What is AI?

http://www.kdnuggets.com/2017/04/grakn-artificial-intelligence-ingredients-intelligence.html

Quoting:
"So what does it really mean for an application to be “intelligent”? What does it take to create a system that is “artificially intelligent?
(...) The Turing Test. “A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human,” said Turing. Since its advent in the 1950s, it has been the most common litmus test employed in AI. The test is rudimentary but it presents a baseline that needs to be reached before it can be considered intelligent.

Fooling Turing — Components of an AI system
 
(...) create a system that can pass the Turing Test.
According to Norvig and Russell:

In order to pass the Turing Test, the computer would need to possess the following capabilities:

natural language processing,
knowledge representation,
automated reasoning, and
machine learning

Now, I assume you already trust that I’m quoting from an authoritative source, but in case there’s any doubt (or if your memory needs jogging), Norvig and Russell are AI heavyweights. Dr Norvig is currently Director of Research at Google, and Dr Russell is a Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley. They literally wrote the textbook on artificial intelligence used in more than 1100 universities in the world."

Collaboration: yes or no?

Well maybe yes. But in the right side and proportion. When possible use just ONE stop for it (that allows you to ignore notifications when needed):
https://www.economist.com/news/business/21688872-fashion-making-employees-collaborate-has-gone-too-far-collaboration-curse?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/thecollaborationcurse

PS. (PT):
Ahhh, nada como ter um chat para mandar uns bitatos aos colegas do lado quando preciso de espairecer enquanto os outros tentam trabalhar. De que nos  queixamos? É só o telemóvel, as SMS, o Skype, o Skype for business, o Yammer, o MS teams, o Slack, o Confluence, o FB messenger, o FB em si (que pode ser uma ferramenta de trabalho em certos contextos), o LinkedIn, o e-mail (que inclui as notificações do JIRA ou outro issue tracker que se esteja a usar), os RSS feeds que se subscrevam, o Snapchat e mais umas quantas outras coisas que nos podem provocar mudanças de contexto dezenas (centenas?) de vezes por dia. 

Com impacto negativo na produtividade. Claro.

OSS: What licenses are being used by who?

What licenses are being used by who? A listing of what companies and popular projects are using which open source licenses:
https://medium.com/@raulk/list-of-companies-and-popular-projects-by-the-open-source-licenses-
they-use-35a53eaf1c80

And an opinion of the same author on why Startup companies should be careful using React:
https://medium.com/@raulk/if-youre-a-startup-you-should-not-use-react-reflecting-on-the-bsd-patents-license-b049d4a67dd2

PS. Kudos to P. Carreiro for pointing (parts of) this out.

Security: CAN and DoS?

https://pplware.sapo.pt/informacao/falha-software-afeta-carros/

OSS: Integrating Open Source in Commercial Software (Risks)

Very interesting article explaining the risks of using OSS in commercial software (typically closed-source):
http://sdtimes.com/open-source-commercial-software-development-handle-care/

Quoting:
"licenses fit into two major categories: Permissive and Copyleft. With Permissive licenses, there are few terms and conditions. With Copyleft licenses, the terms and conditions tend to be more stringent and bind any derivative work to the same terms and conditions."
(...)
"Mitigate Your Legal Risk
You can mitigate your risks by following some key steps. Some best practices:

1. Track all third party software included in your distribution and the license type, and keep it up to date. Consider each addition carefully, examining the risks and the benefits. Be sure to republish the license text of each work (and subwork), particularly if you are distributing object code only.
2. For Apache works, be sure to republish a copy of the Apache license, together with a prominent notice on any modified files that you have changed the files.
3. Consider the use of any GPL work in a closed source application very carefully. If your application can be considered and extension of the GPL work, you may be required to disclose your source. Seek counsel if your rights are in doubt.
4. Is the project supported by a specific group of developers and is there a thriving community dedicated to delivering a quality application? Or, is the software built by a single developer as a part-time project? 
5. Are contributions well vetted and under CLA? Consider the effort and expense of replacing the software should you encounter any issues. Can it be swapped out easily, or is it intimately entangled with your application? Consider the value of the contribution when compared to self-developed or commercial alternatives. Could you benefit from vendor engagement and professional support?"

BOOK: Artificial Intelligence (aka as the Bible)

The Bible on artificial intelligence (AI) is the Russell / Norvig book. It was the book I used during my graduation in AI (back in 1988) and still is THE book:
https://www.amazon.es/gp/aw/d/1292153962/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85Z%C3%95%C3%91&qid=1503243842&sr=8-1π=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=artificial+intelligence&dpPl=1&dpID=51ROfnj1yDL&ref=plSrch

Quoting:
"For one or two-semester, undergraduate or graduate-level courses in Artificial Intelligence. The long-anticipated revision of this best-selling text offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to the theory and practice of artificial intelligence."

Startup: Driving Digital (Book)

A book on using technology to drive business transformation (pre sale):
https://www.amazon.es/Driving-Digital-Business-Transformation-Technology/dp/0814438601

Architecture: Database for complex datasets (Grakn.ai)

https://grakn.ai/pages/overview/index.html

Quoting:
"Introduction to GRAKN.AI

GRAKN.AI is the database for AI. It is a hyper-relational database for knowledge-oriented systems. Grakn enables machines to manage complex data that serves as a knowledge base for cognitive/AI systems.

For an application to be more intelligent, it needs to know more. To know more, an application needs to collect more information. When collecting and integrating more information, the resulting dataset becomes increasingly complex.

What makes a dataset complex?

Data models make datasets complex. Real world models are filled with hierarchies and hyper-relationships, but our current modelling techniques are all based on binary relations. Querying these legacy datasets is challenging, because query languages are only able to retrieve explicitly stored data, and not implicitly derived information.

GRAKN.AI is the database solution for working with complex data that intelligent applications rely on. Grakn allows an organisation to grow its competitive advantage by uncovering hidden knowledge that is too complex for human cognition. The data model can evolve as a business “learns” all while reducing engineering time, cost and complexity."

Portugal: Low code platforms in ZDNet

http://www.zdnet.com/article/software-development-is-broken-and-low-code-is-here-to-fix-it/

Quoting:
"A little-known Portuguese company, OutSystems, which specialises in the equally little-known practice of low-code development, is taking large sections of the corporate market by storm.

As its name suggests, low-code development reduces the amount of coding required to develop applications. And, by doing so, it reduces the time needed to develop applications -- in some cases by a factor of 10.

The speed of this approach makes it especially attractive to the mobile market and, as that market has grown, so has OutSystems. According to analyst Forrester, OutSystems is the market leader in low-code development, beating better-known names like Salesforce.

OutSystems CEO, Paulo Rosado, outlined the advantages of the low-code approach to ZDNet."

Cryptocurrencies and SW Development?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/08/10/cryptocurrency-and-software-development-how-the-two-mash-up-to-create-major-change/?c=0&s=trending#3611586b1365

Quoting:
"Perhaps less conspicuously present is a fast-growing and highly disruptive software technology called cryptocurrency (registration required), the most notable of which among consumers is bitcoin.(...)
A blockchain or digital contract is simply a software program that acts as an agreement where pre-programmed terms can be written to self-execute and self-enforce. This allows parties to do business together without the need for a middleman such as an attorney and provides a way to vastly reduce the cost of the transaction as well as provide significant savings in time that might normally be spent in the contract negotiation process.(...)
Cryptocurrency exchanges, however, were born out of the very essence of decentralization. Most have well-published APIs that are publicly accessible. A software developer with a computer and internet connection can essentially open an account and interface with this API to perform a number of functions including buying and selling. A more advanced trading program could even analyze patterns across a wide range of cryptocurrencies and employ complex trading strategies such as statistical arbitrage or resolve pricing inefficiencies by utilizing APIs across multiple exchanges."

Systems Development: O SIRESP tem falhas? (PT)

[PT] O SIRESP tem falhas? Parece que sim (estamos a falar de um sistema, conjunto de hardware - infra-estrutura de rede e não só - e software). Ao que parece que as falhas não serão só no contrato - que refere que o sistema de emergência que deve ser usado para combate a emergências não pode ser considerado em falta se falhar em caso de <emergências diversas>. Um lapso dos advogados que redigiram, e das dezenas de pessoas que leram (ou deviam ter lido) o contrato antes de recomendar que fosse assinado:
Pedrógão Grande: 22 falhas, 8 críticas e 32 recomendações – Observador

SW Construction: The Deutsch Limit (applied to visual programming languages)?

Maybe no. More than a page of code in non-visual languages also "sucks":
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch_limit

SW Construction: Conway's Law (1967)?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_law

Quoting:
"The law is based on the reasoning that in order for a software module to function, multiple authors must communicate frequently with each other. Therefore, the software interface structure of a system will reflect the social boundaries of the organization(s) that produced it, across which communication is more difficult. "
Was it demonstrated? Well, Google for it.

A link to the original paper can be found here:
http://www.melconway.com/Home/Conways_Law.html

Using Github as a source of attacker traffic?

A proof of (the bloody) concept has been presented:
https://securityintelligence.com/news/gitpwnd-shows-how-threat-actors-could-hijack-git-repositories-in-software-development/

Quoting:
"[The PoC] could be used to communicate malicious commands from threat actors. As proof, they developed GitPwnd, an open source penetration testing resource that takes advantage of popular services such as GitHub, GitLab or BitBucket.

Security Affairs explained how such attacks would work: Cybercriminals could use something like GitPwnd to host their Git repositories on GitHub, for instance. Then, as commands are sent to an infiltrated system, they could be easily disguised as legitimate traffic coming from a software developer, which use the same transport layer for legitimate work."

About password policies and digital identity guidelines...

... As well as good and bad advice:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40875534

Digital identity guidelines, US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology:
https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-3/

SW Construction: Guidelines / Coding Conventions

Coding guidelines:
http://www.dotnetcurry.com/software-gardening/1333/coding-guidelines-important-for-developers

Voyager 1 and 2 still operating

Two top examples of good (redundant but not only) design and coding:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-voyager-spacecraft-still-reaching-for-the-stars-after-40-years

Quoting:
"Because the Voyagers' power decreases by four watts per year, engineers are learning how to operate the spacecraft under ever-tighter power constraints. And to maximize the Voyagers' lifespans, they also have to consult documents written decade’s earlier describing commands and software, in addition to the expertise of former Voyager engineers.

"The technology is many generations old, and it takes someone with 1970s design experience to understand how the spacecraft operate and what updates can be made to permit them to continue operating today and into the future," said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Team members estimate they will have to turn off the last science instrument by 2030. However, even after the spacecraft go silent, they’ll continue on their trajectories at their present speed of more than 30,000 mph (48,280 kilometers per hour), completing an orbit within the Milky Way every 225 million years.

The Voyager spacecraft were built by JPL, which continues to operate both. The Voyager missions are part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of SMD."