AI Generator Quillbot

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Plotly

Plotly is a technical computing company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, that develops online data analytics and visualization tools. Plotly provides online graphing, analytics, and statistics tools for individuals and collaboration, as well as scientific graphing libraries for Python, R, MATLAB, Perl, Julia, Arduino, JavaScript and REST. == History == Plotly was founded by Alex Johnson, Jack Parmer, Chris Parmer, and Matthew Sundquist. The founders' backgrounds are in science, energy, and data analysis and visualization. Early employees include Christophe Viau, a Canadian software engineer and Ben Postlethwaite, a Canadian geophysicist. Plotly was named one of the Top 20 Hottest Innovative Companies in Canada by the Canadian Innovation Exchange. Plotly was featured in "startup row" at PyCon 2013, and sponsored the SciPy 2018 conference. Plotly raised $5.5 million during its Series A funding, led by MHS Capital, Siemens Venture Capital, Rho Ventures, Real Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank. The Boston Globe and Washington Post newsrooms have produced data journalism using Plotly. In 2020, Plotly was named a Best Place to Work by the Canadian SME National Business Awards, and nominated as Business of the Year. == Products == Plotly offers open-source and enterprise products. Dash is an open-source Python, R, and Julia framework for building web-based analytic applications. Many specialized open-source Dash libraries exist that are tailored for building domain-specific Dash components and applications. Some examples are Dash DAQ, for building data acquisition GUIs to use with scientific instruments, and Dash Bio, which enables users to build custom chart types, sequence analysis tools, and 3D rendering tools for bioinformatics applications. Dash Enterprise is Plotly's paid product for building, testing, deploying, managing and scaling Dash applications organization-wide. Chart Studio Cloud is a free, online tool for creating interactive graphs. It has a point-and-click graphical user interface for importing and analyzing data into a grid and using stats tools. Graphs can be embedded or downloaded. Chart Studio Enterprise is a paid product that allows teams to create, style, and share interactive graphs on a single platform. It offers expanded authentication and file export options, and does not limit sharing and viewing. Data visualization libraries Plotly.js is an open-source JavaScript library for creating graphs and powers Plotly.py for Python, as well as Plotly.R for R, MATLAB, Node.js, Julia, and Arduino and a REST API. Plotly can also be used to style interactive graphs with Jupyter notebook. Figure converters which convert matplotlib, ggplot2, and IGOR Pro graphs into interactive, online graphs. == Data visualization libraries == Plotly provides a collection of supported chart types across several programming languages: == Dash == Dash is a Python framework built on top of React, a JavaScript library. Dash also works for R, and most recently supports Julia. While still described as a Python framework, Python isn't used for the other languages: "... describing Dash as a Python framework misses a key feature of its design: the Python side (the back end/server) of Dash was built to be lightweight and stateless [allowing] multiple back-end languages to coexist on an equal footing". It is possible to integrate D3.js charts as Dash components. Dash provides the default CSS (plus HTML and JavaScript), but for custom styling Dash applications, CSS can be added, or Dash Enterprise used. === Dash Enterprise === Dash Enterprise is Plotly's paid product for building, testing, deploying, managing and scaling Dash applications organization-wide. The product integrates with enterprise IT systems to enable organizations to build, deploy and scale low-code Dash applications. With open-source Dash, analytic applications can be run from a local machine, but cannot be easily accessed by others in the organization. ==== Enterprise IT integration ==== Dash Enterprise installs on cloud environments and on-premises. Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure are supported, as are multiple Linux on-premises servers. Authentication integrations include LDAP, AD, PKI, Okta, SAML, OAuth2, SSO, and email authentication, and Dash application access is managed through a GUI rather than code. Dash Enterprise connects to major big data backends, including Salesforce, PostgreSQL, Databricks via PySpark, Snowflake, Dask, Datashader, and Vaex. In 2020, Plotly partnered with NVIDIA to integrate Dash with RAPIDS, and NVIDIA participated in Plotly's Series C funding round. ==== Low-code capabilities ==== Dash Enterprise enables low-code development of Dash applications, which is not possible with open-source Dash. Enterprise users can write applications in multiple development environments, including Jupyter Notebook. Dash Enterprise ships with several “development engines” for drag-and-drop application editing, application design, and automated reporting, as well as dozens of artificial intelligence and machine learning application templates. ==== Deployment and scaling ==== Dash application code is deployed to Dash Enterprise using the git-push command. Dash application deployments are containerized to avoid dependency conflicts, and can be embedded in existing web platforms without iframes. Deployed applications can be managed and accessed in a single portal called App Manager, where administrators can control user authentication and view usage analytics. Dash Enterprise scales horizontally with Kubernetes. Jobs queuing, GPU acceleration, and CPU parallelization support high performance computing requirements. Plotly also offers professional services for application development and workshop training.
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Errored second

In telecommunications and data communication systems, an errored second is an interval of a second during which any error whatsoever has occurred, regardless of whether that error was a single bit error or a complete loss of communication for that entire second. The type of error is not important for the purpose of counting errored seconds. In communication systems with very low uncorrected bit error rates, such as modern fiber-optic transmission systems, or systems with higher low-level error rates that are corrected using large amounts of forward error correction, errored seconds are often a better measure of the effective user-visible error rate than the raw bit error rate. For many modern packet-switched communication systems, even a single uncorrected bit error is enough to cause the loss of a data packet by causing its CRC check to fail; whether that packet loss was caused by a single bit error or a hundred-bit-long error burst is irrelevant. For systems using large amounts of forward error correction, the reverse applies; a single low-level bit error will almost never occur, since any small errors will almost always be corrected, but any error sufficiently large to cause the forward error correction to fail will almost always result in a large burst error. More specialist and precise definitions of errored seconds exist in standards such as the T1 and DS1 transport systems.
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Elonis v. United States

Elonis v. United States, 575 U.S. 723 (2015), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning whether conviction of threatening another person over interstate lines (under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c)) requires proof of subjective intent to threaten or whether it is enough to show that a "reasonable person" would regard the statement as threatening. In controversy were the purported threats of violent rap lyrics written by Anthony Douglas Elonis and posted to Facebook under a pseudonym. The ACLU filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioner. It was the first time the Court has heard a case considering true threats and the limits of speech on social media. == Background == In May 2010, Elonis was in the process of divorce and made a number of public Facebook posts. Prior to his postings, he had lost his job at an amusement park. He "posted the script of a sketch" by The Whitest Kids U' Know, which originally referenced saying "I want to kill the President of the United States" and replaced the president with his wife: Elonis ended the post with this statement: "Art is about pushing limits. I'm willing to go to jail for my constitutional rights. Are you?" A week later, Elonis posted about local law enforcement and a kindergarten class, which caught the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Then, he wrote a post on Facebook about one of the agents who visited him: He concluded: == Arrest and Conviction == These actions led to Elonis's arrest on December 8, 2010. He was indicted by a grand jury on five counts of threats to his estranged ex-wife, park employees and visitors, local law enforcement, an FBI agent, and a kindergarten class that had been relayed through interstate communication. At the district court, Elonis moved to dismiss the indictment for failing to allege that he had intended to threaten anyone, claiming his Facebook post was not were not intended as a threat. He argued that, as an aspiring rap artist, his posts were intended to be a form of artistic expression to help him cope with his recent loses. According to him, he did not mean anything said in his posts in a literal sense. His motion was denied. He requested a jury instruction that "the government must prove that he intended to communicate a true threat", which was also denied. He was convicted on the last four of the five counts, and was sentenced to 44 months in prison and three years on supervised release. He appealed unsuccessfully to the Third Circuit, renewing his challenge to the jury instructions. He then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court based on lack of any attempt to show intent to threaten and on First Amendment rights. == Decision == On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Elonis's conviction in an 8–1 decision. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a seven-justice majority, Samuel Alito authored an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, and Clarence Thomas authored a dissenting opinion. The finding of the circuit court was reversed and the matter remanded. === Majority opinion === The majority opinion, written by Roberts, did not rule on First Amendment matters or on the question of whether recklessness was sufficient mens rea to show intent. It ruled that mens rea was required to prove the commission of a crime under §875(c). Importantly, the mens rea issue had been preserved for review, since Elonis had raised that objection at every stage of the previous proceedings. The government contended that the presence of the words "intent to extort" in §875(b) and §875(d) implied that the absence in §875(c) was constructive. The court disagreed, holding that the absence of the language in §875(c) was because the section was intended to have a broader scope than threats relating to extortion. The opinion drew on many Supreme Court cases holding that in criminal law, mens rea was required though it had not been mentioned explicitly in statute. Consequently, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Elonis. === Alito's concurrence === Justice Samuel Alito, concurring in part and dissenting in part, opined that while agreeing that mens rea was required and specifically that showing negligence was not sufficient, the court should have ruled on the question of recklessness. He further opined that recklessness was sufficient to show a crime under that provision on the basis that going further would amount to amending the statute, rather than interpreting it. Since Elonis explicitly argued that recklessness was not sufficient, Alito said: I would therefore remand for the Third Circuit to determine if Elonis’s failure (indeed, refusal) to argue for recklessness prevents reversal of his conviction. The Third Circuit should also have the opportunity to consider whether the conviction could be upheld on harmless error grounds. Alito also addressed the First Amendment question, elided by the majority opinion. He held that "lyrics in songs that are performed for an audience or sold in recorded form are unlikely to be interpreted as a real threat to a real person. ... Statements on social media that are pointedly directed at their victims, by contrast, are much more likely to be taken seriously." === Thomas's dissent === Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting, wrote against discarding the "general intent" standard without replacing it with a clearer standard. Thomas argued that "there is no historical practice requiring more than general intent when a statute regulates speech." Thomas cited Rosen v. United States, arguing that general intent was sufficient in this case. However, the majority opinion offers refutation in that Rosen turned on ignorance of the law: knowledge as to whether material was legally obscene, not on whether it was intended to be obscene. Thomas also supported the government's claim that the presence of "intent to extort" language in the adjacent §875(b) and did not address the majority's reasoning on that language. Thomas used precedent, notably from the states and 18th-century England based on other but similar and, arguably, influencing legislation to support his "general intent" claim. Thomas also drew a parallel with general intent in tort. While he sought to address the First Amendment issues, he never strayed far from "general intent". == Aftermath == On remand, the Third Circuit reaffirmed the conviction "concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that Elonis would have been convicted if the jury had been properly instructed" and therefore was harmless error. In 2022, Elonis was once again arrested and indicted on three counts of cyberstalking involving three people. It was discovered that between 2018 and 2021, Elonis had sent numerous threatening messages over email, text, voice mail, and social media platforms like Twitter to a former prosecutor of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, his ex-girlfriend, and ex-wife. On August 5, after a five-day trial, Elonis was found guilty on all three counts, and on March 23, 2023, he was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith of Easton, Pennsylvania to twelve years and seven months in prison.
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VHS

VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Magnetic tape video recording was adopted by the television industry in the 1950s in the form of the first commercialized video tape recorders (VTRs), but the devices were expensive and used only in professional environments. In the 1970s, videotape technology became affordable for home use, and widespread adoption of videocassette recorders (VCRs) began; the VHS became the most popular media format for VCRs as it would win the "format war" against Betamax (backed by Sony) and a number of other competing tape standards. The cassettes themselves use a 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) magnetic tape between two spools and typically offer a capacity of at least two hours. The popularity of VHS was intertwined with the rise of the video rental market, when films were released on pre-recorded videotapes for home viewing. Newer improved tape formats such as S-VHS were later developed, as well as the earliest optical disc format, LaserDisc; the lack of global adoption of these formats increased VHS's lifetime, which eventually peaked and started to decline in the late 1990s after the introduction of DVD, a digital optical disc format. VHS rentals were surpassed by DVD in the United States in 2003, which eventually became the preferred low-end method of movie distribution. For home recording purposes, VHS and VCRs were surpassed by (typically hard disk–based) digital video recorders (DVR) in the 2000s. Production of all VHS equipment ceased by 2016, although the format has since gained some popularity amongst collectors. A niche revival of VHS has taken place with This Is How The World Ends becoming the first straight-to-VHS release in 20 years. == History == === Before VHS === In 1956, after several attempts by other companies, the first commercially successful VTR, the Ampex VRX-1000, was introduced by Ampex Corporation. At a price of US$50,000 in 1956 (equivalent to $592,000 in 2025) and US$300 (equivalent to $3,600 in 2025) for a 90-minute reel of tape, it was intended only for the professional market. Kenjiro Takayanagi, a television broadcasting pioneer then working for JVC as its vice president, saw the need for his company to produce VTRs for the Japanese market at a more affordable price. In 1959, JVC developed a two-head video tape recorder and, by 1960, a color version for professional broadcasting. In 1964, JVC released the DV220, which would be the company's standard VTR until the mid-1970s. In 1969, JVC collaborated with Sony and Matsushita Electric (Matsushita was the majority stockholder of JVC until 2011) to build a video recording standard for the Japanese consumer. The effort produced the U-matic format in 1971, which was the first cassette format to become a unified standard for different companies. It was preceded by the reel-to-reel 1⁄2-inch EIAJ format. The U-matic format was successful in businesses and some broadcast television applications, such as electronic news-gathering, and was produced by all three companies until the late 1980s, but because of cost and limited recording time, very few of the machines were sold for home use. Therefore, soon after the U-Matic release, all three companies started working on new consumer-grade video recording formats of their own. Sony started working on Betamax, Matsushita started working on VX, and JVC released the CR-6060 in 1975, based on the U-matic format. === VHS development === In 1971, JVC engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano put together a team to develop a VTR for consumers. By the end of 1971, they created an internal diagram, "VHS Development Matrix", which established twelve objectives for JVC's new VTR; among them: The system must be compatible with any ordinary television set. Picture quality must be similar to a normal air broadcast. The tape must have at least a two-hour recording capacity. Tapes must be interchangeable between machines. The overall system should be versatile, meaning it can be scaled and expanded, such as connecting a video camera, or dubbing between two recorders. Recorders should be affordable, easy to operate, and have low maintenance costs. Recorders must be capable of being produced in high volume, their parts must be interchangeable, and they must be easy to service. In early 1972, the commercial video recording industry in Japan took a financial hit. JVC cut its budgets and restructured its video division, shelving the VHS project. However, despite the lack of funding, Takano and Shiraishi continued to work on the project in secret. By 1973, the two engineers had produced a functional prototype. === Competition with Betamax === In 1974, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), desiring to avoid consumer confusion, attempted to force the Japanese video industry to standardize on just one home video recording format. Later, Sony had a functional prototype of the Betamax format, and was very close to releasing a finished product. With this prototype, Sony persuaded the MITI to adopt Betamax as the standard, and allow it to license the technology to other companies. JVC believed that an open standard, with the format shared among competitors without licensing the technology, was better for the consumer. To prevent the MITI from adopting Betamax, JVC worked to convince other companies, in particular Matsushita (Japan's largest electronics manufacturer at the time, marketing its products under the National brand in most territories and the Panasonic brand in North America, and JVC's majority stockholder), to accept VHS, and thereby work against Sony and the MITI. Matsushita agreed, fearing Sony would dominate the market with a Betamax monopoly. Matsushita also regarded Betamax's one-hour recording time limit as a disadvantage. Matsushita's backing of JVC persuaded Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Sharp to back the VHS standard as well. Sony's release of its Betamax unit to the Japanese market in 1975 placed further pressure on the MITI to side with the company. However, the collaboration of JVC and its partners was much stronger, which eventually led the MITI to drop its push for an industry standard. JVC released the first VHS machines in Japan in late 1976, and in the United States in mid-1977. Sony's Betamax competed with VHS throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s (see Videotape format war). Betamax's major advantages were its smaller cassette size, theoretical higher video quality, and earlier availability, but its shorter recording time proved to be a major shortcoming. Originally, Beta I machines using the NTSC television standard were able to record one hour of programming at their standard tape speed of 1.5 inches per second (ips). The first VHS machines could record for two hours, due to both a slightly slower tape speed (1.31 ips) and significantly longer tape. Betamax's smaller cassette limited the size of the reel of tape, and could not compete with VHS's two-hour capability by extending the tape length. Instead, Sony had to slow the tape down to 0.787 ips (Beta II) in order to achieve two hours of recording in the same cassette size. Sony eventually created a Beta III speed of 0.524 ips, which allowed NTSC Betamax to break the two-hour limit, but by then VHS had already won the format battle. Additionally, VHS had a "far less complex tape transport mechanism" than Betamax, and VHS machines were faster at rewinding and fast-forwarding than their Sony counterparts. VHS eventually won the war, gaining 60% of the North American market by 1980. == Initial releases of VHS-based devices == The first VCR to use VHS was the Victor HR-3300, and was introduced by the president of JVC in Japan on September 9, 1976. JVC started selling the HR-3300 in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan, on October 31, 1976. Region-specific versions of the JVC HR-3300 were also distributed later on, such as the HR-3300U in the United States, and the HR-3300EK in the United Kingdom. The United States received its first VHS-based VCR, the RCA VBT200, on August 23, 1977. The RCA unit was designed by Matsushita and was the first VHS-based VCR manufactured by a company other than JVC. It was also capable of recording four hours in LP (long play) mode. The UK received its first VHS-based VCR, the Victor HR-3300EK, in 1978. Quasar and General Electric followed-up with VHS-based VCRs – all designed by Matsushita. By 1999, Matsushita alone produced just over half of all Japanese VCRs. TV/VCR combos, combining a TV set with a VHS mechanism, were also once available for purchase. Combo units containing both a VHS mechanism and a DVD player were introduced in the late 1990s, and at least one combo unit, the Panasonic DMP-BD70V, included a Blu-ray player. == Technical details == VHS has been standardized in IEC 60774–1. === Cassette and
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Absher (application)

Absher (Arabic: أبشر ‘Absher, roughly meaning "good tidings" or "yes, done") is a smartphone application and web portal which allows citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia to use a variety of governmental services. Amongst several other services with the Absher app, it can be used to apply for jobs and Hajj permits, passport info can be updated, and electronic crimes can be reported. The application provides around 280 services for residents of Saudi Arabia including but not limited to making appointments, renewing passports, residents' cards, IDs, driver's licenses and others, and, controversially, enables Saudi men to track the whereabouts of women they control as part of the country's male guardianship system. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store and is supplied by the Saudi Interior Ministry. According to the Ministry of the Interior, Absher has more than 20 million users. As of February 2019, Absher has been downloaded 4.2 million times from the App Store. Some services provided through Absher can also be accessed through the website absher.sa. In March 2021, Saudi Arabia launched the digital version of the Absher for individuals app through which the users can download a copy of their digital ID. Then, new services were added to the platform such as online birth and death registration services, requesting amendments to academic credentials, correcting names in English and marital status and requesting civil records of children. == Impact on women's rights == The app has been criticized by various human rights activists, human rights organisations and international communities. The US and European countries have also condemned the app and urged the kingdom to end its male guardianship system. Absher gained media attention in 2019 for its functions supporting the Saudi policy of male guardianship following an investigation by Business Insider. The app allows for designated guardians to receive notifications if a woman under their guardianship passes through an airport and subsequently gives them the option to withdraw her right to travel. In a few cases, this system has been circumvented by women who have been able to gain control over its settings and use it to allow themselves to travel. US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote a letter to the CEO's of Apple and Google, criticizing the app and demanding for its removal immediately. Wyden said "American companies should not enable or facilitate the Saudi government's patriarchy," and called the Saudi system of control over women "abhorrent". According to the EU lawmakers, current rules imposed over the women by the Saudi government make women “second-class citizens”. The lawmakers also asked the EU states to continue to build pressure on Riyadh so as to improve the conditions of women and human rights. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused Apple and Google of helping "enforce gender apartheid" by hosting the app. US congresswomen Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney condemned the kingdom's male guardianship system that reflected from the app, calling Absher a "patriarchal weapon" and asking for its removal. In response to the criticism received by Absher, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook stated in February 2019 that he intended to investigate the situation. Similarly, Google announced that it would also review the application. After a prompt review, Google declined to remove the app from Google Play, citing that it did not violate the agreed upon terms and conditions of the store. Saudi doctor Khawla Al-Kuraya supported this app an editorial in Bloomberg News. Kuraya wrote that Absher helped Saudi women avoid governmental bureaucracy as it allows their male guardians to process their travel permits anywhere and anytime through Absher. Although she believes that the guardianship system needs to be reconsidered, she thinks that Absher is an important step towards facilitating women-guardians related issues in Saudi Arabia. Absher manager Atiyah Al-Anazy announced in 2019 that two million women were using the application in Saudi Arabia to facilitate their transactions. Some female users stated that the application has made their movement and travel-related issues easier. New measures were introduced that year to allow Saudi women above the age of 18 to travel without their male guardians, which ultimately released male authoritative rights on women. A law was subsequently passed allowing women over the age of 21 to receive a passport and travel without prior male permission.
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Directed-energy weapon wildfire conspiracy theories

The directed-energy weapon wildfire conspiracy theories are claims circulating on social media and in fringe commentary that 2020s wildfires in places such as California, Hawaii and Texas were started or steered by directed-energy weapons or other lasers or directed-energy systems rather than by the documented ignition sources identified by investigators. Fact-checking organisations and newsrooms have repeatedly shown that widely shared images and clips said to depict “beams from the sky” are unrelated, miscaptioned or fabricated, and that official inquiries point to causes such as damaged or re-energised power lines, vegetation and extreme wind conditions. Coverage of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires described a resurgence of familiar hoaxes while local and federal agencies coordinated public rebuttals. == Background == Rumours linking directed-energy weapons to wildfire outbreaks appeared during earlier disaster seasons, then re-emerged at scale during the 2018 Camp Fire and again with the 2023 Maui wildfires and the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Journalists documented how large disasters reliably attract miscaptioned imagery and speculative narratives that portray official explanations as cover stories, while researchers and emergency managers noted that such claims tend to flourish during the information vacuum that accompanies fast-moving events. == Narratives and debunks == Recurring claims include assertions that videos show lasers igniting neighbourhoods, that “green” or “blue” items or roofs were spared because lasers cannot burn those colours, that trees remaining upright indicate precision targeting of houses, and that beams recorded over Hawaii or Texas came from secret platforms. Investigations show that a purported laser-strike video was actually an explosion at a Russian gas station recorded years earlier, that a photograph said to capture an “attack” was an Ohio gas flare from 2018, and that a separate video of green lights over Hawaii was captured months before the Maui fires by an astronomical camera and is unrelated. Fact-checks addressing colour myths have further explained that images of intact blue roofs were either misinterpreted or in at least one widely shared instance artificially generated, and that laser interaction with materials is not governed by such simplistic rules. == Investigations and identified causes == Authorities who examined specific incidents have published findings that contradict DEW narratives. A multi-agency investigation into the Maui disaster concluded that downed and later re-energised lines ignited an initial morning fire that re-kindled under extreme winds in the afternoon, with reports detailing the timeline and infrastructure context; summaries by national outlets echoed those conclusions. Investigators of the February 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle reported that power lines ignited both the state’s largest wildfire and another major blaze, and the regional utility acknowledged its facilities appeared to have been involved; subsequent media coverage outlined the findings and regulatory follow-up. For the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, public reports from Butte County and subsequent proceedings identified PG&E transmission equipment as the source of ignition, with documentation of maintenance issues on the Caribou–Palermo line preceding the event. == Platform and agency responses == As major fires burned in and around Los Angeles in January 2025, officials from city agencies and national partners pursued a coordinated strategy to counter falsehoods by issuing timely updates, flagging fake imagery and directing residents to verified resources. Reporters described how federal emergency managers and local departments used social channels and briefings to rebut specific rumours, including claims about lasers and targeted ignition, and to clarify that early imagery often misleads during fast-moving disasters.
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Control communications

In telecommunications, control communications is the branch of technology devoted to the design, development, and application of communications facilities used specifically for control purposes, such as for controlling (a) industrial processes, (b) movement of resources, (c) electric power generation, distribution, and utilization, (d) communications networks, and (e) transportation systems.
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IBM Retail Store Systems

This article describes IBM point of sale equipment from 1973 with the introduction of the IBM 3650 till 1986 with the introduction of the IBM 4680. IBM continued to announced new retail products until the sale of the IBM Retail Store Solutions business to Toshiba TEC, announced on 17 April 17 2012. == Background == IBM began selling retail point of sale systems starting in 1973 with the IBM 3650 Retail Store System aimed at department and chain stores and the IBM 3660 Supermarket System designed for supermarkets. The IBM 3650 was announced alongside other IBM vertical industry systems such as the IBM 3600 Finance Communication System, and the IBM 3790 communications system, the combination of which IBM described as a "revolution in terminal based systems". All of these systems relied on a significant number of developments across IBM: New chips: Large Scale Integration allowed advanced Field Effect Transistor logic chips that packed far more transistors onto a new metalized one-inch square ceramic substrate Gas panels: Developed as an alternative to cathode ray tubes, the neon argon gas panel provided clear and flicker-free images. Modem communications: Synchronous Data Link Control provided lower-cost communications over telephone lines New disks: The "Gulliver" disk file that supplied a hard drive smaller than three cubic feet and also the "Igar" diskette drive Smaller printers: A disk printer system called "spica" that used a rotating disk print element with engraved print elements that are struck by a single hammer as the disk rotates Belt printers: A new system, known as "Lynx," using a removable belt that was significantly cheaper, quieter and simpler than earlier chain printers Keyboards: New keyboard technology called "Calico" that could build a wide variety of keyboards using common manufacturing facilities Power supplies: Transistorised Switching Regulators or TsRs: compact power supplies that are one third to one-fourth the size of previous generations === Store Loop (SLOOP) architecture === The 36xx retail terminals are connected to the store controller via a loop also called a Store Loop, similar to that used by the IBM 3600 Finance System. If a terminal detects an error, it runs a self-diagnosis routine, displays an error code to the operator, and uses bypass circuitry to remove itself from the loop and allow the loop to continue operating. If the loop fails, the most downstream terminal transmits an error code to the controller. Intermittent errors are written to disk on the store controller. === Supplies Manufacturing === While IBM's Data Processing Division created the retail store systems, it's Information Record Division (IRD) also saw signifiant opportunity in manufacturing supplies for retail systems. As an example in their Dayton NJ plant they used a high-speed Webtron press to create up to 1 million magnet merchandise tags per shift. == IBM 3650 Retail Store System == The 3650 System is a family of products designed to computerise a retail store, both at the point of sale and for back office store management functions. It includes a method to generate encoded tickets for merchandise, rather than use the Universal Product Code (UPC). The key devices for the system were as follows: === Shop Floor === ==== 3653 Point of Sale Terminal ==== Designed for the store floor, it is a loop attached device with: a wire matrix printer with 3 stations: cash receipt, sales-check and transaction journal. a keyboard with 10 numeric keys and 19 function keys an 8 digit display and description lights. in addition to the 8 digits it also displays the following characters: "$", "." and "-" operator guidance panel with 20 backlit captions status indicators a cash drawer a check verification station. Options include a wand magnet label reader with a 4 foot flexible cord, and locks for the journal tape and the till cover. The terminal effectively loads its software remotely from the 3651 over the loop, which IBM calls an IML (initial microcode load). It can also be IMLed locally using a tape cassette recorder. IBM later offered a choice of OEM Wand Attachments that could be ordered by RPQ that could use OCR or scan UPCs, instead of a wand magnet label reader. Only one wand could be attached to a specific 3653. There are two models: Model 1, which is not programmable. Was announced 10 August 1973. Model P1, which is customer programmable. Has 36 KB of storage expandable to 60 KB. Was announced 13 October 1978. === Back office equipment === ==== 3651 Store Controller ==== Controls data flow inside either a single store or multiple stores and sends retail transactions to a mainframe using a modem. For point of sale it performed functions such as: Automatic price lookup from a master price file Automatic distribution of net sales by up to 54 departments Automatic application of applicable discounts and sales taxes Automatic control of food stamp maximums Check authorization facilities For back office it also helped report preparation such as: store summary individual cashier performance store office reconciliation sales by up to 54 departments Current inquiries for department sales; cashier performance & cash position; store cash position. Inquiries and changes to the master price records and operator authorization control records. Setting the time and date for the internal clock. Running the customer checkouts in training mode. Printing of messages received from the host mainframe Entry of messages to send to the host mainframe Reporting of customer stock returns Updating the system with data received from the mainframe Preparing shelf Labels Basic features include: Each loop attaches up to 63 or 64 terminals depending on traffic volumes and desired response times Has an error and operator panel. There were many models including: A25 Has a 5 MB internal disk. Has 60K of memory expandable to 76KB. Supports one store loop. Attaches to 3275, 3653 and 3663. Announced 19 May 1978, withdrawn 19 February 1981 B25 Same as a A25 with a 9.2 MB internal disk. Announced 19 May 1978 C25 Announced 15 May 1981, withdrawn 15 December 1987 A50 Has a 5 MB internal disk. Announced 5 May 1975. Announced 10 August 1973, withdrawn 15 December 1987 B50 Same as B50 with a 9.2 MB internal disk. Announced 5 May 1975, withdrawn 15 December 1987 A60 Has a 5 MB internal disk. Has an integrated 3669. Attaches up to 24 3663 terminals. Announced 11 October 1973, withdrawn 15 December 1987 B60 Same as A60 with a 9.3 MB internal disk. Announced 17 November 1975, withdrawn 15 December 1987 A75 Has 5 MB internal disk. Has 60K of memory expandable to 124KB. Supports one to three store loops. Attaches to 3275, 3653, 3657, 3784 and 3663 terminals. Announced 19 May 1978 B75 Same as A75 with 9.3 MB internal disk. Announced 19 May 1978, withdrawn 15 December 1987 C75 Same as A75 with 18.6 MB internal disk. Announced 19 May 1978, withdrawn 15 December 1987 D75 Same as A75 with 27.9 MB internal disk. Announced 19 May 1978, withdrawn 15 December 1987 There were also two additional models that could be used instead of the 3651: 7480 Model 1: Has a 18.6 MB internal disk 7480 Model 2: Has a 27.9 MB internal disk ==== 3872 Modem ==== Used to attach to a 3659 for remote loops. Each 3872 can attach three 3659s. ==== 3659 Remote Communication Unit ==== Connected to an IBM 3872 and provides a remote loop for up to 64 point of sale terminals. Announced 10 August 1973, withdrawn 15 December 1987 (Model 2, announced 17 March 1976, withdrawn 20 December 1982) Intended to be used in a back office location like the store manager's office or the data entry office ==== 3275-3 Display Station ==== It is a loop attached display terminal with printer attachment hardware ==== 3784 Line Printer ==== A belt printer for higher-volume end-of-day reporting. The maximum print speed is 155 Ipm using a 48 character set. ==== 3657 Ticket Unit ==== Used to print tickets and encoded labels to attach to store merchandise. It is a loop attached device. It prints the following: 1" by 1" adhesive backed labels with up to 11 characters at 500 tickets per minute. IBM sold these in rolls of 9000 1" x 2" tickets with up to 42 encoded characters and two lines of print of up to 21 characters at 250 tickets per minute. IBM sold these in rolls of 2800 1" x 3" tickets with up to 79 encoded characters and two lines of print of up to 32 characters at 167 tickets per minute. IBM sold these in rolls of 1900 It can also batch read the tickets for validation, separating good tickets from bad ones into two cartridges. Announced 10 August 1973, withdrawn 15 December 1987 ==== 7481 Data Storage Unit ==== This optional unit is used to record transaction data and initialize terminals if the store controller is not available. It uses a built in tape drive to store this data. === Early deployments === The first customer installation of a 3650 was at a Dillard's department store in Little Rock, Arkansas, in late 1974. They placed arou
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VACUUM

VACUUM is a set of normative guidance principles for achieving training and test dataset quality for structured datasets in data science and machine learning. The garbage-in, garbage out principle motivates a solution to the problem of data quality but does not offer a specific solution. Unlike the majority of the ad-hoc data quality assessment metrics often used by practitioners VACUUM specifies qualitative principles for data quality management and serves as a basis for defining more detailed quantitative metrics of data quality. VACUUM is an acronym that stands for: valid accurate consistent uniform unified model
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Digital first

Digital first is a communication theory that publishers should release content into new media channels in preference to old media. The premise behind the theory is that after the advent of Internet, most established media organizations continued to give priority to traditional media. Over time, those organizations faced a choice to either publish first in digital media or traditional media. A "digital first" decision occurs when a publisher chooses to distribute information online in preference to or at the expense of traditional media like print publishing. Many employers and employees find it challenging to imagine using digital first practices. Distributing content digital first introduces new practices, including a need to manage the data which tracks readership. Many paper print publishers feel intimidated by the idea of publishing content online before publishing it in paper media. Comedian John Oliver in the show Last Week Tonight criticized digital first practices as a cause of lower standards in journalism. == Digital-First Transformation in Business and Education == The classical perspective of an information system is that it represents and reflects physical reality. However, it is increasingly evident that digital technologies not only represent reality but also actively shape it, as, in many instances, the digital version is created first, and the physical version follows. Gradually, digital infrastructures are integrated in people's work and life, shaping a digital environment through technologies such as 5G, sensors, and blockchain. The Digital First Framework, developed by Professor Youngjin Yoo, is a conceptual approach that helps the physical companies in the integration of digital technologies into the core of product and service design. The shift from traditional cars, where the physical vehicle precedes its digital representation on Google maps, to autonomous vehicles, where the digital representation (the blue dot) is created first, emphasizes the digital-first mindset in the design and operation of systems. In today's business environment, it's critical for organizations to embrace a digital-first strategy. Companies built on digital platforms will significantly diverge from traditional, hierarchical business structures that typically focus on a single product or market. These digitally-centered enterprises will offer products and services that are tailored to individual requirements, utilizing algorithms to assess needs based on specific situations, and relying on external partners to provide these solutions. This highlights the need to transform traditional R&D practices. It's essential for R&D teams to move beyond their laboratories and immerse themselves in the environments of their users. Understanding the context of use is fundamental to creating a relevant platform. As an illustration, the concept of Digital-first, as defined by Rohm et al. (2019), involves the integration of digital projects within educational courses, exemplified by institutions like M-School. The program adopts a programmatic approach, where successive courses progressively build upon one another, adopting an all-encompassing perspective that regards all aspects of marketing as inherently digital. Students actively participate in real-world projects, including campaigns for community improvement, and are tasked with generating content for diverse platforms. Through hands-on collaboration with live clients and the utilization of tools such as Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising, students acquire practical experience in the realms of digital marketing and analytics. == vBook == A vBook is an eBook that is digital first media with embedded video, images, graphs, tables, text, and other media.
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ProjectExplorer

ProjectExplorer is a documentary short film series. The films, directed and produced by ProjectExplorer's Founder, Jenny M Buccos, focus on histories and cultures of foreign places and people using interviews with subject experts, artists, and public figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. John Kani, Greg Marinovich, and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse. Produced for a child and young adult audience, segments in each series depict everyday life and the challenges and concerns of those living in the locations and regions featured. Each film is 2–4 minutes in length, with each series containing approximately 40 films. The ProjectExplorer series is distributed internationally without charge via the web by ProjectExplorer, LTD. an American not-for-profit organization. Three series have been produced and distributed. In fall 2009, ProjectExplorer's third series, Jordan, received a GOLD level Parents' Choice Award for excellence in web programming. == Film series == === Shakespeare's England (2006) === The first series was filmed in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and New York City. The series includes more than 30 film segments. United Kingdom locations and individuals include: The London Eye The Tower of London The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which demonstrates the process of making a bell Simon Hughes, Member of Parliament and President of the Liberal Democrats The Old Vic The Royal Shakespeare Company The National Archives (UK) Segments filmed in New York City include: Michael Cumpsty discusses and performs monologues from Hamlet (while starring in the Classic Stage Company production) Michael Stuhlbarg discusses and performs a monologue from Macbeth === South Africa (2007) === Filmed in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and KwaZulu Natal, the series contains over 40 film segments including: Ntate Thabong Phosa, a lesiba player from Lesotho. Due to the rarity of lesiba players globally, this is one of the only publicly available examples of the lesiba played on film. A Robben Island piece, filmed at the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27-year imprisonment. JSE Securities Exchange with Leigh Roberts, correspondent for CNBC Africa. A 3-part series on HIV/AIDS with amfAR Director of Research, Dr. Rowena Johnson. Dr. Johnson discusses high cost of anti-retroviral drugs and testing in South Africa. The June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising, with archival film footage and photography from SABC and The Sowetan newspaper. Prominent South Africans featured in the series: Dr. John Kani, Chairperson of the Apartheid Museum and TONY Award Winning Actor Musician Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse Former U.N. Ambassador Dave A. Steward, Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation Director and producer, Duma Ndlovu Malcolm Purkey, Artistic Director of the Market Theatre === South Africa, Part II (2008) === Filmed in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and New York City, the series contains over 10 film segments. Prominent South Africans featured in the series: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Photojournalist Greg Marinovich, Pulitzer Prize winner and co-author of The Bang-Bang Club Vusi Mahlasela, musician Author, Max du Preez === Jordan (2008) === Filmed in Amman, Petra, Umm Qais, Jerash, Madaba, Bethany, the Dead Sea, and New York City, the series contains more than 45 film segments. Jordan series segments include: A tour of the throne room of King Abdullah II, at Raghadan Palace Sharing mansaf with a Bedouin family in the Wadi Rum desert The UNRWA Jabal Hussein refugee camp The Siq, Treasury, and Monastery at Petra The ruins of Gadara at Umm Qais Jerash, the capital and largest city of Jordan's Jerash Governorate Madaba, home of the Madaba Map and the mosaic capital of Jordan The archaeological site at Bethany Traditional clothing from Salt and Ma'an The reintroduction into the wild of the endangered Arabian Oryx The Desert Castles The science of the Dead Sea Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali and her Royal Botanic Garden
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Asymmetric follow

An asymmetric follow social network is one which allows many people to follow an individual or account without having to follow them back. It is also known as asynchronous follow or sometimes asymmetric friendship. Asymmetric follow is a common pattern on Twitter, where someone may have thousands of followers, but themselves follow few (or no) accounts. In September 2010 Facebook started experimenting with a similar feature, which Facebook calls "Subscribe To."
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Bring your own encryption

Bring your own encryption (BYOE), also known as bring your own key (BYOK), is a cloud computing security model that allows cloud service customers to use their own encryption software and manage their own encryption keys. == Overview == BYOE enables cloud service customers to utilize a virtual instance of their encryption software alongside their cloud-hosted business applications to encrypt their data. In this model, hosted business applications are configured to process all data through the encryption software. This software then writes the ciphertext version of the data to the cloud service provider's physical data store and decrypts ciphertext data upon retrieval requests. This approach provides enterprises with control over their keys and the ability to generate their own master key using internal hardware security modules (HSM), which are then transmitted to the cloud provider's HSM. When the data is no longer needed, such as when users discontinue the cloud service, the keys can be deleted, rendering the encrypted data permanently inaccessible. This practice is known as crypto-shredding. == Potential Advantages == Organizations can store data with unique encryption that only they can access. Multiple organizations can share the same hardware infrastructure via cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud while maintaining encryption to comply with regulations such as HIPAA. == Potential Challenges == Resource utilization may be higher compared to traditional encryption practices when multiple users share the same hardware and use their own encryption. Efforts to minimize resource utilization issues may potentially impact security benefits.
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Temporal resolution

Temporal resolution (TR) refers to the discrete resolution of a measurement with respect to time. It is defined as the amount of time needed to revisit and acquire data for the same location. When applied to remote sensing, this amount of time is influenced by the sensor platform's orbital characteristics and the features of the sensor itself. The temporal resolution is low when the revisiting delay is high and vice versa. Temporal resolution is typically expressed in days. == Physics == Often there is a trade-off between the temporal resolution of a measurement and its spatial resolution, due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. In some contexts, such as particle physics, this trade-off can be attributed to the finite speed of light and the fact that it takes a certain period of time for the photons carrying information to reach the observer. In this time, the system might have undergone changes itself. Thus, the longer the light has to travel, the lower the temporal resolution. == Technology == === Computing === In another context, there is often a tradeoff between temporal resolution and computer storage. A transducer may be able to record data every millisecond, but available storage may not allow this, and in the case of 4D PET imaging the resolution may be limited to several minutes. === Electronic displays === In some applications, temporal resolution may instead be equated to the sampling period, or its inverse, the refresh rate, or update frequency in Hertz, of a TV, for example. The temporal resolution is distinct from temporal uncertainty. This would be analogous to conflating image resolution with optical resolution. One is discrete, the other, continuous. The temporal resolution is a resolution somewhat the 'time' dual to the 'space' resolution of an image. In a similar way, the sample rate is equivalent to the pixel pitch on a display screen, whereas the optical resolution of a display screen is equivalent to temporal uncertainty. Note that both this form of image space and time resolutions are orthogonal to measurement resolution, even though space and time are also orthogonal to each other. Both an image or an oscilloscope capture can have a signal-to-noise ratio, since both also have measurement resolution. === Oscilloscopy === An oscilloscope is the temporal equivalent of a microscope, and it is limited by temporal uncertainty the same way a microscope is limited by optical resolution. A digital sampling oscilloscope has also a limitation analogous to image resolution, which is the sample rate. A non-digital non-sampling oscilloscope is still limited by temporal uncertainty. The temporal uncertainty can be related to the maximum frequency of continuous signal the oscilloscope could respond to, called the bandwidth and given in Hertz. But for oscilloscopes, this figure is not the temporal resolution. To reduce confusion, oscilloscope manufacturers use 'Sa/s' instead of 'Hz' to specify the temporal resolution. Two cases for oscilloscopes exist: either the probe settling time is much shorter than the real time sampling rate, or it is much larger. The case where the settling time is the same as the sampling time is usually undesirable in an oscilloscope. It is more typical to prefer a larger ratio either way, or if not, to be somewhat longer than two sample periods. In the case where it is much longer, the most typical case, it dominates the temporal resolution. The shape of the response during the settling time also has as strong effect on the temporal resolution. For this reason probe leads usually offer an arrangement to 'compensate' the leads to alter the trade off between minimal settling time, and minimal overshoot. If it is much shorter, the oscilloscope may be prone to aliasing from radio frequency interference, but this can be removed by repeatedly sampling a repetitive signal and averaging the results together. If the relationship between the 'trigger' time and the sample clock can be controlled with greater accuracy than the sampling time, then it is possible to make a measurement of a repetitive waveform with much higher temporal resolution than the sample period by upsampling each record before averaging. In this case the temporal uncertainty may be limited by clock jitter.
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List of video games using NFC

This is a list of video games that use near field communication (NFC) technology. Currently, games have leveraged NFC in unlocking additional features through payment. This takes the form of a direct transaction over NFC or by purchasing a physical item, which signals to the platform that a certain set of features has been purchased (e.g. Skylanders). This list catalogues gaming NFC platforms by device. == Mobile == === Android === Gun Bros. Near Field Ninja NFC Cards Skylanders, with an NFC base. The Haunted House: Soul Fighters, with an NFC base. === iOS === ==== As item-triggered game enhancement ==== Skylanders, with an NFC base. ==== As payment ==== In-App Purchases Here, games that leverage Apple's In-App Purchase framework use information stored in the NFC Secure Element to process the purchase through Apple Pay. While an NFC radio is not used here, the NFC protocol is used nonetheless. == Console == === Nintendo Wii, Wii U, Switch, Switch 2, 3DS and 2DS === ==== As item-triggered game enhancement ==== Pokémon Rumble U NFC Figure Amiibo, built into Nintendo consoles since 2014. Works with Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and older Nintendo 3DS/Nintendo 2DS systems via a peripheral device. Disney Infinity, with an NFC base. Works with Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 2DS and Wii U. Lego Dimensions, with an NFC base. Works with Wii U. Skylanders, with an NFC base. Works with Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 2DS and Wii U. The Nintendo Switch version of Skylanders: Imaginators uses the NFC built into the game controller, it is also has full backward compatibility with Nintendo Switch 2. Some functionalities are missing compared to the other versions. ==== As payment ==== The Wii U GamePad controller, Joy-Con R, Joy-Con 2 R, Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller can read information from an NFC data source. === PlayStation === Disney Infinity, with an NFC base. Works with PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Lego Dimensions, with an NFC base. Works with PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Skylanders, with an NFC base. Works with PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. === Xbox === While NFC bases are normally interoperable between all platforms, the Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X require specific bases that are compatible only with the respective platform. Disney Infinity, with an NFC base. Lego Dimensions, with an NFC base. Skylanders, with an NFC base.
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