Are you planning to develop your own app? Software development companies can come to the rescue when you face certain pitfalls on your way. But before choosing the app development company, first, you must determine what your app should be. That is you need to find the correct strategy applicable in your case.

There is no a single good and unique mobile app strategy that would be appropriate for everybody. You should remember that everything depends on your specific requirements. Considering and analyzing them, you can find something special for you app development . Are you ready to find out?

Step 1: Native app vs hybrid app or why not a cross platform?

Let’s start from the very beginning - that is from the selection of the app type. What platform you will choose, and what platform type will be more acceptable for you.

Mobile website, mobile app - they are different. Each of them serves its goal, but the app can be more advantageous at the expense of wider capabilities and high responsive interface. This interface makes it possible to interact with a smartphone or tablet in a more comfortable way. Furthermore, such app can work without a permanent Internet connection.

For today, there are native and cross-platform mobile app development alternatives. Each of these approaches has its particularity that critically affects a final result. Let’s check strong and weak sides of these two approaches to understand what technology is better.

Native app

What is a native app ? Native apps such as an Internet browser, address book, media player and other software installed by default provide a basic level of a smartphone using.

The app can be called native when programmers use one specific language for the specific platform - Java for Android, Swift for iOS etc. Native apps can interact with all services and options of a smartphone like a camera, microphone, geolocation, accelerometer etc. In a short, these apps are in their element.

Cross-platform app development

Think about a mobile website that doesn’t need to connect to the Internet all the time. As for its design, it is closer to cross-platform. Therefore, it can be referred to a mobile app instead of a website.

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are usually used for the development of such apps. Mobile websites are developed in the same way. Cross-platform application is targeted for all platforms and adapted to the majority of devices since a browser engine is used for its functioning.

Hybrid app

However, if we speak about the solution of specific tasks, it would be much more efficient to combine these approaches - apply cross-platform advantages of HTML for a content design , but create native control elements and menu spending not so much money and time. That is what hybrid apps are.

Let’s check out hybrid apps example . A customer needs ordinary news feed where only images and text will be available. Considering it, a developer decides to apply a cross-platform alternative. However, when a client needs his app to contain a huge amount of data and process sound and graphics, the process turns out to be more complicated. To implement it, developers need to write a native code for each specific platform. Thus, a cross-platform app turns into a hybrid app.

What app type is better?

So what is better?

You should develop a native app if:

• your app must have a free interaction with all smartphone services;
• you need to have an app with high responsiveness;
• your app must function in offline mode;
• the hardware part of devices must be used in a most efficient way.

You can create a cross-platform app if:

• you don’t need a high app response;
• an app doesn’t have complicated animation and doesn’t make calculations;
• an app needs an instant Internet connection to upload a content;
• you need to convert your website into the app for not a high price.

Considering all the above, you can see that you should understand what aim you follow when you want to create an app. It will help you choose the correct app type, no matter whether it be cross-platform or hybrid mobile app .

But if you are still hesitating, our developers can help you choose the best alternative for your project and turn it into reality as well.

Step 2: Responsive app and how to increase responsiveness

But If you made a decision and have a strong intention to create a native app for the mobile device, then you must pay rapt attention to the app responsiveness. It is very important and now we will explain it to you in detail.

What is an app responsiveness ? Website interface must function very quickly. Beyond any doubt, long waiting for a web page loading annoys everybody. That is why it is necessary to take care of quick loading of the page.

Also, responsiveness means some type of cooperation with users. In other words, it means that an interface should inform users about what happens. For instance, you push a “Send message” button. If the message is sent with the help of AJAX , it would be preferable to display a status like “Sending...” or “Sent”. When users see the process, they feel more comfortable.

If we speak about Android operating system, there is a feature when the system shows ANR window (App Not Responding) if an app doesn’t respond. The window suggests the user shut down the app or wait. But when you develop an app, responsiveness requirement is critical for it to cut out an ANR dialog window appearance as much as possible. So your app launch strategy should include this point in any case.

App Not Responding window

Usually, the system shows ANR if an app doesn’t respond to the user’s actions. As a rule, response time in 100-200 ms is a threshold for the perceptible slowing of the app.

There are some hints how to avoid ANR and make your app responsive in a higher grade:

• If your app is performing some tasks, let it display progress status showing how much is done and how much is to be done. You can use such widget as ProgressBar ;
• If your app has a long initial phase of launch and initialization, consider a capability to show a splash screen or make the rendering of the main page faster showing that loading is in the process and meanwhile fill all required information. In a short, users want to see that app is working, not lagging, and they should know that the process will be finished soon successfully;
• Use performance tools to determine weak points in your app responsiveness.

Therefore, when you start developing your app, you must understand that if your app is slow and lagging, it will never attract users. It will only gain bad reputation since users don’t like to wait. They want everything to get quickly, mind it.

Read more in the full article about Mobile app strategy

Neural networks in finance & insurance

Let's move to other spheres where neural networks are popular - finance and insurance.

Neural networks in finance

The main purpose for using artificial neural networks in the sphere of finance and banking is their capability of forecasting. Analyzing the big scope of appropriate information, neural networks are able to make predictions. Moreover, the more information that was analyzed, the more accurate the prediction will be. Forecasts are extremely important for this sphere of activity.

Neural networks in business forecasting serve as a powerful tool for predicting exchange and stock rates and many others. However, that's not the only area where artificial neural networks have found an application within this sphere.

Banks are used to give loans in accordance with their statistical data about a person. Generally, the software is driven by statistical techniques but things have changed. Nowadays all statistical data is calculated by artificial neural networks and based on the result the final decision is made.

The neural networks in finance and investing are quite widespread. A company not only has fewer expenses but gets a system that is able to learn and improve its identification of credit risks.

Neural networks in the field of insurance

The insurance industry has got absolutely new 'superpowers' for tracing insured and non-insured events. For example, some insurance companies already use GPS tracking in order to find the client's car in case of a carjacking. Also, they keep an eye on speeding and that, in turn, may affect the insurance rate.

Artificial neural networks have also found their place in this industry. They are used to segment policyholders into groups that help companies to find out an appropriate pricing.

Another application of artificial neural networks is related to fraud detection since they are able to be taught to detect fraudulent claims, as well as strange circumstances.

Also, neural networks can be useful when it comes to the retention of customers. Since the competition in this industry is tough, every customer is important to a company. With the help of neural networks, insurance companies are able to detect the reason why the customer left by means of analyzing his or her history. Also, they can be applied for managing special offerings for certain groups of customers to motivate them to stay.

Artificial neural networks in insurance

Neural networks in telecommunications & management

It seems like the time for our last couples of spheres. They are telecommunications and operations management.

Neural networks in telecommunications

This technology in the sphere of telecommunications is able to cover quite a big range of areas. Their forecasting capabilities are used to conduct analysis of customers, as well as call data. That's needed to predict the reasons and moment when customers move to another company.

Also, the forecasting capabilities of artificial neural networks are used for defining the efficiency of upcoming promotional campaigns and searching for the clients who are likely to bring the most profit.

Except for these cases, they are also used for real-time analysis of network traffic in order to optimize routing and increase the service quality and much more.

Neural networks in the field of operations management

The sphere of manufacturing has been greatly automatized for the last couples of decades. With the development of the IT sphere, employees working in factories have got inner mobile applications intended to increase their efficiency, while the machinery got an artificial intelligence.

Artificial neural networks are successfully used for different types of scheduling. Manufacturers have started using neural networks for scheduling their machinery, lines of assembly and so on. The technology is also used to solve other problems connected with scheduling. For instance, to establish a timetable, schedule of a project or the schedule of multiprocessors.

Another artificial network example is their usage in manufacturing processes which sometimes covers a wide range of activities, including the control and scheduling of the whole floor's work or even improving the system of manufacturing itself.

Nowadays, mainly all manufacturers use robotic tools to control the quality of their products. For example, some of them use cameras to identify defective products. The artificial neural network behind this camera is able to learn over time, so the number of unnoticed defective products will be reduced in the future.

So, artificial neural networks are capable of being used not only in the IT industry but in other fields of activity as well.

Today I am touching on the topic of the media and how they have woefully failed democracies around the world and in particularly my beloved homeland the United States.

In the article THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN A DEMOCRACY by George A. Krimsky he quotes Thomas Jefferson:

"If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

He then goes on to say, "The implication of those words is that self-governance is more essential than governance itself.  Not so absurd, perhaps, if you had just fought a war against an oppressive government."

The wisdom of Thomas Jefferson is as important today as it was then.  The role of our media is to objectively and in a non-partisan manner keep the government in check by reporting the facts without bias or slant to the people so that the people can decide on what to do...ostensibly via free speech, peaceful free expression and the ballot box.

Here in America our press has utterly defiled themselves by 90 percent acting as the media wing of the Democrat Party and the other 10 percent acting as the media wing of the Republican Party.  Both sides are wrong and have failed the people because they refuse to report just the facts without prejudice and/or slant.  As the media goes so does the society they control through TV, Print, Radio and Online Media.  The media is polarized and American society reflects this same polarization.  It appears that party affiliation is more important that being American.

Mr. Krimsky also states:

“A self-governing society, by definition, needs to make its own decisions. It cannot do that without hard information, leavened with an open exchange of views. Abraham Lincoln articulated this concept most succinctly when he said: "Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe."”

The American Media, and I suspect the media in other free societies, too often in today’s climate ignores the facts in favor of pushing their own agenda be it liberalism or conservatism.  Some of the disturbing traits of this media that I see are:

•    Describing one side as intolerant while given their side a pass on their intolerance

•    Not fact check or reporting questionable information as facts

•    Reporting minorities acting a certain way as rioting but when the dominate race engage in the same behavior it is reported as reverie

•    Reporting embarrassing facts that are not relevant to the public discussion for the sole purpose of discrediting and/or humiliating the target

I call on and challenge our future Asgardian Media to hold to the fundamental principles to reporting the fact and nothing but the facts.  I challenge my fellow Asgardian Citizens to not allow the polarization of the media as we see within the world today.  I will step out on to thin ice and state that the one obligation that government should place on the free press is that it only report the facts and let the people decide what to do with those facts.  The media cannot favor one side over the other.  It must be a neutral and dispassionate guardian of the government on behalf of the people of Asgardia.

If we allow the Asgardian Media to act in the same manner as the media of the earth nations are conducting themselves we will soon follow them into the same pit of division and polarization.

What say you? Lets have a discussion.

Candidate for Parliament:

https://asgardia.space/en/user/6562/profile/view/

What is an app constructor ?

App constructor or app builder without coding is a service that creates mobile applications. Using such a program you don't need to have any technical or programming skills. The service does everything by itself, all you need to do is to indicate what features and designs you would like to see in your product. There are three main types of applications that mobile app builders and app constructors create.

Applications which you can create using online app builder

Web apps

Web apps created by an app constructor are not program products. They are special websites that act and look like native mobile apps. To get access to such apps you need to have a browser installed on a smartphone and an Internet connection. These applications are based on HTML5 technology. Such web apps don't fit all the projects. They can work with some news and blog applications but not with shops and other high load sites.

Hybrid apps

It is another type of applications generated by app builders. Hybrid apps partly use the functionality of a native application and partly functionality of a web app. What people like in these types of mobile apps is that they cover more than one platform and cost less than the development of two native apps. Yet, those were all benefits of these applications.

Native apps

Is the best option in mobile development. They cover only one platform which they are perfectly designed for. If you choose between a web app, hybrid or native, native development is the way you should go. But don't think that a native app created by a person and a native app created by a constructor are the same. It's not like that. But, well talk about this later.

Comparing man-made and constructor's app

The thing we are trying to explain in this article is that you will never get a fully-functioning, smooth and solid application with an app builder or app constructor. Yes, you can create an app with their help. Yes, it will have some set of functionality and will actually work. But, there is a long list of issues which you would get if you choose this service instead of a hybrid app. Lets consider them one by one.

Web apps (HTML)

Web apps based on HTML5 technology may attract you because they are cheap, fast to create and they will work on any mobile platform. Yet, here are the drawbacks:

Web app drawbacks

Can't be published in stores . Remember that your app (and as we have already clarified is not actually a mobile app) will not be accepted in App Store and Google Play. Of course, you may find some stores and publish your application there but you need to understand that the number of visitors to such stores is minor compared to the traditional ones. And if you wanted to promote app via App Store or Google Play, you ll not be able to do it with this type of application.

Difficult to integrate a payment gateway . It is one more minus of these apps. The thing is that it is more difficult to integrate payment or any other third party service into such an app than into a native one.

Smartphone utilities dont work in such apps . An HTML5 app doesnt have full access to the hardware platform, unlike native applications. It means that in your app there wont be camera features, GPS, NFC, gyroscope and other utilities enabled that could make your application fun and more interesting.

No off-line mode . As you might have guessed, a browser page will not work without an Internet connection.

Hybrid apps

Lots of companies are attracted to the idea of paying less and getting an app which can work on different platforms and be developed quickly. But, think twice before agreeing on such an option. Here's why:

Hybrid apps faults

Design . iOS and Android platforms have their design guidelines. Of course, they are different and of course, an app with the design for Android platform won't meet the requirements of iOS Human Interaction Guidelines. And, of course, the features designed specifically for iOS platform won't work correctly on Android.

Utilities . Just like the previous type of automatically constructed applications, Hybrid apps also have very limited access to a smartphone utilities. And even if you got access to them, the performance speed would be just awful.

Native apps created with an app constructor

Now, you may start thinking that the native app is the best option (which is really true). However, a native app developed by a person and native app constructed by an app constructor or an online app builder are two dramatically different things. Here is why:

Functionality . Imagine that you prepare a salad. You have a cucumber, a tomato and some cheese. Nothing more. You can take only two ingredients or even one but not four because there is no ingredient number four, only three of them. The same here. You are limited with a short list of features which you can include into your application. If you have an innovative idea (or at least not a trivial one) you can not implement it. The application will be absolutely templated.

Code quality . It actually looks like a salad. You add a little bit of this and a little bit of that. In an online mobile app maker, you choose features but not the way they will interact with each other. You will not get any documentation to your code and will not be able to change it.

What is carpool and how does it work?

Ridesharing or carpooling is the type of a ride when a driver picks up passengers that go the same way he goes, and they reimburse fuel costs. The trip can be referred to rideshare services only if it meets the following conditions:

• car owner doesn't provide passengers with on-demand services. It means that he or she will go to the required destination in any case, regardless of whether he has fellow companions or not;
• car owner just saves on fuels costs but he or she doesn't earn money on it;
• since this service implies that passengers share a ride, they must participate in the sharing of a total ride cost. In most cases, the cost of fuel is shared between all companions. But also a driver can look for companions not for financial sharing, but for people who have a driving license. When there are 2 or more drivers in the car, it is possible to have a bit rest during the trip. Moreover, a good companion is good for chatting during the long road not to fall asleep.

Carpool app example - how it looks

So what is rideshare ? The main idea is to save on fuel cost and organize a group of people to go with. Owing to the Internet and GPS technologies, it is not difficult to find companions. However, you shouldn't forget about precautionary measures and nuances of this service.

Now then, a short summary of the service goal:

• a driver fills in the form in a rideshare app and places the information about his or her destination point;
• passengers find this route on a Web, get in touch with a driver and discuss details;
• passengers have the same traveling route;
• driver saves on fuel cost, and passenger feels more comfortable than in bus or train.

Advantages and disadvantages of carpooling

Nothing has only positive sides. Carpooling service is not an exception to the rule. So let's consider weak and strong sides of ridesharing services.

Advantages of carpooling:

• The main advantage of rideshare solutions is cost saving, of course. Depending on the agreement, a ride can be twice as cheap than traveling by conventional way;
• Don't forget that your car it is not a gas cost only. There are some cost items for the maintenance, repair, parts replacement in your vehicle. If you reduce the time of car utilization, you reduce these costs;
• A fewer number of cars on the road can reduce the CO2 emission in the roads and make the air we breathe cleaner;
• Saving time. Fewer cars - fewer traffic jams. That is to say, it is possible to reach a destination point faster and find a parking place.
• Meeting new people. Traveling together allows you to find good friends.

Disadvantages of carpooling:

• Indecent passengers. Some people can try to discount the price or even ask the driver to visit the place that is not on the scheduled route. And it is important to screen out such individuals at the very beginning of traveling.
• Indecent drivers. Unfortunately, some drivers can play an unfair game as well. For example, drivers that take 5-6 people in a small car and ask for a high price.
• In some cases, a driver has to pick up each companion separately. It increases the time of traveling.
• Passengers can be not satisfied with the driving style of a car owner. In turn, the driver can be annoyed with an excessive volubility of companions, their untidiness or lack of manners.

Strong and weak sides of ridesharing

Yesterday I was at a parent meeting in regard to a play that my daughters are being cast in. Toward the end of the meeting one of the ladies up front awkwardly interrupted the director and handed her a cell phone.  There was a fellow parent in Hawaii on vacation.  The director looked at the phone and then somberly told us that apparently a “ballistic missile was headed towards Hawaii.”  Shock and disbelief immediately spread across the room.  We stopped what we were doing and all prayed for the protection of the people of Hawaii and that this might me a false report.

I immediately thought how does this happen?  North Korea’s Kin Jung-un cannot really be this crazy to launch a missile at Hawaii?  Is the missile conventional or nuclear?  What will become of the people of Hawaii and how many will be killed?  Will the President and then Congress have the courage to respond in kind against who ever launched the missile?

After the above thoughts processed I began to wonder why we were not receiving phone alerts and I started to go to the news sites on my cell phone and nothing.  I then began to think ok this must be a hoax.  Before I could confirm it to be a hoax someone from the back of the room announced it was a false alarm.  That brought much relief but the emotions were already there and not to be easily turned off.  Even one day later and when I read the articles about the event the emotions felt yesterday flow back to the surface.

So why am I sharing this with you? First and foremost because this event was a cold reminder of why Asgardians and the People of Earth must always strive for peace.  For 38 minutes the cost of war was going to be paid by the citizens of Hawaii.  It would be only the 3 ^rd civilian population in the history of man to be struck by a nuclear weapon. Today, videos have emerged and we get to see the panic in the streets and probably most haunting is the parent putting a young girl down a man-hole. She could be heard saying “I don’t want to go down there.”  The sheer loss of life would be staggering, the injured and dying would be heart breaking beyond measure.  How would we be able to care for all of them and at some point start the healing process? How do we feed and house that number of people.  Radiation sickness would have lasted for generations.  Many generations of children would be born with birth defects due to mothers and fathers being exposed to radiation.

The above paragraph should always be in the minds of our government leaders as they carryout domestic and foreign affairs. We are one people; human beings bleeding red blood.  The universal desire of all people is to live in peace, to be able to provide for one’s self and family.  To help our neighbor when needed and to be helped when needed.  I believe this to be the universal desire of men and women all over the world regardless of skin color or nationality.  These are the ideals we should be working for and with this guiding principle we should be able to achieve a lasting peace and prosperity (as I just defined in this paragraph) for all.

Asgardia, One People and One Vision. Together We Can.

Candidate For Parliament:

https://asgardia.space/en/blog/22849-candidate-for-parliament/

Today I want to reflect on a certain magazine’s Person of the Year, “The Silence Breakers.”  Here in the United States Hollywood and news outlets are being rocked by the exposure of powerful mean allegedly sexually harassing women with whom they have power over in the workplace.  Note that some of these men have admitted to their abhorrent and illegal behavior.  Victimized women are finally being heard as they speak out against alleged sexual harassment and in many cases sexual assault.  As I think back, I guess this coming out started with Roger Ailes and Bill O’reilly of Foxnews who resigned in shame after their alleged sexual harassment and multi-million dollar settlements were exposed.

From Hollywood the poster child of this sickening behavior today is Harvey Weinstein.  This has sparked a national soul searching as to the value we place on women within the workplace and what is the proper conduct toward women in the workplace.  Clearly this is not the first time the issue has been a part of the national debate and quite frankly I am shocked and disgusted at the behavior and particularly in the year 2017/2018.  I really thought we as a society had, particularly in the workplace, evolved to the point that we as males understood and valued women as equals and the unique abilities they bring to the workplace.  Clearly in certain segment of our society and in the workplace this is/was not the case.

In my younger years I worked as nurse for 8 years. Clearly nursing is dominated by women and some of the smartest and hardest working individuals I have ever worked with then and now are/were women.  It is of note for me personally I never faced any sort of harassment from my female colleagues during my nursing years.  It is a shame that women have to face harassment when it is a male dominated workplace.

Here is my golden rules for the workplace and male/female interactions:

1. If a man has any sort of power over a woman within the workplace there cannot be a relationship or pursuit of a relationship because you cannot guarantee that the woman’s participation is not coerced because of his authority over her.
2. We as coworkers must speak out when we witness acts/signs of sexual harassment.
3. Employers on an annual basis must provide the anti-harassment and equal employment policy to all employees.
4. Employers must develop a workplace culture that does not tolerate such behaviors.
5. Employers must investigate all complaints of harassment and punish severely if not terminate individuals found in violation of the anti-harassment and equal employment policies.

I believe these golden rules will serve Asgardia well.  Today I have focused on the plight of women but the above also applies, although to a much lesser extent, to men as well since the vast majority of employers are male dominated.

Asgardia, One People and One Vision. Together We Can.

Candidate for Parliament

Today I want to touch on one of the major tenants of Asgardia's three part concept statement by Dr. Ashurbeyli:

"Asgardia is also unique from a philosophical aspect – to serve entire humanity and each and everyone, regardless of his or her personal welfare and the prosperity of the country where they happened to be born."

How do I as a citizen of Asgardia demonstrate the concept of humanity towards my fellow Asgardians and citizens of the Earth nations?  After all what do I have to offer you might ask?  Back in 2008 I asked this same question.  The principle answer is:

"Do what you can within your sphere of influence."

Ok, what does that mean? For me it meant that back on January 27, 2008 I would take my personal funds  and open a KIVA account. KIVA provides micro-loans to individuals in developing parts of the world.

From the KIVA website:

"By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival..."

My micro-loan was to woman in Nigeria to help with her restaurant to buy a deep freezer so she could sell iced water and blocks of ice.  Since 2008 I have continued to lend knowing that I am doing my part to give back to humanity.

My 2017 impact is as follows:

There are many ways to serve humanity and this is only one way of doing it.  Fellow Asgardian, how will you serve humanity?

Asgardia, One People and One Vision. Together We Can.

https://asgardia.space/en/blog/22849-candidate-for-parliament/

Today I want to touch on one of the major tenants of Asgardia's three part concept statement by Dr. Ashurbeyli:

"Asgardia is also unique from a philosophical aspect – to serve entire humanity and each and everyone, regardless of his or her personal welfare and the prosperity of the country where they happened to be born."

How do I as a citizen of Asgardia demonstrate the concept of humanity towards my fellow Asgardians and citizens of the Earth nations?  After all what do I have to offer you might ask?  Back in 2008 I asked this same question.  The principle answer is:

"Do what you can within your sphere of influence."

Ok, what does that mean? For me it meant that back on January 27, 2008 I would take my personal funds  and open a KIVA account. KIVA provides micro-loans to individuals in developing parts of the world.

From the KIVA website:

"By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival..."

My micro-loan was to woman in Nigeria to help with her restaurant to buy a deep freezer so she could sell iced water and blocks of ice.  Since 2008 I have continued to lend knowing that I am doing my part to give back to humanity.

My 2017 impact is as follows:

There are many ways to serve humanity and this in one way of doing it.  Fellow Asgardian, how will you serve humanity?

Asgardia, One People and One Vision. Together We Can.

https://asgardia.space/en/blog/22849-candidate-for-parliament/

Analytics for mobile apps is a vital component needed to figure out how a mobile app works and what you need to do to enhance it and acquire users. Every year we get lots of new analytical tools and the decision-making process becomes more and more complicated. As a rule, developers use several analytical tools to get comprehensive data about the state of their app on the market. This article is about a research we've done to find the best analytical instruments to help developers create the best apps .

Types of app Analytics

There are seven types of mobile Analytics solutions which we need to mention as the most efficient ones, which will help you get a thorough analysis of an app. They are app monetization, App Store, app interaction, app performance management, mobile advertising, mobile browsers and in-app engagement Analytics.

Mobile Analytics types

App monetization Analytics

It helps understand a user of an app better, as well as marketing and advertising efficiency, including message settings an app, pricing models and advertisement.

App Store Analytics

This type of collected data shows key efficiency indicators of your product and your competitors' product, as it shows the rate and income in different stores. It comes down to issues like ranking when a user comes to a store, downloads, in-app purchases comparison, and many other factors. The information helps choose the best monetization strategy, increase return on investment and engage acquiring users.

App interaction analytical tools

They are needed to know how a user interacts with an app, why and when he closes it. Data is needed to improve the design and increase productivity.

App performance management

It lets you measure different parameters concerning performance and detect defects. The tool also informs you of all crashes and cases when your app slows down throughout various devices and operating systems.

Mobile advertising Analytics

This Analytics calculate usefulness of advertising expenditures and displays its effectiveness. It also reflects the users' behaviour and their attitude towards the ads, like clicks, for instance.

Mobile browsers' analytical tools

The tools are needed to increase users experience of interaction with a browser and to understand their behaviour, monitor the conversion and other parameters.

In-app engagement Analytics

It shows a number of downloads, a frequency of use and the duration of each session. These tools display everything that a user does inside the app.

The data is vital, it helps determine the list of analytical tools you require exactly. For instance, if you make an in-house app for a company or an enterprise you need a performance management analysis more than in-app engagement analysis. Or, imagine, that your app is very extraordinary. In this case, standard app Analytics tools won't give you broad understanding of what is going on with your app. So, when you are choosing the best mobile Analytics platform , you need a data decoding feature which will explain why you have this statistical facilitation.

When you are choosing advanced Analytics tools , make sure that they are completely compatible with your application and are easy to use. Otherwise, they can influence download speed and performance in general. We have chosen the best mobile app Analytics platforms for you that work seamlessly and are easy to implement.

As the main criteria, we will consider two types: in-app engagement and profit-making capacity Analytics and app performance management Analytics. These are the types that cover the majority of categories.

We have seen in the past week protest spreading across Iran.  The young people of Iran are rising up against their theocratic rulers who have imposed a harsh style of Sharia Law upon the country and have garnered the lion's share of the country's resources for themselves while the everyday citizen struggles to provide for the family.

Foxnews.com sums up the problem as follows:

"...the rapid rise of the cost of living, rampant government corruption, and deteriorating human rights situation have brought things to a head."

DailMail.com contrast the dichotomy faced by everyday Iranians:

"This leaves poor Iranians asking why their rulers can afford to subsidise allied regimes like that of the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and send troops to help fight his enemies, but insist on [them] putting up [with high] food and fuel prices at home."

The president of Iran recently stated that the Iranian are free to protest, disagree and criticize but at the same time the government has blocked access to social media which the people are using to organize and even worse it has been reported that the security forces have killed approximately 13 protesters.  These are the hallmarks of an oppressive government.

I call on the Iranian government to allow the democratic process to play out with freedom of speech and no violence from the security forces and let the people decide their future whether they choose to continue as an Islamic Republic or as a Secular government.  I specifically hope that the future is an Iranian government for the people and by the people.  A Secular government offers the best opportunity for ALL the different people of Iran.

I am thankful that Asgardia understands the importance of a Secular government and personal freedoms to include Freedom of Religion which are all enshrined within the Asgardian Constitution.  My heart is with the Iranian people who are struggling for a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to themselves and their Posterity.

https://asgardia.space/en/user/6562/profile/view/

What bugs are there?

The classification is taken from Jira. Jira is a project management tool that allows to track bugs. Its one of the most comfortable programs to run a project and is commonly used in a software development sphere.

Classification of bugs in software testing

Lets look closer how each type of bugs differ from others.

Blocker It is the most severe bug. Blockers are mainly considered as blocking/not allowing to use the app or key business logic of the app. There are no workarounds.

For instance, only logged user can use our app. A user can log in through email and password. Bug: when a user enters correct credentials and click submit button he receives an error notification. And his status is not changed to logged user. In such case, the user cannot use any features of our app, because its blocked by login bug. There is no a workaround.

The other example with Twitter. When user submit his tweet but it isnt saved in our DB - its a bug. Thats why nobody can read the tweet. Its a blocker bug because the key business feature is blocked. The issue doesnt have a work-around.

Imagine, a user receives a confirmation message after sign-in. When a user confirms account he can use all feature. If a user signed-up in app, he waits for 10 minutes but he doesnt receive any confirmation message, it is also a Blocker bug because a user cannot update his status to confirmed. The issue doesnt have a work-around.

A brief missive to ring in the new year.

I would like to extend a heart felt Happy New Year's to all peoples of the Earth and particularly the citizens of Asgardia.  Year 1 (0001 AGC) of Asgardia has been a momentous year with our founding by the Head of Nation, Igor Ashurbeyli.  One of the most impressive is that we had an explosion in population which ranks us the 174th largest country on the earth with a current population of 164,547.  Contrast that with what I believe is the smallest nation that is a member of the United Nations, the country of Tuvalu, which has a population of only 11,097.  Tuvalu is ranked as the 198th largest country on the Earth.

So what the previous paragraph clearly shows is that Asgardia is more than viable as a recognized nation and member of the United Nations.  There is still much work to be done as you can see in the quote below of the Head of Nation as he outlines the goals for year 2 (0002 AGC) of Asgardia.

"I am sure that during the next, 0002 year in Asgardia, 2018 by the Earthly calendar, we will finalize the formation of all government entities, issue our own cryptocurrency, obtain universal ID cards and passports, and continue our existence as the first full-fledged, recognized space nation in the history of human civilisation."

While I am sure many things are working in tandem our highest priority is the formation of our government which starts with the election of our Parliament. Parliamentary election end on 9 March 2018 (12 March 0002 AGC).  For our two largest districts, English and Chinese, only 4.7% and 2.2% of their voters have voted.  In the other districts I have seen as high as 18% of the voting population have voted.  My challenge for you is that if you have not voted please vote and if you have voted encourage your fellow Asgardians to vote also.

A representative government can only be successful if the people it represents participates.

I am participating by engaging with blog post about the issue of the day facing our Earth nations (so we can discuss and avoid the same in Asgardia), voting and running for Parliament.

You can find my candidate profile here: https://asgardia.space/en/user/6562/profile/view/

Here in the United States police officers can use deadly force base on a thought or belief as in the case study below.  I am wondering if this is the case in foreign countries such as England, France or Germany?  I also would like to have a discussion about whether this is reasonable for police to be able to take a life because the "THOUGHT" they were reaching for a weapon.  In the case study below an innocent man was killed because the officer "THOUGHT" he was reaching for a gun.  He was unarmed.

There was another case where an innocent man was on the ground at gun point being ordered to crawl toward the police.  During this time the man was begging police not to shoot him.  At one point he reached for his pants and was shot and killed by police because they "THOUGHT" he was reaching for a weapon.  In this case and most likely the one above these individuals were simply trying to pull up their pants which is a reflex movement if you feel your pants falling.

Case Study: http://abc7.com/suspect-in-kansas-swatting-made-threats-to-abc7-in-2015/2841685/

"Officers responded to the residence, and when a man opened the front door police told him to put his hands up and move slowly. The man, identified by relatives as 28-year-old Andrew Finch, allegedly moved his hand toward his waistband.

Fearing that Finch was reaching for a gun, an officer fired a single shot that struck the man, who turned out to be unarmed. Finch was transported to a hospital, where he died."

My Position:

Police cannot use deadly force because they THOUGHT the person was reaching for a weapon.  Police should only be allowed to use deadly force when the SEE a weapon.  Most certainly I want this for Asgardian police.

After recently witnessing a small non-profit being victimized by an attorney and the courts I would like to open a discussion about Civil Court.  What occurred amounted to a shake down.

You have probably seen on the news stories about unscrupulous individuals and attorneys (and in the above case) the courts that go after small businesses and individuals that make minor mistakes who do not have the financial means to defend themselves.

In the case above even with a ledger showing that what the plaintiff (who happened to be an attorney) was alleging was wrong, the court still allowed for the case to proceed in civil court and refused to send the matter to Small Claims Court even though the amount in question was $700 to $800.  In that state small claims goes up to $25,000.

In the end, the above small non-profit was forced to pay the plaintiff and court cost just to stop the litigation!  The facts were apparently never consider by plaintiff or the court.  It was simply attack, attack, attack!  As a result the non-profit closed up shop in that state.

In Asgardia's Civil Law I would like to see that individuals and business that are injured be made whole as prescribed by law at the lowest level possible.  Plaintiff should be required to file at the lowest level of court that can address the matter.

I propose the following procedure for civil matters:

1.  Send a letter to the business or individual explaining the "injury" and the resolution requested and within what time-frame.  If the response is in agreement or negotiated to both parties agreement then the matter is resolved.  The period of negotiation will be at least initial notification, response, counter and counter response.

2.  If step 1 fails then matter them moves to a mutually agreed mediator or a certified mediator affiliated with the Asgardian Judiciary.  The mediator is required to be neutral and her/his goal is the get the two parties to agree to a resolution.

3.  If step 2 fails then the matter moves to the court of least jurisdiction.  If the value of the "injury" falls within small claims court then matter will be mandated to be handled and resolved in that court.  If the matter moves to civil court than the matter will proceed in that court.  The court must always remain neutral.  The appropriate discovery will be commence and the case will proceed per civil court rules.  Whether the matter will be decided by a judge or jury, the matter will proceed as expeditiously as possible.  The court will be required to bring the matter to resolution a quickly as possible.  A case will not continue just because either party has a vendetta or they/the court wants to show how smart or vicious they are by seeing how long they can prolong the case.

Case Study (frivolous lawsuits):

If there has been no physical or monetary loss, as in the case of frivolous Americans with Disabilities (ADA); such as a signs not being posted, not having an ADA sidewalk or wheelchair ramp; the default should proceed as I proposed above.  The resolution in step 1 would be for the business to agree to fix the problem within an agreed period of time.  The only fees due to the "injured" party would at most be the cost of postage stamps.

Goal:

The courts will not be used to financially ruin a business or individual via litigation (not judgement) cost.  The days of those with money using the courts as a weapon will be over.

I propose a legal system that allows for equal access by all parties.  For example, if a certain software company's legion of lawyers want to go after a mom and pop business the above procedures would limit how long the matter could be extended.

The mom and pop business would not have any fear of the cost of defensive litigation.  They would only have to consider if they believe they can win their case or not.

What do you think.?  Lets discuss.

Greetings fellow Asgardians.  I just submitted my candidacy and this is my first post.  I look forward to being a part of a positive history changing event.  We have the opportunity to change the course of humankind to a better future that is for all.  We aspire to a higher calling that accounts for all voices and particularly those who do not have a voice in today's earth bound societies.

As we embark on the journey, Asgardia as well as those that are privileged with serving in government, will make mistakes but more importantly we will listen and learn from those mistakes and become a stronger more united people.

I have not held public office in the past but I do bring almost 50 years of life experiences to Parliament if am elected.  Please see my Candidate Platform for my political philosophy and priorities.

Please feel free to reach out to me for questions and discussion.  Thanks you for your time and consideration.

The pack of standard open source Android projects

Let's consider the pack of popular open source GitHub libraries that are likely used in the majority of Android-based apps .

Retrofit

License : Apache 2.0

GitHub Stars : 20,370

This Android open source project is able to convert REST API into Java interface. Retrofit allows you to write a qualitative code in pure Java by means of using almost any RESTful API.

It is worth mentioning that the core features include dynamically built requests, errors proceeding, and the capability to transfer files. Also, this Git open source library gives you a powerful infrastructure for authentication, and API interaction as well as sending web requests by means of OkHttp .

Retrofit automatically converts JSON into objects with the help of another open source Android repository called Gson . All the library's logic is built upon annotations that allow the creation of dynamic requests within a server.

In addition, as for the Android-based library, it is pretty light and relatively easy to use.

Advantages:

• Easy to use & install
• Great documentation
• Lightness

Disadvantages:

• Lack of images loading support

Glide

License : Apache 2.0

GitHub stars : 14,600

Loading images is a quite widespread task with Android development . Glide Android open source repository is able to download and display pictures from multiple sources. It also takes care of caching and memory consumption.

However, to find the balance between the quality and memory usage, you need to change Glide's default configuration from RGB-555 to ARGB-8888.

By taking this easy step, you will increase the total quality of images and preserve the balance of memory consumption. To make it clear, take a look at the graph underneath that shows the memory consumption in the analogous open source for Android.

Glide's memory consumption in comparison with Picasso

Advantages:

• Fast loading
• Low memory consumption
• GIF support

Disadvantages:

• Size in 430 kb

Butter Knife

License : Apache 2.0

GitHub stars : 15,500

As you know, the necessity for using a seemingly repetitive code during the project appears quite often. In order to keep up with a good programming style, you should avoid using so-called boilerplate code . For this purpose, open source Android libraries like Butter Knife were created. This library uses an InjectView annotation to remove some boilerplate and shorten your code.

Advantages:

• Easy setup
• Lets you write less code
• Good performance

Disadvantages:

• No Pojo Injection support

BaaS definition : what is a cloud backend?

So, you came to the conclusion that you need your personal app. But in addition to a platform selection, you need also to determine how the backend of the app will be developed. We would like to shed some light on the alternative to backend building from scratch called Backend-as-a-Service option. And that is one of the most popular cloud services for today.

You may have another mind, but we should explain that the development of server part is a very difficult and time-consuming work. Moreover, when developers start developing backend part, they can hardly predict the correct time it takes to develop since nobody knows what pitfalls they may come across. Besides that, developers can use outdated tools they have at the moment. Therefore, these outdated tools may lead to the development price increase and ultimately make this backend far from being user-friendly. But it can be avoided with the help of BaaS business solutions .

What is BaaS?

Everything unknown may look strange and not trustworthy. But only until you get acquainted with this technology closer. Simply put, using BaaS you get different server resources that will assist you in the construction of the backend for the project you want. Why is it so beneficial to use BaaS? It will let you avoid large expenses connected with your own writing and subsequent maintenance of server backend. So if you consider it necessary, we can always use BaaS technology to assist you in the new start-up development.

What is GitHub: first source code repository

GitHub - a social repository for open source code projects that use Git for source code versions control. This host site is a distributed file version management systems. Linus Torvalds created this project for Linux kernel development control. Such projects like Chromium, jQuery, PHP, MediaWiki etc. use Git. Good news - this free software is released under GNU GPL license version 2!

The mission of GitHub is to make the development process quick and captivating, especially when a few individuals simultaneously are working on the same task. Apart from being a good tool, GitHub is a large educational source. This service includes more than 21 million of code hosts. So let's take a look at GitHub features .

GitHub benefits

GitHub is gaining the lead, in our opinion. And you should check out its strong sides to find out why.

Bug tracking

GitHub integrates this feature to simplify search and bugs fixing. To understand what should be done, a developer just opens the dashboard of each project and filters the information. Questions can also be sorted according to their popularity, update time and so forth. This software also has a convenient user interface that makes it source No.1 among the IT-developers. It can be an answer to your question 'Why should I use GitHub ?'

Find your project easily

GitHub allows finding easily open source code projects. Also, you can find an information concerning learning and searching of open source code projects and making them into groups. In addition, GitHub shows trend repositories and sort them by days, weeks, or months.

Meet new developers

Some thousands of new developers worldwide join the large network of GitHub users to share their experience and express ideas.

Share your experience

Gists allows users to share code, text fragments, or any information with other developers. It can be used for text exchange, and gists work as git repositories, therefore you can just bifurcate them and update their versions. So if you use it in open source code website , it can be a real alternative.

Coordinate your projects together

GitHub has effective and clear features for team management. Thus, that the efforts of people engaged in working on the project are easily coordinated through this source. In this case, the outcome of the work is high.

Integrated code search

GitHub supports code search whether it be from a specific project or a website. Moreover, this platform has a perfect SEO, so users can find any code string located in public repositories.

High compatibility

Most cloud hosting services perfectly match GitHub. Any project located on this source code hosting can be customized for these services within a few seconds.

Weak sides

• Only premium users can use all GitHub repositories. The price for using this service is rather high. Nevertheless, the quality of service it provides is worth the candle.
• Restrictions on file size . The repository can host information up to 1 Gb and file size cannot exceed 100 Mb.

GitHub page: find the code you need

What is GitLab: its meaning and features

Developed on the basis of Git version control system, GitLab is one of the best web platforms for hosting project source codes. Although GitLab is similar to GitHub in terms of functionality, it seems to be a better choice for teamwork than its famous counterpart and GitLab features may be different somewhat.

GitLab exists in two forms. The first one is SAAS - website with open registration, and the second one is an individual solution GitLab Community Edition. They both can be perfectly customized to any service.

GitLab benefits: reasons to use GitLab

What's interesting can you find on GitLab?

Free service

Users can find an unlimited number of private repositories in GitLab. This service is completely free. Nevertheless, there is a notification that users will have to pay for storing files that exceed 10 Gb in their size.

Open source code repository

GitLab software is available under the license with an open source code.

Free hosting

There is a Community Edition - free source code repository for Debian, Ubuntu and CentOS computers. Enterprise Edition is a paid solution that adds proprietary features over Community Edition, improving integration with other online tools, server options management, workflow management as well as authentication and integration with authorization.

Bug tracking mechanism

GitLab has an effective integrated bug tracking mechanism. Users can create tasks, comment and close them.

Files editing in the web interface

Editing of files is possible directly in the web interface and you can do it without loading of the repository. So if you need to make small changes in an open source code websites , this way is that what you need.

LDAP integration

Full integration with LDAP . Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is an app protocol for access and support of distributed directories services around the Internet. GitLab EE adds additional features such as support of several LDAP servers and group synchronization.

Its drawbacks

• The interface is rather slow - switching from one page to another takes some time.
• Technical problems with repositories are quite frequent.

GitLab platform to use source code hosting

What is BitBucket: third participant in a race

BitBucket can be called as a real worthy competitor to GitHub. Why BitBucket? Different operating systems support this platform. You just need to create to register on the official website and then you can create your personal account. In fact, it is based on a source code management mechanism. You can simultaneously use the code with integrated comments, and also make requests, manage and share your Git repositories. It is possible to create a flexible deployment model for any team. Moreover, you can get access to private and public repositories without any difficulties.

BitBucket advantages

And, finally, BitBucket comes into play!

Free for small teams

If your team includes no more than 5 individuals, you can get an unlimited number of free private repositories. So, this source code repository hosting doesn't charge a fee for each private repository, it charges a fee only for a number of repositories in total.

Query management system

BitBucket is provided with an integrated system of query management.

Authentication via GitHub

BitBucket supports social media and authentication via GitHub.

Integrated JIRA tool

Bug tracking tool JIRA is developed by Atlassian. You may be acquainted with the previous result of their work - BitBucket service. When the components of bug tracking are integrated, JIRA automatically updates information about problems when a new commit is performed in a BitBucket repository and here BitBucket benefits are obvious.

Repositories importing

Importing of existing repositories. Great feature, isn't it?

Discounts for students and teachers

Atlassian suggests student licenses for students and teachers for Atlassian products developed for educational purposes. BitBucket is included, therefore students and teachers can have unlimited private repositories with an unlimited number of participants.

Disadvantages

• Private repositories are free for a team with 5 members and fewer. If the team is larger, it will be necessary to pay for each additional team member.
• The only way of search is to launch repository and find it locally or use external apps.
• Not so stable as GitHub. Some problems during a work session may slow down the process.

Use Atlassian BitBucket for team work