17 Facebook tips and tricks you probably never heard about

Facebook has been around for a while, but chances are, you have no idea about the several hidden features buried within the social network.

It’s easy to only use the surface of Facebook: you log on, check your notifications, send a few chats, post a status or a photo, then close out. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you may take a dive into the Settings panel and adjust your preferences. But there’s so much more you can do – and we’re not just talking about the basic stuff like blocking or managing post privacy.

Here are a few tips and tricks really worth knowing, and keep checking back, as we plan to update this piece over time. Also, check out Pocket-lint’s Facebook Messenger round-up for more handy tips and tricks.

Facebook tips and tricks

Save for later

Facebook offers Save feature for web and mobile. It acts as a bookmark for items you find interesting such as links, places, movies, TV shows, and music. So, instead of saving items, like those nummy videos for recipes, to other read-it-later services, you can now use Facebook as a bookmarking service. Saved items can be accessed later for viewing, archived, or even shared with your Facebook friends.

• To access the Saved items on the web, click on the Saved feature on the left-hand side of your News Feed.
• On mobile, click on the More tab.

Profile video

You can take or upload a video of up to seven seconds to use as your profile video, rather than use a profile picture. They are public and can be viewed by anyone.

• To add a profile video from mobile, go to your profile and tap your profile picture or video, then tap Take a New Profile Video or Upload Video, and tap Next. Then, tap the bar at the bottom of the screen to choose a thumbnail for your video, and tap Save or Use.

Disable auto-playing videos

If you don’t want videos on Facebook to automatically play in your News Feed, you can simply disable the feature.

• Under the More tab in the Facebook mobile app, select Videos and Photos, then choose to auto play videos over Cellular and Wi-Fi connections, just Wi-Fi, or never.

Name pronunciation

Tired of people pronouncing your name wrong? You can teach them how to say it properly on Facebook.

• While editing your profile on the desktop website, go to “Details About You” to get started. From here, you can also add a nickname or maiden name for yourself to display with your profile.

Add a short bio

Facebook lets you create a short bio. It sits above your other profile information like city, work, and relationship status.

• You can edit it at any time from your profile page on the desktop site and mobile app. You can even make your bio completely out of emojis.

Hide your activity from friends

Your activity log lets you review and manage what you share on Facebook. For example, if you become friends with someone new, you can go into your Activity Log and hide the public story about you becoming friends with that person, among other things. Only you can see your activity log, but stories in your activity log may appear on your Timeline, in search, or in your friends’ News Feeds.

• To view your activity log, click the down arrow in the top-right corner of any Facebook page from the web, and then select Activity Log. From here, you can click the Filters on the left to review a specific type of story (ex: Your Posts, Photos). You can also search for stories and click a year on the right to see stories from a specific year.

Prioritise who you see first

If there are people or pages you want to see first in your News Feed, you can select them to appear first via the Facebook mobile app. People and pages you’ve marked to see first will have a blue star next to their posts in your feed.

• Tap Settings under the app’s More tab, and then tap News Feed Preferences to get started.

See your active sessions

Facebook shows you all active sessions, aka which devices are logging onto your account and from where. This is handy if you’re curious as to whether an ex or a friend might be logging into your Facebook, or maybe you’ve left your account signed in on a device somewhere.

• From the Facebook mobile app, tap the More tab then Settings > Account Settings > Security > and Active Sessions. Tap the “X” to remotely log out of any device or Facebook app you’re logged into.
• From your Security Settings on Facebook’s desktop website, the “Where You’re Logged In” menu shows active logins and lets you end them.

Facebook login alerts

Facebook will notify you by notification or email when someone logs onto your account. Facebook Login Alerts and Login Approvals can be enabled under Security Settings in the mobile app and desktop website. It’s an extra security feature, basically.

• To turn on login alerts, go to your Security Settings under Settings from the web, then Click the Login Alerts section, and Choose the type of alert (ex: email alerts) you’d like to receive. Click Save Changes when done.

Unfollow friends

We all have that one friend who posts the most rude or annoying things on Facebook. Block that noise without unfriending by simply unfollowing him or her. Friends won’t know if you’ve chosen to unfollow them, and their content won’t appear in your News Feed.

• To unfollow someone, go to their profile on the web, hover over Following and then scroll down to select Unfollow.

View your profile as…

Ever want to see what your Uncle Bob sees when he looks at your profile? You can. This is handy for seeing what on your profile is visible to others, including individual friends you may have hidden information from.

• When you’re logged into Facebook on the web, go to your profile, then click the ellipsis next to “View Activity Log”, and click “View as…”.

See friendship

This trick lets you see all the common posts and photos between you and a friend. But, with a quick hack, you can also see common stuff between two other people on Facebook.

• To see common stuff between you and a friend, log into Facebook on the web, go to you a friend’s profile, then click the ellipsis next to “View Activity Log”, and click “See Friendship”. The URL in your browser will show: facebook.com/friendship/[your username]/[friend’s username]
• To see common stuff between two friends, enter this in your browser: facebook.com/friendship/[friend’s username]/[friend’s username]

Get notifications from friends

If you want to keep tabs on a friend’s Facebook activity, you can get alerted every time they share something. Seriously, like every time.

• Click the “Friends” drop down from their profile on Facebook’s desktop website, and then select “Get Notifications”.

Create individual News Feeds

You can create groups within your list of friends, enabling you to filter between what everyone is talking about in your News Feed. For instance, you may want to see what everyone from you work is sharing or just your friends from home. Facebook creates lists of friends by default based on common affiliation, but you can create them too. It’s like individual News Feeds within Facebook for you to browse.

• On Facebook’s desktop site, you can see all of your friend lists next to your News Feeds. Select the More button that appears next to the Friends header to manage your friends’ lists. At the top of the new window, you will see a Create List link too.

Unsubscribe from notifications

Commenting on a public post might result in an onslaught of notifications from other people commenting. You may not know that you can unsubscribe from activity on any post, however, which will stop that onslaught.

• When you get a notification for a post on Facebook’s desktop site, click the “X” to the right of the notification and then “Turn off”. You can also turn off notifications for activity from the right drop down arrow of any post.

Add contributors to albums

You can create an album and then add a friend as a contributor so that the two of you can populate the album. Who knew, right? This is especially handy for, let’s say, a party album, where all your friends can upload the crazy pics from the night before.

• If you want to let other people contribute to one of your photo albums, tap “Edit” in the top right of Facebook’s mobile app while viewing the album, and then select “Allow Contributors”.
• From the desktop website, click the same edit button to add people as contributors.

Download Facebook data

You can download your information from your Settings. But because this download contains your profile information, you should keep it secure and be careful when storing, sending or uploading it to any other services.

• Click the download arrow at the top right of any Facebook webpage, then select Setting, and click Download a copy of your Facebook data below your General Account Settings. From there, click Start My Archive. 

Those Chip and PIN cards aren’t as secure as we thought

Chip and PIN cards and readers are finally rolling out in the United States. Unlike traditional magnetic cards that use static information to make a transaction, pieces of plastic, based on a standard by Europay, MasterCard and Visa, create a new key with each purchase. That should make purchases or withdrawals more secure since the information is only valid for 60 seconds. As it turns out, according to Rapid7 security firm researcher Weston Hecker, a lot can happen in that minute.

At last week’s Def Con security conference, Hecker onstrated how an ATM machine or point-of-sale (POS) terminal can be used to intercept that one-time-use key and other information about the card. That data is then transmitted to another device (in this case another cash machine), which makes a second transaction, such as withdrawing money from your account.

It’s an ingenious proof of concept. But, it requires that at least two devices be compromised. First the target POS or ATM need a piece of hardware installed that reads the card’s chip. This process is called “shimming.” (Doing the same hack with a magnetic card is called “skimming.”) Once the data has been captured, its transmitted to a legitimate ATM that’s been hijacked.

This payout cash machine would be outfitted with a system Hecker calls La-Cara. What it does is trick the ATM into believing the physical card is being dipped then a robot hand enters the PIN. The machine withdraws the maximum amount allowed by the card and — for a while at least — the victim is none the wiser.

Of course an ATM with a robot hand would arouse suspicion. But Hecker realized that if you just put a facade and “out of order” sign on a machine, no one gives it a second look. In fact, there was a cash machine near his house with an “out of order” sign that sat undisturbed for days. When he called the bank, they were unaware the machine wasn’t working.

The big payout would be when shimmers are installed on multiple machines that all transmit to a single hijacked ATM. That hijacked machine will collect and dispense all the cash so whenever the thieves are ready to collect, they just roll up, grab the La-Cara system and cash, and leave. If that ATM is compromised, they just put the facade on another machine in another location and start collecting data (and cash) again.

Hecker spent a year analyzing ATM machines and banking systems to come up with this attack. While the thieves (also called “carders”) are currently still using skimmers to fill their pockets, it’s unlikely they’ll turn away from a life of crime once Chip and PIN cards are the only way to get to your cash.

The presentation was meant to be a wake up call for the banking and ATM systems. There’s a window between now and when a majority of the cash machined become EMV compliant. In that time he hopes that the private owned ATMs are upgraded with foreign device detection and that the time it takes to complete a transaction is reduced from 60 seconds. “That’s one of the biggest defenses,” he told Engadget.

This type of attack probably won’t happen in the next few months, Hecker said he doesn’t expect to see this type of system in the wild until about October 2018. But unless that 60-second gap is closed or made more secure, in the future this will be a problem that affects us all.

Android 7.0: What are seamless updates and how do they work?

Seamless updates can keep your phone up-to-date without the headache of waiting and the downtime. But how do they work and what the heck are they?

One of the coolest features Google showed off at Google I/O 2016 that will be part of Android 7.0 Nougat are seamless updates. While it’s not going to be flashy or have much to show on the user-facing side, the details on how it’s done are interesting, and actually so simple you wonder why it took so long to happen.

Let’s have a look.

What are Seamless Updates?

The way Android updates work up to Marshmallow involves some user interaction and takes plenty of time. You get a notification that there’s an update waiting for you, and when you say OK it begins to download. Once you get everything downloaded, the one big file unpacks itself in the cache partition and the system checks the integrity of all the individual image files to make sure they are all signed with the correct key and came from the right place. You’re then prompted to reboot, but not into Android.

You end up in the device’s recovery software where the images are flashed to the correct places on your phone’s internal storage. This takes a fairly long time because of the way the files are copied and moved — it’s a bit-by-bit transfer. The files actually are moved to memory in chunks, erased from their original position and rewritten to the new position. This is the best way to make sure nothing gets corrupted while it’s being installed.

With Android N your phone can be updated like a Chromebook while you’re still using it

Once everything is in place, your phone reboots and you wait for the runtime component to look through the system and “upgrade” your apps to the latest version. What it’s doing is optimizing the apps for the specific version of the Android runtime. Android apps don’t run from the single file you download and install, and are pre-compiled into odex files. That way apps can load faster and the boot process (not counting the first boot after and update) will be much faster.

Then you get to use your phone again.

While most of the time for most people the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to upgrade your operating system doesn’t cause too much trouble, any way that can minimize downtime is a better way. Your phone should be available in case of an emergency whenever you need or want it to be available. Enter seamless updates.

With Android 7.0 Nougat, your phone can (not will — more on that later) update like Chrome OS updates. All the downloading and copying of files is done in the background while you’re using your phone, and once it’s finished you will be notified that your system will upgrade the next time you reboot your phone. And changes to the runtime compiler mean that you won’t have to sit through the process of updating all of your apps when you reboot.

That sounds cool — how does it work?

Seamless updates work by having two different system partitions on your phone. When using a phone that can perform seamless updates, all the unpacking and transferring is done while one system partition is running, and things are copied and moved into the second partition. The way Android is divided into individual partitions means the data portion — where all the information you’ve entered about an app, things like address books or settings or game save progress — are stored in a separate spot outside of the place where the actual system files live. This is good for system security (the data partition can have its own set of file and folder permissions) and it makes things pretty convenient for seamless updates.

Two system partitions means more space will be used.

Once all this is done, you can reboot and use the new system partition. This is done without moving the partitions or renaming them because they are numbered. A configuration file used during the boot process (equivalent to /etc/fstab for the Linux nerds in the house) is read that tells the kernel and boot process where each partition starts and stops. This file is changed to point to the new system partition instead of the current one. The next time you update, the other system partition will be wiped and used. They swap back and forth seamlessly.

This isn’t new. If you have the Chrome browser on your computer or have a Chromebook, this is exactly how those systems or apps update. But it’s new for Android and does two things. It keeps you from having too much downtime (and there are plenty of folks who will dismiss an upgrade notification because they don’t want to fool with the current process). And it is better for security because it can happen automatically when you reboot your phone.

Other important stuff to know

• Seamless updates aren’t a requirement for manufacturers. Your existing phone isn’t partitioned correctly and won’t be able to perform seamless updates. And you don’t want a future update to try and repartition it — the internal memory was designed to have its record (a map of where each partition lives) written once and never changed. That means the people who make your next phone might not use the seamless update feature because they don’t have to. We know that the 2016 Nexus phones will have it enabled, but nothing beyond that.

• There should be some opt-out settings so the process isn’t automated if you don’t want it to be. I don’t have the full details but I was assured by Google that there will be a setting of some sort. This won’t be a Windows 10 style fiasco. We’ll find it and tell you where to look as soon as we have a phone that uses it in our hot little hands.

• This will use more space on your phone’s internal storage. It uses a complete second system partition. Expect a couple of gigabytes to be used and reserved for it.

This is just one of the many great under-the-hood improvements that come with Android 7.0 Nougat. We’ll talk more about the changes and what to expect in future instalments of this series, and you can head into the forums to discuss it all.

Android Nougat

Android Nougat is the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!

• What’s new in Android Nougat
• Will my phone get Android Nougat?
• All Android Nougat news
• Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
• Join the Discussion

How to fix WiFi problems on your Galaxy S7

How can I fix Wi-Fi problems on my Galaxy S7?

The Samsung Galaxy S7 might be one of the best phones of the year, but it sometimes it suffers from Wi-Fi problems that mess with your experience.

If your Galaxy S7 is suffering from some Wi-Fi woes, here are a few things you can try to get reconnected.

• Turn Wi-Fi off/on
• Reset your router
• Forget and relearn the network
• Update your software
• Try another network
• Get closer
• Check your router settings
• Make sure Wi-Fi is always on
• Disable Power saving mode
• Change the encryption settings on your router
• Get a new router
• Range extenders/repeaters

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Yup, it sounds like I’m joking, but I’m not. Try turning off Wi-Fi, then turn off the phone. Turn your phone back on and then turn on Wi-Fi again.

Sometimes it just needs a quick kick in the but to get going again and turning it off and on might be the hoof it needs.

Reset your router

Sometimes your router may get a bit sluggish and it just needs a refresh. Unplug it or power it down for at least 30 seconds, then fire it back up again.

Forget and re-learn

Sometimes your Wi-Fi problem could be to do with how your Galaxy S7 connects to your network. Try forgetting the network, then reconnect to it.

Here’s how:

Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap Wi-Fi.
Tap the network you’re connected to.

Tap Forget.

Tap the network again to reconnect to it.
Enter the password if there is one.

Tap Connect.

Is your software up to date?

Sometimes, if you haven’t updated to the latest software version on both your Galaxy S7 and your router, you may have problems connecting.

Here’s how to make sure you’re up-to-date on your Galaxy S7:

Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap About device.
Tap Download updates manually. Your phone will then check for and download any updates.

Tap Later, Install overnight, or Install now to choose when you want the update installed.

Try another network

It could just be that the network you’re trying to connect to has rather poor coverage. Try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network and see if that makes a difference.

The best way to test this would be to try a network outside your home, just in case your router is the real problem.

Get closer

This is another obvious one, but here it is: get closer to the physical router. If you are experiencing connectivity issues, try moving closer to the router itself. This is especially true if you are connected on the 5Ghz frequency, since it travels shorter distances than the more ubiquitous (and more prone to interference) 2.4Ghz frequency.

Check your router settings

Sometimes it’s just a matter of switching to the other band on your dual band router. Try switching to 2.4GHz in your router’s software settings. It has a wider range and may connect better to your Galaxy S7.

Make sure Wi-Fi is always on

In the Wi-Fi settings on your Galaxy S7, you have three options that control when Wi-Fi is on. If your connection is spotty, you’ll want to make sure that Wi-Fi is always connected, even when your phone is asleep (i.e. the screen is off). Here’s how!

Launch Settings from your home screen, the Notification Shade, or the app drawer.
Tap Wi-Fi.

Tap More in the top right corner of your screen.

Tap Advanced.
Tap Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep.

Tap Always.

This will stop your Galaxy S7 from disconnecting from your Wi-Fi network every time the screen turns off.

Turn off Power Saving Mode

Power Saving Mode slows your Galaxy S7’s performance in order to conserve battery, which may be hindering your Wi-Fi connectivity.

Turn it off in the Notification Shade. If you have it on for a reason, then charge your phone and worry about Wi-Fi later!

Change the encryption settings on your router

We’re getting into more technical territory now and this should be one of the last things you try. Remove the encryption from your router (refer to your router’s instruction manual, since every brand will be different).

This will create an “open” network, which means you won’t need a password to connect. If this clears up your Wi-Fi issues, there may be a problem with your router’s software. While we always recommend maintaining strong encryption between your phone and your router, look into enabling a different protocol when you re-enable encryption. If you were using AES, try changing it to TKIP (though we strongly encourage you to stick with WPA2-PSK (AES) once the problems have been resolved).

Get a new router!

If you’re having no luck at all and you know your Galaxy S7 isn’t the problem, then you likely need to upgrade your router.

Go for something dual band that uses 802.11 ac. We recommend the ASUS-built Google OnHub.

If all else fails

If you have a new router and you know your Galaxy S7 isn’t the problem and everything’s tested properly with your internet service provider, then maybe your home just isn’t Wi-Fi friendly. It’s OK, many aren’t.

As a last-ditch effort, you might want to try a Wi-Fi range extender/repeater. These usually just plug into a power outlet somewhere in your home in a Barrel of Monkeys fashion in that they pick up the Wi-Fi signal and then broadcast it, adding more range to your signal.

If you find that Wi-Fi works great near the router but sucks elsewhere in your home, strategically place an extender and your problems may be solved. Some extenders even help you pinpoint dead spots.

There are many to choose from, so check out Window Central’s roundup to make sure you get what you need.

What’s your fix?

Have you run into Wi-Fi issues with your Galaxy S7 and fixed them in a way not mentioned here? Share in the comments below!

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Hey, Snapchat, enough is enough

I discovered Snapchat just a few months ago, and even though I’m much older than most of its users, I fell in love with it. Despite its obtuse interface and obscure controls, I was charmed by the whole idea of churning out quick-and-dirty ephemeral content. Because photos and videos only last 24 hours, I felt less pressure to post perfectly polished selfies and was more at ease with being myself. Plus, I liked the fun emojis, stickers and quirky selfie lenses. But Snapchat took it a step too far recently with a couple of camera filters that weren’t as funny as they were racist. This has prompted me to drop Snapchat entirely.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Snapchat recently released a new selfie lens that it says was “anime-inspired.” But it made your eyes look squinty and slanted. And if you had your mouth open, it would also appear as if you had buck teeth. In short, it turned you into a racist Asian caricature.

As an Asian myself, this hit me hard. As I said, I’d always liked those selfie lenses. I even defended them to some of my colleagues who thought they were dumb. They were fun, and I liked that you could trigger actions like surfing or explosions by opening your mouth or raising your eyebrows. So to have one of these selfie lenses glibly make fun of my facial features and my race was difficult to take.

.@Snapchat wanna tell me why u thought this yellowface was ok?? pic.twitter.com/sgpW4AFPsE

— grace (@tequilafunrise) Aug. 9, 2016

Also, the notion that the filter was supposed to make your face look like “anime” sounds like bullshit. No, it doesn’t. Anime is generally known for large, soulful eyes and tiny mouths, not slanted eyes and enlarged teeth.

The filter is no longer available, but it doesn’t appear that it was removed due to complaints. In a statement, the company said, “This anime-inspired lens has already expired, and won’t be put back into circulation. Lenses are meant to be playful and never to offend.” This struck me as an excuse rather than an apology.

This isn’t the first time the company has shown insensitivity. On April 20th, Snapchat featured a Bob Marley selfie lens that let its users superimpose the late singer’s face on their own. That basically let anyone put on digital blackface. Plus, many complained it was cultural appropriation and that it reduced the reggae legend to yet another stoner meme.

This also received plenty of backlash, but the company didn’t apologize for the insensitivity then either. Instead, it said it worked with the Marley estate to come up with the filter, as if that absolved it from any responsibility. Snapchat said in a statement, “The lens we launched today was created in partnership with the Bob Marley Estate, and gives people a new way to share their appreciation for Bob Marley and his music. Millions of Snapchatters have enjoyed Bob Marley’s music, and we respect his life and achievements.”

Though it wasn’t racist, Snapchat also had a “nerd” face filter earlier this year that hit a little too close to home. Thick-rimmed glasses and braces aren’t so funny when you actually have them in real life.

when you think you look funny with the nerd filter on snapchat but then you realize you are the nerd filter🙁🙁 pic.twitter.com/p3KfFeh8VW

— lindsee batler (@_llindseyy) July 1, 2016

Whether or not the lenses were intentionally offensive, what bothers me with these incidents is Snapchat’s response. There was no apology, no promise to do better and no acknowledgement at all that the lenses could be perceived as offensive. It makes me wonder if its face filters go through any kind of QA check and if there are any staffers who are people of color, who are probably more likely to spot such gaffes. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of other tech companies, Snapchat isn’t willing to reveal its diversity numbers, which is a problem in and of itself.

But even if Snapchat’s staff is 100 percent white, how did not a single one of them see this in action and think, “Hey, are we sure about this?” Could no one ask an Asian co-worker or simply show it to an Asian friend and ask if it was OK? Did no one think to show the Bob Marley filter to a few black people and ask them if it was appropriate? The tone deafness on display is astounding.

Plus, Snapchat actually has competition now. Instagram recently released its own Snapchat copycat with Stories, which also lets you post photos and videos that last for 24 hours. It doesn’t have the same stickers as Snapchat, but it does let you doodle and write over photos. I wasn’t too big a fan of Instagram Stories at first — mostly because my friends who use Snapchat aren’t on Instagram — but I’ve slowly come around to it. It taps into that same spirit of spontaneity that Snapchat does, but with a much larger and established following, at least for me.

And since Snapchat can’t seem to figure out that racist filters are not OK, I have zero reason to stick around. Goodbye, Snapchat. It’s been a fun few months, but I’m ready to let you expire, just like your filters.

Apogee’s new MiC 96k works with Windows for USB recording

Apogee has built a stellar reputation when it comes to audio gear. Back in 2014, the company debuted the MiC 96k: an updated version of its compact USB microphone that can handle up to 96kHz 24-bit analog-to-digital recording. That model only worked with iOS devices and Mac though, but now Apogee has a new MiC 96k that plays nice with Windows. The device carries the same name, design and features list, only now you can use it with your Surface or another Windows machine. The company focused on mobile for the first two MiCs, but now it’s making sure there’s a desktop option for everyone as well.

The best part? This new version of Apogee’s MiC costs less than its predecessor at $199. Sure, you’re giving up the iOS compatibility, but if you aren’t looking to employ the USB microphone with a mobile device, this new option will save you some coin. Heck, if you like to keep your options open, tacking on a $30 Lighting cable will ensure that you can use the MiC across Windows, Mac and your iPhone or iPad.

When it comes to USB microphones, Blue’s devices are perhaps the most popular options. Like Blue, Apogee also offers a line of audio gear for pros as well as consumers. The MiC is a solid choice for a compact recording option that you can easily store in your backpack without taking up much space. It can handle podcasting and other vocal duties as well as tracking acoustic instruments like guitars and more. This new MiC is actually the third installment of the device with the first debuting in 2011. Since then, Apogee has improved overall audio quality for the recording accessory (the first 96k model) that works with GarageBand, Ableton Live, Pro Tools and more.

Source: Apogee

Simit is a new language for more efficient programming

A team of researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Adobe, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Toronto, Texas A&M and the University of Texas have developed a brand new programming language that can speed up computer simulations significantly.

Meant to alleviate the frustration of having to swap between different types of tools and physical models, the new language is called Simit, and it requires only one-tenth as much code as older simulations.

Simit will require programmers to describe translations between a graphical depiction of a system as well as its matrix description, but where it speeds things up is the fact that it doesn’t have a need for translating graphics into matrices, etc. It can simply take instructions issued by the language of linear algebra and translate them into graphs, skipping over a very time-consuming step.

The language has applications outside simulations, and it’s even planned for it to augment machine learning, data analytics, optimization and robotics in addition to a version of Google’s PageRank algorithm as MIT grad student Fredrik Kjolstad plans to apply it. There’s even research in place with the code’s application in quantum chronodynamics.

The language is an impressive feat and should alleviate previous concerns caused by languages used prior to Simit’s creation, as researchers are happy to attest to.

Source: MIT News