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  • Working and Studying in Oracle, how I balance my time....

    - by anca.rosu
    Hi, my name is Laura. I am working as an Intern within Executive Administration at Oracle Denmark, whilst studying Information Management at Copenhagen Business school. I have recently handeding a paper on Information Systems which gave me exposure to Oracle. Once completing this paper I came across a job posting on my University’s intranet site and I applied directly online. When I submitted my application for the job offer, I wondered about what language I should use for the application form, as the job posting was in Danish, but the contact person and number looked Irish. I therefore chose English. Later that same day, Fiona, one of Oracle’s Graduates Recruitment Consultants based in Ireland, contacted me. This shows how global Oracle truly is. I went for my face-to-face interview in Oracle Denmark with Charlotte, one of the team managers. I spent 5 minutes waiting in the lobby, just looking around, thinking to myself, I really want to work here. The atmosphere seemed so pleasant with a relaxed approach between colleagues, employees and guests. The interview took about an hour, but we touched on a lot of different subjects. The profile I got of Oraclewas that this is a place where you are encouraged to think for yourself, and you are given the freedom to use your ideas. Later that evening, Fiona called and offered me the job. I was very happy. At Oracle Denmark we have 4 different zones: a Quiet Zone, a Project Zone, a Dialogue Zone and a Call Zone. Everyday when you arrive you consider what will be the most productive for the day’s task, and you take your toolbox and go find a desk in the zone you have decided on. It is therefore very unusual to be next to the same person two days in a row. At Oracle, people are located all over the world, and everybody has team members, colleagues or leaders in other countries, or even other time zones. Initially,I was worried about how I would adapt to this approach but I soon realized I had nothing to worry about and now I appreciate working this way. My colleagues have been very supportive and they have openly welcomed me into my new role. I typically work two days a week and have three days at University. During exam periods, I have the flexibility to work less hours and focus on the exams, in return for putting in more hours at work when needed. The first time I had to ask for time off before handing in a paper, my boss looked at me and said, ”Of course! Your education is the most important!” I hope that by sharing my experiences with you, I can inspire or encourage you to consider Oracle as a potential employer, where you can grow both professionally and personally. If you have any questions related to this article feel free to contact  [email protected].  You can find our job opportunities via http://campus.oracle.com Technorati Tags: Intern,Oracle Denmark,Information Systems,Business school,Copenhagen,Graduates Recruitment,Ireland,Quiet Zone,Project Zone,Dialogue Zone,Call Zone,University,flexibility

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  • In languages which create a new scope each time in a loop block, a new local copy of the local loop

    - by Jian Lin
    It seems that in language like C, Java, and Ruby (as opposed to Javascript), a new scope is created for each iteration of a loop block, and the local variable defined for the loop is actually made into a local variable every single time and recorded in this new scope? For example, in Ruby: p RUBY_VERSION $foo = [] (1..5).each do |i| $foo[i] = lambda { p i } end (1..5).each do |j| $foo[j].call() end the print out is: [MacBook01:~] $ ruby scope.rb "1.8.6" 1 2 3 4 5 [MacBook01:~] $ So, it looks like when a new scope is created, a new local copy of i is also created and recorded in this new scope, so that when the function is executed at a later time, the "i" is found in those scope chains as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively. Is this true? (It sounds like a heavy operation). Contrast that with p RUBY_VERSION $foo = [] i = 0 (1..5).each do |i| $foo[i] = lambda { p i } end (1..5).each do |j| $foo[j].call() end This time, the i is defined before entering the loop, so Ruby 1.8.6 will not put this i in the new scope created for the loop block, and therefore when the i is looked up in the scope chain, it always refer to the i that was in the outside scope, and give 5 every time: [MacBook01:~] $ ruby scope2.rb "1.8.6" 5 5 5 5 5 [MacBook01:~] $ I heard that in Ruby 1.9, i will be treated as a local defined for the loop even when there is an i defined earlier? The operation of creating a new scope, creating a new local copy of i each time through the loop seems heavy, as it seems it wouldn't have matter if we are not invoking the functions at a later time. So when the functions don't need to be invoked at a later time, could the interpreter and the compiler to C / Java try to optimize it so that there is not local copy of i each time?

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  • how to transfer a time which was zero at year of 0000(maybe) to java.util.Date

    - by hguser
    I have a gps time in the database,and when I do some query,I have to use the java.util.Date,however I found that I do not know how to change the gps time to java.util.Date. Here is a example: The readable time === The GPS time 2010-11-15 13:10:00 === 634254192000000000 2010-11-15 14:10:00 === 634254228000000000 The period of the two date is "36000000000",,obviously it stands for one hour,so I think the unit of the gps time in the db must be nanosecond. 1 hour =3600 seconds= 3600*1000 milliseconds == 3600*1000*10000 nanoseconds Then I try to convert the gps time: Take the " 634254228000000000" as example,it stands for("2010-11-15 14:10:00"); SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ssZ"); Date d = new Date(63425422800000L); System.out.println(sdf.format(d)); The result is 3979-11-15 13:00:00+0000. Of course it is wrong,then I try to calculate : 63425422800000/3600000/24/365=2011.xxx So it seems that the gps time here is not calcuated from Epoch(1970-01-01 00:00:00+0000). It maybe something like (0001-01-01 00:00:00+0000). Then I try to use the following method: Date date_0=sdf.parse("0001-01-01 00:00:00+0000"); Date d = new Date(63425422800000L); System.out.println(sdf.format(d.getTime() + date_0.getTime())); The result is: 2010-11-13 13:00:00+0000. :( Now I am confusing about how to calculate this gps time. Any suggestion?

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  • MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!)

    - by The Geek
    Want to rip a DVD to your hard drive, but don’t have a software package to do it? How-To Geek readers can get the normally non-free MacX DVD Ripper Pro for free, but only if you download your copy and install it before Saturday. Here’s how to get it. This time-limited offer is available to anybody for the next couple of days—just head to the download site, install the software package, and use the key provided. It’s as simple as that. Note: despite the confusion of the name, it’s available for both Mac and Windows. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC 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? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? 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 Glowing Chess Set Combines LEDs, Chess, and DIY Electronics Fun Peaceful Alpine River on a Sunny Day [Wallpaper] Fast Society Creates Mini and Mobile Temporary Social Networks

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  • Do we have enough time to build an electric car future?

    - by julien.groues
    A recent article from Greenbang has posed the question 'Do we have enough time to build an electric car future?'. The writer discusses that, although the future of transport might lie with electric cars, there is concern regarding whether we'll be able to build the market and infrastructure required to support them, before carbon and oil constraints create difficulties in powering the vehicles. Of course, the increasing use of Electric vehicles (EVs) is going to put excessive pressure on energy grids, as large volumes of electricity will need to be directed to charging points, which in turn must handle fluctuating demand at peak times. EVs are increasing in popularity as a sustainable method of transport to reduce carbon consumption, and electric utilities will have the opportunity, and the challenge, to quickly determine the best methods to fuel these vehicles and accommodate the associated increases in demand for energy. Critically, efficient software is required to provide diagnostic and predictive capabilities related to EV refuelling - for example, anticipated electricity flow will need to be addressed as the number of EVs on the road increases, and electricity will need to be directed to specific areas on-demand as vehicles attempt to recharge en-mass. But a smart grid infrastructure can meet these demands, intelligently. The implementation of a smart grid is not in the distant future, it is an achievable reality for utilities via simple installation of new software and technologies, which can be done incrementally for those facing existing legacy systems or concerned with upfront costs. The smart grid is integral to the monitoring and control of energy use as well as the future-proofing of the energy grid. A smart grid will be critical to meeting the electricity requirements of new EVs and will ensure their successful deployment by providing a reliable foundation for the data handling required to record and manage electricity distribution - from recording and assessing energy usage, to analysing data and sharing information with consumers via green billing. http://www.greenbang.com/do-we-have-enough-time-to-build-an-electric-car-future_14248.html

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  • both IPV4 and IPV6 at the same time over DSL connection?

    - by namiheike
    Let me describe my situation: while I connect computer with the wire, I've got an IPV6 address automatically, there's a "Wired connection" tab in network manager, and I can access an website that support IPV6 (google,facebook,twitter...)with a hosts file, or use the proxy like google.com.sixxs.org But if I want to access the whole internet, I have to create a DSL connection with username and password that ISP gave me. BUT after I change my connection into this DSL connection, I cannot access website over IPV6, even there's the site's ipv6 address in /etc/hosts, then I realize that I lose my IPV6 connection, because the ping6 says connect: Network is unreachable. the problem is, there's no IPV6 tab or options about IPV6 in the configure of DSL connection. It feels like I can only use one connection at the same time, but the DSL doesn't support IPV6 and the wired connection doesn't support IPV4(I mean, there's no way to input the password the ISP gave me) maybe make somebody uncomfortable, but when I work in MS windows, there's no such problem, (maybe just feel like) I can access V4 and V6 at the same time. So how to solve with this? thanks a lot. I'm in 11.10 + gnome3

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  • How can I reduce the amount of time it takes to fully regression test an application ready for release?

    - by DrLazer
    An app I work on is being developed with a modified version of scrum. If you are not familiar with scrum, it's just an alternative approach to a more traditional watefall model, where a series of features are worked on for a set amount of time known as a sprint. The app is written in C# and makes use of WPF. We use Visual C# 2010 Express edition as an IDE. If we work on a sprint and add in a few new features, but do not plan to release until a further sprint is complete, then regression testing is not an issue as such. We just test the new features and give the app a good once over. However, if a release is planned that our customers can download - a full regression test is factored in. In the past this wasn't a big deal, it took 3 or 4 days and the devs simply fix up any bugs found in the regression phase, but now, as the app is getting larger and larger and incorporating more and more features, the regression is spanning out for weeks. I am interested in any methods that people know of or use that can decrease this time. At the moment the only ideas I have are to either start writing Unit Tests, which I have never fully tried out in a commercial environment, or to research the possibilty of any UI Automation API's or tools that would allow me to write a program to perform a series of batch tests. I know literally nothing about the possibilities of UI automation so any information would be valuable. I don't know that much about Unit testing either, how complicated can the tests be? Is it possible to get Unit tests to use the UI? Are there any other methods I should consider? Thanks for reading, and for any advice in advance. Edit: Thanks for the information. Does anybody know of any alternatives to what has been mentioned so far (NUnit, RhinoMocks and CodedUI)?

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  • When is the right time to join open source project for programmer?

    - by Mahesh
    Most of the newcomers in programming start with basic projects to start with programming. Most of the C++ progammers spend some time with puzzles and contests but this is not always helpful. Sometimes you've to spend some time on real projects. Starting your own open source project could be a problem in self-learning for newbie cause of lack of mentors and peers who can't look at your code and give suggestions. Open source projects can solve this problem, some projects could be best suited for new programmers. Besides everybody is newbie at some point. So i'll try and make this question a bit from beginners perspective. I tried few questions on stack overflow before asking this like How do i join & Bare minimum you need and how to get involved with open source and what level of programming etc. But this is not helping me when it comes to self-evaluating with skills. How to find that out ? How can i check what it takes to join open source project and am i really that comfortable with huge source code etc. My question is when to consider yourself comfortable joining open source programming ? I mean how will you test yourself that you're ready to take burden of big/small projects of open source ? how will you test yourself to see if you could work with version control/other programmers/tight schedule etc ?

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  • In which fields does quality of the software product matter as much as the completion time?

    - by Nav
    Someone told me that if the software product meets clients expectations, it is good quality. But I've worked with Interaction Designers (the same kind of people who made Gmail's interface and usability so cool!), and I've loved working with them because even though they came up with hundreds of changes in requirements, and emphasised on many many subtle details, when the software was complete, I could look at the product and say WOW! The current place I work, the only thing that matters is completing the project on time. As long as it works and as long as the client says it's ok, nobody bothers to improve it. I'm not talking about gold-plating, but I believe that for a programmer to enjoy his (well, maybe her too ;) ) job, they should be able to proudly say that "Hey, I made that software" and that comes only when the product is of good quality. Apart from your opinions on this, I'd also like to know which fields (Eg. Aerospace, Finance etc.) could I find companies (or you could mention the company name) where the quality of a product is as important as completing the project on time?

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  • Splitting a tetris game apart - where to put time-management?

    - by nightcracker
    I am creating a tetris game in C++ & SDL, and I'm trying to do it "good" by making it object-oriented and keeping scopes small. So far I have the following structure: A main with some lowlevel SDL set up and handling input A game class that keeps track of score and provides the interface for main (move block down, etc) A map class that keeps track of the current game field, which blocks are where. Used by the game class. A block class that consists of the current falling block, used by game. A renderer class abstracting low level SDL to a format where you render "tetris blocks". Used by map and block. Now I have a though time where to place the time-management of this game. For example, where should be decided when a block bumps the bottom of the screen how long it takes the current block locks in place and a new block spawns? I also have an other unrelated question, is there some place where you can find some standard data on tetris like standard score tables, rulesets, timings, etc?

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  • Do you write unit tests for all the time in TDD?

    - by mcaaltuntas
    I have been designing and developing code with TDD style for a long time. What disturbs me about TDD is writing tests for code that does not contain any business logic or interesting behaviour. I know TDD is a design activity more than testing but sometimes I feel it's useless to write tests in these scenarios. For example I have a simple scenario like "When user clicks check button, it should check file's validity". For this scenario I usually start writing tests for presenter/controller class like the one below. @Test public void when_user_clicks_check_it_should_check_selected_file_validity(){ MediaService service =mock(MediaService); View view =mock(View); when(view.getSelectedFile).thenReturns("c:\\Dir\\file.avi"); MediaController controller =new MediaController(service,view); controller.check(); verify(service).check("c:\\Dir\\file.avi"); } As you can see there is no design decision or interesting code to verify behaviour. I am testing values from view passed to MediaService. I usually write but don't like these kind of tests. What do yo do about these situations ? Do you write tests for all the time ? UPDATE : I have changed the test name and code after complaints. Some users said that you should write tests for the trivial cases like this so in the future someone might add interesting behaviour. But what about “Code for today, design for tomorrow.” ? If someone, including myself, adds more interesting code in the future the test can be created for it then. Why should I do it now for the trivial cases ?

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  • How can I reduce the amount of time it takes to fully regression test an application ready for release?

    - by DrLazer
    An app I work on is being developed with a modified version of scrum. If you are not familiar with scrum, it's just an alternative approach to a more traditional watefall model, where a series of features are worked on for a set amount of time known as a sprint. The app is written in C# and makes use of WPF. We use Visual C# 2010 Express edition as an IDE. If we work on a sprint and add in a few new features, but do not plan to release until a further sprint is complete, then regression testing is not an issue as such. We just test the new features and give the app a good once over. However, if a release is planned that our customers can download - a full regression test is factored in. In the past this wasn't a big deal, it took 3 or 4 days and the devs simply fix up any bugs found in the regression phase, but now, as the app is getting larger and larger and incorporating more and more features, the regression is spanning out for weeks. I am interested in any methods that people know of or use that can decrease this time. At the moment the only ideas I have are to either start writing Unit Tests, which I have never fully tried out in a commercial environment, or to research the possibilty of any UI Automation API's or tools that would allow me to write a program to perform a series of batch tests. I know literally nothing about the possibilities of UI automation so any information would be valuable. I don't know that much about Unit testing either, how complicated can the tests be? Is it possible to get Unit tests to use the UI? Are there any other methods I should consider? Thanks for reading, and for any advice in advance.

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  • Are scheduled job servers the right choice for a time sensitive game engine?

    - by maple_shaft
    I am currently architecting and designing an exciting new web application that will be entering into some areas that I have very little experience in, game development. The application is not necessarily a game, but there are some very time sensitive tasks and scheduled jobs that a server will need to run to perform game related activities (Eg. New match up starts at noon every day for a 12 day tournament, updating scoreboards at 5pm every day, etc...) In the past I have typically used cron jobs with the Quartz Scheduler running within a web application server, but I know that this isn't likely a scalable solution for the truly massive userbase that management is telling me to expect (Granted they are management and are probably highly optimistic about this) and also for how important the role of these tasks are in this web application. The other important thing I want to consider is that I want to avoid SPOF (Single Point Of Failure). If the primary job server goes down, another job server should be able to successfully run the job in its place. I suppose this can be done appropriately record locking and database transactions. My question is if scheduled jobs like CRON running on a web application server are a wise design choice given the time sensitive game tasks of this application, or is there something more appropriate for running a scalable game engine parallel to the web application servers?

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  • The Art of Productivity

    - by dwahlin
    Getting things done has always been a challenge regardless of gender, age, race, skill, or job position. No matter how hard some people try, they end up procrastinating tasks until the last minute. Some people simply focus better when they know they’re out of time and can’t procrastinate any longer. How many times have you put off working on a term paper in school until the very last minute? With only a few hours left your mental energy and focus seem to kick in to high gear especially as you realize that you either get the paper done now or risk failing. It’s amazing how a little pressure can turn into a motivator and allow our minds to focus on a given task. Some people seem to specialize in procrastinating just about everything they do while others tend to be the “doers” who get a lot done and ultimately rise up the ladder at work. What’s the difference between these types of people? Is it pure laziness or are other factors at play? I think that some people are certainly more motivated than others, but I also think a lot of it is based on the process that “doers” tend to follow - whether knowingly or unknowingly. While I’ve certainly fought battles with procrastination, I’ve always had a knack for being able to get a lot done in a relatively short amount of time. I think a lot of my “get it done” attitude goes back to the the strong work ethic my parents instilled in me at a young age. I remember my dad saying, “You need to learn to work hard!” when I was around 5 years old. I remember that moment specifically because I was on a tractor with him the first time I heard it while he was trying to move some large rocks into a pile. The tractor was big but so were the rocks and my dad had to balance the tractor perfectly so that it didn’t tip forward too far. It was challenging work and somewhat tedious but my dad finished the task and taught me a few important lessons along the way including persistence, the importance of having a skill, and getting the job done right without skimping along the way. In this post I’m going to list a few of the techniques and processes I follow that I hope may be beneficial to others. I blogged about the general concept back in 2009 but thought I’d share some updated information and lessons learned since then. Most of the ideas that follow came from learning and refining my daily work process over the years. However, since most of the ideas are common sense (at least in my opinion), I suspect they can be found in other productivity processes that are out there. Let’s start off with one of the most important yet simple tips: Start Each Day with a List. Start Each Day with a List What are you planning to get done today? Do you keep track of everything in your head or rely on your calendar? While most of us think that we’re pretty good at managing “to do” lists strictly in our head you might be surprised at how affective writing out lists can be. By writing out tasks you’re forced to focus on the most important tasks to accomplish that day, commit yourself to those tasks, and have an easy way to track what was supposed to get done and what actually got done. Start every morning by making a list of specific tasks that you want to accomplish throughout the day. I’ll even go so far as to fill in times when I’d like to work on tasks if I have a lot of meetings or other events tying up my calendar on a given day. I’m not a big fan of using paper since I type a lot faster than I write (plus I write like a 3rd grader according to my wife), so I use the Sticky Notes feature available in Windows. Here’s an example of yesterday’s sticky note: What do you add to your list? That’s the subject of the next tip. Focus on Small Tasks It’s no secret that focusing on small, manageable tasks is more effective than trying to focus on large and more vague tasks. When you make your list each morning only add tasks that you can accomplish within a given time period. For example, if I only have 30 minutes blocked out to work on an article I don’t list “Write Article”. If I do that I’ll end up wasting 30 minutes stressing about how I’m going to get the article done in 30 minutes and ultimately get nothing done. Instead, I’ll list something like “Write Introductory Paragraphs for Article”. The next day I may add, “Write first section of article” or something that’s small and manageable – something I’m confident that I can get done. You’ll find that once you’ve knocked out several smaller tasks it’s easy to continue completing others since you want to keep the momentum going. In addition to keeping my tasks focused and small, I also make a conscious effort to limit my list to 4 or 5 tasks initially. I’ve found that if I list more than 5 tasks I feel a bit overwhelmed which hurts my productivity. It’s easy to add additional tasks as you complete others and you get the added benefit of that confidence boost of knowing that you’re being productive and getting things done as you remove tasks and add others. Getting Started is the Hardest (Yet Easiest) Part I’ve always found that getting started is the hardest part and one of the biggest contributors to procrastination. Getting started working on tasks is a lot like getting a large rock pushed to the bottom of a hill. It’s difficult to get the rock rolling at first, but once you manage to get it rocking some it’s really easy to get it rolling on its way to the bottom. As an example, I’ve written 100s of articles for technical magazines over the years and have really struggled with the initial introductory paragraphs. Keep in mind that these are the paragraphs that don’t really add that much value (in my opinion anyway). They introduce the reader to the subject matter and nothing more. What a waste of time for me to sit there stressing about how to start the article. On more than one occasion I’ve spent more than an hour trying to come up with 2-3 paragraphs of text.  Talk about a productivity killer! Whether you’re struggling with a writing task, some code for a project, an email, or other tasks, jumping in without thinking too much is the best way to get started I’ve found. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have an overall plan when jumping into a task, but on some occasions you’ll find that if you simply jump into the task and stop worrying about doing everything perfectly that things will flow more smoothly. For my introductory paragraph problem I give myself 5 minutes to write out some general concepts about what I know the article will cover and then spend another 10-15 minutes going back and refining that information. That way I actually have some ideas to work with rather than a blank sheet of paper. If I still find myself struggling I’ll write the rest of the article first and then circle back to the introductory paragraphs once I’m done. To sum this tip up: Jump into a task without thinking too hard about it. It’s better to to get the rock at the top of the hill rocking some than doing nothing at all. You can always go back and refine your work.   Learn a Productivity Technique and Stick to It There are a lot of different productivity programs and seminars out there being sold by companies. I’ve always laughed at how much money people spend on some of these motivational programs/seminars because I think that being productive isn’t that hard if you create a re-useable set of steps and processes to follow. That’s not to say that some of these programs/seminars aren’t worth the money of course because I know they’ve definitely benefited some people that have a hard time getting things done and staying focused. One of the best productivity techniques I’ve ever learned is called the “Pomodoro Technique” and it’s completely free. This technique is an extremely simple way to manage your time without having to remember a bunch of steps, color coding mechanisms, or other processes. The technique was originally developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 80s and can be implemented with a simple timer. In a nutshell here’s how the technique works: Pick a task to work on Set the timer to 25 minutes and work on the task Once the timer rings record your time Take a 5 minute break Repeat the process Here’s why the technique works well for me: It forces me to focus on a single task for 25 minutes. In the past I had no time goal in mind and just worked aimlessly on a task until I got interrupted or bored. 25 minutes is a small enough chunk of time for me to stay focused. Any distractions that may come up have to wait until after the timer goes off. If the distraction is really important then I stop the timer and record my time up to that point. When the timer is running I act as if I only have 25 minutes total for the task (like you’re down to the last 25 minutes before turning in your term paper….frantically working to get it done) which helps me stay focused and turns into a “beat the clock” type of game. It’s actually kind of fun if you treat it that way and really helps me focus on a the task at hand. I automatically know how much time I’m spending on a given task (more on this later) by using this technique. I know that I have 5 minutes after each pomodoro (the 25 minute sprint) to waste on anything I’d like including visiting a website, stepping away from the computer, etc. which also helps me stay focused when the 25 minute timer is counting down. I use this technique so much that I decided to build a program for Windows 8 called Pomodoro Focus (I plan to blog about how it was built in a later post). It’s a Windows Store application that allows people to track tasks, productive time spent on tasks, interruption time experienced while working on a given task, and the number of pomodoros completed. If a time estimate is given when the task is initially created, Pomodoro Focus will also show the task completion percentage. I like it because it allows me to track my tasks, time spent on tasks (very useful in the consulting world), and even how much time I wasted on tasks (pressing the pause button while working on a task starts the interruption timer). I recently added a new feature that charts productive and interruption time for tasks since I wanted to see how productive I was from week to week and month to month. A few screenshots from the Pomodoro Focus app are shown next, I had a lot of fun building it and use it myself to as I work on tasks.   There are certainly many other productivity techniques and processes out there (and a slew of books describing them), but the Pomodoro Technique has been the simplest and most effective technique I’ve ever come across for staying focused and getting things done.   Persistence is Key Getting things done is great but one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is that persistence is key especially when you’re trying to get something done that at times seems insurmountable. Small tasks ultimately lead to larger tasks getting accomplished, however, it’s not all roses along the way as some of the smaller tasks may come with their own share of bumps and bruises that lead to discouragement about the end goal and whether or not it is worth achieving at all. I’ve been on several long-term projects over my career as a software developer (I have one personal project going right now that fits well here) and found that repeating, “Persistence is the key!” over and over to myself really helps. Not every project turns out to be successful, but if you don’t show persistence through the hard times you’ll never know if you succeeded or not. Likewise, if you don’t persistently stick to the process of creating a daily list, follow a productivity process, etc. then the odds of consistently staying productive aren’t good.   Track Your Time How much time do you actually spend working on various tasks? If you don’t currently track time spent answering emails, on phone calls, and working on various tasks then you might be surprised to find out that a task that you thought was going to take you 30 minutes ultimately ended up taking 2 hours. If you don’t track the time you spend working on tasks how can you expect to learn from your mistakes, optimize your time better, and become more productive? That’s another reason why I like the Pomodoro Technique – it makes it easy to stay focused on tasks while also tracking how much time I’m working on a given task.   Eliminate Distractions I blogged about this final tip several years ago but wanted to bring it up again. If you want to be productive (and ultimately successful at whatever you’re doing) then you can’t waste a lot of time playing games or on Twitter, Facebook, or other time sucking websites. If you see an article you’re interested in that has no relation at all to the tasks you’re trying to accomplish then bookmark it and read it when you have some spare time (such as during a pomodoro break). Fighting the temptation to check your friends’ status updates on Facebook? Resist the urge and realize how much those types of activities are hurting your productivity and taking away from your focus. I’ll admit that eliminating distractions is still tough for me personally and something I have to constantly battle. But, I’ve made a conscious decision to cut back on my visits and updates to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other sites. Sure, my Klout score has suffered as a result lately, but does anyone actually care about those types of scores aside from your online “friends” (few of whom you’ve actually met in person)? :-) Ultimately it comes down to self-discipline and how badly you want to be productive and successful in your career, life goals, hobbies, or whatever you’re working on. Rather than having your homepage take you to a time wasting news site, game site, social site, picture site, or others, how about adding something like the following as your homepage? Every time your browser opens you’ll see a personal message which helps keep you on the right track. You can download my ubber-sophisticated homepage here if interested. Summary Is there a single set of steps that if followed can ultimately lead to productivity? I don’t think so since one size has never fit all. Every person is different, works in their own unique way, and has their own set of motivators, distractions, and more. While I certainly don’t consider myself to be an expert on the subject of productivity, I do think that if you learn what steps work best for you and gradually refine them over time that you can come up with a personal productivity process that can serve you well. Productivity is definitely an “art” that anyone can learn with a little practice and persistence. You’ve seen some of the steps that I personally like to follow and I hope you find some of them useful in boosting your productivity. If you have others you use please leave a comment. I’m always looking for ways to improve.

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  • How to control Time zone formatting in System.Xml.Serialization or during application execution?

    - by Beal
    I'm developing a C# .Net Application that is executing on a system located in the Central Time Zone. The application gets information from a third party using an API they provide. I have used the WSDL to produce the code that my application access the API with...their reporting API allows you to define a start date and end date for the report. These are C# DateTime fields and XSD:dateTime. Now when I set the start date and end dates and allow the API to create the SOAP messages the dates don't always include a Time Zone unless I set the date fields using the ToLocalTime method; however, the method will create the DateTime fields in the Central Time Zone (CST) but I need to have it create these fields in the Pacific Time Zone (PST). If I set my machine time to PST all is good...but of course that causes other time issues. What methods can I use to control the formatting of the DateTime? Alternatively, is there a application setting that can be set in C# that allows timezone control?

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  • Performance optimization for mssql: decrease stored procedures execution time or unload the server?

    - by tim
    Hello everybody! We have a web service which provides search over hotels. There is a problem with performance: a single request to the service takes around 5000 ms. Almost all of the time is spent in database by executing storing procedures. During the request our server (mssql2008) consumes ~90% of the processor time. When 2 requests are made in parallel the average time grows and is around 7000 ms. When number of request is increasing, the average time of response is increasing as well. We have 20-30 requests per minute. Which kind of optimization is the best in this case having in mind that the goal is to provide stable response time for the service: 1) Try to decrease the stored procedures execution time 2) Try to find the way how to unload the server It is interesting to hear from people who deal with booking sites. Thanks!

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  • How can I remove the Translation entries in apt?

    - by Lord of Time
    This is the output of aptitude update: Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty InRelease Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty InRelease Ign http://dl.google.com stable InRelease Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security InRelease Hit http://deb.torproject.org natty InRelease Get:1 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg [198 B] Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty InRelease Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates InRelease Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release.gpg Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security Release.gpg Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security Release Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release Get:2 http://dl.google.com stable Release [1,338 B] Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release.gpg Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Sources Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner amd64 Packages Hit http://deb.torproject.org natty/main amd64 Packages Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty Release Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Sources Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Sources Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Sources Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/main amd64 Packages Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted amd64 Packages Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner TranslationIndex Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe amd64 Packages Hit http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse amd64 Packages Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/main TranslationIndex Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse TranslationIndex Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted TranslationIndex Ign http://deb.torproject.org natty/main TranslationIndex Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe TranslationIndex Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/main amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse amd64 Packages Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe TranslationIndex Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Sources Get:3 http://dl.google.com stable/main amd64 Packages [469 B] Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main TranslationIndex Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Sources Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe amd64 Packages Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe TranslationIndex Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en_US Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en_US Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en_US Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en_US Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en_US Ign http://security.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en_US Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main amd64 Packages Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en_US Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en Ign http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb InRelease Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en Hit http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb Release.gpg Hit http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb Release Ign http://deb.torproject.org natty/main Translation-en_US Ign http://deb.torproject.org natty/main Translation-en Hit http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb/apps amd64 Packages Ign http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb/apps TranslationIndex Ign http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb/apps Translation-en_US Ign http://archive.getdeb.net natty-getdeb/apps Translation-en Fetched 2,005 B in 45s (44 B/s) Reading package lists... Is there any way I can get rid of the Translation stuff? I'm tired of it resulting in tons of repository checks rather than it checking far less repositories (69 actual repos vs. 169 checks)

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  • Don’t miss rare Venus transit across Sun on June 5th. Once in a life time event.

    - by Gopinath
    Space lovers here is a rare event you don’t want to miss. On June 5th or 6th of 2012,depending on which part of the globe you live, the planet Venus will pass across Sun and it will not happen again until 2117. During the six hour long spectacular transit you can see the shadow of Venus cross Sun. The transit of Venus occurs in pairs eight years apart, with the previous one taking place in 2004. The next pair of transits occurs after 105.5 & 121.5 years later. The best place to watch the event would be a planetarium nearby with telescope facility. If not you watch it directly but must protect your eyes at all times with proper solar filters. Where can we see the transit? The transit of Venus is going to be clearly visible in Europe, Asia, United States and some part of Australia. Americans will be able to see transit in the evening of Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Eurasians and Africans can see the transit in the morning of June 6, 2012. At what time the event occurs? The principal events occurring during a transit are conveniently characterized by contacts, analogous to the contacts of an annular solar eclipse. The transit begins with contact I, the instant the planet’s disk is externally tangent to the Sun. Shortly after contact I, the planet can be seen as a small notch along the solar limb. The entire disk of the planet is first seen at contact II when the planet is internally tangent to the Sun. Over the course of several hours, the silhouetted planet slowly traverses the solar disk. At contact III, the planet reaches the opposite limb and once again is internally tangent to the Sun. Finally, the transit ends at contact IV when the planet’s limb is externally tangent to the Sun. Event Universal Time Contact I 22:09:38 Contact II 22:27:34 Greatest 01:29:36 Contact III 04:31:39 Contact IV 04:49:35   Transit of Venus animation Here is a nice video animation on the transit of Venus Map courtesy of Steven van Roode, source NASA

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  • Sysprep and Capture task sequence failing using MDT 2010

    - by Nic Young
    I have created a Windows Deployment Services server in Windows 2008 R2. When I originally set it up I was able to successfully use MDT 2010 to create my boot images as well as creating task sequences that would sysprep and capture, and deploy my custom .wim files. Everything was working perfectly. About a month later I boot up my Windows 7 x86 image and run Windows updates to keep my image up to date. I then go and run my sysprep and capture task sequence and I get the following errors: I searched online for the cause of this error message and it just seems to be a generic permission denied type of error message. I then decided to completely rebuild my VM image from scratch and try again. I am still getting the same error messages as before. The following is what I have tried troubleshooting this issue: Troubleshooting: I have ensured that that UAC and the firewall is turned completely off when trying to capture the image. I have tried recreating the task sequence and making sure that the deployment share is updated. I have ensured that the local Administrator account is enabled and has the same password as specified in the task sequence. I have tried joining the computer to the domain and running the task sequence and I get a different error: I have attempted to run the script from the command prompt with "Run as Administrator" and I still receive the same errors above. For testing purposes I have ensured that Everyone has read/write access to my deployment share. I have spent days on trying to resolve this to no avail. Any ideas? EDIT: Below is the log info from C:\Windows\Deploymentlogs\BDD.log as requested. <![LOG[LTI Windows PE applied successfully]LOG]!><time="11:48:34.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTIApply" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTIApply"> <![LOG[LTIApply processing completed successfully.]LOG]!><time="11:48:34.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTIApply" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTIApply"> <![LOG[Microsoft Deployment Toolkit version: 6.0.2223.0]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[The task sequencer log is located at C:\Users\nicy\AppData\Local\Temp\SMSTSLog\SMSTS.LOG. For task sequence failures, please consult this log.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[Processing drivers for an X86 operating system.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[TargetOS is the current SystemDrive]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[Property DriverCleanup is now = DONE]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[Compare Image processor Type with Original [X86] = [X86].]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[Prepare machine for Sysprep.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[No driver actions can be taken for OS Images installed from *.wim files.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[ZTIDrivers processing completed successfully.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="ZTIDrivers" context="" type="1" thread="" file="ZTIDrivers"> <![LOG[Command completed, return code = -2147467259]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[Litetouch deployment failed, Return Code = -2147467259 0x80004005]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="3" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[For more information, consult the task sequencer log ...\SMSTS.LOG.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[Property RetVal is now = -2147467259]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[Unable to copy log to the network as no SLShare value was specified.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[CleanStartItems Complete]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[Unregistering TSCore.dll.]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[About to run command: wscript.exe "\\server\deploymentshare$\Scripts\LTICleanup.wsf"]LOG]!><time="11:48:35.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LiteTouch" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LiteTouch"> <![LOG[Microsoft Deployment Toolkit version: 6.0.2223.0]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Removing AutoAdminLogon registry entries]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[VSSMaxSize not specified using 5% of volume.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Logs contained 7 errors and 0 warnings.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Stripping BDD commands from unattend.xml template.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Modified unattend.xml saved to C:\windows\panther\unattend.xml]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Checking mapped network drive.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[testing drive Z: mapped to \\server\deploymentshare$]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Disconnecting drive Z: mapped to \\server\deploymentshare$]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Cleaning up C:\MININT directory.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup"> <![LOG[Cleaning up TOOLS, SCRIPTS, and PACKAGES directories.]LOG]!><time="11:48:36.000+000" date="07-25-2012" component="LTICleanup" context="" type="1" thread="" file="LTICleanup">

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  • AI for a mixed Turn Based + Real Time battle system - Something "Gambit like" the right approach?

    - by Jason L.
    This is maybe a question that's been asked 100 times 1,000 different ways. I apologize for that :) I'm in the process of building the AI for a game I'm working on. The game is a turn based one, in the vein of Final Fantasy but also has a set of things that happen in real time (reactions). I've experimented with FSM, HFSMs, and Behavior Trees. None of them felt "right" to me and all felt either too limiting or too generic / big. The idea I'm toying with now is something like a "Rules engine" that could be likened to the Gambit system from Final Fantasy 12. I would have a set of predefined personalities. Each of these personalities would have a set of conditions it would check on each event (Turn start, time to react, etc). These conditions would be priority ordered, and the first one that returns true would be the action I take. These conditions can also point to a "choice" action, which is just an action that will make a choice based on some Utility function. Sort of a mix of FSM/HFSM and a Utility Function approach. So, a "gambit" with the personality of "Healer" may look something like this: (ON) Ally HP = 0% - Choose "Relife" spell (ON) Ally HP < 50% - Choose Heal spell (ON) Self HP < 65% - Choose Heal spell (ON) Ally Debuff - Choose Debuff Removal spell (ON) Ally Lost Buff - Choose Buff spell Likewise, a "gambit" with the personality of "Agressor" may look like this: (ON) Foe HP < 10% - Choose Attack skill (ON) Foe any - Choose target - Choose Attack skill (ON) Self Lost Buff - Choose Buff spell (ON) Foe HP = 0% - Taunt the player What I like about this approach is it makes sense in my head. It also would be extremely easy to build an "AI Editor" with an approach like this. What I'm worried about is.. would it be too limiting? Would it maybe get too complicated? Does anyone have any experience with AIs in Turn Based games that could maybe provide me some insight into this approach.. or suggest a different approach? Many thanks in advance!!!

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  • Partner Blog Series: PwC Perspectives - "Is It Time for an Upgrade?"

    - by Tanu Sood
    Is your organization debating their next step with regard to Identity Management? While all the stakeholders are well aware that the one-size-fits-all doesn’t apply to identity management, just as true is the fact that no two identity management implementations are alike. Oracle’s recent release of Identity Governance Suite 11g Release 2 has innovative features such as a customizable user interface, shopping cart style request catalog and more. However, only a close look at the use cases can help you determine if and when an upgrade to the latest R2 release makes sense for your organization. This post will describe a few of the situations that PwC has helped our clients work through. “Should I be considering an upgrade?” If your organization has an existing identity management implementation, the questions below are a good start to assessing your current solution to see if you need to begin planning for an upgrade: Does the current solution scale and meet your projected identity management needs? Does the current solution have a customer-friendly user interface? Are you completely meeting your compliance objectives? Are you still using spreadsheets? Does the current solution have the features you need? Is your total cost of ownership in line with well-performing similar sized companies in your industry? Can your organization support your existing Identity solution? Is your current product based solution well positioned to support your organization's tactical and strategic direction? Existing Oracle IDM Customers: Several existing Oracle clients are looking to move to R2 in 2013. If your organization is on Sun Identity Manager (SIM) or Oracle Identity Manager (OIM) and if your current assessment suggests that you need to upgrade, you should strongly consider OIM 11gR2. Oracle provides upgrade paths to Oracle Identity Manager 11gR2 from SIM 7.x / 8.x as well as Oracle Identity Manager 10g / 11gR1. The following are some of the considerations for migration: Check the end of product support (for Sun or legacy OIM) schedule There are several new features available in R2 (including common Helpdesk scenarios, profiling of disconnected applications, increased scalability, custom connectors, browser-based UI configurations, portability of configurations during future upgrades, etc) Cost of ownership (for SIM customers)\ Customizations that need to be maintained during the upgrade Time/Cost to migrate now vs. waiting for next version If you are already on an older version of Oracle Identity Manager and actively maintaining your support contract with Oracle, you might be eligible for a free upgrade to OIM 11gR2. Check with your Oracle sales rep for more details. Existing IDM infrastructure in place: In the past year and half, we have seen a surge in IDM upgrades from non-Oracle infrastructure to Oracle. If your organization is looking to improve the end-user experience related to identity management functions, the shopping cart style access request model and browser based personalization features may come in handy. Additionally, organizations that have a large number of applications that include ecommerce, LDAP stores, databases, UNIX systems, mainframes as well as a high frequency of user identity changes and access requests will value the high scalability of the OIM reconciliation and provisioning engine. Furthermore, we have seen our clients like OIM's out of the box (OOB) support for multiple authoritative sources. For organizations looking to integrate applications that do not have an exposed API, the Generic Technology Connector framework supported by OIM will be helpful in quickly generating custom connector using OOB wizard. Similarly, organizations in need of not only flexible on-boarding of disconnected applications but also strict access management to these applications using approval flows will find the flexible disconnected application profiling feature an extremely useful tool that provides a high degree of time savings. Organizations looking to develop custom connectors for home grown or industry specific applications will likewise find that the Identity Connector Framework support in OIM allows them to build and test a custom connector independently before integrating it with OIM. Lastly, most of our clients considering an upgrade to OIM 11gR2 have also expressed interest in the browser based configuration feature that allows an administrator to quickly customize the user interface without adding any custom code. Better yet, code customizations, if any, made to the product are portable across the future upgrades which, is viewed as a big time and money saver by most of our clients. Below are some upgrade methodologies we adopt based on client priorities and the scale of implementation. For illustration purposes, we have assumed that the client is currently on Oracle Waveset (formerly Sun Identity Manager).   Integrated Deployment: The integrated deployment is typically where a client wants to split the implementation to where their current IDM is continuing to handle the front end workflows and OIM takes over the back office operations incrementally. Once all the back office operations are moved completely to OIM, the front end workflows are migrated to OIM. Parallel Deployment: This deployment is typically done where there can be a distinct line drawn between which functionality the platforms are supporting. For example the current IDM implementation is handling the password reset functionality while OIM takes over the access provisioning and RBAC functions. Cutover Deployment: A cutover deployment is typically recommended where a client has smaller less complex implementations and it makes sense to leverage the migration tools to move them over immediately. What does this mean for YOU? There are many variables to consider when making upgrade decisions. For most customers, there is no ‘easy’ button. Organizations looking to upgrade or considering a new vendor should start by doing a mapping of their requirements with product features. The recommended approach is to take stock of both the short term and long term objectives, understand product features, future roadmap, maturity and level of commitment from the R&D and build the implementation plan accordingly. As we said, in the beginning, there is no one-size-fits-all with Identity Management. So, arm yourself with the knowledge, engage in industry discussions, bring in business stakeholders and start building your implementation roadmap. In the next post we will discuss the best practices on R2 implementations. We will be covering the Do's and Don't's and share our thoughts on making implementations successful. Meet the Writers: Dharma Padala is a Director in the Advisory Security practice within PwC.  He has been implementing medium to large scale Identity Management solutions across multiple industries including utility, health care, entertainment, retail and financial sectors.   Dharma has 14 years of experience in delivering IT solutions out of which he has been implementing Identity Management solutions for the past 8 years. Scott MacDonald is a Director in the Advisory Security practice within PwC.  He has consulted for several clients across multiple industries including financial services, health care, automotive and retail.   Scott has 10 years of experience in delivering Identity Management solutions. John Misczak is a member of the Advisory Security practice within PwC.  He has experience implementing multiple Identity and Access Management solutions, specializing in Oracle Identity Manager and Business Process Engineering Language (BPEL). Praveen Krishna is a Manager in the Advisory Security practice within PwC.  Over the last decade Praveen has helped clients plan, architect and implement Oracle identity solutions across diverse industries.  His experience includes delivering security across diverse topics like network, infrastructure, application and data where he brings a holistic point of view to problem solving. Jenny (Xiao) Zhang is a member of the Advisory Security practice within PwC.  She has consulted across multiple industries including financial services, entertainment and retail. Jenny has three years of experience in delivering IT solutions out of which she has been implementing Identity Management solutions for the past one and a half years.

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  • How do I make more available space on a Time Machine hard disk?

    - by Daryl Spitzer
    I upgraded my MacBook Pro to Snow Leopard, and made some other changes that have caused my next Time Machine backup to be quite large. Previous to the upgrade my backup drive had filled up, so Time Machine was deleting old backups to make room for new ones. When Time Machine started the first backup after the upgrade, it displayed a message that it was freeing up space. But it wasn't able to free up enough: (The disk has 320 GB capacity.) How can I free up more space on the disk (without reformatting or deleting all the existing backups)? I don't want to recklessly delete files and take the risk of confusing Time Machine.

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  • Best way to land a new job while working full time?

    - by JerryC
    I work full time as a software engineer but I would like to find another job. I'm a little worried about posting my resume directly to monster or dice just in case someone at my company finds out about it. Recruiters occasionally call me (maybe once a month or so) but I'd like some more frequent correspondence so I can speed this process up. What are some good strategies to find a new job while working?

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  • How do I prevent having to log in on 3 separate prompts every time I start my machine?

    - by JC
    Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, Ubuntu Classic desktop Each time I start my machine, I have to log in 3 times. I spent a week in IRCFreenode#ubuntu and got nothing but condescension. I've searched on the official Ubuntu fora for similar problems, tried every recommendation, and still get 3 login screens. As a workaround, I have reset login such that I get a login screen at startup, which I'd prefer not to get since this machine is accessible by no one but me, physically. I have gone into System Preferences Passwords and Encryption Keys, set first 'Passwords: default' to 'Default' and unlocked it, and unlocked the 'Passwords: login' key, too. Next, since that changed nothing, I set 'Passwords: login' to 'Default', and checked to make sure it was still unlocked. Again, no change, still get 3 login prompts at startup. I've checked twice to insure that I am the owner of the files; I am. At the suggestion of several people in #ubuntu, I've deleted first one, then the other password key in 'Passwords and Encryption Keys'. Still get 3 login prompts. I changed from the Unity desktop to Ubuntu Classic. While that didn't fix the above problem, it is a much more elegant desktop than Unity, and I'll keep it. From what I've read, this seems to be a Seahorse issue, but beyond that, no one seems to have a solution that works. I'm lost. This shouldn't be this difficult or annoying. I'm trying to help our local Old Time music collective get their machines switched over to Ubuntu in order to save them some money which they can use to promote their DRM-free music. But from what I've seen of Ubuntu so far on my own machine, I can't really recommend that they make this switch. I hope to be proved wrong on that point. But as it stands, if I was out of town or out of country and they ran into a problem, they'd have no way of fixing it as they're all less experienced than even I am. I'm not trying to cast aspersions on Ubuntu or Linux, but it seems pretty clear that KNOWLEDGEABLE, HELPFUL support for Ubuntu is lacking barring any desire on the problem-experiencing-user's part to avoid condescension. Having worked with, and run, several non-profits over the past 20 years, I know that getting volunteers to act professionally can be like herding cats. But an organization's reputation can be denigrated by sarcastic behaviors on the part of those who serve, effectively, as its public face. Thank you all for your help and support. Now...does anyone have a solution to my problem?

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