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  • Computational intelligence

    Computational intelligence

    In computer science, computational intelligence (CI) refers to concepts, paradigms, algorithms and implementations of systems that are designed to show "intelligent" behavior in complex and changing environments. These systems are aimed at mastering complex tasks in a wide variety of technical or commercial areas and offer solutions that recognize and interpret patterns, control processes, support decision-making or autonomously manoeuvre vehicles or robots in unknown environments, among other things. These concepts and paradigms are characterized by the ability to learn or adapt to new situations, to generalize, to abstract, to discover and associate. Nature-analog or nature-inspired methods play a key role in this. CI approaches primarily address those complex real-world problems for which traditional or mathematical modeling is not appropriate for various reasons: the processes cannot be described exactly with complete knowledge, the processes are too complex for mathematical reasoning, they contain some uncertainties during the process, such as unforeseen changes in the environment or in the process itself, or the processes are simply stochastic in nature. Thus, CI techniques are properly aimed at processes that are ill-defined, complex, nonlinear, time-varying and/or stochastic. A recent definition of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Societey describes CI as the theory, design, application and development of biologically and linguistically motivated computational paradigms. Traditionally the three main pillars of CI have been Neural Networks, Fuzzy Systems and Evolutionary Computation. ... CI is an evolving field and at present in addition to the three main constituents, it encompasses computing paradigms like ambient intelligence, artificial life, cultural learning, artificial endocrine networks, social reasoning, and artificial hormone networks. ... Over the last few years there has been an explosion of research on Deep Learning, in particular deep convolutional neural networks. Nowadays, deep learning has become the core method for artificial intelligence. In fact, some of the most successful AI systems are based on CI. However, as CI is an emerging and developing field there is no final definition of CI, especially in terms of the list of concepts and paradigms that belong to it. The general requirements for the development of an “intelligent system” are ultimately always the same, namely the simulation of intelligent thinking and action in a specific area of application. To do this, the knowledge about this area must be represented in a model so that it can be processed. The quality of the resulting system depends largely on how well the model was chosen in the development process. Sometimes data-driven methods are suitable for finding a good model and sometimes logic-based knowledge representations deliver better results. Hybrid models are usually used in real applications. According to actual textbooks, the following methods and paradigms, which largely complement each other, can be regarded as parts of CI: Fuzzy systems Neural networks and, in particular, convolutional neural networks Evolutionary computation and, in particular, multi-objective evolutionary optimization Swarm intelligence Bayesian networks Artificial immune systems Learning theory Probabilistic methods == Relationship between hard and soft computing and artificial and computational intelligence == Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the media, but also by some of the scientists involved, as a kind of umbrella term for the various techniques associated with it or with CI. Craenen and Eiben state that attempts to define or at least describe CI can usually be assigned to one or more of the following groups: "Relative definition” comparing CI to AI Conceptual treatment of key notions and their roles in CI Listing of the (established) areas that belong to it The relationship between CI and AI has been a frequently discussed topic during the development of CI. While the above list implies that they are synonyms, the vast majority of AI/CI researchers working on the subject consider them to be distinct fields, where either CI is an alternative to AI AI includes CI CI includes AI The view of the first of the above three points goes back to Zadeh, the founder of the fuzzy set theory, who differentiated machine intelligence into hard and soft computing techniques, which are used in artificial intelligence on the one hand and computational intelligence on the other. In hard computing (HC) and traditional AI (e.g. expert systems), inaccuracy and uncertainty are undesirable characteristics of a system, while soft computing (SC) and thus CI focus on dealing with these characteristics. The adjacent figure illustrates this view and lists the most important CI techniques. Another frequently mentioned distinguishing feature is the representation of information in symbolic form in AI and in sub-symbolic form in CI techniques. Hard computing is a conventional computing method based on the principles of certainty and accuracy and it is deterministic. It requires a precisely stated analytical model of the task to be processed and a prewritten program, i.e. a fixed set of instructions. The models used are based on Boolean logic (also called crisp logic), where e.g. an element can be either a member of a set or not and there is nothing in between. When applied to real-world tasks, systems based on HC result in specific control actions defined by a mathematical model or algorithm. If an unforeseen situation occurs that is not included in the model or algorithm used, the action will most likely fail. Soft computing, on the other hand, is based on the fact that the human mind is capable of storing information and processing it in a goal-oriented way, even if it is imprecise and lacks certainty. SC is based on the model of the human brain with probabilistic thinking, fuzzy logic and multi-valued logic. Soft computing can process a wealth of data and perform a large number of computations, which may not be exact, in parallel. For hard problems for which no satisfying exact solutions based on HC are available, SC methods can be applied successfully. SC methods are usually stochastic in nature i.e., they are a randomly defined processes that can be analyzed statistically but not with precision. Up to now, the results of some CI methods, such as deep learning, cannot be verified and it is also not clear what they are based on. This problem represents an important scientific issue for the future. AI and CI are catchy terms, but they are also so similar that they can be confused. The meaning of both terms has developed and changed over a long period of time, with AI being used first. Bezdek describes this impressively and concludes that such buzzwords are frequently used and hyped by the scientific community, science management and (science) journalism. Not least because AI and biological intelligence are emotionally charged terms and it is still difficult to find a generally accepted definition for the basic term intelligence. == History == In 1950, Alan Turing, one of the founding fathers of computer science, developed a test for computer intelligence known as the Turing test. In this test, a person can ask questions via a keyboard and a monitor without knowing whether his counterpart is a human or a computer. A computer is considered intelligent if the interrogator cannot distinguish the computer from a human. This illustrates the discussion about intelligent computers at the beginning of the computer age. The term Computational Intelligence was first used as the title of the journal of the same name in 1985 and later by the IEEE Neural Networks Council (NNC), which was founded 1989 by a group of researchers interested in the development of biological and artificial neural networks. On November 21, 2001, the NNC became the IEEE Neural Networks Society, to become the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society two years later by including new areas of interest such as fuzzy systems and evolutionary computation. The NNC helped organize the first IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence in Orlando, Florida in 1994. On this conference the first clear definition of Computational Intelligence was introduced by Bezdek: A system is computationally intelligent when it: deals with only numerical (low-level) data, has pattern-recognition components, does not use knowledge in the AI sense; and additionally when it (begins to) exhibit (1) computational adaptivity; (2) computational fault tolerance; (3) speed approaching human-like turnaround and (4) error rates that approximate human performance. Today, with machine learning and deep learning in particular utilizing a breadth of supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning approaches, the CI landscape has been greatly enhanced, with novell intelligent approaches. == The main algorithmic approaches of CI and their applicati

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  • Group (online social networking)

    Group (online social networking)

    A group (often termed as a community, e-group or club) is a feature in many social networking services which allows users to create, post, comment to and read from their own interest- and niche-specific forums, often within the realm of virtual communities. Groups, which may allow for open or closed access, invitation and/or joining by other users outside the group, are formed to provide mini-networks within the larger, more diverse social network service. Much like electronic mailing lists, they are also owned and maintained by owners, moderators, or managers, who can edit posts to discussion threads and regulate member behavior within the group. However, unlike traditional Internet forums and mailing lists, groups in social networking services allow owners and moderators alike to share account credentials between groups without having to log in to every group. == History == The rise of the World Wide Web resulted in an expansion of the varieties of methods for communication on the Internet, much of which was limited in the 1980s to discussion in newsgroups, BBS and chat rooms. While the initial rise of web-based mass communication took place in the form of early Internet forums in the mid-1990s, a few services such as MSN Groups, Yahoo! Groups and eGroups pioneered the combination of web-based mailing list archives with user profiles; by 2000, such services doubled as full-fledged mailing lists and Internet forums, allowing users to create an extremely large variety of discussion and networking mediums with comparatively sparse thresholds of complexity. Further features included chat rooms (often Java-based), image and video galleries, and group calendars. The second spurt of bullecalbel networking, one which was less dependent upon mailing list-related features and more upon Internet forum features, began in the early- to mid-2000s in the form of such services as LiveJournal, Friendster, MySpace and Facebook. These services continued the evolution of the web-based e-group as a discussion and organization medium. In the late 2000s, services such as Yammer and Micromobs further advanced e-group communication by taking advantage of microblog-style activity streams. == In virtual worlds == In Second Life, groups are centered less around discussion forums (as such, an asynchronous conferencing feature is not built into the Second Life network as of 2009) and common interest, and are more centered on maintenance of a particular geographic location inside the network. Such groups are often created by the owners of areas such as buildings, plots of land or whole islands in order to cater to the most frequent visitors and patrons of the regions. With the limited asynchronous messaging capability of Second Life, groups are also a means of mass-emailing announcements pertinent to the group, but are not completely capable of hosting discussion or deliberation of such announcement messages. == The importance of online social networking groups == Before people expanded their social life to the internet, they had small circles. These included the networks gained from rural areas or villages, such as family, friends and neighbors, and community groups such as churches. These networks represented a social safety net to support individuals. Since we have moved a huge part of our social life to the internet, online social networking groups have become a way to maintain a structure in social life. Online networking is made up by clusters of people, bounding themselves together on the World Wide Web. To be able to sort out the many different clusters we belong to we use online groups to helps us arrange and make sense of all our contacts. This sense-making is rooted within us, we sort and put people into compartments or sort by categories to make sense and try to understand our relationships to the people around us. Online social networking groups therefore enables us to do the same thing online. Online social networks have a huge impact on people’s lives. Since the social network revolution has offered people with more loose ties and diversity in their relationships, it creates both stress and opportunities. Furthermore, the Internet revolution has transformed the contact point from a household to the individual. In addition, people are in constant communication with each other due to the mobile revolution. All in all, the mentioned revolutions created a new social operating system: "networked individualism". The way that people currently connect, communicate and exchange information can be described as a form of operating system because of the similarities between the structure of computer systems and the networked individualism that has taken form in society. These structures consist of unwritten rules, norms, constraints and opportunities which are apparent for those who are part of a specific network. == Concerns == There is some research claiming that fake news is infiltrating online social networking. A recent study claimed that people exposed to fake news generally revert to their original opinion even after finding out the information they were given was false.

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  • Ethiopian feminists facing digital gender-based violence

    Ethiopian feminists facing digital gender-based violence

    Against a background of traditional views of women, rising internet use, a young population and an unsafe offline life, women and girls in Ethiopia are facing increasing amounts of digital violence. Some women, feeling endangered, have left the country as a result. Researchers, activists and lawyers have called for online content to be taken down and specific digital legislation to be drafted and enforced. == Online violence and its offline effects == Sexual violence against women and girls in Ethiopia is common. In 2023, in the Women, Peace and Security Index by Georgetown University, Ethiopia came 146 out of 177 countries. Over several years online harassment of and violence against women and girls in Ethiopia has increased. It can range from sexist remarks about appearance and women’s role in society, to revenge porn, threats of beating, acid attacks, abduction, rape or death. The real-life effect on women and girls of these attacks can include mental health problems, damaged reputations and a withdrawal from public and economic life. When the online attacks migrate to the real world, for example when online attackers find out where the targeted women and girls live, this can result in physical attacks, street harassment, threats to children and can cause victims to move house or job or even flee the country in fear of femicide. In a country that criminalises homosexuality, it can also lead to physical attacks on LGBTQI+ people in particular and indeed on anybody labelled as homosexual. == Research studies == The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) conducted interviews with Ethiopian women holding public roles or being active online. The centre published a report on this in 2024 entitled ‘Silenced, Shamed and Threatened’. They found that technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) had become “normalised to the point of invisibility.” In 2024, CER also published an analysis of gendered hate speech on social media in Ethiopia called ‘Normalised and invisible.’ It is thought that traditional views of women, the young population, the rise in internet use and the war in Tigray, when sexual violence was used as a weapon of war by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, have all helped to create an online environment in which even femicide is considered unremarkable. AFP Fact Check collaborated with Deutsche Welle Akademie, to investigate the cyber harassment of women in Ethiopia, analysing misogynistic posts published on TikTok and Facebook. They discovered disparaging remarks about women’s physical appearance, threats of acid attacks and other physical violence, and the public sharing of women’s phone numbers. == Individuals affected == Women in particular jeopardy of digital gender-based violence are feminists, activists, politicians and those with a public profile. Some women are known to have fled Ethiopia fearing for their lives after online and offline threats. Yordanos Bezabih, an Ethiopian women’s rights activist, started a campaign with the hashtag #JusticeforHeaven to fight against gender-based cyberspace violence. As a result, she herself become a target. She experienced years of online threats of acid attacks, gang-rape and death. In 2025, subscribers to an online community organised a search for her address. Deepfake nude images of her were shared, she was filmed in real life, her house and online accounts were broken into, her private photos and messages posted on social media. When the attackers finally circulated her address, suggesting that she be executed, she left Ethiopia on a human rights defender scholarship. In 2023, Lella Misikir helped to start a campaign, called ‘My Whistle, My Voice’, that suggested women carry whistles and use them if they were harassed in the street. A TikTok video of the campaign became popular. Shortly after, videos of Misikir were circulated suggesting that she was gay. Her online attackers next searched for her address. In November 2024, Misikir left the country. == Legal issues == Ethiopia has some laws on online harassment and defamation, for example the Computer Crimes Proclamation. However, technology-facilitated, gender-based violence (TFGBV), such as deepfakes, non-consensual image sharing, and coordinated harassment, is not explicitly recognized as crime. In practice too, women are often not believed when reporting such violence and are not taken seriously. Police advice is often that women affected should simply leave the online space. Social media platforms can remove content when it is brought to their attention but the offenders are not banned. Users can only block them.

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  • Universal Plug and Play

    Universal Plug and Play

    UPnP (originally Universal Plug and Play) is a set of Internet Protocol-based networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices, to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the network and establish functional network services. UPnP is intended primarily for residential networks without enterprise-class devices. Officially, only the abbreviations UPnP and UPnP+ are trademarked. UPnP assumes the network runs IP, and then uses HTTP on top of IP to provide device/service description, actions, data transfer and event notification. Device search requests and advertisements are supported by running HTTP on top of UDP (port 1900) using multicast (known as HTTPMU). Responses to search requests are also sent over UDP, but are instead sent using unicast (known as HTTPU). Conceptually, UPnP extends plug and play—a technology for dynamically attaching devices directly to a computer—to zero-configuration networking for residential and SOHO wireless networks. UPnP devices are plug-and-play in that, when connected to a network, they automatically establish working configurations with other devices, removing the need for users to manually configure and add devices through IP addresses. UPnP is generally regarded as unsuitable for deployment in business settings for reasons of economy, complexity, and consistency: the multicast foundation makes it chatty, consuming too many network resources on networks with a large population of devices; the simplified access controls do not map well to complex environments. == Overview == The UPnP architecture allows device-to-device networking of consumer electronics, mobile devices, personal computers, and networked home appliances. It is a distributed, open architecture protocol based on established standards such as the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP), HTTP, XML, and SOAP. UPnP control points (CPs) are devices which use UPnP protocols to control UPnP controlled devices (CDs). The UPnP architecture supports zero-configuration networking. A UPnP-compatible device from any vendor can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, announce its name, advertise or convey its capabilities upon request, and learn about the presence and capabilities of other devices. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) servers are optional and are only used if they are available on the network. Devices can disconnect from the network automatically without leaving state information. UPnP was published as a 73-part international standard ISO/IEC 29341 in December 2008. Other UPnP features include: Media and device independence UPnP technology can run on many media that support IP, including Ethernet, FireWire, Infrared (IrDA), home wiring (G.hn) and Radiofrequency (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi). No special device driver support is necessary; common network protocols are used instead. User interface (UI) control Optionally, the UPnP architecture enables devices to present a user interface through a web browser (see Presentation below). Operating system and programming language independence Any operating system and any programming language can be used to build UPnP products. UPnP stacks are available for most platforms and operating systems in both closed- and open-source forms. Programmatic control UPnP architecture also enables conventional application programmatic control. Extensibility Each UPnP product can have device-specific services layered on top of the basic architecture. In addition to combining services defined by the UPnP Forum in various ways, vendors can define their own device and service types. They can extend standard devices and services with vendor-defined actions, state variables, data structure elements, and variable values. == Protocol == UPnP uses common Internet technologies. It assumes the network must run Internet Protocol (IP) and then uses HTTP, SOAP and XML on top of IP, to provide device/service description, actions, data transfer and eventing. Device search requests and advertisements are supported by running HTTP on top of UDP using multicast (known as HTTPMU). Responses to search requests are also sent over UDP, but are instead sent using unicast (known as HTTPU). UPnP uses UDP due to its lower overhead, as it does not require confirmation of received data and retransmission of corrupt packets. HTTPU and HTTPMU specifications were initially submitted as an Internet Draft, but it expired in 2001; These specifications have since been integrated into the actual UPnP specifications. UPnP uses UDP port 1900, and all used TCP ports are derived from the SSDP alive and response messages. === Addressing === The foundation for UPnP networking is IP addressing. Each device must implement a DHCP client and search for a DHCP server when the device is first connected to the network. If no DHCP server is available, the device must assign itself an address. The process by which a UPnP device assigns itself an address is known within the UPnP Device Architecture as AutoIP. In UPnP Device Architecture Version 1.0, AutoIP is defined within the specification itself; in UPnP Device Architecture Version 1.1, AutoIP references IETF RFC 3927. If during the DHCP transaction, the device obtains a domain name, for example, through a DNS server or via DNS forwarding, the device should use that name in subsequent network operations; otherwise, the device should use its IP address. === Discovery === Once a device has established an IP address, the next step in UPnP networking is discovery. The UPnP discovery protocol is known as the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP). When a device is added to the network, SSDP allows that device to advertise its services to control points on the network. This is achieved by sending SSDP alive messages. When a control point is added to the network, SSDP enables that control point to actively search for devices of interest on the network or listen passively to SSDP alive messages from devices. The fundamental exchange is a discovery message containing a few essential details about the device or one of its services, such as its type, identifier, and a pointer (network location) to more detailed information. === Description === After a control point has discovered a device, it still knows very little about the device. For the control point to learn more about the device and its capabilities, or to interact with the device, it must retrieve the device's description from the location (URL) provided by the device in the discovery message. The UPnP Device Description is expressed in XML. It includes vendor-specific manufacturer information like the model name and number, serial number, manufacturer name, (presentation) URLs to vendor-specific websites, etc. The description also includes a list of any embedded services. For each service, the Device Description document lists the URLs for control, eventing and service description. Each service description includes a list of the commands, or actions, to which the service responds, and parameters, or arguments, for each action; the description for a service also includes a list of variables; these variables model the state of the service at run time and are described in terms of their data type, range, and event characteristics. === Control === Having retrieved a description of the device, the control point can send actions to a device's service. To do this, a control point sends a suitable control message to the control URL for the service (provided in the device description). Control messages are also expressed in XML using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Much like function calls, the service returns any action-specific values in response to the control message. The effects of the action, if any, are modeled by changes in the variables that describe the run-time state of the service. === Event notification === Another capability of UPnP networking is event notification, or eventing. The event notification protocol defined in the UPnP Device Architecture is known as General Event Notification Architecture (GENA). A UPnP description for a service includes a list of actions the service responds to and a list of variables that model the state of the service at runtime. The service publishes updates when these variables change, and a control point may subscribe to receive this information. The service publishes updates by sending event messages. Event messages contain the names of one or more state variables and their current values. These messages are also expressed in XML. A special initial event message is sent when a control point first subscribes; this event message contains the names and values for all evented variables and allows the subscriber to initialize its model of the state of the service. To support scenarios with multiple control points, eventing is designed to keep all control points equally informed

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  • Plumbr

    Plumbr

    Plumbr was an Estonian software product company founded in late 2011 that developed performance monitoring software. The Plumbr product was built on top of a proprietary algorithm that automatically detected the root causes of performance issues by interpreting application performance data. In October 2020, Plumbr was acquired by Splunk. == Products == Plumbr monitored customers' JVM applications for memory leaks, garbage collection pauses and locked threads. Plumbr problem detection algorithms were based on analysis of performance data of thousands of applications. Plumbr consisted of an agent and a portal. Plumbr Agent was attached to application runtime and sent memory usage and garbage collection information to Plumbr Portal. On Plumbr Portal one could see information such as heap and permgen memory usage, garbage collection pauses' and lock contention duration. Clients that were not able to send data to third parties could order a self-hosted portal and have a full solution in-house. In case of performance incidents Plumbr provided its users with information on problem severity and problem's root cause location in source code or runtime configuration, and listed the steps needed to take to remediate the problem. Clients included NASA, NATO, Dell, HBO, Experian, EMC Corporation.

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  • The Morning After (web series)

    The Morning After (web series)

    The Morning After is a Hulu original web series that premiered on January 17, 2011, and ended April 24, 2014. It was produced by Hulu and Jace Hall's HDFilms, streaming Monday through Friday. The show originally featured Brian Kimmet and Ginger Gonzaga as hosts. Later shows used a rotation of hosts including Alison Haislip, Dave Holmes, Damien Fahey, Bradley Hasemeyer, Haley Mancini, Paul Nyhart, and Rachel Perry. The series advertises itself as "a smart, daily shot of pop culture to help Hulu users stay up to date" and typically highlights notable moments from television shows and current news in an entertaining fashion. In keeping with its focus on pop culture, The Morning After will sometimes stream an episode featuring past pop culture titled "From the Archives," such as its April Fools' Day episode. == History == While not the first original series to appear exclusively on Hulu, The Morning After is the company's first self-branded production. It was preceded by If I Can Dream, a reality series co-produced with 19 Entertainment and created by Simon Fuller. Hulu originated the idea in house, based on user feedback and observations from discussion boards hosted by the website. The concept was modeled after The Big Show with Olbermann and Patrick. The company sought out a production partner and ultimately chose Jace Hall and his team at HDFilms to executive produce. Initial stream of the series was held on January 17, 2011, and featured coverage of Piers Morgan, the Golden Globes, and The Bachelor. Senior VP of Content and Distribution Andy Forssell made the announcement for the show the same day. The show aired its last episode April 24, 2014. == Format == A typical episode usually begins with a cold open shared by the varying hosts listing the highlights to be covered. The topics focus on TV and Pop Culture Highlights from the previous night, with the intention of helping Hulu users digest hours of content in a matter of moments. The show has the hosts trade humorous remarks regarding the news and each other, taking turns reviewing the night's TV and injecting their own personality. The Morning After was named as an honoree by the Webbys on April 10, 2012, in the variety section of its online video category.

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  • Virtual advertising

    Virtual advertising

    Virtual advertising is the use of digital technology to insert virtual advertisements into a live or pre-recorded television show, often in sports events. This technique is often used to allow broadcasters to overlay existing physical advertising panels inside the sports venue with virtual content on the screen when broadcasting the same event in multiple regions; a Spanish football game can be broadcast in Mexico with Mexican advertisements. Similarly, virtual content can be inserted onto empty space within the sports venue such as the pitch, where physical advertising cannot be placed due to regulatory or safety reasons. Virtual advertising content is intended to be photorealistic, so that the viewer has the impression they are seeing the real in-stadium advertising. == History == Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, advertising on television and in newspapers was a popular method of spreading information. The marketer Jeremiah Lynwood stated that "Thirty years ago, [U.S.] consumers viewed an average of 560 ads per day", mostly from newspapers, television shows, gasoline pumps, and so on. Lynwood also stated that, at the time, "American consumers may be exposed to 3,000 commercial messages every day". Within that time frame, the exposure of daily ads have supported many local and big businesses. With the arrival of the 2000s and 2010s, technological advances have created new opportunities for many businesses to grow. In the 21st century, virtual advertising has been used to create virtual product placements in television shows hours, days, or years after they have been produced. Advertisements can be targeted to regional markets and updated over time to ensure maximum efficiency of advertising money. A good example of how virtual advertising is used in everyday life is in sports. Virtual advertising uses the latest technology to place an ad in position to the field of play, regardless of camera motion, and the players' movement over the logos. Recently, the NHL have virtually inserted sponsors on the glass above the physical boards in NHL stadiums. Big brands will not spend their time or money on hitting a certain region when their main goal is to build global brand awareness. Digital signage opportunities allow these larger brands to purchase signage in a stadium during games that are instead nationally televised. This gets even more expansive thanks to social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon. On the other hand, local businesses sign when there are smaller games going on. The signage is much more affordable and still reaches a vast number of people. Virtual advertising may even make live attendance more attractive to sport fans because the technology allows the playing field and surrounding areas to be cleared of advertisements while television viewers at home are exposed to commercials. For the most part, virtual advertising makes a live attendance more attractive to sports fans, because instead of being at home watching commercials, live fans are able to be clear of advertisements and enjoy the game without pop-up ads. == Technology == The technology used in virtual insertions often uses automated processes such as: automatic detection of playfield limits, automatic detection of cuts, recognition of playfield surface, recognition of existing logos for logo replacements, etc. An operator is usually dedicated to the visual control of the effect but new systems allow to use the instant replay operator. == Examples == === Live events === Virtual advertisements can be effectively integrated into live television in real-time. For example, Fox Sports Net places a virtual advertisement on the glass behind the goaltender that can only be seen on television. The advertising in the playfields is property of the club, except in some professional sports where the league or federation owns the advertising rights. However, the advertising rights broadcast on the screen are property of the broadcasters or the TV channel. This means that second right holders can benefit from selling this virtual advertising. The number of TV viewers is also higher than the people in the stadium, generating more visibility to the advertised marks and more income to the broadcasters. Virtual advertising was first introduced in football during the 2015 Audi Cup at the Allianz Arena in Munich. AIM Sport implemented the technology to digitally overlay advertisements on the stadium's perimeter boards, allowing different sponsors to be displayed to viewers in different broadcast regions. In Formula One, virtual ads are placed on the grass or as virtual billboards. In baseball, Major League Baseball places virtual advertisements on a back-board behind the batter which can be targeted differently in local markets or countries. During the World Series, MLB international broadcasts of the World Series feature different advertisements on a per market basis, showing a different ad in the US, Canadian, Latin American and Japanese markets. In tennis, e.g. during the 2019 ATP Finals in London's O2 Arena certain logos in the background were replaced for various country feeds. In table tennis e.g. during the ITTF World Tour Australian Open 2019 virtual advertising overlays were used by uniqFEED AG in Switzerland. Since the 2022–23 season, the National Hockey League (NHL) has used digitally enhanced dasherboards (DED) to erase and replace ads on each arena's boards with up to 120 thirty-second segments on all or part of the rink. Each broadcaster can use a different set of ads. DED were first used at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which was organized by the NHL. At UEFA Euro 2024, AIM Sport provided virtual advertising for all matches, marking one of the largest implementations of the technology in an international tournament. In addition to the tournament itself, virtual advertising was also used in the participating teams' domestic matches, extending region-specific advertising beyond the competition itself.

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  • Digital backlot

    Digital backlot

    A digital backlot or virtual backlot is a motion-picture set that is neither a genuine location nor a constructed studio; the shooting takes place entirely on a stage with a blank background (often a greenscreen) that will later on project an artificial environment put in during post-production. Digital backlots are mainly used for genres such as science fiction, where building a real set would be too expensive or outright impossible. == Notable films == Among the first films to introduce the technique was Mini Moni the Movie by Shinji Higuchi in 2002, predated by Rest In Peace by Stolpskott Film (2000). Others include: === Released === Rest in Peace (Sweden, 2000) – Shot entirely with green-screen. Some sections fully CGI. Casshern (Japan, 2004) – Shot on celluloid. A few practical set pieces used. Able Edwards (United States, 2004) – Shot digitally on Canon XL1 cameras. Immortal (France, 2004) – Shot on celluloid. Also showed CGI characters interacting with live actors. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (United States, 2004) – Shot digitally on Sony CineAlta cameras. Sin City (United States, 2005) – Shot digitally on CineAlta cameras. Three practical sets used. MirrorMask (United States/United Kingdom, 2005) – Shot on celluloid. 80% of film uses digital backlot. Some practical set pieces used. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (United States, 2005) – Shot digitally. 300 (United States, 2007) – Shot on celluloid. Two practical sets used. Speed Racer (United States, 2008) – Directed by the Wachowskis. Three practical sets used. The Spirit (United States, 2008) – Director Frank Miller shot the film with the same techniques he and Robert Rodriguez used on Sin City. Avatar (United States, 2009) – Directed by James Cameron. Two practical sets used. Goemon (Japan, 2009) – The second film from Casshern helmer Kazuaki Kiriya. Alice in Wonderland (United States, 2010) – Directed by Tim Burton. Practical sets used. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (United States 2014) – Co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. Sequel to Sin City. === Upcoming === Tribes of October

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  • Elements of AI

    Elements of AI

    Elements of AI is a massive open online course (MOOC) teaching the basics of artificial intelligence. The course, originally launched in 2018, is designed and organized by the University of Helsinki and learning technology company MinnaLearn. The course includes modules on machine learning, neural networks, the philosophy of artificial intelligence, and using artificial intelligence to solve problems. It consists of two parts: Introduction to AI and its sequel, Building AI, that was released in late 2020. In November 2019, the course was named one of four winners of MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge. University of Helsinki's computer science department is known as the alma mater of Linus Torvalds, a Finnish-American software engineer who is the creator of the Linux kernel, which is the kernel for Linux operating systems. == EU’s AI pledge == The government of Finland has pledged to offer the course for all EU citizens by the end of 2021, as the course is made available in all the official EU languages. The initiative was launched as part of Finland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019, with the European Commission providing translations of the course materials. In 2017, Finland launched an AI strategy to stay competitive in the field of AI amid growing competition between China and the United States. With the support of private companies and the government, Finland's now-realized goal was to get 1 percent of its citizens to participate in Elements of AI. Other governments have also given their support to the course. For instance, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmeier has encouraged citizens to take part in the course to help Germany gain a competitive advantage in AI. Sweden's Minister for Energy and Minister for Digital Development Anders Ygeman has said that Sweden aims to teach 1 percent of its population the basics of AI like Finland has. == Participants == Elements of AI had enrolled more than 1 million students from more than 110 countries by May 2023. A quarter of the course's participants are aged 45 and over, and some 40 percent are women. Among Nordic participants, the share of women is nearly 60 percent. In September 2022, the course was available in Finnish, Swedish, Estonian, English, German, Latvian, Norwegian, French, Belgian, Czech, Greek, Slovakian, Slovenian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Irish, Icelandic, Maltese, Croatian, Romanian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, and Danish.

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  • Flapit

    Flapit

    Flapit is a split-flap display that reveals real-time social media statistics such as Twitter followers or Yelp ratings. The product is designed to show off a bricks-and-mortar company's online community and increase its online presence by letting offline customers interact with the connected counter. The idea came from a product launched by the retailer C&A called the Fashion Like. The device can be customised via a web app and API to display any promotional messages, internal stats or discounts. It has 7 digits including numbers, letters and currency symbols Special messages such as Thank You or Like Us can be displayed on the first flap and are translated into Italian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and English. The Flapit counter was officially presented to the press at the CES Las Vegas 2015 and received favorable reviews from major specialised press

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  • Asymmetric follow

    Asymmetric follow

    An asymmetric follow social network is one which allows many people to follow an individual or account without having to follow them back. It is also known as asynchronous follow or sometimes asymmetric friendship. Asymmetric follow is a common pattern on Twitter, where someone may have thousands of followers, but themselves follow few (or no) accounts. In September 2010 Facebook started experimenting with a similar feature, which Facebook calls "Subscribe To."

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  • Creative work

    Creative work

    A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort in the world through a creative process involving one or more individuals. The term includes fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and musical composition. The term is frequently used in the context of copyright. It is an important concept in both philosophy and law. Creative works require a creative mindset and are not typically rendered in an arbitrary fashion, although works may demonstrate (i.e., have in common) a degree of arbitrariness, such that it is improbable that two people would independently create the same work. At its base, creative work involves two main steps – having an idea, and then turning that idea into a substantive form or process. Typically, the creative process results in work that has some aesthetic value, identified as a creative expression. Naturally, this expression generally invokes external stimuli (e.g., influences and experiences) which a person draws on because they view the source as creative or inspirational; the degree to which this is reflected may be used in determinations of the derivativeness of the created work. Alternatively, the creator may draw on imagination, and their references may be clouded even to them, for the nature of imagination is as yet not fully understood philosophically, and the level of necessary self-examination of an artist's internal processing is a challenge for even those most self-aware of their minds and mental processes. == Legal definition == === United Kingdom === For the purpose of section 221(2)(c) of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, the expression "creative works" means: (a) literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, or (b) designs,created by the taxpayer personally or, if the qualifying trade, profession or vocation is carried on in partnership, by one or more of the partners personally.

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  • Expectation propagation

    Expectation propagation

    Expectation propagation (EP) is a technique in Bayesian machine learning. EP finds approximations to a probability distribution. It uses an iterative approach that uses the factorization structure of the target distribution. It differs from other Bayesian approximation approaches such as variational Bayesian methods. More specifically, suppose we wish to approximate an intractable probability distribution p ( x ) {\displaystyle p(\mathbf {x} )} with a tractable distribution q ( x ) {\displaystyle q(\mathbf {x} )} . Expectation propagation achieves this approximation by minimizing the Kullback–Leibler divergence K L ( p | | q ) {\displaystyle \mathrm {KL} (p||q)} . Variational Bayesian methods minimize K L ( q | | p ) {\displaystyle \mathrm {KL} (q||p)} instead. If q ( x ) {\displaystyle q(\mathbf {x} )} is a Gaussian N ( x | μ , Σ ) {\displaystyle {\mathcal {N}}(\mathbf {x} |\mu ,\Sigma )} , then K L ( p | | q ) {\displaystyle \mathrm {KL} (p||q)} is minimized with μ {\displaystyle \mu } and Σ {\displaystyle \Sigma } being equal to the mean of p ( x ) {\displaystyle p(\mathbf {x} )} and the covariance of p ( x ) {\displaystyle p(\mathbf {x} )} , respectively; this is called moment matching. == Applications == Expectation propagation via moment matching plays a vital role in approximation for indicator functions that appear when deriving the message passing equations for TrueSkill.

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  • Outline of electronics

    Outline of electronics

    The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to electronics: Electronics – branch of physics, engineering and technology dealing with electrical circuits that involve active semiconductor components and associated passive interconnection technologies. == Branches == === Classical electronics === Analog electronics Digital electronics Electronic instrumentation Electronic engineering Microelectronics Optoelectronics Power electronics Printed electronics Semiconductor technology Schematic capture Thermal management Automation Electronics === Advanced topics === Atomtronics Bioelectronics Failure modes of electronics Flexible electronics Low-power electronics Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Molecular electronics Nanoelectronics Organic electronics Photonics Piezotronics Quantum electronics Spintronics === History of electronics === History of electronic engineering History of radar History of radio History of television == General concepts == === Data converters === Analog-to-digital converters (ADC) Aliasing Successive approximation ADC Dual-slope ADC Quantization Sensor resolution Sampling Delta-sigma ADC Digital-to-analog converters (DAC) Digital potentiometer Binary weighted resistor converter Charge distribution DAC Pulse width modulator Reconstruction filter The R2R ladder === Digital electronics === Binary decision diagrams Boolean algebra Combinational logic Counters (digital) De Morgan's laws Digital circuit Formal verification Karnaugh maps Logic families Logic gate Logic minimization Logic simulation Logic synthesis Registers Sequential logic State machines Truth tables Transparent latch === Electrical element/discretes === Passive elements: Capacitor Inductor Memristor Resistor Transformer Active elements: Diode Zener diode Light-emitting diode PIN diode Schottky diode Avalanche diode Laser diode Microcontroller Operational amplifier Thyristor DIAC TRIAC IGBT Transistor Bipolar transistor (BJT) Field effect transistor (FET) Darlington transistor Other components Aural devices Battery (electricity) Crystal oscillator Electromechanical devices Sensors Surface acoustic wave (SAW) === Electronics analysis === Electronic packaging Electronic circuit simulation Electronic design automation Electronic noise Mathematical methods in electronics Thermal management of electronic devices and systems === Electronic circuits === Amplifiers Differential amplifiers Feedback amplifiers Power amplifiers Comparators Converters Filters Active filters Passive filters Digital filters Oscillators Phase-locked loops Timers === Electronic equipment === Air conditioner Breathalyzer Central heating Clothes dryer Computer/Notebook Dishwasher Freezer Home robot Home entertainment system Information technologies Cooker Microwave oven Refrigerator Robotic vacuum cleaner Tablet Telephone Water heater Washing machine === Television === Analog television History of television Television show Television broadcaster Timeline of the introduction of television in countries Mechanical television Color television Digital television Digital television transition Smart television Streaming television Internet Protocol television 3D television Terrestrial television ==== Television broadcasting ==== === Electronic instrumentation === Ammeter Capacitance meter Distortionmeter Electric energy meter LCR meter Microwave power meter Multimeter Network analyzer Ohmmeter Oscilloscope Psophometer Q meter Signal analyzer Signal generator Spectrum analyzer Transistor tester Tube tester Wattmeter Vectorscope Video signal generator Voltmeter VU meter === Memory technology === Flash memory Hard drive systems Optical storage Probe Storage Programmable read-only memory Read-only memory Solid-state drive (SSD) Volatile memory === Microcontrollers === Features Analog-to-digital converter Central processing unit (CPU) Clock generator (Quartz timing crystal, resonator or RC circuit) Debugging support Digital-to-analog converters Discrete input and output bits In-circuit programming Non-volatile memory (ROM, EPROM, EEPROM or Flash) Peripherals (Timers, event counters, PWM generators, and watchdog) Serial interface (Input/output such as serial ports (UARTs)) Serial communications (I²C, Serial Peripheral Interface and Controller Area Network) Volatile memory (RAM) 8-bit microcontroller families: AVR - PIC - COP8 - MCS-48 - MCS-51 - Z8 - eZ80 - HC08 - HC11 - H8 - PSoC Some notable suppliers: ARM Atmel Cypress Semiconductor Freescale Intel MIPS Microchip Technology NXP Semiconductors Parallax Propeller PowerPC Rabbit 2000 Renesas RX, V850 Silicon Laboratories STMicroelectronics Texas Instruments Toshiba TLCS === Optoelectronics === Optical fiber Optical properties Optical receivers Optical system design Optical transmitters === Physical laws === Ampère's law Coulomb's law Faraday's law of induction/Faraday-Lenz law Gauss's law Kirchhoff's circuit laws Current law Voltage law Maxwell's equations Gauss's law Faraday's law of induction Ampère's law Ohm's law === Power electronics === Power Devices Gate turn-off thyristor MOS-controlled thyristor (MCT) Power BJT/MOSFET Static induction devices Electric power conversion DC to DC DC to DC converter Voltage stabiliser Linear regulator AC to DC Rectifier Mains power supply unit (PSU) Switched-mode power supply DC to AC Inverter AC to AC Cycloconverter Transformer Variable frequency transformer Voltage converter Voltage regulator Power applications Automotive applications Capacitor charging applications Electronic ballasts Energy harvesting technologies Flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) High frequency inverters HVDC transmission Motor controller Photovoltaic system Conversion Power factor correction circuits Power supply Renewable energy sources Switching power converters Uninterruptible power supply Wind power === Programmable devices === Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) Complex programmable logic device (CPLD) Erasable programmable logic device (EPLD) Simple programmable logic device (SPLD) Macrocell array Programmable array logic (PAL) Programmable logic array (PLA) Programmable logic device (PLD) Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) Verilog Hardware Description Language Some notable suppliers: Altera - Atmel - Cypress Semiconductor - Lattice Semiconductor - Xilinx === Semiconductors theory === Properties Bipolar junction transistors Capacitance voltage profiling Charge carrier Charge-transfer complex Deep-level transient spectroscopy Depletion region Density of states Diode modelling Direct band gap Electronic band structure Energy level Exciton Field-effect transistors Metal–semiconductor junction MOSFETs N-type semiconductor Organic semiconductors P–n junction P-type semiconductor Photoelectric effect Quantum tunneling Semiconductor chip Semiconductor detector Solar cell Transistor model Thin film Tight-binding model Device Fabrication Semiconductor device fabrication Semiconductor industry Semiconductor consolidation == Applications == Audio electronics Automotive electronics Avionics Control Systems Consumer electronics Data acquisition E-health Electronic book Electronics industry Electronic warfare Embedded systems Home automation Integrated circuits Marine electronics Microwave technology Military electronics Multimedia Nuclear electronics Open hardware Radar and Radionavigation Radio electronics Terahertz technology Video hardware Wired and Wireless Communications

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  • General time- and transfer constant analysis

    General time- and transfer constant analysis

    The general time- and transfer-constants (TTC) analysis is the generalized version of the Cochran-Grabel (CG) method, which itself is the generalized version of zero-value time-constants (ZVT), which in turn is the generalization of the open-circuit time constant method (OCT). While the other methods mentioned provide varying terms of only the denominator of an arbitrary transfer function, TTC can be used to determine every term both in the numerator and the denominator. Its denominator terms are the same as that of Cochran-Grabel method, when stated in terms of time constants (when expressed in Rosenstark notation). however, the numerator terms are determined using a combination of transfer constants and time constants, where the time constants are the same as those in CG method. Transfer constants are low-frequency ratios of the output variable to input variable under different open- and short-circuited active elements. In general, a transfer function (which can characterize gain, admittance, impedance, trans-impedance, etc., based on the choice of the input and output variables) can be written as: H ( s ) = a 0 + a 1 s + a 2 s 2 + … + a m s m 1 + b 1 s + b 2 s 2 + … + b n s n {\displaystyle H(s)={\frac {a_{0}+a_{1}s+a_{2}s^{2}+\ldots +a_{m}s^{m}}{1+b_{1}s+b_{2}s^{2}+\ldots +b_{n}s^{n}}}} == The denominator terms == The first denominator term b 1 {\textstyle b_{1}} can be expressed as the sum of zero value time constants (ZVTs): b 1 = ∑ i = 1 N τ i 0 {\displaystyle b_{1}=\sum _{i=1}^{N}\tau _{i}^{0}} where τ i 0 {\textstyle \tau _{i}^{0}} is the time constant associated with the reactive element i {\textstyle i} when all the other sources are zero-valued (hence the superscript '0'). Setting a capacitor value to zero corresponds to an open circuit, while a zero-valued inductor is a short circuit. So for calculation of the τ i 0 {\textstyle \tau _{i}^{0}} , all other capacitors are open-circuited and all other inductors are short-circuited. This is the essence of the ZVT method, which reduces to OCT when only capacitors are involved. All independent sources are also zero-valued during the time constant calculations (voltage sources short-circuited and current source open-circuited). In this case, if the element in question (element i {\textstyle i} ) is a capacitor, the time constant is given by τ i 0 = R i 0 C i {\displaystyle \tau _{i}^{0}=R_{i}^{0}C_{i}} and when element i {\textstyle i} is an inductor is it given by: τ i 0 = L i / R i 0 {\displaystyle \tau _{i}^{0}=L_{i}/R_{i}^{0}} . where in both cases, the resistance R i 0 {\textstyle R_{i}^{0}} , is the resistance seen by elements i {\textstyle i} (denoted by subscript), when all the other elements are zero-valued (denoted by the zero superscript). The second-order denominator term is equal to: b 2 = ∑ i = 1 N − 1 ∑ j = i + 1 N τ i 0 τ j i = ∑ i 1 ⩽ i ∑ j < j ⩽ N τ i 0 τ j i {\displaystyle b_{2}=\sum _{i=1}^{N-1}\sum _{j=i+1}^{N}\tau _{i}^{0}\tau _{j}^{i}=\sum _{i}^{1\leqslant i}\sum _{j}^{ Read more →