Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
If you happened to be looking for your software development team on April 23 or 24, you may have noticed it was very quiet in that part of your office.
That’s because more than 550 Philadelphia-area software developers and engineers were attending the Philly Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise (ETE) conference. This conference has been taking place for nearly 15 years, bringing together committers, practitioners, and founders of open source and emerging tech tools and technologies. It is one of the largest conferences for developers in the Mid-Atlantic and an important learning space for the region’s technology workforce.
Philly ETE is always deep technically, but for technologists — and those who work with technologists — it offers a vital window into the latest trends in enterprise technology.
At the very first ETE in 2005, the hot topic, besides what was new in Java, was open source software licensing. While it may seem quaint now, at the time many companies weren’t sure if they wanted free software in their environments, and it was up to developers to make the case for the flexibility and velocity that open source enabled. Understanding what open source software could do from the developers’ perspective was very important in changing the conversation around software development.
This year’s conference kicked off with an inspiring keynote from Jessica Kerr at Atomist about the concept of “symmathesy,” a term coined by writer and filmmaker Nora Bateson. Throughout history, from Renaissance art and music, through the discovery of the elements, to innovators in the software development like the Gang of Four or the Agile Manifesto creators, there was always a community behind each innovation. Groups of thinkers learning together and challenging each other is what has historically helped us leap forward creatively and scientifically. Symmathesy attempts to describe this sort of collective learning.
Here’s what we learned about this year at Philly ETE:
Machine learning continues to drive product innovation for companies across the board, so naturally, it was a popular topic at ETE 2019. There was an engaging discussion on the engineering practices required to support neural networks in production. Another talk focused on using Google’s Firebase ML Kit for easy integration of machine learning models into mobile apps.
For modern application hosting two popular paths are containerization (using tools like Kubernetes and Docker) and serverless (using tools like AWS Lambda or Azure Functions). This year, we were joined by a Facebook production engineer who described how they manage containers, and we hosted a talk on how Kubernetes and OpenShift can be great choices for hosting Java applications.
As speaker Linda Nichols from Microsoft put it: “Serverless applications are the future of lightweight, scalable, and performant application development.”
We had three different serverless sessions: addressing serverless architecture, choosing a cloud provider, and how developers need to think differently to get the most out of this new programming paradigm.
Some of the most unique talks every year are from engineers and leaders sharing recent experiences with innovation and learning from their mistakes.
One stand-out presentation was about how AirBnB uses server-driven UI for their mobile and web apps. It makes their product more flexible and speeds up the rate at which they can improve the customer experience. Another excellent talk titled “Getting out of Cloud Jail” described how cost savings should be a joint product and engineering responsibility. It included lessons learned, from migrating to the cloud and paying a heavy price for failing to closely monitor public cloud usage, building a data deletion system, to adjusting cloud-platform usage as scale needs increase and decrease.
Noopur Davis, chief information security officer at Comcast Cable, shared how the company is adopting a DevSecOps (development, security and operations) framework that empowers developers to analyze, learn and improve the security of the systems they own. Davis said the approach is extremely valuable in developing products where security is truly built in, rather than bolted on.
There were sessions about AR,VR, and voice interfaces and when it’s the right time to add them to your product offering, as well as a talk by Chariot Solutions’ CIO discussing new developments in IoT microchips that are making connected devices cheaper and more powerful. Chariot even incorporated an AR feature in the conference’s mobile app.
There are always new programming languages emerging and gaining popularity. This year, experts discussed Rust, Go and Zig. Each language promises advancements in application speed, stability or code simplicity, but to different degrees. Attendees heard from the creator of Zig, who described the advantages of their new language over the competition.
Chariot’s training and mentoring director delivered a talk on GraphQL, discussing how this API could be used as a replacement for plain REST and enhance the capacity for self service. He discussed various client and server APIs and tooling, as well as the query language itself.
True to ETE’s roots, there was even a talk on Java. A keynote from Java language architect Brian Goetz explained how the choice between functional and object-oriented programming is really a false choice — we need to borrow good ideas from all languages to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
The Philly ETE conference brings the biggest names in tech from around the country right into the heart of Philadelphia. It’s a chance to learn about the languages, tools, and practices you or your engineering teams will be using soon, if you aren’t already. The diversity of the topics and speakers makes it a great place to get out of your bubble and explore topics you might not otherwise be digging into. Overall, it’s the intimate size and strong sense of community that brings attendees back year to year.
Chariot Solutions is proud to be able to host and curate this conference. And we would be remiss if we didn’t thank our sponsors, the Meet Group, Lutron, Pinnacle 21, Linode, Atomist and Comcast Cable for helping to make this event possible.
This Philly conference scans the horizon of what’s next in enterprise technology
On a sunny postseason off day, Andrean's baseball players shuttle as groups between the 59ers' field and the basketball gym.
Up on the east landing, with a veil blocking them off from students shooting around below, senior Matt Lelito lifts up black netting and enters a makeshift batting cage. Sixty feet away, a pitcher superimposed onto a projector screen brings the ball over his head and delivers. The simulator shoots a baseball out of a hole roughly 2 feet tall and 1 foot wide, and Lelito swings.
Meanwhile, Andrean assistant coach Jordan Smolar directs Lelito. First, Lelito gets 10 pitches in a hypothetical scenario: There's a man on third, and Smolar wants a groundball through the right side. Normally, each time Lelito swings, a camera across the plate from him feeds data into a computer screen behind the cage.
The screen shows exactly where the ball would have gone on an actual field, along with its exit velocity, launch angle and more. The machine, known as HitTrax and separate from the simulator, is malfunctioning today. It takes the 59ers back to baseball's dark ages — only three years ago.
Andrean is one of a handful of Region baseball teams to embrace widespread use of technology. Head coach Dave Pishkur and his coaching staff have access to more data than ever, and the team's new pitching simulator has revolutionized their offseason training.
“We've never had the ability in the winter months or when it's a rainy day to face 90 miles an hour, or an 80 mile-an-hour slider that's unhittable, or something like that,” Pishkur said. “Our kids, at the beginning of the year, had difficulties hitting 75 miles an hour, and there's not one kid in our program that can't hit 90 now.”
The 59ers track the same metrics MLB teams regularly work with, but they aren't the only ones. Boone Grove's Jake Gholston and Kouts' Jim Tucker are also in on the shift and hope to remove much of the guesswork associated with player development and in-game strategy.
Kouts uses the gameSense pitch recognition system to train players to determine what the ball will do within 15 or 20 feet after it leaves the pitcher's hand. Tucker said that the program has helped the Mustangs increase their batting average by 75 points since last season.
Tucker got an introduction to cutting-edge technology at the 2018 American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Indianapolis. While perusing booths occupied by companies hoping to sell coaches on their products, Tucker stumbled upon the Marc Pro — a muscle stimulator that Tucker said has helped his players recover during a taxing season.
“A lot of our nine guys will pitch and play the field, and we need them every day,” Tucker said. “I tried it at the convention for just five, 10 minutes and felt the benefits of it. I bought two right on the spot. It's been huge for our program. It doesn't get guys back to 100%, but if they leave the field at like 40% feeling with their arms, they'll come back the next day at 60, 70, 80%.”
Gholston tracks metrics that help him detect even small differences in performance. Two are exit velocity and launch angle, the speed and angle at which the ball leaves the bat. Gholston said he wants to prioritize line drives, and tracking launch angles with machinery like HitTrax allows his staff to know exactly how much players improve over time.
“If it's important, we should measure it,” Gholston said. “It's like MLB front offices — they want a scout's opinion, and they want the analytics side as well. My job is to know the numbers, know what they're doing and see if they're doing what they were doing two weeks ago.”
Advanced data can point toward specific changes players should make in their pitching motions or hitting mechanics, according to Smolar, who operates and gives private lessons at NWI Sports Performance in Crown Point.
One example: The Rapsodo system measures pitching numbers like spin rate — which measures a pitch's rotation speed — and the amount of horizontal and vertical break on pitches. Smolar said a pitcher with a high spin rate will see the ball maintain its plane longer. A low spin rate generally will see pitches sink earlier.
Rapsodo tracks pitching data, such as the ball's spin rate.
Robbie Weinstein, The Times
With that knowledge, Smolar said, pitchers can match their fastball with the optimal arsenal of secondary pitches. Gholston said he even crafts individualized game plans for his pitchers using spin rate.
“This is the best season I've ever had," Wolves pitcher Eddy Schultze said. "I'm so much stronger; (Gholston) has fixed my swing mechanics wise. ... From the beginning we've all trusted coach, and it's working out so far."
Smolar said that before the season he expected Andrean, the Midwest's top-ranked team by Perfect Game, to take a step back after winning the Class 3A state title in 2018. He believes the simulator, however, has made a huge difference.
In 2018, Smolar said he felt Andrean started slowly at the plate. Rain-outs dotted the early schedule, and the 59ers hadn't faced much live pitching in months.
Now, Andrean can come closer to replicating live pitching, even indoors. Players and coaches said the simulator creates a far more realistic experience than when a coach or player pitches from 15 or 20 feet away, and the machine can launch a fastball over 100 miles per hour. It can simulate righties and lefties, plus various arm slots.
Pishkur said the simulator is so popular that alumni who play or played college baseball return to use it.
“I love the HitTrax, but if I had to only take one or the other, I'm taking the simulator,” Pishkur said. “It's like we've got a permanent batting practice pitcher that never has a sore arm.”
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Region baseball teams use advanced technology for competitive edge
Playdead co-founder Dino Patti and Unity co-founder David Helgason have unveiled a new online game development platform called Coherence.
Built to help devs of all shapes and sizes realize their multiplayer ambitions, Coherence is pitched as an open, accessible, and lightning-fast cloud platform for "building scalable and persistent virtual worlds."
The technology can be quickly integrated with prominent game engines like Unity, Unreal, and Godot, and supports multiple platforms including desktop, mobile, and consoles.
It will apparently allow devs to have a working online demo up within a matter of minutes, and has been designed with "performance and streamlined developer experience at its core."
"Coherence gives you all the tools you need to turn your game into a connected interactive experience. You can make anything, from a 4-player game with highly scalable instancing, to a persistent virtual world that holds all your players," reads an explainer.
"Our editor plugin will help you utilize the power of the cloud, even if you have no experience with networked games. It handles everything from setup, data modeling, local and online testing to deployment. Using our SDK, you can dive deeper and custom-fit our technology into existing games.
"All backend processes like player connections, synchronization, simulation, network optimization and scaling are handled automatically. coherence lets you focus on what matters the most."
Patti, who left Limbo and Inside developer Playdead in 2016, will lead the project as CEO, while Helgason will assist the fledgling company in an advisory role.
The platform will launch in 2020, with alpha and beta phases planned for later this year. You can find out more about the project over on the Coherence website.
Cloud platform Coherence wants to 'democratize' online game development
The Computer Science and Arts and Entertainment Technologies departments have partnered to launch the Game Development and Design program in order to provide undergraduates with the resources they need to go into the video game industry.
Formerly known as the Game and Mobile Media Applications program, this new certificate is intended to provide more overlap between the departments, said Paul Toprac, associate director of game development.
“You need to have certain core fundamental skills no matter which department you’re in,” Toprac said. “And then there’s some courses you can take ... to get certified in game development.”
Students participating in the program will work together during their senior year to develop actual games during a capstone course, which allows students to apply their education to projects, said Bruce Porter, Game Development and Design steering committee chair.
“We’ve been doing this for about eight years, and we’ve had some remarkably sophisticated games developed by these partnerships,” Porter, a computer science professor, said. “What’s special now is the ... new courses and opportunities in fine arts for these students.”
To ensure the program responds to changes in the gaming industry, an advisory council of industry representatives will give advice to the program, Porter said.
“It’s going to be very important for a program like this to stay in touch with industry trends and to be ahead of those trends,” Porter said. “We will create new courses and tear down old courses that are no longer as relevant (to) try to keep ahead of where the industry is going.”
Austin dominates the Texas gaming industry with more than 140 of the 270 gaming companies in Texas located in Austin, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“We have strong participation from the industry here, and that’s part of the program ... having a strong partnership outside of UT with the game companies,” Toprac said.
Toprac said it’s important for the partnership to be fostered between both of the departments’ students since they will have to communicate with each other and understand each other’s respective challenges.
“Previously, it was difficult for the CS students to get into the (Arts and Entertainment) courses,” Toprac said. “Now there’s gonna be a pathway for them to do that. Likewise ... we’re going to make sure that there’s a series of courses there to help (Arts and Entertainment) students so they learn what they need to learn about programming.”
Computer science senior Huylar Lee wants to develop video games after graduating, and said it’s important for the departments to collaborate since it happens at the professional level.
“I think the artist should be aware of the programming side, and the programmers should be aware of the artists’ side,” Lee said. “It helps provide a better cohesive project and better final release in the long run.”
Want to develop video games? There’s a program for you
It’s called Stadia. Time, Time
Get ready gamers: Google is ready to take on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo in the gaming space.
At the annual Game Developers Conference the technology giant announced its new Stadia gaming platform, looking to make it easier to not just make video games but play them on any screen you own including phones, computers and TVs.
Stadia, which will launch later in 2019, promises new ways to connect with games including a Play button on YouTube videos that will launch you from the video into that game.
Google demonstrated the new platform at the annual event Tuesday in San Francisco. While showing a video of the game "Assassin's Creed Odyssey," it was shown how a "Play" button on the YouTube video could transport the viewer right into the game.
Often a player gets the urge to play a game while watching a video, but has to boot up a game console or another program on their computer. This Stadia feature would get players into a game in "as quick as five seconds with no download, no patch, no update and no install," said Google vice president and general manager Phil Harrison, a former Sony and Microsoft game executive who joined Google last year.
"Stadia offers instant access to play ... (and reduces) the friction between getting excited about a game and playing a game," he said.
Other features built into Google's game-streaming platform include Crowd Play for instant joining and coordination of multiplayer games and Google Assistant-style help feature when players get stuck in games.
Last October, Google began Project Stream, a four-month PC streaming video game test that included Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed Odyssey."
"We learned we could bring a triple A game to any platform using Chrome (Google's web browser)," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the event. "We are dead serious about making this technology accessible to everyone," he said.
As opposed to downloading games to a hard drive, Stadia will tap into Google’s vast global server network – the same one that powers Google Search – to stream the games to your devices.
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"The data center is your platform,” says head of engineering Majd Baker.
In another demonstration, the same game was handed off from a Pixel Chromebook, successively to a Pixel smartphone, desktop PC, tablet and then to a television using Chromecast.
Google vice president and general manager Phil Harrison on stage during Google's announcement of its Stadia video game platform at the Game Developers Conference Tuesday, March 19, in San Francisco. (Photo: Google)
Games will be able to stream in 4K at 60 frames per second, rivaling the graphical power of the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro. Users can use a USB controller or Google's new Stadia remote that features WiFi to connect directly to the data center.
Google's controller also has a button dedicated to streaming to YouTube and one for summoning the Google Assistant for in-game help.
No pricing information was announced for the service or the controller.
Another feature, called State Share, would let players send a link via YouTube, email or other manner letting others pick up a game at a specific spot. "I can create moments specifically for this kind of sharing," said Dylan Cuthbert, founder of game studio Q-Games and developer of games such as "Star Fox 64 3D" and "PixelJunk Monsters."
Cuthbert has a game in development that uses the feature. He says he hopes to "let the internet turn my game into an infinite replayable treasure hunt."
More than 100 game studios have Stadia development tools now. Among other developers working on games to play on Stadia is id Software, which will bring its "Doom Eternal" to the service.
Google will also open its own Stadia Games and Entertainment studio, which will bring its own first-party games to market and seek to remaster classic games to the system, said studio head Jade Raymond, previously a producer and executive producer with games such as "Assassin's Creed" and "Watch Dogs" with Ubisoft and worked on Star Wars games at Electronic Arts before joining Google recently.
"We are on the brink of a huge revolution in gaming, one that will unlock a whole new level of creativity for developers," she said.
Google is not alone in its vision of a cloud gaming future for video games – a vision that could certainly make games a more economical proposition for consumers. Microsoft and Electronic Arts are both working on cloud services, with Microsoft teasing a similar vision last year with its Project xCloud.
All this industry activity will grow cloud gaming subscriptions from an estimated $234 million last year to $1.5 billion in 2023, estimates research firm IHS Markit.
While Google has strengths in its network, devices and Chrome browser, "arguably both Microsoft and (Chinese gaming and internet giant) Tencent are better positioned with strengths in both infrastructure and content," said Piers Harding-Rolls, IHS Markit's head of games research, in an analysis Tuesday.
"I do not expect a Google cloud gaming proposition to dramatically impact the next cycle of console sales, but it may start to pick up some users that are not ready to spend $400 on a new console at launch," he said.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.
