series created by Craig Brewer, $5 Cover, that brought together the indie music world and new media expansion. Joss Whedon created, produced, and self-financed musical comedy-drama Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day. Big Fantastic wrote and produced Foreign Body, a mystery web series that served as a prequel to Robin Cook's novel of the same name. Beckett and Goodfried founded a new Internet studio, EQAL, and produced a spin-off of lonelygirl15 titled LG15: The Resistance. The mainstream press began to provide coverage. In the United Kingdom, KateModern ended its run on Bebo. Bebo also hosted a six-month-long reality travel show, The Gap Year, produced by Endemol UK, and produced an interactive sci-fi drama Kirill for
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Web science

Web science is an emerging interdisciplinary field concerned with the study of large-scale socio-technical systems, particularly the World Wide Web. It considers the relationship between people and technology, the ways that society and technology co-constitute one another and the impact of this co-constitution on broader society. Web Science combines research from disciplines as diverse as sociology, computer science, economics, and mathematics. The Web Science Institute, founded at the University of Southampton by director Wendy Hall and colleagues, describes Web Science as focusing "the analytical power of researchers from disciplines as diverse as mathematics, sociology, economics, psychology, law and computer science to understand and explain the Web. It is necessarily interdisciplinary – as much about social and organizational behaviour as about the underpinning technology." A central pillar of Web science development is Artificial Intelligence or "AI". The current artificial intelligence that in development at the moment is Human-Centered, with goals to further professional development courses as well as influencing public policy. Artificial intelligence developers are focused on the most impactful uses of this technology, while also hoping to expedite the growth and development of the human race. An early definition was given by American computer scientist Ben Shneiderman: "Web Science" is processing the information available on the web in similar terms to those applied to natural environment. == Areas of activity == === Emergent properties === Philip Tetlow, an IBM-based scientist influential in the emergence of web science as an independent discipline, argued for the concept of web life, which considers the Web not as a connected network of computers, as in common interpretations of the Internet, but rather as a sociotechnical machine capable of fusing together individuals and organisations into larger coordinated groups. It argues that unlike the technologies that have come before it, the Web is different in that its phenomenal growth and complexity are starting to outstrip our capability to control it directly, making it impossible for us to grasp its completeness in one go. Tetlow made use of Fritjof Capra's concept of the 'web of life' as a metaphor. == Research groups == There are numerous academic research groups engaged in Web Science research, many of which are members of WSTNet, the Web Science Trust Network of research labs. Health Web Science emerged as a sub-discipline of Web Science that studies the role of the Web's impact on human's health outcomes and how to further utilize the Web to improve health outcomes. These groups focus on the developmental possibilities, provided through Web Science, in areas such as health care and social welfare. Discussion of web science has been widely adopted as a method in which the internet can have a real world impact in the field of medicine, currently coined Medicine 2.0. The World Wide Web acts as a medium for the spread and circulation of knowledge, though these various research groups consider themselves responsible for maintaining verifiable and testable knowledge. Using their knowledge of the healthcare system as well as web science, researchers are focused on formatting and structuring their knowledge in a way that is easily accessible throughout the internet. The World Wide Web is quickly evolving meaning that the information we provide and its formatting must also. Recognizing the overlap between both aspects, the spread of knowledge and development of the internet, allows us to properly display our knowledge in a manner that evolves as quickly as the internet and everyday medical research. The accessibility of the internet and quick development of knowledge must be companied with efficient formatting to allocate successful dissemination of information, as described by these various researcher groups. == Related major conferences == Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Hypertext Conference (HT) sponsored by SIGWEB ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM) The Web Conference (WWW) Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Web Science Conference (WebSci)
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Ethiopian feminists facing digital gender-based violence

Against a background of traditional views of women, rising internet use, a young population and an unsafe offline life, women and girls in Ethiopia are facing increasing amounts of digital violence. Some women, feeling endangered, have left the country as a result. Researchers, activists and lawyers have called for online content to be taken down and specific digital legislation to be drafted and enforced. == Online violence and its offline effects == Sexual violence against women and girls in Ethiopia is common. In 2023, in the Women, Peace and Security Index by Georgetown University, Ethiopia came 146 out of 177 countries. Over several years online harassment of and violence against women and girls in Ethiopia has increased. It can range from sexist remarks about appearance and women’s role in society, to revenge porn, threats of beating, acid attacks, abduction, rape or death. The real-life effect on women and girls of these attacks can include mental health problems, damaged reputations and a withdrawal from public and economic life. When the online attacks migrate to the real world, for example when online attackers find out where the targeted women and girls live, this can result in physical attacks, street harassment, threats to children and can cause victims to move house or job or even flee the country in fear of femicide. In a country that criminalises homosexuality, it can also lead to physical attacks on LGBTQI+ people in particular and indeed on anybody labelled as homosexual. == Research studies == The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) conducted interviews with Ethiopian women holding public roles or being active online. The centre published a report on this in 2024 entitled ‘Silenced, Shamed and Threatened’. They found that technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) had become “normalised to the point of invisibility.” In 2024, CER also published an analysis of gendered hate speech on social media in Ethiopia called ‘Normalised and invisible.’ It is thought that traditional views of women, the young population, the rise in internet use and the war in Tigray, when sexual violence was used as a weapon of war by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, have all helped to create an online environment in which even femicide is considered unremarkable. AFP Fact Check collaborated with Deutsche Welle Akademie, to investigate the cyber harassment of women in Ethiopia, analysing misogynistic posts published on TikTok and Facebook. They discovered disparaging remarks about women’s physical appearance, threats of acid attacks and other physical violence, and the public sharing of women’s phone numbers. == Individuals affected == Women in particular jeopardy of digital gender-based violence are feminists, activists, politicians and those with a public profile. Some women are known to have fled Ethiopia fearing for their lives after online and offline threats. Yordanos Bezabih, an Ethiopian women’s rights activist, started a campaign with the hashtag #JusticeforHeaven to fight against gender-based cyberspace violence. As a result, she herself become a target. She experienced years of online threats of acid attacks, gang-rape and death. In 2025, subscribers to an online community organised a search for her address. Deepfake nude images of her were shared, she was filmed in real life, her house and online accounts were broken into, her private photos and messages posted on social media. When the attackers finally circulated her address, suggesting that she be executed, she left Ethiopia on a human rights defender scholarship. In 2023, Lella Misikir helped to start a campaign, called ‘My Whistle, My Voice’, that suggested women carry whistles and use them if they were harassed in the street. A TikTok video of the campaign became popular. Shortly after, videos of Misikir were circulated suggesting that she was gay. Her online attackers next searched for her address. In November 2024, Misikir left the country. == Legal issues == Ethiopia has some laws on online harassment and defamation, for example the Computer Crimes Proclamation. However, technology-facilitated, gender-based violence (TFGBV), such as deepfakes, non-consensual image sharing, and coordinated harassment, is not explicitly recognized as crime. In practice too, women are often not believed when reporting such violence and are not taken seriously. Police advice is often that women affected should simply leave the online space. Social media platforms can remove content when it is brought to their attention but the offenders are not banned. Users can only block them.
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Contract management software

Contract management software constitutes software and associated data management used to support contract management, contract lifecycle management, and contractor management on projects in the procurement of goods and services. It may be used together with project management software. == History == Historically, contract management was seen as a "paper-intensive" process. Early steps from the early 2000's reported by the Aberdeen Group required extensive data conversion work to enable documents to be handled electronically. With the adoption of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016, companies needed to take additional steps in regards to contract management. Each data responsible entity was obliged to sign data processing agreements (DPAs) with the various vendors, who treat personal data on behalf of the data responsible. DPAs need to be regularly controlled, adjusted and renewed, which adds an extra agreement to such vendors or at least an extra DPA addendum to each agreement. By 2018, Ardent Partner's research had found that software used for automating contract management activities was being more extensively used among major companies or businesses with "Best-in-Class" procurement teams. Contract management process automation was found to be closely linked with more effective internal business collaboration, standardization and risk management. == Advantages and key functions == Using contract management software can have multiple benefits compared to manually managing paper contracts. This software can help keep track of multiple activities and can have features for automating administration, ensuring compliance, monitoring risk, running reports and triggering alerts. In addition to these types of features, contract management software systems provide a centralized repository for employees to quickly access all contracts worldwide in one place. Contract management software is produced by many companies, working on a range of scales and offering varying degrees of customizability. Basic functions should include the ability to store contract documents, track changes to contract documents, search documents for a particular criterion, send key date alerts and to report required aspects of the contract. Other functions include managing a new contract request, capturing related data, following a document through a review and approval process, and collecting digital signatures. Contract management software may also be an aid to project portfolio management and spend analysis, and may also monitor KPIs. Leading contract management software provides contract visibility, monitoring, and compliance to automate and streamline the contract lifecycle process. Contract management software which uses artificial intelligence (AI) can identify contract types based on pattern recognition. AI contracting software trains its algorithms on a set of contract data to recognize patterns and extract variables such as clauses, dates, and parties. It also offers simple prediction capabilities, by sorting through a large volume of contracts and flagging individual contracts based on specified criteria. AI software can also read contracts in multiple formats and languages, extract contract data, and provide analytics. It can reduce the risk of human error in contract drafting and review. A centralized repository provides a critical advantage allowing for all contract documents to be stored within one location. Having contracts stored in multiple locations can delay and interrupt the contracting process. == Contract risk management software (CRMS) for capital projects == Very large enterprises, such as capital expenditure (capex) projects, involve multiple parties and high risk and uncertainty. They are unlike traditional operating contracts in that they are subject to shared deadlines in unique situations. As the complexity of these unique projects increases, the relationships between parties become more important. This requires contract management software, or contract risk management software (CRMS), to become more dynamic and responsive. The terms of these capex contracts necessarily involve assumptions at the start of the process and are likely to change over the lifetime of the project lifecycle. For this reason, CRMS must be capable of recording one single instance of agreed changes to contract terms and incorporating these changes in an auditable and legally robust way. With multiple decision makers involved, CRMS should also make accountability more transparent and enable faster decisions about variation proposals.
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TheFWA

FWA (Favourite Website Awards) is an international award platform that honors and rewards web designers, developers and agencies around the world for excellence within the field of web design and development. The FWA was founded in May 2000 by Rob Ford. In November 2012, The FWA was the most visited website award program in the history of the internet, with over 170 millions site visits. == Jury == The FWA jury is composed of more than 500 web professionals (200 women + 200 men) from 35 countries. == Awards granted == FWA of the Day (FOTD) : Every day, the FWA jury selects the best project, FWA of the Month (FOTM): Every month, the FWA jury selects the best project, People's Choice Award (PCA) : Every year, a public vote selects the people's favourite project, FWA of the Year (FOTY) : Every year, the FWA jury selects the best project. == Hall Of Fame == The FWA Hall of Fame was established in May 2007 (to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the FWA), as a recognition of web's greatest individuals and companies.
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Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories

Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) is a Canadian media festival for story-driven works using extended reality (XR) and immersive media, including virtual reality, augmented reality, WebXR, live VR performance, projection mapping and spatialized audio. Founded in Toronto in 2015, it has been described as Canada's first dedicated virtual and augmented reality stories festival, the first Canadian festival of its kind, and Canada's original festival dedicated to immersive storytelling. FIVARS has described itself as "the original and longest-running festival wholly dedicated to Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories", while third-party XR coverage has called it one of the longest-running events dedicated to immersive content. FIVARS is produced by Constant Change Media Group, Inc., with its partner event VRTO. == History == FIVARS began in 2015, with preview screenings at the Camp Wavelength music festival on Toronto Island and an inaugural festival held in Toronto in September 2015. Contemporary coverage described the first edition as a virtual reality film festival held at UG3 Live in Toronto. The festival continued with a second edition in 2016. L'Express described the 2016 festival as presenting Canadian and international interactive works in virtual and augmented reality narrative forms. FIVARS's 2016 festival was also listed in a York University Future Cinema course page as a public event students could attend. In 2017, the third annual FIVARS festival was held at the House of VR in Toronto. In 2018, the festival was held at the Matador Ballroom, which NOW Magazine reported was reopening for FIVARS from September 14 to 16. The festival's own history states that the 2018 edition included 36 works from 12 countries and that Stephanie Greenall took over as co-producer that year. In 2019, FIVARS moved to the Toronto Media Arts Centre for its fifth anniversary and listed official selections in passive and interactive immersive-experience categories. The festival also held talks and panels at the Toronto Media Arts Centre. During the COVID-19 pandemic, FIVARS moved part of its programming online. In 2020, Voices of VR reported that Malicki-Sanchez and WebXR developer James Baicoianu used JanusXR code to create a platform for presenting 360-degree video through the web. The festival's history states that its 2020 online festival included 39 selections from 16 countries and was produced by Malicki-Sanchez and Greenall. In 2021, FIVARS introduced a dual-event structure with FIVARS in FEB and FIVARS in FALL. The fall 2021 edition used a hybrid format, with an in-person component in West Hollywood from October 15 to 17 and an online WebXR component from October 22 to November 2. In 2022, FIVARS held hybrid programming with pop-up viewing locations in Los Angeles and Toronto. The fall 2022 edition was listed by blogTO as the festival's tenth edition, with an in-person component at Stackt - an outdoor arts park built from shipping containers in Toronto and online programming. The 2023 festival was presented as a hybrid exhibition of 65 immersive stories, with an in-person Toronto component and an online component. The FIVARS Online Festival was later listed among the Innovator of the Year nominees for the 2024 Poly Awards. FIVARS stated that the nominees for that recognition were producer and designer Keram Malicki-Sanchez and developer James Baicoianu. The 2024 edition was listed as FIVARS 2024 (Toronto + Online), with an in-person Toronto event from October 3 to 8 and an online component beginning October 10. The festival also published a 2024 official selections list covering virtual reality, augmented reality, spherical video, spatial web and related immersive formats. In 2025, FIVARS and VRTO were held together at OCAD University. The 2026 edition is scheduled for June 15 to 19, 2026, at OCAD University in Toronto, with OCAD University as presenting sponsor and first-time venue host. FIVARS has featured official selections from more than forty countries across six continents. == Organization == FIVARS was founded in 2015 by Keram Malicki-Sánchez. Joseph Ellsworth was the festival's original technical director and helped operate FIVARS during its early years. Malicki-Sánchez remains executive director and festival director. Jessy Blaze joined Malicki-Sánchez as co-producer in 2016 and served until Stephanie Greenall took over the role in 2018. Greenall served as co-producer and associate producer from 2018 to 2022. Aimee Reynolds took over from Greenall in 2022 and has served as associate producer of FIVARS and VRTO since 2022. == Immersive Media Awards == FIVARS presents People's Choice awards for interactive works and immersive video or passive immersive works. Juried award categories have included the Grand Jury Prize, Impact Award, Technical Achievement, Excellence in Experience Design, Excellence in Visual Design, Excellence in Sound Design, and Outstanding Performance. === 2015 === On Monday, September 21, the festival announced People's Choice awards for two categories at the Cadillac Lounge, a music venue and restaurant in Toronto. People's Choice Best Interactive Experience: Apollo 11 Best Immersive Video: SONAR === 2016 === People's Choice Best Interactive Experience: Pearl (Patrick Osborne) Best Immersive Video: Help (Justin Lin) Juried Grand Jury Award: Real (Connor Hair and Alex Meader) === 2017 === People's Choice Best Interactive: Alteration Best Immersive (Passive): Guardian of the Guge Kingdom Juried Impact Award: Priya's Shakti / Priya's Mirror (Dan Goldman) Grand Jury Prize: Manifest 99 === 2018 === People's Choice Best Interactive: Museum of Symmetry (Paloma Dawkins) Best Immersive (Passive): Going Home (David Beier) Juried Impact Award: The Hidden (Annie Lukowski, BJ Schwartz) Grand Jury Prize: Battlescar (Nico Casavecchia, Martin Allais) === 2019 === People's Choice Best Interactive: After Dan Graham (David Han/Friend Generator) Best Immersive (Passive): 2nd Step (Joerg Courtial) Juried Technical Achievement: tx-reverse Excellence in Experience Design: Battlescar (Nico Casavecchia, Martin Allais) Excellence in Sound Design: Unheard (Zhechuan Zhang) Excellence in Visual Design: Ex Anima (Pierre Zandrowicz) Impact Award: State Power (Jeff Stanzler) Grand Jury Prize: The Industry (Mirka Duijn) === 2020 === People's Choice Best Interactive: Gravity VR (Fabito Rychter, Amir Admoni) Best Immersive (Passive): Warsaw Rising (Tomasz Dobosz) Juried Technical Achievement: The Cosmic Laughter of Cucci Binaca (Jonathan Sims) Excellence in Experience Design: Sleeping Eyes (Sojung Bahng, Sungeun Lee) Excellence in Sound Design: Symphony of Noise VR (Michaela Pnacekova) Excellence in Visual Design: Hominidae (Brian Andrews) Impact Award: Indirect Actions (Maranatha Hay) Grand Jury Prize: Minimum Mass (Raqi Syed, Areito Echevarria) === 2021 === FIVARS in FEB – People's Choice Best Interactive: CLAWS (created by Evan Neiden; directed by John Ertman) Best Immersive (Passive): Inside COVID 19 (Gary Yost, Adam Loften) FIVARS in FALL – People's Choice Best Interactive: Samsara (director: Hsin-Chien Huang) Best Immersive (Passive): The Invasion of Normandy Omaha Beach (director: Uli Futschik) Juried Technical Achievement: Dark Threads (director: Jonathon Corbiere) Excellence in Experience Design: Andy's World (director: Liquan Liu) Excellence in Sound Design: Symphony (director: Igor Cortadellas) Excellence in Visual Design: Mind VR Exploration (director: Deng Zuyun) Outstanding Performance: Lori Kovachevich, Lena's Journey (director: Wes Evans) Impact Award: Om Devi: Sheroes Revolution (director: Claudio Casale) Grand Jury Prize: Montegelato (director: Davide Rapp) === 2022 === FIVARS in FEB – People's Choice Best Interactive: Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite (Lyndsie Scoggin, United States) Best Immersive (Passive): Beescapes (Alan Nguyen, Australia) FIVARS in FALL – People's Choice Best Interactive: Namuanki (Kevin Mack, United States) Best Immersive (Passive): Reimagined Vol. 1: Nyssa (Julie Cavaliere, United States) Juried (Whole Year) Technical Achievement: Namuanki (Kevin Mack, United States) Excellence in Experience Design: Unframed: Hand Puppets, Paul Klee (Martin Charrière, Switzerland) Excellence in Visual Design: The Last Dance (Toshiaki Hanzaki, Japan) Excellence in Sound Design: Kingdom of Plants with David Attenborough (Iona McEwan, UK and USA) Outstanding Performance: Ari Tarr, OffRail (Ari Tarr, United States) Impact Award: Tearless (Gina Kim, South Korea) Grand Jury Prize: Klaxon. My dear sweet Friend (Nikita Shokhov, United States) === 2023 === People's Choice Best Interactive: PULSAR Best Immersive (Passive): Behind the Dish Juried Technical Achievement: VFC Excellence in Experience Design: Broken Spectre Excellence in Visual Design: Night Creatures Excellence in Sound Design: VFC Outstanding Performance: Origins Impact Award: LOU Grand Jury Prize: Stay Alive, My Son === 2024 ==
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