AI Content Vs Human Content

AI Content Vs Human Content — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Unfold (app)

    Unfold (app)

    Unfold is a mobile application that allows users to create social media content using a variety of templates and other tools. It was founded in 2018 by Alfonso Cobo and Andy McCune. It enables users to add photos, video, and text with a variety of tools. In 2019, Unfold was acquired by Squarespace. == History == In January 2017, Alfonso Cobo was studying at Parsons School of Design when he realized there was no software or app that could create a portfolio of his work on an iPad. Cobo created an app called Portfolio, a basic version of a portfolio layout app, and the first one to exist for iPad. He launched it in 2017. After launching the first version of Portfolio, Cobo realized the more popular market and use case was on mobile. Around that time, Instagram was launching Stories. As a result, Cobo pivoted the app away from portfolios and instead focused on an app to showcase one's stories. Cobo later contacted Andy McCune, founder of social media account Earth, to collaborate with Unfold. Unfold also partnered with various companies to create custom templates. These include Equinox, Tommy Hilfiger, NARS, Billboard Music Awards, and Product Red. Unfold also launched a collection of Product Red templates to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in several African countries. In 2019, Squarespace acquired Unfold. The Unfold app has been downloaded over 60 million times and has been used to create over 1 billion Instagram stories. == Features == With Unfold, users can utilize hundreds of templates to make social content for social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. The free app offers users basic templates and standard fonts, filters, and stickers, and there are also premium templates available for a monthly subscription. With Unfold+ and Unfold Pro (previously Unfold for Brands), users can access premium templates and tools, as well as upload custom brand assets and fonts. In 2020, Unfold launched Bio Sites, which allows users to link to multiple sites and platforms.

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  • Weibo

    Weibo

    Weibo (Chinese: 微博; pinyin: Wēibó), or Sina Weibo (Chinese: 新浪微博; pinyin: Xīnlàng Wēibó), is a Chinese microblogging (weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily active users) as of Q1 2022. The platform has been highly successful but has faced criticism for heavy censorship. Sina had gone public on the Nasdaq in 2000. In March 2014, Sina announced a spinoff of Weibo and filed an IPO under the symbol WB. Sina carved out 11% of Weibo in the IPO, with Alibaba owning 32% post-IPO. The company began trading publicly on 17 April 2014. In March 2017, Sina launched Sina Weibo International Version. In November 2018, Sina Weibo suspended its registration function for minors under the age of 14. In July 2019, Sina Weibo announced that it would launch a two-month campaign to clean up pornographic and vulgar information, named "Project Deep Blue" (蔚蓝计划). On 29 September 2020, the company announced it would go private again due to rising tensions between the US and China. == Name == "Weibo" (微博) is the Chinese word for "microblog". Sina Weibo launched its new domain name weibo.com on 7 April 2011, deactivating and redirecting from the old domain, t.sina.com.cn, to the new one. Due to its popularity, the media sometimes refers to the platform simply as "Weibo", despite the numerous other Chinese microblogging services including Tencent Weibo, Sohu Weibo, and NetEase Weibo. However, the latter three have stopped providing services. == Background == Sina Weibo is a platform based on fostering user relationships to share, disseminate, and receive information. Through the website or the mobile app, users can upload pictures and videos publicly for instant sharing, with other users being able to comment with text, pictures and videos, or use a multimedia instant messaging service. The company initially invited a large number of celebrities to join the platform at the beginning and has since invited many media personalities, government departments, businesses and non-governmental organizations to open accounts for the purpose of publishing and communicating information. To avoid the impersonation of celebrities, Sina Weibo uses verification symbols; celebrity accounts have an orange letter "V" and organizations' accounts have a blue letter "V". Sina Weibo has more than 500 million registered users; out of these, 313 million are monthly active users, 85% use the Weibo mobile app, 70% are college-aged, 50.10% are male and 49.90% are female. There are over 100 million messages posted by users each day. With more than 100 million followers, actress Xie Na holds the record for the most followers on the platform. Despite fierce competition among Chinese social media platforms, Sina Weibo remains the most popular. == History == After the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, China shut down most domestic microblogging services, including Fanfou, the very first weibo service. Many popular non-China-based microblogging services like Twitter, Facebook, and Plurk have since been blocked. Sina Corporation CEO Charles Chao considered this to be an opportunity, and on 14 August 2009, Sina launched the tested version of Sina Weibo. Basic functions including message, private message, comment and reposting were made available that September. A Sina Weibo–compatible API platform for developing third-party applications was launched on 28 July 2010. On 1 December 2010, the website experienced an outage, which administrators later said was due to the ever-increasing numbers of users and posts. Registered users surpassed 100 million in February 2011. Since 23 March 2011, t.cn has been used as Sina Weibo's official shortened URL in lieu of sinaurl.cn. On 7 April 2011, weibo.com replaced t.sina.com.cn as the new main domain name used by the website. The official logo was also updated. In June 2011, Sina announced an English-language version of Sina Weibo would be developed and launched, though content would still be governed by Chinese law. On 11 January 2013, Sina Weibo and Alibaba China (a subsidiary of Alibaba Group) signed a strategic cooperation agreement. With more and more foreign celebrities using Sina Weibo, language translation has become an urgent need for Chinese users who wish to communicate with their idols online, especially Korean. In January 2013, Sina Weibo and NetEase.com announced that they had reached a strategic cooperation agreement. When users browse foreign language content, they can now directly obtain translation results through the YouDao Dictionary. The Sina Weibo financial report in February 2013 showed that its total revenue was approximately US$66 million and that the number of registered users had exceeded the 500 million mark. In April 2013, Sina officially announced that Sina Weibo had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Alibaba. The two sides conducted in-depth cooperation in areas such as user account interoperability, data exchange, online payment, and internet marketing. At the same time, Sina announced that Alibaba, through its wholly owned subsidiary, had purchased the preferred shares and common shares issued by Sina Weibo Company for US$586 million, which accounted for approximately 18% of Weibo's fully diluted and diluted total shares. === Ownership === On 9 April 2013, Alibaba Group announced that it would acquire 18% of Sina Weibo for US$586 million, with the option to buy up to 30% in the future. Alibaba exercised this option when Weibo was listed on the NASDAQ in April 2014. == Users == According to iResearch's report on 30 March 2011, Sina Weibo had 56.5% of China's microblogging market based on active users and 86.6% based on browsing time over competitors such as Tencent Weibo and Baidu. According to research by Sina Corporation, the number of active users reached over 400 million by Q1 2018, making Sina Weibo the 7th platform with at least 400 million active users, and daily usage increased by 21%. As of 2017, approximately 80% of its users were in their 20s and 30s. The top 100 users had over 485 million followers combined. More than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media organizations in China use Sina Weibo. The site is maintained by a growing microblogging department of 200 employees responsible for technology, design, operations, and marketing. Sina executives invited and persuaded many Chinese celebrities to join the platform. Users now include Asian celebrities, movie stars, singers, famous business and media figures, athletes, scholars, artists, organizations, religious figures, government departments, and officials from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Macau, as well as some famous foreign individuals and organizations, including Kevin Rudd, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Narendra Modi, Toshiba, and the Germany national football team. Sina Weibo has a verification program for known people and organizations. Once an account is verified, a verification badge is added beside the account name. == Features == Many of Sina Weibo's features resemble those of Twitter. A user may post with a 140-character limit (increased to 2,000 as of January 2016 with the exception of reposts and comments). An analysis of 29 million Weibo posts found the median length was 14 characters. Users may mention or talk to other people using "@UserName" formatting, add hashtags, follow other users to make their posts appear in one's own timeline, re-post with "//@UserName" similar to Twitter's retweet function "RT @UserName", select posts for one's favorites list, and verify the account if the user is a celebrity, brand, business or otherwise of public interest. URLs are automatically shortened using the domain name t.cn, akin to Twitter's t.co. Official and third-party applications can access Sina Weibo from other websites or platforms. Users may: Submit up to 18 images/video files in every post Send personal messages to followers Follow others and be followed Post "stories" like on Instagram React to posts using different emojis Receive monetary rewards that can be used in a digital store linked to Weibo View posts identified as "hot" or popular Display the location they post from Hashtags differ slightly between Sina Weibo and Twitter, using the double-hashtag "#HashName#" format (the lack of spacing between Chinese characters necessitates a closing tag). Users can own a hashtag by requesting hashtag monitoring; the company reviews these requests and responds within one to three days. Once a user owns a hashtag, they have access to a wide variety of functions available only to them on the condition that they remain active (less than 1 post per calendar week revokes these privileges). Additionally, comments appear as a list below each post. A commenter can also choose to re-post the comment, quoting the whole original post, to their own page. Unregistered users can only browse a few post

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  • IT baseline protection

    IT baseline protection

    The IT baseline protection (German: IT-Grundschutz) approach from the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is a methodology to identify and implement computer security measures in an organization. The aim is the achievement of an adequate and appropriate level of security for IT systems. To reach this goal the BSI recommends "well-proven technical, organizational, personnel, and infrastructural safeguards". Organizations and federal agencies show their systematic approach to secure their IT systems (e.g. Information Security Management System) by obtaining an ISO/IEC 27001 Certificate on the basis of IT-Grundschutz. == Overview baseline security == The term baseline security signifies standard security measures for typical IT systems. It is used in various contexts with somewhat different meanings. For example: Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: Software tool focused on Microsoft operating system and services security Cisco security baseline: Vendor recommendation focused on network and network device security controls Nortel baseline security: Set of requirements and best practices with a focus on network operators ISO/IEC 13335-3 defines a baseline approach to risk management. This standard has been replaced by ISO/IEC 27005, but the baseline approach was not taken over yet into the 2700x series. There are numerous internal baseline security policies for organizations, The German BSI has a comprehensive baseline security standard, that is compliant with the ISO/IEC 27000-series == BSI IT baseline protection == The foundation of an IT baseline protection concept is initially not a detailed risk analysis. It proceeds from overall hazards. Consequently, sophisticated classification according to damage extent and probability of occurrence is ignored. Three protection needs categories are established. With their help, the protection needs of the object under investigation can be determined. Based on these, appropriate personnel, technical, organizational and infrastructural security measures are selected from the IT Baseline Protection Catalogs. The Federal Office for Security in Information Technology's IT Baseline Protection Catalogs offer a "cookbook recipe" for a normal level of protection. Besides probability of occurrence and potential damage extents, implementation costs are also considered. By using the Baseline Protection Catalogs, costly security analyses requiring expert knowledge are dispensed with, since overall hazards are worked with in the beginning. It is possible for the relative layman to identify measures to be taken and to implement them in cooperation with professionals. The BSI grants a baseline protection certificate as confirmation for the successful implementation of baseline protection. In stages 1 and 2, this is based on self declaration. In stage 3, an independent, BSI-licensed auditor completes an audit. Certification process internationalization has been possible since 2006. ISO/IEC 27001 certification can occur simultaneously with IT baseline protection certification. (The ISO/IEC 27001 standard is the successor of BS 7799-2). This process is based on the new BSI security standards. This process carries a development price which has prevailed for some time. Corporations having themselves certified under the BS 7799-2 standard are obliged to carry out a risk assessment. To make it more comfortable, most deviate from the protection needs analysis pursuant to the IT Baseline Protection Catalogs. The advantage is not only conformity with the strict BSI, but also attainment of BS 7799-2 certification. Beyond this, the BSI offers a few help aids like the policy template and the GSTOOL. One data protection component is available, which was produced in cooperation with the German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information and the state data protection authorities and integrated into the IT Baseline Protection Catalog. This component is not considered, however, in the certification process. == Baseline protection process == The following steps are taken pursuant to the baseline protection process during structure analysis and protection needs analysis: The IT network is defined. IT structure analysis is carried out. Protection needs determination is carried out. A baseline security check is carried out. IT baseline protection measures are implemented. Creation occurs in the following steps: IT structure analysis (survey) Assessment of protection needs Selection of actions Running comparison of nominal and actual. === IT structure analysis === An IT network includes the totality of infrastructural, organizational, personnel, and technical components serving the fulfillment of a task in a particular information processing application area. An IT network can thereby encompass the entire IT character of an institution or individual division, which is partitioned by organizational structures as, for example, a departmental network, or as shared IT applications, for example, a personnel information system. It is necessary to analyze and document the information technological structure in question to generate an IT security concept and especially to apply the IT Baseline Protection Catalogs. Due to today's usually heavily networked IT systems, a network topology plan offers a starting point for the analysis. The following aspects must be taken into consideration: The available infrastructure, The organizational and personnel framework for the IT network, Networked and non-networked IT systems employed in the IT network. The communications connections between IT systems and externally, IT applications run within the IT network. === Protection needs determination === The purpose of the protection needs determination is to investigate what protection is sufficient and appropriate for the information and information technology in use. In this connection, the damage to each application and the processed information, which could result from a breach of confidentiality, integrity or availability, is considered. Important in this context is a realistic assessment of the possible follow-on damages. A division into the three protection needs categories "low to medium", "high" and "very high" has proved itself of value. "Public", "internal" and "secret" are often used for confidentiality. === Modelling === Heavily networked IT systems typically characterize information technology in government and business these days. As a rule, therefore, it is advantageous to consider the entire IT system and not just individual systems within the scope of an IT security analysis and concept. To be able to manage this task, it makes sense to logically partition the entire IT system into parts and to separately consider each part or even an IT network. Detailed documentation about its structure is prerequisite for the use of the IT Baseline Protection Catalogs on an IT network. This can be achieved, for example, via the IT structure analysis described above. The IT Baseline Protection Catalog’s' components must ultimately be mapped onto the components of the IT network in question in a modelling step. === Baseline security check === The baseline security check is an organisational instrument offering a quick overview of the prevailing IT security level. With the help of interviews, the status quo of an existing IT network (as modelled by IT baseline protection) relative to the number of security measures implemented from the IT Baseline Protection Catalogs are investigated. The result is a catalog in which the implementation status "dispensable", "yes", "partly", or "no" is entered for each relevant measure. By identifying not yet, or only partially, implemented measures, improvement options for the security of the information technology in question are highlighted. The baseline security check gives information about measures, which are still missing (nominal vs. actual comparison). From this follows what remains to be done to achieve baseline protection through security. Not all measures suggested by this baseline check need to be implemented. Peculiarities are to be taken into account! It could be that several more or less unimportant applications are running on a server, which have lesser protection needs. In their totality, however, these applications are to be provided with a higher level of protection. This is called the (cumulation effect). The applications running on a server determine its need for protection. Several IT applications can run on an IT system. When this occurs, the application with the greatest need for protection determines the IT system’s protection category. Conversely, it is conceivable that an IT application with great protection needs does not automatically transfer this to the IT system. This may happen because the IT system is configured redundantly, or because only an inconsequential part is running on it. This is called the (distribution effect). This is the case, fo

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  • List of monochrome and RGB color formats

    List of monochrome and RGB color formats

    This list of monochrome and RGB palettes includes generic repertoires of colors (color palettes) to produce black-and-white and RGB color pictures by a computer's display hardware. RGB is the most common method to produce colors for displays; so these complete RGB color repertoires have every possible combination of R-G-B triplets within any given maximum number of levels per component. Each palette is represented by a series of color patches. When the number of colors is low, a 1-pixel-size version of the palette appears below it, for easily comparing relative palette sizes. Huge palettes are given directly in one-color-per-pixel color patches. For each unique palette, an image color test chart and sample image (truecolor original follows) rendered with that palette (without dithering) are given. The test chart shows the full 256 levels of the red, green, and blue (RGB) primary colors and cyan, magenta, and yellow complementary colors, along with a full 256-level grayscale. Gradients of RGB intermediate colors (orange, lime green, sea green, sky blue, violet, and fuchsia), and a full hue spectrum are also present. Color charts are not gamma corrected. These elements illustrate the color depth and distribution of the colors of any given palette, and the sample image indicates how the color selection of such palettes could represent real-life images. These images are not necessarily representative of how the image would be displayed on the original graphics hardware, as the hardware may have additional limitations regarding the maximum display resolution, pixel aspect ratio and color placement. Implementation of these formats is specific to each machine. Therefore, the number of colors that can be simultaneously displayed in a given text or graphic mode might be different. Also, the actual displayed colors are subject to the output format used - PAL or NTSC, composite or component video, etc. - and might be slightly different. For simulated images and specific hardware and alternate methods to produce colors other than RGB (ex: composite), see the List of 8-bit computer hardware palettes, the List of 16-bit computer hardware palettes and the List of video game console palettes. For various software arrangements and sorts of colors, including other possible full RGB arrangements within 8-bit color depth displays, see the List of software palettes. == Monochrome palettes == These palettes only have some shades of gray, from black to white (considered the darkest and lightest "grays", respectively). The general rule is that those palettes have 2n different shades of gray, where n is the number of bits needed to represent a single pixel. === Monochrome (1-bit grayscale) === Monochrome graphics displays typically have a black background with a white or light gray image, though green and amber monochrome monitors were also common. Such a palette requires only one bit per pixel. Where photo-realism was desired, these early computer systems had a heavy reliance on dithering to make up for the limits of the technology. In some systems, as Hercules and CGA graphic cards for the IBM PC, a bit value of 1 represents white pixels (light on) and a value of 0 the black ones (light off); others, like the Playdate and Atari ST and Apple Macintosh with monochrome monitors, a bit value of 0 means a white pixel (no ink) and a value of 1 means a black pixel (dot of ink), which it approximates to the printing logic. === 2-bit Grayscale === In a 2-bit color palette each pixel's value is represented by 2 bits resulting in a 4-value palette (22 = 4). 2-bit dithering: It has black, white and two intermediate levels of gray as follows: A monochrome 2-bit palette is used on: The Monochrome Display Adapter for the IBM PC NeXT Computer, NeXTcube and NeXTstation monochrome graphic displays. Original Game Boy system portable video game console. Macintosh PowerBook 150 monochrome LC displays. Amiga with A2024 monochrome monitor in high-resolution mode. The original Amazon Kindle The original WonderSwan The Tiger Electronics Game.com portable video game console The original Neo Geo Pocket. === 4-bit Grayscale === In a 4-bit color palette each pixel's value is represented by 4 bits resulting in a 16-value palette (24 = 16): 4-bit grayscale dithering does a fairly good job of reducing visible banding of the level changes: A monochrome 4-bit palette is used on: MOS Technology VDC (on the Commodore 128 with monochrome monitor) Amstrad CPC series with a GT64/GT65 Green Monitor (16 unique green shades) Amstrad CPC Plus series with the MM12 Monochrome monitor (16 shades of grey) Some Apple PowerBooks equipped with monochrome displays like the PowerBook 5300 The original VideoNow === 8-bit Grayscale === In an 8-bit color palette each pixel's value is represented by 8 bits resulting in a 256-value palette (28 = 256). This is usually the maximum number of grays in ordinary monochrome systems; each image pixel occupies a single memory byte. Most scanners can capture images in 8-bit grayscale, and image file formats like TIFF and JPEG natively support this monochrome palette size. Alpha channels employed for video overlay also use (conceptually) this palette. The gray level indicates the opacity of the blended image pixel over the background image pixel. == Dichrome palettes == === 16-bit RG palette === The RG or red–green color space is a color space that uses only two primary colors: red and green. It was used on early color processes for films. It was used as an additive format, similar to the RGB color model but without a blue channel, on processes such as Kinemacolor, Prizma, Technicolor I, Raycol, etc., producing shades of black, red, green and yellow. Alternatively, it was used as a subtractive format on Brewster Color I, Kodachrome I, Prizma II, Technicolor II, etc., producing shades of transparent, red, green and black. Until recently, its primary use was in low-cost light-emitting diode displays in which red and green tended to be far more common than the still nascent blue LED technology, but full-color LEDs with blue have become more common in recent years. ColorCode 3-D, a anaglyph stereoscopic color scheme, uses the RG color space to simulate a broad spectrum of color in one eye, while the blue portion of the spectrum transmits a black-and-white (black-and-blue) image to the other eye to give depth perception. === 16-bit RB palette === === 16-bit GB palette === == Regular RGB palettes == Here are grouped those full RGB hardware palettes that have the same number of binary levels (i.e., the same number of bits) for every red, green and blue components using the full RGB color model. Thus, the total number of colors are always the number of possible levels by component, n, raised to a power of 3: n×n×n = n3. === 3-bit RGB === 3-bit RGB dithering: Systems with a 3-bit RGB palette use 1 bit for each of the red, green and blue color components. That is, each component is either "on" or "off" with no intermediate states. This results in an 8-color palette ((21)3 = 23 = 8) that has black, white, the three RGB primary colors red, green and blue and their correspondent complementary colors cyan, magenta and yellow as follows: The color indices vary between implementations; therefore, index numbers are not given. The 3-bit RGB palette is used by: Text terminals following the ECMA-48 standard (sometimes known as the "ANSI standard", although ANSI X3.128 does not define colors) World System Teletext Level 1/1.5 Videotex Oric computers BBC Micro PC-8801 (up to the MkII) PC-9801 (with original 8086 CPU, before the VM/VX models) Sharp X1 (models before the X1 Turbo Z) Sharp MZ 700 FM-7, FM New 7, FM 77 (before the FM77AV) Sinclair QL Space Invaders Part II (arcade hardware) Macintosh SE (with a color printer or external monitor) Atari 2600 (SECAM version) Color Maximite (PIC32 based microcomputer) Arcadia 2001 PV-1000 Monkey Magic (arcade hardware) VIC-20 (high-res mode) Mouse Trap (arcade hardware) Sanyo MBC-550 series Windows 1.0 (includes dithering) === 6-bit RGB === Systems with a 6-bit RGB palette use 2 bits for each of the red, green, and blue color components. This results in a (22)3 = 43 = 64-color palette as follows: 6-bit RGB systems include the following: Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) for IBM PC/AT (16 colors at once) Sega Master System video game console (32 colors at once) GIME for TRS-80 Color Computer 3 (16 colors at once) Pebble Time smartwatch which has a 6-bit (64 color) e-paper display Parallax Propeller using the reference VGA circuit === 9-bit RGB === Systems with a 9-bit RGB palette use 3 bits for each of the red, green, and blue color components. This results in a (23)3 = 83 = 512-color palette as follows: 9-bit RGB systems include the following: Atari ST (Normally 4 to 16 at once without tricks) MSX2 computers (up to 16 at once) Sega Genesis video game console, (64 colors at once) Sega Nomad TurboGrafx-16 (NEC PC-Engine) ZX Spectrum Next The NEC PC-88

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  • Journal of Machine Learning Research

    Journal of Machine Learning Research

    The Journal of Machine Learning Research is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering machine learning. It was established in 2000 and the first editor-in-chief was Leslie Kaelbling. The current editors-in-chief are Francis Bach (Inria) and David Blei (Columbia University). == History == The journal was established as an open-access alternative to the journal Machine Learning. In 2001, forty editorial board members of Machine Learning resigned, saying that in the era of the Internet, it was detrimental for researchers to continue publishing their papers in expensive journals with pay-access archives. The open access model employed by the Journal of Machine Learning Research allows authors to publish articles for free and retain copyright, while archives are freely available online. Print editions of the journal were published by MIT Press until 2004 and by Microtome Publishing thereafter. From its inception, the journal received no revenue from the print edition and paid no subvention to MIT Press or Microtome Publishing. In response to the prohibitive costs of arranging workshop and conference proceedings publication with traditional academic publishing companies, the journal launched a proceedings publication arm in 2007 and now publishes proceedings for several leading machine learning conferences, including the International Conference on Machine Learning, COLT, AISTATS, and workshops held at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.

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  • Hit-testing

    Hit-testing

    In computer graphics programming, hit-testing (hit detection, picking, or pick correlation) is the process of determining whether a user-controlled cursor (such as a mouse cursor or touch-point on a touch-screen interface) intersects a given graphical object (such as a shape, line, or curve) drawn on the screen. Hit-testing may be performed on the movement or activation of a mouse or other pointing device. Hit-testing is used by GUI environments to respond to user actions, such as selecting a menu item or a target in a game based on its visual location. In web programming languages such as HTML, SVG, and CSS, this is associated with the concept of pointer-events (e.g. user-initiated cursor movement or object selection). Collision detection is a related concept for detecting intersections of two or more different graphical objects, rather than intersection of a cursor with one or more graphical objects. == Algorithm == There are many different algorithms that may be used to perform hit-testing, with different performance or accuracy outcomes. One common hit-test algorithm for axis aligned bounding boxes. A key idea is that the box being tested must be either entirely above, entirely below, entirely to the right or left of the current box. If this is not possible, they are colliding. Example logic is presented in the pseudo-code below: In Python:

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  • Data commingling

    Data commingling

    Data commingling, in computer science, occurs when different items or kinds of data are stored in such a way that they become commonly accessible when they are supposed to remain separated. In cloud computing, this can occur where different customer data sits on the same server. Data that is commingled can present a security vulnerability. Data commingling can also occur due to high speed data transmission mixing. In this situation, data of one security level can inadvertently or purposely be mixed with data of a lower or higher security level on the same transmission portal. Portal vehicles can be wire, fiber optics, microwave or various radio frequency transmission portals. This commingling can cause breaches of security and become a source of legal issues to any entity, corporation or individual. Data commingling can also occur when personal computers and personal software programs are used for business, security, government, etc. uses. In the early formulation stages of entities, non-profit or profit corporations, LLC's, LLP's, etc., the creation and use of stand-alone computers and stand-alone networks, "absolutely unconnected" to involved individuals, is the easiest, and safest way to prevent Data Commingling.

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  • Metadatabase

    Metadatabase

    Metadatabase is a database model for (1) metadata management, (2) global query of independent databases, and (3) distributed data processing. The word metadatabase is an addition to the dictionary. Originally, metadata was only a common term referring simply to "data about data", such as tags, keywords, and markup headers. However, in this technology, the concept of metadata is extended to also include such data and knowledge representation as information models (e.g., relations, entities-relationships, and objects), application logic (e.g., production rules), and analytic models (e.g., simulation, optimization, and mathematical algorithms). In the case of analytic models, it is also referred to as a Modelbase. These classes of metadata are integrated with some modeling ontology to give rise to a stable set of meta-relations (tables of metadata). Individual models are interpreted as metadata and entered into these tables. As such, models are inserted, retrieved, updated, and deleted in the same manner as ordinary data do in an ordinary (relational) database. Users will also formulate global queries and requests for processing of local databases through the Metadatabase, using the globally integrated metadata. The Metadatabase structure can be implemented in any open technology for relational databases. == Significance == The Metadatabase technology is developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, by a group of faculty and students (see the references at the end of the article), starting in late 1980s. Its main contribution includes the extension of the concept of metadata and metadata management, and the original approach of designing a database for metadata applications. These conceptual results continue to motivate new research and new applications. At the level of particular design, its openness and scalability is tied to that of the particular ontology proposed: It requires reverse-representation of the application models in order to save them into the meta-relations. In theory, the ontology is neutral, and it has been proven in some industrial applications. However, it needs more development to establish it for the field as an open technology. The requirement of reverse-representation is common to any global information integration technology. A way to facilitate it in the Metadatabase approach is to distribute a core portion of it at each local site, to allow for peer-to-peer translation on the fly.

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  • Clubhouse (app)

    Clubhouse (app)

    Clubhouse is an American social audio app for iOS and Android developed by Alpha Exploration Co. that enables users to participate in real-time, audio-only communication within virtual "rooms". Launched in March 2020 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, the platform is characterized by its "drop-in" nature, where users can join live discussions on a wide range of topics as either listeners or speakers. The application gained attention in early 2021, operating on an invite-only model and featuring appearances from public figures such as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg. During this period, Clubhouse reached a reported valuation of approximately $4 billion and contributed to the expansion of similar social audio features like Twitter Spaces and Spotify Greenroom. The app later expanded to Android in May 2021 and removed its waitlist in July 2021, opening access to the general public. == History == Clubhouse began as an invite only social media startup by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth in Fall 2019. Originally designed for podcasts with the name Talkshow, the app was rebranded as "Clubhouse" and officially released for the iOS operating system in March 2020 and as of May 2021 the Android systems as well. Clubhouse was valued at $100 million after receiving funding from notable angel investors. These investors included Ryan Hoover (Founder, Product Hunt), Balaji Srinivasan (Former CTO, Coinbase), James Beshara (Co-Founder, Tilt.com), and several venture capitalists, including a $12 million Series A investment from the venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, in May 2020. The app gained popularity in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had 600,000 registered users by December 2020. In January 2021, CEO Paul Davison announced that the active weekly user base on the app consisted of approximately 2 million individuals. The company announced that it would start working on an Android version of the app. In that month, the app became widely used in Germany when German podcast hosts Philipp Klöckner and Philipp Gloeckler began an invite-chain over a Telegram group. It brought German influencers, journalists, and politicians to the platform. Clubhouse raised their Series B at a $1 billion valuation. On February 1, 2021, Clubhouse had an estimated 3.5 million downloads on a global level which grew rapidly to 8.1 million downloads by February 15. This significant growth in popularity was because celebrities such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances on the app. In the same month, Clubhouse hired an Android Software Developer. A year after the app's release, the number of weekly active users was greater than 10 million, but the user base declined 21% during three weeks from late February to early March. This decline was reportedly caused by a decrease in the number of Clubhouse users after its initial release. During its initial roll out, the app was accessible only by invitation, and invitation codes on eBay were selling at up to $400. On April 5, 2021, Clubhouse partnered with Stripe to launch its first monetizing feature called Clubhouse Payments. Although testing began with only 1,000 users, after a week, the company rolled out the functionality to another 60,000 or more users in the US. In the same month, Twitter entered in discussions to purchase Clubhouse for $4 billion. The talks ended with no acquisition. Later, the company raised their Series C round of funding at a $4 billion valuation. The app also received interest in a partnership, with the National Football League announcing a content deal that month; Twitter Spaces later poached Clubhouse's exclusive NFL deal with 20 official NFL Spaces scheduled for the 2021-22 season. Finally, On May 9, 2021, Clubhouse launched a beta version of the Android app for users in the US, and on May 21, 2021, Clubhouse became available worldwide for Android users. In July 2021, Clubhouse announced a partnership with TED to offer exclusive talks. and on July 21, 2021, the company discarded its invitation system and made the application available to all, though a wait list for registration was still applied in order to manage new traffic. As of the time of the announcement, the company stated it had 10 million users on the wait list. On September 23, 2021, the company announced a new feature named "Wave". In October 2021, Clubhouse rolled out new features called "Replays and Clips". In April 2023, the company announced it was reducing its staff by half amid a "resetting" due to post-pandemic market shifts. == Features == === Rooms === The primary feature of Clubhouse is real-time virtual "rooms" in which users can communicate with each other via audio. Rooms are divided into different categories based on levels of privacy. Moderator roles are denoted by a green star that appears next to the user's name. When a user joins a room, they are initially assigned to the role of a "listener" and cannot unmute themselves. Listeners can notify the moderators of their intent to join the stage and speak by clicking on the "raise hand" icon. Users who are invited to the stage become "speakers" and can unmute themselves. Users can exit a room by tapping the "leave quietly" button or with the help of peace sign emoji. === Houses === In August 2022, Clubhouse announced a feature called Houses, an invite-based version of the rooms. === Events === A lot of conversations in Clubhouse are of spontaneous nature. However, users can schedule conversations by creating events. While scheduling an event, users can first name the event and then set the date and time at which the conversation will begin. Users can also add co-hosts to help moderate the event. Once the event has been created, it is added to the Clubhouse "bulletin". The bulletin shows upcoming scheduled events and allows users to set notifications for events by clicking the bell icon corresponding to the event. Users can access the bulletin by clicking on the calendar icon at the top of the home page. === Clubs === At the Clubhouse, clubs are user communities that regularly discuss a common interest. Many clubs are present in Clubhouse which represents a wide array of topics. Users can find clubs by name under the search tab. A club consists of three categories of users: "Admin", "Leader", and "Member". Members can create private rooms and invite more users into the club. Leaders have all the privileges of a member. Apart from that, they are authorized to create/schedule club-branded open rooms. An admin can modify club settings, add/delete users, change user privileges and create/schedule any type of room. There are three types of clubs: "Open", "By Approval", and "Closed" for membership. Any user can join an open club by pressing the "Join The Club" button on the club profile. In case of approval, users need to apply and wait for membership by clicking the "Apply To Join" button on the club profile. The admins of the respective club are privileged to accept or reject the user's request. In a closed club, membership is limited to users selected by the club admin. All users of a club will be notified when a public room within the club is created. The club creation is restricted to active users and whoever creates the club will become the club admin. Eligible users can create a club by going to their profile, press the "+" sign present in the "Member of" section. Clubs in which a user is a member are shown on their profile page. The first club to half a million members was the Human Behavior Club founded by The Digital Doctor (Dr. Sohaib Imtiaz). === Backchannel === Backchannel is the messaging function which allows users to interact individually or within a group via text. The Backchannel feature was initially leaked on June 18, 2021, in response to the launch of Spotify Greenroom. This is notable step because, until this point, Clubhouse was voice only with no way to hyperlink or message. It was entirely dependent on Instagram and Twitter for text messaging. The feature was initially leaked in the App Store, which the company says was an accident on Twitter. A month later, after multiple failed attempts, the Clubhouse Backchannel finally launched on July 14, 2021. === Explore === The homepage of Clubhouse provides access to ongoing chat rooms, which are recommended based on the people and clubs that are followed by the user. As the users tap on the magnifying glass icon, they will be redirected to the explore page. On that page, users can search for people and clubs to follow and also find conversations categorized by topics. === Clubhouse Payments === This is the direct payment service provided by the app, which allows users to send money to content creators. It includes those users who had enabled this functionality in their profile. Money can be sent from users to the creator by clicking on their profile. Press "Send Money" then enter the amount you want to send. When a user does this for the first time, they'll be prompted to reg

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  • Split screen (computing)

    Split screen (computing)

    Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-overlapping adjacent parts, typically as two or four rectangular areas. This allows for the simultaneous presentation of (usually) related graphical and textual information on a computer display. TV sports adopted this presentation methodology in the 1960s for instant replay. Non-dynamic split screens differ from windowing systems in that the latter allowed overlapping and freely movable parts of the screen (the "windows") to present both related and unrelated application data to the user. In contrast, split-screen views are strictly limited to fixed positions. The split screen technique can also be used to run two instances of an application, potentially allowing another user to interact with the second instance. == In operating systems == Split screen modes are used by mobile operating systems to enable computer multitasking similar to the window interface present in desktop operating systems. Android supports split screen view of two apps natively on all devices, while certain devices, such as Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, support three sumultaneous views. Split screen functionality is not supported on iOS, but a similar feature called Split View is present in iPadOS, first introduced in 2015 with the first generation of iPad Pro. == In video games == The split screen feature is commonly used in non-networked, also known as couch co-op, video games with multiplayer options. In its most easily understood form, a split screen for a multiplayer video game is an audiovisual output device (usually a standard television for video game consoles) where the display has been divided into 2-4 equally sized areas (depending on number of players) so that the players can explore different areas simultaneously without being close to each other. This has historically been remarkably popular on consoles, which until the 2000s did not have access to the Internet or any other network and is less common today with modern support for networked console-to-console multiplayer. In competitive split-screen games, it is customarily considered cheating to look at another player's screen section to gain an advantage. === History === Split screen gaming dates back to at least the 1970s, with games such Drag Race (1977) from Kee Games in the arcades being presented in this format. It has always been a common feature of two or more player home console and computer games too, with notable titles being Kikstart II for 8-bit systems, a number of 16-bit racing games (such as Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge and Road Rash II), and action/strategy games (such as Toejam & Earl and Lemmings), all employing a vertical or horizontal screen split for two player games. Xenophobe is notable as a three-way split screen arcade title, although on home platforms it was reduced to one or two screens. The addition of four controller ports on home consoles also ushered in more four-way split screen games, with Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64 being two well known examples. In arcades, machines tended to move towards having a whole screen for each player, or multiple connected machines, for multiplayer. On home machines, especially in the first and third person shooter genres, multiplayer is now more common over a network or the internet rather than locally with split screen. Starting from the late 2000s, the presence of split screen multiplayer has largely been declining due to the increasing prevalence of online multiplayer, though TechRadar reported a resurgence of split screen due to support from independent studios and increased interest from the players.

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  • MSpy

    MSpy

    mSpy is a brand of mobile and computer parental control monitoring software for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. The app monitors and logs user activity on the client device and sends the data to a personalized dashboard. Data the users can monitor includes text messages, calls, GPS locations, social media chats, and more. It is owned by Virtuoso Holding. == History == mSpy was launched as a product for mobile monitoring by Altercon Group in 2010. In 2012, the application allowed parents to monitor not only smartphones but also computers running Windows and macOS. In 2013, mSpy became TopTenReviews cell phone monitoring software award winner. By 2014, the business grew nearly 400%, and the app's user numbers exceeded 1 million. In 2015, mSpy received the Parents Tested Parents Approved (PTPA) Winner’s Seal of Approval in the United States. In 2015 and 2018, mSpy was the victim of data breaches which released user data. In 2016, mLite, a light version of mSpy, became available from Google Play. The same year, it was awarded the kidSAFE Certified Seal in the United States. In 2017, mSpy collaborated with YouTuber and journalist Coby Persin to conduct a social experiment on the dangers of social media and online predators. A social experiment, conducted with parental consent, involved Coby Persin to befriend three children—aged 12, 13, and 14—via Snapchat and then invite them to meet personally. Each of the participants agreed to the meeting and arrived at the designated location. The video of the experiment received widespread attention and helped to raise awareness about the importance of online security and parental controls. In early 2021, mSpy released a new feature - Screenrecorder. The feature allows parents to take screenshots of the kid's screen when they are browsing certain apps. In 2024, mSpy's Zendesk was compromised by an unknown threat actor, revealing their customer list. As of 2025, mSpy is compatible with Android, iPhone, and iPad devices. It provides access to various types of data stored on the device, including contact information, calendar entries, emails, SMS messages, browser history, photos, videos, and installed applications. Functions also include GPS tracking, geofencing, keyword alerts etc. == Reception == It was noted that since MSpy runs inconspicuously, there is risk of the software being used illegally. mSpy was called "terrifying" by The Next Web and was featured in NPR coverage of spyware used against victims of stalking and other domestic violence. In response mSpy released security updates aimed at reducing the risk of misuse and stated that it "uses encryption protocols to protect user data and that access is restricted to the account holder". In May 2015, Brian Krebs reported that mSpy was hacked, leaking personal data for hundreds of thousands of users of devices with mSpy installed. mSpy claimed that there was no data leak, but that instead, it was the victim of blackmailers. In September 2018, Krebs claimed and demonstrated that anyone could easily gain access to the mSpy database containing data for millions of users. The company responded by stating that the exposed data consisted primarily of error logs and incorrect login attempts. Following the incident, mSpy implemented new security measures, changed encryption keys, and reset passwords for affected accounts. A 2024 Sky News story characterised mSpy as "stalkerware". Leaked customer support messages from mSpy reveal misuse of its app for illegally monitoring partners and children.

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  • Noom

    Noom

    Noom is an American privately held digital health company that provides weight management and behavioral health services through a subscription-based mobile application. Founded in 2008, the company combines behavior change psychology with access to weight loss medications and dietary supplements. The platform incorporates elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and goal-setting strategies, and its programs are designed to support users in developing healthier habits. In addition to its weight management services, Noom has expanded to offer products related to stress management and general wellness. Noom has received both praise and criticism. Supporters cite its focus on mental and behavioral aspects of health, while critics have raised concerns about the accuracy of its calorie goals, the use of algorithmically determined weight loss targets, and questions about the qualifications of some of its coaching staff. == History == Noom was founded in 2008 by friends Artem Petakov and Saeju Jeong. The company's mobile app officially launched in 2016. In 2025, Noom relocated its headquarters from New York City to Princeton, New Jersey. Petakov, a former software engineer at Google, currently leads Noom Ventures, while Jeong serves as Noom's Chairman. In 2023, Geoff Cook was appointed CEO of Noom. In 2019, Noom partnered with Novo Nordisk to offer patients prescribed the diabetes medication Saxenda one year of free access to the Noom platform. In 2020, Noom reported $400 million in revenue. As of April 2021, the company stated it employed approximately 3,000 people, including 2,700 coaches. == Services == === Noom App === The Noom app is the primary platform through which users engage with the company's services. Upon creating an account, users are prompted to provide physical information such as weight, height, and age, along with experiential data including lifestyle habits, personal goals, and perceived obstacles. Users log their meals and physical activity, and in return, the app delivers feedback through multiple channels: algorithmically generated insights, guidance from a human coach, peer interaction, educational articles, and interactive quizzes. The app has been reviewed by a range of media outlets, including newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and USA Today; health information sources such as WebMD; and lifestyle magazines including Good Housekeeping. === Other services === In 2024, Noom launched Noom Vibe, a mobile application that encourages users to develop healthy habits by awarding "vibes"—a form of points—for activities such as walking or meeting step goals. That same year, Noom introduced a 3D body scanning feature within its app, designed to help users monitor physical changes and prevent muscle atrophy during weight loss. Also in 2024, Noom began offering a compounded GLP-1 medication as part of its weight management program. The formulation includes the same active ingredient found in the anti-obesity medications Wegovy and Ozempic. == Research == In 2016, a study published in Scientific Reports analyzed data from approximately 36,000 users of the Noom app, of whom 78% were female and 22% male. The data were collected between October 2012 and April 2014. To be included in the analysis, users had to log their weight at least twice per month over a period of six consecutive months. The study found that 78% of participants self-reported weight loss while using the app. The median duration of weight reporting was 267 days (approximately nine months). The frequency of data logging was positively correlated with weight loss. Additionally, male users had a higher average starting BMI and reported greater average weight loss compared to female users. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized Noom as a certified diabetes prevention program, making it the first mobile health application to receive such designation. == Criticisms == === Health programs === Noom has been criticized for promoting elements of diet culture in its advertising campaigns. The app has also faced criticism for setting calorie goals that some users and experts have deemed inappropriately low, and for employing coaches who may lack formal qualifications as registered dietitians. Coaching has been described as relying heavily on canned responses. Upon sign-up, users are prompted to complete a questionnaire consisting of over 50 questions, which is used to generate a personalized program. In 2021, the UK-based organization Privacy International alleged that Noom, along with other diet platforms, used such lengthy surveys to attract users but did not always tailor the resulting programs to the collected data. The organization claimed that many users received the same or highly similar programs regardless of their answers. It also raised concerns about the handling of potentially sensitive health data, alleging a lack of transparency regarding the sharing of such data with third parties, including Facebook, potentially in violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In a follow-up investigation in 2023, Privacy International reported that Noom had made "significant positive changes" to its data handling practices. However, the organization noted that data was still being shared with Facebook and concluded that "there is still room for improvement." === Billing issues lawsuit === In August 2020, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a warning to consumers regarding Noom's subscription practices. The BBB reported that numerous customers had filed complaints about difficulties canceling their subscriptions after the free trial period, as well as challenges in contacting the company to request refunds. In February 2022, Noom agreed to a $62 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company had used deceptive billing practices related to automatic subscription renewals. Qualifying claimants received approximately $167 each. During the case, a former senior software engineer at Noom testified that the cancellation process was intentionally designed to be difficult, with the goal of generating revenue from customers who failed to cancel in time. In response, Noom stated that it had taken steps to improve transparency around its pricing and policies, including the implementation of self-service cancellation tools.

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  • Artipic

    Artipic

    Artipic is a graphics editor developed for Microsoft Windows. An older version for macOS is still available but unsupported. Artipic features drawing, editing, retouching, transforming and composing images including color corrections, effects and layer-based operations. It converts all common image formats and imports camera raw formats. In the global image editing ecosystem Artipic can be positioned somewhere in the middle. It differs from simple free photo editors by more advanced capabilities, however it does not cover the complete professional-level functionality pack provided by industry leaders like Adobe Photoshop. == History == Artipic developed by Swedish company Artipic AB. Artipic 1.0 was released in March 2014 as a free version. The first commercial version on Microsoft Windows was released in November 2014, on macOS – in October 2015. == Features == Supports Microsoft Windows and macOS Standard tools: select, crop, move, rotate, transform, stamp, color picking, text Advanced tools: custom brushes, gradients, shapes, paths, layers and masks Special tools: healing brush, red-eye effect reduction, dodge and burn brushes Adjustments: Brightness & Contrast, Hue & Saturation, Curves, Levels, Color Balance, Gamma Correction, Exposure, Color Temperature, Tint, Color Enhancer, Photo Filter Simulation, Posterization, Thresholding Filters: Smoothen, Sharpen, Vignetting, High-pass, Diffuse Glow, Shadow, Gaussian Blur Reversible (non-destructive) stylization presets Batch processing White balance RAW-converter including Gray Card Adobe Photoshop images supported == Version history ==

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  • Tokken

    Tokken

    Tokken is a payment system and mobile app most known for being a legal and secure option for businesses transactions within the cannabis industry, because of its compliance with bank requirements. The startup company was created by Lamine Zarrad, a former regulator at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. == Operability == In order for a person to start using the app, they need to provide evidence, in the form of bioidentification data and mobile carrier records, that they can legally purchase weed. After they have been verified, customers can pay directly through the app at any dispensary that is using Tokken. Tokken turns credit card transactions into a digital token, which can be exchanged back for money that can later be deposited into a bank account. All transactions are logged publicly through a blockchain leger, making the process both anonymous and verified. === Banking services === Tokken has a "pay taxes" function which enables dispensaries to pay their taxes directly to the department.

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  • Scenery generator

    Scenery generator

    A scenery generator (or terrain generator) is a software used to create landscape images, 3D models, and animations. These programs often use procedural generation to generate the landscapes, or sometimes created and rendered by a 3D artist. These programs are often used in video games or movies. Basic elements of landscapes created by scenery generators include terrain, water, foliage, and clouds. The process for basic random generation uses a diamond square algorithm. == Common features == Most scenery generators can create basic heightmaps to simulate the variation of elevation in basic terrain. Common techniques include Simplex noise, fractals, or the diamond-square algorithm, which can generate 2-dimensional heightmaps. A version of scenery generator can be very simplistic. Using a diamond-square algorithm with some extra steps involving fractals, an algorithm for random generation of terrain can be made with only 120 lines of code. The program in example takes a grid and then divides the grid repeatedly. Each smaller grid is then split into squares and diamonds and the algorithm then makes the randomized terrain for each square and diamond. Most programs for creating landscapes also allow for adjustment and editing of the landscape. For example, World Creator allows for terrain sculpting, which uses a similar brush system as Photoshop, and allows for additional terrain enhancement with its procedural techniques such as erosion, sediments, and more. Other tools in the World Creator program include terrain stamping, which allows you to import elevation maps and use them as a base. The programs tend to also allow for additional placement of rocks, trees, etc. These can be done procedurally or by hand depending on the program. Typically the models used for the placement objects are the same as to lessen the amount of work that would be done if the user was to create a multitude of different trees. The terrain generated the computer does a generation of multifractals then integrates them until finally rendering them onto the screen. These techniques are typically done “on-the-fly” which typically for a 128 × 128 resolution terrain would mean 1.5 seconds on a CPU from the early 1990s. == Applications == Scenery generators are commonly used in movies, animations, 3D rendering, and video games. For example, Industrial Light & Magic used E-on Vue to create the fictional environments for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. In such live-action cases, a 3D model of the generated environment is rendered and blended with live-action footage. Scenery generated by the software may also be used to create completely computer-generated scenes. In the case of animated movies such as Kung Fu Panda, the raw generation is assisted by hand-painting to accentuate subtle details. Environmental elements not commonly associated with landscapes, such as ocean waves, have also been handled by the software. Scenery generation is used in most 3D based video-games. These typically use either custom or purchased engines that contain their own scenery generators. For some games they tend to use a procedurally generated terrain. These typically use a form of height mapping and use of Perlin noise. This will create a grid that with one point in a 2D coordinate will create the same heightmap as it is pseudorandom, meaning it will result in the same output with the same input. This can then easily be translated into the product 3D image. These can then be changed from the editor tools in most engines if the terrain will be custom built. With recent developments neural networks can be built to create or texture the terrain based on previously suggested artwork or heightmap data. These would be generated using algorithms that have been able to identify images and similarities between them. With the info the machine can take other heightmaps and render a very similar looking image to the style image. This can be used to create similar images in example a Studio Ghibli or Van Gogh art-style. == Software == Most game engines, whether custom or proprietary, will have terrain generation built in. Some terrain generator programs include, Terragen, which can create terrain, water, atmosphere and lighting; L3DT, which provides similar functions to Terragen, and has a 2048 × 2048 resolution limit; and World Creator, which can create terrain, and is fully GPU powered. === List of 3D terrain generation software ===

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