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The Silverfish Programming Language

Reading time9 min
Views2.6K

They say, each professional developer must have done at least three pet projects: a sophisticated logging utility, a smart json parser, and an amazing programming language. Once we have both logger and parser accomplished, we finally decided to reveal our desperate success in creation one of the most innovative programming languages named Silverfish.


Карасик → На самом деле плотвичка

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Putting theory to practice: juggling work and study at the Department of Photonics and Optical Information Technology

Reading time4 min
Views1.5K
Master’s degrees are really useful. Postgrad education allows BA holders to put their new-found skills into practice, and secure great jobs further down the road. But students often need help assessing this choice, particularly if they majored in uncommon subjects — like photonics.

To set the record straight, we talked to the people behind, and the graduates of our MA programs in photonics and optical computing. In this article you’ll learn about part-time work available for photonics students, graduates’ job-hunting prospects, and the academic career options that open up.

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Making a demo for an old phone — AONDEMO

Reading time13 min
Views4.1K
I wanted to make a demo ever since I saw the classic Polish mega demo Lyra II for first time in 1997. I also wanted to do something for the largest Russian demo party Chaos Constructions for a long while, but have never gotten around that, being occupied with other duties. Finally, in 2018 the time has come, and I fulfilled both desires at once, Van Damm's double impact style — made a demo called AONDEMO that entered ZX Spectrum 640K Demo compo at Chaos Constructions.


I bet the red thing you've just seen does not look much a Spectrum to you. Here's the story.

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Optimising server distribution across the racks

Reading time5 min
Views1.9K
Recently, a colleague asked me in a chat:

— Is there an article how to pack servers into the racks properly?

I realised that I'm unaware of it. So, I decided to write my text.

Firstly, this is an article about bare metal servers in the data centre (DC) facilities. Secondly, we estimate that there are a lot of servers (hundreds or thousands); the article doesn't make sense for fewer quantities. Thirdly, we consider that there are three constraints in the racks: physical space, electric power per each one, and cabinets stay in the rows adjacent to each other, so we can use a single ToR switch to connect servers in them.
The answer to the original question depends significantly...

How to Catch a Cat with TLA+

Reading time3 min
Views2K
Many programmers struggle when using formal methods to solve problems within their programs, as those methods, while effective, can be unreasonably complex. To understand why this happens, let’s use the model checking method to solve a relatively easy puzzle:

Conditions


You’re in a hallway with seven doors on one side leading to seven rooms. A cat is hiding in one of these rooms. Your task is to catch the cat. Opening a door takes one step. If you guess the correct door, you catch the cat. If you do not guess the correct door, the cat runs to the next room.
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How AI, drones and cameras are keeping our roads and bridges safe

Reading time4 min
Views932
«It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.»

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Europe’s roads are the safest in the world. Current figures show that there are 50 fatalities per one million inhabitants, compared to the global figure of 174 deaths per million. Despite this, each loss remains a tragedy. In 2017, 25,300 people lost their lives on European roads.

The cause of these accidents can vary from human error and weather conditions, to damaged structures and surfaces. While some things are beyond the realms of control, road and bridge conditions are a variable which can be governed.

As soon as a road is paved, a combination of traffic and weather conditions begin to degrade and erode the surface. Undetected cracks, abrasions or defects can quickly lead to bigger problems, such as costly repairs, major traffic delays, and in the worst cases, unsafe condition. These problems are also shared by bridges, particularly when concrete is critical in maintaining the integrity of the structure. The earlier faults are detected, the sooner they can be addressed, saving time and money, while minimising disruption. Ultimately, this helps ensure that the roads themselves are safer for those travelling on them.

The detection of these faults, however, can be very difficult to carry out manually, especially as early-forming cracks are hard to spot with the naked eye. Predicting where faults are likely to occur ahead of time so that appropriate measures can be taken in advance also possess a massive challenge. Thankfully, technology is here to help.

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The Data Structures of the Plasma Cash Blockchain's State

Reading time7 min
Views1.6K


Hello, dear Habr users! This article is about Web 3.0 — the decentralized Internet. Web 3.0 introduces the concept of decentralization as the foundation of the modern Internet. Many computer systems and networks require security and decentralization features to meet their needs. A distributed registry using blockchain technology provides efficient solutions for decentralization.
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How to Choose the Best Project Management Tool If You Are a Millennial?

Reading time7 min
Views2.4K
The role of project management is becoming more and more relevant no matter in which area or industry it is implemented. In fact, it balances all project processes and steps and helps project teams meet their goals and objectives.

Project management helps to reach goals faster, cheaper and avoid risks thereby contributing greatly to business strategy execution. More companies cannot imagine their performance success without project management as one of the key business competencies. Since this competence is actively developing, professional project management software is also evolving with it in the same way.

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How a School in Puerto Rico Brings Chemistry to Life with Minecraft: Education Edition

Reading time3 min
Views1.4K

The San Juan Math, Science, and Technology center in Puerto Rico is using game-based learning to pave the way for a new level of engagement among their students. The institution is part of San Juan’s municipal education system and is recognized by Microsoft alongside a global community of other schools engaged in K-12 education transformation. The school decided to integrate Minecraft: Education Edition into their curriculum and have seen exciting results in STEM learning.


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Artificial neural networks explained in simple words

Reading time7 min
Views4.6K
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When I used to start a conversation about neural networks over a bottle of beer, people were casting glances at me of what seemed to be fear; they grew sad, sometimes with their eyelid twitching. In rare cases, they were even eager to take refuge under the table. Why? These networks are simple and instinctive, actually. Yes, believe me, they are! Just let me prove this is true!


Suppose there are two things I’m aware of about the girl: she looks pretty to my taste or not, and I have lots to talk about with her or I haven’t. True and false will be one and zero respectively. We’ll take similar principle for appearance. The question is: “What girl I’ll fall in love with, and why?”


We also can think it straight and uncompromisingly: “If she looks pretty and there’s plenty to talk about, then I will fall in love. If neither is true, then I quit”.


But what if I like the lady but there’s nothing to talk about with her? Or vice versa?

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Setting up network sales channels for DO-RA gadgets

Reading time7 min
Views947
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Introduction


In early March 2019, Intersoft Eurasia team completed work on a test batch of DO-RA gadgets — personal, cross-platform dosimeters-radiometers to monitor the radiation situation at the measurement site, compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

By buying such a device, the user receives the following: reliable electronics which have undergone radiation testing in the factory laboratory, stylish colored case in the spirit of Malevich ;) for every taste, gift packaging, color insert instructions in Russian and English, special USB charging cable, a free updateable DO-RA.Pro application from the App Store and Google Play.

The next step in our project implementation is to find the best sales channels for Made in Russia products in the challenging environment of stagnant purchasing power.
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Version 12 Launches Today! (And It’s a Big Jump for Wolfram Language and Mathematica)

Reading time47 min
Views3.3K


Quick links


The Road to Version 12
First, Some Math
The Calculus of Uncertainty
Classic Math, Elementary and Advanced
More with Polygons
Computing with Polyhedra
Euclid-Style Geometry Made Computable
Going Super-Symbolic with Axiomatic Theories
The n-Body Problem
Language Extensions & Conveniences
More Machine Learning Superfunctions
The Latest in Neural Networks
Computing with Images
Speech Recognition & More with Audio
Natural Language Processing
Computational Chemistry
Geographic Computing Extended
Lots of Little Visualization Enhancements
Tightening Knowledgebase Integration
Integrating Big Data from External Databases
RDF, SPARQL and All That
Numerical Optimization
Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis
New, Sophisticated Compiler
Calling Python & Other Languages
More for the Wolfram “Super Shell”
Puppeting a Web Browser
Standalone Microcontrollers
Calling the Wolfram Language from Python & Other Places
Linking to the Unity Universe
Simulated Environments for Machine Learning
Blockchain (and CryptoKitty) Computation
And Ordinary Crypto as Well
Connecting to Financial Data Feeds
Software Engineering & Platform Updates
And a Lot Else…

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Cosmonaut Aleksandr Laveykin about the best space movie, G-force of 20g, and soft landing

Reading time6 min
Views1.6K
Three years ago, ASCON, the parent company of C3D Labs, invited cosmonaut and Hero of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Laveykin to its Partnership Conference. As a guest speaker, he told the audience of Russian IT companies about his 174-day spaceflight and answered questions posed by conference attendees.

Up to now, the Q&A had not been translated into English. We post them for upcoming International Day of Human Space Flight (or Cosmonautics Day in Russia).

Aleksandr Laveykin flew to space in 1987 and worked as a flight engineer on board the Mir Space Station, orbiting the Earth for six months. He completed three spacewalks lasting a total of eight hours and 48 minutes.

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Image: TASS

Stonehenge. The secrets of megaliths

Reading time2 min
Views1.2K
A version how people transported megaliths in Stonehenge.

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They started their work in summer.

They prepared road for transportation. They needed a clean and glade road without stones and other irregularities. (No.4 on picture)
Perhaps they cut the topsoil and covered the road with clay. (No.3 on the picture)
On each side they made curbs ( 5-10 cm). (No.2 on the picture)
They used clay because they wanted to hold water inside the road.
In autumn rains filled road with water. It looked like a big puddle. (No.5 on the picture)

In winter road froze. Then they got a smooth ice skating rink slightly wider than a megalith.

Megaliths (No.11) were transported in winter.

Mechanism and vehicles for transportation were prepared in summer.

Mechanism consisted of three parts.

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ChatGPT-4: How to use it for free

Reading time3 min
Views6K

ChatGPT-4, the latest model from OpenAI, boasts impressive capabilities like text generation, question answering, problem-solving, coding, and even image analysis. However, accessing it requires a $20 monthly subscription on OpenAI's website. For residents of certain countries, accessing the service poses additional challenges due to restrictions, necessitating the use of foreign payment methods and VPNs.

We've created a list of the top-4 services that offer completely free access to ChatGPT-4. This article will delve into the advantages and limitations of each option, comparing them side-by-side.

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Langton's ant: a mystery cellular automaton

Reading time4 min
Views3.1K

The life of Langton's Ant seems sad and lonely, but, as we'll soon discover, he is not ready to put up with such an outrageous situation and is trying his best to escape. American scientist Christopher Langton invented his ant back in 1986. Since then, no one has been able to explain the strange behavior of this mysterious model...

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How to create bilingual books. Part 2. Lingtrain Alignment Studio

Reading time6 min
Views3.7K

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How to make a parallel book for language learning. Part 1. Python and Colab version


This is a second article on making parallel books. Today we will use the more advanced tool which will bring rich UI functionality. Lingtrain Alignment Studio is a web application written on Vue and Python. The main purpose of it is to extract the parallel corpora from two raw texts and make a bilingual (or even multilingual) parallel book. This is an open-source project and I will be glad to hear all of your bright ideas. Links to the sources and our community contacts can be found below. Los geht's!


Setup


The app is packed into the docker container. It's a simple technology to deploy your stuff anywhere from the server to your local machine. It's available across all the operating systems. So at first, you need a docker installed locally. Then you need to run two simple commands. The first will download the container:


docker pull lingtrain/aligner:v4

And the second one will run the application:


docker run -v C:\app\data:/app/data -v C:\app\img:/app/static/img -p 80:80 lingtrain/aligner:v4

C:\app\data and C:\app\img — your local folders.


The app will be available on the 80th port. Let's open the localhost page in your favorite browser.


Lingtrain app 1


We will make three simple steps: Load, Align, Create

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