Search Results

Search found 2645 results on 106 pages for 'eric ryan jones'.

Page 14/106 | < Previous Page | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21  | Next Page >

• Java Script – Content delivery networks (CDN) can bit you in the butt.

  - by Ryan Ternier

  As much as I love the new CDN’s that Google, Microsoft and a few others have publically released, there are some strong gotchas that could come up and bite you in the ass if you’re not careful. But before we jump into that, for those that are not 100% sure what a CDN is (besides Canadian).   Content Delivery Network. A way of distributing your static content across various servers in different physical locations.  Because this static content is stored on many servers around the world, whenever a user needs to access this content, they are given the closest server to their location for this data. Already you can probably see the immediate bonuses to a system like this: Lower bandwidth Even small script files downloaded thousands of times will start to take a noticeable hit on your bandwidth meter. Less connections/hits to your web server which gives better latency If you manage many servers, you don’t need to manually update each server with scripts. A user will download a script for each website they visit. If a user is redirected to many domains/sub-domains within your web site, they might download many copies of the same file. When a system sees multiple requests from the same  domain, they will ignore the download   Those are just a handful of the many bonuses a CDN will give you. And for the average website, a CDN is great choice. Check out the following CDN links for their solutions: Google AJAX Library: http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxlibs/ Microsoft Ajax library: http://www.asp.net/ajaxlibrary/cdn.ashx The Gotcha There is always a catch. Here are some issues I found with using CDN’s that hopefully can help you make your decision. HTTP / HTTPS If you are running a website behind SSL, make sure that when you reference your CDN data that you use https:// vs. http://. If you forget this users will get a very nice message telling them that their secure connection is trying to access unsecure data. For a developer this is fairly simple, but general users will get a bit anxious when seeing this. Trusted Sites Internet Explorer has this really nifty feature that allows users to specify what sites they trust, and by some defaults IE7 only allows trusted sites to be viewed.  No problem, they set your website as trusted. But what about your CDN? If a user sets your websites to trusted, but not the CDN, they will not download those static files. This has the potential to totally break your web site. Pedantic Network Admins This alone is sometimes the killer of projects. However, always be careful when you are going to use a CDN for a professional project. If a network / security admin sees that you’re referencing an outside source, or that a call from a website might hit an outside domain.. panties will be bunched, emails will be spewed out and well, no one wants that.

  Read the article

• Conversation with David Chappell on Windows Azure and Cloud Computing

  - by Eric Nelson

  My colleague David spent some time with David Chappell recently and recorded a short interview which is now available on Channel 9. Watch now on Channel 9. They cover off: IaaS vs PaaS Private vs Public Cloud Applications that are not a great fit for Windows Azure and those which are. The threat of Public Cloud to IT departments Not bad for 10minutes :-)

  Read the article

• Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple?

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Chances are you have at least one “creative” friend who’s a Mac advocate. Ever wondered how Apple got a reputation as the “creative company,” or why artists are so drawn to them? Surely, computers can’t make you creative, can they? Maybe you’re an avid Mac Hater, or maybe you’re an Apple advocate—chances are you’ve heard of this myth and wonder why people all seem to think this way. Take a look through the history of Apple, and see why Macintosh has become so synonymous with desktop publishing, photography, creativity, and design industries. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple? MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!) HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know? How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing The Journey to the Mystical Forest [Wallpaper] Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic] Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More

  Read the article

• ISO Mount for Windown 7 and/or Server 2008

  - by Eric Johnson

  Apparently it's hard to locate a free ISO mapper these days.  Like most people I've use Microsoft's Virtual CD ROM to mount ISO images on XP and server 2003 machines.   This will not work in Windows 7 and Server 2008 machines.  Therefore, I recommend people try out magic ISO instead.   It's freeware and can be downloaded from the following URL. http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-history.htm

  Read the article

• I&rsquo;m speaking at Software Architect 2010 in October

  - by Eric Nelson

  I’m very pleased to report I have managed to slip past the quality police and get to speak for the third year in a row at the excellent Software Architect conference in London. Which makes it the only “long running” conference that I have a 100% record on speaking at year on year which gives it an extra special significance. How much longer before I am found out :) This conference attracts some great speakers including the likes of Kevlin Henney, Neal Ford and Tim Ewald (oh – and me). If you are a software/solution architect then I would definitely recommend you check out whether the sessions this year are something that would help you grow and make great technology/architecture choices in your organisation. I am delivering a brand new session - which means I need to create it :-) 10 things every architect needs to know about Windows Azure In this session we will look at the 10 most architecturally significant features of the Windows Azure platform which directly impact how you architect solutions if you plan to deploy in the Cloud. Maybe see you there…

  Read the article

• IronRuby rocks at IronRuby-rocks.com

  - by Eric Nelson

  My colleague Edd (who wrote two great guest posts for me on IronRuby) just pointed me at a new site ironruby-rocks.com. It is early days for the site but I felt it was worth some additional exposure even at this early stage. Posts are nice and varied right now – from working with Microsoft Office to working with SQL Server. I wish the site the very best of luck. Related Links: 5 Steps to getting started with IronRuby Mini Book Review of IronRuby Unleashed by Shay Friedman Guest Post: Using IronRuby and .NET to produce the ‘Hello World of WPF’ Getting PhP and Ruby working on Windows Azure and SQL Azure Guest Post: What's IronRuby, and how do I put it on Rails?

  Read the article

• How to Create Quality Photo Prints With Free Software

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Photoshop may be the professional standard for high quality photo prints, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay hundreds of dollars for printing software. Freeware program Google Picasa can create excellent quality photo prints that’ll only cost you a download. Picasa and other freeware graphics programs are hardly news to savvy geeks, although with a little patience, they can produce quality prints few could tell apart from thousand dollar graphics suites. Stay tuned for links to various graphics programs, and a simple how-to on getting the perfect print settings for your photos 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

  Read the article

• How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 2

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Last week we talked about how to buy and start a simple website using WordPress. Today, we’ll start customizing our WordPress site and get you off on the right foot to having a great quality, feature rich website. We’ll take a quick walk through the menus of WordPress and help to make it easier on a first time user, as well as showing you how to start your new site off with a theme and an easily updatable, customized navigation. It can be intimidating to start a new WordPress site, but stick with us—part two of “How to Own Your Own Website” is coming right up. How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 2 How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1 What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows?

  Read the article

• SyncToBlog #10 Lots of Azure and Cloud Links including MIX10 videos

  - by Eric Nelson

  Just getting a few interesting cloud links “down on paper”. I last did one of these on Azure in Feb 20010. Cloud Links: Article on Debugging in the Cloud http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/azurescale  A sample app that demonstrates monitoring and automatically scaling an Azure application in response to dropping performance etc. Basically a console app that checks perf stats and then uses the Service Management API to spin up new instances when needed. Azure In Action book is imminent :) Running Memcached in Windows Azure from the MS UK team Using Microsoft Codename Dallas as a data source for Drupal also from the MS UK team I often mention them – but this post is the biz! Metodi on fault and upgrade domains Detailed blog post on comparing Azure AppFabric Service Bus REST support to the free Faye Ruby+JavaScript gem that implements the JSON publish/subscribe protocol Bayeux. AppFabric LABS allow you to test out and play with experimental AppFabric technologies. Details of the upcoming VM support in Windows Azure Nice series of posts from J D Meier in the Patterns and Practice team How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with Azure Tables  How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with Roles in Azure Tables How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with SQL Server on Windows Azure And sessions from MIX10 held March 15th to 17th: Lap around the Windows Azure Platform – Steve Marx Building and Deploying Windows Azure Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 – Jim Nakashima Building PHP Applications using the Windows Azure Platform – Craig Kitterman, Sumit Chawla Using Ruby on Rails to Build Windows Azure Applications – Sriram Krishnan Microsoft Project Code Name “Dallas": Data for your apps – Moe Khosravy Using Storage in the Windows Azure Platform – Chris Auld Building Web Applications with Windows Azure Storage – Brad Calder Building Web Application with Microsoft SQL Azure – David Robinson Connecting Your Applications in the Cloud with Windows Azure AppFabric – Clemens Vasters Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Azure: A Match Made for the Web – Matt Kerner Something for everyone :)

  Read the article

• WebGL First Person Camera - Matrix issues

  - by Ryan Welsh

  I have been trying to make a WebGL FPS camera.I have all the inputs working correctly (I think) but when it comes to applying the position and rotation data to the view matrix I am a little lost. The results can be viewed here http://thistlestaffing.net/masters/camera/index.html and the code here var camera = { yaw: 0.0, pitch: 0.0, moveVelocity: 1.0, position: [0.0, 0.0, -70.0] }; var viewMatrix = mat4.create(); var rotSpeed = 0.1; camera.init = function(canvas){ var ratio = canvas.clientWidth / canvas.clientHeight; var left = -1; var right = 1; var bottom = -1.0; var top = 1.0; var near = 1.0; var far = 1000.0; mat4.frustum(projectionMatrix, left, right, bottom, top, near, far); viewMatrix = mat4.create(); mat4.rotateY(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.yaw); mat4.rotateX(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.pitch); mat4.translate(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.position); } camera.update = function(){ viewMatrix = mat4.create(); mat4.rotateY(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.yaw); mat4.rotateX(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.pitch); mat4.translate(viewMatrix, viewMatrix, camera.position); } //prevent camera pitch from going above 90 and reset yaw when it goes over 360 camera.lockCamera = function(){ if(camera.pitch > 90.0){ camera.pitch = 90; } if(camera.pitch < -90){ camera.pitch = -90; } if(camera.yaw <0.0){ camera.yaw = camera.yaw + 360; } if(camera.yaw >360.0){ camera.yaw = camera.yaw - 0.0; } } camera.translateCamera = function(distance, direction){ //calculate where we are looking at in radians and add the direction we want to go in ie WASD keys var radian = glMatrix.toRadian(camera.yaw + direction); //console.log(camera.position[3], radian, distance, direction); //calc X coord camera.position[0] = camera.position[0] - Math.sin(radian) * distance; //calc Z coord camera.position[2] = camera.position [2] - Math.cos(radian) * distance; console.log(camera.position [2] - (Math.cos(radian) * distance)); } camera.rotateUp = function(distance, direction){ var radian = glMatrix.toRadian(camera.pitch + direction); //calc Y coord camera.position[1] = camera.position[1] + Math.sin(radian) * distance; } camera.moveForward = function(){ if(camera.pitch!=90 && camera.pitch!=-90){ camera.translateCamera(-camera.moveVelocity, 0.0); } camera.rotateUp(camera.moveVelocity, 0.0); } camera.moveBack = function(){ if(camera.pitch!=90 && camera.pitch!=-90){ camera.translateCamera(-camera.moveVelocity, 180.0); } camera.rotateUp(camera.moveVelocity, 180.0); } camera.moveLeft = function(){ camera.translateCamera(-camera.moveVelocity, 270.0); } camera.moveRight = function(){ camera.translateCamera(-camera.moveVelocity, 90.0); } camera.lookUp = function(){ camera.pitch = camera.pitch + rotSpeed; camera.lockCamera(); } camera.lookDown = function(){ camera.pitch = camera.pitch - rotSpeed; camera.lockCamera(); } camera.lookLeft = function(){ camera.yaw= camera.yaw - rotSpeed; camera.lockCamera(); } camera.lookRight = function(){ camera.yaw = camera.yaw + rotSpeed; camera.lockCamera(); } . If there is no problem with my camera then I am doing some matrix calculations within my draw function where a problem might be. //position cube 1 worldMatrix = mat4.create(); mvMatrix = mat4.create(); mat4.translate(worldMatrix, worldMatrix, [-20.0, 0.0, -30.0]); mat4.multiply(mvMatrix, worldMatrix, viewMatrix); setShaderMatrix(); gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexBuffer); gl.vertexAttribPointer(shaderProgram.attPosition, 3, gl.FLOAT, false, 8*4,0); gl.vertexAttribPointer(shaderProgram.attTexCoord, 2, gl.FLOAT, false, 8*4, 3*4); gl.vertexAttribPointer(shaderProgram.attNormal, 3, gl.FLOAT, false, 8*4, 5*4); gl.activeTexture(gl.TEXTURE0); gl.bindTexture(gl.TEXTURE_2D, myTexture); gl.uniform1i(shaderProgram.uniSampler, 0); gl.useProgram(shaderProgram); gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, vertexBuffer.numItems); //position cube 2 worldMatrix = mat4.create(); mvMatrix = mat4.create(); mat4.multiply(mvMatrix, worldMatrix, viewMatrix); mat4.translate(worldMatrix, worldMatrix, [40.0, 0.0, -30.0]); setShaderMatrix(); gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, vertexBuffer.numItems); //position cube 3 worldMatrix = mat4.create(); mvMatrix = mat4.create(); mat4.multiply(mvMatrix, worldMatrix, viewMatrix); mat4.translate(worldMatrix, worldMatrix, [20.0, 0.0, -100.0]); setShaderMatrix(); gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, vertexBuffer.numItems); camera.update();

  Read the article

• Ways to use your skills as a developer to give back to the community/charities.

  - by Ryan Hayes

  Recently I came upon a community event called GiveCamp. GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals from designers, developers and database administrators to marketers and web strategists donate their time to provide solutions for non-profit organizations. Since its inception in 2007, the GiveCamp program has provided benefits to over 150 charities, with a value of developer and designer time exceeding $1,000,000 in services! Coming from a very rural part of the country where there is a huge opportunity for charity events like this, it got me wondering. Are there other large movements like GiveCamp that are out there? GiveCamp is sponsored by Microsoft, so of course most are run through .NET user groups. Are there other flavors of it? Different types? Java/Python/other open source charity movements? If not, how do you give back?

  Read the article

• How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  You’ve probably put up plenty of pages and accounts on various services and blogs. But today, learn how to become a real website owner and put together an awesome feature-rich website of your own with little to no experience. Having your own website is expected in many fields. You can host your resume and various files, or put up an online business card to make sure that you’re one of the top results when you do an ego search on Google. Whatever your reason is, you don’t have to pay hundreds (or thousands?) of dollars to have somebody else make a website for you, when you can use free software and cheap hosting to make your own in minutes. In this first part of a multi-part series, we’ll discuss how to put up a simple website and and how to start owning your own domain. How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1 What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows? Screenshot Tour: XBMC 11 Eden Rocks Improved iOS Support, AirPlay, and Even a Custom XBMC OS

  Read the article

• 13.10 - Black borders, black terminal

  - by Eric

  I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 13.10 and I'm seeing a strange behaviour. All windows I open have a black, boxy border, including popups, as you can see in the provided image. (The black box in the bottom right is a terminal, which fails to display any text. However, I can enter commands and they execute.) I followed the steps in this post: How do I reset my Unity configuration? to reset Unity using the unity-tweak-tool. Although helpful, that did not fix the issue. I'm thinking this may be a graphics card driver issue. Any help is much appreciated.

  Read the article

• Is it smart to give idea to company?

  - by Ryan

  I have a few interesting ideas (business ideas) that can be implemented as add-on features of existing business products (web-based products, mostly startups). Based on experience, can anyone let me know if telling them would be a good idea or not? I'm hoping to get some feedback from both sides (company insiders and outsiders). The upside: They could like it and think about bringing me on board to help build. The downside: They take the idea and implement it. Company size for one is less than 50. Another is less than 25.

  Read the article

• How to Create an Easy Pixel Art Avatar in Photoshop or GIMP

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Boingboing.net has a cool set of meticulously drawn pixel art portraits for their key writers. If you’re a lover of pixel art, why not try and recreate a similar avatars for yourself with a few simple filters in either Photoshop or GIMP? How-To Geek has covered a few different ways to create pixel art from ordinary graphics, and this simple method is more simple pixel art, but using a different technique. Watch as we transform two ordinary photographs into blocky masterpieces, as well as compare the techniques used between Photoshop and the GIMP. Read on!  How to Create an Easy Pixel Art Avatar in Photoshop or GIMPInternet Explorer 9 Released: Here’s What You Need To KnowHTG Explains: How Does Email Work?

  Read the article

• How To Remove People and Objects From Photographs In Photoshop

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  You might think that it’s a complicated process to remove objects from photographs. But really Photoshop makes it quite simple, even when removing all traces of a person from digital photographs. Read on to see just how easy it is. Photoshop was originally created to be an image editing program, and it excels at it. With hardly any Photoshop experience, any beginner can begin removing objects or people from their photos. Have some friends that photobombed an otherwise great pic? Tell them to say their farewells, because here’s how to get rid of them with Photoshop! Tools for Removing Objects Removing an object is not really “magical” work. Your goal is basically to cover up the information you don’t want in an image with information you do want. In this sample image, we want to remove the cigar smoking man, and leave the geisha. Here’s a couple of the tools that can be useful to work with when attempting this kind of task. Clone Stamp and Pattern Stamp Tool: Samples parts of your image from your background, and allows you to paint into your image with your mouse or stylus. Eraser and Brush Tools: Paint flat colors and shapes, and erase cloned layers of image information. Basic, down and dirty photo editing tools. Pen, Quick Selection, Lasso, and Crop tools: Select, isolate, and remove parts of your image with these selection tools. All useful in their own way. Some, like the pen tool, are nightmarishly tough on beginners. Remove a Person with the Clone Stamp Tool (Video) The video above uses the Clone Stamp tool to sample and paint with the background texture. It’s a simple tool to use, although it can be confusing, possibly counter-intuitive. Here’s some pointers, in addition to the video above. Select shortcut key to choose the Clone tool stamp from the Tools Panel. Always create a copy of your background layer before doing heavy edits by right clicking on the background in your Layers Panel and selecting “Duplicate.” Hold with the Clone Tool selected, and click anywhere in your image to sample that area. When you’re sampling an area, your cursor is “Aligned” with your sample area. When you paint, your sample area moves. You can turn the “Aligned” setting off by clicking the in the Options Panel at the top of your screen if you want. Change your brush size and hardness as shown in the video by right-clicking in your image. Use your lasso to copy and paste pieces of your image in order to cover up any parts that seem appropriate. Photoshop Magic with the “Content-Aware Fill” One of the hallmark features of CS5 is the “Content-Aware Fill.” Content aware fill can be an excellent shortcut to removing objects and even people in Photoshop, but it is somewhat limited, and can get confused. Here’s a basic rundown on how it works. Select an object using your Lasso tool, shortcut key . The Lasso works fine as this selection can be rough. Navigate to Edit > Fill, and select “Content-Aware,” as illustrated above, from the pull-down menu. It’s surprisingly simple. After some processing, Photoshop has done the work of removing the object for you. It takes a few moments, and it is not perfect, so be prepared to touch it up with some Copy-Paste, or some Clone stamp action. Content Aware Fill Has Its Limits Keep in mind that the Content Aware Fill is meant to be used with other techniques in mind. It doesn’t always perform perfectly, but can give you a great starting point. Take this image for instance. It is actually plausible to hide this figure and make this image look like he was never there at all. With a selection made with the Lasso tool, navigate to Edit > Fill and select “Content Aware” again. The result is surprisingly good, but as you can see, worthy of some touch up. With a result like this one, you’ll have to get your hands dirty with copy-paste to create believable lines in the background. With many photographs, Content Aware Fill will simply get confused and give you results you won’t be happy with. Additional Touch Up for Bad Background Textures with the Pattern Stamp Tool For the perfectionist, cleaning up the lumpy looking textures that the Clone Stamp can leave is fairly simple using the Pattern Stamp Tool. Sample an piece of your image with your Marquee Tool, shortcut key . Navigate to Edit > Define Pattern to create a new Pattern from your selection. Click OK to continue. Click and hold down on the Clone Stamp tool in your Tools Panel until you can select the Pattern Stamp Tool. Pick your new pattern from the Options at the top of your screen, in the Options Panel. Then simply right click in your image in order to pick as soft a brush as possible to paint with. Paint into your image until your background is as smooth as you want it to be, making your painted out object more and more invisible. If you get lines from your repeated texture, experiment turning the on and off and paint over them. In addition to this, simple use of the Crop Tool, shortcut , can recompose an image, making it look as if it never had another object in it at all. Combine these techniques to find a method that works best for your images. Have questions or comments concerning Graphics, Photos, Filetypes, or Photoshop? Send your questions to [email protected], and they may be featured in a future How-To Geek Graphics article. Image Credits: Geisha Kyoto Gion by Todd Laracuenta via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons. Moai Rano raraku by Aurbina, in Public Domain. Chris Young visits Wrigley by TonyTheTiger, via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Ask How-To Geek: How Can I Monitor My Bandwidth Usage? Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware How to Change the Default Application for Android Tasks Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About "Enhancing" Images The How-To Geek Valentine’s Day Gift Guide CyanogenMod Updates; Rolls out Android 2.3 to the Less Fortunate MyPaint is an Open-Source Graphics App for Digital Painters Can the Birds and Pigs Really Be Friends in the End? [Angry Birds Video] Add the 2D Version of the New Unity Interface to Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04 MightyMintyBoost Is a 3-in-1 Gadget Charger Watson Ties Against Human Jeopardy Opponents

  Read the article

• FREE Windows Azure evening in London on April 15th including FREE access to Windows Azure

  - by Eric Nelson

  [Did I overdo the use of FREE in the title? :-)] April 12th to 16th is Microsoft Tech Days – 5 days of sessions on Visual Studio 2010 through to Windows 7 Phone Series. Many of these days are now full (Tip - Thursday still has room if rich client applications is your thing) but the good news is the development community in the UK has pulled together an awesome series of “fringe events” during April in London and elsewhere in the UK. There are sessions on Silverlight, SQL Server 2008 R2, Sharepoint 2010 and … the Windows Azure Platform. The UK AzureNET user group is planning to put on a great evening and AzureNET will be giving away hundreds of free subscriptions to the Windows Azure Platform during the evening. The subscription includes up to 20 Windows Azure Compute nodes and 3 SQL Azure databases for you to play with over the 2 weeks following the event. This is a great opportunity to really explore the Windows Azure Platform in detail – without a credit card! Register now! (and you might also want to join the UK Fans of Azure Community while I have your attention) FYI The Thursday day time event includes an introduction to Windows Azure session delivered by my colleague David – which would be an ideal session to attend if you are new to Azure and want to get the most out of the evening session. 7:00pm: See the difference: How Windows Azure helped build a new way of giving Simon Evans and James Broome (@broomej) They will cover the business context for Azure and then go into patterns used and lessons learnt from the project....as well as showing off the app of course! 8:00pm: UK AzureNET update 8:15pm: NoSQL databases or: How I learned to love the hash table Mark Rendle (@markrendle) In this session Mark will look at how Azure Table Service works and how to use it. We’ll look briefly at the high-level Data Services SDK, talk about its limitations, and then quickly move on to the REST API and how to use it to improve performance and reduce costs. We’ll make-up some pretend real-world problems and solve them in new and interesting ways. We’ll denormalise data (for fun and profit). We’ll talk about how certain social networking sites can deal with huge volumes of data so quickly, and why it sometimes goes wrong. Check out the complete list of fringe events which covers the UK fairly well:

  Read the article

• Design and Print Your Own Christmas Cards in MS Word, Part 1

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Looking for a  little DIY fun this holiday season? Open up familiar tool MS Word and create simple, beautiful Christmas and Holiday cards, and impress your family with your crafting skills. This is the first part of a two part article. In this first section, we’ll tackle design in MS Word. In our second, we’ll cover supplies and proper printing methods to get a great look out of your dusty old inkjet. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Get the Complete Android Guide eBook for Only 99 Cents [Update: Expired] Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 7: Design and Typography How to Choose What to Back Up on Your Linux Home Server How To Harmonize Your Dual-Boot Setup for Windows and Ubuntu Hang in There Scrat! – Ice Age Wallpaper How Do You Know When You’ve Passed Geek and Headed to Nerd? On The Tip – A Lamborghini Theme for Chrome and Iron What if Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner were Human? [Video] Peaceful Winter Cabin Wallpaper Store Tabs for Later Viewing in Opera with Tab Vault

  Read the article

• Grub 'Read Error' - Only Loads with LiveCD

  - by Ryan Sharp

  Problem After installing Ubuntu to complete my Windows 7/Ubuntu 12.04 dual-boot setup, Grub just wouldn't load at all unless I boot from the LiveCD. Afterwards, everything works completely normal. However, this workaround isn't a solution and I'd like to be able to boot without the aid of a disc. Fdisk -l Using the fdisk -l command, I am given the following: Disk /dev/sda: 64.0 GB, 64023257088 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7783 cylinders, total 125045424 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x324971d1 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda2 208896 48957439 24374272 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda3 * 48959486 124067839 37554177 5 Extended /dev/sda5 48959488 124067839 37554176 83 Linux Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0xc0ee6a69 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 1024208894 1953523711 464657409 5 Extended /dev/sdb3 * 2048 1024206847 512102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sdb5 1024208896 1937897471 456844288 83 Linux /dev/sdb6 1937899520 1953523711 7812096 82 Linux swap / Solaris Partition table entries are not in disk order Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x292eee23 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdc1 2048 625141759 312569856 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT Bootinfoscript I've used the BootInfoScript, and received the following output: Boot Info Script 0.61 [1 April 2012] ============================= Boot Info Summary: =============================== => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks for (,msdos5)/boot/grub on this drive. => Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks for (,msdos5)/boot/grub on this drive. => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdc. sda1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD sda2: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Windows 7 Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe sda3: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: Extended Partition Boot sector type: Unknown Boot sector info: sda5: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Operating System: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: Extended Partition Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sdb5: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Operating System: Boot files: sdb6: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: swap Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sdb3: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sdb3 starts at sector 200744960. But according to the info from fdisk, sdb3 starts at sector 2048. According to the info in the boot sector, sdb3 has 823461887 sectors, but according to the info from fdisk, it has 1024204799 sectors. Operating System: Boot files: sdc1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: ============================ Drive/Partition Info: ============================= Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sda: 64.0 GB, 64023257088 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7783 cylinders, total 125045424 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sda1 2,048 206,847 204,800 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS /dev/sda2 208,896 48,957,439 48,748,544 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS /dev/sda3 * 48,959,486 124,067,839 75,108,354 5 Extended /dev/sda5 48,959,488 124,067,839 75,108,352 83 Linux Drive: sdb _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sdb1 1,024,208,894 1,953,523,711 929,314,818 5 Extended /dev/sdb5 1,024,208,896 1,937,897,471 913,688,576 83 Linux /dev/sdb6 1,937,899,520 1,953,523,711 15,624,192 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/sdb3 * 2,048 1,024,206,847 1,024,204,800 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS Drive: sdc _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sdc1 2,048 625,141,759 625,139,712 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS "blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________ Device UUID TYPE LABEL /dev/sda1 A48056DF8056B80E ntfs System Reserved /dev/sda2 A8C6D6A4C6D671D4 ntfs Windows /dev/sda5 fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd ext4 /dev/sdb3 6373D03D0A3747A8 ntfs Steam /dev/sdb5 6f5a6eb3-a932-45aa-893e-045b57708270 ext4 /dev/sdb6 469848c8-867a-41b7-b0e1-b813a43c64af swap /dev/sdc1 725D7B961CF34B1B ntfs backup ================================ Mount points: ================================= Device Mount_Point Type Options /dev/sda5 / ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,discard,errors=remount-ro) /dev/sdb5 /home ext4 (rw) =========================== sda5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: =========================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub # ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ### if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then set have_grubenv=true load_env fi set default="0" if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}" save_env saved_entry set prev_saved_entry= save_env prev_saved_entry set boot_once=true fi function savedefault { if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then saved_entry="${chosen}" save_env saved_entry fi } function recordfail { set recordfail=1 if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi } function load_video { insmod vbe insmod vga insmod video_bochs insmod video_cirrus } insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then set gfxmode=auto load_video insmod gfxterm insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale set lang=en_GB insmod gettext fi terminal_output gfxterm if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then set timeout=-1 else set timeout=10 fi ### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### set menu_color_normal=white/black set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray if background_color 44,0,30; then clear fi ### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### function gfxmode { set gfxpayload="${1}" if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7 else set vt_handoff= fi } if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then set linux_gfx_mode=keep else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=keep fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi export linux_gfx_mode if [ "${linux_gfx_mode}" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-29-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic root=UUID=fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd ro quiet splash $vt_handoff initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-29-generic } menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-29-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail insmod gzio insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd echo 'Loading Linux 3.2.0-29-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic root=UUID=fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd ro recovery nomodeset echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-29-generic } ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" { insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin } menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" { insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,msdos5)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8 } ### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" --class windows --class os { insmod part_msdos insmod ntfs set root='(hd0,msdos1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root A48056DF8056B80E chainloader +1 } menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" --class windows --class os { insmod part_msdos insmod ntfs set root='(hd0,msdos2)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root A8C6D6A4C6D671D4 chainloader +1 } ### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### # This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the # menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change # the 'exec tail' line above. ### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then source $prefix/custom.cfg; fi ### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================== sda5/etc/fstab: ================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5). # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0 # / was on /dev/sda5 during installation UUID=fd71c537-3715-44e1-b1fe-07537e22b3dd / ext4 noatime,nodiratime,discard,errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /home was on /dev/sdb5 during installation UUID=6f5a6eb3-a932-45aa-893e-045b57708270 /home ext4 defaults 0 2 # swap was on /dev/sdb6 during installation UUID=469848c8-867a-41b7-b0e1-b813a43c64af none swap sw 0 0 tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ==================== GiB - GB File Fragment(s) = boot/grub/core.img 1 = boot/grub/grub.cfg 1 = boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-29-generic 2 = boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic 1 = initrd.img 2 = vmlinuz 1 ======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ======================== Unknown BootLoader on sda3 00000000 63 6f 70 69 61 20 65 20 63 6f 6c 61 41 63 65 64 |copia e colaAced| 00000010 65 72 20 61 20 74 6f 64 6f 20 6f 20 74 65 78 74 |er a todo o text| 00000020 6f 20 66 61 6c 61 64 6f 20 75 74 69 6c 69 7a 61 |o falado utiliza| 00000030 6e 64 6f 20 61 20 63 6f 6e 76 65 72 73 c3 a3 6f |ndo a convers..o| 00000040 20 64 65 20 74 65 78 74 6f 20 70 61 72 61 20 76 | de texto para v| 00000050 6f 7a 4d 61 6e 69 70 75 6c 61 72 20 61 73 20 64 |ozManipular as d| 00000060 65 66 69 6e 69 c3 a7 c3 b5 65 73 20 71 75 65 20 |efini....es que | 00000070 63 6f 6e 74 72 6f 6c 61 6d 20 6f 20 61 63 65 73 |controlam o aces| 00000080 73 6f 20 64 65 20 57 65 62 73 69 74 65 73 20 61 |so de Websites a| 00000090 20 63 6f 6f 6b 69 65 73 2c 20 4a 61 76 61 53 63 | cookies, JavaSc| 000000a0 72 69 70 74 20 65 20 70 6c 75 67 2d 69 6e 73 4d |ript e plug-insM| 000000b0 61 6e 69 70 75 6c 61 72 20 61 73 20 64 65 66 69 |anipular as defi| 000000c0 6e 69 c3 a7 c3 b5 65 73 20 72 65 6c 61 63 69 6f |ni....es relacio| 000000d0 6e 61 64 61 73 20 63 6f 6d 20 70 72 69 76 61 63 |nadas com privac| 000000e0 69 64 61 64 65 41 63 65 64 65 72 20 61 6f 73 20 |idadeAceder aos | 000000f0 73 65 75 73 20 70 65 72 69 66 c3 a9 72 69 63 6f |seus perif..rico| 00000100 73 20 55 53 42 55 74 69 6c 69 7a 61 72 20 6f 20 |s USBUtilizar o | 00000110 73 65 75 20 6d 69 63 72 6f 66 6f 6e 65 55 74 69 |seu microfoneUti| 00000120 6c 69 7a 61 72 20 61 20 73 75 61 20 63 c3 a2 6d |lizar a sua c..m| 00000130 61 72 61 55 74 69 6c 69 7a 61 72 20 6f 20 73 65 |araUtilizar o se| 00000140 75 20 6d 69 63 72 6f 66 6f 6e 65 20 65 20 61 20 |u microfone e a | 00000150 63 c3 a2 6d 61 72 61 4e c3 a3 6f 20 66 6f 69 20 |c..maraN..o foi | 00000160 70 6f 73 73 c3 ad 76 65 6c 20 65 6e 63 6f 6e 74 |poss..vel encont| 00000170 72 61 72 20 6f 20 63 61 6d 69 6e 68 6f 20 61 62 |rar o caminho ab| 00000180 73 6f 6c 75 74 6f 20 70 61 72 61 20 6f 20 64 69 |soluto para o di| 00000190 72 65 63 74 c3 b3 72 69 6f 20 61 20 65 6d 70 61 |rect..rio a empa| 000001a0 63 6f 74 61 72 2e 4f 20 64 69 72 65 63 74 c3 b3 |cotar.O direct..| 000001b0 72 69 6f 20 64 65 20 65 6e 74 72 61 64 61 00 fe |rio de entrada..| 000001c0 ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 10 7a 04 00 00 |............z...| 000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.| 00000200 =============================== StdErr Messages: =============================== xz: (stdin): Compressed data is corrupt xz: (stdin): Compressed data is corrupt awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in awk: cmd. line:36: Math support is not compiled in Begging / Appreciation ;) If anything else is required to solve my problem, please ask. My only hopes are that I can solve this, and that doing so won't require re-installation of Grub due to how complicated the procedures are, or that I would be needed to reinstall the OS', as I have done so about six times already since friday due to several other issues I've encountered. Thank you, and good day. System Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit / Windows 7 SP1 64-bit 64GB SSD as boot/OS drive, 1TB HDD as /Home Swap and Steam drive.

  Read the article

• Windows Azure guidance from the Patterns and Practices team

  - by Eric Nelson

  The P&P team have started to share guidance on the Windows Azure Platform.  They plan to group their efforts around: 1. Moving to the Cloud 2. Integrating with the Cloud 3. Leveraging the Cloud First up is a document which explains the capabilities and limitations of Enterprise Library 5.0 Beta 2 in terms of use within .NET applications designed to run with the Windows Azure platform. You can download it here. Related Links: UK Azure Online Community – join today. UK Windows Azure Site Start working with Windows Azure

  Read the article

• Cloud Computing : publication du volet 3 du Syntec Numérique

  - by Eric Bezille

  Une vision client/fournisseur réunie autour d'une ébauche de cadre contractuel Lors de la Cloud Computing World Expo qui se tenait au CNIT la semaine dernière, j'ai assisté à la présentation du nouveau volet du Syntec numérique sur le Cloud Computing et les "nouveaux modèles" induits : modèles économiques, contrats, relations clients-fournisseurs, organisation de la DSI. L'originalité de ce livre blanc vis à vis de ceux déjà existants dans le domaine est de s'être attaché à regrouper l'ensemble des acteurs clients (au travers du CRIP) et fournisseurs, autour d'un cadre de formalisation contractuel, en s'appuyant sur le modèle e-SCM. Accélération du passage en fournisseur de Services et fin d'une IT en silos ? Si le Cloud Computing permet d'accélérer le passage de l'IT en fournisseur de services (dans la suite d'ITIL v3), il met également en exergue le challenge pour les DSI d'un modèle en rupture nécessitant des compétences transverses permettant de garantir les qualités attendues d'un service de Cloud Computing : déploiement en mode "self-service" à la demande, accès standardisé au travers du réseau,  gestion de groupes de ressources partagées,  service "élastique" : que l'on peut faire croitre ou diminuer rapidement en fonction de la demande mesurable On comprendra bien ici, que le Cloud Computing va bien au delà de la simple virtualisation de serveurs. Comme le décrit fort justement Constantin Gonzales dans son blog ("Three Enterprise Principles for Building Clouds"), l'important réside dans le respect du standard de l'interface d'accès au service. Ensuite, la façon dont il est réalisé (dans le nuage), est de la charge et de la responsabilité du fournisseur. A lui d'optimiser au mieux pour être compétitif, tout en garantissant les niveaux de services attendus. Pour le fournisseur de service, bien entendu, il faut maîtriser cette implémentation qui repose essentiellement sur l'intégration et l'automatisation des couches et composants nécessaires... dans la durée... avec la prise en charge des évolutions de chacun des éléments. Pour le client, il faut toujours s'assurer de la réversibilité de la solution au travers du respect des standards... Point également abordé dans le livre blanc du Syntec, qui rappelle les points d'attention et fait un état des lieux de l'avancement des standards autour du Cloud Computing. En vous souhaitant une bonne lecture...

  Read the article

• Mini Book Review of IronRuby Unleashed by Shay Friedman

  - by Eric Nelson

  When I get some time (and hell starts to look a little chilly) I would love to do a more detailed review. But I wanted to get something “out there” as I really like this book and reviews of it seem a little thin on the ground. In brief: Is it a good book? Yes Would I recommend this book to a .NET developer who was new to Ruby? Yes (This is me by the way) Would I recommend this book to a Ruby developer who was new to .NET ? Yes Would I recommend this book to a developer who sometimes does Ruby and sometimes does .NET? Yes Would I recommend this book to a developer new to .NET and new to Ruby? Yes The above demonstrates how well balanced this book is (IMHO). What I like about it: Its assumes pretty much no knowledge of IronRuby or .NET. All it asks is that you are a developer interested in IronRuby. Yet it manages to cover off the topics in a good degree of detail. If you are a Ruby developer you skip Part 2, if you are a .NET developer you skip some of Part 1 and whizz through the short intros to the individual technologies such as WPF. It is definitely not a “lets makes the manual look pretty” book – this is original content thoughtfully written and presented. It is pretty comprehensive – in 500 pages it packs in  Intro to IronRuby Intro to .NET Intro to Ruby Using IronRuby with Windows Forms, ASP.NET, WPF, Silverlight etc Getting Rails working with IronRuby Unit testing with IronRuby – which I think is an excellent way for a .NET developer to start using IronRuby Embedding IronRuby in a .NET app  - another interesting “first step” for a .NET developer What I didn’t like: Err… nothing yet. Ok, If I am being picky then the start of chapter 2 irked me a little as it went through the history of .NET. “The first version [of the .NET Framework] wasn’t that great”.  Felt pretty good to me compared to Java and C++ development at the time :-) Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon USA Related Links: Posts from the author Shay Friedman on IronRuby Guest Post: What's IronRuby, and how do I put it on Rails? Guest Post: Using IronRuby and .NET to produce the ‘Hello World of WPF’ Getting PhP and Ruby working on Windows Azure and SQL Azure

  Read the article

• Microsoft Generation 4 Datacenter using ITPACs

  - by Eric Nelson

  Microsoft is continuing to make significant investments in Datacenter technology and is focused on solving issues such as long lead times, significant up-front costs and over capacity. Enter the world of modular Datacenters and ITPACs – IT Pre-Assembled Components. In simple terms – air handling and IT units which are pre-assembled (looking somewhat like a container) and then installed on concrete bases. Each unit can hold  between 400 and 2500 servers (which means many more virtual machines depending on your density) Kevin Timmons’, manager of the datacenter operations team, just posted a great post digging into the detail One Small Step for Microsoft’s Cloud, Another Big Step for Sustainability which includes a short video on how we build one of these ITPACs. You might also want to check out this video from the PDC:

  Read the article

• Forwarding a subdomain to main domain using Godaddy.

  - by Ryan Hayes

  I have current blog, which was hosted on Tumblr at http://blog.ryanhayes.net. I'm moving it over to http://ryanhayes.net, and have all the 301 redirects set up for the blog entries to map to my new blog, which is hosted using Godaddy (domain included). When I try to set up a subdomain forward, I'm greeted with a nice 403 Forbidden response (as of this writing, you can see it at http://blog.ryanhayes.net. When I try to ping both the subdomain and domain, they point to the same IP address, so I know blog subdomain has at least switched over to point to the same content. I don't really understand why I would get a 403 Forbidden on the same content that I can see perfectly fine via another domain. Currently, I have a CNAME of blog pointing to @, which is how "www" is set up to forward, so I'm assuming it would do the same thing. My question is what is the proper way to set up my DNS to make the blog subdomain forward to my main domain (301) using the GoDaddy DNS manager? Bonus: What is the background on why I am getting a 403 error the current way? Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server. Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. UPDATE 12/7/2010 Error on site has been fixed, you can no longer view it from my site.

  Read the article

• Not able to add PC and synchronise files with Ubuntu One

  - by Ryan Hawthorne

  I have tried to add my PC to my Ubuntu One account 3 or 4 times: while I log in successfully in the Ubuntu One interface (after deleting my Ubuntu One password in 'passwords'), my folders don't give me an option to synchronise. I don't get the pink bar saying 'these folders cannot be synchronised'; I get nothing at all, no option. The second time I tried it seemed to work – but then it stopped working again.

  Read the article

< Previous Page | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21  | Next Page >