AI Detector Similar To Turnitin

AI Detector Similar To Turnitin — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

Image destriping

Image destriping is the process of removing stripes or streaks from images and videos without disrupting the original image/video. These artifacts plague a range of fields in scientific imaging including atomic force microscopy, light sheet fluorescence microscopy, and planetary satellite imaging. The most common image processing techniques to reduce stripe artifacts is with Fourier filtering. Unfortunately, filtering methods risk altering or suppressing useful image data. Methods developed for multiple-sensor imaging systems in planetary satellites use statistical-based methods to match signal distribution across multiple sensors. More recently, a new class of approaches leverage compressed sensing, to regularize an optimization problem, and recover stripe free images. In many cases, these destriped images have little to no artifacts, even at low signal to noise ratios.
Read more →
Drush

Drush (DRUpal SHell) is a computer software shell-based application used to control, manipulate, and administer Drupal websites. == Details == Drush was originally developed by Arto Bendiken for Drupal 4.7. In May 2007, it was partly rewritten and redesigned for Drupal 5 by Franz Heinzmann. Drush is maintained by Moshe Weitzman with the support of Owen Barton, greg.1.anderson, jonhattan, Mark Sonnabaum, Jonathan Hedstrom and Christopher Gervais.
Read more →
Jive (software)

Jive (formerly known as Clearspace, then Jive SBS, then Jive Engage) is a commercial Java EE-based Enterprise 2.0 collaboration and knowledge management tool produced by Jive Software. It was first released as "Clearspace" in 2006, then renamed SBS (for "Social Business Software") in March 2009, then renamed "Jive Engage" in 2011, and renamed simply to "Jive" in 2012. Jive integrates the functionality of online communities, microblogging, social networking, discussion forums, blogs, wikis, and IM under one unified user interface. Content placed into any of the systems (blog, wiki, documentation, etc.) can be found through a common search interface. Other features include RSS capability, email integration, a reputation and reward system for participation, personal user profiles, JAX-WS web service interoperability, and integration with the Spring Framework. The product is a pure-Java server-side web application and will run on any platform where Java (JDK 1.5 or higher) is installed. It does not require a dedicated server - users have reported successful deployment in both shared environments and multiple machine clusters. As of Jive 8, released March 30, 2015, there is a Jive-n version which is for internal use (hosted by the consumer or hosted by Jive as a service) and a Jive-x version which is an external version hosted as a service. Jive no longer supports wiki markup language. == Server requirements for Jive 8-n == The following are the server requirements for Jive 8-n Operating systems: RHEL version 6 or 7 for x86_64, CentOS version 6 or 7 for x86_64 or SuSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES) 11 and 12 for x86_64 Application Servers: Jive ships with its own embedded Apache HTTPD and Tomcat servers as part of the install package. It is not possible to deploy the application onto other appservers. Databases: MySQL (5.1, 5.5, 5.6) Oracle (11gR2, 12c) Postgres (9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4 - 9.2 or higher recommended) Microsoft SQL Server (2008R2, 2012, 2014) Environment: Jive recommends a server with at least 4GB of RAM and a dual-core 2 GHz processor with x86_64 architecture The product integrates with an LDAP repository or Active Directory For optimal deployment with a large community Jive Software recommends: using dedicated cache and document-conversion servers hosting the application and database servers separately == Releases == Jive 8, released on March 30, 2015 Jive 7, released in October 2013 Jive 9.0.x, released in November 2016 Jive 9, released in November 2016, supported now
Read more →
FastTrack Automation Studio

FastTrack Automation Studio (formerly known as FastTrack Scripting Host), often referred to as just FastTrack, is a scripting language for Windows IT System Administrators. The product’s goal is to handle any kind of scripting that might be required to automate processes with Microsoft Windows networks. == Manufacturer == FastTrack is produced by FastTrack Software, which is headquartered in Aalborg, Denmark. The product is promoted by the manufacturer as a one-stop shop for Windows script writers and its development paradigm is “one operation = one script line”. Script writers use a purpose-built editor to create scripts, inserting script lines via menus, drag’n drop, or simply typing them in. Scripts may be used out of the box, created from scratch, imported from forums or other users, or customized from product documentation. == Types of scripts == Simple scripts include: Outlook Signatures Login scripts Backup and replication scripts Inventory and asset management Automated Windows OS installation and deployment Automated application software deployment Active Directory scripts More advanced scripts include: SCCM task sequences Citrix ICA and RDP Clients built-in Deploying applications to server farms Deploying GPO MSI files SQL Server scripts == Basic structure == Under the hood, scripts comprise commands, functions, collections, and conditions. When a script is executed these components are converted into many lines of C# code, sometimes hundreds of lines, depending on the particular script operation. Scripts can be compiled into EXE files or MSI packages and treated as standalone Windows applications. == History == FastTrack Scripting Host (FastTrack) was first developed around 2006 to ease the administration burden of IT System Administrators on Windows networks. === Product idea === The idea for the product came from founder and President of FastTrack Software, Lars Pedersen, who has a background in systems administration. Previously with Telenor, Denmark’s major telephone company, Pedersen performed various roles in systems administration, programming and web development. He also worked as a consultant and developer on several major projects at various companies in Europe. Dissatisfied from his own experiences and frustrations administering Windows networks, Pederson looked for a way to make life easier for system administrators. In particular, he wanted something that could minimize the amount of time needed each day to perform routine and mundane tasks, which was a waste of time and expertise that should have been committed to other projects. === Development === Leading a small team of developers, Pedersen developed FastTrack Scripting Host to simplify and automate the routine tasks of system administrators. The resulting product is definitely a scripting language, but it can be used intuitively like a programming language, without requiring users to learn syntax or other concepts typically associated with programming languages. === Marketing === In April 2010, FastTrack Software entered into an agreement with Binary Research International Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, based in the city of Milwaukee, United States to market and sell the product globally. === Awards === FSH received a Windows IT Pro Community Choice award in 2012. == Versions == The first version was produced in June 2006 and contained 51 components, which are the commands, functions, conditions and collections making up FastTrack. The following table summarizes dates and components for major releases. Companies and organizations such as NOAA, Kawasaki, and Goodyear have used and implemented the FastTrack Scripting Host. == Comparison with other scripting software == FastTrack Scripting Host Kixtart PowerShell ScriptLogic VBScript
Read more →
Global serializability

In concurrency control of databases, transaction processing (transaction management), and other transactional distributed applications, global serializability (or modular serializability) is a property of a global schedule of transactions. A global schedule is the unified schedule of all the individual database (and other transactional object) schedules in a multidatabase environment (e.g., federated database). Complying with global serializability means that the global schedule is serializable, has the serializability property, while each component database (module) has a serializable schedule as well. In other words, a collection of serializable components provides overall system serializability, which is usually incorrect. A need in correctness across databases in multidatabase systems makes global serializability a major goal for global concurrency control (or modular concurrency control). With the proliferation of the Internet, Cloud computing, Grid computing, and small, portable, powerful computing devices (e.g., smartphones), as well as increase in systems management sophistication, the need for atomic distributed transactions and thus effective global serializability techniques, to ensure correctness in and among distributed transactional applications, seems to increase. In a federated database system or any other more loosely defined multidatabase system, which are typically distributed in a communication network, transactions span multiple (and possibly distributed) databases. Enforcing global serializability in such system, where different databases may use different types of concurrency control, is problematic. Even if every local schedule of a single database is serializable, the global schedule of a whole system is not necessarily serializable. The massive communication exchanges of conflict information needed between databases to reach conflict serializability globally would lead to unacceptable performance, primarily due to computer and communication latency. Achieving global serializability effectively over different types of concurrency control has been open for several years. == The global serializability problem == === Problem statement === The difficulties described above translate into the following problem: Find an efficient (high-performance and fault tolerant) method to enforce Global serializability (global conflict serializability) in a heterogeneous distributed environment of multiple autonomous database systems. The database systems may employ different concurrency control methods. No limitation should be imposed on the operations of either local transactions (confined to a single database system) or global transactions (span two or more database systems). === Quotations === Lack of an appropriate solution for the global serializability problem has driven researchers to look for alternatives to serializability as a correctness criterion in a multidatabase environment (e.g., see Relaxing global serializability below), and the problem has been characterized as difficult and open. The following two quotations demonstrate the mindset about it by the end of the year 1991, with similar quotations in numerous other articles: "Without knowledge about local as well as global transactions, it is highly unlikely that efficient global concurrency control can be provided... Additional complications occur when different component DBMSs [Database Management Systems] and the FDBMSs [Federated Database Management Systems] support different concurrency mechanisms... It is unlikely that a theoretically elegant solution that provides conflict serializability without sacrificing performance (i.e., concurrency and/or response time) and availability exists." === Proposed solutions === Several solutions, some partial, have been proposed for the global serializability problem. Among them: Global conflict graph (serializability graph, precedence graph) checking Distributed Two-phase locking (Distributed 2PL) Distributed Timestamp ordering Tickets (local logical timestamps which define local total orders, and are propagated to determine global partial order of transactions) == Relaxing global serializability == Some techniques have been developed for relaxed global serializability (i.e., they do not guarantee global serializability; see also Relaxing serializability). Among them (with several publications each): Quasi serializability Two-level serializability Another common reason nowadays for Global serializability relaxation is the requirement of availability of internet products and services. This requirement is typically answered by large scale data replication. The straightforward solution for synchronizing replicas' updates of a same database object is including all these updates in a single atomic distributed transaction. However, with many replicas such a transaction is very large, and may span several computers and networks that some of them are likely to be unavailable. Thus such a transaction is likely to end with abort and miss its purpose. Consequently, Optimistic replication (Lazy replication) is often utilized (e.g., in many products and services by Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and alike), while global serializability is relaxed and compromised for eventual consistency. In this case relaxation is done only for applications that are not expected to be harmed by it. Classes of schedules defined by relaxed global serializability properties either contain the global serializability class, or are incomparable with it. What differentiates techniques for relaxed global conflict serializability (RGCSR) properties from those of relaxed conflict serializability (RCSR) properties that are not RGCSR is typically the different way global cycles (span two or more databases) in the global conflict graph are handled. No distinction between global and local cycles exists for RCSR properties that are not RGCSR. RCSR contains RGCSR. Typically RGCSR techniques eliminate local cycles, i.e., provide local serializability (which can be achieved effectively by regular, known concurrency control methods); however, obviously they do not eliminate all global cycles (which would achieve global serializability).
Read more →
Protocol engineering

Protocol engineering is the application of systematic methods to the development of communication protocols. It uses many of the principles of software engineering, but it is specific to the development of distributed systems. == History == When the first experimental and commercial computer networks were developed in the 1970s, the concept of protocols was not yet well developed. These were the first distributed systems. In the context of the newly adopted layered protocol architecture (see OSI model), the definition of the protocol of a specific layer should be such that any entity implementing that specification in one computer would be compatible with any other computer containing an entity implementing the same specification, and their interactions should be such that the desired communication service would be obtained. On the other hand, the protocol specification should be abstract enough to allow different choices for the implementation on different computers. It was recognized that a precise specification of the expected service provided by the given layer was important. It is important for the verification of the protocol, which should demonstrate that the communication service is provided if both protocol entities implement the protocol specification correctly. This principle was later followed during the standardization of the OSI protocol stack, in particular for the transport layer. It was also recognized that some kind of formalized protocol specification would be useful for the verification of the protocol and for developing implementations, as well as test cases for checking the conformance of an implementation against the specification. While initially mainly finite-state machine were used as (simplified) models of a protocol entity, in the 1980s three formal specification languages were standardized, two by ISO and one by ITU. The latter, called SDL, was later used in industry and has been merged with UML state machines. == Principles == The following are the most important principles for the development of protocols: Layered architecture: A protocol layer at the level n consists of two (or more) entities that have a service interface through which the service of the layer is provided to the users of the protocol, and which uses the service provided by a local entity of level (n-1). The service specification of a layer describes, in an abstract and global view, the behavior of the layer as visible at the service interfaces of the layer. The protocol specification defines the requirements that should be satisfied by each entity implementation. Protocol verification consists of showing that two (or more) entities satisfying the protocol specification will provide at their service interfaces the specified service of that layer. The (verified) protocol specification is used mainly for the following two activities: The development of an entity implementation. Note that the abstract properties of the service interface are defined by the service specification (and also used by the protocol specification), but the detailed nature of the interface can be chosen during the implementation process, separately for each entity. Test suite development for conformance testing. Protocol conformance testing checks that a given entity implementation conforms to the protocol specification. The conformance test cases are developed based on the protocol specification and are applicable to all entity implementations. Therefore standard conformance test suites have been developed for certain protocol standards. == Methods and tools == Tools for the activities of protocol verification, entity implementation and test suite development can be developed when the protocol specification is written in a formalized language which can be understood by the tool. As mentioned, formal specification languages have been proposed for protocol specification, and the first methods and tools where based on finite-state machine models. Reachability analysis was proposed to understand all possible behaviors of a distributed system, which is essential for protocol verification. This was later complemented with model checking. However, finite-state descriptions are not powerful enough to describe constraints between message parameters and the local variables in the entities. Such constraints can be described by the standardized formal specification languages mentioned above, for which powerful tools have been developed. It is in the field of protocol engineering that model-based development was used very early. These methods and tools have later been used for software engineering as well as hardware design, especially for distributed and real-time systems. On the other hand, many methods and tools developed in the more general context of software engineering can also be used of the development of protocols, for instance model checking for protocol verification, and agile methods for entity implementations. == Constructive methods for protocol design == Most protocols are designed by human intuition and discussions during the standardization process. However, some methods have been proposed for using constructive methods possibly supported by tools to automatically derive protocols that satisfy certain properties. The following are a few examples: Semi-automatic protocol synthesis: The user defines all message sending actions of the entities, and the tool derives all necessary reception actions (even if several messages are in transit). Synchronizing protocol: The state transitions of one protocol entity are given by the user, and the method derives the behavior of the other entity such that it remains in states that correspond to the former entity. Protocol derived from service specification: The service specification is given by the user and the method derives a suitable protocol for all entities. Protocol for control applications: The specification of one entity (called the plant - which must be controlled) is given, and the method derives a specification of the other entity such that certain fail states of the plant are never reached and certain given properties of the plant's service interactions are satisfied. This is a case of supervisory control. == Books == Ming T. Liu, Protocol Engineering, Advances in Computers, Volume 29, 1989, Pages 79–195. G.J. Holzmann, Design and Validation of Computer Protocols, Prentice Hall, 1991. H. König, Protocol Engineering, Springer, 2012. M. Popovic, Communication Protocol Engineering, CRC Press, 2nd Ed. 2018. P. Venkataram, S.S. Manvi, B.S. Babu, Communication Protocol Engineering, 2014.
Read more →
PowerBuilder

PowerBuilder is an integrated development environment owned by SAP since the acquisition of Sybase in 2010. On July 5, 2016, SAP and Appeon entered into an agreement whereby Appeon, an independent company, would be responsible for developing, selling, and supporting PowerBuilder. Over the years, PowerBuilder has been updated with new standards. In 2010, a major upgrade of PowerBuilder was released to provide support for the Microsoft .NET Framework. In 2014, support was added for OData, dockable windows, and 64-bit native applications. In 2019 support was added for rapidly creating RESTful Web APIs and non-visual .NET assemblies using the C# language and the .NET Core framework. And PowerScript client app development was revamped with new UI technologies and cloud architecture. In 2025 the IDE was revamped with new code editor and ultra-fast compiler. Appeon has been releasing new features every 6-12 month cycles, which per the product roadmap focus on four key focus areas: sustaining core features, modernizing application UI, improving developer productivity, and incorporating more Cloud technology. == Features == PowerBuilder has a native data-handling component called a DataWindow, which can be used to create, edit, and display data from a database. This object gives the programmer a number of tools for specifying and controlling user interface appearance and behavior, and also provides simplified access to database content and JSON or XML from Web services. To some extent, the DataWindow frees the programmer from considering the differences between Database Management Systems from different vendors. DataWindow can display data using multiple presentation styles and can connect to various data sources. == Usage == PowerBuilder is used primarily for building business-oriented CRUD applications. Although new software products are rarely built with PowerBuilder, many client-server ERP products and line-of-business applications built in the late 1980s to early 2000s with PowerBuilder still provide core database functions for large enterprises in government, higher education, manufacturing, insurance, banking, energy, and telecommunications. == History == === Early history === PowerBuilder originated from Computer Solutions Inc. (CSI), a software consulting firm founded in 1974 by Mitchell Kertzman in Massachusetts. CSI developed GrowthPower, an MRP II software package with integrated financial modules released in 1981, which ran exclusively on the HP 3000 platform and achieved over 1,000 customer installations at its peak. In the late 1980s, as demand increased for graphical user interfaces amid the rise of Microsoft Windows, Kertzman partnered with Dave Litwack, former executive vice president of product development at Cullinet Software (acquired by Computer Associates in 1989). Litwack joined the company in 1988 as head of research and development to develop a client/server GUI tool, leading to its rebranding as Powersoft Corporation in 1990. PowerBuilder 1.0 was released in July 1991 as a rapid application development tool featuring the DataWindow and PowerScript language. Powersoft went public on February 3, 1993, with shares closing at $38 from an initial $20 price. Sybase announced its acquisition of Powersoft on November 15, 1994, in a stock swap valued at approximately $940 million; the merger closed on February 14, 1995, at a revised value of about $904 million due to Sybase's stock fluctuations. === Recent history === In December 2013 SAP announced the new version going directly to number 15 and released a beta version. Key features included support for the .NET Framework v4.5, SQL Server 2012, Oracle 12, Windows 8, OData and Dockable Windows. SAP later released this as version 12.6. On May 31, 2019, PowerBuilder 2019 was released by Appeon. This release supports C# development. It provides a new C# IDE, .NET data access objects, C# migration solution, Web API client, and UI themes. On April 3, 2020, PowerBuilder 2019 R2 was launched by Appeon. This release includes a first-ever PowerScript-to-C# code converter, which can automatically migrate 80-95% of PowerBuilder business logic and DataWindows to C#. Interoperability between PowerScript and .NET programming languages is also now supported. Many existing features have also been enhanced. On January 22, 2021, PowerBuilder 2019 R3 was launched by Appeon. This release provides a groundbreaking new app deployment technology called PowerClient, which securely automates the installation and update of client apps over HTTPS. C# Web API development has been greatly enhanced with asynchronous programming and support for Amazon Aurora and Azure cloud databases. Aside from many other new features, PowerBuilder 2019 R3 is a long-term support (LTS) version that replaces previous LTS versions On August 6, 2021, PowerBuilder 2021 was launched by Appeon. The Cloud deployment capability of the PowerBuilder 2021 IDE, in conjunction with the matching PowerServer 2021 runtime, was revamped, bringing PowerBuilder up-to-date with the latest .NET technologies. The presentation layer now executes PowerScript natively on Windows devices. The middle-tier has been rebuilt around REST API standard with a pure .NET Core implementation. A new CI/CD utility that integrates with Git/SVN and Jenkins, witch compiles all PowerBuilder projects using the command-line interface, was added alongside other features. On September 4, 2022, PowerBuilder 2022 was launched by Appeon. This release brings enhancements to the productivity of developing both client/server & installable cloud apps and more security measures to safeguard your apps. It includes many new features, including Windows 11 support, introducing time-saving functionalities to the IDE, such as Tabbed Code Editor, Jump to Objects, and Quick Code Search, and supports the latest HTTP/2 and TLS 1.3 protocols and two-way TLS authentication. On August 4, 2023, PowerBuilder 2022 R2 was launched by Appeon. This release introduces a range of new features aimed at helping developers build powerful, feature-rich, and secure client/server and installable cloud apps more efficiently, including tabbed windows, fillable PDFs, and SMTP client. On January 8, 2024, PowerBuilder 2022 R3 was launched by Appeon. This release is a long-term support version. Features previously released in earlier releases have been enhanced and/or corrected. On May 7, 2025, PowerBuilder 2025 was launched by Appeon. This release delivers a revamped IDE that boosts developer productivity throughout the SLDC—from writing and extending code to debugging, automating builds, and deploying applications. It features a new-generation code editor, ultra-fast compiler, automatic REST API creation, faster GIT operations, and codeless UI modernization features. == Features == PowerBuilder is an object-oriented programming language. Nearly all of the visual and non-visual objects support inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. The programmer may utilize a common code framework such as PowerBuilder Foundation Classes, also known as PFC, to inherit objects from and leverage pre-existing code. The DataWindow is the key component (and selling point) of PowerBuilder. The DataWindow offers a visual SQL painter which supports outer joins, unions and subquery operations. It can convert SQL to visual representation and back, so the developer can use native SQL if desired. DataWindow updates are automatic — it produces the proper SQL at runtime based on the DBMS to which the user is currently connected. This feature makes it easier for developers who are not experienced with SQL. The DataWindow also has the built-in ability to both retrieve data and update data via stored procedures or REST Web APIs as well as import/export JSON data. The RESTClient object introduced in PowerBuilder 2017 facilitates bridging the DataWindow with REST Web APIs and requiring minimal coding. === RDBMS interfaces === PowerBuilder offers native interfaces to all major databases, as well as ODBC and OLE-DB, in the Enterprise version. There are many connectivity options that allow performance monitoring and tuning, such as: Integrated security Tracing of all SQL Isolation level Password expiration dialog Blocking factor Number of SQL statements to cache Use connection pool Thread safety Trace ODBC API calls Due to the information about the database schema (such as primary key information) that are stored in PowerBuilder's data dictionary, the code required to implement data display and browsing is greatly simplified, because the dictionary information allows generation of the appropriate SQL behind the scenes. PowerBuilder supports the following ways of interacting with a database: DataWindow this is the simplest approach, relying on automatically generated SQL. Embedded SQL Embedded SQL supports SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and cursors. This option is used when the developer desires more control than is available with the
Read more →
SciPy

SciPy (pronounced "sigh pie") is a free and open-source Python library used for scientific computing and technical computing. SciPy contains modules for optimization, linear algebra, integration, interpolation, special functions, fast Fourier transform, signal and image processing, ordinary differential equation solvers and other tasks common in science and engineering. SciPy is also a family of conferences for users and developers of these tools: SciPy (in the United States), EuroSciPy (in Europe) and SciPy.in (in India). Enthought originated the SciPy conference in the United States and continues to sponsor many of the international conferences as well as host the SciPy website. The SciPy library is currently distributed under the BSD license, and its development is sponsored and supported by an open community of developers. It is also supported by NumFOCUS, a community foundation for supporting reproducible and accessible science. == Components == The SciPy package is at the core of Python's scientific computing capabilities. Available sub-packages include: cluster: hierarchical clustering, vector quantization, K-means constants: physical constants and conversion factors datasets: various example datasets for demonstrating image and data processing differentiate: numerical differentiation for first and second derivatives fft: Discrete Fourier Transform algorithms fftpack: Legacy interface for Discrete Fourier Transforms integrate: numerical integration routines interpolate: interpolation tools io: data input and output, including support for MATLAB and Matrix Market files linalg: linear algebra routines ndimage: various functions for multi-dimensional image processing odr: orthogonal distance regression classes and algorithms optimize: optimization algorithms including linear programming and a variety of numerical nonlinear programming optimizers signal: signal processing tools sparse: sparse matrices and related algorithms spatial: algorithms for spatial structures such as k-d trees, nearest neighbors, convex hulls, etc. special: special functions stats: statistical functions == Data structures == The basic data structure used by SciPy is a multidimensional array provided by the NumPy module. NumPy provides some functions for linear algebra, Fourier transforms, and random number generation, but not with the generality of the equivalent functions in SciPy. NumPy can also be used as an efficient multidimensional container of data with arbitrary datatypes. This allows NumPy to seamlessly and speedily integrate with a wide variety of databases. Older versions of SciPy used Numeric as an array type, which is now deprecated in favor of the newer NumPy array code. == History == In the 1990s, Python was extended to include an array type for numerical computing called Numeric. (This package was eventually replaced by NumPy, which was written by Travis Oliphant in 2006 as a blending of Numeric and Numarray, with Numarray itself being started in 2001.) As of 2000, there was a growing number of extension modules and increasing interest in creating a complete environment for scientific and technical computing. In 2001, Travis Oliphant, Eric Jones, and Pearu Peterson merged code they had written and called the resulting package SciPy. The newly created package provided a standard collection of common numerical operations on top of the Numeric array data structure. Shortly thereafter, Fernando Pérez released IPython, an enhanced interactive shell widely used in the technical computing community, and John Hunter released the first version of Matplotlib, the 2D plotting library for technical computing. Since then the SciPy environment has continued to grow with more packages and tools for technical computing. == Scientific Python versus ScientificPython == In the scientific literature, SciPy is occasionally referred to as "Scientific Python (SciPy)". This is incorrect: the official name of the project is just "SciPy". Furthermore, expanding "SciPy" as "Scientific Python" may cause confusion with "ScientificPython", a project led by Konrad Hinsen of Orléans University that was active between 1995 and 2014. "Scientific Python" is also used for the related ecosystem of tools.
Read more →
Inductive probability

Inductive probability attempts to give the probability of future events based on past events. It is the basis for inductive reasoning, and gives the mathematical basis for learning and the perception of patterns. It is a source of knowledge about the world. There are three sources of knowledge: inference, communication, and deduction. Communication relays information found using other methods. Deduction establishes new facts based on existing facts. Inference establishes new facts from data. Its basis is Bayes' theorem. Information describing the world is written in a language. For example, a simple mathematical language of propositions may be chosen. Sentences may be written down in this language as strings of characters. But in the computer it is possible to encode these sentences as strings of bits (1s and 0s). Then the language may be encoded so that the most commonly used sentences are the shortest. This internal language implicitly represents probabilities of statements. Occam's razor says the "simplest theory, consistent with the data is most likely to be correct". The "simplest theory" is interpreted as the representation of the theory written in this internal language. The theory with the shortest encoding in this internal language is most likely to be correct. == History == Probability and statistics was focused on probability distributions and tests of significance. Probability was formal, well defined, but limited in scope. In particular its application was limited to situations that could be defined as an experiment or trial, with a well defined population. Bayes's theorem is named after Rev. Thomas Bayes 1701–1761. Bayesian inference broadened the application of probability to many situations where a population was not well defined. But Bayes' theorem always depended on prior probabilities, to generate new probabilities. It was unclear where these prior probabilities should come from. Ray Solomonoff developed algorithmic probability which gave an explanation for what randomness is and how patterns in the data may be represented by computer programs, that give shorter representations of the data circa 1964. Chris Wallace and D. M. Boulton developed minimum message length circa 1968. Later Jorma Rissanen developed the minimum description length circa 1978. These methods allow information theory to be related to probability, in a way that can be compared to the application of Bayes' theorem, but which give a source and explanation for the role of prior probabilities. Marcus Hutter combined decision theory with the work of Ray Solomonoff and Andrey Kolmogorov to give a theory for the Pareto optimal behavior for an Intelligent agent, circa 1998. === Minimum description/message length === The program with the shortest length that matches the data is the most likely to predict future data. This is the thesis behind the minimum message length and minimum description length methods. At first sight Bayes' theorem appears different from the minimimum message/description length principle. At closer inspection it turns out to be the same. Bayes' theorem is about conditional probabilities, and states the probability that event B happens if firstly event A happens: P ( A ∧ B ) = P ( B ) ⋅ P ( A | B ) = P ( A ) ⋅ P ( B | A ) {\displaystyle P(A\land B)=P(B)\cdot P(A|B)=P(A)\cdot P(B|A)} becomes in terms of message length L, L ( A ∧ B ) = L ( B ) + L ( A | B ) = L ( A ) + L ( B | A ) . {\displaystyle L(A\land B)=L(B)+L(A|B)=L(A)+L(B|A).} This means that if all the information is given describing an event then the length of the information may be used to give the raw probability of the event. So if the information describing the occurrence of A is given, along with the information describing B given A, then all the information describing A and B has been given. ==== Overfitting ==== Overfitting occurs when the model matches the random noise and not the pattern in the data. For example, take the situation where a curve is fitted to a set of points. If a polynomial with many terms is fitted then it can more closely represent the data. Then the fit will be better, and the information needed to describe the deviations from the fitted curve will be smaller. Smaller information length means higher probability. However, the information needed to describe the curve must also be considered. The total information for a curve with many terms may be greater than for a curve with fewer terms, that has not as good a fit, but needs less information to describe the polynomial. === Inference based on program complexity === Solomonoff's theory of inductive inference is also inductive inference. A bit string x is observed. Then consider all programs that generate strings starting with x. Cast in the form of inductive inference, the programs are theories that imply the observation of the bit string x. The method used here to give probabilities for inductive inference is based on Solomonoff's theory of inductive inference. ==== Detecting patterns in the data ==== If all the bits are 1, then people infer that there is a bias in the coin and that it is more likely also that the next bit is 1 also. This is described as learning from, or detecting a pattern in the data. Such a pattern may be represented by a computer program. A short computer program may be written that produces a series of bits which are all 1. If the length of the program K is L ( K ) {\displaystyle L(K)} bits then its prior probability is, P ( K ) = 2 − L ( K ) {\displaystyle P(K)=2^{-L(K)}} The length of the shortest program that represents the string of bits is called the Kolmogorov complexity. Kolmogorov complexity is not computable. This is related to the halting problem. When searching for the shortest program some programs may go into an infinite loop. ==== Considering all theories ==== The Greek philosopher Epicurus is quoted as saying "If more than one theory is consistent with the observations, keep all theories". As in a crime novel all theories must be considered in determining the likely murderer, so with inductive probability all programs must be considered in determining the likely future bits arising from the stream of bits. Programs that are already longer than n have no predictive power. The raw (or prior) probability that the pattern of bits is random (has no pattern) is 2 − n {\displaystyle 2^{-n}} . Each program that produces the sequence of bits, but is shorter than the n is a theory/pattern about the bits with a probability of 2 − k {\displaystyle 2^{-k}} where k is the length of the program. The probability of receiving a sequence of bits y after receiving a series of bits x is then the conditional probability of receiving y given x, which is the probability of x with y appended, divided by the probability of x. ==== Universal priors ==== The programming language affects the predictions of the next bit in the string. The language acts as a prior probability. This is particularly a problem where the programming language codes for numbers and other data types. Intuitively we think that 0 and 1 are simple numbers, and that prime numbers are somehow more complex than numbers that may be composite. Using the Kolmogorov complexity gives an unbiased estimate (a universal prior) of the prior probability of a number. As a thought experiment an intelligent agent may be fitted with a data input device giving a series of numbers, after applying some transformation function to the raw numbers. Another agent might have the same input device with a different transformation function. The agents do not see or know about these transformation functions. Then there appears no rational basis for preferring one function over another. A universal prior insures that although two agents may have different initial probability distributions for the data input, the difference will be bounded by a constant. So universal priors do not eliminate an initial bias, but they reduce and limit it. Whenever we describe an event in a language, either using a natural language or other, the language has encoded in it our prior expectations. So some reliance on prior probabilities are inevitable. A problem arises where an intelligent agent's prior expectations interact with the environment to form a self reinforcing feed back loop. This is the problem of bias or prejudice. Universal priors reduce but do not eliminate this problem. === Universal artificial intelligence === The theory of universal artificial intelligence applies decision theory to inductive probabilities. The theory shows how the best actions to optimize a reward function may be chosen. The result is a theoretical model of intelligence. It is a fundamental theory of intelligence, which optimizes the agents behavior in, Exploring the environment; performing actions to get responses that broaden the agents knowledge. Competing or co-operating with another agent; games. Balancing short and long term rewards. In general no agent will always provi
Read more →
Google Cloud Dataflow

Google Cloud Dataflow is a fully managed service for executing Apache Beam pipelines within the Google Cloud Platform ecosystem. Dataflow provides a fully managed service for executing Apache Beam pipelines, offering features like autoscaling, dynamic work rebalancing, and a managed execution environment. Dataflow is suitable for large-scale, continuous data processing jobs, and is one of the major components of Google's big data architecture on the Google Cloud Platform. At its core, Dataflow's architecture is designed to abstract away infrastructure management, allowing developers to focus purely on the logic of their data processing tasks. When a pipeline written using the Apache Beam SDK is submitted, Dataflow translates this high-level definition into an optimized job graph. The service then provisions and manages a fleet of Google Compute Engine workers to execute this graph in a highly parallelized and fault-tolerant manner. This serverless approach, combined with intelligent autoscaling of both the number of workers (horizontal) and the resources per worker (vertical), ensures that jobs have the precise amount of computational power needed at any given time, optimizing both performance and cost. The service's deep integration with the Google Cloud ecosystem makes it a powerful tool for a variety of use cases beyond simple data movement. For real-time analytics, Dataflow can ingest unbounded streams of data from Cloud Pub/Sub, perform complex transformations, and load results into BigQuery for immediate querying. In machine learning workflows, it is commonly used to preprocess and transform massive datasets stored in Cloud Storage, preparing them for training models in Vertex AI. This versatility makes it the central processing engine for modern ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) operations, streaming analytics, and large-scale data preparation within the cloud. == History == Google Cloud Dataflow was announced in June, 2014 and released to the general public as an open beta in April, 2015. In January, 2016 Google donated the underlying SDK, the implementation of a local runner, and a set of IOs (data connectors) to access Google Cloud Platform data services to the Apache Software Foundation. The donated code formed the original basis for Apache Beam. In August 2022, there was an incident where user timers were broken for certain Dataflow streaming pipelines in multiple regions, which was later resolved. Throughout 2023 and 2024, there have been various other updates and incidents affecting Google Cloud Dataflow, as documented in the release notes and service health history. The donation of the Dataflow SDK to the Apache Software Foundation was a pivotal moment, establishing Apache Beam as a unified, open-source programming model for defining both batch and streaming data pipelines. This strategic move decoupled the pipeline definition from the execution engine. As a result, developers could write portable data processing logic that was not locked into Google's ecosystem. A Beam pipeline can be executed on various runners, including Apache Flink, Apache Spark, and, of course, the highly optimized Google Cloud Dataflow service, providing flexibility and future-proofing data processing investments. == Features == Google Cloud Dataflow supports both batch and streaming data processing pipelines. It automatically handles resource provisioning, data sharding, and scaling according to workload, reducing manual configuration needed for large-scale data operations. == Use cases == Dataflow is used for ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) data pipelines, real-time analytics, and event stream processing for companies in industries such as finance, advertising, and IoT.
Read more →
Local Economic Assessment Package

The Local Economic Assessment Package (also known as “EDR-LEAP” or “LEAP Model”) is a web-based, interactive database and software tool used by local and regional agencies in the US to improve strategies for economic development. It provides local economic performance measures, and benchmarks for comparison of economic development factors against competing regions. It works by incorporating elements of economic base analysis as well as gap analysis and business cluster analysis to identify needs for improvement and paths for economic growth. The LEAP Model was originally developed for the Appalachian Regional Commission. Its theory and applications are discussed in peer-reviewed journal articles.
Read more →
ElabFTW

eLabFTW is a web application written by Nicolas Carpi in PHP which can be used to create personal and common logbooks. It has been developed at the Curie Institute originally. Besides there, it is used on universities around the world eLabFTW is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License as free software. It is translated into seven languages. == Description == eLabFTW is a free and open-source lab book. It is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database. Docker containers are also available. Among the various features are Secure. Entries and transmission are encrypted Timestamps. RFC 3161 compliant timestamping of experiments. Inventory management. Apart from experience logs, it also can manage the inventory Import and export. Entries can be imported and exported == Platforms == eLabFTW is a PHP package with Mysql database. Therefore, it can be executed on most servers. Furthermore, the docker containers allow to run it almost everywhere. == Usage == eLabFTW is used by various universities, like University of Alberta, Berkeley University, Hanover Medical School, Cardiff University and UMC Utrecht
Read more →
Carrier cloud

In cloud computing, a carrier cloud is a class of cloud that integrates wide area networks (WAN) and other attributes of communications service providers’ carrier-grade networks to enable the deployment of highly-complex applications in the cloud. In contrast, classic cloud computing focuses on the data center and does not address the network connecting data centers and cloud users. This may result in unpredictable response times and security issues when business-critical data are transferred over the Internet. == History == The advent of virtualization technology, cost-effective computing hardware, and ubiquitous Internet connectivity have enabled the first wave of cloud services starting in the early years of the 21st century. But many businesses and other organizations hesitated to move to more demanding applications, from on-premises dedicated hardware to private or public clouds. As a response, communications service providers started in the 2010/2011 time frame to develop carrier clouds that address perceived weaknesses in existing cloud services. Cited weaknesses vary but often include possible downtime, security issues, high cost of custom software and data transfer, inflexibility of some cloud apps, poor customer and nonfulfillment of service level agreements (SLAs). == Characteristics == To enable the deployment of time-sensitive and business critical applications in the cloud, the carrier cloud is designed to match or even exceed the characteristics of on-premises deployments. Therefore, the carrier cloud is characterized by some or all of the following items: Configurable, elastic network performance: Typical cloud computing solutions use the best effort of the public Internet to connect cloud users and data centers. This approach provides instant connectivity but does not offer control over network capacities, latencies, and jitter. Carrier clouds address these gaps with content delivery networks and/or dedicated virtual private networks (VPN) at OSI layers 1 (optical wavelengths), 2 (data link layer), and 3 (network layer). These VPNs can be configured to offer the desired performance parameters and exhibit the same type of elasticity for the network that regular clouds provide for servers and storage. To achieve the requested performance parameters, such as low latency, cloud applications can be (automatically) allocated to distributed data centers that are close enough to the cloud users. Automatic resource placement: For a cloud with multiple data centers, information about both the data center and the connecting network is relevant for a decision of where to place cloud images and storage volumes. For this decision, carrier clouds can obtain relevant information about the network, e.g., using the Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) protocol. High level of security and governance: Cloud application providers are subject to general and domain specific security, privacy, and governance requirements and regulations, such as the European Data Protection Directive and the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For added security, the wide area network of the carrier cloud can provide segregated encrypted or unencrypted network links that are not accessible from the general Internet. At the data center, the carrier cloud provides e.g. virtual private servers, management processes, logs, and documentation to fulfill security and governance rules. Location control: Fundamentally, cloud users should not be concerned with the geographic location of their cloud resources. However, privacy and other regulations may mandate that certain types of data must not be sent outside a national jurisdiction or other geographical region. Open APIs: Carrier clouds provide graphical user interfaces and Web application programming interfaces that allow cloud application providers to set up, manage, and monitor both, the data center and the WAN, of their cloud services. == Architecture == Carrier clouds encompass data centers at different network tiers and wide area networks that connect multiple data centers to each other as well as to the cloud users. Links between data centers are used for failover, overflow, backup, and geographic diversity. Carrier clouds can be set up as public, private, or hybrid clouds. The carrier cloud federates these cloud entities by using a single management system to orchestrate, manage, and monitor data center and network resources as a single system.
Read more →
Toggl Track

Toggl Track (formerly Toggl) is a time tracking software developed by Toggl OÜ which is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. The company offers online time tracking and reporting services through their website along with mobile and desktop applications. Time can be tracked through a start/stop button, manual entry, or dragging and resizing time blocks in a calendar view. == History == According to Alari Aho, Toggl's CEO and founder, the application has been fully self-funded from the start. The name was created using a random name generator.
Read more →
Springpad

Springpad was a free online application and web service that allowed its registered users to save, organize and share collected ideas and information. As users added content to their Springpad accounts, the application automatically identified and categorized it, then generated additional snippets based on the types of objects added—for example, listing price comparisons for products and showtimes for movies. Springpad was also available as apps on the iPad, iPhone and Android that synchronized with the Web interface. Springpad was bundled on new Toshiba notebook computers through a Web application subscription service. On May 23, 2014, Springpad announced that it would cease operations on June 25, 2014. The company then allowed users to export their data (as JSON and read-only HTML formats), or to automatically migrate it to Evernote accounts before the expiration date. == Features == Springpad users could use the main site interface which uses HTML5 from most browsers or use the smartphone app to capture notes, tasks, or lists which were then added to the user's "My Stuff", the user's personal database or collection. Additionally Springpad let users look up items of interest which were then automatically categorized based on type or manually categorized by the user. Category types included recipes, movies, products, restaurants and wine. Events could also be added to Springpad, and if the user used Google Calendar, they could opt to sync the event to it. In addition to the smartphone app and site, Springpad could be used via browser extension for Google Chrome, or the Springpad Clipper, a bookmarklet to analyze webpages and clip relevant information from them—for example, the ingredients needed for a recipe—or to add the site as a normal bookmark. Another way users could add content to their Springpad "My Stuff" was by emailing entries to an email address specified on Springpad registration. Springpad's smartphone apps could be used to scan barcodes to identify products, save them to the user's "My Stuff", and automatically generate additional product information and links. The mobile app could also save images taken with the phone's camera, and locate nearby businesses. With most of the content added to a user's "My Stuff", relevant news, useful links and other helpful information could be viewed. Users could also attach additional notes and images to content they had already saved, and could add reminders and alerts which could be emailed to the user or texted to their phone. Springpad also added alerts to its own Alerts section for relevant news, deals or coupons for specific products users added. For additional organization, anything added to Springpad could also be tagged. Users could also add entries to "Notebooks" to separate content by projects, or any other way they wished. Each Notebook included a section called a "Board", which acted as a pin board where users could "pin" content they'd added to the Notebook, allowing them to visually lay out items. If the user added a map to the Board and had entries that included an address, Springpad could automatically point out entries on the map. By default, everything added to Springpad was private. However users could change the privacy settings for each of the types of items added, decide to make specific items public and shareable on Facebook and Twitter, add them to their public page, or keep them private but links to them with specific people.
Read more →