The spatial web protocol was created by Gabriel Rene, the CEO, founder, and president of VERSES AI. By implementing this protocol into VERSES, the company has a first-mover advantage in developing applications and services based on this groundbreaking technology. When the IEEE approves the spatial web as a standard, it will enable interoperability across different applications, platforms, and networks, much like how Bluetooth revolutionized wireless connectivity after its standardization. You can pair headphones with any type of phone wirelessly because the IEEE standardized Bluetooth. Interoperability is a key factor in the development of what VERSES is doing. This interoperability will foster an ecosystem of compatible services and devices, driving adoption and innovation. With VERSES already built on the spatial web protocol, the company is well-positioned to become a central hub for this emerging ecosystem. Other developers and companies can integrate with VERSES, creating a network effect that could drive exponential growth and value creation. Moreover, the spatial web's potential applications are vast, ranging from immersive virtual and augmented reality experiences to seamless integration of digital and physical worlds. As the pioneer in this space, VERSES AI could capture significant market share and establish itself as a leader in the spatial computing revolution. And if you look at their strategic advisor’s background, Alex Kipman, you’ll see another reason why they’ll become a leader in the spatial computing world. Investors who recognize the transformative potential of the spatial web and VERSES AI's strategic positioning could benefit from being early adopters in this disruptive technology. The IEEE approval could serve as a catalyst for widespread adoption, driving VERSES AI's growth and potentially generating substantial returns for forward-thinking investors.
Their next workgroup meeting is May 23rd. And it’s looking like approval is coming soon.

👋Hello, firstly, Objy is not an AVP app (sorry!), I am based in Australia where the AVP isn’t released, but I hope it might be a native app one day.
Objy is an iOS app, and like many of the 3D scanning apps out there, it uses Apple’s Object Capture on device photogrammetry pipeline to quickly and easily capture 3D digital replicas of almost any object!
I’d love any feedback you have on either the iOS app or the very basic web app - thank you! As a thank you I included some of my fave recent capture below 👇
But I wanted to build “something” for the AVP, so I made a way to share captures with as many people as possible, including AVP users.
The latest version of Objy generates a public URL, so you can share your captures with anyone, including your AVP. Just open the link, click “View on a Vision Pro? Click here!” and once the model is downloaded, when you open it, it’ll persist in your space to enjoy!
You can download Objy for free from the iOS App Store here: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/objy-3d-scanning-web-sharing/id6478846664
I am really keen on help small businesses use fast and easy AR as well, so if you know someone who wants to make a 3D menu, they might be interested in this video on how to make an AR menu for a pizzeria 😎 https://youtu.be/29Kh59G4s1Y?si=HE1aBNIy6RjwJ7ZG
You can try a few of my favourite captures here to see what I mean:
🦒 https://www.objy.app/ct8
🍕https://www.objy.app/srw
🧁 https://www.objy.app/6ta
💚https://www.objy.app/ypq
As you can tell I am really excited about the technology allow people to easily and quickly capture digital mementos, or product for their online businesses, and sharing them easily and widely on the web. Feel to DM me to chat more 🤓

Cisco Router Security
What are the two access privilege modes of the Cisco router?
User EXEC Mode: This is the initial access mode for a router. In this mode, the user can access only a limited set of basic monitoring commands.
Privileged EXEC Mode: This mode provides access to all router commands, such as debugging and configuration commands. It requires a password for access to ensure security.
What is the approach for password for the privileged mode of the router?
enable secret [password]
uses hashing algorithm so that the password is not in plain text but encrypted
How to ensure that all passwords in the router are stored in the encrypted form?
service password-encryption
What is the difference between the Cisco router’s startup and running configurations?
How to save the running configuration into start up configuration?
Startup Configuration: Stored in the NVRAM, this configuration is used to boot the router. It remains unchanged until an administrator explicitly saves the running configuration to it.
Running Configuration: Held in the router’s RAM, this configuration is active on the router. Changes to the router’s configuration are made here and are effective immediately.
Know and be able to configure all aspects of the Cisco router covered in class. For example,
configuring the router interfaces, setting the router OSPF ID, etc.
enable
configure terminal
hostname MyRouter
interface GigabitEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
interface Serial0/0/0
ip address 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.252
clock rate 64000
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1
network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
exit
enable secret mysecretpassword
line console 0
password myconsolepassword
login
exit
line vty 0 4
password myvtypassword
login
exit
crypto key generate rsa
ip ssh version 2
ip ssh time-out 60
ip ssh authentication-retries 2
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.254
access-list 10 permit 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255
access-list 10 deny any
Practical Routing, OSPF, and Security
What is the difference between static and dynamic routing?
Static Routing: Involves manually setting up routes in the router's routing table through configuration commands. These routes do not change unless manually updated or removed. Static routing is simple, secure, and uses less bandwidth but lacks scalability and flexibility.
Dynamic Routing: Automatically adjusts routes in the routing table based on current network conditions using routing protocols. This approach allows for more flexibility, scalability, and fault tolerance, but consumes more resources and can be complex to configure.
What is the difference between link state and distance vector routing?
Distance Vector Routing: Routers using distance vector protocols calculate the best path to a destination based on the distance and direction (vector) to nodes. Updates are shared with neighboring routers at regular intervals or when changes occur. This approach can lead to slower convergence and issues like routing loops.
Link State Routing: Each router learns the entire network topology by exchanging link-state information. Routers then independently calculate the shortest path to every node using algorithms like Dijkstra’s. This results in quicker convergence and fewer routing loops.
Distance Vector Routing: Each router computes distance from itself to its next immediate neighbors. (RIP, EIGRP, & BGP)
-Does not build a full map of the network
-Focuses more on the next hop towards the destination
Link State Routing: Each router shares knowledge of its neighbors with every other router in the network. (OSPF and IS-IS)
-Builds a full map of the network
-Each router shares information
-Maintains a database of the entire network.
Give an example of the distance vector and link state algorithms.
Distance = RIPLink State = OSPF
What type of protocol is Routing Information Protocol (RIP)? Be able to understand
examples and solve problems.
Example of a distance vector protocol
dynamic protocol
-shares routing info with neighboring routers
-an interior gateway protocol that operates within autonomous system
-oldest of all dynamic protocol; RIPv1
-widely used open standard developed by IETF
-a distance vector routing protocol
-limited to maximum 15 hops;

 how rip works -rip sends regular update message (advertisements to neighboring routers) 

-every 30 seconds that resets after each successful ack
-route becomes invalid if it has not received a message for 180 seconds
-RIPv1 (obsolete) uses broadcast, while RIPv2 uses a multicast address -Update message only travel to a single hop
downside : limitations, each router in its table can only have one entry per destination. Have to wait for advertisement for an alternative path, cannot reach hops 15 paths away, little to no security.
What type of protocol is Open Shortest Paths First (OSPF) protocol? Be able to under-
stand examples and solve problems.

• an interior gateway protocol that operates within autonomous systems to build a full map of the network.
  
• widely used open standard developed by IETF
  

-a link state routing protocol

 intra as routing with RIP 

What is the Link State Advertisement (LSA) in OSPF? What is the Link State Database
(LSDB)?
-LSA contains data about a router, its subnets, and some other network information.-OSPF puts all the LSAs from different routers into a Link-State Database (LSDB)
The goal of OSPF is to be able to determine a complete map of the interior routing path to be able to create the best route possible.
The way this is done is that OSPF finds all the routers and subnets that can be reached within the entire network. The result is that each router will have the same information about the network by sending out LSA.
How does each router in OSPF create a map of the entire network?
Step 1 : Acquire neighbor relationship to exchange network information.
Step 2: Exchange database information, neighboring routers swap LSDB information with each other
Step 3: Choosing the best routes, each router chooses the best routes to add to its routing table based on the learned LSDB information.
What is the process for two OSPF routers to become neighbors?
A. a neighbor sends out a Hello packet including the router ID along with subnets that it routes to the given multicast address to a given OSPF area ID.

this is also a way for routers to tell neighbors that they are still on and good to go. 

B. Once other routers receive this packet, they run some checks. The neighboring routers must match the following requirements:
-area id needs to be the same (also used when scaling up OSPF)
-the shared or connecting link should be on the same subnet.
-The Hello and dead timer must be the same.
-the dead timer is having enogh time before the sending router assumes that the neighbor is down.
-this timer is typically 10 secs for point-to-point and broadcast networks.
C. If all is fine, the receiving router will go into Init stage and sends a hello message of its own. This Hello packet list its own network info along with the known neighbor R1. This puts R1 into a 2-way communication status.
D. R1 sends another Hello message to R2 with the information as a known neighbor. This allows the R2 now with a 2-way communication status as well.E. We now have a 2-way neighboring routers
What is the difference between point-to-point and multi-access networks? How does OSPF
handle each case?

Point-to-Point: A network setup where each connection is between two specific nodes or devices. OSPF treats these links with straightforward neighbor relationships since there are only two routers on each segment. 

Multi-Access Networks: Networks where multiple routers can connect on the same segment, such as Ethernet. OSPF uses a Designated Router (DR) and a Backup Designated Router (BDR) on these types of networks to reduce the amount of OSPF traffic and the size of the topological database.
DR selected by the highest OSPF prio.
Be able to configure OSPF routing given a topology.
–
Example:
Consider a topology with three routers R1, R2, and R3. The routers
are connected R1 =⇒R2 =⇒R3 =⇒R1.
R1 has interface f0/0 connected to the
interface f0/0 of R2. R2 has interface f0/1 connecting to the interface f0/0 of R3.
Finally R3 has interface 1/0 connecting to the interface 1/0 of R3. Assuming all
routers are Cisco 7200 routers, configure them to use OSPF to dynamically route in
this topology (you will be given the Cisco router manual for such questions).
•
R1enable
configure terminal
hostname R1
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
interface FastEthernet1/0
ip address 192.168.31.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1
network 192.168.12.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
network 192.168.31.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
exit
end
write memory
R2enable
configure terminal
hostname R2
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.12.2 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
interface FastEthernet0/1
ip address 192.168.23.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 2.2.2.2
network 192.168.12.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
network 192.168.23.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
exit
end
write memory
R3enable
configure terminal
hostname R3
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.23.2 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
interface FastEthernet1/0
ip address 192.168.31.2 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 3.3.3.3
network 192.168.23.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
network 192.168.31.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
exit
end
write memory
How does OSPF authenticate packets to protect against packet spoofing and tempering?
Be able to enable it a Cisco router.
OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) can authenticate packets to protect against packet spoofing and tampering using several methods. The two main types of authentication are:
Plain Text Authentication: This is simple and provides minimal security. It sends the password in clear text.
Message Digest 5 (MD5) Authentication: This provides stronger security by using cryptographic hash functions to authenticate OSPF packets.
Plain textenable
configure terminal
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
ip ospf authentication
ip ospf authentication-key cisco123
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1
network 192.168.12.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
area 0 authentication
exit
write memory
MD5enable
configure terminal
interface FastEthernet0/0
ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
ip ospf authentication message-digest
ip ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 securepassword
no shutdown
exit
router ospf 1
router-id 1.1.1.1
network 192.168.12.0 0.0.0.255 area 0
area 0 authentication message-digest
exit
write memory
Network Defense Fundamentals
•
What is IP spoofing? Explain.
-The ip packet contains the source and destination Ip addresses.-Is it straightforward to modify the ip address of the packet.
-IP Spoofing: sender chagrin his source address to something other than his real address.
How can IP spoofing be used in security attacks?
-If the attacker sends an Ip packet with a spoofed IP, they will not receive a response form the destination: the machine with the IP matching the spoofed IP will receive the response.Ip spoofing operation - the sender spoofs the source IP address to point to another target. The receiver system replies to the spoofed IP.
•
What are the countermeasures to IP spoofing?
Ingress and Egress Filtering: Network operators should implement filtering rules on routers and firewalls to block packets with source IP addresses that should not originate from those networks. Ingress filtering blocks incoming packets with a source IP address that is not valid for the network, while egress filtering blocks outgoing packets with an invalid source IP address.
Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF): This technique ensures that the incoming packets are received on the same interface that the router would use to send traffic back to the source. If the path does not match, the packet is discarded, preventing spoofed packets from passing through.
IPsec (Internet Protocol Security): IPsec can be used to authenticate and encrypt IP packets, ensuring that they come from legitimate sources and have not been tampered with. This makes spoofing attacks significantly more difficult.
How can IP spoofing be used to perform DoS attacks?
IP spoofing is often used in Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to obscure the attacker's identity and to overwhelm the target with traffic from what appears to be multiple sources. One common type of DoS attack that utilizes IP spoofing is a Smurf Attack. In a Smurf Attack, the attacker sends ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo requests to broadcast addresses of networks, with the source IP address spoofed to that of the victim. The devices on the network respond to the echo requests, sending replies back to the victim's IP address. This amplifies the traffic directed at the victim, potentially overwhelming their network and causing a DoS condition.
•
Know how to use
hping3
for performing ping floods.
Using hping3 to perform ping floods involves sending a high volume of ICMP Echo Request packets to a target to overwhelm it.basic ping floodsudo hping3 -1 --flood [target_IP]
Using spoofed source ipsudo hping3 -1 --flood -a [spoofed_IP] [target_IP]
Controlling the Packet Sending Rateo hping3 -1 --flood -i u1000 [target_IP]Combining sudo hping3 -1 --flood -a 10.0.0.1 -i u1000 192.168.1.1
Firewalling
What is a firewall?
a filtering device on a network that enforces network security policy and protects the network against external attacks.
According to NIST SP 800-41, what are the characteristics of a firewall?
NIST standard defines the possible characteristics that a firewall can use to filter traffic.
-(IP Address and Protocol type) filtering based on source/destination IP address/ports, traffic direction and other transport layer characteristics.
-(Application Protocols)controls access based on application protocol data
-(User identity) controls access based on user identity
-(Network activity)
What are the limitations of the firewall?
Firewall capabilities: -Define a traffic chokepoint in the network and protects against IP spoofing and routing attacks
-Provide a location for monitoring the security events -Provide non-security functions: loggin internet usage, network address translation-Serve as platform for VPN/IPSec
Firewall limitations:-protect against attacks bypassing the firewall, connections from inside the organization to the outside that do not go through the firewall.-protect against internal threats such as disgruntled employees.
What is a packet filter firewall? Be able to write and interpret rules and to spot configu-
rationflaws.
Packet filtering firewall : applies a set of rules to each packet based on the packet headers.Filters based on: source/destination IP, source/destination port numbers, IP Protocol Field:defines the transport protocol, Interface : for firewalls with 3+ network interfaces, the interface from which the packet came from/going to
•
What is the difference between the default and allow and default deny policies? Which
one is the more secure one?
-when no rules apply to a packet, a default rule is applied: default deny : what is not explicitly permitted is denied default forward : what is not explicitly denied is allowed
default deny is more secure, you dont have to identify all of the cases that needs to be blocked, if one is missed, default deny will deny it.
Port 0-1023 reserved
1024-2**17 ephemeral
source port used by the system initialiatizng a connection is always chosen from the ephemeral ports
Be able to configure the packet filtering functions of iptables.
–
Example:
Write iptables rules to block all ICMP traffic to and from the system.
iptables -A INPUT -p icmp -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -p icmp -j DROP
Example:
Write iptables rules to block all traffic on port 22
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --sport 22 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j DROP
–
Example:
Write iptables rules to block traffic to host 192.168.2.2
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dest 192.168.2.2 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --src 192.168.2.2 -j DROP
What are the limitations of the packet filter firewall?
-does not examine upper layer data : cannot prevent attacks that employ application specfic vulnerabilities or functions.cannot block application specific commands.
•
What is the stateful firewall and how does it compare to a packet filter?
A stateful firewall is a network security device that monitors and tracks the state of active connections, making decisions based on the context of the traffic. Unlike a simple packet filter, which examines individual packets in isolation based on predetermined rules, a stateful firewall keeps track of connections over time, distinguishing between legitimate packets that are part of an established session and potentially malicious ones. This contextual awareness allows it to block unauthorized connection attempts and prevent attacks such as spoofing and session hijacking. While packet filters, or stateless firewalls, operate faster and consume fewer resources by applying static rules to each packet independently, they lack the sophisticated traffic pattern handling and enhanced security provided by stateful firewalls.
•
What is the application-level firewall? What are its advantages and limitations?
An application-level firewall, also known as an application firewall or proxy firewall, operates at the application layer of the OSI model. It inspects and filters traffic based on the specific application protocols (e.g., HTTP, FTP, DNS) rather than just IP addresses and port numbers. limitations : increased communications overhead due to two separate TCP connections

 and not transparent to the client 

Application-level gateways are also known as application-level proxies.
-act as a relay for the application-level traffic.
-runs at the application layer, and examines application-layer data
Supported ProtocolsFTPSTMPHTTP
What is a circuit-level firewall? What are its advantages and limitations?
-Similar to the application-level gateway, but only tracks the state of the TCP/UDP sessions.
-Does not examine application data , simply relays TCP segments
-Allow/deny decisions based on whether a packet belongs to an established and trusted connection
Advantage of circuit-level firewall -do not filter individual packets(simplifies rules)

-fast and efficient 

Disadvantages:

-do not filter individual packets -require frequent updates: traffic is filtered with rules and policies that need regular updates for new threats and risks -the vendor needs to modify the TCP/IP implementation for thor applications to use the circuit-level proxy. 

What are the different approaches to basing the firewall?

-stand-alone machines -software modules in roosters, switches, or servers, or pre-configured security appliances. 

What are the host-based firewalls?
Host-based firewalls: a firewall software module used to secure a single host.
What are the network device firewalls?
Network device firewall = routers and switches often have firewall functions, like packet filtering and stateful inspection, to check and filter packets
What are the virtual firewalls?
-in a virtualized environment, servers, switches, and routers can be virtualized and share physical hardware. The hypervisor that manages the virtual machines can also have firewall capabilities.
What is the DMZ? How is it used for securing networks?
A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in network security is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external-facing services to an untrusted network, typically the internet. The primary purpose of a DMZ is to add an additional layer of security to an organization's local area network (LAN). By isolating these externally accessible services, the DMZ ensures that if an attacker gains access to the public-facing systems, they do not have direct access to the rest of the network.
How the DMZ Secures Networks
Isolation of Public Services: Services that need to be accessible from the outside, such as web servers, mail servers, FTP servers, and DNS servers, are placed in the DMZ. These services are isolated from the internal network, which helps protect the internal systems from attacks that may exploit vulnerabilities in the public-facing services.
Controlled Access: Firewalls are used to create boundaries between the internet, the DMZ, and the internal network. The firewall rules are configured to allow only specific types of traffic to and from the DMZ. For example, incoming web traffic might be allowed to reach a web server in the DMZ, but not to access internal systems directly.
Minimal Exposure: Only the necessary services are exposed to the internet. This minimizes the attack surface, reducing the number of entry points that an attacker can exploit. Internal systems and data remain protected behind the additional layer of the firewall.
Layered Security: The DMZ provides an additional layer of defense (defense-in-depth). Even if an attacker manages to compromise a server in the DMZ, the internal network is still protected by another firewall, making it harder for the attacker to penetrate further.
Monitoring and Logging: Activities within the DMZ can be closely monitored and logged. Any suspicious behavior can be detected early, and appropriate actions can be taken to mitigate potential threats before they impact the internal network.
Traffic Filtering: The firewalls between the internet and the DMZ, as well as between the DMZ and the internal network, can filter traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. This filtering ensures that only legitimate traffic is allowed and that malicious traffic is blocked.
-if attacker compromises a server on the network, they will be able to pivot to other systems on the network.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having the two DMZ firewalls be from
different vendors?
Using different firewall manufacturers for the two firewalls maybe a good idea, avoids possibility of both having the same vulnerability but introduces more complexity and management overhead.
Be able to write pfSense firewall rules
Penetration Testing
•
What is penetration testing?
-legal and suthorzied attempt to locate and exploit vulnerable systems for the purpose of making those systems more secure.

pen testing, pt, hacking, ethical hacking, whitehate hacking, offensive security, red teaming 

What is the objective of the penetration testing?

Use tools and techniques used by the attackers in order to discover security vulnerabilities before the attackers do. 

What is the BAD pyramid?

The purpose of a red team is to find ways to improve the blue team, so purple teams should not be needed in an organization where the red/blue teams interaction is healthy and functioning properly. 

red attack
purple defender changes based off attack knowledge
blue defend
green builder changes based on defender knowledge
yellow build
orange builder changes based on attacker knowledge
Why are the penetration tests conducted?
-a company may want to have a stronger understanding of their security footprint.

-system policy shortcomings -network protocol weaknesses -network/software misconfigurations -software vulnerabilities 

What is the difference between penetration testing and vulnerability assessment?
-two terms often incorrectly ,interchangeably used in practice.
-vulnerability assessment : review of systems services to find potential vulnerabilities-penetration testing: finding an exploiting system vulnerabilities as proof-of-concept
What is the difference between black-box, white-box, and grey-box testing.
Black-Box Testing
Tester Knowledge: The tester has no knowledge of the internal structure, code, or implementation details of the system.
-lack knowledge of system
White-Box Testing
Tester Knowledge: The tester has full knowledge of the internal structure, code, and implementation details of the system.
-very thorough , but not completely realistic
Grey-Box Testing
Tester Knowledge: The tester has partial knowledge of the internal structure, code, or implementation details of the system.
What is the difference between ethical and unethical hackers?
-penetration testers, with proper authorization of the company, help improve the security of the company.
-unethical hackers, personal gain through extortion or other devious methods, profit, revenge, fame, etc. No authorization to conduct the attacks
•Ethical vs unethical hacking, penetration testers: obtain the authorization from the organization whose systems they plan to attack unethical hackers: attack without authorization.
Know the stages of penetration testing and the importance of following a structured ap-
proach.
–
Planning and Reconnaissance:
Planning: Define the scope and goals of the test, including the systems to be tested and the testing methods.
Reconnaissance: Gather information about the target, such as IP addresses, domain names, and network infrastructure, to understand how to approach the test.
Scanning:
Purpose: Identify potential entry points and vulnerabilities in the target system.
Methods: Use tools to scan for open ports, services running on those ports, and known vulnerabilities.
Gaining Access:
Purpose: Attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to the system.
Techniques: Use techniques like password cracking, SQL injection, or exploiting software vulnerabilities.
Maintaining Access:
Planning and Reconnaissance:
Purpose: Ensure continued access to the compromised system to understand the potential impact of a prolonged attack.
Methods: Install backdoors or use other methods to maintain control over the system.
Analysis and Reporting:
Scanning
Purpose: Document the findings, including vulnerabilities discovered, methods used, and the level of access achieved.
Report: Provide a detailed report to the organization, highlighting the risks and recommending steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities.
Remediation:
Gaining Access
Purpose: Address and fix the identified vulnerabilities to improve the security of the system.
Action: Implement the recommended security measures from the report to protect against future attacks.
Retesting:
Maintaining Access
Purpose: Verify that the vulnerabilities have been successfully remediated.
Process: Conduct a follow-up test to ensure that the fixes are effective and no new issues have been introduced.
Importance of Following a Structured Approach
Consistency: A structured approach ensures that each stage is systematically followed, making the testing thorough and reliable.
Comprehensiveness: Following each stage helps identify and address all potential vulnerabilities, leaving no gaps in the security assessment.
Documentation: A structured method produces detailed documentation, which is crucial for understanding the security posture and for future reference.
Effectiveness: It ensures that the penetration test effectively mimics real-world attack scenarios, providing valuable insights into how an actual attacker might exploit vulnerabilities.
Risk Management: By identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, organizations can proactively manage security risks and protect their assets from potential attacks.
Example:
What is the difference between the passive and active reconnaissance?
•
Passive Reconnaissance
Definition: Gathering information about the target without directly interacting with the target system or network. The aim is to collect data without alerting the target.
Methods:
Publicly Available Information: Searching for information that is freely available on the internet, such as social media profiles, company websites, and news articles.
DNS Queries: Looking up domain registration information (WHOIS data), DNS records, and IP address ranges.
Network Traffic Analysis: Capturing and analyzing network traffic without sending packets to the target (e.g., using tools like Wireshark in a non-intrusive manner).
Search Engines: Using search engines to find information about the target, such as employee names, email addresses, and technical details.
Advantages:
Low Risk: Minimizes the chance of detection by the target because no direct interaction occurs.
Stealth: Suitable for the early stages of reconnaissance when the goal is to remain undetected.
Disadvantages:
Limited Information: May not provide as much detailed or specific information about vulnerabilities or configurations as active reconnaissance.
Active Reconnaissance
Definition: Actively engaging with the target system or network to gather information. This involves direct interaction, such as sending packets or probing the target.
Methods:
Network Scanning: Using tools like Nmap to scan for open ports, running services, and network topology.
Vulnerability Scanning: Running vulnerability scanners (e.g., Nessus, OpenVAS) to identify known weaknesses in the target systems.
Social Engineering: Directly interacting with individuals (e.g., phishing attacks) to gather information.
Probing and Enumerating: Sending specific queries or packets to the target to elicit responses that reveal information about the system (e.g., banner grabbing).
Advantages:
Detailed Information: Provides more detailed and specific information about the target's vulnerabilities, configurations, and active services.
Identification of Weaknesses: More effective in identifying exploitable vulnerabilities that can be used in subsequent attack phases.
Disadvantages:
Higher Risk: Increases the risk of detection by the target, which could alert them to the reconnaissance activity.
Potential Legal Issues: Unauthorized active reconnaissance can lead to legal repercussions if done without permission.
Summary
Passive Reconnaissance: Involves gathering information without direct interaction with the target, resulting in lower risk of detection but potentially less detailed information.
Active Reconnaissance: Involves direct interaction with the target to gather detailed information, but carries a higher risk of detection and potential legal consequences.
Both types of reconnaissance are essential in penetration testing to understand the target's environment and identify potential vulnerabilities while balancing the need for stealth and detailed information.
Be able to use the penetration testing tools discussed in class
nmap 192.168.1.1
nmap -sS -sV -O -A 192.168.1.1-sS: Perform a stealth SYN scan.
-sV: Detect service versions.
-O: Detect operating system.
-A: Perform aggressive scan (includes OS detection, version detection, script scanning, and traceroute).

Hey there, iOS enthusiasts!
As iPhone users, we all love discovering new ways to enhance our device experience. In this article, I'd like to share with you 10 genius life hacks that can significantly streamline your life with your iPhone. Let's dive in:

1. Utilize keyboard shortcuts: Set up custom keyboard shortcuts in "Settings" -> "General" -> "Keyboard" to quickly input frequently used phrases or words.
2. Quickly access the camera from the lock screen: Simply swipe left on the lock screen to instantly open the camera and capture those important moments.
3. Use "Find My iPhone" to locate lost devices: If you misplace your iPhone, you can use the "Find My iPhone" feature on another Apple device or via the iCloud web interface to quickly pinpoint its location or remotely wipe data if necessary.
4. Set up "Do Not Disturb" for peaceful sleep: Head to "Settings" -> "Do Not Disturb" to schedule automatic activation of the "Do Not Disturb" mode at a specific time each day and enjoy uninterrupted sleep.
5. Create animated GIFs: Use the Live Photo feature on your iPhone to create cool animated GIFs. Simply select the desired photo, tap on it, swipe up to see all effects, and choose "Animate".
6. Organize apps into folders for easier access: Declutter your screen by placing similar apps into folders. Simply press and hold an app, then drag it onto another to create a folder.
7. Use "Emergency SOS" for assistance: Press the power button five times in a row to quickly summon emergency services and notify your contacts of your location.
8. Utilize "Voice Memos" for quick note-taking: Long-press the "Record" button in the "Voice Memos" app to quickly create an audio note that will be accessible anytime.
9. Set up screen time limits: Reduce screen time by setting up time limits for specific apps or app categories in "Settings" -> "Screen Time".
10. Use "Siri Shortcuts" to simplify everyday tasks: Create your own Siri shortcuts in the "Shortcuts" app to automate routine tasks like sending messages, playing music, or controlling smart home devices.

Hi! I am totally getting over my fear of spiders, so much so that I haven't sprayed my back porch this year for spider repellant but now I have probably 10 giant Furrow Orbweavers making their homes on my very tiny porch. I loveeee that they will kill mosquitos (which my backyard is overrun with) and I am very intrigued by their web crafting skills but I am so terrified of walking into one of the webs and having them land on me. Is there anything I can do to move them a little bit farther away, perhaps to the side of my house? If I capture them late at night and move them would they build a new web wherever I put them or will they just keep making webs on my porch regardless? Or should I just give them my porch and use my side door for the rest of the summer lol

I have uploaded gameplay from my fresh experience with the game here if you want to see how it looks / plays. My first impressions are shared below:
Based on my limited time with it, I recommend playing Dead Hook on PSVR2, but you should read further to decide if this will be right for you.
It is a roguelite FPS that has the feel of a game like Doom Eternal or Unreal Tournament, and for VR comfort concerns, you should know it is at its best when you are making use of the main gameplay mechanic of the grapple hooks to fling you around the battle arena rooms that have high verticality.
The game has much better story / exposition than typical roguelite where you play as Adam Stone that has some kind of personal relationship with disembodied Grace who wants to return to being corporeal again and is generally suggestive (3:20) & affectionate (21:04) towards Adam referencing their past relationship. Your (Adam's) character got damaged (including vocal-cords, so not voiced) due to malfunction while traveling through space to planet Resaract on the quest to get Mythical Stone of Immortality that will help Grace become corporeal (0:57), so there is a third voiced character in game named Raven who is an AI companion that represents the ship and provides guidance / training and part of the overall storytelling along with Grace.
The gameplay mechanics covered in tutorial (3:20) involve dual wielding variety of possible shooting weapons, EXO suit powers like Flames, Freeze and Gust that can be shot from arms (think Iron Man), use of the Dead Hook to fling yourself around with either hand (think Batman grapple more than Spider-Man web swing), melee combat using fists or even grabbing and tearing weakened enemies apart, special power of dual swords that can do massive damage, and ability to extend chainsaw blade (Ripper) that can be used to rip enemies apart (think Doom Eternal). You kickstart the chainsaw by putting string in your right-hand from your other hand to rev the motor. The game also lets you run rapidly in whatever direction you are moving with Left Control stick by moving your hands physically in running motion. You are also able to grab onto surfaces to vault yourself up and over.
As a roguelite, between runs, you can spend time on the ship check out target practice using available weapons (Earth & Ancient) or buffs (22:09), available bounties to complete on runs that will give you extra rewards (22:53), applying permanent upgrades to your EXO suit at the crafting station (23:07) and bestiary database (24:46) that lets you learn more or select opponents for target practice.
During each run (25:55), you move from procedurally generated arena rooms to next room always moving forward. Between each such room, you often have a choice of which door to choose next with some information given about what to expect in next room. Whenever you clear a room you will get weapon or buff options before proceeding to next room. You can also reach safe rooms (36:08) that won't have any enemies and instead allow you to bank / use money before proceeding. The goal is to keep proceeding as far as you can and the exposition through Grace / Raven will continue both during gameplay and after you complete / start new runs (including failures).
The game is made on Unity Engine but before Gaze Foveated Rendering became available option for developers for PSVR2. That said, the graphics of this game are generally crisp and clear except for text displays that can be blurry until you get closer. Interesting the gameplay capture recording shows all HUD elements in stable positions and relatively clear while in-headset these elements move around and not as clear (too small / far). The performance of the game is rock solid, possibly 90-120 fps. While I recognize that Gaze Foveated Rendering could possibly make the game sharper and ensure no text is blurry even at distance, I really don't have any significant critique for how the game looks because of how fast moving and good it looks in motion while not inducing any VR discomfort for me despite the wild movement.
The sound in the game has strange moments where the volume either increases (1:44 & 13:30) or decreases when the settings for that haven't been modified, but fortunately the game provides settings for Audio that helps you adjust it more to your liking. I don't know if the increases are from creative choices or technical glitches, but once I adjusted them to levels that suit me more, it became more stable.
The game is making use of resistive triggers and controller haptic feedback is also being used in variety of scenarios but perhaps not 100% of the use-cases where I think it should (or maybe the strength of the haptics in some scenarios aren't prominent enough). It is not using headset haptics when you are taking damage which I think is the biggest area of possible improvement as the red-light visual indicator that displays on left / right side of your display isn't a strong indicator of taking damage as I think headset haptics could provide.
The game does not provide many options for VR comfort, but defaults to Snap Turns which can be changed to Smooth Turns with 4 different turn speed options. It does not provide any option for teleport or vignette / tunneling / blinders.
The game features Platinum and any trophies that expect count of x have progression. Good emphasis on skill / challenge trophies where many will unlock through natural play and nothing that looks like would be frustrating / luck based.
This game is fun, but if you can't handle the VR speed / verticality or presence of some blurry text that isn't essential to read, it might not be for you.

TL/DR
Current YouTube Dislike Counter extensions work by taking data from those who have the extension and extrapolate information from there. The issue is that those who have the extension are individuals who are more likely to dislike, skewing the sample size to those who are more likely to dislike than the casual viewer.
A better look into those details would be comparing the publicly available Likes to View and calculating a percentage based on how likely someone is to Like a video while viewing. A simple calculation is Like / View. Reversing it to Views / Likes shows how many views it takes to receive 1 like.
This calculation doesn't magically make RoP the most successful trailer ever. Far from it, but it does better reflect the data and I believe it to not be skewed one direction or the other.
Rings of Power Data*

Link	Views	Likes	Chance of Like per View
Season 2 Teaser Trailer	5,441,810	74,010	1.36%
Season 2 A look Inside	202,616	7,158	3.53%
Season 1 Main Teaser	12,479,810	79,395	0.64%
Season 1 Teaser Trailer	31,555,692	130,915	0.41%

^{See limitations of method section}
Season 2 (so far) is faring much better than season 1 in this comparison.
 
INTRODUCTION
YouTube statistics, specifically likes/dislikes, is a common point in many online discussions when talking about upcoming media. Rings of Power Season 1 & 2 are not exempt from this. Since YouTubes removal of a dislike button in 2021 different extensions have come into play to replicate that. Most commonly the "Replace YouTube Dislike Button" Extension for Chrome (and probably other Browsers). My hope here is to
1) Point to the flaws that are associated with that extension.
2) A better way to measure Like/dislike engagement with publicly available data. By dividing the Likes by the Views to see how likely someone is to like the video.
3) The flaws associated with this method.
 
1) THE RETURN THE YOUTUBE DISLIKE EXTENTION (RYD)
Being made after YouTube removed the Dislike button in late 2021, this extensions goal was to return the dislike to YouTube (Duh). On release, Dislike data was still reported by YouTube API. So it began as a pretty straightforward app that simply called that data from the API and inserted it into the web page. Shortly after, YouTube removed that data from the API all together. Creators could still privately view their like/dislike, but that data couldn't be accessed by a 3rd party.
To counter that the app started working in a new way, it 1) Pulled as much information from the API that it could to have a "Base" set of data for videos posted before the removal. 2) Recorded when it's users interacted with the like/dislike buttons and added it to the data base. According to their GitHub FAQ #5 videos uploaded AFTER the API was shutdown is calculated by (RYD User Dislike Count)(RYD User Like Count) * Public Like Count. Simply put. It gets the ratio of it's users likes/dislikes and applies that ratio to the public count.
It's honestly not a bad system, but it has a pretty major flaw. The extension is more likely to be used by those who downvote more often. This simply skews the data to be Dislike heavy. This is pretty verifiable by doing a simple Google Search and reading up on what different YouTube Creators are saying. This Creator is claiming that the extension reports 50+ dislikes while YouTube reports 15! a ~230% increase!
The Return the YouTube Dislike Extent ion could be great, if people who are casual viewers & those who commonly like videos would download and use it as well. However, that's not the case and the result is a large group of their users are those who are more likely to downvote and want to see those numbers.
 
THE BETTER METHOD
I believe a better method to see the positive engagement of a video is looking at how likely someone is to "Like" the video per view. This is easily calculated by Getting the Like count and dividing it by the view count. You can also reverse that to calculate how many views it takes to get a like on overage. Since both of these numbers are publicly available, we can be much more confident that the numbers aren't skewed by an outside 3rd party group.
Lets look at different recently released trailers, Most "Successful" with this method to least.

Link	Views	Likes	Chance of Like per View
Wicked - Official Trailer	2,019,551	103,339	5.12%
The Boys – Season 4 Official Trailer	9,202,858	426,627	4.64%
House of the Dragon Season 2 Official Trailer	3,094,267	126,642	4.09%
RoP Season 2 A look Inside	202,616	7,158	3.53%
Dune: Prophecy Official Teaser	1,795,601	60,603	3.38%
The Penguin	3,648,089	4,650	2.99%
The Acolyte Official Trailer	10,576,120	193,683	1.83%
RoP Season 2 Teaser Trailer	5,441,810	74,010	1.36%

Using this method, We can easily see the level of "Excitement" there is behind each trailer based on how likely someone is to like the video, and we can easily compare these numbers as well if you're so inclined.
 
LIMITATIONS OF LIKE/VIEW METHOD
As time progresses, opinions change. What might have been a highly anticiped tv show or movie could have been a dud and gotten a bunch of dislikes after the release. Or something could have flown under the radar, turned out great and so people are going back to the trailer and liking it out of excitement of the finished product. Because of this, this method shouldn't really be used to compare new and old videos as too many variables come up as time progresses. I did this in my TLDR section to compare season 1 & 2. A workaround for this would to pull the data from Waybackmachine for the same time period in relation. So what I should of done in my TLDR is grab a capture 2 days after reveal of the data. So a more accurate table would look like this...

Link	Views	Likes	Chance of Like per View
Season 2 Teaser Trailer	5,441,810	74,010	1.36%
Season 2 A look Inside	202,616	7,158	3.53%
Season 1 Main Teaser (July 16th 2022)	4,535,187	53,000	1.16%
Season 1 Teaser Trailer(Feb 16th 2022)	18,754,323	84,000	0.44%

This didn't change the Season 1 Teaser Trailer much, but there was a significant change in the Main Teaser Percentage.
 
CONCLUSION
None of this really matters. If you like the show, great! If you don't, great! Either way, touch grass and hug a loved one (I know I need to after writing all of this lol). It's what J.R.R Tolkien would have wanted.
I like data and a major way people are comparing trailers is flawed with the possible fairly biased sample size. I think comparing Likes to views is a better way. This doesn't Magically make RoP somehow the most popular & well liked media ever produced. Far from it. But it is a better look at how it's trailers compare to other recent trailers.

OCR data extraction involves extracting text from scanned documents and text images. These include financial documents, ID cards, passports, medical records, and more. Since these documents contain personally identifiable information (PII), securing OCR data extraction is imperative. Moreover, depending on the country you’re operating in, you may be bound by regulations like GDPR or CCPA to ensure data security. This is where biometrics identification can be beneficial.
Biometrics identification involves confirming the identity of a person through fingerprints, facial recognition or iris scanning. It can serve as a powerful technology to secure OCR-based data extraction security.
If you’re an Angular developer looking to secure your OCR data extraction functionality, this guide is for you. In this guide, we’ll explore how integrating biometric identification with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) can create a powerful system for robust security.

Enhancing OCR with biometric identification in Angular applications

![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*gK5dLN9dWcEWf4U8.png align="left")

Security enhancement

Integrating biometric identification with OCR-based data extraction adds an extra layer of security. This integration in Angular apps can significantly enhance access control, identity verification, and authentication processes.
For example, the healthcare industry utilizes OCR to extract extra data from patient records and automate data entry. This digitization of patients’ documents helps improve patient care and streamline administrative processes. By integrating biometric identification, healthcare institutions can ensure the security of sensitive medical information.

Improved verification processes

Integrating biometrics with OCR has significantly enhanced the verification processes in various sectors. These include healthcare, finance, government services, etc.
For instance, the combination has strengthened the security process at airports. OCR is used to accurately extract information from documents like passports, visas, or ID cards. This data can include the traveler’s name, date of birth, passport number, and ID number. This information helps verify a person’s identity. Moreover, biometrics is used to confirm the identity of a person through their fingerprints or facial detection.
Thus, by combining OCR with facial recognition, airport security systems implement a multi-layered authentication process. This process significantly enhances security and reduces the risk of fraudulent activities, such as identity theft or document forgery.
Similarly, the banking/finance sector can utilize biometrics and OCR to prevent fraud. For instance, a fraudster can get access to a genuine customer’s checkbook and forge their signature. While the OCR will extract the person’s signature accurately, biometric authentication can prevent unauthorized transactions by confirming the identity through fingerprints or facial detection. This means even if OCR successfully extracts accurate data from forged or stolen documents, biometric authentication helps detect and prevent fraudulent activities.

Automation and efficiency

Another benefit of integrating OCR with biometric identification is that it automates and speeds up the authentication process. The manual verification process is time-consuming and prone to human error. This results in delays and inefficiencies.
Users can quickly authenticate themselves using biometrics, while OCR extracts relevant information from documents in real time.
Take, for example, a personal finance management app. Users can scan their receipts using OCR. They can then authenticate transactions using fingerprint or facial recognition. This automation reduces the need for manual data entry and verification. Thus, it saves time and enhances the user experience.

Choosing OCR and biometric solutions

When choosing an OCR software solution and a biometric solution for your Angular app, consider the following factors can help:

• Assess the OCR solution’s ability to extract data with high accuracy. Consider factors like algorithms used by the OCR engine (such as ML-based feature detection), its ability to handle a diverse range of fonts and complex documents efficiently, etc.
  
• Assess the processing speed of the OCR engine.
  
• Choose a scalable OCR solution.
  
• Assess the accuracy of the biometric solution.
  
• Check whether the biometrics solution supports the features you need. These can include fingerprints or facial detection.
  
• Evaluate the security of the OCR and biometric solutions.
  

Also read: Filestack OCR Guide for Text Extraction & Recognition.

Popular OCR and biometrics technologies for Angular

OCR solutions for Angular

![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*T-KidbL7LTU0rBcS.png align="left")

Tesseract.js

Tesseract.js is one of the most popular options when it comes to OCR for Angular. It is an open-source OCR library for JavaScript to perform data extraction from text images or documents. Essentially, Tesseract.js supports functionalities to process images and recognize text content. It provides the extracted text in a machine-readable format.
Tesseract.js is easy to integrate into JavaScript/Angular apps. Moreover, it utilizes the Tesseract OCR engine, which is widely recognized for its high accuracy.

AWS Textract

AWS Textract is a fully managed OCR service by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It leverages machine learning algorithms to extract text and data automatically from:

• Scanned documents
  
• PDFs
  
• Scanned images
  

You can integrate AWS Textract into Angular apps by using AWS SDK for JavaScript.

Biometric solutions

Crossmatch DigitalPersona SDK

Crossmatch DigitalPersona provides a U.are.U SDK. The SDK enables developers to add fingerprint capture and recognition capabilities to their apps. Crossmatch also offers a JavaScript API to integrate fingerprint identification into web apps. Apps can get fingerprint data from a compatible fingerprint reader connected to the user’s device.
Here are the key features of Crossmatch DigitalPersona SDK

• Supports automatic 1-to-many fingerprint identification
  
• Support various data formats, including an ISO fingerprint
  

Microsoft Azure Face API

Microsoft Azure Face API is a cloud-based facial detection and recognition service provided by Microsoft Azure. It allows you to detect, identify, and compare faces in images or videos, enabling biometric authentication based on facial features.

Filestack: A cloud-based solution

You can also utilize a cloud-based solution like Filestack to streamline your file management, delivery, image processing, and OCR processes. Filestack offers a diverse range of powerful tools and APIs for:

• File uploads
  
• File delivery through CDN
  
• Image processing and transformation
  
• OCR, facial detection, object recognition, and more.
  

Filestack also offers a specialized Angular SDK, which is updated for Angular 14. This enables developers to integrate Filestack service and functionality into their Angular apps seamlessly. “filestack-angular” is essentially a wrapper on filestack-js SDK. The Angular component supports almost everything that the filestack-js supports.

Filestack OCR

Filestack offers robust OCR capabilities as a part of its intelligence services. You can use the OCR via Filestack processing API.
Filestack’s OCR is powered by advanced machine learning models and neural networks to recognize and extract text with high accuracy. It has an advanced digital image analysis system, and it accurately detects features character by character. Additionally, Filestack OCR leverages sophisticated document detection and pre-processing solutions. This enables it to detect complex documents, including rotated, folded, and wrinkled documents.
The illustration below shows how Filestack OCR works:
![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*2C0Kl7hsR_k3fm8X align="left")

Advanced image processing

Filestack supports a wide range of advanced image processing and enhancement techniques. These include:

• Image transformation, such as cropping, rotating, resizing, compression, and more.
  
• Various image filters and enhancements
  
• Facial recognition can be used as the foundation for building your own biometric verification systems.
  

Filestack preprocessing features can be used to enhance the images and improve the accuracy of OCR and biometric analysis. Moreover, Filestack utilizes a robust CDN to deliver images quickly and efficiently to users worldwide.

Filestack Security

Filestack implements robust security mechanisms to ensure your data is always secure and protected. Here are Filestack’s key security features:

• Filestack implements end-to-end encryption to encrypt data throughout its entire lifecycle.
  
• It adheres to GDPR.
  
• Filestack employs powerful authentication and authorization mechanisms for API calls. This ensures secure access to its services.
  
• Filestack employs “signature” and “policy” to enhance OCR security.
  
• It implements HTTPS encryption for its processing API.
  

Integrating OCR and biometrics into Angular applications

• Integrate an OCR library or API such as Tesseract.js or Filestack OCR into your Angular app.
  
• Configure the OCR library to pre-process images and extract required text from specified regions of interest.
  
• Implement core logic to extract text from images using the OCR library.
  
• Handle text extraction errors or inconsistencies efficiently. Provide feedback to users if text recognition fails.
  
• Integrate biometric functionality into your Angular app using a biometric API or library.
  
• data, such as fingerprints or facial images, from users.
  
• If you’re creating biometric functionality from scratch, implement biometric matching algorithms to compare captured biometric data (fingerprints or facial detection) against stored biometric templates.
  

Code snippets

Here, we’ll show you how to integrate Filestack File uploader in Angular apps and use Filestack OCR.
Install Filestack SDK:
xml npm install filestack-js npm install @filestack/angular
Include FilestackModule in app.module.ts:
```xml import { BrowserModule } from '@angulaplatform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angulacore'; import { AppComponent } from './app.component'; import { FilestackModule } from '@filestack/angular'; @NgModule({ declarations: [ AppComponent ], imports: [ BrowserModule, FilestackModule.forRoot({ apikey: YOUR_APIKEY, options: ClientConfig }) ], bootstrap: [AppComponent] }) export class AppModule {} ```
Use in .html file:
xml
You can then perform OCR on uploaded images using the following CDN URL:
xml https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/security=p:,s:/oc
You can also integrate an OCR library with a biometric module within an Angular component.
Here is an example of how Filestack OCR data extraction works:
Input image:
![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*mZjcg9V9zmfdwVO6.png align="left")
Output:
![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:754/0*ulGoNGaxFzXQvB9o.png align="left")

Building scalable and secure applications with Angular

• Leverage Angular’s component-based architecture to create modular and reusable components for image and document processing, OCR, and biometrics tasks.
  
• Implement lazy loading to load Angular modules and components dynamically as needed.
  
• Manage the app state efficiently. This is especially important for complex workflows and high-volume data processing tasks. You can utilize state management libraries like NgRx or Akita for efficient state management.
  
• Implement security best practices to safeguard sensitive data. These can include HTTPS for secure communication, data encryption, and proper authentication and authorization mechanisms for access control. This is especially crucial for OCR and biometric workflows as they deal with personally identifiable information.
  
• Implement robust error handling mechanisms to handle errors efficiently.
  

Conclusion

OCR data extraction involves extracting textual information or structured data from documents, such as financial documents, ID cards, and passports. This extracted data is often used for identification verification. However, this process can be at risk from fraudulent activities like forged documents or stolen identities. Fortunately, we can enhance the security of OCR data extraction with biometrics integration. This will ensure that even if OCR extracts information from stolen or forged documents accurately, biometric authentication will detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
Sign up for Filestack and leverage its OCR today for your business!

FAQs

What is the meaning of OCR extraction?

OCR data extraction means extracting text from scanned documents (printed or handwritten) and text images automatically.

What is the difference between data extraction and OCR?

In traditional data extraction, a person extracts information from documents manually. OCR automates this process using AI and ML-based feature extraction and text recognition algorithms.

How can OCR and biometrics improve the identity verification process?

The combination of biometrics identification and OCR data extraction can significantly enhance identity verification and business processes. OCR data capture can be used to verify identity from a scanned document like a passport or ID card. Biometrics confirms the identity of a person through fingerprints or facial detection. This adds a multi-factor authentication mechanism.

Greetings,
I’ve been tasked with coming up with a replacement system for an aging video stream/capture system in a health clinic. Current solution is Media Edge which is well past end of life and the server is failing and will need to be decommissioned soon. (mediaedge-americas.com)
The primary needs of the system are to be able to watch counseling students live and have recorded sessions available after for review. (6 rooms)
Currently Media Edge meets those needs and both live content and recorded content can be viewed from a web browser with user logins to the on prem server.
We are exploring any options that can accomplish the same goals even if the setup must change. Ideally, it would be a similar portal to facilitate ease of use and familiarity for the staff.
Security and HIPAA of course need to be considered as these are supervised students working with real patients.
I’m researching a few cloud options and I’m also exploring changing to a PC based system utilizing conferencing SW (Zoom/Teams) as long as the security requirements are met. My understanding is Zoom/Teams can be HIPAA compliant with the BAA in place and proper meeting controls implemented.
Would love to hear of any solutions or companies that anyone has experience with to cover the above needs. Thanks!!

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Hi everyone,
I have 2 websites under my belt and for the first website in 2029 I used Avada theme which back then was fantastic and everything I needed.
Then for the 2nd website in 2023 ISH I also used Avada not knowing it has SERIOUSLY gone downhill since then with tons of bloat that is all a buggy mess.
Now I am planning a 3rd website for my service business and would live to try a better theme for that site to save me the headaches.
So, what I need from a perfect theme:
Essential:

1. One time fee. I'm willing to pay up, but not commit to yet another subscription .
2. Generally fast theme
3. All the core functions, ability to build service pages, quick set up of a blog page etc.

Desirable:

1. A nice web form capture solution. Sure I can use one of the plugins but it's nice to have the functionality included in theme. This is one aspect that Avada does have (buggy mess though but still).

So does anyone have any themes you had a good experience with that would fit the bill? What about OceanWP?
Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

I'm looking for players that love to participate in roleplay. There's a fair amount of action, but I mostly focus all my energy on boss fights. This is NOT a beginner's campaign. This is only because I myself do not have the ability to teach the system since I'm a very free form when it comes to dnd. And I feel teaching someone would take too much of my time already. The only reason why I did 18 plus is I don't want to censor my game for some 16 year old that happens to live in Florida. Or for me to deal with any pedos I happen to accidentally pick up from the application process. We will be using roll20 and Discord to run it. So be prepped for that. And games will be weekly at 2pm EST on Wednesday. With this campaign, expect the setting to be a mix of Treasure Planet, a dash of Star Wars, and Star Trek for flavor. Then finally a hint of Call of Chathulu.
Here's some setting lore:
The year is 835. The war between the Astral Alliance and the Giff Empire had just started settling. And the Intergalactic Tribunal. A sort of United Systems government meant to unify the galaxy. While wars and inner conflicts are starting to mysteriously erupt in the star systems across the Re'alms Galaxy. Most pirates and common men say the tensions between each other are starting to rise once more. From the darkest corner of the universe, Translvata. Where Lupins and Vampire pirates are in constant conflict. To the ever-bright L'ong Nagaa, the birthplace of dragon kind, and for pirating. Xaryxispace, the cradle for the astral elves. Even the ever-untouched system of Exandria is on the very edge of a full-blown war. Doomspace is as doomed as ever... The only clue to some of this archaic chaos lies on Earth. A Planet far beyond the Re'alms Galaxy that seems to be close to being swallowed up by the mysterious darkness beyond known space... Earth. A system that many scholars and scientists theorize as a prophecy. That once earth is swallowed up by an encroaching darkness. It will make its way to our galaxy to destroy it... Will this group of adventurers save the Universe?! Or will it be consumed like all the rest...
And here are some small notes to keep in mind for what happened to our party already. Only so if you're already antsy to join and want to make a character.

• The Earth was fucking EXPLODED by the Illithid Empire. When the party tried to flee they got captured by one of the Mother ships. Thankfully they are saved by Adda Crawford and a wizard who was later found dead. The same planet they crash landed on and later escaped.
• Once leaving the planet. the party is confronted by Xaryxis Empire Police(Astral Elf Empire). They are brought to the Imperial Citadel before the Empress. Upon recognizing the party, and hearing their story. She realizes drastic measures must be taken. She then explains that a scientist by the name of Professor Ishmael Bulter has been researching how the Illithid Empire and their patron had been repelled 800 years previously. And the shrines he had been researching have something to do with it.
• Once they do show up in Doomed Space. The Professor reveals that shrines all across the galaxy do indeed have something to do with how the galaxy survived 800 years ago. To solve the puzzle to activate the shrine, that party is sent to a church nearby where the local villagers were acting sus. Guards keep them from going inside the church. Saying they'll need a special key for a guitarist named Don Von Mcron. Once they obtained the key and defeated the cultists. The party had then met face to face with I'quar Vara's avatar. (Mindflyer queen and goddess). Did some shady goddess shit before pulling the avatar back into the Far Realms through a portal.
• One shrine down, four more to go. The party heads for L'ong Nagaa. The Ancestral home for dragon kind and Space Piracy. The players find out about a race and join it. Solar Dragon attacks them. (ooooo~) After the race, winning the prize money. The player's are summoned by the Pirate Queen, Docar the Impish. She explains that the dragon's weren't support to be attacking mortal ships like that. And the missing 'Grand Caretaker' was supposed to keep the balance between the Lunar and Solar dragon queens that live in the solar system. The players are then ordered to find where this Grand Caretaker last was, with the Lunar Dragon Queen, Grand Madam Chandarma. They discover the Caretaker fucking DIED and a batch of eggs that were to hatch soon, destroyed. Grand Madam Chandarma explains that her prize egg was stolen. And she suspects the Solar Queen to have something to do with it. So in order to reach the sun where the nest in located, they must obtain upgrades for they're ship and for space suits. However on the way to Fort Greyskull (Where the shops that sell the items)... They come across some new companion. And the great battle between man and mule takes place... (ask me about it, kinda funny)
• After getting the tech they need, they went to turn in the body of the Grand Caretaker to the temple of other monks. One of the spiritual leaders insists that the party visits the sun of the system to stop the Mindflyer General. They settle a payment and they head over. Once they're over at the sun they discover that the nest is in fact. Inside the sun itself. Once they make through the hot webbed plasma labyrinth, the ancient solar brood mother is facing off aginst the Mindflyer General and her forces. A villainous monolauge and a boss battle later. They defeat the Mindflyer General by destroying the mother brain on her ship.
• With two shrines down, they touch base with the Xerxian Empress to touch base, and to also turn in the Mindflyer General's skeleton. (Turns out she used to be her daughter before she was a mindflyer). And with a creepy encounter and some foreshadowing. The players have now arrived in the United Empire of Bestellia. Where the party is about to be arrested and put to trial...

Anyway, the sign-up process is the same as usual. Fill out an application with the google forms link below, then I reach out on discord for an interview call to see if you're a good fit for the party. I'm looking for just one person this time around. But if you don't get accepted the first time around, I will add a list of cool folks I'll reach out to first if anyone else drops the group.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wsQ024HPJOuxICH_MJf0LG6IVz2u1WRNWkpYuPChVlQ/edit#response=ACYDBNjcmhPjYrBW-1qbK2RWtU2Lup99jjx581PHvyhKFr3y_4I2IEobnqtoZqfVEigXtb0
And I'll message anyone who applied from Graysondagent#4911 or from graysondagent (I still don't get if I still need to use the numbers or not so bear with me.) So DON'T reach out to me first unless you have applied. I will not awnser your request if you do

In today's digital era, a web design and development agency can be a powerful asset for your growing your business popularity, helping you build a strong online presence and achieve your marketing goals. The website's first impression is linked to the website layout. As an owner of the website, you must understand how website designing In today's digital era, a web design and development agency can be a powerful asset for your growing your business popularity, helping you build a strong online presence and achieve your marketing goals. The website's first impression is linked to the website layout. As an owner of the website, you must understand how website designing presence is for your brand's popularity. It speaks to brand stories, tells potential customers, builds trust, and helps with conversion. However, competing with each other is the toughest competition today date.

Create an online presence with Web Design and Development

Maintaining a better online presence is crucial for the success of any type of business. Your website serves as a digital storefront for your brand name, making it essential to ensure that it not only looks eye-catching but also functions seamlessly to provide an exceptional user-friendly experience. This is where leveraging a web design and development agency can truly make a difference in boosting your business.

The Role of Web Design in Capturing Audience Attention

The first thing is that first impressions always matter, especially in the digital world. Your website's design is the first noticeable thing that visitors notice when they visit your site. A highly visually colorful and well-structured website not only grabs attention but also encourages users to explore more pages on your website. Professional web designers understand the seriousness of creating attractive designs that reflect your brand identity while also focusing on audience-friendly experience and functionality.

Engaging with a User-Centric Website Experience

User experience (UX) plays a pivotal role in determining the growth of your website. The layout of the website ensures that visitors can easily navigate through your site, easily understand your website navigation, find the information they need, and complete the desired actions, such as exploring the product or contacting your business. Web development companies specialize in creating approachable and intuitive websites that prioritize customer experience, leading to higher engagement and CPC rates.

Maximizing Performance with Cutting-Edge Development Techniques

Behind every tangibly stunning website lies a robust development framework that powers its functionality. Web development agencies implement the latest technologies and coding practices to create smoother websites and UX designs that are not only visually appealing but also execution and scalable. From optimized code to server configurations, these companies ensure that your website delivers a friendly experience across all platforms, either desktop or mobile.

Harnessing the Power of SEO for Increased Visibility

To truly maximize its impact, you need to check that your target audience can find it easily amidst the vast sea of online competition. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. By boosting your website for relevant keywords and implementing SEO-proven techniques.
Boost Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• Agencies can optimize your website for search engines, making it more likely to appear in relevant SEO results. This technique can increase organic traffic to your website and drive more customers to your business.

Implement conversion rate optimization (CRO):

• A good agency will understand how to optimize your website to convert visitors into leads or sales. This can involve A/B testing different layouts, calls to action, and website copy.

Collaborating with a Web Design and Development Agency: A Strategic Partnership

Partnerships with this type of agency are more than just outsourcing a project – it's about forming a strategic partnership that drives your business growth upwards. These agencies bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the table, guiding you through every step of the process from initial concept to final launch and beyond. With their help, you can transform your digital presence and unlock new opportunities for growth and success.
Conclusion:
Turning to one's advantage web design and development companies are a strategic investment that can propel your business to new heights. From delivering better design to seamless functionality and increased transparency through SEO, these agencies guide you to better solutions and drive tangible results. By collaborating with their expertise, you can position your business for long-term success in the modern world.
presence is for your brand's popularity. It speaks to brand stories, tells potential customers, builds trust, and helps with conversion. However, competing with each other is the toughest competition today date.

Create an online presence with Web Design and Development

Maintaining a better online presence is crucial for the success of any type of business. Your website serves as a digital storefront for your brand name, making it essential to ensure that it not only looks eye-catching but also functions seamlessly to provide an exceptional user-friendly experience. This is where leveraging a web design and development agency can truly make a difference in boosting your business.

The Role of Web Design in Capturing Audience Attention

The first thing is that first impressions always matter, especially in the digital world. Your website's design is the first noticeable thing that visitors notice when they visit your site. A highly visually colorful and well-structured website not only grabs attention but also encourages users to explore more pages on your website. Professional web designers understand the seriousness of creating attractive designs that reflect your brand identity while also focusing on audience-friendly experience and functionality.

Engaging with a User-Centric Website Experience

User experience (UX) plays a pivotal role in determining the growth of your website. The layout of the website ensures that visitors can easily navigate through your site, easily understand your website navigation, find the information they need, and complete the desired actions, such as exploring the product or contacting your business. Web development companies specialize in creating approachable and intuitive websites that prioritize customer experience, leading to higher engagement and CPC rates.

Maximizing Performance with Cutting-Edge Development Techniques

Behind every tangibly stunning website lies a robust development framework that powers its functionality. Web development agencies implement the latest technologies and coding practices to create smoother websites and UX designs that are not only visually appealing but also execution and scalable. From optimized code to server configurations, these companies ensure that your website delivers a friendly experience across all platforms, either desktop or mobile.

Harnessing the Power of SEO for Increased Visibility

To truly maximize its impact, you need to check that your target audience can find it easily amidst the vast sea of online competition. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. By boosting your website for relevant keywords and implementing SEO-proven techniques.
Boost Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• Agencies can optimize your website for search engines, making it more likely to appear in relevant SEO results. This technique can increase organic traffic to your website and drive more customers to your business.

Implement conversion rate optimization (CRO):

• A good agency will understand how to optimize your website to convert visitors into leads or sales. This can involve A/B testing different layouts, calls to action, and website copy.

Collaborating with a Web Design and Development Agency: A Strategic Partnership

Partnerships with this type of agency are more than just outsourcing a project – it's about forming a strategic partnership that drives your business growth upwards. These agencies bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the table, guiding you through every step of the process from initial concept to final launch and beyond. With their help, you can transform your digital presence and unlock new opportunities for growth and success.
Conclusion:
Turning to one's advantage web design and development companies are a strategic investment that can propel your business to new heights. From delivering better design to seamless functionality and increased transparency through SEO, these agencies guide you to better solutions and drive tangible results. By collaborating with their expertise, you can position your business for long-term success in the modern world.

In today's digital marketing landscape, consumers expect a personalized experience at every touchpoint. Generic marketing messages are no longer enough to capture attention and drive conversions. Brands that can deliver relevant, individualized experiences across channels hold the key to unlocking performance marketing success. But achieving personalization at scale, where you tailor experiences to a vast audience while maintaining individual relevance, can be a significant challenge.

Why Personalization Matters in Performance Marketing?

Personalization goes beyond simply addressing customers by name in an email. It's about understanding their unique needs, preferences, and behaviours, and using that knowledge to tailor your marketing message and offering accordingly. Here's why personalization is crucial for performance marketing success:

• Increased Engagement: Personalized content is more likely to capture attention and resonate with customers, leading to higher engagement rates and click-through rates on your marketing materials.
• Improved Conversion Rates: When customers feel like you understand their needs, they are more likely to convert, leading to increased sales, leads, or desired actions.
• Enhanced Brand Loyalty: Personalization fosters a sense of connection with your brand, creating a more positive customer experience and leading to increased brand loyalty.
• Reduced Ad Spend Waste: By targeting the right audience with the right message, you eliminate wasted ad spending and maximize the return on your marketing investment (ROI).

Leveraging Data for Personalized Performance Marketing

The key to personalization at scale lies in data. By collecting and analyzing customer data responsibly and ethically, you gain valuable insights into your audience's behaviour, preferences, and buying journey. Here are some key data sources to consider for personalization:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Data: CRM systems provide a wealth of customer information, including purchase history, demographics, and communication preferences.
• Website Analytics Data: Website analytics tools track user behaviour, indicating which pages customers visit, what content they engage with, and how they move through your website.
• Social Media Data: Social media platforms offer insights into audience interests, sentiment, and online behaviour. Utilize this data responsibly, adhering to user privacy regulations.
• Campaign Data: Analyze data from past marketing campaigns to identify what resonates with your audience and personalize future campaigns accordingly.

Strategies for Personalization at Scale

Once you have access to customer data, here are some data-driven strategies for implementing personalization at scale for performance marketing:

• Audience Segmentation: Divide your audience into distinct segments based on shared characteristics, behaviours, or demographics. This enables you to customize your offers and communications to the unique requirements of each segment.
• Dynamic Content: Utilize technology to dynamically generate content that adapts to individual user profiles. For example, product recommendations on your website can be personalized based on a user's browsing history.
• Personalized Retargeting: Retarget website visitors with personalized ads based on the pages they viewed or products they interacted with. This helps keep your brand top-of-mind and encourages them to return and complete a desired action.
• Triggered Emails: Utilize automated email marketing campaigns that trigger based on specific user behaviours. For example, send a welcome email to new subscribers or a re-engagement email to dormant customers.
• Omnichannel Personalization: Ensure a consistent personalized experience across all channels, including email, social media, website, and paid advertising.

Tools and Techniques for Personalization at Scale

Several powerful tools and techniques can help you achieve personalization at scale:

• Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): CDPs consolidate and unify customer data from various sources, providing a holistic view of each customer for personalized marketing efforts.
• Marketing Automation Tools: These tools automate repetitive tasks like email marketing campaigns and personalized content delivery, freeing up your time for strategic planning.
• Machine Learning (ML): ML algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data and make predictions about customer behaviour, enabling you to personalize experiences based on these predictions.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI can generate personalized content recommendations, suggest optimal ad targeting parameters, and automate personalization tasks at scale.

Personalization with Responsibility

While personalization offers significant benefits, ethical considerations are paramount. Here's how to ensure your personalization efforts are responsible:

• Transparency and User Consent: Be transparent about how you collect and use customer data. Communicate and obtain consent from users regarding data usage for personalization.
  
• Data Security: To safeguard consumer information, put strong data security procedures in place. Observe all applicable data privacy laws, such as the CCPA and GDPR.
  
• Avoid Intrusiveness: Personalization should enhance the customer experience, not feel intrusive. Avoid bombarding users with irrelevant information or tracking them across the web.
  
• Focus on Value: Always strive to deliver value with personalization. Tailor your communications and offers to genuinely improve the customer experience and meet their needs.
  

The Road to Success: Data-Driven Personalization in Action

Here's an example of how data-driven personalization can be implemented in a performance marketing campaign:

• Scenario: An e-commerce store selling athletic apparel wants to personalize marketing emails to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts.
• Data Sources: The store leverages customer data from its CRM system, website analytics, and abandoned cart details.
• Personalization Strategy: They utilize a marketing automation tool to send triggered emails based on abandoned cart contents. The email content personalizes product recommendations based on what the customer left behind, along with similar or complementary items. Additionally, they might offer a discount or incentive to encourage the completion of the purchase.
• Benefits: By personalizing the abandoned cart email, the store increases the likelihood of customers returning to complete their purchases. This results in higher conversion rates and improved performance marketing ROI.

Personalization at scale is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity for performance marketing success. By leveraging data responsibly and implementing effective strategies, you can create personalized experiences that resonate with your audience, leading to increased engagement, conversions, and brand loyalty.
Embrace the power of data and technology to personalize your marketing efforts and unlock your full performance marketing potential in 2024 and beyond.
By following these strategies and remaining focused on delivering value, you can position your brand as a leader in personalized marketing, securing customer loyalty and achieving exceptional performance marketing results in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Personalization at Scale: Leveraging Data for Performance Marketing Success

The best AI assistants across the web, including SpeakMe.AI, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana, and more. Discover popular AI tools for various needs and optimize your productivity today!
Best AI Assistants Across the Web List:

1. SpeakMe.AI: A versatile AI assistant offering advanced features for personal and professional use, including natural language processing and role-playing capabilities.
2. Amazon Alexa: A voice-controlled virtual assistant by Amazon, known for its wide range of skills and compatibility with smart home devices.
3. Google Assistant: Google's AI-powered assistant, capable of answering questions, providing personalized recommendations, and controlling smart devices.
4. Siri: Apple's virtual assistant, integrated into iOS devices, offering voice commands for tasks such as sending messages, making calls, and scheduling appointments.
5. Cortana: Microsoft's virtual assistant, available on Windows devices, offering voice commands, reminders, and personalized recommendations.
6. ELSA: An AI language learning assistant designed to help users improve their pronunciation and fluency in English.
7. Alli AI: An AI-powered chatbot designed to assist with customer service tasks, providing instant responses and personalized support.
8. Bixby: Samsung's virtual assistant, available on Galaxy devices, offering voice commands and personalized recommendations.
9. Notion: A productivity tool featuring AI-powered features for task management, note-taking, and collaboration.
10. Socratic: An AI-powered homework helper, capable of providing step-by-step explanations and solutions to a wide range of academic subjects.
11. ClickUp: A project management platform featuring AI-powered automation and productivity features to streamline workflows.
12. Fireflies: An AI-powered virtual assistant designed to capture and transcribe meetings, interviews, and conversations.
13. Hound: A voice-controlled virtual assistant known for its fast and accurate responses to complex queries and commands.
14. Parrot AI: An AI-powered writing assistant designed to improve grammar, style, and clarity in written communication.
15. TimeFinder: An AI-powered scheduling assistant designed to optimize time management and scheduling tasks.
16. TextCortex: An AI-powered text summarization tool designed to condense large volumes of text into concise summaries.
17. Replika: An AI chatbot designed to provide companionship and conversation, capable of learning from user interactions over time.
18. Writerly AI: An AI-powered writing assistant designed to generate content ideas, improve writing quality, and provide feedback on drafts.

Popular AI assistants in 2024-2025
From sources across the web and SpeakMe.AI

I made my first major Google Chrome Extension!
Overview:
The "Convert To Lead" extension is designed to empower sales and marketing professionals by effortlessly transforming web content into actionable leads. As you browse websites, this tool identifies and extracts contact information, streamlining the process of lead generation directly from your Chrome browser.
Key Features:
Automatic Contact Detection: Instantly scans the active webpage for contact details such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses.
Smart Formatting: Converts raw data into a structured Lead Record format, organizing contact details into easily manageable segments like name, company, role, and contact information.
Efficiency: Enhances productivity by eliminating the manual task of copying and pasting contact details, providing a one-click solution to capture lead information.
Customization: Users can customize settings to specify which types of contact details should be prioritized and how they are displayed.
Integration Ready: Seamlessly integrates with CRM systems by exporting lead records in JSON format, ready for import into your sales pipeline.
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/convert-to-lead/babglbapigndnkolfkcoeigfgkficlfi?hl=en&authuser=0
Edit: I should mention it places, the app takes like 1 second to load on each website. If I was testing it and I just pressed it as soon as the page loaded, I would probably conclude it doesn't work.

How to Use HP Smart App: Step-by-Step Guide 1-855-233-5515
Step 1: Download and Install the HP Smart App

1. Either visit the app store on your smartphone or tablet or the HP website on your computer.
2. Search for “HP Smart” and download this free app.
3. Install the app by following the on-screen instructions, including enabling the app to access your device’s location.

Step 2: Set Up Your HP Printer

1. Ensure that your HP printer is connected to the same wireless network as your device.
2. Open the HP Smart App and click the “+” icon to add a new printer.
3. Follow the instructions to select your printer model and complete the setup process.

Step 3: Explore App Features

1. Print: Go to the file you wish to print out. Click on the right section of the mouse, then search for the print option that indicates “Your-printer-here” print. Choose the printer you are using, then go further to customize the settings such as color, paper size, and quality.
2. Scan: Open the document or the picture you want to scan. Place the document or photo on the scan bed, if using the camera, capture the document. Edit where necessary and save the softcopy to your storage or cloud.
3. Copy: lift the original document you want to multiply then lay it on the scanner bed. Utilize the app command feature to dictate the number and other settings on the scan, including the color and print quality.
4. Printer dashboard: check the available ink, order for the previously used sheet, adjust required settings, and refer to the printer manual on “how to” from these print-accessed options from the dashboard.

Step 4: Use advanced features

• Mobile printing: Click on mobile printing to make your HP printer print from anywhere by sending a print job from the web.
• Cloud office: allocate to your cloud storage account, then use the app to access your own document in the cloud office. It includes cloud printing features.

Step 5: Troubleshooting and support

• If you are facing technical errors or have a question about how to use these fields, please use the HP Smart App Support to get support.

How to Contact HP Smart App Support

These contact methods will allow you to reach out to HP Smart App support to get the help you need: online support, phone support, email support, and in-app help. First, make use of the online contact options: go to the HP support website and search for “HP Smart App,” read through the support articles and FAQs that are provided, and in case you cannot find the solution to your problem, use the live chat option to speak with a support agent who can assist you in real-time.

In the ever-evolving world of technology, face image datasets have emerged as a cornerstone for advancements in facial recognition, biometrics, and artificial intelligence. These datasets, collections of annotated facial images, are instrumental in training and evaluating algorithms for various applications, from security systems to personalized user experiences. This blog delves into the significance, types, challenges, and ethical considerations surrounding face image datasets.

Understanding Face Image Datasets

Face image datasets are curated collections of facial images, often accompanied by annotations such as facial landmarks, expressions, and identity labels. These datasets serve as the foundation for developing and refining algorithms in facial recognition, emotion detection, age estimation, and more. The diversity and quality of these datasets directly impact the performance and accuracy of the algorithms trained on them.

Expanding on Diversity and Representation

One of the critical challenges in creating face image datasets is ensuring they represent the global population’s diversity. This includes not only a range of ethnicities but also variations in age, gender, facial expressions, and environmental conditions. The lack of diversity can lead to biased algorithms that perform poorly for underrepresented groups. Efforts are being made to address this issue, such as the creation of more inclusive datasets like the Diversity in Faces (DiF) dataset by IBM.

Advancements in Dataset Creation and Annotation

Technological advancements have led to more sophisticated methods for dataset creation and annotation. For example, 3D face datasets, like the 300W-LP and Multi-PIE, provide more comprehensive data, including depth information and varying poses. Automated annotation tools, powered by AI, are also being developed to reduce the time and effort required for manual labeling, improving the accuracy and consistency of annotations.

The Role of Synthetic Data

Synthetic data is becoming increasingly important in addressing the limitations of real-world datasets. By using computer-generated images, researchers can create diverse and balanced datasets without privacy concerns. Additionally, synthetic data can be used to simulate challenging or rare scenarios, such as extreme lighting conditions or occlusions, which are crucial for testing the robustness of algorithms.

Ethical Frameworks and Regulations

As the use of face image datasets grows, so does the need for ethical frameworks and regulations to guide their creation and use. Organizations and governments are developing guidelines to ensure that facial recognition technologies are used responsibly. For instance, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict rules on the processing of biometric data, including facial images.

Future Directions

The future of face image datasets lies in addressing their current limitations and ethical challenges. This includes creating more diverse and representative datasets, developing more efficient annotation tools, and ensuring that facial recognition technologies are used ethically and responsibly. Additionally, as privacy concerns continue to grow, the use of synthetic data and privacy-preserving techniques, such as federated learning, are likely to become more prevalent.

Types of Face Image Datasets

1. Public Datasets: These are freely available for research and development purposes. Examples include the Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW), CelebA, and CASIA-WebFace.
2. Private Datasets: Owned by organizations or companies, these datasets are often larger and more diverse but restricted in access due to privacy and proprietary concerns.
3. Synthetic Datasets: Generated using computer graphics or deep learning techniques, these datasets can offer a controlled environment for specific scenarios not easily captured in real-world data.

Challenges in Face Image Datasets

1. Diversity: Ensuring a dataset represents a wide range of ethnicities, ages, and expressions is crucial for developing unbiased algorithms.
2. Privacy: With increasing concerns over data privacy, obtaining and using face images ethically and legally has become a significant challenge.
3. Annotation Quality: Accurate annotations are vital for effective training, but manual labeling is time-consuming and prone to errors.

Applications of Face Image Datasets

Face image datasets are pivotal in various applications:

1. Security and Surveillance: Enhancing security systems with facial recognition for identity verification and threat detection.
2. Healthcare: Assisting in patient monitoring, diagnosing conditions, and personalizing treatment plans based on facial analysis.
3. Entertainment and Media: Creating realistic digital avatars and enhancing user interaction in virtual reality and gaming.

Ethical Considerations

The use of face image datasets raises ethical concerns, including:

1. Consent: Ensuring individuals in the datasets have given informed consent for their images to be used.
2. Bias: Addressing potential biases in datasets that can lead to discriminatory outcomes in algorithms.
3. Data Security: Protecting the privacy and security of individuals’ facial data from unauthorized access or misuse.

Conclusion

image annotation services are invaluable resources in the field of computer vision and artificial intelligence. Their applications span across various industries, from enhancing security measures to revolutionizing healthcare. However, the development and use of these datasets must be approached with caution, considering the ethical implications and challenges involved. As technology advances, the importance of diverse, high-quality, and ethically sourced face image datasets will continue to grow, shaping the future of facial recognition and beyond.
For a deeper understanding of the role of machine learning datasets in computer vision, consider exploring “Unlocking the Potential: Why ML Datasets for Computer Vision Are Crucial” at gts.ai.

Fighting/Normal: OHKO (One Punch Man but instead of one effortless punch it’s a touch of death combo he has to )
Species: Mugen
Planet: Sonof
Appearance

• Humanoid blank white body
• Thick Smooth/Blocky appearance (like made of pillows)
• Headband and Gi are common wares

Powers and Abilities

• Enhanced Strength
• Unlimited Stamina
• Extremely High Pain Tolerance
• Semi-Mechanical Nature does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe
  • Unaging
• Slight combat prowess
• Slightly stuns the opponent on contact with physical force (specifically after a physical hit. Applies to non living beings as well)
• Once an attack lands, it’ll receive enough energy to continue physically attacking it in a never-ending combo. Dealing blows significantly faster, gaining strength with each hit and eventually able to deal noticeable damage to almost any target with each hit.

Weaknesses/Drawback

• Slow movement
• Limited Fighting Capabilities
• Attacks are usually short
  • Can extend reach but takes notable time so it needs to make an effort to land combo
• Combo can be interrupted, loses momentum and needs to land another hit when it does.

Species/Planet Fact: The Mugen started as semi-organic creations by a long dead civilization who sought to try experiments designing different types of warriors. Eventually the planet will be inhabited by foreign researchers. These researchers have been working on enhancing them with various effects to increase their capabilities, and give them more movement and combat options. But during testing it was discovered that watching the Mugen fight with or without enhancements is incredibly entertaining resulting and a strong source of combat study. This discovery redirected their experiments being used for sports instead of warfare even preventing what would’ve been an interplanetary war by turning it into a competitive sport, exploding the planet in popularity. During this explosion there was the discovery of a single fight between two Mugen that have went on for centuries before the first immigration and has been fiercely protected from interruptions since its discovery.
Fighting/Grass: Doungwun Nemetrix predator of the Chunwin (See Kung book in Grass Types)
Appearance

• Green Body
• Mantis like Body
• 2 Pairs of claws with sharp fanged ends, each with a long membrane hanging off of them.
• Multiple pair of locust-like wings under where abdomen should be.
• Reptilian head
• Pupilless Eyes

Hunting Method

• Flight
• High reflexes
• Claws able to capture and break of Chunwin limbs, and attach to body of prey.
• Membranes absorb attack from Chunwin
• Long retractible tongue able to launch with precision and strength, able to pierce the body and grasp onto vital organs.

Planet/Species Fact: Despite the Doungwun seemingly biologically engineered to beat Cunwin on one to one combat, countering their various techniques. They rather take less ‘honorable’ tactics whenever possible. In populated areas they’d quickly overwhelm their prey with high numbers and quickly attack before the Chunwin gets a chance to swing. If there are aren’t any others nearby it’ll try to ambush its prey from hard to reach angles in the air. Only when it’s alone and has caught the attention of its prey, will it attach itself and engage its prey in close range combat. Most Chunwin societies simply use traps, or other tools to protect themselves from these predators. But a predator that chooses to engage in a one on one duel is more respected and results in a more respected death (for either one). So some Chunwin warriors leave themselves open to solo Doungwun attacks as some form of test.
Fighting/Fire: Racaln the Nemetrix predator of the Clabestro (See Firing Squad in Fire types)
Appearance

• Large translucent viscous puddle with various organs inside, including left overs from prey
  • A lot of mouths and eyes
  • Able to reconfigure organs inside body
• Able to raise body in multiple large bumps of various sizes, which usually containing organs

Hunting Method

• Raises body with jaw to consume prey on its body
• Full sensory of targets on its liquid body
• Viscous body can regenerate (and even split into multiple organisms)
• Prey stable on body is inflicted with Hallucinogenic and Auditory illusions, to make them unable to see and hear others allowing the Racaln to strike admit this confusion
  • Also able to block telepathic and electronic communication
• Able to use the natural weapons of digested prey (ie the guns of the Clabestro)

Planet/Species Fact: Racaln only prey on the Clabestro when they’re split up and small. They don’t do any harm when they’re merged on one bigger body. But since most Clabestro combat (which happens very often) has them in their small split up forms. This makes it common for Racalns to be collected from the wild or bred in captivity to be utilized as excellent traps, and denying area. This practice would also be used as a mark to safeguard places from violence, to prevent Clabestro from splitting to engage in combat. This practice has spread to official gatherings like courts and diplomatic meetings.
Fighting/Water: Ultimate Slush (See Original in Water Types)
Appearance

• Dark Green Body
• Loses gourd
• Various sharp attachments that have the appearance of the sharp bottlenecks of broken bottle
• Core with an unbalanced changing color in head

Powers/Ability

• Retain expert flexibility
• More aggressive fighting style (while retaining it’s drunken boxer like moves)
• Fire Projection
• Can’t feel pain
• Core hypnotizes targets on sight, intoxicating them
• Able to use sharp accessories

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• More Violent personality
• Can’t spill out body to trip opponents
• Loses Elasticity

Fighting/Elctric: Ultimate Fightning Rod (See Web Work in Electric Types)
Appearance

• Long thin build made of lightning
• Normally invisible

Powers/Ability

• Invisibility
• Intangibility
• Invincibility
• Whenever an Influx of energy (Any kind) in an area appears:
  • Able to instantly teleport to any place where the energy is dispersed
  • Doing so attacking the target with massive strength directly proportional to energy
  • Once energy subsides or moves outside of energy influx, body becomes invisible/intangible again
• When visible, can absorb all kinds of energy
• Able to unleash a large burst of both sound and light with absorbed energy

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Unable to extend body parts
• Can only deal damage in large bursts of energy
• Is no longer invincible when exposed a large energy influx in a prolonged duration

Fighting/Flying: Ultimate Fight and Flight (See original in Flying Types)
Appearance

• Black/Brown coloring scheme
• Face is more crow like
• Tails are longer
• Hawk-like eyes and wings
• Larger body

Powers/Ability

• Stronger
• Faster
• Enhanced Senses
  • Slight Danger Senses
• Hypnotic Stare
  • Invokes Intimidation into targets provoking them into either fighting or running
  • When staring at foes, they’re able to read gains seconds precognition into multiple visions whether they fight or fly and combinations of timelines when they do both. Visions show what they would do, but is able to be altered with the newfound knowledge in real time.
  • Precognition can predict unknown interferences like hidden dangers
  • Heightened intelligence and brain processing speed to plan out effective strategy to hunt or combat their attempts

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Unable to split self into two forms
• Using hypnotic stare on multiple targets can overwhelm self
• Predicted precognitive visions can be avoided if target resists hypnosis making them prep for things that won’t happen

Fighting/Ice: Giengar Nemetrix predator of the Ashe (See Burrzerker in Ice Types)
Appearance

• Skeletally thin limbs
• Very lanky frame (usually hunched over)
• Large Wooly body
• Long clawed fingers
• Sharp Teeth

Hunting Method

• Immunity to cold
• Silent movement
• Inflicts hallucinations on target nearby especially Ashe
  • Inflicts shadowy hallucination of a competitive animal (usually the same as the affected prey) causing the target to continuously attack hallucination.
  • Target eventually tires out attacking hallucination, losing adrenaline and succumbing to hypothermia or exhaustion.

Planet/Species Fact: Giengar are omnivores. In cold seasons they eat large predators with their primarily skill of inducing hallucinations that tire out its target before having its body frozen over for it to consume with its teeth designed to crush frozen objects. They gain this power by consuming mushrooms from warmer, jungle biomes that contain spores which has a similar effect to targets that breathe them in (though less concentrated and ends with less fatalities). Giengars are immune to these spores so during the warmer seasons they migrate to the jungle to consume high amounts of these mushrooms to expel their spores in large concentrations during hunting season. Normal Ashe that occupy these jungles stay away from the dangerous arctic biomes the Giengars hunt in, so to them the Giengar are seen as harmless. Since even if the Giengars try to use the spores against them, the conditions aren’t lethal and the lack of the Ashe’s adrenaline won’t inhibit their ability to recognize their condition and react accordingly instead of wasting their energy fighting.
Fighting/Ground: Ultimate Mudripper (See Original in Ground Types)
Appearance

• Diamond Skin
• Loses eyes
• Elongated Snout
• Six pairs of short legs
• Clawed Hands
• Glass Hairs
• Loses Tail

Powers/Ability

• Enhanced Smelling Senses
• Heatproof
• Durable and ough Diamond Skin
• Sharp Claws
• High Speed Burrowing
• Thermo-adaptation
• Able to resurface lava and create lava motes/small volcanos on ground from underneath
• Drooling Lava Saliva
• Able to walk on surfaces
• Vacuum Adaptation

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Loss of Eyesight
• Can’t Jump
• Unable to grab object with claws as well as base form hands
• Can’t Swim

Fighting/Rock: Ovivine Nemetrix predator of the Sabter (See Mountain Goat in Fighting Types)
Appearance

• Sheep-based body
• Green Wool
• Flowers growing on body

Hunting Method

• Wool is able to absorb strong impacts
• Vine-like tendrils on side of body able to connect to cliffsides
• Able to camouflage selves into a grass pile
• Grows a disconnected field perpendicular to the cliffside making it look its prey is on the ground
  • Field camouflaged to be unable to be seen from below
• Able to communicate with Sabter to trick it on standing on the field, of the cliff before falling to their deaths.

Planet/Species Fact: While Ovivine can talk and mimic sentient emotions its only purpose is to gain the trust of prey as a mere predatory mechanism, their brains aren’t capable of deeper introspective thought or sentience when alone. Sabter are worn of the Ovivine though largely they are seen as myth with how very few sightings they are and how little the Ovivine are actually active due to their slow metabolism. Ovivines cover their prey on the floor and slowly consume it whilst morphing its body to appear as a mere lump of ground covered in grass, which is another factor into how little they’re seen. Occasionally they encounter some Sabter who are very much aware of them, and their tricks so in those cases they simply push them off the cliff side. Though this method relies on the element of surprise since their physical strength is much weaker than the average Sayter.
Fighting/Bug: Ultimate Float Stinger (See Original in Bug Types)
Appearance

• Slightly bigger body
• Longer wasp like structure
• New Vertical striped black and white body

Powers/Ability

• Able to summon a near indestructible hive shaped structure
  • This pocket dimension draws in 2 individuals (which can include the creator) into an arena pocket dimension.
  • Telepathic communication with all individuals in pocket dimensions
  • Individuals in the pocket dimension must follow certain reality altering conditions to set a “fair fight”
    • This usually includes removal of “powers” but can also vary to have no removal or even the addition of powers
    • Fight doesn’t have to be direct combat and more of a much as a sport
    • Individual size are usually scaled to be relatively similar
  • Individuals leaves once one or both is considered ‘defeated’ or by the creator’s permission

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Rules set in arena must be made to be fair for both individuals
• No longer able to project honey to prevent powers
• Slightly slower and weaker outside of hives
• Reality altering rules only affect targets inside a hive

Fighting/Psychic: Muscle Memory (Alien Taskmaster)
Species: Reffox
Planet: Arbeitar
Appearance

• Tall Humanoid muscular appearance
• Body looks skinless and made of muscles
• Egg-shapd head and single eye

Powers and Abilities

• Enhanced Atleticism
• High combat p rowess
• Able to slowly build up strength and speed
• Photographic reflexes
• When looking at any moving target, able to quickly learn, memorize, and mimic that targets moves allowing them to be able to come up with a counter for it.
  • Also applies to their use of tools

Weaknesses

• Can only memorize and mimic movements not powers
• Can only enhance strength and speed in short bursts
• May be at risks for learning ineffective techniques

Planet/Species Fact: Due to the fact that all Reffox are all physically the same and that any unique skill that are developed is quickly assimilated by one another. Reffox populations share a yearning for a sense of identity. So many Reffox head off to other cultures/planets to use their learned skills to be able to make an identity of themselves, whether it be an athlete a performer, a warrior, a hero, or in some cases a criminal or ruler. This feeling is felt through all Reffox and when two of them meet, they silently agree to not show their skills to each other to keep their identity. Though if they do want to share they return to Arbeitar to tell their stories or inspire new skills for the next generation who would tell their story.
Fighting/Poison: Biolence (Fist of the North Star Powered by drugs, and can weaponize their own explosions )
Species: Gomane Planet: Omawoshindyu
Appearance

• Rough Green Skin
• Orc Like Head
• Muscular Build
• Costume comes with a mouth-covering mask
• Large Hands

Powers and Abilities

• Enhanced Strength
• Strength and size are gradually enhances from absorbing normally hazardous or even just unhealthy substances
• Body is slowly producing its own internal toxins
• Noxious Stench
• Poisons eventually build up into large cysts on skin that eventually bursts into powerful noxious and slightly toxic gas expulsion when ‘popped’, able to do damage from force
  • Able to control cyst development early
  • Cysts become more powerful with more hazardous substances given
  • Able to transfer poisonous cyst development onto others from force of contact, usually other species skin is not built to handle the expulsion causing damage when they pop

Weaknesses

• When exposed to hazard substances, the Cysts become faster developed and harder to control possibly hindering the body
• Loses strength build after cyst has popped
• Mind can be altered to be more violent depending on hazardous substances consumed, commonly manifests in an addiction or violent temperament (usually removed when expelled)

Planet/Species Fact: Eons ago a large vapor of toxic alien pollutants was mysterious dropped on Omawoshindyu mutating all inhabitants and killing off massive amounts of life, however life stiff have adapted and eventually evolved resulting in the modern Gomanes. By the time their own society has formed, the pollutants have been absorbed into the earth or dissipated from the atmosphere allowing fertile greener life to grow. Ironically most of Gomane society promotes healthy activity like proper diet in exercise, for it allows them to control their cyst development more effectively even when there sped up, which they use in hunting and combat sports. However crime activity is still noticeable involving addiction, violence, and gang activity. Mostly originating in highly polluted/deserted wastelands. As various poisons are being produced and mines
Fighting/Ghost: Body-structor (Havik from MK1 with hints of Water Law from One Piece)
Species: Rankensain
Planet: Taxodoom
Appearance

• Tone “Action Figure like structure”
• Smoothed out Joints
• Skeletal head
• Sharp Claws
• Retractable Spikes on limbs
• Leathery skin
• Large tail

Powers and Abilities

• Enhanced Strength and Stamina
• Combat Prowess
• Immortality
• Quick Cellular Regeneration
• Able to detach own limbs/body parts and effectively control them when attached.
• Able to grow a detached body part on the detached body
• Able to detach others limbs/body parts of target on contact
  • Able to attach body parts detached this way to self
  • Body parts detached this way can still be controlled and are controlled by the head/brain they are attached to (all head/brain are in control of themselves). If their original head/brain is detached they can still be controlled by that head/brain unless it’s on attached to another of the same body part in which case they can’t move.
    • With the exception of Rankensains who can control their own body parts even while their heads are on a different body.
  • Different body parts can be reattached to other bodies detached this way, even in places the body parts don’t go
  • Specifically in the Omnitrix after retransformation original rankensain body parts will dematerialize and all new attached body parts from detached bodies will fall off.

Weaknesses:

• Slightly slow
• Detachment requires strong force of contact
• Targets dispatched bodies can reattach their own parts, and can’t take them off again when put back into place (Can only be detached again by a Rankensain)
• Body parts attached to wrong part of body can be dispatched by anything even by accident
• Targets can disconnect different a body part that wasn’t originally there’s
• After regrowing a body part that was already attached, the original detached body part will lose its structure and melt
• Will die if all body parts are destroyed too fast
• Only their own body parts can detach other limbs

Planet/Species Fact: Body parts are the Rankensains main currency. While most body parts are gathered from hunted animals on their world. Rankenstains have developed interplanetary transportation to gather valuable alien body parts. Often by nefarious methods like warfare, grave robbing, or even homicide, making them a disdained and feared species across multiple planets. There are labs made to create clones of existing limbs to replace active hunting to remove the need for travel, but with how often exploration is used and how slow the cloning process is, Rankensains still commonly hunt aliens for their limbs as part of a darker slightly underground culture. To get around their negative reputation, Rankensains would remove their own brains and implant them into other bodies to disguise themselves.
Fighting/Dragon: Medisnake (Combat Snake with Street Fighter Chi abilities)
Species: Ansatryu
Planet: Chakrenin
Appearance:

• Long Reptilian Body built similarly to a Skink
• Dragonoid Scales
• Small Limbs
• Bipedal

Powers/Abilities:

• Enhanced Combat Prowess
• Slithering
• Easily able to enter a meditative state for enhanced self-control, psychological/emotional balance, mental clarity, and even healing
  • Able to access pressure points that puts allies in a similar state
• Natural chi-like energy and mastery
  • Energy skills normally manifest as enhanced athletic skills and energy projection at a basic level
  • Energy can be personalized into a different element or even power

Weaknesses

• Personalization initially requires a level of training that the Omnitrix transformation doesn’t initially give.

Planet/Species Fact: Initially Ansartyu were seen as pets of another more human-like species called the Shotogun and as intelligent as their owners. However, eventually the Shotogun would discover their ability to tap into their own personal well of the same chi-like energy and start practicing it for various means. However back then only a handful of masters would be able use it, and only at a very basic level. Until one Shotogun prince discovered that his treasured Ansatryu was able to tap into and unlock further levels of mastery. With this knowledge the prince learned from his Ansatryu and developed a closer bond with it, even teaching his pet higher levels of intelligence as he was taught further mastery of chi. Later he would teach others how to learn from their Ansatryu and his own Ansatryu will give intelligence to others of his species, leading to the point where Ansatryu are now partners living in the same world as the Shotogun in relative harmony.
Fighting/Steel: Weapon Blaster (Tank Knight with hand guns that shoots bladed weapons) Species: Arthmo
Planet: Palawar
Appearance

• Tall metal body
• Tank treads for legs
• Knight-Like Helmet
• Short cannons for arms

Powers and Abilities

• Enhanced Durability
• Enhanced Eyesight
• Full rotating body
• Canon arms launch out metal objects commonly melee weapons like swords, spears, axes etc at high speeds
  • Weapons are animated and “preprogrammed to move in ways/fly in a direct path and can be “preprogrammed’
  • Can be locked onto a focused target and rotate/swing in a specific way whilst following the target
• Other different types of weapon shooting
  • Machine Gun type: able to launch out multiple imprecise smaller metal weapons that can’t be animated
  • Sniper: Able to launch a singular fast powerful far reaching weapon
  • Giant: Able to launch one giant weapon a short distance that stays out longer.

Weaknesse

• Drawbacks of each weapon shooting
• Slow Tank like movement
• Can only create simple metal objects
• Weapon projectiles can be moved offcourse
• Weapon projectiles can only stay out a minute before dissipation
• Weapons take time and varying degrees of focus to charge before launch which increases with duration of animation
  • Shooting out a large powerful weapon increases load time, and can’t shoot more weapons while the giant weapon is out

Species/Planet Fact: Arthmo is an artificial species created from a combination of alchemy and engineering by a master at both, commissioned by a great king. They were meant to be used as weapons of warfare and even companions. However an enemy army raided the kingdom, and killed both the lord and creator after the first Arthmo woke up. So the lab was well hidden so the Arthmo followed the instructions of its creator and created more of it, and slaying the enemy army. Now they defend the remaining members of their kingdom to allow it to rebuild. However, rumor has it that a surviving enemy found the original Arthmo lab.
Fighting/Dark: Spotshot
Species: Dalmate
Planet: Cerberence
Appearance

• Dalmatian white and black spotted pattern body
• Monkey like proportions and arms
• Dog like head
• Paws for feet
• Long tail with a forked end

Powers/Abilities:

• Enhanced Athleticism
• Enchanted Acrobatics
• Wall Crawling
• Able to use forked tail and string-like mucus in between split as a slingshot
• Shoots able to launch “spots” from tail
• Dark skin works good for camouflage
• Combat Prowess
  • Spots inflict a strong force on impact
  • Leaves a spot mark on the target, and can potentially blind a living target
  • Projectile spots are able to fly out of marks
  • Able to make spots launch off objects on impact before making mark
  • Hitting mark with multiple projectile creates a bigger mark, and a bigger projectile by extension
  • Able to absorb Dalmate spots on own body

Weaknesses/Drawbacks

• Spots dissipate after minutes
• Unable to projects spots marked on body

Species/Planet Fact: The spotted biological materials that generate the Dalmate’s projectile “spots”, is a shared trait amongst a handful of different Cereberence animal species and even some plant life. Those species has a spot of a different color that was meant harm all other species/subspecie for predation or predator avoidance. Other species that don’t have this projectile ability do have spotted patterns on them to warn predators, or even create similar marks on objects to protect territory by intimidation.To weaponize their own “spots” Dalmate tribes would farm different animals and use them in different methods that changes their spot markings to battle other tribes with their own spot slinging skills to prevent it from being simply absorbed into its targets body.
Fighting/Fairy: Best-O Change-O (Magical Girl/Boy Recruiting Bunny)
Species: Usegin
Planet: Lunakessho
Appearance

• Anthropomorphic Bunny
• Biological Crystal accessories on head
• Natural mask-like fur pattern on head and pupils eyes (males only)
  • Crown like horns on females
• Standard outfit of a Tuxedo-like suit, or School-Girl dress based on gender

Powers/Abilities

• Natural magic potential
• Enhanced leaping
• Enhanced Athleticism
• Costume transmutation
• Able to enhance a small hand held object
  • Transmutes the object into a specialized weapon and usually able to project a specialized material/force/or element (depends on a combination of both the individual and object)
• Able to enhance another object allowing an Ally to gain a similar weapon and the same powers of an Usegin except the ability to enchant other objects.

Weaknesses

• Only able to utilize one weapon at a time
  • Applies to allies, they can only utilize their chosen object
• Takes a while to enchant another object for an ally after the first
• After an allies enchanted objects breaks they lose their gained abilities
  • Ally abilities also go away when the Omnitrix Transformation ends

Planet/Species Fact: Lunakessho is a magical planet where all the inhabitants would practice magic, protected by an order of Usegin knights. However dark forces used by villains and monsters would arise practicing this dark magic and almost threatened to corrupt the universe. The Usegin order managed to fight them off but with a threat on that kind of scale and some remaining presence of their enemies they decided to seal of the planet into another realm. However, now there is an occult group mages summoned the order on various points of different moons using a ritual that was meant to be used in case they’re needed. While the Usegin heroes did manage to get involved in their traditional hero work. They’ve learned too late that this ritual will eventually corrupt them once all the full rituals is complete, and they’re powerless to stop them. So they now go to various planets and recruit and train other magical warriors to stop them when the time comes.

April's big inflation reveal: The meme trade has been a fun diversion, but the serious business is here: the April Consumer Price Index reading is set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Prices rose 0.4% over the prior month, matching March's pace and bringing the annual inflation rate down to 3.4%. Stripping out food and energy costs, economists expect core inflation fell to 3.6% annually in April, which would be the slowest pace in about three years. ‌
Biden hits China with tariffs: The White House announced a suite of new tariffs on Chinese goods on Tuesday, with a key focus on EVs. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, President Biden painted cheap goods flooding the market — subsidized by the Chinese government — as an attempt to "put everybody else out of business and then they take over." Biden also said he expects China to retaliate but that the trade conflict would be manageable. ‌
GameStop and AMC continue to surge: GameStop followed Monday's 74% gain with a 62% surge Tuesday as the company continues to ride the recent meme stock rally. AMC also saw a second day of gains, finishing Tuesday 33% higher after gaining 80% Monday. Shrewdly, the company disclosed it raised $250 million issuing stock after Monday's pop. ‌
Google's new search: Google unveiled a new way of googling at its I/O conference that, yes, involves a lot of AI. The biggest overhaul to its search engine in years will integrate its AI engine to provide complex answers to queries — with citations. This time, we hope they're real. Users will also be able to perform compound searches for more targeted results without resorting to googling multiple times. For example, the ability to search for "a gym that offers discounts for new members — and how far it is from where I live." ‌
Powell plays down PPI: Fed Chair Jerome Powell provided a timely response to Tuesday's hotter-than-expected headline number for the Producer Price Index, speaking from a panel in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Powell downplayed the hot overall number, pointing at the mixed data and backward revisions. Still, the central bank head again stressed a need to be patient and "let restrictive policy do its work." What we're watching Morning Brief is written and edited by Ethan Wolff-Mann. For the web version, click here. Follow all the action throughout the day on Yahoo Finance and on the Yahoo Finance app.
GameStop’s 'Roaring Kitty' surge doesn’t mean meme stock rally has legs. ‌ Vanguard appoints BlackRock veteran Salim Ramji as next CEO. ‌ Justice Department says Boeing violated 737 Max crash settlement. ‌ ️ Musk ordered to resume testimony in SEC Twitter probe. ‌ 3M shareholders vote down executives' pay packages. ‌ Biden expects China to retaliate to new tariffs. Here's what that might look like. ‌ Why Biden's tariffs on Chinese EVs will have little immediate impact on the US auto market What we're reading AD • SPONSORED BY SMART ASSETHave This Much Money? You May Want a Financial AdvisorMoney can't buy happiness, but research finds that if you have this much in household assets, hiring a financial advisor could potentially help. Just how much money do you need? Find out here.
Today's Takeaway is by Jared Blikre, Markets Reporter ‌ Meme stocks survived another volatility-fueled session Tuesday. ‌ Taking a page from the 2021 playbook, GameStop and AMC Entertainment led the charge. ‌ Both meme stalwarts notched gains over 74% Monday and had further doubled their share prices on the open Tuesday — only to sell off most of the day into the close. Nevertheless, after dozens of volatility halts GameStop closed the day up 62% while AMC jumped by 30%.‌ Amid some gentle coaxing by Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty), a slew of names familiar to Reddit boards followed — companies like Koss, Tupperware, Virgin Galactic, Hertz, and BlackBerry. ‌ But while the explosion in volatility rightfully invites comparisons to the well-known 2021 saga that played out on Reddit and across US stock exchanges, 2024 is already proving to be quite different. ‌ This year, Wall Street is driving the bus. ‌
Vanda Research crunched the numbers and reported in a note to clients that GameStop and AMC have only seen a fraction of the inflows experienced in early 2021. Flows into these names at the peak of the early 2021 frenzy were over four times Monday's volume. ‌ "Do we think more retail traders can jump in on the trend in the coming days? Yes. Do we think this is a repeat of 2021? No, and the chances we reach that stage are low," said Vanda. ‌ Without glancing at a single stock chart, it's easy to point out that 2021 was likely a historical aberration fueled by bored recipients of pandemic stimulus checks. ‌ Wall Street was caught flat-footed. Hedge funds like Melvin Capital were obliterated. ‌ But institutional investors learned from the 2021 episode and are better prepared now, argues Vanda. ‌ "Quant/hedge funds are much better equipped to handle these situations nowadays," Vanda senior vice president Marco Iachini noted. "If anything, we believe the chances that they participate along with retail in the squeeze but also lean against and then exit these trades ahead of retail traders are high." ‌
As of Monday's close, the portion of share turnover in GameStop attributable to retail investors averaged 7% over the prior five days — and that number was only slightly higher for AMC. In 2021, the averages and spikes were materially higher, indicating much greater participation by retail traders. ‌ Data in the options market confirms a similar story. ‌ But the biggest difference this year might just be the lack of one single, coherent narrative like the meme story that captured headlines in 2021. ‌ Only last week, we wrote about the recent resurgence of volatility in meme names. "In a critical break from prior trading epochs, much of the recent meme stock volatility is being fueled by material news and fundamentals, like earnings, as opposed to Reddit posts," we wrote. Why the 2024 meme stock action is much tamer than 2021 — so far Indeed, our (unofficial) Yahoo Finance meme stock heat map reveals impressive returns over the last two days that are mostly green across the board. But aside from GameStop and AMC, these daily returns are decidedly not triple digits as they were three years ago. ‌ In fact, the bigger names on this list — like Coinbase, Carvana, and Palantir — have been making their gains the old-fashioned way: around earnings and bitcoin fundamentals.
How much Wednesday's inflation print surprises economists — up or down — will be of particular importance during Wednesday's trading day. ‌ But analyzing market action from CPI release days back to May 2023's print, the equity research team at Goldman Sachs led by David Kostin found that "interest rate sensitive pockets of the equity market typically experience particularly large moves on CPI days regardless of the magnitude of the surprise." Chart of the day As seen in the chart above, non-profitable tech and the small-cap Russell 2000 index (^RUT) have moved significantly more depending on where the inflation print lands over the past year. ‌ — Josh Schafer, Markets Reporter
Wednesday ‌ ‌ ‌ Thursday ‌ ‌ ‌ Friday ‌ ‌ Earnings and economic calendar Economic data: Consumer Price Index, month-over-month, April (+0.4% expected, +0.4% previously); Core CPI, month-over-month, April (+0.3% expected, +0.4% previously); CPI, year-over-year, April (+3.4% expected, +3.5% previously); Core CPI, year-over-year, April (+3.6% expected, +3.8% previously); Real average hourly earnings, year-over-year, April (+0.6% previously); MBA Mortgage Applications, week ending May 10 (+2.6%); Retail sales, month-over-month, April (+0.4% expected, +0.7% previously); Retail sales ex auto and gas, April (+0.1% expected, +1% previously); NAHB housing market index, May (51 expected, 51 previously)
Earnings: Cisco, Dole, Monday.com, Super League Economic data: Initial jobless claims, week ending May 11 (233,000 previously); Housing starts month-over-month, April (8.6% expected, -14.7% prior); Building permits month-over-month, April (+1.6% expected, -3.7% prior); Philadelphia Business Outlook, May (8.7 expected, 15.5 prior); Import prices, month-over-month, April (+0.2% expected, +0.4% previously); Export prices, month-over-month, April (+0.2% expected, +0.3% previously); Industrial production, month-over-month, April (+0.2% expected, +0.4% previously)
Earnings: Walmart, Applied Materials, Baidu, JD.com, John Deere, Take-Two Interactive, Under Armour Economic data: Leading index, April (-0.2% expected, -0.3% previously) Earnings: No notable earnings.