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Please help with iPhone Memory & Images, memory usage crashing app

- by Andrew Gray

I have an issue with memory usage relating to images and I've searched the docs and watched the videos from cs193p and the iphone dev site on memory mgmt and performance. I've searched online and posted on forums, but I still can't figure it out. The app uses core data and simply lets the user associate text with a picture and stores the list of items in a table view that lets you add and delete items. Clicking on a row shows the image and related text. that's it. Everything runs fine on the simulator and on the device as well. I ran the analyzer and it looked good, so i then starting looking at performance. I ran leaks and everything looked good. My issue is when running Object Allocations as every time i select a row and the view with the image is shown, the live bytes jumps up a few MB and never goes down and my app eventually crashes due to memory usage. Sorting the live bytes column, i see 2 2.72MB mallocs (5.45Mb total), 14 CFDatas (3.58MB total), 1 2.74MB malloc and everything else is real small. the problem is all the related info in instruments is really technical and all the problem solving examples i've seen are just missing a release and nothing complicated. Instruments shows Core Data as the responsible library for all but one (libsqlite3.dylib the other) with [NSSQLCore _prepareResultsFromResultSet:usingFetchPlan:withMatchingRows:] as the caller for all but one (fetchResultSetReallocCurrentRow the other) and im just not sure how to track down what the problem is. i've looked at the stack traces and opened the last instance of my code and found 2 culprits (below). I havent been able to get any responses at all on this, so if anyone has any tips or pointers, I'd really appreciate it!!!! //this is from view controller that shows the title and image - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillAppear:animated]; self.title = item.title; self.itemTitleTextField.text = item.title; if ([item.notes length] == 0) { self.itemNotesTextView.hidden = YES; } else { self.itemNotesTextView.text = item.notes; } //this is the line instruments points to UIImage *image = item.photo.image; itemPhoto.image = image; } - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) { // Delete the managed object for the given index path NSManagedObjectContext *context = [fetchedResultsController managedObjectContext]; [context deleteObject:[fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]]; // Save the context. NSError *error = nil; if (![context save:&error]) //this is the line instruments points to { NSLog(@"Unresolved error %@, %@", error, [error userInfo]); exit(-1); } } }

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Strange behaviour with mediaplayer and seekTo

- by Mathias Lin

I'm implementing a custom video player because I need custom video controls. I have an app with only one activity, which on startup shall start playing a video right away. Now, the problem I have is: I don't want the video to start from the beginning, but from a later position. Therefore I do a seekTo(16867). Since seekTo is asynchronous, I place the start call of the mediaplayer (player.start()) in the onSeekComplete of the onSeekCompleteListener. The strange behaviour I experience though is that I can see/hear the video playing from the beginning for a few millisecs before it actually plays from/jumps to the position I seeked to. But - on the other hand - the Log output I call before the player.start returns the correct position 16867, where I seeked to. Below is the relevant code section, the complete class is at http://pastebin.com/jqAAFsuX (I'm on Nexus One / 2.2 StageFright) private void playVideo(String url) { try { btnVideoPause.setEnabled(false); if (player==null) { player=new MediaPlayer(); player.setScreenOnWhilePlaying(true); } else { player.stop(); player.reset(); } url = "/sdcard/myapp/main/videos/main.mp4"; // <--- just for test purposes hardcoded here now player.setDataSource(url); player.setDisplay(holder); player.setAudioStreamType(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC); player.setOnCompletionListener(this); player.setOnPreparedListener(this); player.setOnSeekCompleteListener(new MediaPlayer.OnSeekCompleteListener() { public void onSeekComplete(MediaPlayer mediaPlayer) { Log.d("APP", "current pos... "+ player.getCurrentPosition() ); player.start(); // <------------------ start video on seek completed player.setOnSeekCompleteListener(null); } }); player.prepareAsync(); } catch (Throwable t) { Log.e(TAG, "Exception in btnVideoPause prep", t); } } public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mediaplayer) { width=player.getVideoWidth(); height=player.getVideoHeight(); if (width!=0 && height!=0) { holder.setFixedSize(width, height); progressBar.setProgress(0); progressBar.setMax(player.getDuration()); player.seekTo(16867); // <------------------ seeking to position } btnVideoPause.setEnabled(true); }

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My mental block - struggling to learn Objective C

- by iqessar

Hello people, this would be my first question after signing up! Anyway heres my question, I did Java at university and I was always told I am a good programmer. However I never pursued it as a career - I went into support and management instead. Im pretty much bored with my job, I have therefore started to learn Objective C so that I can develop apps for the iphone. I am currently watching several different Videos / Books. My problem is that when I go through the Apple documentation, although I understand most of it, sometimes I stumble. I believe that because you/we have the Apple documentation (i.e. Framework references) , everything should be clear, and therefore you should have no need to refer to a book or video (in order to learn how to use a particular class). But I alway do refer to a book and video and subsequently feel guilty as I believe the framework reference should be enough. (I therefore feel I am not up to being a programmer) I also believe that you shouldn't need example code in order to learn how to use a particular class because Apple provides documentation for each class, but AGAIN I find my self googling example code and I find my answer like that - again I feel guilty for doing this. Am I right in saying that Apple documentation is simply not clear? and that its ok to refer to a video/book or google? or forums for that matter? I have proffesional programmers who tell me that I am worrying too much and that I should get on with it and use all the resources that I have. I just cant seem to get round this mental block that I have in my head. When I start a programming project I am able to use the excellent search skills that I have to find the code I need, copy and paste it (yes I do understand it) BUT then I feel guilty telling myself that why didn't you think up the code yourself???? Therefore your not a real programmer, your just good at googling. Currently I am going through 20+ books so that I can learn most of the frameworks, syntax etc to develop iphone apps. I believe if I do this, then when I think of a project I can make it quickly. Should I read a few books, like 2-3 and then just start a project /app , and if I get stuck just google it and get the code I need? Can anybody please answer my questions?

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youtube - video upload failure - unable to convert file - encoding the video wrong?

- by Anthony

I am using .NET to create a video uploading application. Although it's communicating with YouTube and uploading the file, the processing of that file fails. YouTube gives me the error message, "Upload failed (unable to convert video file)." This supposedly means that "your video is in a format that our converters don't recognize..." I have made attempts with two different videos, both of which upload and process fine when I do it manually. So I suspect that my code is a.) not encoding the video properly and/or b.) not sending my API request properly. Below is how I am constructing my API PUT request and encoding the video: Any suggestions on what the error could be would be appreciated. Thanks P.S. I'm not using the client library because my application will use the resumable upload feature. Thus, I am manually constructing my API requests. Documentation: http://code.google.com/intl/ja/apis/youtube/2.0/developers_guide_protocol_resumable_uploads.html#Uploading_the_Video_File Code: // new PUT request for sending video WebRequest putRequest = WebRequest.Create(uploadURL); // set properties putRequest.Method = "PUT"; putRequest.ContentType = getMIME(file); //the MIME type of the uploaded video file //encode video byte[] videoInBytes = encodeVideo(file); public static byte[] encodeVideo(string video) { try { byte[] fileInBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(video); Console.WriteLine("\nSize of byte array containing " + video + ": " + fileInBytes.Length); return fileInBytes; } catch (Exception e) { Console.WriteLine("\nException: " + e.Message + "\nReturning an empty byte array"); byte [] empty = new byte[0]; return empty; } }//encodeVideo //encode custom headers in a byte array byte[] PUTbytes = encode(putRequest.Headers.ToString()); public static byte[] encode(string headers) { ASCIIEncoding encoding = new ASCIIEncoding(); byte[] bytes = encoding.GetBytes(headers); return bytes; }//encode //entire request contains headers + binary video data putRequest.ContentLength = PUTbytes.Length + videoInBytes.Length; //send request - correct? sendRequest(putRequest, PUTbytes); sendRequest(putRequest, videoInBytes); public static void sendRequest(WebRequest request, byte[] encoding) { Stream stream = request.GetRequestStream(); // The GetRequestStream method returns a stream to use to send data for the HttpWebRequest. try { stream.Write(encoding, 0, encoding.Length); } catch (Exception e) { Console.WriteLine("\nException writing stream: " + e.Message); } }//sendRequest

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Problem with JQuery swapImage();

- by VUELA

Hello!~ On my articles page (http://www.adrtimes.squarespace.com/articles) I have each entry start with an image that changes on rollover. This is working fine. However, on my homepage (http://www.adrtimes.squarespace.com), I am loading in the 2 most recent articles that are not categorized as video, and the 2 most recent articles that are tagged as video. I am using jQuery load() to pull in the content from the articles page. Everything works ok with that except the swapImage rollovers on the homepage. i tried including the swapImage function as callbacks but only one group or the other will rollover properly, not both groups of content. I'm not sure what the problem is!! Here is the code: <script type="text/javascript">  </script> And here is a sample of the html for the images in an article entry: <a href="/articles/2010/5/6/article-title-goes-here.html"><img class="swapImage {src: '/storage/post-images/Sample2_color.jpg'}" src="/storage/post-images/Sample2_bw.jpg" /></a>

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go programming POST FormValue can't be printed

- by poor_programmer

Before I being a bit of background, I am very new to go programming language. I am running go on Win 7, latest go package installer for windows. I'm not good at coding but I do like some challenge of learning a new language. I wanted to start learn Erlang but found go very interesting based on the GO I/O videos in youtube. I'm having problem with capturing POST form values in GO. I spend three hours yesterday to get go to print a POST form value in the browser and failed miserably. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, can anyone point me to the right direction? I can easily do this in another language like C#, PHP, VB, ASP, Rails etc. I have search the entire interweb and haven't found a working sample. Below is my sample code. Here is Index.html page {{ define "title" }}Homepage{{ end }} {{ define "content" }} <h1>My Homepage</h1> <p>Hello, and welcome to my homepage!</p> <form method="POST" action="/"> <p> Enter your name : <input type="text" name="username"> </P> <p> <button>Go</button> </form> <br /><br /> {{ end }} Here is the base page <!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>{{ template "title" . }}</title> </head> <body> <section id="contents"> {{ template "content" . }} </section> <footer id="footer"> My homepage 2012 copy </footer> </body> </html> now some go code package main import ( "fmt" "http" "strings" "html/template" ) var index = template.Must(template.ParseFiles( "templates/_base.html", "templates/index.html", )) func GeneralHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { index.Execute(w, nil) if r.Method == "POST" { a := r.FormValue("username") fmt.Fprintf(w, "hi %s!",a); //<-- this variable does not rendered in the browser!!! } } func helloHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { remPartOfURL := r.URL.Path[len("/hello/"):] fmt.Fprintf(w, "Hello %s!", remPartOfURL) } func main() { http.HandleFunc("/", GeneralHandler) http.HandleFunc("/hello/", helloHandler) http.ListenAndServe("localhost:81", nil) } Thanks! PS: Very tedious to add four space before every line of code in stackoverflow especially when you are copy pasting. Didn't find it very user friendly or is there an easier way?

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Approaches for Content-based Item Recommendations

- by PartlyCloudy

Hello, I'm currently developing an application where I want to group similar items. Items (like videos) can be created by users and also their attributes can be altered or extended later (like new tags). Instead of relying on users' preferences as most collaborative filtering mechanisms do, I want to compare item similarity based on the items' attributes (like similar length, similar colors, similar set of tags, etc.). The computation is necessary for two main purposes: Suggesting x similar items for a given item and for clustering into groups of similar items. My application so far is follows an asynchronous design and I want to decouple this clustering component as far as possible. The creation of new items or the addition of new attributes for an existing item will be advertised by publishing events the component can then consume. Computations can be provided best-effort and "snapshotted", which means that I'm okay with the best result possible at a given point in time, although result quality will eventually increase. So I am now searching for appropriate algorithms to compute both similar items and clusters. At important constraint is scalability. Initially the application has to handle a few thousand items, but later million items might be possible as well. Of course, computations will then be executed on additional nodes, but the algorithm itself should scale. It would also be nice if the algorithm supports some kind of incremental mode on partial changes of the data. My initial thought of comparing each item with each other and storing the numerical similarity sounds a little bit crude. Also, it requires n*(n-1)/2 entries for storing all similarities and any change or new item will eventually cause n similarity computations. Thanks in advance! UPDATE tl;dr To clarify what I want, here is my targeted scenario: User generate entries (think of documents) User edit entry meta data (think of tags) And here is what my system should provide: List of similar entries to a given item as recommendation Clusters of similar entries Both calculations should be based on: The meta data/attributes of entries (i.e. usage of similar tags) Thus, the distance of two entries using appropriate metrics NOT based on user votings, preferences or actions (unlike collaborative filtering). Although users may create entries and change attributes, the computation should only take into account the items and their attributes, and not the users associated with (just like a system where only items and no users exist). Ideally, the algorithm should support: permanent changes of attributes of an entry incrementally compute similar entries/clusters on changes scale something better than a simple distance table, if possible (because of the O(n²) space complexity)

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Moving Function With Arguments To RequireJS

- by Jazimov

I'm not only relatively new to JavaScript but also to RequireJS (coming from string C# background). Currently on my web page I have a number of JavaScript functions. Each one takes two arguments. Imagine that they look like this: functionA(x1, y1) { ... } functionB(x2, y2) { ... } functionC(x3, y3) { ... } Currently, these functions exist in a tag on my HTML page and I simply call each as needed. My functions have dependencies on KnockoutJS, jQuery, and some other JS libraries. I currently have Script tags that synchronously load those external .js dependencies. But I want to use RequireJS so that they're loaded asynchronously, as needed. To do this, I plan to move all three functions above into an external .js file (a type of AMD "module") called MyFunctions.js. That file will have a define() call (to RequireJS's define function) that will look something like this: define(["knockout", "jquery", ...], function("ko","jquery", ...) {???} ); My question is how to "wrap" my functionA, functionB, and functionC functions where the ??? is above so that I can use those functions on my page as needed. For example, in the onclick event handler for a button on my HTML page, I would want to call functionA and pass two it two arguments; same for functionB and functionC. I don't fully understand how to expose those functions when they're wrapped in a define that itself is located in an external .js file. I know that define assures that my listed libraries are loaded asynchronously before the callback function is called, but after that's done I don't understand how the web page's script tags would use my functions. Would I need to use require to ensure they're available, such as: require(["myfunctions"],function({not sure what to put here})] I think I understand the basics of RequireJS but I don't understand how to wrap my functions so that they're in external .js files, don't pollute the global namespace, and yet can still be called from the main page so that arguments can be passed to them. I imagine they're are many ways to do this but in reviewing the RequireJS docs and some videos out there, I can't say I understand how... Thank you for any help.

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Finding open contiguous blocks of time for every day of a month, fast

- by Chris

I am working on a booking availability system for a group of several venues, and am having a hard time generating the availability of time blocks for days in a given month. This is happening server-side in PHP, but the concept itself is language agnostic -- I could be doing this in JS or anything else. Given a venue_id, month, and year (6/2012 for example), I have a list of all events occurring in that range at that venue, represented as unix timestamps start and end. This data comes from the database. I need to establish what, if any, contiguous block of time of a minimum length (different per venue) exist on each day. For example, on 6/1 I have an event between 2:00pm and 7:00pm. The minimum time is 5 hours, so there's a block open there from 9am - 2pm and another between 7pm and 12pm. This would continue for the 2nd, 3rd, etc... every day of June. Some (most) of the days have nothing happening at all, some have 1 - 3 events. The solution I came up with works, but it also takes waaaay too long to generate the data. Basically, I loop every day of the month and create an array of timestamps for each 15 minutes of that day. Then, I loop the time spans of events from that day by 15 minutes, marking any "taken" timeslot as false. Remaining, I have an array that contains timestamp of free time vs. taken time: //one day's array after processing through loops (not real timestamps) array( 12345678=>12345678, // <--- avail 12345878=>12345878, 12346078=>12346078, 12346278=>false, // <--- not avail 12346478=>false, 12346678=>false, 12346878=>false, 12347078=>12347078, // <--- avail 12347278=>12347278 ) Now I would need to loop THIS array to find continuous time blocks, then check to see if they are long enough (each venue has a minimum), and if so then establish the descriptive text for their start and end (i.e. 9am - 2pm). WHEW! By the time all this looping is done, the user has grown bored and wandered off to Youtube to watch videos of puppies; it takes ages to so examine 30 or so days. Is there a faster way to solve this issue? To summarize the problem, given time ranges t1 and t2 on day d, how can I determine the remaining time left in d that is longer than the minimum time block m. This data is assembled on demand via AJAX as the user moves between calendar months. Results are cached per-page-load, so if the user goes to July a second time, the data that was generated the first time would be reused. Any other details that would help, let me know. Edit Per request, the database structure (or the part that is relevant here) *events* id (bigint) title (varchar) *event_times* id (bigint) event_id (bigint) venue_id (bigint) start (bigint) end (bigint) *venues* id (bigint) name (varchar) min_block (int) min_start (varchar) max_start (varchar)

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Problems Embedding Video using FCK Editor

- by Exline

Hello, I am using FCK Editor 2.6.4 and having problems trying to embed a (non-YouTube) video into a content area. I found this previous question / post: [EDIT -- as a new user, I am only able to post one link in this post. The post in question is titled, "Can I embed video using FCK Editor?") and have investigated all of the proposed solutions, but none of them work properly: 1 -- Using the "Embed Flash" button in the control panel almost works. However, the video I am attempting to add contains a querystring with parameters, like this: http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1275795594&f=mGQklEgxXKs9vfEIdGnWsA&d=132&m=p&r=w&i=m&ct=Homes%20in%20Eagle%20Creek&cu=http://hometoindy.com/eagle-creek-real-estate.php&options= and in using the Flash embed tool, it encodes all of the "&" characters to "&", thus breaking them. If it were just for me, I could manually change them back, but clients who use this will not know how to do that. 2 -- I have installed the YouTube video plugin, and it works great... for YouTube. But it cannot be used to embed non-YouTube videos (it automatically changes the URL to YouTube, no matter what). 3 -- I have installed the EmbedMovies plugin, but it throws a javascript error when attempting to add a video file (such as the above) to a page. (The EmbedMovies plugin page on SourceForge says it has been updated for FCK Editor 2.6, but it does not work.) 4 -- Pasting directly into the editor window (of course) does not work. The only way I've been able to make this work is by pasting into the Source panel, and this is not a good option for clients who are not familiar with HTML. So, is there a good, working plugin for FCK editor that will allow me to quickly and easily embed a video such as the one above into a content area? I don't need to be able to see or preview it in the editor window; I just need it to work when the page is loaded on the front end. Thanks!

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Chrome does not re-draw properly on Windows 8

- by Akshat Mittal

There are a lot of problems with Chrome (24.0.1312.14 beta || But all this happened before update also) on Windows 8. Problems and explanations are listed below: Google Chrome re-draw time: When I switch tabs, the window retains the content of the previous tab and displays that even if I move my mouse, if only refreshes (re-draws) when there is a change on the webpage (like on hover) or I do a select all (or scroll). One thing to note is that the hover and select happens on the real page and not the retained image-like thing of the older webpage. Chrome is slow and laggy: Websites such as Facebook and Twitter (and more) have gone extremely laggy on Chrome (Win 8). When I was using Windows 7, I never experienced a lag or something. Also when using HTML-5 Websites, the transition (the -webkit-transition in CSS) goes extremely slow at times. Plugins Crash: Plugins like Flash Player, Shockwave Player, and more that are in-built into Chrome Crashes a lot, even when doing simple tasks like playing YouTube Videos, displaying ads or something. Chrome Crashes: Chrome has crashed over 100 times in the past month. Google Chrome just crashes randomly or I don't know the reason. Random Page crashes: Chrome results chrome://crash/(Copy-Paste this in address bar) on random pages even when the page is just loaded, I understand that this can happen on heavy HTML5 or JS websites but what about HTML only websites? Computer Freeze: Chrome sometimes, randomly, freezes my computer. Freeze in the sense, none of the other apps are also working. It's like the whole system freezes, I can not even switch to other apps. I am sure that this is because of Chrome since this happens only when Chrome is active. Most of the things above happens on Super User also, Super User never had any problem when using Chrome on Windows 7. UPDATE 1: @magicandre1981 Commented for trying to disable Hardware Acceleration. I tried it, it somewhat solved the problem but din't fix it. I am still experiencing all the above issues but less frequently (maybe because Chrome Restarted Completely) UPDATE 2: @avirk asked me to try a Stable Version of Chrome and Firefox, I din't experience any lag in Firefox, a little (negligible) lag in Chrome 22 (Maybe because its a new copy of Chrome, I haven't used it much). UPDATE 3: @NothingsImpossible said that He is also experiencing the same problem on Windows Server 2008! This seams to be a major issue now. He also said that GPU load is also high at the same time! Even I saw the same thing. UPDATE 4: Recently, Chrome updated to v24 Stable (I am using stable from a long time now). I was experiencing this problem a lot less in Chrome 23, but this is back in Chrome 24. Seams like Chrome 24 is the most affected from this bug, as this same problem was high in Chrome 24 beta also. UPDATE 5: Chrome was updated to v25 Stable. This problem is 99% Gone, it is still there in 1% of the cases. One such example is when I leave chrome inactive for a while with a few tabs open, the tabs go black and no activity can get them back to active state. If I open a new tab, the new tab is OK but the others are still black, I need to close all those tabs. UPDATE 6: Chrome updated to v27 Stable channel, this problem is nearly gone. This does happen occasionally, but not as frequent as in earlier versions of Chrome. UPDATE 7: I am on Chrome v35.0.1916.114 Stable, Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1. Some of the other problems appears to be back. Chrome is slow and laggy again. Re-draw time is getting worse. Is anybody else experiencing such issues? Does anybody have a solution to any of these?

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How to diagnose computer lockup/freezing problem

- by Scott Mitchell

I built a desktop computer a couple years back with the following specs: CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80580Q9300 Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard Video Card: Two EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SCC 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card PSU: SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT 550W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply Memory: Two G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ Since its inception, the machine has periodically locked up, the regularlity having varied over the years from once a day to once a month. Typically, lockups happen once every few days. By "lockup" I mean my computer just freezes. The screen locks up, I can't move the mouse. Hitting keys on my keyboard that normally turn LEDs on or off on the keyboard (such as Caps Lock) no longer turn the LEDs on or off. If there was music playing at the time of the lockup, noise keeps coming out of the speakers, but it's just the current frequency/note that plays indefinitely. There is no BSOD. When such a lockup occurs I have to do a hard reboot by either turning off the computer or hitting the reset button. I have the most recent version of the NVIDIA hardware drivers, and update them semi-regularly, but that hasn't seemed to help. I am currently using Windows 7 x64, but was previously using Windows Server 2003 x64 and having the same lockup issues. My guess is that it's somehow video driver or motherboard related, but I don't know how to go about diagnosing this problem to narrow down which of the two is the culprit. Additional information re: cooling Regarding cooling... I've not installed any after-market cooling systems aside from two regular fans I scavenged from an older computer. The fan atop the CPU is the one that shipped with it. One of the two scavenged fans I added it located at the bottom tower of the corner, in an attempt to create some airflow from front to back. The second fan is pointed directly at the two video cards. SpeedFan installation and readings Per studiohack's suggestion, I installed SpeedFan, which provided the following temperature readings: GPU: 63C GPU: 65C System: 76C CPU: 64C AUX: 36C Core 0: 78C Core 1: 76C Core 2: 79C Core 3: 79C Update #3: Another Lockup :-( Well, I had another lockup last night. :-( SpeedFan reported the CPU temp at 38 C when it happened, and there was no spike in temperature leading up to the freeze. One thing I notice is that the freeze seems more likely to happen if I am watching a video. In fact, of the last 5 freezes over the past month, 4 of them have been while watching a video on Flickr. Not necessarily the same video, but a video nevertheless. I don't know if this is just coincidence or if it means anything. (As an aside, each night before bedtime my 2 year old daughter sits on my lap and watches some home videos on Flickr and, in the last month, has learned the phrase, "Uh oh, computer broke.") Update #4: MemTest86 and 3DMark06 Test Results: Per suggestions in the comments, I ran the MemTest86 overnight and it cycled through the 8 GB of memory 5 times without error. I also ran the 3DMark06 test without a problem (see my scores at http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15163549). So... what now? :-) Any further suggestions on what to check? Is there some way to get a stack trace or something when the computer locks like that? Thanks

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Tuning performance of Ubuntu 10.04 on Compaq Evo W4000.

- by Fantomas

Hi, I got this computer free and installed Ubuntu 10.04 on it + updates, plus followed the following tutorial all the way: http://www.unixmen.com/linux-tutorials/937-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-1004-lts-lucid-lynx I love the Docky which comes with it, but the computer has been running rather slowly. The System: kernel 2.6.32-22-generic Gnome 2.30.0 (I like Gnome!) Memory: 1GB Processor: Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1700 MHz (needless to say, it is 32 bit). I think I dedicated 128 Mb to video memory while installing, but cannot find this setting now. I did also install an NVidia driver for the 3D card, so I probably want to reclaim that memory back. I want to trim the fat but I also want to keep some of the sex appeal of Ubuntu 10.04. I will gift this computer to a friend, who will use it for Internet, music, videos, word processing, Skype and instant messaging - he is non-technical, so this hardware and Linux should work for him; I just need to speed it up while keeping the good software and having a nice UI. I sort of know my way around Linux, but not that well. Feel free to ask me to run particular commands if you want more info. For starters, here are the services below. Which ones can I kill and how? What else can go? There is no need to run ssh or ftp or http or ntp servers. As I said before, this computer is for non-technical person. There is also absolutely no bluetooth or wireless networking needed - it will feed off a regular ethernet cable. What I do not want to do is reinstall some other distro or recompile a kernel. I want to make it 80% perfect spending 20% of the energy :) Thanks! $ service --status-all [ ? ] acpi-support [ ? ] acpid [ ? ] alsa-mixer-save [ ? ] anacron [ - ] apparmor [ ? ] apport [ ? ] atd [ ? ] avahi-daemon [ ? ] binfmt-support [ - ] bluetooth [ - ] bootlogd [ - ] brltty [ ? ] console-setup [ ? ] cron [ + ] cups [ ? ] dbus [ ? ] dmesg [ ? ] dns-clean [ ? ] failsafe-x [ - ] fancontrol [ ? ] gdm [ - ] grub-common [ ? ] hostname [ ? ] hwclock [ ? ] hwclock-save [ ? ] irqbalance [ - ] kerneloops [ ? ] killprocs [ - ] lm-sensors [ ? ] module-init-tools [ ? ] network-interface [ ? ] network-interface-security [ ? ] network-manager [ ? ] networking [ ? ] ondemand [ ? ] pcmciautils [ ? ] plymouth [ ? ] plymouth-log [ ? ] plymouth-splash [ ? ] plymouth-stop [ ? ] pppd-dns [ ? ] procps [ + ] pulseaudio [ ? ] rc.local [ - ] rsync [ ? ] rsyslog [ - ] saned [ ? ] screen-cleanup [ ? ] sendsigs [ ? ] speech-dispatcher [ ? ] stop-bootlogd [ ? ] stop-bootlogd-single [ ? ] udev [ ? ] udev-finish [ ? ] udevmonitor [ ? ] udevtrigger [ ? ] ufw [ ? ] umountfs [ ? ] umountnfs.sh [ ? ] umountroot [ ? ] unattended-upgrades [ - ] urandom [ + ] winbind [ ? ] wpa-ifupdown [ - ] x11-common

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Motion - can't get streaming working from a webcam

- by Emmanuel Brunet

I'm trying to record a video stream from my Tenvis IP camera with motion 3.2.12 on Debian 7.5. I used the standard debian package with sudo apt-get install motion Assume my DNS IP cam is webcam, user : admin, password : password /etc/motion/motion.conf Bellow are my configuration file settings : netcam_url http://webcam/videostream.cgi netcam_userpass admin:password target_dir /media/videos/log/motion # The mini-http server listens to this port for requests (default: 0 = disabled) webcam_port 1234 ffmpeg_cap_new on ffmpeg_video_codec mpeg4 output_motion off snapshot_interval 0 # Quality of the jpeg (in percent) images produced (default: 50) webcam_quality 50 # Output frames at 1 fps when no motion is detected and increase to the # rate given by webcam_maxrate when motion is detected (default: off) webcam_motion on # Maximum framerate for webcam streams (default: 1) webcam_maxrate 15 # Restrict webcam connections to localhost only (default: on) webcam_localhost on # Limits the number of images per connection (default: 0 = unlimited) # Number can be defined by multiplying actual webcam rate by desired number of seconds # Actual webcam rate is the smallest of the numbers framerate and webcam_maxrate webcam_limit 0 control_port 8080 control_authentication admin:password Issue #1 when I try display http:/localhost:1234 the browser looks frozen, no HTTP 404 received but it stills waiting for data it seems .. Issue #2 in the output directory motion writes a lot of jpeg snapshots althought I just want to have several video sequenced files. Log I run motion in interactive mode in a terminal, here is the ouput root@mercure:/etc/motion# motion -c motion-1.0.conf [0] Processing thread 0 - config file motion-1.0.conf [0] Motion 3.2.12 Started [0] ffmpeg LIBAVCODEC_BUILD 3482368 LIBAVFORMAT_BUILD 3478785 [0] Thread 1 is from motion-1.0.conf [0] motion-httpd/3.2.12 running, accepting connections [0] motion-httpd: waiting for data on port TCP 8080 [1] Thread 1 started [1] Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items [1] Started stream webcam server in port 1234 [1] avcodec_open - could not open codec: Operation now in progress [1] ffopen_open error creating (new) file [~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165303.avi]: Operation now in progress [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165303-01.jpg [1] Thread exiting [1] Calling vid_close() from motion_cleanup [1] vid_close: calling netcam_cleanup [1] netcam camera handler: finish set, exiting [0] Motion thread 1 restart [1] Thread 1 started [1] Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items [1] Started stream webcam server in port 1234 [1] avcodec_open - could not open codec: Resource temporarily unavailable [1] ffopen_open error creating (new) file [~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165329.avi]: Resource temporarily unavailable [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165329-00.jpg [1] Thread exiting [1] Calling vid_close() from motion_cleanup [1] vid_close: calling netcam_cleanup [1] netcam camera handler: finish set, exiting [0] Motion thread 1 restart [1] Thread 1 started [1] Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items [1] Started stream webcam server in port 1234 [1] avcodec_open - could not open codec: Connection reset by peer [1] ffopen_open error creating (new) file [~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165355.avi]: Connection reset by peer [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603165355-06.jpg [1] Thread exiting [1] Calling vid_close() from motion_cleanup [1] vid_close: calling netcam_cleanup [0] httpd - Finishing [0] httpd Closing [0] httpd thread exit [1] netcam camera handler: finish set, exiting [0] Motion thread 1 restart [1] Thread 1 started [1] Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items [1] Started stream webcam server in port 1234 It doesn't find the codec ... avcodec_open - could not open codec: Operation now in progress I've changed fmpeg_video_codec from mpeg4 to swf the result is the same. When using flv format motion writes a lot of .jpg image but I can't see anything at http://localhost:1234 [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-00.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-01.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-02.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-03.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-04.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-05.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171035-06.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171036-00.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171036-01.jpg [1] File of type 1 saved to: ~/tmp/motion/01-20140603171036-02.jpg Any idea just to get the video stream recoded on my local disk ?

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Choice of an OS for a home ZFS NAS

- by OlafM

I am preparing a home NAS with an old Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 4 GB ECC RAM, Asus M2V MX motherboard, and a single 3 TB WDC Green (another one as mirror may be installed in the future). It's the cheapest solution I found that includes ECC memory and the higher energy consumption is offset by the lower (zero) cost of acquisition. The system will be used for: music storage and stream to other desktop computers; storage of the scanned dia slides (3-4k slides, 180 MB TIFF each one plus reduced quality JPEG version); stream of these photos to a local iPad 2 (maybe Plex App? not yet sure); (one additional) remote backup via rsync/ssh or ZFS send/receive. It will be controlled via remote ssh, maybe VNC, no monitor attached. Absolute requirement is a reliable ZFS solution, plus the ability to easily install packets/software/virtual machines and to update remotely (I will be the admin and I don't live near the NAS). I have mainly three options: NAS4free/FreeNAS OpenIndiana Solaris Express 11 (yeah yeah I know the license requirements, I will write a perl script on it to count it as development machine). Problems: NAS4free/FreeNAS (I tested only NAS4free) required embedded installation for remote upgrading, but full install for easy addition of software packets. Since I need at least AirVideo Server (linux/win) and Plex App (win/linux) to stream the photos and some videos to iPad (they both require virtualbox), but I cannot be there to install updates, NAS4free/FreeNAS are excluded. http://www.nas4free.org/general_information.html explains the issue: embedded can be remotely updated, full cannot. Solaris has also another advantage: Crashplan client supports Solaris and I'm already using it for other backups. I would like to leave the option open, even if I will be doing backups probably through zfs send/receive. NexentaStor was left out because zfs send/receive are not included in the free version. The question is now Solaris 11 Express over OpenIndiana. To ease the management, I will be using http://www.napp-it.org Which one would you suggest and why? I found lots of informations and it's difficult for me to decide. I think (from the napp-it manual) that Solaris has some additional options for SMB shares, but are they really needed at home? I think I won't even use ACLs, since normal unix-style permissions are enough. OpenIndiana has maybe more frequent updates (Solaris offers only security updates between releases), but again, do I need them? I don't think so. Moreover, this is a NAS that has to work and nothing else, I cannot risk having problems that require me to access the server. Isn't OpenIndiana a bit more... cutting edge (in the Solaris world)? I'm just asking, no need to focus on this for the answer :-) I would limit myself to these two options (SE11.1/OI) also because I will be making a NAS for me in the future (where high performances with Mac shares are also required) and Solaris has kernel support for AFP. I will use this server to gather experience as well. After this long question, thanks in advance! If you need additional info, let me know and I will update this post.

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How to diagnose computer lockups and freezes?

- by Scott Mitchell

I built a desktop computer a couple years back with the following specs: CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6 MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80580Q9300 Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard Video Card: Two EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SCC 256 MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card PSU: SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT 550W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply Memory: Two G.SKILL 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ Since its inception, the machine has periodically locked up, the regularity having varied over the years from once a day to once a month. Typically, lockups happen once every few days. By "lockup" I mean my computer just freezes. The screen locks up, I can't move the mouse. Hitting keys on my keyboard that normally turn LEDs on or off on the keyboard (such as Caps Lock) no longer turn the LEDs on or off. If there was music playing at the time of the lockup, noise keeps coming out of the speakers, but it's just the current frequency/note that plays indefinitely. There is no BSOD. When such a lockup occurs I have to do a hard reboot by either turning off the computer or hitting the reset button. I have the most recent version of the NVIDIA hardware drivers, and update them semi-regularly, but that hasn't seemed to help. I am currently using Windows 7 x64, but was previously using Windows Server 2003 x64 and having the same lockup issues. My guess is that it's somehow video driver or motherboard related, but I don't know how to go about diagnosing this problem to narrow down which of the two is the culprit. Additional information re: cooling Regarding cooling... I've not installed any after-market cooling systems aside from two regular fans I scavenged from an older computer. The fan atop the CPU is the one that shipped with it. One of the two scavenged fans I added it located at the bottom tower of the corner, in an attempt to create some airflow from front to back. The second fan is pointed directly at the two video cards. SpeedFan installation and readings Per studiohack's suggestion, I installed SpeedFan, which provided the following temperature readings: GPU: 63C GPU: 65C System: 76C CPU: 64C AUX: 36C Core 0: 78C Core 1: 76C Core 2: 79C Core 3: 79C Update #3: Another Lockup :-( Well, I had another lockup last night. :-( SpeedFan reported the CPU temp at 38 C when it happened, and there was no spike in temperature leading up to the freeze. One thing I notice is that the freeze seems more likely to happen if I am watching a video. In fact, of the last 5 freezes over the past month, 4 of them have been while watching a video on Flickr. Not necessarily the same video, but a video nevertheless. I don't know if this is just coincidence or if it means anything. (As an aside, each night before bedtime my 2 year old daughter sits on my lap and watches some home videos on Flickr and, in the last month, has learned the phrase, "Uh oh, computer broke.") Update #4: MemTest86 and 3DMark06 Test Results: Per suggestions in the comments, I ran the MemTest86 overnight and it cycled through the 8 GB of memory 5 times without error. I also ran the 3DMark06 test without a problem (see my scores at http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15163549). So... what now? :-) Any further suggestions on what to check? Is there some way to get a stack trace or something when the computer locks like that? Resolution I have never did figure out the particular problems, but based on the suggestions here and elsewhere, I'm presuming it was a motherboard issue. In any event, I recently upgraded my system, buying a new motherbeard, PSU, CPU, and RAM, and that new rig has been working splendidly the past several weeks. I am using the same graphic cards as in the old setup, so I think it's safe to reason that they weren't the cause of the problem.

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Make exact mp4 (H264) format for uploading to youtube

- by WHITECOLOR

With ffmpeg I'm converting video from mp3 and picture to upload it to youtube. After upload, conversion fails. Reasons are unknown. I believe the problem is in format. By the way If I'm uploading file 5 minutes length, it fails if I upload 30 seconds of this file it succeeds. I have donwload mp4 file from youtube. Then I uploaded it, it is done very fast. So a nice solution would be to convert videos to the same format that is done by google. I got the following output by mpeg: ffmpeg version N-44264-g070b0e1 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers built on Sep 7 2012 17:38:57 with gcc 4.7.1 (GCC) configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-pthreads --enable-runt ime-cpudetect --enable-avisynth --enable-bzlib --enable-frei0r --enable-libass - -enable-libcelt --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-l ibfreetype --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libnut --enable-libopenj peg --enable-librtmp --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheo ra --enable-libutvideo --enable-libvo-aacenc --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-li bvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libxavs --enable-libxvid --ena ble-zlib libavutil 51. 72.100 / 51. 72.100 libavcodec 54. 55.100 / 54. 55.100 libavformat 54. 25.105 / 54. 25.105 libavdevice 54. 2.100 / 54. 2.100 libavfilter 3. 16.100 / 3. 16.100 libswscale 2. 1.101 / 2. 1.101 libswresample 0. 15.100 / 0. 15.100 libpostproc 52. 0.100 / 52. 0.100 Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'youtubetrack0.mp4': Metadata: major_brand : mp42 minor_version : 0 compatible_brands: isommp42 creation_time : 2012-10-02 22:58:57 Duration: 00:06:46.66, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 176 kb/s Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (Constrained Baseline) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yu v420p, 450x360, 78 kb/s, 6 fps, 6 tbr, 12 tbn, 12 tbc Metadata: creation_time : 1970-01-01 00:00:00 handler_name : VideoHandler Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 95 kb/s Metadata: creation_time : 2012-10-02 22:58:57 handler_name : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011 Is it possible to construct ffmpeg parameters so that that would give the same format that google internally does? Is the information above sufficient? I couldn't construct needed params. For example I don't understand how to set tbn and what 95 kb/s mean in "Stream #0:1(und): Audio:". Now I just do: ffmpeg -i videoimage.jpg -i audio.mp3 video.mp4 Info I've got: ffmpeg version N-44998-gdf82454 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers built on Oct 2 2012 23:03:12 with gcc 4.7.1 (GCC) configuration: --disable-static --enable-shared --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-pthreads --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-avisynth --enable-bzlib --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libcelt --enable-libopencore-amrnb --en able-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libfreetype --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libnut --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-librtmp --enable-libschroedinger - -enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libutvideo --enable-libvo-aacenc -- enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enab le-libxavs --enable-libxvid --enable-zlib libavutil 51. 73.101 / 51. 73.101 libavcodec 54. 63.100 / 54. 63.100 libavformat 54. 29.105 / 54. 29.105 libavdevice 54. 3.100 / 54. 3.100 libavfilter 3. 19.102 / 3. 19.102 libswscale 2. 1.101 / 2. 1.101 libswresample 0. 16.100 / 0. 16.100 libpostproc 52. 1.100 / 52. 1.100 Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'video.mp4': Metadata: major_brand : isom minor_version : 512 compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41 encoder : Lavf54.25.105 Duration: 00:06:46.81, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 129 kb/s Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuvj420p, 450x360, 3392 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 50 tbc Metadata: handler_name : VideoHandler Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 127 kb/s Metadata: handler_name : SoundHandler This video fails the conversion on youtube. I also tried to use other vcode parmam and extensions of output file (mp4, wmv, avi) but failed too. Would be greatful for help.

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Choice of an OS for a home ZFS NAS

- by OlafM

I am preparing a home NAS with an old Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 4 GB ECC RAM, Asus M2V MX motherboard, and a single 3 TB WDC Green (another one as mirror may be installed in the future). It's the cheapest solution I found that includes ECC memory and the higher energy consumption is offset by the lower (zero) cost of acquisition. The system will be used for: music storage and stream to other desktop computers; storage of the scanned dia slides (3-4k slides, 180 MB TIFF each one plus reduced quality JPEG version); stream of these photos to a local iPad 2 (maybe Plex App? not yet sure); (one additional) remote backup via rsync/ssh or ZFS send/receive. It will be controlled via remote ssh, maybe VNC, no monitor attached. Absolute requirement is a reliable ZFS solution, plus the ability to easily install packets/software/virtual machines and to update remotely (I will be the admin and I don't live near the NAS). I have mainly three options: NAS4free/FreeNAS OpenIndiana Solaris Express 11 (yeah yeah I know the license requirements, I will write a perl script on it to count it as development machine). Problems: NAS4free/FreeNAS (I tested only NAS4free) required embedded installation for remote upgrading, but full install for easy addition of software packets. Since I need at least AirVideo Server (linux/win) and Plex App (win/linux) to stream the photos and some videos to iPad (they both require virtualbox), but I cannot be there to install updates, NAS4free/FreeNAS are excluded. http://www.nas4free.org/general_information.html explains the issue: embedded can be remotely updated, full cannot. Solaris has also another advantage: Crashplan client supports Solaris and I'm already using it for other backups. I would like to leave the option open, even if I will be doing backups probably through zfs send/receive. NexentaStor was left out because zfs send/receive are not included in the free version. The question is now Solaris 11 Express over OpenIndiana. To ease the management, I will be using http://www.napp-it.org Which one would you suggest and why? I found lots of informations and it's difficult for me to decide. I think (from the napp-it manual) that Solaris has some additional options for SMB shares, but are they really needed at home? I think I won't even use ACLs, since normal unix-style permissions are enough. OpenIndiana has maybe more frequent updates (Solaris offers only security updates between releases), but again, do I need them? I don't think so. Moreover, this is a NAS that has to work and nothing else, I cannot risk having problems that require me to access the server. Isn't OpenIndiana a bit more... cutting edge (in the Solaris world)? I'm just asking, no need to focus on this for the answer :-) I would limit myself to these two options (SE11.1/OI) also because I will be making a NAS for me in the future (where high performances with Mac shares are also required) and Solaris has kernel support for AFP. I will use this server to gather experience as well. After this long question, thanks in advance! If you need additional info, let me know and I will update this post. UPDATES Given the first answers, I will strongly suggest the person paying the hardware to insert a second HD. Better 2x2TB than 1x3TB (3 TB is oversized anyway). I was trying to keep the initial costs down to spread them over a longer period, but better having something good from the beginning.

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Scan a Windows PC for Viruses from a Ubuntu Live CD

- by Trevor Bekolay

Getting a virus is bad. Getting a virus that causes your computer to crash when you reboot is even worse. We’ll show you how to clean viruses from your computer even if you can’t boot into Windows by using a virus scanner in a Ubuntu Live CD. There are a number of virus scanners available for Ubuntu, but we’ve found that avast! is the best choice, with great detection rates and usability. Unfortunately, avast! does not have a proper 64-bit version, and forcing the install does not work properly. If you want to use avast! to scan for viruses, then ensure that you have a 32-bit Ubuntu Live CD. If you currently have a 64-bit Ubuntu Live CD on a bootable flash drive, it does not take long to wipe your flash drive and go through our guide again and select normal (32-bit) Ubuntu 9.10 instead of the x64 edition. For the purposes of fixing your Windows installation, the 64-bit Live CD will not provide any benefits. Once Ubuntu 9.10 boots up, open up Firefox by clicking on its icon in the top panel. Navigate to http://www.avast.com/linux-home-edition. Click on the Download tab, and then click on the link to download the DEB package. Save it to the default location. While avast! is downloading, click on the link to the registration form on the download page. Fill in the registration form if you do not already have a trial license for avast!. By the time you’ve filled out the registration form, avast! will hopefully be finished downloading. Open a terminal window by clicking on Applications in the top-left corner of the screen, then expanding the Accessories menu and clicking on Terminal. In the terminal window, type in the following commands, pressing enter after each line. cd Downloadssudo dpkg –i avast* This will install avast! on the live Ubuntu environment. To ensure that you can use the latest virus database, while still in the terminal window, type in the following command: sudo sysctl –w kernel.shmmax=128000000 Now we’re ready to open avast!. Click on Applications on the top-left corner of the screen, expand the Accessories folder, and click on the new avast! Antivirus item. You will first be greeted with a window that asks for your license key. Hopefully you’ve received it in your email by now; open the email that avast! sends you, copy the license key, and paste it in the Registration window. avast! Antivirus will open. You’ll notice that the virus database is outdated. Click on the Update database button and avast! will start downloading the latest virus database. To scan your Windows hard drive, you will need to “mount” it. While the virus database is downloading, click on Places on the top-left of your screen, and click on your Windows hard drive, if you can tell which one it is by its size. If you can’t tell which is the correct hard drive, then click on Computer and check out each hard drive until you find the right one. When you find it, make a note of the drive’s label, which appears in the menu bar of the file browser. Also note that your hard drive will now appear on your desktop. By now, your virus database should be updated. At the time this article was written, the most recent version was 100404-0. In the main avast! window, click on the radio button next to Selected folders and then click on the “+” button to the right of the list box. It will open up a dialog box to browse to a location. To find your Windows hard drive, click on the “>” next to the computer icon. In the expanded list, find the folder labelled “media” and click on the “>” next to it to expand it. In this list, you should be able to find the label that corresponds to your Windows hard drive. If you want to scan a certain folder, then you can go further into this hierarchy and select that folder. However, we will scan the entire hard drive, so we’ll just press OK. Click on Start scan and avast! will start scanning your hard drive. If a virus is found, you’ll be prompted to select an action. If you know that the file is a virus, then you can Delete it, but there is the possibility of false positives, so you can also choose Move to chest to quarantine it. When avast! is done scanning, it will summarize what it found on your hard drive. You can take different actions on those files at this time by right-clicking on them and selecting the appropriate action. When you’re done, click Close. Your Windows PC is now free of viruses, in the eyes of avast!. Reboot your computer and with any luck it will now boot up! Alternatives to avast! If avast! and a liberal amount of Googling doesn’t fix your problem, it’s possible that a different virus scanner will fix your obscure issue. Here are a list of other virus scanners available for Ubuntu that are either free or offer free trials. See their support forums for help on installing these virus scanners. Avira AntiVir Personal for Linux / Solaris Panda Antivirus for Linux Installation and usage guide from Ubuntu F-PROT Antivirus for Linux ClamAV installation and usage guide from Ubuntu NOD32 Antivirus for Linux Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 Bitdefender Antivirus for Unices Conclusion Running avast! from a Ubuntu Live CD can clean the vast majority of viruses from your Windows PC. This is another reason to always have a Ubuntu Live CD ready just in case something happens to your Windows installation! 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Week in Geek: New Security Flaw Confirmed for Internet Explorer Edition

- by Asian Angel

This week we learned how to use a PC to stay entertained while traveling for the holidays, create quality photo prints with free software, share links between any browser and any smartphone, create perfect Christmas photos using How-To Geek’s 10 best how-to photo guides, and had fun decorating Firefox with a collection of Holiday 2010 Personas themes. Photo by Repoort. Random Geek Links Photo by Asian Angel. Critical 0-Day Flaw Affects All Internet Explorer Versions, Microsoft Warns Microsoft has confirmed a zero-day vulnerability affecting all supported versions of Internet Explorer, including IE8, IE7 and IE6. Note: Article contains link to Microsoft Security Advisory detailing two work-arounds until a security update is released. Hackers targeting human rights, indie media groups Hackers are increasingly hitting the Web sites of human rights and independent media groups in an attempt to silence them, says a new study released this week by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. OpenBSD: audits give no indication of back doors So far, the analyses of OpenBSD’s crypto and IPSec code have not provided any indication that the system contains back doors for listening to encrypted VPN connections. But the developers have already found two bugs during their current audits. Sophos: Beware Facebook’s new facial-recognition feature Facebook’s new facial recognition software might result in undesirable photos of users being circulated online, warned a security expert, who urged users to keep abreast with the social network’s privacy settings to prevent the abovementioned scenario from becoming a reality. Microsoft withdraws flawed Outlook update Microsoft has withdrawn update KB2412171 for Outlook 2007, released last Patch Tuesday, after a number of user complaints. Skype: Millions still without service Skype was still working to right itself going into the holiday weekend from a major outage that began this past Wednesday. Mozilla improves sync setup and WebGL in Firefox 4 beta 8 Firefox 4.0 beta 8 brings better support for WebGL and introduces an improved setup process for Firefox Sync that simplifies the steps for configuring the synchronization service across multiple devices. Chrome OS the litmus test for cloud The success or failure of Google’s browser-oriented Chrome OS will be the litmus test to decide if the cloud is capable of addressing user needs for content and services, according to a new Ovum report released Monday. FCC Net neutrality rules reach mobile apps The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally released its long-expected regulations on Thursday and the related explanations total a whopping 194 pages. One new item that was not previously disclosed: mobile wireless providers can’t block “applications that compete with the provider’s” own voice or video telephony services. KDE and the Document Foundation join Open Invention Network The KDE e.V. and the Document Foundation (TDF) have both joined the Open Invention Network (OIN) as licensees, expanding the organization’s roster of supporters. Report: SEC looks into Hurd’s ousting from HP The scandal surrounding Mark Hurd’s departure from the world’s largest technology company in August has officially drawn attention from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Report: Google requests delay of new Google TVs Google TV is apparently encountering a bit of static that has resulted in a programming change. Geek Video of the Week This week we have a double dose of geeky video goodness for you with the original Mac vs PC video and the trailer for the sequel. Photo courtesy of Peacer. Mac vs PC Photo courtesy of Peacer. Mac vs PC 2 Trailer Random TinyHacker Links Awesome Tools To Extract Audio From Video Here’s a list of really useful, and free tools to rip audio from videos. Getting Your iPhone Out of Recovery Mode Is your iPhone stuck in recovery mode? This tutorial will help you get it out of that state. Google Shared Spaces Quickly create a shared space and collaborate with friends online. McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Upgrade not worthy of a version change McAfee has released their 2011 version of security products. And as this review details, the upgrades are minimal when compared to their 2010 products. For more information, check out the review. 200 Countries Plotted Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before – using augmented reality animation. Super User Questions Enjoy looking through this week’s batch of popular questions and answers from Super User. How to restore windows 7 to a known working state every time it boots? Is there an easy way to mass-transfer all files between two computers? Coffee spilled inside computer, damaged hard drive Computer does not boot after ram upgrade Keyboard not detected when trying to install Ubuntu 10.10 How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Have you had a super busy week while preparing for the holiday weekend? Then here is your chance to get caught up on your reading with our five hottest articles for the week. Ask How-To Geek: Rescuing an Infected PC, Installing Bloat-free iTunes, and Taming a Crazy Trackpad How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC Eight Geektacular Christmas Projects for Your Day Off VirtualBox 4.0 Rocks Extensions and a Simplified GUI Ask the Readers: How Many Monitors Do You Use with Your Computer? One Year Ago on How-To Geek Here are more great articles from one year ago for you to read and enjoy during the holiday break. Enjoy Distraction-Free Writing with WriteMonkey Shutter is a State of Art Screenshot Tool for Ubuntu Get Hex & RGB Color Codes the Easy Way Find User Scripts for Your Favorite Websites the Easy Way Access Your Unsorted Bookmarks the Easy Way (Firefox) The Geek Note That “wraps” things up for this week and we hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their holiday break! Found a great tip during the break? Then be sure to send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by ArSiSa7. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know HTG Explains: Which Linux File System Should You Choose? HTG Explains: Why Does Photo Paper Improve Print Quality? Simon’s Cat Explores the Christmas Tree! [Video] The Outdoor Lights Scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation [Video] The Famous Home Alone Pizza Delivery Scene [Classic Video] Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Theme for Windows 7 Cardinal and Rabbit Sharing a Tree on a Cold Winter Morning Wallpaper An Alternate Star Wars Christmas Special [Video]

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Silverlight 4 Tools for VS 2010 and WCF RIA Services Released

- by ScottGu

The final release of the Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 and WCF RIA Services is now available for download. Download and Install If you already have Visual Studio 2010 installed (or the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express), then you can install both the Silverlight 4 Tooling Support as well as WCF RIA Services support by downloading and running this setup package (note: please make sure to uninstall the preview release of the Silverlight 4 Tools for VS 2010 if you have previously installed that). The Silverlight 4 Tools for VS 2010 package extends the Silverlight support built into Visual Studio 2010 and enables support for Silverlight 4 applications as well. It also installs WCF RIA Services application templates and libraries: Today’s release includes the English edition of the Silverlight 4 Tooling – localized versions will be available next month for other Visual Studio languages as well. Silverlight Tooling Support Visual Studio 2010 includes rich tooling support for building Silverlight and WPF applications. It includes a WYSIWYG designer surface that enables you to easily use controls to construct UI – including the ability to take advantage of layout containers, and apply styles and resources: The VS 2010 designer enables you to leverage the rich data binding support within Silverlight and WPF, and easily wire-up bindings on controls. The Data Sources window within Silverlight projects can be used to reference POCO objects (plain old CLR objects), WCF Services, WCF RIA Services client proxies or SharePoint Lists. For example, let’s assume we add a “Person” class like below to our project: We could then add it to the Data Source window which will cause it to show up like below in the IDE: We can optionally customize the default UI control types that are associated for each property on the object. For example, below we’ll default the BirthDate property to be represented by a “DatePicker” control: And then when we drag/drop the Person type from the Data Sources onto the design-surface it will automatically create UI controls that are bound to the properties of our Person class: VS 2010 allows you to optionally customize each UI binding further by selecting a control, and then right-click on any of its properties within the property-grid and pull up the “Apply Bindings” dialog: This will bring up a floating data-binding dialog that enables you to easily configure things like the binding path on the data source object, specify a format convertor, specify string-format settings, specify how validation errors should be handled, etc: In addition to providing WYSIWYG designer support for WPF and Silverlight applications, VS 2010 also provides rich XAML intellisense and code editing support – enabling a rich source editing environment. Silverlight 4 Tool Enhancements Today’s Silverlight 4 Tooling Release for VS 2010 includes a bunch of nice new features. These include: Support for Silverlight Out of Browser Applications and Elevated Trust Applications You can open up a Silverlight application’s project properties window and click the “Enable Running Application Out of Browser” checkbox to enable you to install an offline, out of browser, version of your Silverlight 4 application. You can then customize a number of “out of browser” settings of your application within Visual Studio: Notice above how you can now indicate that you want to run with elevated trust, with hardware graphics acceleration, as well as customize things like the Window style of the application (allowing you to build a nice polished window style for consumer applications). Support for Implicit Styles and “Go to Value Definition” Support: Silverlight 4 now allows you to define “implicit styles” for your applications. This allows you to style controls by type (for example: have a default look for all buttons) and avoid you having to explicitly reference styles from each control. In addition to honoring implicit styles on the designer-surface, VS 2010 also now allows you to right click on any control (or on one of it properties) and choose the “Go to Value Definition…” context menu to jump to the XAML where the style is defined, and from there you can easily navigate onward to any referenced resources. This makes it much easier to figure out questions like “why is my button red?”: Style Intellisense VS 2010 enables you to easily modify styles you already have in XAML, and now you get intellisense for properties and their values within a style based on the TargetType of the specified control. For example, below we have a style being set for controls of type “Button” (this is indicated by the “TargetType” property). Notice how intellisense now automatically shows us properties for the Button control (even within the <Setter> element): Great Video - Watch the Silverlight Designer Features in Action You can see all of the above Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 features (and some more cool ones I haven’t mentioned) demonstrated in action within this 20 minute Silverlight.TV video on Channel 9: WCF RIA Services Today we also shipped the V1 release of WCF RIA Services. It is included and automatically installed as part of the Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 setup. WCF RIA Services makes it much easier to build business applications with Silverlight. It simplifies the traditional n-tier application pattern by bringing together the ASP.NET and Silverlight platforms using the power of WCF for communication. WCF RIA Services provides a pattern to write application logic that runs on the mid-tier and controls access to data for queries, changes and custom operations. It also provides end-to-end support for common tasks such as data validation, authentication and authorization based on roles by integrating with Silverlight components on the client and ASP.NET on the mid-tier. Put simply – it makes it much easier to query data stored on a server from a client machine, optionally manipulate/modify the data on the client, and then save it back to the server. It supports a validation architecture that helps ensure that your data is kept secure and business rules are applied consistently on both the client and middle-tiers. WCF RIA Services uses WCF for communication between the client and the server It supports both an optimized .NET to .NET binary serialization format, as well as a set of open extensions to the ATOM format known as ODATA and an optional JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that can be used by any client. You can hear Nikhil and Dinesh talk a little about WCF RIA Services in this 13 minutes Channel 9 video. Putting it all Together – the Silverlight 4 Training Kit Check out the Silverlight 4 Training Kit to learn more about how to build business applications with Silverlight 4, Visual Studio 2010 and WCF RIA Services. The training kit includes 8 modules, 25 videos, and several hands-on labs that explain Silverlight 4 and WCF RIA Services concepts and walks you through building an end-to-end application with them. The training kit is available for free and is a great way to get started. Summary I’m really excited about today’s release – as they really complete the Silverlight development story and deliver a great end to end runtime + tooling story for building applications. All of the above features are available for use both in VS 2010 as well as the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition – making it really easy to get started building great solutions. Hope this helps, Scott P.S. In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu

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Week in Geek: FBI Back Door in OpenBSD Edition

- by Asian Angel

This week we learned how to migrate bookmarks from Delicious to Diigo, fix annoying arrows, play old-school DOS games, schedule smart computer shutdowns, use breaks in Microsoft Word to better format documents, check the condition of hard-disks using Linux disk utilities, & what the Linux fstab is and how it works. Photo by Jameson42. Random Geek Links Another week with extra news link goodness to help keep you up to date. Photo by justmakeit. Report of FBI back door roils OpenBSD community Allegations that the FBI surreptitiously placed a back door into the OpenBSD operating system have alarmed the computer security community, prompting calls for an audit of the source code and claims that the charges must be a hoax. Fortinet: Job outlook improving for cybercrooks In an ironic twist in the job market, more positions will open up for developers who can write customized malware packers, people who can break CAPTCHA codes, and distributors who can spread malicious code, according to Fortinet. Enisa: Malware for smartphones is a ’serious risk’ Businesses and consumers are at risk of data breaches through smartphone use, according to the European Network and Information Security Agency. The trick with the f: Google and Microsoft web sites distribute malware Last week, Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform and Microsoft’s rad.msn.com online ad network briefly distributed malware to other web sites in the form of advertising banners. New scam tactic: Fake disk defraggers It would appear that scammers are trying out new programs to see which might best confuse potential victims and evade detection by legitimate antivirus software. Microsoft closes IE and Stuxnet holes As previously announced, Microsoft has released 17 security updates to close 40 security holes. All four Windows holes so far disclosed in connection with Stuxnet have now been closed. Microsoft Offers H.264 Support to Firefox on Windows via Add-On The new HTML5 Extension for Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in add-on from Microsoft offers users that are running Firefox on Windows 7 H.264 support for HTML5 video playback. Google proclaims Chrome business-ready Google has announced that Chrome is ready for corporate use. Microsoft Tells Exchange Customers to Think Twice Before Opting for Google Message Continuity This week, Microsoft is telling companies still running Exchange 2010’s precursors that they should carefully consider the implications of embracing Google Message Continuity. Who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS users Steven Vaughan-Nichols explains why he feels that Chrome OS will be ideal for either office-workers or people who need a computer, but do not know the first thing about how to use one safely. Oracle takes office suite to the cloud Oracle has introduced Cloud Office 1.0, a cloud-based version of its office suite, which is aimed at web and mobile users. Mozilla pays premiums for reports of vulnerabilities The Mozilla Foundation has followed Google’s example by expanding its rewards program for reports of vulnerabilities in its Web applications. Who bought those 882 Novell patents? Not just Microsoft The mysterious CPTN Holdings — the organization that bought the 882 Novell patents as part of the terms of the Attachmate acquisition of Novell – has been unmasked (Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle). Appeals court: Feds need warrants for e-mail Police must obtain search warrants before perusing Internet users’ e-mail records, a federal appeals court ruled today in a landmark decision that struck down part of a 1986 law allowing warrantless access. Geek Video of the Week What happens when someone plays a wicked prank by shoveling crazy snow paths that lead to dead ends or turn back on themselves? Watch to find out! Photo by CollegeHumor. Janitor Snow Shoveling Prank Random TinyHacker Links The Oatmeal on Cat vs Internet What lengths will our poor neglected kitty hero have to go to in order to get some attention? Guide On Using JoliCloud With Windows JoliCloud is a nifty operating system that’s made for people who need a light-weight OS that’s mostly cloud based. Check this guide on using it with Windows. Use Cameyo to Easily Create Portable Programs Here’s a nifty tool to make portable apps out of programs in Windows. Check out the guide to do it. Better Family Tech Support A nice new site by Google to help members of family understand how computers work. Track Your Stolen Mobile Phone With F-Secure A useful anti-theft tool for your mobile phone. Super User Questions Another week with great answers to popular questions from Super User. What Chrome password manager fits my requirements? What’s the best way to be able to reimage windows computers? Could you suggest feature-rich disk-based personal backup program for linux (and I’ve seen a few)? What is IPv6 and why should I care? Is there any way to find out what programs are trying to connect to Internet on windows? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Here are our hottest articles full of geeky goodness from this past week at HTG. 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Kills Viruses Dead. Download It Now. Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? Ask the Readers: Would You Be Willing to Give Windows Up and Use a Different O.S.? The Twelve Days of Geekmas One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy reading through our latest batch of retro-geek goodness from one year ago. Macrium Reflect is a Free and Easy To Use Backup Utility How To Turn a Physical Computer Into A Virtual Machine with Disk2vhd How To Restore Windows 7 from a System Image How To Manage Hard Drive Space Used by Windows 7 Backup and Restore How To Manage Hibernate Mode in Windows 7 The Geek Note That is all we have for you this week, so see you back here again after the holidays! Got a great tip? Send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by mitjamavsar. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Deathwing the Destroyer – WoW Cataclysm Dragon Wallpaper Drag2Up Lets You Drag and Drop Files to the Web With Ease The Spam Police Parts 1 and 2 – Goodbye Spammers [Videos] Snow Angels Theme for Windows 7 Exploring the Jungle Ruins Wallpaper Protect Your Privacy When Browsing with Chrome and Iron Browser

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Getting Started with Boxee

- by DigitalGeekery

Boxee is a free Media PC application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu Linux. With Boxee, you can integrate online video, music and pictures, with your own local media and social networking. Today we are going to take a closer look at Boxee and some of it’s features. Note: We used Windows 7 for this tutorial. Your experience on a Mac or Ubuntu Linux build may vary slightly. Hardware Requirements x86 (Intel/AMD processor) based system running at 1.0GHz or greater 512MB system memory (RAM) or more Video card capable of OpenGL 1.4, Direct X 9.0 Software Requirements Mac OS X 10.4+ (Intel based processor) Ubuntu Linux 9.04+ x86 only Windows XP / Vista / 7 (64 bit in Vista or 7) Installing Boxee Before downloading and installing Boxee, you’ll need to register for a free account. (See link below) Once your account is registered and verified, you’ll be able to log in and download the application. Installation is pretty straightforward…just take the defaults. Boxee will open in full screen mode and you’ll be prompted to login with your username and password. Before you login, you may want to take a moment to click on the “Guide” icon and learn a bit about navigating in Boxee. Some basic keyboard navigation is as follows. Move right, left, up, & down with the arrow keys. Hit “Enter” to make a selection, the forward slash key “\” to toggle between full screen and windowed mode, and “Esc” to go back to the previous screen. For Playback, the volume is controlled by plus & minus (+/-) keys, you can Play / Pause using the spacebar, and skip using the arrow keys. Boxee will also work with any infrared remote. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can download software to enable them as a Boxee remote. If you’re using a mouse and keyboard, hover over the username and password boxes to enter your login credentials. If using a a remote, click your OK button and enter credentials with the on screen keyboard. Click “Done” when finished. When you are ready to login, enter your credentials and click “Login.” On first login, you’ll be prompted to calibrate your screen. If you choose “Skip” you can always calibrate your screen later under Settings > Appearance > Screen. When Boxee opens, you’ll be greeted by the Home screen. To the left will be your Feeds. This will be any recommended content from friends on Boxee, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Although, when you first login, it will mainly be info from the Boxee staff. You’ll have “Featured” content in the center and your Queue on the right. You’ll also have the Menu along the top. Pop Up Menu The Pop Menu can be accessed by hitting the “Esc” key, or back on your remote. Depending on where you are located in Boxee, you may have to hit it a few time to “back out” to the Pop Up menu. From the Pop Up Menu, you can easily access any of the resources, settings, and favorites. Queue The Queue is your playlist of TV shows, movies, or Internet videos you wish to watch. When you find an offering you’d like to watch, select it and then click “Add to Queue.” The selected item will be added to your Queue and can be accessed at any time from the Menu. TV Show Library The TV Show library can contain files from your local hard drive or streaming content from the Web. Boxee pulls content from a variety of online locations such as Hulu and TV network sites. Click on the show to see which specific episodes are currently available. To search for your favorite shows, click on the yellow arrow to the left, or navigate to the left with your keyboard or remote. Enter your selection into the search box. My Apps By default, the “My Apps” section includes a list of the most popular apps, such as Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and others. You can remove Apps from “My Apps,” or add new Apps from the Apps Library. To access all the available Apps, click on the left arrow button, or click on the yellow arrow at the left, then select “App Library.” Choose an App from the Library and click it to open… … and then select “Add to My Apps.” Or, you can click start to play the App if you don’t wish to Add it to your “My Apps.” Music, Pictures, and Movies Boxee will scan your PC for movies, pictures, and music. You can choose to scan specific folders by clicking on “Scan Media Folders…” … or from the Pop Up Menu, selecting Settings > Media, and then browsing for your media. Conclusion Boxee to be a great way to integrate your local media with online streaming content. It can be run as an application on your home PC, or as a stand alone media PC. It should also be noted, however, that your access to online content will vary depending on your country. If you are a Windows Media Center user and and want to add the additional features of Boxee, check out our article on integrating Boxee with Windows 7 Media Center. Download Boxee Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Integrate Boxee with Media Center in Windows 7Disable Fast User Switching on Windows XPOops! Sorry About the Feed ErrorsDisplay a list of Started Services from the Command Line (Windows)Feedburner to Google: Worst Transition Ever. TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Discover New Bundled Feeds in Google Reader Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File 15 Great Illustrations by Chow Hon Lam Easily Sync Files & Folders with Friends & Family Amazon Free Kindle for PC Download Stretch popurls.com with a Stylish Script (Firefox)

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SQL SERVER – Developer Training Resources and Summary Roundup

- by pinaldave

It is always pleasure for any author when other renowned authors in the industry write about you. Earlier I wrote a five part blog series on Developer Training and I have received a phenomenal response to the series. I have received plenty of comments, questions and feedback. I thought it would be nice to sum up the whole series as well answer a few of the questions received. Quick Recap Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 In this part we discussed the importance of training in the real world. The most important and valuable resource any company is its employee. Employees who have been well-trained will be better at their jobs and produce a better product. An employee who is well trained obviously knows more about their job and all the technical aspects. I have a very high opinion about training employees and it is the most important task. Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 In this part we discussed the most crucial components of training. Often employees are expecting the company to pay for their training and the company expresses no interest in training the employee. Quite often training expenses are the real issue for both the employee and employer. There are companies that pay for 100% of the expenses and there are employees who opt for training on their own expense during their personal time. Training is often looked at as vacation by employee and employers and we need to change this mind-set. One of the ways is to report back the learning to your manager and implement newly learned knowledge in day-to-day work. Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 This part was the most difficult to write as I tried to address a few difficult questions and answers. Training is such a sensitive issue that many developers when not receiving chance for training think about leaving the organization. The manager often feels pressure to accommodate every single employee for training even though his training budget is limited. It is indeed the responsibility of the developer to get maximum advantage from the training. Training immediately helps organizations but stays as a part of an employee’s knowledge forever. Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 In this part I tried to explore a few methods and options for training. The generic feedback I received on this blog post was short and I should have explored each of the subject of the training in details. I believe there are two big buckets of training 1) Instructor Lead Training and 2) Self Lead Training. The common element between both the methods is “learning material”. Learning material can be of any format – videos, books, paper notes or just a plain black board. Instructor-led training is a very effective mode but not possible every single time. During the course of the developer’s career, one has to learn lots of new technology and it is almost impossible to have a quality trainer available on that subject at that time. Books are most effective and proven methods, however, it always helps if someone explains the concepts of the book with a demonstration. In recent times I have started to believe in online trainings which leads to a hybrid experience. Online trainings take the best part of the books and the best part of the instructor-led training and gives effective training in a matter of hours. Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 In this part, I shared what I was continuously thinking about developer training. There is no better teacher than oneself. There is no better motivation than a personal desire to learn new technology. Honestly there is nothing more personal learning. That “change is the only constant” and “adapt & overcome” are the essential lessons of life. One cannot stop the learning and resist the change. In the IT industry “ego of knowing all” and the “resistance to change” are the most challenging issues. Once someone overcomes them, life is much easier. I believe that proper and appropriate high quality training can help to address the burning issues. Opinion of Friends I invited a few of my friends to express their opinion about developer training and here are their opinions. I am listing them here in the order of the blog post publishing date. Nakul Vachhrajani - Developer Trainings-Importance, Benefits, Tips and follow-up Nakul’s sums of many of the concepts which are complementary to my blog posts. Nakul addresses the burning question of developer training with different angles. I am personally very impressed by his following statement - “Being skilled does not mean having just a stack of certifications, but it also means having an understanding about the internals of the products that you are working on – and using that knowledge to improve the efficiency & productivity at the workplace in turn resulting in better products, better consulting abilities and a happier self.” Nakul also suggests the online training options of Pluralsight. Vinod Kumar - Training–a necessity or bonus Vinod Kumar comes up with excellent follow up on developer training. Vinod is known for his inspirational writing about SQL Server. Vinod starts with a story of a student who is extremely eager to learn the wisdom of life from a monk but the monk does not accept him as a disciple for a long time. The conversation between student and monk is indeed an essence of all learning. We all want to learn quickly and be successful but the most important thing in life is to have the right attitude towards learning and more so towards life. The blog post end with a very important thought about how to avoid the famous excuse – “I don’t have enough time.” Ritesh Shah - Training – useful or useless? Ritesh brings up very important concept related to training. Ritesh in his meticulous style explains why training is an important and lifelong process. Training must not stop at any age but should continue forever. The moment training stops, progress stops along with. Paras Doshi - Professional Development Resource Paras is known for his to–the-point writing, and has summarized the five part series very precisely. He read the five part series and created a digest summary of the blog post. If you are in a rush and have no time to read my five series – I suggest you read his blog post. Training Resources I am often asked what the best resources for learning new technology are. This is the most difficult question EVER. There are plenty of good training resources available. When it is about training our needs are different, our preference of learning is different and we all have an opinion. Additionally, we all are located in different geographic locations worldwide and there is no way one solution will fit all. However, let me list a few of the training resources which I have built so far and you can consume them if you find it relevant to your need. SQL Server Books SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers SQL Wait Stats SQL Programming Joes 2 Pros SQL Server Video Tutorials SQL Server Questions and Answers SQL Server Performance: Indexing Basics SQL Server Performance: Introduction to Query Tuning SQL in Sixty Seconds Series of Sixty Seconds Learning Video on YouTube Trust me worldwide web is very big and there are plenty of high quality learning materials available worldwide – trainer-led as well online. I suggest you explore various options and make the best choice for yourself. Remember, training is your personal journey and it should never stop. Are you ready? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Developer Training, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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The Windows Browser Ballot Screen Offers Web Browser Choice to European Users

- by Matthew Guay

Since March, our friends across the pond in Europe get to decide which browser they want to install with their Windows OS. Today we thought we would take a look at the ballot choices, some are well known, and others you may not have heard of. Windows users in European countries should start seeing the so called “Browser Ballot Screen” after installing the Windows Update KB976002 (link below). The browser ballot offers a dozen different browsers, including some you’ve likely never heard of. They each have some unique features, and are all free, and here we take a quick look at each of them. Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer is the world’s most used web browser, as it’s bundled with Windows. It also includes several unique features, including Accelerators that make it easy to search or find a map of a location, and InPrivate filtering to directly control what sites can get personal information. Additionally, it offers great integration with Windows Touch and the new taskbar in Windows 7. IE 8 runs on Windows XP and newer, and is bundled with Windows 7. Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Firefox is the most popular browser other than Internet Explorer. It is the modern descendant of Netscape, and is loved by web developers for its adherence to web standards, openness, and expandability. It offers thousands of Add-ons and themes to let you customize it to fit your preferences. The most recent version has added Personas, which are quick, lightweight themes to let you personalize the look your browser. It’s open source, and runs on all modern versions of Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Of course thanks to Asian Angel, our resident browser expert, you can check out several articles regarding this popular IE alternative. Google Chrome 4 Google Chrome has gained an impressive amount of market share during its short time in the market. It offers a minimalistic interface and fast speeds with intensive web applications. The address bar is also a search bar, so you can enter a search query or web address and quickly get the information you need. With version 4 you can add a growing number of extensions, personalize it with a variety of stylish themes, and automatically translate foreign websites into your own language. Opera 10.50 Although Opera has been around for over a decade, relatively few users have used it. With the new 10.50 release, Opera has many unique features packed in a sleek UI. It integrates great with Aero and the Windows 7 taskbar, and lets you preview the contents of your websites in the tab bar. It also includes Opera Unite, a small personal web server to make file sharing easy, Opera Turbo to speed up your internet when the connection is slow, and Opera Link to keep all your copies of Opera in sync. It’s a popular browser on many mobile devices, and version 10.50 has a lot of enhancements. Apple Safari 4 Safari is the default browser in Mac OS X, and starting with version 3 it has been available for Windows as well. It’s based on Webkit, the popular new rendering engine that provides great speed and standards compatibility. Safari 4 lets you browse your browsing history in a unique Coverflow interface, and shows your Top Sites in a fancy, 3D interface. It’s also great for viewing mobile websites for the iPhone and other mobile devices through Developer Tools. Flock 2.5 Based on the popular Firefox core, Flock brings a multitude of social features to your browsing experience. You can view the latest YouTube videos, Flickr pictures, update your favorite social network, and keep up with your webmail thanks to It’s integration with a wide variety of services. You can even post to your blog through the integrated blog editor. If your time online is mostly spent in social services, this may be a browser you want to check out. Maxthon 2.5 Maxthon is a unique browser that builds on Internet Explorer to bring more features with IE’s rendering. Formerly known as MyIE2, Maxthon was popular for bringing tabbed browsing with IE rendering during the days of IE 6. Today Maxthon supports a wide range of plugins and skins, so you can customize it however you want. It includes mouse gestures, a web accelerator to speed up pokey internet connections, a content blocker to remove unwanted content from sites, an online account to backup your favorites, and a nice download manager. Avant Browser Another nice browser based on Internet Explorer, Avant brings a wide variety of features in a nice brushed-metal interface. It includes an integrated AutoFill for forms, mouse gestures, customizable skins, and privacy protection features. It also includes a Flash blocker that will only load flash in webpages when you select them. You can also integrate Avant with an online account to store your bookmarks, feeds, settings and passwords online. Sleipnir Sleipnir is a customizable browser meant for advance users that is quite popular in Japan. It’s built on the Trident engine and virtually every aspect of is customizable unlike Internet Explorer. FlashPeak SlimBrowser SlimBrowser from FlashPeak incorporates a lot of features like Popup Killer, Auto Login, site filtering and more. It’s based on Internet Explorer but offers a lot more customizable options out of the box. K-meleon This basic browser is light on system resources and based on the Gecko engine. It’s been in development for years on SourceForge, and if you like to tweak virtually any aspect of your browser, this might be a good choice for you. GreenBrowser GreenBrowser is based on Internet Explorer and is available in several languages. It has a large amount of features out of the box and is light on system resources. Conclusion The European Union asked for more choices in the web browser they could choose from when installing Windows, and with the Browser Ballot Screen, they certainly get a variety to choose from. If you’ve tried out some of the lesser known browsers, or think some important ones have been left out, leave a comment and tell us about it. 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