Search Results

Search found 9335 results on 374 pages for 'random thoughts'.

Page 178/374 | < Previous Page | 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185  | Next Page >

  • Infrastructure to effectively set up experiements and learn from them

    - by David
    Open-org.com is in the early stages of creating our first product, a place on the web, where one can ask lawyers questions at a fraction of their normal costs. An early stage front page can be found here. I got inspired by this video, which is recommended by Jeff Atwood, which talks about getting feedback faster, which is the reason for this question. The problem Needless to say, we want our conversion rates to be as high as possible. Therefore, we want to be able to rapidly set up a new experiment where we change something on the site (like moving an image slightly, rewriting a sentence etc.). We then want to present the modified page to a random subset of the users. After that we will compare the conversion rates of the experiment with another version. I could very well imagine that we want to run 10-100 experiments simultaneously and it would be nice to have features, where experiments that obviously have worse results will be ended before schedule. My question Does infrastructure to support the whole process exist? A short description of our infrastructure... We use EC2 and PHP and have a script to automatically start up new instances with all needed software. Still, starting up a new server for every experiment, seems like a bit of overkill, so I am wondering what other options exist. Btw. If you feel like working for Open-org.com, you can pick a task, and start working, or suggest a new task. All profits are given out to the contributors.

    Read the article

  • Particle and Physics problem.

    - by Quincy
    This was originally a forum post so I hope you guys don't mind it being 2 questions in one. I am making a game and I got some basic physics implemented. I have 2 problems, 1 with particles being drawn in the wrong place and one with going through walls while jumping in corners. Skip over to about 15 sec video showing the 2 problems : http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tm9nfWsWfiM So the problem with the particles seems to be coming from the removal, as soon as I remove that piece of code it instantly works, but there shouldn't be a problem since they shouldn't even draw when their energy gets to 0 (and then they get removed) So my first question is, how are these particles getting warped all over the screen ? Relevant code : Particle class : class Particle { //Physics public Vector2 position = new Vector2(0,0); public float direction = 180; public float speed = 100; public float energy = 1; protected float startEnergy = 1; //Visual public Sprite sprite; public float rotation = 0; public float scale = 1; public byte alpha = 255; public BlendMode blendMode { get { return sprite.BlendMode; } set { sprite.BlendMode = value; } } public Particle() { } public virtual void Think(float frameTime) { if (energy - frameTime < 0) energy = 0; else energy -= frameTime; position += new Vector2((float)Math.Cos(MathHelper.DegToRad(direction)), (float)Math.Sin(MathHelper.DegToRad(direction))) * speed * frameTime; alpha = (byte)(255 * energy / startEnergy); sprite.Rotation = rotation; sprite.Position = position; sprite.Color = new Color(sprite.Color.R, sprite.Color.G, sprite.Color.B, alpha); } public virtual void Draw(float frameTime) { if (energy > 0) { World.camera.DrawSprite(sprite); } } // Basic particle implementation class BasicSprite : Particle { public BasicSprite(Sprite _sprite) { sprite = _sprite; } } Emitter : class Emitter { protected static Random rand = new Random(); protected List<Particle> particles = new List<Particle>(); public BaseEntity target = null; public Vector2 position = new Vector2(0, 0); public bool Active = true; public float timeAlive = 0; public int particleCount = 0; public int ParticlesPerSeccond { get { return (int)(1 / particleSpawnTime); } set { particleSpawnTime = 1 / (float)value; } } public float dieTime = float.MaxValue; float particleSpawnTime = 0.05f; float spawnTime = 0; public Emitter() { } public virtual void Think(float frametime) { spawnTime += frametime; if (dieTime != float.MaxValue) { timeAlive += frametime; if (timeAlive >= dieTime) Active = false; } if (Active) { if (target != null) position = target.Position; while (spawnTime > particleSpawnTime) { spawnTime -= particleSpawnTime; AddParticle(); particleCount++; } } for (int i = 0; i < particles.Count; i++) { particles[i].Think(frametime); if (particles[i].energy <= 0) { particles.Remove(particles[i]); // As soon as this is removed, it works particleCount--; } } } public virtual void AddParticle() { } public virtual void Draw(float frametime) { foreach (Particle particle in particles) { particle.Draw(frametime); } } } class BloodEmitter : Emitter { Image image; public BloodEmitter() { image = new Image(@"Content/Particles/TinyCircle.png"); image.CreateMaskFromColor(new Color(255, 0, 255, 255)); this.dieTime = 0.5f; this.ParticlesPerSeccond = 100; } public override void AddParticle() { Sprite sprite = new Sprite(image); sprite.Color = new Color((byte)(rand.NextDouble() * 255), (byte)(rand.NextDouble() * 255), (byte)(rand.NextDouble() * 255)); BasicSprite particle = new BasicSprite(sprite); particle.direction = (float)rand.NextDouble() * 360; particle.position = position; particle.blendMode = BlendMode.Alpha; particles.Add(particle); } } The seccond problem is the physics problem, for some reason I can get through the right bottom corner while jumping. I think this is coming from me switching animations but I thought I made it compensate for that. Relevant code : PhysicsEntity : class PhysicsEntity : BaseEntity { // Horizontal movement constants protected const float maxHorizontalSpeed = 1000; protected const float horizontalAcceleration = 15; protected const float horizontalDragAir = 0.95f; protected const float horizontalDragGround = 0.95f; // Vertical movement constants protected const float maxVerticalSpeed = 1000; protected const float verticalAcceleration = 20; // Everything needed for movement and correct animations protected float movement = 0; protected bool onGround = false; protected Vector2 Velocity = new Vector2(0, 0); protected float maxSpeed = 0; float lastThink = 0; float thinkTime = 1f/60f; public PhysicsEntity(Vector2 position, Sprite sprite) : base(position, sprite) { } public override void Draw(float frameTime) { base.Draw(frameTime); } public override void Think(float frameTime) { CalculateMovement(frameTime); base.Think(frameTime); } protected void CalculateMovement(float frameTime) { lastThink += frameTime; while (lastThink > thinkTime) { onGround = false; Velocity.X = MathHelper.Clamp(Velocity.X + horizontalAcceleration * movement, -maxHorizontalSpeed, maxHorizontalSpeed); if (onGround) Velocity.X *= horizontalDragGround; else Velocity.X *= horizontalDragAir; if (maxSpeed < Velocity.X) maxSpeed = Velocity.X; Velocity.Y = MathHelper.Clamp(Velocity.Y + verticalAcceleration, -maxVerticalSpeed, maxVerticalSpeed); lastThink -= thinkTime; DoCollisions(thinkTime); DoAnimations(thinkTime); } } public virtual void DoAnimations(float frameTime) { } public void DoCollisions(float frameTime) { Position.Y += Velocity.Y * frameTime; Vector2 tileCollision = GetTileCollision(); if (tileCollision.X != -1 || tileCollision.Y != -1) { Vector2 collisionDepth = CollisionRectangle.DepthIntersection( new Rectangle( tileCollision.X * World.tileEngine.TileWidth, tileCollision.Y * World.tileEngine.TileHeight, World.tileEngine.TileWidth, World.tileEngine.TileHeight ) ); Position.Y += collisionDepth.Y; if (collisionDepth.Y < 0) onGround = true; Velocity.Y = 0; } Position.X += Velocity.X * frameTime; tileCollision = GetTileCollision(); if (tileCollision.X != -1 || tileCollision.Y != -1) { Vector2 collisionDepth = CollisionRectangle.DepthIntersection( new Rectangle( tileCollision.X * World.tileEngine.TileWidth, tileCollision.Y * World.tileEngine.TileHeight, World.tileEngine.TileWidth, World.tileEngine.TileHeight ) ); Position.X += collisionDepth.X; Velocity.X = 0; } } public void DoCollisions(Vector2 difference) { CollisionRectangle.Y = Position.Y - difference.Y; CollisionRectangle.Height += difference.Y; Vector2 tileCollision = GetTileCollision(); if (tileCollision.X != -1 || tileCollision.Y != -1) { Vector2 collisionDepth = CollisionRectangle.DepthIntersection( new Rectangle( tileCollision.X * World.tileEngine.TileWidth, tileCollision.Y * World.tileEngine.TileHeight, World.tileEngine.TileWidth, World.tileEngine.TileHeight ) ); Position.Y += collisionDepth.Y; if (collisionDepth.Y < 0) onGround = true; Velocity.Y = 0; } CollisionRectangle.X = Position.X - difference.X; CollisionRectangle.Width += difference.X; tileCollision = GetTileCollision(); if (tileCollision.X != -1 || tileCollision.Y != -1) { Vector2 collisionDepth = CollisionRectangle.DepthIntersection( new Rectangle( tileCollision.X * World.tileEngine.TileWidth, tileCollision.Y * World.tileEngine.TileHeight, World.tileEngine.TileWidth, World.tileEngine.TileHeight ) ); Position.X += collisionDepth.X; Velocity.X = 0; } } Vector2 GetTileCollision() { int topLeftTileX = (int)(CollisionRectangle.TopLeft.X / World.tileEngine.TileWidth); int topLeftTileY = (int)(CollisionRectangle.TopLeft.Y / World.tileEngine.TileHeight); int BottomRightTileX = (int)(CollisionRectangle.DownRight.X / World.tileEngine.TileWidth); int BottomRightTileY = (int)(CollisionRectangle.DownRight.Y / World.tileEngine.TileHeight); if (CollisionRectangle.DownRight.Y % World.tileEngine.TileHeight == 0) // If your exactly against the tile don't count that as being inside the tile BottomRightTileY -= 1; if (CollisionRectangle.DownRight.X % World.tileEngine.TileWidth == 0) // If your exactly against the tile don't count that as being inside the tile BottomRightTileX -= 1; for (int i = topLeftTileX; i <= BottomRightTileX; i++) { for (int j = topLeftTileY; j <= BottomRightTileY; j++) { if (World.tileEngine.TileIsSolid(i, j)) { return new Vector2(i, j); } } } return new Vector2(-1, -1); } } Player : enum State { Standing, Running, Jumping, Falling, Sliding, WallSlide } class Player : PhysicsEntity { private State state { get { return currentState; } set { if (currentState != value) { currentState = value; animationChanged = true; } } } private State currentState = State.Standing; private BasicEmitter basicEmitter = new BasicEmitter(); public bool flipped; public bool animationChanged = false; protected const float jumpPower = 600; AnimationManager animationManager; Rectangle DrawRectangle; public override Rectangle CollisionRectangle { get { return new Rectangle( Position.X - DrawRectangle.Width / 2f, Position.Y - DrawRectangle.Height / 2f, DrawRectangle.Width, DrawRectangle.Height ); } } public Player(Vector2 position, Sprite sprite) : base(position, sprite) { // Only posted the relevant bit DrawRectangle = animationManager.currentAnimation.drawingRectangle; } public override void Draw(float frameTime) { World.camera.DrawSprite( Sprite, Position + new Vector2(DrawRectangle.X, DrawRectangle.Y), animationManager.currentAnimation.drawingRectangle ); } public override void Think(float frameTime) { //I only posted the relevant stuff if (animationChanged) { // if the animation has changed make sure we compensate for the change in with and height animationChanged = false; DoCollisions(animationManager.getSizeDifference()); } DoCustomMovement(); base.Think(frameTime); if (!onGround && Velocity.Y > 0) { state = State.Falling; } } void DoCustomMovement() { if (onGround) { if (World.renderWindow.Input.IsKeyDown(KeyCode.W)) { Velocity.Y = -jumpPower; state = State.Jumping; } } } public override void DoAnimations(float frameTime) { string stateName = Enum.GetName(typeof(State), state); if (!animationManager.currentAnimationIs(stateName)) { animationManager.PlayAnimation(stateName); } animationManager.Think(frameTime); DrawRectangle = animationManager.currentAnimation.drawingRectangle; Sprite.Center = new Vector2( DrawRectangle.X + DrawRectangle.Width / 2, DrawRectangle.Y + DrawRectangle.Height / 2 ); Sprite.FlipX(flipped); } So why am I warping through walls ? I have given this some thought but I just can't seem to find out why this is happening. Full source if needed : source : http://www.mediafire.com/?rc7ddo09gnr68zd (download link)

    Read the article

  • Strange spam posts not making sense

    - by Paaland
    I'm running a web site with a forum where one small part is open for posting from unregistered users. The site uses captcha, but still some spam posts get through every day. Here is the thing. All of the messages follow the same pattern, but all also come from different IP's. That makes me thing this is some sort of automated scripted "attack" from a botnet of some sorts. The strange thing is that all the messages start with six random characters and contains a couple of links. The words have no meaning and the domains in the links does not even exist. Why would anyone use time and resources spreading these things? Below you can see two of these messages: A5Zfs6 exrzvrbspntz, [url=http://nktqoqllnuab.com/]nktqoqllnuab[/url], [link=http://wtrenldadvsy.com/]wtrenldadvsy[/link], [http://rnlrqfgdvdot.com/] O2oLpL nqeffxhryfdk, [url=http://jutyurbpfxow.com/]jutyurbpfxow[/url], [link=http://jpcdtmdalpow.com/]jpcdtmdalpow[/link], [http://qopqwqxwjdjx.com/] Since all the messages come from different IP's I can't see blocking those will help much. For now I'm considering just dropping all messages following this pattern since it's quite easy to match with a regexp. Have anyone else seen these kinds of messages or know the point of posting them?

    Read the article

  • Farmyard

    - by Richard Jones
    Moooooooo     For a while now we’ve been using Apple’s enterprise device app distribution mechanism.   This allows you to have a user, click on a URL on their iOS device and it pulls down a new version of an enterprise app. of of our servers. Its really nice,  have a look at - http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html   I’ve embedded this, into a check on application launch, that a web-service is called to detect a newer version of the software is available.  It then calls the URL to the App and a new version is deployed. You can alert users that a new App update is available by sending them a push notification.  See screenshot at the top. We send our push notifications out to users,  using a simple C# service.    The fun part is this.   You can instruct the push notification to play a sound (embedded in the app already). So our push notification’s play a random farmyard noise, i.e from a selection of - cow.wav dogbrk.wav duck.wav goose.wav horse.wav lamb.wav monkey.wav – left field I know rooster.wav Imagine my amusement being able to periodically send out an update and watch our office (of about 60 people) turn into farm for a few seconds. I’ve messed up a few times, with people being interrupted on customer conference calls,  but people seem good humoured about it. (so far) Simple(ish) pleasures…

    Read the article

  • SEO + international sites? country.domain.com or domain.country?

    - by Pure.Krome
    Hi folks, is it better to have seperate country specific domains (which costs more money) or subdomains which define the country, for better SEO? eg. stackoverflow.com stackoverflow.com.au stackoverflow.co.uk vs stackoverflow.com au.stackoverflow.com uk.stackoverflow.com Assumption: int the search engine web master tools, each subdomain are associated to a country. eg. au.stackoverflow.com is associated to the country Australia. cheers! Update I understand that both methods do work, especially when i utilize the assumption, listed above. The question is about: Which method is better? Is there such a small SEO difference between them? Is the first method way way way better than the second with getting better SEO results? Update #2 A number of folks have suggested that the following is a good/better approach: stackoverflow.com/ stackoverflow.com/au stackoverflow.com/uk By adding a country specific iso code to the end of the url/the first folder of the domain can be recognised as the country. But a number of SEO mates have suggested that this is a valuable waste of folder level space. Er.. how can i explain. Ok, it's been suggested by some SEO experts that if the number of levels or folders in the domain exceeds 5 then the page drops dramatically in importance. Basically, you don't want to make it deep. As such, adding the country as the first level can be considered a waste, especially when it can be handled by the domain OR subdomain - hence the question :) So, any more thoughts on this? (Maybe SO is the wrong place to ask this question?)

    Read the article

  • Desktop Fun: Star Trek Wallpapers

    - by Asian Angel
    If you are a Star Trek fan then doubtless you have a favorite series and starship(s) that you love. Get ready to enjoy viewing the fleet of ships that we have gathered together for you in our Star Trek Wallpaper collection. Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution. Note: This particular wallpaper can be trimmed up height-wise to fit your monitor’s size very nicely. For more fun wallpapers be certain to visit our new Desktop Fun section. Looking for some great icons to go with your new Star Trek wallpaper? Then be certain to check out our Sci-Fi Icon Packs collection here. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Desktop Customization: Sci-Fi Icon PacksWindows 7 Welcome Screen Taking Forever? Here’s the Fix (Maybe)Desktop Fun: Starship Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Underwater Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Starscape Theme Wallpapers TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Microsoft’s “How Do I ?” Videos Home Networks – How do they look like & the problems they cause Check Your IMAP Mail Offline In Thunderbird Follow Finder Finds You Twitter Users To Follow Combine MP3 Files Easily QuicklyCode Provides Cheatsheets & Other Programming Stuff

    Read the article

  • Concurrency with listeners and upload: is this solution sound?

    - by cbrulak
    I'm working on an Android app. We have listeners for position data and camera capture which is timed on a background thread (not a service). The timer thread dictates when the image is captured and also when the data is cached in a local sqlite db. So, my question is how to properly store the location data as it comes in based on the listeners and pull that data so that the database can be updated as the camera capture is executed. I can't put the location data into the database as it arrives because it is processed more frequently than the camera images and the camera images are what dominates the architecture at the moment. (Location data is supplement). However I need the location data to get a rough location of the where the image is captured. My first thought was to have singleton store the location data. And have a semaphore on the getInstance method so if the database update is happening (after an image is captured) we don't have an error. The location data can wait for the database update or it can be lost for that particular event it doesn't really matter. What are you thoughts? Am I on the right track? (And is this the right sub-site or would this be better on stackoverflow?)

    Read the article

  • Desktop Fun: Nebula Wallpapers

    - by Asian Angel
    Nebulae can be very colorful, breathtaking to look at, and inspire the imagination. Add a touch of that ethereal beauty to your desktop with our Nebula Wallpapers collection. Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution. For more wallpapers be certain to see our great collections in the Desktop Fun section. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Windows 7 Welcome Screen Taking Forever? Here’s the Fix (Maybe)Desktop Fun: Starship Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Underwater Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Starscape Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Fantasy Theme Wallpapers TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 21 Cursor Packs for XP, Vista & 7 Map the Stars with Stellarium Use ILovePDF To Split and Merge PDF Files TimeToMeet is a Simple Online Meeting Planning Tool Easily Create More Bookmark Toolbars in Firefox Filevo is a Cool File Hosting & Sharing Site

    Read the article

  • Do I need social networks to be an expert developer? [closed]

    - by Gerald Blizzy
    This question may sound odd, but do I need twitter, facebook and google+ if I am a web-developer? I see many expert developers nowadays using it in working order. It seems like it's harder to stay in touch with customers, co-workers and potential customers if you don' use social networks. Am I right? Reason why I ask is that I am totally not a facebook/twitter person, I find it boring and annoying. I understand that linkedin is usefull for career, but what about twitter and facebook? Are they needed for web-developer career? What I am trying to ask is if I only use linkedin, own portfolio website, google talks, gmail and something like github, would I actually miss anything professionally/job-wise? My thoughts are that I can just have my portfolio website where I list all my projects aswell as contacts page with my google talks/gmail account. It can suit both fulltime job, freelance and own projects. So this way email and google talks is just enough. Am I right or not? Thanks in advance!

    Read the article

  • How to make pulseaudio and ubuntu detect the same audio device as alsa driver

    - by Kiwy
    I use Ubuntu 14.04 x64 and I use gnome-shell on my laptop. I have a Bose companion 5 (which is basically a USB sound system) and a HDMI port, both does work perfectly when I just boot with the cable plugin. However, when my laptop go to sleep or get unplugged from those two outputs, if I plug back the device, I end up without any hardware detection (only the built-in speakers) from pulse and gnome-shell sound output selector while if I use alsamixer, the device look up and ready. gstreamer-properties allow me to select and test effectively any device but while alsa recognize any device on the run, pulse is not capable of handling things correctly, my question is then: How can I make pulse detect and use the same hardware as alsa, or how to remove completely and gracefully pulseaudio (meaning volume applet running in gnome shell) I don't mind if the project implies to recompile half gnome shell if it implies those audio outputs work all the time. Pulse does not list my soundcard when I use command pactl list cards while the module plug&play for sound card is loaded in pactl list modules. I really don't know what to do, the behavior seems pretty random.

    Read the article

  • Pre game loading time vs. in game loading time

    - by Keeper
    I'm developing a game in which a random maze is included. There are some AI creatures, lurking the maze. And I want them to go in some path according to the mazes shape. Now there are two possibilities for me to implement that, the first way (which I used) is by calculating several wanted lurking paths once the maze is created. The second, is by calculating a path once needed to be calculated, when a creature starts lurking it. My main concern is loading times. If I calculate many paths at the creating of the maze, the pre loading time is a bit long, so I thought about calculating them when needed. At the moment the game is not 'heavy' so calculating paths in mid game is not noticeable, but I'm afraid it will once it will get more complicated. Any suggestions, comments, opinions, will be of help. Edit: As for now, let p be the number of pre-calculated paths, a creatures has the probability of 1/p to take a new path (which means a path calculation) instead of an existing one. A creature does not start its patrol until the path is fully calculated of course, so no need to worry about him getting killed in the process.

    Read the article

  • (PHP vs Python vs Perl) vs Ruby [closed]

    - by Dr.Kameleon
    OK, here's what : I've programmed in over 20 different languages and now, because of a large project I'm currently working on for Mac OS X (in Objective-C/Cocoa), I need to make a final decision on which language to use for my background scripting + plugin functionality. Definitely, one factor that'll ultimately influence my decision is which one I'm most familiar with, which is PHP (one of the ugliest languages around, which I however adore... lol), then Python / Perl (the "proven values"... )... and then Ruby (which, to me, is almost confusing and I've only played with it for some time.) Now, here's my considerations : (As previously mentioned) Being familiar with it (anyway, if X is better in my case, I really don't mind studying it from scratch...) Speed Good interaction with the Shell + ease of integration with my Cocoa application Btw, some of the reasons that made me wonder if Ruby would be a good choice is : The hype around it (although, I still don't get why; but that's probably just me...) My major competitor (we're actually talking about the same type of software here) is using Ruby for its backend scripting almost exclusively (ok, along with some BASH). Isn't Ruby considered slower e.g. than Perl? Why did he choose that? Simply, a matter of personal taste? So... your thoughts?

    Read the article

  • Draw depth works on WP7 emulator but not device

    - by Luke
    I am making a game on a WP7 device using C# and XNA. I have a system where I always want the object the user is touching to be brought to the top, so every time it is touched I add float.Epsilon to its draw depth (I have it set so that 0 is the back and 1 is the front). On the Emulator that all works fine, but when I run it on my device the draw depths seem to be completely random. I am hoping that anybody knows a way to fix this. I have tried doing a Clean & Rebuild and uninstalling from the device but that is no luck. My call to spritebatch.Begin is: spriteBatch.Begin(SpriteSortMode.FrontToBack, BlendState.AlphaBlend); and to draw I use spriteBatch.Draw(Texture, new Rectangle((int)X, (int)Y, (int)Width, (int)Height), null, Color.White, 0, Vector2.Zero, SpriteEffects.None, mDrawDepth); Where mDrawDepth is a float value of the draw depth (likely to be a very small number; a small multiple of float.Epsilon. Any help much appreciated, thanks!

    Read the article

  • What did you learn today?

    - by Rajesh Pillai
    What did you learn today? Everyday teaches you something, some lesson or the other. Some day you learn a new language, a new skill or a new hobby or visit some new place, learn music, have a different dining experience, learn swimming, make some good friends, get in touch with some old friend etc. etc…. Each of these things teaches you something… So, what did you learn today? Some of the learnings from my past weeks are outlined below… Respect others. Don’t underestimate them. (Though I never consciously do so) Be careful with your words because words have different meanings if the context is not clear. Spend some time for your personal stuff and allow others do so. Every individual is different, their skills different, their thoughts are different, their perceptions are different. So, be polite. Time management. (This is a tough skill to master). At the end of the day I keep looking for more time so may be you. So, again What did you learn today? This reflection is important because if you don’t know what you are learning at every stage in your life, then your are not learning and not growing. In short you are not living. Learning is not memorization but it is self realization….. Happy learning!!!

    Read the article

  • Access Control Service: Home Realm Discovery (HRD) Gotcha

    - by Your DisplayName here!
    I really like ACS2. One feature that is very useful is home realm discovery. ACS provides a Nascar style list as well as discovery based on email addresses. You can take control of the home realm selection process yourself by downloading the JSON feed or by manually setting the home realm parameter. Plenty of options – the only option missing is turning it off… In other words, when you setup your ACS namespace and realm and register identity provider, there is no way to keep the list of identity providers secret. An interested “user” can always retrieve all registered identity provider (using the browser or download the JSON feed). This may not be an issue with web identity providers, but when you use ACS to federate with customers or business partners, you maybe don’t want to disclose that list to the public (or to other customers). This is an adoption blocker for certain situations. I hope this feature will be added soon. In addition I would also like to see a feature I call “home realm aliases”. Some random string that I can use as a whr parameter instead of using the real issuer URI.

    Read the article

  • Page Spamming via locations

    - by codemonkey
    Hi guys I am new here so please be gentle :) I have created a web page for a small mail order business. The page asks the reader if they are in need of a supplier for products in their "area" and if they have ever been let down by a supplier in that "area" etc. It also lists all the local villages and hamlets around the [area] where they can also supply too. This page is dynamically created and the [area] changes and so do the small towns that are local to the town. The page also contains information on the products so the word count vs town names is not stupid. An example of one of the URL would be www.website.com/1014/Halesowen/ It basically covers the whole of the UK so around 800 main towns with 28,000 local villages. The URL changes, so does the title and h1 tags, also each page is Geo coded for that town. My question really is this a good or bad idea? Is it a black hat technique ? I have been told if I have to ask the question then it probably is but the site does supply to all these areas just as any mail order company does and would like to get listed higher in each town for the products. I have seen this done on a few sites but only with a few targeted towns and not the whole of the UK so I would be really interested in your guys thoughts on this. I would post the URL to the site but as I am new here I am a bit unsure of the rules regarding posting links. The whole site needs a lot of other onsite SEO work doing and I will be doing that over the next few weeks. I look forward to your views on this. p.s. If I am allowed to post the URL without getting into trouble so you can see it someone let me know? Thanks in advance

    Read the article

  • Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    A smart phone in your pocket is great for on the go news, web browsing, and—of course—mobile gaming. It’s also fantastic for comparison shopping. Today we take a look at four Android scanners and price comparison engines. It’s quite a neat time to be a consumer. Historically if you wanted to do serious price comparisons you had to haul yourself around town, gather flyers from the newspapers, and otherwise invest way too much energy into potential savings that might not even break into double digits. Now you can comparison shop with an ease that borders on magic: by simply pulling out your smart phone and scanning the barcode or typing in the name of the item you wish to compare. Today we’re taking a look at some of the more popular and powerful barcode scanners and price comparison engines available for the Android platform. Before we get to that, a word on our methodology. To test the barcode scanners and the resulting search results we wandered around and rounded up some relatively random items from around the How-To Geek offices. This included a children’s graphic novel, a Wii game, a board game, a pack of razors, a box of tea, and a bottle of nail polish. It’s a decent spread of consumer items that covers several genres. For each application we scanned all the items, looked for the best price at the time, and noted any other relevant benefits of using one scanner over another. It’s worth noting that our primary focus was on the speed and ease of use. You may find that certain scanners have specific features that best suit your needs. What we focused on was how fast you could scan, compare prices, and purchase items if you desired. Since all the scanners are free-as-in-beer, feel free to download them all and run your own tests to confirm our conclusions. Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed How to Run Android Apps on Your Desktop the Easy Way HTG Explains: Do You Really Need to Defrag Your PC?

    Read the article

  • Do you store mysql exports in your version control tool for reverting to in event of error?

    - by Rob
    We run an internal web server with in-house software to run a manufacturing line. When new product features are to be added, either or both of the following occur: changes to the in-house server software may be required to support these - these are for significant changes in functionality, being code drive. changes to the MySQL database for new entries for the part numbers, these are for smaller changes, configurations, changes to already existing values and parameters -- such changes don't require code changes. Ideally we'd want our changes to be here rather than in item 1. Item 1 is version controlled in Subversion, so previous revisions can be referred to for rolling back to in the event of problems introduced in the latest revision. But what about changes to the MySQL database? We have quality processes to ensure that such changes are error-free but there is always a chance that errors can pass through, e.g. mistake in data entry or faults with the code that uses the MySQL corrupting the database etc. We have a automated backup every 6 hours but what if we want more manual defined checkpoints in between these intervals, we could use the same backup system but I wondered if folks here used other methods to store previous states of databases, e.g. exporting the database as a plain text SQL dump -- at least with this method it would be possible to see diffs e.g. in Beyond Compare for trouble shooting. Thoughts?

    Read the article

  • Physics not synchronizing correctly over the network when using Bullet

    - by Lucas
    I'm trying to implement a client/server physics system using Bullet however I'm having problems getting things to sync up. I've implemented a custom motion state which reads and write the transform from my game objects and it works locally but I've tried two different approaches for networked games: Dynamic objects on the client that are also on the server (eg not random debris and other unimportant stuff) are made kinematic. This works correctly but the objects don't move very smoothly Objects are dynamic on both but after each message from the server that the object has moved I set the linear and angular velocity to the values from the server and call btRigidBody::proceedToTransform with the transform on the server. I also call btCollisionObject::activate(true); to force the object to update. My intent with method 2 was to basically do method 1 but hijacking Bullet to do a poor-man's prediction instead of doing my own to smooth out method 1, but this doesn't seem to work (for reasons that are not 100% clear to me even stepping through Bullet) and the objects sometimes end up in different places. Am I heading in the right direction? Bullet seems to have it's own interpolation code built-in. Can that help me make method 1 work better? Or is my method 2 code not working because I am accidentally stomping that?

    Read the article

  • Class hierarchy problem in this social network model

    - by Gerenuk
    I'm trying to design a class system for a social network data model - basically a link/object system. Now I have roughly the following structure (simplified and only relevant methods shown) class Data: "used to handle the data with mongodb" "can link, unlink data and also return other linked data" "is basically a proxy object that only stores _id and accesses mongodb on requests" "it looks like {_id: ..., _out: [id1, id2,...], _inc: [id3, id4, ...]}" def get_node(self, id) "create a new Data object from the underlying mongodb" "each data object can potentially create a reference object to new mongo data" "this is needed when the data returns the linked objects" class Node: """ this class proxies linking calls to .data it includes additional network logic operations whereas Data only contains a basic database solution """ def __init__(self, data): "the infrastructure realization is stored as composition by an included object data" "Node bascially proxies most calls to the infrastructure object data" def get_node(self, data): "creates a new object of class Object or Link depending on data" class Object(Node): "can have multiple connections to Link" class Link(Node): "has one 'in' and one 'out' connection to an Object" This system is working, however maybe wouldn't work outside Python. Note that after reading links Now I have two questions here: 1) I want to infrastructure of the data storage to be replacable. Earlier I had Data as a superclass of Node so that it provided the neccessary calls. But (without dirty Python tricks) you cannot replace the superclass dynamically. Is using composition therefore recommended? The drawback is that I have to proxy most calls (link, unlink etc). Any thoughts? 2) The class Node contains the common method .get_node which is used to built new Object or Link instances after reading out the data. Some attribute of data decided whether the object which is only stored by id should be instantiated as an Object or Link class. The problem here is that Node needs to know about Object and Link in advance, which seems dodgy. Do you see a different solution? Both Object and Link need to instantiate one of all possible types depending on what the find in their linked data. Are there any other ideas how to implement a flexible Object/Link structure where the underlying database storage is isolated?

    Read the article

  • how to give action to the CCArray which contain bubbles(sprites)

    - by prakash s
    I am making bubbles shooter game in cocos2d I have taken one array in that i have inserted number of different color bubbles and i showing on my game scene also , but if give some move action to that array ,it moving down but it displaying all the bubbles at one position and automatically destroying , what is the main reason behind this please help me here is my code: -(void)addTarget { CGSize winSize = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] winSize]; //CCSprite *target = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:@"3.png" rect:CGRectMake(0, 0, 256, 256)]; NSMutableArray * movableSprites = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; NSArray *images = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"1.png", @"2.png", @"3.png", @"4.png",@"5.png",@"1.png",@"5.png", @"3.png", nil]; for(int i = 0; i < images.count; ++i) { NSString *image = [images objectAtIndex:i]; // generate random number based on size of array (array size is larger than 10) CCSprite*target = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:image]; float offsetFraction = ((float)(i+1))/(images.count+1); //target.position = ccp(winSize.width*offsetFraction, winSize.height/2); target.position = ccp(350*offsetFraction, 460); // [[CCActionManager sharedManager ] pauseAllActionsForTarget:target ] ; [self addChild:target]; [movableSprites addObject:target]; //[target runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:20.0 position:ccp(0,0)]]; id actionMove = [CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:10 position:ccp(winSize.width/2,winSize. height/2)]; id actionMoveDone = [CCCallFuncN actionWithTarget:self selector:@selector(spriteMoveFinished:)]; [target runAction:[CCSequence actions:actionMove, actionMoveDone, nil]]; } } after the move at certain position i want to display all the bubbles in centre of my window

    Read the article

  • how to stop the array of sprite in cocos2d?

    - by prakash s
    I am devoloping the bubble shooter game in cocos2d how to stop the sprite movement at the center of the game scene in my game bec i want to shoot the bubble after stopping the movenent at certain position here is my code -(void)addTarget { CGSize winSize = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] winSize]; NSMutableArray * movableSprites = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; NSArray *images = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"1.png", @"2.png", @"3.png", @"4.png",@"5.png", @"6.png", @"7.png",@"8.png" ,nil]; for(int i = 0; i < images.count; ++i) { int index = (arc4random() % 8)+1; NSString *image = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d.png", index]; CCSprite*target = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:image]; // generate random number based on size of array (array size is larger than 10) float offsetFraction = ((float)(i+1))/(images.count+1); //target.position = ccp(winSize.width*offsetFraction, winSize.height/2); target.position = ccp(350*offsetFraction, 460); [self addChild:target]; [movableSprites addObject:target]; id actionMove = [CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:10 position:ccp(350*offsetFraction, 100)]; id actionMoveDone = [CCCallFuncN actionWithTarget:self selector:@selector(spriteMoveFinished:)]; [target runAction:[CCSequence actions:actionMove, actionMoveDone, nil]]; } here bubbles are moving from top to bottom but after 5 rows my bubble movement should be stop so please help me to get that logic

    Read the article

  • Updating password hashing without forcing a new password for existing users

    - by Willem
    You maintain an existing application with an established user base. Over time it is decided that the current password hashing technique is outdated and needs to be upgraded. Furthermore, for UX reasons, you don't want existing users to be forced to update their password. The whole password hashing update needs to happen behind the screen. Assume a 'simplistic' database model for users that contains: ID Email Password How does one go around to solving such a requirement? My current thoughts are: create a new hashing method in the appropriate class update the user table in the database to hold an additional password field Once a user successfully logs in using the outdated password hash, fill the second password field with the updated hash This leaves me with the problem that I cannot reasonable differentiate between users who have and those who have not updated their password hash and thus will be forced to check both. This seems horribly flawed. Furthermore this basically means that the old hashing technique could be forced to stay indefinitely until every single user has updated their password. Only at that moment could I start removing the old hashing check and remove the superfluous database field. I'm mainly looking for some design tips here, since my current 'solution' is dirty, incomplete and what not, but if actual code is required to describe a possible solution, feel free to use any language.

    Read the article

  • Simple collision detection for pong

    - by Dave Voyles
    I'm making a simple pong game, and things are great so far, but I have an odd bug which causes my ball (well, it's a box really) to get stuck on occasion when detecting collision against the ceiling or floor. It looks as though it is trying to update too frequently to get out of the collision check. Basically the box slides against the top or bottom of the screen from one paddle to the other, and quickly bounces on and off the wall while doing so, but only bounces a few pixels from the wall. What can I do to avoid this problem? It seems to occur at random. Below is my collision detection for the wall, as well as my update method for the ball. public void UpdatePosition() { size.X = (int)position.X; size.Y = (int)position.Y; position.X += speed * (float)Math.Cos(direction); position.Y += speed * (float)Math.Sin(direction); CheckWallHit(); } // Checks for collision with the ceiling or floor. // 2*Math.pi = 360 degrees // TODO: Change collision so that ball bounces from wall after getting caught private void CheckWallHit() { while (direction > 2 * Math.PI) { direction -= 2 * Math.PI; } while (direction < 0) { direction += 2 * Math.PI; } if (position.Y <= 0 || (position.Y > resetPos.Y * 2 - size.Height)) { direction = 2 * Math.PI - direction; } }

    Read the article

  • How is constant buffer allocation handled in DX11?

    - by Marek
    I'm starting with DX11 and I'm not sure if I'm doing the things right. I want to have both pixel and vertex shader program in one file. Both use some shared and some different constant buffers. So it looks like this: Shader.fx cbuffer ForVS : register(b0) { float4x4 wvp; }; cbuffer ForVSandPS : register(b1) { float4 stuff; float4 stuff2; }; cbuffer ForVS2 : register(b2) { float4 stuff; float4 stuff2; }; cbuffer ForPS : register(b3) { float4 stuff; float4 stuff2; }; .... And in code I use mContext->VSSetConstantBuffers( 0, 1, bufferVS); mContext->VSSetConstantBuffers( 1, 1, bufferVS_PS); mContext->VSSetConstantBuffers( 2, 1, bufferVS2); mContext->PSSetConstantBuffers( 1, 1, bufferVS_PS); mContext->PSSetConstantBuffers( 3, 1, bufferPS); The numbering of buffers in PS is what bugs me, is it alright to bind random slots to shaders (in this example 1 and 3)? Does that mean it still uses just two buffers or does it initialize 0 and 2 buffer pointers to empty? Thank you.

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185  | Next Page >