text:
Police: Man struck Durham police car, fled scene
Posted January 14, 2016
Durham, N.C. — Durham police are searching for a man who struck a Durham Police Department vehicle and fled the scene Thursday afternoon.
Authorities said that a man driving a stolen car struck a police car occupied by an officer near Eastwood Drive at about 5:30 p.m.
The driver abandoned the stolen car at the intersection of University Drive and Vickers Avenue and fled the scene on foot. He was described as a black man with a slim build who was about 5 feet 9 inches tall. He was wearing dark colored clothing and appeared to be in his late 20s, authorities said.
The Durham police officer was not injured. A passenger in the stolen vehicle, who was pregnant, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Anybody with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.


text:
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Photographer Louie Palu began visiting Kandahar, a southern province that is one of Afghanistan's largest, in 2006, as the insurgency returned with new violence and urgency, permanently changing the tenor of the war. Originally overlooked by most Western media outlets, the region eventually became the focal point of the fight against the Taliban. Rather than focus on specific battles, Palu's portraits look at the region over the course of years, charting the evolution of one of the region's most beautiful -- and violent -- areas. Here, we look at images taken from 2006-2010.
Above, an Afghan soldier eats grapes during a patrol in Pashmul in Zharay District, Kandahar province. Kandahar is well known throughout many parts of Asia and the Middle East for its raisins. The grapes are grown in trenches that make fighting difficult.
- Photos By Louie Palu
- June 13, 2012
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More from
- Photos By Louie Palu
- June 13, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Diana Larianov and Kaitlyn Kerhart came together when the former was cleaning the office fridge, so the story goes. The latter decided to help. During said cleaning, a bond was formed — and so was Ketchum Kerhart.
It's these chance meetings that usually lead to something enigmatic and enduring. Kaitlyn's background in classical piano and blues guitar ran alongside a lifelong passion for The Beatles and Muddy Waters. Diana's lifelong vocal training coincided with a love for country music … and house. But they stand very close together when it comes to obsessions with guitar, distortion, and Jack White.
Sound interesting?
Ketchum Kerhart's EP, Good Luck Sleeping, shows clear talent on a very strong debut with some of the catchiest new hooks we've come across in some time. But don't get that confused with some kind of sugar-coated pop bullshit. Something tells me you don't want to toy around with these two. Ever heard that saying, "Hell hath no fury…?"
Take, for instance, this little snippet from the song "Ton of Bricks."
I hope you can't sleep at night
Cause you're so full of regrets
I hope when you think of me
You'll realize why I left
Hope it hits you like a ton of bricks
That you're a piece of shit…
It's not all unabashed fury, though. You'll even find some thoughtful, pained titles, like "Letters from a Stranger." But I'll play it safe and mind my manners.
So here you go, below is "Hard to Forget." Appropriate, because it won't be the last time you hear it, or anything else from Ketchum Kerhart. Diana's fridge-cleaning days are over.
Head to their website then click through to hear more.


text: I have an MY2009 face-lifted A3 Sportback and find I need to replace both the rear driverâs side light clusters (due to LED issues). Does anyone have for sale either the inner cluster (mounted on the boot lid) or the outer cluster or both? I will post part numbers shortly. Thanks.


text:
Reviews - Britannia Nottingham City Centre3
St. James'S Street, Nottingham, NG1 6BN
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
48% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Food quality
Room quality
The room was filthy, needs coat of paint. Daoaors need scrubbing,fridge in the room was not working
Britannia Nottingham City Centre
My stay in Britannia hotel was a good stay.
Hotel staff was very friendly and breakfast was great. Hotel room very basic and bathroom needs a bit of updating.
Read More Less
Dirty Carpets, outdated look and no internet.
Hotel advertises as being suitable for business, not sure what businesses don't use internet nowadays but the connection is terrible.
The wifi didn't work for the two days I was staying and ironically I just purchased it from the Park Plaza hotel next door.
Read More Less
Cheap and clean room room
OK this is a budget hotel with a budget price.
It was probably once a posh business use hotel with plenty of conference suites. It is now a very big very quiet hotel with clean rooms. We stayed in a twin it was great, clean, the bathroom was spotless,. The windows a bit grubby on the 5th floor. But hey for £40/night 5 mins from Notts centre I am not grumbling. Also the NCP carpark £11 for 24hrs - make sure you give your ticket to reception as it would be £13 but you get the discount being a resident. The hotel has its owns access to the multi-storey it could not be easier.
Read More Less
Would never stop again.
The room was so basic.
Poor quality, horrible bed. Not very clean and the room was freezing. More cold in the room than outside itself. Would not recommend the Britannia to ANYONE.
Read More Less
Okay for an overnight stay, but only for the right price
Booked for £45 for a Weds - fantastic price.
Any amount above £50 - £60 and you'd be better off looking elsewhere as Nottingham usually has far better hotels on offer for the £60+ price range. You get what you pay for at this hotel - clinical service (friendly but not very sincere), shabby around the edges (some ambiguous stains around room, but generally clean) and a central location. All in all, perfect for an overnight stay, but only if you can get a good price of under £60.
Read More Less
Britannia Nottingham City Centre
Freezing in reception area as we entered the hotel.
I don't envy the poor receptionists - they must need gloves and an overcoat to work there. Room size OK but bed uncomfortable with a large spring that went boing every time you got in and out of bed. Very flat pillows too. All looked a little grubby and in need of a deep clean, but I don't expect the cleaners get very long per room to do a proper job. Couldn't find a seat for the dressing table initially but found it tucked behind the sliding shutters; not used though as once again the vinyl seat looked like it needed a good wipe with an antiseptic wipe. Room was on 4th floor but still heard traffic noise from the busy maid marian way. Wont be staying there again unless it has a refurb!
Read More Less
Britannia Nottingham City Centre
On arrival check in was quick and easy, reception staff were pleasant.
Our room was on the first floor with a view overlooking the city. The room seemed clean on first entering, bathroom could do with some detox around the tiles as they were quite black in places. The hotel is showing signs of age as carpets throughout are quite threadbare. The bed was comfortable enough we had a decent nights sleep. Not bad for the price we paid. I did have to mention to reception on checkout that I had found an empty condom wrapper & glass under the bed in plain sight. Housekeeping could do with being a little more thorough!
Read More Less
Was okay
Room looked clean until I moved the bedside table to see if I could find a plug but instead found a packet of condoms thankfully unused.
Read More Less
Value for money
Excellent location, the room was clean apart from a few jelly babies left by the previous tenant.
Cleaned everyday by a very nice lady. Great value for money.
Read More Less


text:
NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
New York, NY, United States, 2012/07/18 - The U.S. invasion of Europe continues with another strong showing for the 2013 Pharma Competitive Intelligence Conference - PharmaCIConference.com.
The largest conference for the BioPharma Competitive Intelligence Community is heading back to Europe! The only place to get the best information concerning healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices is at the Pharma CI Europe Conference on February 19-20, 2013 in Zurich, Switzerland . The overwhelming success of the 2012 event has everyone in the industry clamoring for another high-quality event.
The Pharma CI Europe 2012 Conference was an extremely well-organised event and the best Pharma CI conference I have attended. There was a perfect balance of CI professionals from industry and agency representatives from CI service providers. It provided a great forum to network, share insights and learn from one another. I look forward to next years conference and will highly recommend the event to colleagues, said a participant from Johnson & Johnson.
More than 150 participants came in February 2012 and they were wowed by the impressive speaking faculty of expert speakers from prestigious companies like Actelion, Amgen, Bausch + Lomb, Chiesi Farmaceutici, DSM, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Helsinn Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, MedImmune, Merck, Novartis, Nycomed, Onyx, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Shire, Takeda, Virbac, and many more!
The EUR CI in Pharma conference was a valuable professional experience in terms of pharma-specific CI content, networking and best practice. I would highly recommend this event to anyone involved in the competitive intelligence field in the healthcare arena, said a participant from Takeda.
The Pharma CI Conference is THE INDUSTRY'S GOLD STANDARD for senior level pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics professionals seeking the latest news and the industrys best networking opportunities.
The Pharma CI conference in Zurich was an outstanding meeting to interact with colleagues and experts globally. The forum provides a great opportunity to learn about key developments in our industry, to challenge ideas, share best practices and to network. I am really looking forward to join again next year and can highly recommend this conference, said a participant from Novartis.
Written by / Agency / Source: Pharma Market Research Conference
Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)
Traffic Booster: [/] Quick Newswire Today Visibility Checker
Distribution / Indexing: [+]


text:
Plan your ascent.
Ascent Investment Partners is based in St. Louis and was formed
to meet the unique needs of fixed income investors.
Learn about our investment solutions and portfolio strategies
We offer both taxable and tax-exempt fixed-income investment strategies with flexibility to meet individual clients' time horizons and tax needs. The primary objective of all strategies is to achieve a competitive total return, within the framework of a conservative risk tolerance.


text:
Patent application title: STEGANOGRAPHIC METHOD
Avraham Naparstek (Raanana, IL)
Dorit Naparstek (Tel Aviv, IL)
Jacob Naparstek (Kfar Saba, IL)
IPC8 Class: AG06T100FI
USPC Class:
Class name: Image analysis applications
Publication date: 2013-03-28
Patent application number: 20130077817
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A steganographic method is presented that provides authentication of user
identity, such that only an authorized user may reveal the data hidden
steganographically. Two data objects such as images are used for this
purpose, one hidden within the other. A key provision of the invention
allows the `inner` image to itself contain hidden data that is not
corrupted by subsequent compression within the `outer` image. A digital
`scratch card` is by this means implemented, where the inner image is
only revealed to an authorized user. Using this algorithm, physical cards
containing data are represented by a single digital object.
1-16. (canceled)
17. A computer-implemented method performed by a computerized device, comprising: obtaining a unique identifier L; obtaining a first dataset Imain having a bit depth B; obtaining a second dataset Iaux having a bit depth A, wherein A is smaller than B; obtaining a third dataset to be embedded D; obtaining a fourth dataset to be embedded M; generating M' from M and L, by concatenating XOR(L, M0 . . . Mlength(L)-1) and Mlength(L) . . . Mlength(M); embedding M' into Iaux to form Iaux' using the first embedding function; increasing a bit depth of Iaux' to a bit depth B; concatenating M with D to form X=M+D; and shuffling X using a shuffling function s with L as a shuffling parameter to form S=s(L,X), inserting Iaux' into Imain to form combined dataset .sub.Imain+aux, and embedding S into Imain+aux to form I'main+aux using a second embedding function, wherein M cannot be derived from I'main+aux without L, and wherein M is not corrupted by said second embedding function due to a difference in bit depth between A and B.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein: L is an identifier associated with a mobile device, Imain is a first image, Iaux is a second image, D is data to be embedded in the first image, and M is a random sequence, thereby embedding data within the second image and embedding the second image within the first image.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein embedding data within an image comprises replacing least significant bits of at least one of the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients of the first image or the second image.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein D represents a card whose value is embedded within a first image having a first color depth, and the first image is merged into a color image having a second color depth larger than the first color depth, such that the D is not corrupted by the embedding algorithm.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the color image with the first image merged therein is to be displayed on a computerized device.
22. The method of claim 17, further comprising a step of recoding said second dataset with an error correcting code operating on S before said step of shuffling said S.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the third dataset represents an object selected from the group consisting of: an admission ticket, an entry card, a membership card, a discount card, a coupon, a debit card, a food stamp, e-cash, and a credit card.
24. The method of claim 17, wherein the second dataset is a binary dataset.
25. The method of claim 17, wherein said first dataset is a 24 bits per pixel dataset.
26. A computer-implemented method for revealing a hidden image to a client, the method performed by a computerized device, the method comprising: initiating receipt of a digital scratch card; sending a unique identifier from said client to a server; receiving an image from said server; verifying said image using the unique identifier; and revealing said hidden image.
27. A method performed by a computerized device, the method comprising: selecting an auxiliary region from a main image; extracting a first dataset of information steganographically embedded in the auxiliary region using a unique identifier using a first extraction method; extracting a second dataset of information steganographically embedded in said main image using a second extraction method; performing a reverse shuffle on said second dataset to form unshuffled data; performing the inverse of an error correcting code on said unshuffled data to form unencoded data; and revealing said unencoded data.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein said auxiliary region is a binary image.
29. The method of claim 28, further comprising a step of converting the binary image to a higher bit depth image.
30. The method of claim 27, wherein said first and second extraction methods extract information from the least significant bits of the discrete cosine transforms of said datasets.
31. The method of claim 27, wherein said auxiliary region is a binary image/dataset.
32. The method of claim 27, wherein said main image is a 24 bit per pixel image.
33. The method of claim 27, wherein said image represents an object selected from the group consisting of: an admission ticket, an entry card, a membership card, a discount card, a coupon, a debit card, a food stamp, e-cash, and a credit card.
[0001] The present invention relates to a device and method for embedding information in files and related steganographic methods.
[0002] In certain situations it is of interest to transmit information that is hidden from plain view. For example, the use of scratch cards is common for distribution of prizes. A customer for instance receives a scratch card from a vendor with every purchase. The scratch card contains hidden information in the form of (for example) a picture or set of pictures covered by a removable layer of pigment or metal foil. If this picture or pictures meet certain criteria the card holder is entitled to benefits such as a free meal, lottery monies, or the like.
[0003] Such use of `hidden writing` is more formally referred to as steganography, a field which includes the aforementioned scratch cards as well as more sophisticated variants such as the embedding of information in the least significant bits: of JPG-encoded pictures, audio files, or the like. In these latter cases the information being transmitted is digital in nature, and is often so well hidden that files may be transferred from user to user without their knowledge that in fact a hidden message is being transmitted.
[0004] Billions of scratch cards are used worldwide every year for many purposes. Gaming, promotions, prepaid and gifts cards are only partial list of scratch cards use cases.
[0005] Digital, scratch cards have been implemented using. Web 2.0 Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies. No matter what RIA technology is used, the scratch card always remains on the server side, and the user redeems the scratch card either by: 1) printing out a hardcopy of winning card, and presenting this hardcopy at a point of sale for redemption, or 2) interacting with the user's account through a virtual or online bank account, which can credit or debit user accounts based on the scratch card information. However there are certain implementation considerations that such methods fail to consider.
[0006] Hence, an improved method for digital implementation of a scratch-card or equivalent digital object is still a long felt need.
[0007] In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be implemented in practice, a plurality of embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
[0008] FIG. 1 presents a general flowchart of the encryption and verification methods of the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 presents one embodiment of a scratch-card image on a smart phone;
[0010] FIG. 3 presents a detailed flowchart of the encryption method of the invention
[0011] FIG. 4a-e present hidden and revealed images processed by the method of the invention;
[0012] FIG. 5 presents a flowchart depicting the decryption method of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 6 presents a flowchart describing the user actions for implementation of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 7 presents a flowchart describing user registration;
[0015] FIG. 8 presents an overall flowchart describing operation of the invention;
[0016] FIG. 9 presents a flowchart describing the process of revealing hidden data;
[0017] FIG. 10 presents a flowchart describing redemption of a winning card;
[0018] FIG. 11 present a flowchart describing the validation steps of the invention;
[0019] FIG. 12 presents in prior art a jpeg steganographic method using DCT coefficients.
[0020] The present invention comprises a system and method for generation, transfer, and use of hidden information, implemented in one embodiment as a digital scratch card system and method, and in some embodiments as a scratch card protocol. Other implementations of the invention include admission tickets, entry cards, membership cards, discount cards, coupons, debit cards, food stamps, ecash, and credit cards.
[0021] The hidden information involved may be transmitted for instance on mobile devices such as cellphones. It is within provision of the invention to produce, manage and dispatch digital scratch cards over a network of any type to users, either at request of a user trigger or by a system trigger.
[0022] It is within provision of the invention to provide a local device application (LDA) enabling the user to perform the digital equivalent of physically scratching off a section of a scratch card, revealing hidden data and subsequently enabling the user to redeem the card for various purposes, for example for cash back at a point-of-sale.
[0023] It is within provision of the invention to provide a protocol governing the embedding of hidden data within other data objects.
[0024] It is within the core of the present invention that a jpeg image be used to encode hidden data. It is further within provision of the invention that data be encoded in the least significant bits of the DCT transform coefficients of a jpeg image.
[0025] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that pit is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover; all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
[0026] The following description is provided, alongside all chapters of the present invention, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of said invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out this invention. Various modifications, however, will remain apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined specifically to provide a means and method for providing a steganographic method.
[0027] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention.
[0028] The term `plurality` refers hereinafter to any positive integer e.g, 1, 5, or 10.
[0029] The term `smart phone` refers hereinafter to a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, having PC like functionality.
[0030] The term `scratch card` refers to an object having hidden information that may be revealed by an on the part of the user of the smart card. The information generally concerns a promotion, coupon, lottery, game, gift, or information allowing the bearer to redeem the card for such. For example a scratch card may be distributed by a fast food company having pictures of various fast food products hidden under a removable metal foil. Buyers of certain products receive the cards with the metal foil intact and the pictures hidden. The recipient scratches off the foil to reveal fast food products for which the card may be redeemed. In the current invention, the scratch card is implemented digitally and hence is a digital object and not a physical card. The term scratch card includes such implementations as admission tickets, entry cards, membership cards, discount cards, coupons, debit cards, food stamps, ecash, and credit cards.
[0031] The term `DCT` hereinafter refers to the discrete cosine transform.
[0032] The term `local device application` or `LDA` refers hereinafter to an application running locally on a smartphone, dumb terminal, or other node on a network that allows interaction with a user or users, typically being a smartphone or PC having internet connectivity.
[0033] The term `image based protocol` refers hereinafter to a protocol of the invention that generally speaking inserts encoded information into files such as images or others, in such a manner that detection and/or decryption of this information is difficult or is possible only in NP (non-polynomial, generally speaking exponential or higher) time.
[0034] The term `compression` refers hereinafter to any operation tending to decrease the total size of a file, in general losing some amount of data in the process. An example of a method compression is the jpeg compression algorithm, which uses a discrete cosine transform of controllable fidelity. The greater the compression, the lower the fidelity of the compressed file to the original.
[0035] The term `decompression` refers hereinafter to the reverse of a compression operation, intended to extract a file from a compressed version thereof.
[0036] Current smart phones offer the user state-of-the-art technologies including computational power, improved user interfaces such as touch screens, smaller form factors, lower prices and expanded connectivity. Such phones are being increasingly employed for a number of transactions such as transfer of credit from person to person, identification, entrance into venues, bill payments, sundry purchases, and the like.
[0037] The system described in this disclosure enables a smart phone user (or other computer user) to obtain and use a `scratch card` which may involve a promotion, coupon, lottery game, gift card, or donation, in a similar manner to a paper scratch card. The scratch card in its hidden state has no indication of certain hidden information content, while in its revealed state the hidden information is revealed to the user.
[0038] One embodiment of the invention follows these steps, as shown in FIG. 1:
[0039] 1. [client side] Client or server initiates card generation
[0040] 2. [client side] ID string L generated using a code/mac address etc.
[0041] 3. [server side] Random sequence M is generated
[0042] 4. [server side] M' is generated from M,L: M'=XOR(L, M0 . . . L-1)+ML . . . M
[0043] 5. [server side] Main image Imain generated from template
[0044] 6. [server side] Auxiliary image Iaux created
[0045] 7 [server side] Concatenate data to be hidden D with M=>M+D
[0046] 8. [server side] Error correcting code performed M+D=>D'
[0047] 9. [server side] Shuffle D' using L as key=>S
[0048] 10. [server side] Embed M' in Iaux
[0049] 11. [server side] Combine main and auxiliary images=>Imain+aux
[0050] 12. [server side] Embed S into Imain+aux
[0051] 13. [server side] Output image, send to client
[0052] 14. [client side] Receive image
[0053] 15. [client side] Verify client identity
[0054] 16. [client side] Reveal hidden image
[0055] A more detailed explanation will be given in the section labeled "Data embedding in image".
[0056] With reference to FIG. 2, an example of a digital scratch card is shown which may comprise a single jpeg image 101 containing embedded data, the jpeg image 101 being presented on a smartphone screen 105. The data associated with the scratch card is stored in a hidden form 102 within the image, until it is revealed (104) by means of an "Image based protocol", which is a generic scalable binary protocol running on top of advanced robust image steganographic algorithms. An application running on the smartphone provides various interface options such as buttons 103, which allow the user to interact with the application, for instance to redeem a winning scratch card, forward a card, request a card, or the like. In one embodiment of the invention, the user performs a wiping or scratching motion on the obscured part of the image 102, in order to reveal the information hidden `underneath` (104).
[0057] The algorithm of the invention allows the user who fulfills certain conditions, to `scratch` the card (for example by physically mimicking the action of scratching an image on a smartphone touch screen), revealing a hidden image behind the scratched area. Once the hidden area is revealed, the user has read-only access to potentially useful hidden information, such as whether this is a winning card or not, a telephone number for further enquiry, a hyperlink, money transfer information, or the like.
[0058] Conditions allowing, the user to reveal the hidden information may include identification information, machine MAC address, transaction information, and the like.
[0059] It is important to note that the data cannot be accessed by the user, unless the device application is used. Thus a requirement of the method is that the image based protocol or IBP is the only method by which the hidden information can be accessed. The protocol enables a user to pass variable parameters to enable one device application for all scratch card types. Other applications are within provision of the invention such as admission tickets, membership cards, discount cards, coupons, debit cards, food stamps, ecash, and credit cards. Amongst various pieces of information that may be transmitted using the method are:
[0060] Marker bytes for Start of Data
[0061] Marker bytes for end of Data
[0062] Marker bytes for fields separator
[0063] A Generic Header is used for all types and may include the fields:
[0064] Version
[0065] Application Type
[0066] For the particular application of scratch cards, the following variable header fields may also included (some mandatory, some optional depending on the Card Sub-Type):
[0067] Card sub-type
[0068] Field Type (Text, Image, Link, Configuration)
[0069] Win/Lose image/text
[0070] Supported redemption interface
[0071] Redemption identifier
[0072] Owner ID
[0073] Expiration Date
[0074] Visible Data
[0075] Visible Data position
[0076] Unique Card ID
[0077] The above fields are examples only and it is within provision of the invention that other fields may also optionally be used.
[0078] The method by which information is hidden in the data object of the scratch card is now detailed.
Image Based Protocol--Overview
[0079] The image based protocol (IBP) comprises methods of inserting data into an image (or generally speaking any file) in such a way that this data can be only be extracted and interpreted by use of they IBP. For the purposes of the following discussion, reference will be made to image files; however as will be understood by one skilled in the art, any file allowing some degree of compression may be employed.
[0080] As is common for jpeg steganographic methods, an image containing data embedded by means of the IBP looks, to a human observer, exactly like an image without embedded data. Such algorithms may use for example the least significant bits of the discrete cosine transform used in jpeg compression, as shown in the prior art of FIG. 11. The device application, which implements a part of the IBP, is the only way to access the embedded data stored in the image, due to the authentication and security provisions of the IBP.
[0081] In certain embodiments of the invention a jpeg image is used to encode the hidden or embedded data, by use of the least significant bits of the DCT transform coefficients of the jpeg image involved, as will be described below.
[0082] Information of various sorts may be embedded. For example in the particular case of scratch cards the following fields may be provided:
[0083] Hidden image or text
[0084] Card Configuration
[0085] Supported redeem interfaces
[0086] Redeem identifier
[0087] Optional data associated to a Scratch card:
[0088] Owner Id
[0089] Expiration date
[0090] Visible commercial data
[0091] Visible commercial data display location
[0092] Hidden commercial data
[0093] Unique card id
Data Embedding in Image--Algorithm Description
[0094] The IBP embeds data in an image in a highly robust manner, such that transmission errors and embedding/extraction steps (that may also include jpeg encoding/decoding) have a low probability of affecting the embedded data. Furthermore there is a vanishingly small probability that the embedded data can be revealed to or by unauthorized parties (e.g. by circumventing the authentication steps of the IBP). Finally, one may apply the embedding algorithm on the same image with different embedding data, many times.
[0095] The IBP utilizes two steps applied sequentially, each being a steganographic embedding. For example, the steps may be: (1) steganographic embedding in a color jpeg image, and (2) steganographic embedding in a binary (b/w) image. Alternatively, first the binary embedding method is applied, and afterwards the jpeg embedding method is applied to the image: as will be shown, the second embedding doesn't affect the information embedded by first step. As will be seen, the steps may both be of arbitrary color depth (i.e. 24 bpp color, 8 bpp grayscale, binary b/w, or otherwise) subject to certain constraints. In the case of non-image files similar provisions may be made mutatis mutandis, as will be obvious to one skilled in the art.
[0096] As an example of the method one first creates a binary image, in which one embeds auxiliary data. This data will also be used in the second embedding algorithm. Then one converts the binary image to a 24 bpp image and insert it into a subsection of the main 24 bpp image to form a combined image in which one embeds further data, using the second embedding algorithm.
[0097] The second algorithm doesn't influence the data embedded by the first one, by means that will be described below; in short, the second embedding algorithm uses a randomly varied quantization code for inserted data. In order to increase robustness and reduce unauthorized revealing of main data in the second algorithm, an error detection and correcting code is employed.
[0098] The specific encoding procedure is designed according to technical requirements the system operator can impose.
[0099] It is known that applying the jpeg embedding algorithm, in which one embeds data in the DCT coefficients, causes noise in the original data pixels of the image. The noise extends to the lower significant bits of the data pixels, generally being the least significant one, two or more bits depending on the algorithm, size of the image, and amount of data being embedded in the image.
[0100] In one embodiment of the encoding algorithm, the original main image consists of any image (for example at a color depth of 24 bpp) in which one replaces one or more fields (at a given location X0, Y0, and with a size A×B, pixels). The data pixels of the field(s) are quantized so that least significant bits (as many as one expects to be affected by noise) are set to their mid value, thus ensuring that the error introduced by any subsequent steps will not roll affect the bits being embedded by this first part of the algorithm. In the more significant bit planes of each of the color components (not affected by jpeg algorithm) one embeds data using the well known embedding algorithm in binary images.
[0101] Embedding data in the more significant bits of pixel data generally will cause significant noise in the image. By using the embedding algorithm in binary images one overcomes this limitation. By converting the auxiliary image in this example that is 1 bpp to a 24 bpp image, the pixel information which is black or white is now represented by `000000` or `ffffff`. Noise that will be caused by the embedding algorithm in the combined image will not affect these values appreciably; by thresholding the pixel values the original values will be recovered.
[0102] The use of black/white(1 bpp) binary images are a special case for the algorithm. In this case one has only one bit plane. After embedding data, one converts it to full bit-depth image (e.g., 24 bpp) to replace the appropriate fields in the main image. In the following this special case is described; the general case is an obvious extension of this special case as will be clear to one skilled in the art.
[0103] An example is now given of the operation of one embodiment of the IBP, illustrated in FIG. 3 and consisting of the following steps:
[0104] 1. An identification code is determined (211). This is an L byte long code that belongs to the client (or is associated with an individual card) and is unique. This code is added to the embedded code M to distinguish between clients and/or cards. This may be any unique identifier such as a MAC address, personal ID, social security number, serial number, hardware identifier, timestamp, or combination of such identifiers. It is a feature of the method that the same results are returned for different runs using the same L-code.
[0105] 2. Create data fields containing information used in the embedding algorithms, to be used during encoding/decoding (204). In this block one creates a random sequence of M bytes, in which M>L. The first L bytes of the random M bytes undergo the bitwise XOR operation. These bytes are denoted by K{0 . . . L-1}=L{0 . . . L-1} XOR M{0 . . . L-1}. One replaces the first L bytes in M with K to get M'.
[0106] 3. Prepare data to embed. In the case of scratch cards, this is the data which will reveal the appropriate area on the image during scratching. In the case of digital cheques, some other data may be used. The data to be embedded D is concatenated to the M bytes of step 2 (block 204) to form D+M.
[0107] 4. Use an error correcting code (202) e on the embedded data D+M to compute D'=e(D+M). As will be clear to one skilled in the art this increases the robustness of the jpeg embedding algorithm, for example preventing data corruption even if the image undergoes several subsequent jpeg encoding/decoding steps. It also decreases the probability of unauthorized revelation of the embedded data. It is well known that if the bit probability detection approaches 1/2, the use of coding will decrease the probability of the hidden data detection. As a result of using an error correcting code, the length of the data sequence will grow, depending on how many bits it can correct, how many bits to detect, and the robustness desired. It is within provision of the invention to use any known error correcting code for this step.
[0108] 5. Shuffle the data (203) using the data output from the error correcting code (202). The data sequence from the error correcting code is bit by bit randomly shuffled to make it difficult to be extracted by an unauthorized person. One uses here the first L bytes of M sequence to parametrize the random shuffle function s, forming the shuffled sequence S=s(L,D').
[0109] 6. Create or obtain a binary (1 bpp) auxiliary image (208) that will be combined into the main image. (This image may actually be grayscale or 24 bpp or otherwise, binary being an example only). This image is for authentication and security purposes. The auxiliary image is one that the system operator designs, which is suitable for the application. The auxiliary image may comprise one or more fields. If this image has more than one field it means that during insertion of auxiliary image into main image each field is inserted in a different location in the main image. FIG. 4b and FIG. 4c show examples in which the auxiliary image consists of one field, and is therefore inserted in one location of main image (FIG. 4c). FIG. 4d and FIG. 4e show an example in which the auxiliary image (FIG. 4e) consists of 5 fields, and each is inserted in a different location in main image (FIG. 4d).
[0110] 7. Embed the data M' in the binary auxiliary image using first algorithm (205). Binary embedding algorithms for binary (b/w) images are well known. This procedure can be extended to general color (24 bpp or other bit depth) images or files. If one considers each bit plane separately as an independent binary image, then (for example) for a 24 bpp image there are 24 such individual bit planes. Each plane is here treated as a binary image. As mentioned above, the current example will describe the simplest case which is the binary b/w image, but the generalization to any color depth will be obvious to one skilled in the art. The content that one embeds is the M' byte sequence (generated in block 204). One of the steps for embedding into the auxiliary image is a bit shuffle of the image. For the bit shuffle in the binary embedding algorithm one uses the L bytes sequence (generated in block 211) to control the shuffling sequence. Since one must insert this auxiliary image with embedded data as part of the main image that is a 24 bpp image, one first converts the binary 1 bpp b/w to 24 bpp b/w. As will be obvious to one skilled in the art, if the auxiliary image has a different bit depth it may be converted as necessary.
[0111] 8. The next step for embedding into the auxiliary image involves using blocks of the shuffled auxiliary image. In each block, there will generally be some white and some black pixels (due to the random shuffling of the previous step). Thus the parity of the block (the sum of all pixels modulo 2) can be changed, by flipping a single pixel. Information is encoded into the parity of the blocks, by flipping (if necessary) a single pixel of the block. Each block thus encodes a single bit of information in its parity.
[0112] 9. Get (create or obtain) the basic main 24 bpp image (209). The main 24 bpp image is designed by the system operator for the specific card or application. It is into this image that the auxiliary image will be inserted, in the manner of FIG. 4b being inserted into a part of FIG. 4c.
[0113] 10. Combine the 24 bpp auxiliary image into the basic main 24 bpp image to get the main image (206). One uses here two images the basic main image in which the auxiliary image will be inserted. There are two cases as explained in paragraph 7 above.
[0114] 11. Embed the data created in block 203 in the composite image created (in block 206), using the second embedding algorithm, with a quantization code that changes randomly during data embedding (207). This embedding may for instance be the JPEG embedding algorithm with scrambled quantization, although, it is within provision of the invention to use other steganographic methods. One uses here the shuffled data from block (203) with the combined image block (206). The JPEG embedding algorithm in which one embeds data in the quantized DCT coefficients is well known. The data can be inserted in one, two, or more of the lowest significant bits of the DCT coefficients. There is a tradeoff between the robustness and detection limits for such methods: as one uses fewer bits, the noise added to image will be lower, but at the same time the embedded data is less robust against further compression (or other noise introduction) such as jpeg coding/decoding steps. Such further encoding may cause errors in the embedding data, if not enough bits of the DCT have been used for the second embedding. As more significant embedded bits are used, so will there be less probability of errors due to subsequent jpeg encoding (or other noise introduction). By `scrambled quantization` one means here that the code one uses for embedded bits `0` and bit `1` changes randomly. For example if one chooses to insert bit `0` and `1` in the three lowest bits of the DCT quantized coefficient first one will quantize the DCT coefficient by taking the integer part of the coefficient divided by 8 (three least significant bits are zero). Then one can assign the following values to the three least significant bit to represent `0` or `1` with maximum distance between assignments.
[0114] TABLE 1 encoding Entry `0` `1` 0 000 100 1 001 101 2 010 110 3 011 111 4 100 000 5 101 001 6 110 010 7 111 011
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 decoding Entry `0` `1` 0 000, 001, 010, 111 100, 011, 101, 110 1 001, 000, 010, 011 101, 100, 110, 111 2 010, 001, 011, 100 110, 101, 111, 000 3 011, 010, 100, 101 111, 110, 000, 001 4 100, 011, 101, 110 000, 111, 001, 010 5 101, 100, 110, 111 001, 000, 010, 011 6 110, 101, 111, 000 010, 001, 011, 100 7 111, 110, 000, 001 011, 010, 100, 101
[0115] Each time one assigns a value `0` or `1` from shuffled data one chooses randomly a value from a table such as table 1. If the shuffled data length is smaller than the amount of data one can embed, one uses data from a pseudorandom function with a certain seed. The random function for selecting an entry from a table such as table 1 is preferably such that an even distribution of entries from the above table is used, thus eliminating any `fingerprints` in the histogram of these data.
[0116] In the decoding step, one finds the value from the decoding table 2 by finding in which group a three bit sequence (in this example) falls--for example the sequence 010 occurs in entry 0 as value 0, thus the value for 010 is 0. In this way one recovers the original information hidden by use of table 1. The entries are found by using the same pseudorandom function as used in the encoding step, with the same seed--such that the same pseudorandom sequence is generated. One can use here, for distance value of one (1), a general but more complicated algorithm with a different number of words, not necessarily a power of 2, instead of the above simple example that uses eight (8) words for the data insertion in quantized dct coefficients. If the data D may take. K different values (in the above examples, K being 8), and is encoded in a number allowing X possible values, then the general algorithm uses
Q k ( x ) = K x K ##EQU00001##
where the standard notation
x K ##EQU00002##
denotes the `floor` of x/K, namely the larger integer less than or equal to x/K. Then the data is encoded as xd=QK(x)+d. In the general case there are several ways to prevent overflow, such as by using x'=xM/255+N in which N=K-1 and M=255-2(K-1), and encoding the data as xd=QK(x')+d/
[0117] 12. Get the image to be sent to user (210). At this point the steganography is done, the image is ready to be used our application.
[0118] It is possible to also use different schemes for step 10. of the encoding sequence above; in particular, one may use an error correcting code as in step 4. to more efficiently prevent any noise from corrupting the embedded data. As pointed out previously, since the auxiliary image is encoded with more bit depth than necessary for its actual color depth, a certain `information overhead` exists in which hidden data may be embedded. In particular, if the actual bit depth (in this example 24 bpp) is larger than the actual color depth (in this example 1 bpp) then the difference (in this example 23 bpp) is available to make the auxiliary image less susceptible to noise caused by the second embedding algorithm. The larger this overhead, the less likely the information stored therein is to be corrupted by subsequent error-introducing steps such as compression.
[0119] In step 207 other embedding methods may be used, for example use of least significant bits of the picture to store data. These two compression steps must be `orthogonal` in the sense that the two steps are invertible: one can state this condition as follows. The first compression step (205) is denoted by
where A is the original image (binary in this example), C is the compression function, and A' the compressed image. The second compression step (207) is denoted
[0120] This second image B is itself a function of the first image A' and another image I:
[0121] The requirement that the second compression step C2 does not affect data embedded by the first step may be restated as a requirement that the function C2 be invertible (as well as the original compression C1). If C2 is invertible, then the original image may be found by using the `unembedding` inverse functions, A'=f1(C2(f(A',I)) These steps will be more fully detailed below.
[0122] The embedding methods referred to may be standard steganographic embeddings such as the LSB (least significant bit) encoding into DCT coefficients, shown in FIG. 12. However it is within provision of the invention to use other steganographic methods, as will be clear to one skilled in the art.
[0123] The process of decoding is basically the inverse of the encoding process, with the final result ensured due to the inevitability of the second encoding step as described above. The steps consist of:
[0124] 1. Reveal auxiliary image
[0125] 2. Extract the auxiliary image from the main image (401).
[0126] 3. Extract auxiliary image. The auxiliary image can consist of one or more fields, if it has more than one field it means that during extraction one must collect the different fields and put them in their original location.
[0127] 4. Convert the auxiliary image from 24 bpp to a binary 1 bpp image (402). The auxiliary image was combined into main image as a 24 bpp, one must convert it back to 1 bpp image in order to apply the binary decoding algorithm.
[0128] 5. Reveal the embedded data fields from the binary image (403). For authentication purposes one uses the L identification code. In the encoder one has embedded the M' sequence, in which the first L-1 bytes are K{0 . . . L-1}=L{0 . . . L-1} XOR M{0 . . . L-1}, to get back the first L-1 byte of M one must use M{0 . . . L-1}=M'{0 . . . L-1} and M'{L . . . M-1}=M{L . . . M-1}. Clients with different L identification code will fail, to reconstruct M{0 . . . L-1} and therefore will fail in authentication decision and revealing of main hidden data.
[0129] 6. Identity verification (412). The identification code is an L byte long code that is associated with the client and/or the card, and is unique. This code is added to the embedded code to distinguish between clients and/or cards. L may for instance be a MAC address, serial ID, or combination thereof.
[0130] 7. Reveal data from second embedding, using unscrambled quantization (404). One reads the quantized. DCT coefficients, from which one extracts the relevant bits that carries the embedded data. The uniform distribution random function is applied to decide what piece of data they represent (see step 11 of the encoding sequence above). This function returns an entry value for a table such as Table 2 (step 11 above) allowing one to interpret the code as a `1` or `0`.
[0131] 8. Reverse shuffling and reveal main error correcting code data, using data from second embedding algorithm (405). The encoder algorithm uses the first L bytes of sequence M, to bit by bit randomly shuffle the data before the JPEG embedding algorithm, thus to decode one uses here the same first L bytes of sequence M to apply a reverse bit by bit random shuffling.
[0132] 9. Reveal data using error correcting code algorithm (406). The data received from block 405 above is the data coded by an error correcting code (as explained in step 4 of the encoding sequence above), one applies here the decoder of the error correcting code algorithm. The data decocted is the M bytes of M sequence and the main hidden data.
[0133] 10. Make decisions using main data and auxiliary data fields (407). If the two M sequences you received from block 3 and 7 above are the same, continue to use the application with the revealed main hidden data.
Types of Cards
[0134] Various types of cards may be implemented with the system described above including admission tickets, entry cards, membership cards, discount cards, coupons, debit cards, food stamps, ecash, scratch cards, and credit cards.
Scratch Cards
[0135] As will be appreciated, more than one scratch card type may be implemented by the IBP, including multiple use cards and several types of single use cards. The card behavior is determined by the card type as follows:
Multiple Usage Cards
[0136] These cards can be used by several users, for instance being forwarded by email or transferred by any other data transfer method. This process may occur multiple times, until an optional expiration condition is fulfilled. Thus a counter may be implemented by the method of the invention, with count information being stored either in the hidden card information, on a server, or elsewhere.
Single Use Multiple User Cards
[0137] In this embodiment of the invention, a card can be used only once by each user, but multiple users may use a given card.
Single Use Single User Cards
[0138] The single-use single-user cards are limited to use by its (single) owner, which will generally be the user that requested or got it originally from the system. In some embodiments of the invention, verification is carried out by the device application, for example while loading the card. In this case the user knows immediately whether card is valid or not.
[0139] In addition to the various usage and owner possibilities mentioned above, forwarding options may be implemented as described hereinafter:
[0140] In some embodiments of the invention, forwarding of scratch cards (e.g. from user to user) is not allowed. This is accomplished by means of the authentication step requiring a particular L-code (based on MAC address or the like), whereby any user other than the intended recipient will not be able to reveal the hidden contents of the card.
[0141] In other embodiments of the invention, forwarding of scratch cards is allowed. In these cases several possibilities are within provision of the invention, including direct and indirect forwarding as described below.
[0142] Direct Forwarding--In this variation of the method of the invention, the user gets the actual scratch card from a friend or other forwarding party, via email or other data transfer method. The device application identifies that this is a forwarded scratch card, and extracts the associated data accordingly, in light of the information that this is a forwarded scratch card. The forwarding information, possibly including sender, recipient, number of forwards, and the like may be stored within the card itself, either in hidden or revealed data portions thereof, and/or on a server, and/or elsewhere.
[0143] Indirect Forwarding--In this embodiment of the invention, the user receives a link and issues a request based on link parameters. This link contains, for example, a pointer to a scratch card in a centralized database which is managed by a web service or other entity. The user may then log in and download a card image produced by the service.
Scratch Card Validation
[0144] It is within provision of the invention to provide a validation step allowing the system operator to verify the identity of a given scratch card holder or other entity attempting to redeem a scratch card. This validation step is implemented in one embodiment of the invention as follows:
[0145] Each time an image is loaded, a secure database is updated. When a scratch card is loaded by a local device application (LDA) for the first time, the following is validated:
[0146] This image is a scratch card
[0147] This image produced by a valid scratch cards producer
[0148] This image is valid scratch card for use for this user
[0149] As part of the LDA interface, a `redeem` button may be implemented. When the user taps this "Redeem" button and chooses a redemption method (if more than one is allowed), the following validation checks are done by the device application:
[0150] Scratch card is owned by user
[0151] Expiration date
[0152] Whether the card has already been redeemed, and if so how many times.
[0153] The aforementioned checks can be performed locally (on the local device), remotely (e.g. on a server), or both. Then, if possible, the scratch card is replaced with a new one. If not, the secured DB is updated.
[0154] To complete the validation process the scratch card unique ID, which may be composed of several parameters, is transferred through the network to the server for validation in the centralized scratch card database (see Redemption step below). This occurs for example at the point-of-sale, using one or more communication and verification methods such as barcode scanning, near-field communication such as RFID, Bluetooth, wireless lan, SMS, or other means as will be obvious to one skilled in the art.
[0155] It is within provision of the invention that the scratch cards can carry commercial data. This data is part of the card's, associated data. Commercial data can appear on the scratch card in two ways:
[0156] Data is shown on the card's front side (to all users, always).
[0157] Data is hidden, and functions as a "secondary scratch card"--namely, data is revealed after `scratching` the hidden area or otherwise revealing the hidden data by a user that is not the original `owner`. In this case the revealed data may be different than the data revealed to the original `owner` user.
Local Device Application
[0158] In some embodiments of the invention, a local device application is installed on the user's device, running locally and in communication with a local secure database. Each device has a unique application or copy of the application, which may be vendor dependent.
[0159] Using the device application, the user can register with the scratch card service, load a scratch card from remote or local storage on the device or Flash memory), and store a scratch card to local or remote storage.
User Interface for Scratching Action
[0160] The user interface for the local device application will in some embodiments have provision for:
[0161] Saving the scratched card to local storage.
[0162] Enabling redemption of the prize specified on the scratched card, in the scratched area.
[0163] Scratch card authentication, single or multiple.
[0164] Forwarding the derived (secondary scratch card) promotion cards to friends
Scratch Card Service
[0165] In addition to the local device application, a remote server-based application is provided by the invention. This constitutes, in some embodiments, a web service to manage the scratch card life cycle, which consists of design, management and dispatch. The web service will in some embodiments manage a database of registered users.
[0166] In some embodiments of the invention, the user has to go to point-of-sale with the device to redeem a winning scratch card. In some embodiments of the invention, redemption requires use of the device application (for local authentication, depending on the scratch card type). In this case, one or more scratch card's data (from the card's associated data fields) are transferred to identify and authenticate the card.
[0167] It is within provision of the invention to use several redemption methods, including but not limited to:
[0168] Barcode scanning
[0169] NFC (Near Field Communication) channel
[0170] Secure SMS
[0171] The redemption method for a given scratch card is defined by the producer of the scratch card at the time of its production or, in some embodiments, afterwards.
[0172] It is within provision, of the invention that a single scratch card can support one or more redemption method.
[0173] To illustrate the steps involved in use of the invention, reference is made to the flow chart of FIG. 6. As shown in the figure, in a possible embodiment of the invention the process is started when a user downloads an application from a server, and undergoes a registration step 501. Subsequently the user may issue a request for a new scratch card 502, whereupon a mail or other data transmission is sent to the user's device 503. The user can then save the transmitted information 504, either to a local or remote location. Once the data object of step 504 is saved, the user may then open the local application, load the image (with hidden information still hidden), perform a decrypting operation by (for instance) using a wiping or scratching not over a part of an image that appears to have a covering over it, after which the hidden information is revealed. This may take the form (for instance) of a win/lose indicator. The revealed image and/or information may then be revealed.
[0174] Once a user has obtained card having some redeemable value, the user may redeem this value for instance at a point of sale. The card is verified by means of bar code, passcode, biometric ID, or other means as will be obvious to one skilled in the art. Once verified, the user may then be given or transferred the item(s) won, for instance by transfer of money to a user's account, by giving the user a won object, or the like.
[0175] The user will generally have to undergo a registration step as shown in FIG. 7. The registration may take place at the level of the device application 601 or remotely over a website 602. The registration consists of a set of details submitted by the user 603. These details are validated, and then aided to a user database 604.
[0176] If a user changes his/her device, an update of details should be performed to once again associate the user ID information and device identification information (such as MAC address).
Card Request
[0177] The flow chart of FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a sequence of events that occur during user request of a new card. Using the device application, a user may choose a type of card or specific card to receive or send to another user 701. Alternatively, the receiving user then receives a promotional mail 702 with the scratch card itself or a link thereto. A third option is through a web browser, where a user can navigate to choose a card to receive 703. The user then chooses a recipient 704. The user account is validated, as well as the recipient account if different froth the user, and user location is determined if needed 705. If any of these details are incorrect or in error this is indicated 706. If the owner is not registered or details are missing 707, a further error may be generated. If the card owner is not registered or details are missing 708, a mail requesting the missing details is sent 709. Then the user updates or enters new details to the device application 711, after which the scratch card may be set 710.
Revealing Hidden Information
[0178] One possible sequence of events involved in revealing the hidden information is detailed in the flow chart of FIG. 9. A card stored locally on the user's device 801 is loaded and opened 802. The card is then decrypted and validated against the secure database 803. A reject procedure is undertaken in the case of verification failure, which may be due to illegal card generation, invalid owner state, or expired card state. If the user is not the owner but the card contains commercial data, this case may be allowed 805. Finally a valid verified card may be ready for revealing the hidden information 806. The hidden information is revealed in these litter two cases by some action on the user's part 807 such as making a scratching motion over the card image on a touch screen. This card is subsequently marked as used in the secure database 808. If the card is not a winning card this is indicated 809, while if the card is a winning card the card may be saved 810. Holders of winning cards may redeem the cards at a point of sale 811.
[0179] The user may redeem a winning card as follows, with reference to FIG. 9. The user having a winning card stored locally 901 may open and load the card 902. A button labeled `redeem` or the like is pressed 903, whereupon the card is verified against a local secure card database 904. If the card. ID is invalid 905, an appropriate error message is generated 906. If the card is valid a redemption method selection is given; for instance these methods may be display of barcode 907, near field communication (NFC) 908, SMS (909) or others not shown. Once the redemption method is invoked, the card is validated against a central database 910. If invalid, the card is rejected 911. If valid, the user receives the goods/services appropriate 912.
[0180] The validation step of the invention is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 10. The user attempts a redemption at point of sale 1001. The registration information is sent to the scratch card management server 1002, and from there entered into a centralized scratch card database 1003. Once registered, a message indicating verification or lack thereof is sent to the management server 1002 and from thence to the point of sale 1001.
[0181] It is within provision of the invention that the method be carried out by means of software running on dedicated machines. It is further within provision of the invention that the method be The algorithm can be implemented in Hardware (FPGA, ASIC, or the like.)
Patent applications by Dorit Naparstek, Tel Aviv IL
Patent applications in class APPLICATIONS
Patent applications in all subclasses APPLICATIONS
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text:
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text:
Difference between revisions of "Web Tips and Tricks"
From Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
(→Blogs/Websites to Watch)
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*[http://sxc.hu/ Stock Exchange]
*[http://sxc.hu/ Stock Exchange]
*[http://istockphoto.com/ iStockphoto ($1 royalty-free)]
*[http://istockphoto.com/ iStockphoto ($1 royalty-free)]
Revision as of 00:16, 10 July 2005
Success Stories
List of Tips/Tricks
Blogs/Websites to Watch
General Web Design Resources
- Style Gala
- Return of Design
- A List Apart
- Web Designer Tools - Has a great color scheme generator
- Essential Fonts for Designers
- 4096 Color Wheel
Cool Things You Can Copy for Your Own Site
- Listmatic, one list, many optioms.
- Layout-o-matic
- Little Boxes
- CSS Page Layouts
- CSS Templates
- Free Menu Designs
- Ruthsarian Layouts
- Drop-Down Menus, Horizontal Style - from A List Apart
- CSS Rounded Box Generator
- The CSS Playground
- Position is Everything - great list of articles on the subject
- Real World Style
- CSS Directory
- Cascading Style Cheatsheet
- CSS Property Index
- CSS Panic Guide
- CSS Zen Garden
- CSS, Accessibility and Standards Links - "Links that will save you from an aneurism."
- php.net - official documentation with user notes
- Unobtrusive Javascript - best practices and tutorial


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Around 100,000 foreigners – or 15 percent of those who stay in Bucharest hotels every year come to Romania to see the Romanian women they usually met abroad, according to Romania's Tourism Employers Federation.
The average stay in Bucharest for foreigners who come to meet their Romanian lady friends is of 1.6 nights, and the average daily spend is of EUR 150 to EUR 175. This means the total spend attracted in Bucharest from them alone is of EUR 25 to EUR 30 million a year. Foreigners usually meet Romanian women when they work abroad or via the Internet.
Around 1.2 million people stayed in Bucharest hotels last year, 650,000 of which were foreigners, a bit more than in 2010. Most of the foreigners coming to Bucharest are from Europe, and the biggest group is made of Italians – some 70,000 people. Italy is one of the main destination for Romanians who wish to emigrate. Americans came second, with a group of 56,000 people coming to Bucharest in 2011, and British, third, with 52,700 people. There were 49,700 French people arriving in Bucharest in 2011, 46,300 Israeli, 24,800 Spanish and 24,400 Austrians. Bucharest also hosted 6,800 Japanese tourists, 6,400 Indians and 4,600 Chinese.
"French, American and British usually stay at international brand hotels. The rest, especially Italians and Spanish, are curious to see the rest of the country and do not care about the hotel brand that much. Foreigners generally stay at four star or better hotels," said Mohammad Murad, president of the Romania's Tourism Employers Federation and owner of the Phoenicia hotel chain.


text:
Councillors are being urged to reject a Newmarket town centre bar's plan to lift late night restrictions on its beer garden.
Drinkers at The White Hart Hotel in the High Street are currently not allowed to use the pub's outside seating areas after 11pm but that could change if members of Forest Heath District Council's Licensing Act 2003 sub committee agree the pub's licence variation application when they meet on Monday.
Among those objecting to the application is the council's own public health and housing officer, Emma Grace, who said: "The conditions requested to be removed are present to prevent public nuisance and focus on the most sensitive periods ie late at night when background levels are reduced and when sleep could be disturbed.
"The beer garden has resulted in noise complaints in the past and does have the potential to cause noise disturbance."
Three residents have also objected to the application.


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Archive for June 2012
Supreme Court rules on Obamacare: now what?
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled on Obamacare, what will happen in Maine?
Find out what happens next with Maine's foremost expert on health care. The Maine Heritage Policy Center invites you to attend "ObamaCare: Maine's Stake In The Fight," a dinner presentation by Joel Allumbaugh, director, Center for Health Reform Initiatives at MHPC.
Allumbaugh played a key role in urging the legislature's Insurance and Financial Services Committee to vote against a Democratic bill, LD 1498, which would have set up a state-level health insurance exchange that is mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as "Obamacare." He insisted that Maine should wait for the Supreme Court to rule before investing time and resources to implement Obamacare.
Liberty Festival to features food, fun, fireworks
The 16th Annual Liberty Festival will be held Wednesday, July 4 in Downtown L-A with food, fun, music and fireworks.
The 2012 Liberty Festival Planning Committee is pleased to once again offer our communities a family focused celebration of our nation's freedom.
The excitement will be centered on both the Lewiston and Auburn sides of the Androscoggin riverfront. This year's Liberty Festival—the 16th Annual—will include the sounds of great music performed by some of Maine's finest bands, the smells and tastes of a variety of food vendors and the visuals of patriotic colors and crowds of happy families celebrating a day of deep meaning to us all.
Art Walk, "Diner en Blanc" is Friday
Come out and celebrate the start of summer with L/A Arts and Art Walk Lewiston Auburn on Friday, June 29 with a lovely outdoor picnic and concert!
L/A Arts is excited to host the second annual "Diner en Blanc", a pop-up Parisian picnic where guests dressed in all white congregate in a public space to connect with and enjoy their community. Diner en Blanc features a terrific Franco-influenced musical performance by Michele Choiniere.
Put on your best all white ensemble, grab a bottle of wine, a picnic basket and your best friends and join L/A Arts and Art Walk Lewiston Auburn at 6 p.m. on Friday June 29 in Dufresne Plaza on Lisbon Street in Downtown Lewiston.
ALT hosts Youth Fishing Days in Downtown L-A
As a continuation of efforts to reconnect communities of the Androscoggin River to the recreational potential of this major Maine river, the Androscoggin Land Trust will be hosting Youth Fishing Days in Downtown Lewiston-Auburn during the summer of 2012. The first event was planned for this morning, June 28, at Little Andy Park in New Auburn.
Through efforts to assess potential land trail and water access to the Androscoggin River between the Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner and Downtown Lewiston-Auburn, a series of community-based events are being coordinated by ALT to reconnect residents to the Androscoggin and build a sense of community ownership.
Recognizing the strengths of various state and local partners, ALT has engaged with the very successful "Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs" program of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to bring their programming and resources to the community.
Enough is Enough: You are Lewiston, Lewiston is you
By Robert Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
While you may have a hard time connecting with me at City Hall, you will find me in local coffee shop hangouts. Although I have little real power, the status of the mayor's office provides me the power of the "Bully Pulpit".
This enables me to articulate in this paper, as well as the written and broadcast media, your concerns. Concerns relayed to me in public, by the public. Concerns I would not be aware of if I were shut up in my office at City Hall.
Many of you come up to me and compliment me on the "good job" I'm doing. While I appreciate the compliments, without Lewiston's exceptional city council, unparalleled administration, devoted city employees, local investors who believe in Lewiston and your public support, I am no more than the emperor standing before you—without clothes.
LETTER: Mayor Macdonald's stance is refreshing
To the Editor:
Seems as though we have seen many letters recently criticizing Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald for following through on his "Enough is Enough" campaign promises. Are these letter writers mouthpieces for city and state representatives who don't know how to deal with an honest politician?
It is so refreshing to have an elected official who is not afraid to do what the people who put him in office want. Bob was elected after running a campaign that promised to address the many issues that we are currently confronted with.
These included welfare reform, efforts to increase our tax base, thus lowering property taxes, and the need to change Lewiston's image to one of pride rather than one of a welfare city.
L/A Arts unveils student art work
L/A Arts will host an opening reception for its new exhibit, "HumaniTy Expressed Visually," an artistic collaboration between the Lewiston Educational Achievement Program (LEAP) and Maranacook Community High School.
The event, part of Art Walk Lewiston-Auburn, will take place Friday, June 29, from 3:30 to 8 p.m. at the Community Gallery, 221 Lisbon Street in Lewiston, where the exhibit will be available for viewing until July 20.
The mission of HumaniTy Expressed Visually, an arts enrichment program of Lewiston Middle School LEAP, was to expand knowledge of communities, enhance communication skills, and foster self-awareness through hands-on cultural exploration in the visual arts. Student works featured in the exhibit will include a collection of logo and t-shirt designs, collaborative sculptures, and the award-winning mural design for EcoMaine's "Recycling is a Work of Art," painted onto a Silver Bullet.
Enough is Enough: Welfare reform and academic-type social engineers
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
I was pleasingly surprised by the public response I received on my June 7 column in Twin City TIMES, "LHS graduation marred by teens' rude behavior". The buzz it created made me feel like a rock star.
It also brought criticism from Will Fessenden of Sabattus, a former contributor to Lewiston's local Sunday paper, and Dan Billings, Governor Paul LePage's legal counsel. I seldom respond to criticism of my column, but in this case I'm going to adhere to the old adage: never look a gift horse in the mouth.
It appears that when it comes to words beginning with "A", Billings and the administration become confused. You see, I like and believe in Governor LePage, thus making me an "ally", not an "adversary".
Lewiston and Auburn are members of the Maine Mayors Coalition, which is made up of 10 cities. In addition to Lewiston-Auburn, there is Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford, Portland, Saco, South Portland, Waterville and Westbrook. Our purpose is to band together and attempt to insure that legislation, which helpful to our needs as service-center cities, is passed.
L-A legislators vow to fight toll hike
Lewiston-Auburn legislators are united in their opposition the Maine Turnpike Authority's proposal to increase its tolls, which would dramatically hike rates for residents of Western Maine.
At a public meeting Tuesday in Auburn Hall, a long stream of legislators and residents railed against the proposed toll hikes to MTA Director Peter Mills and members of the Turnpike board.
The MTA rolled out its plan on June 1, which is estimated to generate an additional $26 million per year to help maintain and rehabilitate bridges, interchanges and pavement on the toll road, as well as help pay down existing debt.
The cash rate for tolls at West Gardiner and New Gloucester would increase from $1.75 to $2.50. The toll at York would jump from $2 to $3. Tolls for commercial trucks would also increase. Some residents of Western Maine could pay as much as $7 round trip to get to work each day.
Liberty Festival announces entertainment line-up
Even bigger and better plans are in the works for this year's Twin Cities 4th of July celebration. In addition to the state's premier fireworks show, organizers of the 2012 Lewiston-Auburn Liberty Festival have announced a jam-packed entertainment line-up to appear at venues in Lewiston and Auburn.
The Lewiston Festival Stage will feature Skosh, the Chad Porter Trio, Firewater Creek, Terry and the Telstars, and a selection of karaoke finalists from Fusion at the Ramada Inn.
The Auburn Showcase Stage will feature a beer garden catered by Irish Twins Pub, with performances by Spice Weasel, Matt and the Barnburners, Random Order, Kaining Amy, the Luke Mulholland Band, the Brookside Independence All-Stars and Cold Blue Steel. Performing at Festival Plaza will be the Auburn Community Concert Band.


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Ursachen und Wirkungen eines zwischenstaatlichen Finanzausgleichs
The article concerns issues of fiscal federalism in the broadest sense. It analyzes both the political causes and the economic consequences of interregional and international grants. Examples from Germany and from the European Union are considered.
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Volume (Year): (1997)
Issue (Month): ()
Pages: 61-95
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- Robert J. Barro, 2013.
"Inflation and Economic Growth,"
Annals of Economics and Finance,
Society for AEF, vol. 14(1), pages 121-144, May.
- Robert J. Barro, 1995. "Inflation and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 5326, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Robert J. Barro, 2012. "Inflation and Economic Growth," CEMA Working Papers 568, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
- Heinemann, Friedrich, 1994. "Verschuldungsanreize in der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion," ZEW Discussion Papers 94-02, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
- Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-296, June.
- Henderson, J V, 1974. "The Sizes and Types of Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 640-656, September.
- J.V. Henderson, 1972. "The Sizes and Types of Cities," Working Papers 75, Queen's University, Department of Economics.
- Joseph Persky, 1992. "Retrospectives: Pareto's Law," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 181-192, Spring.
- Homburg, Stefan, 1993. "Eine Theorie des Länderfinanzausgleichs: Finanzausgleich und Produktionseffizienz," EconStor Open Access Articles, ZBW - German National Library of Economics, pages 458-486.
- Robin W. Boadway & Frank R. Flatters, 1981. "The Efficiency Basis for Regional Employment Policy," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 14(1), pages 58-77, February.
- Robin Boadway & Frank Flatters, 1979. "The Efficiency Basis for Regional Employment Policy," Working Papers 341, Queen's University, Department of Economics.
- H. S. Houthakker, 1955. "The Pareto Distribution and the Cobb-Douglas Production Function in Activity Analysis," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 27-31.
- Hildenbrand, Werner, 1981. "Short-Run Production Functions Based on Microdata," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(5), pages 1095-1125, September.
- Hochman, Oded & Pines, David & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1995. "On the Optimal Structure of Local Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1224-1240, December.
- Hochman, O. & Pines, D. & Thisse, J.-F., "undated". "On the optimal structure of local governments," CORE Discussion Papers RP 1185, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
- Hochman, Oded & Pines, David & Thisse, Jacques-François, 1994. "On the Optimal Structure of Local Governments," CEPR Discussion Papers 899, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Wildasin, David E, 1991. "Income Redistribution in a Common Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 757-774, September.
- Homburg, Stefan, 1994. "Anreizwirkungen des deutschen Finanzausgleichs," EconStor Open Access Articles, ZBW - German National Library of Economics, pages 312-330..
- Pauly, Mark V., 1973. "Income redistribution as a local public good," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 35-58, February.
- Stefan Homburg & Wolfram Richter, 1993. "Harmonizing public debt and public pension schemes in the European community," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 51-63, December.
- Stefan Homburg & Wolfram Richter, 1993. "Harmonizing public debt and public pension schemes in the European community," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 51-63, December.
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- GT6 features 1,200 cars from classics cars, family cars, supercars and track cars for you to drive.
- Feel the speed as you hurtle around 33 locations from around the world.
- Create a Custom car and then let the competition admire it whilst you leave them in the dust.
- The new Physics engine pushes the PlayStation 3's power to its limit.
Please note:
Gran Turismo 6 on PlayStation 3 Features
- Take to the track with 1,200 cars, from historic classics to the latest engine revving racers from manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti.
- Speed around 33 locations with an incredible variety of courses, including 7 brand new tracks like the prestigious Silverstone Circuit.
- Enjoy the limitless potential of the new course maker feature which will generate new tracks pulling from several kilometres worth of gorgeous scenery
- Create your very own, personalised custom car and then leave the competition in the dust of your custom made tracks which can import GPS data for an even more authentic feel.
- Race your rivals around the world in your own communities and online events – and then enjoy these social features on the move with the Gran Turismo 6 mobile and web app for your smart phone, tablet and PC.
- GT6 pushes PlayStation 3's power to the limit with a brand new physics engine which creates the most realistic and immersive experience yet
- Expect to see exciting new collaborations with partner manufacturers as their 15 year relationship with Gran Turismo reaches new heights
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I am 18 days post op BA. I got 300cc silicone unders. My PS doesn't start implant massaging until after my 1 month post op apt. I have read a lot of articles & posts that say early massaging will help soften the implants & relax the muscle allowing the implant to move like natural breast. My implants r soft but don't move much. Will starting massaging now help open the pocket so my breast r more movable? Or has the scar tissue already formed and it's too late? Any info is appreciated! Thx!
Will Massaging my Breast Implants Help to Soften Them?
Doctor Answers 15
Massage Techniques
Thank you for your post. There are many reasons why one would want to do breast massage after surgery. These include,
1. to try to massage an implant into place that is assymetric with the other side,
2. to try to massage implants down that are too high,
3. to try to massage a constricted area of the breast to loosen up, as in tubular breasts, and finally
4. to try to prevent capsular contraction around the breasts.
As you probably have guessed, the type of massage for these different issues will be different as we are trying to accomplish different things. If the massage is done incorrectly, or past the point of symmetry when trying to lower an implant, then yes, it can cause bottoming out. Follow these guidelines to avoid this. Your implants will get softer natually as the swelling goes down, so you should always follow your particular doctors recommendations regarding massage. These are the instructions I give my patients:
1. When the implants are assymetric, or appear to be at different levels or height, then the massage is different from side to side. This occurs sometimes if the implants are placed under the muscle and one muscle is released slightly different from the other side, or the muscle is naturally larger or different shape from the other side. Sometimes massage is performed to one breast only, and sometimes to both breasts but in different directions. You should ask your surgeon for specific instructions as every situation is different, but in general, think of the breast as a 'circle', and massage with significant breast on the opposite side of the circle that you want the implants to go. You have to feel an actual stretch in the tissues in the area that the implant need to go for this to be of benefit, otherwise you are not really accomplishing anything. If the massage is in the direction of the incision, I usually protect the incision with steri-strips in order to keep the scar from widening in the early first 3 months during the massage. The massage needs to be finished in the first three months and started early, otherwise it will have little to no benefit. Look at the breasts and analyze the symmetry and where the deficient areas are to make a nice smooth beautiful contour, and stop once that goal is achieved.
2. When the implants are high, and have not dropped, but are symmetric, some physicians use a tension band on top of the breasts, some ask the patient to go without a bra and allow gravity to slowly move the implants, some do a similar massage to the above but doing exactly the same thing on both sides. Consult with your physician on this.
3. When there is a constricted breast like tubular breasts, I sometimes have the patient massage as in #1, sometimes have them massage both sides of the 'circle' to loosen the constricted skin, and usually leave the patient out of a bra if both sides have tubular breasts or constriction at the bottom, or if only one side is constricted, have the patient wear a bra, but cutting out he cup on the side that is constricted, so that only the normal side is supported.
4. Finally, maintenance massage. I disagree with surgeons who want to keep the pocket or 'capsule' of the breast where the implant is contained larger than the implant. This aids in the implant becoming more and more displaced over time, with more separation at the cleavage point especially when you lay down, and can also cause sagging of the breasts. I actually use textured implants as a way to fight the implants moving inside the capsule of the breast so that they stay 'perky'. Natural 'perky' breasts stay in place when standing up or laying down, so 'perky' implants should do the same. I think the implant should fit in the capsule or breast pocket like a glove, and actually be adhesive to it. Thus there is a 'perfect' amount of massage that is necessary to keep this capsule flexible, but not wider than the actual implant and thus allow for movement of the implant and thus sag. I like grabbing the breast and pressing the opposite sides of the 'circle' toward the center, causing the central or nipple area to bulge out. I have my patients do this pushing the top and bottom together, the sides together, and then both diagonals together. This puts more pressure on the central portion of the implant, rather than the sides to allow the implant to continue to be adhesive, but the capsule to not widen. I ask my patients to develop a routine and do it in their morning shower, this way it becomes habitual and they won't forget, as this is a lifelong routine that should be performed.
Best Wishes,
Pablo Prichard, MD
Learn more: http://www.aaaplasticsurgery.com/photo-gallery/details.cfm?ID=75&StartRow=1
Massaging breast implants
I believe massage helps. However...
1) How you massage matters (most women do not massage firmly enough)
2) How often and how consistently you massage matters
3) Massage will help with some softening if the capsule is not calcified, but it is a mild tool.
Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon prior to engaging in any massage protocol. There is also a company called Aspen which is located here in South Florida which is internationally known for its capsular contracture protocols.
If a capsule is too thick or there is some other reason that it has become thickened, you may have to either change the pocket or consider using an acellular dermal matrix product like Alloderm or Strattice to help prevent reformation of a hard capsule around the implant. It is the capsule (scar) around the implant which gets hard, not the implant itself.
Massage after surgery
Learn more: https://harmonycosmetic.com/cosmetic-procedures/surgery/breast-augmentation/
You might also like...
Contact your PS
An in-person exam with a board-certified plastic surgeon is the best way to assess your needs and provide true medical advice.
Learn more: http://www.michaelomidi.com
Massage after breast augmentation
As far as how to massage, I recommend displacing the implant in all four directions (up, down, left and right). Example, pinch the breast on the top to displace the implant downwards. For the lymphatic massage, it is much more of a light gentle touch. We often recommend a massage therapist to help with this or we show patients how to do this at home. You can repeat this several times a day for the first several months.
Listen to your surgeon
Also, you should know that it takes about 3-4 months for your breasts to settle and appear more natural in contour. Until this time, they may look abnormally high, flattened and firmer.
Learn more: https://www.edelsteincosmetic.com/
Breast massage
Every surgeon has a bit different protocol. Just know that that there is no evidence to support or refute breast massage. Whichever method a plastic surgeon chooses is based in their experience. Speak with your plastic surgeon about your concerns.
Implant Exercises
Revisit the massage question with your Plastic Surgeon. I usually recommend massages at 10 days post op. This helps the implant to settle,as well as keep the pocket open. Also, this will depend on whether you have smooth or textured implants. Follow your Plastic Surgeon's post operative instructions for your best result.
Implant Exercises
I favor the use of implant message techniques to help keep the pocket bit more open. Also is serves a form of a breast self exam. I have my patients do these exercises for the life of the implant. I start these exercises around 10-14 days after the procedure. I think that even a month after the procedure would be helpful. Re-discuss this with your PS.
Dr. ES
Implant massage after breast augmentation
Every surgeon has his own protocol regarding implant massage. If you have textured implants, you do not massage at all! I advise you to follow your surgeon's instructions.
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.