Tuesday, July 26, 2016

JavaScript is number 1, but R is catching up

JavaScript is number 1  and then there ar others that follow:

Java
PHP
Python
C#
C++
Ruby
CSS,
C
etc.

R has moved from 17th to 13th Place according to RedMonk's biannual programming language rankings. TypeScript a subset of JavaScript a la Microsoft is another language on rapid move.

On what does RedMonk base this ranking?
Language usage on StackOverflow and GitHub.

More info here:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3096812/application-development/iot-spurs-surprise-surge-in-assembly-language-popularity.html

On Thiobe index JavaScript is not the top, C++ is. My guess is IoT drives the language use in the future and if that is true then C++ will get the greatest grade.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3096812/application-development/iot-spurs-surprise-surge-in-assembly-language-popularity.html

In 2015 JavaScript had just moved from 9 to 7 on the Thiobe Index:
http://hodentekhelp.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-popular-is-javascript.html

Google Translator looks very good

Most of them can do well, some better, some worse. It also depends on what language you want translate from/to. The better ones can auto-detect the language and for some of them you need to specify the source and destination languages.

In my recent experiment, I tried to translate a few lines from a receipt in Czech. Google did definitely better than Bing or Babylon. Babylon cannot auto-detect. Here are the results which is easy for you to rate them.

Bing
Some correct and for some no clue. The online tool should correctly recognize end of line.

Google
Perfect score!

Babylon


OK but does not recognize end of line

When it comes to Hungarian sometimes it is auto-detected as Turkish, a not so serious mistake.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Cortana's ability to recognize images in Microsoft Edge

It is now possible for Cortana to identify images in Microsoft Edge pages.

It is easy since all you need to do is to right click (Microsoft's royal click for everything) the image and pick Ask Cortana from the contextual menu. Some images do provide the contextual menu that has 'Ask Cortana' and someothers that do not.




Pick 'Ask Cortana' and you get the information in a pop-up


I have also seen that sometimes Cortana says she is sorry and at other times keep mum.

Latest Windows 10 Build is 14393 that took an awful 5 hrs and 39 minutes to finish

I am in the Windows 10 insider program and I get updates as and when they become available for preview. This time it was build 14393 and it really tested my patience and more than once I was tempted to pull the plug and work with an earlier version.

This updating the version should not take this long and should be reduced. I have a pretty fast internet connection, perhaps it is the WI-FI link. Even so, 5:30 Hrs.!
Amazon Assitant Extension is new in this version, but does it worth 5:30 hrs:

Here are some builds and the extesions/features added:
Amazon Assistant Extension             Build 14390
Evernote Web Clipper Extension      Build 14372
Office Online Extension                    Build 14366
LastPass Extension                            Build 14361
Download improvement                    Build 14361
Swipe Navigation                              Build 14342
AdBlock, AdBlockPlus, Pinterest     Build 14342
Save to Pocket extensions                 Build 14342

View all extensions here:
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/extensions/

Friday, July 15, 2016

This smartphone is ridiculously cheap.

This smartphone is ridiculously cheap.

This Indian smartphone named Freedom 251 is ready for shipping according to some, runs Android lollipop. This is really the cheapest smartphone and I do not understand the economics anymore. Even the common accessories like USB charger; earphone etc would cost more.

The phone is made by a not so known company called Ringing Bells in India costs ₹251 with specs of Android phones that cost at least 8 times. The below video shows the phone.
1.00 USD =67.005000 INR


Freedom 251 video on YouTube

This company seems to be in some contention with another Indian manufacturer, ADCOM. ADCOM is part of 'Advantage Computers" which deals with lots of computers and smartphones. 




Tuesday, July 12, 2016

GE to push its PaaS platform Predix to Microsoft Azure

GE's Predix platform (also its OS) builds applications that connect to Industrial assets. Collecting and analyzing data from those assets and delivering realtime, actionable insights to optimize industrial operations will drive the company towards the digital age of IIOT. With GE having its finger in every conceivable business, it can only improve its bottom line. By divesting its financial operations and there by getting rid of the stigma of financial links makes it only better.

As to when this is Microsoft-GE partnership would takeplace was recently answered at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2016. According to Microsoft this is slated for second quarter of 2017 while a preview should be available by this year's end. Watch Microsoft's AppSource protal for its appearance.

This will be followed by integrating with other of Microsoft's arsenal, Azure IOT Suite; Cortana
s AI; Office 365, Dynamics 365 and many more. More information is expecte to emerge at the November 2016 Mind Plus Machines show in San Francisco.

Microsoft is only GE's recent partner and it has already partnered with Accenture; Amazon's AWS to create the foundation for its IOT dreams. Oracle is also a part of GE's IOT strategy.

Read more here.

Watch this year ago video relate to Predix at Mind+Machine 2015

Invest in GE and you may not regret.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Microsoft Edge is dead in the water

It is in a state of coma. It cannot get up and function. Thank God I have Mozilla. Even Mozilla is slow and wobbly.

Update and fix:

I could not even get the command processor to show up. Finally by restarting got the command processor.

I do not know how some files got corrupted.

I tried sfc and it looks like it has resolved the problem for now.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow
Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired
them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
supported in offline servicing scenarios.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Friday, July 08, 2016

After Office 365 comes Dynamics 365

Microsoft's new formula for Dynamics includes this formula,

Dynamics 365= AzureCloud(Customer Relations Management + Enterprise Resource Planning).
Dynamics 365 will come along during this fall.

There was already both CRM and ERP cloud services but this new formula brings them all together while integrating tight with Office 365. With PowerBI and Cortana support this really gets interesting from the point of bottom line and both of these will be native to Dynamics 365.

Read this July blog post for more:

This is what Dynamics 365 is about according to Microsoft, excerpted from the above link:

"The combination of these things gives customers a comprehensive solution for business process innovation that lets them:

    Start with what they need by offering apps that fit roles, industries, businesses – and grow at their pace to run their entire business in the cloud. 

    Enable greater productivity where they need it by connecting structured workflow of business applications (Dynamics 365) and processes with the unstructured work of collaboration and productivity (Office 365) so employees are empowered with productivity tools surfaced in the context of their business processes, and vice versa.
    Gain built-in, actionable, intelligence with business applications that infuse big data, advanced analytics and IoT into processes which proactively guide employees and customers to optimal outcomes. With Dynamics 365, data and insights are transformed into intelligent action right where it’s needed, and without requiring an army of rocket scientists to make it happen.
    Be ready for growth through nimble, adaptable applications, that allow them to compose, modify and extend processes in real-time. Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft Flow empower business users to change and adapt their processes without requiring IT support. And organizations can reimagine their business model with a consistent, flexible, extensible platform"

Sunday, July 03, 2016

Connecting IOT to 4G LTE Network, the Verizon way

If you are interested in IOT, perhaps you should check out this URL. Verizon lays down its plan to connect IOT with the its 4G LTE Network. You can even get started with this at the above mentioned URL.

 In order to use the Wireless Network Services API, you need the SDK which you request here.

Verizon M2M Platform is central to this with the Wireless Network Services (WNS). With this you automate provisioing, monitoring and control of wireless MEM Devices.

It also provides user interfaces backed by an SDK. These are the,
Unified Web Servies(UWS) SDK and the M2M Management Center, a web portal for all monitoring activities.

What kind of devices will be supported?

Verizon-certified IOT development kits and sensors. Some are self-contained with everything and some operate with platforms like Windows, Arduino, Raspberry PI and BeagleBone.

In additions to wired connections there are Wi-Fi, cellular and Low Energy BlueTooth are supported.
Here is a link to the showcase that uses Veriaon M2M Platform.
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