computer programming

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Older Programmers Are Suddenly in High Demand

NJ urgently needs volunteers who know COBOL

(Newser) - People who know a computer programming language that has been around since the Eisenhower administration are suddenly in high demand. With unemployment claims surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, New Jersey has put out an urgent call for volunteers who know COBOL, the language that still underpins the state's unemployment...

Homeless and Coding? This School Makes It Possible

Holberton School is among a growing group of non-traditional coding academies

(Newser) - An experimental two-year coding program in San Francisco has a student population that is 40% female and 53% minority. That's more diverse than the makeup of many tech companies that have traditionally drawn their talent from top universities like Stanford and MIT. (Google, for instance, has a technical work...

New Bot Plays Perfect Poker: Researchers

Its strategy involves the ability to 'regret' past moves

(Newser) - The world's greatest poker players have a formidable new foe. Scientists have developed a computer program they say plays an effectively perfect game of Fixed-limit Heads-up Texas Hold 'em, the BBC reports. The Cepheus system "can't be beaten with statistical significance within a lifetime of human...

How Programming Courses Could Replace Degrees

You don't need BA to land job in the growing field: Christopher Mims

(Newser) - While US students rack up more than a trillion dollars in debt, the demand for computer programmers is far outpacing the supply: By 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a million programming jobs will have gone unfilled. And to land these positions, there's little need for a...

Treat Your Marriage Like Software Code

Says David Auerbach, a married software engineer

(Newser) - No software code is free of bugs, and no marriage is free of hitches. Fortunately, in both cases, those issues can be addressed—using techniques that are surprisingly similar, writes David Auerbach at Slate . He should know: He's a software engineer, and so is his wife. A few of...

Dear College Grads, Here's Why I Won't Hire You
Dear College Grads,
Here's Why I Won't Hire You
OPINION

Dear College Grads, Here's Why I Won't Hire You

Boss suggests a crash course in computer progamming, no matter the major

(Newser) - A new batch of college graduates hits the job market in a month, and one potential boss has a particularly depressing message for them. Even though his "cool, rapidly growing company in the digital field" needs employees, Kirk McDonald of PubMatic says today's grads aren't up to...

Computer Program Catches Chess Cheaters

Professor aims 'to model how people make decisions'

(Newser) - Cheaters beware: A chess wiz has developed a program to catch you. Potential cheating has become a noted problem in chess, the New York Times reports. Alleged text messaging prompted a five-year ban on a trio of players in 2010; in 2006, a player was accused of using a computer...

Man Who Coined 'Artificial Intelligence' Dead at 84

John McCarthy a computer visionary

(Newser) - John McCarthy, the computer scientist who coined the term "artificial intelligence" in 1955, died Monday, reports the New York Times . He was 84. McCarthy was teaching mathematics at Dartmouth when he organized the first Artificial Intelligence conference in 1956. Later he founded AI labs at MIT and Stanford, and...

Computer Visionary Dennis Ritchie Dead at 70

He created UNIX, C programming languages

(Newser) - Dennis Ritchie, who invented the C programming language and helped create the UNIX operating system, died last weekend at age 70. His death after a long illness was first reported by Google engineer Rob Pike . Obituaries popping up on tech sites hail his work, vision, and legacy:
  • “Ritchie's
...

Kids Need Better Computer Classes
 Kids Need Better 
 Computer Classes 
OPINION

Kids Need Better Computer Classes

Middle-schoolers tuning out because they're not engaged: Neil McAllister

(Newser) - It's no wonder that young students shy away from computer programming, writes Neil McAllister at InfoWorld . The way schools teach it is so ... boring. "Traditional computer science classes at the high school level and earlier teach programming as if it was an end unto itself," he writes....

Computer IDs the Most Boring Day Ever
 Computer 
 IDs the Most 
 Boring Day 
 Ever 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Computer IDs the Most Boring Day Ever

Though now April 11, 1954, is kinda interesting ... for being so boring

(Newser) - If you ever find yourself a bit bored, just be happy today isn't April 11, 1954. A Cambridge scientist developed a computer program to calculate the 20th century's most boring day, and that one takes the cake. The program, True Knowledge, was fed 300 million facts about people, places, business,...

Hidden Sex Scenes Cost Grand Theft Auto $20M

Take-Two settles suit over x-rated 'Hot Coffee' uproar

(Newser) - The makers of Grand Theft Auto are shelling out $20 million to settle a lawsuit over hidden sex scenes in a version of the popular video game, reports Gawker. The suit by investors claims Take-Two Interactive Software officials knew about the x-rated "Hot Coffee" minigame inserted by programmers before...

Algorithm Can 'Fill in the Blanks' of Ancient Texts

Algorithm could also be basis of search engine for old docs

(Newser) - A new computer algorithm could soon take some of the guesswork out of deciphering ancient texts, Reuters reports. The program, developed in Israel and currently used with ancient Hebrew, works with digital copies of unreadable texts and uses pattern recognition to “fill in the blanks,” says one of...

'Hedonometer' Gauges US Mood Via Blogs, Tweets

(Newser) - If you think blogs are useless, think again: Scientists have developed a “hedonometer,” or happiness gauge, that analyzes personal online statements to pinpoint the overall contentment of the US population on a given day, the Discovery Channel reports. The program looks at sentences beginning with “I feel”...

Google Launches Web-Based OS, Takes Aim at Windows

Fast-booting Chrome may push Vista out of the market

(Newser) - Google has doubled down in its battle with Microsoft. The search giant announced it is bringing out an open-source operating system, named Google Chrome OS, that looks to go head-to-head with long-dominant Windows. Chrome OS is Google's biggest push yet onto traditional Microsoft turf, reports the Financial Times, following free...

'Hardware Hackers' Get Handy

Programmers leave screens for soldering irons

(Newser) - Seeking an escape from the confined world of their computer screens, programmers are applying their technological know-how to the physical world, building and tweaking an array of devices with their hands, the Boston Globe reports. “My normal job is way up in the clouds,” said a programmer at...

Single App Nets $600K in Month
 Single App Nets $600K in Month 

Single App Nets $600K in Month

The gold rush continues in Apple's App Store

(Newser) - With more than 20,000 iPhone apps available, it seems inevitable that most would make peanuts. But Ethan Nicholas’ tank artillery game, iShoot, raked in $600,000 in one month——$37,000 on its best day—proving the gold rush is on in the App Store, Wired reports. The...

9-Year-Old Writes Popular iPhone App

(Newser) - A 9-year-old Singapore boy has created a drawing application for the iPhone that is popular around the world, the Electric New Paper reports. Lim Ding Wen reworked one of his existing 20 programs for the touchscreen gadget. “I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw,...

Teary Farewell for Gates
 Teary Farewell for Gates 

Teary Farewell for Gates

Microsoft CEO salutes founder, leaving after 33 years, for 'enormous opportunity'

(Newser) - Microsoft celebrated Bill Gates’ last day as a full-time employee today, the Seattle Times reports. More than 800 employees, family members and friends shared memories at the company’s corporate conference center in Redmond, Wash. CEO Steve Ballmer bid a tearful farewell to his longtime friend: "We've been given...

Intel, Microsoft Fund Multicore Research

Future products call for chips with many more microprocessors

(Newser) - Intel and Microsoft will fund researchers at two universities working on new programming techniques for multicore chips, sources told the Wall Street Journal. The companies will reportedly provide $2 million annually for five years, to speed the development of chips that can contain dozens—or even hundreds—of microprocessors of...

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