code
Latest
Tinder's upcoming 'Swipe Party' feature lets friends help you choose dates
Tinder is working on a new feature called Swipe Party that will let you invite friends online to help you vet dates.
Apple's educational iOS coding tool lets users build and submit App Store apps
Apple is updating Swift Playgrounds to allow app developers to build and submit their software directly to the App Store from an iPad.
The next Apple TV may support 4K 120Hz gaming
The next Apple TV model might support 120Hz refresh rates, presumably at 4K.
Kano's $300 DIY Windows 10 PC Kit is finally ready
A little more than a year ago, Kano unveiled a colorful build-it-yourself tablet running Windows 10. The Kano PC was sold, it turns out, but only to a small group of fans that were happy to act as unofficial beta testers. The Kano PC is a chunky tablet that you have to assemble with components wrapped in colourful plastic.
Senators demand answers over Juniper Network's 2015 backdoor incident
Senators want answers by July 10th.
GitHub's core code tools are now free for everyone
GitHub's new Free tier makes it easier to code at home for both teams and individuals.
GitHub's mobile app helps you manage code on the move
Believe it or not, GitHub hasn't had an official mobile app -- a pain when you just want to offer some feedback on a project. That won't be a problem from now on. After months of testing, the Microsoft-owned company has released native GitHub apps for Android and iOS. Both let you manage tasks and pull requests (contributions to open projects) on the move, and you can both dish out and respond to comments.
Facebook’s rebuilt Messenger is a big step towards unifying its chat apps
Facebook just moved one step closer toward its goal of allowing users to swap messages across Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. Today, the company announced that it's rolling out a new version of Messenger for iOS that's been rebuilt "from the ground up." This is the "Lightspeed" redesign the company first teased last year at F8. But, besides, faster launch speeds, most users shouldn't notice much of a difference between the new app and the one they've already been using. That's because "Lightspeed" was more about simplifying Messenger's underlying code (Facebook notes the app went from 1.76 million lines of code to 360,000) than adding features to a notoriously bloated app.
Daisy is a tiny $29 computer for building custom musical instruments
Coding your own musical instruments just got a lot more convenient. Music tech company Electrosmith has launched the Daisy, an open source microcomputer packed with everything you need to code your own pedals, synth, modules and instruments -- and it's the size of a stick of gum.
GitHub will store all of its public open source code in an Arctic vault
Let's face it, there are a lot of things that could bring about the end of the world as we know it -- heightened political tensions, climate change, even an asteroid. In the event that things go FUBAR, what will happen to the masses upon masses of data and digital stuff that humanity relies upon every day? If open source coding platform GitHub has anything to do with it, it'll all be stored safely at the very ends of the Earth.
Kano's latest coding kit is a Star Wars-themed motion sensor
Back in January, Kano revealed that it was working with Disney on a Star Wars-themed coding kit. It's taken a while, but today we finally know what the company -- best known for its colorful Raspberry Pi computers -- has been cooking up: Star Wars The Force Coding Kit. The Bluetooth-enabled motion sensor includes a circular case, printed circuit board with nine LEDs, and two tops that contain Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire iconography. Once assembled, it can be used to control lightsabers, Porgs and other Star Wars paraphernalia in a companion app that's compatible with Windows 10 PCs, Macs, iPads and Amazon Fire HD 10 tablets.
‘Code with Google’ helps bring coding into the classroom
Most American students aren't learning how to code in elementary or middle school -- and if they are, it's likely they reside in an affluent school district. Google hopes to bridge the gaps in computer science education with Code with Google, a free coding curriculum that teachers can use to introduce their students to the basics of coding.
Microsoft, Alphabet help you learn quantum computer programming
The very concept of a quantum computer can be daunting, let alone programming it, but Microsoft thinks it can offer a helping hand. It and Alphabet's X are partnering with Brilliant on an online curriculum for quantum computing. The course starts with basic concepts and gradually introduces you to Microsoft's Q# language, teaching you how to write 'simple' quantum algorithms before moving on to truly complicated scenarios. You can handle everything on the web (including quantum circuit puzzles), and there's a simulator to verify that you're on the right track.
Machine learning can 'fingerprint' programmers
Programmers tend to have their own distinct styles, but it's not really feasible to pore over many lines of code looking for telltale cues about a program's author. Now, that might not be necessary. Researchers have developed a machine learning system that can 'de-anonymize' programmers, whether it's through raw source code or compiled binaries. As explained to Wired, the approach trains an algorithm to recognize a programmer's coding structure based on examples of their work, and uses those to pinpoint common traits in code samples. You don't need large chunks of a given program, either -- short snippets are often enough.
Microsoft confirms it's buying GitHub for $7.5 billion
The rumors are true: Microsoft is buying GitHub, the online, open-source repository for code, for $7.5 billion in stock. "Microsoft is a developer-first company, and by joining forces with GitHub we strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation," CEO Satya Nadella said in a post on the Microsoft blog. "We recognize the community responsibility we take on with this agreement and will do our best work to empower every developer to build, innovate and solve the world's most pressing challenges."
Instagram may soon offer a soundtrack for your Stories
With recent music licensing deals between Facebook and record labels like Sony, Warner Music, Universal and other European publishers, it would seem as if Facebook, and by extension Instagram, is uniquely poised to bring soundtracks to shared videos. According to a report at TechCrunch, it seems as if some code in the Instagram Android app could point to new music features like stickers that would let you find and add copyrighted music to your Stories from places like Spotify or SoundCloud.
Hidden Instagram code hints at voice and video call feature
Instagram might be able to offer everything you need to keep in touch with friends in the future. TechCrunch has discovered hidden codes and icons for "Call" and "Video Call" in the platform's and its standalone Direct messaging app's Android APKs. Instagram refused to comment about TC's finding, but APKs typically contain features developers plan to switch on later. Having the ability to make audio and video call from within direct messages would make Instagram an even bigger threat to Snapchat, which could spell trouble for Snap, seeing as Instagram Stories already has more users.
Crucial iPhone source code posted in unprecedented leak (updated)
Critical, top secret Apple code for the iPhone's operating system was posted on Github, opening a new, dangerous avenue for hackers and jailbreakers to access the device, Motherboard reported. The code, known as "iBoot," has since been pulled, but Apple may have confirmed it was the real deal when it issued a DMCA takedown to Github, as Twitter user @supersat noted.
BlackBerry's 'Jarvis' finds security flaws in connected cars
As cars become more reliant on software, it's critical for automakers to make sure their code is as secure as possible. It's somewhat surprising, though, for a company like BlackBerry to come out with a potential solution. At a keynote during the North American International Automotive Show (NAIAS) today, the company's CEO John Chen announced a new cloud-based tool called Jarvis that can scan the complex software required for modern connected and autonomous cars.
Microsoft offers developers a preview of its quantum computing kit
Developers hoping to get on the quantum computer train early can now get started with Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit, a free preview version of which was released today. The kit, which was first announced at Microsoft's Ignite conference in September, includes the Q# programming language, a quantum computing simulator that can simulate 30 logical qubits of power and a companion collection of documentation, libraries and sample programs that will help developers get a better foothold on the complex science behind quantum computing.
