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• Red Dot Scope Makes Sighting In Long Lenses a Snap

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you’ve ever used a high power lens, you know how tricky it can be to sight a distant subject as the field of view through the lens is so tiny. This hack takes care of that problem by using a zero-magnification red dot rifle scope. Chris Malcolm enjoys photographing birds and other wildlife with high power lenses. The problem, when shooting with huge 500mm lens and other high power lenses, is that they’re practically telescopes and acquiring a fast moving target like a bird using a through-the-lens technique is very tricky. Malcolm’s solution hinges on mounting a zero-magnification red dot rifle scope in parallel with the lens. His mock up is a bit unpolished (although we can understand not wanting to run out and buy a brand new black scope just for the experiment) but works great to get him on target. Hit up the link below to read more about his build, how be created the rail mount for the scope, and why he opted to mount it to the barrel of the lens and not the hot shoe mount on the camera. 500mm Reflex Lens with Red Dot Sight [via DIY Photography] Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

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• Convert a Row to a Column (or Backwards) in Google Docs Spreadsheets

  - by The Geek

  If you have to deal with a lot of spreadsheets, you’re probably really bored right now. You also might be wondering how to turn a row into a column, or a column into a row. Here’s how to do it with Google Docs Spreadsheets. If you’re an Excel user, you’re also in luck, because we’ve already shown you how to turn a row into a column, or vice-versa. It won’t make you any less bored though. Convert a Row to a Column (or backwards) The first thing you’ll need is a column or a row of information that you want to convert into the opposite. For our example, we’ve got this set of data that we created by using the Auto Fill options in Google Docs. Now in another cell, you’ll need to use the TRANSPOSE function, which you can use by simply typing in the following: =TRANSPOSE( And then selecting the cells with the mouse, or manually typing in the range of cells you want to copy. The final function in this example was: =TRANSPOSE(A1:A11) Finish it off with the final ) character to complete the function, hit the Enter key, and there we are… the column was transposed over to the right. You can use the same thing to turn columns into rows, or rows into columns—just change the range you are looking for. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips How To Use AutoFill on a Google Docs Spreadsheet [Quick Tips]Integrate Google Docs with Outlook the Easy WayHow To Export Documents from Google Docs to Your ComputerConvert a Row to a Column in Excel the Easy WayScroll Backwards From the Ubuntu Server Command Line 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 DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Check Your IMAP Mail Offline In Thunderbird Follow Finder Finds You Twitter Users To Follow Combine MP3 Files Easily QuicklyCode Provides Cheatsheets & Other Programming Stuff Download Free MP3s from Amazon Awe inspiring, inter-galactic theme (Win 7)

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• Tabs Visual Manager Adds Thumbnailed Tab Switching to Chrome

  - by ETC

  If you rock a bunch of tabs and sometimes need a little visual reminder to recall where you left a tab you’re looking for, Tabs Visual Manager thumbnails all your tabs for easy visual switching. Install Tabs Visual Manager, restart Chrome, and anytime you need to find a tab you can click on the Tabs Visual Manager icon in the toolbar. By default it opens a new tab with all your tab thumbnails, we found it was more convenient to switch it to pop-up mode (wherein it pops up a smaller menu from the icon itself instead of a whole new tab). Tabs Visual Manager is a free extension and works wherever Chrome does. Hit up the link below to read more and grab a copy. Tabs Visual Manager [Google Chrome Extensions] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 How to Use Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader (the Easy Way) Reclaim Vertical UI Space by Moving Your Tabs to the Side in Firefox Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles – An Awesome Game for Linux and Windows How Star Wars Changed the World [Infographic] Tabs Visual Manager Adds Thumbnailed Tab Switching to Chrome Daisies and Rye Swaying in the Summer Wind Wallpaper Read On Phone Pushes Data from Your Desktop to the Appropriate Android App

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• Stop Your Mouse from Waking Up Your Windows 7 Computer

  - by The Geek

  If you use Sleep Mode on your PC, have you ever noticed that moving your mouse will wake the computer from sleep mode? If you would prefer to only have the PC wake up when you hit a key instead, there’s a simple tweak. Just type Mouse into the start menu search box, or the Control Panel search box, and then open up the Mouse Properties panel. Find the Hardware tab, select your mouse in the list, and then click the Properties button. You’ll have to click the “Change settings” button before you can see the Power Management tab… And now, you can uncheck the box from “Allow this device to wake the computer”. That’s all there is to it. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Stop the Mouse From Waking Up Your Computer from Sleep ModeFix "Sleep Mode Randomly Waking Up" Issue in Windows VistaTemporarily Disable Windows Update’s Automatic Reboot in Win7 or VistaDisable Aero Snap (the Mouse Drag Window Arranging Feature in Windows 7)New Year’s Resolutions: Use Your Computer as an Alarm Clock the Easy Way 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 DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Office 2010 Product Guides Google Maps Place marks – Pizza, Guns or Strip Clubs Monitor Applications With Kiwi LocPDF is a Visual PDF Search Tool Download Free iPad Wallpapers at iPad Decor Get Your Delicious Bookmarks In Firefox’s Awesome Bar

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• TechEd Europe early bird saving &ndash; register by 5th July

  - by Eric Nelson

  Another event advert alert :-) But this one comes with a cautious warning. I spoke at TechEd Europe last year. I found TechEd to be a huge, extremely well run conference filled with great speakers and passionate attendees in a top notch venue and fascinating city. As an “IT Pro” I think it is the premiere conference for Microsoft technologies in Europe. However, IMHO and those of others I trust, I didn’t think it hit the mark for developers in 2009. There was a fairly obvious reason – the PDC was scheduled to take place only a couple of weeks later which meant the “powder was being kept dry” and (IMHO) some of the best speakers on developer technologies were elsewhere. But I’m reasonably certain that this won’t be repeated this year (Err… Have I missed an announcement about “no pdc in 2010”?) Enjoy: Register for Tech·Ed Europe by 5 July and Save €500 Tech·Ed Europe returns to Berlin this November 8 – 12, for a full week of deep technical education, hands-on-learning and opportunities to connect with Microsoft and Community experts one-on-one.  Register by 5 July and receive your conference pass for only €1,395 – a €500 savings. Arrive Early and Get a Jumpstart on Technical Sessions Choose from 8 pre-conference seminars led by Microsoft and industry experts, and selected to give you a jumpstart on technical learning.  Additional fees apply.  Conference attendees receive a €100 discount.   Join the Tech·Ed Europe Email List for Event Updates Get the latest event news before the event, and find out more about what’s happening onsite.  Join the Tech·Ed Europe email list today!

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• Spinup time failure

  - by bioShark

  I am not sure this is a real question or a bug I should report Ubuntu. Using: Ubuntu 11.10, on a Intel Q6600, Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB. I have set my PC on Suspend and after I came back, pressed Enter and after logging in everything was back to normal. However, I had a message from Disk Utility that one disk reports errors. I entered Disk Utility, and my Samsung 2TB disk, the one on which my Ubuntu is installed, had the SMART Status turned red, with error message on it. The error was: Spinup time failed Value 21, Threshold value was 25 (so the error was reported because 21 < 25) I restarted and booted up in Windows to see what HD Tune is reporting. Unfortunately it was exactly the same 21/25. After reading up on Wiki about SMART and the errors, I discovered that Spinup time is the time required for the disk to reach full spinning speed in milliseconds. Then it hit me that, in Ubuntu I had Suspended the system, making essentially all my hardware stop. And when I rebooted to Windows, the hardware doesn't really stop, so SMART's reading of the Spinup time was still from Ubuntu's suspension. So I did a full PC stop and then booted up again, both in Ubuntu and Windows to see if there are different readings. Both reported successful Spinup time, 68 (a little better then 21 :) ), although in Disk Utility I have a nice message: Failed in the Past So now I am pretty sure that Ubuntu didn't handle the Suspend correctly, but then again should I worry about Imminent hardware failure ? Am I missing some drivers? Should I report this as a bug to Ubuntu? Sorry if this was a bad place to ask this question.

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• Strategy for restoring state via URL in web apps

  - by JW01

  This is a question about modern web apps, where a single page is loaded, and all subsequent navigation is done by XHR calls and modifying the DOM. We can use libraries that manipulate the hash string, which let us navigate by URL and support the back/forward buttons. But to use those libraries, we need to be able to move the UI from any one state to any other. Is there a good strategy for moving between UI states, that also allows them to be restored from scratch when you load a new URL? In a complex app, you might have a lot of different states. You don't want to reload the entire UI each time you change states. But you also don't want to require separate methods for moving from every state to each every state. Typically we need to: Restore a state from scratch, when you enter a new URL or hit Reload. Move from one state to another, when you use the Back/Forward buttons. Move from one state to another, when you perform an action within your app (like clicking a link). Move to certain states that shouldn't be added to the history, like ones that appear after form submissions. Move to some states that are built on the previous state, like a drill-down list. When you perform actions within your app, there's the additional question of which comes first: Do you change the URL, listen for the URL change, and change your state in response to it? Or do you change your state, then change the URL, but don't do anything in response? Does anyone have some experience to share on this topic?

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• The Raspberry Pi Now Has Its Own App Store

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Raspberry Pi, the credit-card sized computer with an ARM processor, now has its own appstore where Raspberry Pi hobbyists and developers can share their creations in a one-stop location accessible to all Raspberry Pi users. In today’s press release about the store, the Raspberry Pi Foundation writes: We’ve been amazed by the variety of software that people have written for, or ported to, the Raspberry Pi. Today, together with our friends at IndieCity and Velocix, we’re launching the Pi Store to make it easier for developers of all ages to share their games, applications, tools and tutorials with the rest of the community. The Pi Store will, we hope, become a one-stop shop for all your Raspberry Pi needs; it’s also an easier way into the Raspberry Pi experience for total beginners, who will find everything they need to get going in one place, for free. The store runs as an X application under Raspbian, and allows users to download content, and to upload their own content for moderation and release. At launch, we have 23 free titles in the store, ranging from utilities like LibreOffice and Asterisk to classic games like Freeciv and OpenTTD and Raspberry Pi exclusive Iridium Rising. We also have one piece of commercial content: the excellent Storm in a Teacup from Cobra Mobile. For more information about the store, including how to install the app store on your Pi, check out the full press release here. To get started browsing the store, hit up the link below. Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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• Facebook like button for a Facebook feed item

  - by jverdeyen

  Here is what I do: When the admin of a website i'm creating adds a new 'news' item to his website, it directly posts the same item on the Facebook 'fanpage' of the website. This is done by an Facebook app with the permissions to post an item on the Facebook fanpage. So far so good. I'm getting the new post id from the facebook graph. Here is what I want to achieve: I'm adding a 'like' button on the original website, but when this is clicked it should be referenced to the same post item on the facebook page. So if someone likes the news post on the website he should also like the referencing facebook feed post. Which is exactly the same. Can this be done? I've been playing around with the href etc of the like button, without any success. When I hit the like button it likes the url given, but is doesn't recognizes that this is a feed post. Any idea? Thx in advance.

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• Penalty for collision during a racing game

  - by Arthur Wulf White

  In a racing game: How should we penalize the player for colliding head on into obstacles such as walls, trees and so on. What is the way it is done in your favorite racing game? How is it done in other successful racing games? Do you think temporarily disabling the engine for a second is too severe? If I do go that route, how would I convey the 'engine is disabled' to the player in a subtle and easily understood way? Is this 'too much' of a penalty? Would the slow-down from the collision be sufficient to discourage the player from driving too carelessly? Which one is more fun? Should I consider a health-bar and affect engine performance for 'low health' status? Could you offer examples of games that handle this well and one that do it poorly? Please share your experience with racing games obstacles and reference games you feel perform well in this aspect. I am sure we all enjoy our racing games differently and I would like to hear different opinions regarding this issue. I would also like to hear how you feel we should penalize or reward for colliding with other vehicles? Should enemy vehicles be destroyable? Should they slow down severely when they hit the back of your car or would that make the gameplay imbalanced?

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• How to protect Google Ads from yontoo layers runtime?

  - by Dharmavir

  Since sometime I have observed that Google Ads on any website including my blog (http://blogs.digitss.com) gets replaced with something similar to uploaded image below. I am sure it's happening with many people and that could reduce google adsense income. After some research I found that it is because "yontoo layers runtime" from http://www.yontoo.com/ (tagline says: Platform that allows you to control the websites you visit everyday.) but actually they are taking over. I am not sure with which software they are making a way into users computer but that seems very bad in terms of freedom of Internet and advt/marketing industry. I don't remember I have ever said "yes" to install yontoo on my computer. This piece of software is successful to install itself on my laptop/desktop and workstation at office. I am going to disable it now but the question is how do I make my websites aware of Yontoo Runtime and stop them from replacing Google Ads? Basically they are not able to replace all adsense ads but so far they are successfully replaced 1st instance of adsense advt and I am sure in future they will hit more. There could be 2 approaches 1) Fool yontoo runtime by putting some misleading divs in html document to save actual ads, 2) Completely disable yontoo by working out some client side script (javascript) which can fail/crash yontoo runtime and so will fail it's purpose of replacing ads. You can visit my blog (http://blogs.digitss.com) and see on top-right corner, if you find that google ad replaced with something similar to image attached with question - it means your computer/browser is infected too. Looking forward to reply from webmasters, if someone has already wrote some code/plugin to make website (and google ads) safe from yontoo or similar runtime. FYI: it was able to push this runtime in all browsers installed on machine. So a dangerous threat. And yes, I am just using Google ads - not sure if yontoo runtime is doing trick against other ad networks or not? I am sure they must be doing it with some handful of ad networks.

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• SQL SERVER – Partition Parallelism Support in expressor 3.6

  - by pinaldave

  I am very excited to learn that there is a new version of expressor’s data integration platform coming out in March of this year.  It will be version 3.6, and I look forward to using it and telling everyone about it.  Let me describe a little bit more about what will be so great in expressor 3.6: Greatly enhanced user interface Parallel Processing Bulk Artifact Upgrading The User Interface First let me cover the most obvious enhancements. The expressor Studio user interface (UI) has had some significant work done. Kudos to the expressor Engineering team; the entire UI is a visual masterpiece that is very responsive and intuitive. The improvements are more than just eye candy; they provide significant productivity gains when developing expressor Dataflows. Operator shape icons now include a description that identifies the function of each operator, instead of having to guess at the function by the icon. Operator shapes and highlighting depict the current function and status: Disabled, enabled, complete, incomplete, and error. Each status displays an appropriate message in the message panel with correction suggestions. Floating or docking property panels provide descriptive tool tips for each property as well as auto resize when adjusting the canvas, without having to search Help or the need to scroll around to get access to the property. Progress and status indicators let you know when an operation is working. “No limit” canvas with snap-to-grid allows automatic sizing and accurate positioning when you have numerous operators in the Dataflow. The inline tool bar offers quick access to pan, zoom, fit and overview functions. Selecting multiple artifacts with a right click context allows you to easily manage your workspace more efficiently. Partitioning and Parallel Processing Partitioning allows each operator to process multiple subsets of records in parallel as opposed to processing all records that flow through that operator in a single sequential set. This capability allows the user to configure the expressor Dataflow to run in a way that most efficiently utilizes the resources of the hardware where the Dataflow is running. Partitions can exist in most individual operators. Using partitions increases the speed of an expressor data integration application, therefore improving performance and load times. With the expressor 3.6 Enterprise Edition, expressor simplifies enabling parallel processing by adding intuitive partition settings that are easy to configure. Bulk Artifact Upgrading Bulk Artifact Upgrading sounds a bit intimidating, but it actually is not and it is a welcome addition to expressor Studio. In past releases, users were prompted to confirm that they wanted to upgrade their individual artifacts only when opened. This was a cumbersome and repetitive process. Now with bulk artifact upgrading, a user can easily select what artifact or group of artifacts to upgrade all at once. As you can see, there are many new features and upgrade options that will prove to make expressor Studio quicker and more efficient.  I hope I’m not the only one who is excited about all these new upgrades, and that I you try expressor and share your experience with me. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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• How would I implement this application idea?

  - by Mike Wills

  I am a D&D gamer and a developer that has mostly worked with ASP.NET applications professionally. I have written some chat bots in Node.js and I have only played a little with PHP but wrote nothing serious. I have had inspiration to create a site that allows a person to keep track of characters (aka the character sheet). I am thinking of using this as a learning opportunity to learn noSQL and to write a full javascript front-end. I want this application to save the value as I change it. So if I edit the armor class, it is saved immediately instead of waiting until I hit the submit button. I think that will make it easier to use while gaming and not losing anything because I forgot to save the change. I have never done anything like this. How do you implement this style of application? Is there a tutorial or howto to get me on the right path? While I would really like to use ASP.NET but I don't have a Windows server to publish on (and I really can't afford to pay for a service). What language that runs on Linux would work well for this type of application? Note: I feel noSQL would work in this case because of the sheer number of tables required to create something like this in SQL.

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• See the Lord of the Rings Epic from the Perspective of Mordor [eBook]

  - by ETC

  Much like the wildly popular book “Wicked” mixed up the good/bad dichotomy in the Wizard of Oz, “The Last Ring-Bearer” shows us the Mordor’s take on the Lord of the Rings. The work of a Russian paleontologist, Kirill Yeskov, “The Last Ring-Bearer” frames the conflict in the Lord of the Rings from the perspective of the citizens of Mordor. Salon magazine offers this summary, as part of their larger review: In Yeskov’s retelling, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science “destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men!” He’s in cahoots with the elves, who aim to become “masters of the world,” and turn Middle-earth into a “bad copy” of their magical homeland across the sea. Barad-dur, also known as the Dark Tower and Sauron’s citadel, is, by contrast, described as “that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic.” Hit up the link below to grab a PDF of the official English translation of Yeskov’s work. The Last Ring-Bearer [via Salon] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 How to Use Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader (the Easy Way) How To Remove People and Objects From Photographs In Photoshop Ask How-To Geek: How Can I Monitor My Bandwidth Usage? Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Lucky Kid Gets Playable Angry Birds Cake [Video] See the Lord of the Rings Epic from the Perspective of Mordor [eBook] Smart Taskbar Is a Thumb Friendly Android Task Launcher Comix is an Awesome Comics Archive Viewer for Linux Get the MakeUseOf eBook Guide to Speeding Up Windows for Free Need Tech Support? Call the Star Wars Help Desk! [Video Classic]

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• Amazon Upgrades FreeTime; More Content for the Kid-Friendly Walled Garden

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Earlier this year Amazon introduced FreeTime, a walled garden area intended to provide a kids-only app gallery on the Kindle Fire. It was up to parents to populate the content but now, with the recent update, Amazon brings together unlimited books, movies, games, and apps. Intended for children ages 3-8 the upgraded service eschews the you-pick-it-all approach and goes with a hand-curated collection of games, educational apps, books and more. In addition to the pile of hand-curated content, FreeTime also has built in time limits and individual profiles for different children. Every Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ user can try out the service for thirty days without charge. After the thirty day trial the subscription price is $4.99 per month ($2.99 for Prime members). Hit up the link below to check out the full description of the service. Amazon FreeTime [Amazon] Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus?

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• Ubuntu 12.04 boot hangs with a black screen before grub menu after upgrade (gma500_gfx driver)

  - by Eric van der Vlist

  I am using Ubuntu on a fit-pc2 specifications and after upgrading from 10.04 to 12.04 I get a black screen at boot time (before displaying the grub menu) and the computer hangs with no disk activity. I have managed to boot Ubuntu 12.04 on a live USB key but had to add the following boot options to do so: console=tty1 or console=text acpi=off noapic nomodeset Using boot-repair, I have tried to add these options to /etc/default/grub (see this pastie log for instance) but I haven't been able to fix the black screen issue. I have tried many other things such as the workarounds mentioned on the web for PSB-GFX_drivers without any success and also to uncomment GRUB_TERMINAL=console with the result of getting a No video mode activated error. During these tests, I have managed to break /boot/grub/grub.cfg and could then hit grub in command line. This gave me the chance to check that I can boot without problem if I type: grub> set root=(hd0,1) grub> linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro acpi=off noapic nomodeset console=tty1 grub> initrd /initrd.img grub> boot How can I tell grub to use these options?

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• Fiber-Optic Cable Trick Brings Remote Triggering to Older Flashes

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Many older flashes lack for a jack to input a sync cable and rely exclusively on a simple slave mode triggered by the primary flash. This hack uses a piece of scrap fiber optic cable to trigger the flash in bright conditions. Using a flash as an optical slave indoors isn’t much of a problem, but if you introduce bright light (such as outdoor lighting conditions), the ambient light can overpower the small on-camera flash and render the optical slave function useless. To overcome this, Marcell over at Fiber Strobe (a blog dedicated to cataloging experiments in incorporating fiber optics into photography) came up with a simple work around. By using some foam crafting materials and tape, he whipped up a simple mount for a strand of scrap fiber optic cable to connect between the on-camera flash and the sensor on the slave flash. Once attached it works exactly like as sync cable would, except it’s transmitting a pulse of light instead of a pulse of electricity. Hit up the link below for more pictures and a build guide. DIY Fiber Sync Cord [via DIY Photography] HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization

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• 'Binary XML' for game data?

  - by bluescrn

  I'm working on a level editing tool that saves its data as XML. This is ideal during development, as it's painless to make small changes to the data format, and it works nicely with tree-like data. The downside, though, is that the XML files are rather bloated, mostly due to duplication of tag and attribute names. Also due to numeric data taking significantly more space than using native datatypes. A small level could easily end up as 1Mb+. I want to get these sizes down significantly, especially if the system is to be used for a game on the iPhone or other devices with relatively limited memory. The optimal solution, for memory and performance, would be to convert the XML to a binary level format. But I don't want to do this. I want to keep the format fairly flexible. XML makes it very easy to add new attributes to objects, and give them a default value if an old version of the data is loaded. So I want to keep with the hierarchy of nodes, with attributes as name-value pairs. But I need to store this in a more compact format - to remove the massive duplication of tag/attribute names. Maybe also to give attributes native types, so, for example floating-point data is stored as 4 bytes per float, not as a text string. Google/Wikipedia reveal that 'binary XML' is hardly a new problem - it's been solved a number of times already. Has anyone here got experience with any of the existing systems/standards? - are any ideal for games use - with a free, lightweight and cross-platform parser/loader library (C/C++) available? Or should I reinvent this wheel myself? Or am I better off forgetting the ideal, and just compressing my raw .xml data (it should pack well with zip-like compression), and just taking the memory/performance hit on-load?

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• Should I be using Lua for game logic on mobile devices?

  - by Rob Ashton

  As above really, I'm writing an android based game in my spare time (android because it's free and I've no real aspirations to do anything commercial). The game logic comes from a very typical component based model whereby entities exist and have components attached to them and messages are sent to and fro in order to make things happen. Obviously the layer for actually performing that is thin, and if I were to write an iPhone version of this app, I'd have to re-write the renderer and core driver (of this component based system) in Objective C. The entities are just flat files determining the names of the components to be added, and the components themselves are simple, single-purpose objects containing the logic for the entity. Now, if I write all the logic for those components in Java, then I'd have to re-write them on Objective C if I decided to do an iPhone port. As the bulk of the application logic is contained within these components, they would, in an ideal world, be written in some platform-agnostic language/script/DSL which could then just be loaded into the app on whatever platform. I've been led to believe however that this is not an ideal world though, and that Lua performance etc on mobile devices still isn't up to scratch, that the overhead is too much and that I'd run into troubles later if I went down that route? Is this actually the case? Obviously this is just a hypothetical question, I'm happy writing them all in Java as it's simple and easy get things off the ground, but say I actually enjoy making this game (unlikely, given how much I'm currently disliking having to deal with all those different mobile devices) and I wanted to make a commercially viable game - would I use Lua or would I just take the hit when it came to porting and just re-write all the code?

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• Reader Poll: Are You Going to Buy the New iPad 2?

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Steve Jobs announced the iPad 2 moments ago which will touch off a flurry of new purchases, upgrades, and general Apple-centric muttering and fist shaking. Will you be buying an iPad 2? Photo courtesy of Endgadget’s liveblog coverage of the iPad 2 launch. The first iPad sales exceeded everyones expectations, Apple fans and detractors alike, with a crazy 15 million units moved last year. The new iPad rocks a dual-core processor, a front and rear-facing camera, improved graphics, and a razor thinness (33% thinner than the current model), among other improvements. Are the improvements enough to entice you into buying one? Hit up the poll below to log your vote and then fill in the details in the comments. How-To Geek Polls require Javascript. Please Click Here to View the Poll. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions Add a “Textmate Style” Lightweight Text Editor with Dropbox Syncing to Chrome and Iron Is the Forcefield Really On or Not? [Star Wars Parody Video] Google Updates Picasa Web Albums; Emphasis on Sharing and Showcasing Uwall.tv Turns YouTube into a Video Jukebox Early Morning Sunrise at the Beach Wallpaper Data Networks Visualized via Light Paintings [Video]

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• Unlocking High Performance with Policy Administration Replacement

  - by helen.pitts(at)oracle.com

  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA; mso-fareast-language:EN-CA;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA; mso-fareast-language:EN-CA;} It is clear the insurance industry is undergoing significant changes as it consolidates and prepares for growth. The increasing focus on customer centricity, enhanced and speedier product development capabilities, and compliance with regulatory changes has forced companies to rethink well-entrenched policy administration processes. In previous Oracle Insurance blogs I’ve highlighted industry research pointing to policy administration replacement as a top IT priority for carriers. It is predicted that by 2013, the global IT spend on policy administration alone is likely to be almost 22 percentage of the total insurance IT spend. To achieve growth, insurers are adopting new pricing models, enhancing distribution reach, and quickly launching new products and services—all of which depend on agile and effective policy administration processes and technologies. Next month speakers from Oracle Insurance and Capgemini Financial Services will discuss how insurers can competitively drive high performance through policy administration replacement during a free, one-hour webcast hosted by LOMA. Roger Soppe, Oracle senior director, Insurance Strategy, together with Capgemini’s Lars Ernsting, leader, Life & Pensions COE, and Scott Mampre, vice president, Insurance, will be the speakers. Specifically, they’ll be highlighting: How replacing a legacy policy administration system with a modern, flexible platform optimizes IT and operations costs, creates consistent processes and eliminates resource redundancies How selecting the right partner with the best blend of technology, operational, and consulting capabilities, is an important pre-requisite to unlock high performance from policy administration transformation to achieve product, operational, and cost leadership  The value of outsourcing closed block operations We look forward to your participation on Thursday, July 14, 11:00 a.m. ET. Please register now. Helen Pitts is senior product marketing manager for Oracle Insurance's life and annuities solutions.

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• DriveSafe.ly Reads Your Text Messages Aloud

  - by ETC

  DriveSafe.ly, a free application for Android and BlackBerry phones, reads your text messages, emails, and caller ID notifications aloud so you can stay connected while keeping your eyes on the road. DriveSafe.ly is a feature packed application that reads your text messages, your emails, and the ID from your caller ID aloud. It’s not the only SMS-to-speech application out there but it sports the most featured including rocking a customizable auto-responder (so you can let people know you heard their message and will respond as soon as you’re off the road), the ability to customize the voice and the read-rate, how much information if given (the senders name or just the message or the senders name, subject, and message in the case of emails), and more. Upgrading to the $13.95 a year premium version allows voice-to-txt translation so you can respond verbally to your text messages and emails. Hit up the link below to read more and grab a copy for your Android or BlackBerry phone. DriveSafe.ly [via Addictive Tips] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 DriveSafe.ly Reads Your Text Messages Aloud The Likability of Angry Birds [Infographic] Dim an Overly Bright Alarm Clock with a Binder Divider Preliminary List of Keyboard Shortcuts for Unity Now Available Bring a Touch of the Wild West to Your Desktop with the Rango Theme for Windows 7 Manage Your Favorite Social Accounts in Chrome and Iron with Seesmic

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• Need help understanding XNA 4.0 BoundingBox vs BoundingSphere Intersection

  - by nerdherd

  I am new to both game programming and XNA, so I apologize if I'm missing a simple concept or something. I have created a simple 3D game with a player and a crate and I'm working on getting my collision detection working properly. Right now I am using a BoundingSphere for my player, and a BoundingBox for the crate. For some reason, XNA only detects a collision when my player's sphere touches the front face of the crate. I'm rendering all the BoundingSpheres and BoundingBoxes as wire frames so I can see what's going on, and everything visually appears to be correct, but I can't figure out this behavior. I have tried these checks: playerSphere.Intersects(crate.getBoundingBox()) playerSphere.Contains(crate.getBoundingBox(), ContainmentType.Intersects) playerSphere.Contains(crate.getBoundingBox()) != ContainmentType.Disjoint But they all seem to produce the same behavior (in other words, they are only true when I hit the front face of the crate). The interesting thing is that when I use a BoundingSphere for my crate the collision is detected as I would expect, but of course this makes the edges less accurate. Any thoughts or ideas? Have I missed something about how BoundingSpheres and BoundingBoxes compute their intersections? I'd be happy to post more code or screenshots to clarify if needed. Thanks!

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• Getting Internal Name of a Share Point List Fields

  - by Gino Abraham

  Over the last 2 weeks i was developing a tool to migrate Lotus notes data base to Share point. The mapping between Lotus notes schema and share point list schema was done manually in an xml file for out tool. To map the columns we wanted internal names of each field. There are quite a few ways to achieve this, have explained few below. If you want internal names for one or 2 columns you can do so by navigating to the list setting and clicking on the column name. Once you are in column's details, you can check the query string of the page. The last item in the query string would be field's internal. Replace all "%5f" with '_' will give you the field internal name. In my case there were more than 80 columns. I used power shell to get the list of columns with details. Open windows Powershell and paste the following script after modifying the url and list name. [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint") $site = new-object Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite(http://yousitecolurl) $web = $site.OpenWeb() $list = $web.Lists["yourlist name"] $list.Fields | Format-Table Title, InternalName, TypeAsString I also found a tool in Codeplex.com which can generate a wrapper class for a list. The wrapper class will give you the guid and internal name for all fields in the list.  You can download the tool from http://imtech.codeplex.com/ Just enter the url in the text box and hit open. All the site content will be listed at the left hand side, expand the list, right click and select generate wrapper class.

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• Debugging the NetBeans Platform

  - by Geertjan

  Once you've set up the NetBeans Platform sources as your NetBeans Platform, you're able to debug the NetBeans Platform itself. That's an occasional question (certainly not a frequent question) on the mailing list and in NetBeans Platform courses: "Is it possible to debug the NetBeans Platform?" Well, here's how: Firstly, set up the NetBeans Platform sources as your NetBeans Platform. Now, open into NetBeans IDE the NetBeans module where you'd like to place a breakpoint. That in itself is the hardest part of this task. I.e., you know you want to debug the NetBeans Platform, but have no idea where to place your breakpoint. One way to figure that out, from 7.1 onwards, is to take a visual snapshot of the NetBeans Platform and then analyze that snapshot in NetBeans IDE. To do this, right-click a module that you've set as using the NetBeans Platform sources as your NetBeans Platform and then choose Debug. The application, i.e., the NetBeans Platform, including your custom module, starts up and you'll see this, i.e., NetBeans IDE in debug mode together with your NetBeans Platform application:Notice there's a new toolbar button (new in NetBeans IDE 7.1) that resembles an orange camera. Click that button and the IDE creates a visual snapshot of the running application, which in this case is the NetBeans Platform. When you click components in the visual snapshot, the Navigator and Properties window display information about the related GUI component: By clicking the above components, you can end up identifying the component you'd like to debug and even the module where it is found. Open that module. Set a breakpoint on the line of interest. Right-click the module again and choose Debug. A debug session starts and when the breakpoint is hit, the Debugger in the IDE will open and there you can step through the NetBeans Platform sources.

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