Abstract: Disclosed is a network device, comprising a first network interface port, a second network interface port, and a processor coupled to the first network interface port and the second network interface port. The processor can be configured to operate in a first switching mode to receive network control packets via the first network interface port and transmit the received network control packets via the second network interface port. The processor can also be configured operate in a second communications mode to receive and transmit network communication packets using the first network interface independently of the operation in the first switching mode.

Abstract: A pixel-based display device, such as an electrowetting display, includes an array of routing dummy pixels that are electrically interconnected in series, forming a conductive routing trace through the pixel area. Within the routing dummy pixel substrate, a source-drain metal layer is electrically isolated from a gate metal layer. A source metal interconnect between the source-drain metal layers of vertically adjacent routing dummy pixels electrically connects the vertically adjacent routing dummy pixels in series. The routing trace conducts a common voltage from a power supply to a common connector pad, facilitating relocation of the pad from the bottom to the top of the display. The pad and the source-drain and reflector metal layers of the routing dummy pixels have the same electric potential, ensuring that the routing dummy pixels remain in an “off” state and appear black throughout operation of the display device.

Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating sharing and reuse of executable software images between multiple execution environments. In at least some situations, the executable software images are virtual machine images (e.g., images that are bootable or otherwise loadable by a virtual machine in a particular virtualization environment, and that each include operating system software and/or software for one or more application programs, optionally along with one or more hard disks or other representations of stored data). The described techniques may include use of an image conversion tool that is configured to support interactions with multiple distinct types of source execution environments to extract executable software images from those environments, and to modify extracted software images for execution in one or more distinct types of destination execution environments, optionally as directed by one or more users via a GUI provided by the image conversion tool.

Abstract: An electrowetting display device and manufacturing method thereof. The manufacturing method comprises forming pixel electrodes on a substrate, forming an insulation layer on the pixel electrodes, applying light through a mask to expose portions of the insulation layer, developing the insulation layer to at least partially remove the exposed portions of the insulation layer, wherein the developing forms a water repellent layer on the pixel electrodes and partitioning walls on the water repellent layer, and forming an oil layer between the partitioning walls and on the water repellent layer. The water repellent layer and the sides of the partitioning walls are hydrophobic. Upper surfaces of the partitioning walls are hydrophilic. The partition walls are thicker than the water repellent layer.

Abstract: In an environment such as a cloud computing environment where various guests can be provisioned on a host machine or other hardware device, it can be desirable to prevent those users from rebooting or otherwise restarting the machine or other resources using unauthorized information or images that can be obtained from across the network. A cloud manager can cause one or more network switches or other routing or communication processing components to deny communication access between user-accessible ports on a machine or device and the provisioning systems, or other specific network resources, such that the user cannot cause the host machine to pull information from those resources upon a restart or reboot of the machine. Further, various actions can be taken upon a reboot or attempted reboot, such as to isolate the host machine or even power off the specific machine.

Abstract: A system for providing low-latency computational capacity from a virtual compute fleet is provided. The system may be configured to maintain a plurality of virtual machine instances on one or more physical computing devices, wherein the plurality of virtual machine instances comprises a first pool comprising a first sub-pool of virtual machine instances and a second sub-pool of virtual machine instances, and a second pool comprising virtual machine instances used for executing one or more program codes thereon. The first sub-pool and/or the second sub-pool may be associated with one or more users of the system. The system may be further configured to process code execution requests and execute program codes on the virtual machine instances of the first or second sub-pool.

Abstract: Inventory locations such as shelves in a materials handling facility may be used to store items of various shapes and sizes. Described is a modular item stowage system with hardware that incorporates several components that may be readily reconfigured to accommodate changes in store layout, product presentation, and so forth. The components may include one or more of an instrumented auto-facing unit, divider, spacer, and so forth. The hardware may also support onboard electronics such as sensors to acquire sensor data and computing devices to process the sensor data.

Abstract: Architectures and techniques are described related to identifying merchants associated with information obtained from a number of sources and storing portions of the information in data elements related to the merchants. The information may be provided in a structured format that enables the service provider to associate certain information with a particular merchant or in an unstructured format. The service provider may analyze the information received from the sources to determine whether the information includes any merchant identifying information. When the service provider identifies a merchant based on the merchant identifying information, the service provider may extract additional portions of the information received (e.g. merchant reviews, merchant attributes, etc.) and store those additional portions of information in the data element of the merchant.

Abstract: A user can emulate touch screen events with motions and gestures that the user performs at a distance from a computing device. A user can utilize specific gestures, such as a pinch gesture, to designate portions of motion that are to be interpreted as input, to differentiate from other portions of the motion. A user can then perform actions such as text input by performing motions with the pinch gesture that correspond to words or other selections recognized by a text input program. A camera-based detection approach can be used to recognize the location of features performing the motions and gestures, such as a hand, finger, and/or thumb of the user.

Abstract: A device is described for assisting network technicians and other users with network cabling. The device can be provided to a technician, where the technician plugs a loose cable end into the device, and if the other end of the cable is attached to a switch (e.g. Euclid switch), the device indicates to the technician via a display where on the network the cable should be plugged in (which port on which switch). When the device is connected to a switch via a cable, the switch can make available its information to the device. The device can also consult a data store to determine where the other end should be attached. The information that is used to determine where the cable should be attached can include the number of layers in the network; the number of switches in each layer; and the number of ports on the switches.

Abstract: A Mobile Soft Duct System includes a soft duct that can be extended and retracted along a track to deliver an air supply to various locations. A vent attached to a part of the soft duct system can include a flow control element that can be adjusted to direct air to a target location. Managing a soft duct system can include monitoring an environment to detect temperature hotspots and configuring the soft duct system, in response to detection of a hotspot at a particular location, to deliver air to the particular location to mitigate the hotspot. Configuring the soft duct system can include extending the soft duct along the track and adjusting a flow control element in a vent to direct air to the particular location. Soft duct system management can be implemented by one or more computer systems.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a system and method for utilizing an automated aerial vehicle for determining the content of items included in bins within a materials handling facility. In some implementations, the automated aerial vehicle may fly along a flight path past one or more bins and capture images of those bins. The images may be processed to determine the content of the bins, and other images of areas outside of the bins may also be processed (e.g., for detecting items on floors, security issues, etc.). The flight path for the automated aerial vehicle may be determined and/or modified based on various parameters (e.g., to most efficiently capture the images of the bins, to temporarily avoid areas with obstacles, etc.).

Abstract: A computing device includes a processor and a persistent memory for storing information about a first public key associated with a first asymmetric key pair for authenticating the source of a digital certificate. The computing device also includes a second memory for storing one or more current certificate version indicators, each associated with a corresponding digital certificate, and the version indicator is used by the processor to determine the trust of the corresponding digital certificate.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for centralized networking configuration in distributed systems are disclosed. Networking related metrics from a plurality of sources within a distributed system are obtained at a networking configuration server. A set of rules to be used to apply a network configuration option to a particular category of traffic associated with a node of the distributed system is determined based on the collected metrics and on networking management policies. A representation of the set of rules is transmitted to the node of the distributed system to schedule network transmissions in accordance with the networking configuration option.

Abstract: An electrowetting display device includes first and second barrier layers which cover first and second electrodes. The electrowetting display device includes a first base substrate which faces a second base substrate, the first electrode on the first base substrate, the first barrier layer which covers the first electrode, the second electrode on the second base substrate, the second barrier layer which covers the second electrode, a barrier wall between the first base substrate and the second base substrate, and an electrowetting layer between the first base substrate and the second base substrate. The barrier wall defines a pixel area corresponding to the first electrode, and the electrowetting layer is in the pixel area. The electrowetting layer includes a polar fluid and a non-polar fluid which are separated from each other.

Abstract: A host device can offload certain copy operations to an I/O adapter device coupled to the host device. The I/O adapter device can perform a copy operation to copy data from a source storage volume to a destination storage volume. The source storage volume and the destination storage volume can be local or remote to the I/O adapter device. The copy operations can be performed for replica creation, online migration or for copy-on-write snapshots.

Abstract: Systems and methods for implementing network changes are described herein. In one aspect, a network change procedure may be comprised of a plurality of scripts that may implement a change in the network. In one embodiment, the deployment may be paused after the script has been executed. During the pause, a change management server may determine the impact of the change on the network. If the change had a positive effect, the change management server may execute another script to make another network change. However, if the change had a negative effect, the change management server may initiate one or more remedial actions.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for an experience service. An experience service determines if a client device requesting a network page is to receive a modified user experience. Transformation code corresponding to the user experience is communicated to the client device. The client device executes the transformation code to modify a rendering of the requested network page.

Abstract: A software image associated with a first customer of a computing resource service provider and criteria for identifying an event is received, the software image comprising a set of layers. The set of layers is stored in a first data store to form a stored set of layers, the first data store being physically located in a first region. The set of layers is copied to a second data store to form a copied set of layers, the second data store being physically located in a second region different from the first region. The copied set of layers is launched as a container executing in an instance that is physically located in the second region, and, as a result of identifying an occurrence of the event, the container is caused to be unavailable to an entity associated with the instance.

Abstract: Techniques are described for employing a crowdsourcing framework to analyze data related to the performance or operations of computing systems, or to analyze other types of data. A question is analyzed to determine data that is relevant to the question. The relevant data may be decontextualized to remove or alter contextual information included in the data, such as sensitive, personal, or business-related data. The question and the decontextualized data may then be presented to workers in a crowdsourcing framework, and the workers may determine an answer to the question based on an analysis or an examination of the decontextualized data. The answers may be combined, correlated, or otherwise processed to determine a processed answer to the question.

Abstract: Data is durably backed up for a limited amount of time. The data may be encrypted under a key and the key may be encrypted under a backup key. The backup key has a limited lifetime at the end of which the backup key is destroyed. After the backup key is destroyed, recoverability of the data depends on whether the key was deleted. In some examples, the data is a set of cryptographic keys.

Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments configured to detect a quorum of peers in a peer to peer network. In one embodiment, a first peer receives a message originating in a second peer, where the message includes a peer identifier. The peer identifier is stored in quorum detection data in response to determining that the peer identifier is not already present in the quorum detection data. A quorum of the peers is detected based at least in part on the quorum detection data.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to systems and methods for preloading content on a user device before a user requests the content from a web service provider. The preloaded content may be selected based, at least in part, upon the user's browsing and purchasing history. The web service provider may preload the content to minimize user idle time when interfacing with a web site. The web service provider may determine when to send the preloaded content based, at least in part, on when the user device is likely to connect to the network and/or when the user is likely to use the device to interface with the web service provider.

Abstract: The embodiments herein allow importation of a disk image (real or virtual) into a compute service environment. Any imported disk image can be reconfigured into a geometry compatible with the compute service environment into which it is imported. The reconfiguration can be accomplished through modifying the C, H, and S address values in the master boot record in order to match the virtualized disk environment.

Abstract: A system for performing computing operations in a data center includes one or more sets of computer systems, one or more primary power systems, and a reserve power system. The primary power systems include at least one power distribution unit that supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems. The reserve power system automatically supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems if a condition is met (such as a failure of the primary power system).

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating a payment to an owner of a media file for enabling the consumption of the media file. In one embodiment, a jukebox service transmits a plurality of media files to a plurality of users for consumption, wherein the media files are served up from a plurality of cloud drives associated with the users. A license service determines whether the consumption comprises at least one of a download, a purchase and an execution of the media files. Then, the license service facilitates a payment to the owner of the media files if a payment is owed to the owner. In one embodiment, the payment owed to the owner may be based on the type of consumption of the media files.

Abstract: Provided are systems and methods for network visibility monitoring. In some implementation, provided is an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit may include a large-flow detection logic operable to determine whether a packet is associated with a large packet flow or a small packet flow, a large-flow caching logic operable to store information about packet flows, a sampling logic operable to sample packets, and a unique-flow estimation logic. The integrated circuit may be operable to receive packets from a network during a pre-determined interval, The integrated circuit may further determine an estimate of the number of unique flows represented by the packets, identify large packet flows by identifying packets associated with the large packet flows, store information about the large packet flows, determine packets associated with small packet flows, and sample the packets determined to be associated with the small packet flows to create packet samples.

Abstract: An electrowetting display comprises a support plate on which individual electrowetting pixels separated from one another by pixel walls are formed. Pixel walls including different layers are disposed on the first support plate and separate adjacent pixel regions from each other. The first layer of a pixel wall comprises a first material having a first color and a second layer of the pixel wall comprises a second material having a second color that is different from the first color. Instead of using black matrix to reduce photo crosstalk, the pixel walls of the different layers absorb light colors that are not intended to reach the respective pixels. A fluid is disposed between the first support plate and a second support plate and at least partially surrounds the first wall and the second wall.

Abstract: A payment routing and processing platform is configured to collect various attributes for use in identifying an optimal payment processor for a particular payment transaction message. For example, the payment routing and processing platform might identify business attributes, endpoint attributes, customer and transaction attributes, payment method attributes, system attributes, and/or other types of attributes. The payment routing and processing platform might then utilize some or all of the identified attributes to select an endpoint for processing a payment transaction message. The payment routing and processing platform might also utilize some or all of the identified attributes to identify and perform other types of processing of financial transactions. Machine learning techniques might also be utilized to improve the performance of the payment routing and processing platform.

Abstract: Systems, devices, and techniques may provide asynchronous audio messaging. Asynchronous audio messaging may enable a user to quickly and easily create and transmit a message to a recipient. The user may simply record a message for a recipient. The message may include an indication of the recipient of the message, an action (e.g., to send a message, etc.) and/or other types of information. A messaging module may modify the message to create a modified version of the message and then generate an additional version of the modified message in a different media type. The modified message and the addition version of the modified message may be transmitted to the recipient. In some embodiments, the messaging module may transmit other information such as location information, an expiration, or other information derived from the message to enhance the message.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises an electrochemical energy storage device, a non-conductive film at least partially covering the electrochemical energy storage device, and a nano-grain metallic film at least partially covering the non-conductive film. The electrochemical energy storage device may include a cathode electrode layer, an anode electrode layer, and a separator layer therebetween.

Abstract: Data can be processed in parallel across a cluster of nodes using a parallel processing framework. Using Web services calls between components allows the number of nodes to be scaled as necessary, and allows developers to build applications on the framework using a Web services interface. A job scheduler works together with a queuing service to distribute jobs to nodes as the nodes have capacity, such that jobs can be performed in parallel as quickly as the nodes are able to process the jobs. Data can be loaded efficiently across the cluster, and levels of nodes can be determined dynamically to process queries and other requests on the system.

Abstract: A content validation module receives an electronic media item in a first format. The content validation module may determine whether the electronic media item will contain errors when the electronic media item is converted to a second format. The content validation module may also obtain an error metric for the electronic media item and may refrain from converting the electronic media item to the second format if the error metric exceeds an error threshold.

Abstract: A passage sentiment classifier that can be used to assign a score that indicates the polarity and magnitude of sentiment expressed by a piece of text using information about similar passages. A passage of text may be a few words, a sentence, a paragraph or an entire document. The invention described classifies automatically passages by first looking up the most similarly classified passage in a storage system, which contains passages that have been classified manually by a human.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for obtaining feedback associated with specific segments of a work. In some embodiments, a content provider may make one or more segments of the work available to commentators to provide feedback associated with a particular segment. The feedback may include ratings and/or comments. In some embodiments, feedback scores may be calculated using the feedback. Alternatively or additionally, content providers and/or other commentators may evaluate feedback provided by commentators. These evaluations may be used to calculate a commentator reputation score. Some feedback scores may be based at least in part on commentator reputation scores. In some embodiments, comparisons of feedback may be generated. For example, the comparisons may be based at least in part on feedback associated with one or more segments that is filtered based on demographic criteria that divide commentators into groups.

Abstract: Techniques are described for providing virtual networking functionality for managed computer networks. In some situations, a user may configure or otherwise specify a logical network topology for a managed computer network with multiple computing nodes that includes one or more virtual networking devices each associated with a specified group of the multiple computing nodes. Corresponding networking functionality may be provided for communications between the multiple computing nodes by emulating functionality that would be provided by the networking devices if they were physically present and configured to support the specified network topology. In some situations, the managed computer network is a virtual computer network overlaid on a substrate network, and the networking device functionality emulating includes receiving routing communications directed to the networking devices and using included routing information to update the specified network topology for the managed computer network.

Abstract: Systems and methods for displaying prioritized content using a display array are described herein. In some embodiments, a display array may include two or more display devices, which may render content thereby. If an update or change to the content occurs, or if new content is requested, then that content may be assigned a higher priority level. A computing system may include a device management system that continually monitors the availability of the various display devices of the display array, and based on the content received by an applications management system of the computing system, determines which display device should render which content. For instance, an update to content displayed on a second display device may be caused to be displayed on a first display device in response to the device management system determining that the first display device is to be used for displaying high priority content.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for implementing service-oriented system optimization using edge relocation are disclosed. An optimized configuration is determined for a service-oriented system based on trace data for a plurality of service interactions between services. One or more of the services are relocated to one or more edge hosts based on the optimized configuration. The relocation improves a total performance metric in at least a portion of the service-oriented system.

Abstract: An augmented reality environment allows interaction between virtual and real objects. By monitoring user actions with the augmented reality environment various functions are provided to users. Users may buy or sell items with a gesture, check inventory of objects in the augmented reality environment, view advertisements, and so forth.

Abstract: Techniques for configuring virtual machine instances are described herein. A virtual machine instance is instantiated and the virtual machine instance is monitored to receive notifications of configuration events associated with that virtual machine instance. Each configuration event, which specifies configuration changes to the virtual machine instance, includes a set of metadata associated with the configuration event. The metadata is extracted from the configuration event and the configuration changes are applied to the virtual machine instance. A new virtual machine image is then produced from the virtual machine instance and the extracted metadata is associated with the new virtual machine image.

Abstract: Described are techniques for configuring a group of audio devices to provide a synchronized audio output. Values indicative of the data throughput for communication between each audio device and the access point and between the audio devices themselves may be determined. A value indicative of the airtime that would be used to communicate data to other audio devices, via a multicast transmission, may be determined for at least a portion of the audio devices. Based on the airtime values, the audio devices may be divided into subsets, each including a master device configured to provide data to one or more slave devices via a multicast transmission. A global master device that receives audio data from a data source and provides the data to the other master devices may be selected based on the data throughput values for communication between each master device and the access point.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for implementing service-oriented system optimization using partial service relocation are disclosed. An optimized configuration is determined for the service-oriented system based on performance data. The optimized configuration improves a performance metric in the service-oriented system. A partial service is automatically generated based on an original service in a service-oriented system. The partial service includes a first set of program code from the original service and excludes a second set of program code from the original service. The first set of program code is included in the partial service based on its frequency of use. One or more instances of the partial service are deployed to the service-oriented system based on the optimized configuration.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for controlling access to personal data of a user. In one embodiment, content is requested from a network site using an authentication token. It is determined that the content includes a placeholder for personal data. The personal data is received from a personal data service, where the service is configured to limit access to the personal data to a client authorized by the user who owns the personal data. The content is modified to replace the placeholder with the personal data, and the content is then rendered for presentation.

Abstract: Described is a system for counting stacked items using image analysis. In one implementation, an image of an inventory location with stacked items is obtained and processed to determine the number of items stacked at the inventory location. In some instances, the item closest to the camera that obtains the image may be the only item viewable in the image. Using image analysis, such as depth mapping or Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) algorithms, the distance of the item from the camera and the shelf of the inventory location can be determined. Using this information, and known dimension information for the item, a count of the number of items stacked at an inventory location may be determined.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods provide synchronization of multiple voice-controlled devices to establish priority of one of the devices to respond to an acoustic signal, preventing other devices from responding to a single user command. Each device is configured to mediate its response to a wakeword by, after detecting the wakeword in an audio input, generating a data packet and attempting to send it to the other devices over a communication channel that prevents data collision. One device will succeed in sending the packet, while the other devices cannot until they receive the first device's packet, indicating that the first device has priority. Additionally, the devices may process their audio inputs to determine a signal quality, the signal qualities are shared between all devices, and the device with the best signal quality assumes priority.

Abstract: A task definition is received. The task definition indicates at least a location from which one or more software image can be obtained and information usable to determine an amount of resources to allocate to one or more software containers for the one or more software image. A set of virtual machine instances in which to launch the one or more software containers is determined, the one or more software image is obtained from the location included in the task definition and is launched as the one or more of software containers within the set of virtual machine instances.

Abstract: Features are disclosed for facilitating management of network directories of multiple organizations by a centralized directory management system. Various applications can access the directories of the organizations via the directory management system according to the permissions that the applications have been granted by the respective organizations. Organizations may maintain directories on-premises or off-premises, and the applications can access the directories via the directory management system regardless of the physical location of the directories. Additionally, the applications may be hosted by a computing service provider that also hosts or otherwise manages the directory management service, or the applications can be hosted by third-party servers separate from the directory management system and the organizations.

Abstract: Techniques described herein provide customized user interfaces to users of clients based on the context of the client. For instance, the techniques may receive parameters that relate to specific client contexts, may transmit the parameters to a content scheduler, and may receive a schedule for serving context-specific user interface to the users. In response to receiving the content schedule, the techniques serve the context-specific content in scheduled locations of the customized user interface to the user.

Abstract: A dynamic RFID-based input device may include an input surface and an input station. The input surface may include a plurality of RFID transmitting devices provided on at least one flexible layer, and the input station may include one or more RFID receiving devices, e.g., antennas and/or readers, provided in communication with a computing system or network. A worker may contact one or more portions of the input surface, and thereby cause one or more of the RFID transmitting devices to transmit one or more RFID signals including information, data, commands or instructions to be provided to the RFID receiving devices. Audible, visible or haptic feedback may be provided to the worker in response to the transmission of the one or more RFID signals.