AI Generator Song Maker

AI Generator Song Maker — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Knowledge assessment methodology

    Knowledge assessment methodology

    The knowledge assessment methodology (KAM) is "an interactive benchmarking tool created by the World Bank's Knowledge for Development Program to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in making the transition to the knowledge-based economy." KAM does so by providing information on knowledge economy indicators for 146 countries. Its products include the Knowledge Economy Index and the Knowledge Index.

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  • Storyful

    Storyful

    Storyful (stylized as storyful.) is a social media intelligence company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland that is a subsidiary of News Corp, offering services such as social news monitoring, video licensing, and reputation risk management tools for corporate clients. The startup was launched as the first social media newswire, a content aggregator, verifying news sources and online content in Dublin in 2010 by Mark Little, a former journalist with RTÉ News. Storyful was acquired by News Corp in 2013 for USD$25 million. == Background == Mark Little, who had worked as a television journalist for RTÉ One, founded startup Storyful in Dublin, Ireland, in 2010, as a service that "verified news sources and online content". According to Nieman Lab, Storyful had a reputation for content aggregation as a social news agency—finding, verifying, distributing, licensing, and commercializing user-generated content, social media and online content from social networking services, including videos about stories in the news, such as the Syrian Civil War, Arab Spring protests, as well as "smaller viral moments". Storyful aimed to provide authority through its verification and monitoring tools while providing authenticity through user-generated content. On 20 December 2013 News Corp purchased Storyful for US$25 million and opened a New York office in the same building as Fox News' main studios. Little left Storyful in 2015 and Gavin Sheridan, Storyful's director of innovation left in 2014. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said that through Storyful, News Corp would "define the opportunities that the digital landscape presents, rather than simply adapt to them." After the acquisition, the company expanded its service to include "commercial and creative work". After Murdoch acquired the company, from 2014 through to February 2018, losses "swelled", requiring a series of cash injections from News Corp. During that time the company expanded aggressively globally with a staff of about 200 worldwide up from about 30 in 2014. According to The Guardian, in 2016, journalists were encouraged by Storyful to use the social media monitoring software called Verify developed by Storyful. By installing Verify's web browser extension on their computers, Verify would inform the journalists when social media content had been "verified and cleared". The Guardian revealed that through the Verify plugin, dozens of staff in four offices had access to the journalists browsing activity without them knowing. This data allowed Storyful to actively monitor its own clients' activities on social media and to "turn it into an internal feed" at Storyful that "updates in real time". In November 2018, when a video circulated by Infowars' Paul Joseph Watson appeared to prove that CNN's Jim Acosta's contact with a White House intern was a physical blow, Storyful was able to prove that the 15-second-long clip had been doctored. According to a 21 January 2019 article in CNN Business, Rob McDonagh, the editor of Storyful's U.S. news team, had proven that one of the viral videos that served as catalysts in the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation at 18 January 2019 Indigenous Peoples March, was posted by a suspicious account, under the handle @2020fight. McDonagh's team validates videos and posts before adding them to their "digest", distinguishing true stories from those that are not. Storyful attempts to validate each post or video before including it in its digest. McDonagh reviewed previous content from @2020fight's account, and found it suspicious because it had a high follower count, a "highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging", an "unusually high rate of tweets", and "the use of someone else's image in the profile photo." reporter Donie O'Sullivan said that the @2020fight video that had been posted on 18 January, which had 2.5 million views by 22 January, was the one that "helped frame the news cycle". Currently the website offers a service by which video can be commercially brokered. == Services == Services include a newswire service—one of their "core pillars"—and social news monitoring. By February 2018, Storyful was developing "risk and reputation monitoring" services through which they would source and verify social news, fact-checking it and contextualising it for corporate clients. They were "developing tech tools" to "explore obscure or closed networks" for their intelligence team. can use to explore obscure or closed networks. They "track deviations in social conversations around brands and organisations and catch potential risks before they blow up. Like an alerts system." The company "released a re-booted version of its Newswire platform in 2018. According to FORA, Storyful was developing new tools to combat fake news online. == Clients == When Storyful was acquired by News Corp in 2013, the company already had the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, New York Times, YouTube, ITN and Channel 4 News as clients. By 2018 their clients included CNN, ABC News and Fox News, The New York Times, the Washington Post, in the United States, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and all of News Corp’s own publications. Most of their "reputation-conscious corporate customers" clients prefer to not be named.

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  • Torus interconnect

    Torus interconnect

    A torus interconnect is a switch-less network topology for connecting processing nodes in a parallel computer system. == Introduction == In geometry, a torus is created by revolving a circle about an axis coplanar to the circle. While this is a general definition in geometry, the topological properties of this type of shape describes the network topology in its essence. === Geometry illustration === In the representations below, the first is a one dimension torus, a simple circle. The second is a two dimension torus, in the shape of a 'doughnut'. The animation illustrates how a two dimension torus is generated from a rectangle by connecting its two pairs of opposite edges. At one dimension, a torus topology is equivalent to a ring interconnect network, in the shape of a circle. At two dimensions, it becomes equivalent to a two dimension mesh, but with extra connection at the edge nodes. === Torus network topology === A torus interconnect is a switch-less topology that can be seen as a mesh interconnect with nodes arranged in a rectilinear array of N = 2, 3, or more dimensions, with processors connected to their nearest neighbors, and corresponding processors on opposite edges of the array connected.[1] In this lattice, each node has 2N connections. This topology is named for the lattice formed in this way, which is topologically homogeneous to an N-dimensional torus. == Visualization == The first 3 dimensions of torus network topology are easier to visualize and are described below: 1D Torus: one dimension, n nodes are connected in closed loop with each node connected to its two nearest neighbors. Communication can take place in two directions, +x and −x. A 1D Torus is the same as ring interconnection. 2D Torus: two dimensions with degree of four, the nodes are imagined laid out in a two-dimensional rectangular lattice of n rows and n columns, with each node connected to its four nearest neighbors, and corresponding nodes on opposite edges connected. Communication can take place in four directions, +x, −x, +y, and −y. The total nodes of a 2D Torus is n2. 3D Torus: three dimensions, the nodes are imagined in a three-dimensional lattice in the shape of a rectangular prism, with each node connected with its six neighbors, with corresponding nodes on opposing faces of the array connected. Each edge consists of n nodes. communication can take place in six directions, +x, −x, +y, −y, +z, −z. Each edge of a 3D Torus consist of n nodes. The total nodes of 3D Torus is n3. ND Torus: N dimensions, each node of an N dimension torus has 2N neighbors, Communication can take place in 2N directions. Each edge consists of n nodes. Total nodes of this torus is nN. The main motivation of having higher dimension of torus is to achieve higher bandwidth, lower latency, and higher scalability. Higher-dimensional arrays are difficult to visualize. The above ruleset shows that each higher dimension adds another pair of nearest neighbor connections to each node. == Performance == A number of supercomputers on the TOP500 list use three-dimensional torus networks, e.g. IBM's Blue Gene/L and Blue Gene/P, and the Cray XT3. IBM's Blue Gene/Q uses a five-dimensional torus network. Fujitsu's K computer and the PRIMEHPC FX10 use a proprietary three-dimensional torus 3D mesh interconnect called Tofu. === 3D Torus performance simulation === Sandeep Palur and Dr. Ioan Raicu from Illinois Institute of Technology conducted experiments to simulate 3D torus performance. Their experiments ran on a computer with 250GB RAM, 48 cores and x86_64 architecture. The simulator they used was ROSS (Rensselaer’s Optimistic Simulation System). They mainly focused on three aspects: Varying network size Varying number of servers Varying message size They concluded that throughput decreases with the increase of servers and network size. Otherwise, throughput increases with the increase of message size. === 6D Torus product performance === Fujitsu Limited developed a 6D torus computer model called "Tofu". In their model, a 6D torus can achieve 100 GB/s off-chip bandwidth, 12 times higher scalability than a 3D torus, and high fault tolerance. The model is used in the K computer and Fugaku. === Cost === While long wrap-around links may be the easiest way to visualize the connection topology, in practice, restrictions on cable lengths often make long wrap-around links impractical. Instead, directly connected nodes—including nodes that the above visualization places on opposite edges of a grid, connected by a long wrap-around link—are physically placed nearly adjacent to each other in a folded torus network. Every link in the folded torus network is very short—almost as short as the nearest-neighbor links in a simple grid interconnect—and therefore low-latency.

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  • Social news website

    Social news website

    A social news website is a website that features user-posted stories. Such stories are ranked based on popularity, as voted on by other users of the site or by website administrators. Users typically comment online on the news posts and these comments may also be ranked in popularity. Since their emergence with the birth of Web 2.0, social news sites have been used to link many types of information, including news, humor, support, and discussion. All such websites allow the users to submit content and each site differs in how the content is moderated. On the Slashdot and Fark websites, administrators decide which articles are selected for the front page. On Reddit and Digg, the articles that get the most votes from the community of users will make it to the front page. Many social news websites also feature an online comment system, where users discuss the issues raised in an article. Some of these sites have also applied their voting system to the comments, so that the most popular comments are displayed first. Some social news websites also have a social networking service, in that users can set up a user profile and follow other users' online activity on the website. Like many other Web 2.0 tools, social news websites use the collective intelligence of all of the users to operate. Social news websites also "impl[y] the technical, economic, legal, and human enhancement of a universally distributed intelligence that will unleash a positive dynamic of recognition and skills mobilization". Social news websites help participants to share a collective vision and awareness of how their actions are integrated with those of other individuals. Social news websites provide a new and innovative way to participate in a community that is constantly being flooded with new information. These social news websites "include opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude toward intellectual property, the diversification of cultural expression, the development of skills valued in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship". These websites can help to shape and reshape democratic opinions and perspectives. Social news sites may mitigate the gatekeeping of mainstream news sources and allow the public to decide what counts as "news", which may facilitate a more participatory culture. Social news sites may also support democratic participation by allowing users from across geographic and national boundaries to access the same information, respond to fellow users' views and beliefs, and create a virtual sphere for users to contribute within. == Websites == === Active === ==== Fark ==== Fark, which started in 1997, features news on any topic. On Fark, users can submit articles to the administrators of the site. Each day, these administrators pick out 50 articles to display on the front page. ==== Slashdot ==== Slashdot, started in 1997, was one of the first social news websites. It focuses mainly on science and technology-related news. Users can submit stories and the editors pick out the best stories each day for the front page. Users can then post comments on the stories. The influx of web traffic that resulted from Slashdot linking to external websites led to the effect being called the Slashdot effect ==== Digg ==== Digg, started in December 2004, introduced the voting system. This system allows users to "digg" or "bury" articles. "Digging" is the equivalent of voting positively, so that popular articles are displayed first. "Burying" does not lower an article's score. However, if an article is buried enough times, it will be automatically deleted from the site. Digg offers a social networking service, as members can follow other members and build personal profiles with information about their interests. ==== Reddit ==== Reddit, started in June 2005, is a social news website where users can submit articles and comments and vote on these submissions. The submissions are organized into categories called "subreddits". Unlike Digg, with Reddit, users can directly affect an article's score. An "upvote" will increase the score and a "downvote" will decrease it. Articles with the highest scores are displayed on the front page. There is also a page for "controversial" articles, that have an almost equal number of upvotes and downvotes. Free speech debates have arisen due to the shutting down of obscene or potentially illegal "subreddits" (including /r/jailbait, a collection of sexually suggestive underage pictures.) Reddit introduced a system of user-created communities called "subreddits", which are essentially categories for a specific type of news. Comments on the featured posts are shown in a hierarchical fashion also based on votes. Users have the ability to earn "karma" for their participation and time on the website. ==== Hacker News ==== Hacker News, started in February 2007, is a social news site focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship, created by Paul Graham and run by his startup incubator, Y Combinator. === Defunct === ==== Newsvine ==== Newsvine, started in March 2006, was a social news website mostly focused on politics, both international and domestic. The Newsvine home page allowed users to customize "seeds" and story feeds. Users received articles via "The Wire" from sources including The Associated Press or The Huffington Post, and from "The Vine" a stream of content from other Newsvine users. The "Top of the Vine" displayed the most voted and commented on articles of the day, week, month, or year. Additionally, Newsvine allowed members to create their own "Customizable Column", which could highlight a user's content posted, recent comments, and information about the specific Newsvine member. ==== feedalizr ==== feedalizr was a cross-platform, desktop social media aggregator built using Adobe Integrated Runtime that consolidates the updates from social media and social networking websites. Users can then use this application to update those sites from their desktop and view a consolidated stream of information. ==== Voat ==== Voat, launched in April 2014 and discontinued in December of 2020, was also a social news website and is very similar to Reddit visually and functionally. The site's userbase included a large number of alt right users, many of whom migrated to Voat after being banned on Reddit. ==== Prismatic ==== Prismatic combined machine learning, user experience design, and interaction design to create a new way to discover, consume, and share media. Prismatic software used social network aggregation and machine learning algorithms to filter the content that aligns with the interests of a specific user. Prismatic integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and Pocket to gather information about user's interests and suggest the most relevant stories to read. ==== Artifact ==== Artifact was an iOS and Android app that used machine learning to personalize news recommendations to readers, and also had social features such as liking articles, commenting, and reputation scores for users.

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  • Polynomial texture mapping

    Polynomial texture mapping

    Polynomial texture mapping (PTM), also known as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), is a technique of imaging and interactively displaying objects under varying lighting conditions to reveal surface phenomena. The data acquisition method is single camera multi light (SCML). == Origins == The method was originally developed by Tom Malzbender of HP Labs in order to generate enhanced 3D computer graphics and it has since been adopted for cultural heritage applications. == Methodology == A series of images is captured in a darkened environment with the camera in a fixed position and the object lit from different angles (Single Camera Multi Light). Interactive software processes and combines the set of images to enable the user inspecting the object to control a virtual light source. The virtual light source may be manipulated to simulate light from different angles and of different intensity or wavelengths to illuminate the surface of artefacts and reveal details. Open-source tools for processing the captured images and publishing the resulting relightable images on the web are freely available. == Applications == Polynomial texture mapping may be used for detailed recording and documentation, 3D modeling, edge detection, and to aid the study of inscriptions, rock art and other artefacts. It has been applied to hundreds of the Vindolanda tablets by the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents at the University of Oxford in conjunction with the British Museum. It has also been deployed, by Ben Altshuler of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, to scan the Philae obelisk at Kingston Lacy and the Parian Chronicle at the Ashmolean Museum; in both cases scans revealed significant, previously illegible text. Method was also used for identifying microscopic worked antler from Star Carr and recording ancient rock art in Armenia. A 'dome' supporting twenty-four lights has been used to image paintings in the National Gallery and produce polynomial texture maps, providing information on condition phenomena for conservation purposes. Studies of the technique at the National Gallery and Tate concluded that it is an effective tool for documenting changes in the condition of paintings, more easily repeatable than raking light photography, and therefore could be used to assess paintings during structural treatment and before and after loan. Twelve dome-based systems built by the University of Southampton have been used to capture thousands of cuneiform tablets at various museums. The technique is now also finding uses in the field of forensic science, for example in imaging footprints, tyre marks, and indented writing.

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  • List of cryptography journals

    List of cryptography journals

    List of cryptography journals includes notable peer-reviewed academic journals that focus on cryptography, cryptanalysis, information security, and related areas in computer science and mathematics. == Notable journals == Cryptologia Designs, Codes and Cryptography IEEE Transactions on Information Theory International Journal of Information Security Journal of Cryptology Journal of Computer Security ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security Information Processing Letters Information and Computation

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  • Software token

    Software token

    A software token (a.k.a. soft token) is a piece of a two-factor authentication security device that may be used to authorize the use of computer services. Software tokens are stored on a general-purpose electronic device such as a desktop computer, laptop, PDA, or mobile phone and can be duplicated. (Contrast hardware tokens, where the credentials are stored on a dedicated hardware device and therefore cannot be duplicated — absent physical invasion of the device) Because software tokens are something one does not physically possess, they are exposed to unique threats based on duplication of the underlying cryptographic material - for example, computer viruses and software attacks. Both hardware and software tokens are vulnerable to bot-based man-in-the-middle attacks, or to simple phishing attacks in which the one-time password provided by the token is solicited, and then supplied to the genuine website in a timely manner. Software tokens do have benefits: there is no physical token to carry, they do not contain batteries that will run out, and they are cheaper than hardware tokens. == Security architecture == There are two primary architectures for software tokens: shared secret and public-key cryptography. For a shared secret, an administrator will typically generate a configuration file for each end-user. The file will contain a username, a personal identification number, and the secret. This configuration file is given to the user. The shared secret architecture is potentially vulnerable in a number of areas. The configuration file can be compromised if it is stolen and the token is copied. With time-based software tokens, it is possible to borrow an individual's PDA or laptop, set the clock forward, and generate codes that will be valid in the future. Any software token that uses shared secrets and stores the PIN alongside the shared secret in a software client can be stolen and subjected to offline attacks. Shared secret tokens can be difficult to distribute, since each token is essentially a different piece of software. Each user must receive a copy of the secret, which can create time constraints. Some newer software tokens rely on public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography. This architecture eliminates some of the traditional weaknesses of software tokens, but does not affect their primary weakness (ability to duplicate). A PIN can be stored on a remote authentication server instead of with the token client, making a stolen software token no good unless the PIN is known as well. However, in the case of a virus infection, the cryptographic material can be duplicated and then the PIN can be captured (via keylogging or similar) the next time the user authenticates. If there are attempts made to guess the PIN, it can be detected and logged on the authentication server, which can disable the token. Using asymmetric cryptography also simplifies implementation, since the token client can generate its own key pair and exchange public keys with the server.

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  • Superincreasing sequence

    Superincreasing sequence

    In mathematics, a sequence of positive real numbers ( s 1 , s 2 , . . . ) {\displaystyle (s_{1},s_{2},...)} is called superincreasing if every element of the sequence is greater than the sum of all previous elements in the sequence. Formally, this condition can be written as s n + 1 > ∑ j = 1 n s j {\displaystyle s_{n+1}>\sum _{j=1}^{n}s_{j}} for all n ≥ 1. == Program == The following Python source code tests a sequence of numbers to determine if it is superincreasing: This produces the following output: Sum: 0 Element: 1 Sum: 1 Element: 3 Sum: 4 Element: 6 Sum: 10 Element: 13 Sum: 23 Element: 27 Sum: 50 Element: 52 Is it a superincreasing sequence? True == Examples == (1, 3, 6, 13, 27, 52) is a superincreasing sequence, but (1, 3, 4, 9, 15, 25) is not. The series a^x for a>=2 == Properties == Multiplying a superincreasing sequence by a positive real constant keeps it superincreasing.

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  • Adobe Presenter Video Express

    Adobe Presenter Video Express

    Adobe Presenter Video Express is screencasting and video editing software developed by Adobe Systems. == Description == Adobe Presenter Video Express is primarily used as a software by video creators, to record and mix webcam and screen video feeds. It allows users to simultaneously record video from their webcam and the screen, and easily mix the 2 tracks with a simple user interface. Users can change the background in their recorded video without needing equipment like a green screen. This is unlike other video tools which rely on chroma keying technology, and only work with green or blue screens. They can also add annotations and quizzes to their content and publish the video to MP4 or HTML5 formats. == List of notable features == === Record and mix, screen and webcam === Support for simultaneous recording of screen and webcam video feeds, with a simple editing interface to mix the two video streams. This lets the author rapidly create screencasts, software demos, etc. === Make my background awesome === This feature allows authors to change the background of their webcam recording without needing a green screen, provided they use a solid-colored backdrop which contrasts well against them. Authors can select images, videos or even the screen recording as their background. === In-video quizzing === Authors can insert quizzes within their video content. On success/failure attempts, the author can decide what message to display, and can also configure the video to jump to a certain point and play. Quizzes are published as part of the interactive HTML 5 player, which cannot be hosted on YouTube and Vimeo. === LMS Reporting === Authors can publish to any SCORM compliant LMS (Learning Management System) for quiz reporting, or to Adobe Captivate Prime. === In-app assets and branding === Adobe Presenter Video Express ships with a large number of branding videos, backgrounds and video filters to help authors create studio quality videos. === MP4 and HTML5 Output === The tool publishes a single MP4 video file containing all the video content, within an HTML 5 wrapper that contains the interactive player. The interactive HTML 5 player can be hosted on any website. == Common uses == === Screencasting === Screencasting is the process of recording one's computer screen as a video, usually with an audio voice over, to create a software demonstration, tutorial, presentation, etc. Adobe Presenter Video Express supports simultaneous recording of full screen video and microphone audio for creating screencasts. === Product marketing and demos === The ability to record the webcam video in addition to everything that is visible on the screen in Adobe Presenter Video Express, allows the author to add their personality to their screencasts. Features like video mixing and 'make my background awesome' further enhance the presentation, allowing effortless creation of marketing and demo videos. === Education === Adobe Presenter Video Express supports in-video quizzes and LMS reporting, along with screencasting and webcam recording. These features make it a powerful tool for creating educational content. == Differences from Adobe Presenter and Adobe Captivate == Adobe Presenter is a Microsoft PowerPoint plug-in for converting PowerPoint slides into interactive eLearning content, available only on Windows. Starting with Adobe Presenter 8, the video creation tool Adobe Presenter Video Express was bundled with every purchase of Adobe Presenter. From September 2015, Adobe Presenter Video Express 11 was also made available as a stand-alone product on Windows and Mac. A subscription license for Adobe Presenter Video Express, valid on Windows and Mac, is available for $9.99/month. Adobe Presenter Video Express continues to be bundled with purchases of Adobe Presenter on Windows as well. Adobe Captivate is an authoring tool for creating numerous forms of interactive eLearning content. Unlike Adobe Presenter, it uses a proprietary editing interface instead of Microsoft PowerPoint. While it is possible to create screen captures with Adobe Captivate, you cannot record the webcam feed. Adobe Captivate does not bundle Adobe Presenter or Adobe Presenter Video Express.

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  • Social media use in the financial services sector

    Social media use in the financial services sector

    Social media in the financial services sector refers to the use of social media by the financial services sector to promote and distribute financial services. Social media is used in various aspects of the financial industry including customer service, marketing, and product development. It has enabled financial institutions to extend their reach through direct and real-time communication with customers, fostering more personal connections. It also allows individuals to talk to other individuals creating lending and trading via social groups as well as developing new financial services by fintech startup companies. In terms of marketing, social media is utilized by both traditional financial companies as well as disruptive fintech companies such as peer-to-peer lending (P2P) companies. The financial industry has used information technology since its inception in the 1960s and social media fits in with this ongoing development. Larger, traditional financial firms have integrated social media into their marketing strategies. Companies in the financial sector are subject to strict regulations that include how they use social media. In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a key regulator that sets rules how financial firms can interact with consumers. This includes ensuring that social media posts follow financial advertising rules, such as being fair and balanced and not providing misleading information, and that financial advice is not provided by unqualified personnel, such as influencers. == History == In 2003, at the beginning of social media development, MySpace was founded as a "social networking service." It allowed people to create a profile, connect with other people, and post videos, pictures, and songs. As MySpace grew in popularity, it attracted interest from companies wishing to promote their brands on the social platform. They were joined by Facebook and in 2010 by Instagram. Financial service firms were initially slow to adapt to promotion via social media but soon joined other big firms after they saw the success other industries had in engaging with younger people. == Uses == === Branding === While companies are able to connect with more people remotely through providing online financial services, their branding strategy has shifted from customized to standardized. Prior to the outbreak of technology, most banks used customized branding where they targeted only customers in their regions. Businesses can now use technology to operate beyond their geographic location and maintain a consistent image across multiple countries with standardized branding. By being able to extend a consistent brand reputation across a wider geographic location, financial services companies can take advantage of economies of scale in advertising cost, lower administrative complexity, lower entry into new markets, and improved cross-border learning within the company. === Customer engagement === Online banking reduced face-to-face interaction between customers and their banks. Most banking transactions can now be conducted online or through mobile devices, rather than at a local branch with a teller. Social media provides a channel for firms to maintain personal contact with customers, replicating some of the interaction that was previously available at local branches. For example, a bank's Facebook page may feature an employee profile describing their job duties, which serves to present a more human face for larger institutions. === Lending === Social media is a core marketing channel for online peer-to-peer lending as well as small business lenders. Since these companies operate exclusively online, it makes sense for them to market online through social media channels. They are able to grow and find new lenders and buyers by utilizing social networks. === Trading === Social trading is an alternative way of analyzing financial data by looking at what other traders are doing and comparing, copying and discussing their techniques and strategies. Prior to the advent of social trading, investors and traders were relying on fundamental or technical analysis to form their investment decisions. Using social trading investors and traders could integrate into their investment decision-process social indicators from trading data-feeds of other traders. Investors also use platform like Reddit, Signal messaging or WeChat to create social communities to discuss investments and finance. In some cases they use this to join together using meme stocks to move financial markets, such as the 2021 GameStop short squeeze incident. They can also use social groups to launch and promote new products such as cryptocurrencies. Investing application like WeBull incorporate a forum style messaging system on each stock that is available for trading. Financial brokers such as Fidelity Investments, Interactive Brokers, and E-Trade have moved to incorporate community features in their investment apps. == Regulations == The use of social media by investors and financial services professionals for business purposes is subject to regulatory oversight, in the United States this is done primarily by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA's rules, designed to protect investors from misleading information in all communications and this also applies to social media communications. This includes ensuring that social media posts follow financial advertising rules, such as being fair and balanced and not providing misleading information, and that advice is not provided by unqualified personnel, such as influencers and bank staff acting in a personal capacity. Financial firms have to maintain books and records of all interaction with customers and this includes social media. == New products and services == Social media has created entirely new products for the financial services sector, revolutionizing products and developing new industries through the merging of social technology and financial services. Fintech startups use social media to promote products to get them established. Several developing nations have used social media to leapfrog traditional financial technology; for example, WeChat Pay, which developed from the Chinese WeChat social media platform, became a major payment system in China within a few years. In 2015, according to consulting firm Accenture, 390 million people in China had registered to use mobile banking. This figure is more than the population of the United States. In the United States, the fintech company Venmo combines technology and financial services on a social platform. Other financial technology companies that have used social media to develop or promote financial products include: Lending Club – One of the first peer-to-peer lending businesses OnDeck Capital – A US online-only lending business Funding Circle – A UK-based online lending company Wise – A global online money transfers company Kabbage – A US online unsecured loan company later acquired by American Express Avant – A US online unsecured loan company Zopa – A UK online neobank providing peer-to-peer lending == Risks == === Reputational damage === Due to the real-time nature of social media, financial services companies can be impacted by potential reputational issues. Any negative experience by customers can easily be shared online and could become a viral phenomenon, those comments could likely have a detrimental effect on the company’s stock price and reputation. On the other hand, any positive experience a customer has can also be shared online. However, positive experiences are much less likely to become viral. === Scams === The nature of social media makes it easy to target individuals without being seen by the wider community, this allows scammers to target individuals. Example include romance scams such as the pig butchering scam where an individual is tricked to transfer funds or assets to the scammer over social media making it hard for law enforcement to track them or recover funds. === Customer privacy === Customer privacy is important for the financial services industry. It is critical that customer information such as a bank account numbers and other personal information is kept private. However, this information can be leaked if for example, a customer is unhappy with a bank’s service, they may tweet at the bank expressing their frustrations and include their name and account number.

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  • Data exhaust

    Data exhaust

    Data exhaust (also exhaust data) is the trail of data generated as a by-product of users' online activity, behaviour, and transactions, rather than data they deliberately create or submit. It forms part of a broader category of unconventional data that also includes geospatial, network, and time-series data, and may be useful for predictive analytics. Data exhaust can take the form of cookies, temporary files, log files, clickstream records and stored preferences. Actions such as visiting a web page, following a link, or dwelling on an element may all generate exhaust data that is recorded without the user's active awareness. Unlike primary content — which the user intentionally creates — exhaust data is a passive side effect of interaction. A bank, for example, might treat the amounts and parties involved in a transaction as primary data, while secondary data could include whether the transaction was carried out at a cash machine rather than a branch. == Uses == Data exhaust collected by companies is often information that is not immediately useful in isolation, but can be aggregated and analysed to improve products, personalise content, identify trends, and support quality control. Companies may also store exhaust data for future analysis or sell it to third parties. Shoshana Zuboff has described this practice as a core mechanism of what she terms surveillance capitalism, in which behavioural data generated by users is converted into predictive products. Kosciejew notes that large quantities of often raw data are collected in this way, much of which is never analysed. == Medical exhaust data == Many medical devices — including pacemakers, dialysis machines and surgical cameras — generate exhaust data as a by-product of their operation. The majority of this data is never captured or analysed, and is typically discarded once a procedure ends or a device completes its routine monitoring cycle. The potential use of data generated by implanted devices such as pacemakers raises additional legal and ethical questions around ownership and consent. Using electronic health records for research also creates challenges because of the volume of data involved, creating a need for automated algorithms to process it. == Privacy and regulation == The collection and distribution of data exhaust is not in itself illegal in most jurisdictions, but its use raises questions of privacy and informed consent. Steps commonly taken to address these concerns include data anonymisation, offering users an opt-out from the sale of their data, and publishing explicit privacy policies that disclose what data is collected and how it is used.

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  • ISO 15765-2

    ISO 15765-2

    ISO 15765-2, or ISO-TP (Transport Layer), is an international standard for sending data packets over a CAN bus. The protocol allows for the transport of messages that exceed the eight byte maximum payload of CAN frames. ISO-TP segments longer messages into multiple frames, adding metadata (CAN-TP Header) that allows the interpretation of individual frames and reassembly into a complete message packet by the recipient. It can carry up to 232-1 (4294967295) bytes of payload per message packet starting from the 2016 version. Prior versions were limited to a maximum payload size of 4095 bytes. In the OSI model, ISO-TP covers the layer 3 (network layer) and 4 (transport layer). The most common application for ISO-TP is the transfer of diagnostic messages with OBD-II equipped vehicles using KWP2000 and UDS, but is used broadly in other application-specific CAN implementations where one might need to send messages longer than what the CAN protocol physical layer allows (eight bytes for CAN, 64 bytes for CAN FD, and 2048 bytes for CAN-XL). ISO-TP can be operated with its own addressing as so-called Extended Addressing or without address using only the CAN ID (so-called Normal Addressing). Extended addressing uses the first data byte of each frame as an additional element of the address, reducing the application payload by one byte. For clarity the protocol description below is based on Normal Addressing with eight byte CAN frames. In total, six types of addressing are allowed by the ISO 15765-2 Protocol. ISO-TP prepends one or more metadata bytes to the payload data in the eight byte CAN frame, reducing the payload to seven or fewer bytes per frame. The metadata is called the Protocol Control Information, or PCI. The PCI is one, two or three bytes. The initial field is four bits indicating the frame type, and implicitly describing the PCI length. ISO 15765-2 is a part of ISO 15765 (headlined Road vehicles — Diagnostic communication over Controller Area Network (DoCAN)), which has the following parts: ISO 15765-1 Part 1: General information and use case definition ISO 15765-2 Part 2: Transport protocol and network layer services ISO 15765-3 Part 3: Implementation of unified diagnostic services (UDS on CAN) – replaced by ISO 14229-3 Road vehicles — Unified diagnostic services ISO 15765-4 Part 4: Requirements for emissions-related systems == List of protocol control information (PCI) field types == The ISO-TP defines four frame types: A message of seven bytes or less is sent in a single frame, with the initial byte containing the type (0) and payload length (1-7 bytes). With the 0 in the type field, this can also pass as a simpler protocol with a length-data format and is often misinterpreted as such. A message longer than 7 bytes requires segmenting the message packet over multiple frames. A segmented transfer starts with a First Frame. The PCI is two bytes in this case, with the first 4 bit field the type (type 1) and the following 12 bits the message length (excluding the type and length bytes). The recipient confirms the transfer with a flow control frame. The flow control frame has three PCI bytes specifying the interval between subsequent frames and how many consecutive frames may be sent (Block Size). For CAN FD, the ISO 15765-2 protocol has been extended for Single and First frame, to allow larger size values, but still backwards compatible with traditional ISO 15765. See CAN FD. The initial byte contains the type (type = 3) in the first four bits, and a flag in the next four bits indicating if the transfer is allowed (0 = Continue To Send, 1 = Wait, 2 = Overflow/abort). The next byte is the block size, the count of frames that may be sent before waiting for the next flow control frame. A value of zero allows the remaining frames to be sent without flow control or delay. The third byte is the minimum Separation Time (STmin), the minimum delay time between frames. STmin values up to 127 (0x7F) specify the minimum number of milliseconds to delay between frames, while values in the range 241 (0xF1) to 249 (0xF9) specify delays increasing from 100 to 900 microseconds. Note that the Separation Time is defined as the minimum time between the end of one frame to the beginning of the next. Robust implementations should be prepared to accept frames from a sender that misinterprets this as the frame repetition rate i.e. from start-of-frame to start-of-frame. Even careful implementations may fail to account for the minor effect of bit-stuffing in the physical layer. The sender transmits the rest of the message using Consecutive Frames. Each Consecutive Frame has a one byte PCI, with a four bit type (type = 2) followed by a 4-bit sequence number. The sequence number starts at 1 and increments with each frame sent (1, 2,..., F, 0, 1,...), with which lost or discarded frames can be detected. Each consecutive frame starts at 0, initially for the first set of data in the first frame will be considered as 0th data. So the first set of CF(Consecutive frames) start from 0x1. There afterwards when it reaches 0x2F, will be started from 0x20 (e.g. 0x21, 0x22, 0x23...0x2F, 0x20, 0x21...). The 12-bit length field (as indicated in the First Frame) allows up to 4095 bytes of user data in a segmented message, but in practice the typical application-specific limit is considerably lower because of receive buffer or hardware limitations. == Timing parameters == Timing parameters, such as P1 and P2 timers, have to be mentioned. == Standards == ISO 15765-2:2016 Road vehicles -- Diagnostic communication over Controller Area Network (DoCAN) -- Part 2: Transport protocol and network layer services

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  • Automation integrator

    Automation integrator

    An automation integrator is a systems integrator company or individual who makes different versions of automation hardware and software work together, generally combining several subsystems to work together as one large system. The title may refer to those who only integrate hardware, although these will often work with software integrators. Software created by automation integrators allows devices to communicate with each other, as well as collecting and reporting data. The magazine Control Engineering publishes an annual “Automation Integrator Guide” which lists over 2,000 automation integrators. They also give an annual system integrator of the year award to three automation integration firms. The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) maintains a buyers' guide of over 1200 member and nonmember systems integrators known as the Industrial Automation Exchange, or CSIA Exchange for short. == Certification == The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) certifies automation integrators, through an audit based on 79 critical criteria from the best practices manual. Companies must be associate members of the CSIA to be eligible for certification. Integrators can also receive certification through a program launched in 2012 by the Robotics Industries Association. == Industries == Automation Integrators work in a wide variety of industries which use robotics and automation. Some of the most common include:

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  • Social media mining

    Social media mining

    Social media mining is the process of obtaining data from user-generated content on social media in order to extract actionable patterns, form conclusions about users, and act upon the information. Mining supports targeting advertising to users or academic research. The term is an analogy to the process of mining for minerals. Mining companies sift through raw ore to find the valuable minerals; likewise, social media mining sifts through social media data in order to discern patterns and trends about matters such as social media usage, online behaviour, content sharing, connections between individuals, buying behaviour. These patterns and trends are of interest to companies, governments and not-for-profit organizations, as such organizations can use the analyses for tasks such as design strategies, introduce programs, products, processes or services. Social media mining uses concepts from computer science, data mining, machine learning, and statistics. Mining is based on social network analysis, network science, sociology, ethnography, optimization and mathematics. It attempts to formally represent, measure and model patterns from social media data. In the 2010s, major corporations, governments and not-for-profit organizations began mining to learn about customers, clients and others. Platforms such as Google, Facebook (partnered with Datalogix and BlueKai) conduct mining to target users with advertising. Scientists and machine learning researchers extract insights and design product features. Users may not understand how platforms use their data. Users tend to click through Terms of Use agreements without reading them, leading to ethical questions about whether platforms adequately protect users' privacy. During the 2016 United States presidential election, Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign, to analyze the data of an estimated 87 million Facebook users to profile voters, creating controversy when this was revealed. == Background == As defined by Kaplan and Haenlein, social media is the "group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." There are many categories of social media including, but not limited to, social networking (Facebook or LinkedIn), microblogging (Twitter), photo sharing (Flickr, Instagram, Photobucket, or Picasa), news aggregation (Google Reader, StumbleUpon, or Feedburner), video sharing (YouTube, MetaCafe), livecasting (Ustream or Twitch), virtual worlds (Kaneva), social gaming (World of Warcraft), social search (Google, Bing, or Ask.com), and instant messaging (Google Talk, Skype, or Yahoo! messenger). The first social media website was introduced by GeoCities in 1994. It enabled users to create their own homepages without having a sophisticated knowledge of HTML coding. The first social networking site, SixDegrees.com, was introduced in 1997. Since then, many other social media sites have been introduced, each providing service to millions of people. These individuals form a virtual world in which individuals (social atoms), entities (content, sites, etc.) and interactions (between individuals, between entities, between individuals and entities) coexist. Social norms and human behavior govern this virtual world. By understanding these social norms and models of human behavior and combining them with the observations and measurements of this virtual world, one can systematically analyze and mine social media. Social media mining is the process of representing, analyzing, and extracting meaningful patterns from data in social media, resulting from social interactions. It is an interdisciplinary field encompassing techniques from computer science, data mining, machine learning, social network analysis, network science, sociology, ethnography, statistics, optimization, and mathematics. Social media mining faces grand challenges such as the big data paradox, obtaining sufficient samples, the noise removal fallacy, and evaluation dilemma. Social media mining represents the virtual world of social media in a computable way, measures it, and designs models that can help us understand its interactions. In addition, social media mining provides necessary tools to mine this world for interesting patterns, analyze information diffusion, study influence and homophily, provide effective recommendations, and analyze novel social behavior in social media. == Uses == Social media mining is used across several industries including business development, social science research, health services, and educational purposes. Once the data received goes through social media analytics, it can then be applied to these various fields. Often, companies use the patterns of connectivity that pervade social networks, such as assortativity—the social similarity between users that are induced by influence, homophily, and reciprocity and transitivity. These forces are then measured via statistical analysis of the nodes and connections between these nodes. Social analytics also uses sentiment analysis, because social media users often relay positive or negative sentiment in their posts. This provides important social information about users' emotions on specific topics. These three patterns have several uses beyond pure analysis. For example, influence can be used to determine the most influential user in a particular network. Companies would be interested in this information in order to decide who they may hire for influencer marketing. These influencers are determined by recognition, activity generation, and novelty—three requirements that can be measured through the data mined from these sites. Analysts also value measures of homophily: the tendency of two similar individuals to become friends. Users have begun to rely on information of other users' opinions in order to understand diverse subject matter. These analyses can also help create recommendations for individuals in a tailored capacity. By measuring influence and homophily, online and offline companies are able to suggest specific products for individuals consumers, and groups of consumers. Social media networks can use this information themselves to suggest to their users possible friends to add, pages to follow, and accounts to interact with. == Perception == Modern social media mining is a controversial practice that has led to exponential gains in user growth for tech giants such as Facebook, Inc., Twitter, and Google. Companies such as these, considered "Big Tech" are companies that build algorithms that take advantage of user input to understand their preferences, and keep them on the platform as much as possible. These inputs, that can be as simple as time spent on a given screen, provide the data being mined, and lead to companies profiting heavily from using that data to capitalize on extremely accurate predictions about user behavior. The growth of platforms accelerated rapidly once these strategies were put in place; Most of the largest platforms now average over 1 billion active users per month as of 2021. It has been claimed by a multitude of anti-algorithm personalities, like Tristan Harris or Chamath Palihapitiya, that certain companies (specifically Facebook) valued growth above all else, and ignored potential negative impacts from these growth engineering tactics. At the same time, users have now created their own data arbitrages with the help of their own data, through content monetization and becoming influencers. Users typically have access to a varied set of analytics specific to people that interact with them on social media, and can use these as building blocks for their own targeting and growth strategies through ads and posts that cater to their audiences. Influencers also commonly promote products and services for established brands, creating one of the largest digital industries: Influencer marketing. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and others have long given access to platform analytics, and allowed third parties to access that information as well, at times unbeknownst to even the user whose data is being viewed/bought. == Research == === Research areas === Social media event detection – Social networks enable users to freely communicate with each other and share their recent news, ongoing activities or views about different topics. As a result, they can be seen as a potentially viable source of information to understand the current emerging topics/events. Public health monitoring and surveillance - Using large-scale analysis of social media to study large cohorts of patients and the general public, e.g. to obtain early warning signals of drug-drug interactions and adverse drug reactions, or understand human reproduction and sexual interest. Community structure (Community Detection/Evolution/Evaluation) – Identifying communities on social networks, how t

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  • Data steward

    Data steward

    A data steward is an oversight or data governance role within an organization, and is responsible for ensuring the quality and fitness for purpose of the organization's data assets, including the metadata for those data assets. A data steward may share some responsibilities with a data custodian, such as the awareness, accessibility, release, appropriate use, security and management of data. A data steward would also participate in the development and implementation of data assets. A data steward may seek to improve the quality and fitness for purpose of other data assets their organization depends upon but is not responsible for. Data stewards have a specialist role that utilizes an organization's data governance processes, policies, guidelines and responsibilities for administering an organizations' entire data in compliance with policy and/or regulatory obligations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA). The overall objective of a data steward is the data quality of the data assets, datasets, data records and data elements. This includes documenting metainformation for the data, such as definitions, related rules/governance, physical manifestation, and related data models (most of these properties being specific to an attribute/concept relationship), identifying owners/custodian's various responsibilities, relations insight pertaining to attribute quality, aiding with project requirement data facilitation and documentation of capture rules. Data stewards begin the stewarding process with the identification of the data assets and elements which they will steward, with the ultimate result being standards, controls and data entry. The steward works closely with business glossary standards analysts (for standards), with data architect/modelers (for standards), with DQ analysts (for controls) and with operations team members (good-quality data going in per business rules) while entering data. Data stewardship roles are common when organizations attempt to exchange data precisely and consistently between computer systems and to reuse data-related resources. Master data management often makes references to the need for data stewardship for its implementation to succeed. Data stewardship must have precise purpose, fit for purpose or fitness. == Data steward responsibilities == A data steward ensures that each assigned data element: Has clear and unambiguous data element definition Does not conflict with other data elements in the metadata registry (removes duplicates, overlap etc.) Has clear enumerated value definitions if it is of type Code Is still being used (remove unused data elements) Is being used consistently in various computer systems Is being used, fit for purpose = Data Fitness Has adequate documentation on appropriate usage and notes Documents the origin and sources of authority on each metadata element Is protected against unauthorised access or change Responsibilities of data stewards vary between different organisations and institutions. For example, at Delft University of Technology, data stewards are perceived as the first contact point for any questions related to research data. They also have subject-specific background allowing them to easily connect with researchers and to contextualise data management problems to take into account disciplinary practices. == Types of data stewards == Depending on the set of data stewardship responsibilities assigned to an individual, there are 4 types (or dimensions of responsibility) of data stewards typically found within an organization: Data object data steward - responsible for managing reference data and attributes of one business data entity Business data steward - responsible for managing critical data, both reference and transactional, created or used by one business function. The data steward may also serve as a liaison between the organization's data users and technical teams, helping to bridge the gap between business needs and technical requirements. They may also play a role in educating others within the organization about best practices for data management, and advocating for data-driven decision-making. Process data steward - responsible for managing data across one business process System data steward - responsible for managing data for at least one IT system == Benefits of data stewardship == Systematic data stewardship can foster: Faster analysis Consistent use of data management resources Easy mapping of data between computer systems and exchange documents Lower costs associated with migration to (for example) service-oriented architecture (SOA) Mitigation of data risk Better control of dangers associated with privacy, legal, errors, etc. Assignment of each data element to a person sometimes seems like an unimportant process. But multiple groups have found that users have greater trust and usage rates in systems where they can contact a person with questions on each data element. == Examples == Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) offers an example of data stewardship implementation at a research institution. In 2017 the Data Stewardship Project was initiated at TU Delft to address research data management needs in a disciplinary manner across the whole campus. Dedicated data stewards with subject-specific background were appointed at every TU Delft faculty to support researchers with data management questions and to act as a linking point with the other institutional support services. The project is coordinated centrally by TU Delft Library, and it has its own website, blog and a YouTube channel. The [1]EPA metadata registry furnishes an example of data stewardship. Note that each data element therein has a "POC" (point of contact). In 2023, ETH Zurich launched the Data Stewardship Network (DSN) to facilitate collaboration among employees engaged in data management, analysis, and code development across research groups. The DSN serves as a platform for networking and knowledge exchange, aiming to professionalize the role of data stewards who support research data management and reproducible workflows. Established by the team for Research Data Management and Digital Curation at the ETH Library, the DSN collaborates with Scientific IT Services to provide expertise in areas such as storage infrastructure and reproducible workflows. == Data stewardship applications == Information stewardship applications are business solutions used by business users acting in the role of information steward (interpreting and enforcing information governance policy, for example). These developing solutions represent, for the most part, an amalgam of a number of disparate, previously IT-centric tools already on the market, but are organized and presented in such a way that information stewards (a business role) can support the work of information policy enforcement as part of their normal, business-centric, day-to-day work in a range of use cases. The initial push for the formation of this new category of packaged software came from operational use cases — that is, use of business data in and between transactional and operational business applications. This is where most of the master data management efforts are undertaken in organizations. However, there is also now a faster-growing interest in the new data lake arena for more analytical use cases.

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