Technology Blog

Seven reasons to learn Java

Published: 23 July 2017
Written by Pavel Rjabtsenkov
No comments
Categories: Tech Discussion

The world is standing on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution. Industry 4.0 will massively employ artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already penetrating every part of our lives. According to the prediction of specialists, 40% of current jobs will become redundant due to automatization in some 20 years. However, new jobs are expected to appear in servicing this new machinery. IT specialists will be in demand especially those who know programming languages. The experts are certain that Java will be among the most popular programming languages for many decades to come.  

 

Here are 7 industries today that cannot go without Java:

 

  1. Android apps

Do you want to write for Android? Learn Java

  1. Financial services

World banks use Java in processing the data, server applications, and trading software.

  1. Web apps

Java is a choice of both commercial and government sectors. National healthcare, education, and insurance systems are based on this language.

  1. Programming environments

Many programming environments owe their existence to Java.

  1. Built-in solutions

Applications Java can be reused in many instances, from household equipment to manufacture management systems. One app – many devices.

  1. Big data

Java does not dominate big data analysis yet, but there is a chance. Hadoop and ElasticSearch are based on Java.

  1. Science

Java is the most prevalent programming language in scientific sector.

 

These are only a few of the uses of Java. Yet, it demonstrates, that learning this language is a great investment into your future.

 

A smart-speaker prevented a crime.

Published: 21 July 2017
Written by Pavel Rjabtsenkov
No comments
Categories: Tech Discussion

Can a smart-home assistant save your life in every life-threatening situation? Of course not. The voice assistant is only designed to react to your spoken commands and tune on to your favorite radio station. However, cases in which virtual helper aided its owners, helping them to avoid unfortunate and sometime even life-threatening situations, make a frequent appearance in the news reel.

 

Recently such a story came from a house in Tijeras, New Mexico, USA. The owned of the house Eduardo Barros had a heated argument with his girlfriend. The situation became more intense and turned from a domestic argument into an incident of domestic violence: from a verbal quarrel Eduardo Barros moved to physical action. In a fit of anger he even threatened to kill the girl. The outcome of this situation could have been deplorable, as the man had firearm which he could have used not at all for self-defence. However, the situation was saved by a smart-speaker. When the offender asked the victim whether she managed to call the police already, the virtual assistant recognised not a question but an order and called the police.

 

The police arrived just in time to save the girl, take her away into a safer place, and arrest Eduardo. The life-saver in this story was Amazon Alexa. Perhaps, instead of relying on fortunate occurrences, developer could seriously consider adding more features to react to violent situations.

Microsoft revealed Windows 10 Preview Build 16241

Published: 16 July 2017
Written by Pavel Rjabtsenkov
No comments
Categories: Tech Discussion

Microsoft releases a new preview version of Windows 10 improving visual appearance, gaming features, task manager, mixed reality, and delivery optimisation. It is a preview version of a 7th build, Fall Creators Update, that is going to be released in this September.

 

Visual improvement Microsoft suggests is very insignificant. Yet, they begin with “We’ve heard your feedback”, so apparently, some people complained. Acrylic Material (this blurry background of windows and start menu) was refined and not the noise layer is softer. As it is can be seen in the picture… after a very intensive examination.

Some gaming improvements include fixing issues with Xbox Live profile cards and crashing Game bar while broadcasting.

 

Task Manager received a much bigger addition. Now there is GPU section in performance tab. It shows the name of GPU and multi-engine view. The multi-engine allows you to monitor an activity of the 4 most active GPU engines: 3D, Copy, Video Encode, and Video Decode. Also, shared GPU memory usage graph is included.

 

Mixed Reality improvements include partial support for Motion Controllers, connection reliability, 4K gaming, and overall stability.

 

Finally, delivery optimisation gives you more control on how updates and apps are delivered to your computer. P2P technology can be now switched on or off. Download speeds are increased. More controls are available in Advanced options of Windows Update.

Google against ads: a favour or despair?

Published: 15 July 2017
Written by Pavel Rjabtsenkov
No comments
Categories: Tech Discussion

Not so long ago, Google joined the Coalition for Better Ads. And now it is actively fighting for a better Internet and new standard of advertisement.

 

In this uneven fight with omnipresent evil, Google starts with its own ship. The first step will be an ad-blocker built in Chrome in the beginning of 2018. It will be aimed to low-quality advertisements, such as full-screen pop-ups, ads with abrupt sounds, and flashing messages.The filtering will be rather harsh: if at least one advert does not comply with established standards, no ads will be shown at all.

 

If you think that Google is trying to eliminate competition, you are wrong. A number of measures are directed on Google’s own activity. For example, Google forbade to show its notifications on the websites with more than 3 popups, and, quite recently, to use Google ads in the windows that are being opened in the background.

 

The company believes that better advertisement will prevent people from using 3rd-party ad-blockers, that hide all ads indiscriminately.

Modular mini-PC HP Elite Slice, combination of processing power and innovation

Published: 8 July 2017
Written by Pavel Rjabtsenkov
No comments
Categories: Latest Gadgets

The market of desktop PCs dedicated for industries and office work was making rather unsteady steps on the path of progress lately. It is not difficult to explain, industry work processes quite often require high processing powers; devices become outdated quite quickly and demand constant upgrades. At the same time, desktop segment continuously decreases as users choose more compact solutions and cloud computing services. However, HP tries its luck and offers an unusual solution.

 

HP Elite Slice is a compact nettop with dimensions 16,5×16,5cm (smaller than a Mac Mini). It will be almost invisible on the table and can be easily transported as its weight is slightly over 1kg.

 

What makes this device unique is its modular design. You can easily connect an HP Audio Module, an additional hard drive slot, an optical disk drive module, a 360-degree speaker for conference calls from Bang&Olufsen, and a VESA mount for securing the device to the wall or a back of the screen.

 

Depending on your demands and depth of your pockets, HP Elite can fit the 6th Gen (Skylake) Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor, from 4 to 32GB RAM, an integrated graphics, and a hard drive with Elite-class data protection features. On top of that, the desktop runs Windows 10 Pro.

 

The compact and stylish PC will definitely attract your attention. However, in or opinion, it could have had more upgrade units to be truly futureproof.