Facial recognition techniques

I've been wondering how face recognition algorithms work. This news article puts a name on some of them. For future reference.

"The two main techniques used to recognise faces electronically are principal-component analysis (PCA) and linear-discriminant analysis (LDA). Both compare a picture of someone’s phizog with a reference image taken in a controlled environment. Passport photos and mugshots, then, are about as ideal as it gets."

Source:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21613160-facial-recognition-systems-are-getting-better-clocking-peoples-clocks?fsrc=rss%7Csct

VS Mag has an article on Delphi XE7

Found it a bit surprising but VS Magazine is talking about Embarcadero RAD XE 7 (Delphi successor).

http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2014/09/08/embarcadero-rad-xe7.aspx

Embarcadero is trying to keep up but last time I heard from them people were complaining - on newletters I once subscribed - of (hold your breath)... newsgroups' outage.

After a few days down, Embarcadero came with some explanation of the supposed migration gone bad.

Newsletters and newsgroups look by now so 20th century ain't it?

Windows utilities

Found this 2 very interesting Windows software lists via Twitter:

- Top 10 incredibly useful windows programs to have on hands (occasional use)

- Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Essential Windows Apps (everyday use)

Some are known utilities to me, some are not. Nice!

RTCA DO-178B Process Visual Summary

For those of you who need to know what DO-178B is like I need nowadays, I was shown by a colleague of mine - who at the work sits 2 tables ahead of me and who by a mere incident has its name on DO-178C - to this visual summary of the DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification (a document dealing with the safety of software used in certain airborne systems).

Kudos to the summarizing powers of these guys!

Google Camera

Google published recently to the Android store the Google Camera app (available on Google phones sometime ago).

Some features that caught my attention:
A sleek and simple user interface, a 360° photo mode and the blur mode (I am not referencing the panorama mode is something that I use frequently on my Samsung Camera software).

Only for these it was worth the download.

As a con: Reduced set of settings (no ISO, no setting for storage location)

Choosing the community type to create on Google+

Found this interesting table on Google+ help about choosing the right community type to fit its purpose (Create a Google+ Community).

Official RDP mobile application available for iOS and Android

So you might have heard it by now: Microsoft has launched a remote desktop client for mobile OSs iOS and Android. The application is available in the respective stores here and here. Surprisingly still missing: A Windows Phone version.

There is competition (and some are cross-platform). Some names can be checked here.