52415287
submission
mikejuk writes:
The UK Government is trying to figure out how to teach children to code by changing what is taught in schools. The Telegraph, a leading UK newspaper, has put the other side of the case — Coding is for "exceptionally dull weirdo(s)"
The recent blog post
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/willardfoxton2/100011290/the-government-wants-to-teach-all-children-how-to-code-heres-why-its-a-stupid-idea/
by Willard Foxton is an amazing insight into the world of the non-programming mind.
He goes on to say:
"Coding is a niche, mechanical skill, a bit like plumbing or car repair."
So coding is a mechanical skill — I guess he must be thinking of copy typing.
"As a subject, it only appeals to a limited set of people – the aforementioned dull weirdos. There’s a reason most startup co-founders are “the charming ideas guy” paired with “the tech genius”. It’s because if you leave the tech genius on his own he’ll start muttering to himself."
Why is it I feel a bout of muttering coming on?
"If a school subject is to be taught to everyone, it needs to have a vital application in everyday life – and that’s just not true of coding."
Of course it all depends on what you mean by "vital application".
The article is reactionary and designed to get people annoyed and posting comments — just over 600 at the moment- but what is worrying is that the viewpoint will ring true with anyone dumb enough not to be able to see the bigger picture. The same attitude extends not just to programming but to all STEM subjects. The next step in the argument is — why teach physics, chemistry, biology and math (as distinct from arithmetic) to any but exceptionally dumb weirdos.
52385367
submission
mikejuk writes:
Microsoft has delivered an application that could change everything and give Windows a chance in the new post-PC world by making the PC important again. It has announced RDP apps for Android, iOS and OSX. They are available now and can be downloaded and used for free. After trying the Android app it is clear that this RDP app works and has the enterprise facilities that are needed.
The real revolution however is touch. The new RDP app supports Windows 8 touch gestures. This means that if you connect to a Windows 8 machine you get the full touch experience — pinch to zoom, charms, etc. This effectively puts WinRT apps on every Android, iPad and iPhone in existence.
You no longer need a new touch-enabled Windows 8 machine because you very likely already have one.
52357643
submission
mikejuk writes:
Developers are waking up to the fact that the Sykpe Desktop API is to be withdrawn at the end of December 2013 — and are trying to reverse the decision with a petition.
Although the decision to "de-commission" the Desktop API was communicated to Sky partners in July, it didn't get much attention at the time. Now notices announcing that apps and devices will stop working in December have started to appear when users download the latest version of Skype and try to start a third party app.
So what are developers expected to use to create future apps — for mobile, web and desktop apps?
Currently the replacement URI API hardly justifies the name. It is a Rest-style API that provides very few facilities — place a call or start a chat and that's about it. This limits what you can now do and the idea that you can bring existing applications up-to-date is laughable.
Developers whose apps are affected are blaming Microsoft, which acquired Skype in 2011, and certainly it can be seen as part of Microsoft overall policy of deprecating the desktop while promoting mobile devices. By killing the API Skype is killing existing apps and existing add-on hardware.
If you want to make your voice heard sign the petition:http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/skype-microsoft-provide-continued-support-for-third-party-skype-utilities-that-have-become-mission-critical-to-skype-s-users
52237175
submission
mikejuk writes:
DARPA's latest challenge seems like a good idea, but it is asking for enough AI to make sure that a computer detects an attack, defends and repairs itself?
"What if computers had a “check engine” light that could indicate new, novel security problems? What if computers could go one step further and heal security problems before they happen?"
This sounds hard, but the first prize is $2 million, with second and third place taking $1 million and $750,000 respectively. The challenge is planned to start in early 2016 and as it is a tournament each team will score points and there will be a winner no matter how poorly they all perform.
Systems that protect themselves — It sounds like something from science fiction and we all know how that ends.
52207241
submission
mikejuk writes:
The GOTCHA is a sort of CAPTCHA designed to stop dictionary attacks on password hashes. It's new and it might have more uses in security than just being better password protection. The computer generates ten inkblot patterns based on the password — the same user password combination always generates the same pattern. Then the user is asked to make up phrases for each inkblot pattern — for the one below it might be "Evil clown". The computer then generates a permutation of the inkblots, e.g. P=321456709 means inkblot 3, then 2, then 1 then 4 and so on. Next the machine computes a hash with a salt and the permutation as an extra salt. That is, it computes h(p,s,P) and stores the hash, the salt and the phrases the user assigned in the permuted order. Notice it doesn't store the permuted order P.
When the user logs with the correct password they are shown the ten inkblots in the standard order and the phrases they applied to them in the permuted order. All the user has to do is match the phrases to the inkblots and the machine can use this to work out the permutation P. Using this and the salt. the machine can then compute h(p',s,P) and if this gives the stored hash value the user is allowed in.
Now suppose the bad guy gets the hash file — how easy is it to guess the correct password? The only data available is the hash value, the salt and the permuted list of phrases. Now when a dictionary attack is tried the attacker has to try to assign the phrases to the generated inkblots — not an easy task even if the password is correct.
So the next time you log on you might just have to reveal the innermost dark secrets of your soul as you conduct a Rorschach test to see an evil clown or something much worse — is there anything worse — in the inkblots on the screen.
52104933
submission
mikejuk writes:
Can you control a swarm of robots with a single controller that has the same effect on all of them? You can find out by playing a game and helping develop new control algorithms.
Imagine that you have a lot of nearly identical robots and you need a way to control them. Controlling each separately is possible, but it would take a lot of computing power and a big communications bandwidth. The question is, can they be controlled and made to do useful things using a single central signal? For example, what could you achieve if the robots simply all followed the same rule — move towards the light?
Could you make them do useful things by simply changing the position and intensity of the light?
In a paper to be presented next month at IROS 2013, researchers, Aaron Becker and James McLurkin, prove that as long as the robots are all slightly different you can create an algorithm that will move each one to a different target position. You need to see the videos to understand how it might all works.
Despite having some theoretical results on how to control swarms, the research team would like you to help by playing some fun games. Your task is to play sheepdog, or perhaps that should be robot dog, and herd some robots into performing some task or another. As well as being fun, it is also very instructive and in no time at all you start to try out heuristics to see if you can improve your performance. http://www.swarmcontrol.net/
The uses of this technique are many. It would allow nanobots to move atoms and build useful nanomachines, you could use it to sort all the cells in a Petri dish or deliver drugs to just the cancer cells. It might even give us some idea how cells organize themselves to create complex structures.
When you think of the potential of this research there is no doubt that it could be the most important robot research going on at the moment.
51849193
submission
mikejuk writes:
MIT researchers have surpassed themselves in thinking up a new use for a drone, a quadcopter to be exact. Lost? No problem. just summon SkyCall.
MIT Senseable City Lab, which explores UAV technology, has an idea that could work. As illustrated in this video. it's a way to guide MIT freshmen find their way around the confusing MIT campus. You can see that the same idea would work for an equally clueless tourist. The quadcopter need to have onboard navigation, a camera and a lot of processing power to make sure it doesn't bump into things and people. All the potential user has to do is use the SkyCall app and summon help using a smart phone.
They even made a video of it in action — but minus the noise. In reality there would be a loud buzzing and a backwash of air. Would you want to follow a lawnmower in the sky? Could you have a conversation while following? Apart from anything else would you want to be seen in public following it?
51534109
submission
mikejuk writes:
Arduino has just announced two new processor boards — the Intel based Galileo and the Arduino TRE powered by Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x. Of the two it is the Intel-based design that is going to open new doors. The Galileo is an Intel product, apparently the first of many that has been certified by Arduino. What does certified mean? According to Intel's FAQs it means that the board looks like an Arduino Uno R3 but some shields that work with the Uno might not work because of driver problems.
The heart of the unit is a Quark SoC X1000. i.e. a single chip Pentium class system. In addition to a standard Arduino shield connect it also has the same I/O ports plus a full sized mini-PCI Express slot, 100Mb Ethernet port, Micro SD slot, RS232 serial port, USB host and client ports and 8MByte flash RAM. It also has a real time clock and a jumper that you can use to add a battery backup for it.
You can't help but ask if a native code development system could be on its way and could you boot it into Windows XP, DOS or full Linux? This is probably a development system that can be pushed beyond just being an Arduino.
Intel is clearly serious about getting a foot in the DIY controller market currently dominated by ARM. The design is open source and you can download the details of the board and build one of your own. Intel also plans to give away 50,000 Galileo boards to 1000 universities worldwide. The board should be available for sale in November — no word on price as yet.
If you can't wait till November here is an unboxing video and some getting started videos.
51354749
submission
mikejuk writes:
We all do it — place our phones down on the desk next to the keyboard. This might not be such a good idea if you want to keep your work to yourself. A team of researchers from MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have provided proof of concept for logging keystrokes using nothing but the sensors inside a smartphone — an iPhone 4 to be precise as the iPhone 3GS wasn't up to it. A pair of neural networks were trained to recognize which keys were being pressed just based on the vibration — and it was remarkably good at it for such a small device.
There have been systems that read the keys by listening but this is the first system that can hide in mobile phone malware.
What to do about it? Just don't put your phone down on your desk.
50703733
submission
mikejuk writes:
The final round of the 23rd annual Loebner Prize competion took place in Londonderry, Northern Ireland 24th September with four chatbots hoping to convince four judges that they were humans. Mitsuku, a chatbot that is kept busy chatting to people around the world, was awarded this year's bronze medal.
Mitsuku's botmaster, Steve Worswick, used to run a music website. Once he added a chatbot he discovered more people visited to chat than for music so he concentrated all his efforts on the bot but he still regards it as a hobby. Mitsuku uses AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) and is a pandorabot, based on the free open-source-based community webservice the enables anyone who wants to, to develop and publish chatbots on the web.
50617869
submission
mikejuk writes:
As well as being Friday the 13th, today is also Programmer Day. Instead of regarding it as a lighthearted joke, or an opportunity to have some fun, perhaps we should take it more seriously..Given the ongoing debate about getting the general public to code and learn some computer science, perhaps we could make use of it to get some programming ideas into the wider world. Perhaps the commercialization of Programmer Day by a greeting card company would be a good idea — as long as the cards contained some nugget of programming or computer science.
Yes, this is an opportunity we are letting slip by.
What are your suggestions for using Programmer day to get people involved and to improve our image?
50380295
submission
mikejuk writes:
If you think its cool to video the unboxing of your latest mobile phone — think again. Unboxing a robot has a lot more going for it and reaches a whole new level of sci-fi realized.
The Atlas robot is a standard humanoid robot to be used by competitors in the DARPA Robotics challenge. Built by Boston Dyamics, it is in the same line as Petman and BigDog. It is now being delivered to the labs that will take part and the temptation to make an unboxing video has been irresistible They arrive in plain of wooden crates as if they were auto parts. Next it is unwrapped and lifted out of its packing case using a crane. It looks black and threatening — just like a sci-fi movie but watch the videos and see.
50311651
submission
mikejuk writes:
It has been revealed that Google now has over 1 Billion Android activations.
Rather than a blog post or an official announcement on the Android site, news of this milestone came in a both a Google+ post and a tweet from Sundar Pinchai: It has taken just short of 12 months for Android to go from 500 million users, a milestone that was announced on September 12, 2012.
Android now has just short of 80% of the smartphone market.
50308765
submission
Zothecula writes:
When offshore oil drilling rigs are being installed, serviced or dismantled, the workers typically stay in cabins located on adjacent floating platforms. These semi-submersible platforms are towed into place (or travel under their own power) and then their hulls are partially filled with water, allowing them to remain somewhat stable in the pitching seas. Now, a ship is being built to serve the same purpose, but that will be a much more mobile alternative. It will keep from rolling with the waves by generating its own waves, inside its hull.
50279397
submission
mikejuk writes:
If you are still trying to figure out what DES was all about then it's time to give up and try out AES in whole new and easy-to-understand way — try a stick figure guide. Xkcd has perhaps proved that you can tackle difficult topics in cartoon format — but AES? If you examine the description of the AES then you have to conclude that it is complicated. In fact, before you attempt to encrypt anything with AES, you first have to decrypt its specification. This is where Jeff Moser's brilliant cartoon strip comes into play.
http://www.moserware.com/2009/09/stick-figure-guide-to-advanced.html
It is a funny, readable and eventually understandable description of AES:
Not only a great introduction to AES, the cartoon it provides an example of how you could use the same approach to explain other complicated ideas. I have a feeling that it might go horribly wrong if not implemented with sufficient humour and wit — but anyone for "Stick Figure Does Rocket Science"?
