News

Why Touch Screens Are Terrible For Games And What To Do   Wednesday 11 May

It is well known that any game that requires timing is harder to play on a touch screen. A research team now has a possible cause of the problem and some suggestions what to to about it. 

Anonymous Operation Icarus Hits Bank Sites   Wednesday 11 May

Anonymous has remained true to its commitment to a   30-day campaign against central bank sites across the world. Last week's pre-emptive DDoS attacks against the Bank of Greece revived Operation Icarus, announcing that "Olympus will fall".

GitHub Introduces New Pricing For Private Projects   Wednesday 11 May

GitHub is introducing new pricing plans offering unlimited private repositories for $7 per month for Individual accounts and $9 per user per month for Organization Accounts after the first five users at $25 per month.

Learning Opportunities AT SDD 2016   Tuesday 10 May

Next week developers will gather in the Barbican Centre, London for the annual Software Design & Development Conference. The event features over 100 in-depth sessions on key software development topics. Whether you are a web developer, a .NET developer, or a mobile developer (or perhaps all three), it is a chance to learn from world-class experts.

A Mathematical Proof Takes 200 Terabytes To State   Tuesday 10 May

The idea that computers play a key role in mathematical proof is well accepted today by all but the purist of mathematicians, but the latest example of proof by computer enters a new realm - a proof 200 terabytes in size.

Easy plotting With Chart.js   Tuesday 10 May

Chart.js 2 has been released with new chart types and improved extensibility. Ease of use is one of this open source library's key features and here we look at how it compares with d3.js at creating a  simple bar chart.

Oracle v Google - Second Trial Starts Today   Monday 09 May

A new jury trial in Oracle's lawsuit against Google over the use of Java APIs in Android opens in San Francisco with Judge William Alsup again presiding. Oracle's Larry Ellison and Google's Eric Schmidt are both expected to take the stand during the trial.

Nature Of Code MOOC From Processing Foundation   Monday 09 May

A course in creative computing that uses p5.js to capture natural phenomena in the physical world started on May 3rd. Taught by Dan Shiffman, Processing Foundation's co-founder, with guest lectures from Lauren McCarthy, artist, programmer and creator of p5.js.

Linus On Linux - Two Videos   Sunday 08 May

The Linux phenomenon is, well what can you say other than phenomenal, and the man behind it is either a hero or an anti-hero to every programmer. One day you might grow up and become a Linus. So a recent Ted talk and a strange promo video for Linux are worth watching. 

2016 Source Code Poetry Competition   Friday 06 May

It's time to summon up your muse for the 2016 Source Code Poetry Competition. In honor of his 400th anniversary, this year your entry has to be related in some way to Shakespeare. Submissions need to be made before June 6th.

Better Than Floating - New Number Format Avoids Imprecision   Friday 06 May

It is well known that the way computers do arithmetic isn't the same way we do arithmetic, but if you thought that IEEE 754 floating point was the last word then you need to rethink. A new format called unum saves bits in all senses of the word and promises better precision.

Windows 10 On 300 Million Devices   Thursday 05 May

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 is now running on 300 million active devices around the world. It has also announced that the free upgade offer will end on July 29th and that beyond that it will cost $119 to purchase Windows 10 Home.

SharePoint Going Mobile   Thursday 05 May

At the same time as announcing the general availability of SharePoint Server, Microsoft has announced a new app, SharePoint Mobile, that will be on iOS by the end of June and Android and Windows 10 Mobile later this year.

Intel Buzz Workshop - Five Events In One   Thursday 05 May

Intel is organizing another gaming workshop in London on June 4th. This time there is a focus on VR and Google Cardboards will be given to the first 200 attendees. It's also a chance to showcase your own game. 

Doubt Over Craig Wright's Claim To Be Bitcoin Inventor - Updated   Thursday 05 May

In a blog post Craig Wright claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto and apparently the evidence is so overwhelming that news agencies are running headlines like "Inventor of Bitcoin identified". Not so fast.

Update: Offers of proof of being Satoshi have now been withdrawn.

IBM Might Give Some Access To Its Five-Qubit Quantum Computer   Thursday 05 May

Our headline is reasonably accurate - what do you expect in a single sentence - but others are less so. IBM has provided access to some quantum computing hardware and this is interesting, but it isn't a revolution.
Update: They let me play!

Professional Programmer

Exposing The Most Frequent Mistakes In Programming   Monday 09 May

The Blackbox project is a massive data collection initiative by the University of Kent, that sifts through millions of source code compilations looking to identify the most frequent mistakes made by student programmers.

History

Claude Shannon - Information Theory And More   Thursday 05 May

Claude Shannon, who's 100th anniversary is this year, deserves your attention as a genius of the computer age. He not only pioneered binary logic and arithmetic, he invented a whole new subject area - information theory and still had time to have fun with computer chess and Theseus, the amazing maze running relay mouse - see the video!