News

Agile Methods For Team Foundation Service   Wednesday 15 August

Microsoft is making it easier to use a Git repository with Team Foundation Server, and has added a kanban board to its Team Foundation Service cloud platform.

Khan Academy Launches New Introductory Computer Science Curriculum   Wednesday 15 August

Online education site Khan Academy has a brand new approach to introducing programming. Based on a combination of JavaScript and Processing, and intended to be a fun environment to learn in, it is highly interactive.

x86 Open64 Compiler Suite 4.5.2 Released   Tuesday 14 August

AMD has released the latest version of its x86 Open64 Compiler Suite, which extends support to Piledriver and includes a 64-bit build.

Handy-Potter - Make Things By Waving Your Hands In The Air   Tuesday 14 August

It seems to be the season for new Kinect applications, all of which make you want to try them out. The latest is Handy-Potter, which you can use to create 3D objects simply by making their outline in the air.

Prototype 1.7.1 Released   Tuesday 14 August

The latest version of the Prototype JavaScript Framework, Version 1.7.1, may appear to be a decimal-point update but it features an overhaul of the DOM library and better compatibility with ECMAScript 5.

ROP Mitigations Bypassed   Monday 13 August

Whenever you improve your security fence, the dedicated intruder will find another way in. This has already happened to the latest release of Microsoft's anti-hacking toolkit, thereby defeating the ROPGuard protection that won a $50,000 prize.

Online - Advanced Course on Programming Languages   Monday 13 August

A new online course, starting in September, will appeal to those who are already professional programmers but have missed out on the academic background and want to plug some gaps and improve their credentials.

Google's Deep Learning - Speech Recognition   Monday 13 August

There is a revolution going on and no one seems to be taking much notice. The revolution is based on deep learning and it is creating a resurgence in the use of neural networks, but this time to solve real problems - and one of the front runners in the race is Google.

How To Breed A Face   Sunday 12 August

The genetic algorithm is a way to create solutions to problems by mimicking the way that nature works. However, that doesn't mean it can't be fun! Pareidoloop is a program which uses a GA approach to create a face that satisfies a face recognition algorithm - and all using JavaScript.

Mars Curiosity Rover Gets A Software Update   Sunday 12 August

After surviving its seven minutes of terror - the landing - Curiosity is now being subjected to a few days of code terror. It is currently receiving a software update in a sort of "patch" weekend.

Perceptions of Microsoft's Windows 8 Tablets   Sunday 12 August

The Metro UI is Microsoft's "strategic differentiators" - which makes it all the more frustrating that a name that has caught the imagination has had to be scrapped. But a rose by any other name could just as well be a stink wort and what matters is the substance.

Camera Fast Enough To Track Ping Pong Balls   Saturday 11 August

Artificial vision is getting better all the time, but what about tracking really fast movement - a ping pong ball, say? In this case it isn't just about algorithms, the basic input device has to be fast enough to capture the image and stay with it as it moves.

PHP v Ruby v Python - The Language Crunch   Saturday 11 August

Language wars - it defines who we are. But at the moment there are programmers who are thinking hard about the language they use. Should my next one be one of these?

New model For Office Apps   Friday 10 August

A new Office Store has been announced by Microsoft which opens up a wider way to make money from coding for Office, but at the price of throwing away all the useful code from the last 15 years - sound familiar?

Metro? Just Call It Windows 8   Friday 10 August

We've waited a week to discover the new name for all things  "Metro" - user interface, style, design and apps. And now we know it's something of a letdown.

Does Your JavaScript Leak? Introducing Google Leak Finder   Friday 10 August

Google has just released a memory leak finder for JavaScript. It is open source and ready to work for you.

Digia Buys Qt Development Platform   Thursday 09 August

Nokia is selling its Qt software business to Digia. The move will enable the Qt product to be developed further with cross-platform support for Android, iOS and Windows 8 platforms.

BUILD 2012 Sells Out In An Hour   Thursday 09 August

Tickets for the BUILD 2012 Microsoft developer conference went on sale yesterday (08/08) at 08:00 PDT and the event was sold out an hour later.

OpenGL And ES Updated   Thursday 09 August

This week at SIGGRAPH 2012 the Khronos Group is celebrating 20 years of OpenGL, the cross-platform 3D graphics API specification, and has launched two updated versions, OpenGL 4.3 and OpenGL ES 3.0.

The Core

The Invertible Bloom Filter   Wednesday 15 August

If you think that the Bloom filter is magic, wait until you see the invertible Bloom filter. This not only keeps a record of data, it allows you to add, delete and make a list of the data you have stored.

Getting Started With Digital Logic - Logic Gates   Friday 10 August

Logic is an essential piece of knowledge for any programmer or computer scientist. However, many people learn the theory but never discover the practice. Using the CEDAR simulator, the hardware becomes software and you can avoid soldering and burned components. So let's get started.

eBooks

WinRT JavaScript - Custom Controls   Monday 13 August

We have looked at WinJS controls and how to make use of them, but what do you do when the control you need doesn't exist? One solution is to create a custom control. As most of WinJS is just simple JavaScript with very little added, this is easier than you might expect.