السبت، 31 يناير 2015

10 Best Web Development Tutorials For Beginners


Maybe you’re looking to build a website for the business you’re bootstrapping from the ground up. Maybe you’d like to enter the world of web development and are looking for an introduction to coding. Or maybe you’re just trying to stay a step ahead (or behind) your hacker kid.
Whatever the case, we’ve got the resources to help you get started. Here’s a list of the 10 best web development tutorials for beginners.

1. Codecademy

It’s almost like a university course, only you control when and where class happens. Codecademy’s beginning web development course walks you through the basics of HTML and CSS, giving you projects throughout to practice newly learned skills. And once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, it’s easy to launch into a new course on a more specialized skill, such as PHP, JavaScript or Python.

2. HTML Dog’s Beginning HTML Guide

This set of tutorials is much less flashy than Codecademy, but just as useful. HTML Dog provides a straightforward, easy-to-follow group of tutorials covering HTML fundamentals. If you’re interested in learning CSS or JavaScript, they’ve got beginner’s guides for those as well.

3. Ruby on Rails Tutorial

One of the most popular web development frameworks, Ruby on Rails—based on the Ruby language—powers Basecamp, Twitter and GitHub, just to name a few. If you’re interested in building your own awesome web app, check out this free Ruby on Rails tutorial book by Michael Hartl. Covering more than just Rails, you’ll also learn the ins and out of web application development.

4. Mozilla Developer Network

From the folks behind the Firefox browser comes this helpful list of web development tutorials. Focused on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, tutorials run the gamut of beginner to advanced.

5. PHP 101 for the Absolute Beginner

This popular scripting language is not just one of those fleeting web development trends (Flash, anyone?); it’s here to stay, and has long been used for server-side programming on a large number of websites. If you’ve been itching to learn it, start here with Zend’s free tutorials. They’re easy to understand and will have you writing code in no time.

6. GitHub for Beginners

GitHub is the de facto collaboration tool for many software development projects. If you want to work in web development, familiarity with GitHub is a must. This tutorial is a great way to learn the ins, outs and terminology that make the networking site tick. And like the title says, this tutorial truly is for beginners—no prior programming experience is required.

7. Non-Programmer’s Tutorial to Python 3

One of the top 8 programming languages, Python is often used as a scripting language for web apps. This tutorial will help you master the basics of Python, but more importantly, you’ll master the fundamentals of programming in the process.

8. 30 Days to Learn jQuery

jQuery is an open-source JavaScript library, designed to simplify the job of client-side scripting. If you’re looking to use it in web development, check out this tutorial—30 days worth of 10- to 15-minute lessons from Tuts+ will get you started on the road to being a jQuery ninja.

9. A Roadmap for Beginning to Code

As author Jimmy Li states in his intro, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Well, with this big-picture tutorial on beginning web development, you’ll quickly learn what you need to know and how to get there. It’s a great read before jumping into anything else.

10. Coding Pitfalls for Beginners

Read this last tutorial after you’ve spent time learning your chosen web development frameworks. Also from the Tuts+ team, this article outlines some of the common mistakes made by beginning programmers. With specific insight into Ruby, JavaScript and PHP issues with some language-neutral insights thrown in, it’s definitely worth a read.

50+ Best Free Android Tutorials | Web Resources To Learn Android Programming Online


Although, Android Programming language makes use of a specialized form of Java, the two are very different from each other. Android is defined as a software stack which consists of an operating system, key applications and middle-ware. It is meant for different kinds of mobiles and tablets. Most of the companies today are making use of Android programming language for the purpose of application development and maintenance and are constantly on the lookout for experienced Android developers. Hence, learning this language will put you one step ahead of all your competitors and will help you grab the best of jobs within the industry.

Android development expects you to be familiar with Java development. Java technology has grown huge and this may discourage a lot of people since you may think that you need to learn a lot of things before you can get started. Good news is that you do not need to learn everything in Java technology to be an android developer. Focus your learning on core java and move to Android specific tutorials/resources. 

The different kind of free web resources which will help you learn Android programming online are:

Free Websites

As a beginner, it is best to start with Android based websites which will give you a detailed description of all the aspects of an Android App (i.e. how does it look and feel) along with the capabilities of an Android platform.
  1. Official Developer Tutorial created by the android community and open source developers. This getting started tutorial is designed for beginner developers.
  2. Official Developer Tutorials Community Official developer tutorials created by android community. This tutorial is designed for experienced developers.
  3. Tutorial by Lars Vogel
    This is free single page web based tutorial created by Lars Vogel.
  4. Android Tutorials By Core Servlets 
    This site contains a series of android tutorial with exercise for each section. This site also contains some other good Java related tutorials for free.
  5. Android Hive
    Android Hive is a android tutorials blog by a enthusiastic android developer (Ravi Tamada), who likes to share his knowledge and experience with the world.
  6. Java Code Geeks
    This site contains Java and related technology tutorials and some of the Android tutorials are really useful in everyday android programming.
  7. Edumobile - This is a android tutorial blog that is created by experienced trainers. This site also offers
  8. HelloAndroid - This contains some good articles with code snippets.
  9. TutorialForAndroid
    http://www.tutorialforandroid.com/p/android-tutorials.html - is a decent blog containing few android tutorials. The Drawing with Canvas series of tutorials on this blog are really good.
  10. Marakana Android Tutorial - This is a simple location service example by a develoepr at Markana Inc.
  11. HigherPass - This site contains some android tutorials as well.
  12. How to Create Android Wallpaper
  13. Script Tutorials
  14. Android Tutorial By TutsPlus
  15. Learn Android
  16. Android Programmer Guru - Its a dedicated blog with dozens of short and useful android tutorials.

Free Video Tutorials

These video tutorials are a very effective way to start out with Android. The massive tutorial series available online contains tons of free content, which is bound to teach you coding in the best possible manner.
  1. Chet Haase Android Tutorials on YouTube - Some really good and simple tutorial by google developer and author CHET HAASE on youtube are 
  2. By Udemy
  3. By OreillyMedia
  4. By MarakanaTechTV
  5. By Android User Group
  6. XDA Developers
  7. Other YouTube Playlists
  8. http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC2F07DBCDCC01493A
  9. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAgylfU8wrtvWlSlVhFQZtE311sProxQF
  10. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9E21BFF408167ED6
  11. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL929126B1E0480779

Free E-books

The web is loaded with hundreds of free e-books on Android programming which contain all the fundamental concepts pertaining to the language, both at the beginner as well as advanced levels. You will not only be introduced to the language but will also get to learn important application like creating user interface, connecting to the network, storing data, etc.
  1. Android Tutorial By Stanford University
  2. The Complete Android Guide
  3. Android Tutorial
  4. Commonsware Android
  5. Andbook
  6. E Reading Llib Android eBook
  7. App Inventor eBook
  8. Android Security eBook

Free White Papers

There has been many companies doing parallel research on android and its abilities. These are some of the great advanced reading reference that you can use to be an expert at android development.
  1. White Paper By ATNT
  2. White Paper By NVDIA
  3. White Paper By MCafee
  4. White Paper By Texas Instrument

Best Free Web Forums To Ask Questions

These free web forums will help you become a part of the worldwide Android community where you not only get a chance to seek solutions to your own problems but can also share your own knowledge and expertise with others.
Before you jump on to a forum make sure you check the frequently asked questions on it for exmaple this FAQ at Stack Overflow
  1. Stackoverflow
  2. Androidforums
  3. Androidcentral
  4. xda-developers
  5. Android.net
  6. AndroidForum
  7. AndroidPit

Best Free Cheat Sheets For Java/Android

Java cheat sheets will act as your quick reference guide for Android applications as well. It contains all the important information in a nut shell and helps you take a quick look at the various concepts.
  1. Computer World Cheat Sheet - Android Cheatsheet
  2. Cheatsheet for Graphic Designers - Graphic Design on Android
  3. DZone Android Cheatsheet -DZone Refcard on Android
  4. Android Guidelines Cheat Sheet By Kinvey -Android Guidelines

الخميس، 29 يناير 2015

Designing the Navigation of a New Website

Other than the visual design, determining how a user will navigate a website is one of the more challenging creative tasks that you’ll face as a web designer. The main goal is to make people feel in control of the site and capable of getting around quickly and efficiently. Nothing is worse than a user feeling lost in your site.

To help people get around and stay oriented, your navigation scheme must be a road map of the entire site, complete with “you are here” signs.

Global navigation for websites

Remember the famous line from the 1970s TV commercial: “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” With candy, the more licks, the better. On the web, however, the opposite is true: Users won’t find anything tasty about navigating through gobs of pages. Your goal is to get users as quickly as you can to their desired content.

The best way to reduce the number of clicks is to provide your primary, secondary, and tertiary navigation sets on each page of the site. This strategy, called global navigation, enables people to quickly navigate from one main section to the next without needing to retrace any steps. Additionally, it’s important that these navigation sets are always located in the same place and do not change what they offer (swapping navigation options in and out). This consistency provides a mental anchor for the user.

Credit: © Apple, Inc.
Apple’s global navigation system allows users to stay oriented and to quickly traverse from one section to the next.

Section navigation

After users select a category from the primary, secondary, or tertiary navigation group, they’re transported into a section. Assuming that the section has a few levels of content within it, you need a way to navigate through it. A typical practice is to reveal a set of section navigation choices on the page. These choices are unique to their section, but the region you select to display them is the same region used to display section navigation for other areas of the site.



This section navigation design reveals the first level of pages in the Products area of the website.



This section navigation design reveals first- and second-level pages in the Products area.
Alternatively, you can display the section navigation fully opened. The advantage is that users can quickly see all the first- and second-level content with a section. The disadvantage is that the navigation can take up a lot of room and may look cluttered and overwhelming to the user.



Section navigation is often shown as a drop-down menu as well as on the page itself.
Typically, just the first level of pages is shown, but flyout menus can provide quick access to second-level pages. It is okay to have redundant section navigation, showing it both on the page and including it as a drop-down menu in the global navigation system.

Leaving a trail of bread crumbs

If Hansel and Gretel can use a trail of bread crumbs to find their way back through the forest, just think of what a digital version of bread crumbs can do for visitors to your website. Bread crumbs, as they’re actually called in the web-design industry, are text links you leave in a trail that marks your steps as you go deep into a section.



This bread-crumb trail provides a convenient way to retrace your steps in a site.
Bread crumbs are helpful to navigate sites that have navigation that goes more than two levels deep within a section. For example, if you use the section navigation to go down to a page that has even more links on it, you are now diving into a third or fourth level of the section’s hierarchy. It’s just not practical to display third- and fourth-level navigation on the page. So the bread crumbs can simply record your steps and get longer and longer as you dive deeper (hopefully no more than four levels or you’re getting into the catacombs of the site!).

Each bread-crumb link provides a quick way to retrace your steps back up the hierarchy. You don’t have to follow the links in sequence; you can click any link in the trail to jump quickly back to a different level in the hierarchy. The trail also gives you a good idea of where you are in the site. Unlike with a global navigation scheme, however, you cannot jump across to another section; you can only jump back to a level within a section. Think of a bread-crumb system as the browser’s Back button on steroids.

Graphically, the design convention for a bread-crumb interface is to show each previous step as an active text link followed by a character (arrow, colon, or pipe), all in a simple row. The last entry at the end of the trail represents the current page you’re on, so it should not be a link — and it should look different. If it were a link, it would simply reload the page — not the ideal user experience.

الأربعاء، 28 يناير 2015

Meet Vivaldi, a new browser from the former CEO of Opera

 Hot on the heels of Microsoft announcing its newest browser, Project Spartan,  we’ve got another brand new contender in the browser wars: Vivaldi.


The new browser, which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, is still in its early days, but offers a number of features that loyal Opera users may remember. It sports mouse gestures for browsing and the familiar “speed dial” interface that shows your favorite tabs on the new tab page.
Vivaldi also has some new tricks up its sleeves. Multiple tabs can be combined into one for easy browsing of related sites. For example, if you were doing research online you could group all the tabs on that topic into one to save space.

Another feature allows you to take notes right in the browser, along with screenshots, which makes it easy to remember exactly why you thought a page was important.
I tried Vivaldi for a few days before its release and it’s a snappy browser that pays a lot of homage to Opera. The browser’s interface subtly fades colors as you change site, to match the dominant color on the page. I think it’s got big potential for power users, with features like ‘quick commands’ that helps you search or run commands just like OS X’s Spotlight.
Vivaldi is a new project started by former CEO and co-founder of Opera, Jon von Tetzchner. You might remember Tetzchner for famously saying he’d swim from Norway to the US if Opera 8 got a million downloads in the first four days; which he actually attempted. After leaving Opera in 2011, Tetzchner founded Vivaldi in December 2013.
I asked Tatsuki, a co-founder of Vivaldi, why the team started a new browser, when there are so many on the market and he said “we feel that there is a need for a more powerful browser for people who want more from their browser” and that “most browsers in the market today are offering similar, non differentiated [and are] relatively simple.”

I was curious about what Vivaldi offers over Opera and why Vivaldi was somewhat similar. Tatsuki said that “Opera used to offer many unique powerful features, but like I say above, Opera too now offers more simple product […] we know that there are still many millions of people out there who are using an old version of Opera.”
Because of this, the initial focus of Vivaldi is to deliver some of the functionality that existed in Opera in the past, as well as adding more going forward.
Vivaldi is using the Chromium (Blink) rendering engine that’s found in Chrome, but the browser itself is almost entirely built using modern web technologies including React, Node.js and a number of Node modules.
Right now, the browser is only a technical preview, but there are big plans for Vivaldi in the future. In the coming months, there are plans to add sync, mail support, better performance and extensions. Tatsuki also said that Vivaldi will be shaped by the community for the most part, so the feature set will be guided by user demand.
Vivaldi is available as a technical preview for Windows, Mac or Linux today.

الثلاثاء، 27 يناير 2015

Mums post breastfeeding selfies in Facebook protest after social network removes photo for 'nudity violations'

Dozens of mums have taken to Facebook to post their breastfeeding selfies, after one mother’s photo was reported for nudity violations.

Mum-of-two Kaya Wright, 32, posted a picture of her nursing her 16-month-old son Kayden in the bath on a closed breastfeeding group on the social network.

But the 32-year-old said that she received a notification from Facebook saying that they were ‘reviewing’ the image she shared with Liverpool Community BAMBIS.

It comes just days after breastfeeding mothers were outraged after being banned from feeding their children - at a breastfeeding conference.

Kaya, who works as a nurse, told the Liverpool Echo: “At first I thought it was a joke. Facebook said the image had been reported for nudity but you really couldn’t see anything. Then I was a bit disappointed at the thought that someone in the group had reported the image.

“It’s a breastfeeding group, so what do you expect? Some of my friends thought that maybe it had been reported by mistake.”

Do you think breastfeeding pics should be allowed on Facebook?

    YES
    NO

But after Kaya told the group what had happened, dozens of other mums started to post their breastfeeding selfies in solidarity.

Kaya who also has an older son Daniel, five, added: “I tried to breastfeed Daniel but it didn’t work out. But it was completely different with Kayden.

“Breastfeeding is amazing, everyone should try it. But in this country I’ve noticed there is a different attitude to breastfeeding. Ever since Kayden was born, people have kept asking me when are you going to bottle feed. Breastfeeding is hard and it’s made ever harder by other people’s perceptions. I think breastfeeding should be taught in schools to raise more awareness.

“In the Western world breasts are sexualised, you see celebrities with their boobs out so people associate them with sex. But people need to remember that first and foremost breasts are for feeding babies.”

Later, Facebook contacted Kaya to say they would not be removing the picture as it did not violate their rules on nudity.

Source Mirror

This Web App Easily Turns Your Selfies Into 3D Models


Taking a 2D photo and turning it into a 3D model is something that many users getting started in 3D printing are interested in doing. Sometimes a straight-on shot can help you get basic dimensions, but really transitioning it into a 3D model can be very difficult. Now, Smoothie-3D is trying to make this process easier with their free online modeling tool.


Smoothie-3D is a completely browser-based 3D modeling platform that incorporates several features that are often difficult to do in other programs. You can quickly import and manipulate existing 3D objects and perform actions like embedding text. Of course, one of the coolest features of Smoothie-3D is the ability to trace an image into multiple parts, then individually manipulate the dimensions and placement of those parts into a 3D model.
Their demo video of modeling a squirrel is instantly impressive:


The site requires a free registration to use, and I was pleased to discover that the squirrel model was available as a free demo to all new users. I was even more pleased when I opened the model and removed the texture map to reveal that, while not a detailed sculpt, it was a very recognizable model of a squirrel.
Do you frequently run into a 3D modeling problem, and need to find a tool to solve it? Let us know in the comments below.

الاثنين، 26 يناير 2015

Why studying all night may not work

Memory neurons lull us to sleep in order to consolidate what we have learned, say researchers from Brandeis University in the US, who advise students against pulling all nighters to prepare for tests. Knowing that sleep, memory and learning are deeply intertwined, the Brandeis team set out to find out whether memory is consolidated during sleep simply because the brain happens to be at rest or whether those neurons provoke sleep in order to do their job.
In the study, which was published in the journal eLife, the researchers focused on a specific group of neurons called the dorsal paired medial (DPM), which are well known to implant memories in fruit flies.
In what’s thought to be a first-of-its-kind observation, the flies slept more when the DPM neurons were activated, yet continued to buzz about when these neurons were switched off.
As these neurons start to convert short-term memory to long-term memory, they do their best to make sure you stay sleeping and actually hinder wakefulness, according to the study. In the case of the fruit flies, the part of their brain in charge of memory and learning — called the mushroom body — is also what determines wakefulness and, consequently, it’s where the DPM are housed.
“It’s almost as if that section of the mushroom body were saying ‘hey, stay awake and learn this,’” says co-author Bethany Christmann, a graduate student at Brandeis. “Then, after a while, the DPM neurons start signaling to suppress that section, as if to say ‘you’re going to need sleep if you want to remember this later.’’

Christmann points out that knowing how sleep, memory and learning work together in the fruit fly brain can help researchers know what to look for when working with human participants. “Eventually, it could help us figure out how sleep or memory is affected when things go wrong, as in the case of insomnia or memory disorders,” she says.

Greenland ice may melt faster due to increase in temperature

A new study has shed light on Greenland Ice demonstrating that the more temperatures increase, the faster the ice will melt.
The model experiments conducted by Penn State geoscientists suggested that if all the ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, global sea level would rise by about 24 feet.
Patrick Applegate, research associate, Penn State's Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, said that although lots of people have thought about sea level rise from the ice sheets, they don't really know how fast that will happen.
Greenland might be especially vulnerable to melting because that area of the Earth sees about 50 percent more warming than the global average. Arctic sea ice, when it exists, reflects the sun's energy back through the atmosphere, but when the sea ice melts and there is open water, the water absorbs the sun's energy and re-radiates it back into the air as heat. Arctic sea ice coverage has decreased over the last few decades, and that decrease will probably continue in the future, leading to accelerated temperature rise over Greenland. Floating ice does not add to sea level, but the Greenland Ice Sheet rests on bedrock that is above sea level.
The researchers looked at two models of the Greenland ice sheet that include some of the important feedback. The first model is a three-dimensional ice sheet model. The second model looks at a transect across the island and was developed by Byron Parizek, associate professor of geosciences and mathematics, Penn State Dubois. To run both models, Robert Nicholas, research associate, EESI, estimated how much warming might take place over Greenland using results from global climate models.
Both the three-dimensional and transect models showed that the time necessary for ice mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet decreases steeply with increases in temperature. Shorter time scales-faster melting-imply faster sea level rise. The interplay between the height-melting feedback and ice flow causes this acceleration.
The researchers said that their analysis suggests that the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of avoided sea level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet, may be greatest if emissions reductions begin before large temperature increases have been realized.
The study is published in the journal of Climate Dynamics.

Emma Watson to star in Disney's live-action 'Beauty and the Beast'

Emma Watson

Emma Watson is ready to tell a tale as old as time. The former "Harry Potter" star has been cast as Belle in Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" movie, the studio announced Monday.
Directed by Bill Condon ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" and "Part 2"), the film is slated to begin production later this year. A release date has not been set.
"Beauty and the Beast" is the latest Disney animated classic to get a live-action revamp, following "Alice in Wonderland," "Sleeping Beauty" (via "Maleficent") and the upcoming "Cinderella" and "The Jungle Book."
Originally released in 1991, Disney's animated "Beauty" was a critical and commercial hit that has grossed more than $424 million worldwide, counting Imax and 3-D re-releases. It is also one of the few animated films to earn an Oscar nomination for best picture, and the only one to do so before the academy expanded the number of nominees in 2009.
On Watson's Facebook page, the 24-year-old British actress said the 1991 film was "such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I'll get to dance to 'Be Our Guest' and sing 'Something There.' My six year old self is on the ceiling — heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons."

Back in 2011, Watson had been linked to a different live-action take on "Beauty and the Beast" with Guillermo del Toro and Warner Bros., which never materialized. Her other upcoming projects include the thrillers "Regression" and "Colonia."

Miss Colombia crowned Miss Universe


Miss Colombia crowned Miss Universe
Miss Colombia Paulina Vega is crowned Miss Universe
Miss Colombia Paulina Vega has been crowned Miss Universe, beating out first runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez and contestants from more than 80 other countries at Sunday’s pageant in Miami.
Vega, a 22-year-old student of business administration from Barranquilla, Colombia, said the contests leading up to Miss Universe were the first she had participated in. She also said they would be her last as she would be eager to return to her studies in Colombia after her reign.
“It will be a dream come true to represent the woman of today. A woman that not only cares about being beautiful and being glamorous, but also cares about being a professional, intelligent, hard-working person,” Vega had said earlier in the week in talking about the role of the winner.
Following Sanchez, the 24-year-old Miss USA from Las Vegas, Nevada, the second runner-up was Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha.
Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell and Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen were also among the top five, emerging from the field of 88 contestants.
Sanchez, a 24-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, had spoken earlier of looking forward to the often-dreaded interview portion. She had been running practice questions all week with her roommate Miss Australia Tegan Martin, who made it to the top ten.
Sanchez has a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has traveled the country teaching others. She spoke previously about equipping women to defend themselves against crime.
“It’s just something that’s so prevalent in our society and why not empower women to take control of a dangerous situation into their own hand,” she said.
“Today Show” personality Natalie Morales served as host of the show. Miss Colombia was crowned by the outgoing Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler of Venezuela. The broadcast included performances by singers Nick Jonas and Prince Royce.
Crowd favorite Miss Venezuela Migbelis Lynette Castellanos was cut after the top ten. She had tremendous support and pressure locally and back home. The Miami suburb of Doral, which was host to the women during their stay, is also known as “Doralzuela” for its many Venezuelan residents. Three of the last six Miss Universe titles have gone to Venezuela, where beauty pageants are big business.
Source ~ NY POST

First U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange opens

I lived on bitcoin for 24 hours

The first U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange is due to open Monday, backed by several major financial heavyweights.

Coinbase has raised $106 million to fund its operation, with investors including the New York Stock Exchange, bank BBVA, venture capital firms Andreesen Howrowitz, DFJ Growth and USV, as well as financial services firm USAA.
Investors in the virtual currency Bitcoin have been forced to trade on overseas exchanges. The financial stability and security of those exchanges has been in question, especially after a series of issues. One of the largest, Mt. Gox, was forced to file for bankruptcy nearly a year ago after hundreds of millions of dollars of Bitcoins disappeared from the exchange in what Mt. Gox claimed was a hack attack. Earlier this month, Europe's biggest Bitcoin exchange, Bitstamp, suspended services after about 19,000 bitcoins, worth about $5.2 million, disappeared from accounts after a hack attack. Coinbase says it has several layers of security in place.
"We take careful measures to ensure that your bitcoin is as safe as possible," it tells customers. Measures include two-step verification for logging in, encryption technology, storing bitcoin records offline and conducting background checks on employees. It also says it is insured against hacking, internal theft, and accidental loss.
San Francisco-based Coinbase, which opened in June of 2012, has until now solely been a platform where merchants and their customers can conduct transactions using bitcoins. It says it already has 1.9 million users and 38,000 merchants using the firm to exchange bitcoins, along with 7,000 developer apps. The exchange said it opened at 9 a.m. ET Monday.
Source ~ CNN