With a working HAL, we are able to go further, directly into the Android framework, where the most important system internals are implemented. First we take a look at the Java Native Interface (JNI) Layer, which is located between the HAL and a custom system service, before continuing to the binder, permissions and the manager. Weiterlesen
Simplifying the Android developer’s life with Architecture Components
Some weeks ago at the I/O 2017 Google announced that they are working on some components to make the Android developers‘ life easier. They released a bunch of libraries which are supposed to take care of the lifecycle and suggest an architecture to rely on when developing an app. Despite the libraries not being considered stable by now, the community has been pretty excited about this and is adapting to it already. And indeed the libraries are working pretty stable already, some APIs might change though due to community feedback. Let’s have a closer look! Weiterlesen
Neural Networks in the Browser
Neural networks are the basis of some pretty impressive recent advances in machine learning. From greatly improved translation to automatic transfer of painting styles and from expert-level Go to Super Smash Bros, neural networks seem to to conquer various fields previously dominated by human performance. The on-going progress in different algorithms and techniques allows the application of neural networks in more and more use cases. Combined with the continuous maturing of the web as an application platform (see progressive web apps) this begs the question whether neural network applications can be deployed as web apps with all the advantages that come along with them. Weiterlesen
7 Checkpoints für einen guten Feedback Loop
Da Daten ohne Kosten verteilt und kopiert werden können, ist es mitunter schwierig, ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal für einen Online-Dienst oder eine Webseite zu finden. Die Nutzung von Daten, die während des Gebrauchs einer Website oder eines Dienstes anfallen, die Interaktionsdaten, können ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal für das Produkt erzeugen. Dies ist sowohl aus geschäftlicher Sicht als auch aus technischer Sicht sinnvoll, wie ich in meinem letzten Artikel über den Feedback Loop verdeutlicht habe. Heute werde ich meiner Ankündigung gerecht, eine Checkliste mit den wichtigsten Aspekten für die Erstellung eines Feedback Loops zu präsentieren. Weiterlesen
Re-usable Web Interfaces with client-side Frameworks and Web Components (Part 2)
In the first part of our series we elaborated on the common use of Web Components and web frameworks taking Angular and Polymer as examples. We ended the article with the statement that both suffer from essential compatibility issues which aren’t fixed so far. So now we will illustrate solutions for these problems and thus enable applications with Angular and Polymer running side by side. Weiterlesen
Mehrwerte von Cloud Services in hybriden DWH-Architekturen
Die Gründe, IT-Infrastruktur aus dem eigenen Rechenzentrum in eine (Public) Cloud zu verschieben, sind vielfältig und einleuchtend: Niedrigere Kosten, schnellere Time-to-market und Effizienz des Kapitaleinsatzes, um nur die Wichtigsten zu nennen. Die komplette Verlagerung eines Corporate Data Warehouse in die Cloud ist allerdings bislang eher die Ausnahme. Abgesehen von der gerade in Deutschland sehr ernsthaft geführten Datenschutz-Diskussion würde es viel Aufwand und Kosten bedeuten, die Daten aller relevanten Quellsysteme mit der Cloud zu synchronisieren oder alle Systeme des Unternehmens dorthin umzuziehen. Ein Zwischenweg stellen hybride DWH-Architekturen dar, welche selektiv Cloud-Dienste nutzen und dabei die On-Premises und Cloud-Datenbestände intelligent integrieren. Die Vorteile dieser Services für Data-Management- und Analytics-Aufgaben werden in den folgenden Abschnitten dargestellt. Im Anschluss werden einige typische Szenarien aus der Praxis vorgestellt. Weiterlesen
Declarative Thinking and Programming
Before we actually dive into this topic, imagine the following: You just moved to a new place and the time is ripe for a little house-warming dinner with your best friends Alice and Bob. Since Alice is really tech-savvy you just send her a digital invitation with date, time and of course your new address that she can add to her calendar with a single click. With good old Bob is a bit more difficult, he is having a real struggle with modern IT. That’s why you decide to send him an e-mail not only including the time and location but also a suggestion which train to take to your city, details about the trams, stops, the right street and so. Weiterlesen
Migrating an embedded Android setup: HAL (Part 3)
After we spoke about the Linux Kernel issues that arise when porting our embedded setup to an new Android version in the previous two articles, we finally arrive in the mystical world of Android. As this part is straight forward, we’ll continue right to the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). Weiterlesen
Re-usable Web Interfaces with client-side Frameworks and Web Components (Part 1)
In the first part of our series we will clear up the differences between web frameworks and Web Components and motivate their common usage. Why shouldn’t we develop highly interactive applications with standardized user interfaces? To answer this question, we will elaborate fundamental problems with the examples of Angular (2+) and Polymer (1.x). Weiterlesen
Anomaly Detection: (Dis-)advantages of k-means clustering
In the previous post we talked about network anomaly detection in general and introduced a clustering approach using the very popular k-means algorithm. In this blog post we will show you some of the advantages and disadvantages of using k-means. Furthermore we will give a general overview about techniques other than clustering which can be used for anomaly detection. Weiterlesen