News

Data Science Curriculum on edX   Wednesday 01 June

Data Scientists are in high demand - and now there's another way to earn relevant accreditation via the Microsoft-designed Data Science Curriculum offered on the edX platform.

Webgazer.js An In-Browser Eye Tracking Library   Wednesday 01 June

The idea of Webgazer.js is simple enough - an open source eye tracker written in JavaScript that can run on any web browser and use a standard web cam to track the user's eyes. The concept is simple but the possibilities are huge.

ASUS Unveils Zenbo Home Companion Robot   Wednesday 01 June

Zenbo is yet another home robot intended to play a helping role for young and old alike. The important points to note are that it comes from ASUS and is priced at just $599, making it a competitive commercial product.

BBC micro:bit PreOrders Open   Tuesday 31 May

You can now place your orders for the micro:bit and expect to receive the device in late June or early July. It is more expensive than a Pi Zero, but it has a lot more onboard.

Google Data Studio 360   Tuesday 31 May

A free version of the reporting and data visualization tool, Google Data Studio, has been released in beta.

Faception Can Spot Terrorists And Intelligent People Using How They Look   Monday 30 May

This one is a can of hornets. A new company, Faception, claims to have trained an AI system to recognize various categories of people from just looking at their face. In short, it is an instant profiler working with just a photo of the human in question. A miracle or a nightmare?

Amazing Machines And Rubber Duckies   Sunday 29 May

The 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) is over for this year, but we can still marvel at some of the machines that were on display and wonder what the rubber duckies were all about.

Microsoft Research Awards Demonstrate Commitment to Open Source   Saturday 28 May

The winners of Microsoft Research Open Source Challenge, a student contest to raise awareness of Microsoft Research and its open source tools, have been announced. Meanwhile Microsoft Research itself has been presented with an award from the IEEE Council that recognises both its collaboration with academia and commitment to open source software.

Google Successful With Fair Use Defence   Friday 27 May

The jury in the second Oracle versus Google trial reached a unanimous verdict that Google's implementation of 37 Java APIs in its Android operating system was lawful and constituted "fair use".

Rethink Horizon   Friday 27 May

The team behind RethinkDB has released Horizon, an open source backend that you can use to build and scale realtime web apps.

JQuery 3.0 Release Candidate   Thursday 26 May

The release candidate of JQuery 3.0 has been released, with changes to clean up the API, and fixes for bugs that may prove to be breaking changes for some code.

Online Hackathon To Improve Transport Logistics   Thursday 26 May

The TransportLAB Hackathon is a worldwide event giving teams and individuals the opportunity to wrangle transpiration and logistics datasets. Register now and be ready for a two-week sprint running from June 1 - 14.

Professional Programmer

HackerRank - Advance Your Coding Through Problem Solving   Tuesday 31 May

This is very interesting proposition in the "learn to code" e-learning field. HackerRank uses a variety of methods to reinforce learning: hands-on problem solving through trial and error, gamification with points, ranking and awards and constructive competition through contests and hackathons , all combined combined into a single package.

The Core

In Praise of VB As A RAD   Thursday 26 May

With the Visual Basic line now 25 years old and growing it seems time to consider what it is all about. Why bother with a language like VB when there are so many better alternatives? The answer is RAD and a more human approach to syntax.