Search giant Google wants to push forward with a new, improved form of image search that’s based on visual characteristics, not just text. Last week, two of the company’s scientists presented a paper outlining a system they’re calling VisualRank.
Andrew Binstock and Donald Knuth converse on the success of open source, the problem with multicore architecture, the disappointing lack of interest in literate programming, the menace of reusable code, and that urban legend about winning a programming contest with a single compilation.
Speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo here Thursday, Yahoo CTO Ari Balogh revealed how the company is transforming itself into an open and social platform from the ground up. It is opening its Web platform to developers and moving closer to a Facebook-style social networking concept. Ari Balogh also said that while Yahoo already has open APIs for some services, it will expand the open API concept to other areas and make it more consistent for developers, while boosting the ’social’ aspect of its services for its members.
The role of an architect in software development has come under attack of late. On software projects, the title Architect is often ambiguously defined and the value provided by architects is not easily quantifiable. The perception that architects live in an “ivory tower” disassociated from the realities of delivering a software solution contributes to some of the animosity toward those of us with the title.