In statistics, additive smoothing, also called Laplace smoothing or Lidstone smoothing, is a technique used to smooth count data, eliminating issues caused by certain values having 0 occurrences. Given a set of observation counts x = ⟨ x 1 , x 2 , … , x d ⟩ {\displaystyle \mathbf {x} =\langle x_{1},x_{2},\ldots ,x_{d}\rangle } from a d {\displaystyle d} -dimensional multinomial distribution with N {\displaystyle N} trials, a "smoothed" version of the counts gives the estimator θ ^ i = x i + α N + α d ( i = 1 , … , d ) , {\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}_{i}={\frac {x_{i}+\alpha }{N+\alpha d}}\qquad (i=1,\ldots ,d),} where the smoothed count x ^ i = N θ ^ i {\displaystyle {\hat {x}}_{i}=N{\hat {\theta }}_{i}} , and the "pseudocount" α > 0 is a smoothing parameter, with α = 0 corresponding to no smoothing (this parameter is explained in § Pseudocount below). Additive smoothing is a type of shrinkage estimator, as the resulting estimate will be between the empirical probability (relative frequency) x i / N {\displaystyle x_{i}/N} and the uniform probability 1 / d . {\displaystyle 1/d.} Common choices for α are 0 (no smoothing), +1⁄2 (the Jeffreys prior), or 1 (Laplace's rule of succession), but the parameter may also be set empirically based on the observed data. From a Bayesian point of view, this corresponds to the expected value of the posterior distribution, using a symmetric Dirichlet distribution with parameter α as a prior distribution. In the special case where the number of categories is 2, this is equivalent to using a beta distribution as the conjugate prior for the parameters of the binomial distribution. == History == Laplace came up with this smoothing technique when he tried to estimate the chance that the sun will rise tomorrow. His rationale was that even given a large sample of days with the rising sun, we still can not be completely sure that the sun will still rise tomorrow (known as the sunrise problem). == Pseudocount == A pseudocount is an amount (not generally an integer, despite its name) added to the number of observed cases in order to change the expected probability in a model of those data, when not known to be zero. It is so named because, roughly speaking, a pseudo-count of value α {\displaystyle \alpha } weighs into the posterior distribution similarly to each category having an additional count of α {\displaystyle \alpha } . If the number of occurrences of each item i {\displaystyle i} is x i {\displaystyle x_{i}} out of N {\displaystyle N} samples, the empirical probability of event i {\displaystyle i} is p i , empirical = x i N , {\displaystyle p_{i,{\text{empirical}}}={\frac {x_{i}}{N}},} but the posterior probability when additively smoothed is p i , α -smoothed = x i + α N + α d , {\displaystyle p_{i,\alpha {\text{-smoothed}}}={\frac {x_{i}+\alpha }{N+\alpha d}},} as if to increase each count x i {\displaystyle x_{i}} by α {\displaystyle \alpha } a priori. Depending on the prior knowledge, which is sometimes a subjective value, a pseudocount may have any non-negative finite value. It may only be zero (or the possibility ignored) if impossible by definition, such as the possibility of a decimal digit of π being a letter, or a physical possibility that would be rejected and so not counted, such as a computer printing a letter when a valid program for π is run, or excluded and not counted because of no interest, such as if only interested in the zeros and ones. Generally, there is also a possibility that no value may be computable or observable in a finite time (see the halting problem). But at least one possibility must have a non-zero pseudocount, otherwise no prediction could be computed before the first observation. The relative values of pseudocounts represent the relative prior expected probabilities of their possibilities. The sum of the pseudocounts, which may be very large, represents the estimated weight of the prior knowledge compared with all the actual observations (one for each) when determining the expected probability. In any observed data set or sample there is the possibility, especially with low-probability events and with small data sets, of a possible event not occurring. Its observed frequency is therefore zero, apparently implying a probability of zero. This oversimplification is inaccurate and often unhelpful, particularly in probability-based machine learning techniques such as artificial neural networks and hidden Markov models. By artificially adjusting the probability of rare (but not impossible) events so those probabilities are not exactly zero, zero-frequency problems are avoided. Also see Cromwell's rule. === Choice of pseudocount === ==== Weakly informative prior ==== One common approach is to add 1 to each observed number of events, including the zero-count possibilities. This is sometimes called Laplace's rule of succession. This approach is equivalent to assuming a uniform prior distribution over the probabilities for each possible event (spanning the simplex where each probability is between 0 and 1, and they all sum to 1). Using the Jeffreys prior approach, a pseudocount of one half should be added to each possible outcome. Pseudocounts should be set to one or one-half only when there is no prior knowledge at all – see the principle of indifference. However, given appropriate prior knowledge, the sum should be adjusted in proportion to the expectation that the prior probabilities should be considered correct, despite evidence to the contrary – see further analysis. Higher values are appropriate inasmuch as there is prior knowledge of the true values (for a mint-condition coin, say); lower values inasmuch as there is prior knowledge that there is probable bias, but of unknown degree (for a bent coin, say). ==== Frequentist interval ==== One way to motivate pseudocounts, particularly for binomial data, is via a formula for the midpoint of an interval estimate, particularly a binomial proportion confidence interval. The best-known is due to Edwin Bidwell Wilson, in Wilson (1927): the midpoint of the Wilson score interval corresponding to z {\displaystyle z} standard deviations on either side is n S + z n + 2 z {\displaystyle {\frac {n_{S}+z}{n+2z}}} Taking z = 2 {\displaystyle z=2} standard deviations to approximate a 95% confidence interval ( z ≈ 1.96 {\displaystyle z\approx 1.96} ) yields pseudocount of 2 for each outcome, so 4 in total, colloquially known as the "plus four rule": n S + 2 n + 4 {\displaystyle {\frac {n_{S}+2}{n+4}}} This is also the midpoint of the Agresti–Coull interval (Agresti & Coull 1998). ==== Known incidence rates ==== Often the bias of an unknown trial population is tested against a control population with known parameters (incidence rates) μ = ⟨ μ 1 , μ 2 , … , μ d ⟩ . {\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\mu }}=\langle \mu _{1},\mu _{2},\ldots ,\mu _{d}\rangle .} In this case the uniform probability 1 / d {\displaystyle 1/d} should be replaced by the known incidence rate of the control population μ i {\displaystyle \mu _{i}} to calculate the smoothed estimator: θ ^ i = x i + μ i α d N + α d ( i = 1 , … , d ) . {\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}_{i}={\frac {x_{i}+\mu _{i}\alpha d}{N+\alpha d}}\qquad (i=1,\ldots ,d).} As a consistency check, if the empirical estimator happens to equal the incidence rate, i.e. μ i = x i / N , {\displaystyle \mu _{i}=x_{i}/N,} the smoothed estimator is independent of α {\displaystyle \alpha } and also equals the incidence rate. == Applications == === Classification === Additive smoothing is commonly a component of naive Bayes classifiers. === Statistical language modelling === In a bag of words model of natural language processing and information retrieval, the data consists of the number of occurrences of each word in a document. Additive smoothing allows the assignment of non-zero probabilities to words which do not occur in the sample. Studies have shown that additive smoothing is more effective than other probability smoothing methods in several retrieval tasks such as language-model-based pseudo-relevance feedback and recommender systems.
Deblurring
Deblurring is the process of removing blurring artifacts from images. Deblurring recovers a sharp image S from a blurred image B, where S is convolved with K (the blur kernel) to generate B. Mathematically, this can be represented as B = S ∗ K {\displaystyle B=SK} (where represents convolution). While this process is sometimes known as unblurring, deblurring is the correct technical word. The blur K is typically modeled as point spread function and is convolved with a hypothetical sharp image S to get B, where both the S (which is to be recovered) and the point spread function K are unknown. This is an example of an inverse problem. In almost all cases, there is insufficient information in the blurred image to uniquely determine a plausible original image, making it an ill-posed problem. In addition the blurred image contains additional noise which complicates the task of determining the original image. This is generally solved by the use of a regularization term to attempt to eliminate implausible solutions. This problem is analogous to echo removal in the signal processing domain. Nevertheless, when coherent beam is used for imaging, the point spread function can be modeled mathematically. By proper deconvolution of the point spread function K and the blurred image B, the blurred image B can be deblurred (unblur) and the sharp image S can be recovered.
Orion's Arm
The Orion's Arm Universe Project (OA) is a multi-authored online hard science fiction world-building project, first established in 2000 by M. Alan Kazlev, Donna Malcolm Hirsekorn, Bernd Helfert and Anders Sandberg and further co-authored by many people since. Anyone can contribute articles, stories, artwork, or music to the website. The first published Orion's Arm book, a collection of five novellas set within the OA universe, called Against a Diamond Sky, was released in September 2009. == Canon == The fictional setting of Orion's Arm takes place about 10,000 years in the future, where an interstellar civilization spread across thousands of light-years, with inhabited planets and space habitats. Its inhabitants range from humans to extensively modified human beings, including superhumans with advanced augmentations and internal AI systems, while most people exist as softwares. Engineered wormholes are used for interstellar travel and transport, although not for time travel. The setting also includes several alien civilizations and evidence of more advanced alien societies in the past. At its highest levels, directed human evolution has produced vast godlike beings linked across interstellar distances, capable of understanding and creating technologies beyond ordinary minds. == Reception == Orion's Arm has been reviewed in the role-playing magazine Knights of the Dinner Table, as well as on Boing Boing by transhumanist science fiction author Cory Doctorow. References to the Encyclopaedia Galactica have been made in a book on overcoming Librarian stereotypes. The Orion's Arm website has also been recommended in a children's teaching guide.
Rifts (role-playing game)
Rifts is a multi-genre role-playing game created by Kevin Siembieda in August 1990 and published continuously by Palladium Books since then. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, deriving elements from cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, mythology and many other genres. Rifts serves as a cross-over environment for a variety of other Palladium games with different universes connected through "rifts" on Earth that lead to different spaces, times, and realities that Palladium calls the "Rifts Megaverse". Rifts describes itself as an "advanced" role-playing game and not an introduction for those new to the concept. Palladium continues to publish books for the Rifts series, with about 80 books published between 1990 and 2011. Rifts Ultimate Edition was released in August 2005 and designed to update the game with Palladium's incremental changes to its system, changes in the game world, and additional information and character types. The web site is quick to point out that this is not a second edition but an improvement and expansion of the original role playing game. == Background == The RPG had the tentative title Boomers, named after the original name for the Glitter Boy power armor until Kevin Siembieda changed the name after finding out it was in use for Bubblegum Crisis. == Setting == The Rifts world is Earth, but hundreds of years into the future. Ley lines, lines of magic energy, criss-cross the earth forming supernatural geographic areas such as the Bermuda Triangle. Points where Ley Lines intersect, called a nexus, are places of powerful magic, such as the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge. If a Ley Line nexus energy surges or is purposely activated, the fabric of space and time can be torn, creating a rift - a hole in space-time leading to another place, time, or dimension. Ley lines contain magical energy called Potential Psychic Energy (PPE), which is found in various places, objects, and animals and is particularly strong in children. An adult's level of PPE can vary based on other factors. PPE also allows Psionics which uses energy known as Inner Strength Points or ISP. Psychic phenomenon (more commonly called psionics) can also vary from individuals, ranging from none at all to Master level abilities. Psychic abilities can manifest in virtually any way imaginable. Some psychics develop differently, such as psi-stalkers; human mutants that feed on psychic energy. === Earth === Rifts begins with two future-historical premises: first, a golden age of humanity occurs, with tremendous advances in science, technology, military, and society. Humanity as a whole is at peace as a majority of Earth's nations decide to cease world war and begin to share ideas and technology freely. Much of the Solar System is conquered, humanity's wars will end, and harmony will reign. This golden age is followed by an unknown cause near the winter solstice and a rare planetary alignment, causing a disaster that cascades into tremendous destruction via a ripple effect. The cataclysm begins with unprecedented storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, which kill millions of people. The Ley Line networks that crisscross the globe are energized, causing rifts to open both on Earth and throughout the Megaverse. For hundreds of years after the holocaust, many creatures, both mythical beasts and aliens, come through the Rifts to wreak havoc. The old world gone, a new Dark Age dawns and humanity's shrinking population is reduced, due to catastrophe and domestic failure, immeasurably. This period is covered in Palladium's Rifts Chaos Earth spin-off series. Rifts initially takes place in 101 P.A. (equivalent to the year 2387) 289 years after this event. The "Post-Apocalypse" calendar was established by the formation of the Coalition States in 2286. By this time, most of the disasters have quieted down, though Earth is still bathed in PPE. The planet's mystical energy has attracted aliens from other dimensions, who continue to arrive through the Rifts both accidentally and deliberately. The humanoid creatures that arrive on Earth are referred to as Dimensional Beings (called D-Bees). Some resemble familiar fantasy races, such as elves and dwarfs, while others were created specifically for the game setting. Non-humanoid creatures have also arrived, including monstrous creatures and mystical demons. To cope with these natural, supernatural, and alien menaces, the human race has adapted in a variety of ways, many of them borrowed from the technological developments of the lost Golden Age. Powered armor suits and giant vehicles are frequently used to combat the dangers of Rifts, but more invasive augmentation is common. This has three basic categories: "Juicers" augment themselves chemically, the "Borgs" augment themselves mechanically, and "Crazies" use performance-enhancing brain implants. All such augmentations boost strength, speed, endurance, and dexterity to superhuman levels. However, all come at great cost. Chemicals cause the body to wear out faster, decreasing life span to a few years. Mechanical Borg augmentation causes a loss of humanity when those with multiple limb and organ replacements become more machine than human. Brain implants cause mental instability ranging from mild phobias to crippling neurosis or psychosis. ==== North America ==== The strongest power in North America is the Coalition States (CS), which is based in the arcological city of Chi-Town and lays claim to northern Illinois, all of Iowa, the Texas Panhandle, Missouri, and the eastern half of Ontario, Canada. The second greatest power is Free Quebec, a former Coalition State that seceded following a civil war with the other Coalition States. Mexico is ruled by a group of vampire kingdoms, who treat humans as little more than food. North of the Rio Grande, west of Texas and roaming most of the American Southwest are large nomadic bands/tribes of bandits who collectively form the Pecos Empire, consisting of El Paso, Los Alamos, and Houstown. Much of the western United States has more or less willingly reverted to a mix of modern and past technology akin to the Wild West. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police managed to survive the great cataclysm, though Canada itself did not. The Mounties have become an independent law enforcement force called the Tundra Rangers, patrolling the northern wilderness. The Midwest, both upper and central, is home to most of North America's population. The Manistique Imperium and Northern Gun in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, both Coalition allies, are among the largest weapons manufacturing areas on the continent. New Lazlo is one of the largest cities in Michigan's southern portion. Chillicothe in Missouri is a large supplier of Coalition food processing and growing. Missouri's southern half, home to the city-states of Whykin (Poplar Bluff) and Kingsdale (West Plains) are in constant opposition to the CS and claim independence. Arkansas is home to the independent CS ally El Dorado. Southern Illinois and the Ohio Valley is home to the Federation of Magic. Also in the Ohio Valley is Psyscape, a city-state founded by psychics. Tolkeen was a major city in the former Minneapolis region in early Rifts books; the city welcomed users of magic. A military campaign made by the Coalition States (which is the primary event of 109 PA) resulted in the magic-user kingdom being wiped off the map. In the Northeast, the city-state of Lazlo, named after supernatural researcher and writer Victor Lazlo, was built upon the ruins of Toronto. This major center of civilization is well known as a melting pot of humans, D-Bees and other beings, and is the home of Techno-Wizardry. Mad Haven is the name given to the ruins of Manhattan; tectonic forces during the cataclysm have moved it into the coast, creating a peninsula. It is seen by most denizens of Rifts Earth as a refuge of demons and madness. ==== South America ==== The return of Atlantis caused the Amazon River basin to flood most of western South America, giving it the nickname The Land of a Thousand Islands. The Empire of the Sun, consisting of Cuzco, Nazca, Arequipa and Lima, created a wide range of technology and magic, including magic derived from the Nazca lines. In Argentina, the Silver River Republics of Cordoba (the South American Chi-Town), Santiago (one of the most tolerant human nations on Rifts Earth), Achilles (a nation founded by mutants), and New Babylon, a nation where humans and aliens coexist) have thrived and created nations whose strength rivals that of the CS. In Bolivia, freed Human and D-Bees formed the Megaversal Legion: a mercenary company with one of the highest levels of technology on Rifts Earth. ==== Europe ==== England has become a vast wilderness again, broken up by the occasional giant Millennium Tree or feudal kingdom, complete with a New Camelot and a new King Arthur, partially being manipulated by an alien intelligence disguised as Merlin. Also the magic of
Revelation Space series
The Revelation Space series is a book series created by Alastair Reynolds. The fictional universe is used as the setting for a number of his novels and stories. Its fictional history follows the human species through various conflicts from the relatively near future (roughly 2200) to approximately 40,000 AD (all the novels to date are set between 2427 and 2858, although certain stories extend beyond this period). It takes its name from Revelation Space (2000), which was the first published novel set in the universe. == Universe == The Revelation Space universe is a fictional universe set in a future version of our world, with the addition of a number of extraterrestrial species and advanced technologies that are not necessarily grounded in current science. It is, nonetheless, somewhat "harder" than most examples of space opera, relying to a considerable extent on science Reynolds believes to be possible; in particular, faster-than-light travel is largely absent. Reynolds has said he prefers to keep the science in his fiction plausible, but he will adopt science he believes to be impossible when it is necessary for the story. The name "Revelation Space universe" has been used by Alastair Reynolds in both the introductory text in the collections Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days and Galactic North, and also on several editions of the novels set in the universe. He considered calling it the "Exordium universe" after a key plot device, but found that the name was already in use. While a great deal of science fiction reflects either very optimistic or dystopian visions of the human future, the Revelation Space universe is notable in that human societies have not developed to either positive or negative extremes. Instead, despite their dramatically advanced technology, they are similar to those of today in terms of their moral ambiguity and mixture of cruelty and decency, corruption and opportunity. The Revelation Space universe contains elements of Lovecraftian horror, with one posthuman entity stating explicitly that some things in the universe are fundamentally beyond human or transhuman understanding. Nevertheless, the main storyline is essentially optimistic, with humans continuing to survive even in a universe that seems fundamentally hostile to intelligent life. The name "Revelation Space" appears in the novel of the same name during Philip Lascaille's account of his visit to Lascaille's Shroud, an anomalous region of the local universe. Lascaille says that "the key" to something momentous "was explained to me [. . .] while I was in Revelation Space." === Chronology === The chronology of the Revelation Space universe extends to roughly one billion years into the past, when the "Dawn War" — a galaxy-spanning conflict over the availability of various natural resources — resulted in almost all sentient life in the galaxy being wiped out. One race of survivors, later termed the Inhibitors, having converted itself to machine form, predicted that the impending Andromeda–Milky Way collision, roughly 3 billion years in our future, may severely damage the capacity of either galaxy to support life. Consequently, they planned to adjust the positions of stars in order to limit the damage the collision would cause. Also central to the Inhibitor project was the eradication of all species above a certain technological level until the crisis was over, as they believed no organic species would be capable of co-operating on such a large-scale project (an in-universe solution to the Fermi paradox). Whilst they were relatively successful, certain advanced species were able to hide from Inhibitor forces, or even fight back. In human history, during the 21st and 22nd centuries, numerous wars occurred, and a flotilla of generation ships was deployed to colonise a planet orbiting the star 61 Cygni (which becomes a major segment of the plot of Chasm City). The flotilla later reached a planet termed Sky's Edge, which was to be embroiled in war until human civilisation there was eradicated. Meanwhile, in the Solar System in 2190, a faction known as the Conjoiners emerged as a result of increased experimentation with neural implants. In response, the Coalition for Neural Purity was formed, opposed to the Conjoiners. Nevil Clavain, one of the series's primary protagonists, fought on the side of the Coalition in the ensuing war, but defected later on after being betrayed. Clavain, and the Conjoiners, succeeded in escaping the Solar System and left for surrounding stars. For the next few centuries, the so-called Belle Epoque, humanity enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity, with several planets being colonised. The most successful planet of all was Yellowstone, a planet orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, site of the Glitter Band / Rust Belt and Chasm City. Technologies developed included the Conjoiner Drive, a gift from the Conjoiners (who resumed contact with humanity at an unknown time), advanced nanotechnology, and numerous other devices. With the exception of an attempted takeover of the Glitter Band, no major incidents affected humanity during this time. The Belle Epoque was terminated by the advent of the Melding Plague in 2510, a nanotechnological virus that destroyed all other nanotechnology it came into contact with. Only the Conjoiners were unaffected by this disaster, which devastated the civilisation around Yellowstone. War between the Conjoiners and the Demarchists, a rival faction, erupted as a result of the plague. Meanwhile, activities around a far-flung human colony on the planet Resurgam, orbiting the star Delta Pavonis, inadvertently attracted the attention of the Inhibitors. The Conjoiners, also made aware of this event, sent Clavain to recover the exceedingly powerful "Cache Weapons" from this system (said weapons having been stolen from the Conjoiners centuries before) so that they could be used to fend off the Inhibitors while the Conjoiners escaped. Clavain instead defected from the Conjoiners, intending to use the weapons to protect all of humanity. Skade, another Conjoiner, was sent to stop him and recover the weapons. They fought around the Resurgam system, with Clavain and his allies eventually obtaining the weapons. Clavain's ally Remontoire agreed to seek out alien assistance from the Hades Matrix, a nearby alien computer disguised as a neutron star, whilst Clavain sheltered refugees from Resurgam on another planet, later termed Ararat. Remontoire returned in 2675, only a few days after Clavain's death at the hands of Skade, who had arrived with him. Remontoire and his allies were now at war with the Inhibitors, assisted by alien technology obtained from Hades. Even so, it was realised that the humans would not last indefinitely, and Clavain's people, now led by Scorpio, decided to seek out the mysterious "Shadows": a race believed to be near a moon called Hela, site of a theocracy. Aura, daughter of Ana Khouri (an ally of Remontoire) infiltrated the theocracy under the pseudonym Rashmika Els. After considerable conflict, Scorpio and Aura realised that contacting the Shadows was inadvisable. With the later assistance of the Conjoiner known as Glass, and of Clavain's estranged brother Warren, Scorpio and Aura (now going by the name Lady Arek) instead succeeded in contacting the Nestbuilders, an alien race who provided them with weapons capable of defeating the Inhibitors. As such, the Inhibitors were effectively eradicated from human space, with buffer zones and frontiers established to keep them at bay. Humanity then enjoyed a second, 400-year-long golden age. After this, however, came the Greenfly outbreak, in which human civilisation was destroyed by a rogue terraforming system of human origin that destroyed planets and converted them to millions of orbiting, vegetation-filled habitats. The Greenfly began to subsume most of human space, with all efforts to stop them failing, due to the Greenfly having assimilated aspects of both the Melding Plague and Inhibitor technology. The storyline of the Revelation Space universe thus far concludes with humanity leaving the Milky Way galaxy in an attempt to set up a new civilisation elsewhere. == Books and stories set in the universe == All short stories and novellas in this universe to date are collected in Galactic North and Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days, with the exception of "Monkey Suit", "The Last Log of the Lachrimosa", "Night Passage", "Open and Shut", and "Plague Music". === The Inhibitor Sequence === Revelation Space. London: Gollancz, 2000. ISBN 978-0-575-06875-9. Redemption Ark. London: Gollancz, 2002. ISBN 978-0-575-06879-7. Absolution Gap. London: Gollancz, 2003. ISBN 978-0-575-07434-7. Inhibitor Phase. London: Gollancz, 2021. ISBN 978-0-575-09075-0. === Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies === The Prefect. London: Gollancz, 2007, ISBN 978-0-575-07716-4. (Re-released as Aurora Rising in 2017, ISBN 978-1-473-22336-3) Elysium Fire. London: Gollancz, 2018, ISBN 978-0-575-09059-0.
Cumulus (software)
Cumulus is a digital asset management software designed for client/server system which is developed by Canto Software. The product makes use of metadata for indexing, organizing, and searching. == History == Cumulus was first released as a Macintosh application in 1992, and was named by Apple Computer as the "Most Innovative Product of 1992". Cumulus introduced search capabilities beyond those available in the Macintosh at the time, particularly relating to thumbnails. Cumulus 1.0 was a single-user product with no network capabilities. Among the main features of Cumulus 1.0, the search function automatically generated previews and contained support for the included AppleTalk – Peer-to-Peer – network. Cumulus 2.5 was available in five different languages and received the 1993 MacUser magazine Eddy award for "Best Publishing & Graphics Utility". In 1995, Canto introduced the scanner software "Cirrus" to focus on the development of Cumulus. Cumulus 3, released in 1996, introduced a server version for the first time and contained the possibility to spread files over the Internet via the "Web Publisher". Since Apple offered Cumulus 3 with its "Workgroup Server" as a bundle, Cumulus became one of the leading digital asset management systems. Cumulus 4 was the first version that was network-ready, and was available for Macintosh, Windows and UNIX operating systems allowing for cross-platform file sharing. Released in 1998, the support of Solaris was discounted later. Cumulus 5 modified the software core to use an open architecture providing an API to external systems and databases. The open architecture of Cumulus 5 also enabled a more functional bridge between Cumulus and the Internet. Cumulus 6 introduced Embedded Java Plugin (EJP) which allowed system integrators to build custom Java plug-ins in order to extend the functionality of the Cumulus client. Cumulus 6.5 marked the end of the Cumulus Single User Edition product, which was licensed to MediaDex for further development and distribution. Cumulus 7 was introduced summer of 2006. Cumulus 8 was released in June 2009, with new indexing capabilities taking advantage of multicore/multiprocessor systems, and ability to manage a wider variety of file formats. Cumulus 8.5 was released in May 2011. Support was added for multilingual metadata, sometimes referred to as "World Metadata." Cumulus Sites was updated to support metadata editing and file uploads. Cumulus 8.6 was released in July 2012, and contains an updated user interface for the administration of Cumulus Sites and additional features for web-based administration of Cumulus. Other additions include features for collaboration links, multi-language support and automated version control. Cumulus 9 was released in September 2013 and introduced a new Web Client User Interface and the Cumulus Video Cloud. The Cumulus Web Client UI was redesigned to provide users with a modern, easy-to-use interface to support and guide the user while addressing modern business needs. The Cumulus Video Cloud extends the Cumulus video handling capabilities to add conversion and global streaming. Cumulus 9 also saw the addition of upload collection links which allow external collaborators to drag and drop files directly into Cumulus without needing a Cumulus account. Cumulus 9.1 was released in May 2014 and introduced the Adobe Drive Adapter for Cumulus which allows users to browse and search digital assets in Cumulus directly from Adobe work environments such as Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premier and other Adobe applications. Cumulus 10 (Cumulus X) was released July 2015 and introduced two mobile-friendly products: the Cumulus app and Portals. The Cumulus app on iOS was designed to allow users to collaborate either on an iPhone or iPad. Portals is the read-only version of the Cumulus Web Client where users can work with assets that admins allow. Cumulus 10.1 was introduced in January 2016 and included the InDesign Client integration where users can work with Adobe InDesign while accessing their assets from Cumulus. Cumulus 10.2 was introduced in September 2016 and brought the Media Delivery Cloud using Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows users to manage their media rendition in a single source and distribute media files globally across different channels and devices. Cumulus 10.2.3 was released in February 2017 and came with a "crop and customize photos" feature for Portals and the Web Client. == Product overview == The cataloging of the file via upload into the archive is where Cumulus transfers maximum information about the file from the metadata. For image or photo files, this is typically Exif and IPTC data. The metadata is mainly used to search the archive. The use of embargo data supports license management for copyrighted material. The managed files can be cataloged and their usage can be set. The indexing is based on a predefined taxonomy, which is governed by the internal rules of the organization or by industry standards. You can specify whether files can only be used for specific purposes or only by certain groups of people. The production management system includes version management for files. Via the publication function, the files can be distributed directly via links or e-mails. It's also possible to access from the outside via the Cumulus Portals web interface, which allows a read access to released content from the catalog. There are different variants, starting with the "Workgroup archive server" up to the "Enterprise Business Server" for large companies. Both server and client are extensible through a Java-based plug-in architecture. Since version 7.0, there is a web application based on Ajax with a separate user interface. For access to the Cumulus catalog on mobile, there has been an application for Apple devices based on iOS since 2010. == Miscellaneous == In 2015, Cumulus developer Canto established the first Canto digital asset management (DAM) event. The event is held annually in Berlin. The Henry Stewart team has been hosting DAM conferences since 2006.
AI Seoul Summit 2024
The AI Seoul Summit 2024 was an event in May 2024 co-hosted by the South Korean and British governments. The Seoul Declaration was adopted to address artificial intelligence technology and related challenges and opportunities. == Background == The AI Seoul Summit is the second such meeting following the AI Safety Summit held in the United Kingdom in November 2023. In the Bletchley Declaration, the participating countries agreed to prioritize identifying AI safety risks of shared concern, a shared concern, but at the Seoul Summit, the leaders also recognized the importance of AI. == Notable attendees == The summit was attended by the leaders of Group of Seven countries, including the United States, Canada, France, and Germany, South Korea, Singapore and Australia, representatives of the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the European Union. Also in attendance were representatives of global companies such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and South Korea's top portal operator Naver. == Topics == === South Korean AI safety center === "South Korea will push forward with the establishment of an AI safety research center in Korea and join a network to boost the global safety of AI." Minister of Science, Lee Jong-ho said that South Korea was planning to open an AI Safety Institute in 2024. He also expressed his intention to strengthen cooperation for the development of international standards. === Seoul Declaration for Safe, Innovative and Inclusive AI === The Seoul Declaration was adopted at the summit by leaders representing the EU, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. The declaration is a commitment to foster international cooperation to help develop AI governance frameworks that are interoperable between countries, partly by integrating the Hiroshima Process International Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems. It advocates for the development of human-centric AI in collaboration with the private sector, academia, and civil society. === Seoul Ministerial Statement for advancing AI safety === At the ministerial meeting of the summit, the Seoul Ministerial Statement, a joint statement calling for the improvement of the safety, innovation, and inclusivity of AI technologies, was adopted by ministers from Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US, as well as an EU representative. It aims to develop low-power chips as the AI industry rapidly expands and massive consumption is expected. == Global AI Summit series ==