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  • Cursor running wild, then crashes on an Asus G73sw

    - by Yarchmon
    The cursor sometimes goes wild, I get random clicks, the windows are resizing, the cursor disappears. In the worst case, clicks and keyboards are disabled. I've tried the solution given on doc.ubuntu-fr.org and add tu grub : i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset=1 in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT But it didn't work What can I do ? Graphic card : Geforce GTX460M. Ubuntu : 11.10 (64 bits). Laptop Asus G73sw Interface : Unity (since 11.10) - didn't get this problem with Gnome before. Complement: when a window is resizing, it gets drag-boxes at every corner, center of sides and center of the window. It looks like my touchpad sends random info, or like a "ghost" touchscreen. lspci result : 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09) 00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04) 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5) 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5) 00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GF106 [GeForce GTX 460M] (rev a1) 01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation GF106 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1) 03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01) 04:00.0 USB Controller: Fresco Logic FL1000G USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04) 05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06) Edit 01-09-12: Tried on Ubuntu 2D: the behavior is different: it's like i'm randomly clicking on the workspace switcher icon. In the worst case, it can happen several times in a minute.

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  • C#/.NET Little Wonders: Interlocked Read() and Exchange()

    - by James Michael Hare
    Once again, in this series of posts I look at the parts of the .NET Framework that may seem trivial, but can help improve your code by making it easier to write and maintain. The index of all my past little wonders posts can be found here. Last time we discussed the Interlocked class and its Add(), Increment(), and Decrement() methods which are all useful for updating a value atomically by adding (or subtracting).  However, this begs the question of how do we set and read those values atomically as well? Read() – Read a value atomically Let’s begin by examining the following code: 1: public class Incrementor 2: { 3: private long _value = 0; 4:  5: public long Value { get { return _value; } } 6:  7: public void Increment() 8: { 9: Interlocked.Increment(ref _value); 10: } 11: } 12:  It uses an interlocked increment, as we discuss in my previous post (here), so we know that the increment will be thread-safe.  But, to realize what’s potentially wrong we have to know a bit about how atomic reads are in 32 bit and 64 bit .NET environments. When you are dealing with an item smaller or equal to the system word size (such as an int on a 32 bit system or a long on a 64 bit system) then the read is generally atomic, because it can grab all of the bits needed at once.  However, when dealing with something larger than the system word size (reading a long on a 32 bit system for example), it cannot grab the whole value at once, which can lead to some problems since this read isn’t atomic. For example, this means that on a 32 bit system we may read one half of the long before another thread increments the value, and the other half of it after the increment.  To protect us from reading an invalid value in this manner, we can do an Interlocked.Read() to force the read to be atomic (of course, you’d want to make sure any writes or increments are atomic also): 1: public class Incrementor 2: { 3: private long _value = 0; 4:  5: public long Value 6: { 7: get { return Interlocked.Read(ref _value); } 8: } 9:  10: public void Increment() 11: { 12: Interlocked.Increment(ref _value); 13: } 14: } Now we are guaranteed that we will read the 64 bit value atomically on a 32 bit system, thus ensuring our thread safety (assuming all other reads, writes, increments, etc. are likewise protected).  Note that as stated before, and according to the MSDN (here), it isn’t strictly necessary to use Interlocked.Read() for reading 64 bit values on 64 bit systems, but for those still working in 32 bit environments, it comes in handy when dealing with long atomically. Exchange() – Exchanges two values atomically Exchange() lets us store a new value in the given location (the ref parameter) and return the old value as a result. So just as Read() allows us to read atomically, one use of Exchange() is to write values atomically.  For example, if we wanted to add a Reset() method to our Incrementor, we could do something like this: 1: public void Reset() 2: { 3: _value = 0; 4: } But the assignment wouldn’t be atomic on 32 bit systems, since the word size is 32 bits and the variable is a long (64 bits).  Thus our assignment could have only set half the value when a threaded read or increment happens, which would put us in a bad state. So instead, we could write Reset() like this: 1: public void Reset() 2: { 3: Interlocked.Exchange(ref _value, 0); 4: } And we’d be safe again on a 32 bit system. But this isn’t the only reason Exchange() is valuable.  The key comes in realizing that Exchange() doesn’t just set a new value, it returns the old as well in an atomic step.  Hence the name “exchange”: you are swapping the value to set with the stored value. So why would we want to do this?  Well, anytime you want to set a value and take action based on the previous value.  An example of this might be a scheme where you have several tasks, and during every so often, each of the tasks may nominate themselves to do some administrative chore.  Perhaps you don’t want to make this thread dedicated for whatever reason, but want to be robust enough to let any of the threads that isn’t currently occupied nominate itself for the job.  An easy and lightweight way to do this would be to have a long representing whether someone has acquired the “election” or not.  So a 0 would indicate no one has been elected and 1 would indicate someone has been elected. We could then base our nomination strategy as follows: every so often, a thread will attempt an Interlocked.Exchange() on the long and with a value of 1.  The first thread to do so will set it to a 1 and return back the old value of 0.  We can use this to show that they were the first to nominate and be chosen are thus “in charge”.  Anyone who nominates after that will attempt the same Exchange() but will get back a value of 1, which indicates that someone already had set it to a 1 before them, thus they are not elected. Then, the only other step we need take is to remember to release the election flag once the elected thread accomplishes its task, which we’d do by setting the value back to 0.  In this way, the next thread to nominate with Exchange() will get back the 0 letting them know they are the new elected nominee. Such code might look like this: 1: public class Nominator 2: { 3: private long _nomination = 0; 4: public bool Elect() 5: { 6: return Interlocked.Exchange(ref _nomination, 1) == 0; 7: } 8: public bool Release() 9: { 10: return Interlocked.Exchange(ref _nomination, 0) == 1; 11: } 12: } There’s many ways to do this, of course, but you get the idea.  Running 5 threads doing some “sleep” work might look like this: 1: var nominator = new Nominator(); 2: var random = new Random(); 3: Parallel.For(0, 5, i => 4: { 5:  6: for (int j = 0; j < _iterations; ++j) 7: { 8: if (nominator.Elect()) 9: { 10: // elected 11: Console.WriteLine("Elected nominee " + i); 12: Thread.Sleep(random.Next(100, 5000)); 13: nominator.Release(); 14: } 15: else 16: { 17: // not elected 18: Console.WriteLine("Did not elect nominee " + i); 19: } 20: // sleep before check again 21: Thread.Sleep(1000); 22: } 23: }); And would spit out results like: 1: Elected nominee 0 2: Did not elect nominee 2 3: Did not elect nominee 1 4: Did not elect nominee 4 5: Did not elect nominee 3 6: Did not elect nominee 3 7: Did not elect nominee 1 8: Did not elect nominee 2 9: Did not elect nominee 4 10: Elected nominee 3 11: Did not elect nominee 2 12: Did not elect nominee 1 13: Did not elect nominee 4 14: Elected nominee 0 15: Did not elect nominee 2 16: Did not elect nominee 4 17: ... Another nice thing about the Interlocked.Exchange() is it can be used to thread-safely set pretty much anything 64 bits or less in size including references, pointers (in unsafe mode), floats, doubles, etc.  Summary So, now we’ve seen two more things we can do with Interlocked: reading and exchanging a value atomically.  Read() and Exchange() are especially valuable for reading/writing 64 bit values atomically in a 32 bit system.  Exchange() has value even beyond simply atomic writes by using the Exchange() to your advantage, since it reads and set the value atomically, which allows you to do lightweight nomination systems. There’s still a few more goodies in the Interlocked class which we’ll explore next time! Technorati Tags: C#,CSharp,.NET,Little Wonders,Interlocked

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  • Bouncing off a circular Boundary with multiple balls?

    - by Anarkie
    I am making a game like this : Yellow Smiley has to escape from red smileys, when yellow smiley hits the boundary game is over, when red smileys hit the boundary they should bounce back with the same angle they came, like shown below: Every 10 seconds a new red smiley comes in the big circle, when red smiley hits yellow, game is over, speed and starting angle of red smileys should be random. I control the yellow smiley with arrow keys. The biggest problem I have reflecting the red smileys from the boundary with the angle they came. I don't know how I can give a starting angle to a red smiley and bouncing it with the angle it came. I would be glad for any tips! My js source code : var canvas = document.getElementById("mycanvas"); var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d"); // Object containing some global Smiley properties. var SmileyApp = { radius: 15, xspeed: 0, yspeed: 0, xpos:200, // x-position of smiley ypos: 200 // y-position of smiley }; var SmileyRed = { radius: 15, xspeed: 0, yspeed: 0, xpos:350, // x-position of smiley ypos: 65 // y-position of smiley }; var SmileyReds = new Array(); for (var i=0; i<5; i++){ SmileyReds[i] = { radius: 15, xspeed: 0, yspeed: 0, xpos:350, // x-position of smiley ypos: 67 // y-position of smiley }; SmileyReds[i].xspeed = Math.floor((Math.random()*50)+1); SmileyReds[i].yspeed = Math.floor((Math.random()*50)+1); } function drawBigCircle() { var centerX = canvas.width / 2; var centerY = canvas.height / 2; var radiusBig = 300; ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(centerX, centerY, radiusBig, 0, 2 * Math.PI, false); // context.fillStyle = 'green'; // context.fill(); ctx.lineWidth = 5; // context.strokeStyle = '#003300'; // green ctx.stroke(); } function lineDistance( positionx, positiony ) { var xs = 0; var ys = 0; xs = positionx - 350; xs = xs * xs; ys = positiony - 350; ys = ys * ys; return Math.sqrt( xs + ys ); } function drawSmiley(x,y,r) { // outer border ctx.lineWidth = 3; ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(x,y,r, 0, 2*Math.PI); //red ctx.fillStyle="rgba(255,0,0, 0.5)"; ctx.fillStyle="rgba(255,255,0, 0.5)"; ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke(); // mouth ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(x+0.7*r, y); ctx.arc(x,y,0.7*r, 0, Math.PI, false); // eyes var reye = r/10; var f = 0.4; ctx.moveTo(x+f*r, y-f*r); ctx.arc(x+f*r-reye, y-f*r, reye, 0, 2*Math.PI); ctx.moveTo(x-f*r, y-f*r); ctx.arc(x-f*r+reye, y-f*r, reye, -Math.PI, Math.PI); // nose ctx.moveTo(x,y); ctx.lineTo(x, y-r/2); ctx.lineWidth = 1; ctx.stroke(); } function drawSmileyRed(x,y,r) { // outer border ctx.lineWidth = 3; ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(x,y,r, 0, 2*Math.PI); //red ctx.fillStyle="rgba(255,0,0, 0.5)"; //yellow ctx.fillStyle="rgba(255,255,0, 0.5)"; ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke(); // mouth ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(x+0.4*r, y+10); ctx.arc(x,y+10,0.4*r, 0, Math.PI, true); // eyes var reye = r/10; var f = 0.4; ctx.moveTo(x+f*r, y-f*r); ctx.arc(x+f*r-reye, y-f*r, reye, 0, 2*Math.PI); ctx.moveTo(x-f*r, y-f*r); ctx.arc(x-f*r+reye, y-f*r, reye, -Math.PI, Math.PI); // nose ctx.moveTo(x,y); ctx.lineTo(x, y-r/2); ctx.lineWidth = 1; ctx.stroke(); } // --- Animation of smiley moving with constant speed and bounce back at edges of canvas --- var tprev = 0; // this is used to calculate the time step between two successive calls of run function run(t) { requestAnimationFrame(run); if (t === undefined) { t=0; } var h = t - tprev; // time step tprev = t; SmileyApp.xpos += SmileyApp.xspeed * h/1000; // update position according to constant speed SmileyApp.ypos += SmileyApp.yspeed * h/1000; // update position according to constant speed for (var i=0; i<SmileyReds.length; i++){ SmileyReds[i].xpos += SmileyReds[i].xspeed * h/1000; // update position according to constant speed SmileyReds[i].ypos += SmileyReds[i].yspeed * h/1000; // update position according to constant speed } // change speed direction if smiley hits canvas edges if (lineDistance(SmileyApp.xpos, SmileyApp.ypos) + SmileyApp.radius > 300) { alert("Game Over"); } // redraw smiley at new position ctx.clearRect(0,0,canvas.height, canvas.width); drawBigCircle(); drawSmiley(SmileyApp.xpos, SmileyApp.ypos, SmileyApp.radius); for (var i=0; i<SmileyReds.length; i++){ drawSmileyRed(SmileyReds[i].xpos, SmileyReds[i].ypos, SmileyReds[i].radius); } } // uncomment these two lines to get every going // SmileyApp.speed = 100; run(); // --- Control smiley motion with left/right arrow keys function arrowkeyCB(event) { event.preventDefault(); if (event.keyCode === 37) { // left arrow SmileyApp.xspeed = -100; SmileyApp.yspeed = 0; } else if (event.keyCode === 39) { // right arrow SmileyApp.xspeed = 100; SmileyApp.yspeed = 0; } else if (event.keyCode === 38) { // up arrow SmileyApp.yspeed = -100; SmileyApp.xspeed = 0; } else if (event.keyCode === 40) { // right arrow SmileyApp.yspeed = 100; SmileyApp.xspeed = 0; } } document.addEventListener('keydown', arrowkeyCB, true); JSFiddle : http://jsfiddle.net/gj4Q7/

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  • Turbocharge OpenOffice.org Writer with AuthorSupportTool

    <b>Worldlabel:</b> "The AuthorSupportTool (AST) extension belongs to the latter category. AST not just adds some random features to OpenOffice.org Writer, it dramatically enhances the word processor&#8217;s functionality, turning it into a powerful tool for working on research papers and complex documents."

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  • Plays Well With Others - More Thoughts on the Job Search

    - by KKline
    Yes, I'm playing catch-up between my blog and here, since SQLBlog doesn't syndicate content automatically. This was originally posted on the Professional Development area of http://www.sqlpass.org during the summer of 2010 and then reposted on my personal blog, http://KevinEKline.com , on Nov 16, 2010. While searching for a job, the interview is your opportunity to showcase your talents and the strengths that you bring to an organization. But I have a few more random thoughts about conducting your...(read more)

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  • Any technical references for game-oriented icons and symbols?

    - by willc2
    To make localizing easier, I'm using icons to show in-game information like achievements and bonuses. Coming up with good designs isn't easy, especially when it has to be integrated into the rest of the game's art style. Can I do better than looking at some random selection of existing games? Are there any reference books or sites that cover game graphics specifically? I'm looking for more theory and best-practices rather than pre-made graphics.

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  • What are known approaches to graphing algebraic expressions?

    - by jeremynealbrown
    I am planning to build an expression parser that will be used to graph algebraic functions ( think TI-83 ) with JavaScript. Functions will take the form of f(x)= Aside from typical operators such as: + - * / ^ I'd also like to add support for inline functions such as: sin(), cos(), log() and random(). I have looked at implementing the Shunting Yard algorithm for parsing expressions, but it does not look like an efficient approach to evaluating a function with a hundreds or thousands of inputs. What other known algorithms exist for this task?

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  • Methods Of Preventing Spams In Blogs

    One of the most widely used form of spamdexing method in today';s market is comment spam. This method involves the use of random and irrelevant comments, commonly promoting a commercial service in blo... [Author: Margarette Mcbride - Web Design and Development - June 08, 2010]

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  • How to remove outlines around windows when switching with Alt+Tab?

    - by Oxwivi
    When I switch windows on current Unity using Alt+Tab, I get an ugly outline of size of the selected window occasionally showing on random places. Is there a way to change this outline to something better looking or eliminate it altogether? NB These outlines appear on Ubuntu Desktop without any effects enabled. Outlined Firefox Outlined Nautilus Outlined Terminal Click on the images to better view the outlines in question.

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  • How to practice typing of programmer keys such as tilde, pipe and programmer quote?

    - by user7893
    It is nice that there are services such as TypeRacer where you can practice casual writing but I want to practice programmer keys, covers more numbers and keys not used by regular typist. There was some tutor with which I practiced some programmer keys and noticed that my speed dropped dramatically from 70-80 wpm to even about 15-30 wpm, it also trains different muscles. So how can I practice just programming keys with programming texts or just random code pieces?

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  • Lenovo Ideapad Unstable Touchpad Cursor

    - by vicban3d
    I recently installed Ubuntu 14.04 on my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and there is a problem with the touchpad. Whenever I lift my finger from the touchpad or click, the cursor moves a little bit to a random direction which makes me miss the target I wanted to click. This is very annoying and I couldn't find a solution online. Can anyone tell me whether there is a solution to this problem and how would I fix it? Thanks in advance.

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  • Unity bar only shown in Desktop - Alt+Tab doesn't show anything

    - by Christian Vielma
    I've experienced something weird with Unity and that is that sometimes the Alt+Tab switcher stops showing (yes, only showing because I can still to blind switch between applications), and the left unity bar is only shown on the desktop. I might think that it's compiz, but the rest of the effects are ok :S I don't have the exact sequence to repeat this error, it seems to be random :S Do you know what could it be?

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  • Very frequent system problems since 12.10 upgrade

    - by Jazz
    Since I recently upgrade my 12.04 install to 12.10, there is loads more instability generally. I have captured just the latest example - often occurring just after startup and login. Other random times, similar things happen - not always the same executable is reported - might be many different problems. Is everyone finding 12.10 a bit unstable (in which case I can hope for fixes to filter through over the coming months)?

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  • Google Games Chat, September 13

    Google Games Chat, September 13 The Google Games Chat (official motto: "Still not cancelled") is back for yet another rousing debate about industry trends, the state of gaming in general, and, frankly, any other random thoughts that happen to cross our minds. We don't really filter what we say very much. This week, we'll be talking about App Discovery, a subject near and dear to everybody's heart. From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 0 2 ratings Time: 00:00 More in Science & Technology

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  • Why is my arrow texture being drawn in odd places?

    - by tyjkenn
    This is a script I wrote that places an arrow on the screen, pointing to an enemy off-screen, or, if the enemy is on-screen, it places an arrow hovering above the enemy. Everything seems to work, except for some odd reason, I see random arrows floating around, often skewed and resized (which I really don't understand, because I only rotate and place in this script). Even when I only have one enemy in the scene, I still see these random arrows. It should only be drawing one per enemy. Note: when all enemies are removed, no arrows appear. var arrow : Texture; var cam : Camera; var dim : int = 30; function OnGUI() { var objects = GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("Enemy"); for(var ob : GameObject in objects) { var pos = cam.WorldToViewportPoint(ob.transform.position); if(gameObject.GetComponent(FollowCamera).target != null){ var tar = gameObject.GetComponent(FollowCamera).target.parent; } if(pos.z>1 && ob.transform != tar){ var xDiff = (pos.x*cam.pixelWidth)-(cam.pixelWidth/2); var yDiff = (pos.y*cam.pixelHeight)-(cam.pixelHeight/2); var angle = Mathf.Rad2Deg*Mathf.Atan(yDiff/xDiff)+180; if(xDiff>0) angle += 180; var dist = Mathf.Sqrt(xDiff*xDiff + yDiff*yDiff); var slope = yDiff/xDiff; var camSlope = cam.pixelHeight/cam.pixelWidth; var theX = -1000.0; var theY = -1000.0; var mult = 0; var temp; if(Mathf.Abs(xDiff)>(cam.pixelWidth/2)||Mathf.Abs(yDiff)>(cam.pixelHeight/2)){ //touching right if(slope<camSlope && slope>-camSlope) { if(xDiff>(cam.pixelWidth/2)) { theX = cam.pixelWidth - (dim/2); mult = -1; }else if(xDiff<-(cam.pixelWidth/2)) { theX = (dim/2); mult = 1; } temp = ((cam.pixelWidth/2)*yDiff)/xDiff; theY =(cam.pixelHeight/2)+(mult*temp); } else{ if(yDiff>(cam.pixelHeight/2)) { theY = (dim/2); mult = 1; }else if(yDiff<-(cam.pixelHeight/2)) { theY = cam.pixelHeight - (dim/2); mult = -1; } temp = ((cam.pixelHeight/2)*xDiff)/yDiff; theX =(cam.pixelWidth/2)+(mult*temp); } } else { angle = -90; theX = (cam.pixelWidth/2)+xDiff; theY = (cam.pixelHeight/2)-yDiff-dim; } GUIUtility.RotateAroundPivot(-angle, Vector2(theX, theY)); Graphics.DrawTexture(Rect(theX-(dim/2),theY-(dim/2),dim,dim),arrow,null); GUIUtility.RotateAroundPivot(angle, Vector2(theX, theY)); } } }

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  • System resets to login screen spontaneously

    - by Bart van Heukelom
    Now I'm experiencing spontaneous resets of the desktop environment (when logged in and working normally), where the screen will go black, then reset to the login screen. The resets appear to be random, though there is a chance it occurs more when using Nautilus. The screen goes black instantly, e.g. there is nothing like a disappearing launcher or window borders. Where can I begin finding the cause? (Note: I've recently upgraded from 11.04 to 11.10, then 12.04.)

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  • Bite the Bullet

    <b>Jamie's Random Musings:</b> "Sometimes you just have to "bite the bullet" and do what needs to be done, rather than what you would prefer to do, or what you would really like to do. That's what happened to me with my friends' laptop over the weekend."

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  • Next lowest value in MySQL Database [migrated]

    - by Justin Edwards
    SELECT * FROM `experience` WHERE `reqexp` <> '4793' ORDER BY 'lvl' DESC LIMIT 1 Here is what I want to do. I am making an online game for a client, and need to be able to use a mysql query with a random value, and find the level associated with that amount of experience. In this case, I need to find the next value lower than 4793 that already exists in the database so I can determine the players appropriate level. Any Ideas?

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  • In-Store Tracking Gets a Little Harder

    - by David Dorf
    Remember how Nordstrom was tracking shopper movements within their stores using the unique number, called a MAC, emitted by the WiFi radio in smartphones?  The phones didn't need to connect to the network, only have their WiFi enabled, as most people do by default.  They did this, presumably, to track shoppers' path to purchase and better understand traffic patterns.  Although there were signs explaining this at the entrances, people didn't like the notion of being tracked.  (Nevermind that there are cameras in the ceiling watching them.)  Nordstrom stopped the program. To address this concern the Future of Privacy, a Washington think tank, created Smart Store Privacy, a do-not-track service that allows consumers to register their MAC address in much the same way people register their phone numbers in the national do-not-call list.  A group of companies agreed to respect consumers' wishes and ignore smartphones listed in the database.  The database includes Bluetooth identifiers as well.  Of course you could simply turn your bluetooth and WiFi off when shopping as well. Most know that Apple prefers to use BLE beacons to contact and track smartphones within their stores.  This feature extends the typical online experience to also work in physical stores.  By identifying themselves, shoppers can expect a more tailored shopping experience much like what we've come to expect from Amazon's website, with product recommendations and offers that are (usually) relevant. But the upcoming release of iOS8 is purported to have a new feature that randomizes the WiFi MAC address of smartphones during the "probing" phase.  That is, before connecting to the WiFi network, a random MAC number is used so as to keep the smartphone's real MAC address secret.  Unless you actually connect to the store's WiFi, they won't recognize the MAC address. The details on this are still sketchy, but if the random MAC is consistent for a short period, retailers will still be able to track movements anonymously, but they won't recognize repeat visitors.  That may be sufficient for traffic analytics, but it will stymie target marketing.  In the case of marketing, using iBeacons with opt-in permission from consumers will be the way forward. There is always a battle between utility and privacy, so I expect many more changes in this area.  Incidentally, if you'd like to see where beacons are being used this site tracks them around the world.

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  • Public/Private Key Generation

    - by JacKeown
    I'm just learning about public key cryptography and I want to make a public key certificate for my web server so that I can use https. My server is hosted on some random free webhost that is practically impossible for anything...and so my question is this: Is there any harm in making my private key, public key, and public key certificate on my computer using openssl and then transferring it to the server? Thanks in advance. Also if there's anything else I'm missing, any help would be appreciated.

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  • Is Microsoft Bing Trying To Kill Open Office?

    <b>Katonda:</b> "Microsoft Bing has many flaws, but this one seems to be the most outrageous one. If you try to search for OpenOffice on Bing, it will not show you the actual OpenOffice.org website but will show pages from random websites like OpenOffice.com or other non-OpenOffice.org websites."

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  • Oracle to SQL Server: Crossing the Great Divide, Part 2

    A well-known Oracle expert records faithfully his struggles with the unfamiliar : SQL Server. He now sets himself the task of creating a table with a million rows of random data. As one might expect, it is the lack of familiarity with the workarounds and tricks of SQL Server that trips him up. His journey brings us fresh insights, and a glimpse at the alternative-universe of Oracle.

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  • Track ping, download and upload daily

    - by euDennis
    I'm with some problems with my internet with oscillations in connection, causing some sites to get "Not Found" page sometimes. This isn't all the time, just some random times daily. My question is. There is any tool to monitor these basic information (ping, upload and download) daily to make an report and check the oscillations? Because, if someone from internet provider come at my house, probably it won't see the oscillations. Thanks, bye

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