Abstract: Edge server cache techniques are described to prepopulate an edge server cache. The edge servers are configurable to maintain a first set of digital content that is currently made available via content requests to client devices. The edge servers are also configured to maintain a second set of digital content, separately, that is to be launched. The second set of digital content is not made publicly available until launch, but rather is “pre-warmed” in the caches of the respective edge servers. In an implementation, prelaunch access is provided using respective credentials, e.g., to verify operation of the second set of digital content using software and hardware resources at actual edge servers that implement the caches.

Abstract: A system for identifying and tagging anomalies, such as images of dust and scratches, in a digital image so that they can be removed from the image. The invention implements a technique for detecting anomalies designed to minimize the number of false positives, i.e., non-anomalous portions of the image falsely identified as anomalies. The technique bases the initial first-pass identification of anomalous image regions on the difference between the gradient of the image at each of a set of grid points in the image and the mean of the gradient of the image at nearby points. Thus a region is identified as anomalous if original image pixel values in its immediate neighborhood are more variable than they are in a larger neighborhood. This technique greatly reduces (when compared to the prior art) the identification of false positives in noisy regions of the image, such as the leaves of a tree in daylight or a pebbly beach.