News

June Computing MOOCs and Open Courses   Wednesday 29 May

For many students June is the beginning of the long summer vacation. But, with fewer competing pressures, it could be an ideal time to start a MOOC - or perhaps complete one you started and gave up on!

No Self Made Games For Xbox One   Wednesday 29 May

Bits and pieces of information are appearing from Microsoft about the status of indie developers for the new Xbox One. It seems there is no place any more for anything but the big blockbuster games. If you want to create a new game for the Xbox, you'll need to find a publisher.

Foxconn To Make Firefox OS Tablet   Tuesday 28 May

Mozilla has disclosed  that it is entering into a parntership with Taiwan-based Hon Hai, parent company of Foxconn, to develop a mobile device that runsFirefox OS. The device, rumored to be a tablet, will be unveiled on June 3rd,

Google Code Bans Downloads   Tuesday 28 May

Google Code hosting has announced that it has deprecated the ability to download files from projects and suggested that projects migrate their downloads to Google Drive. Is this Google playing marketing, politics or just a reasonable act?

Zend Survey of PHP Developers   Tuesday 28 May

Zend's latest survey of PHP developers reveals that open standards, have become the norm for mobile app development, and that meeting the frequent release cycles mobile apps require is frequently a problem. A growing number of PHP devs intend to deploy to the cloud.

Deep Learning Finds Your Photos   Monday 27 May

It is amazing that some of the most advanced AI on the planet is being rolled out as yet another way to entice you to use Google+. Now you can search for untagged photos that have particular objects - like a car - in them.

Amethyst 2 - Visual IDE For Flex Developers   Monday 27 May

Version 2 of SapphireSteel's Flash Platform IDE for Microsoft Visual Studio has been released providing visual design support for Flex, Flash and ActionScript developers.

The Naming   Sunday 26 May

This week's xkcd cartoon is a warning for any project about selecting cool sounding names. Yes, open source, I'm talking to you!

A Brief History Of Programming Languages   Sunday 26 May

This infographic has some interesting facts about programming languages including who created them and what they are used for. It also has recent rankings from the TIOBE index and looks at security vulnerabilities in Java, .NET and C/C++.

Apple 1 Sold For Record Price of $668K   Sunday 26 May

An online action held yesterday had a veritable treasure trove of computing history and has the distinction of achieving a world record price for an Apple 1 for the second time in six months.

A Swarm Of Humanoid Robots!   Saturday 25 May

You might think that this is just another attempt to squeeze a video of a group of dancing Nao robots into the pages of an otherwise completely serious magazine. You might be right, but this isn't just another dancing robots news item - it's about a swarm of humanoid robots and how they interact. It's also fun to watch...

UPDATE - Google Hands Over API To Microsoft   Saturday 25 May

Microsoft appears to have gained a concession from Google over the use of its You Tube API. In return for taking down its controversial Windows Phone 8 app, You Tube is now working with Microsoft to produce an official, fully-complaint You Tube app.

Autistic Workers For Software Testing   Saturday 25 May

After a successful pilot scheme in India, multinational software company SAP aims to train hundreds of people with autism as software testers and developers.

Chrome 27 Released, Chrome 28 In Beta   Friday 24 May

Chrome 27 has now been released for desktop and Android with iOS version following shortly and Chrome 28 is in beta. So what's new?

New Kinect For Windows - Next Year   Friday 24 May

Microsoft has released details of the PC version of the Kinect depth camera that is so much part of the new Xbox One. 

Microsoft Meets Google Halfway Over WP8 App   Thursday 23 May

Microsoft has updated its controversial You Tube App for Windows Phone. It  has removed the video download functionality, but hasn't added the facility to display ads. This isn't likely to be anywhere near enough for Google and how it resolves the issue is important for all of us. 

Firefox 22 Beta Ready To Test   Thursday 23 May

Keeping track of where Firefox is going is difficult given you have at least two horizons to keep your eyes on. Here we have a brief look at what to expect in Firefox 22, currently in beta and close to being rolled out.

Google Compute Engine Now Open To All   Thursday 23 May

The initial announcement of Google Compute Engine last year limited access to a small number of specifically invited developers, but Google has now widened access to the preview to anyone who wants to try the service.

Professional Programmer

Why The End User Cloud Is Dead   Friday 24 May

As a programmer I have always seen the cloud, and more accurately cloud deployment, as a friend. It's one way to get an app as a service into the user's hands. Just recently, however, I have had the tables reversed. With me as the user, I suddenly find a cloud delivered app not quite as attractive as I thought.

The Core

Android Adventures - Activity And UI   Monday 27 May

So you know how to create an Android app, but do you really know how it works? In this second part of our new ebook on getting started with Android using Android Studio we look at how to create a UI and how to hook it up to the code in the Activity. 

Babbage's Bag

The Birth Of Ethernet   Wednesday 29 May

The Internet is 40 years old in May 2013 and this article explains why we should celebrate the invention of the first modern communication system.  It is a surprising story that starts, of all places, in Hawaii with a desire to surf - not the web but the waves that crash on the beaches.