AI Email Write Up

AI Email Write Up — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

Seccomp

seccomp (short for secure computing) is a computer security facility in the Linux kernel. seccomp allows a process to make a one-way transition into a "secure" state where it cannot make any system calls except exit(), sigreturn(), read() and write() to already-open file descriptors. Should it attempt any other system calls, the kernel will either just log the event or terminate the process with SIGKILL or SIGSYS. In this sense, it does not virtualize the system's resources but isolates the process from them entirely. seccomp mode is enabled via the prctl(2) system call using the PR_SET_SECCOMP argument, or (since Linux kernel 3.17) via the seccomp(2) system call. seccomp mode used to be enabled by writing to a file, /proc/self/seccomp, but this method was removed in favor of prctl(). In some kernel versions, seccomp disables the RDTSC x86 instruction, which returns the number of elapsed processor cycles since power-on, used for high-precision timing. seccomp-bpf is an extension to seccomp that allows filtering of system calls using a configurable policy implemented using Berkeley Packet Filter rules. It is used by OpenSSH and vsftpd as well as the Google Chrome/Chromium web browsers on ChromeOS and Linux. (In this regard seccomp-bpf achieves similar functionality, but with more flexibility and higher performance, to the older systrace—which seems to be no longer supported for Linux.) Some consider seccomp comparable to OpenBSD pledge(2) and FreeBSD capsicum(4). == History == seccomp was first devised by Andrea Arcangeli in January 2005 for use in public grid computing and was originally intended as a means of safely running untrusted compute-bound programs. It was merged into the Linux kernel mainline in kernel version 2.6.12, which was released on March 8, 2005. == Software using seccomp or seccomp-bpf == Android uses a seccomp-bpf filter in the zygote since Android 8.0 Oreo. systemd's sandboxing options are based on seccomp. QEMU, the Quick Emulator, the core component to the modern virtualization together with KVM uses seccomp on the parameter --sandbox Docker – software that allows applications to run inside of isolated containers. Docker can associate a seccomp profile with the container using the --security-opt parameter. Arcangeli's CPUShare was the only known user of seccomp for a while. Writing in February 2009, Linus Torvalds expresses doubt whether seccomp is actually used by anyone. However, a Google engineer replied that Google is exploring using seccomp for sandboxing its Chrome web browser. Firejail is an open source Linux sandbox program that utilizes Linux namespaces, Seccomp, and other kernel-level security features to sandbox Linux and Wine applications. As of Chrome version 20, seccomp-bpf is used to sandbox Adobe Flash Player. As of Chrome version 23, seccomp-bpf is used to sandbox the renderers. Snap specify the shape of their application sandbox using "interfaces" which snapd translates to seccomp, AppArmor and other security constructs vsftpd uses seccomp-bpf sandboxing as of version 3.0.0. OpenSSH has supported seccomp-bpf since version 6.0. Mbox uses ptrace along with seccomp-bpf to create a secure sandbox with less overhead than ptrace alone. LXD, a Ubuntu "hypervisor" for containers Firefox and Firefox OS, which use seccomp-bpf Tor supports seccomp since 0.2.5.1-alpha Lepton, a JPEG compression tool developed by Dropbox uses seccomp Kafel is a configuration language, which converts readable policies into seccompb-bpf bytecode Subgraph OS uses seccomp-bpf Flatpak uses seccomp for process isolation Bubblewrap is a lightweight sandbox application developed from Flatpak minijail uses seccomp for process isolation SydBox uses seccomp-bpf to improve the runtime and security of the ptrace sandboxing used to sandbox package builds on Exherbo Linux distribution. File, a Unix program to determine filetypes, uses seccomp to restrict its runtime environment Zathura, a minimalistic document viewer, uses seccomp filter to implement different sandbox modes Tracker, a indexing and preview application for the GNOME desktop environment, uses seccomp to prevent automatic exploitation of parsing vulnerabilities in media files
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GamePigeon

GamePigeon is a mobile app for iOS devices, developed by Vitalii Zlotskii and released on September 13, 2016. The game takes advantage of the iOS 10 update, which expanded how users could interact with Apple's Messages app. GamePigeon is only available through the Messages app, which allows players to start and respond to different party games in conversations. == Release == The app was first released on September 13, 2016, coinciding with the launch of iOS 10. The app was released for free, although it includes in-app purchases to unlock additional items, such as cosmetic skins, avatar items, new game modes, and an option to remove ads. == Games in the app == The following is a list of games that users can play within GamePigeon: Sources: Poker was one of the games included in GamePigeon at launch, although it has since been removed and is no longer listed on the game's App Store description. == Reception == GamePigeon has enjoyed commercial success, with VentureBeat noting that GamePigeon was ranked number-one in the "Top Free" category of the iMessage App Store, six months after its release. Critically, GamePigeon has been generally well received, being highlighted by online media publications early on shortly after the iOS 10 launch. It has since been included on many "best iMessage apps" lists. Based on over 162,000 ratings, the game holds a 4.0 out of 5 rating on the App Store. Julian Chokkattu of Digital Trends wrote "GamePigeon should be like the pre-installed versions of Solitaire and Minesweeper that used to come with older iterations of Windows." On its launch day, Boy Genius Report included it on a list of "10 of the best iMessage apps, games and stickers for iOS 10 on launch day." The Daily Dot wrote, "GamePigeon is easily the best current gaming option within iMessages." 8-ball and cup pong have been particularly well received by media outlets. The Daily Dot had specific praise for the app's billiards game: "8-Ball controls shockingly smoothly with your fingers, and there’s nothing quite like destroying a dear friend in poker." During his 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Cory Booker was cited as playing the game with his family. In 2017, CNBC cited one teenager who expressed that GamePigeon was one of just a few reasons that those in her age range use the iMessage app. The game has received particular positive reception for allowing introverted individuals to exercise a form social activity; similarly, the game was highlighted as a way to maintain social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an April Fools' Day joke in 2020, The Chronicle, a Duke University newspaper, published that Duke's athletic program adopted GamePigeon's Cup Pong as an official varsity sport.
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Free Studio

Free Studio is a freeware set of multimedia computer programs developed by DVDVideoSoft. The programs are available in one integrated package and also as separate downloads (Free Studio Manager is included in both). == Overview == The Free Studio software bundle consists of about 48 programs, grouped into several sections: YouTube, MP3 & Audio, CD-DVD-BD, DVD & Video, Photo & Images, Mobiles, Apple Devices, and 3D. The largest group is the DVD & Video section containing 14 different applications. Mobiles section is the second largest group with 13 programs. However, the YouTube section, particularly YouTube downloading programs, has gained more popularity among users. The programs have been tested and endorsed by a dozen of software portals and have won awards from these sites. Free Studio is most popular in Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United States. It is also popular in Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. Some of the programs in the package are free and open-source software. == History == DVDVideoSoft project was launched in 2006 by company Digital Wave Ltd., for software development to produce multimedia application software. The founders distributed paid software as an affiliate at the start, later their own products appeared on the site. Free YouTube Download was the first successful program, then DVDVideoSoft created and launched several other 'Free YouTube' applications. Later on upon users' requests DVDVideoSoft started developing other kinds of applications including media converters etc. Today DVDVideoSoft offers up to 49 different programs for video, audio and image processing individually or integrated into the Free Studio package. == Features == DVDVideoSoft YouTube programs can be used to download YouTube videos in their original format and convert them to AVI, DVD, MP4, WMV etc. or different audio formats. YouTube section contains Free Video Call Recorder for Skype button, but the program itself is not included into FS installation (it has to be downloaded and installed separately). The "MP3 & Audio" section consists of the programs which convert audio files between different formats, convert audio files to Flash for web, extract audio from video files, edit audio files (Free Audio Dub), rip and burn CDs. Enclosed in the CD-DVD-BD section are the applications that enable users to burn files and folders to discs, to convert videos to a DVD format and vice versa, to burn CDs, and to copy music from audio CDs into files. The "DVD and Video" section contains several desktop video and DVD converters. Some of the programs can flip, rotate and cut (Free Video Dub) videos. One of the most popular programs from the section is Free Video Dub. Converted videos are now, contrary to previous versions, watermarked if no paid membership is present. Free Studio includes several applications for Apple phones, iPods and other devices. The Mobiles section contains a dozen video converters for various mobile devices such as cell phones, Tablets and Game consoles. They convert videos to play them on (BlackBerry, HTC, LG phones, Sony/Sony Ericsson, Nintendo, Xbox, Motorola phones, etc.) The "Photo & Images" section incorporates the programs for image conversion and resizing, extracting JPEG frames from videos (Free Video To JPEG Converter), recording screen activities, making screenshots (Free Screen Recorder). The 3D section is composed of the programs to make 3D videos and 3D images. There are several algorithms which allow to create different types of 3D images. == Supported formats == === Video formats === Input: .avi; .ivf; .div; .divx; .mpg; .mpeg; .mpe; .mp4; .m4v; .wmv; .asf; .webm; .mkv; .mov; .qt; .ts; .mts; .m2t; .m2ts; .mod; .tod; .vro; .dat; .3gp2; .3gpp; .3gp; .3g2; .dvr-ms; .flv; .f4v; .amv; .rm; .rmm; .rv; .rmvb; .ogv; DVD video Output: .mp4; .wmv; .avi; .mkv; .webm; .flv; .swf; .mov; .3gp; .m2ts; DVD video === Audio formats === Input: .mp3 .wav; .aac; .m4a; .m4b; .wma; .ogg; .flac; .ra; .ram; .amr; .ape; .mka; .tta; .aiff; .au; .mpc; .spx; .ac3; audio cd Output: .mp3; .m4a; .aac; .wav; .wma; .ogg; .flac; .ape; audio CD === Image formats === Input: .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .tga Output: .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .tga, .pdf == Reception == The programs have been tested and endorsed by Chip Online, Tucows, SnapFiles, Brothersoft, and Softonic and have won awards from these sites. Free Studio is most popular in Germany, United States and Italy. It is also popular in Japan, France and the United Kingdom. The most popular applications, according to CNET statistics, include Free YouTube to MP3 Converter, Free Video to MP3 Converter, Free MP4 Video Converter and Free YouTube Download. Other programs with high rank: Free AVI Video Converter, Free Video Editor, Free Audio Converter and Free Studio in a whole. == Criticism == Free Studio (as can be common for freeware packages) is criticized for toolbar and Web search engine installation. Older versions have also included OpenCandy, which is loaded automatically, with no request for user approval. There can be difficulties installing only the programs needed without installing bundled extra programs. In March 2017, DVDVideoSoft announced that it had stopped showing other products' ads during installation and removed all toolbars, search engines, and OpenCandy.
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Multiple buffering

In computer science, multiple buffering is the use of more than one buffer to hold a block of data, so that a "reader" will see a complete (though perhaps old) version of the data instead of a partially updated version of the data being created by a "writer". It is very commonly used for computer display images. It is also used to avoid the need to use dual-ported RAM (DPRAM) when the readers and writers are different devices. == Description == === Double buffering Petri net === The Petri net in the illustration shows double buffering. Transitions W1 and W2 represent writing to buffer 1 and 2 respectively while R1 and R2 represent reading from buffer 1 and 2 respectively. At the beginning, only the transition W1 is enabled. After W1 fires, R1 and W2 are both enabled and can proceed in parallel. When they finish, R2 and W1 proceed in parallel and so on. After the initial transient where W1 fires alone, this system is periodic and the transitions are enabled – always in pairs (R1 with W2 and R2 with W1 respectively). == Double buffering in computer graphics == In computer graphics, double buffering is a technique for drawing graphics that shows less stutter, tearing, and other artifacts. It is difficult for a program to draw a display so that pixels do not change more than once. For instance, when updating a page of text, it is much easier to clear the entire page and then draw the letters than to somehow erase only the pixels that are used in old letters but not in new ones. However, this intermediate image is seen by the user as flickering. In addition, computer monitors constantly redraw the visible video page (traditionally at around 60 times a second), so even a perfect update may be visible momentarily as a horizontal divider between the "new" image and the un-redrawn "old" image, known as tearing. === Software double buffering === A software implementation of double buffering has all drawing operations store their results in some region of system RAM; any such region is often called a "back buffer". When all drawing operations are considered complete, the whole region (or only the changed portion) is copied into the video RAM (the "front buffer"); this copying is usually synchronized with the monitor's raster beam in order to avoid tearing. Software implementations of double buffering necessarily require more memory and CPU time than single buffering because of the system memory allocated for the back buffer, the time for the copy operation, and the time waiting for synchronization. Compositing window managers often combine the "copying" operation with "compositing" used to position windows, transform them with scale or warping effects, and make portions transparent. Thus, the "front buffer" may contain only the composite image seen on the screen, while there is a different "back buffer" for every window containing the non-composited image of the entire window contents. === Page flipping === In the page-flip method, instead of copying the data, both buffers are capable of being displayed. At any one time, one buffer is actively being displayed by the monitor, while the other, background buffer is being drawn. When the background buffer is complete, the roles of the two are switched. The page-flip is typically accomplished by modifying a hardware register in the video display controller—the value of a pointer to the beginning of the display data in the video memory. The page-flip is much faster than copying the data and can guarantee that tearing will not be seen as long as the pages are switched over during the monitor's vertical blanking interval—the blank period when no video data is being drawn. The currently active and visible buffer is called the front buffer, while the background page is called the back buffer. == Triple buffering == In computer graphics, triple buffering is similar to double buffering but can provide improved performance. In double buffering, the program must wait until the finished drawing is copied or swapped before starting the next drawing. This waiting period could be several milliseconds during which neither buffer can be touched. In triple buffering, the program has two back buffers and can immediately start drawing in the one that is not involved in such copying. The third buffer, the front buffer, is read by the graphics card to display the image on the monitor. Once the image has been sent to the monitor, the front buffer is flipped with (or copied from) the back buffer holding the most recent complete image. Since one of the back buffers is always complete, the graphics card never has to wait for the software to complete. Consequently, the software and the graphics card are completely independent and can run at their own pace. Finally, the displayed image was started without waiting for synchronization and thus with minimum lag. Due to the software algorithm not polling the graphics hardware for monitor refresh events, the algorithm may continuously draw additional frames as fast as the hardware can render them. For frames that are completed much faster than interval between refreshes, it is possible to replace a back buffers' frames with newer iterations multiple times before copying. This means frames may be written to the back buffer that are never used at all before being overwritten by successive frames. Nvidia has implemented this method under the name "Fast Sync". An alternative method sometimes referred to as triple buffering is a swap chain three buffers long. After the program has drawn both back buffers, it waits until the first one is placed on the screen, before drawing another back buffer (i.e. it is a 3-long first in, first out queue). Most Windows games seem to refer to this method when enabling triple buffering. == Quad buffering == The term quad buffering is the use of double buffering for each of the left and right eye images in stereoscopic implementations, thus four buffers total (if triple buffering was used then there would be six buffers). The command to swap or copy the buffer typically applies to both pairs at once, so at no time does one eye see an older image than the other eye. Quad buffering requires special support in the graphics card drivers which is disabled for most consumer cards. AMD's Radeon HD 6000 Series and newer support it. 3D standards like OpenGL and Direct3D support quad buffering. == Double buffering for DMA == The term double buffering is used for copying data between two buffers for direct memory access (DMA) transfers, not for enhancing performance, but to meet specific addressing requirements of a device (particularly 32-bit devices on systems with wider addressing provided via Physical Address Extension). Windows device drivers are a place where the term "double buffering" is likely to be used. Linux and BSD source code calls these "bounce buffers". Some programmers try to avoid this kind of double buffering with zero-copy techniques. == Other uses == Double buffering is also used as a technique to facilitate interlacing or deinterlacing of video signals.
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Telligent Community

Telligent Community is a community and collaboration software platform developed by Telligent Systems and was first released in 2004. Telligent Community is built on the Telligent Evolution platform, with a variety of core applications running on top of it such as blogs, forums, media galleries, and wikis. Additional applications from third parties using the API's and REST stack can be installed or integrated with the platform. Telligent Community is built with ASP.NET, C#, and Microsoft SQL Server. It is available as downloadable software that can be installed on a web server or via hosting providers. The current version is Verint Community 12.0 which was released February 2012. The product used to be named Community Server before being rebranded as part of the 5.0 release. == History == Telligent Systems was founded by Rob Howard in 2004, who was previously part of Microsoft's ASP.NET team. Telligent introduced its first product, Community Server, in the fall of 2004. Community Server was one of the first integrated community platforms that brought together blogs, photo galleries, wikis, forums, user profiles and more. Community Server was based on the merger of three then-widely used open source ASP.NET projects: the ASP.NET Forums, nGallery photo gallery, and .Text blog engine. The people behind those projects (Scott Watermasysk, Jason Alexander, and Rob Howard) joined together as Telligent Systems and along with several other software developers created Community Server 1.0. Between 2004 and 2009 Community Server steadily grew in scope, features, and capabilities. In 2008 Telligent Systems released a second version of Community Server that targeted as an Enterprise Social Software platform used to create and manage internal employee communities and intranets. Originally branded as Community Server Evolution this was later renamed Telligent Enterprise. Telligent also announced a new Enterprise Reporting platform at its first Community Server Developers Conference in 2008, which was later renamed Harvest. It was one of the first analytics suites for enterprise collaboration software, and provides social analytics including sentiment analysis, social fingerprints, and buzz analysis on social networking sites such as Twitter. Telligent rebranded all of its products on June 23, 2009 at the Enterprise 2.0 conference when it launched its new Evolution platform product suite. Community Server became known as Telligent Community, Community Server Evolution became known as Telligent Enterprise and the underlying platform that both run on is now referred to as Telligent Evolution. The Social Analytics suite was renamed Telligent Analytics.
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Agent-assisted automation

Agent-assisted automation is a type of call center technology that automates elements of what the call center agent 1) does with his/her desktop tools and/or 2) says to customers during the call using pre-recorded audio. It is a relatively new category of call center technology that shows promise in improving call center productivity and compliance. == Types of agent-assisted automation == === Pre-recorded audio === Pre-recorded audio (sometimes referred to as soundboard (computer program) or as soundboard technology) is another form of agent-assisted automation. The purpose of using pre-recorded messages is to increase the probability (and in some cases error-proof the process so) that the right information is provided to customers at the right time. The required disclosures are pre-recorded to ensure accuracy and understandability. By integrating the recordings with the customer relationship management software, the right combination of disclosures can be played based on the combination of goods and services the customer purchased. The integration with the customer relationship management software also ensures that the order cannot be submitted until the disclosures are played, essentially error-proofing (poka-yoke) the process of ensuring the customer gets all the required consumer protection information. Phone surveys are ideal applications of this technology. Whether surveying market preferences or political views, the pre-recorded audio with an agent listening allows the questions to be asked in the same way every time, uninfluenced by the agents' fatigue levels, accents, or their own views. === Fraud prevention === Fraud prevention is a specialized type of agent-assisted automation focused on reducing ID theft and credit card fraud. ID theft and credit card fraud are huge threats for call centers and their customers and few good solutions exist, but new agent-assisted automation solutions are producing promising results. The technology allows the agents to remain on the phone while the customers use their phone key pads to enter the information. The tones are masked and the information passes directly into the customer relationship management system or payment gateway in the case of credit card transactions. The automation essentially makes it impossible for call center agents and also call center personnel that might be monitoring the calls to steal the credit card number, social security number, or other personally identifiable information. === Outbound telemarketing === Another specialized application space of agent-assisted automation is in outbound telemarketing, which goes under numerous headings including outbound prospecting, cold calling, solicitation, fund-raising, etc. Turnover is high among agents engaged in this kind of work because the task is tedious and emotionally difficult. It is tedious because the agent spends the bulk of their day, not talking to qualified leads, but in getting wrong numbers and answering machines. == Benefits == Just as automation has benefited manufacturing by reducing the mental and physical effort required of workers while simultaneously improving throughput, quality, and safety, agent-assisted automation is improving call center results while reducing the tiring aspects of the job for agents. In some cases, the agent-assisted automation streamlines the process and allows calls to be handled more quickly. By eliminating cutting and pasting from one application to another, by auto-navigating applications, and by providing a single view of the customer, agent-assisted automation can reduce call handle time and increase agent productivity. Second, in theory, the more steps that can be automated and the more logic that can be built into the call flow (e.g., if the customer buys items 2 and 9, then disclosures a, c, and f are read by the pre-recorded audio), then companies may be able to reduce the amount of training that is required of the agents while at the same time ensuring more consistency and accuracy. However, no published studies have reported this result yet. But an even larger problem in call centers is between-agent variation in behavior and results. Agents differ in the amount of training and coaching they receive, they differ in the amount of experience they have, their jobs are repetitious and tiring, and the process and procedures the agents are supposed to follow constantly change. Moreover, there are significant individual differences between agents in their intelligence, personality, motivations, etc. which all affect performance. Despite the large amount of money call centers have spent over decades trying to reduce between-agent variation, the problem is still so prevalent that one large study of customer interactions with call centers found that a customer's experience was completely a function of the quality of the agent who happened to answer the phone. Therefore, the most significant benefit of agent-assisted automation may prove to be in how the automation error-proofs or poka-yoke the process and ensures that something that needs to be done or said happens every time. Properly implemented, the between-agent variation for whatever step of the process the automation is applied to may be able to be reduced to near zero. This is especially important in a collection agency whose processes and procedures are closely regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
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BiP (software)

BiP is a freeware instant messaging application developed by Lifecell Ventures Cooperatief U.A., a subsidiary of Turkcell incorporated in the Netherlands. It allows users to send text messages, voice messages and video calling, and it can be downloaded from the App Store, Google Play, and Huawei AppGallery. BiP has over 53 million users worldwide, and was first released in 2013. == Functions == BiP is a secure, and free communication platform. BiP allows making video and audio calls, allows sharing images, videos and location. BiP includes instant translations to 106 languages and exchange rates. President Erdoğan's Communications Office opposed WhatsApp's enforcement of its updated privacy policy and announced that Erdoğan left WhatsApp and opened an account in Telegram and BiP. The Turkish Ministry of National Defense has announced that it will move information groups to BiP for the same reason. == Others == Banglalink announced a BiP messenger partnership in Bangladesh The Communications Office of President Erdoğan opposed WhatsApp's enforcement of its updated privacy policy and announced that Erdoğan left WhatsApp and opened an account in Telegram and BiP. The Turkish Ministry of National Defense has announced that it will move information groups to BiP for the same reason. The CEO of BiP is Burak Akinci. The number of downloads of the app is 80 million globally.
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Bump (application)

Bump was an iOS and Android mobile app that enabled smartphone users to transfer contact information, photos and files between devices. In 2011, it was #8 on Apple's list of all-time most popular free iPhone apps, and by February 2013 it had been downloaded 125 million times. Its developer, Bump Technologies, shut down the service and discontinued the app on January 31, 2014, after being acquired by Google for Google Photos and Android Camera. == Features == Bump sent contact information, photos and files to another device over the internet. Before activating the transfer, each user confirmed what they want to send to the other user. To initiate a transfer, two people physically bumped their phones together. A screen appeared on both users' smartphone displays, allowing them to confirm what they want to send to each other. When two users bumped their phones, software on the phones send a variety of sensor data to an algorithm running on Bump servers, which included the location of the phone, accelerometer readings, IP address, and other sensor readings. The algorithm figured out which two phones felt the same physical bump and then transfers the information between those phones. Bump did not use Near Field Communication. February 2012 release of Bump 3.0 for iOS, the company streamlined the app to focus on its most frequently used features: contact and photo sharing. Bump 3.0 for Android maintained the features eliminated from the iOS version but moved them behind swipeable layers. In May 2012, a Bump update enabled users to transfer photos from their phone to their computer via a web service. To initiate a transfer, the user goes to the Bump website on their computer and bumps the smartphone on the computer keyboard's space bar. By December 2012, various Bump updates for iOS and Android had added the abilities to share video, audio, and any files. Users swipe to access those features. In February 2013, an update to the Bump iOS and Android apps enabled users to transfer photos, videos, contacts and other files from a computer to a smartphone and vice versa via a web service. To perform the transfer, users went to the Bump website on their computer and bump the smartphone on the computer keyboard's space bar. == History == The underlying idea of a synchronous gesture like bumping two devices for content transfer or pairing them was first conceived by Ken Hinkley of Microsoft Research in 2003. This idea was presented at a user interface and technology conference that same year. The paper proposed the use of accelerometers and a bumping gesture of two devices to enable communication, screen sharing and content transfer between them. Similar to this original concept, the idea for Bump app was conceived by David Lieb, a former employee of Texas Instruments, while he was attending the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for his MBA. While going through the orientation and meeting process of business school, he became frustrated by constantly entering contact information into his iPhone and felt that the process could be improved. His fellow Texas Instruments employees Andy Huibers and Jake Mintz, who was a classmate of Lieb's at the University of Chicago's MBA program, joined Lieb to form Bump Technologies. Bump Technologies launched in 2008 and is located in Mountain View, CA. Early funding for the project was provided by startup incubator Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital and other angel investors. It gained attention at the CTIA international wireless conference, due to its accessibility and novelty factor. In October 2009, Bump received $3.4m in Series A funding followed in January 2011 with a $16m series B financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen sits on the company's board. The Bump app debuted in the Apple iOS App Store in March 2009 and was “one of the apps that helped to define the iPhone” (Harry McCracken, Technologizer). It soon became the billionth download on Apple's App Store. An Android version launched in November 2009. By the time Bump 3.0 for iOS was released in February 2012, the app had been installed 77 million times, with users sharing more than 2 million photos daily. As of February 2013, there had been 125 million Bump app downloads. == Other apps created by Bump Technologies == Bump Technologies worked with PayPal in March 2010 to create a PayPal iPhone application. The application, which allows two users to automatically activate an Internet transfer of money between their accounts, found widespread adoption. A similar version was released for Android in August 2010. The Bump capability in PayPal's apps was removed in March 2012. At that time, Bump Technologies released Bump Pay, an iOS app that lets users transfer money via PayPal by physically bumping two smartphones together. The tool was originally created for the Bump team to use when splitting up restaurant bills. The payment feature was not added to the Bump app because the company “wanted to make it as simple as possible so people understand how this works,” Lieb told ABC News. Bump Pay was the first app from the company's Bump Labs initiative. A goal of Bump Labs is to test new app ideas that may not fit within the main Bump app. ING Direct added a feature to its iPhone app in 2011 that lets users transfer money to each other using Bump's technology. The feature was later added to its Android app, now called Capital One 360. In July 2012, Bump Technologies released Flock, an iPhone photo sharing app. An Android version was released in December 2012. Using geolocation data embedded in photos and a user's Facebook connections, Flock finds pictures the user takes while out with friends and family and puts everyone's photos from that event into a single shared album. Users receive a push notification after the event, asking if they want to share their photos with friends who were there in the moment. The app will also scan previous photos in the iPhone camera roll and uncover photos that have yet to be shared. If location services were enabled at the time a photo was taken, Flock allows users to create an album of photos from the past with the friends who were there with them. == Acquisition by Google == On September 16, 2013, Bump Technologies announced that it had been acquired by Google. On December 31, 2013, they broke the news that both Bump and Flock would be discontinued so that the team could focus on new projects at Google. The apps were removed from the App Store and Google Play on January 31, 2014. The company subsequently deleted all user data and shut down their servers, thus rendering existing installations of the apps inoperable.
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TensorFlow Hub

TensorFlow Hub (also styled TF Hub) is an open-source machine learning library and online repository that provides TensorFlow model components, called modules. It is maintained by Google as part of the TensorFlow ecosystem and allows developers to discover, publish, and reuse pretrained models for tasks such as computer vision, natural language processing, and transfer learning. == Overview == TensorFlow Hub provides a central platform where developers and researchers can access pre-trained models and integrate them directly into TensorFlow workflows. Each module encapsulates a computation graph and its trained weights, with standardized input and output signatures. Modules can be loaded using the hub.load() function or through Keras integration via hub.KerasLayer, enabling users to perform transfer learning or feature extraction. == History == TensorFlow Hub was announced by Google in March 2018, with the first public version released shortly after. Its introduction coincided with the growing adoption of transfer learning techniques and the need for standardized model packaging. Over time, the hub expanded to include models such as the BERT family, MobileNet, EfficientNet, and the Universal Sentence Encoder. In 2020, research on “Regret selection in TensorFlow Hub” explored the problem of identifying optimal models for downstream tasks given a large repository of alternatives. == Applications == TensorFlow Hub hosts a variety of models across machine learning domains: Natural language processing: BERT, ALBERT language model, and Universal Sentence Encoder. Computer vision: ResNet, Inception (deep learning), MobileNet, EfficientNet. Speech and audio: spectrogram feature extractors and automatic speech recognition models. Multilingual embeddings: cross-lingual and sentence-level representations for machine translation and semantic similarity. Modules are widely used in education, academic research, and industry for prototyping and production deployment.
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AVS Video Editor

AVS Video Editor is a video editing software published by Online Media Technologies Ltd. It is a part of AVS4YOU software suite which includes video, audio, image editing and conversion, disc editing and burning, document conversion and registry cleaner programs. It offers the opportunity to create and edit videos with a vast variety of video and audio effects, text and transitions; capture video from screen, web or DV cameras and VHS tape; record voice; create menus for discs, as well as to save them to plenty of video file formats, burn to discs or publish on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc. == Description == === Interface === The layout consists of the timeline or storyboard view, preview pane and media library (transitions, video effects, text or disc menus) collections. The storyboard view shows the sequence of video clips with the transitions between them and used to change the order of clips or add transitions. Timeline view consists of main video, audio, effects, video overlay and text lines for editing. Once on the timeline video can be duplicated, split, muted, frozen, cropped, stabilized, its speed can be slowed down or increased, audio and color corrected. === Importing footage === Video, audio and image files necessary for video project can be imported into the program from computer hard disk drive. User can also capture video from computer screen, web or mini DV camera, as well as from VHS tape, record voice. === Output (web, device, disc, format) === AVS Video Editor gives the opportunity to save video to a computer hard drive to one of the video formats: AVI, DVD, Blu-ray, MOV, MP4, M4V, MPEG, WMV, MKV, WebM, M2TS, TS, FLV, SWF, RM, 3GP, GIF, DPG, AMV, MTV; burn to DVD or Blu-ray disc with menus; create a video for mobile players, mobile phones or gaming consoles and upload it right to the device. The most popular devices such as Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Sony PSP, Samsung Galaxy, Android and BlackBerry smartphones and tablets are supported. There is also an option to create a video that can be streamed via web and save it into Flash or WebM format or for the popular web services: YouTube, Facebook, Telly (Twitvid), Dailymotion, Flickr and Dropbox. === Features === Single and multithread modes: if a computer supports multi-threading, video creation process is performed faster in multithread mode, especially on a multi-core system. Customization of the output file settings, such as bitrate, frame rate, frame size, video and audio codecs, etc. Transitions - help video clips smoothly go into one another, dissolve or overlap two video or image files. Fade in and fade out video and audio files - dissolve a video to and from a blank image, reduce the audio volume at the end of the video and increase at the beginning. Slideshow creation - create a presentation of a series of still images. Voice recording Projects - once a project is created and saved, the next time saving video to some other format will be fast, projects are also used if a user do not have a possibility to create, edit and save video all at once. Video overlay option - superpose video image over the video clip that is being edited. Disk menu and chapters creation - an option for DVD and Blu-ray video. Freeze frame - make a still shot from a video clip. Stabilization feature - reduce jittering or blurring caused by shaky motions of a camera. Enhanced deinterlacing method - increase video quality for interlaced input file - spots and blurred areas are compensated. Scene detection - search and separate one scene of the video from the other. Loop DVD and SWF - output SWF and DVD video are played back continuously. Caching for processing high definition files - create a duplicate video file smaller in size to use it on the preview window and accelerate processing of HD files. Chroma key option - add video overlay half transparent so that only part of it is visible and all the rest disappears to reveal the video underneath. Capture video material from DV tapes, VHS tapes, web cameras, etc. Movie closing credits - add information on movie editing, e.g. crew, cast, data, etc. Creeping line, subtitles, text - add different captions (static and animated), shapes and images to video. Speech balloons and other graphic objects - geometrical shapes to highlight an object in the video. Zoom effect - magnify or reduce the view of the image. Rotate effect - rotate video image at different degrees, e.g. 90, 180, etc. Grayscale and old movie effects - create a black and white video image. Old movie adds also scratches, noise, shake and dust to video, as if it's being played on an old projector. Blur and sharpen effects - visually smooth and soften an image, or make video image better focused. Snow and particles effects - adds snow or various objects (bubbles, flowers, leaves, butterflies etc.) that are moving, flying or falling on the video. Pan and zoom Timer, countdown effects - add a timepiece that measures or counts down a time interval to the video being edited. Snapshots - capture a particular moment of a video clip. Sound track replacement - mute audio track from video and add another one. Audio amplify, noise removal, equalizer, etc. - make video sound louder, attenuate the noise, change frequency pattern of the audio, make some other audio adjustments. Trim and multi-trim options - change video clip duration cutting out unnecessary parts or detect scenes and cut out parts in any place of the video clip. Color correction (brightness, temperature, contrast, saturation, gamma, etc.) effects - allow adjustment of tonal range, color, and sharpness of video files. Crop scale effect - get rid of mattes that appear after changing aspect ratio of a video file. Adjusting the Playback Speed Volume and balance - change sound volume in the output video. Change volume value proportion for main video and added soundtrack, completely mute main video audio and leave added soundtrack only, etc. === Utilities embedded into AVS Video Editor === AVS Mobile Uploader is used to transfer edited and converted media files to portable devices via Bluetooth, Infrared or USB connection. AVS Video Burner is used to burn converted video files to different disc types: CD, DVD, Blu-ray. AVS Video Recorder is used to capture video from analog video sources and supports different types of devices: capture card, web camera (webcam), DV camera, HDV camera. AVS Video Uploader is used to transfer video files to popular video-sharing websites, like Facebook, Dailymotion, YouTube, Photobucket, TwitVid, MySpace, Flickr. AVS Screen Capture is used to capture any actions on the desktop to make presentations or video tutorials more vivid and easily comprehensible. == Important upgrades == The initial release of AVS Video Editor was in 2003 when the program was offered inside AVS software bundles together with AVS Video Tools, AVS Audio Tools and DVD Copy software. In 2005 the program is offered as a part of multifunctional AVS4YOU software suite. AVS Video Editor is frequently updated. The main updates include adding several important features for video editing
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BBC Own It

The BBC Own It app was a British information site designed to protect and support children using the Internet. The app was launched in 2017 and retired in 2022, though the website retired in 2024 and has since moved to BBC Teach. As part of the BBC's partnership with Internet Matters, the not-for-profit contributed to content on the BBC Own It website. == History == In 2016, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge established The Royal Foundation Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying. Work began in 2017 by the BBC to create an app about cyberbullying and online safety (later titled Own It) in response to a call for action from the Taskforce. In December 2017, the BBC launched Own It. In November 2018, work on the BBC Own It App was announced by Prince William. In September 2019, the BBC Own It App was launched into the AppStore and Google Play. In 2022, the BBC discontinued the app, although the website was still active, however in 2024, the website was discontinued, and now any links to the website now redirect to a BBC Teach page. == Awards == UXUK award for Best Education or Learning Experience (2019) Banff World Media Festival Rockies Award for Children & Youth Interactive Content (2020) CogX Award for Best Innovation In Natural Language Processing (2020)
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Pulse-coupled networks

Pulse-coupled networks or pulse-coupled neural networks (PCNNs) are neural models proposed by modeling a cat's visual cortex, and developed for high-performance biomimetic image processing. In 1989, Eckhorn introduced a neural model to emulate the mechanism of cat's visual cortex. The Eckhorn model provided a simple and effective tool for studying small mammal’s visual cortex, and was soon recognized as having significant application potential in image processing. In 1994, Johnson adapted the Eckhorn model to an image processing algorithm, calling this algorithm a pulse-coupled neural network. The basic property of the Eckhorn's linking-field model (LFM) is the coupling term. LFM is a modulation of the primary input by a biased offset factor driven by the linking input. These drive a threshold variable that decays from an initial high value. When the threshold drops below zero it is reset to a high value and the process starts over. This is different than the standard integrate-and-fire neural model, which accumulates the input until it passes an upper limit and effectively "shorts out" to cause the pulse. LFM uses this difference to sustain pulse bursts, something the standard model does not do on a single neuron level. It is valuable to understand, however, that a detailed analysis of the standard model must include a shunting term, due to the floating voltages level in the dendritic compartment(s), and in turn this causes an elegant multiple modulation effect that enables a true higher-order network (HON). A PCNN is a two-dimensional neural network. Each neuron in the network corresponds to one pixel in an input image, receiving its corresponding pixel's color information (e.g. intensity) as an external stimulus. Each neuron also connects with its neighboring neurons, receiving local stimuli from them. The external and local stimuli are combined in an internal activation system, which accumulates the stimuli until it exceeds a dynamic threshold, resulting in a pulse output. Through iterative computation, PCNN neurons produce temporal series of pulse outputs. The temporal series of pulse outputs contain information of input images and can be used for various image processing applications, such as image segmentation and feature generation. Compared with conventional image processing means, PCNNs have several significant merits, including robustness against noise, independence of geometric variations in input patterns, capability of bridging minor intensity variations in input patterns, etc. A simplified PCNN called a spiking cortical model was developed in 2009. == Applications == PCNNs are useful for image processing, as discussed in a book by Thomas Lindblad and Jason M. Kinser. PCNNs have been used in a variety of image processing applications, including: image segmentation, pattern recognition, feature generation, face extraction, motion detection, region growing, image denoising and image enhancement Multidimensional pulse image processing of chemical structure data using PCNN has been discussed by Kinser, et al. They have also been applied to an all pairs shortest path problem.
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LMArena

Arena (formerly LMArena and Chatbot Arena) is a public, web-based platform that evaluates large language models (LLMs). Users enter prompts for two anonymous models to respond to and vote on the model that gave the better response, after which the models' identities are revealed. Users can also choose models to test themselves via the "Direct" selection. Companies which have supplied the company with their large language models include OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. The website has been used for preview releases of upcoming models. Chinese company DeepSeek tested its prototype models in the Arena months before its R1 model gained attention in Western media. Other notable pre-release models include OpenAI's GPT-5 under the codename "summit" and Google DeepMind's Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (an image-generation and editing model) under the codename "Nano Banana". Research has identified specific limitations in Arena's methodology. == History == Chatbot Arena was released on April 24, 2023. In June 2024, Chatbot Arena added image support. In September 2024, Chatbot Arena moved to its own dedicated domain name, lmarena.ai (or LMArena). In April 2025, Meta released Llama 4. Llama 4 Maverick beat GPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 Flash on LMArena, but the version of Maverick on LMArena unfairly differed from the publicly available version. LMArena updated their policies in response. In April 2025, LMArena incorporated as an independent company. That May, LMArena raised $100 million in a seed funding round, valuing the company at $600 million. Participants in the seed funding round included Andreessen Horowitz, UC Investments, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins. On January 6, 2026, LMArena announced the closing of a $150 million Series A funding round, bringing the company’s post-money valuation to approximately $1.7 billion. The round was led by Felicis and UC Investments (University of California), with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, The House Fund, LDVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Laude Ventures. In January 2026, LMArena added video support. On January 28, 2026, LMArena rebranded to "Arena".
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Procreate (software)

Procreate is a raster graphics editor app for digital painting developed and published by the Australian company Savage Interactive for iOS and iPadOS. It was launched on the App Store in 2011. == Versions == === Procreate === Procreate for iPad was first released in 2011 by the Tasmanian software company Savage Interactive. In June 2013, Savage launched Procreate 2 in conjunction with iOS 7, adding new features such as higher resolution capabilities and more brush options. In 2016, Procreate became one of the top ten best-selling iPad apps on the App Store. In 2018, Procreate became the overall best selling iPad app. With iOS 26, Procreate adapted Liquid Glass into its software. As of March 2026, the most recent version of Procreate for the iPad is 5.4.9. === Procreate Pocket === Procreate Pocket was released to the App Store in December 2014. In 2018, Savage launched Procreate Pocket 2.0 to the App Store. In December 2018, Procreate Pocket received Apple's "App of the Year" award. As of September 2025, the most recent version of Procreate Pocket (for the iPhone) is 4.0.15. === Procreate Dreams === Procreate Dreams, their more recent app focused on 2D animation, was released on the App Store on November 22, 2023. While the application is commended for its intuitive interface and accessibility, some reviewers have noted that it may lack some key animations features, such as reference layers. In June 2024, Procreate Dreams received the 2024 Apple Design Award for Innovation. In December 2025, Savage Interactive released Procreate Dreams 2, a long awaited update and redesign to Procreate Dreams. == Features == The current versions of Procreate use Valkyrie, a proprietary graphics engine to allow customisable brush options and importing brushes from Adobe Photoshop. Procreate offers known features like layers, masks, and blending mode. Its biggest standout compared to other professional drawing software is its simple UI and comparatively easy learning curve. The app also allows for animation. Savage expanded upon Procreate's animation features with a companion app dedicated to 2D animation called Procreate Dreams, released in November 2023. On August 2024, Procreate announced that it would not be incorporating generative artificial intelligence into its software. Savage offers a free internet forum called Procreate Discussions in which users can ask for help, suggest ideas, and share user-generated content on the marketplace or the resources board. == Notable users == Concept artist Doug Chiang creates robot, vehicle, and creature designs for Star Wars in Procreate. Professional artists have also used Procreate to create the posters for Stranger Things, Logan, and Blade Runner 2049, as well as several covers for The New Yorker. It has also been professionally adopted at Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Disney Animation, and Pixar.
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AppyStore

AppyStore is a comprehensive learning videos and games app for kids up to the age of 8 years. The platform developed by Mauj Mobile, a mobile value-added services (VAS) provider curates content to help in child development by leveraging technology. Mauj is funded by Sequoia Capital, Westbridge Capital and Intel Capital. == Background == AppyStore was launched in 2014 as a platform providing content for kids between the ages of 1.5 and 6 years. AppyStore subsequently extended its services for kids up to 8 years of age. The company operates on a subscription-based model and claims to have 5,000 learning games and videos segregated in 18 learning areas developed to help children gain optimal skills and qualities. According to an article published in Business Standard, the application is claimed to be one of the top 5 apps that help to enhance the logical and imaginative capabilities of children. AppyStore was awarded the Best app for kids by Google Play in December 2017. == Service == The company provides content via a website and an Android app. The website and android app provide learning games, rhymes, phonics, reading, stories, science, numbers, maths, logic videos comprising puzzles, worksheets, videos and fun activities and the premium subscription also includes physical worksheets which are home delivered. This content is educational and has been handpicked by teachers and experts with an understanding of the major areas of child development milestones for children up to 8 years of age. The mobile application also allows parents to track the progress of their child on the basis of the number of videos viewed.
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