WebProNews

Category: LowCodeUpdate

LowCodeUpdate

  • Google Code-in for Teens is Wildly Successful

    Google Code-in for Teens is Wildly Successful

    Google is in the middle of its annual Code-In contest and it’s more popular than ever with 930 teenagers from 60 countries completing 3,503 tasks with 17 open source organizations. “The number of students successfully completing tasks has almost met the total number of students from the 2015 contest already,” said Stephanie Taylor, Google Code-in Program Manager in a blog post on the Google Open Source Blog. This is the 7th year of Google Code-in.

    Tasks that the students have completed include:

    • writing test suites
    • improving mobile UI
    • writing documentation and creating videos to help new users
    • working on internationalization efforts
    • fixing and finding bugs in the organization’s’ software

    Check it out: Google Code-in Website

    What is Google Code-in?

    Google Code-in is a way for Google to inspire young students to enter the field of software development. “Don’t wait until they are university students,” said Taylor in a talk at GSoC (Google Summer of Code) earlier this year in Singapore. “Let’s get them excited about open source when they are 13, 14, 15 years old. So Google Code-in was born.”

    Google Code-in is an online global contest for 13-17 year old students around the world.

    screen-shot-2016-12-27-at-12-43-10-pm

    There’s Still Time to Get Started!

    “Students, there is still plenty of time to get started with Google Code-in,” said Taylor. “New tasks are being added daily to the contest site — there are over 1,500 tasks available for students to choose from right now! If you don’t see something that interests you today, check back again every couple of days for new tasks.”

    She says that the last day to register for the contest and claim a task is Friday, January 13, 2017 with all work being due on Monday, January 16, 2017 at 9:00 am PT.

  • Search Bing For Code, Edit It Right In Search Results

    Search Bing For Code, Edit It Right In Search Results

    Bing has teamed up with HackerRank on a new way to search code and see it run in a live coded editor within Bing’s search results.

    Rather than looking through sites like Stackoverflow, Stackexchange, and blogs, you can search from Bing and save a great deal of time. At least that’s what they’re promising. Just search a query, hit enter, and get a solution along with the ability to edit the code in real time.

    Bing Group Engineering Manager Marcelo De Barros and HackerRank CEO and co-founder Vivek Ravisankar wrote a joint blog post announcing the news (h/t: Search Engine Journal). They said:

    It’s a typical night. You’re in the zone with a half-full Red Bull by your side. You’ve come a long way in learning a brand new programming language when—bam—you run into problem you’re not quite sure about. So, you do what any programmer would do in your situation: You search for the solution.

    This is one of the most common productivity pitfalls for programmers today. If you want to improve on or learn a new algorithm, you search in engines and figure out which blue link to click. Then, you have to transfer all of this into your editor. You trial and error until you find the right solution. If only there was a way to search a function and immediately see the solution in one step.

    This is the type of scenario they’re aiming to help with.

    The functionality is live now C, C++, C#, Python, PHP, and Java are supported. Just go to Bing and search accordingly.

    Image via HackerRank/Bing

  • GitHub Announces New Code Review Tools

    GitHub announced the addition of new features to make code review faster and more flexible. These include ways to find what you’re looking for more quickly, the ability to view comments with more context, and the ability to pick up where you left off.

    “Pull requests with many changes sometimes require review from several people with different areas of expertise,” says Fabian Perez on the GitHub blog. “If you’re a Ruby expert, for example, you might want to focus just on the Ruby code and ignore any changes made to HTML and CSS files. You can use the new files list to search by extensions like .rb, .html, etc. You can also filter by filename if you know what you’re looking for.”

    “Not all teams review code the same way. The most popular style on GitHub is reviewing all changes in a pull request at once, making the pull request the unit of change,” Perez adds. “Some teams choose to use a commit-by-commit workflow where each commit is treated as the unit of change and is isolated for review.”

    You’ll be able to access the new commits list in the review bar to find the commit you want to review, and GitHub also added pagination and new keyboard shortcuts. You can use the ? key to view the list when viewing pull request.

    For picking up where you left off, there’s a new timeline indicator.

    You can read up more on all the updates here.

    Images via GitHub

  • Alphabet Code Of Conduct Does Not Include ‘Don’t Be Evil’

    Google’s Code of Conduct has famously talked about not being evil for many years. It begins like this:

    “Don’t be evil.” Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But “Don’t be evil” is much more than that. Yes, it’s about providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably and treating each other with respect.

    The Google Code of Conduct is one of the ways we put “Don’t be evil” into practice. It’s built around the recognition that everything we do in connection with our work at Google will be, and should be, measured against the highest possible standards of ethical business conduct. We set the bar that high for practical as well as aspirational reasons: Our commitment to the highest standards helps us hire great people, build great products, and attract loyal users. Trust and mutual respect among employees and users are the foundation of our success, and they are something we need to earn every day.

    Back in August, Google announced a new corporate structure in which it becomes part of new parent company Alphabet. That went into effect late last week.

    With Alphabet now official, there’s a new Alphabet Code of Conduct, and it doesn’t say “Don’t be evil.” Rather, it just says to “Do the right thing.” Here’s the full text:

    Alphabet Code of Conduct

     

    Preface

     
    Employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries and controlled affiliates (“Alphabet”) should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.
     
    We expect all of our employees and Board members to know and follow this Code of Conduct. Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment. Any waivers of this Code for directors or executive officers must be approved by our Board.
     
    Never retaliate against anyone who reports or participates in an investigation of a possible violation of the Code.
     
    If you are employed by a subsidiary or controlled affiliate of Alphabet, please comply with your employer’s code of conduct. If your employer doesn’t have its own code of conduct, if you have a question or concern about this Code or believe that someone may be violating it, or if you want to remain anonymous, you can make a report of a suspected violation or concern through our Helpline. 

    I. Avoid Conflicts of Interest

     
    A conflict of interest may arise any time competing loyalties could cause you to pursue a personal benefit for you, your friends, or your family at the expense of Alphabet or our customers. Avoid conflicts of interest and circumstances that reasonably appear to be a conflict. Sometimes a situation that previously didn’t present a conflict of interest may develop into one.
     
    When faced with a potential conflict, ask yourself:

       

    • Would this activity create an actual or apparent incentive for me to benefit myself, my friends, or my family?

      •  

    • Would this activity harm my reputation or hurt my ability to do my job?

      •  

    • Would this activity embarrass Alphabet or me if it showed up in the press?

     
    If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” the relationship or situation is likely to constitute a conflict of interest, and you should avoid it. 

    II. Ensure Financial Integrity and Responsibility

     
    Ensure that money is appropriately spent, our financial records are complete and accurate, and our internal controls are honored.
     
    If your job involves the financial recording of our transactions, make sure that you’re familiar with all relevant policies, including those relating to revenue recognition.
     
    Never interfere with the auditing of financial records. Similarly, never falsify any company record or account.
     
    If you suspect or observe any irregularities relating to financial integrity or fiscal responsibility, no matter how small, immediately report them. 

    III. Obey the Law

     
    Comply with all applicable legal requirements and understand the major laws and regulations that apply to your work. A few specific laws are easy to violate unintentionally and so are worth pointing out here. If you have any questions about these laws or other laws governing our work, please consult the Helpline or our legal counsel. 

    1. Trade Controls

       
      Various trade laws control where we can send or receive our products and services. These laws are complex and apply to: 

      • importing and exporting goods to or from the United States and other countries

        •  

      • exporting services or providing services to non-U.S. persons

        •  

      • exporting technical data, especially data originating in the U.S.

       
      If you are involved in sending or making available products, services, software, equipment, or technical data from one country to another, work with your manager to ensure that the transaction stays within the bounds of applicable laws.

      2.  

    2. Competition Laws

       
      Be sure you follow all laws designed to promote free and fair competition and protect consumers. These laws generally prohibit 1) arrangements with competitors that restrain trade, 2) abuse of market power to unfairly disadvantage competitors, and 3) misleading or harming consumers.  Some of these laws carry civil and criminal penalties for individuals and companies.

      3.  

    3. Insider Trading Laws

       
      Do not use non-public information to buy or sell stock, or to pass it along to others so that they may do so. That could constitute the crime of insider trading.
       
      Familiarize yourself with Alphabet’s Insider Trading Policy. It describes policies that address the risks of insider trading, such as: 

      • a prohibition on hedging Alphabet stock

        •  

      • periodic blackout windows when you may not trade Alphabet stock
    4.  

      Anti-Bribery Laws

       
      Various laws that prohibit bribery in different settings. Our rule is simple – don’t bribe anybody, at any time, for any reason.
       
      Non-government relationships. Be careful when you give gifts and pay for meals, entertainment or other business courtesies on behalf of Alphabet. Avoid the possibility that the gift, entertainment or other business courtesy could be perceived as a bribe. Provide such business courtesies infrequently and, when you do, to keep their value moderate.
       
      Dealings with government officials. Various laws prohibit seeking to influence official action by offering or giving anything of value to government officials, candidates for public office, employees of government-owned or -controlled companies, public international organizations, or political parties. Avoid not only traditional gifts, but also things like meals, entertainment, travel, political or charitable contributions, and job offers for government officials’ relatives. With pre-approval, it may be permissible to make infrequent and moderate expenditures for gifts and business entertainment for government officials that are directly tied to promoting our products or services (e.g., a modest meal at a day-long demonstration of our products).

     

    IV. Conclusion

     
    We rely on one another’s good judgment to uphold a high standard of integrity for ourselves and our company. We expect all Board members and employees to be guided by both the letter and the spirit of this Code.
     
    Adopted October 2, 2015

    Alphabet Inc. is now a publicly traded company. Shares are up in Monday morning trading.

  • Your Passcode Is Protected by Fifth Amendment, Says Court

    Can the police compel you to give up your iPhone passcode?

    Not according to one federal court’s ruling. Doing so would be a violation of your Fifth Amendment rights.

    The case in question involved two insider trading suspects and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s desire to get at evidence it believed was present on the defendants’ work-issued iPhones.

    Unfortunately for the SEC, the phones were protected with passcodes.

    “The SEC argues Defendants, as former Bank data analysts, are corporate custodians in possession of corporate records, and as such cannot assert their Fifth Amendment privilege in refusing to disclose their passcodes. Defendants disagree they are corporate custodians and argue providing the passcodes to their phones is ‘testimonial’ in nature and violates the Fifth Amendment,” says the ruling.

    So, who’s right?

    According to the court, it’s the defendants.

    “Since the passcodes to Defendants’ work-issued smartphones are not corporate records, the act of producing their personal passcodes is testimonial in nature and Defendants properly invoke their fifth Amendment privilege.”

    Your passcode is testimonial, and thus forcing you to reveal it would violate your right against self-incrimination.

    But according to one constitutional scholar, it wouldn’t be wise to think that there’s no feasible way for the government to get around said Fifth Amendment protections.

    “Having the defendant enter in his passcode would minimize the Fifth Amendment implications of the compelled compliance, as it would not involve disclosing the potentially incriminating evidence of the passcode itself. The passcode itself could be independently incriminating, at least in some cases. Imagine a conspiracy case in which members of the conspiracy use a common passcode. Proof that a suspect used that exact passcode on his own phone would be incriminating evidence, as it could help to show membership in the conspiracy,” writes Orin Kerr for the Washington Post.

    “Because the passcode itself could be incriminating, the smart way to limit the Fifth Amendment problem is for the government to ask for an order compelling the target to enter in the passcode rather than to divulge it to the police.”

    And we’re just talking about passcodes. If you use Apple’s Touch ID or any other sort of biometrics to lock your devices, you may be shit out of luck.

  • Karlie Kloss Going Back to College, Wants To Help Girls Learn To Code

    Karlie Kloss has been able to support herself and her family ever since she was in high school. Kloss still remembers moving to New York with her mom while she was still a teen, and the thrill of knowing she made enough money to pay their rent there.

    Karlie Kloss recently told Glamour, “When I moved to New York all I knew about New York was what I learned from Law and Order: SVU. So I was terrified! We moved into an apartment above an Indian restaurant. It was surreal because even though I was young, I knew it was my working that allowed us to rent an apartment and be able to go out for dinner.”

    “I was proud. My only other job had been babysitting, and my going rate was six dollars an hour. Suddenly I was able to take my whole family traveling. That was empowering.”

    So, why is Karlie Kloss going back to school?

    “I don’t want to wait until I’m 30 to continue learning and challenging myself in new ways,” Kloss says. “I’m 23 and had a very busy point in my career, but I hope it’s just the beginning. I want to do it all. Like most kids starting college, my major is still undecided. Next year will be a balancing act-but how exciting! I haven’t written a paper in years.”

    Part of Karlie Kloss’ desire to broaden her horizons comes from a class she took last year that launched a major outreach for her.

    “Computer science and programming were not classes offered in my school, but I have always been fascinated by math and science and how the tech industry is changing the world. I even started learning how to code. Coding is the way our world is built. Whether it’s software or the human body, everything is communicated in a code.”

    “Last summer I took a weeklong class at the Flatiron School, and I found tremendous value in having the ability to build code. So I started the Kode With Karlie scholarship because there are many girls in that space. My sister works at a fashion text start up in San Francisco — I think there are very few female engineers at many companies. I was always planning to have a career in science, but the general statistics around women in math and science are not very encouraging, which is why I think it’s so important to get more girls interested.”

    While modeling has been her bread and butter, Karlie Kloss knows that it is not an avenue that all girls can take advantage of.

    “I’m still wrapping my head around being a role model for young girls,” Kloss explains. “I do feel a responsibility to become an example for young women in general. That’s what Kode With Karlie is about: supporting girls to try coding even if they’re not interested in being a programmer. If I can inspire one girl to try it, I’ll be happy.”

  • Apple’s New iOS 9 Requires 6-Digit Passcodes

    If you use TouchID to unlock your iPhone and iPad, the idea of typing in a passcode seems quite Stone Age – but plenty of iOS users still punch in a four-digit passcode every time they unlock their devices. That’s about the change.

    The new iOS set to debut this fall, iOS 9, is changing your passcode from four digits to six.

    According to Apple, this will make it harder for those with bad intentions to access your private info.

    “Keeping your devices and Apple ID secure is essential to protecting all the personal information you store with and access through Apple — like your photos, documents, messages, email, and so much more. iOS 9 advances security by strengthening the passcode that protects your devices, and by making it harder for others to get unauthorized access to your Apple ID account. These new security features are easy for you to use. But they make it much harder for anyone else to access your personal information,” says Apple.

    Your new six-digit codes offer 1 million possible permutations – as opposed to just 10,000 offered by a four-digit code.

    Definitely a step up, but not perfect by any means.

    Apple is also introducing two-factor authentication with iOS 9.

    “A password alone is not always enough to keep your account secure. With two-factor authentication, when you sign in from a new browser or on a new device, you’ll be prompted for a verification code. This code is automatically displayed on your other Apple devices or sent to your phone. Enter the code and you’re quickly signed in — and any unauthorized users are kept out,” says the company.

    Will a six-digit code be tougher to remember than a four-digit code? Possibly. You can always just use Touch ID in most scenarios, though. Will a six-digit code be more secure than a four-digit code? Yeah, it’ll be harder to brute force – unless your passcode is “123456”.

  • The Verge Publisher Vox Media Acquires Re/code

    There’s a lot happening in the world of tech news media. The latest piece of news in the publisher circuit is that Vox Media (The Verge, SB Nation, Polygon, Vox.com, Eater, Racked, Curbed) is acquiring Re/code roughly a year and a half after its launch.

    Re/code was started at the beginning of 2014 after All Things D, led by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, was spun off from The Wall Street Journal. It has operated under a company called Revere Digital, which launched with backing from NBCUniversal News Group and Windsor Media. It also hosted the Code Conference, which happens to be going on right now.

    A post on the Vox Media blog says:

    Re/code will continue to publish at Recode.net and across other platforms. Its coverage areas will complement those of the The Verge, our leading consumer tech lifestyle brand, by focusing particularly on tech business news and analysis.

    Re/code’s renowned tech and business conference division will continue to grow, and we will explore ways to apply Re/code’s leadership in this space to our other media brands over time.

    Re/code will benefit from Vox Media’s infrastructure and resources, and will eventually move on to Chorus, Vox Media’s proprietary platform. The current members of Re/code’s staff will soon be employees of Vox Media.

    Welcome, Kara, Walt, and the Re/code team to Vox Media!

    A post from Siwsher and Mossberg says:

    We want to assure you that this combination is designed to bolster and enrich Re/code, and that we will continue to publish under the same name and leadership, with editorial independence. We will also continue to hold our signature Code conferences, and even add new ones, again with the same core team and the same philosophy.

    Re/code will benefit from joining Vox Media by integrating Vox Media’s various capabilities — including marketing, communications, audience development, sales and production. We will also eventually migrate to Vox Media’s beautiful, powerful and flexible proprietary publishing platform, which will give us new ways to present our stories to you.

    We plan as well to collaborate where appropriate with Vox Media’s current and very successful tech news site, The Verge. While the two sites occasionally overlap, we have focused on the business of tech, while The Verge has focused on covering tech from a lifestyle perspective.

    We are excited that, after only 18 months, we are able to join Vox Media’s great family of sites and gain new resources and colleagues that will help us grow and get better at focusing on what matters most to you, our readers.

    Here’s a video of the two joking and talking about the news followed by Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff talking about it at the conference:

    Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief at The Verge, also wrote a post about welcoming Re/code to Vox Media, how they’ll work together, and how The Verge itself is also growing. He wrote:

    When the opportunity to work more closely with Recode arrived, it made perfect sense: Recode covers the business of technology better than any other publication in the world. Kara and Walt have built a juggernaut of reporting talent and an unparallelled conference series designed for business leaders and executives, and the competition isn’t even close. Bringing Recode into the Vox Media fold means that The Verge can remain focused on being the best mainstream technology and lifestyle site in the world, and Recode can dig even deeper into how the money and business of technology works. Recode will maintain its site and branding, but over time we’ll work hard to find as many ways to work together as possible.

    We are making one change, though: Recode’s tremendous reviews team of Lauren Goode, Katie Boehret, and Bonnie Cha will join the Verge staff, and Walt Mossberg will be writing reviews and columns for both sites. It’s an exciting expansion of our already best-in-the-business tech news and reviews team, and I can’t wait to see what they do with The Verge’s incredible platform and resources.

    And that’s all just the start. We’re also increasing our overall investment in The Verge, and setting the stage to grow even bigger across the multiple platforms our audience finds us on every day. We’ve just hired new entertainment, science, and app reporters, and we are about to begin aggressively hiring transportation reporters. The incredible Verge Video team will double in size over the next few months. And we will continue hiring across The Verge as the year continues. It’s going to be an insane ride.

    As mentioned at the beginning, this is just the latest change in the tech media blogosphere. As reported yesterday, Gigaom, which announced its demise earlier this year, is being relaunched in August after being acquired by Knowingly. The site will continue with its existing domain and content library, but will move forward without the staff who made created it all.

    Other recent and major tech blog news came when Verizon announced its acquisition of AOL, which includes content sites like TechCrunch and Engadget. Those are about to be owned by Verizon.

    Image via Twitter

  • Anna Wintour Decodes the Baffling Met Gala Outfits for Us Simple Folks

    Anna Wintour Decodes the Baffling Met Gala Outfits for Us Simple Folks

    Anna Wintour is the Editor-in-Chief at Vogue Magazine. When celebrities trotted out their best at the Met Gala last week, the public looked on amused. We were impressed with some things, sure. But others seemed to go right over our heads. It took a pro like Anna Wontour to point out what was what so that we could understand what had happened.

    For example, the joke was on all of us when Katie Holmes and her stylist teased that they were cutting her hair for the ball. She posted pics of what appeared to be her getting her gorgeous lock lopped. But we found out later that it was all a ruse. She wore a wig.

    Still, we learned that her look was relevant to the them of the evening: “China: Through The Looking Glass.” Her style for the night was intended as an homage to Anna May Wong, a Chinese-American movie star.

    We also saw Cara Delevingne all inked up. Seemingly permanent tattoos of plum red flowers with spiraling branches, birds and blossoms and covered Cara Delevingne’s arms and neck, peeking out from the cutouts of her jumpsuit and out from under her bun-up hair. These too were fake. But still fed into the theme of the evening.

    Anna Wintour sat down with Seth Meyers to set the record straight on some of what went on at the Met Gala. She started off by addressing what some derided as a “hoodie” on Anne Hathaway.

    “I thought she looked amazing,” Anna Wintour said of Hathaway. “I have to admit I was slightly confused by the China reference, but I did my research and I found out that Anne and Ralph Lauren had actually based this dress on a modern Chinese artist, whose work features hip-hop artists and people wearing hoodies. So there you go, it’s brilliant!”

    Seth Meyers joked about Justin Bieber’s look for the evening: a custom Balmain blazer paired with an asymmetrical button-down shirt, a black cummerbund, and black trousers. But Anna Wintour set the record straight on that, as well.

    “Now come on, Seth,” she said. “This was actually one of my favorites. These are all Chinese dragons and apparently that’s aged gold bullion thread… as it should be.”

    Rihanna caught lots of jokes in her oversized yellow dress, including jibes about looking like a poured omelet.

    “I really want to tell you about this dress,” Wintour told Meyers. “Rihanna is such a star. She surfed the Internet looking for this and this was designed by a famous, famous Chinese designer Guo Pei. It apparently took one Chinese person two years to make this dress. It’s a dress not to forget.”

    As for George Clooney’s wear for the evening, she said it simply:

    “He has Amal on his arm and he’s George Clooney — he doesn’t have to wear anything.”

  • Hulk Hogan: Was There an Anti-Black Dress Code at Hogan’s Restaurant?

    Hulk Hogan: Was There an Anti-Black Dress Code at Hogan’s Restaurant?

    There has been another of those non-scandal scandals afoot in the tabloids lately. This one is about famed wrestler Hulk Hogan.

    The story goes that the Hogan’s Beach restaurant in Tampa, Florida, has a dress code that discriminates against black people. A sign was posted at the restaurant that specified:

    NO Plain White T-Shirts (or otherwise oversized T-Shirts extending past the mid-thigh)
    NO Attire Containing Profanity (or otherwise deemed to be offensive by management)
    NO Sports or Sleeveless Jerseys
    NO Excessively Baggy Attire
    NO Low Hanging Pants or Shorts (pants or shorts must be worn at the waist)
    NO hats, caps or visors worn sideways or back facing (hats must be worn fully forward facing at all times)
    NO Do-Rags, Skull Caps or Bandanas
    NO Torn or Soiled Clothing
    NO Workboots [sic]
    NO Oversized or Excessive Jewelry
    NO Workout Clothing (including tracksuits, jumpsuits, sweatpants, basketball, gym or mesh shorts)
    NO Camouflage (unless with military ID)
    NO High-Top Sneakers

    Once news of this hit the Interwebs, the Hulkster himself had to make a phone call to fix the situation. This is the case, even though Hogan does not own the restaurant, he only licenses the use of his name for it.

    But it turns out that this is not a dress code for the restaurant. The sign was up for a particular party at the restaurant that had a beach party theme. The party organizers who were paying to use the restaurant had listed the dress code rules.

    “We do have promotions companies that come in and want a certain theme for their parties that they do present,” the Hogan’s Beach manager has said. “We actually don’t have a dress code here at Hogan’s Beach. That was for a specifically-themed beach party.”

    In fact, at the bottom of that sign is the statement:

    This is a beach party and beach attire is required.

    If Paul Harvey were here, he would have an appropriate sign-off for this.

  • Twitter Expands Geo-Targeting To More Countries, Adds Postal Code Targeting In U.S.

    Twitter announced the expansion of geo-targeting features to more advertisers. It has added state and region targeting in Brazil and Canada and postal code targeting in the U.S.

    It is also adding geo-targeting including state and region targeting to eight new countries including: Australia, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and the UK. Twitter now offers granular geo-targeting in twelve countries and country-level targeting in over 200.

    “Advertisers across the world have been using geo-targeting to precisely target the most relevant audience for tangible results,” says Twitter product manager Nipoon Malhotra, who shares several examples in a blog post.

    “We’re excited about how expanded geo-targeting options will enable global Twitter advertisers to better reach their target audiences,” Malhotra says.

    Last Friday, Twitter launched a new ad unit called the Website Card to drive traffic to websites. That came after its MoPub network opened up native ads to all advertisers.

    Twitter released its quarterly earnings report earlier this week, with revenue up 119%, though its stock hit an all-time low with investors unimpressed by Twitter’s growth. Monthly active users were up 25%.

    Image via Twitter

  • Moore, Oklahoma Passes New Tornado-Resistant Building Codes

    Some residents of Moore, Oklahoma are still in the process of rebuilding their homes from damages that were left by last year’s tornado. Buildings were reduced to rubble, cars were left crushed, and walls were what remained of the structures.

    The tornado injured 400 citizens and killed 24 people. It was not the first time the city has experienced that big a catastrophe. Serious tornadoes also ravaged the city in 1999 and 2003.

    On Thursday, the city has approved new residential building codes. It made Moore, Oklahoma the first municipality in the United States to create building rules that state that new homes must be able to endure strong winds that are up to 135 mph instead of the previous 90 mph. The new code is a preventative measure for extensive damages when another tornado strikes.

    Moore’s City Council approved 11 building codes after structural engineers examined the damages that were left by the 2013 tornado.

    The last tornado that hit Moore left damages that took $2 billion to rebuild. According to Oklahoma University civil engineering professor Dr. Chris Ramseyer, building stronger structures and homes will result in minimized destruction and minimized cost of rebuilding.

    Part of the new code also says that hurricane clips, wind-resistant garage doors, and roof sheathing are required. Ramseyer also mentioned the added building requirements will not be a large expense for homeowners. “We’re talking one or two cents per dollar on a home,” he said. This is a small price to pay for the safety of the citizens.

    Residents of Moore are excited about the new code, especially since they have already had a hard time trying to rebuild their homes from the previous tornado.

    With these new building codes already in place, Moore, Oklahoma will hopefully be prepared for the next tornado that may come their way.

    Aftermath from the Tornado that hit Moore last year

    Image via YouTube

  • Moore, Oklahoma Toughens Building Codes for Future Tornado Incursions

    New residential building codes went into effect Thursday for one tornado-prone town.

    The city of Moore, Oklahoma is taking preventive measures to protect the area from any further destructive damages incurred from tornadoes.

    The city recently set in stone tough construction codes that will ensure every future home is built firmly to withstand winds up to 135 mph. This includes sturdy roof shields and wind-resistant garage doors.

    The previous standard for the building code was 90 mph, which is mainly the same for all states nationwide.

    But, as the first city in the country to ever take such action, residents have expressed how excited they are about the new code-especially following the tornado in May 2013 that still has families rebuilding their homes.

    Last spring’s tornado-an EF-5 level-injured nearly 400 people and took the lives of 24 Moore residents.

    One tornado victim told KFOR-TV how the storm has been very difficult to recover from the last 11 months.

    “It was pretty tedious and I definitely don’t want to do it again,” Sarah Patteson said.

    The University of Oklahoma is one of five universities in the National Science Foundation that helped develop 11 new building codes for the city. After extensive assessment of the ruined homes, researchers used engineering technology to come up with the best possible solution.

    “This last tornado is over $2 billion in costs,” said Dr. Chris Ramseyer, associate professor of civil engineering at OU.  “And with better homes, stronger buildings, that destructive force will be minimized and the cost will be minimized.”

    Ramseyer says the costs are a “small expense for the homeowner…one or two cents per dollar on a home.” However, this new code will only apply to those that have yet to start building a new home.

    Moore, which has experienced similar, damaging twisters in 1999 and 2003, tends to be a center point where most catastrophic tornadoes occur in Oklahoma.

    City officials hope that this new adoption will at least be the answer to “homes [being] safer and more durable for smaller, more frequent storms.”

    Image via YouTube

  • YouTube Embed Code Has A Weird Parenthesis At The End

    Writing for the web all day, we tend to use a lot of YouTube embeds. We couldn’t help but notice that today there is a weird issue with the code. It’s adding a single parenthesis at the end:

    I don’t know why this is happening, but I do know we’re not the only ones having this issue.

    We’ve reached out to Google for comment, and will update accordingly. They don’t appear to be responding to tweets.

    Image via YouTube

  • Bing Code Search Comes To Visual Studio

    Bing Code Search Comes To Visual Studio

    When writing code in Visual Studio, you may find that you have to pull code samples from StackOverflow or MSDN. You would normally just have to copy and paste the code over and then make some modifications so it fits in with your previously written code. Now Microsoft is making it easier to do through Bing.

    The Bing team announced today that it has worked with the Visual Studio and Microsoft Research teams to develop what it calls the Bing Code Search Visual Studio extension. As its name implies, it’s a new extension that uses Bing to find “relevant code samples in Visual Studio providing you with the ability to review and add that code in the code editor.” The Bing team notes that searches are context sensitive so you’ll get samples that use the same variable names in your own code.

    Bing says Code Search pulls from MSDN, StackOverflow, Donnetperls and CSharp411. Here’s how it works:

    Bing uses signals and metadata including project type and semantic context (e.g. C#/VB compiler) combined with our vast index to deliver relevant code samples directly into the Visual Studio experience. In a few short clicks, you have a set of code snippets for review and copy into the Visual Studio editor without missing a beat.

    If you want to see Bing Code Search in action, you can watch a video of it being used here. Unfortunately, there’s no embed just yet, but I’ll update this story with one if Microsoft Research ever bothers to upload it to YouTube.

    If you feel your life would be greatly improved through the use of Bing Code Search, you can download the extension here.

    Image via Visual Studio Blog

  • Re/code (The New All Things D) Introduced For The New Year

    Back in September, The Wall Street Journal and its tech site All Things D announced that they were parting ways, and now with the new year, we get to see both the new Wall Street Journal tech section and the new All Things D.

    The new All Things D is not actually called All Things D at all, but is a brand new site called Re/code, which operates under a brand new company called Revere Digital, which has launched with backing from NBCUniversal News Group and Windsor Media. Revere Digital will host news sites and apps as well as a series of conferences called Code Conference.

    Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg (the two All Things D / re/code leaders) explain the new company, site and conference in a New Year’s blog post.

    Re/code brings the same All Things D team along for the ride. This includes: John Paczkowski, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried, Katherine Boehret, Liz Gannes, Lauren Goode, Arik Hesseldahl, Mike Isaac, Bonnie Cha, Jason Del Rey and Eric Johnson.

    Swisher and Mossberg write:

    Why have we chosen Re/code as the name for our new creation? Simply put: Because everything in tech and media is constantly being refreshed, renewed and reimagined. And this is the reinvention of ourselves.

    While we are presenting an improved new face, we promise that, if you liked what we were doing at All Things Digital and the D conferences, you will love what we are now planning for Re/code. We pledge to bring the same energy and standards to our news, reviews and events, with the plus of adding in even more talented staff and resources to the mix.

    The first Code Conference will take place from May 27th to May 29th. More events with partner CNBC are planned for “throughout the year”.

    The Wall Street Journal website has redesigned its Technology section. You can take a look at that here.

    Image: Re/code

  • President Obama Challenges Americans To Learn Code

    Ever since the dawn of computing, computer programming has always been a subject that has been heavily influenced by math and science. Just the thought of programming, where a person sits in front of a computer staring at lines and lines of code on end, does not sound like an exciting career to most. However, there is one initiative that has recently come to pass to let the “Average Joe” create a simple program without having to break a sweat or strain their brain cells. This initiative has been called The Hour of Code.

    Earlier this week, President Barack Obama released a video on YouTube that challenges Americans of all ages, races, and credos to learn a programming language. Along with this challenge, President Obama has teamed up with various students, teachers, businesses, and non-profit organizations that are taking steps to support and enhance Computer Science within the American school system. With this in mind, President Obama challenges Americans not just be participants of technology, but to engage in the creation of it:

    “Don’t just buy a new video game, make one. Don’t just download the latest app, help design it. Don’t just play on your phone, program it.”

    President Obama continues his speech by stating that learning how to program code is not just important for your future, but it is important for the country’s future as well. The more programmers our country has, the more America will stay on the “cutting edge” of technology.

    To help give the public a taste of how computer programming has evolved, along with how fun it can be to create something using a computer, The Hour of Code (THOC) website will show you. To describe what THOC is all about, I have provided a brief summary from the site’s about page below.

    “Code.org is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science education by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer programming. We believe computer science should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra.”

    On THOC’s website, participants can program code using the following methods:

    • Tutorials for beginners – Learn the basic concepts of Computer Science with drag and drop programming.
    • Tutorials that teach JavaScript – Learn the basics of JavaScript programming while creating fun drawings with your code.
    • No device or internet? Try ‘unplugged’ computer science – Using a pre-defined “Robot Vocabulary,” students will figure out how to guide each other to accomplish specific tasks without discussing them first.
    • Tutorial apps for any device – Learn core programming logic, starting from super-basic programming, for ages 4+, on iOS or Android (or Web browser)
    • Other programming languages – Choose from 3 activities designed to give you your first experience programming.
    • Make your own apps – Know some programming already? Learn to make an iPhone game in an hour!
    • Other learning options – A collection of 8 fun activities for children of all ages to try programming.

    Are you still not convinced that programming can be easy? See actress Angela Bassett, actor Ashton Kutcher, and singer Shakira get involved with The Hour of Code.

    [Image source: YouTube screenshot (1:02)]

  • Microsoft’s Followup To Windows 8.1 Is Codenamed ‘Threshold’ [Report]

    In October 2012, Microsoft dragged Windows into what it saw as the next era of computing with Windows 8. Not only did the new OS embrace the touch screens that have become so common these days, but it also united the Windows operating system across desktop, tablets and phones. With its next release, it looks like Microsoft is taking that idea a step further.

    ZDNet reports that Microsoft EVP Terry Myerson had recently sent out an internal email that name dropped a new version of Windows called “Threshold.” The name, which comes from Microsoft’s successful Halo game franchise on Xbox, is meant to embody the next wave of Windows operating systems across all devices.

    So, what does this mean for the future of Windows? It would appear that “Threshold” is the codename for a plan that will update the operating systems that powers everything from Windows desktops and tablets to Windows Phone and Xbox One. This grand plan will attempt to unify all the different versions of Windows into a more cohesive whole.

    Part of this plan is reportedly already in the works as Microsoft is working to unify the Windows Store across all Windows devices. In other words, the Windows Store on Windows Phone devices will be the same store that you see on a desktop or tablet. Such a future will of course require Microsoft to make the developer tools more similar across all devices, but that’s apparently in the works as well.

    What makes Threshold so interesting is that the “One Microsoft” Steve Ballmer alluded to earlier this year will be coming to Windows sooner rather than later. In other words, Microsoft software that you would normally associate with the desktop, like Office, Bing and more, would be set up to work flawlessly across all devices, including Windows Phone and maybe even Xbox One.

    Microsoft is already integrating services like Bing into Windows Phone and Xbox One, but those are versions of Bing are built specifically for that platform. From the looks of it, Threshold is an attempt to build something once and have it work across all platforms. That will certainly benefit Microsoft, but it will also benefit developers as they will be able to build apps for Windows 8.1 and have it work across Windows Phone 8 and Xbox without putting in extra effort.

    So, when will we see Threshold? ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley says that we can probably expect it sometime in 2015. Until then, Microsoft will work on improving what it already has in Windows 8.1.

    [Image: Windows/YouTube]

  • Coupons.com Adds Coupon Codes to App Update

    Heads up couponers and others who like to save money–the popular savings website Coupons.com is releasing an updated app for Apple iOS devices on Monday. The updated app offers coupon codes and offers from both national and local retailers. This works out perfectly since thousands of people will begin flocking to the stores to make holiday purchases soon.

    Version 2.0 of the Coupons.com app will include a host of improvements, but the one people are most excited about is the addition of coupon codes, something that the RetailMeNot app has offered for a long time.

    According to Coupons.com, “Thousands of coupon codes are now available for saving on online shopping at hundreds of stores…For users shopping in-store, offers are available for redemption at checkout. Just show offers on your mobile device in the physical store. Top stores include Bath & Body Works, JCPenney, Macy’s, The Home Depot, and J. Crew.”

    The app is free and available for download via iTunes, and you can register to access additional savings. Check out the new Coupons.com iOS interface below.

    Are you a couponer or have any tips for holiday savings? Respond below.

    “More and more consumers are reaching for their mobile devices to help them shop and save. In fact, during last year’s holiday season, the percent of web-based purchases made on a mobile device reached well into the double digits and one-third of smart phone owners indicated they used a mobile coupon while holiday shopping,” said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com.

    “We’re continuing to invest in mobile solutions to make shopping and saving better for consumers this holiday season, and all year long,” Boal continued.

    After taking a test-drive of the updated Coupons.com iOS app, it’s easy to see how the app will become even more popular, especially as people start their holiday shopping since it offers savings from Toys ‘R’ Us. It’s a good thing that the updated app was released at the beginning of November, which will give retailers about three and a half weeks to get used to accepting codes from the app before Black Friday arrives.

    Images via iTunes

  • PayPal Announces Payment Code, Another Way To Reduce In-Store Payment Hassle

    PayPal Announces Payment Code, Another Way To Reduce In-Store Payment Hassle

    PayPal has now revealed yet another new product aimed at making retail store payments easier for both consumers and merchants. This one is called Payment Code, and lets users pay by checking into a store with their PayPal app or a merchant’s own app. Merchants simply scan a QR code or enter a four-digit code to complete transactions.

    When the consumer is shopping in the store, and is ready to pay, they can open the app, and check in. From there, they’ll be prompted with the QR code or four-digit code, and the merchant can scan it with their barcode or QR code scanner, or the merchant (or consumer) can enter the four-digit code on the PIN pad, and the items are paid for.

    “As we have said many times before, the problem that needs to be solved is not paying at a POS terminal,” says Don Kingsborough, Vice President of Retail Services at PayPal. “While payment code does make the checkout process smooth, with easy access to all funding sources in one simple place (your phone), the real benefit is that it will allow consumers to automatically redeem any special offers, gift cards, merchant rewards programs or other forms of payment that might be saved in their PayPal wallet in one quick transaction.”

    “Utilizing the millions of 2D barcode scanners already sitting on store counters and 40+ million payment terminals available around the world, this offers an easy way to give customers the benefits without investing in new technology,” he says.

    Payment code was announced at the Money2020 conference. TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden interviewed Kingsborough. Here’s an interesting excerpt from that:

    Kingsborough says that initially Payment Code with work with merchants who are part of the Discover Network “in a few million locations”, along with several banks like First Data, with more credit card partners getting added over time. As for retailers, PayPal declines to name who its partners will be when it rolls the service out at the end of the year, but Kingsborough notes that likely early partners will be those who already have rolled out other payment services with PayPal, such as Home Depot.

    Last month, PayPal announced an innovative way into retail stores via the plug-in Beacon device, which enables shoppers to use the PayPal app to pay for their orders without having to wait in line, or in some cases even touch their phones. The device uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to avoid poor cellular connections and battery drain, and PayPal enabled phones will recognize when they’re in a store that has the device, so the two can can communicate with each other.

    If Beacon and Payment Code can both gain widespread adoption, the general in-store payments scene may start looking a lot different (and more convenient) in the near future.

    PayPal says Payment Code will roll out globally in the first quarter of next year.