June 2017 Summaries

The Mansplainer app humorously addresses the concept of "mansplaining," where men condescendingly explain things to women, by utilizing Clarifai's visual recognition API and Twilio's API to describe user-submitted images in a similarly condescending manner. Developed by Henry Shen, Khalid Alnuaim, Dandan Lin, and Erin Williams during the HackNY student hackathon, the app is a playful take on a common annoyance faced by women, particularly in tech fields. Inspired by the culture of hackathons and a previous concept from the "Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon," the team aimed to extend the idea by providing a tongue-in-cheek experience of being mansplained to through a photo. The project highlights the developers' enjoyment of creating novel tech solutions and invites users to explore the app and its code, fostering engagement with the developer community.

Clarifai has introduced API Keys as a new authentication method to provide developers with greater flexibility and control when building applications using their API. This method allows for the inclusion of scopes, enabling keys to perform specific API calls, such as 'Predict' or 'Search', without the ability to alter an application, thereby enhancing security, especially in client-side applications like browsers or mobile apps. The transition from the previous OAuth2 client credentials method to API Keys is designed to offer more power and security, allowing developers to create and manage custom models with ease while protecting their applications from potential reverse engineering threats. Although the change marks a significant shift in interaction, Clarifai will continue to support both authentication methods until late 2017, after which Access Tokens will be deprecated in favor of API Keys, ensuring a smoother transition for developers.

MiMi is an innovative app that uses machine learning to estimate a user's continental ancestry based on their facial features, providing a modern twist on identifying one's origins. Created by a diverse team from Uzbekistan, Cuba, India, and Jamaica, the app was inspired by the frequent question "Where are you from?" commonly asked in Miami. Initially conceived to determine ancestry through voice intonation, the team pivoted to facial recognition technology due to the availability of the Clarifai API during a hackathon, enabling them to quickly train their model without extensive coding. The app allows users to upload a picture via a live demo to reveal the two continents most likely linked to their ancestry, offering a unique perspective on understanding one's roots.