Udacity and Swift, the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, are partnering to provide job-seekers with job-ready digital skills and an opportunity to land a role at Swift through Swift Tech Scholarship.
The two organizations will offer scholarships for Udacity’s DevOps Engineer with Java Nanodegree program. This is a train-to-hire program, which means that after the successful completion of the course, learners will get a chance to apply for a full-time position with Swift, where they will be able to put their newly-learned skills into practice.
Candidates for this program are required to have existing knowledge of command line, Python web development, SQL, and HTML. The goal is for learners to develop intermediate DevOps skills related to Java, like cloud-native fundamentals and application development. The duration of the program is five months.
Individuals interested in learning digital skills for free and landing a new career are encouraged to apply. The program starts on March 27. Applications for the same have already begun. The last date to fill out the application is March 6. Recipients will be notified of the acceptance on March 20.
United Kingdom applicants interested in our Product Manager Nanodegree program are encouraged to apply for that scholarship as well. This is a beginner program, so no experience is required.
Accenture has invested in Forma Vision, a provider of live-streamed, 3D volumetric video technology that allows 3D holographic images of people, environments, and objects to be beamed into metaverse from any location such as office, home, or other.
Until now, the metaverse opportunity has been restricted to enterprise use cases suitable for avatar-to-avatar interactions. Now, using Forma Vision’s cost-effective, live-streaming volumetric video technology, enterprises of any scale can teleport people, things, and places into their metaverse experience.
Senior managing director of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group, David Treat, said, “We believe Forma Vision’s volumetric video technology will enable more immersive, engaging interactions and help further bridge real and virtual worlds by allowing people, places, and things to be more authentically represented in the metaverse.”
Forma Vision is now the latest company to be a part of Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, which is an engagement and investment program focusing on investing in the companies that create or apply disruptive enterprise technologies.
Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures, said, “For enterprise teams, Forma Vision’s holographic meeting platform can enable remote meetings and other experiences in a highly engaging, 3D virtual format.”
Representative Ted Lieu introduced a nonbinding measure on Thursday that would make the House of Representatives to take a look at a bill on artificial intelligence written entirely by ChatGPT, the online AI chatbot.
Using a simple prompt, Lieu generated a standard congressional resolution. The prompt said: “You are Congressman Ted Lieu. Write a comprehensive congressional resolution generally expressing support for Congress to focus on AI.” It is not specified in the resolution that it was written using AI technology.
Acknowledging the potential positive impacts of AI, Lieu’s resolution specifically highlights Congress’ responsibility to oversee that the development and deployment of AI are handled in a manner that is considered safe and ethical, and upholds the rights and privacy of all Americans.”
“The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence technology have made it clear that the time to act is now, to ensure that AI is used in ways that are safe, ethical, and beneficial for society. Failure to do so may lead to a future where the risks of AI far outweigh its benefits,” wrote ChatGPT in an op-ed that Lieu published in The New York Times recently.
The rise of AI and tools like ChatGPT is already raising concerns about its potential misuses, but Lieu, who is one of the few members of Congress having technology backgrounds, wrote in his Times op-ed that the harm caused by AI could even be “deadly.”
Python is one of the most used programming languages today. It contains a wide range of libraries and frameworks for every technical domain. Python frameworks are generally collections of modules or packages that assist developers with the prebuilt implementation of redundant tasks. This process helps developers spend less development time and focus more on application logic. Every framework has advantages and disadvantages depending on application requirements and developers’ preferences. This article overviews such widely used Python frameworks for web development.
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on rails is the serverside web application framework written in Ruby programming language. Developed by David Heinemeier Hansson, Ruby in Rails is licensed under MIT. As per StackOverflow’s record, 55.34 % of people have chosen Ruby on Rails as the most liked web development framework.
Ruby on Rails supports model-view-controller architecture to provide a default structure for databases, web pages, and web services. It uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript languages for the user interface and data formats like JSON and XML to transfer data.
Developed by FriendFeed, Tornado is a Python framework and asynchronous network library. Tornado uses a non-blocking network I/O to handle thousands of active server connections. It can be used in applications that require long polling, WebSockets, and long-time connection with users. Unlike the other Python web development frameworks, Tornado is not based on Web Server Graphical Interface (WSGI). However, it supports some features of the WSGI.
Aiohttp is an asynchronous Python web development framework that depends on Python 3.5 features like async and awaits. It uses Python’s asyncio library and serves as a client and server web framework. Aiohttp uses request objects and routers for the redirection of queries.
Growler is an asynchronous Python web development framework built on the Python asyncio library. It is based on Node.js’s express framework and is used for implementing complex applications. Growler handles requests by passing them through middleware technology. With Growler, businesses can use the asyncio library at its lowest levels.
TurboGears is a web application framework written in Python programming language. In 2005, Kevin Dangoor developed TurboGears. However, the latest version of Turbogears is managed by a group of developers led by Florent Aide and Mark Ramm.
Like many of the modern Python frameworks, TurboGears also follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) paradigm to develop web applications. It is made of three sections:
Model: It is the lowest level of pattern responsible for maintaining data.
View: It is responsible for displaying all or a portion of the data to the user.
Controller: It is a software code that controls the interaction between Model and View.
TurboGears is designed for solving complex industrial-strength problems and supports MongoDB as one of its primary storage backends. It consists of a transaction manager to help with multi-database deployments and supports many template engines.
Flask is the most used Python web application framework for developing complex web applications. It was developed by Armin Ronacher, who led a team of international Python enthusiasts ‘Pocoo.’ Flask depends on the Werkzeg WSGI toolkit and the Jinja2 template.
The WSGI (Web Server Gateway Interface) is used as a standard for Python web application development. It specifies a common interface between web servers and web applications. On the other hand, Werkzeg is a WSGI toolkit to implement requests, response objects, and utility functions. The Flask framework uses Werkzeg as one of its bases.
Flask is mainly referred to as a micro-framework designed to keep the application scalable and simple. Since Flask is a microframework, it is used to implement tech projects like web apps.
Flask also supports modular programming, which is where Flask’s functionality can be split into many interchangeable modules. Each module in Flask acts as an independent building block that can execute one part of the functionality.
Web2Py is an open-sourced web framework for agile development that consists of database-driven web applications. It is written in Python programming language. Web2Py is a full-stack framework containing all the components a developer requires to build a fully functional web application.
The Web2Py framework follows the Model-View-Controller pattern of running applications. It has an in-built feature to manage cookies and sessions. After committing a transaction in SQL, the session is also stored simultaneously. Web2Py can run tasks in scheduled intervals after the completion of specific actions.
It has the potential to address various issues that can lead to security vulnerabilities by following well-established practices. The Web2Py framework consists of Database Abstraction Layer (DAL) that can write SQL dynamically.
CherryPy is mostly used object-oriented web frameworks in Python. It enables developers to build a web application effortlessly, which means developing less code in a short time. Remi Delon developed the first version of CherryPy in June 2002. Now, CherryPy is more than 10 years old, and it has proven its reliability.
Since CherryPy is designed on the multithreading concept, it can handle multiple tasks simultaneously. CherryPy follows the Model-View-Controller approach to developing web services. Therefore, CherryPy is a fast and developer-friendly Python framework.
CherryPy framework has the potential to build web services such as RESTful Web Service (RWS), SOAP, WSDL, and more. You can use it to build e-commerce websites or authentication services by integrating various other Python modules.
CherryPy can be easily deployed cost-effectively, as it has its HTTP server to host applications on multiple gateways.
Django was first introduced by teams between the year of 2003 and 2005 who were responsible for creating and maintaining newspaper websites. After creating many sites, this team began to figure out and reuse many common codes and design patterns. These common codes evolved into a generic Python web development framework known as Django in July 2005.
Django encourages rapid development and clean design in web applications. It is an open-source and active community with excellent documentation and many free and paid support options. Django is used to build almost any type of website, from content management systems and wikis to news sites and social networks. Django can work with any client-side framework and deliver content in almost any format, such as HTML, JSON, XML, and more.
Django enables developers to avoid many common security mistakes by providing a framework engineered to “do the right things” to protect your website automatically. For example, Django offers a secure way to manage user accounts and passwords, avoiding using session information in cookies or storing passwords rather than password hash directly.
Developed in July 2008, Pyramid is an open-sourced, lightweight web application framework built in Python programming language. This framework offers only the core tools required for developing web applications.
The Pyramid framework is based on core concepts like Zope, Pylons, and Django. It is based on Zope regarding extensibility, traversal, and declarative security. Zope is a family of open-source web application servers in Python. It is a robust framework that allows many people to collaborate while developing websites.
The Pyramid framework uses the (WSGI) Web Server Gateway Interface standard for promoting usability and separating functionality into distinct modules. Lastly, Pyramid is based on the Django web application framework that allows the rapid development of secure and maintainable websites.
Pyramid is the fastest Python web framework supporting small and large projects. It also supports events that are similar to Zope and Pylon frameworks. You can also generate URLs for routes, resources, and static assets in the Pyramid framework. It becomes easy for users to work with APIs that generate URLs. By generating various APIs of the Pyramid framework, you can alter the configuration arbitrarily without worrying about breaking links with any web pages.
Quixote is a popular web application framework for Python programmers. Developed by Andrew Kuchling, Neil Schemenauer, and Greg Ward in August 2000, Quixote consists of the Python Template Language (PTL) to produce HTML with Python code.
The Quixote Python framework makes it easier to develop web applications that are highly flexible and offer robust performance. With Quixote, you can develop web applications in a more organized and structured manner. Therefore, the development can be faster, and you can incorporate many third-party Python modules without confusion.
Quixote is mainly developed for Python developers building dynamic web applications. If you want to build web applications with complex programming algorithms, then Quixote is the perfect framework for you. If your concern is more about functionality in web applications rather than looks, then Quixote is the best option for you.
Bottle is a fast, lightweight, and simple WSGI (Web Server Gateway Interface) microweb framework in Python. It is distributed as a single file module with no dependencies except Python standard libraries. Bottle framework is the best choice for small applications and is mainly used to build APIs.
It is a great Python framework if you want to prototype an idea quickly. Since Bottle is simple to use, new developers can use it. Bottle framework has only one drawback: it has less documentation and support than other frameworks like Flask and Django.
The Model-View-Controller approach of the Django frameworks makes the maintenance of the applications more accessible. But, it becomes difficult on small applications where you play with random ideas. Therefore, the Bottle framework is a good option if you are not worried about your application’s long time structure.
Dash is an open-sourced microframework used to develop analytical web applications. It is the most popular framework among data scientists who are not familiar with web development. Dash uses React.js for front-end rendering.
Dash applications can also run web servers like Flask and communicate with JSON packets through HTTP requests. Dash applications are called cross-platform and mobile-ready applications, as they can be rendered in the browser and deployed on the server.
One of the essential features of the dash framework is that it does not require much coding to develop applications and offers a high level of customization. With dash, you also get plugin support and effective error handling.
CubicWeb is a well-defined semantic web application framework in Python that focuses on applications’ reusability, quality, and efficiency. The CubicWeb framework is different from the other framework as it is semantic and allows developers to build applications by following object-oriented principles and reusing components called cubes.
Cube is the primary and essential unit in the CubicWeb framework. It is a minimal web application that consists of a data model (schema), logic (entities), and user interface (view). You can build a web application from a single cube, but two or more cubes are mainly required to provide broader functionality.
CubicWeb supports multiple databases and provides security and reusable components. It uses RQL, i.e., relational query language, to simplify data-related queries. CubicWeb also supports Web Ontology Language (WOL) and Resource Description Framework (RDF).
In a conversation with Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum (WEF) chairman Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, stated that the sense of presence achieved while using metaverse tech is ‘game-changing.’
Nadella believes the pandemic has changed the environment, especially regarding meetings, forcing people to use video calls and implementing more immersive technologies. According to him, this is the real impact that the technologies like metaverse and others will have on today’s society.
Microsoft is one of the partners of the WEF in developing the Global Collaboration Village, a virtual replica of Davos in the metaverse. The main goal of this digital world is to allow organizations to bring together leaders from across the globe to be part of the constant conversations on policies and world issues.
As per Schwab’s statements, there are already 70 to 80 organizations behind the Global Collaboration Village initiative, which is to be built with Mesh, a metaverse platform of Microsoft that allows collaboration and communication.
Intending to greet ‘Atma Nirbar Bharat,’ IIT Madras has developed a mobile operating system called ‘ BharOS.’ Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw successfully tested the BharOS operating system on Tuesday.
BharOS is designed by JandK Operations Private Limited that has been incubated at the IIT Madras Pravartak Technology Foundation. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, funds the Pravartak Foundation under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS).
Dharmendra Pradhan mentioned that people in India would be the primary beneficiary of a robust, indigenous, dependable, and self-reliant digital infrastructure. He also stated that BharOS is a successful step toward data privacy.
The operating system can be installed on commercial off-the-shelf handsets. BharOS does not consist of any default apps. Therefore, users do not have to use apps that are unfamiliar to them forcefully.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, stated that BharOS is an operating system built on the foundation of trust to provide users with more freedom, control, and flexibility to select and use the apps that fit their needs. This operating system revolutionizes how users think about mobile devices’ security and privacy.
BharOS supports privacy and security measures along with Native Over the Air (NOTA) updates to enable the automatic installation of security updates and bug fixes without user intervention.
BharOS is developed to promote the use of domestic operation systems and reduce the dependency on foreign operating systems.
Kredent InfoEdge Pvt Ltd has announced the addition of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered Chart Pattern Recognition feature in StockEdge, the highly popular stock market app that it has developed. This feature, a first in India, is expected to make chart pattern recognition very easy for the stock market participants of India.
Founded in 2016, StockEdge has lived by its goal of empowering retail investors in India. Over the years, StockEdge has tried to make the stock market participants self-reliant with its cutting-edge analytics tools enabling them to take well-informed market calls. Trusted by millions of traders and investors in India, StockEdge is well-known for its research and development to make trading the most seamless journey.
In 2023, StockEdge came up with its breakthrough innovation-auto Chart Patterns recognition system. This feature will help a trader to take positions in the market. AI-enabled algorithm processes all stocks and, after further streamlining, prepares a list of stocks where specific patterns have been formed. This helps a trader get total clarity about market trends.
If a user has a watchlist, he can quickly glance at a chart pattern across his selection of stocks. Many patterns have been added to the StockEdge Pro-Triangular pattern, Flag pattern, Head and Shoulders pattern, and Wedge patterns. The all-new StockEdge Pro plan will give users complete access to chart patterns.
Speaking about Chart Patterns, Mr. Vivek Bajaj, Co-founder of StockEdge said, “The science of identifying the right stock is time-consuming. But there are methods to reduce the time taken by over 90%. At StockEdge, we have been burning midnight oils to offer exactly what a trader should have to save precious time. We have done hard work in the last one year to develop this amazing output called Chart Patterns.”
While sharing his thoughts, Mr. Vinay Pagaria, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of StockEdge adds, “We are continuing to invest our energies in AI and quantitative research-based analytics for delivering unique solutions for investors and traders. Chart Patterns Detection Algorithm, built captively by us, using multiple layers of statistical analysis, has gone through multiple iterations before coming out so beautifully. Innovation, Reliability, and Simplicity are our mantras.”
According to Mr. Pagaria, “StockEdge Pro chart patterns are the culmination of thoughtful integration of human and artificial intelligence. It has been made possible by leveraging the deep experience of our research team. It is a one-of-a-kind platform that provides actionable insights based on chart patterns. Chart patterns are extremely powerful as they are a result of repetitive human behavior. Cognitive and emotional biases like cost anchoring, recency bias, etc, lead to similar human behavior over time. This, in turn, makes chart patterns extremely powerful. We are proud to have built this unique, innovative product that can act as a boon to traders and investors.“
A famous robotics expert and professor at the University of Washington (UW), Siddhartha Srinivasa, has left his post as the director of Robotics AI at Amazon to join General Motors’ autonomous-vehicle subsidiary, Cruise.
In his post on LinkedIn, Srinivasa said he had had a “wonderful four years at Amazon scaling and building robotics AI for fulfillment” and that he was “really excited to start a new journey” that is very close to his heart, “inventing algorithms, and partnering with operations to scale autonomous mobility exponentially.”
Srinivasa is the Boeing Endowed Professor at Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science at the University of Washington. He will serve at Cruise as a distinguished engineer, where he will act as a key technical advisor to Cruise leadership on the large-scale engineering projects.
In his own LinkedIn post, executive VP of engineering at Cruise, Mohamed Elshenawy, said Srinivasa’s deep experience in the field of AI and robotics would be critical to Cruise as they scale their business.
Srinivasa arrived at the University of Washington in 2017 after moving his whole team of over a dozen researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University, where he spent almost 18 years.
In the United States, companies have laid off more than 60,000 in massive layoffs starting in 2023. In the last year, more than 107,000 jobs were slacked approximately from the US private and public sector companies due to rising inflation rates and the uncertain stock market. Tech companies like Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Ola, and more have been slashing jobs this year due to the current economic conditions. This article lists some big tech companies laying off thousands of employees recently due to uncontrolled market conditions.
List of big tech companies that have laid off their employees
Below is the list of companies that have recently laid off many employees in the name of economic conditions.
Amazon
The very popular e-commerce giant, Amazon, is set to fire around 1800 employees across the globe. Under the current layoffs, the company plans to slack about 1000 employees in India. Students placed in Amazon from NITs and IITs with less than one year of experience were laid off in its previous layoff rounds. Students from NITs and IITs took LinkedIn to share their layoff experience.
Employees at Amazon were informed about their layoffs via emails. After the layoff announcements, people have been crying in the office after they were laid off. Many Indian employees have shared their layoff experience on social media sites.
Besides Amazon, many tech companies, banking organizations, and other businesses are laying off their employees. Thousands of people are being impacted by the job cuts. While many organizations still need to cite a proper reason for layoffs. However, some have blamed the economic conditions and structural change for it.
2. Microsoft
Like Google, Microsoft announced to lay off 10,000 of its employees last week until March 2023. The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, mentioned that Microsoft will emerge from the layoff and can become more competitive. but it requires action in three priorities. According to Satya Nadella, Microsoft will align the cost structure with its revenue and look for customer demands. Secondly, the company will continue to invest in strategic ideas for the future. Lastly, Microsoft will treat its employees with dignity and respect and act transparently with them.
As per the company, the employees affected in the US will receive above-market severance pay, continuing healthcare coverage for six months, career transition services, and 60 days notice period.
Google’s parent Alphabet has recently announced to lay off 12000 of its employees worldwide. The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, informed his employees about the layoff via email. He also ensures to take full responsibility for the layoff decision.
Google has already begun the layoffs in the US and will continue in other countries soon. In the US, the employees will get the complete notification period with a severance package beginning at 16 weeks’ salary and two weeks for every extra year at Google. The employees will also receive 2022 bonuses, remaining vacation time, six months of healthcare and job placement services, and other benefits.
The company’s recent layoff can affect different teams, like corporate functions, products, engineering teams, and recruiting. Alphabet has already mailed some employees, and the process will take longer in other nations due to some local employment laws and practices.
4. Verily
Verily is an Alphabet company focused on applying AI and data science to empower evidence generation and enable more precise interventions. It has recently announced plans to cut down 200 job roles at the organization, which covers around 15% of overall positions in the company. In its official blog, Verily CEO Stephen stated to enable greater focus on the company’s updated portfolio, the company is discontinuing its development of Verily Value Suite and some early-stage products.
Thousands of employees working for Wall Street banking major Goldman Sachs were fired on Wednesday and Thursday last week as the organization started laying off more than 3200 employees across the globe. Before the layoffs, Goldman Sachs had close to 9,000 employees in India working in cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, which restructured almost 9 percent of its employees there.
While announcing the layoff, Goldman Sachs mentioned that it’s a difficult time for people to leave the firm. They are grateful for the employee’s contribution and provide support to ease their transitions. Goldman Sachs’s focus is to size the firm for opportunities in a challenging macroeconomic environment.
6. Coinbase
Coinbase, a Crypto firm, said last week that it would lay off over 20 percent of its employees. Its new move is to cut costs as crypto markets are declining and tech companies are lowering their expectations for growth.
Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, mentioned that in 2022 the crypto market trended downwards with the broader macroeconomy. Coinbase also saw the fallout from unethical actors in the industry, and there can still be further contagion.
A couple of weeks ago, Coinbase planned to bring in new employees. But then the company froze the hiring because of the market conditions. The company also rescinded job offers from employees who had already accepted them but had yet to start the job.
Ola has recently laid off about 200 employees from its tech and product team as a part of the restructuring exercise. The company mentioned that it had been regularly conducting restructuring exercises to improve efficiencies, and there were redundant roles in the company. Ola will continue making new hires in engineering and design, including senior talent in its key priority areas.
In September 2022, Ola rescinded the reduction of 200 engineers. The current layoffs at Ola are the same ones that were supposed to happen in September 2022. Mostly freshers recently hired from the colleges are fired in the recent layoff at Ola.
The layoff comprises 10% of its 2000-strong engineer workforce as part of the restructuring exercise toward its electric dream. The company has around 2000 engineers currently and aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5000 in the next 18 months.
8. ShareChat
ShareChat’s parent company, Mohalla Tech Private Limited, has laid off 600 employees in just six months after raising $255 million in funding. In the last week, it has laid off over 600 employees of its 2100 employees in senior management and mid-to-junior management.
The company informed employees about the layoff through official mail and announced it on Slack. According to the employees, the layoffs are the result of massive hiring after a series of funding rounds. The company will arrange a meeting at 12 pm on 16th January to discuss the layoffs.
ShareChat’s CEO, Ankush Sachdeva, mentioned that the layoff was a move to ensure the financial health and longevity of the company. He also noted that the company overestimated the market growth in 2021 and underestimated the duration and intensity of the global liquidity squeeze.
Vodafone Idea (VI), a renowned telecom company, has reportedly been planning to slash hundreds of jobs in its London-based headquarters to cut costs in the global economic slowdown.
VI’s upcoming layoff will be the biggest in five years. The company has employed over 104000 people across the globe, of which 9400 are based in the United Kingdom.
The company had a challenging year as it came under pressure from several investors to simplify its sprawling business, improve poorly performing units and decentralize global operations.
In November 2022, the company announced cutting $1.8 billion in costs by 2026. VI’s CEO, Nick Read, resigned at the end of 2022 and was replaced by Margherita Della Valle for an interim period.
Just a week after Microsoft declared the general availability of OpenAI on Azure, the company has announced it has entered the “third phase” of its partnership with OpenAI.
The multibillion-dollar partnership began in the year 2019 and has gradually expanded since then as part of Microsoft’s AI supercomputing collaboration.
Under the new agreement, Microsoft is planning to create new AI-powered model experiences, build out AI infrastructure and supercomputing at scale, and become OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider.
Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said, “We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform. In this next phase of our partnership, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models, and toolchain with Azure to build and run their applications.”
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, added, “The past three years of our partnership have been great. Microsoft shares our values, and we are excited to continue our independent research and work toward creating advanced AI that benefits everyone.”
