Rob Fergus is a British-American computer scientist working primarily in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, representational learning, and generative models. He is a professor of computer science at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (NYU) and a research scientist at DeepMind. Fergus developed ZFNet in 2013 together with M.D. Zeiler, his PhD student in NYU. Fergus co-founded Meta AI (then known as Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR)) along with Yann Le Cun in September 2013. In 2009, Rob Fergus co-founded the Computational Intelligence, Learning, Vision, and Robotics (CILVR) Lab at NYU along with Yann Le Cun. == Awards and recognition == Rob Fergus has been recognized in academia and received the following awards: NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Sloan Research Fellowship Test-of-time awards at ECCV, CVPR and ICLR == Notable PhD students == Matt Zeiler (Clarifai founder) Wojciech Zaremba (OpenAI co-founder) Denis Yarats (Perplexity co-founder) Alex Rives (EvolutionaryScale co-founder; faculty at MIT)
Bag-of-words model
The bag-of-words (BoW) model is a model of text which uses an unordered collection (a "bag") of words. It is used in natural language processing and information retrieval (IR). It disregards word order (and thus most of syntax or grammar) but captures multiplicity. The bag-of-words model is commonly used in methods of document classification where, for example, the (frequency of) occurrence of each word is used as a feature for training a classifier. It has also been used for computer vision. An early reference to "bag of words" in a linguistic context can be found in Zellig Harris's 1954 article on Distributional Structure. == Definition == The following models a text document using bag-of-words. Here are two simple text documents: Based on these two text documents, a list is constructed as follows for each document: Representing each bag-of-words as a JSON object, and attributing to the respective JavaScript variable: Each key is the word, and each value is the number of occurrences of that word in the given text document. The order of elements is free, so, for example {"too":1,"Mary":1,"movies":2,"John":1,"watch":1,"likes":2,"to":1} is also equivalent to BoW1. It is also what we expect from a strict JSON object representation. Note: if another document is like a union of these two, its JavaScript representation will be: So, as we see in the bag algebra, the "union" of two documents in the bags-of-words representation is, formally, the disjoint union, summing the multiplicities of each element. === Word order === The BoW representation of a text removes all word ordering. For example, the BoW representation of "man bites dog" and "dog bites man" are the same, so any algorithm that operates with a BoW representation of text must treat them in the same way. Despite this lack of syntax or grammar, BoW representation is fast and may be sufficient for simple tasks that do not require word order. For instance, for document classification, if the words "stocks" "trade" "investors" appears multiple times, then the text is likely a financial report, even though it would be insufficient to distinguish between Yesterday, investors were rallying, but today, they are retreating.andYesterday, investors were retreating, but today, they are rallying.and so the BoW representation would be insufficient to determine the detailed meaning of the document. == Implementations == Implementations of the bag-of-words model might involve using frequencies of words in a document to represent its contents. The frequencies can be "normalized" by the inverse of document frequency, or tf–idf. Additionally, for the specific purpose of classification, supervised alternatives have been developed to account for the class label of a document. Lastly, binary (presence/absence or 1/0) weighting is used in place of frequencies for some problems (e.g., this option is implemented in the WEKA machine learning software system). == Hashing trick == A common alternative to using dictionaries is the hashing trick, where words are mapped directly to indices with a hash function. When using a hash function, no memory is required to store a dictionary. In practice, hashing simplifies the implementation of bag-of-words models and improves scalability. Collisions can occur when two words are hashed to the same index, but this happens infrequently and may function as a form of regularization.
List of JavaScript libraries
This is a list of notable JavaScript libraries. == Constraint programming == Cassowary (software) CHR.js == DOM (manipulation) oriented == Google Polymer Dojo Toolkit jQuery MooTools Prototype JavaScript Framework == Graphical/visualization (canvas, SVG, or WebGL related) == AnyChart Apache ECharts Babylon.js Chart.js Cytoscape D3.js Dojo Toolkit FusionCharts Google Charts JointJS p5.js Plotly.js Processing.js Raphaël RGraph SWFObject Teechart Three.js Velocity.js Verge3D Webix == GUI (Graphical user interface) and widget related == Angular (application platform) by Google AngularJS by Google Bootstrap Dojo Widgets Ext JS by Sencha Foundation by ZURB jQuery UI jQWidgets OpenUI5 by SAP Polymer (library) by Google qooxdoo React.js by Meta/Facebook Vue.js Webix WinJS Svelte === No longer actively developed === Glow Lively Kernel Script.aculo.us YUI Library == Pure JavaScript/Ajax == Google Closure Library JsPHP Microsoft's Ajax library MochiKit PDF.js Socket.IO Spry framework Underscore.js == Template systems == jQuery Mobile Mustache Jinja-JS Twig.js == Unit testing == Jasmine Mocha QUnit == Test automation == Playwright Cypress == Web-application related (MVC, MVVM) == Angular (application platform) by Google AngularJS by Google Backbone.js Echo Ember.js Enyo Express.js Ext JS Google Web Toolkit JsRender/JsViews Knockout Meteor Mojito MooTools Next.js Nuxt.js OpenUI5 by SAP Polymer (library) by Google Prototype JavaScript Framework qooxdoo React.js SproutCore svelte Vue.js == Other == Blockly Cannon.js MathJax Modernizr TensorFlow Brain.js
Floyd–Steinberg dithering
Floyd–Steinberg dithering is an image dithering algorithm first published in 1976 by Robert W. Floyd and Louis Steinberg. It is commonly used by image manipulation software, for example, when converting an image from a Truecolor 24-bit PNG format into a GIF format, which is restricted to a maximum of 256 colors. == Implementation == The algorithm achieves dithering using error diffusion, meaning it pushes (adds) the residual quantization error of a pixel onto its neighboring pixels, to be quantized after. It spreads the debt out according to the distribution (shown as a map of the neighboring pixels): [ ∗ 7 16 … … 3 16 5 16 1 16 … ] {\displaystyle {\begin{bmatrix}&&&{\frac {\displaystyle 7}{\displaystyle 16}}&\ldots \\\ldots &{\frac {\displaystyle 3}{\displaystyle 16}}&{\frac {\displaystyle 5}{\displaystyle 16}}&{\frac {\displaystyle 1}{\displaystyle 16}}&\ldots \\\end{bmatrix}}} The pixel indicated with a star () indicates the pixel currently being scanned, and the blank pixels are the previously scanned pixels. The specific values (7/16, 3/16, 5/16, 1/16) were originally found by trial-and-error, "guided by the desire to have a region of desired density 0.5 come out as a checkerboard pattern". The algorithm scans the image from left to right, top to bottom, quantizing pixel values one by one. Each time, the quantization error is transferred to the neighboring pixels, while not affecting the pixels that already have been quantized. Hence, if a number of pixels have been rounded downwards, it becomes more likely that the next pixel is rounded upwards, such that on average, the quantization error is close to zero. The diffusion coefficients have the property that if the original pixel values are exactly halfway in between the nearest available colors, the dithered result is a checkerboard pattern. For example, 50% grey data could be dithered as a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. For optimal dithering, the counting of quantization errors should be in sufficient accuracy to prevent rounding errors from affecting the result. For correct results, all values should be linearized first, rather than operating directly on sRGB values as is common for images stored on computers. In some implementations, the horizontal direction of scan alternates between lines; this is called "serpentine scanning" or boustrophedon transform dithering. The algorithm described above is in the following pseudocode. This works for any approximately linear encoding of pixel values, such as 8-bit integers, 16-bit integers or real numbers in the range [0, 1]. for each y from top to bottom do for each x from left to right do oldpixel := pixels[x][y] newpixel := find_closest_palette_color(oldpixel) pixels[x][y] := newpixel quant_error := oldpixel - newpixel pixels[x + 1][y ] := pixels[x + 1][y ] + quant_error × 7 / 16 pixels[x - 1][y + 1] := pixels[x - 1][y + 1] + quant_error × 3 / 16 pixels[x ][y + 1] := pixels[x ][y + 1] + quant_error × 5 / 16 pixels[x + 1][y + 1] := pixels[x + 1][y + 1] + quant_error × 1 / 16 When converting grayscale pixel values from a high to a low bit depth (e.g. 8-bit grayscale to 1-bit black-and-white), find_closest_palette_color() may perform just a simple rounding, for example: find_closest_palette_color(oldpixel) = round(oldpixel / 255) The pseudocode can result in pixel values exceeding the valid values (such as greater than 255 in 8-bit grayscale images). Such values should ideally be handled by the find_closest_palette_color() function, rather than clipping the intermediate values, since a subsequent error may bring the value back into range. However, if fixed-width integers are used, wrapping of intermediate values would cause inversion of black and white, and so should be avoided. The find_closest_palette_color() implementation is nontrivial for a palette that is not evenly distributed, however small inaccuracies in selecting the correct palette color have minimal visual impact due to error being propagated to future pixels. A nearest neighbor search in 3D is frequently used.
Valantic
Valantic GmbH (stylised as valantic) is an IT service and consulting company headquartered in Munich, Germany. == History == Valantic GmbH was founded in 2012 under the name Dabero Service Group. Until it was renamed Valantic GmbH in 2017, the company merged with IT service providers and consulting firms. These included, among others, Realtime AG, a company for SAP systems. The companies involved in these mergers were also renamed in 2017 and have since used the Valantic brand name. Realtime AG, for example, became Valantic ERP Services AG. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic pressures, demand increased for IT service providers, particularly those offering customised software, IT consulting, SAP services, customer experience, cybersecurity, IoT, and digital work environments. In the following years, Valantic expanded by integrating additional companies. In 2021, Valantic expanded into other European countries through the integration of the Dutch company ISM eCompany and the Portuguese consulting firm Abaco. In 2022, the consulting firm C-Clear/Atom Ideas from Belgium joined Valantic. In February 2019, DPE Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH (DPE) took over the majority shareholding in Valantic. The founder, Holger von Daniels, and the further management retained a 25% stake. By 2025, DPE had invested €500 million in Valantic. In the following years, Valantic expanded its international locations. In 2023, Valantic incorporated the Danish company Inspari into the group, thereby entering the Scandinavian market. Inspari is a company for Microsoft technologies such as Azure and Power Platform. In the same year, Valantic joined forces with the Aiopsgroup, an international provider of online shopping applications for private and business customers of large companies. The company is based in Bulgaria with additional locations across Eastern Europe and other places. Additionally, the SAP applications division was expanded through the merger with the Spanish company Saptools. As a result, the companies became one of the largest European end-to-end consulting and implementation house for SAP services. By the end of 2023, Valantic had locations in 18 countries. In November 2024, Valantic announced its merger with the Danish digital consultancy Venzo. Through the integration of the company, founded in 2007 and oriented towards Microsoft technologies and digital transformation projects in the areas of automation, artificial intelligence, security, infrastructure and change management, Valantic further expanded its presence in Denmark and the Nordic countries. In July 2025, Valantic announced its merger with Utiligence GmbH, a Mannheim-based consulting firm for SAP technologies. Utiligence works primarily for the energy industry and supports companies in the integration of SAP S/4HANA and the digitalisation of business processes. == Company structure == Valantic is a partnership-based organisation, with partners acting as decision-makers in matters relating to corporate strategy, employee development and acquisitions. Valantic pursues a holacratic approach, promoting an open and self-organised way of working instead of hierarchical structures. By merging with other companies, Valantic is expanding its range of services and tapping into international markets and market shares. The new companies use Valantic's core systems and support processes, but usually retain their original structure. In the 2024 financial year, the company generated revenue of €544 million and employed 3,874 on average. Valantic has over 40 locations internationally. == Services == Valantic GmbH is a consulting firm, software provider and implementation partner. The company offers services in the areas of digital strategy and analytics (business intelligence and data science), customer experience management, SAP services, smart industries (Industry 4.0, supply chain management, and production planning and control processes), and financial services automation. The automation of financial services is aimed at financial service providers and banks. Valantic has been offering services in the field of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) since 2023. Part of these services involves enabling companies to use GenAI securely and in compliance with regulations in order to make internal work processes more efficient. Its customers include large corporations, several medium-sized companies and DAX-listed companies. == Research == Since 2018, Valantic has published an annual study on the development of the SAP landscape in German-speaking countries. The study examines topics such as the migration to SAP S/4HANA, cloud strategies, technological trends and the use of artificial intelligence in business processes. The 2025 survey of 201 SAP professionals from the DACH region showed, for example, an increase in ongoing and completed S/4HANA migration projects, as well as a further shift towards private-cloud systems. The use of artificial intelligence continued to grow, as did the use of the SAP Business Technology Platform and the Business Data Cloud. In 2025, Valantic, together with the Handelsblatt Research Institute, published the trend study Digital 2030 – The Rise of Applied AI. The study was based on a survey of around 700 executives from companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on the economic effects of current digitalisation trends. According to the study, most respondents consider artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud computing to hold the greatest strategic importance for business success by 2030. Around 70% of the participating companies stated that they are already achieving measurable business benefits through the use of AI applications, for example in quality control, document management, logistics, or customer service.
StatMuse
StatMuse Inc. is an American artificial intelligence company founded in 2014. It operates an eponymous website that hosts a database of sports statistics covering the four major North American sports leagues, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), NCAA Division I men's basketball, NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the Big Five association football leagues in Europe, and various professional golf tours. == History == The company was founded by friends Adam Elmore and Eli Dawson in 2014. In email correspondence to the Springfield News-Leader, Elmore detailed that he and Dawson, fans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), were compelled to create StatMuse after they realized there was no online platform where they could search "Lebron James most points" [sic] and quickly get a result "showing his highest scoring games." As a startup, the company's goal was to utilize a type of artificial intelligence called natural language processing (NLP) for sports. In 2015, the company was part of the second group of startups accepted into the Disney Accelerator program. The company secured support from several investors, including The Walt Disney Company, Techstars, Allen & Company, the NFL Players Association, Greycroft and NBA Commissioner David Stern. As part of their partnership with Disney, StatMuse signed a content deal with ESPN (owned by Disney) to provide stats content on social media and television during the 2015–16 NBA season. Initially, the company only had stats available for the NBA, but eventually expanded to provide stats for the other major North American sports leagues. The company's initial demographic was players of fantasy sports, but it eventually expanded to target general sports fans as well. StatMuse offers responses to user queries in the voices of sports-related public figures. Dawson shared with VentureBeat that StatMuse brings people in and records them saying different words and phrases. These celebrity voices were made accessible through Google's Google Assistant service, Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant, and Amazon's Echo devices. The company launched its phone app in September 2017. The app allows users to access StatMuse's sports statistics database by submitting queries in their natural language. Upon the launch of the phone app, Fitz Tepper of TechCrunch wrote that: "The technology isn't perfect – some of the pauses between words are a bit awkward, making it clear that some phrases are being stitched together on the fly. But this is the exception, and on the whole, most responses sound pretty good." StatMuse plug-ins for Slack and Facebook Messenger were also made, providing text-based sports stats. In 2019, StatMuse received investment from the Google Assistant Investment program. The service launched a premium option dubbed StatMuse+ in May 2023, offering options that had previously been included for free, such as unlimited searches and full results in data tables. The premium version also included early access to new features and a personalized search history, as well as not having ads. The app received a variety of feedback. In January 2024, the service launched a Premier League version of the website dubbed StatMuse FC. It is planned to introduce more leagues on the website.
Podium (company)
Podium is a private technology company headquartered in Lehi, Utah that develops cloud-based software related to messaging, customer feedback, online reviews, selling products, and requesting payments. == History == Podium was founded in 2014 by Eric Rea and Dennis Steele, who developed a tool to help small businesses "build their online reputation" through online reviews. Podium was initially known as RepDrive before rebranding as Podium in 2015. In 2015, Podium moved from a spare bedroom to a new location above a Provo bike shop. In March 2020, Podium added payments technology to its product suite. In November 2021, Podium raised $201 million in Series D funding and was valued at $3 billion. == Product == Podium is a software-as-a-service platform designed to improve business online reputation. It helps users manage business interactions in one tool. Users can communicate reviews, texts, chats, and post payment directly within the app.