#API process development

[sauravchemicals]

Process Development Manufacturing | Saurav Chemicals

Saurav Chemicals provides extensive process development services, guaranteeing the creation of efficient, cost-effective, and scalable processes tailored to your drug production needs.

[magicmindsblog]

API development is a cornerstone for contemporary applications in today’s hyper-related virtual world. APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) empower developers to integrate various systems and create seamless and enriched experiences, making them indispensable in app development.

This article illuminates you on why APIs matter and how businesses can leverage them for success. 

So, what’re you waiting for? Let’s delve deep into the world of API development. 

Happy reading!

[chemxpertdatabase]

https://enkling.com/read-blog/32141

Best Generic Medicine Company in India | Chemxpert database

India has established itself as a leading hub for the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in the production of high-quality, affordable generic medicines. The country’s robust pharmaceutical infrastructure, cutting-edge pharmaceutical labs near me, and a strong network of API suppliers in India position it as a vital player in the global healthcare market. Let’s dive deeper into the attributes that define the best generic medicine companies in India and explore their global significance.

[unculturedai]

Experiment #2.2 Doubling Down: Two Google Gemini AI Apps in 30 Days – My Journey

Hello everyone! 👋 Yesterday, I shared my pivot from my initial app idea due to a saturated market. This led me to explore new horizons with the Google Gemini API. Today, I’m thrilled to announce an even bolder challenge: developing two apps in the next 30 days! Two Apps, Two Purposes Public Project: Your Guide to AI App Development. My original concept, a goal-setting app, will continue…

[flutteragency]

Flutter for Web App Development: Exploring the Possibilities

In any area regarding computers, web development is constantly evolving constantly and picking the proper framework to make or break many projects. Flutter is an app that was designed for mobilized platforms; it is now supported by web development and offers choices to developers and businesses.

Being an innovative framework that is known to be proficient in the area of mobile application development, Flutter has made its ability functional on the web, which has brought out several possibilities. It’s estimated that around 85% of Flutter developers are building applications for multiple cross-platform app development concurrently.

This article focuses on the easy adjustment of Flutter technology, whereby developers can build innovative and adaptable web applications using only one codebase. Flutter Agency is the best platform to find Flutter developers with high experience and an affordable pricing model.

What’s flutter web?

Besides the fact that Flutter Web can be seen to extend Google’s UI software for web development called Flutter, Flutter Web, formerly designed for radio parts created in iOS and Android applications, allows designers to build web apps with the same source code. 

The single codebase, which is used for mobile and web platforms, together with responsiveness that looks beautiful as a result, signifies how Flutter developers can develop great-looking apps that work well across all devices.

What are the characteristics of Flutter Web?

Single codebase:

Code built in Flutter Web allows for code once as well as delivering it across platforms. Flutter’s homogenized code-ends for mobile and web apps encourage code reuse ability, commonality.

Declarative UI:

The way that Flutter renders its UI is from the declarative methodology of its developers by describing how to use the interface they need. This approach ensures consistency in appearance and using the same models across devices with major emphasis on browsers. 

Hot reload:

The first unique trait that Flutter Web has is the Hot Reload signature. With this tool, developers can view every change right away which allows them to develop through iterations and troubleshooting at higher speeds.

Access native features:

Thanks to the use of WEB server in Flutter, developers can take advantage of native browser features and APIs that provide geolocation location blocking camera access and so forth.

Optimizing performance: 

Flutter uses Dart programming along with JIT/AOT compilation to achieve this feature. This fastens up the launch and enhances functionalities such that online apps are smooth and interactive.

How did flutter evolve?

Google uncovered a mobile application creation tool that goes by the name Flutter. Known for its advanced nature, being outlined with an incredible database and beautiful features, making this framework more powerful compared to other applications due to the multiple fliers it consists of. 

Developers are enabled to build a one codebase rooted web app which, in response, ensures scalability and both contemporary features. At that moment the game expanded by providing Flutter developer tools to implement Flutter code on mobile as well online platforms.

Advantages of hiring flutter web app developers

Unified codebase, smooth experience:

One of the most notable advantages that come with using Flutter to build web apps is its ability to help programmers keep a reliable codebase. Save time, energy and task both by writing code once and distributing it on platforms. This straightforward approach ensures consistent design, functionality, as well as user engagements keeping application management and updates manageable.

Engaging, responsive UIs:

With the declarative UI paradigm of flutter, developers are able to build presentation software that responds and is very beautiful. Possessing a broad range of customizable widgets enables the framework facilitates layouts to adapt accordingly to differ perceivable sizes of the screen making it convenient for users device-friendly ultimately.

Proficient in flutter development:

The Flutter project completion can be checked on the persons’ portfolio. Check the developers’ skills, qualifications, and previous projects in order to verify their expertise.

References and client reviews:

Learn how the company communicates through client testimonials, its project management is learned from and what the clients are satisfied with. Or ask for references from past clients to which one can refer students for discussing their Flutter development business lives.

Development process & methodology:

Inquire why the company used a given development operating system technique. Cherishing transparency and clarity of project deliverance should be mandatory. The whole development process should remain dedicated to the practices of industry standards, rigorous testing, and regular updates.

Cross-platform experience:

Check the history of Flutter cross-platform development that is owned by the company. The cross-platform infrastructure is required for projects to the technologies by combination of iOS and Android or an activity which represents a solitary code-base.

Technical tools and stack:

Utilize only newer versions of Flutter and the recent updates in development tools for the organization. When you perform the verification, check their coding standards to ensure proper scaling and maintainability.

Effective communication and collaboration:

The only way to have a successful development collaboration is through the sort of effective communication that you describe. Communicate accordingly in terms of transparency. ask about collaboration tools, project management systems and the facility to allow or notify updates from clients.

Scalability and future support:

Assess how supportive the company is to your app’s growth. Mention updates of post-development, information on new specifications and coverage concerning the repairs. Ask about maintenance and support that are post launch related concerns and updates.

Conclusion

Flutter has changed the manner of when cross-platform developers must approach web apps. The fact that Flutter is diverse makes it easier for one to have a cross-platform experience because this language allows crafting web applications efficiently. 

The noise is now even louder in business spheres to hire Flutter app developers as they strive to find their bearings in this virtual world. These include a unified coding environment, flexible interface and incorporation of native tools for creating wholesome applications suitable to the modern web. 

With a growing ecosystem, businesses and developers can utilize this feature within the web development domain provided by Flutter. Flutter is assured of creativity and efficiency among the developers regardless of their proficiency levels when developing for the web.

[gouravsapra]

Accept Booking on your own Travel Portal for Flight, Car, Hotels and Tour Packages with 50+ pre Integration Support. Hashstudioz Technologies help travel agencies and tour operators in centralizing their operations, enhancing client engagements, and improving their marketing strategies with our Travel Technology services.

[bespokesoftwaredevelopment-blog]

Top Technologies That Will Transform The Fintech Industry

Financial Technology or fintech is revolutionising the way businesses and governments function worldwide. This innovative solution refers to the application of technology to improve and optimise the use and delivery of financial services.

Fintech startups build intelligent software and algorithms that help business owners and customers easily and effectively manage various financial operations. Some of the ingenious existing examples of fintech are mobile payments, online financing, stock trading, insurance, etc.

According to a report by Statista, there were 10,755 fintech startups in America, 9,323 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and 6,268 in the Asia Pacific Region in November 2021.

Another report states that the global fintech revenue is expected to grow from 92 billion euros in 2018 to 188 billion euros by 2024 at an average growth rate of 12%.

Fintech has considerable potential to disrupt the traditional banking and finance industry to improve and automate financial services. Considering the evolving rate of technology, a fintech startup must remain updated with the current trends to keep up with the market. Hence in the following sections, we have listed the five technology trends that can skyrocket the growth of a fintech startup. Also, how the Best mobile app design & development company in the UK can help you in Fintech App development.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence or AI imparts the problem-solving and thinking capabilities of humans to machines. In recent years, the fintech industry has become heavily dependent on AI for numerous purposes like decision making, improving digital payments, identifying purchasing behavior patterns, etc.

The global AI in the fintech market will grow from USD 7.25 billion in 2021 to USD 24.17 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 27.6%, reports Business Research Company.

AI can increase the value of the global banking industry by USD 1 trillion per year, says McKinsey.

AI applications like chat interfaces, wealth management, facial recognition, price forecasting, market trackers, etc., will be prevalent in the future and lead to an exponential rise in value creation. In addition, AI will drastically decrease the events of cybercrimes and financial threats because it effectively deals with unstructured data.

2. Blockchain

Blockchain is one of the most significant disruptive technologies that will radically change traditional financial services. It can be described as a digital ledger or database that records and distributes transactions in a business network.

Financial institutions use blockchain to increase security, reduce costs, and boost efficiency. This technology has been rising since 2018, tempting banks worldwide to adopt this innovative solution to secure their financial transactions.

According to research, the global blockchain in the fintech market can grow at a CAGR of 75.9%, increasing from USD 230 million in 2017 to USD 6228.2 million by 2023.

Blockchain records encrypted transactions that are impossible to penetrate. At the same time, it reduces the chances of hacking attacks by mandating transaction approval by network stakeholders. Moreover, Blockchain uses tokens as assets for value transfer, promoting the use of a single universal currency

3. Serverless

Serverless is an emerging technology that is rapidly changing the banking and financial industry by simplifying app creation. No matter what the size of your fintech startup, you can get remarkable benefits by utilising serverless features.

Your company can create and maintain applications on a simple cloud-based server in a serverless architecture. You don’t have to waste valuable resources on managing the servers or solving issues because the cloud providers maintain the back end of the app. No wonder why this technology is becoming popular among mobile app development companies.

Serverless architecture reduces the burden off your shoulder and helps you create lightweight apps easily and quickly to enhance your customer experience. Moreover, this increases business productivity and helps create new revenue streams for increased profits.

We are an App Development Company in the UK and a top provider of mobile app development services and have developed outstanding applications for fintech startups using Serverless technology.

4. Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation is a technology that uses software robots to emulate human activities like collecting data, moving files, filling forms, etc. RPA can be used to automate repeatable tasks that don’t need much human intelligence, making business processes effective.

Your company can use chatbots that interact with customers and answer their queries anytime during the day or night. The chatbots also take less time to reply to customers, enhancing user experience.

Other activities include data entry, managing and processing loans, consolidation and reporting, and analysing customers’ complaints. This simple technology can impart high value to any company, ensuring accuracy and high efficiency.

5. IoT

IoT or Internet of Things has given the fintech industry a tremendous boost in the past few years by providing extra security and increasing customer satisfaction. This technology can be described as a network of connected objects using sensors to collect and exchange data with other systems.

Markets and Markets Report says that the global IoT in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance market can grow at a CAGR of 52.1% from USD 249.4 million in 2018 to USD 2030 million by 2023.

According to a Statista report, the global IoT market is expected to grow from USD 389 billion in 2020 to over USD one trillion in 2030. At the same time, the number of IoT-connected devices would increase by 200%.

Cashless payments, introducing smart ATMs and banks, using security systems for fraud protection, supervising supply chain activity to reduce complicacy in debt collection, understanding the consumer market by analysing customer behavior, etc., are examples of how IoT helps businesses improve customer services.

The major benefit for you is that IoT is our area of speciality and we have made enough advancements in the building automation industry. For more information on Ficode IoT Services, click here.

Final Words

These five trending technologies are transforming the banking and financial world swiftly. A business using artificial intelligence, blockchain, serverless, Robotic Process Automation, and the Internet of Things can be highly productive, profitable, and popular. With ever-changing market demands and cut-throat competition, fintech startups must keep track of these trends to survive and flourish in the market.

If you want a simple and powerful mobile app for your fintech startup, you can partner with Ficode. We are a UK mobile app design and development company that provides bespoke app development services using innovative technology that exceeds your expectations.

We have the best app developers in the UK who will turn your raw ideas into profitable functional apps. Be it a smart android app or a stylish IOS app, our mobile app development services in the UK are one of the most affordable solutions.

Contact us now to know if you are looking for a Mobile App Development Company in the UK.

This post originally appeared on Ficode website, and we republished with permission from the author. Read the full piece here.

[survivetoread]

I'm a big fan of extensive reading apps for language learning, and even collaborated on such an app some 10 years ago. It eventually had to be shut down, sadly enough.

Right now, the biggest one in the market is the paywalled LingQ, which is pretty good, but well, requires money.

There's also the OG programs, LWT (Learning With Texts) and FLTR (Foreign Language Text Reader), which are so cumbersome to set up and use that I'm not going to bother with them.

I presently use Vocab Tracker as my daily driver, but I took a spin around GitHub to see what fresh new stuff is being developed. Here's an overview of what I found, as well as VT itself.

(There were a few more, like Aprelendo and TextLingo, which did not have end-user-friendly installations, so I'm not counting them).

Vocab Tracker

++ Available on web ++ 1-5 word-marking hotkeys and instant meanings makes using it a breeze ++ Supports websites

-- Default meaning/translation is not always reliable -- No custom languages -- Ugliest interface by far -- Does not always recognise user-selected phrases -- Virtually unusable on mobile -- Most likely no longer maintained/developed

Lute

++ Supports virtually all languages (custom language support), including Hindi and Sanskrit ++ Per-language, customisable dictionary settings ++ Excellent, customisable hotkey support

-- No instant meaning look-up makes it cumbersome to use, as you have to load an external dictionary for each word -- Docker installation

LinguaCafe

++ Instant meanings thanks to pre-loaded dictionaries ++ Supports ebooks, YouTube, subtitles, and websites ++ Customisable fonts ++ Best interface of the bunch

== Has 7 word learning levels, which may be too many for some

-- Hotkeys are not customisable (yet) and existing ones are a bit cumbersome (0 for known, for eg.) -- No online dictionary look-up other than DeepL, which requires an API key (not an intuitive process) -- No custom languages -- Supports a maximum of 15,000 characters per "chapter", making organising longer texts cumbersome -- Docker installation

Dzelda

++ Supports pdf and epub ++ Available on web

-- Requires confirming meaning for each word to mark that word, making it less efficient to read through -- No custom languages, supports only some Latin-script languages -- No user-customisable dictionaries (has a Google Form to suggest more dictionaries)

[whencyclopedia]

A Brief History of Egyptian Art

Art is an essential aspect of any civilization. Once the basic human needs have been taken care of such as food, shelter, some form of community law, and a religious belief, cultures begin producing artwork, and often all of these developments occur more or less simultaneously. This process began in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 - c. 3150 BCE) through images of animals, human beings, and supernatural figures inscribed on rock walls. These early images were crude in comparison to later developments but still express an important value of Egyptian cultural consciousness: balance.

Egyptian society was based on the concept of harmony known as ma'at which had come into being at the dawn of creation and sustained the universe. All Egyptian art is based on perfect balance because it reflects the ideal world of the gods. The same way these gods provided all good gifts for humanity, so the artwork was imagined and created to provide a use. Egyptian art was always first and foremost functional. No matter how beautifully a statue may have been crafted, its purpose was to serve as a home for a spirit or a god. An amulet would have been designed to be attractive but aesthetic beauty was not the driving force in its creation, protection was. Tomb paintings, temple tableaus, home and palace gardens all were created so that their form suited an important function and, in many cases, this function was a reminder of the eternal nature of life and the value of personal and communal stability.

Early Dynastic Period Art

The value of balance, expressed as symmetry, infused Egyptian art from the earliest times. The rock art from the Predynastic Period establishes this value which is fully developed and realized in the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (c. 3150 - c. 2613 BCE). Art from this period reaches its height in the work known as The Narmer Palette (c. 3200-3000 BCE) which was created to celebrate the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer (c. 3150 BCE). Through a series of engravings on a siltstone slab, shaped as a chevron shield, the story is told of the great king's victory over his enemies and how the gods encouraged and approved his actions. Although some of the images of the palette are difficult to interpret, the story of unification and the celebration of the king is quite clear.

On the front, Narmer is associated with the divine strength of the bull (possibly the Apis Bull) and is seen wearing the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt in a triumphal procession. Below him, two men wrestle with entwined beasts which are often interpreted as representing Upper and Lower Egypt (though this view is contested and there seems no justification for it). The reverse side shows the king's victory over his enemies while the gods look on approvingly. All these scenes are carved in low-raised relief with incredible skill.

This technique would be used quite effectively toward the end of the Early Dynastic Period by the architect Imhotep (c. 2667-2600 BCE) in designing the pyramid complex of King Djoser (c. 2670 BCE). Images of lotus flowers, papyrus plants, and the djed symbol are intricately worked into the architecture of the buildings in both high and low relief. By this time the sculptors had also mastered the art of working in stone to created three-dimensional life-sized statues. The statue of Djoser is among the greatest works of art from this period.

Continue reading...

[jcmarchi]

How Microsoft’s TorchGeo Streamlines Geospatial Data for Machine Learning Experts

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-microsofts-torchgeo-streamlines-geospatial-data-for-machine-learning-experts/

How Microsoft’s TorchGeo Streamlines Geospatial Data for Machine Learning Experts

In today’s data-driven world, geospatial information is essential for gaining insights into climate change, urban growth, disaster management, and global security. Despite its vast potential, working with geospatial data presents significant challenges due to its size, complexity, and lack of standardization. Machine learning can analyze these datasets yet preparing them for analysis can be time-consuming and cumbersome. This article examines how Microsoft’s TorchGeo facilitates the processing of geospatial data, enhancing accessibility for machine learning experts. We will discuss its key features and showcase real-world applications. By exploring how TorchGeo addresses these complexities, readers will gain insight into its potential for working with geospatial data.

The Growing Importance of Machine Learning for Geospatial Data Analysis

Geospatial data combines location-specific information with time, creating a complex network of data points. This complexity has made it challenging for researchers and data scientists to analyze and extract insights. One of the biggest hurdles is the sheer amount of data coming from sources like satellite imagery, GPS devices, and even social media. It’s not just the size, though — the data comes in different formats and requires a lot of preprocessing to make it usable. Factors such as differing resolutions, sensor types, and geographic diversity further complicate the analysis, often requiring specialized tools and significant preparation.

As the complexity and volume of geospatial data surpasses human processing capabilities, machine learning has become a valuable tool. It enables quicker and more insightful analysis, revealing patterns and trends that might otherwise be missed. But getting this data ready for machine learning is a complex task. It often means employing different software, converting incompatible file formats, and spending a lot of time cleaning up the data. This can slow down progress and make things more complicated for data scientists trying to benefit from the potential of geospatial analysis.

What is TorchGeo?

Addressing these challenges, Microsoft developed TorchGeo, a PyTorch extension designed to simplify geospatial data processing for machine learning experts.  TorchGeo offers pre-built datasets, data loaders, and preprocessing tools, allowing users to streamline the data preparation process. This way, machine learning practitioners can focus on model development rather than getting trapped by the complexities of geospatial data. The platform supports a wide range of datasets, including satellite imagery, land cover, and environmental data. Its seamless integration with PyTorch allows users to utilize features like GPU acceleration and custom model building, while keeping workflows straightforward.

Key Features of TorchGeo

Access to Diverse Geospatial Datasets

One of TorchGeo’s primary advantages is its built-in access to a wide range of geospatial datasets. The library comes pre-configured with several popular datasets, such as NASA’s MODIS data, Landsat satellite imagery, and datasets from the European Space Agency. Users can easily load and work with these datasets using TorchGeo’s API, removing the need for tedious downloading, formatting, and pre-processing. This access is particularly useful for researchers working in fields like climate science, agriculture, and urban planning. It accelerates the development process, allowing experts to focus on model training and experimentation rather than data wrangling.

Data Loaders and Transformers

Working with geospatial data often involves specific challenges, such as dealing with different coordinate reference systems or handling large raster images. TorchGeo addresses these issues by providing data loaders and transformers specifically designed for geospatial data.

For example, the library includes utilities for handling multi-resolution imagery, which is common in satellite data. It also provides transformations that allow users to crop, rescale, and augment geospatial data on-the-fly during model training. These tools help ensure that the data is in the correct format and shape for use in machine learning models, reducing the need for manual preprocessing.

Preprocessing and Augmentation

Data preprocessing and augmentation are crucial steps in any machine learning pipeline, and this is especially true for geospatial data. TorchGeo offers several built-in methods for preprocessing geospatial data, including normalization, clipping, and resampling. These tools help users clean and prepare their data before feeding it into a machine learning model.

PyTorch Integration

TorchGeo is built directly on PyTorch, allowing users to seamlessly integrate it into their existing workflows. This offers a key advantage, as machine learning experts can continue using familiar tools like PyTorch’s autograd for automatic differentiation and its wide range of pre-trained models.

By treating geospatial data as a core part of the PyTorch ecosystem, TorchGeo makes it easier to move from data loading to model building and training. With PyTorch’s features like GPU acceleration and distributed training, even large geospatial datasets can be handled efficiently, making the entire process smoother and more accessible.

Support for Custom Models

Many geospatial machine learning tasks necessitate the development of custom models designed for specific challenges, such as identifying agricultural patterns or detecting urban sprawl. In these cases, off-the-shelf models are inadequate for meeting the specific needs. TorchGeo provides the flexibility for machine learning experts to design and train custom models suited to geospatial tasks. Beyond data handling, it supports complex model architectures like convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and transformers, offering a robust foundation for addressing specialized problems.

Real-World Applications of TorchGeo

TorchGeo is already making a significant impact in various industries that rely heavily on geospatial data and machine learning. Here are a few examples:

Agriculture: Agricultural researchers are using TorchGeo to predict crop yields, monitor soil health, and identify patterns of water usage. By processing satellite images and weather data, models can be built to assess the health of crops, enabling early detection of issues like drought or disease. These insights can drive decisions about resource allocation and even government policy on food security.

Urban Planning: Urbanization is rapidly changing landscapes, and planners need accurate data to design sustainable cities. TorchGeo enables urban planners to analyze satellite imagery and geographic information to model urban growth patterns, optimize infrastructure, and forecast how cities might expand over time.

Environmental Monitoring: With the growing threat of climate change, environmental scientists rely on data from various geospatial sources, including satellite imagery and weather sensors, to monitor changes in forests, oceans, and the atmosphere. TorchGeo allows them to streamline the analysis of these datasets, providing actionable insights on deforestation rates, glacial melting, and greenhouse gas emissions. This can help both governments and private organizations make data-driven decisions about conservation efforts.

Disaster Management: In disaster-prone areas, machine learning models that utilize geospatial data are crucial for predicting natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and wildfires. TorchGeo simplifies the integration of datasets from various sources, like weather forecasts and historical satellite imagery, enabling the development of predictive models. These models enhance response times, optimize resource allocation, and ultimately have the potential to save lives.

The Bottom Line

As geospatial data continues to expand, tools like TorchGeo will become increasingly vital for helping machine learning experts extract insights from this information. By offering user-friendly access to standardized geospatial datasets, streamlining the data processing pipeline, and integrating seamlessly with PyTorch, TorchGeo eliminates many traditional barriers associated with working in this domain. This not only simplifies the task for experts addressing real-world challenges but also paves the way for new innovations in areas such as climate science, urban planning, and disaster response.

[chemxpertdatabase]

Caffeine in the USA | Chemical Properties, Market Size, and Regulatory Landscape

Caffeine is a familiar friend whose usefulness can hardly be overestimated, it is taken in the morning and during working hours to prevent the sense of fatigue. This psychoactive stimulant used in drinks as coffee, tea, energy drinks and in various dietary supplements has attracted consumers worldwide. It is a complex compound, which has a multi-faceted role in our daily lives, that is why caffeine an indispensable part of our diets and a major component in the global economy. In this blog, we look at the basic details about caffeine including its chemical properties, the growth in global market size over the years and the current rules governing it in the United States.

[4okra]

my term paper written in 2018 (how ND games were made and why they will never be made that way again)

hello friends, I am going to be sharing portions of a paper i wrote way back in 2018 for a college class. in it, i was researching exactly how the ND games were made, and why they would not be made that way anymore.

if you have any interest in the behind the scenes of how her interactive made their games and my theories as to why our evil overlord penny milliken made such drastic changes to the process, read on!

warning that i am splicing portions of this paper together, so you don't have to read my ramblings about the history of nancy and basic gameplay mechanics:

Use of C++, DirectX, and Bink Video

Upon completion of each game, the player can view the game’s credits. HeR states that each game was developed using C++ and DirectX, as well as Bink Video later on.

C++

          C++ is a general-purpose programming language. This means that many things can be done with it, gaming programming included. It is a compiled language, which Jack Copeland explains as the “process of converting a table of instructions into a standard description or a description number” (Copeland 12). This means that written code is broken down into a set of numbers that the computer can then understand. C++ first appeared in 1985 and was first standardized in 1998. This allowed programmers to use the language more widely. It is no coincidence that 1998 is also the year that the first Nancy Drew game was released.

C++ Libraries

          When there is a monetary investment to make a computer game, there are more people using and working on whatever programming language they are using. Because there was such an interest in making games in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, there was essentially a “boom” in how much C++ and other languages were being used. With that many people using the language, they collectively added on to the language to make it simpler to use. This process ends up creating what is called “libraries.” For example:

          If a programmer wants to make a function to add one, they must write out the code that does that (let’s say approximately three lines of code). To make this process faster, the programmer can define a symbol, such as + to mean add. Now, when the programmer types “+”, the language knows that equals the three lines of code previously mentioned, as opposed to typing out those three lines of code each time the programmer wants to add. This can be done for all sorts of symbols and phrases, and when they are all put together, they are called a “package” or “library.”

          Libraries can be shared with other programmers, which allows everyone to do much more with the language much faster. The more libraries there are, the more that can be done with the language.

          Because of the interest in the gaming industry in the early 2000’s, more people were being paid to use programming languages. This caused a fast increase in the ability of programming. This helps to explain how HeR was able to go from jerky, bobble-headed graphics in 1999 to much more fluid and realistic movements in 2003.

Microsoft DirectX

          DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for tasks related to multimedia, especially video game programming, on Microsoft platforms. Among many others, these APIs include Direct3D (allows the user to draw 3D graphics and render 3D animation), DirectDraw (accelerates the rendering of graphics), and DirectMusic (allows interactive control over music and sound effects). This software is crucial for the development of many games, as it includes many services that would otherwise require multiple programs to put together (which would not only take more time but also more money, which is important to consider in a small company like HeR).

Bink Video

          According to the credits which I have painstakingly looked through for each game, HeR started using Bink Video in game 7, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (2002). Bink is a file format (.bik) developed by RAD Game Tools. This file format has to do with how much data is sent in a package to the Graphical User Interface (GUI). (The GUI essentially means that the computer user interacts with representational graphics rather than plain text. For example, we understand that a plain drawing of a person’s head and shoulders means “user.”) Bink Video structures the data sent in a package so that when it reaches the Central Processing Unit (CPU), it is processed more efficiently. This allows for more data to be transferred per second, making graphics and video look more seamless and natural. Bink Video also allows for more video sequences to be possible in a game.

Use of TransGaming Inc.

          Sea of Darkness is the only title that credits a company called TransGaming Inc, though I’m pretty sure they’ve been using it for every Mac release, starting in 2010. TransGaming created a technology called Cider that allowed video game developers to run games designed for Windows on Mac OS X (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Findev). As one can imagine, this was an incredibly helpful piece of software that allowed for HeR to start releasing games on Mac platforms. This was a smart way for them to increase their market. 

          In 2015, a portion of TransGaming was acquired by NVIDIA, and in 2016, TransGaming changed its business focus from technology to real estate financing. Though it is somewhat difficult to determine which of its formal products are still available, it can be assumed that they will not be developing anything else technology-based from 2016 on.

          Though it is entirely possible that there is other software available for converting Microsoft based games to Mac platforms, the loss of TransGaming still has large consequences. For a relatively small company like Her Interactive, hiring an entire team to convert the game for Mac systems was a big deal (I know they did this because it is in the credits of SEA which you can see at the end of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0gAzD7Q09Y). Without this service, HeR loses a large portion of their customers.

Switch to Unity

          Unity is a game engine that is designed to work across 27 platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, and multiple Virtual Reality systems. The engine itself is written in C++, though the user of the software writes code in C#, JavaScript (also called UnityScript), or less commonly Boo. Its initial release took place in 2005, with a stable release in 2017 and another in March of 2018. Some of the most popular games released using Unity include Pokemon Go for iOS in 2016 and Cuphead in 2017.

          HeR’s decision to switch to Unity makes sense on one hand but is incredibly frustrating on the other. Let’s start with how it makes sense. The software HeR was using from TransGaming Inc. will (from what I can tell) never be updated again, meaning it will become virtually useless soon, if it hasn’t already. That means that HeR needed to find another software that would allow them to convert their games onto a Mac platform so that they would not lose a large portion of their customers. This was probably seen as an opportunity to switch to something completely new that would allow them to reach even more platforms. One of the points HeR keeps harping on and on about in their updates to fans is the tablet market, as well as increasing popularity in VR. If HeR wants to survive in the modern game market, they need to branch outside of PC gaming. Unity will allow them to do that. The switch makes sense.

          However, one also has to consider all of the progress made in their previous game engine. Everything discussed up to this point has taken 17 years to achieve. And, because their engine was designed by their developers specifically for their games, it is likely that after the switch, their engine will never be used again. Additionally, none of the progress HeR made previously applies to Unity, and can only be used as a reference. Plus, it’s not just the improvements made in the game engine that are being erased. It is also the staff at HeR who worked there for so long, who were so integral in building their own engine and getting the game quality to where it is in Sea of Darkness, that are being pushed aside for a new gaming engine. New engine, new staff that knows how to use it.

          The only thing HeR won’t lose is Bink Video, if that means anything to anyone. Bink2 works with Unity. According to the Bink Video website, Bink supplies “pre-written plugins for both Unreal 4 and Unity” (Rad Game Tools). However, I can’t actually be sure that HeR will still use Bink in their next game since I don’t work there. It would make sense if they continued to use it, but who knows.

Conclusions and frustrations

          To me, Her Interactive is the little company that could. When they set out to make the first Nancy Drew game, there was no engine to support it. Instead of changing their tactics, they said to heck with it and built their own engine. As years went on, they refined their engine using C++ and DirectX and implemented Bink Video. In 2010 they began using software from TransGaming Inc. that allowed them to convert their games to Mac format, allowing them to increase their market. However, with TransGaming Inc.’s falling apart starting in 2015, HeR was forced to rethink its strategy. Ultimately they chose to switch their engine out for Unity, essentially throwing out 17 years worth of work and laying off many of their employees. Now three years in the making, HeR is still largely secretive about the status of their newest game. The combination of these factors has added up to a fanbase that has become distrustful, frustrated, and altogether largely disappointed in what was once that little company that could.

Suggested Further Reading:

Midnight in Salem, OR Her Interactive’s Marketing Nightmare (Part 2): https://saving-face.net/2017/07/07/midnight-in-salem-or-her-interactives-marketing-nightmare-part-2/

Compilation of MID Facts: http://community.herinteractive.com/showthread.php?1320771-Compilation-of-MID-Facts

Game Building - Homebrew or Third Party Engines?: https://thementalattic.com/2016/07/29/game-building-homebrew-or-third-party-engines/

/end of essay. it is crazy to go back and read this again in 2025. mid had not come out yet when i wrote this and i genuinely did not think it would ever come out. i also had to create a whole power point to go along with this and present it to my entire class of people who barely even knew what nancy drew was, let alone that there was a whole series of pc games based on it lol

[mariacallous]

A young entrepreneur who was among the earliest known recruiters for Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has a new, related gig—and he’s hiring. Anthony Jancso, cofounder of AccelerateX, a government tech startup, is looking for technologists to work on a project that aims to have artificial intelligence perform tasks that are currently the responsibility of tens of thousands of federal workers.

Jancso, a former Palantir employee, wrote in a Slack with about 2000 Palantir alumni in it that he’s hiring for a “DOGE orthogonal project to design benchmarks and deploy AI agents across live workflows in federal agencies,” according to an April 21 post reviewed by WIRED. Agents are programs that can perform work autonomously.

“We’ve identified over 300 roles with almost full-process standardization, freeing up at least 70k FTEs for higher-impact work over the next year,” he continued, essentially claiming that tens of thousands of federal employees could see many aspects of their job automated and replaced by these AI agents. Workers for the project, he wrote, would be based on site in Washington, DC, and would not require a security clearance; it isn’t clear for whom they would work. Palantir did not respond to requests for comment.

The post was not well received. Eight people reacted with clown face emojis, three reacted with a custom emoji of a man licking a boot, two reacted with custom emoji of Joaquin Phoenix giving a thumbs down in the movie Gladiator, and three reacted with a custom emoji with the word “Fascist.” Three responded with a heart emoji.

“DOGE does not seem interested in finding ‘higher impact work’ for federal employees,” one person said in a comment that received 11 heart reactions. “You’re complicit in firing 70k federal employees and replacing them with shitty autocorrect.”

“Tbf we’re all going to be replaced with shitty autocorrect (written by chatgpt),” another person commented, which received one “+1” reaction.

“How ‘DOGE orthogonal’ is it? Like, does it still require Kremlin oversight?” another person said in a comment that received five reactions with a fire emoji. “Or do they just use your credentials to log in later?”

Got a Tip?Are you a current or former government employee who wants to talk about what's happening? We'd like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at carolinehaskins.61 and vittoria89.82.

AccelerateX was originally called AccelerateSF, which VentureBeat reported in 2023 had received support from OpenAI and Anthropic. In its earliest incarnation, AccelerateSF hosted a hackathon for AI developers aimed at using the technology to solve San Francisco’s social problems. According to a 2023 Mission Local story, for instance, Jancso proposed that using large language models to help businesses fill out permit forms to streamline the construction paperwork process might help drive down housing prices. (OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. Anthropic spokesperson Danielle Ghiglieri tells WIRED that the company "never invested in AccelerateX/SF,” but did sponsor a hackathon AccelerateSF hosted in 2023 by providing free access to its API usage at a time when its Claude API “was still in beta.”)

In 2024, the mission pivoted, with the venture becoming known as AccelerateX. In a post on X announcing the change, the company posted, “Outdated tech is dragging down the US Government. Legacy vendors sell broken systems at increasingly steep prices. This hurts every American citizen.” AccelerateX did not respond to a request for comment.

According to sources with direct knowledge, Jancso disclosed that AccelerateX had signed a partnership agreement with Palantir in 2024. According to the LinkedIn of someone described as one of AccelerateX’s cofounders, Rachel Yee, the company looks to have received funding from OpenAI’s Converge 2 Accelerator. Another of AccelerateSF’s cofounders, Kay Sorin, now works for OpenAI, having joined the company several months after that hackathon. Sorin and Yee did not respond to requests for comment.

Jancso’s cofounder, Jordan Wick, a former Waymo engineer, has been an active member of DOGE, appearing at several agencies over the past few months, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Education. In 2023, Jancso attended a hackathon hosted by ScaleAI; WIRED found that another DOGE member, Ethan Shaotran, also attended the same hackathon.

Since its creation in the first days of the second Trump administration, DOGE has pushed the use of AI across agencies, even as it has sought to cut tens of thousands of federal jobs. At the Department of Veterans Affairs, a DOGE associate suggested using AI to write code for the agency’s website; at the General Services Administration, DOGE has rolled out the GSAi chatbot; the group has sought to automate the process of firing government employees with a tool called AutoRIF; and a DOGE operative at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is using AI tools to examine and propose changes to regulations. But experts say that deploying AI agents to do the work of 70,000 people would be tricky if not impossible.

A federal employee with knowledge of government contracting, who spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, says, “A lot of agencies have procedures that can differ widely based on their own rules and regulations, and so deploying AI agents across agencies at scale would likely be very difficult.”

Oren Etzioni, cofounder of the AI startup Vercept, says that while AI agents can be good at doing some things—like using an internet browser to conduct research—their outputs can still vary widely and be highly unreliable. For instance, customer service AI agents have invented nonexistent policies when trying to address user concerns. Even research, he says, requires a human to actually make sure what the AI is spitting out is correct.

“We want our government to be something that we can rely on, as opposed to something that is on the absolute bleeding edge,” says Etzioni. “We don't need it to be bureaucratic and slow, but if corporations haven't adopted this yet, is the government really where we want to be experimenting with the cutting edge AI?”

Etzioni says that AI agents are also not great 1-1 fits for job replacements. Rather, AI is able to do certain tasks or make others more efficient, but the idea that the technology could do the jobs of 70,000 employees would not be possible. “Unless you're using funny math,” he says, “no way.”

Jancso, first identified by WIRED in February, was one of the earliest recruiters for DOGE in the months before Donald Trump was inaugurated. In December, Jancso, who sources told WIRED said he had been recruited by Steve Davis, president of the Musk-founded Boring Company and a current member of DOGE, used the Palantir alumni group to recruit DOGE members. On December 2nd, 2024, he wrote, “I’m helping Elon’s team find tech talent for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the new admin. This is a historic opportunity to build an efficient government, and to cut the federal budget by 1/3. If you’re interested in playing a role in this mission, please reach out in the next few days.”

According to one source at SpaceX, who asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorized to speak to the press, Jancso appeared to be one of the DOGE members who worked out of the company’s DC office in the days before inauguration along with several other people who would constitute some of DOGE’s earliest members. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

Palantir was cofounded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire and longtime Trump supporter with close ties to Musk. Palantir, which provides data analytics tools to several government agencies including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, has received billions of dollars in government contracts. During the second Trump administration, the company has been involved in helping to build a “mega API” to connect data from the Internal Revenue Service to other government agencies, and is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to create a massive surveillance platform to identify immigrants to target for deportation.

[wickworks]

Crescent Loom & genetic algorithms

I recently got an email about Crescent Loom asking about opening it up with an API or something to fine-tune the parameter space of its bodies & neurons, and I put enough thought into writing a response I thought it'd be worth sharing here too:

The idea of incorporating a genetic algo came up enough during development that I actually made this graphic to respond with:

In short, as a biologist, I've found myself more interested in making a game about intelligent design than evolution (lol). My thoughts have evolved somewhat since the initial "scope" issue — my party line for years has been that I'm making this thing in order to let people get their hands into the guts of biological nervous systems, not to let them press a button and have the computer give them a funny animal. Crescent Loom as a game already struggles with being too close to being a fishbowl screensaver maker (you make your little guy… and then what?) and trying to automate more of the creation process only worsens that problem. I also think that "evolution" games that use genetic algorithms as their primary mechanic are honeypots that trap developers working in this field but never produce compelling gameplay because of a fundamentally cursed problem that the most interesting thing the program is doing is not directly visible to the playe. "It's getting better at doing stuff? I guess?" — it's a fun mechanic to program, not play. And weirdly people almost always only think of doing it for biology-themed games, not ones like Kerbal that are doing the same damn thing but the idea of evolution isn't as close at hand (though there's been some cool demos done for driving games). But I hear where the idea is coming from that searching the parameter space is not a fun process, and the story that "centaurs" of humans running things with a computer taking care of the details outperforming either working alone is an alluring one. Getting an open API with CL handling the UI of weaving a nervous system and allowing it to be modified or plugged into whatever you want would open up a lotta possibilities — genetic algos, sure, but also stuff like CL-made networks driving robots or something. And if you had emailed me like two months ago, that's where my email would have ended, but I recently connected with someone who's done basically that: check out FEAGI and Neurorobotics. Mohammad's been working on a very much more implementation-agnostic neural-net-genetic-algorithm series of projects. Definitely less "pick up and play" than CL, but it's about as close to that open API idea that I think we're ever going to see. He's doing it better than I could ever do with CL, so it's kind of nice to be able to say that that dream's taken care of so I can focus on education & accessibility rather than making it a general-purpose tool.

[triviallytrue]

i am not really interested in game development but i am interested in modding (or more specifically cheat creation) as a specialized case of reverse-engineering and modifying software running on your machine

like okay for a lot of games the devs provide some sort of easy toolkit which lets even relatively nontechnical players write mods, and these are well-documented, and then games which don't have those often have a single-digit number of highly technical modders who figure out how to do injection and create some kind of api for the less technical modders to use, and that api is often pretty well documented, but the process of creating it absolutely isn't

it's even more interesting for cheat development because it's something hostile to the creators of the software, you are actively trying to break their shit and they are trying to stop you, and of course it's basically completely undocumented because cheat developers both don't want competitors and also don't want the game devs to patch their methods....

maybe some of why this is hard is because it's pretty different for different types of games. i think i'm starting to get a handle on how to do it for this one game - so i know there's a way to do packet sniffing on the game, where the game has a dedicated port and it sends tcp packets, and you can use the game's tick system and also a brute-force attack on its very rudimentary encryption to access the raw packets pretty easily.

through trial and error (i assume) people have figured out how to decode the packets and match them up to various ingame events, which is already used in a publicly available open source tool to do stuff like DPS calculation.

i think, without too much trouble, you could probably step this up and intercept/modify existing packets? like it looks like while damage is calculated on the server side, whether or not you hit an enemy is calculated on the client side and you could maybe modify it to always hit... idk.

apparently the free cheats out there (which i would not touch with a 100 foot pole, odds those have something in them that steals your login credentials is close to 100%) operate off a proxy server model, which i assume intercepts your packets, modifies them based on what cheats you tell it you have active, and then forwards them to the server.

but they also manage to give you an ingame GUI to create those cheats, which is clearly something i don't understand. the foss sniffer opens itself up in a new window instead of modifying the ingame GUI.

man i really want to like. shadow these guys and see their dev process for a day because i'm really curious. and also read their codebase. but alas