Web Development

Google’s Fight Against Toxic Trolls

Over the past year, Google has collected millions of online comments to develop Perspective. This new software aims to determine and highlight what the company calls “toxic” language from the comment sections on websites. Also, it will highlight those that are considered “healthy” and rank them accordingly as well. In coordination with Wikipedia, The New York Times and other unnamed sources, Perspective aims not to inhibit free speech but to flag comments deemed toxic hopefully leading to greater and more productive discussion.

Ranking Toxicity

Google offshoot, Jigsaw, is the official company behind this initiative. Though the program will still be on Google’s servers. The software is now available to the public. So now you can apply the software to your comment section and it will highlight the toxic replies. Perspective ranks the comments by how toxic they are in comparison to other toxic phrases. For example, popular term “fake news” shows up with a 47% toxic rating. This is a learning software, so it will become more accurate as time goes on.

Encouraging Intelligent Discussion

Perspective serves another purpose aside from just weeding out toxic language. The New York Times, for example, has individuals who just spend time doing what Perspective will do. Employees of the newspaper manually shift through each comment to find the offensive comments. Now, Perspective will bring to the surface the toxic comments for its human counterparts to determine the how to handle them. With Perspective’s aid The New York Times should be able to allow comments on more of their articles. The paper currently only allow comments on about 10% of their articles because manually shifting through anymore comments is too time consuming.
Critics will argue that Perspective is an infringement on free speech. The company denies this and is only striving to create and maintain intelligent conversations within a safe space.

New York City’s Upcoming Tech Hub

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New York City is funding, what experts predict to be, the technological hub of the city. On Friday, Mayor Bill De Blasio released the first images of the “Union Square Tech Hub”. De Blasio has stated his intention of making the building the technological center of New York City. A glass facade holding 258,000 square feet of space, will replace the PC Richards & Sons that currently sits at 124 East 14th St. The $250 million dollar project is set to begin in 2018, and be completed sometime in 2020.

Creating Jobs

De Blasio has stated he plans on creating 40,000 jobs within the city over the next four years. The construction of the Tech Hub will provide an estimated 800 jobs. Additionally, the city claims the new space will immediately open up 600 jobs to New Yorkers. The new building will contain 58,000 square feet of fluid space. This space is intended as facilities for startups and educational purposes to create a more inclusive and modern tech space. In fact, 36,000 square feet of the building will be reserved for training facilities in an effort to tap into the talents of New Yorkers.

Spreading Tech Knowledge

Anchor tenant Civic Hall is a nonprofit company who plans on using the space as a digital training center. Other corporations who are to become tenants in the Tech Hub include General Assembly, Code to Work and New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education. These companies will make the Tech Hub one that is unique through its emphasis on training, education and inclusion.

If the goals of the Tech Hub are met, the space will make a positive impact on the inclusiveness and productivity of the tech industry within the city. All the while, creating an array of jobs for New Yorkers. This is a very exciting time for the New York City’s tech industry.

Outreach, Through Code

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The opportunities that present themselves to an individual with tech knowledge are endless. With so much of our lives driven by technology, certain companies, industry insiders and teachers are lending a hand to make this field one that is more inclusive. According to Computerscience.org, the industry has been dominated by men even before officially entering the workforce. Boys are outnumbering girls 4:1 in taking AP computer science exams. But we expect this to change; and some organizations are looking to change this disparity.

Women Who Code

Various organizations formed to combat this disparity. Women interested in learning how to program can turn to groups such as Girls Who Code. This organization now boasts around 10,000 members across the country. In addition to formal organizations such as Girls Who Code and SciGirls, college campuses such as Colorado State University have opened their doors and are offering free coding classes to women. More recently and globally, the US Consulate has partnered with the Africa based organization, Code 4 Cape Town. Together, they are offering free classes for 10th grade girls, in Cape Town, through March.

Refugees Who Code

In addition to the aid extended to women, organizations that realize the immense opportunities that arise with a knowledge of coding have formed to help refugees learn the craft. In the midst of a rather divisive humanitarian crisis, groups formed to offer coding classes exclusively to refugees. The United Nations is currently cooperating with SAP on their Refugee Code Week initiative. This ambitious and refreshing project has taught thousands of individuals across the Middle East to code. They hope to increase the probability of finding jobs in this modern, tech driven era.

As a result of the inclusionary efforts of these various organizations around the globe, we are able to look forward to a tech industry that will grow in size, creativity and innovation.

The Future of Virtual Reality in Web Design

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2016 saw an explosion of 360° content produced by companies such as PlayStation, Samsung, HTC and Google. Whether you are playing your favorite video game or watching a film, virtual reality (VR) has proven to be an exciting way to immerse yourself into any world. VR has snuck into so many different spaces, it is only a matter of time before it bleeds into the web design space.

Virtual Reality on your Desktop

Already, some websites support 360° views and the virtual reality experience. You can currently find virtual tours of homes given by real estate companies scattered around the web. This allows you to explore spaces beyond real estate, such as the Petra Monument just as Indiana Jones had. Google has been at the forefront of this innovation, with their Cardboard headset, the development of Daydream and their new tool, VR View. This will allow developers to easily embed immersive videos and pictures into their websites. VR View is open source, so you can find the code onlin e. This simple innovation by Google, may pave the way to making virtual reality a common place within web design.

The Move to Mobile

Virtual reality should not be expected to be exclusively available through desktop friendly sites. Nor should one assume VR only accessible through a headset. This year may see the expansion of virtual reality to mobile devices which require less reliance on a headset. According to The Daily Mirror, VR will be “heavily featured” at 2017’s Mobile World Congress. They expect Sony to release five new smartphones, each optimized for virtual reality.

It seems as though 2017 is shaping up to see even more of an impact regarding VR than 2016 has. Web designers should keep this in mind when presenting their content to consumers who may become more expectant of seeing VR access on their webpage.

Google Cracks Down on Advertising

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Google Inc., which makes practically all its money from advertising, has cracked down on blocking ads from their website. In 2016, they got rid of about 1.7 billion ads — double the number in 2015. The reason? Fraudulent, annoying, and virus-carrying ads make people hesitant to use Google. Real, legitimate ads are what keep users happy and safe. So any ads that violated its advertising policies were eradicated.

Ads that Aren’t Allowed

Advertising makes up 90% of Google’s revenue, which is a good incentive to keep it tidy. Now, more than 1,000 of their employees are working to remove bad ads. This includes ads for illegal products (like pharmaceuticals), misleading ads, ads that are actually viruses, and ads that promote malicious sites (such as weight-loss scams). They’ve also removed over 5 million payday loan ads since they’ve banned them in July. Payday loan ads come from predatory lending companies. They’re short-term loads with incredibly high interest rates, which pull people into a deeper debt than they had to begin with.

Cracking Down on Fake News

Along with ads, Google is cracking down on sites that put out misrepresented content; this includes fake news and companies that mimic news organizations. 200 publishers have been kicked off of Google already. This is something that has become even more important in wake of the election. Both Google and Facebook are attempting to eradicate “fake news” from their websites. To do this, as well as get rid of unwanted ads, Google improved their technology to discover and disable ads faster. They have caught 112 million malware ads, which is six times as many as they caught in 2015.

It’s important for the Google, and all of their users, to eradicate these unwanted advertisements and fake news websites. They’re harmful to all parties involved. When users accidentally download malware to their computer because Google didn’t recognize it as a fake ad, everyone loses.

Google Maps will Help you Park

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Have you ever driven slowly around a metropolitan area, looking for a place to park? Most of us have. While GPS apps and devices can help you find a location, they don’t tell where to park. Thankfully, Google Maps is now more helpful than it already is: there is a new feature that lets users know how crowded parking is at public locations. So when you’re driving to a concert or show in a city, you will now see a “P” symbol where the parking is for your destination. The “P” will be blue if parking is available, and red if it’s limited.

How this will Help Drivers

According to NBC, about 30% of traffic in packed cities comes from drivers looking for parking. That’s a pretty substantial amount. With this app, drivers won’t have to roam around looking for parking as much. This will cut down the hassle of finding a spot for everyone on the road. For now traffic is not updated in real time. Google took the parking information from “historical parking data”. So if a parking garage is typically crowded, Google Maps will let you know to look elsewhere. This is good for drivers headed to a city they’ve never been to before, who aren’t sure which lots fill up quickly.

Who can Use Google Maps for Parking

As of right now, this feature is only on Android devices. It should come out for iOS devices at a later date. In addition to this, Google has only created this for 25 cities in the US right now. This includes: San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Portland, Cleveland, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, Miami, and more.

This is a pretty exciting development for people who use Google Maps frequently. It will help you navigate parking in dense areas, cut down traffic, and lessen the headache of driving in a city.

4 Goals for Web Developers in 2017

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Do you need to work on some web development skills? Are you having trouble keeping your skill set up to date? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve already written about trends we expect to see in 2017 — so how should web developers prepare themselves for these trends? Here are 4 goals for web developers in 2017; sticking to these goals are a great way to expand your knowledge and prepare for the future of web development.

Learn more about AI

Artificial Intelligence is being used in various ways such as with chat bots and website creation. Bots are making life easier in some ways, but creating and perfecting them takes time and effort. Conversational UI in particular will become more important as time goes on.If you don’t know much about AI, now is the time to learn. Soon it will be integral for every site.

Make websites even more mobile friendly

The new motto is “mobile first”. Design for mobile sites in mind, and then translate them to computer screens. People literally live with their phones in their hands, all of the time. Designing with mobile in mind will save you time and money down the road.

Include Live Support

We’re sure you’ve seen those “Chat with us!” pop-ups at the bottom of web pages. Live support is important for websites to have today — especially e-commerce websites. If you’re a developer, be sure to learn how to create these little chats. Many companies will be asking for them.

Learn a New Language

Every developer has a language that they’d like to learn but just keep putting off. So here is your push: learn a new language this year. If you are unsure about which one to learn, there is a buzz around a few languages this year, such as JavaScript and Ruby on Rails.

Hopefully we’ve inspired you to learn a few new things this year. These goals for web developers aren’t totally out of reach. It’s important to try and stay ahead of the game — or at least keep up with it.

Should You Switch to HTTPS?

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HTTP and HTTPS are pretty much the same thing, with one minor difference: the S stands for Secure. This means that websites with HTTPS are secure for users to visit. HTTPS helps reduce of the risk of hacking. This is because HTTPS encrypts the server. “Encrypted” means that the data is converted into code, to prevent unauthorized access. So, the user can be sure that their information will be safe.

Do you need to switch to HTTPS?

It seems like a no-brainer: a safe website is better for visitors. But it’s not always necessary. If you run a small website and never ask Internet users to provide personal information on it, then you probably don’t need it. If you aren’t collecting their information, or payments, you can get away with using HTTP. On top of that HTTPS won’t protect you any more from hackers than HTTP will. It’ll just protect your website viewers.

Think about making the switch to HTTPS

Google recently announced that having HTTPS can improve your ranking signal. This means that your website can rank higher on Google search engine results. That’s great, but it really only accounts for a small percentage in the overall ranking factor. Meaning, it won’t bump you from #50 to #1. Maybe it’ll bump you to #40. So, is it really worth it? Well, Google seems to think there are many virtues of using HTTPS over HTTP. They have even run a campaign called HTTPS Everywhere in the past.

Overall, it’s up to what you think is best for your website. People are more likely to trust HTTPS over HTTP. This can lead to many benefits for site owners. If your website is more trustworthy, your business in turn becomes more trustworthy, and it will most likely excel. So with this in mind, you can decide for yourself if you want to make the switch to HTTPS from HTTP.

5 Chrome Extensions for Web Developers

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Creating websites seems to get more and more complicated as the Internet evolves. While once upon a time the Internet could only be viewed on a computer screen, on one browser, that time is no more. With tablets, phones, laptops and Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc. you need to account for web development on all these different devices. These chrome extensions making designing and developing sites much less frustrating.

1. Web Developer

Web Developer can save you a lot of time when creating websites. With this extension you can access tools to edit CSS, image size, view JavaScript, and more. It’s available for Firefox as well. This chrome extension is pretty much a must-have.

2. Accessibility Tools

You need to ensure your website can be accessed by people with disabilities. This extension lets you run an accessibility check on any web page. You can also add an Accessibility sidebar pane to your Chrome Developer Tools. If anything’s wrong, it’ll let you know.

3. PerfectPixel

With this extension, you no longer have to worry about the design matching the code. Simply install PerfectPixel, and you can put a semi-transparent image overlay on top of your web page to compare it against the HTML code.

4. User Agent Switcher

We all know how frustrating it is to design websites for various screens. But this extension allows you to trick websites into thinking you are using whatever browser and screen you want. This is useful for testing how your website looks and acts on all devices.

5. Check My Links

Links are important for websites. If you have a lot of them, download this extension. It will find all the links on a web page, and check each one for you to make sure they work. It highlights good links in green and the broken ones in red.

Goodbye frustration, and welcome to simpler web development. Hopefully these chrome extensions will help you develop websites.

Why Front-end Development is Harder Today

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There’s no point in arguing what type of development is the hardest, but front-end development is harder today than it used to be. As the Internet has grown and matured, front-end developers have more responsibilities than they used to. Back in the early days of the Internet, web development only meant knowing how to write HTML. But a lot has changed. Here is why front-end development is harder today than it used to be.

1. Too many browsers

Each browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc. — has their own rendering of the same HTML code. This means that while you can design a web page, it might look slightly different on each browser. To fix this, you have edit the code on each browser. To make matters more complicated today, we have multiple screen options to view these browsers. This makes front-end development even more difficult.

2. Completely different languages

HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are the building blocks of front-end development. Those languages are all vastly different from one another. HTML isn’t too hard to learn, CSS is okay, but JavaScript itself is hard to understand. Many people use libraries such as jQuery to help understand JavaScript. Overall, being a front-end developer requires a lot of work.

3. Constantly changing designs

Front-end design is always changing, which means front-end development is also changing. Front-end design is now more based around user experience. While a developer isn’t a designer, the technologies blend together. Understanding design trends will definitely help out with your development skills. Working in front-end development means that your job is always evolving.

Overall, the problems front-end developers face are seemingly never-ending. The problem is less about learning all of the different code; it’s mostly about making sure websites work on each and every browser and device. So if you want to be a front-end developer, be prepared for the always-changing environment of the Internet.