Programmer Puzzles

Three Warehouses Puzzle   Thursday 28 November

Talking through a problem is often a good way to see what is required for its solution. Reducing it in scale is another good strategy. But as programmers at the end of the day we need to code an algorithm that deals with the general case - and that means making the problem bigger.

News

Go 1.2 Is Released   Wednesday 04 December

Just after celebrating its 4th birthday, Go gets a decimal point upgrade. Can it break out of its niche?

PC Shipments Slump   Wednesday 04 December

According to IDC, worldwide computer sales are expected to decline by 10.1 per cent in 2013, by far the most severe yearly contraction on record.

Better 3D Meshes Using The Nash Embedding Theorem   Wednesday 04 December

Researchers at UT Dallas have found a really clever way of solving the anisotropic mesh problem - do it in higher dimensions and then map it back to 3D. The result is faster and more accurate meshes. 

InfiniSQL - Try It For Size   Tuesday 03 December

A new SQL database designed to be infinitely scalable is being made available to developers for testing.

Google Compute Engine - More Features Lower Prices   Tuesday 03 December

Google has announced that its Google Compute Engine is now Generally Available, meaning it is open to all developers who want to use the virtual machine technology.

Saleforce Awards Another $1 Million   Tuesday 03 December

Salseforce's inaugural hackathon led to an outcry from the developer community. After a review Salesforce has decided to award another $1 million to the team originally placed second. Will this satisfy the critics?

December Computer Science MOOCs and Online Courses   Monday 02 December

December is a quiet month for new classes, but there is one introducing Android programming to complete beginners that you might like to recommend to your not-yet programming friends.

DARPA Extends Young Faculty Award Program   Monday 02 December

DARPA's Young Faculty Award program is an opportunity for junior faculty members to get involved with big, important projects and for the rest of us it provides a view into what topics DARPA thinks are hot when it comes to the new technological military.

Processing's Hour of Code   Monday 02 December

During this year's Computer Science Education Week (December 9 -15) schools all over the US (and the wider world) are going to devote an hour of classroom time to teaching programming and there's a video tutorial about Processing that could be the ideal way to put programming into an Art class.

Muscle Input Device Getting Ready To Ship   Sunday 01 December

It seems this is the era of novel input devices. Not content with the Kinect and similar gestural input devices, Myo taps directly into the electrical signals your muscles generate.

Robot Navigation Made Easy With QR Codes   Saturday 30 November

Getting a robot to know where it is and navigate to new locations is a tough problem that needs Bayesian particle filters, sophisticated machine vision, planning and ... or does it?

AI Reality Check In Online Dating   Friday 29 November

Researchers have developed an online dating system that not only matches you with partners you’ll find attractive, but who are also likely to find you attractive too.

C++ Quiz Tests & Improves Programming Skills   Friday 29 November

CppQuiz.org is home to an interactive quiz with questions that test your understanding of the C++ 11 standard. Not only can you answer the questions, you can add questions of your own.

ASICMINER's Immersion Bitcoin Miner - How Far It Has Gone   Friday 29 November

If you are contemplating getting involved in Bitcoin mining using a CPU or a GPU or even an ASIC, you need to see this report on how far it has gone. A secret facility mines Bitcoin using racks of liquid cooled hardware.

CyanogenMod Installer Pulled From Google Play   Thursday 28 November

Earlier in the month, CyanogenMod released an easy way to install its alternative Android on a wide range of devices. It was in the Play store for about two weeks and now Google has asked for it to be removed.

UK Demand For Big Data Specialists   Thursday 28 November

Around a third of the UK's larger organizations - around 6,400 - will implement big data analytics programs in the next five years, pushing the demand for big data specialists up by 243 per cent to 69,000.

Babbage's Bag

Fractal Image Compression   Tuesday 03 December