TechGrinch

Top 3 Android development books for beginners

2014-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Four months ago, willing to improve my technology stack, I decided to learn how to build Android applications. As a Java developer I didn't have any difficulties with the platform, because it is Java based. If you want to learn Android, my strongly recommendation is to learn Java first. I'm not saying that you should be a ninja, but knowing the basics of Java will help you progress faster in the Android ecosystem. Below are three of the books I found suitable for beginners and everyone who wants to get familiar with the Android platform.

1. Learning Android - Building Applications for the Android Market.
Author: Marko Gargenta

The first Android book I have read. During the whole read you are learning the basic components of Android and develop a twitter-like application called Yamba. The style of the author is perfect for newbies or in other words - everything is clearly explained. The source code of the application that is build during the reading can be found at https://github.com/twitter-university/LearningAndroidYamba.

2. Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform
Author: Ed Burnette

Also a good starting book. I haven't read it but it is recommended by many Android developers. Sections that are covered in this book, missing in the described above, are video and audio support, graphics and tutorial on publishing your app to the Android Market.

3. Beginning Android 4 Development
Author: Wei-Ming Lee

I am half way through this book, but bravely can say it's very good. It includes real-world programming examples, exercises and best practices in Android development. Starts with topics about the SDK, main building blocks, user interfaces and so on. It covers all things that Android 4 developers need to know about smartphones and tablets.

Interesting Raspberry Pi projects

2014-10-06T13:25:00.002-07:00

Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer which costs less than 35$ uses Linux and it's main purpose is to teach children how computers work and how to program. You can use it for processing high-definition video, playing simple games or create an amazing tech project like the ones I will describe here. If you want to become more familiar with the Raspberry Pi project visit http://www.raspberrypi.org/

1. Home Automation

Very popular topic these days. For those of you who don't know after 5 to 10 years most of our home devices like fridge, washing machine, air conditioner, oven and many more will be connected to Internet. There is a name for that - Internet of Everything. You will be able to control your home devices remotely from work or on your way home. If you want to impress your friends you can buy Raspberry Pi and use it for home automation. Full description of how to do it you can find at http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-GPIO-home-automation/.

2. Digital pictures frames

You can make automated art gallery in a picture frame. The idea is that the Raspberry Pi(RPi) chooses random picture from initially set website and displays it on a LCD monitor. Yes, it is possible to connect RPi to a monitor through HDMI or RCA. Description of how to do it: http://theswitchtolinux.blogspot.com/2012/12/raspberry-pi-daily-deviations-picture.html

3. Robotic prosthetic knee

Dr. Elliott Rouse uses Raspberry Pi in his research at the MIT Media Lab. Learn more at http://www.elliottjrouse.com/postdoctoral-research/

Penny stocks and spam - take the money and run.

2014-09-30T13:38:00.002-07:00

Penny stocks or cent stocks are common shares of small public companies that are traded at low prices. In the United States and United Kingdom, penny stock is a security that is traded below 5$ and respectively 1£. People are often attracted of the opportunity of getting rich when buying these low cost stocks, taking huge risk without realizing it. Have you watch the movie with Leonardo Di Caprio "The Wolf of Wallstreet"? The main character, Jordan Belfort, started his career as a penny stock broker and ended up as an outlaw. Do you feel what I'm trying to say? Such stocks can be highly volatile and subject to manipulation of such stock brokers.

However, if you consider buying that kind of stocks take a look at pennystock.com. The website advertise itself as Forbes recommended but I haven't researched if this information is true. Another interesting source is redchip.com which has it's own TV show on Bloomberg.

So where is the spam part? As I said, penny stocks are highly volatile and can be manipulated easily. A huge spam campaign which promotes buying securities for 0.35$ of a company that has invented a revolutionary product will result in increasing the stock price. The product of the company is mirage but for a person who wants to get rich quickly this is the chance of his/her life. The mastermind of this spam campaign bought 100, 000 stocks in advanced and now watching how the price is jumping from 0.35$ to maybe 2-3$. So what is the profit? Invest 35,000$ and get 200,000$. If you visit pennystock.com you will see that this case is not impossible.
.

3 interesting online courses in www.coursera.org

2014-09-24T12:35:00.003-07:00

Coursera is an education platform that offers free online courses from top universities and organizations worldwide. The main driven power behind the platform is to provide education for people all around the world that will improve their lives.

Discover a course, sign up, learn on your schedule and achieve goals are the steps part of the coursera's learn cycle. I have finished several courses on the platform and will introduce you the most interesting and useful in my opinion.

1. Financial Markets - Yale University

If you want to get fundamental knowledge of the financial markets, this is your course. Eight topics that cover Basic Principles of Finance and Risk Management, Efficient Markets vs. Behavioral Finance, Debt vs. Equity, Real Estate, Regulation and Enterprise, Forward Futures and Options Markets, Monetary Policy, Critical Elements of the Financial Infrastructure and Finance and the Broader Public Purpose. If you have two hours after work and don't want to waste them in front of the TV, enroll now.

2. Malicious Software and its Underground Economy: Two Sides to Every Story - University of London

Have you ever wonder how cyber criminals make money? This six week course will introduce you the cybercrime economy, mobile malware threats, malicious software and will give you a glimpse at Static and Dynamic analysis. It is recommended to have some background in operating systems, computer architecture and basic knowledge of computer security.

3. An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python - Rice University

Nine week course which purpose is to introduce you with the basics of programming in Python. During the course the participants will build simple interactive games such as Pong, Blackjack and Asteroids. If you have little or no computing background but want to learn how to program enroll for free.

A journey through the Deep Net

2014-09-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

Do you know that only 4% of the digital content is accessible through Google or any other search engine? The other part is hidden and it's called Deep Net. Why something should be hidden on the internet except if it is a corporate or government data, personal or some other sensitive information?
Well if you want to know keep reading.

Drugs, guns, assassins, black hat hackers and child sexual abuse are only smart part of the hidden web. You can easily buy any kind of drugs, order to kill someone you don't like or just pay 150$ for 100 credit card numbers. The price can vary. Here the preferred currency is Bitcoin.

How to take a journey into the Deep Net?

First download the Tor web browser plugin from https://www.torproject.org/. Tor is a free software which is used if you don't want to be tracked on internet. It assures anonymity and defends against traffic analysis. More about Tor you can find here.

So, if you have installed the Tor plugin and wandering how to access all of the notorious stuff described above you will need to search for hidden web pages. All of them ends with .onion for top-level domain. I will save you time - http://deepweblinks.org/. Not all of them work but they are updated regularly.

DISCLAIMER:
This article is only for educational purpose and I am not responsible for any illegal activities that may occur due to the idea of this article.

I will not talk about buying guns or drugs on the Deep Net. I will make general overview of money laundering scheme.

Many of the .onion sites offers stolen credit card numbers with different amount in the account. So the scheme is as follows. Buy hundred cards. With these cards buy bitcoins. Open many bictoin wallets. Transfer the bitcoins in the newly created wallets. Make many transactions. Sell the bitcoins.

Well keep in mind that many governments know about the dark net and pretend to be buyer or seller.

Initial thoughts

2014-09-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hi, guys!
My name is Boyko Dimitrov and I live in Sofia, Bulgaria. Currently I work as a Software Developer at Dreamix Ltd. and my specialty is Java. See my LinkedIn profile to get acquainted of the technologies I am feeling comfortable to work with. Recently I got the inner feeling to write about the things I am interested in - Technologies, StartUp's and Finance. That's why this blog has been created. I will share my personal experience as a developer and interesting for me news, ideas and something else(food recipes maybe).
Let's see what will happen!