News

Can You Solve GCHQ Xmas Puzzle?   Wednesday 23 December

It seems that government security agencies like to set puzzles for us geeks to solve. The motive might be recruitment, but it is still fun trying to solve them even if you don't want a job as a spook. 

Happy Holidays From Boston Dynamics - A New Branch Of The Uncanny Valley   Wednesday 23 December

This year there is just one holiday video you have to see, but be warned, once seen it cannot be unseen. Boston Dynamics seems to have found a new part of the uncanny valley involving robot reindeers.  

Are Your Pictures Memorable?   Wednesday 23 December

Whenever you post a picture to the social media, you are eager to know how well it will be received and how many tweets or likes it will attract. Now, an algorithm called MemNet coming out of the MIT labs may reveal whether your picture will be forgotten in a snap or be remembered throughout time.

Algorithms For Present Wrapping   Tuesday 22 December

How do you wrap yours? If you are a programmer, or I suppose a mathematician, you might just follow an algorithm. Here's a video that shows you how to wrap different shapes for that perfect package. 

Microsoft Unity Games Contest   Tuesday 22 December

Submit a Unity Game to the Windows Store in the next few weeks for a chance of winning $25,000. There are three cash prizes and Unity Pro licences will be awarded for "Honorable Mentions".

Randomness Restored In Chrome 49   Monday 21 December

When you use a random number generator that is part of a language you tend to take it for granted that it will be random. Not so in Google's V8 engine, until now that is. 

Linux Foundation Backs Blockchain Project   Monday 21 December

The Linux Foundation is backing a project to create a financial transaction ledger based on the Blockchain model used to power Bitcoin.

A History Of Programming Languages For Two Voices   Sunday 20 December

Strange loop is a conference that often isn't as strange as its name suggests - as long as you are a programmer. In this case the session was very strange but a lot of fun. Try a side-by-side history of languages and music. 

Femto Fairy Lights - Touchable Holograms   Saturday 19 December

A Japanese team has manage to create a 3D volumetric display that you can actually touch by zapping the air until it glows using a laser - sounds dangerous or is it?

Openalpr - An Open Source Licence Plate Reader   Friday 18 December

Openalpr isn't a new project, but its latest release seems to have attracted some attention because of what it could be used for. 

0xDBE Becomes DataGrip   Friday 18 December

JetBrains has released DataGrip, an IDE for databases and SQL. 

Free Wolfram Programming Lab And Book   Thursday 17 December

Wolfram has high hopes for its programming language and it is doing a lot to get attract attention to it. The real question is, will it go the final mile that is obviously needed to make it live beyond its current narrow confines.

Coursera Intro To Big Data   Thursday 17 December

A new series of courses on big data is starting from Coursera. This addition to the growing list of specializations, is designed to equip you with a robust set of skills to process, analyze, and extract meaningful information from large amounts of complex data.

The Core

The Sequel to SQL   Monday 21 December

CodeSchool recently launched a new Database path and we gave it a test run. Is a hands-on approach enough to get the deeper meaning of SQL?

Babbage's Bag

Non-computable numbers   Saturday 19 December

What are the limits to computation? The computer science theory of computation can be intimidating because of its use of logic but taking a programmer's approach makes it seem much simpler. So if you want to know what a non-computable number is - read on.