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AstroPay

AstroPay is a global digital wallet that provides users with a way to pay, send, and receive money. The app provides online payments, virtual and physical debit cards, peer-to-peer money transfers, and more. == History == AstroPay was founded in Uruguay in 2009 as a payment processing company. Over time, it expanded its services across Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. A significant milestone occurred in 2016, when AstroPay spun off dLocal, focusing on cross-border payments for emerging markets. dLocal became Uruguay's first unicorn and eventually went public through a successful IPO. In 2020, AstroPay spun off its payment processing services into a new entity, D24, to focus on mobile wallet for cross border. Between 2023 and 2024 the Company brought new leadership to guide its transition towards becoming a fully focused global digital multicurrency wallet where users save, send, and spend globally. This shift introduced enhanced features, including loyalty prepaid cards and multicurrency accounts. == Services == AstroPay offers three main products: AstroPay Wallet, AstroPay check-out, and AstroPay Platform. AstroPay Wallet is a digital wallet for consumers, where they have multicurrency accounts, prepaid card and marketplace. With AstroPay check-out, businesses can tap into AstroPay's wallet user base by accepting AstroPay as a payment method in their check-out options. Lastly, AstroPay Platform enables other businesses to use the AstroPay network to launch their own global wallet. == Brand endorsements, partnerships == AstroPay's marketing strategy has included the development of co-branded products with sports teams and other brand. The company sponsored Burnley Football Club during the 2018–19 Premier League season, renewing the partnership for the 2021–22 Premier League season when it became the club's official payment service partner. In August 2021, AstroPay entered into a partnership with the Wolverhampton Wanderers for the 2021-22 Premier League season, and the following year, became the team's shirt sponsor. Later, in September 2021, AstroPay expanded its partnership with Wolverhampton Wanderers, which included becoming the team's official payment partner and later, in 2023, co-launching a co-branded card. Other partnerships include Newcastle United in 2021 in the English Premier League. AstroPay made arrangements to ensure that branding and logo would be visible on the pitch-side LED advertising during Premier League matches. Furthermore, in June 2022, the company renewed it's partnership with Wolverhampton Wanderers for the 2022-23 Premier League season and launched its Wolves debit card in February 2023. Some other notable partnerships include: Universidad de Chile in 2024, Tottenham Hotspurs in 2023-25, and even a collaboration with Lionel Messi across all of Latin America. == Recent developments == AstroPay has refocused its strategy since 2023, pivoting from payment processing to concentrate on its global digital wallet. This move reflects a broader effort to redefine the company's market positioning by emphasizing global user-friendly financial services, while separating its identity from previous operations managed by dLocal and D24.
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CrocBITE

CrocBITE (currently CrocAttack) was an online database of wild crocodilian attacks reported on humans in the world. The non-profit online research tool helped to scientifically analyze crocodilian behavior via complex models. Users were encouraged to feed information in a crowdsourcing manner. This website excludes captive crocodilian attacks, as well as non-fatal bites on professional handlers, rangers, staff, or researchers, and crocodilian attacks on pets and livestock, because its primary goal is to analyze natural human-crocodilian conflict in the wild for conservation and management purposes, and that these incidents do are not considered indicative of natural species behavior or typical human-wildlife conflict, as well as not providing enough useful data and helping researchers understand wild population behavior or typical human-wildlife conflict dynamics and helps create safety strategies for people living or working near wild crocodilians, rather than tracking workplace accidents in zoos or farms. While fatal incidents involving handlers are sometimes included on the website, typical captive incidents (such as handlers being bitten by them in zoos) are excluded because they are considered manageable professional risks rather than general public safety threats. == About == The online database was established in 2013 (2013) by Dr Adam Britton, a researcher at Charles Darwin University, his student Brandon Sideleau and Erin Britton. It was a compilation of government records, individual reports, registered contributors and historical data. Dr Simon Pooley, Junior Research fellow, Imperial College London joined hands to further the studies. The collaboration culminated when Dr Pooley met Dr Britton at the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group, in Louisiana in 2014. The program received funds from Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom to the tune of A$30,000 and unspecified resourced plus amount from Big Gecko Crocodilian Research, Crocodillian.com and Charles Darwin University. The research yielded pertinent observations that provide inside into crocodile attacks. It was observed that most attacks on humans occur from bites of Saltwater crocodile as against the popular understanding of Nile crocodiles taking the top spot. This is not, however, believed to be the actual case, as most attacks by the Nile crocodile are believed to go unreported or only reported on a local level. The broad category of Nile crocodile attacks were segmented into West African crocodile and Crocodylus niloticus (the Nile Crocodile) species to get a clear understanding of their respective attack zones. The objective was that the information would be used by communities and conservation managers to help inform and educate people about how to keep safe. The information was vital for Australia and Africa where such attacks are more likely than in other parts of the world. This was the only database of its kind with such comprehensive collection of information made available online. The database is no longer online, and its founder Adam Britton is in custody having pleaded guilty to charges of bestiality on September 25, 2023. It has been rebranded and renamed CrocAttack, and serves as a updated database focusing on human-crocodilian conflict and records over 8,500 incidents from the past decades.
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Anthem medical data breach

The Anthem medical data breach was a medical data breach of information held by Elevance Health, known at that time as Anthem Inc. On February 4, 2015, Anthem, Inc. disclosed that criminal hackers had broken into its servers and had potentially stolen over 37.5 million records that contain personally identifiable information from its servers. On February 24, 2015 Anthem raised the number to 78.8 million people whose personal information had been affected. According to Anthem, Inc., the data breach extended into multiple brands Anthem, Inc. uses to market its healthcare plans, including, Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, and UniCare. Healthlink says that it was also a victim. Anthem says users' medical information and financial data were not compromised. Anthem has offered free credit monitoring in the wake of the breach. Michael Daniel, chief adviser on cybersecurity for President Barack Obama, said he would be changing his own password. According to The New York Times, about 80 million company records were hacked, and there is a fear that the stolen data will be used for identity theft. The compromised information contained names, birthdays, medical IDs, social security numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses and employment information, including income data. == Theft of the data == The data was stolen over a period of weeks the month before the data breach was discovered. Because no medical information was compromised, Anthem was not required by law to encrypt the data. However, Anthem faced several civil class-action lawsuits, which were settled in 2017 at a cost of $115 million. Anthem did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement. Data from the attack is expected to be sold on the black market. == Impact == Persons whose data was stolen could have resulting problems about identity theft for the rest of their lives. Anthem had a US$100 million insurance policy for cyber problems from American International Group. One report suggested that all of this money could be consumed by the process of notifying customers of the breach. == Responses == Anthem hired Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, to review their security systems and advised people whose data was stolen to monitor their accounts and remain vigilant. The theft of the data raised fears generally about the theft of medical information. A writer from Harvard Law School suggested that this data breach might spark reform of security practices and government data safety regulation. An investigation conducted by several state insurance commissioners blames the breach on an attacker whose identity was withheld, and claims that the breach was likely ordered by a foreign government whose name was withheld. It also concluded that Anthem had taken reasonable measures to protect its data before the breach and that its remediation plan was effective at shutting down the breach once it was discovered. It also marks the starting date of the breach as February 18, 2014. The lead investigator was the Indiana Department of Insurance (DOI) -- Anthem's principal regulator, because Anthem is headquartered in Indiana. The Indiana DOI hired independent auditors to conduct a security assessment at Anthem, which concluded, "While deficiencies within Anthem’s cybersecurity posture were noted by the Examination Team, these deficiencies were not, in our experience, uncommon to companies comparable to Anthem in size and scope. While the pre-breach deficiencies impacted Anthem’s ability to reduce the likelihood of and quickly detect the Data Breach, the controls implemented subsequent to the Data Breach should improve Anthem’s ability to detect future breaches and enable Anthem to respond more effectively to a future attack than was the case in this instance." Federal regulators also conducted an investigation of the Anthem data breach, resulting in a $16 million settlement between Anthem and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) -- by far the largest HHS data breach settlement. An HHS Director overseeing the investigation said, "The largest health data breach in U.S. history fully merits the largest HIPAA settlement in history. Unfortunately, Anthem failed to implement appropriate measures for detecting hackers who had gained access to their system to harvest passwords and steal people's private information." The HHS settlement also required Anthem to perform a risk assessment and correct any identified deficiencies in its cybersecurity, with HHS oversight of Anthem's progress. Approximately 100 private class action lawsuits were filed against Anthem over the data breach and consolidated in California federal court, in front of Judge Koh, a respected authority in data breach litigation. After contested briefing over who should lead the litigation efforts, Judge Koh appoints Eve Cervantez of Altshuler Berzon and Andy Friedman of Cohen Milstein as co-lead counsel, and appointed Eric Gibbs of Gibbs Law Group and Michael Sobel of Lieff Cabraser to head a Plaintiffs' Steering Committee. In 2017, Anthem agreed to settle the litigation for $115 million, the largest ever data breach settlement at the time. The attorneys requested $38 million in fees for their work on the case, but Judge Koh slashed the fee request, finding that only $31 million in fees were merited.
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Spotify Live

Spotify Live, formerly Spotify Greenroom, was a social audio app by Spotify, that allowed users to host or participate in live-audio virtual environments called "room" for conversations. Each room had a maximum capacity of 1000 people. The app was available on Android and iOS, competing with Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse in the social media segment. It was shut down on April 30, 2023. == History == In October 2020, Betty Labs released Locker Room exclusively on the iOS App Store. The app featured virtual audio chat rooms for sports enthusiasts. In late March 2021, Spotify acquired Betty Labs for $50 million and announced plans to rebrand the app with a broader focus on sports, music, and pop culture. On June 16, 2021, Spotify launched the app as Spotify Greenroom on Android (early access) and iOS, expanding its scope beyond just sports. At launch, Spotify introduced the Greenroom Creator Fund to support creators and shows, serving as a rival to Clubhouse's Creator First Accelerator Program. The fund aimed to provide a monetization path for podcasters integrating Greenroom into their verified Spotify accounts. By July 2021, the app had accumulated over 140,000 iOS installs and 100,000 Android installs. In August 2021, Spotify collaborated with the WWE to produce professional wrestling-related podcasts, many of which would be recorded by The Ringer, Spotify's in-house podcasting team, using Greenroom. In March 2022, Spotify Greenroom announced its rebranding as Spotify Live and its migration to the main Spotify app. After a year, Spotify announced it would shut down the Spotify Live app at the end of April 2023. == Features == Greenroom allowed users to create or join a room, which, in the context of the application, was a virtual space for real-time voice chats. Users could only create a room within a pre-defined group, representing either a brand or a generic category. If a user chose to create a room, they became the host, with the ability to invite people, control who could talk, and enable features like recording and the Discussions tab during room creation. Enabling recording displayed a disclaimer informing users that the conversation was being recorded, and the audio, recorded in mp4 format, would be sent to the host via email after the room concluded. If the Discussions tab was enabled, users could send text messages in the public chat section. The host also had the authority to ban users if necessary. When joining a room, a user could opt to be a listener or request to become a speaker. Users had the freedom to follow or block others and join groups at their discretion. Notifications about new rooms in joined groups would be sent to users. Additionally, users could discover new individuals and groups using the search tab. == Partnered creators == By October 2021, Spotify had a variety of partnered creators aimed at boosting traffic and validating its vertically integrated podcast model. These creators primarily focused on Generation Z. In-house Spotify talent, such as The Ringer, produced sports-related content. Simultaneously, the company recruited creators from various social channels to grow Greenroom's audience while also promoting its integration with Spotify and Anchor. Each verified Spotify partner had their Greenroom shows featured in both the Greenroom app and their profiles on the Spotify app. This was part of the company's strategy leading into the 2022 ramp-up to compete with Clubhouse. == Platforms == The app was accessible on both Android and iOS platforms, and users could download the app from their respective app stores. Android users needed Android 8 or above to launch the app, while iOS consumers required iOS 13 or later to run it.
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WriterDuet

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

Secure coding is the practice of developing computer software in such a way that guards against the accidental introduction of security vulnerabilities. Defects, bugs and logic flaws are consistently the primary cause of commonly exploited software vulnerabilities. Through the analysis of thousands of reported vulnerabilities, security professionals have discovered that most vulnerabilities stem from a relatively small number of common software programming errors. By identifying the insecure coding practices that lead to these errors and educating developers on secure alternatives, organizations can take proactive steps to help significantly reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities in software before deployment. Some scholars have suggested that in order to effectively confront threats related to cybersecurity, proper security should be coded or "baked in" to the systems. With security being designed into the software, this ensures that there will be protection against insider attacks and reduces the threat to application security. Implementing secure coding practices is part of the secure by design approach to security engineering. == Buffer-overflow prevention == Buffer overflows, a common software security vulnerability, happen when a process tries to store data beyond a fixed-length buffer. For example, if there are 8 slots to store items in, there will be a problem if there is an attempt to store 9 items. In computer memory the overflowed data may overwrite data in the next location which can result in a security vulnerability (stack smashing) or program termination (segmentation fault). An example of a C program prone to a buffer overflow is If the user input is larger than the destination buffer, a buffer overflow will occur. To fix this unsafe program, use strncpy to prevent a possible buffer overflow. Another secure alternative is to dynamically allocate memory on the heap using malloc. In the above code snippet, the program attempts to copy the contents of src into dst, while also checking the return value of malloc() to ensure that enough memory was able to be allocated for the destination buffer. == Format-string attack prevention == A Format String Attack is when a malicious user supplies specific inputs that will eventually be entered as an argument to a function that performs formatting, such as printf(). The attack involves the adversary reading from or writing to the stack. The C printf function writes output to stdout. If the parameter of the printf function is not properly formatted, several security bugs can be introduced. Below is a program that is vulnerable to a format string attack. A malicious argument passed to the program could be "%s%s%s%s%s%s%s", which can crash the program from improper memory reads. == Integer-overflow prevention == Integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation results in an integer too large to be represented within the available space. A program which does not properly check for integer overflow introduces potential software bugs and exploits. Below is a function in C++ which attempts to confirm that the sum of x and y is less than or equal to a defined value MAX: The problem with the code is it does not check for integer overflow on the addition operation. If the sum of x and y is greater than the maximum possible value of an unsigned int, the addition operation will overflow and perhaps result in a value less than or equal to MAX, even though the sum of x and y is greater than MAX. Below is a function which checks for overflow by confirming the sum is greater than or equal to both x and y. If the sum did overflow, the sum would be less than x or less than y. == Path traversal prevention == Path traversal is a vulnerability whereby paths provided from an untrusted source are interpreted in such a way that unauthorised file access is possible. For example, consider a script that fetches an article by taking a filename, which is then read by the script and parsed. Such a script might use the following hypothetical URL to retrieve an article about dog food: https://www.example.net/cgi-bin/article.sh?name=dogfood.html If the script has no input checking, instead trusting that the filename is always valid, a malicious user could forge a URL to retrieve configuration files from the web server: https://www.example.net/cgi-bin/article.sh?name=../../../../../etc/passwd Depending on the script, this may expose the /etc/passwd file, which on Unix-like systems contains (among others) user IDs, their login names, home directory paths and shells. (See SQL injection for a similar attack.) == Regulatory drivers == Secure coding practices are increasingly mandated by regulatory frameworks governing the development and maintenance of software systems that process sensitive data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule requires covered entities to protect the integrity of protected health information through technical safeguards under 45 CFR 164.312(c)(1) and to implement mechanisms to authenticate electronic protected health information under 45 CFR 164.312(c)(2). The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 4.0 Requirement 6.2 mandates that custom software is developed securely, including training developers in secure coding techniques (6.2.2), reviewing custom code for vulnerabilities before release (6.2.3), and addressing common software attacks in development practices (6.2.4).
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SCADA Strangelove

SCADA Strangelove is an independent group of information security researchers founded in 2012, focused on security assessment of industrial control systems (ICS) and SCADA. == Activities == Main fields of research include: Discovery of 0-day vulnerabilities in cyber physical systems and coordinated vulnerability disclosure; Security assessment of ICS protocols and development suites; Identification of publicly Internet-connected ICS components and secure it with help of proper authorities; Development of security hardening guides for ICS software; Mapping cybersecurity on to functional safety; Awareness control and delivery of information regarding the actual security state of ICS systems. SCADA Strangelove's interests expand further than classic ICS components and covers various embedded systems, however, and encompass smart home components, solar panels, wind turbines, SmartGrid as well as other areas. == Projects == Group members have and continue to develop and publish numerous open source tools for scanning, fingerprinting, security evaluation and password bruteforcing for ICS devices. These devices work over industrial protocols such as modbus, Siemens S7, MMS, ISO EC 60870, ProfiNet. In 2014 Shodan used some of the published tools for building a map of ICS devices which is publicly available on the Internet. Open source security assessment frameworks, such as THC Hydra, Metasploit, and DigitalBond Redpoint have used Shodan-developed tools and techniques. The group has published security-hardening guidelines for industrial solutions based on Siemens SIMATIC WinCC and WinCC Flexible. The guidelines contain detailed security configuration walk-throughs, descriptions of internal security features and appropriate best practices. Among the group’s more noticeable projects is Choo Choo PWN (CCP) also named the Critical Infrastructure Attack (CIA). This is an interactive laboratory built upon ICS software and hardware used in real world. Every system is connected to a toy city infrastructure, which includes factories, railroads and other facilities. The laboratory has been demonstrated at various conferences including PHDays, Power of Community, and 30C3. Primarily the laboratory is used for the discovery of new vulnerabilities and for evaluation of security mechanisms, however it is also used for workshops and other educational activities. At Positive Hack Days IV, contestants found several 0-day vulnerabilities in Indusoft Web Studio 7.1 by Schneider Electric, and in specific ICS hardware RTU PET-7000 during the ICS vulnerability discovery challenge. The group supports Secure Open SmartGrid (SCADASOS) project to find and fix vulnerabilities in intellectual power grid components such as photovoltaic power station, wind turbine, power inverter. More than 80 000 industrial devices were discovered and isolated from the Internet in 2015. == Appearances == Group members are frequently seen presenting at conferences like CCC, SCADA Security Scientific Symposium, Positive Hack Days. Most notable talks are: === 29C3 === An overview of vulnerabilities discovered in the widely distributed Siemens SIMATIC WinCC software and tools that are implemented for searching ICS on the Internet. === PHDays === This talk consisted of an overview of vulnerabilities discovered in various systems produced by ABB, Emerson, Honeywell and Siemens and was presented at PHDays III and PHDays IV. === Confidence 2014 === Implications of security research aimed at realization of various industrial network protocols Profinet, Modbus, DNP3, IEC 61850-8-1 (MMS), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 61870-5-101/104, FTE (Fault Tolerant Ethernet), Siemens S7. === PacSec 2014 === Presentations of security research showing the impact of radio and 3G/4G networks on the security of mobile devices as well as on industrial equipment. === 31C3 === Analysis of security architecture and implementation of the most wide spread platforms for wind and solar energy generation which produce many gigawatts of it. === 32C3 === Cybersecurity assessment of railway signaling systems such as Automatic Train Control (ATC), Computer-based interlocking (CBI) and European Train Control System (ETCS). === China Internet Security Conference 2016 === In "Greater China Cyber Threat Landscape" keynote by Sergey Gordeychik an overview of vulnerabilities, attacks and cyber-security incidents in Greater China region was presented. === Recon 2017 === In talk "Hopeless: Relay Protection for Substation Automation" by Kirill Nesterov and Alexander Tlyapov security analysis results of key Digital Substation component - Relay Protection Terminals was presented. Vulnerabilities, including remote code execution in Siemens SIPROTEC, General Electric Line Distance Relay, NARI and ABB protective relays was presented. == Philosophy == All names, catchwords and graphical elements refer to Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove. In their talks, group members often refer to Cold War events such as the Caribbean Crisis, and draw parallels between nuclear arms race and the current escalation of cyberwar. Group members follow the approach of “responsible disclosure” and “ready to wait for years, while vendor is patching the vulnerability”. Public exploits for discovered vulnerabilities are not published. This is on account of the longevity of ICS and by implication the long process of patching ICS. However, conflicts still happen, notably in 2012 when the talk at DEF CON was called off due to a dispute of persistent weaknesses in Siemens industrial software.
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Exercism

Exercism is an online, open-source, free coding platform that offers code practice and mentorship on 77 different programming languages. == History == Software developer Katrina Owen created Exercism while she was teaching programming at Jumpstart Labs. The platform was developed as an internal tool to solve the problem of her own students not receiving feedback on the coding problems they were practicing. Katrina put the site publicly online and found that people were sharing it with their friends, practicing together and giving each other feedback. Within 12 months, the site had organically grown to see over 6,000 users had submitted code or feedback, and hundreds of volunteers contribute to the languages or tooling on the platform. In 2016, Jeremy Walker joined as co-founder and CEO. In July 2018, the site was relaunched with a new design and centered around a formal mentoring mode, at which point Katrina stepped back from day-to-day involvement. == Product == In the past, the website differed from other coding platforms by requiring students to download exercises through a command line client, solve the code on their own computers then submit the solution for feedback, at which point they can also view other's solutions to the same problem. Since its second relaunch in 2021, solutions can be edited and submitted through a web editor, though the command line client remains available. Exercism has tracks for 74 programming languages. Among the notable languages taught: ABAP, C, C#, C++, CoffeeScript, Delphi, Elm, Erlang, F#, Gleam, Go, Java, JavaScript, Julia, Kotlin, Objective-C, PHP, Python, Raku, Red, Ruby, Rust, Scala, Swift, and V (Vlang). In 2023, the site launched a "12 in 23" challenge for users to learn the basics of 12 different languages - one per month in 2023. == Open source == The Exercism codebase is open source. In April 2016, it consisted of 50 repositories including website code, API code, command-line code and, most of all, over 40 stand-alone repositories for different language tracks. As of February 2024 Exercism has 14,344 contributors, maintains 366 repositories, and 19,603 mentors.
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OpenFog Consortium

The OpenFog Consortium (sometimes stylized as Open Fog Consortium) was a consortium of high tech industry companies and academic institutions across the world aimed at the standardization and promotion of fog computing in various capacities and fields. The consortium was founded by Cisco Systems, Intel, Microsoft, Princeton University, Dell, and ARM Holdings in 2015 and now has 57 members across the North America, Asia, and Europe, including Forbes 500 companies and noteworthy academic institutions. The OpenFog consortium merged with the Industrial Internet Consortium, now the Industry IoT Consortium, on January 31, 2019. == History == OpenFog was created on November 19, 2015, by ARM Holdings, Cisco Systems, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, and Princeton University. The idea for a consortium centered on the advancement and dissemination of fog computing was thought up by Helder Antunes, a Cisco executive with a history in IoT, Mung Chiang, then a Princeton University professor and now President of Purdue University, and Dr. Tao Zhang, a Cisco Distinguished Engineer and CIO for the IEEE Communications Society then and now a manager at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST). The project was executed from concept to launch by Armando Pereira at PVentures Consulting, a Silicon Valley–based high-tech consulting firm. OpenFog released its reference architecture for fog computing on February 13, 2017. The Fog World Congress 2017, with Dr. Tao Zhang as its General Chair, was hosted in October 2017 by OpenFog, in conjunction with the IEEE Communications Society, as the first congress devoted to fog computing. == Administration == The OpenFog Consortium was governed by its board of directors, which is chaired by Cisco Senior Director Helder Antunes. The board of directors is made up of 11 seats, each representing one of the following companies and institutions: ARM, AT&T, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Princeton University, IEEE, GE, ZTE and Shanghai Tech University. The consortium's general membership comprised 13 academic members: Aalto University, Arizona State University, California Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, National Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University, Shanghai Research Centre for Wireless Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Southern California, University of Pisa, Vanderbilt University, Wayne State University, and 20 additional members: Hitachi, Internet Initiative Japan, Itochu, Kii, Nebbiolo, PrismTech, NEC, NGD Systems, NTT Communications, OSIsoft, Real-time Innovations, relayr, Sakura Internet, Stichting imec Nederland, Toshiba, TTT Tech, Fujitsu, FogHorn Systems, TTTech and MARSEC. == Published work == The OpenFog Consortium published the white paper, "OpenFog Reference Architecture". This document outlines the eight pillars of an OpenFog architecture:Security; Scalability; Open; Autonomy; Programmability; RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability); Agility; and Hierarchy. It also incorporates a glossary for fog computing terms. In July 2018, the IEEE Standards Association announced it had adopted the OpenFog Reference Architecture as the first standard for fog computing.
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Supertoroid

In geometry and computer graphics, a supertoroid or supertorus is usually understood to be a family of doughnut-like surfaces (technically, a topological torus) whose shape is defined by mathematical formulas similar to those that define the superellipsoids. The plural of "supertorus" is either supertori or supertoruses. The family was described and named by Alan Barr in 1994. Barr's supertoroids have been fairly popular in computer graphics as a convenient model for many objects, such as smooth frames for rectangular things. One quarter of a supertoroid can provide a smooth and seamless 90-degree joint between two superquadric cylinders. However, they are not algebraic surfaces (except in special cases). == Formulas == Alan Barr's supertoroids are defined by parametric equations similar to the trigonometric equations of the torus, except that the sine and cosine terms are raised to arbitrary powers. Namely, the generic point P(u, v) of the surface is given by P ( u , v ) = ( X ( u , v ) Y ( u , v ) Z ( u , v ) ) = ( ( a + C u s ) C v t ( b + C u s ) S v t S u s ) {\displaystyle P(u,v)=\left({\begin{array}{c}X(u,v)\\Y(u,v)\\Z(u,v)\end{array}}\right)=\left({\begin{array}{c}(a+C_{u}^{s})C_{v}^{t}\\(b+C_{u}^{s})S_{v}^{t}\\S_{u}^{s}\end{array}}\right)} where C θ ε = sgn ⁡ ( cos ⁡ θ ) | cos ⁡ θ | ε , S θ ε = sgn ⁡ ( sin ⁡ θ ) | sin ⁡ θ | ε , {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}C_{\theta }^{\varepsilon }&=\operatorname {sgn} (\cos \theta )\,\left|\,\cos \theta \,\right|^{\varepsilon },\\S_{\theta }^{\varepsilon }&=\operatorname {sgn} (\sin \theta )\ \left|\,\sin \theta \ \right|^{\varepsilon },\end{aligned}}} sgn is the sign function, and the parameters u, v range from 0 to 360 degrees (0 to 2π radians). In these formulas, the parameter s > 0 controls the "squareness" of the vertical sections, t > 0 controls the squareness of the horizontal sections, and a, b ≥ 1 are the major radii in the x and y directions. With s = t = 1 and a = b = R one obtains the ordinary torus with major radius R and minor radius 1, with the center at the origin and rotational symmetry about the z-axis. In general, the supertorus defined as above spans the intervals: − ( a + 1 ) ≤ x ≤ + ( a + 1 ) − ( b + 1 ) ≤ y ≤ + ( b + 1 ) − 1 ≤ z ≤ + 1 {\displaystyle {\begin{array}{rcccl}-(a+1)&\leq &x&\leq &+(a+1)\\[4pt]-(b+1)&\leq &y&\leq &+(b+1)\\[4pt]-1&\leq &z&\leq &+1\end{array}}} The whole shape is symmetric about the planes x = 0, y = 0, and z = 0. The hole runs in the z direction and spans the intervals − ( a − 1 ) ≤ x ≤ + ( a − 1 ) − ( b − 1 ) ≤ y ≤ + ( b − 1 ) − ∞ ≤ z ≤ + ∞ {\displaystyle {\begin{array}{rcccl}-(a-1)&\leq &x&\leq &+(a-1)\\[4pt]-(b-1)&\leq &y&\leq &+(b-1)\\[4pt]-\infty &\leq &z&\leq &+\infty \end{array}}} A curve of constant u on this surface is a horizontal Lamé curve with exponent ⁠ 2 t , {\displaystyle {\tfrac {2}{t}},} ⁠ scaled in x and y and displaced in z. A curve of constant v, projected on the plane x = 0 or y = 0, is a Lamé curve with exponent ⁠ 2 s , {\displaystyle {\tfrac {2}{s}},} ⁠ scaled and horizontally shifted. If v = 0, the curve is planar and spans the intervals: a − 1 ≤ x ≤ a + 1 − 1 ≤ z ≤ + 1 {\displaystyle {\begin{array}{rcccl}a-1&\leq &x&\leq &a+1\\[4pt]-1&\leq &z&\leq &+1\end{array}}} and similarly if v = 90°, 180°, 270°. The curve is also planar if a = b. In general, if a ≠ b and v is not a multiple of 90 degrees, the curve of constant v will not be planar; and, conversely, a vertical plane section of the supertorus will not be a Lamé curve. The basic supertoroid shape defined above is often modified by non-uniform scaling to yield supertoroids of specific width, length, and vertical thickness. == Plotting code == The following GNU Octave code generates plots of a supertorus:
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Parkerian Hexad

The Parkerian Hexad is a set of six elements of information security proposed by Donn B. Parker in 1998. The Parkerian Hexad adds three additional attributes to the three classic security attributes of the CIA triad (confidentiality, integrity, availability). The Parkerian Hexad attributes are the following: Confidentiality Possession or Control Integrity Authenticity Availability Utility These attributes of information are atomic in that they are not broken down into further constituents; they are non-overlapping in that they refer to unique aspects of information. Any information security breach can be described as affecting one or more of these fundamental attributes of information. == Attributes from the CIA triad == === Confidentiality === Confidentiality refers to the "quality or state of being private or secret; known only to a limited few", or "the property that information is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized individuals, entities, or processes". For example: If an enterprise's strategic plans are leaked to competitors then this is a breach of confidentiality; If unauthorized persons gain access to an individual's financial records then that individual's confidentiality is breached. === Integrity === Integrity refers to being correct or consistent with the intended state of information. Any unauthorized modification of data, whether deliberate or accidental, is a breach of data integrity. For example: Data stored on disk are expected to be stable. If the data is changed at random by problems with a disk controller then this is a breach of integrity; Data generated by a medical device is transmitted and stored in the healthcare center but neither altered nor tampered with; Application programs are supposed to record information correctly. If the application introduces deviations from the intended values then this is a breach of integrity. "From Donn Parker: My definition of information integrity comes from the dictionaries. Integrity means that the information is whole, sound, and unimpaired (not necessarily correct). It means nothing is missing from the information it is complete and in intended good order". === Availability === Availability means having timely access to information. For example: A disk crash or denial-of-service attacks both cause a breach of availability. Any delay in response of a system that exceeds the expected service levels for that system can be described as a breach of availability. GPS jamming can lead to loss of Availability of the GPS system. == Parker's added attributes == === Authenticity === Authenticity is the "quality of being authentic or of established authority for truth and correctness". Parker defines it thus: "is the information genuine and accurate? Does it conform to reality and have validity?" and "authoritative, valid, true, real, genuine, or worthy of acceptance or belief by reason of conformity to fact and reality". === Possession or control === Possession or control refers to the loss of data by the authorized user (even if the ʺthiefʺ cannot access the data). From a control systems perspective, it is any loss of control (the ability to change settings and functions) or loss of view (the ability to monitor the system’s operation and its response to controls). Suppose a thief were to steal a sealed envelope containing a bank debit card and its personal identification number. Even if the thief did not open that envelope, it's reasonable for the victim to be concerned that the thief could do so at any time. That situation illustrates a loss of control or possession of information but does not involve the breach of confidentiality. === Utility === Utility refers to the data's usefulness. For example: Suppose someone encrypted data on disk to prevent unauthorized access or undetected modifications–and then lost the decryption key: that would be a breach of utility. The data would be confidential, controlled, integral, authentic, and available–they just wouldn't be useful in that form. The conversion of salary data from one currency into an inappropriate currency would be a breach of utility, as would the storage of data in a format inappropriate for a specific computer architecture; e.g., EBCDIC instead of ASCII or 9-track magnetic tape instead of DVD-ROM. A tabular representation of data substituted for a graph could be described as a breach of utility if the substitution made it more difficult to interpret the data. Utility is often confused with availability because breaches such as those described in these examples may also require time to work around the change in data format or presentation. However, the concept of usefulness is distinct from that of availability.
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Fantavision

Fantavision is an animation program by Scott Anderson for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1985. Versions were released for the Apple IIGS (1987), Amiga (1988), and MS-DOS (1988). Fantavision allows the creation of vector graphics animations using the mouse and keyboard. The user creates frames, and the software generates the frames between them. Because this is done in real-time, it allows for creative exploration and quick changes. The program uses a graphical user interface in the style of the Macintosh with pull-down menus and black text on a white background. Advertisements claimed Fantavision a revolutionary breakthrough that brings the animation features of "tweening" and "transforming" to home computers. == Reception == Compute! in 1989 called Fantavision the best animation program for the IBM PC, although it noted the inability to draw curves. == Reviews == Games #70
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Bright Computing

Bright Computing, Inc. was a developer of software for deploying and managing high-performance (HPC) clusters, Kubernetes clusters, and OpenStack private clouds in on-premises data centers as well as in the public cloud. In 2022, it was acquired by Nvidia. == History == Bright Computing was founded by Matthijs van Leeuwen in 2009, who spun the company out of ClusterVision, which he had co-founded with Alex Ninaber and Arijan Sauer. Alex and Matthijs had worked together at UK’s Compusys, which was one of the first companies to commercially build HPC clusters. They left Compusys in 2002 to start ClusterVision in the Netherlands, after determining there was a growing market for building and managing supercomputer clusters using off-the-shelf hardware components and open source software, tied together with their own customized scripts. ClusterVision also provided delivery and installation support services for HPC clusters at universities and government entities. In 2004, Martijn de Vries joined ClusterVision and began development of cluster management software. The software was made available to customers in 2008, under the name ClusterVisionOS v4. In 2009, Bright Computing was spun out of ClusterVision. ClusterVisionOS was renamed Bright Cluster Manager, and van Leeuwen was named Bright Computing’s CEO. In February 2016, Bright appointed Bill Wagner as chief executive officer. Matthijs van Leeuwen became chief strategy officer, and then left the company and board of directors in 2018. In January 2022 Bright was acquired by Nvidia. Nvidia cited using Bright's Amsterdam facility as a development center. The acquisition occurred after several layoffs under Bill Wagner. == Customers == Early customers included Boeing, Sandia National Laboratories, Virginia Tech, Hewlett Packard, NSA, and Drexel University. Many early customers were introduced through resellers, including SICORP, Cray, Dell, and Advanced HPC. As of 2019, the company had more than 700 customers, including more than fifty Fortune 500 Companies. == Products and services == Bright Cluster Manager for HPC lets customers deploy and manage complete clusters. It provides management for the hardware, the operating system, the HPC software, and users. In 2014, the company announced Bright OpenStack, software to deploy, provision, and manage OpenStack-based private cloud infrastructures. In 2016, Bright started bundling several machine learning frameworks and associated tools and libraries with the product, to make it very easy to get machine learning workload up and running on a Bright cluster. In December 2018, version 8.2 was released, which introduced support for the ARM64 architecture, edge capabilities to build clusters spread out over many different geographical locations, improved workload accounting & reporting features, as well as many improvements to Bright's integration with Kubernetes. Bright Cluster Manager software was frequently sold through original equipment manufacturer (OEM) resellers, including Dell and HPE. In version 10, Bright Cluster Manager was merged into the NVIDIA Base Command Manager. Bright Computing was covered by Software Magazine and Yahoo! Finance, among other publications. == Awards == In 2016, Bright Computing was awarded a €1.5M Horizon 2020 SME Instrument grant from the European Commission. Bright Computing was one of only 33 grant recipients from 960 submitted proposals. In its category only 5 out of 260 grants were awarded. 2015 HPCwire Editor’s Choice Award for “Best HPC Cluster Solution or Technology" Main Software 50 “Highest Growth” award winner, 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast50 “Rising Star 2013” award winner Bio-IT World Conference & Expo ‘13, Boston, MA, winner of “IT Hardware & Infrastructure” category of the “Best of Show Award” program Red Herring Top 100 Global Award, 2013
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Visual hull

A visual hull is a geometric entity created by shape-from-silhouette 3D reconstruction technique introduced by A. Laurentini. This technique assumes the foreground object in an image can be separated from the background. Under this assumption, the original image can be thresholded into a foreground/background binary image, which we call a silhouette image. The foreground mask, known as a silhouette, is the 2D projection of the corresponding 3D foreground object. Along with the camera viewing parameters, the silhouette defines a back-projected generalized cone that contains the actual object; this cone is called a silhouette cone. The intersection of the two silhouette cones defines a visual hull. which is a bounding geometry of the actual 3D object. When the reconstructed geometry is only used for rendering from a different viewpoint, the implicit reconstruction together with rendering can be done using graphics hardware. == In two dimensions == A technique used in some modern touchscreen devices employs cameras placed in the corners situated opposite infrared LEDs. The one-dimensional projection (shadow) of objects on the surface may be used to reconstruct the convex hull of the object. Visual hull generation method has also been used within experimental tele-meeting systems that aim to allow a user in a remote location to interact with virtual objects. The method uses multiple cameras to capture the real-world movements and interactions of the "sender", employing hardware-accelerated volumetric visual hull representation to create 3D volume from 2D multi-view images. Its ultimate aim is to allow 3D collaboration between the two users in the virtual realm, with the visual hull technique reducing the computational power required to allow this type of interaction and enabling the use of consumer goods such as the Wii Remote as a tool for interaction.
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Puck App

Puck App is a mobile application that allows hockey players to quickly find and rent a hockey goalie. Founded in 2015 in Toronto, the application primarily operates throughout Canada. It is available on Apple's App Store and Google Play. == History == Puck App was founded in 2016 by Niki Sawni. Users can rate the goalies, message with available goalies, and coordinate skill levels. In 2017, Puck App expanded to Western Canada and has over 1,000 goalies registered. In 2018, Puck App charged approximately $40 CDN to rent a goalie with more than 2 hours notice. Previously, Puck App was a competitor to a similar application called GoalieUp. As of 2024, both companies have agreed to a merger deal.
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