Topics

1

Software Engineering / How can we change the education system as we know?

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:37:53 AM »

Like most nine-year-old kids in Vietnam, I enjoyed playing soccer in the alley where I lived, appreciated watching cartoon programs and movies at night, and loved playing “addictive” online games with my friends. However, what I loved above all was reading. I wanted to read about everything, from Japanese comics, Harry Potter novels to books about world history and sciences. I could’ve spent all day lying on my bed reading a book of my choice or scouting the internet to learn about a topic I liked.

Everything changed, however, as I got into middle school, where students needed to learn what they were told and in the way they were told. Teacher-centered instruction method and rote learning became the norm, and exam scores became the sole determinant of one’s success. Struggling to cope with unengaging lectures and stressful exams, I realized that all those fascinating readings wouldn’t help me to become “successful”. So I gave up every book, every cartoon, and every hangout with my friends to make sure I could keep up with other students. It took me a while, but I eventually accustomed to the culture of the whole education system.
It was not until I prepared for my US college application, when I was asked about my non-academic interests, that I realized all I knew (and cared about) was getting good grades: I no longer read books, rarely cared about news, and hardly inquired about the world around me. And despite having some academic achievements, I possessed too few useful skills — skills that are necessary for one to succeed in life such as critical thinking, problem-solving, decision making, and social skills.

I realized that grades only reflect what we’ve learned (using the method we’re taught to use); impressive grades can’t reflect how I’m prepared for life.
I decided to focus more on learning what interested me and what matters to the world. I started reading again. I took advantage of going to a US liberal arts institution to enroll in all kinds of classes I found fascinating such as biology, politics, history, and philosophy.
However, I also understand how fortunate I am to have access to resources and opportunities I needed to get this far. There are numerous less fortunate people who couldn’t adjust themselves to the system and remained at a disadvantage.

https://edsurgeindependent.com/how-can-we-change-the-education-system-as-we-know-5ed6dd7ca9f1

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Software Engineering / ICPC World Final 2020

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:36:46 AM »

The 2020 World Finals will be held in Moscow Russia, June 21-26, 2020, hosted by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). The World Finals and most associated events are planned to be in the Moscow Manege, in the heart of Moscow.

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Software Engineering / Google I/O 2020

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:35:00 AM »

This year's developer event will be held May 12-14 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.

I/O unites developers from around the globe for talks, hands-on learning with Google experts, and a first look at Google's latest developer products and platforms.

https://events.google.com/io/

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Software Engineering / Machine Learning in Healthcare

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:33:48 AM »

The healthcare sector has long been an early adopter of and benefited greatly from technological advances. These days, machine learning (a subset of artificial intelligence) plays a key role in many health-related realms, including the development of new medical procedures, the handling of patient data and records and the treatment of chronic diseases. As computer scientist Sebastian Thrum told the New Yorker in a recent article titled “A.I. Versus M.D., “Just as machines made human muscles a thousand times stronger, machines will make the human brain a thousand times more powerful.”

Despite warnings from some doctors that things are moving too fast, the rate of progress keeps increasing. And for many, that’s as it should be. "AI is the future of healthcare,” Fatima Paruk, CMO of Chicago-based Allscripts Analytics, said in 2017. She went on to explain how critical it would be in the ensuing few years and beyond — in the care management of prevalent chronic diseases; in the leveraging of “patient-centered health data with external influences such as pollution exposure, weather factors and economic factors to generate precision medicine solutions customized to individual characteristics”; in the use of genetic information “within care management and precision medicine to uncover the best possible medical treatment plans.”

https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence/machine-learning-healthcare

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Software Engineering / THE ROLE OF COMPUTER VISION IN HEALTHCARE

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:32:44 AM »

Artificial Intelligence has already been implemented in the healthcare sector. Now the use of computer vision in this field is making surface and can support the rise to various applications that can prove to be life-saving for patients. This AI-powered technology is assisting more doctors to better diagnose their patients, prescribe the right treatments and monitor the evolution of several diseases.
Computer vision not only helps medical professionals in saving their valuable time on basic tasks but also saving patients’ life. The applications of the technology for medical use has to perform by extending current ways that it’s already being used and adding a layer of creativity and imagination.

Currently, there are several areas in healthcare where computer vision is being utilized and benefiting medical professionals to better diagnose patients, including medical imaging analysis, predictive analysis, health monitoring, among others. Below the benefits computer vision technology can assist health systems.

 

Precise Diagnoses 
Computer vision systems offer precise diagnoses minimizing false positives. The technology can potentially obliterate the requirement for redundant surgical procedures and expensive therapies. Computer vision algorithms trained using a huge amount of training data can detect the slightest presence of a condition which may typically be missed out by human doctors because of their sensory limitations. The use of computer vision in healthcare diagnosis can provide significantly high levels of precision which may in coming days go up to 100 percent.

Timely Detection of Illness 
There are most fatal illnesses that need to be diagnosed in their early stages, such as cancer. Computer vision enables the detection of early symptoms with high certainty owing to its finely tuned pattern-recognition capability. This can be useful in timely treatment and saving countless lives for the long term.


Heightened Medical Process
The use of computer vision in healthcare can considerably lessen the time doctors usually take in analysing reports and images. It frees and offers them more time to spend with patients and provide personalized and constructive advice. By enhancing the quality of physician-patient interactions, it can also assist medical professionals to give consultation to more and more patients.

The use of computer vision in healthcare supports caregivers to deliver efficient and accurate healthcare services through its life-saving applications.

https://www.analyticsinsight.net/the-role-of-computer-vision-in-healthcare/

6

Software Engineering / Data Science: The Future And New Technology

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:28:37 AM »

The most basic definition of data science is that it involves the collection, storage, organisation and analysis of massive amounts of data. Yet without a deeper understanding, one might think a data scientist sits in a dark room, huddled in front of a screen, pouring over streams of digital content.

That’s not the case at all. In fact, in recent years data science has become less and less about the data itself, and more about the technology and tools used to interact with it. Advanced solutions like AI, machine learning and robust analytics tools make it possible not just to process and understand massive stores of information but at unprecedented speeds. The tools are so powerful you don’t need to know how to code to use most of them — it always helps to have programming experience, however.

Today’s data scientists now take the data that’s been ingested and processed by an advanced analytics system and translate the information for the rest of an organisation. For example, they might point out trends to executives, who will use the information to make more informed decisions. They might pass details about customer behaviour on to marketing for building more targeted and successful campaigns. Or, they may decide what forms of data to filter into a storage system and, of course, there’s also the adverse — deciding what stored information to put to use.

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Software Engineering / Top 10 Technology Trends for 2020

« on: February 28, 2020, 01:27:10 AM »

Television shows of the 1960’s like The Jetsons predicted that the 21st century would be filled with flying cars, and airborne robots would be a part of our everyday lives. October 21st, 2015 marked the point in time in which Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) traveled to in
Back to the Future Part II, the 1989 sequel to the time-travelling classic. The future he found was one which had captured the imagination of millions — instead today, we live in a world dominated by live streaming, smartphones and social networks, not flying cars or hover boards

Within the span of 10 short years, or perhaps even less, service apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, AirBnB and others have spawned millions of users, and can be found on almost everyone’s smart phone. Personal assistants like Siri and Alexa have entered many of our lives. It would be terribly naive for anyone to say that the world hasn’t changed in the last 10 years. This technology growth and change is likely to continue for the next decade and beyond.
It’s the roaring 20’s baby! At the start of the millennium, Information Technology was deeply concerned about Y2K … “Oh no, the zeroes and the clocks!” When the clocks struck 12 in 2000, the iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, 4k, 5G, and all the other fun things we know today didn’t exist. So what’s in store as a new decade begins?

https://towardsdatascience.com/top-10-technology-trends-for-2020-4a179fdd53b1

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Machine Learning/ Deep Learning / Visual Positioning System – VPS

« on: April 02, 2019, 02:06:37 PM »

Google announced many new software treats at Google I/O today. Aparna Chennapragada introduced one of the best new features: visual guidance and Visual Positioning System in Google Maps Navigation.

We’ve all had been delayed figuring out Google Maps Navigation before — “am I going the right direction?” Google Maps can now use your camera to identify your surroundings, visually communicate your route right in front of your eyes!

Tap a button to activate visual view and then just point your camera where you need to go to see relevant info. You will see your surroundings with an overlay of Maps information for nearby business, arrows pointing you in the direction you need to go, with a small map at the bottom to remind you where you are headed. This is a powerful addition to Google Maps and Street View.

Google’s even playing with the idea of putting a character on the screen as an augmented reality tour guide. In the demo, it was a little fox.

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Machine Learning/ Deep Learning / 8 Top Technology Trends for 2019 and the Jobs They'll Create

« on: April 02, 2019, 02:04:12 PM »

Technology is now evolving at such a rapid pace that annual predictions of trends can seem out-of-date before they even go live as a published blog post or article. As technology evolves, it enables even faster change and progress, causing the acceleration of the rate of change, until eventually it will become exponential.

Technology-based careers don’t change at that same speed, but they do evolve, and the savvy IT professional recognizes that his or her role will not stay the same. The IT worker of the 21st century will constantly be learning, out of necessity if not desire.

What does this mean for you? It means staying current with technology trends. And it means keeping your eyes on the future, to know which skills you’ll need to know and what types of jobs you want to be qualified to do.

Here are eight technology trends you should watch for in 2019, and some of the jobs that will be created by these trends. Because the time to train yourself for one of these emerging jobs is now.

https://www.simplilearn.com/top-technology-trends-and-jobs-article

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Faculty Sections / Artificial Intelligence Technologies That Will Dominate In 2018

« on: June 24, 2018, 09:17:07 AM »

In 2017, we published a popular post on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that would dominate that year, based on Forrester’s TechRadar report. Here’s the updated version, which includes 9 more technologies to watch out for this year. We hope they inspire you to join the 62% of companies boosting their enterprises in 2018.

1. Natural Language Generation
Natural language generation is an AI sub-discipline that converts data into text, enabling computers to communicate ideas with perfect accuracy. It is used in customer service to generate reports and market summaries and is offered by companies like Attivio, Automated Insights, Cambridge Semantics, Digital Reasoning, Lucidworks, Narrative Science, SAS, and Yseop.

2. Speech recognition
Siri is just one of the systems that can understand you. Every day, more and more systems are created that can transcribe human language, reaching hundreds of thousands through voice-response interactive systems and mobile apps. Companies offering speech recognition services include NICE, Nuance Communications, OpenText and Verint Systems.

3. Virtual Agents
A virtual agent is nothing more than a computer agent or program capable of interacting with humans. The most common example of this kind of technology are chatbots.  Virtual agents are currently being used for customer service and support and as smart home managers. artificial-intelligence-technologies-chatbots. Some of the companies that provide virtual agents include Amazon, Apple, Artificial Solutions, Assist AI, Creative Virtual, Google, IBM, IPsoft, Microsoft and Satisfi.


4. Machine Learning Platforms
These days, computers can also easily learn, and they can be incredibly intelligent!
Machine learning (ML) is a subdiscipline of computer science and a branch of AI. Its goal is to develop techniques that allow computers to learn. By providing algorithms, APIs (application programming interface), development and training tools, big data, applications and other machines, ML platforms are gaining more and more traction every day. They are currently mainly being used for prediction and classification.
Some of the companies selling ML platforms include Amazon, Fractal Analytics, Google, H2O.ai, Microsoft, SAS, Skytree and Adext.
This last one is particularly interesting for one simple reason: Adext is the first and only AMaaS (Audience Management as a Service) in the world that applies real AI and machine learning to digital advertising to find the most profitable audience or demographic group for any ad. You can learn more about it here.
Source: https://blog.adext.com/en/artificial-intelligence-technologies-2018

11

Software Engineering / What You Should Know About GitHub

« on: June 09, 2018, 11:17:10 AM »

GitHub is “like google docs for developers,” allowing them to share and collaborate easily. The company is based on the principle of open-source licensing, where developers are allowed to access, use, and tweak code written by others with the goal of improving it. Since its founding in 2011, GitHub has become an essential tool for some of the biggest tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, and Google. Microsoft has become the biggest contributor to the repository.

Why does Microsoft want it?
In many ways, Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub is a move back to its roots as a company founded to help people make use of the MITS Altair, a consumer-oriented micro-computer kit. But Microsoft has also been skeptical of open-source in the past, as it threatened their business model, which relies on proprietary technology. In recent years, under CEO Satya Nadella, the company has begun to embrace open-source technology, however. There are even rumors that Microsoft’s core operating platform, Windows, may become open-source. GitHub has become an essential way to connect with developers as the company’s business model has evolved and allowed it to open itself to open-source code.

Why is GitHub selling?
GitHub reportedly preferred selling to going public, and chose Microsoft after meeting Nadella and being impressed by him. Despite the centrality of GitHub for the developer community, the company has lately run into some financial and leadership issues. In addition to the company’s losses in 2016, they have been looking for a new CEO since August 2017. A previous CEO was accused of sexual harassment and left the company.

Why is everyone so nervous about it?
Despite Microsoft’s turn towards open-source, some GitHub users remain concerned that Microsoft’s leadership will undermine the core values of the system and hurt the developers that rely on it. One developer told Quartz he was concerned that Microsoft would use its ownership of the platform to monitor trends in software development in order to launch rival products, using largesse to preclude competition.

Fears that GitHub is “dead” have led many developers to jump ship in favor of GitHub’s competitors. One competitor, GitLab, announced on Twitter that it was seeing ten times the normal number of repositories after the deal was first reported.

12

Software Engineering / Microsoft confirms it’s acquiring GitHub for $7.5 billion

« on: June 09, 2018, 11:16:01 AM »

Microsoft is acquiring GitHub. After reports emerged that the software giant was in talks to acquire GitHub, Microsoft is making it official today. This is Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s second big acquisition, following the $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn two years ago. GitHub was last valued at $2 billion back in 2015, and Microsoft is paying $7.5 billion in stock for the company in a deal that should close later this year.

GitHub is a large code repository that has become very popular with developers and companies hosting entire projects, documentation, and code. Apple, Amazon, Google, and many other big tech companies use GitHub. There are 85 million repositories hosted on GitHub, and 28 million developers contribute to them. GitHub will now be led by CEO Nat Friedman, the founder of Xamarin, who will report to Microsoft’s Cloud and AI chief Scott Guthrie. GitHub CEO and co-founder Chris Wanstrath will now become a technical fellow at Microsoft, also reporting into Guthrie.

It’s easy to imagine why Microsoft would want to acquire GitHub. Microsoft killed its own GitHub competitor, Codeplex, in December and is now the top contributor to GitHub, Microsoft now has more than 1,000 employees actively pushing code to GitHub repositories. Its popularity among developers could see Microsoft earn some much-needed trust and respect from developers. In bigger enterprises and slower moving businesses, the fact Microsoft has acquired GitHub will make it more trusted to use for projects and source control, simply because Microsoft is already trusted across many software and services by these companies. “We will accelerate enterprise developers’ use of GitHub, with our direct sales and partner channels and access to Microsoft’s global cloud infrastructure and services,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

13

Teaching & Research Forum / Bangabandhu-1 Launch Campaign Thread

« on: May 08, 2018, 05:50:33 PM »

SpaceX's ninth mission of 2018 will launch the second GTO communications satellite of 2018 for SpaceX, Bangabandhu-1, for the Bangladesh government. This mission will feature the first produced Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 first stage. It will include many upgrades/changes, ranging from retractable landing legs, unpainted interstage, raceways and landing legs, improved TPS and increased thrust.

Bangabandhu-1 will be the first Bangladeshi geostationary communications satellite operated by Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL). Built by Thales Alenia Space it has a total of 14 standard C-band transponders and 26 Ku-band transponders, with 2 x 3kW deployable solar arrays.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/8624iq/bangabandhu1_launch_campaign_thread/

14

Teaching & Research Forum / SpaceX Bangabandhu-1 launch held up while Dragon splashes down on time

« on: May 08, 2018, 05:49:13 PM »

SpaceX has opted to spend a few more days checking out its new Falcon 9 following a successful test fire of the rocket on 5 May, but its latest cargo ship enjoyed an uneventful return to Earth.

The famously taciturn rocketry outfit was expected to launch the Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on 7 May but, following the test, engineers wanted to take few more days to review the data.
No other reason was given for the delay, and on 7 May SpaceX confirmed a new date of 10 May for the first flight of the upgraded Falcon 9.

The 45th Space Wing issued a forecast on 7 May to the effect that there was a 20 per cent chance of weather stopping Musk's new shiny leaving the ground during its 0612 to 1822 EDT (2012 – 2222 UTC) window.

The lift-off, from Kennedy’s pad 39A was the first since SpaceX failed to destroy the historic facility during the spectacular Falcon Heavy launch and landing.

The freshened-up Falcon 9 Block 5 design features tweaks targeting reusability and reliability, according to SpaceX’s VP of Mission Assurance, Hans Koenigsmann, who spoke during the TESS pre-launch briefing.

The first passenger onboard the beefed-up booster will be Bangladesh’s first satellite, Bangabandhu-1. The 3,600 kg spacecraft will provide Ku-band coverage for Bangladesh and the surrounding region, and is expected to last at least 15 years in geostationary orbit.

Following the launch, SpaceX hopes to land the first stage booster back on one of its automated drone ships.

Source: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/08/spacex_bangabandhu1_launch_delayed_while_dragon_splashes_down_on_time/

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Faculty Sections / 5 Future Technologies That Will Be Mainstream by 2020 Read more at https://www.b

« on: April 29, 2018, 12:52:51 PM »

Tech companies rang in the start of the new year by unveiling some of their ambitious plans for the coming months. Startups and multinational companies alike are beginning to feel the ripple effects of innovation in the industry, with technology becoming more intertwined in everyday lives each year.

As 2018 progresses, here are 5 future technologies you can expect to reach the public in the next couple of years.

1. The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things has long been talked about amongst tech insiders as the next big innovation in home technology. In recent years, IoT has begun carve a niche for itself in everyday life with the growing adoption of systems like Google’s Home and Amazon’s Alexa. These devices will continue to integrate more aspects of the home into one harmonious system by utilizing the internet, allowing a user to control anything from the air conditioning to their security via voice command and a small personal assistant.

Apple has announced its plans to roll out the HomePod this year and Samsung is reportedly working on their Bixby technology in order to compete with the success of the Google and Amazon systems. You can expect that one of these devices will be simplifying life in your home and the homes around you by 2020.

2. Automation

While large-scale innovation in automation has traditionally been limited to the production side of society, the technology will have far reaching implications for consumers by 2020. Amazon’s automated grocery store, eliminating the need for cashiers, has been one of the first major tech triumphs of the year.

The store has proven itself successful as an efficient alternative for shoppers in its first location. The current cost of this technology, however, puts it out of the reach of pretty much any other storefront. As the technology continues to develop, consumers can expect that pressure sensors and cameras that automate pay and alleviate long lines in stores will be coming to groceries and pharmacies near you in the next couple of years.

3. Cryptocurrency

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After Bitcoin’s meteoric price jump in 2017, major tech players have begun to take cryptocurrencies seriously. Along with major Initial Coin Offerings that have hit major news outlets like Etherium, smaller companies are developing Stablecoins that provide attempt to provide all the pros of cryptocurrency transactions without the price fluctuations that have plagued the system.

As these coins begin to work themselves out and exchanges even out the fluctuations in prices, expect these assets to be mainstream methods of payment by 2020.

4. Blockchain

Blockchain, the decentralized ledger that holds together cryptocurrencies, has applications reaching far beyond financial transactions. Companies have applied the technology to everything, from simplifying tracking and access to information in academia to interesting and amusing games that use complex algorithms to create unique experiences.

5. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence, which once may have seemed like something out of a Sci-Fi novel, is seeing the light and applications of the technology are already being worked on. In particular, with the rise of the Internet of Things, Information Technology and Cybersecurity firms have begun to adopt artificial neural networks in order to monitor and prevent DDoS attacks.

In addition to its security applications, companies like Amazon and Google have begun to apply the technology to regular consumers in order to simplify shopping and searching experiences on the platforms. With all the current progress of AI technology, it is reasonable to expect that by the year 2020 the innovation will be deeply entrenched in both business and consumer activities.

Soure: https://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/5-future-technologies-will-mainstream-2020-02006302