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Showing posts from February, 2019

"Risk-First Software Development: The Menagerie" book review

This first volume of the Risk-First series, looks at managing software projects under an alternative perspective.  This book draws on the author's long lasting experience with software projects and is based on empirical rather than scientific evidence; "Is it scientific? No. Is it correct? Almost certainly". During his career, Rob Moffat came to the conclusion that things don’t match up with the way the books say they should be done. This view was formed when he observed that:  Development Teams put a lot of faith in methodology. Sometimes, this faith is often so strong it borders on religion. For some, this is Prince2. For others, it might be Lean or Agile. Developers put a lot of faith in particular tools too. Some developers are pro-or-anti-Java, others are pro-or-anti-XML. All of them have their views colored by their experiences (or lack of) with these tools. full article on i-programmer http://bit.ly/2SsWrBH

How To Successfully Teach Computing Disciplines To The Uninitiated

How can you turn a student with little background in computation into a competent programming computer user? Could the solution be R and data science. This topic is addressed in a research paper on how SciNet, the supercomputer department of the University of Toronto, teaches Computing Disciplines to graduate students in emerging computational fields such as biology and medical science. Toronto University specifics aside, the research paper contains valuable insight on how to construct a successful course on just about any subject in general.SciNet despite not a teaching department but rather a research consortium, offers this course to the University's students in partnership with other University departments such as the Institute of Medical Science, the Physics Department or the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences. full article on i-programmer

TCAV Explains How AI Reaches A Decision

Why is it important to understand the inner workings of a neural network? Read on to find out and to be introduced to Google's machine-to-human translator tool, TCAV (Testing with Concept Activation Vectors)  As AI becomes more and more integrated into all aspects of human activity and life there's a pressing need to find a way to peek into its decision making process.This is very important in sectors such as Healthcare, that are critical to humans' wellbeing. Take for example SkinVision, a mobile app that by taking a picture of a mole can decide if its malignant or not. Would the diagnosis be incorrect or misinterpreting a malignant mole as benign could have dire consequences.But the other way around is not without defects as well.It would cause uninvited stress to its users and turn them into an army of pseudo-patients who would come knowing down their already burned out practitioner's door. full article on i-programmer

Computer Science Curriculum From Minecraft

Teaching Computer Science at school just got easier as Microsoft is making a 30-hour curriculum, targeted at students in the age range 11 to 16, available as a free download. The curriculum is based on Minecraft Education Edition, a version that offers special features for educators, and Microsoft MakeCode, a block- and JavaScript-programming editor as means for teaching the basics of coding and computational thinking skills. The course is comprised of 10 units with each focusing on specific computer science concepts and programming skills. Teaching all units and lessons will require approximately 30 hours of instruction, with each unit including 1-4 lessons of approximately 45-60 minutes each. more info on i-programmer