#Apps Development Company In madagascar

[inner--islands]

Interview with Selaroda (November 2015)

1. What are some recent inspirations?

I visited my Grandma recently, and we had a party for her 99th birthday. Seeing her still able to get around and live on her own at that age is inspiring. Nature is a continual inspiration, as are good friends. Musically, I feel like I’m constantly listening to new things, which doesn’t necessarily mean new releases, just stuff that I haven’t heard yet. I love exploring music from other cultures, especially older recordings of traditional music. African, Indian, Cuban, and Colombian recordings are always in rotation, along with many others. I’ve been in a bit of a jazz phase lately, digging into some classic 50’s and 60’s favorites, especially Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and a couple of Art Blakey’s large group drum-centric albums where pretty much everybody plays percussion. Also been enjoying a lot of relaxing ambient and electronic/synth stuff from contemporary artists such as Simon Scott, Panabrite, Channelers, Ant'lrd, Bitchin Bajas, John Davis, Guenter Schlienz, Braeyden Jae, Stag Hare, En, Kiln, Brian Eno, Inner Travels, Kyle Landstra, and Sunmoonstar.

2. If Selaroda was its own planet, what would that planet be like?

It would be a planet dedicated to music… creating it, listening to it, sharing it, and mixing different musical ideas and forms together. It would welcome all beings from anywhere in the cosmos to come and stay there to enjoy and create in harmony, ideally fostering many intergalactic musical collaborations. With a bunch open-minded musical creatures from throughout the universe, I’m sure we’d be able to create some really amazing music!

3. Is there something you find yourself anthropomorphizing regularly?

Not exactly… I believe that all living things are connected, but don’t necessarily think about plants having human traits or anything like that. Maybe some pets can be a little like that. I’ve seen puppies that are definitely a lot like hyperactive kids, and some older dogs seem a bit like grumpy old humans. Who knows, maybe dogs give humans dog traits in their minds.

4. How do you find music made in ‘just intonation’ affects you, if at all?

I really like music in that tuning. At first listen, it might seem a bit out of tune, but the resonances are so much more pure mathematically, and there is something really special in those vibrations that isn’t there in ‘well-tempered’ music. It feels more mysterious, a bit like an ancient ritual that you don’t quite understand but are fascinated by nonetheless. I wish there was an app that would transpose any piece of music to be in just intonation. I’d experiment with playing all kinds of stuff that way, and I imagine that most of it would sound really great.

5. Your connoisseurship in the realm of chocolate is well-known. What are a few bars you can recommend to those looking for a fine chocolate experience?

Ha! I knew you were going to ask about that… It’s true, I love chocolate, and really enjoy trying different kinds, including ones with unusual flavor elements. I especially enjoy chocolate from Madagascar, as the soil there is rich in nutrients that are unique to the landscape, giving it a really earthy, almost fruity taste. A couple of my favorite brands are Raaka, who are based in New York, an Ecuadorean company called Pacari, and Dandelion, who are based here in San Francisco.

6. Has your experience as a radio DJ affected the way that you approach making your own music?

Definitely! It’s been a huge influence on how I make music, for multiple reasons. One way is that I’ve had access to large collections of music to explore at two different college radio stations where I’ve been a DJ, both of which were massive in both size and scope. I’ve learned to appreciate so much music just by being around different kinds of music and the people who enjoy them. Perhaps even bigger in terms of influence is the DJ style I’ve developed over the years, learning to mix different kinds of music together by listening for similar textures, melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. I enjoy making connections and blending together material that isn’t necessarily that similar on the surface level, finding creative ways to mix things like ambient music and African drumming together, blending dub reggae and Cuban son, or electronic pop and Indonesian Gamelan… it’s all about finding ways to link them, usually via a simple crossfade at the right moment. That aesthetic is also a big part of my style as Selaroda, something that guides a lot of things I do, especially in terms of mixing… I really dig making stuff with lots of layers, swirling in and out of each other to create an epic journey for the listener.

7. You have an album titled, “New Eternity”. What do those words mean to you?

Yes, that was the first album I made as Selaroda. The world is a complex place, and I try not to get frustrated by things like injustice, inequality, and pollution, but sometimes it feels like our planet will come to a tragic and unnatural end, one precipitated by our own greed and carelessness. Rather than get bogged down by those kind of thoughts, I chose to imagine a world where people unified into a cohesive and collaborative entity, and were able to build a society that could sustain itself indefinitely. I composed “New Eternity” as the soundtrack to that imaginary utopian civilization, one that would survive through healthy choices and loving, peaceful treatment for all people.

8. Do you have a morning ritual?

I wish I could say that I do… I’d like to meditate more regularly, but I’m not that great at making time for it, especially first thing in the morning. Generally I wake up, start listening to music, and eat some blueberries. If it’s a work day, I take a shower and get ready for work. On my days off, I might do stuff around my apartment, meet up with friends, or just relax and work on music.

9. If you could have been raised in a different tradition of music, which would you choose and why?

I’d really love to experience them all, since I think there would be so much to learn from each one. I’m so drawn to traditional music from around the world, and love the rich history that is inherent in every culture. I sometimes wish that I grew up with something like that, and really learned about my roots through music, instead of just listening to western music on the radio. I think many folks in the US feel a bit of cultural disconnect, like we don’t really come from a musical (or cultural, or even spiritual) tradition, and that our lives are lacking in some way because we didn’t have that. That said, I know I wouldn’t be the same person if that were the case, but still I can’t help but long for something I didn’t get to experience. I do feel confident that I would have been a great African drummer, or that perhaps I even was one in a past life.

10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?

All things must pass. It’s a George Harrison album title, but it’s also true… life moves along, and so do we, eventually. Knowing that our time is limited, I seek to use my energies here on earth to share my love and gifts with others, whether that be through music, friendship, humor, or anything else that I see a need for, even chocolate. Especially chocolate!

Selaroda is Michael Henning, who just released a new album, viaje a través de sonidos transportative, available from the Inner Islands Bandcamp page.

[safracatz]

It’s time to combine blockchain and mobile app development

As emerging technologies such as communication recognition, IoT, AR, virtual reality, robotics, AI, blockchain is the buzzword that begins as Industry 4.0 - the age of computing in the cloud and the Internet of Things, where we went behind everyday digital technologies. The blockchain is no longer in its opening; now, it looks more like a toddler. With better tools, communities, and standardization, it could develop and reach its potential, serve humanity in the service of edifying and transformative means. Some of the most common examples that need to be taken into account involve banking, insurance, foreign exchange, voting, contract management, and so on. Blockchain technology overcomes the number of intermediaries, maintains transparency and secures data. Its potential use makes this technology more attractive.

Using blockchain for mobile app development

Do you find yourself clueless to combine blockchain in your next mobile application? Below, I would like to discuss some suggestions that can present significant help on this subject.

Know the apps suitable for blockchain

Even if you are surrounded by many benefits, likely, technology does not fit in all types of mobile apps Development Company. Also, for an application that only publishes content without any active event interface, the blockchain may not be wanted at all. On the other hand, if you use an application with a sports transaction interface, payment gateways or something that is placed with a crucial database, it needs the active support of secure and decentralized database technology. In such cases, blockchain is the right choice. The situations vary depending on whether you use so-called financial and defense applications for mobile applications to create collaboration with applications for the supply chain management.

Based Mobile Apps include

Creating an application to interact cryptocurrency can make things more comfortable for traders and miners. Several stock market applications have developed with cryptocurrency applications. This type of application not only allows anyone to fully control your digital resources but also allows you to adjust with them. When powered by blockchain, these crypto-currencies can be used for all kinds of payments and transactions.

Electronic wallet applications tend to store your digital assets and money, enabling you to use on transactions including blockchain technology.

Digital asset tracking applications, on the other hand, strive to provide you with up-to-date information on rates, commerce, market dynamics and a portfolio of many cryptocurrencies.

Retail applications are another type of blockchain-based application that allows customers to pay via bitcoins or other encrypted currencies.

Have you ever met the term intelligent understanding or self-executing protocol? They are the ones who return automatically to certain predetermined triggers that act as another facet of blockchain technology. These can also be used in mobile applications development for driving automation.

Consider key technologies

Integration of the blockchain with mobile applications needs a deep understanding of technology and the variety of elements such as the network, blockchain platforms, programming languages, various processes such as back-end, front-end end and property support for various mobile platforms, etc.

Certain things to consider include:

When looking for network options, you can think of two great choices: "Unlimited chainless network", the one that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc., and "forbidden network", which supports flatbed such as Multichain. The above can be used to stimulate wider and unlimited access, while the latter is subject to commands and accessibility constraints, which qualifies it as a closed network.

To go further with the two more general categories of applications based on blockchains, one is that of applications for cryptocurrency, the other, that of applications for smart contracts.

Mobile application developers must also choose between 25 blockchain platforms, including open spring and public platforms, as well as private platforms.

How to implement Blockchain

The implementation of blockchain in mobile application development has many advantages. And as soon as you finish with the key considerations mentioned above, it is advisable to move on to the practical steps of developing blockchain-based mobile applications.

Choose the suitable consensus-based method

The implementation of blockchain in mobile apps Development Companies has many advantages. And as soon as you complete with the key considerations discussed above, it is desirable to move on to the possible steps of happening blockchain-based mobile applications.

Design architecture

I imagine that so far you may have decided the relevant configuration for the configuration architecture. Which means it's time to host blockchain with the cloud-based, hybrid or internal model. Fortunately, you have a range of options for configuring the processor, working system, disk size, and memory. To make sure that the chosen design architecture is just based on the mobile user system platform for which you are developing the application, you just need to make sure that.

Conclusion:

In the coming years, from retail to support, supply chain and many other industries, the blockchain will be viewed as a critical part of countless mobile applications. Like it or not, it's a guess that a blockchain-based application store could even follow the Google Play Store and Apple's app store and convert one of the main ways to search, download and buy apps a few years later. Before you merge blockchain technology into a mobile apps development project, ask your experts to learn more about the blockchain and explore its benefits with valuable resources. You may get in touch with us at Best Apps Development Companies in South Africa for a free quote to develop a mobile app for your business. And helps Business owners to reach more customers who want to change their business towards app development, The Company has a very good working environment. To know more about my company, Visit Fusion Informatics. For more queries please send a mail to get a free quote sales@fusioninformatics.com.

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[newstfionline]

Friday, July 23, 2021

Could a plant pandemic be next? (Fast Company) For decades before COVID-19, scientists warned that a pandemic was inevitable and urged preparation, but governments around the world did very little. When it arrived, COVID-19 laid bare the fragility of many of our systems—including global food supply chains. Across farms worldwide, there are now warning signs of a pandemic in food crops. More than 600 pest species have developed some form of resistance to pesticides, which causes $10 billion in losses in the United States alone each year. Climate volatility intensifies these threats, and many crops are already suffering—citrus blight and banana fungus wreak havoc for growers and supply chains. With global food supplies vulnerable and food prices at their highest in almost a decade, a plant pandemic could push more people into poverty and cause social unrest. The agricultural industry must harness the urgency with which scientists responded to COVID-19 to get ahead of a full-blown crop pandemic.

Biden splits from Trudeau, extending travel curbs at U.S.-Canada land border (Washington Post) The United States on Wednesday renewed its pandemic curbs on nonessential travel at the U.S.-Canada land border for at least a month, marking a split with its northern neighbor and close ally on the restrictions, and fueling rancor on both sides of the frontier. The Department of Homeland Security said in a tweet that the extension of the measures—which also apply at the U.S.-Mexico land border and are now set to expire Aug. 21—was motivated in part by a desire to decrease the spread of the highly transmissible delta coronavirus variant. The announcement comes several days after Canada said it would begin to open up its borders to some foreigners for discretionary travel, beginning with fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents living in the United States on Aug. 9; and fully vaccinated people from elsewhere on Sept. 7. The measures have kept families apart, battered the tourism industry and altered life in close-knit border communities in ways big and small.

Debt limit dueling ahead (Bloomberg) In case Congress wasn’t preoccupied enough, the U.S. is at risk of a default in October or November unless it raises or suspends the debt limit, the Congressional Budget Office said. The debt ceiling—how much the government can borrow—is a favorite partisan grenade on Capitol Hill. Democratic senators have already rejected any attempt by Republicans to set conditions for increasing the federal debt limit.

How Mexico’s traditional political espionage went high-tech (Washington Post) In 2017, investigators discovered traces of Pegasus spyware on the phones of several Mexican journalists and civic activists. The government acknowledged it had used Pegasus—but only, officials said, to fight criminals. Amid the backlash, the Justice Ministry stopped using the surveillance tool. The Justice Ministry told a government watchdog agency in 2019 that it had uninstalled the spyware licensed by the Israeli-based NSO Group—but it had no records of how or when, or what happened to any data collected. A new investigation by The Washington Post and 16 media partners is raising further questions about the use of Pegasus in this young democracy. The investigation has found evidence of the spyware in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists and businesspeople around the world. Their numbers appear on a list of more than 50,000 numbers concentrated in countries known to have been clients of NSO. Nearly one-third of the numbers are in Mexico, all from 2016 and 2017. The team of journalists identified and verified more than 400 of them. They include phone contacts for dozens of people close to then-presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador: top advisers, his wife, three of his sons, his brothers, his drivers—even his cardiologist. Scores of numbers for other top politicians appeared, as well as those for union representatives, journalists and civic activists. A person familiar with NSO’s operations in Mexico, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the company terminated Pegasus contracts with several Mexican clients at least two years ago, after seeing news reports of human-rights abuses and the phone-tapping of journalists.

Lithuania backs Taiwan (Foreign Policy) Taiwan has opened a de facto embassy under its own name in Vilnius, Lithuania, despite warnings from Beijing. Lithuania has taken a hard stance against China this year, pulling out of the 17+1 initiative between China and Central and Eastern European countries, and calling on others to abandon the group. That’s part of a general trend against Beijing in the Baltic states, which have relatively little trade with China and dislike its close ties with Russia; as small nations threatened by an expansionist neighbor, they also have a natural sympathy with Taiwan.

‘Pingdemic’ grips Britain as fears of food shortages grow (Reuters) Britain’s supermarkets, wholesalers and hauliers were struggling on Thursday to ensure stable food and fuel supplies after an official health app told hundreds of thousands of workers to isolate after contact with someone with COVID-19. British newspapers carried front page pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bet that he could reopen England’s economy because so many people have been vaccinated has been tarnished by the so-called “pingdemic” in which people have been told by the app to isolate for 10 days. The drastic reduction in staffing that has resulted has sown chaos through sectors as diverse as food supplies, haulage, supermarkets, hospitality, manufacturing and media. To avoid the chaos, many have simply deleted the app from their phones. Britain’s food supply chains are “right on the edge of failing” as absence related to COVID-19 has aggravated a critical shortage of labour, a meat industry body said on Wednesday. Supermarket group Iceland said it has closed a number of stores due to staff shortages.

Germany announces millions in immediate flood aid as multibillion dollar repair bill looms (Washington Post) The German government approved $470 million in immediate aid for flood victims on Wednesday as it assessed the mammoth task of rebuilding infrastructure torn apart by floodwaters last week. The initial assistance to help people rebuild their homes and businesses after the flooding that killed at least 171 people in Germany will be expanded as needed, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said. At least 200 people died across Europe, with neighboring Belgium also hit by the surging waters. For longer-term reconstruction efforts of roads, railways, hospitals, water and electricity networks the government is still working out how high the bill will run. The Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has estimated the damage to the rail networks alone to be $1.6 billion. A week after the worst flooding in living memory ripped through parts of western Germany, entire villages are still without power or the most basic of services. Highways are ripped to pieces, railway bridges lie twisted across rivers clogged with mounds of detritus including cars and caravans. Sewage, water and telecommunications networks have been obliterated.

Turkey pushes Cyprus plan (Foreign Policy) The United States and European Union have condemned a Turkish plan to reopen the abandoned town of Varosha on the divided island of Cyprus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the move while visiting the island on the 47th anniversary of the Turkish invasion that seized the formerly Greek-dominated town. A former popular tourist destination, the town has since languished in a military zone. Erdogan’s plan is part of a push to create a two-state solution for Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island, a proposal the European Union rejects.

Top Indian newspaper raided by tax authorities after months of critical coverage (Washington Post) Indian tax authorities on Thursday raided one of the country’s most prominent newspapers in what journalists and the political opposition denounced as retaliation for the outlet’s hard-nosed coverage of the government’s pandemic response. The Dainik Bhaskar Group, whose Hindi-language broadsheet boasts a combined circulation of more than 4 million, was raided simultaneously in at least four locations, including at its headquarters. The justification of tax evasion was panned by government critics, who pointed out that the Bhaksar has been persistently needling India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its coverage, including as recently as this week. Under the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who rose to power in 2014, several critical media outlets have found themselves in tax investigators’ cross-hairs, raising fears about the health of the independent press in the world’s largest democracy. Reporters without Borders, the advocacy group, recently placed India at 142nd place in its press freedom rankings, roughly on par with Myanmar and Mexico.

China evacuates tens of thousands as storms spread north (Reuters) Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated from flood-hit regions of central China on Thursday as officials raised the death toll from heavy rain that has deluged Henan province for almost a week to 33 people. More cities were inundated and crops destroyed as the severe weather spread northwards, with the official Xinhua news agency reporting direct economic losses of 1.22 billion yuan ($189 million). In Zhengzhou, where the bad weather reached a peak on Tuesday, the skies had cleared although floodwaters were still at waist height, or higher, with entire streets underwater in many areas.

Madagascar in the grip of drought and famine (Reliefweb) Severe hunger caused by climate change continues to affect southern Madagascar. People are living through the worst drought in 40 years, which has caused an almost total disappearance of food sources. In recent months, for the first time in the country, pockets of Phase 5, or ‘Catastrophe’ food insecurity on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, have been recorded. At least 1.14 million people in the Grand Sud need emergency food and nutrition assistance and have been suffering from hunger since the start of the lean season last September. The World Food Programme (WFP) is sounding the alarm: if we don’t act now, the number of people in Catastrophe will double by October.

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[visionfox102]

Apollo Animation Software

With franchises like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar to its name, DreamWorks Animation has spent the last 20 years building an animation mini-empire. The studio’s movies have pulled in over $11.5 billion in global box office, and, despite some recent underperformers, it’s continued to diversify with pushes into TV, apps, and online initiatives. This weekend the studio is heading back to movie theaters with the release of How To Train Your Dragon 2.

Best Software For Animation

Apollo Animation Software

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Apollo consists of Premo for animation (artists can pose on tablets and get instant playback of high-res models) and Torch for lighting (it’s really a services architecture that not only delivers. Pros: Both manual and auto-tracking. Camera restoration is powerful. DreamWorks Animation's Apollo Software received the Ub Iwerks Award for career contributions for technical advancements that made a significant impact on the art or industry of animation. Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) walked away with various benefits in their collaboration to make the new Apollo animation software used to make the How To Train Your Dragon 2 movie, Jon Erlichman revealed in a report for Bloomberg. Premo was built on the foundation of Apollo, the animation company’s software infrastructure for creating computer-generated movies. And it was created in-house by a team that included both the.

Boot mac from cd rom. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois (Lilo & Stitch, the original How To Train Your Dragon) the movie is one of DreamWorks’ most visually stunning films to date. Dragons swarm in epic battle sequences; humans gracefully race, flip, and fly; and key dramatic moments are powered solely by the visual nuance of a computer-generated character’s performance. It’s a leap in terms of both spectacle and emotion, and at the heart of it was a new version of the studio’s flagship animation software — one that’s letting DreamWorks animators do more than they ever could before.

Throughout the studio’s history, it’s relied on a custom piece of animation software named Emo. Originally developed in the 1980s by Pacific Data Images, Emo was designed to animate primitive graphics and text, but evolved into the kind of tool that could bring Princess Fiona and Puss in Boots to life. Despite several major overhauls, however, it had begun to show its age. Animators would have to work with rough geometric approximations of creatures rather than fully-realized models, or turn off different body parts altogether to get the software to run at an acceptable speed. Then there was rendering, which would tie up the workstation completely.

Like a lagging version of Photoshop, Emo simply wasn’t using modern hardware to its full potential. So five years ago, the studio met with its hardware partners HP and Intel to get a sense of where their respective products would be going in the years ahead. Realizing that a simple update wasn't going to get the job done, DreamWorks decided to rebuild its entire suite of production software from the ground up.

The Emo working environment in a scene from the original 'How To Train Your Dragon.'

DreamWorks CTO Lincoln Wallen went to the company’s artists, asking them to daydream what kind of tools they would like to use in a perfect world. Mac update keychain password. 'I recall it very well,' Simon Otto, head of character animation for Dragon 2, tells me in a suite at the studio’s Glendale headquarters. 'One of the first things was, '(What) if you just forget everything you’re doing today?' People with backgrounds in all different types of animation were consulted — from 2D animation, to stop-motion, to video games — in an effort to create a software solution that could bring together the best of all possible worlds. 'We created a big list of why certain mediums have advantages over others,' he says. That list provided big-picture guidance for the software team as it began building and iterating on a new animation tool for DreamWorks — and the end result is named Premo.

The differences between the two programs are obvious at first glance. Rather than forcing animators to deal with rough approximations or partial versions of characters, Premo allows them to work with the fully realized and skinned characters, which they can interact with and modify in real time. Camera positions can be moved on the fly to get a better vantage point of a particular movement, and thanks to robust support for the latest multi-core processors there’s enough power to put as many different characters in a shot as the director wants (some of the sequences in Dragon 2 feature dozens of different dragons flying around simultaneously). Rendering is still a requirement, of course, but Premo does it all in the background without tieing the app up and preventing additional work. Otto showed me a demo of the software on a machine with 16 cores — quadrupling what you’d find in the base-level Mac Pro — and the moment he tweaked a character’s position the sequence re-rendered seamlessly without even the mildest hiccup.

But while the raw power is nice, that alone doesn’t change the way artists actually interact with the software. To give you an idea of how computer animation usually works, once a character’s design is locked in it gets handed off to a different department that 'rigs' the model. That process essentially consists of creating the joints, limbs, and various points of articulation that the artists will later move around to pose the figure. (Imagine an old-school GI Joe action figure, but with 1,500 to 2,000 different moveable parts.) In Emo, animators used their mouse to move those pieces around, or edited the positions manually using a massive spreadsheet-like database. It was functional, but clunky to say the least.

With Premo, DreamWorks provided animators with large, pressure-sensitive screens from Wacom. Using the tip of their pen, they can interact directly with the CG character — with the skin, muscles, and other elements responding in real time — resulting in an experience that’s closer to posing a physical model than it is to mind-numbing data entry. According to Otto, it’s a more immediate, naturalistic way of working that allows for more experimentation — but more importantly, lets the artists bake more nuance into the final product.

An animator poses the face of Toothless in 'How To Train Your Dragon 2.'

How To Train Your Dragon 2 was the first DreamWorks film to use the studio's upgraded software suite — collectively known as Apollo — and animators point to several examples where Premo’s influence shines through. A scene in which the character of Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler) confronts a woman from his past plays out largely through the character’s facial expressions alone. It’s a powerful piece of performance, and watching the conflicting emotions battle on his face is simply remarkable. There’s also a sweet moment where the dragon Toothless casts a longing glance back at his owner, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). That moment didn’t exist in the original storyboards, and if using the older software the animator would have needed to turn off everyone but the single character they were working on. With Premo, however, they could keep everything turned on — and like an actor improvising in the moment, the animator saw the opportunity for an added interaction that makes the film better.

Despite all the advances, Otto is already looking past the immediate horizon, to when the studio’s tools can put even more control in the hands of the animator. 'I still want to go to the final lighting of the movie,' he says. Today, a given shot is first animated by an artist, and then shipped off to the lighting department where the virtual cinematography is put into place. A future version of Premo could conceivably swap that around, he says, allowing animators to move their characters around a fully-lit environment — though it would require a complete reimagining of the computer animation workflow. 'Now that’s a long way,' he smiles, 'because that’s really challenging.'

How To Train Your Dragon 2 opens Friday, June 13th. All images courtesy of DreamWorks Animation.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a visual delight that has entertained millions of moviegoers this summer.

But you may not realize that it’s also a technological wonder, made with a technological infrastructure that represents the state of the art in enterprise computing.

How to make How to Train Your Dragon 2

We went deep inside DreamWorks to find out how it used cutting-edge enterprise and animation tech to make this summer’s blockbuster animation.

Animated movies take a lot of computer know-how, but they have brought in more than $11.5 billion in revenues for DreamWorks Animation since its inception.

And How to Train Your Dragon 2 has generated more than $384 million in box office revenues so far this summer. That’s a good return so far on a film that was built on a $147 million budget (without cost overruns).

The marriage of technology and art at the Silicon Valley campus of DreamWorks Animation is what makes computer-animated movies possible. We took a tour of the Redwood City, California-based company to unmask the process behind the making of the movie.

‘No limits’

“There are no limits on what we can do now,” said Dean DeBlois, director of the film, said in an interview. “Having so many dragons and an army of thousands of soldiers is something we couldn’t have done before. The software is extremely powerful and it allows our artists to express themselves.”

Part of the reason for that return on investment is the efficiency of the cloud computing infrastructure that DreamWorks Animation built over the last decade, said Lincoln Wallen, chief technology officer of DreamWorks Animation, in an interview.

During the making of the film, DreamWorks built a software platform dubbed Apollo. It also created an artist’s animation software program called Premo, made so that artists could get back to drawing their characters and landscapes with pens and touch-sensitive computer displays. Those tools transformed the way that animators worked from a process of tweaking spreadsheets to something that resembles the old-fashioned way of drawing images with pencil and paper.

“Moore’s Law (the doubling of computing transistors every 24 months) has been a key transformer of every business and every product, including ours,” said Wallen. “That’s why we have Intel as a substantial partner in all of this.”

Such alliances are aimed not only at making the best film possible, but doing it in a cost-effective way.

Above: How to Train Your Dragon 2 features detailed characters.

“Our business is telling stories, but we are focused on visual stories,” said Katie Swanborg, director of technology communications and strategic alliances at DreamWorks Animation, in an interview.

When the artists need the computing power to create and modify film-quality images in real-time, DreamWorks taps the 16-core processors from Intel on every animation workstations, as well as the computing power from cloud-connected data centers.

495 artists and 398 terabytes

The numbers behind the effort are impressive, both in human capital and computer resources. It took about 495 artists to make the movie. Dean DeBlois, director and screenwriter, worked on several scripts and went through about two years of prototyping the film on comic-like storyboards. The storyboards are the first part of a dozen steps that have to happen before a film makes it to thousands of theaters.

To visualize Dragon 2, the team created more than 100,000 storyboards for the 90-minute film. It took about 18 months to two years to craft the film, with a lot of back-and-forth to get the look of every frame just right.

The animators then created more than 500 million digital files. It took a fleet of cloud computers in data centers more than 90 million render hours to render the 129,600 frames in the final film. If one computer had worked on the rendering task, it would have taken 10,273 years to complete. But DreamWorks had so much computing power on hand that it could render those frames inside of a week or so for the last cut.

The data is stored across 398 terabytes, or equivalent to the storage of 25,742 smartphones with 16GB of flash memory each. Each tree in the movie takes about four to six weeks to model, with 4,000 to 6,000 control points in the 3D animation.

Above: DreamWorks Animation’s Premo animation tool

Before a film gets to the theaters, it is really just a collection of digital files. Each one of the 129,600 frames goes through a dozen compute-intensive animation processes before it is finally finished. So a single frame may be associated with thousands of assets, said Stephen Bailey, CG supervisor at DreamWorks Animation.

Dragon 2 is just one of 10 films that DreamWorks Animation has in the works at any given time. That means it has to have the computing infrastructure for 5 billion digital files.

It has its own data centers, but it also taps Hewlett-Packard and other providers of public cloud technology for extra computing power. To do that, it has built a Linux-based server infrastructure.

Best Software For Animation

It may sound like DreamWorks is throwing every ounce of computing power it can afford at moviemaking. But it’s also working smarter than it has in the past by building tools like Premo and a video capture studio where the director can visualize a scene before the animators draw it.

“Our audience has become very critical of cinematography even if they don’t know it,” Swanborg said. “It’s a very personal choice, with the director making a decision about how we’re going to see the world of the film. It influences how we subconsciously feel at any given moment. That’s why we are doing cinematography in a far more intuitive and interactive way.”

Storytellers and computer animators don’t always get along. For example, Pixar’s film executives told a story last year about how they changed the gender of the villain in Monsters University from male to female, late in the process. That caused the animators to have to go back and re-animate a lot of scenes throughout the film.

Apollo Animation Software

Above: DreamWorks Animation CTO Lincoln Wallen helped create Apollo tools.

DeBlois said that he had a chance to rewrite the script several times during the concept stage, so he didn’t have a last-minute problem Pixar did. But he did realize how important it was to get the voice acting, the script, the story, and the cinematography in place before the artists went to the work of setting it in stone.

For tech people like DreamWorks’ Swanborg, it’s been a long march to produce technology that can properly support the vision of the creators. She has been at the studio more than 17 years and was production manager on the first Shrek film, which debuted in 2001.

Pacific Data Images, the predecessor of DreamWorks Animation, was started in 1994, the year that Netscape went public and the internet itself started taking off.

“We have reinvented the technology animation platform here at DreamWorks Animation, and that means a lot to our business,” Swanborg said. “The creative process can’t exist if we don’t have a viable enterprise and business that sits on top of it.”

Massive collaboration

Wallen said that the team decided to build its Apollo software suite on top of the company’s cloud technology, and to use it in the making of Dragon 2.

The Premo animation software was meant to replace DreamWorks’ aging Emo software, which dated from the 1980s, and to enable artists to think of an idea and to immediately draw it on a computer.

All of the digital files created with Premo are fed into the Apollo production system. Shaders and lighting specialists like Stephen Bailey, a CG supervisor, can check out a file. They use a program called Torch to apply the final shading and lighting to the files, making them more realistic.

Four lighting artists are so productive that they can deliver 90 shots in four weeks. That’s far more than in the past.

“I can view all of those assets at once, wherever they are stored, if I wish,” Bailey said.

Above: Stephen Bailey of DreamWorks Animation. Os x 12 download.

The creation of Apollo coincided with the larger technology trend of cloud computing in data centers and scalable multicore processors on client computers.

Still, it took a lot of custom work between DreamWorks Animation, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard to build the necessary software and hardware.

Dreamworks Animation Apollo Software

The tools allow creators to refine their creations like craftsmen do, changing the images through trial-and-error until they look just right. Technology has made that happen so that the turnaround time between when an artist creates something and the director approves it is much shorter.

Apollo Animation Software Free

Once the storyboards are done, they are handed over to the production animators, who use Premo and other tools to put the concepts into moving animations. The same animated scenes get more and more detailed the further into the process they go.

“We start with crude dragons, stage a fight scene, and then figure out exactly what will pass in front of the camera during that fight,” said Jason Schleifer, character animator. “When we are finished, we sit with the director to see if it really does work.”

The tech is perfect for characters who are caricatures of real people.

But DeBlois looks forward to the day when animators can capture every nuance of human faces and human expression.

Apollo Animation Software Project

“We’re not there yet,” he said. “With Dragon, you forget you are watching a cartoon. We want it to feel whimsical.”

Still, he’s confident that lifelike realism is around the corner.

“If the task ahead of us is creating a computer-generated character that blends into a real environment, the tech is getting there.”

Apollo Animation Software Tutorial

Above: The numbers on How to Train Your Dragon 2. Mac disk maker.

Apollo Animation Softwares

GamesBeat Gift Guides:Everything we recommend this holiday season

[adalidda]

Illustration Photo: Living Goods app in Kenya(credits: Living Goods / Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

Competition for African Startups and Team on App and Game Development

For Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Uganda

The African App Launchpad (AAL) initiative is an Africa-wide platform aiming to build capacity of Youth from Egypt and other African States and foster establishment of sustainable startups in the area of the advanced ever-changing app and game technologies.

AAL targets to build capacity of 10,000 young calibers and support the establishment of 100 startups in gaming and app development across all Africa. AAL works by availing a high-quality, technology-learning online platform through crowd-sourcing top online content developed by prestigious universities and leading companies, and delivered through three leading MOOCs; Coursera, edX, and Udacity.

Track

Game Development

Join this track if your startup team is working on game development, VR, or AR applications.

App. Development

Join this track if your startup team is working on specific App development using any technology. (Mobile, Cloud, Web, IOT, AI, .. etc)

Prizes and Perks

Money Prize Icon. AAL Cup Competition provides $60 K as a money prize for winners. Total Cash Prizes for Winners

Online Certified Icon. African App Launchpad provides fully funded online grants. Business Planning and Tech Training by IBM

Money Prize Icon. AAL Cup Competition provides $60 K as a money prize for winners. Mentorship by IBM Experts

Online Certified Icon. African App Launchpad provides fully funded online grants. Cloud credits from Startup with IBM prorgam

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Africa Countries: Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda. Apply as Teams or Startups up to 2 Years Old Team Size not Less than 2 Members A Working Prototype at least is a Must

Prizes

Three winners for each of the two tracks: USD 12,000, USD 8,000, USD 4,000. The other top finalists will receive USD 1,000 each. A real-time online business planning training will be offered to finalists by IBM. Top Startups will be invited to join the "Startup with IBM" program through which they can get cloud credits to build and scale their solutions. Mentorship and coaching sessions from IBM experts to top winning startups

Application Deadline: October 31, 2021

Check more https://adalidda.com/posts/iAeBfXeyBBvBzXMfS/competition-for-african-startups-and-team-on-app-and-game

[officialotakudome]

New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, Tech, and Geek Culture

New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/spirit-untamed-dated-on-home-media/

Spirit Untamed Dated On Home Media

Universal has dated Spirit Untamed on home media:

Universal City, California, August 10, 2021 – Join pals Lucky, Abigail and Prue in SPIRIT UNTAMED, an epic journey brimming with family, friendship and adventure that you can watch over-and-over. The all-new film is yours to own for the first time on Digital August 17, 2021 and on Blu-ray™ and DVD August 31, 2021 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation. This release is jam-packed with more than an hour of bonus content, including deleted scenes, multiple at-home activities, including how to make your own “campfire” indoors, cast interviews, sing-alongs, and much more!

SPIRIT UNTAMED is a story of adventure, family and friendship. Free-spirited Lucky Prescott moves to Miradero to join her estranged father. She is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy town until she discovers a unique tie to her late mother who was a fearless horse-riding stunt performer. She quickly forms a bond with a wild mustang named Spirit and makes two new pals who love horses as much as she does. When a heartless wrangler plans to capture Spirit and his herd, Lucky and her friends set off on an epic journey to rescue the horse who has given her an unbreakable connection to her mother’s legacy.

SPIRIT UNTAMED stars Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold),  Marsai Martin (Little), Mckenna Grace (Captain Marvel), Walton Goggins (“Justified”), Andre Braugher (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Eiza González (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw), with Julianne Moore (Kingsman: The Golden Circle)  and Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far From Home). The adventure is directed by Elaine Bogan (“Trolhunters: Tales of Arcadia”) and co-directed by Ennio Torresan (The Boss Baby). The film is produced by Karen Foster (How to Train Your Dragon) and the film’s score and original song “Fearless” is by composer Amie Doherty (Marooned).

BONUS FEATURES ON BLU-RAYTM, DVD and digital:

DELETED / EXTENDED SCENES

FINDING YOUR SPIRIT: Meet the cast and filmmakers behind SPIRIT UNTAMED and discover how they brought this incredible story to life. Find out how this film fits into the overall Spirit story and learn the secrets behind the animation process.

BEHIND THE VOICES – THE CAST: It’s always fun to see the people behind the voices. In this series of short featurettes, we not only meet the cast but we discover what characteristics they share with their on-screen personas and how they inhabit them.

COWGIRLS RULE: This featurette goes into more detail about the female-focused story and explains why it’s not just a “girls like ponies” movie.

DRAWING SPIRIT – SPIRIT UNTAMED: A unique look and chance to learn from one of the talented artists how they bring the characters, both human and equine, to life.

CREATE YOUR OWN INDOOR ‘CAMPFIRE:’ Using crepe paper and LED lights, build your very own campfire at home!

HOW TO UKELELE: Discover how to create your very own ukulele at home. Then, learn some simple chords so you can impress your friends and family around the campfire.

SNACK TIME – S’MORES: During their adventure, Lucky and her friends enjoy a campfire snack that we all know, and love-s’mores! This tasty “how to” feature will teach viewers to safely make their own traditional toasted treats along with a selection of not so traditional recipes.

ABIGAIL’S HAND SHADOW SECRETS: Ever wish you could tell stories using hand shadows, just like Abigail? Well now you can! With the help of a hand shadow master, a simple lamp and an old sheet, anyone can learn how to create cool creatures with nothing but your two hands.

HOW TO ZOETROPE: Lucky Prescott discovers her mother’s horse-riding talent when she finds a zoetrope at her father’s house. This “how to” video teaches fans of the film how to build their own and bring it to life using the drawings they learn in the “drawing spirit” feature.

SING-ALONGS: Watch these fun lyric videos featuring songs from the film and sing-along around your own ‘campfire’.

FEATURE COMMENTARY: Commentary with director Elaine Bogan, co-director Ennio Torresan, and producer Karen Foster.

SPIRIT UNTAMED will be available on Blu-rayTM, DVD and Digital.

Blu-rayTM unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

Digital lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can buy or rent the film.

MOVIES ANYWHERE is the digital app that simplifies and enhances the digital movie collection and viewing experience by allowing consumers to access their favorite digital movies in one place when purchased or redeemed through participating digital retailers. Consumers can also redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-rayTM and DVD disc packages from participating studios and stream or download them through Movies Anywhere. MOVIES ANYWHERE is only available in the United States. For more information, visit https://moviesanywhere.com.

For artwork, please log onto our website at www.uphepublicity.com. Website: https://www.uphe.com/movies/spirit-untamed-the-movie Trailer: https://uni.pictures/SpiritUntamedTrailer Facebook: @DreamWorksSpirit Instagram: @dreamworksspirit Hashtag: #SpiritUntamed #DreamWorksSpirit

FILMMAKERS: Directed By: Elaine Bogan Co-Director: Ennio Torresan, Jr. Produced By:  Karen Foster, p.g.a. Screenplay By: Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn Score By: Amie Doherty

TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™: Street Date: August 31, 2021 Selection Number: 1946213879 (US) / 1946214649 (CDN) Layers: BD 50 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Widescreen Rating: PG for some adventure action Languages/Subtitles: English, French Canadian, Latin American Spanish Sound: English, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Run Time: 01:27:33

TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD: Street Date: August 31, 2021 Selection Number: 1946213878 (US) / 1946214648 (CDN) Layers: DVD 9 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Rating: PG for some adventure action Languages/Subtitles: English, French Canadian, Latin American Spanish Sound: English, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Run Time: 01:27:39

ABOUT UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE – www.uphe.com) is a unit of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG). UFEG produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms, as well as consumer products, interactive gaming and live entertainment. The global division includes Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Brand Development, Fandango, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television.  UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.  NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

ABOUT DREAMWORKS ANIMATION: DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, within NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, is a global family entertainment company with feature film and television brands. The company’s deep portfolio of intellectual property is supported by a robust, worldwide consumer products practice, which includes licensing, and location-based entertainment venues around the world.  DWA’s feature film heritage includes many of the world’s most beloved characters and franchises, including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls and The Boss Baby, and have amassed more than $15 billion in global box office receipts.  DreamWorks Animation’s television business has quickly become one of the world’s leading producers of high-quality, animated family programming, reaching consumers in more than 190 countries. Creating a diverse array of original content in a variety of formats and delivering deep, fully immersive worlds served up with compelling characters, the prolific studio has garnered 31 Emmy awards since inception in 2013.

[ittechnews]

Top PHP benefits & frameworks 2021 for business enterprises

Introduced two decades ago in 1994, PHP is a general-purpose scripting language highly preferred in web development projects. Statista lists PHP in 8th position among the most used programming languages by developers across the globe.

You may find it surprising, but the scripting language was used for creating Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, and many more. PHP powers a whopping 78.9% of all digital websites having a server-side programming language as per Web Development Stats. 

So, are you thinking of using PHP to power your digital project? You have landed on the right page! Here you can explore the following:

Top benefits of using PHP.

What is a PHP framework?

How to choose the best PHP framework?

Top 7 PHP frameworks to go for in 2021.

Without wasting time, let's look at why PHP is a preferred choice for web development projects.

Top reasons/benefits of using PHP to power your web development project 

Open-Source: It simply means you need not spend a penny to use the scripting language itself. Massive savings gets owing to the open-source nature of PHP.

done 

Scalable: PHP is scalable and thus is suitable for both small-scale, mid-scale, and large-scale enterprises. Compatibility with tons of frameworks only enhances the scalability of the language. So, growing your website with a growing client base is never an issue with PHP development services India on your side.

Cross-platform compatibility: Reach a larger target audience as PHP is compatible with Linux, macOS, Unix, and Windows.

Shorter lines of code: PHP is renowned for working with shorter lines of code, saving time and hard work for the developer's team. 

Mature Community Support: Worldwide, 26.2% of developers accept using PHP as a programming language. Hiring PHP developers in India also reduces web development costs by nearly 30%.

Significantly High-Speed: Unlike its immediate competitors, PHP owns its memory space, facilitating quicker code execution and a speedy digital platform.

Cloud Compatibility: PHP web apps are compatible with Cloud services, and the technology can get used with zero hindrance to enhance the accessibility and scalability of the web development project.

Suitable to both relational and non-relational DBMS: PHP is compatible with a range of database solutions irrespective of whether you want to go with a relational model like MySQL or a non-relational model like MongoDB.  

Optimum Level of Security: While security issues have always been a concern with PHP, the truth is PHP is as secure as any other programming language. Enhancing the level of security depends actively upon following standard coding practices. 

For example, being a trusted PHP development company in India, we follow strict adherence to secure coding practices resolving XSS, CSRF, SQLi, etc., from the project.

Having covered the top benefits of using PHP, let's look at the definition of a framework & guiding factors for choosing the best PHP framework.

 What is a PHP framework?

A PHP framework is a platform for developers' teams to create web projects without writing mundane, repetitive codes. It comprises multiple pre-packaged functions & classes that facilitate rapid development of the PHP project in no time.

PHP frameworks eliminate the need for writing code from scratch and promote good coding practices & developing secured web apps for the business enterprise. The demand for advanced PHP frameworks is increasing and can be analyzed by looking at the infographic below: Listing the worldwide popularity of the PHP scripting language.

Source: Statista

Essential  things to consider for choosing the best PHP framework

Clear your Goals & Objectives: You need to gain the exact vision of the features you want to integrate into the project. The chosen framework largely depends upon the project size and parts.

For example, an eCommerce website requires plentiful extensions, while a texting platform needs high connectivity.

 Find out framework compatibility with the project features: Determine whether the chosen framework facilitates the development of the desired components or it would require tons of third-party integration.

 Scalability of the framework: Framework plays a pivotal role in providing you with a scalable solution. Investigate whether the framework allows integration and disintegration of multiple modules.

 User-friendly aspect of the framework: Well, this one largely depends upon the experience of the developers' team. We at PixelCrayons, offer PHP programmers India with an average of 5 years of experience facilitating the ideal framework for the web project.

 Here are the top 7 PHP frameworks to go for in 2021

 Laravel

Released in June 2011, Laravel holds a stunning 25.85% market share of the PHP framework. The open-source framework reduces the web development cost significantly and facilitates a high level of customization of the website. There are tons of reasons that make Laravel an indispensable PHP framework. Let’s have a quick look at them.

 Pros of using Laravel as a PHP framework:

Availability of lightweight templates along with dynamic content seeding facilitates creating stunning layouts for the project.

Laravel supports customer-centric customization of the web app. 

Multiple views of the web app can be created using the MVC architecture of Laravel. MVC structure also supports rapid & parallel development of the project.

Creating roles and permissions for different users is feasible with Laravel.

SEO-centric URLs get supported on Laravel.

Artisan Console is also available in Laravel. It acts as a command-line interface generating and structuring commands for the developer's team.

Tons of security-based features are available with Laravel, including encryption, authentication, email verification, etc. 

Hashed passwords protect the users from credential-based data theft.

Developing a multilingual web app is feasible with Laravel.

Since its introduction, the framework has received more than 13 updates, which ensures users receive the latest and exciting features regularly.

Laravel libraries also offer the programmer's team to integrate password resetting options to the users.

 Cons of using Laravel as a framework:

The upgraded versions of Laravel suffer from a lack of a proper continuation approach.

At times the upgrade leads to issues in the developed web app.

Examples of Laravel Projects: Vogue Archive, Rocket Rubbers, Mack Hankins, Orchestra Platform, etc.

 Yii Framework  

Released in 2006, Yii is a generic web programming framework suitable for developing large-scale modern web app projects. Like most other PHP frameworks, Yii also has a modern view controller architecture and facilitates code organization. 

 Pros of using Yii as a PHP framework

It supports a high level of personalization with tons of layout and themes facilitating the unique and innovative design of the project.

The open-source framework reduces the web application development cost for both the investors and the concerned Yii Development Company. 

Highly suitable for developing large-scale web applications like eCommerce websites, healthcare-based web apps, management systems, etc.

The Model view controller architecture automatically leads to quicker development of the web app, as different programmers can work on the view and controller of the web app simultaneously.

Yii framework is a full-stack framework and comes with multiple outstanding features like query builders, an active record for relational and non-relational database models, multi-tier support for caching content, etc.

Yii is exceptional in the way that it offers an extreme level of customization of the web app. The hired team of developers can manipulate the core code of the framework to develop audience-centric features.

Yii is also compatible with third-party codes. The developers' team can integrate Laravel code into Yii to develop a stunning web app that offers combined benefits of Laravel and Yii Framework.

 Cons of using Yii Framework

The framework requires experienced and dedicated YII developers who follow a high code of standards in coding. Unfortunately, slight errors in coding get readily oversized in the Yii framework.

The Yii framework fails to provide AR queries. 

Examples of Yii Projects: Word Counter website, Islamqa website, Skillshare platform, etc.

CodeIgniter Framework

CodeIgniter was voted as the second most popular PHP framework after Laravel in 2017, and the framework enjoys a whopping 17.7k stars on the GitHub platform. The framework has been used in 1+ Million websites and web apps worldwide and gets extensively used in India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Japan, etc.

Pros of using CodeIgniter as a PHP framework

It facilitates creating high-performing web apps due to multiple inbuilt libraries, convenient modular programs, additional features, etc. 

Compatible with most of the web platforms and web servers used in digital developments. The framework offers uncompromised support in server migration which minimizes the occurrence of technical glitches.

CodeIgniter is a lightweight framework that leads to minimum impact on the performance of the web app.

The framework gets extensively used for developing both the front end and back end of the web app.

Writing single line code is possible with the form validation feature of the CodeIgniter framework.

CodeIgniter is a well-documented framework that facilitates the integration of new members on the developer's team. 

The framework is highly suitable and extensively used in business enterprises-based web apps catering to management system profiles. It offers high-end security and also promotes creating security protocols over the programming project. 

Developing a responsive website with a high user interface is feasible with CodeIgniter.

Hiring dedicated CodeIgniter developers is feasible due to the framework's large-scale application and the availability of a mature community of CodeIgniter developers. 

The CodeIgniter framework gets preferred in diverse industry verticals, including SaaS, OnDemand streaming platforms, e-learning web apps, stock trading management portal, etc.

 Cons of using CodeIgniter Framework

CodeIgniter is not a preferred choice of programming projects which require frequent updates as the framework does not facilitate quick code modification.

The framework is not consistent with high-quality standards of coding.

Examples of CodeIgniter projects: Philippines Airline, Casio America, Creative Genius, etc.

  CakePHP Framework

The CakePHP framework is renowned for creating reusable codes, and like others on the list, it is also an open-source framework. The framework gets highly preferred in projects with limited development time as it allows the developer's team to create prototypes and reuse codes in multiple contexts. 

 Pros of using the CakePHP framework for your project:

The framework is consistent with high-quality coding practices, which guarantees zero technical glitches on the website or web app. 

Code reusability decreases the overall project development time and cost. Moreover, the developer's team need not start from scratch for the integration of new intuitive features.

Like others on the list, it is also open-source and has an MVC architecture.

The CakePHP framework gets widely praised for offering tons of security-centric tools for web development projects. The standard one includes CSRF protection, XSS prevention, SQL prevention, etc. 

The framework gets preferred in Fintech-based projects, management systems, etc.

The templates offered in the CakePHP framework are both fast and flexible and allows the designing team to create an intuitive UI for the target audience.

The framework is compatible with the latest PHP versions.

Finding bugs and errors in the developed website or web app is much easier with CakePHP as a chosen framework. It effectively reduces the testing time of the web app.

 Cons of using CakePHP framework

CakePHP documentation part of the framework needs improvement.

The framework demands one-way routing, which is considered a setback to the programming project. 

Examples of CakePHP Projects: Good firms rating agency, Coconala website, Worldfilia advertising platform, etc.

  Symfony Framework

Trusted by some of the worldwide renowned brands, including Spotify and Vogue, Symfony is a reliable framework for PHP development projects. The framework is highly preferred in eLearning, logistics, and healthcare-based projects. As per Builtwith Stats, Symfony powers more than 1,10,264 websites across the globe.

Pros of using Symfony as a PHP framework

Symfony promotes high productivity in the developer's team with reduced lines of coding. 

The framework promotes writing clean and structured codes, which minimizes the chances of errors in coding.

Symfony gets timely updates, eliminating the risk of developing websites and web apps that get outdated with new technology. In other words, you can easily update the designed website with emerging technologies.

It comes with bundles that can get considered as a plugin. Decoupled features available in the bundles allow the coding team to reconfigure and reuse them in diverse ways.

Symfony can also get used with other popular frameworks like Laravel, Yii, etc., to enhance the functionalities of the web development project. 

The framework also offers automated functional testing which reduces the risk of developing incorrect codes.

 Cons of using Symfony framework:

The web app sometimes suffers from performance issues when using Symfony. 

The designing stage of the web app consumes a significant amount of time. 

Examples of Symfony Framework: Pornhub website for surfing porn, Trivago hotel chain, Spotify music streaming platform, etc.

FuelPHP Framework

Released in 2014, the FuelPHP framework works like CodeIgniter. The framework offers a modular structure for web development projects which means the developers team quickly integrates features into the project. The noticeable part of the FuelPHP framework: it supports both MVC and HMVC architecture.

 Pros of using the FuelPHP framework:

It supports HMVC, which stands for Hierarchical Model View Architecture. HMVC effectively reduces the interdependency between different modules of the software.

Exceptional security-centric features like XSS filters, SQL injection prevention, CSRF preventions with tokens, etc., are available and can be customized with the FuelPHP framework. 

The availability of secured features makes it suitable for developing apps for banks, financial institutions, etc. 

The programmer's team can easily integrate multiple modules into the app due to the framework's well-documented features.

FuelPHP is a community-driven framework.So, getting aid from experienced developers is convenient with FuelPHP as your chosen framework.

 Cons of using FuelPHP framework:

The new version of the framework requires longer dedicated hours from the team.

The GitHub stars stand at only 281. 

Examples of FuelPHP Projects: Inventorybase, Spookies, etc.

 Phalcon Framework

Developed by Andres Gutierrez, Phalcon is a web-based PHP framework with an MVC architecture. The framework is a trusted option for developing high-speed web apps as it can handle comparatively higher HTTPs requests per second. Ever since its introduction, Phalcon is preferred for developing apps with lower power consumption and high-speed performance.

Pros of using Phalcon as a PHP framework

The framework requires comparatively lesser code lines that trim the project's development hours to a significant extent.

It is a suitable framework for high-load environments. 

Ready-to-use modules are available in the Phalcon framework.

Detailed documentation of the framework facilitates the joining of new coders in the team with ease and comfort.

Phalcon is widely regarded as the fastest performing framework in the PHP category as it has direct access to the PHP internal structures.

 Cons of using Phalcon PHP framework:

As the source code is written in C language, any errors in the coding require the programmer's team to debug C.

Not a renowned option and suffers from a lack of experienced coders. 

Examples of Phalcon Projects: Urban Sports Club, Edureka, Rentger, etc. 

 Wrapping Up 

That was all about the top PHP frameworks to go for in 2021. Based on your project's compatibility, you can go with any of them. Being a leading provider of PHP website development in India, we at PixelCrayons perform in-depth research & analysis of the target audience to offer the best framework for the project.  

========================================= 

Ecommerce Migration acts as an advantage when you plan to expand your business. It helps you to get more customer friendly and efficient transactions. 

[safracatz]

How IoT Can Enhance Mobile App Development Process For Businesses

Mobile apps Development is cleaning the entire business ecosystem at an exciting pace. Companies are more ready to take advantage of their benefits and want to improve their strong online presence.

According to the best mobile apps development companies, a fully personalized mobile application can help businesses grow at a quick pace and allow them to capture their ideas in the right way. In such a scenario, the IoT strikes and it revolutionized all divisions of activity. Almost all companies are involved in the implementation of this technology and are dedicated to taking advantage of it.

But the main question here is how the IoT can help businesses grow and how it can be included in business operations. Also, the main topic is how it can help companies transform themselves.

Find how here some of the major benefits of mobile apps development companies

Now, smartphones are required and, of course, they are not a gadget, but they have become a lifeline for people and businesses. Here are any of the main advantages of holding a mobile app for your businesses.

 See more - Best Mobile App Development Companies in Kenya

Enhances customer loyalty

Well, the mobile is the app is an ideal way to compare with users. They ensure constant communication between companies and their current users. Hire application developers, provide your businesses with feature-rich mobile apps, and build a healthy relationship with users. Having a mobile app improves the user's support rate and, yes, the image and reliability of the brand.

 Multiplies your user base

Needless to say, a mobile app is a more interactive platform than a website. It helps to present the right services to users and, yes, offers a relevant and personalized experience. For example, a mobile app can help businesses stay in continuous touch with users and offers a rich set of features. If you use a mobile app to shop, you can combine features such as forming a wishlist, a filtered search option, and so on, to make the user experience even more enriched. This will help you grow your user base and keep the user group to a large extent.

 See more - Apps Development Companies in Nigeria

Delivers competitive edge

Well, a separate, standalone mobile app helps companies overcome their competitors in this very competitive market. With the help of sophisticated iPhone application developers, you can infuse daily updates, loyalty programs, and more. To attract the application of the user. Keeping your application up-to-date also helps to improve the user recovery rate and, of course, keep the other user, as it prevents users from moving to another application. So, help you win in this competitive world.

Now, let’s find out IoT can streamline businesses

Undeniably, IoT has made its appearance wonderful and helps businesses to grow exponentially in the right way. Whether it's automation, moving or any other industry, IoT has a lot to contribute.

Store and access to more data

Well, IoT helps companies store a lot of data and knowledge, unlike any other technology. This enables businesses to combine with users healthily and appropriately.

The implementation of IoT has helped companies track and monitor their communication models, helping them to attract even more users. Since it allows companies to collect more and more data on social and other Internet platforms, it helps them plan their approach in the right way. They can simply study and predict market knowledge and serve users accordingly.

Permits employees to work in a remote way

Implementing IoT allows employees to work well in remote areas. IoT can help businesses combine many wireless technologies so that employees can also work remotely. This helps keep the expensive employee time.

Helps in boiling down the development time

Well, the development of IoT apps takes a perfect place in people's lives. They now use the IoT app to monitor their homes and businesses.

 The implementation of IoT is especially useful in decreasing the development time of mobile applications and consequently requires less effort. Hire IoT developers who can help you get the best IoT-based mobile apps with the power set of features, security standards, and design.

Helps to augment the efficiency of mobile app

Hire a developer to design a mobile application the best way. IoT-based applications can help businesses compare to virtually any device, ultimately allowing them to improvise the overall capabilities, performance, and the efficiency of a mobile application.

Conclusion:

The advent of IoT in the niche of application development can help businesses increase in many ways. It helps present users with an empowering experience, tailored to the right experience. Users can simply make activities by meeting anywhere.

IoT app development explains remote work thoughts and charts the right path for passing the most stringent security standards and innovative displays.

There is certainly no doubt that developing IoT applications, when connected with the mobile app, can help the business reorganize its potential at an exponential rate. You may get in touch with us at best apps Development Companies in Uganda for a free quote to develop a mobile app for your business. And helps Business owners to reach more customers who want to change their business towards app development, The Company has a very good working environment. To know more about my company, Visit Fusion Informatics. For more queries please send a mail to get a free quote sales@fusioninformatics.com.

For more details visit:

Apps Development Companies in Ethiopia

Best Mobile App Development Companies in Ghana

Apps Development Company in Tanzania

Mobile Apps Development Companies in Zambia

[pinkguacamole]

The Year of Jennafornia!

No more reintegration blues…

Nothing could have prepared me for what it would be like to return home after 4 years abroad through Europe, Africa, Asia and living in Madagascar. 

I’d heard over and over that it would be hard. So much so, that it seemed like a cliché. Peace Corps even had workshops on “returning home” before we left Madagascar. I’d heard people say it, but it never registered in my stubborn mind. 

Why would coming home be hard? Adjusting to a new country, city, or lifestyle is something I had done numerous times. It’s always challenging. That was to be expected. I knew it would be a rollercoaster of horrendous emotions, but I always did it. I always survived to tell the emotionally charged tale to anyone who would listen and watch me fling around my arms in a fit of storytelling rage. 

So now I would be coming home. Home: A place I already had a relationship with. A place I loved. A place where people knew me. I would be coming home to Pacifica, a gorgeous coastal town a few miles south of San Francisco. A place I’d longed for and dreamt of while away. I would be in the golden state of California. Life would be gold. 

…

I spent 2017 with the mindset of “no commitments.” For Seinfeld fans, it was the “Year of the Summer of George!” I could do anything.

And that’s pretty much what I did. 

I left Madagascar in April with no concrete plans. I traveled for 6 months through Africa and Asia and thought maybe I would live in Hawaii. I had relatives there that kept encouraging me to stay. I was intrigued by the idea of staying in a warm, tropical world. I could most likely work in either sustainable events or sustainable tourism there, the two career paths I concurrently develop. And worst (best?) of all, I was pursuing a love I have never written about on my blog. 

While I was away, especially in the last year and a half, I’d stayed in touch with someone I’d always had a powerful and confusing relationship with. He was my main support. He was the only person I knew in America who took the time to understand what I was doing in Madagascar and abroad. He meant the world to me. (And that’s a lot coming from a “world traveler”). 

He was finishing his 3 years of Marine Corps Pilot training and would be stationed in Hawaii. After years of video calls, letters, music, and smiles flinging across continents, I thought it was finally time to see him again. 

It was terrifying at times. But I truly believed it was right, so I made it happen.

…

Things in Hawaii didn’t go well. I had to walk away from the fantasy. 

Then I was home in California. I thought it was all I wanted. 

Home. 

In California. 

A job in San Francisco planning events, childhood friends, city friends, a warm bed, a car, a refrigerator filled with fruits and vegetables… 

These past three months since I have been home have been difficult. I felt so empowered while I was traveling. I’d been feeling invincible. But suddenly I was in a place that looked familiar, and I didn’t fit. All of my incredible experiences didn’t matter in the same way here. 

I’d been gone. I’d done things. I was back, and that’s all people saw. 

I was not welcomed home to a hero’s welcome. My parent’s didn’t even get out of the car to hug me at the airport. 

It’s been challenging to reunite with friends because in four years of time, people’s lives have changed drastically. Everyone is busy. Actually busy. My friends are working at time-consuming jobs and some have serious relationships. 

Here I am, back and knocking on doors, squeaking: “pay attention to me.” 

Being unemployed while traveling felt okay, but being unemployed as an adult in America felt wrong. My first goal was to get a job. I worked at various events around San Francisco through a staffing agency and a catering company. The staffing agency ended up connecting me to a PR firm looking for an event planner. After a month of returning interviews, I landed a job. 

I had a real, adult job in my field! I had health insurance! I was starting to fit in? I signed the offer exactly two months after returning home. I know I got very lucky. I hadn’t been mentally ready to apply for jobs in my field and I never had to. Struggling to readjust plus job searching is absolutely brutal.

I’ve had this job for a month now. I am using my brain in ways I couldn’t for years. The work is fast-paced and technology based. It’s been overwhelming at times, but it’s a wonderful gig. I work in a modern office in downtown San Francisco. My coworkers are super cool and ambitious. I enjoy it all.

Though, getting a job didn’t automatically cure my depression and “reintegration blues.” Suddenly my days were full of skyscrapers and spreadsheets. I was a cog in the wheel. I still felt dead inside. 

Now 2018 has rolled around. I have been back for 3 months exactly. I am feeling more settled. 

One day when I was driving to work a few weeks ago, the sky was pink over the ocean and I realized that I am so lucky to be where I am. I almost died taking a photo of the incredible view. 

I’d had an epiphany. I needed to start seeing California through a traveler’s eyes. 

It was time to fall back in love with California. I didn’t need the shallow coldness of skyscrapers in winter to define me. I didn’t need to drown in apps and google docs as a way of life. I didn’t need to have a pity party of confusion for my complicated relationship with what happened in Hawaii. 

I needed to get out and explore California. I needed to be here, where I am.

So I decided to start reaching out to friends more. I decided to start messaging back guys who have asked for my number. I decided to go on a hiking-buddy-searching rampage. And now I’m going to go outside. I am going to see California. I am going to make this place my home in a new way, using all that I have learned from traveling and the crazy experiences I have had. It’s been a week and I’ve already had a series of hikes and dates. Ironically my favorite new hiking buddy is another Marine. I think servicemen just get it. They’ve had to move around and adjust too.

…Life is funny. Anything can happen, but I’m off to a good start!

It’s the Year of Jennafornia! Come fall in love with California with me!

Happy New Year!

[edusoftgenius]

Best School Management Software for African Countries- Genius Edusoft!

In most African countries primary education is required for all children until they reach a certain age. In many places, however, only about half of the students who attend primary school finish the entire course of study, and in some areas more than 90 percent of primary school students repeat at least one grade. The World Economic Forum accessed 140 countries, including 38 African countries, to rank the best education systems based on skill development. The report looks at the general level of skills of the workforce and the quantity and quality of education in each country. Factors considered include: developing digital literacy, interpersonal skills, and the ability to think critically and creatively.

Insights of Genius Education Management System:

We are a 16 year old and leading company in School ERP because we provide user-friendly and customized school management system as per the needs and demand of clients. Our software is Angular JS based Cloud application i.e. real time application as well as Web based software. We provide our service to every kind of entity whether it is School, Institute, Training centres or Colleges irrespective of the size of organization, big or small. We have a fantastic set of clients using our system which makes us understand on daily basis the strengths and loopholes if any.

Our software is designed with a tag-line“Enhanced Education system with limited cost”. We assure 100% safety & security to each of our clients relating to their data. Our software is for every person working with the entity; teachers, students, Principal, Admin, Parents and even other employees as they are heart of any organization.

Why should African schools use ERP software?

With the help of School management education software’s the next level demand arising in the education field rising in today’s scenario can be met with ease as compared to traditional education systems. As we see the history of education in African countries they are not able to satisfy their client needs because of some barriers and to overcome them they need a robust school management education system which is exactly our Genius Education software is currently which will help them to improve their competitiveness and business in the market as well meeting their strategic objectives. Every organization whether small or big needs an automation in its education system because traditional methods are not able to satisfy all the requirements. This is where our Genius Edusoft comes into picture to help in every possible way to enhance the education system and its management in African schools, colleges, and every organization providing education by improving their internal processes, cutting down their operating costs and help them to improve their relation with customers which indirectly helps the organization to improve their decision making capacities.

Challenges faced by African countries to implement ERP software?

Implementing an ERP software for a school, college, institute or any educational training entity is not an easy task because lot of spoon feeding has to be done to employees of the entity to get used to it and update on daily basis the needed information. On the other hand African countries has lot of limitations like other developing countries like low economic capacities, limited human skills and limited infrastructures therefore there can be lot of difficulties in implementing the ERP in African context. Many a times implementation failures also occur when there is a lack in updates, maintenance, consultation and training for the same.

How Genius Edusoft helps African countries to improvise their education system by overcoming the challenges!

As discussed African countries have limitations in many aspects; Genius Edusoft overcomes this loophole easily as our system is likely to work on atomization which is covered under various modules of our ERP like our Attendance management module where if RFID system is installed in the school the student can scan the QR code while entering in the campus and attendance will be fetched into the system easing the daily hustle of class teacher to manually take the attendance.

Even the long long queue that creates a lot of waste of time of school management to collect the fees of students has been reduced by our Admission module as parents can directly pay the fees through an online token through our payment gateway.

Even the circulars that piun or any school boy used to come with for any event, picnic, sports day news or any such event is now automated by our academic module where admin or teachers can directly upload circulars for important announcement for which notification will be received by the parents/students on their mobile app.

Even our Exam management module is a great work as our education software is designed with a tag line “Enhanced Education System” where in teachers can add manual exam assigning scores and ranks to students. Even students can take online examination created by teachers by accessing their login credentials

Even now cost of getting ID cards designed can be reduced with the help of our ID card generator in software as it can be managed from our software wherein institutes just need to integrate their printer with our system & get Id cards printed for students as well as employees

Genius Edusoft Verdict

From this article you might have got a better understanding of how our real time based software helps African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Tunisia, Malawi, Botswana etc by enhancing their education system efficiently by reducing their costs with different modules designed effectively keeping in mind general as well as special needs of every training centres like schools, institutes, colleges etc. 

Genius Education Management Software

Address: 331-332, 3rd floor, Patel Avenue Nr.Gurudwara, S.G. Road, Thaltej, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

Contact: 8320243119, 9328151561

Email: info@geniusedusoft.com

Website:

www.geniusedusoft.com

[android-for-life]

"Protecting users from government-backed hacking and disinformation"

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) works to counter targeted and government-backed hacking against Google and our users. This is an area we have invested in deeply for over a decade. Our daily work involves detecting and defeating threats, and warning targeted users and customers about the world’s most sophisticated adversaries, spanning the full range of Google products including Gmail, Drive and YouTube.

In the past, we’ve posted on issues like phishing campaigns, vulnerabilities and disinformation. Going forward, we’ll share more technical details and data about the threats we detect and how we counter them to advance the broader digital security discussion.

TAG tracks more than 270 targeted or government-backed groups from more than 50 countries. These groups have many goals including intelligence collection, stealing intellectual property, targeting dissidents and activists, destructive cyber attacks, or spreading coordinated disinformation. We use the intelligence we gather to protect Google infrastructure as well as users targeted with malware or phishing.

Phishing

We’ve had a long-standing policy to send users warnings if we detect that they are the subject of state-sponsored phishing attempts, and have posted periodically about these before. From July to September 2019, we sent more than 12,000 warnings to users in 149 countries that they were targeted by government-backed attackers. This is consistent (+/-10%) with the number of warnings sent in the same period of 2018 and 2017.

Distribution of government-backed phishing targets in Q3 (Jul-Sep 2019)

Over 90 percent of these users were targeted via “credential phishing emails” similar to the example below. These are usually attempts to obtain the target’s password or other account credentials to hijack their account. We encourage high-risk users—like journalists, human rights activists, and political campaigns—to enroll in our Advanced Protection Program (APP), which utilizes hardware security keys and provides the strongest protections available against phishing and account hijackings. APP is designed specifically for the highest-risk accounts and now has more than 15,500 users. 

In the simple phishing example below, an attacker has sent a phishing email with a security alert lure from “Goolge” suggesting the user secure their account. The user clicks the link, enters their password, and may also get asked for a security code if they have two-factor authentication enabled, allowing the attacker to access their account.

Sample lure used to phish Gmail users

Threat detection

Last week at CyberwarCon, we presented analysis about previously undisclosed campaigns from a Russia-nexus threat group called “Sandworm” (also known as “Iridium”). It’s a useful example of the type of detailed threat detection work that TAG does. Although much of Sandworm’s activity targeting Ukraine and their attacks against the 2018 Winter Olympics have been covered publicly, some campaigns have not been reported. 

In December 2017, TAG discovered a series of campaigns from Sandworm attempting to deploy Android malware. The first campaign targeted users in South Korea, where Sandworm was modifying legitimate Android applications with malware. They then uploaded these modified apps to the Play Store using their own attacker-controlled developer accounts. During this campaign, Sandworm uploaded eight different apps to the Play Store, each with fewer than 10 total installs. 

Malicious apps targeting users in South Korea

We also identified an earlier September 2017 Android campaign from Sandworm where they used similar tactics and deployed a fake version of the UKR.net email app on the Play Store. This application had approximately 1,000 total installs. We worked with our colleagues on the Google Play Protect Team to write detections for this malware family, and eliminate it.

In November 2018, we saw evidence that Sandworm shifted from using attacker-controlled accounts to try and upload malicious apps to compromising legitimate developers. Throughout November, Sandworm targeted software and mobile app developers in Ukraine via spear phishing emails with malicious attachments. In at least one case, they compromised an app developer with several published Play Store apps—one with more than 200,000 installs. 

After compromising the developer, Sandworm built a backdoor in one of the legitimate apps and attempted to publish it on the Play Store. They did this by adding their implant code into the application package, signing the package with the compromised developer’s key, and then uploading it to the Play Store. However, the Google Play Protect team caught the attempt at the time of upload. As a result, no users were infected and we were able to re-secure the developer’s account.

Disinformation

TAG is one part of Google and YouTube’s broader efforts to tackle coordinated influence operations that attempt to game our services. We share relevant threat information on these campaigns with law enforcement and other tech companies. Here are some examples that have been reported recently that TAG worked on:

TAG recently took action against Russia-affiliated influence operations targeting several nations in Africa. The operations use inauthentic news outlets to disseminate messages promoting Russian interests in Africa. We have observed the use of local accounts and people to contribute to the operation, a tactic likely intended to make the content appear more genuine. Targeted countries included the Central African Republic, Sudan, Madagascar, and South Africa, and languages used included English, French, and Arabic. Activity on Google services was limited, but we enforced across our products swiftly. We terminated the associated Google accounts and 15 YouTube channels, and we continue to monitor this space. This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions announced by Facebook. 

Consistent with a recent Bellingcat report, TAG identified a campaign targeting the Indonesian provinces Papua and West Papua with messaging in opposition to the Free Papua Movement. Google terminated one advertising account and 28 YouTube channels.

Partnerships

TAG works closely with other technology companies—including platforms and specialized security firms—to share intelligence and best practices. We also share threat information with law enforcement. And of course there are multiple teams at Google at work on these issues with whom we coordinate. 

Going forward, our goal is to give more updates on the attacks that TAG detects and stops. Our hope is that shining more light on these actors will be helpful to the security community, deter future attacks, and lead to better awareness and protections among high-risk targets.

Source : The Official Google Blog via Source information

[jacobhinkley]

The Daily: Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage, Congresswoman Holds Crypto

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover stories about Intercontinental Exchange’s crypto trading platform Bakkt, which won’t be offering leverage or margin trading, and a US politician who has revealed she’s bought a couple of cryptocurrencies.

Also Read: Researcher: Stop Worrying About Bitcoin’s Environmental Impact

Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage

Bakkt, the recently-announced subsidiary of the parent of the New York Stock Exchange — Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), has decided it won’t offer leverage on crypto trading. This was decided in the name of ensuring efficient price discovery and is meant to set it apart from other venues. Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of Bakkt, stated: “A critical element to price discovery is physical delivery. Specifically, with our solution, the buying and selling of Bitcoin is fully collateralized or pre-funded. As such, our new daily Bitcoin contract will not be traded on margin, use leverage, or serve to create a paper claim on a real asset. This supports market integrity and differentiates our effort from existing futures and crypto exchanges which allow for margin, leverage and cash settlement.”

Congresswoman Holds Crypto

Tulsi Gabbard, the American congresswoman from the Democratic Party serving as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, is the latest politician revealed to have made an investment in cryptocurrencies. She bought both ETH and LTC in December 2017 according to her latest Financial Disclosure Report to the Clerk of the House of the Representatives. The disclosure doesn’t reveal her current cryptfolio but the initial investment, at least, was somewhere between $2,000 and $30,000 USD.

Wechat Begins New Crackdown on Crypto Accounts?

Chinese internet users are complaining that a number of cryptocurrency related media accounts, some of them very well known within the local crypto community, are no longer available on the popular social network Wechat. These include: Jinse Finance, Shenlian Finance, Bishijie, Dprating, Huobi news, Token Club and Wujie Blockchain. While nothing official about the matter has been announced yet, Chinese internet censors recently got a new leader which could provide a reason as to why they are cracking down on the field again. Just few weeks ago, the government revealed it picked Zhuang Rongwen as the next chief of Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) after its former head (Lu Wei) was removed for corruption.

Israeli Startup Extends Reach to Africa

Virtual Crypto Technologies Ltd (OTCQB: VRCP), an Israel-based developer of cryptocurrency point-of-sales systems, has announced that it’s signed an Exclusive Distribution Agreement with a third party company, Virtual Crypto SA Ltd, to begin selling its products in the Southern African Region. The distributor has committed to acquiring both hardware and software solutions from the developer which will receive ongoing royalties and support fees. Territories in the deal include South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and Swaziland.

CEO Alon Dayan commented: “Cryptocurrency is increasingly popular in the Southern African Region, which is a strong emerging market. Cryptocurrency provides investors and businesses with an opportunity to diversify their portfolio. In addition, the Virtual Crypto solutions offer businesses and consumers a secure payment alternative with real-time availability and broad accessibility.”

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post The Daily: Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage, Congresswoman Holds Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Daily: Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage, Congresswoman Holds Crypto published first on https://medium.com/@smartoptions

[ittechnews]

Top PHP benefits & frameworks 2021 for business enterprises

Source

Introduced two decades ago in 1994, PHP is a general-purpose scripting language highly preferred in web development projects. Statista lists PHP in 8th position among the most used programming languages by developers across the globe.

You may find it surprising, but the scripting language was used for creating Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, and many more. PHP powers a whopping 78.9% of all digital websites having a server-side programming language as per Web Development Stats.

So, are you thinking of using PHP to power your digital project? You have landed on the right page! Here you can explore the following:

Top benefits of using PHP.

What is a PHP framework?

How to choose the best PHP framework?

Top 7 PHP frameworks to go for in 2021.

Without wasting time, let's look at why PHP is a preferred choice for web development projects.

Top reasons/benefits of using PHP to power your web development project

Open-Source: It simply means you need not spend a penny to use the scripting language itself. Massive savings gets done owing to the open-source nature of PHP.

Scalable: PHP is scalable and thus is suitable for both small-scale, mid-scale, and large-scale enterprises. Compatibility with tons of frameworks only enhances the scalability of the language. So, growing your website with a growing client base is never an issue with PHP development services India on your side.

Cross-platform compatibility: Reach a larger target audience as PHP is compatible with Linux, macOS, Unix, and Windows.

Shorter lines of code: PHP is renowned for working with shorter lines of code, saving time and hard work for the developer's team.

Mature Community Support: Worldwide, 26.2% of developers accept using PHP as a programming language. Hiring PHP developers in India also reduces web development costs by nearly 30%.

Significantly High-Speed: Unlike its immediate competitors, PHP owns its memory space, facilitating quicker code execution and a speedy digital platform.

Cloud Compatibility: PHP web apps are compatible with Cloud services, and the technology can get used with zero hindrance to enhance the accessibility and scalability of the web development project.

Suitable to both relational and non-relational DBMS: PHP is compatible with a range of database solutions irrespective of whether you want to go with a relational model like MySQL or a non-relational model like MongoDB.  

Optimum Level of Security: While security issues have always been a concern with PHP, the truth is PHP is as secure as any other programming language. Enhancing the level of security depends actively upon following standard coding practices.

For example, being a trusted PHP development company in India, we follow strict adherence to secure coding practices resolving XSS, CSRF, SQLi, etc., from the project.

Having covered the top benefits of using PHP, let's look at the definition of a framework & guiding factors for choosing the best PHP framework.

What is a PHP framework?

A PHP framework is a platform for developers' teams to create web projects without writing mundane, repetitive codes. It comprises multiple pre-packaged functions & classes that facilitate rapid development of the PHP project in no time.

PHP frameworks eliminate the need for writing code from scratch and promote good coding practices & developing secured web apps for the business enterprise. The demand for advanced PHP frameworks is increasing and can be analyzed by looking at the infographic below: Listing the worldwide popularity of the PHP scripting language.

Source: Statista

Essential  things to consider for choosing the best PHP framework

Clear your Goals & Objectives: You need to gain the exact vision of the features you want to integrate into the project. The chosen framework largely depends upon the project size and parts.

For example, an eCommerce website requires plentiful extensions, while a texting platform needs high connectivity.

Find out framework compatibility with the project features: Determine whether the chosen framework facilitates the development of the desired components or it would require tons of third-party integration.

Scalability of the framework: Framework plays a pivotal role in providing you with a scalable solution. Investigate whether the framework allows integration and disintegration of multiple modules.

User-friendly aspect of the framework: Well, this one largely depends upon the experience of the developers' team. We at PixelCrayons, offer PHP programmers India with an average of 5 years of experience facilitating the ideal framework for the web project.

Here are the top 7 PHP frameworks to go for in 2021

Laravel

Released in June 2011, Laravel holds a stunning 25.85% market share of the PHP framework. The open-source framework reduces the web development cost significantly and facilitates a high level of customization of the website. There are tons of reasons that make Laravel an indispensable PHP framework. Let’s have a quick look at them.

Pros of using Laravel as a PHP framework:

Availability of lightweight templates along with dynamic content seeding facilitates creating stunning layouts for the project.

Laravel supports customer-centric customization of the web app.

Multiple views of the web app can be created using the MVC architecture of Laravel. MVC structure also supports rapid & parallel development of the project.

Creating roles and permissions for different users is feasible with Laravel.

SEO-centric URLs get supported on Laravel.

Artisan Console is also available in Laravel. It acts as a command-line interface generating and structuring commands for the developer's team.

Tons of security-based features are available with Laravel, including encryption, authentication, email verification, etc.

Hashed passwords protect the users from credential-based data theft.

Developing a multilingual web app is feasible with Laravel.

Since its introduction, the framework has received more than 13 updates, which ensures users receive the latest and exciting features regularly.

Laravel libraries also offer the programmer's team to integrate password resetting options to the users.

Cons of using Laravel as a framework:

The upgraded versions of Laravel suffer from a lack of a proper continuation approach.

At times the upgrade leads to issues in the developed web app.

Examples of Laravel Projects: Vogue Archive, Rocket Rubbers, Mack Hankins, Orchestra Platform, etc.

Yii Framework  

Released in 2006, Yii is a generic web programming framework suitable for developing large-scale modern web app projects. Like most other PHP frameworks, Yii also has a modern view controller architecture and facilitates code organization.

Pros of using Yii as a PHP framework

It supports a high level of personalization with tons of layout and themes facilitating the unique and innovative design of the project.

The open-source framework reduces the web application development cost for both the investors and the concerned Yii Development Company.

Highly suitable for developing large-scale web applications like eCommerce websites, healthcare-based web apps, management systems, etc.

The Model view controller architecture automatically leads to quicker development of the web app, as different programmers can work on the view and controller of the web app simultaneously.

Yii framework is a full-stack framework and comes with multiple outstanding features like query builders, an active record for relational and non-relational database models, multi-tier support for caching content, etc.

Yii is exceptional in the way that it offers an extreme level of customization of the web app. The hired team of developers can manipulate the core code of the framework to develop audience-centric features.

Yii is also compatible with third-party codes. The developers' team can integrate Laravel code into Yii to develop a stunning web app that offers combined benefits of Laravel and Yii Framework.

Cons of using Yii Framework

The framework requires experienced and dedicated YII developers who follow a high code of standards in coding. Unfortunately, slight errors in coding get readily oversized in the Yii framework.

The Yii framework fails to provide AR queries.

Examples of Yii Projects: Word Counter website, Islamqa website, Skillshare platform, etc.

CodeIgniter Framework

CodeIgniter was voted as the second most popular PHP framework after Laravel in 2017, and the framework enjoys a whopping 17.7k stars on the GitHub platform. The framework has been used in 1+ Million websites and web apps worldwide and gets extensively used in India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Japan, etc.

Pros of using CodeIgniter as a PHP framework

It facilitates creating high-performing web apps due to multiple inbuilt libraries, convenient modular programs, additional features, etc.

Compatible with most of the web platforms and web servers used in digital developments. The framework offers uncompromised support in server migration which minimizes the occurrence of technical glitches.

CodeIgniter is a lightweight framework that leads to minimum impact on the performance of the web app.

The framework gets extensively used for developing both the front end and back end of the web app.

Writing single line code is possible with the form validation feature of the CodeIgniter framework.

CodeIgniter is a well-documented framework that facilitates the integration of new members on the developer's team.

The framework is highly suitable and extensively used in business enterprises-based web apps catering to management system profiles. It offers high-end security and also promotes creating security protocols over the programming project.

Developing a responsive website with a high user interface is feasible with CodeIgniter.

Hiring dedicated CodeIgniter developers is feasible due to the framework's large-scale application and the availability of a mature community of CodeIgniter developers.

The CodeIgniter framework gets preferred in diverse industry verticals, including SaaS, OnDemand streaming platforms, e-learning web apps, stock trading management portal, etc.

Cons of using CodeIgniter Framework

CodeIgniter is not a preferred choice of programming projects which require frequent updates as the framework does not facilitate quick code modification.

The framework is not consistent with high-quality standards of coding.

Examples of CodeIgniter projects: Philippines Airline, Casio America, Creative Genius, etc.

CakePHP Framework

The CakePHP framework is renowned for creating reusable codes, and like others on the list, it is also an open-source framework. The framework gets highly preferred in projects with limited development time as it allows the developer's team to create prototypes and reuse codes in multiple contexts.

Pros of using the CakePHP framework for your project:

The framework is consistent with high-quality coding practices, which guarantees zero technical glitches on the website or web app.

Code reusability decreases the overall project development time and cost. Moreover, the developer's team need not start from scratch for the integration of new intuitive features.

Like others on the list, it is also open-source and has an MVC architecture.

The CakePHP framework gets widely praised for offering tons of security-centric tools for web development projects. The standard one includes CSRF protection, XSS prevention, SQL prevention, etc.

The framework gets preferred in Fintech-based projects, management systems, etc.

The templates offered in the CakePHP framework are both fast and flexible and allows the designing team to create an intuitive UI for the target audience.

The framework is compatible with the latest PHP versions.

Finding bugs and errors in the developed website or web app is much easier with CakePHP as a chosen framework. It effectively reduces the testing time of the web app.

Cons of using CakePHP framework

CakePHP documentation part of the framework needs improvement.

The framework demands one-way routing, which is considered a setback to the programming project.

Examples of CakePHP Projects: Good firms rating agency, Coconala website, Worldfilia advertising platform, etc.

Symfony Framework

Trusted by some of the worldwide renowned brands, including Spotify and Vogue, Symfony is a reliable framework for PHP development projects. The framework is highly preferred in eLearning, logistics, and healthcare-based projects. As per Builtwith Stats, Symfony powers more than 1,10,264 websites across the globe.

Pros of using Symfony as a PHP framework

Symfony promotes high productivity in the developer's team with reduced lines of coding.

The framework promotes writing clean and structured codes, which minimizes the chances of errors in coding.

Symfony gets timely updates, eliminating the risk of developing websites and web apps that get outdated with new technology. In other words, you can easily update the designed website with emerging technologies.

It comes with bundles that can get considered as a plugin. Decoupled features available in the bundles allow the coding team to reconfigure and reuse them in diverse ways.

Symfony can also get used with other popular frameworks like Laravel, Yii, etc., to enhance the functionalities of the web development project.

The framework also offers automated functional testing which reduces the risk of developing incorrect codes.

Cons of using Symfony framework:

The web app sometimes suffers from performance issues when using Symfony.

The designing stage of the web app consumes a significant amount of time.

Examples of Symfony Framework: Pornhub website for surfing porn, Trivago hotel chain, Spotify music streaming platform, etc.

FuelPHP Framework

Released in 2014, the FuelPHP framework works like CodeIgniter. The framework offers a modular structure for web development projects which means the developers team quickly integrates features into the project. The noticeable part of the FuelPHP framework: it supports both MVC and HMVC architecture.

Pros of using the FuelPHP framework:

It supports HMVC, which stands for Hierarchical Model View Architecture. HMVC effectively reduces the interdependency between different modules of the software.

Exceptional security-centric features like XSS filters, SQL injection prevention, CSRF preventions with tokens, etc., are available and can be customized with the FuelPHP framework.

The availability of secured features makes it suitable for developing apps for banks, financial institutions, etc.

The programmer's team can easily integrate multiple modules into the app due to the framework's well-documented features.

FuelPHP is a community-driven framework.So, getting aid from experienced developers is convenient with FuelPHP as your chosen framework.

Cons of using FuelPHP framework:

The new version of the framework requires longer dedicated hours from the team.

The GitHub stars stand at only 281.

Examples of FuelPHP Projects: Inventorybase, Spookies, etc.

Phalcon Framework

Developed by Andres Gutierrez, Phalcon is a web-based PHP framework with an MVC architecture. The framework is a trusted option for developing high-speed web apps as it can handle comparatively higher HTTPs requests per second. Ever since its introduction, Phalcon is preferred for developing apps with lower power consumption and high-speed performance.

Pros of using Phalcon as a PHP framework

The framework requires comparatively lesser code lines that trim the project's development hours to a significant extent.

It is a suitable framework for high-load environments.

Ready-to-use modules are available in the Phalcon framework.

Detailed documentation of the framework facilitates the joining of new coders in the team with ease and comfort.

Phalcon is widely regarded as the fastest performing framework in the PHP category as it has direct access to the PHP internal structures.

Cons of using Phalcon PHP framework:

As the source code is written in C language, any errors in the coding require the programmer's team to debug C.

Not a renowned option and suffers from a lack of experienced coders.

Examples of Phalcon Projects: Urban Sports Club, Edureka, Rentger, etc.

Wrapping Up

That was all about the top PHP frameworks to go for in 2021. Based on your project's compatibility, you can go with any of them. Being a leading provider of PHP website development in India, we at PixelCrayons perform in-depth research & analysis of the target audience to offer the best framework for the project.  

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