First Floating Space Robot sent to ISS

First Floating Space Robot sent to ISS

The International Space Station gets Cimon (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion)), it's first AI-based assistant for astronauts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44655675

Tech Crunch explains the changes that are coming to Apple's Map

Tech Crunch explains the changes that are coming to Apple's Map

The rebranding will including using Apple's own map data (1st party) so to compete with Google Maps.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/29/apple-is-rebuilding-maps-from-the-ground-up/

SOLID, the 5 design principles of software designs

SOLID, the 5 design principles of software designs

Uncle Bob original article that explains his Principles of OOD (the mnemonic SOLID was thought up later).

http://butunclebob.com/ArticleS.UncleBob.PrinciplesOfOod

With 200,000 trillion calculations per second, the Summit Supercomputer is officially the faster CPU in the world.

With 200,000 trillion calculations per second, the Summit Supercomputer is officially the faster CPU in the world.

The U.S. Dept of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory today unveiled Summit as the world’s most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer

https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-launches-summit-supercomputer

3 out of 5 videos being watched are on a Mobile Device

3 out of 5 videos being watched are on a Mobile Device

Ooyala Q1 2018 Global Video Index Report gives other interesting stats, including mobile devices users at less likely to finish the video.

http://www.businessofapps.com/58-of-all-videos-are-now-being-viewed-on-mobile-devices/

US Supreme Court rules that law enforcement requires Search Warrant to access Smartphone location information.

US Supreme Court rules that law enforcement requires Search Warrant to access Smartphone location information.

I would imagine the same ruling would apply for GPS location from Smartphone apps like Find My Friend.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/06/22/supreme-court-rules-warrants/

A detailed 5 part article on why AirBnB first selected, then rejected, using React Native

A detailed 5 part article on why AirBnB first selected, then rejected, using React Native

It is simple to just say you like React Native, Gabriel Peal lists the positive aspects and the negative ones, and ultimately what they learned.

https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/react-native-at-airbnb-f95aa460be1c

Game company Sensible Object raises $3.2 million for a hybrid board game/Alexa game.

Game company Sensible Object raises $3.2 million for a hybrid board game/Alexa game.

Going on Sale July 2, When in Rome is a world trivia game, that uses Alexa to enhance the experience.  It will be the first of several "Voice Originals" games.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/06/18/sensible-object-raises-3-2-million-for-board-games-you-play-with-alexa-and-google-assistant/

$70 Bluetooth enabled Rubix Cube, that plays with your smartphone.

$70 Bluetooth enabled Rubix Cube, that plays with your smartphone.

$25K Kickstarter that has raised $400K so far. I spend to much time trying to come up with complex software/hardware ideas, simple fun is better!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1928372437/gocube-the-classic-puzzle-reinvented

Supreme Court decides that online sales can be taxed by the State.

Supreme Court decides that online sales can be taxed by the State.

I wonder which state? The state your business is in, or the state you are shipping to, or the state you are in when you made the purchase.

https://www.racked.com/2018/6/21/17488548/south-dakota-wayfair-supreme-court-decision

SCOTUS to decide if Apple's App Store is a monopoly.

SCOTUS to decide if Apple's App Store is a monopoly.

In an unusual step, The Supreme Court has agreed to listen to arguments that Apple is violating Anti-Trust laws, even though no one has charged Apple with doing that.

https://www.wired.com/story/pepper-v-apple-supreme-court-app-store-antitrust/

Aim your phone at some furniture, and this iPhone app finds a similar item for sale for you.

Aim your phone at some furniture, and this iPhone app finds a similar item for sale for you.

GrokStyle gives you a taste of the future of visual machine learning, where just looking at something is enough to give you the option to know about it, and even buy it.

https://www.grokstyle.com

The world is full of coincidences. Returning from WWDC, I sat next to a computer scientist on her way to a Computer Vision conference.  She told me about the product her company as working on, and we talked about how it could be used in the future.

This has got to be one of the hardest AI problems around: determine if an image is NSFW.

This has got to be one of the hardest AI problems around: determine if an image is NSFW.

5 Difference APIs that use machine learning to detect if an image is nude, and thus Not Safe For Work.

https://ourcodeworld.com/articles/read/582/top-5-best-free-premium-nudity-detection-apis-nsfw

Years ago while working at AOL, I was asked to write similar code to determine if an online image was obscene or not. I could not believe management thought a program could do that. I asked my boss if he thought the Washington Monument was phallic, and thus obscene. People could see obscenity in any image, and miss it in others. We decided not to pursue this coding project.

Some thoughts on the impact of Voice User Interface on Design

Some thoughts on the impact of Voice User Interface on Design

With the rise of Voice Assistants like Siri, Cortana, Bixby, and Alexa, developers have to consider how this effects their work.

http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/impact-of-voice-in-ux-design/

DeepMind’s AI looks at a picture, and figures out the entire world.

DeepMind’s AI looks at a picture, and figures out the entire world.

Machine Learning has reached the point where it can identify the 3D aspect of a scene based on one 2D image.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2171675-deepminds-ai-can-imagine-a-world-based-on-a-single-picture/

VR is being used in a number of hospitals to combat pain.

VR is being used in a number of hospitals to combat pain.

I knew about research relating to dealing with Phobias, but they are also using it as a distraction for painful procedures.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/virtual-reality-is-being-used-by-hospitals-to-help-people-cope-with-pain/2018/06/08/07e8b39e-6424-11e8-a768-ed043e33f1dc_story.html

Apple announced at WWDC stopping support for OpenGL in favor of Metal

Apple announced at WWDC stopping support for OpenGL in favor of Metal

I do not think this will be as big of an impact as the article thinks, since few game developers use these tools directly, instead they use 3rd party engines like Unity & Unreal.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjbpyw/macos-opengl-wwdc-games

Apple 2018 Design Awards are always worth reviewing

Apple 2018 Design Awards are always worth reviewing

Announced last week at WWDC, Apple choice of the best of the best include cross-platform note apps, smart calculator, audio language translators, and fantastic games!

https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/

New computer touch reactive surface for simulations

New computer touch reactive surface for simulations

I have shown similar works to this video, but they have gone further, where touches made, affect the entire surface.  Very cool UI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUxaIFGEsp0

Susan Kares' work helped define what the early Mac was.

Susan Kares' work helped define what the early Mac was.

To say Susan Kares design helped define the Mac is not enough. Her work revolutionized all computer user interface design.  Her recent reward from American Institute of Graphic Arts was well deserved.

https://milanote.com/the-work/the-story-behind-susan-kares-iconic-design-work-for-apple

Details about her work and award: https://www.aiga.org/medalist-susan-kare

Possibly my favorite presentation at WWDC 2018, learn all about creating Apple Pencil UI.

Possibly my favorite presentation at WWDC 2018, learn all about creating Apple Pencil UI.

This talk is not just for iPad Pro developers, but for anyone interested in user interface design.

https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/809/

A study shows that Telecommuting from Home actually increased productivity.

A study shows that Telecommuting from Home actually increased productivity.

Workers from home put a full shift in, without the distraction that normal workplace has.  Check out the TED Video talk!

https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/a-2-year-stanford-study-shows-astonishing-productivity-boost-of-working-from-home.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiUyyZPIHyY

The Verge explains the importance of being able to bring iOS Apps to the Mac.

The Verge explains the importance of being able to bring iOS Apps to the Mac.

One of the announcements for future unreleased developer tools, Apple talks about compiling iOS apps to run on the Mac.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/7/17438450/apple-marzipan-mac-ios-apps-port-mojave-appkit-uikit-future-platform-software

Wire's take on Apple's WWDC 2018

Wire's take on Apple's WWDC 2018

A great break down of announcement Apple made at the yearly developer conference.

https://www.wired.com/gallery/everything-apple-announced-wwdc-2018

Special posting: the Great Developer Migration

Special posting: the Great Developer Migration

The absolutely funniest part of Apple keynote on Monday.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6UCQvKKzI

One of the quieter announcements of WWDC, Apple Maps functionality is now available from websites.

One of the quieter announcements of WWDC, Apple Maps functionality is now available from websites.

A beta version of Apple MapKit JS library has been released, to provide Google Map-like functionality to 3rd party websites. 

https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/06/apple-maps-webapps-mapkit-js/

Regular Expressions are tools every Swift programmers should know how to handle.

Regular Expressions are tools every Swift programmers should know how to handle.

Once you had defined the Regular Expression, you have to know how to parse the result, into something you can use.  Hacking With Swift explains this often cryptical process.

https://www.hackingwithswift.com/articles/108/how-to-use-regular-expressions-in-swift

Microsoft purchases Github for $7.5 Billion in stock

Microsoft purchases Github for $7.5 Billion in stock

While I am at WWDC, this non-Apple programming news caught my attention Does Microsoft purchase injure this popular service?

https://9to5google.com/2018/06/04/microsoft-github-acquisition/

Dear Apple, We need a Siri Information Intent.

Dear Apple, We need a Siri Information Intent.

My second open letter to Apple regarding Developer Issues.  Here is a simple way Apple developers could create more Alexa & Amazon like voice apps with SiriKit.

http://magesteve.com/dearapple-siriinformationintent

Dear Apple, ARKit is looking in the wrong direction.

Dear Apple, ARKit is looking in the wrong direction.

First in what will be a series of articles written by yours truly on Apple Developer issues.  My first one explores what I feel is the missing direction in Apple's AR solution.

http://magesteve.com/deaapple-arkitwrongdirection

Let's have fun on Friday, watch this video to learn how to make 5 amazing paper airplanes

Let's have fun on Friday, watch this video to learn how to make 5 amazing paper airplanes

2 Boomerang planes, the Bat-plane, the Tumbling Wing & world record holder for distance, The Suzanne plane.  Some assembly required.

https://youtu.be/JhYZy1ugI3Q