An AI Algorithm Taught By Humans Learns Beyond Its Training

"Hey Siri, how's my hair?" Your smartphone may soon be able to give you an honest answer, thanks to a new machine learning algorithm designed by U of T Engineering researchers Parham Aarabi and Wenzhi Guo.

The team designed an algorithm that learns directly from human instructions, rather than an existing set of examples, and outperformed conventional methods of training neural networks by 160 per cent. But more surprisingly, their algorithm also outperformed its own training by nine per cent—it learned to recognize hair in pictures with greater reliability than that enabled by the training, marking a significant leap forward for artificial intelligence.

Aarabi and Guo trained their algorithm to identify people's hair in photographs—a much more challenging task for computers than it is for humans.

"Our algorithm learned to correctly classify difficult, borderline cases—distinguishing the texture of hair versus the texture of the background," says Aarabi. "What we saw was like a teacher instructing a child, and the child learning beyond what the teacher taught her initially."

Humans "teach" neural networks—computer networks that learn dynamically—by providing a set of labeled data and asking the neural network to make decisions based on the samples it's seen. For example, you could train a neural network to identify sky in a photograph by showing it hundreds of pictures with the sky labeled.

This algorithm is different: it learns directly from human trainers. With this model, called heuristic training, humans provide direct instructions that are used to pre-classify training samples rather than a set of fixed examples. Trainers program the algorithm with guidelines such as "Sky is likely to be varying shades of blue," and "Pixels near the top of the image are more likely to be sky than pixels at the bottom."

Their work is published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems.

This heuristic training approach holds considerable promise for addressing one of the biggest challenges for neural networks: making correct classifications of previously unknown or unlabeled data. This is crucial for applying machine learning to new situations, such as correctly identifying cancerous tissues for medical diagnostics, or classifying all the objects surrounding and approaching a self-driving car.

"Applying heuristic training to hair segmentation is just a start," says Guo. "We're keen to apply our method to other fields and a range of applications, from medicine to transportation.".

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Smart Glasses That Automatically Focuses Wherever You Want To See.

The days of wearing bifocals or constantly swapping out reading glasses might soon come to an end.

A team led by University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Carlos Mastrangelo and doctoral student Nazmul Hasan has created "smart glasses" with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. Research on the adaptive lenses was published this week in a special edition of the journal, Optics Express. The paper was co-authored by U electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hanseup Kim and graduate researcher Aishwaryadev Banerjee.

"Most people who get reading glasses have to put them on and take them off all the time," says Mastrangelo, who also is a professor for USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research economic development initiative. "You don't have to do that anymore. You put these on, and it's always clear."
The human eye has a lens inside that adjusts the focal depth depending on what you look at. But as people age, the lens loses its ability to change focus, which is why many people ultimately require reading glasses or bifocals to see objects up close and regular eyeglasses to see far away, also known as farsightedness and nearsightedness, respectively.

So Mastrangelo and Hasan have created eyeglass lenses made of glycerin, a thick colorless liquid enclosed by flexible rubber-like membranes in the front and back. The rear membrane in each lens is connected to a series of three mechanical actuators that push the membrane back and forth like a transparent piston, changing the curvature of the liquid lens and therefore the focal length between the lens and the eye.

"The focal length of the glasses depends on the shape of the lens, so to change the optical power we actually have to change the membrane shape," Mastrangelo says.

The lenses are placed in special eyeglass frames also invented by Mastrangelo, Hasan and other members of the research group with electronics and a battery to control and power the actuators. In the bridge of the glasses is a distance meter that measures the distance from the glasses to an object via pulses of infrared light. When the wearer looks at an object, the meter instantly measures the distance and tells the actuators how to curve the lenses. If the user then sees another object that's closer, the distance meter readjusts and tells the actuators to reshape the lens for farsightedness. Hasan says the lenses can change focus from one object to another in 14 milliseconds. A rechargeable battery in the frames could last more than 24 hours per charge, Mastrangelo says.

Before putting them on for the first time, all users have to do is input their eyeglasses prescription into an accompanying smartphone app, which then calibrates the lenses automatically via a Bluetooth connection. Users only needs to do that once except for when their prescription changes over time, and theoretically, eyeglass wearers will never have to buy another pair again since these glasses would constantly adjust to their eyesight.

Currently, the team has constructed a bulky working prototype that they put on display at last month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but expect to constantly improve the design to make them smaller and lighter. Mastrangelo said a lighter, more attractive pair could hit the marketplace in as early as three years and that a startup company, Sharpeyes LLC, has been created to commercialize the glasses.

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Crack Your Android Device Pattern within Five Attempts.

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

     The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.

In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.

New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.

By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.

The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.

Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.

Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.

During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.

Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.

In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.

Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."

"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.

The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.                                                                                                                              

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

The popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts – and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal.

Pattern Lock is a security measure that protects devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, and which is preferred by many to PIN codes or text passwords. It is used by around 40 per cent of Android device owners.
In order to access a device's functions and content, users must first draw a pattern on an on-screen grid of dots. If this matches the pattern set by the owner then the device can be used. However, users only have five attempts to get the pattern right before the device becomes locked.
New research from Lancaster University, Northwest University in China, and the University of Bath, which benefitted from funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows for the first time that attackers can crack Pattern Lock reliably within five attempts by using video and computer vision algorithm software.
By covertly videoing the owner drawing their Pattern Lock shape to unlock their device, while enjoying a coffee in a busy café for example, the attacker, who is pretending to play with their phone, can then use software to quickly track the owner's fingertip movements relative to the position of the device. Within seconds the algorithm produces a small number of candidate patterns to access the Android phone or tablet.
The attack works even without the video footage being able to see any of the on-screen content, and regardless of the size of the screen. Results are accurate on video recorded on a mobile phone from up to two and a half metres away – and so attacks are more covert than shoulder-surfing. It also works reliably with footage recorded on a digital SLR camera at distances up to nine metres away.
Researchers evaluated the attack using 120 unique patterns collected from independent users. They were able to crack more than 95 per cent of patterns within five attempts.
Complex patterns, which use more lines between dots, are used by many to make it harder for observers to replicate. However, researchers found that these complex shapes were easier to crack because they help the fingertip algorithm to narrow down the possible options.
During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt.
Researchers believe this form of attack would enable thieves to access phones after pinching them to obtain sensitive information, or would allow malware to be quickly installed on devices while their owners were distracted.
In addition, given people often use the same pattern across multiple devices a pattern obtained from one device could be used to access a second device.
Dr Zheng Wang, principle investigator and co-author of the paper, and Lecturer at Lancaster University, said: "Pattern Lock is a very popular protection method for Android Devices. As well as for locking their devices, people tend to use complex patterns for important financial transactions such as online banking and shopping because they believe it is a secure system. However, our findings suggest that using Pattern Lock to protect sensitive information could actually be very risky."
"Contrary to many people's perception that more complex patterns give better protection, this attack actually makes more complex patterns easier to crack and so they may be more secure using shorter, simpler patterns," Guixin Ye, the leading student author from Northwest University, added.
The researchers have proposed suggested countermeasures to prevent this attack. They include device users fully covering fingers when drawing the pattern; or pattern lock designers mixing pattern locking with other activities such as entering a sentence using Swype-like methods; in addition having the screen colour and brightness change dynamically could confuse the recording camera.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-android-device-pattern.html#jCp

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Nova launcher prime [CRACKED]

Nova Launcher Prime v5.0.10 Cracked apk for Android.

The highly customizable, performance driven, home screen replacement
Accept no substitues! Nova Launcher is the original and most polished customizable launcher for modern Android
Features

Ok, Google – Use Google Search’s hotword right from the home screen, just say the words Ok, Google.
Color Theme – Set the highlight accent color for the launcher
Also individual Color controls for labels, folders, unread count badges, drawer tabs and background
Icon Themes – Find thousands of icon themes for Nova Launcher on the Play Store
Subgrid positioning – Much greater control than standard launchers, Nova Launcher allows you to snap icons or widgets half way through the desktop grid cells
Customize App Drawer – Custom tabs, Vertical or Horizontal scrolling, Custom effects
Infinite scroll – Never far from your favorite page, loop through the desktop or drawer continously
Backup/Restore – Sophisticated backup/restore system allowing you to backup your desktop layout and launcher settings
Scrollable Dock – Create multiple docks and scroll between them
Widgets in dock – Place any widget in your dock, such as a 4×1 music player widget
Import Layout – No need to rebuild your desktop from scratch, Nova Launcher can import from most popular launchers. Including the one that came with your phone.
Fast – Nova Launcher is highly optimized to do it’s work quickly and quietly, keeping the animations smooth and letting you use your phone as fast as you can move your fingers.
Unlock the following extras with Nova Launcher Prime

Gestures – Swipe, pinch, double tap and more on the home screen to open your favorite apps
Unread Counts – Never miss a message. Unread count badges for Hangouts, SMS, Gmail and more using the Tesla Unread plugin
Custom Drawer Groups – Create new tabs or folders in the App drawer
Hide Apps – Keep a clean app drawer by hiding never used apps
Icon Swipes – Set custom actions for swiping on app shortcuts or folders
More scroll effects – Such as Wipe, Accordion, and Throw
What’s New?

5.0-beta10 Dec 9, 2016
Quick start to easily change major settings (Nova Settings > Backup > Quick start)
Fix dock background in landscape
Fixes and performance improvements

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Uninstall previous version of Nova Launcher and Tesla Unread plugin
2. Install Nova Launcher and the Tesla Unread plugin from my package (not from Google Play).
3. Enjoy!

This is patched version, fully unlocked prime functions. No prime key is required.
If your ROM came with Nova Launcher you’ll have to remove it before installing this.

How to install it?

Uninstall previous version of Nova Launcher apk & Tesla Unread Plugin
Install both of the apks given in the archive.
Launch Nova Launcher
Enjoy!



Download apk

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Graphics Programming Through C Language

Graphics Programming Through C Language

This C Graphics tutorials is for those who want to learn fundamentals of Graphics programming, without any prior knowledge of graphics. This tutorials contains lots of fundamental graphics program like drawing of various geometrical shapes(rectangle, circle eclipse etc), use of mathematical function in drawing curves, coloring an object with different colors and patterns and simple animation programs like jumping ball and moving cars.

  To download the basic graphics tutorials pdf file click on thelink below.

  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0HiLTS74tiOUUlVRE5SbmxNYzg

From any qureies comment us below.

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Intresting Science Facts that NEVER learnt at School.

There is nothing in the world more amazing than the wonders of science and nature unfolding before us. The technology and the biological life we are surrounded by everyday are a proof to the fact that science is far more fascinating than any magical or fantasy tale we’ve encountered. So, here are some such incredible science facts that will take you on an irresistible trip to a world of wonder.

1. Ferrofluid – a suspension of magnetic nano-particles that form patterns of spikes in the presence of magnetic field.

 

 Ferrofluid is a colloid made of magnetic nanoparticles suspended in a carrier fluid such as organic solvent or water. Ever single one of these particles are coated with a surfactant so that they won’t clump together into a lump and stay fluid. The formation of spikes is due to normal-field instability, an effect that causes the fluid to assume a shape that minimizes the total energy of the system. It was first invented as a liquid fuel that could be drawn toward pump inlet in gravity-free environment. Ferrofluid also has many other applications. It is used as a liquid seal in electronic devices such as hard disks offering negligible friction and acting as an efficient barrier for debris.

2. A man defies gravity by doing a loop the loop on foot. 

          

 During circular motion, there are two main forces acting on the body – centripetal, the force that pulls you towards the center, and centrifugal, the force that pulls you away from the center. Many people have made use of this simple law of physics to defy gravity by going on a loop on skateboards and motorcycles. Damian Walter, a stuntman and gymnast, did it on foot. To achieve this he had to accelerate to a velocity of 13.84 km per hour or 8.65 miles per hour at the highest point and keep his head and shoulders at the center of the loop.

3. You can relight a candle by holding a flame into the smoke that rises after you blow it out.

 

 

 When you light a candle, the wax evaporates into the air and undergoes combustion producing light in return. When you blow out the candle the smoke that rises up contains the wax vapor that hasn’t yet undergone combustion. So when you hold a flame into that smoke it lights up burning all the way down its trail to the wick, relighting the candle.

4. This is what happens when you heat a surface to very high temperatures and pour water drops. It’s called Leidenfrost effect. 

                           

 
 If you cook, you probably already observed this. When you heat a pan on high for some time and then pour water drops they become mercurial. Instead of evaporating the water drops just move around on the pan like mercury. This happens because when the water hits the pan its outer surface evaporates so fast that it creates a layer of vapor below the water drop insulating it and stopping it from coming into direct contact with the pan. So, instead of boiling the water just rolls around. If you do the experiment on ridged surface like shown above, the water drops would even move upwards.

5. Miura Fold is a rigid origami technique that can be used to fold rigid materials into flat parallelograms. It is used to fold large solar panels in Japanese satellites before launch which can then be spread out when in space. 

   
                       

 The folding patterns of this origami form a regularly repeated pattern of parallelograms. Each adjacent parallelogram is a mirror image of the one before and after it. When folded this way, any flat material can be packed into a compact shape which can be pulled open and closed shut by moving the opposite corners. This technique when used in folding the solar arrays reduces the number of motors required for unfolding in space, reducing the weight of the satellite.

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Role of Electronic Gates in Building Circuits.

Over the 50 years or so that electronics circuit designers have been working on semiconductor-based logic circuits, many designs have been developed for creating logic gates. Because each approach to designing logic circuits results in an entire family of logic circuits for the various types of gates (NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR), the different designs are often referred to as design families.
Here are the most popular:

                           

• RTL: Resistor-Transistor Logic, which uses resistors and bipolar transistors.
• DTL: Diode-Transistor Logic, which is similar to RTL but adds a diode to each input circuit.
• TTL: Transistor-Transistor Logic which uses two transistors, one configured to work as a switch and the other configured to work as an amplifier. The switching transistor is used in the input circuits, and the amplifier transistor is used in the output circuits. The amplifier allows the gate’s output to be connected to a larger number of inputs than RTL or DTL circuits.
  In a TTL circuit, the switching transistors are actually special transistors that have two or more emitters. Each input is connected to one of these emitters so that the separate inputs all control the same collector-emitter circuit. The switching transistor’s base is connected to the Vcc supply voltage, and the collector is connected to the base of the amplifying transistor.
  
  
  Although you can build TTL circuits by using individual transistors, ICs with TTL circuits are readily available. The most popular types of TTL ICs are designated by numbers in the form 74nn. In all, a few hundred types of 7400-series integrated circuits are available. Many of them provide advanced logic circuits that you aren’t likely to use for home electronics projects.

  Number	Description
  7400	Quad two-input NAND gate (four NAND gates)
  7402	Quad two-input NOR gate (four NOR gates)
  7404	Hex inverter (six NOT gates)
  7408	Quad two-input AND gate (four AND gates)
  7432	Quad two-input OR gate (four OR gates)
  7486	Quad two-input XOR gate (four XOR gates)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Logic, which refers to logic circuits built with a special type of transistor called a MOSFET. MOSFET stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor.
  
  
   NOTE: The physics of how a MOSFET differs from a standard bipolar transistor aren’t all that important unless you want to become an IC designer. What is important is that MOSFETs use much less power, can switch states much faster, and are significantly smaller than bipolar transistors. These differences make MOSFETs ideal for modern integrated circuits, which often require millions of transistors on a single chip.
  
  
  Apart from drawing less power and operating faster than TTL circuits, CMOS circuits work much like TTL circuits. In fact, CMOS chips are designed to be interchangeable with comparable TTL chips.
  CMOS logic chips have a four-digit part number that begins with the number 4 and are often called 4000-series chips. As with the 7400 series of TTL logic chips, several hundred types of 4000-series chips are available.

  Number	Description
  4001	Quad two-input NOR gate (four NOR gates)
  4009	Hex inverter (six NOT gates)
  4011	Quad two-input NAND gate (four NAND gates)
  4030	Quad two-input XOR gate (four XOR gates)
  4071	Quad two-input OR gate (four OR gates)
  4077	Quad two-input XNOR gate (four XNOR gates)
  4081	Quad two-input AND gate (four AND gates)

  
  
  CMOS logic circuits are very sensitive to static electricity. Make sure that you discharge yourself properly by touching a grounded metal surface before you touch a CMOS chip. For maximum protection, wear an antistatic wrist band.. 

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Now ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE can predict your heart failure.

Artificial Intelligence is a branch in computer science in which we train computer to behave like humans. The term was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
           Currently, no computers exhibit full artificial intelligence (that is, are able to simulate human behavior). The greatest advances have occurred in the field of games playing. The best computer chess programs are now capable of beating humans. In May, 1997, an IBM super-computer called Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Gary Kasparov in a chess match.

An artificial intelligence system has accurately predicted when patients with heart conditions will die, according to new results published in the journal Radiology.
The study was conducted by a team of scientists at the London Institute of Medical Services, who trained the software to analyze blood tests and intricate 3D models of beating hearts in order to detect signs of failure. The AI was assigned 256 patients diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure which impacts the lungs and can cause dizziness, fainting, and shortness of breath.
By tracking the movement of 30,000 different points on a patient’s heart, it was able to construct an intricate 3D scan of the organ. Combining these models with patient health records going back eight years, the system could learn which abnormalities signaled a patient’s approaching death, making predictions about five years into the future.
The AI predicted with 80 percent accuracy which patients would die in the next year. The average doctor’s accuracy is about 60 percent.
   
                        
Treatments for pulmonary hypertension include drugs, lung transplants, and targeted medicines, but the choice of treatment depends on the prognosis. As a result, an AI with such high accuracy can help physicians better treat patients.
“The AI really allows you to tailor the individual treatment,” Dr. Declan O’Regan, one on the researchers, told BBC News“So it takes the results of dozens of different tests including imaging, to predict what’s going to happen to individual patients very accurately. So we can tailor getting absolutely the right intensive treatment to those who will benefit the most.”
AI software is becoming increasingly adept at diagnosing diseases. In July, Google announced success in diagnosing ye diesease using machine learning software. A month earlier, researchers from Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) demonstrated a system that could detect Breast Cancer with 92% accuracy.  When combined with the analysis of pathologists, that rate shot up to 99.5 percent.

  For any queries related to artificial intelligence comment us below.

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Info. About File Extensions.

What is File Extension?

A file extension, sometimes called a file suffix or a filename extension, is the character or group of characters after the period that make up an entire file name.

The file extension helps an operating system, like Windows, determine which program on your computer the file is associated with.

For example, the file myfile.docx ends in docx, a file extension that might be associated with Microsoft Word on your computer.

When you attempt to open this file, Windows sees that the file ends in a DOCX extension, which it already knows should be opened with the Microsoft Word program.

File extensions also often indicate the file type, or file format, of the file... but not always. Any file's extensions can be renamed but that won't convert the file to another format or change anything about the file other than this portion of its name.

File Extensions vs File Formats

File extensions and file formats are often spoken about interchangeably - I do it here on my site, too. In reality, however, the file extension is just whatever characters are after the period while the file format speaks to the way in which the data in the file is organized - in other words, what sort of file it is.

For example, in the file name mydata.csv, the file extension is csv, indicating that this is a CSV file. I could easily rename that file to mydata.mp3 but that wouldn't mean that I could play the file on my smartphone.

The file itself is still rows of text (a CSV file), not a compressed musical recording (an MP3 file).

Changing the Program That Opens a File

As I already mentioned, file extensions help Windows, or whatever operating system you're using, determine which program is to open those types of file, if any, when those files are opened directly, usually with a double-tap or double-click.

Many file extensions, especially those used by common image, audio, and video formats, are usually compatible with more than one program you have installed.

However, in most operating systems, only one program can be set to open when the file is accessed directly. In most versions of Windows, this can be changed via settings found in Control Panel.


Converting Files From One Format to Another

Like I mentioned above in File Extensions vs File Formats, simply renaming a file to change its extension won't change what type of file it is, even though it might appear as though that happened when Windows shows the icon associated with the new file extension.

To truly change the type of file, it has to be converted using a program that supports both types of files or a dedicated tool designed to convert the file from the format its in to the format you want it to be in.

For example, let's say you have an SRF image file from your Sony digital camera but a website you want to upload the image to only allows JPEG files.

You could rename the file from something.srf to something.jpeg but the file wouldn't really be different, it would only have a different name.

To convert the file from SRF to JPEG, you would find a program that fully supports both so you could open the SRF file and then export or save the image as JPG. In this example, Adobe Photoshop is a perfect example of an image manipulation program that could do this job.

If you don't have access to a program that natively supports both formats you need, many dedicated file conversion programs are available.

Executable File Extensions

Some file extensions are classified as executable, meaning that when clicked, they don't just open for viewing or playing. Instead, they actually do something all by themselves, like install a program, start a process, run a script, etc.

Because files with these extensions are just a single step away from doing lots of things to your computer, you have to be very careful when you receive a file like this from a source you don't trust.

If you have any queries left about this topic you can comment us below.

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