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• When decomposing a large function, how can I avoid the complexity from the extra subfunctions?

  - by missingno

  Say I have a large function like the following: function do_lots_of_stuff(){ { //subpart 1 ... } ... { //subpart N ... } } a common pattern is to decompose it into subfunctions function do_lots_of_stuff(){ subpart_1(...) subpart_2(...) ... subpart_N(...) } I usually find that decomposition has two main advantages: The decomposed function becomes much smaller. This can help people read it without getting lost in the details. Parameters have to be explicitly passed to the underlying subfunctions, instead of being implicitly available by just being in scope. This can help readability and modularity in some situations. However, I also find that decomposition has some disadvantages: There are no guarantees that the subfunctions "belong" to do_lots_of_stuff so there is nothing stopping someone from accidentally calling them from a wrong place. A module's complexity grows quadratically with the number of functions we add to it. (There are more possible ways for things to call each other) Therefore: Are there useful convention or coding styles that help me balance the pros and cons of function decomposition or should I just use an editor with code folding and call it a day? EDIT: This problem also applies to functional code (although in a less pressing manner). For example, in a functional setting we would have the subparts be returning values that are combined in the end and the decomposition problem of having lots of subfunctions being able to use each other is still present. We can't always assume that the problem domain will be able to be modeled on just some small simple types with just a few highly orthogonal functions. There will always be complicated algorithms or long lists of business rules that we still want to correctly be able to deal with. function do_lots_of_stuff(){ p1 = subpart_1() p2 = subpart_2() pN = subpart_N() return assembleStuff(p1, p2, ..., pN) }

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• Which hard disk drive is which?

  - by djeikyb

  I want to know which hard disk drive corresponds to which device path. It's trivial to match the hard disk stats (brand, size) with the dev path, but I want more. I want to know which drive is which inside my case. What's a good way to go about getting this info? Rules: I am a lazy bum. I don't want to tear apart my server to remove all the drives, then add back one by one. A reboot is acceptable. The drives are inconveniently scrunched together in the case. All label information is hidden. The case can be opened. Most disks are SATA, so theoretically hot swappable. Unplugging cables is fair game. Bonus: For a cli only solution. I'll award answer to the best/easiest gui or cli answer, and give a bounty to the next-best answer of the other kind. Or maybe the other way around, because the bounty is worth more points.

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• What would be the fastest way of storing or calculating legal move sets for chess pieces?

  - by ioSamurai

  For example if a move is attempted I could just loop through a list of legal moves and compare the x,y but I have to write logic to calculate those at least every time the piece is moved. Or, I can store in an array [,] and then check if x and y are not 0 then it is a legal move and then I save the data like this [0][1][0][0] etc etc for each row where 1 is a legal move, but I still have to populate it. I wonder what the fastest way to store and read a legal move on a piece object for calculation. I could use matrix math as well I suppose but I don't know. Basically I want to persist the rules for a given piece so I can assign a piece object a little template of all it's possible moves considering it is starting from it's current location, which should be just one table of data. But is it faster to loop or write LINQ queries or store arrays and matrices? public class Move { public int x; public int y; } public class ChessPiece : Move { private List<Move> possibleMoves { get; set; } public bool LegalMove(int x, int y){ foreach(var p in possibleMoves) { if(p.x == x && p.y == y) { return true; } } } } Anyone know?

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• How often do you review fundamentals?

  - by mlnyc

  So I've been out of school for a year and a half now. In school, of course we covered all the fundamentals: OS, databases, programming languages (i.e. syntax, binding rules, exception handling, recursion, etc), and fundamental algorithms. the rest were more in-depth topics on things like NLP, data mining, etc. Now, a year ago if you would have told me to write a quicksort, or reverse a singly-linked list, analyze the time complexity of this 'naive' algorithm vs it's dynamic programming counterpart, etc I would have been able to give you a decent and hopefully satisfying answer. But if you would have asked me more real world questions I might have been stumped (things like how would handle logging for an application, or security difference between GET and POST, differences between SQL Server and Oracle SQL, anything I list on my resume as currently working with [jQuery questions, ColdFusion questions, ...] etc) Now, I feel things are the opposite. I haven't wrote my own sort since graduating, and I don't really have to worry much about theoretical things that do not naturally fall into problems I am trying to solve. For example, I might give you some great SQL solutions using an analytical function that I would have otherwise been stumped on or write a cool web application using angular or something but ask me to write an algo for insertAfter(Element* elem) and I might not be able to do it in a reasonable time frame. I guess my question here to the experienced programmers is how do you balance the need to both learn and experiment with new technologies (fun!), working on personal projects (also fun!) working and solving real world problems in a timeboxed environment (so I might reach out to a library that does what I want rather than re-invent the wheel so that I can focus on the problem I am trying to solve) (work, basically), and refreshing on old theoretical material which is still valid for interviews and such (can be a drag)? Do you review older material (such as famous algorithms, dynamic programming, Big-O analysis, locking implementations) regularly or just when you need it? How much time do you dedicate to both in your 'deliberate practice' and do you have a certain to-do list of topics that you want to work on?

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• Checking validation of entries in a Sudoku game written in Java

  - by Mico0

  I'm building a simple Sudoku game in Java which is based on a matrix (an array[9][9]) and I need to validate my board state according to these rules: all rows have 1-9 digits all columns have 1-9 digits. each 3x3 grid has 1-9 digits. This function should be efficient as possible for example if first case is not valid I believe there's no need to check other cases and so on (correct me if I'm wrong). When I tried doing this I had a conflict. Should I do one large for loop and inside check columns and row (in two other loops) or should I do each test separately and verify every case by it's own? (Please don't suggest too advanced solutions with other class/object helpers.) This is what I thought about: Main validating function (which I want pretty clean): public boolean testBoard() { boolean isBoardValid = false; if (validRows()) { if (validColumns()) { if (validCube()) { isBoardValid = true; } } } return isBoardValid; } Different methods to do the specific test such as: private boolean validRows() { int rowsDigitsCount = 0; for (int num = 1; num <= 9; num++) { boolean foundDigit = false; for (int row = 0; (row < board.length) && (!foundDigit); row++) { for (int col = 0; col < board[row].length; col++) { if (board[row][col] == num) { rowsDigitsCount++; foundDigit = true; break; } } } } return rowsDigitsCount == 9 ? true : false; } I don't know if I should keep doing tests separately because it looks like I'm duplicating my code.

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• Game programming : C# or C++?

  - by Chronix

  Ok so the faq says : "What language should I learn next? (Unless you have a specific requirement and don't know which language meets that requirement.)" so I guess this is not against the rules of questions. So, I've decided what I really want is to do Game Programming. So the question is, as a 18 years old who wants to learn self taught programming, what is the most suited programming language between C# and C++? ( I should state that I don't care about unix because I believe windows will be still the most used os ) I know the basics of C++, but none about C#. I know that C++ has more tutorials guides, dlls and stuff like that, while C# doesn't, but it's far easier to learn and to use for a single person to develop a program, but I've read even if the program is obfuscated it's easy to get the source of it. Well, I kinda want to focus on basic a lot first, I must say that I have a preference for C++ just because it feels more suitable to me, but I must consider that I work alone.. So even if I like it, it may not be the best thing to do. I am really not sure of which one to go for, i've read a lot of threads on various websites and it looks like C# is becoming more popular than C++. But yeah, that said, I also specified I want to do Game Programming. So I need to know some better points than just "C# is easier because of .net memory handling while C++ isnt" because I couldn't just find it. I hope the thread won't be closed because I've read the faq and I have a specific requirement. Thank you, and if you need more details you're free to ask me, but I think just by saying game programming and that I'd work alone should be enough!

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• Type of AI to tackle this problem?

  - by user1154277

  I posted this on stackoverflow but want to get your recommendations as well as a user on overflow recommended I post it here. I'm going to say from the beginning that I am not a programmer, I have a cursory knowledge of different types of AI and am just a businessman building a web app. Anyways, the web app I am investing in to develop is for a hobby of mine. There are many part manufacturers, product manufacturers, upgrade and addon manufacturers etc. for hardware/products in this hobby's industry. Currently, I am in the process of building a crowd sourced platform for people who are knowledgeable to go in and mark up compatibility between those parts as its not always clear cut if they are for example: Manufacturer A makes a "A" class product, and manufacturer B makes upgrade/part that generally goes with class "A" products, but is for one reason or another not compatible with Manufacturer A's particular "A" class product. However, a good chunk (60%-70%) of the products/parts in the database can have their compatibility inferenced by their properties, For example: Part 1 is type "A" with "X" mm receiver and part 2 is also Type "A" with "X" mm interface and thus the two parts are compatible.. or Part 1 is a 8mm gear, thus all bushings of 8mm from any manufacturer is compatible with part 1. Further more, all gears can only have compatibility relationships in the database with bushing and gear boxes, but there can be no meaningful compatibility between a gear and a rail, or receiver since those parts don't interface. Now what I want is an AI to be able to learn from the decisions of the crowdsourced platform community and be able to inference compatibility for new parts/products based on their tagged attributes, what type of part they are etc. What would be the best form of AI to tackle this? I was thinking a Expert System, but explicitly engineering all of the knowledge rules would be daunting because of the complex relations between literally tens of thousands of parts, hundreds of part types and many manufacturers. Would a ANN (neural network) be ideal to learn from the many inputs/decisions of the crowdsource platform users? Any help/input is much appreciated.

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• Is it OK to introduce methods that are used only during unit tests?

  - by Mchl

  Recently I was TDDing a factory method. The method was to create either a plain object, or an object wrapped in a decorator. The decorated object could be of one of several types all extending StrategyClass. In my test I wanted to check, if the class of returned object is as expected. That's easy when plain object os returned, but what to do when it's wrapped within a decorator? I code in PHP so I could use ext/Reflection to find out a class of wrapped object, but it seemed to me to be overcomplicating things, and somewhat agains rules of TDD. Instead I decided to introduce getClassName() that would return object's class name when called from StrategyClass. When called from the decorator however, it would return the value returned by the same method in decorated object. Some code to make it more clear: interface StrategyInterface { public function getClassName(); } abstract class StrategyClass implements StrategyInterface { public function getClassName() { return \get_class($this); } } abstract class StrategyDecorator implements StrategyInterface { private $decorated; public function __construct(StrategyClass $decorated) { $this->decorated = $decorated; } public function getClassName() { return $this->decorated->getClassName(); } } And a PHPUnit test /** * @dataProvider providerForTestGetStrategy * @param array $arguments * @param string $expected */ public function testGetStrategy($arguments, $expected) { $this->assertEquals( __NAMESPACE__.'\\'.$expected, $this->object->getStrategy($arguments)->getClassName() ) } //below there's another test to check if proper decorator is being used My point here is: is it OK to introduce such methods, that have no other use than to make unit tests easier? Somehow it doesn't feel right to me.

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• JCP 2.9 and Transparency Call for Spec Leads 9 November

  - by heathervc

  JCP Spec Leads are invited to participate in an online meeting/call this Friday, 9 November, to hear a talk about the the 2.9 version of the Java Community Process (effective date of 13 November) and discuss the changes with representatives of the Program Management Office.  This call will be recorded and published with materials for those not able to attend.  Details of the call are included below.JCP 2.9 is presented in two documents:The JCP 2.9 document:http://www.jcp.org/en/procedures/jcp2and the EC Standing Rules document:http://www.jcp.org/en/procedures/ec_standing_rulesIn addition, we will be reviewing ways to collect community feedback on the transparency requirements for JCP 2.7 and above JSRs (JCP 2.8, JCP 2.9), detailed as part of the Spec Lead Guide.Call details:Topic: JCP 2.9 and Transparency Date: Friday, November 9, 2012 Time: 9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time (San Francisco, GMT-08:00) Meeting Number: 800 623 574 Meeting Password: 5282 ------------------------------------------------------- To start or join the online meeting ------------------------------------------------------- Go to https://jcp.webex.com/jcp/j.php?ED=188925347&UID=491098062&PW=NMDZiYTQzZmE1&RT=MiM0 ------------------------------------------------------- Audio conference information ------------------------------------------------------- Toll-Free Dial-In Number:     866 682-4770 International (Toll) Dial-In Number:     408 774-4073 Conference code 9454597 Security code 1020 Outside the US: global access numbers   https://www.intercallonline.com/portlets/scheduling/viewNumbers/listNumbersByCode.do?confCode=6279803

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• Dependency injection: At what point am I allowed to create a new object?

  - by Gaz_Edge

  I am refactoring a PHP application, and I am trying to do has much dependency injection (DI) as possible. I feel like I've got a good grasp of how it works, and I can certainly see my classes becoming a lot leaner and more robust. I'm refactoring so that I can inject a dependency rather than create a new object within the class, but at some point I am going to have to create some objects, that is, use the dreaded new keyword. The problem I have now run into is at what point can I actually create new objects? It's looking like I'll end up at a top level class, creating loads of new objects as there is no where else to go. This feels wrong. I've read some blogs that use factory classes to create all the objects, and then you inject the factory into other classes. You can then call the factory methods, and the factory creates the new object for you. My concern with doing this is now my factory classes are going to be a new free-for-all! I guess this may be OK as they are factory classes, but are there some rules to stick to when using a factory pattern and DI, or am I going way off the mark here?

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• Random generation of interesting puzzle levels?

  - by monsterfarm

  I'm making a Sokoban-like game i.e. there's a grid that has some crates on it you can push and you have to get the crates on crosses to win the level (although I'm going to add some extra elements to it). Are there any general algorithms or reading material I can look at for how I could go about generating interesting (as in, not trivial to solve) levels for this style of game? I'm aware that random level generators exist for Sokoban but I'm having trouble finding the algorithm descriptions. I'm interested in making a game where the machine can generate lots of levels for me, sorted by difficulty. I'm even willing to constrain the rules of the game to make the level generation easier (e.g. I'll probably limit the grid size to about 7x7). I suspect there are some general ways to do level generation here as I've seen e.g. Traffic Jam-like games (where you have to move blocks around the free some block) with 1000s of levels where each one has a unique solution. One idea I had was to generate a random map in its final state (i.e. where all crates are on top of their crosses) and then the computer would pull (instead of push) these crates around to create a level. The nice property here is that we know the level is solvable. However, I'd need some heuristics to ensure the level was interesting.

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• Using mod_rewrite for a Virtual Filesystem vs. Real Filesystem

  - by philtune

  I started working in a department that uses a CMS in which the entire "filesystem" is like this: create a named file or folder - this file is given a unique node (ex. 2345) as well as a default "filename" (ex. /WelcomeToOurProductsPage) and apply a template assign one or more aliases to the file for a URL redirect (ex. /home-page-products - can also be accessed by /home-page-products.aspx) A new Rewrite command is written on the .htaccess file for each and every alias Server accesses either /WelcomeToOurProductsPage or /home-page-products and redirects to something like /template.aspx?tmp=2&node=2345 (here I'm guessing what it does - I only have front-end access for now - but I have enough clues to strongly assume) Node 2345 grabs content stored in a SQL Db and applies it to the template. Note: There are no actual files being created on the filesystem. It's entirely virtual. This is probably a very common thing, but since I have never run across this kind of system before two months ago, I wanted to explain it in case it isn't common. I'm not a fan at all of ASP or closed-sourced systems, so it may be that this is common practice for ASP developers. My question, that has taken far too long to ask, is: what are the benefits of this kind of system, as opposed to creating an actual file hierarchy? Are there any drawbacks to having every single file server call redirected? To having the .htaccess file hold rewrite rules for every single alias?

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• SQL 2008/2005 Hosting :: Error - “Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server”

  - by mbridge

  When setting up a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 system, I went through the motions to set up IIS, MS SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2010 to use as a test-bed. One of the immediate benefits of setting up such a system is that most development can be done remotely: MS SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio’s Web development suite, as well as file shares, remote desktop, etc, make for a great way to remotely develop in ‘pristine’ conditions. But there are drawbacks, too, such as needing to deal with firewall issues, not being able to penetrate past a router or the requirement of setting up a VPN. One of the problems I encountered when trying to remote into the MS SQL Server 2008 that I’d set up was the following error: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server I followed the below steps, and was able to connect to the server after just a few moments of tinkering: 1. From the server in question, surf to this Microsoft article, and download and install the Firewall rules modification program. Never drop your firewall, even on a development machine, unless you have a really good reason to. 2. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Navigate to SQL Server Network Configuration, then Protocols for your server name. Enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes by right-clicking and choosing Enable for each given Protocol Name. 3. Restart the SQL Server service from Services (or from command line, subsequently run “net stop mssqlserver” then “net start mssqlserver”. 4. Try your remote connection once more, and you should be able to connect. It’s not a terribly difficult concept, but one of the more challenging tasks developers face is dealing with environment setup. And while there is a certain blurred-line overlap between software development and server administration, sometimes the latter is daunting, especially given that you might set up only a handful of servers during your career.

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• Iptables working strangely

  - by user109985

  I have Ubuntu 12.04 x64 installed in my laptop. I'm quite new to linux, and I wanted to specify certain rules for the iptables firewall. This is the saved config of my iptables: *mangle :PREROUTING ACCEPT [0:0] :INPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0] COMMIT *nat :PREROUTING ACCEPT [0:0] :INPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0] -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 3306 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:3306 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 11002 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:11002 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13000 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13000 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13001 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13001 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13002 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13002 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13003 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13003 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13004 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13004 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13061 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13061 -A PREROUTING -p tcp -m tcp --dport 13099 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.100:13099 -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE COMMIT *filter :INPUT DROP [0:0] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0] -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT COMMIT In theory, what it does is to drop all connections in all ports except for http, mysql and few other ports. Moreover, it redirects all mysql and 13000-13004..etc port connections to a specific local ip in the same port, which is 192.168.1.100. But what I find strange is that when my firewall is active, it blocks absolutely all the input connections, even those which must not block (http, mysql). In fact, I'm literally blocked and I can't establish any external connection. What am I doing wrong? PS: I tested the firewall without those redirections, and it still block all inputs, so I suppose it's not the problem.

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• Dependency Injection: What point am I allowed to create a new object?

  - by Gaz_Edge

  I am refactoring a php application and I am trying to do has much dependency injection as possible. I feel like I've got a good grasp of how it works, and I can certainly see my classes becoming a lot leaner and more robust. Im refactoring so that I can inject a dependency rather than create a new object within the class, but at some point I am going to have to create some objects i.e. use the dreaded new keyword. The problem I have now run into is at what point can I actually create new objects? Its looking like I'll end up at a top level class, creating loads of new objects as there is no where else to go. This feels wrong. I've read some blogs that use factory classes to create all the objects, and then you inject the factory into other classes. You can then call the factory methods, and the factory creates the new object for you. My concern with doing this is now my factory classes are going to be a new free-for-all! I guess this may be ok as they are factory classes, but are there some rules to stick to when using factory pattern and DI, or am I going way off the mark here.

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• Tools and Utilities for the .NET Developer

  - by mbcrump

  Tweet this list! Add a link to my site to your bookmarks to quickly find this page again! Add me to twitter! This is a list of the tools/utilities that I use to do my job/hobby. I wanted this page to load fast and contain information that only you care about. If I have missed a tool that you like, feel free to contact me and I will add it to the list. Also, this list took a lot of time to complete. Please do not steal my work, if you like the page then please link back to my site. I will keep the links/information updated as new tools/utilities are created.  Windows/.NET Development – This is a list of tools that any Windows/.NET developer should have in his bag. I have used at some point in my career everything listed on this page and below is the tools worth keeping. Name Description License AnkhSVN Subversion support for Visual Studio. It also works with VS2010. Free Aurora XAML Designer One of the best XAML creation tools available. Has a ton of built in templates that you can copy/paste into VS2010. COST/Trial BeyondCompare Beyond Compare 3 is the ideal tool for comparing files and folders on your Windows or Linux system. Visualize changes in your code and carefully reconcile them. COST/Trial BuildIT Automated Task Tool Its main purpose is to automate tasks, whether it is the final packaging of a product, an automated daily build, maybe sending out a mailing list, even backing-up files. Free C Sharper for VB Convert VB to C#. COST CLRProfiler Analyze and improve the behavior of your .NET app. Free CodeRush Direct competitor to ReSharper, contains similar feature. This is one of those decide for yourself. COST/Trial Disk2VHD Disk2vhd is a utility that creates VHD (Virtual Hard Disk - Microsoft's Virtual Machine disk format) versions of physical disks for use in Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). Free Eazfuscator.NET Is a free obfuscator for .NET. The main purpose is to protect intellectual property of software. Free EQATEC Profiler Make your .NET app run faster. No source code changes are needed. Just point the profiler to your app, run the modified code, and get a visual report. COST Expression Studio 3/4 Comes with Web, Blend, Sketch Flow and more. You can create websites, produce beautiful XAML and more. COST/Trial Expresso The award-winning Expresso editor is equally suitable as a teaching tool for the beginning user of regular expressions or as a full-featured development environment for the experienced programmer or web designer with an extensive knowledge of regular expressions. Free Fiddler Fiddler is a web debugging proxy which logs all HTTP(s) traffic between your computer and the internet. Free Firebug Powerful Web development tool. If you build websites, you will need this. Free FxCop FxCop is an application that analyzes managed code assemblies (code that targets the .NET Framework common language runtime) and reports information about the assemblies, such as possible design, localization, performance, and security improvements. Free GAC Browser and Remover Easy way to remove multiple assemblies from the GAC. Assemblies registered by programs like Install Shield can also be removed. Free GAC Util The Global Assembly Cache tool allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the global assembly cache and download cache. Free HelpScribble Help Scribble is a full-featured, easy-to-use help authoring tool for creating help files from start to finish. You can create Win Help (.hlp) files, HTML Help (.chm) files, a printed manual and online documentation (on a web site) all from the same Help Scribble project. COST/Trial IETester IETester is a free Web Browser that allows you to have the rendering and JavaScript engines of IE9 preview, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP, as well as the installed IE in the same process. Free iTextSharp iText# (iTextSharp) is a port of the iText open source java library for PDF generation written entirely in C# for the .NET platform. Use the iText mailing list to get support. Free Kaxaml Kaxaml is a lightweight XAML editor that gives you a "split view" so you can see both your XAML and your rendered content. Free LINQPad LinqPad lets you interactively query databases in a LINQ. Free Linquer Many programmers are familiar with SQL and will need a help in the transition to LINQ. Sometimes there are complicated queries to be written and Linqer can help by converting SQL scripts to LINQ. COST/Trial LiquidXML Liquid XML Studio 2010 is an advanced XML developers toolkit and IDE, containing all the tools needed for designing and developing XML schema and applications. COST/Trial Log4Net log4net is a tool to help the programmer output log statements to a variety of output targets. log4net is a port of the excellent log4j framework to the .NET runtime. We have kept the framework similar in spirit to the original log4j while taking advantage of new features in the .NET runtime. For more information on log4net see the features document. Free Microsoft Web Platform Installer The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 (Web PI) is a free tool that makes getting the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server Express, .NET Framework and Visual Web Developer easy. Free Mono Development Don't have Visual Studio - no problem! This is an open Source C# and .NET development environment for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X Free Net Mass Downloader While it’s great that Microsoft has released the .NET Reference Source Code, you can only get it one file at a time while you’re debugging. If you’d like to batch download it for reading or to populate the cache, you’d have to write a program that instantiated and called each method in the Framework Class Library. Fortunately, .NET Mass Downloader comes to the rescue! Free nMap Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network exploration or security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Free NoScript (Firefox add-in) The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and other Mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java and Flash and other plug-ins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser. Free NotePad 2 Notepad2, a fast and light-weight Notepad-like text editor with syntax highlighting. This program can be run out of the box without installation, and does not touch your system's registry. Free PageSpy PageSpy is a small add-on for Internet Explorer that allows you to select any element within a webpage, select an option in the context menu, and view detailed information about both the coding behind the page and the element you selected. Free Phrase Express PhraseExpress manages your frequently used text snippets in customizable categories for quick access. Free PowerGui PowerGui is a free community for PowerGUI, a graphical user interface and script editor for Microsoft Windows PowerShell! Free Powershell Comes with Win7, but you can automate tasks by using the .NET Framework. Great for network admins. Free Process Explorer Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. Also, included in the SysInterals Suite. Free Process Monitor Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. Free Reflector Explore and analyze compiled .NET assemblies, viewing them in C#, Visual Basic, and IL. This is an Essential for any .NET developer. Free Regular Expression Library Stuck on a Regular Expression but you think someone has already figured it out? Chances are they have. Free Regulator Regulator makes Regular Expressions easy. This is a must have for a .NET Developer. Free RenameMaestro RenameMaestro is probably the easiest batch file renamer you'll find to instantly rename multiple files COST ReSharper The one program that I cannot live without. Supports VS2010 and offers simple refactoring, code analysis/assistance/cleanup/templates. One of the few applications that is worth the $$$. COST/Trial ScrewTurn Wiki ScrewTurn Wiki allows you to create, manage and share wikis. A wiki is a collaboratively-edited, information-centered website: the most famous is Wikipedia. Free SharpDevelop What is #develop? SharpDevelop is a free IDE for C# and VB.NET projects on Microsoft's .NET platform. Free Show Me The Template Show Me The Template is a tool for exploring the templates, be their data, control or items panel, that comes with the controls built into WPF for all 6 themes. Free SnippetCompiler Compiles code snippets without opening Visual Studio. It does not support .NET 4. Free SQL Prompt SQL Prompt is a plug-in that increases how fast you can work with SQL. It provides code-completion for SQL server, reformatting, db schema information and snippets. Awesome! COST/Trial SQLinForm SQLinForm is an automatic SQL code formatter for all major databases  including ORACLE, SQL Server, DB2, UDB, Sybase, Informix, PostgreSQL, Teradata, MySQL, MS Access etc. with over 70 formatting options. COST/OnlineFree SSMS Tools SSMS Tools Pack is an add-in for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) including SSMS Express. Free Storm STORM is a free and open source tool for testing web services. Free Telerik Code Convertor Convert code from VB to C Sharp and Vice Versa. Free TurtoiseSVN TortoiseSVN is a really easy to use Revision control / version control / source control software for Windows.Since it's not an integration for a specific IDE you can use it with whatever development tools you like. Free UltraEdit UltraEdit is the ideal text, HTML and hex editor, and an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. UltraEdit is also an XML editor including a tree-style XML parser. An industry-award winner, UltraEdit supports disk-based 64-bit file handling (standard) on 32-bit Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and later). COST/Trial Virtual Windows XP Comes with some W7 version and allows you to run WinXP along side W7. Free VirtualBox Virtualization by Sun Microsystems. You can virtualize Windows, Linux and more. Free Visual Log Parser SQL queries against a variety of log files and other system data sources. Free WinMerge WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle. Free Wireshark Wireshark is one of the best network protocol analyzer's for Unix and windows. This has been used several times to get me out of a bind. Free XML Notepad 07 Old, but still one of my favorite XML viewers. Free Productivity Tools – This is the list of tools that I use to save time or quickly navigate around Windows. Name Description License AutoHotKey Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder. Free CLCL CLCL is clipboard caching utility. Free Ditto Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. It saves each item placed on the clipboard allowing you access to any of those items at a later time. Ditto allows you to save any type of information that can be put on the clipboard, text, images, html, custom formats, ..... Free Evernote Remember everything from notes to photos. It will synch between computers/devices. Free InfoRapid Inforapid is a search tool that will display all you search results in a html like browser. If you click on a word in that browser, it will start another search to the word you clicked on. Handy if you want to trackback something to it's true origin. The word you looked for will be highlighted in red. Clicking on the red word will open the containing file in a text based viewer. Clicking on any word in the opened document will start another search on that word. Free KatMouse The prime purpose of the KatMouse utility is to enhance the functionality of mice with a scroll wheel, offering 'universal' scrolling: moving the mouse wheel will scroll the window directly beneath the mouse cursor (not the one with the keyboard focus, which is default on Windows OSes). This is a major increase in the usefulness of the mouse wheel. Free ScreenR Instant Screencast with nothing to download. Works with Mac or PC and free. Free Start++ Start++ is an enhancement for the Start Menu in Windows Vista. It also extends the Run box and the command-line with customizable commands.  For example, typing "w Windows Vista" will take you to the Windows Vista page on Wikipedia! Free Synergy Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). Free Texter Texter lets you define text substitution hot strings that, when triggered, will replace hotstring with a larger piece of text. By entering your most commonly-typed snippets of text into Texter, you can save countless keystrokes in the course of the day. Free Total Commander File handling, FTP, Archive handling and much more. Even works with Win3.11. COST/Trial Available Wizmouse WizMouse is a mouse enhancement utility that makes your mouse wheel work on the window currently under the mouse pointer, instead of the currently focused window. This means you no longer have to click on a window before being able to scroll it with the mouse wheel. This is a far more comfortable and practical way to make use of the mouse wheel. Free Xmarks Bookmark sync and search between computers. Free General Utilities – This is a list for power user users or anyone that wants more out of Windows. I usually install a majority of these whenever I get a new system. Name Description License µTorrent µTorrent is a lightweight and efficient BitTorrent client for Windows or Mac with many features. I use this for downloading LEGAL media. Free Audacity Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Learn more about Audacity... Also check our Wiki and Forum for more information. Free AVast Free FREE Antivirus. Free CD Burner XP Pro CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Free CDEX You can extract digital audio CDs into mp3/wav. Free Combofix Combofix is a freeware (a legitimate spyware remover created by sUBs), Combofix was designed to scan a computer for known malware, spyware (SurfSideKick, QooLogic, and Look2Me as well as any other combination of the mentioned spyware applications) and remove them. Free Cpu-Z Provides information about some of the main devices of your system. Free Cropper Cropper is a screen capture utility written in C#. It makes it fast and easy to grab parts of your screen. Use it to easily crop out sections of vector graphic files such as Fireworks without having to flatten the files or open in a new editor. Use it to easily capture parts of a web site, including text and images. It's also great for writing documentation that needs images of your application or web site. Free DropBox Drag and Drop files to sync between computers. Free DVD-Fab Converts/Copies DVDs/Blu-Ray to different formats. (like mp4, mkv, avi) COST/Trial Available FastStone Capture FastStone Capture is a powerful, lightweight, yet full-featured screen capture tool that allows you to easily capture and annotate anything on the screen including windows, objects, menus, full screen, rectangular/freehand regions and even scrolling windows/web pages. Free ffdshow FFDShow is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, H.264, FLV1, WMV, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4 movies. Free Filezilla FileZilla Client is a fast and reliable cross-platform FTP, FTPS and SFTP client with lots of useful features and an intuitive graphical user interface. You can also download a server version. Free FireFox Web Browser, do you really need an explanation? Free FireGestures A customizable mouse gestures extension which enables you to execute various commands and user scripts with five types of gestures. Free FoxIt Reader Light weight PDF viewer. You should install this with the advanced setting or it will install a toolbar and setup some shortcuts. Free gSynchIt Synch Gmail and Outlook. Even supports Outlook 2010 32/64 bit COST/Trial Available Hulu Desktop At home or in a hotel, this has replaced my cable/satellite subscription. Free ImgBurn ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit! Free Infrarecorder InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration. Free KeePass KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. Free LastPass Another password management, synchronize between browsers, automatic form filling and more. Free Live Essentials One download and lots of programs including Mail, Live Writer, Movie Maker and more! Free Monitores MonitorES is a small windows utility that helps you to turnoff monitor display when you lock down your machine.Also when you lock your machine, it will pause all your running media programs & set your IM status message to "Away" / Custom message(via options) and restore it back to normal when you back. Free mRemote mRemote is a full-featured, multi-tab remote connections manager. Free Open Office OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose. Free Paint.NET Simple, intuitive, and innovative user interface for editing photos. Free Picasa Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great. Free Pidgin Pidgin is an easy to use and free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once. Free PING PING is a live Linux ISO, based on the excellent Linux From Scratch (LFS) documentation. It can be burnt on a CD and booted, or integrated into a PXE / RIS environment. Free Putty PuTTY is an SSH and telnet client, developed originally by Simon Tatham for the Windows platform. Free Revo Uninstaller Revo Uninstaller Pro helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer easily! Even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet.Revo Uninstaller is a much faster and more powerful alternative to "Windows Add or Remove Programs" applet! It has very powerful features to uninstall and remove programs. Free Security Essentials Microsoft Security Essentials is a new, free consumer anti-malware solution for your computer. Free SetupVirtualCloneDrive Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Point to the .ISO file and it appears in Windows Explorer as a Drive. Free Shark 007 Codec Pack Play just about any file format with this download. Also includes my W7 Media Playlist Generator. Free Snagit 9 Screen Capture on steroids. Add arrows, captions, etc to any screenshot. COST/Trial Available SysinternalsSuite Go ahead and download the entire sys internals suite. I have mentioned multiple programs in this suite already. Free TeraCopy TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, providing the user with a lot of features. Free for Home TrueCrypt Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux Free TweetDeck Fully featured Twitter client. Free UltraVNC UltraVNC is a powerful, easy to use and free software that can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen. The program allows you to use your mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location. Free Unlocker Unlocks locked files. Pretty simple right? Free VLC Media Player VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats Free Windows 7 Media Playlist This program is special to my heart because I wrote it. It has been mentioned on podcast and various websites. It allows you to quickly create wvx video playlist for Windows Media Center. Free WinRAR WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format. COST/Trial Available Blogging – I use the following for my blog. Name Description License Insert Code for Windows Live Writer Insert Code for Windows Live Writer will format a snippet of text in a number of programming languages such as C#, HTML, MSH, JavaScript, Visual Basic and TSQL. Free LiveWriter Included in Live Essentials, but the ultimate in Windows Blogging Free PasteAsVSCode Plug-in for Windows Live Writer that pastes clipboard content as Visual Studio code. Preserves syntax highlighting, indentation and background color. Converts RTF, outputted by Visual Studio, into HTML. Free Desktop Management – The list below represent the best in Windows Desktop Management. Name Description License 7 Stacks Allows users to have "stacks" of icons in their taskbar. Free Executor Executor is a multi purpose launcher and a more advanced and customizable version of windows run. Free Fences Fences is a program that helps you organize your desktop and can hide your icons when they are not in use. Free RocketDock Rocket Dock is a smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher. It provides a nice clean interface to drop shortcuts on for easy access and organization. With each item completely customizable there is no end to what you can add and launch from the dock. Free WindowsTab Tabbing is an essential feature of modern web browsers. Window Tabs brings the productivity of tabbed window management to all of your desktop applications. Free

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• How to Add Proprietary Drivers to Ubuntu 10.04

  - by Matthew Guay

  Does the hardware on your Ubuntu system need proprietary drivers work at peak performance?  Today we take a look how easy version 10.04 makes it to install them. Ubuntu 10.04 finally automatically recognizes and installs drivers for most hardware today, it even recognized and configured Wi-Fi drivers correctly every time in our tests.  This is in contrast to the past, when it was often difficult to get hardware to work in Linux.  However, most video cards still need proprietary drivers from their manufacturer to get full hardware video acceleration. Even though Ubuntu doesn’t include any non-open source components, it still makes it easy to install proprietary drivers if you wish.  When you first install and boot into Ubuntu, you may see a popup informing you that “restricted” drivers are available. You may see a notification asking you if you’d like to install optional drivers from your graphics card manufacturer when you try to enable advanced desktop effects.  Click Enable to directly install the drivers right there. Or, you can select the tray icon from the first popup, and click Install drivers. Alternately, if the tray icon has disappeared, click System, then Administration, and select Hardware Drivers.   This will open a dialog showing all the proprietary drivers available for your system, which may include drivers for your video card and other hardware depending on your computer.  Select the driver you wish to install, and click Activate. Enter your password, and then Ubuntu will download and install the driver without any more input.  After installation you may be prompted to reboot your system. Now, you should be able to take full advantage of your hardware, including fancy desktop effects with hardware acceleration. If you ever wish to remove these drivers, simply re-open the drivers dialog as above, select the driver, and click Remove.  Once again, a reboot may be required to finish the process. Conclusion Ubuntu has definitely made it easier to use Linux on your desktop computer, no matter what hardware you have.  If your video card or other hardware require proprietary drivers, it makes them available and simple to install.  And, best of all, all of your drivers stay updated with your software updates, so you can be sure you’re always running the latest. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Adding extra Repositories on UbuntuBackup and Restore Hardware Drivers the Easy Way with Double DriverCopy Windows Drivers From One Machine to AnotherInstalling PHP4 and Apache on UbuntuInstalling PHP5 and Apache on Ubuntu 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 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 VMware Workstation 7 Acronis Online Backup Gmail Button Addon (Firefox) Hyperwords addon (Firefox) Backup Outlook 2010 Daily Motivator (Firefox) FetchMp3 Can Download Videos & Convert Them to Mp3 Use Flixtime To Create Video Slideshows

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• View Maps and Get Directions in Google Chrome

  - by Asian Angel

  Every so often we all need to look at a map for reference purposes or to get directions. If you are looking for a great quick reference app then join us as we look at the Mini Google Maps extension for Google Chrome. Mini Google Maps in Action While this may look like a rather basic map extension there is more to it than meets the eye at first glance. Here is the default view when you open Mini Google Maps for the first time. Things that we really liked about this extension were: Three different aerial views available (Map, Satellite, & Terrain) Three different viewing sizes available (and the extension remembers your chosen size) The ability to get directions in combination with a map We decided to try each of the viewing sizes available…here you can see the “Medium Setting”. Notice that the scale stays the same but you get more territory included to view. Then the “Large Setting”…which we infinitely preferred to the others. Once again look at the amount of territory included by default…very nice. Switching over to the “Satellite View”… Followed by the “Terrain View”. For our first example we decided to peek at Vancouver, British Columbia. After zooming out a little bit we had a very nice looking map. For the next test we asked for directions from Vancouver to Toronto. Both the directions and map turned out very well. And just for fun we looked up Paris, France with the “Satellite View”. Conclusion If you find yourself needing to view a map or get directions often then the Mini Google Maps extension will be a very useful tool for you. Links Download the Mini Google Maps extension (Google Chrome Extensions) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Get Maps and Directions to Your Contacts in Outlook 2007Stupid Geek Tricks: Browse the Web from OutlookView the Time & Date in Chrome When Hiding Your TaskbarHow to Make Google Chrome Your Default BrowserAccess Google Chrome’s Special Pages the Easy Way TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Make your Joomla & Drupal Sites Mobile with OSMOBI Integrate Twitter and Delicious and Make Life Easier Design Your Web Pages Using the Golden Ratio Worldwide Growth of the Internet How to Find Your Mac Address Use My TextTools to Edit and Organize Text

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• How To Rip a Music CD in Windows 7 Media Center

  - by DigitalGeekery

  If you’re a Media Center user, you already know that it can play and manage your digital music collection. But, did you know you can also rip a music CD in Windows 7 Media Center and have it automatically added to your music library? Rip a CD in Windows 7 Media Center Place your CD into your optical drive. From within Windows Media Center, open the Music Library and select the CD. If you haven’t previously ripped a CD in Windows 7 with either Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player, you’ll be prompted to select whether or not you’d like to add copy protection. Click Next. By default, your CD will be ripped to .WMA format. The rip settings for Windows Media Center are pulled from Windows Media Player. So to change the rip settings, we’ll need to do so in Media Player. Click Finish. From within Windows Media Player, click on Tools from Menu bar, and select Options. If you are new to Windows Media Player 12, check out our beginner’s guide on how to manage your music with WMP 12. Select the Rip Music tab and choose your output format from the Format drop down list. You can also select the Audio quality (bit rate) by moving the slider bar under Audio quality. Click OK when you are finished.   Now, you are ready to rip your CD. Click on Rip CD. Click Yes to confirm you want to rip the CD. You can follow the progress as each track is being converted.    When the CD is finished you’re ready to start enjoying your music any time you wish in Windows 7 Media Center. Looking for some more tasks you can perform in Media Center with just a remote? Check out our earlier post on how to crop, edit, and print photos in Windows Media Center. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Using Netflix Watchnow in Windows Vista Media Center (Gmedia)Fixing When Windows Media Player Library Won’t Let You Add FilesStartup Customizations for Media Center in Windows 7Schedule Updates for Windows Media CenterIntegrate Hulu Desktop and Windows Media Center in Windows 7 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 OutlookStatView Scans and Displays General Usage Statistics How to Add Exceptions to the Windows Firewall Office 2010 reviewed in depth by Ed Bott FoxClocks adds World Times in your Statusbar (Firefox) Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify Outlook Connector Upgrade Error

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• How To Personalize the Windows Command Prompt

  - by Matthew Guay

  Command line interfaces can be downright boring, and always seem to miss out on the fresh coats of paint liberally applied to the rest of Windows.  Here’s how to add a splash of color to Command Prompt and make it unique. By default, Windows Command Prompt is white text on a black background. It get’s the job done, but maybe you want to add some color to it.   To get an overview of what we can do with the color command, let’s enter: color /? So, to get the color you want, enter color then the option for the background color followed by the font color.  For example, let’s make an old-fashioned green on black look by entering: color 02   There are a bunch of different combinations you can do, like this black background with red text. color 04 You can’t mess it up too much.  The color command won’t let you set both the font and the background to the same color, which would make it unreadable.  Also, if you want to get back to the default settings, just enter: color Now we’re back to plain-old black and white. Personalize Command Prompt Without Commands If you’d prefer to change the color without entering commands, just click on the Command Prompt icon in the top left corner of the window and select Properties. Select the Colors tab, and then choose the color you want for the screen text and background.  You can also enter your own RGB color combination if you want.   Here we entered the RGB values to get a purple background color like Ubuntu 10.04. Back in the Properties dialog, you can also change your Command Prompt font from the font tab.  Choose any font you want, as long as the one you want is one of the three listed here. Customizations you make via the Properties dialog are saved and will be used any time you open Command Prompt, but any customizations you make with the Color command are only for that session. Conclusion Whether you want to make your command prompt bright enough to cause a sunburn or old-style enough to scare a mainframe operator, with these settings, you can make Command Prompt a bit more unique.   Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Use "Command Prompt Here" in Windows VistaVerify the Integrity of Windows Vista System FilesKeyboard Ninja: Scrolling the Windows Command Prompt With Only the KeyboardRun a Command as Administrator from the Windows 7 / Vista Run boxStart an Application Assigned to a Specific CPU in Windows Vista 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 How to Add Exceptions to the Windows Firewall Office 2010 reviewed in depth by Ed Bott FoxClocks adds World Times in your Statusbar (Firefox) Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify Outlook Connector Upgrade Error Gadfly is a cool Twitter/Silverlight app

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• Best of "The Moth" 2010

  - by Daniel Moth

  It is the time again (like in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) to look back at my blog for the past year and identify areas of interest that seem to be more prominent than others. After doing so, representative posts follow in my top 5 list (in random order). 1. This was the year where I had to move for the first time since 2004 my blog engine (blogger.com –> dasBlog), host provider (zen –> godaddy), web server technology and OS (apache on Linux –> IIS on Windows Server). My goal was not to break any permalinks or the look and feel of this website. A series of posts covered how I achieved that goal, culminating in a tool for others to use if they wanted to do the same: Tool to convert blogger.com content to dasBlog. Going forward I aim to be sharing more small code utilities like that one… 2. At work I am known for being fairly responsive on email, and more importantly never dropping email balls on the floor. This is due to my email processing system, which I shared here: Processing Email in Outlook. I will be sharing more tips with regards to making the best of the Office products. 3. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the year people will remember as the one where Microsoft finally fights back in the mobile space. Even though the new platform means my Windows Mobile book sales will dwindle :-), I am ecstatic about Windows Phone 7 both as a consumer and as a developer. On the release day, to get you started I shared the top 10 Windows Phone 7 developer resources. I will be sharing my tips from my experience in writing code for and consuming this new platform… 4. For my HPC developer friends using Visual Studio, I shared Slides and code for MPI Cluster Debugger and also gave you all the links you need for getting started with Dryad and DryadLINQ from MSR. Expect more from me on cluster development in the coming year… 5. Still in the HPC space, but actually also in the game and even mainstream development, the big disruption and opportunity comes in the form of GPGPU and, on the Microsoft platform, (currently) DirectCompute. Expect more from me on gpgpu development in the coming year… Subscribe via the link on the left to stay tuned for 2011… I wish you a very Happy New Year (with whatever definition of happiness works for you)! Comments about this post welcome at the original blog.

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• Disable the Splash Screen in Portable Firefox (and Other Portable Apps)

  - by Mysticgeek

  Portable applications are cool because you can run them on any machine from your thumb drive. What isn’t cool is the annoying splash screens that appear when launching the apps. Here’s how to disable the annoyance. In this example we are using Portable Apps version 1.6.1. Disable Splash Screen in Portable Firefox  To disable the Splash Screen, open up Computer and double-click on your flash drive containing PortableApps.   Now browse to the following location… PortableApps\FirefoxPortable\Other\Source In this directory you’ll find the file FirefoxPortable.ini. Open this file with Notepad… This ini file should look similar to the shot below. By default, the line DisableSplashScreen=False … we just need to change False to True. Then make sure to save the change… Now copy the FirefoxPortable.ini file we just edited. Then go back to the main directory PortableApps \ FirefoxPortable and paste it there. That is all there is to it! Now when you launch Portable Firefox, you won’t have to wait while the Splash Screen displays before you can start using it. If you ever want to revert back to having the Splash Screen display, all you’ll need to do is delete FirefoxPortable.ini from PortableApps \ FirefoxPortable. The process is essentially the same in other PortableApps as well. Just follow the steps shown above. For example here we’re disabling the Splash Screen from KeePassPortable by going into the thumb drive PortableApps \ KeePassPortable \ Other \ Source and changing the KeePassPortable.ini file for DisableSplashScreen to equal True. Save it… Then copy it to the main KeePassPortable directory… If you are annoyed by having to see the Splash Screen every time you launch a portable app, following these steps rids the annoyance! Download PortableApps Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Speed up Visual Studio 2003 Startup Time By Disabling the Splash ScreenSpeed up Visual Studio 2003 Startup Time By Disabling the Splash ScreenUpdate Portable Firefox the Easy WayStart Portable Firefox in Safe ModeInstall and Run Applications from Your iPod, Flash Drive or Mp3 Player 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 HippoRemote Pro 2.2 Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Windows 7’s WordPad is Actually Good Greate Image Viewing and Management with Zoner Photo Studio Free Windows Media Player Plus! – Cool WMP Enhancer Get Your Team’s World Cup Schedule In Google Calendar Backup Drivers With Driver Magician TubeSort: YouTube Playlist Organizer

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• Add Notes to Zoho Notebook in Firefox

  - by Asian Angel

  As you browse the web during the day, you probably find items that catch your interest and would like to save. The Zoho Notebook Helper extension for Firefox provides an easy way to add those items to your Zoho account. Using Zoho Notebook Helper Using the extension is easy and straightforward. Highlight the text, images, and links that you want to save, right click and select Add to Zoho Notebook. Note: It is recommended that you leave your status bar visible while using the extension. You can choose to add the selection to a new or pre-existing notebook or page. We created a new page for our example. Once your selection has been added to your account, you can see how nicely the formatting is retained. Notice the link at the top of the note…clicking on it will open the original webpage in a new tab if clicked on. The notebook mini pane can also pop out into a separate window if needed. You can resize the new external window as desired and send it back to your browser when ready. You can see an even better view of how well the formatting with regard to images, etc. is retained here. A quick look inside our notebook account and the notes that were just added. A second example added to our notebook account using a newly created page. As you build up the number of notebooks and pages, you can easily navigate between them using the drop-down menu in the mini pane’s upper right corner. Two new sets of notes each with their own page displaying nicely in our online account. The ease of use makes this a must-have extension for Zoho fans. Keep in mind that the extension will be temporarily disabled if you have your online account open in a tab. Conclusion Zoho Office doesn’t get much love compared to other online office solutions like Google Docs, or the new Microsoft Web Apps. However, if you are a Zoho user, the Zoho Notebook Helper extension makes it very easy to add those notes, links, and images to your online account for later reference. Links Install the Zoho Notebook Helper extension (Zoho Website) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Get Organized with AM-Notebook LiteAdd Notes to Google Notebook from ChromeGeek Reviews: Manage And Organize Notes With EvernoteAdd Sticky Notes to Any Page with Internote for FirefoxCreate Notes Inside (and Outside) of Firefox 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 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 VMware Workstation 7 Acronis Online Backup Sculptris 1.0, 3D Drawing app AceStock, a Tiny Desktop Quote Monitor Gmail Button Addon (Firefox) Hyperwords addon (Firefox) Backup Outlook 2010 Daily Motivator (Firefox)

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• Create a Shortcut to Put Your Windows Computer into Hibernation

  - by Mysticgeek

  Putting your Windows computer into Hibernation Mode allows you to save power, and quickly access your desktop again when you need it. Here we show how to create a shortcut to put your PC in Hibernation Mode quickly. Note: Here we show how to create the shortcut in Windows 7 and add it to the Taskbar. But creating the shortcut should work in XP and Vista as well. Create Shortcut  Right-click an empty area on your desktop and select New \ Shortcut from the Context Menu. In the Create Shortcut window type or copy the following in the location field… C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll, SetSuspendState 0,1,0 Now give the shortcut a name such as Hibernate Computer or whatever you want to call it. Now you have the shortcut on your desktop, but you might want to change the icon to something else. Change Shortcut Icon Right-click the shortcut icon and select Properties. Select the Shortcut Tab and click the Change Icon button. In the Look for icons in this file field copy and past the following then click OK. %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll This brings up a list of included Windows icons you can choose from. Select whatever you want it to be. There are a couple of Power icons in the directory…click OK. Of course you can choose any icon you want, if you customize your icons just browse to the directory they are in. For more on selecting icons check out our article on how to customize your icons in Windows 7 or how to change a file type’s icon. Now you will see the icon in the Shortcut Properties window, click OK. Here we have a nice looking shortcut that you can use to put your machine into Hibernation. Or here we used a customized Star Trek icon just to make things more interesting… You can pin the shortcut to the Taskbar for easy access. Conclusion If Hibernation is not enabled on your Windows 7 system you can easily manage it. By creating a shortcut and pinning to the Taskbar, it allows you to put your machine into Hibernation Mode quick and easy. If you like to customize your desktop with unique icons check out our posts on a Sci-Fi icon pack or Video Game icon pack. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Create a Shortcut for Locking Your Computer Screen in Windows 7 or VistaCreate Shutdown / Restart / Lock Icons in Windows 7 or VistaHow To Manage Hibernate Mode in Windows 7Microsoft Releases Pre-SP1 Updates for Windows VistaCreate a Shortcut or Hotkey to Run CCleaner Silently 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 10 Superb Firefox Wallpapers OpenDNS Guide Google TV The iPod Revolution Ultimate Boot CD can help when disaster strikes Windows Firewall with Advanced Security – How To Guides

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• Share OneNote 2010 Notebooks with OneNote 2007

  - by Matthew Guay

  OneNote is the new star of the Office Suite, and is included in every edition of Office 2010.  OneNote’s file format has been changed in the 2010 version, so here’s how you can still share your notebooks with those using OneNote 2007. Convert your OneNote Notebooks to 2007 Format If you open a notebook from OneNote 2010 in OneNote 2007, you may see this warning informing you that the notebook was created in a newer version of OneNote and cannot be opened. To make your 2010 notebooks compatible with OneNote 2007, you need to convert them inside OneNote 2010.  In OneNote 2010, open the File menu; this should open to the Info tab by default.  Select the Settings button beside the notebook you want to use in OneNote 2007, and select Properties. In the properties dialog, click “Convert to 2007”. You may see a warning that some formatting, content, and history that is incompatible with OneNote 2007 will be removed.  Click Ok to continue. OneNote will automatically convert everything in this notebook to 2007 format.  If your notebook is very large, this may take a few minutes. Once the conversion is completed, you can re-open the properties dialog to see the change.  The format is listed as OneNote 2007 format, and you have the option to convert to 2010.  Your 2007 formatted notebook is still fully usable in OneNote 2010, but you may not be able to use some of the newer features in it. Now that your notebook is in 2007 format, you can share it with OneNote 2007 users.  Here’s our notebook, the OneNote 2010 guide, open in OneNote 2007 after the conversion. Conclusion OneNote can be a great collaboration tool, and with this simple trick you can collaborate with those using older versions of OneNote.  Additionally, if you are currently running Office 2010 beta but plan to switch back to Office 2007 when the beta expires, then make sure to do this to any new notebooks you’ve created so you can still use them. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips OCR anything with OneNote 2007 and 2010How To Upload Office 2010 Documents to Web Apps Technical PreviewShare Your Calendar in Outlook 2003 / Exchange EnvironmentSee Where a Package is Installed on UbuntuClear All Browsing History in Safari 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 QuicklyCode Provides Cheatsheets & Other Programming Stuff Download Free MP3s from Amazon Awe inspiring, inter-galactic theme (Win 7) Case Study – How to Optimize Popular Wordpress Sites Restore Hidden Updates in Windows 7 & Vista Iceland an Insurance Job?

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