April 11, 2013 – Tony Gurney

English: Reserved words of the Java programming language Dansk: Nøgleord i programmeringssproget Java. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A team of computer scientists has developed a videogame called CodeSpells that teaches people how to code in Java.

The game was tested on a group of 10- to 12-year-old girls who had never done any programming before. After an hour of gameplay, the girls had mastered some of the basic components of Java. The team that developed the game — from UC San Diego — plans to release the game for free and make it available to educational institutions and code clubs.

Computer scientist William Griswold, who headed up the project, said he developed the game because there is a lack of qualified instructors to teaching computer science below college level in a way that is accessible. Griswold and his graduate students decided to design a videogame that “completely immerses programming into the gameplay”. The aim was to keep children engaged while they are learning programming, which can be frustrating.

via ‘CodeSpells’ wizard game teaches you how to program in Java (Wired UK).

Image via CrunchBase

Payment fraud can be defined as an intentional deception or misrepresentation that is designed to result in an unauthorized benefit. Fraud schemes are becoming more complex and difficult to identify. It is estimated that industries lose nearly $1 trillion USD annually because of fraud. The ideal solution is where you avoid making fraudulent payments without slowing down legitimate payments. This solution requires that you adopt a comprehensive fraud business architecture that applies predictive analytics.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication begins with the business process flows of several industries, such as banking, property/casualty insurance, and tax revenue, where payment fraud is a significant problem. This book then shows how to incorporate technological advancements that help you move from a post-payment to pre-payment fraud detection architecture. Subsequent chapters describe a solution that is specific to the banking industry that can be easily extrapolated to other industries. This book describes the benefits of doing fraud detection on IBM System z®.

This book is intended for financial decisionmakers, consultants, and architects, in addition to IT administrators.