Cloud testing is a form of software testing in which web applications use cloud computing environments (a "cloud") to simulate real-world user traffic. == Steps == Companies simulate real world Web users by using cloud testing services that are provided by cloud service vendors such as Advaltis, Compuware, HP, Keynote Systems, Neotys, RadView and SOASTA. Once user scenarios are developed and the test is designed, these service providers leverage cloud servers (provided by cloud platform vendors such as Amazon.com, Google, Rackspace, Microsoft, etc.) to generate web traffic that originates from around the world. Once the test is complete, the cloud service providers deliver results and analytics back to corporate IT professionals through real-time dashboards for a complete analysis of how their applications and the internet will perform during peak volumes. == Applications == Cloud testing is often seen as only performance or load tests, however, as discussed earlier it covers many other types of testing. Cloud computing itself is often referred to as the marriage of software as a service (SaaS) and utility computing. In regard to test execution, the software offered as a service may be a transaction generator and the cloud provider's infrastructure software, or may just be the latter. Distributed Systems and Parallel Systems mainly use this approach for testing, because of their inherent complex nature. D-Cloud is an example of such a software testing environment. == Tools == Leading cloud computing service providers include, among others, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, RadView, Skytap, HP and SOASTA. == Benefits == The ability and cost to simulate web traffic for software testing purposes has been an inhibitor to overall web reliability. The low cost and accessibility of the cloud's extremely large computing resources provides the ability to replicate real world usage of these systems by geographically distributed users, executing wide varieties of user scenarios, at scales previously unattainable in traditional testing environments. Minimal start-up time along with quality assurance can be achieved by cloud testing. Following are some of the key benefits: Reduction in capital expenditure Highly scalable
VideoThang
VideoThang was free video editing software for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. The software has three parts to it which are My Stuff, Edit My Stuff, and My Mix. The software accepts MOV, AVI, MPG, MP4, PNG, WMV, FLV, and MP3 standards. Its official website is now no longer available. == Reception == Jan Ozer, of Pcmag, said that the software "suffers from several unfortunate design and implementation flaws that dramatically limit output quality and overall utility." Jon L. Jacobi, of PC World, said that the software "may not be the most flexible multimedia editor in the world, but the trim/zoom basics are there, it's free, and it's so simple to use that just about anyone in the world should be able figure it out." Amit Agarwal, of Digital Inspiration, said that the software "doesn’t offer loads of features like other video editors but is perfect for making quick video slideshows of your pictures that you can upload on the web or share via email."
Open Compute Project
The Open Compute Project (OCP) is an organization that facilitates the sharing of data center product designs and industry best practices among companies. Founded in 2011, OCP has significantly influenced the design and operation of large-scale computing facilities worldwide. As of February 2025, over 400 companies across the world are members of OCP, including Arm, Meta, IBM, Wiwynn, Intel, Nokia, Google, Microsoft, Seagate Technology, Dell, Rackspace, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NVIDIA, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Lenovo, Accton Technology Corporation and Alibaba Group. == Structure == The Open Compute Project Foundation is a 501(c)(6) non-profit incorporated in the state of Delaware, United States. OCP has multiple committees, including the board of directors, advisory board and steering committee to govern its operations. As of July 2020, there are seven members who serve on the board of directors which is made up of one individual member and six organizational members. Mark Roenigk (Facebook) is the Foundation's president and chairman. Andy Bechtolsheim is the individual member. In addition to Mark Roenigk who represents Facebook, other organizations on the Open Compute board of directors include Intel (Rebecca Weekly), Microsoft (Kushagra Vaid), Google (Partha Ranganathan), and Rackspace (Jim Hawkins). A list of members can be found on the OCP website. == History == The Open Compute Project began at Facebook (now Meta) in 2009 as an internal project called "Project Freedom". The hardware designs and engineering teams were led by Amir Michael (Manager, Hardware Design) and sponsored by Jonathan Heiliger (VP, Technical Operations) and Frank Frankovsky (Director, Hardware Design and Infrastructure). The three would later open source the designs of Project Freedom and co-found the Open Compute Project. The project was announced at a press event at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto on April 7, 2011. == OCP projects == The Open Compute Project Foundation maintains a number of OCP projects, such as: === Server designs === In 2013, two years after the Open Compute Project had started, it was noted that the goal of a more modular server design was "still a long way from live data centers". However, by then some aspects published had been used in Facebook's Prineville data center to improve energy efficiency, as measured by the power usage effectiveness index defined by The Green Grid. Efforts to advance server compute node designs included one for Intel processors and one for AMD processors. Also in 2013, Calxeda contributed a design with ARM architecture processors. Since then, several generations of OCP server designs have been deployed: Wildcat (Intel), Spitfire (AMD), Windmill (Intel E5-2600), Watermark (AMD), Winterfell (Intel E5-2600 v2) and Leopard (Intel E5-2600 v3). === OCP Accelerator Module === OCP Accelerator Module (OAM) is a design specification for hardware architectures that implement artificial intelligence systems that require high module-to-module bandwidth. OAM is used in some of AMD's Instinct accelerator modules. === Rack and power designs === Designs for a mechanical mounting system to replace standard 19-inch racks have been published, with a cabinet the same outside width (600 mm) and depth as existing racks, but with an interior space allowing for wider equipment chassis with a 537 mm width (21 inches). This allows more equipment to fit in the same volume and improves air flow. Compute chassis sizes are defined in multiples of an OpenU or OU, which is 48 mm, slightly taller than the 44 mm rack unit defined for 19-inch racks. As of March 2026, the most current base mechanical definition is the Open Rack V3.1 Specification. At the time the base specification was released, Meta also defined in greater depth the specifications for the rectifiers and power shelf. Specifications for the power monitoring interface (PMI), a communications interface enabling upstream communications between the rectifiers and battery backup unit(BBU) were published by Meta that same year, with Delta Electronics as the main technical contributor to the BBU spec. However, since 2022 the AI boom in the data center has created higher power requirements in order to satisfy the demands of AI accelerators that have been released. As of September 2024, Meta is in the process of updating its Open Rack v3 rectifier, power shelf, battery backup and power management interface specifications to accommodate this increased energy demand. In May 2024, at an Open Compute regional summit, Meta and Rittal outlined their plans for development of their High Power Rack (HPR) ecosystem in conjunction with rack, power and cable partners, increasing power capacity in the rack to 92 kilowatts or more. At the same meeting, Delta Electronics and Advanced Energy reported on their progress in developing new Open Compute standard specifications for power shelf and rectifier designs for HPR applications. Rittal also outlined their collaboration with Meta in designing airflow containment, busbar designs and grounding schemes for the new HPR requirements. === Data storage === Open Vault storage building blocks (also called "Knox") offer high disk densities, with 30 drives in a 2 OU Open Rack chassis designed for easy disk drive replacement. The 3.5 inch disks are stored in two drawers, five across and three deep in each drawer, with connections via serial attached SCSI. There is a "cold storage" variant where idle disks power down to reduce energy consumption. Another design concept was contributed by Hyve Solutions, a division of Synnex, in 2012. At the OCP Summit 2016 Facebook, together with Taiwanese ODM Wistron's spin-off Wiwynn, introduced "Lightning", a flexible NVMe JBOF (just a bunch of flash), based on the existing Open Vault (Knox) design. === Energy efficient data centers === The OCP has published data center designs for energy efficiency. These include power distribution at three-phase 277/480 VAC, which eliminates one transformer stage in typical North American data centers, a single voltage (12.5 VDC) power supply designed to work with 277/480 VAC input, and 48 VDC battery backup. For European (and other 230V countries) datacenters, there is a specification for 230/400 VAC power distribution and its conversion to 12.5 VDC. === Open networking switches === On May 8, 2013, an effort to define an open network switch was announced. The plan was to allow Facebook to load its own operating system software onto its top-of-rack switches. Press reports predicted that more expensive and higher-performance switches would continue to be popular, while less expensive products treated more like a commodity. The first attempt at an open networking switch by Facebook was designed together with Taiwanese ODM Accton using Broadcom Trident II chip and is called "Wedge"; the Linux OS that it runs is called "FBOSS". Later switch contributions include "6-pack" and Wedge-100, based on Broadcom Tomahawk chips. Similar switch hardware designs have been contributed by: Accton Technology Corporation (and its Edgecore Networks subsidiary), Mellanox Technologies, Interface Masters Technologies, Agema Systems. Capable of running Open Network Install Environment (ONIE)-compatible network operating systems such as Cumulus Linux, Switch Light OS by Big Switch Networks, or PICOS by Pica8. A similar project for a custom switch for the Google platform had been rumored, and evolved to use the OpenFlow protocol. === Servers === A sub-project for Mezzanine (NIC) OCP NIC 3.0 specification 1v00 was released in late 2019 establishing three form factors: SFF, TSFF, and LFF. == Litigation == In March, 2015, BladeRoom Group Limited and Bripco (UK) Limited sued Facebook, Emerson Electric Co. and others alleging that Facebook has disclosed BladeRoom and Bripco's trade secrets for prefabricated data centers in the Open Compute Project. Facebook petitioned for the lawsuit to be dismissed, but this was rejected in 2017. A confidential mid-trial settlement was agreed in April 2018.
Driver scheduling problem
The driver scheduling problem (DSP) is type of problem in operations research and theoretical computer science. The DSP consists of selecting a set of duties (assignments) for the drivers or pilots of vehicles (e.g., buses, trains, boats, or planes) involved in the transportation of passengers or goods, within the constraints of various legislative and logistical criteria. == Criteria and modelling == This very complex problem involves several constraints related to labour and company rules and also different evaluation criteria and objectives. Being able to solve this problem efficiently can have a great impact on costs and quality of service for public transportation companies. There is a large number of different rules that a feasible duty might be required to satisfy, such as Minimum and maximum stretch duration Minimum and maximum break duration Minimum and maximum work duration Minimum and maximum total duration Maximum extra work duration Maximum number of vehicle changes Minimum driving duration of a particular vehicle Operations research has provided optimization models and algorithms that lead to efficient solutions for this problem. Among the most common models proposed to solve the DSP are the Set Covering and Set Partitioning Models (SPP/SCP). In the SPP model, each work piece (task) is covered by only one duty. In the SCP model, it is possible to have more than one duty covering a given work piece. In both models, the set of work pieces that needs to be covered is laid out in rows, and the set of previously defined feasible duties available for covering specific work pieces is arranged in columns. The DSP resolution, based on either of these models, is the selection of the set of feasible duties that guarantees that there is one (SPP) or more (SCP) duties covering each work piece while minimizing the total cost of the final schedule.
Irish logarithm
The Irish logarithm was a system of number manipulation invented by Percy Ludgate for machine multiplication. The system used a combination of mechanical cams as lookup tables and mechanical addition to sum pseudo-logarithmic indices to produce partial products, which were then added to produce results. The technique is similar to Zech logarithms (also known as Jacobi logarithms), but uses a system of indices original to Ludgate. == Concept == Ludgate's algorithm compresses the multiplication of two single decimal numbers into two table lookups (to convert the digits into indices), the addition of the two indices to create a new index which is input to a second lookup table that generates the output product. Because both lookup tables are one-dimensional, and the addition of linear movements is simple to implement mechanically, this allows a less complex mechanism than would be needed to implement a two-dimensional 10×10 multiplication lookup table. Ludgate stated that he deliberately chose the values in his tables to be as small as he could make them; given this, Ludgate's tables can be simply constructed from first principles, either via pen-and-paper methods, or a systematic search using only a few tens of lines of program code. They do not correspond to either Zech logarithms, Remak indexes or Korn indexes. == Pseudocode == The following is an implementation of Ludgate's Irish logarithm algorithm in the Python programming language: Table 1 is taken from Ludgate's original paper; given the first table, the contents of Table 2 can be trivially derived from Table 1 and the definition of the algorithm. Note since that the last third of the second table is entirely zeros, this could be exploited to further simplify a mechanical implementation of the algorithm.
Semantic space
Semantic spaces in the natural language domain aim to create representations of natural language that are capable of capturing meaning. The original motivation for semantic spaces stems from two core challenges of natural language: Vocabulary mismatch (the fact that the same meaning can be expressed in many ways) and ambiguity of natural language (the fact that the same term can have several meanings). The application of semantic spaces in natural language processing (NLP) aims at overcoming limitations of rule-based or model-based approaches operating on the keyword level. The main drawback with these approaches is their brittleness, and the large manual effort required to create either rule-based NLP systems or training corpora for model learning. Rule-based and machine learning based models are fixed on the keyword level and break down if the vocabulary differs from that defined in the rules or from the training material used for the statistical models. Research in semantic spaces dates back more than 20 years. In 1996, two papers were published that raised a lot of attention around the general idea of creating semantic spaces: latent semantic analysis and Hyperspace Analogue to Language. However, their adoption was limited by the large computational effort required to construct and use those semantic spaces. A breakthrough with regard to the accuracy of modelling associative relations between words (e.g. "spider-web", "lighter-cigarette", as opposed to synonymous relations such as "whale-dolphin", "astronaut-driver") was achieved by explicit semantic analysis (ESA) in 2007. ESA was a novel (non-machine learning) based approach that represented words in the form of vectors with 100,000 dimensions (where each dimension represents an Article in Wikipedia). However practical applications of the approach are limited due to the large number of required dimensions in the vectors. More recently, advances in neural network techniques in combination with other new approaches (tensors) led to a host of new recent developments: Word2vec from Google, GloVe from Stanford University, and fastText from Facebook AI Research (FAIR) labs.
Outline of artificial intelligence
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is also the name of the scientific field which studies how to create computers and computer software that are capable of intelligent behavior. == AI terminology == Glossary of artificial intelligence == Goals and applications == === General intelligence === Artificial general intelligence AI-complete === Reasoning and problem solving === Automated reasoning Mathematics Automated theorem prover Computer-assisted proof – Computer algebra General Problem Solver Expert system – Decision support system – Clinical decision support system – === Knowledge representation === Knowledge representation Knowledge management Cyc === Planning === Automated planning and scheduling Strategic planning Sussman anomaly – === Learning === Machine learning – Constrained Conditional Models – Deep learning – Neural modeling fields – Supervised learning – Weak supervision (semi-supervised learning) – Unsupervised learning – === Natural language processing === Natural language processing (outline) – Chatterbots – Language identification – Large language model – Retrieval-augmented generation – Natural language user interface – Natural language understanding – Machine translation – Statistical semantics – Question answering – Semantic translation – Concept mining – Data mining – Text mining – Process mining – E-mail spam filtering – Information extraction – Named-entity extraction – Coreference resolution – Named-entity recognition – Relationship extraction – Terminology extraction – === Perception === Machine perception Pattern recognition – Computer Audition – Speech recognition – Speaker recognition – Computer vision (outline) – Image processing Intelligent word recognition – Object recognition – Optical mark recognition – Handwriting recognition – Optical character recognition – Automatic number plate recognition – Information extraction – Image retrieval – Automatic image annotation – Facial recognition systems – Silent speech interface – Activity recognition – Percept (artificial intelligence) === Robotics === Robotics – Behavior-based robotics – Cognitive – Cybernetics – Developmental robotics – Evolutionary robotics – === Control === Intelligent control Self-management (computer science) – Autonomic Computing – Autonomic Networking – === Social intelligence === Affective computing Kismet === Game playing === Game artificial intelligence – Computer game bot – computer replacement for human players. Video game AI – Computer chess – Computer Go – General game playing – General video game playing – === Creativity, art and entertainment === Artificial creativity Artificial life Artificial intelligence art AI anthropomorphism AI agent AI web browser AI boom AI slop Creative computing Generative artificial intelligence Generative pre trained transformer Uncanny valley Music and artificial intelligence Computational humor Chatbot === Integrated AI systems === AIBO – Sony's robot dog. It integrates vision, hearing and motorskills. Asimo (2000 to present) – humanoid robot developed by Honda, capable of walking, running, negotiating through pedestrian traffic, climbing and descending stairs, recognizing speech commands and the faces of specific individuals, among a growing set of capabilities. MIRAGE – A.I. embodied humanoid in an augmented reality environment. Cog – M.I.T. humanoid robot project under the direction of Rodney Brooks. QRIO – Sony's version of a humanoid robot. TOPIO, TOSY's humanoid robot that can play ping-pong with humans. Watson (2011) – computer developed by IBM that played and won the game show Jeopardy! It is now being used to guide nurses in medical procedures. Purpose: Open domain question answering Technologies employed: Natural language processing Information retrieval Knowledge representation Automated reasoning Machine learning Project Debater (2018) – artificially intelligent computer system, designed to make coherent arguments, developed at IBM's lab in Haifa, Israel. === Intelligent personal assistants === Intelligent personal assistant – Amazon Alexa – Assistant – Braina – Cortana – Google Assistant – Google Now – Mycroft – Siri – Viv – === Other applications === Artificial life – simulation of natural life through the means of computers, robotics, or biochemistry. Automatic target recognition – Diagnosis (artificial intelligence) – Speech generating device – Vehicle infrastructure integration – Virtual Intelligence – == History == History of artificial intelligence Progress in artificial intelligence Timeline of artificial intelligence AI effect – as soon as AI successfully solves a problem, the problem is no longer considered by the public to be a part of AI. This phenomenon has occurred in relation to every AI application produced, so far, throughout the history of development of AI. AI winter – a period of disappointment and funding reductions occurring after a wave of high expectations and funding in AI. Such funding cuts occurred in the 1970s, for instance. Moore's law === History by period === 2017 in artificial intelligence 2018 in artificial intelligence 2019 in artificial intelligence 2020 in artificial intelligence 2021 in artificial intelligence 2022 in artificial intelligence 2023 in artificial intelligence 2024 in artificial intelligence 2025 in artificial intelligence 2026 in artificial intelligence 2027 in artificial intelligence 2028 in artificial intelligence 2029 in artificial intelligence === History by subject === History of logic (formal reasoning is an important precursor of AI) History of machine learning (timeline) History of machine translation (timeline) History of natural language processing History of optical character recognition (timeline) == AI algorithms and techniques == === Search === Discrete search algorithms Uninformed search Brute force search – Problem-solving technique and algorithmic paradigmPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Search tree – Data structure in tree form sorted for fast lookup Breadth-first search – Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph Depth-first search – Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph State space search – Class of search algorithmsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Informed search Best-first search – Graph exploring search algorithm A search algorithm – Algorithm used for pathfinding and graph traversal Heuristics – Problem-solving methodPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Pruning (algorithm) – Data compression techniquePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Adversarial search Minmax algorithm – Decision rule used for minimizing the possible loss for a worst-case scenarioPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Logic as search Production system (computer science) – Computer program used to provide artificial intelligence Rule based system – Type of computer systemPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Production rule – Computer program used to provide artificial intelligence Inference rule – Method of deriving conclusionsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Horn clause – Type of logical formula Forward chaining – Inference engine in an expert system Backward chaining – Method of forming inferences Planning as search State space search – Class of search algorithmsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Means–ends analysis – Problem solving technique === Optimization search === Optimization (mathematics) algorithms Hill climbing – Optimization algorithm Simulated annealing – Probabilistic optimization technique and metaheuristic Beam search – Heuristic search algorithm Random optimization – Optimization technique in mathematics Evolutionary computation Genetic algorithms – Competitive algorithm for searching a problem spacePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Gene expression programming – Evolutionary algorithm Genetic programming – Evolving computer programs with techniques analogous to natural genetic processes Differential evolution – Method of mathematical optimization Society based learning algorithms. Swarm intelligence – Collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems Particle swarm optimization – Iterative simulation method Ant colony optimization – Optimization algorithmPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Metaheuristic – Optimization technique === Logic === Logic and automated reasoning Programming using logic Logic programming – Programming paradigm based on formal logic See "Logic as search" above. Forms of Logic Propositional logic First-order logic First-order logic with equality Constraint satisfaction – Process in artificial intelligence and operations research Fuzzy logic Fuzzy set theory – Sets whose elements have degrees of membershipPages displaying short descriptions