text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|May 12, 2009
|Filing date
|Sep 23, 2003
|Priority date
|Sep 23, 2003
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Joshua T. Goodman, Robert L. Rounthwaite
|Original Assignee
|Microsoft Corporation
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (8), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (17), Classifications (13), Legal Events (3)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This invention is related to systems and methods for identifying human interaction, and more particularly for providing order-based human interactive proofs and determining the difficulty of a human interactive proof string in an automated fashion.
The advent of global communications networks such as the Internet has presented commercial opportunities for reaching vast numbers of potential customers. Electronic messaging, and particularly electronic mail ("email"), is becoming increasingly pervasive as a means for disseminating unwanted advertisements and promotions (also denoted as "spam") to network users.
The Radicati Group, Inc., a consulting and market research firm, estimates that as of August 2002, two billion junk e-mail messages are sent each day—this number is expected to triple every two years. Individuals and entities (e.g., businesses, government agencies) are becoming increasingly inconvenienced and oftentimes offended by junk messages. As such, spam is now or soon will become a major threat to trustworthy computing.
Although spam is becoming a significant problem with respect to computing over the internet, internet abuse in general is on the rise. Spammers typically abuse free email systems by signing up for hundreds of free email accounts to send out masses of unsolicited messages. However, other users have found ways to abuse the internet the many conveniences and the seemingly unlimited access to the internet as well.
Using automated techniques similar to spammers, these types of users have also been able to program their computers to automatically sign-up for things such as free products, free services, promotional give-aways, contests, and the like by creating a multitude of user accounts for the respective freebie. In particular, imagine that a computer is programmed by an abuser to sign up one actual person for a contest 1,000 or even 10,000 times, whereas legitimate users of the contest entry process may manually sign up a few times at best. As a result, the abusive behavior by the user can provide him/her with an overwhelming advantage in the contest. For a multitude of reasons, this adversely affects the sponsors and/or companies running the various applications and systems that are victimized. As the proficiency of hackers continues to increase, so do these forms of abuse. Thus, additional measures are needed to combat Internet and email abuse.
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The present invention provides for systems and methods for generating order-based human interactive proofs (HIPs) as well as systems and methods that facilitate rating their difficulty automatically. In general, HIPs are puzzles that ask users to solve a problem to prove that they are a human being and are effectively employed to control access to any type of useful program, tool, device, system or set-up system (e.g., email, email account set-up, websites). For example, HIPs can be utilized in conjunction with password or password related systems to control user access.
HIPs can be utilized to mitigate and/or prevent automatic account sign-ups, which is a common technique of most email abusers and spammers. In the interest of saving time and keeping operation expenses at an absolute minimum, spammers, for instance, can program computers to set up email accounts automatically. Thus, hundreds of email accounts can be obtained within a relatively short amount of time, thereby allowing more spam or unsolicited messages to be sent.
In general, HIPs are relatively simple puzzles since they must be solvable by humans. The most common HIP is an image of a letter sequence that has been distorted to be difficult for an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) system to recognize, but that is still within the capabilities of a human being. Such HIPs typically either require identification of each element in an image or a correct answer to a sequence of questions. Other common HIPs ask users to repeat a sequence provided in a distorted manner (e.g., audio and/or video form).
According to conventional wisdom, it is important that a HIP have a very large number of possible answers. Otherwise, a computer can simply guess the correct answer. Historically, sequence-based HIPs have been one way to obtain a large number of possibilities because the number increases exponentially. For instance, if there are 36 characters in 8 positions, then there are 368 possible answers. The number of possibilities is exponential in length. However, because such HIPs have to be simple enough for a human to solve, the current class of sequence-based HIPs is vulnerable to computer attack. In fact, some sequence-based HIPs currently in use have already been defeated.
Another function that increases very quickly is the factorial function: k!=1�2�3 �4�. . . �k. This function is typical where the goal is to find the correct order. Unlike traditional sequence-based HIPs, order-based HIPs of the present invention are based at least in part upon correctly determining the order of a sequence rather than the elements of a sequence or image. In particular, the order-based HIPs make use of order-based logic. According to the present invention, examples of order-based HIPs include finding a path of a consistent type, finding a path through a maze, and finding the front-to-back (or vice versa) ordering of elements. More specifically, the subject invention provides images that include a number of identifiable objects in an image and a manner in which to calculate an order to the objects. Users are requested to determine the order of the objects and to identify the relevant individual objects in the correct order.
In one instance, order-based HIPs can require a user to find a correct order of objects such as letters, shapes, and the like. However, in some of these HIPs, it may not be enough to simply find the correct order. Rather, it can also be necessary to find the correct order of only a subset of the objects displayed in the HIP. The subset of objects can be connected or associated with one another in some consistent manner. Furthermore, such connections can be obscured at least in part by translucent shapes as well as by opaque shapes. For example, any number of alphabet letters can be connected by a particular kind of arrow (e.g., same or consistent type of arrow) whereby the correct order of letters is determined by following same kind of arrow from a "start" position to an "end" position.
In a second instance, order-based HIPs can be in the form of a three-dimensional ordering puzzle. In particular, this HIP provides a three-dimensional image. Once again, the image can include any number of shapes, objects, letters, numbers, and the like that are recognizable to humans. The user can be asked to solve a variety of ordering challenges such as to identify the order from front to back, left to right, and/or largest object to smallest object.
In a third instance, the order-based HIP can be in the form of a maze configuration. The maze configuration can require a user to (visually) manipulate a shaped block from a start position to the end position of the maze. Along the path of the block can be letters or numbers such that the correct order of the letters or numbers successfully leads the block through to the end of the maze. Because the maze demands rotations, turns and other visualizations, this type of order-based HIP would be relatively difficult for a computer to solve but relatively simple for a human to solve. Moreover, a minimum amount of knowledge about the maze and/or elements in the maze can be helpful, if not necessary, in order to successfully solve it.
Various classes of HIPs including order-based HIPs and sequence-based HIPs can be recycled and reused over and over again a limited number of times to mitigate computers (e.g., OCR software) from learning how to solve them. With this in mind, new HIPs can be generated at a sufficient rate or as desired.
Before new HIPs (order based or otherwise) are actually put to full use as a protective or blocking technique, they can be tested for effectiveness. An effective HIP is one that is easy enough for humans to solve but too difficult for computers to solve. Thus, one way to test the effectiveness of HIPs is to determine the difficulty level of them.
In addition to introducing a new class of HIPs (e.g., order-based), the present invention also provides a framework for determining the difficulty level of substantially all classes of HIPs (e.g., order-based, sequence-based, and audio) in an automated fashion to facilitate increasing their overall effectiveness.
In one aspect of the invention, HIP string difficulty can be verified by comparing user interaction with respect to multiple HIP strings. For example, instead of displaying a single HIP string to the user, a plurality (e.g., at least two) of smaller or shorter HIP strings can be presented to the user to solve. By way of example, imagine that at least a first HIP string is of known difficulty ("known HIP") and at least a second string is of unknown difficulty ("unknown HIP"). Much information relating to the difficulty of the unknown HIP can be gathered by observing user responses to the known HIP string compared to the unknown HIP. If the unknown HIP is determined to be more difficult than the known HIP, then it can be discarded for being too difficult for humans.
Furthermore, by observing the user responses to the unknown and/or known HIPs, the invention can also note mistakes that are particularly common (e.g., commonality determined on a percentage or number of responses exceeding a threshold). Therefore, if a common mistake is detected, the response can still be considered a correct or acceptable response. As a result, the HIP can be rated as not being too difficult for humans, with the new answers included as correct answers.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, user responses can be employed to annotate a database of images or audio recordings that are presented as HIPs. For example, an identifiable image of unknown difficulty can be presented to a user who has correctly answered at least one other HIP of known difficulty. The user's response to the image can be stored and then compared to previous as well as future user responses for the same image. If the user is a trusted user (e.g., has given correct responses for HIPs of known difficulty), then the user's response to the image can be utilized to create a list of possible correct answers for that image. Likewise, if the user's response is consistent with previous responses, then the user's response can be considered correct, whether or not it actually is correct. Thus, the present invention provides an efficient system and methodology of generating new and effective HIPs.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a manner for determining the difficulty of HIP parameters as well as the effectiveness when they are modified. HIP strings, including audio clips and visual images, are generated based in part on any number of parameters. One or more parameters can be adjusted in any number of ways to mitigate recognition by computers. By examining user responses to such adjustments, it can be determined whether a particular HIP is too difficult for a human. In other words, at the HIP parameter level, one or a subset of parameter settings can generate a HIP that is solvable by a human; whereas another slightly different parameter setting can produce a HIP that is too difficult. Hence, the difficulty of HIP parameters can be ascertained in addition to the difficulty of the HIP. Moreover, by analyzing user responses at the parameter level, HIP string generation can be optimized to effectively create useful HIPs.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed and the present invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The present invention is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the present invention.
As used in this application, the terms "component" and "system" are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.
The subject invention can incorporate various inference schemes and/or techniques in connection with automatically determining the difficulty of newly generated HIPs. As used herein, the term "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources.
It is to be appreciated that the present invention is not merely limited to email system access, but can be suitably adapted to include access to and/or control over any type of computer-based action and/or computer-based application or any other resource to which access can lead to user abuse or non-human use. It should also be understood that the term "user" as employed in the subject invention can refer to any person or entity desiring access to some kind of protected service or application (e.g., set-up of a new email account, user account, etc.).
According to the present invention, identifying human interaction can be optimized based at least in part upon the use of order logic. As such, a new class of HIPs, referred to as order-based HIPs is introduced and discussed in
Most HIPs currently in use are of the "sequence" type. An example of a common sequence-based HIP employed today is:
When presented with the above HIP, a user is instructed to write the characters in the above sequence. Other HIPs can provide a sequence of challenges or a single monolithic challenge. Unlike these common HIPs, order-based HIPs instruct a user to determine a correct order as well as to identify the elements as they appear in the correct order. Thus, a simple guess is neither sufficient nor practicable to gain access to the desired action or application.
Referring initially to
The system 100 also includes an identification component 140 that facilitates determining that access has been initiated or requested by a human—rather than automatically by a computer. This can be accomplished in part by presenting an order-based puzzle or problem, such as a human interactive proof (HIP), to be solved. A correct response must be received by the identification component 140 in order for access to be granted to the user by the access controller component 110. When a user initiates an action (via a computer or other electronic device), such as requesting some sort of access to an application or action, the user's input can be received by either the access controller component 110 or the identification component 140.
If received initially by the access controller component 110, the access controller 110 can signal the identification component 140 to identify whether the request has been made by a human or by a computer. The relevant data and/or information can be communicated between the two components as necessary to complete the user's request. Otherwise, the user's request can be received by the identification component 140, from which the user's response to the puzzle can be communicated to the access controller 110. The access controller component 110 can then determine whether access is granted or denied.
The identification component 140 can also include or communicate with a HIP database. From the HIP database, one or more HIPs can be retrieved as needed to identify whether the user is human. Order-based HIPs, unlike sequence-based HIPs, require different techniques to be solved. In some instances, some minimum amount of knowledge about one or more objects or images included in the HIP can be necessary or required for solving it. In addition to identifying individual elements and only the relevant elements (e.g., not all are necessarily included in the correct answer), providing a correct order of the relevant elements is also important for solving the HIP.
As depicted in
Thus, in order to accurately solve the "Start to End" HIP 200, a user must determine the correct order of at least a subset of characters 210. Moreover, not all of the items or characters have to be included in the correct order (e.g., correct response), which can add another level of difficulty for computers. That is, not only must the correct order of characters be determined, but only items of a certain type, or a subset of the items, must be found and identified. In this example, the type of items refers to characters 210 which are connected by a single kind of connector or connection 220 (e.g., arrows).
The difficulty level of the "Start to End" HIP can be further modified by at least partially obscuring the connections. In one instance, the connections 220 can be partially obscured by translucent shapes in which relatively large portions of the arrows are obscured. In another instance, smaller portions of the connections can be obscured by opaque or shaded shapes. Color and/or grayscale shading can also be employed in order to modify and/or adjust the difficulty of the order-based HIP.
Still referring to
To increase the difficulty of the HIP, a shaded heart-shaped 230 object partially obscures the characters E and I as well as portions of the arrows 220 associated therewith. Furthermore, translucent shapes 240, 250 at least partially obscure other portions of arrows 220. Moreover, providing the correct order of characters and the correct subset of characters is required to properly solve the "Start to End" HIP 200. In addition, determining which characters should be left out of the correct answer is also an important factor in solving the HIP 200.
Images which are relatively simple for humans to recognize can also be used instead of or in combination with the characters 210. For example, images of a cat, dog, house, hat, car, and butterfly may be employed alternatively, or in addition to, the characters 210. Following then, the correct subset and order of images and/or characters may be "cat-B-hat-G," for example.
Referring now to
It should be appreciated that the image shown in
The use of occlusion can also augment the difficulty level of the 3-D HIP 300. For example, in the figure, most of the character E is block by an object 320. However, a human has no difficulty recognizing it. To further increase the effectiveness and/or difficulty of the HIP 300, the size of the characters 310 and/or the size of shapes and/or objects employed in the image can be varied. As depicted, the characters are about all the same size. Thus, the depth computations may be fairly easy since letters that appear to be smaller are further back in the image when all of the letters are the same actual size.
The 3-D HIP 300 can be made somewhat easier for humans by including one or more various clues as to depth including at least one of shadows, reflections, fog, and partial occlusions (e.g., one object blocking another, the object including characters, shapes, etc.). For instance, shadows can come from one or more light sources to provide additional clues for the human to solve but that make it more difficult for a computer to solve. Ascertaining the difficulty rating of newly generated HIPs is discussed in further detail infra in
Moreover, the 3-D HIP 300 can also include a sufficient number of visual elements that provide hints of the correct order and/or hints of the identities of the characters or objects to make it solvable by a human.
Referring now to
Furthermore, the rectangular block 410 must make its way through and in between other odd-shaped objects and/or images 420. Hence, solving the maze HIP requires some minimum amount of knowledge about the block 410 and/or the images 420 in order to perform the necessary visualizations, for example. Some HIPs repeatedly employ the same images as well as the same sizes of images, which can be advantageous to OCR software. Hence, the size and types of images included in the maze should vary to make it more cost-prohibitive to write HIP solving software.
In addition, the difficulty of maze HIPs can be further increased by forming a three-dimensional display of the maze to be solved and/or by incorporating pictures or images of real objects, some of which can serve as severe impediments to the rectangular block 410. This is illustrated in
The maze can be created by first randomly generating a path for the block to take from START to END; and then generating shapes and/or "dangerous" objects in such a way that the path is never blocked. Care should be taken that no alternate path is allowed. In the given HIP 500, the correct response is D-A-F-O-B-H-K.
Moreover, some minimum knowledge of the objects such as object recognition can be necessary to correctly solve order-based HIPs—in particular, the properties of the real objects 520 to distinguish the dangerous objects from the non-dangerous objects. However, the object or identity of the object is language-independent. Therefore, when identifying the particular object in the answer, many right answers can be possible and accepted in view of the many different languages spoken today. Conversely, infrequent wrong answers are expected.
As a general matter, if wrong answers are frequently received for any given instance of a HIP (of any type, order-based or otherwise) then the HIP may be too difficult for even humans to solve and thus ineffective in blocking only non-human users from access. Hence, as new HIPs are being generated, a determination must be made as to their difficulty and ultimately as to their effectiveness before they can be fully implemented to protect and/or prevent access from non-humans.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the difficulty of newly generated HIPs of any class or type can be determined in an automated fashion. This allows the average difficulty of the HIP to be increased without risking that individual HIPs become too difficult for humans. It also allows a new class of HIPs in which the computer does not know the correct answer. More discussion on this new class of HIPs will follow, infra.
As previously mentioned, the most common type of HIP is a sequence-based HIP such as:
This type of sequence-based HIP is an image of a letter-number sequence that has been distorted to be difficult for OCR software to recognize, but easy enough for a human to transcribe (e.g., 6-K-C-P-T-R-X-8). The distortion is random and thus, difficult to automatically check whether the distortion is so severe that a human would reach a wrong answer. As OCR systems improve and as hackers target specific HIPs, the difficulty of HIPs in general will need to increase. Therefore, it is increasingly important to verify that a particular instance of a HIP has not reached a point wherein a human frequently gives the wrong answer. For example, below is another actual sample of a sequence-based HIP:
Due to the distortion of the fifth character in the above sequence, it is moderately difficult to determine whether it is an F with some extra noise or an E with some deletion. In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides an exemplary system 600, as depicted by the general block diagram in
The system 600 comprises a HIP component 610 that provides at least one HIP of known difficulty (known HIP) and at least one HIP of unknown difficulty (unknown HIP), denoted as HIP1 620, HIP2 630, . . . up to HIPZ 640 (where Z is an integer greater than or equal to one). For example, rather than presenting a single HIP having 8 characters, three smaller HIPs having 4 characters each can be displayed. Two of these HIPs are known to be not too difficult (e.g., known difficulty) and one of them has an unknown difficulty.
For users who solve the two known HIPs, the system 600 can monitor how well they do on the unknown HIP by way of a monitor component 650. The monitor component 650 can monitor a user's responses to determine which HIPs are solved correctly and/or incorrectly. Users who answer the known HIP(s) correctly are granted access to the desired action or application via an access controller 660. Such user can be considered human users since they solved the known HIPs. The user's response to the unknown HIP can be saved to a database 670 for comparison to other user responses to facilitate rating the difficulty of the unknown HIP such as after the unknown HIP has been presented the desired number of times.
Such measurements and/or analyses can be performed by an analyzing component 680 coupled to or contained within the monitoring component 650 (depending on the desired system configuration). If the calculated percentage of users who provide wrong answers exceeds a threshold, then the unknown HIP can be discarded as being too difficult. The unknown HIP can be presented a set number of times such as 20, 100, or 1000 times. Thus, the percentage of time the unknown HIP is answered correctly can be more accurately measured. Unknown HIPs answered incorrectly too often such as 10%, 5% or even 1% of the time can be discarded.
In practice, imagine that we knew that
Thus, a challenge such as the following could be presented to a user:
wherein PART 1 is an unknown HIP and PARTS 2 and 3 are known HIPs.
For users who answer the last two parts (e.g., mini HIPs) correct, the system 600 can verify whether the same user has responded to the first part correctly. If users who can consistently get the last two parts correct fail to get the first part correct, then the system can determine that the first part (e.g., unknown HIP) is too difficult. The known and unknown HIPs can be arranged in any random order, changing with each user or with every Mth user, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 1. This of course makes the HIP display less predictable for frequent users and/or for OCR systems.
Moreover, the system 600 presents HIPs of known difficulty which can mean that they are known not to be too difficult for humans. Since one objective of the present invention is to protect the system 600 from being attacked by a computer, the system 600 only utilizes answers from users who get the last two parts (e.g., known HIPs) correct, or in the alternative, from users who make the same or similar kinds of mistakes on the last parts that humans are expected to make. Otherwise, someone could use a computer to answer the HIPs and the system would be misled to think that the first part was hard (assuming the computer did not do a good job) when in fact it is not difficult at all.
In addition, the monitoring component 650 can optionally monitor and/or track particular mistakes that users make with respect to the unknown HIP. For instance, the fact that a determined percentage of users mistake the E for an F (e.g., fourth character of first part) can be tracked. Accordingly, the system 600 could accept an answer of F from future users as a "correct" answer. Thus, some consistently made mistakes with respect to the unknown HIP can be accepted as correct answers. Again, this determination can be based at least in part upon a threshold and a calculated percentage of users who make the same mistake.
In another aspect of the present invention, the unknown HIP can truly be an unknown HIP whereby the system 600 does not already know any "correct" answer to this HIP. In this case, human behavior can be monitored for an amount of time or over a number of users to determine a list of acceptable responses to the unknown HIP. For example, a random image could be presented to a plurality of users. The random image may be selected from a very large database of images or even randomly from the Internet. Each user can be asked a question such as "How would you describe this image?" or "What word does this image evoke?"
Images for which the answer to the question is consistent can be employed as HIPs presented to future users. Such HIPs can be considered known HIPs since their difficulty is known to be not too difficult. It should be understood that the same or identical answer is not necessary as long as some consistent word or set of words is given by a percentage of the prompted users.
The system 600, as described hereinabove, is not limited to sequence-based HIPs. Rather, HIPs of any type or class can be employed in a similar manner. For instance, an audio HIP can be developed and presented in a series of three audio HIPs, two of which are known to be easy, and one of which is of unknown difficulty. In particular, at least one unknown and at least one known audio HIP are provided. Therefore, combinations of three known and two unknown HIPs or any other combination are feasible in accordance with the subject invention.
Alternatively, at least one HIP of any difficulty can be displayed in accordance with another aspect of the present invention. Consider the following: users attempting to use automatic techniques to access some part of the Internet typically come from some number of IP addresses but probably not the entire Internet. For example, they may use a Proxy server of a large Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as America Online�. This has the effect that all users of the proxy service appear to come from the same IP address. Some of them are legitimate users and some of them are hackers trying to use automatic techniques to avoid the system 600. It is not possible to simply reject all requests from such an IP address, but it is understood that some or many of the attempts for access cannot be trusted. The system 600 can optionally detect which IP addresses appear to be using automatic techniques by examining their corresponding failure rates. The failure rates for these IP addresses should be unusually high since computers solve a HIP measurably less often than humans.
For IP addresses without high failure rates, the system can assume that they are nearly always operated by humans. They can be granted access no matter what they provide in response to an unknown HIP; and their answers can be employed to facilitate determining the difficulty of the unknown HIP.
Furthermore, an IP address can be given many challenges (e.g., HIPs) of only known difficulty. If the IP address consistently provides correct responses, then the system can assume that humans operate the address. Subsequently, the system 600 can present unknown HIPs occasionally to this IP address without including a HIP of known difficulty. Again, the system can assume that a human is answering any or all of the HIPs and then check how often the unknown HIPs are answered correctly. Access can always be granted to whatever the HIP controls whether or not they answer this unknown HIP correctly. Occasionally, known HIPs can be sent to the trusted IP address to verify that humans and humans that appear to make reasonable efforts to respond to the HIPs correctly are operating that IP address.
Referring now to
The system 700 comprises a HIP parameter controller 710 that controls a plurality of parameters (e.g., at least one) which are employed in generating HIPs of known and unknown difficulty. The parameters can be denoted as
At least one or a subset of parameters extracted from some number of known HIPs can be adjusted in order to create a new HIP of unknown difficulty that is human solvable. At the parameter level, particular variations of parameters may lead to a non-solvable HIP whereas other variations of those parameters may lead to a solvable HIP. For example, in audio HIPs, the parameters determine how much noise is added. The amount of noise added to the audio HIP can either make it less difficult for a user to transcribe or can make it substantially more difficult for the user to transcribe. Many different types of distortions can be added or removed from audio HIPs. To keep the HIP in the human-solvable range, one subset of distortions can be adjusted in a particular way to create a fixed target (e.g., ideal settings) for other audio HIPs to follow. For instance, if an audio HIP is adjusted in manner W then, it should not also be adjusted in manner Q. Otherwise, the HIP can become too difficult for a human. Once it is determined which set or subset of parameters to modify, a HIP generator component 750 can create a new HIP of unknown difficulty and it can be "tested" thereafter to verify that it is not too difficult for humans.
Various methodologies in accordance with the subject invention will now be described via a series of acts. It is to be understood and appreciated that the present invention is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with the present invention, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
Instructions for solving the HIP can also be provided with the HIP at 810. If at least one HIP of known difficulty is presented at 810, then at 820, access to an action or application controlled by the HIP can be granted when the HIP is answered correctly. Such HIPs can include sequence-based, order-based, as well as audio HIPs. "Correct" answers can comprise those answers which are truly accurate as well as those which include similar mistakes consistently made by a high enough percentage of users (e.g., percentage exceeds a threshold). In addition, "correct" answers can be determined and compiled by monitoring user behavior. For example, consistent answers provided by a set or subset of users can be used to annotate an answer list corresponding to a database of "unknown" images. Those images can then be used in future HIPs. Consistency can be based at least in part upon a percentage of users who provide the same or similar responses, wherein the percentage exceeds some threshold.
In cases where only an unknown HIP was presented to a trusted user or IP address, any answer provided by such user will be accepted and access will be granted as long as that user continues to provide consistent right answers to known HIPs as they are periodically presented.
Referring now to
At 920, the user's responses can be monitored by analyzing his/her response to the known HIP and then to the unknown HIP. The process which occurs at 920 is further explained in
Based at least in part on the respective percentages, the difficulty of the unknown HIP can be determined at 950. In one example, unknown HIPs which are answered incorrectly 15% of the time (e.g., 15% of users presented with the HIP) can be discarded as being too difficult—assuming that the 15% exceeds an acceptable threshold. The many thresholds that can be employed in the present invention can be determined by the respective operators of the actions or applications to which access is desired.
In a second example, a percentage of users who consistently respond in the same or similar manner can also be employed to determine the difficulty of the unknown HIP. That is, the same answer is not required from every user. If about half the responses are "A" and about half the responses are "B", then A and B can be acceptable responses (e.g., considered "correct") because such responses are consistent. In this case, the difficulty of the HIP could be determined as not being too difficult for humans to solve. On the contrary, if an unknown HIP is presented 50 times and 25-30 different (e.g., inconsistent) answers are received then the HIP cannot be used since it is most likely too difficult to obtain consistent responses from humans.
As mentioned above,
At 1040, user responses comprising inconsistent and/or incorrect answers to known HIPs can be discarded as they are not utilized to determine the difficulty of the unknown HIP. Furthermore, users who fail to provide an acceptable response to the known HIP are denied access to the desired HIP-controlled action or application. Conversely, users who successfully answer the known HIP are granted access regardless of their response to the unknown HIP.
Turning now to
At 1140, the new HIP of unknown difficulty can be presented to a user. After a number of users have provided their responses to the unknown HIP, the difficulty of the HIP and of the adjusted HIP parameter, in particular, can be determined at 1150. If the HIP is determined to be difficult, then the adjusted parameter can also be considered too difficult for humans. Combinations of parameters can also be tested in this manner to optimize HIP parameters in order to produce new HIPs that are almost always solvable by humans.
In order to provide additional context for various aspects of the present invention,
Generally, however, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular data types. The operating environment 1210 is only one example of a suitable operating environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Other well known computer systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include but are not limited to, personal computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include the above systems or devices, and the like.
With reference to
The system bus 1218 can be any of several types of bus structure(s) including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available bus architectures including, but not limited to, 11-bit bus, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card International Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI).
The system memory 1216 includes volatile memory 1220 and nonvolatile memory 1222. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer information between elements within the computer 1212, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 1222. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1222 can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory 1220 includes random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).
Computer 1212 also includes removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media.
It is to be appreciated that
A user enters commands or information into the computer 1212 through input device(s) 1236. Input devices 1236 include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1214 through the system bus 1218 via interface port(s) 1238. Interface port(s) 1238 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1240 use some of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1236. Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1212, and to output information from computer 1212 to an output device 1240. Output adapter 1242 is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices 1240 like monitors, speakers, and printers among other output devices 1240 that require special adapters. The output adapters 1242 include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1240 and the system bus 1218. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s) 1244.
Computer 1212 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s) 1244. The remote computer(s) 1244 can be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to computer 1212. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1246 is illustrated with remote computer(s) 1244. Remote computer(s) 1244 is logically connected to computer 1212 through a network interface 1248 and then physically connected via communication connection 1250. Network interface 1248 encompasses communication networks such as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 1102.3, Token Ring/IEEE 1102.5 and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).
Communication connection(s) 1250 refers to the hardware/software employed to connect the network interface 1248 to the bus 1218. While communication connection 1250 is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer 1212, it can also be external to computer 1212. The hardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1248 includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.
What has been described above includes examples of the present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the present invention, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the present invention are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
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|"Early Learning Grades PreK-2 Education Standards Correlations", published on the web in 2002. URL: http://www.teacherstreet.com/standards/earlylearnk-2.html. The attached copy is the version posted in 2002, as identified by WayBackMachine.
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|Microsoft Corporation
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|Identifying user activities using eye tracking data, mouse events, and keystrokes
|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 23, 2003
Owner name: MICROSOFT CORPORATION, WASHINGTON
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:GOODMAN, JOSHUA T.;ROUNTHWAITE, ROBERT L.;REEL/FRAME:014550/0514
Effective date: 20030921
|Oct 4, 2012
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Dec 9, 2014
Owner name: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC, WASHINGTON
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MICROSOFT CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:034541/0477
Effective date: 20141014


text:
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 • 55,000 miles
My car has been sitting in cold weather for 15 days, wouldn't start. Battery will be 5 yrs old this summer. I could unlock the vehicle with the key but when I turned it over, there was nothing not even a whimper. I think I need a new battery replacement.
January 31, 2013.
January 31, 2013.
Sounds like you need a battery being 5 years old. Being the vehicle is a Mercedes it is bound to have more electronics which draw on the battery more and the face it was cold, make it hard for an old battery to work well.
Jan 31, 2013.
Jan 31, 2013.
How do I replace a battery in a 2009 Chevy Equinox LS with a 3.4L V6. Most cars are straight forward, this looks difficult. Shame on GM. Thanks.
1 answer • 2009 Chevrolet Equinox • 19,000 miles
My battery is dead and I was going to take try and take it out but it is located on the passenger side below the air cleaner. My question is how is it possible to remove/replace the ...
2 answers • 2002 Dodge Intrepid • 125 miles
About a month ago, the battery and brake light came on on my 2000 Mitsubishi Galant. The lights would sometimes stay on, sometimes flicker. A couple of weeks ago, I woke up and the car ...
1 answer • 2000 Mitsubishi Galant • 130,000 miles

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Latest Weather Blog
Greer: Saints 'starting to see some light'
METAIRIE - After going winless in September, the New Orleans Saints have clawed back to within one victory of a .500 record, and what looked like a lost season without suspended coach Sean Payton has turned into something with more promise.
If the Saints beat Oakland on Sunday, they will be 5-5 and one game out of the final wild card spot in the NFC. A huge win against previously unbeaten Atlanta has left them in position to at least make a run at the playoffs.
Saints cornerback Jabari Greer says that when the Saints were 0-4, "It was doomsday." He says it seemed like everyone outside the organization had written them off.
Greer says after putting themselves in such a hole, the Saints are "starting to see some light."


text:
2002 Chevrolet 2500 HD Silverado Rear Brakes And Rotors
People Who Liked This Video Also Liked
Did this video help you?
Tony Dadon: Is this the same for 2005 GMC 2500HD?
Mark Rogers: Thank You...Informative video.
Dick Fageroni: love how he half-assedly cleans the new rotor, how he half-assedly tightens the bracket bolts, how he doesn't bother cleaning the sliding rails and how he doesn't even lube the slide pins.
great video on how to NOT do it.
blam7: Thanks for sharing.
Calvin Cannon: Cool video
Steve Halley: great video, thank you
bluepoint45: Thanks for the video, reason I came on here was because I didn't how to remove top caliper bolt, little did I know I don't have to!!
1957Panman: Excellent Video. Thanks for the Tip on the top bolt. (Just did my rear brakes.) On 2004 they change the Caliper bolts (from Torx) to a 16mm bolt.
Terry Gulliford: Thanks for the good job on the video. I was "that" guy who couldn't figure out how to get the second slide bolt out so I put off changing the rears. Your video showed me how to get around that and then it was easy.
Earl DaSquirrel: if the rotor/drum combo are stuck on, disengage the parking brake, so the brake shoes inside the rotor had can back off and you can just slip it off... of course, your front wheels are chocked
also there's a star-wheel adjuster access hole in the backing plate just above the axle... usually coverd by a rubber plug
a very short handle flathead screwdriver can be inserted there and you can back off those brake shoes from the drum/rotor combo
other than that, & not showing that you re-lubed those sliding caliper pins... not a bad video!
Scott Ares: good video... Do you have any videos for how to replace the LCA on a 2004 2500hd silverado 4X4?? thanks
John Lee: Excellent video. Thanks for the refresher. I am fixing to change my pads and rotors now. I knew how, but this vid was a great refresher. Thanks again
Kevin McNeese: wouldn't hurt to put some brake/caliper grease on those pin bolts before re-inserting.
Kevin McNeese: consider pinching the break line before pushing the piston back into the caliper and use the bleeder valve to release the fluid. Doing so prevents the chance of pushing contaminated fluid into the master which could damage the ABS.
Kevin McNeese: Notice how the caliper bracket moves when he removes the pads? He may have already loosened them before filming. Those bolts are indeed very tight and tough to break.
L Sevelle: This is an excellent video to watch before taking on this job. The only thing he does not mention is that the caliper bracket bolts can be tough. You need to use an impact socket and a long breaker bar. Otherwise a very good video.
Joseph Upali: oh btw, should i grind those edge of the pads, to make little loose?
Joseph Upali: Thank you very much! nice video
WIZARDOFMIDWEST: Great video dude!!! Covered all I needed to know.
ReturnPrivacyNow: This is an excellent tutorial! I had never done the rear brakes on my 2500hd. I bought it used. I only looked at this to see how to remove the rotor. But, I wish I had watched this before I took it apart, as you really had some great tips, especially about the top pivot bolt. Keep making these tutorials, it is REALLY appreciated!
2002 Chevrolet 2500 HD Silverado Rear Brakes and Rotors 5 out of 5


text:
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
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text:
Slain Alabama school bus driver mournedComment on this story
Chicago -
Friends and family on Sunday mourned the death of an Alabama school bus driver shot by a gunman who snatched a five-year-old boy and has held him in an underground bunker for six days.
Police say Jimmy Lee Dykes, a retired trucker aged 65, shot bus driver Charles Albert Poland to death on Tuesday when he tried to block the gunman, and then abducted the boy.
There was still no indication that the child was physically hurt and he has received medication, colouring books and toys, The Opelika-Auburn News cited authorities as saying. He also got Cheez-It crackers.
State police and other law enforcement officials are communicating regularly with the kidnapper, reportedly through a narrow ventilation pipe sticking out of the bunker.
Dykes has been known to stay in his underground bunker for up to eight days, neighbours, who have evacuated the area, told ABC News.
A woman who lives next door to the boy said his mother was worried about the well-being of her autistic son.
"He has behaviour problems, and she doesn't want him to get in one of those moods where he's uncontrollable," Cindy Steiner told the television network. "She's scared what would happen."
Ahead of funeral services for Poland, Destiny Church Dothan pastor Jevon Goode tweeted to his congregation: "We are expecting a move of God for the community!"
Poland is being remembered as a hero.
"The bus driver kept saying, 'Just please get off the bus,' and (Dykes) said, 'Ah, all right, I'll get off the bus," witness Terrica Singletary, 14, told ABC News.
"He just tried to back up and reverse and - Dykes - pulled out the gun and he just shot him, and he just took Ethan." - Sapa-AFP
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text:
Nordic Center
|Click map image to download large version.
Think COLD!
Air Temp:
The White Pass Nordic Center offers 18K of groomed double-tracked trails which meander through both the Wenatchee and the Gifford Pinchot National Forests. Our terrain offers classic cross-country, skating and snowshoeing for individuals of all ability levels. Lessons and rentals are available daily through the holiday period then Thursday - Sunday. Stop in the Nordic Yurt and our friendly staff will answer all your questions!
The Nordic Center is open Thursday - Sunday and holidays from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Rental skis and snowshoes are available at the Yurt which is located at the Nordic Center Trailhead just behind the Village Inn Condominiums.
Day Pass $15
Season Pass $135
Adult Ski Rental Package - Skis, Boots, Poles (ages 16+) $21
Junior Ski Rental Package (ages 15-) $17
Snowshoe Rental (all ages) $15
Lessons are available Thursday - Sunday at 10 am and Noon. Please arrive at the Nordic Yurt to check in at least 10 minutes prior to your lesson. If you need to rent gear, please allow 30 minutes prior to your lesson.
Introduction to Nordic Skiing Package - Includes lesson, ski rental package and trail pass (all ages) $45
Group Lesson $37
Private Lesson 1-Hour $75 2-Hours $99


text: > View Product Details Please select the size of the product. Please enter valid quantity. Prada black camel three-quarter length coat overview details Retail: $2,750.00 Reduced: $1,639.99 40% Off : $983.99 color : We're sorry. This style is sold out. Black Living the luxe life is quite easy when you've got the masters of Italian design Prada on your side. Color: Black Soft, mid-weight camel Notched lapel with concealed 3-button front placket Dual flap pockets at front Concealed three-button slit at cuff Partially lined interior with two interior pockets Rear center vent Modern fit Size M measures approximately 35'' from base of back collar to hem, 28'' sleeve length from top shoulder seam; may vary by size Outer: 100% Camel; Lining: 100% Viscose; Dry Clean; Italy; style#321856601


text:
ROCKFORD — When Makala Arn's mother took her to a skating arena for the first time, she said her mom, thought it would be, "something to do for fun."
ROCKFORD — When Makala Arn's mother took her to a skating arena for the first time, she said her mom, thought it would be, "something to do for fun."
Now, 11 years later, figure skating is more than just a hobby.
Today, Arn, a member of the Rockford Skating Club, will compete at the Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships in Strongsville, Ohio. If she can finish in the top four in the novice ladies singles division, she'll qualify for January's national event in Omaha, Neb.
Arn's qualification is the first from the area since Melissa Lind did it in 2000.
"It's going to be more of a learning experience, but I am excited," the Stillman Valley freshman said.
Arn, who splits her training time between the Carlson Ice Arena and the Oakton Ice Arena (Park Ridge), qualified for sectionals after finishing fourth at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Figure Skating Championships held in Green Bay, Wis., in October.
Arn credits her increased training routine for her breakout season so far.
"I've been skating six days a week throughout the summer until now," she said.
Gene Heffron, who serves as her secondary coach along with Carol Ueck at Carlson Ice Arena, said Arn's hard work is paying off.
"She has great skating skills," Heffron said. "Her turns, doubles axels and speed have all increased now. That's a big factor because she doesn't have the big jumps, so you've got to have something else to keep you up there. Her speed and how she moves across the ice is really effortless.
"She's probably going to be one of the best spinners there. She has consistently hit the highest level with her spins in competition and her footwork is great."
Arn will compete today in the short program and Tuesday, in the long program.
"I'm feeling pretty confident," she said.
Brenda Young: 815-987-1388; firstname.lastname@example.com; @brendafyoung
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text: ' Personalised Family ' Linen Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £34$76.32€50.79$55.93 In stock This item is not available for delivery to United States. family name: (required) est: year (required) quantity by Rustic Country Crafts Location: Co Antrim, GB read seller's profile see seller's complete range more items from this seller ' Chalkboard ' Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £29.95$67.23€44.74$49.27 ' Love Est…' Personalised Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £34$76.32€50.79$55.93 ' Family Surname ' Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £34$76.32€50.79$55.93 ' Initial Letter ' Personalised Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £34$76.32€50.79$55.93 Personalised Pocket Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £35$78.57€52.28$57.58 ' Family Tree Heart ' Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts £35$78.57€52.28$57.58 view all you may also like PRODUCT DETAILS DELIVERY RETURNS Made in Britain can be personalised exclusive eco-friendly ask seller a question save for later A personalised family Irish Linen cushion An ideal gift for the home which can be personalised to your requirements. Rustic Country Crafts cushions make a beautiful statement on any chair, sofa, bench and look equally well on their own or placed with other cushions. The vintage style cushions with a modern twist are suited to the style of contemporary or country homes. Rustic Country Crafts cushions are made using the finest quality textiles including hessian, pure Irish linen & calico. We source all the materials for our cushions and soft furnishings from mills and suppliers in the UK. Spot clean cushions only. Pictured is an example of the wording you can have on your personalised cushion Please write your personalisation in the drop down menus provided. made from: Cushion is printed onto pure Irish Linen dimensions: Cushion - Approx 18"x10" product code: 243233 This product is dispatched to you by Rustic Country Crafts. MAINLAND UK order now and receive this item by price Free Delivery Friday 11 December FREEFREEFREEFREE NON-MAINLAND UK estimated delivery price Highlands & Islands of Scotland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE Northern Ireland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE Other UK Islands 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY estimated delivery price Not currently available for this region You have 28 days, from receipt of cancellable goods, to notify the seller if you wish to cancel your order or exchange an item. Please note: goods that are personalised, bespoke or made-to-order to your specific requirements, perishable products and personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear) in instances where the seal is broken are non-refundable, unless faulty. Read more about our returns policy.Should you choose to return or exchange your order you will need to deliver the item(s) to the UK, where this seller is based. Rustic Country Crafts's return policy Please see notonthehighstreet.com's returns policy.


text:
Mr. Chandir Gidwani - Chairman
Mr. Gidwani is the Founder of Centrum Capital Ltd. He is a member of various Industry associations such as FICCI, CII, etc. and is also on the board of many leading companies.
Mr. Sanjiv Bhasin – MD & CEO - Centrum Capital Ltd.
Mr. Bhasin is a banker with more than 35 years experience in the banking & financial services industry. Mr. Bhasin in his previous assignments was CEO, DBS Bank in India, MD & CEO of Rabo India Finance and COO, HSBC India.
Rajnish Bahl - MD & CEO - Group Retail Financial Services
Mr. Bahl has more than 20 years of experience in banking and financial services. Previously, he was Regional Head of Distribution, HSBC Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and was also Managing Director and Head - Retail Bank, HSBC India.
Rajendra Naik – MD - Investment Banking
Mr. Naik has more than 15 years of experience in equity structuring and debt finance structuring, and placement. He has established long-term relationships with corporate houses, banks, mutual funds and private equity funds.
T.C. Guruprasad – MD - Foreign Exchange
Mr. Guruprasad has 16 years of experience in foreign exchange services. Prior to joining Centrum, he was with LKP Forex Ltd.
Kumud Ranjan Mohanty – Joint MD & COO - Foreign Exchange
Mr. Mohanty has 30 years of Banking & Financial sector experience which includes amongst others International Banking, Offshore Banking, Treasury Operations, Risk Management and Compliance. He has previously worked with Bank of India in its foreign and domestic offices.
Anil Patwardhan – Head - Debt Syndication
Mr. Patwardhan has over 35 years of experience in the Banking & Financial Services sector. Previously he was the GM-Credit of Bank of India.
K. R. Menon – ED – Debt Syndication
Mr. Menon has more than 30 years of experience in Banking, specifically overseas Banking and Credit. He was the head of Union Bank of California.
Rajiv Bakshi – Senior Advisor
Mr. Bakshi has over 37 years of experience in Banking, in India as well as overseas. He was formerly the Executive Director of Bank of Baroda.
Sandeep Upadhyay – MD & CEO - Centrum Infrastructure Advisory Limited
Mr. Upadhyay has about 12 years of extensive experience in advising clients on Project Structuring, Investments and Raising Funds in Transportation, Power & Logistics sector. Previously worked with Gammon, IL&FS and SBI Caps
Ajay Jain – ED - Investment Banking
Mr. Jain has over 24 years of experience in raising funds from – Banks, Equity, PEs, NBFCs, Mutual Fund, HNIs , Overseas investors & structured funding. Has domain knowledge of various sectors such as Real Estate, Infrastructure, Steel, Cement, Mining, Textiles, Lifestyle, E-commerce, IT enabled, Pharma & Auto Ancillary. Previously has worked as Director & CFO with large companies such as Man Group, Uttam Galva Group S. Kumar Group, Aditya Birla Group, Unimark Remedies Ltd & EMCO Ltd.
S. K. Verma – Corporate Initiatives & Business Development
Mr. Verma has more than 40 years of experience in banking and financial services sector. Previously, Head - Large Corporate Vertical of Union Bank of India.
S. Ganashyam - ED & COO - Group Retail Financial Services
Mr. Ganashyam has more than 20 years of experience in setting up and running businesses across Wealth Management, Private Banking and Institutional and Retail Equities. Previously, he was Head of Wealth Management, HSBC India.
K Sandeep Nayak - ED & CEO- Broking
Mr. Nayak has more than 20 years of experience in capital markets including retail broking, private client services and portfolio management, retail distribution and franchisee development. Previously, he was Head - Retail Broking and Wealth Management at HSBC InvestDirect Ltd.
Paresh Shah - MD - Institutional Equities (Sales Trading) - Broking
A Qualified CA with certification by the UTI Institute of Capital Market. Paresh joins us from IDFC Sec, where he was designated as M.D. Sales Trading., Paresh has over 20 years rich experience in Equities in organizations like ICICI Securities and ABN Amro Asia Equities.
Gaurav Bhandari - MD - Institutional Equities (Sales) - Broking
A Post Graduate in Business Management from IIM Kolkatta, Gaurav has handled Institutional Broking at Centrum for over 5 years and prior to that had a successful stint in Equity Broking at ICICI Securities.
Shailendra Apte – ED & Group CFO
Mr. Apte has been associated with the Centrum Group since inception. He has played a pivotal role in it's growth and expansion. Mr. Apte has been directly involved with each business of the Group, helped structure their new ventures and played an important role in all their launches.
Sriram Venkatasubramanian - ED - Broking
Mr. Venkatasubramanian has more than 15 years of work experience in financial services across Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Portfolio Management, Retail Broking and Consumer Assets in areas on Strategy, Products, Sales, Risk and Advisory. Previously, he was Director - India Development Center, Aptuit Informatics India.
Arpita Vinay - Director - Wealth Management
Ms. Vinay has more than 10 years experience across wealth management and financial planning activities in the areas of Strategic Planning, Customer Proposition, Customer Segmentation & Analytics, Distribution Channel Management and Customer Experience. Before joining Centrum she was Head of Premier Banking for HSBC.
Kunj Bansal - ED & CIO - Wealth Management
Mr. Bansal has over 20 years of experience in capital markets which include managing money under different formats such as international/ offshore funds, mutual funds and PMS (Portfolio Management Services/ Client Funds). Previously, he was heading the Offshore Funds, Investment and Research team at Sanlam (a South African group) India. Prior to that he worked with the biggest names in the financial services industry such as Kotak securities and Religare Securities Ltd as CIO
Anjana Kumar - Head - HR
Ms. Kumar has more than 18 years of experience in the human resources field, pertaining to Talent Acquisition & HR Consulting. Before joining Centrum she has worked with Times of India, CHR Global and ABC Consultants.
Sriram Rajmohan - CEO - Centrum Global Visa Services (CGVS)
Mr. Rajmohan is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience in Finance & Accounts, Forex Management, Financial Control, MIS, Management and Mergers, Acquisition & Working Capital Management. Before joining Centrum he was CFO at VFS Tasheel, Dubai and prior to that he was the Group CFO of Kuoni with additional responsibility of heading the Mice vertical of Kuoni Group.


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- 27Promote
Art Print
Contemporary artby Misha Libertee
Collect your choice of gallery quality Giclée, or fine art prints custom trimmed by hand in a variety of sizes with a white border for framing.
i'm in delight!))
Wonderful collage Michael. Love the shapes and colours too ☺
This is complete shit. in a good way:)
Wonderful! But much to cheap!
Ha ha. Love the 'cheap' smack back. It's important to not take ourselves too seriously because life's too damned short and unfair.
See More Comments


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- Details
- Kaleb lace-up boot with combo material and round nylon laces. Black step welt and lug outsole. This item runs true to size.
100% Bovine
Measures: 10mm
Dust bag included.Style: 315103S14
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August 29, 2010
Fla. man claimed to be 14 to play football
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - Something wasn't right about Chad Jordan.
He was perfectly nice at youth football practice, his coach said. He never made any trouble. But still, "There just was a lot of stuff that wasn't adding up, you know?" said Ray McCloud, coach of the Town 'N' Country Packers.
McCloud's instincts were right.
Julious Javone Threatts is 21 years old. He's now behind bars without bail after Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said he used the alias Chad Jordan to pose as a 14-year-old boy, join the Tampa Bay Youth Football League and try to register at a Tampa middle school. Threatts was on probation for burglary charges, authorities later determined.
He now faces charges of trespassing on school grounds, obstruction by a disguised person and violation of probation.
Hillsborough County jail records Saturday did not show whether he was represented by an attorney.
"He really acted like a kid," McCloud said. "My son is 13, and my son was hanging out with him, and (Threatts) acted more immature than (my son)."
It's unclear how long Threatts pretended to be a teenager or why he did it.
Threatts is just the latest adult to pretend to be a teenager to play sports. In May, Odessa (Texas) Permian learned that the kid they thought was Jerry Joseph was really Guerdwich Montimer, a 22-year-old posing as a 15-year-old high school basketball player. Montimer now faces multiple charges, including sexual assault.
Steve Levinson, president of the football league, said Threatts played for the now defunct West Coast Youth Football Conference last year, trained again during the spring and then joined the Tampa Bay league at the beginning of this season. Levinson said the person he knew as Chad Jordan turned in all the necessary registration paperwork, including a copy of his birth certificate, which officials now realize must have been fake.
"He duped everyone," Levinson said.
Threatts, who is 5-11 and 160 pounds, only played with the Packers for the season's first game on Aug. 21. Coach McCloud thought it was odd that "Chad" kept his helmet on even when the game was over. "Like he was hiding," McCloud said.
McCloud said Threatts told the team that his parents had died in a car accident and he was being raised by an older brother. "It was like a movie," McCloud said.
The coach began to investigate, asking around to see if anyone knew who "Chad" really was.
Finally, he found someone who knew the truth. A friend from Threatt's neighborhood told McCloud that while Threatt's father died in a car accident in St. Petersburg last year, his mother was alive, McCloud said.
McCloud found Threatt's Facebook page, which lists his mother as Debra Miller. It also says Threatts graduated from Leto High School.
There is a link to his YouTube channel, which features him reading a poem he wrote called "GOD...", and to his Twitter account. The most recent post was on July 26: "just got home. Had a good practice today! Can't wait till tomorrow."
McCloud and the other coaches confronted Threatts, and he denied everything.
"After all the stuff that I found out, he still had me second guessing myself," McCloud said. "That's how good he was."
A couple days later, Threatts went to D. W. Webb Middle School on Hanley Road to register for classes, but he showed up without his parents or the necessary paperwork, said Steve Hegarty, a School District spokesman. He told school officials he was homeless, so the school brought in social workers from the Department of Children and Families.
Hegarty said Threatts was sent to the cafeteria for a snack while officials tried to figure out where he belonged.
Coincidentally, Hegarty and the school's principal, Marcos Murillo, were walking through the lunchroom at the same time. Murillo remarked to Hegarty that Threatts "looked too old to be in middle school ... I don't think he's 14 years old," Hegarty recalled the principal saying.
Threatts then went to the school social workers' office with a school resource deputy. During the investigation, Threatts' cell phone rang. One of the officials picked it up and asked who was on the line, according to an arrest affidavit. The caller said she was Threatt's mother, and authorities were finally able to piece together his identity.
He was never enrolled at school, Hegarty said, and was arrested later that day.
Threatt's mother could not be reached for comment.
McCloud said he thinks Threatts did it because "he just wanted to play football."
"I don't think he was good enough to play semipro or anything," McCloud said. "This might sound crazy, but I feel sorry for him ... they say he's a man, but he really acted like a sweet kid."
According to his arrest affidavit, Threatts is 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds. He has one tattoo: "Julious" across his left forearm.
This story was written by St. Petersburg Times reporter Kim Wilmath.
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HUNTINGTON BEACH Orange County's 10th Costco opened this week in Surf City.
The wholesale retailer at Edinger Avenue and Center Street will offer a 16-pump gas station, extended wine selection, a tire center, photo center, meat, produce and other goods.
City officials approved the Costco in September 2010 as part of an effort to revamp the areas where the former Montgomery Ward and Mervyns once stood.
Costco is part of the planned Village at Bella Terra, a mixed-use project that will include commercial space, residential units and retail adjacent to the existing Bella Terra Mall.


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If you need Saddle or Horse or even Tack in WA, look no further. www.hotfrog.com showcases more than 71 Saddle businesses across WA. To find more related businesses and to filter by locality, use the left navigation menu.
Yakima, WA
If you're in Yakima, Washington, or surrounding areas, and you're in need of top notch saddle and leather supplies, then look no further than MiDee Stitch, Saddle & Tack. At MiDee Stitch, Saddle & Tack we have a compreh…
TackSaddlery And Equestrian Equipment
Lewis Clark Saddle Club located in Clarkston WA. Member of Idaho Saddle Clubs Association
Horse Show
Redmond, WA
Welcome to Saddle Rock Stables LLC. We are an eventing barn located in Redmond, WA, featuring boarding, lessons and training
Black Diamond, WA
Black Forest Treeless Saddles are intended to comfortably fit even the most difficult-to-fit horses. THIS is Riding as it was always intended to be...Discover a new partnership with your horse. Visit our site for Englis…
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Auburn, WA
this gives information about me and my business, why a started fitting saddles ,what my goal . it tells a bit about my skills,repairs, replacing billets. about selling Grandeur saddle pads
Saddle FitterSaddle FittingSaddle PadsFlocking
Seattle, WA
Our Smoothies Saddlebags work as a direct replacement on 93 and newer Roadking, and Electraglide models using stock hardware
Dale Pack Station is a family owned and operated saddle shop specializing exclusively in the manufacture of quality Decker Pack Saddles since 1966
Saddle ShopPack SaddlesPack EquipmentLead Rope
Royal City, WA
Two years later, the old Columbia Produce Building in Royal City was leased, a general manager was hired and Saddle Mountain Supply began serving farmers on the Royal Slope
greenacres, wa
Icelandic Tack and Country Gift Shoppe, Inc. Tack, saddles, horse accessories and safety equipment for both Icelandic and gaited horses
BridleTackHorse AccessoriesEquestrian
Lake Washington Saddle Club is an equestrian club committed to preserving, improving, and maintaining Bridle Trails State Park in Bellevue, WA
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Ephrata, WA
For the best Western saddle,Horse Saddles, Horse Tack, Western Saddles, come to WesternSaddleSite.com. Great Low Prices, Free Shipping
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Newport, WA
Saddle Mountain Resort:; Waterfront Weddings on the Pend Oreille Our waterfront Lodge & expansive outdoor grounds will take your breath away
mead, wa
Over 250 new and used saddles in stock. We buy, sell, and trade. Located just a few minutes north of Spokane, WA
Saddle CompanyBridleNew And Used SaddlesUsed Saddles
Goldendale, WA
Sacred Heart Saddlery Tim Shatraw, maker of fine custom saddles and cowboy gear
Saddle ShopCustom SaddlesSaddlesCowboy Gear
Mercer Island, WA
Mercer Island Saddle Club is a cooperative barn located on close to five acres on the south end of Mercer Island
Washougal, WA
It is intended only to provide prospective saddle purchasers an opportunity to contact an individual distributor for information about and trial rides on Ansur saddles Contact one of our for a test ride
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Kennewick, WA
• Standard- or over-sized • High-wither or regular top line • Available with 100% wool lining Why wool fleece? • Durable and machine washable • Eliminates friction • Allows air circulation and ventilation • No chafing, …
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Woodinville, WA
We welcome your visit and participation in our events and activities We are located at 15205 NE 172nd Street Woodinville WA 98072
Sedro Woolley, WA
Horse Tack, Riding Club and Equestrian Clothing Store
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long beach, wa
We are a non profit club that has been in existence since 1946
We have been having a great time making noise We'd love it if you'd to say howdy Check out and download our two latest, Back In The Saddle and Promised Land
…early 1900's MacPherson Leather: About MacPherson Leather & Contact Information As a wholesale and retail company we offer quality products for saddle and tack, shoe findings, and leather craft trades
Leather CompanyLeather CraftGarment LeatherLeather Hides
Deming, WA
a horse, a horse farm, all breeds, Appaloosas, Arabians, AQHA, AQHA Quarter Horses for Sale, Quarter Horse, Quarter Horse Farm, saddle, Paint Horses, Thorobreds, Ponies, Miniatures
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Gig Harbor, WA
Custom Saddles built by Pam's Place Tack. Saddle fitting and custom made saddles
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Walla Walla, WA
Walla Walla Bicycle Fitting Services provides bike fits for cyclists, based at Allegro Cyclery in Walla Walla, Washington, and provided by fitter Michael Simon
Stanwood, WA
Thermal Pipe Shields Inc. manufacturer of Insulated Pipe Supports, Insulated Pipe Hangers, Insulated Pipe Shields with top-notch personalized service, low prices, and quality products made in the U.S.A
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Saddle Tree
Mattawa, WA
Pasco, WA
Mead, WA
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Crack Climbing 101
Come dive in, and learn the elusive art of crack climbing. Class one will focus mainly on the hand crack, and techniques needed to ascend. Class two will move into sequencing, and more advanced techniques such as finger and ring locking for smaller, finger sized crack climbing.
Prerequisites: Top Rope Certification and the ability to climb 5.9. This class is 2 weeks long and will be held at the same time and day as the first class each week. Participants will need a roll of athletic tape for the class.
- Non-Member Price: 50
- Member Price: 40
- Minimum Age: 14


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What is Address Search?
Spokeo reverse address search helps people connect with their neighbors and find people by address. Search your neighborhood today to find out current residents, past residents, and family information. Find out who lives on Prospect Hill Ct today.
Other Spellings
Prospect Hill Ct is also spelled Prospect Hill Court, Prospect Hill Crt.
Glenn Dale, MD
Time Zone & Current Time
Glenn Dale, MD lies within the Eastern Standard Time (or EST). The current time in Eastern Standard Time is 12:39 AM on 11/27/2015.
Glenn Dale, MD
Top Streets
Annapolis Rd, Armaan Dr, Ashleigh Glen Ct, Attingham Ln, Augusta Dr, Ballantre Ln, Bell Station Rd, Brookland Rd, Cedargate Pl, and Chalice Ct
Glenn Dale, MD
Population Demographics
Household Income
Home Value
34 years old
50% male
Local Ethnicity
African American
Ethnicity Ratio
About Glenn Dale, MD
Glenn Dale is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,609 at the 2000 census. Glenn Dale is home to the Glenn Dale Hospital, an abandoned sanitorium. (more on Wikipedia)


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The candidates vying for the 24th District Congressional seat agree the nation is facing a dire energy crisis, but they differ over some of the ways to solve the problem.
The candidates vying for the 24th District Congressional seat agree the nation is facing a dire energy crisis, but they differ over some of the ways to solve the problem.
Republican Richard Hanna believes the U.S should allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in other locations in the United States now off limits.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri disagrees.
To Hanna, it's a matter of ensuring energy security for the nation at a time when worldwide demand is soaring, driving gasoline prices above $4 per gallon.
"The majority of known reserves in this country are off limits," Hanna said in response to an Observer-Dispatch congressional questionnaire. "It is urgent that we develop policies which allow us to fast track the use of new energy sources."
Arcuri said tapping the nation's reserves is the wrong step.
"Anyone who says that we can drill our way to energy independence is completely unrealistic," Arcuri said in his questionnaire response.
Asked later about the topic, Hanna said he did not believe more drilling within the nation's borders would solve all the nation's energy problems.
"The fact that we will never be energy independent is well known and not news," Hanna said.
Still, the nation needs more oil, he said.
"People in Upstate New York will be freezing next year," he said, referring to rising heating oil costs.
Arcuri said drilling would just delay a true resolution of the problem, leaving it for the next generation to address.
"It's a fallacy to say that we need to do more drilling," he said. "What we need to do is develop alternative energy."
Two steps Arcuri said he's taken to address the energy crisis:
* He said he had just voted for an Amtrak funding bill.
* He backs tax credits for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.
Arcuri and Hanna gave responses to eight questions posed by the Observer-Dispatch.
The two candidates agree to some extent on many issues:
* Abortion: Both said they believe abortion should be legal, although Hanna said he opposes late-term abortions.
* Oneida Indian Nation: Both also believe a negotiated settlement is a better solution to the ongoing issues with the Oneida Nation.
* Power line: Both oppose the New York Regional Interconnect power line.
At the same time, they differ on other key issues.
Although both see flaws in U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Arcuri said he supports the idea of a timetable for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Hanna does not.
Maurice Carroll of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said he wasn't surprised there is some overlap between Arcuri and Hanna.
Page 2 of 2 - "I shouldn't expect there would be significant ideological differences other than party differences," he said. "The Republicans are more for private enterprise and the Democrats are more for government solutions."
The district was represented for 24 years by moderate Republican Sherwood Boehlert of New Hartford, and Carroll said that could also explain any commonalities between the candidates.
"It's just standard politics that any sensible politician obviously will vote his conscience but also he will vote the district," he said.
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Epson 7900 "fix"
Started Jul 23, 2012 | Discussions thread
Shop cameras & lenses ▾
Forum Member • Posts: 91
you might wish to go into the settings and shut off the automatic cleanings.
i agree. too many automated functions which have tangentially added a humongous amount of weight to the machine.
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Passion Fruit Curd
- Yield: Makes 3 1/2 cups
- 16 large egg yolks
- 1 cup passion fruit juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
Combine yolks, passion fruit juice, and sugar in a large heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the side of pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.


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Getting Around the Area
A few vehicles are available with driver in town but these are generally saloon cars. We paid $50 for one day, which is expensive but there is a heavy demand in the dry season. Locals get around by moped, but it is worth remembering that in the event of an accident, you are a day's travel away from even the most basic medical care.
Getting to Sen Monorem by Air
The airport at Sen Monorem is not - as stated in the guidebooks - out of operation. There are no commercial air services, but there are both government flights (very occasionally) and flights operated by the MAF NGO using small planes. If you have contacts with MAF or other NGOs, you could try to see if you could buy a spare seat on a flight. A helicopter can be chartered for the flight from Phnom Penh, but at upwards of US$1200 per hour (it's about two hours by helicopter from Phnom Penh) this is only for those with a lot of money. The helipad is alongside the runway, close to the Sen Monorem roundabout. Note that depending on the helicopter used, it may also be necessary to preposition fuel for the helicopter here as well.
If, by any chance, you have your own aircraft, note that the runway is not secured for landing and two roads cross the runway. Local pilots use only the southerly-most 600m of the runway.
Getting to Sen Monorem by Bus
There is a bus service to Phnom Penh, via Snuol and Kampong Cham every day (several times) and the guest houses will make arrangements for you. Tickets can also be bought at the bus office on the main street (just by the curve of the hill). I don't know where the pick-up/drop-off place is in Phnom Penh (we came here by car) but it is a tough journey between Snuol and Sen Monorem (around 4 hours for this stretch on poor condition graded roads). I guess that you can get off the bus at Snuk to change for buses to Siem Reap if you wish.
Many people also take the regular pick-up taxis which have only 5 passenger seats and then a whole lot of people hanging on in the back. This makes the journey much faster than the bus. One couple suggested that for the return to Phnom Penh they would get a pick up to Snuol then a bus for the rest of the way on the sealed road – seemed a good plan.
One couple were planning to stay overnight in Kaaey Siema to visit the Biodiversity Conservation Area and the Snuol Wildlife Reserve, but we never found out if they found anywhere to stay in that area. There really is very little between Ou Reang and Snuol.
Crossing the Border
A few days after writing these tips and I have already had e-mails asking if you can cross the Cambodian-Vietnamese border in this area.
The honest answer is I don't know, but my guess is that it would not normally be possible.
There is a good track to the border near old Dak Dam village. I haven't been on the road the last kilometre or so, but from a helicopter it looked like it was all functioning. However, as I suspect that it is impossible to check visas online, it is almost certainly not permitted.
There are two border crossings further west, one very close to Snuol and one near Suong on the route back to Phnom Penh. Both would apear to be much more substantial crossing points but again I have not tried either. I understand that the Snuol to Memot area still - thirty years on - is an extremely sensitive military area. (If you Google "Snoul" [sic] you will get some idea why.
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