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  • Properly setting up willSelectRowAtIndexPath and didSelectRowAtIndexPath to send cell selections

    - by Gordon Fontenot
    Feel like I'm going a bit nutty here. I have a detail view with a few stand-alone UITextFields, a few UITextFields in UITAbleViewCells, and one single UITableViewCell that will be used to hold notes, if there are any. I only want this cell selectable when I am in edit mode. When I am not in edit mode, I do not want to be able to select it. Selecting the cell (while in edit mode) will fire a method that will init a new view. I know this is very easy, but I am missing something somewhere. Here are the current selection methods I am using: -(NSIndexPath *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if (!self.editing) { NSLog(@"Returning nil, not in edit mode"); return nil; } NSLog(@"Cell will be selected, not in edit mode"); if (indexPath.section == 0) { NSLog(@"Comments cell will be selected"); return indexPath; } return nil; } -(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if (!self.editing) { NSLog(@"Not in edit mode. Should not have made it this far."); return; } if (indexPath.section == 0) [self pushCommentsView]; else return; } My problem is really 2 fold; 1) Even when I'm not in edit mode, and I know I am returning nil (due to the NSLog message), I can still select the row (it flashes blue). From my understanding of the willSelectRowAtIndexPath method, this shouldn't be happening. Maybe I am wrong about this? 2) When I enter edit mode, I can't select anything at all. the willSelectRowAtIndexPath method never fires, and neither does the didSelectRowAtIndexPath. The only thing I am doing in the setEditing method, is hiding the back button while editing, and assigning firstResponder to the top textField to get the keyboard to pop up. I thought maybe the first responder was getting in the way of the click (which would be dumb), but even with that commented out, I cannot perform the cell selection during editing.

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  • How to create a compiler in vb.net

    - by Cyclone
    Before answering this question, understand that I am not asking how to create my own programming language, I am asking how, using vb.net code, I can create a compiler for a language like vb.net itself. Essentially, the user inputs code, they get a .exe. By NO MEANS do I want to write my own language, as it seems other compiler related questions on here have asked. I also do not want to use the vb.net compiler itself, nor do I wish to duplicate the IDE. The exact purpose of what I wish to do is rather hard to explain, but all I need is a nudge in the right direction for writing a compiler (from scratch if possible) which can simply take input and create a .exe. I have opened .exe files as plain text before (my own programs) to see if I could derive some meaning from what I assumed would be human readable text, yet I was obviously sorely disappointed to see the random ascii, though it is understandable why this is all I found. I know that a .exe file is simply lines of code, being parsed by the computer it is on, but my question here really boils down to this: What code makes up a .exe? How could I go about making one in a plain text editor if I wanted to? (No, I do not want to do that, but if I understand the process my goals will be much easier to achieve.) What makes an executable file an executable file? Where does the logic of the code fit in? This is intended to be a programming question as opposed to a computer question, which is why I did not post it on SuperUser. I know plenty of information about the System.IO namespace, so I know how to create a file and write to it, I simply do not know what exactly I would be placing inside this file to get it to work as an executable file. I am sorry if this question is "confusing", "dumb", or "obvious", but I have not been able to find any information regarding the actual contents of an executable file anywhere. One of my google searches Something that looked promising EDIT: The second link here, while it looked good, was an utter fail. I am not going to waste hours of my time hitting keys and recording the results. "Use the "Alt" and the 3-digit combinations to create symbols that do not appear on the keyboard but that you need in the program." (step 4) How the heck do I know what symbols I need??? Thank you very much for your help, and my apologies if this question is a nooby or "bad" one. To sum this up simply: I want to create a program in vb.net that can compile code in a particular language to a single executable file. What methods exist that can allow me to do this, and if there are none, how can I go about writing my own from scratch?

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  • Adding Parsekit To An Xcode Project

    - by Garry
    I am trying to add the Parsekit framework to my OSX Xcode project. I've never added a 3rd party framework before and I can't get it to work right. I dragged the included Xcode project into my 'Groups & Files' pane and chose to Add it to my project. I then dragged Parsekit.framework underneath the Link Binary With Libraries heading. Then I double-clicked my target app and added Parsekit as a Direct Dependency. I also added libicucore.dylib as a Linked Library (as it says to do this on their site). Finally, in the Build settings tab of my target info I set the Header Search Paths to /Users/path/to/include/directory and the Other Linker Flags to -ObjC -all_load. Running this as a debug build work fine with no errors. However, when I build my app to release and then try to run the executable created, the app fails to load with the following error message: MyApp cannot be opened because of a problem. Check with the developer to make sure myApp works with this version of Mac OS X. Here is the dump from the crash reporter: Process: MyApp [11658] Path: /Users/Garry/Programming/Xcode/Mac/MyApp/build/Release/MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp Identifier: com.yourcompany.MyApp Version: ??? (???) Code Type: X86-64 (Native) Parent Process: launchd [135] Date/Time: 2010-05-24 17:08:08.475 +0100 OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.3 (10D573) Report Version: 6Interval Since Last Report: 133300 sec Crashes Since Last Report: 3 Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 3 Anonymous UUID: DF0265E4-B5A0-45E1-8B71-D52A27CFDDCA Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000 Crashed Thread: 0 Dyld Error Message: Library not loaded: @executable_path/../Frameworks/ParseKit.framework/Versions/A/ParseKit Referenced from: /Users/Garry/Programming/Xcode/Mac/MyApp/build/Release/MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp Reason: image not found Model: MacBookPro5,5, BootROM MBP55.00AC.B03, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.53 GHz, 4 GB, SMC 1.47f2 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, PCI, 256 MB Memory Module: global_name AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x8D), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27) Bluetooth: Version 2.3.1f4, 2 service, 2 devices, 1 incoming serial ports Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1 Network Service: Ethernet Adaptor (en6), Ethernet, en6 Serial ATA Device: Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02, 232.89 GB Serial ATA Device: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N USB Device: Built-in iSight, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8507, 0x24400000 USB Device: Internal Memory Card Reader, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8403, 0x26500000 USB Device: IR Receiver, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8242, 0x04500000 USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x0237, 0x04600000 USB Device: BRCM2046 Hub, 0x0a5c (Broadcom Corp.), 0x4500, 0x06100000 USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, 0x05ac (Apple Inc.), 0x8213, 0x06110000 After building the app, in addition to the executable file, Xcode is also creating a file called MyApp.app.dSYM. Any idea what that is?? I am developing with Xcode 3.2.2 on an Intel MBP running 10.6.3. Many thanks for any help offered.

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  • Thread not behaving correctly

    - by ivor
    Hello, I wonder if anyone can help me to understand where I could be going wrong with this code; Basically I'm working on a turorial and calling the class below from another class - and it is getting the following error; Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.NullPointerException at org.newdawn.spaceinvaders.TCPChat.run(TCPChat.java:322) at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source) I realise the error is beibg flagged in another class- but I have tested the other class with a small class which sets up a separate thread - and it works fine, but as soon as I try and implement a new thread in this class - it causes all sorts of problems. Am I setting up the thread correctly in this class? Basically I can set up a thread in this class, with a test loop and it's fine, but when I bring in the functionality of the rest of the game it sometimes hangs, or does not display at all. Any suggestions on where I could be going wrong would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking. package org.newdawn.spaceinvaders; import java.awt.BorderLayout; import java.awt.Canvas; import java.awt.Color; import java.awt.Dimension; import java.awt.FlowLayout; import java.awt.Graphics2D; import java.awt.GridLayout; import java.awt.event.ActionEvent; import java.awt.event.ActionListener; import java.awt.event.KeyAdapter; import java.awt.event.KeyEvent; import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter; import java.awt.event.WindowEvent; import java.awt.image.BufferStrategy; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Scanner; import java.awt.*;//maybe not needed import javax.swing.*;//maybenot needed import java.util.Random; //import java.io.*; /** * The main hook of our game. This class with both act as a manager * for the display and central mediator for the game logic. * * Display management will consist of a loop that cycles round all * entities in the game asking them to move and then drawing them * in the appropriate place. With the help of an inner class it * will also allow the player to control the main ship. * * As a mediator it will be informed when entities within our game * detect events (e.g. alient killed, played died) and will take * appropriate game actions. * * @author Kevin Glass */ public class Game extends Canvas implements Runnable{ /** The stragey that allows us to use accelerate page flipping */ private BufferStrategy strategy; /** True if the game is currently "running", i.e. the game loop is looping */ private boolean gameRunning = true; /** The list of all the entities that exist in our game */ private ArrayList entities = new ArrayList(); /** The list of entities that need to be removed from the game this loop */ private ArrayList removeList = new ArrayList(); /** The entity representing the player */ private Entity ship; /** The speed at which the player's ship should move (pixels/sec) */ private double moveSpeed = 300; /** The time at which last fired a shot */ private long lastFire = 0; /** The interval between our players shot (ms) */ private long firingInterval = 500; /** The number of aliens left on the screen */ private int alienCount; /** The number of levels progressed */ private double levelCount; /** high score for the user */ private int highScore; /** high score for the user */ private String player = "bob"; //private GetUserInput getPlayer; /** The list of entities that need to be removed from the game this loop */ /** The message to display which waiting for a key press */ private String message = ""; /** True if we're holding up game play until a key has been pressed */ private boolean waitingForKeyPress = true; /** True if the left cursor key is currently pressed */ private boolean leftPressed = false; /** True if the right cursor key is currently pressed */ private boolean rightPressed = false; /** True if we are firing */ private boolean firePressed = false; /** True if game logic needs to be applied this loop, normally as a result of a game event */ private boolean logicRequiredThisLoop = false; //private Thread cThread = new Thread(this); //public Thread t = new Thread(this); //private Thread g = new Thread(this); void setHighscore(int setHS) { highScore = setHS; } public int getHighscore() { return highScore; } public void setPlayer(String setPlayer) { player = setPlayer; } public String getPlayer() { return player; } public void run() { //setup(); System.out.println("hello im running bob"); /*int count = 1; do { System.out.println("Count is: " + count); count++; try{Thread.sleep(1);} catch(InterruptedException e){} } while (count <= 2000000);*/ //Game g =new Game(); //Game g = this; // Start the main game loop, note: this method will not // return until the game has finished running. Hence we are // using the actual main thread to run the game. //setup(); //this.gameLoop(); //try{thread.sleep(1);} //catch{InterruptedException e} } /** * Construct our game and set it running. */ public Game () { //Thread t = new Thread(this);//set up new thread for invaders game //t.run();//run the run method of the game //Game g =new Game(); //setup(); //Thread t = new Thread(this); //thread.start(); //SwingUtilities.invokeLater(this); Thread er = new Thread(this); er.start(); } public void setup(){ //initialise highscore setHighscore(0); // create a frame to contain our game JFrame container = new JFrame("Space Invaders 101"); // get hold the content of the frame and set up the resolution of the game JPanel panel = (JPanel) container.getContentPane(); panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800,600)); //panel.setLayout(null); // setup our canvas size and put it into the content of the frame setBounds(0,0,800,600); panel.add(this); // Tell AWT not to bother repainting our canvas since we're // going to do that our self in accelerated mode setIgnoreRepaint(true); // finally make the window visible container.pack(); container.setResizable(false); container.setVisible(true); // add a listener to respond to the user closing the window. If they // do we'd like to exit the game container.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() { public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) { //cThread.interrupt(); System.exit(0); } }); // add a key input system (defined below) to our canvas // so we can respond to key pressed addKeyListener(new KeyInputHandler()); // request the focus so key events come to us requestFocus(); // create the buffering strategy which will allow AWT // to manage our accelerated graphics createBufferStrategy(2); strategy = getBufferStrategy(); // initialise the entities in our game so there's something // to see at startup initEntities(); } /** * Start a fresh game, this should clear out any old data and * create a new set. */ private void startGame() { // clear out any existing entities and intialise a new set entities.clear(); initEntities(); //initialise highscore setHighscore(0); // blank out any keyboard settings we might currently have leftPressed = false; rightPressed = false; firePressed = false; } /** * Initialise the starting state of the entities (ship and aliens). Each * entitiy will be added to the overall list of entities in the game. */ //private void initEntities() { public void initEntities() { Random randomAlien = new Random(); // create the player ship and place it roughly in the center of the screen //ship = new ShipEntity(this,"sprites/ship.gif",370,550);//orignal ship = new ShipEntity(this,"sprites/ship.gif",700,300);//changed postioning to right hand side entities.add(ship); // create a block of aliens (5 rows, by 12 aliens, spaced evenly) alienCount = 0; levelCount = 1.02; for (int row=0;row<7;row++) {//altered number of rows for (int x=0;x<5;x++) { int r = randomAlien.nextInt(100);//loop added to produce random aliens if (r < 50){ //Entity alien = new AlienEntity(this,"sprites/alien.gif",/*100+*/(x*50),(50)+row*30); Entity alien = new AlienEntity(this,"sprites/alien.gif",100+(x*90),(12)+row*85); entities.add(alien); alienCount++; } } } } //private void initEntities() { public void initAlienEntities() { Random randomAlien = new Random(); // create the player ship and place it roughly in the center of the screen //ship = new ShipEntity(this,"sprites/ship.gif",370,550);//orignal //ship = new ShipEntity(this,"sprites/ship.gif",700,300);//changed postioning to right hand side //entities.add(ship); // create a block of aliens (5 rows, by 12 aliens, spaced evenly) alienCount = 0; levelCount = levelCount + 0.10;//this increases the speed on every level for (int row=0;row<7;row++) {//altered number of rows for (int x=0;x<5;x++) { int r = randomAlien.nextInt(100);//loop added to produce random aliens if (r < 50){//randome check to show alien //Entity alien = new AlienEntity(this,"sprites/alien.gif",/*100+*/(x*50),(50)+row*30); Entity alien = new AlienEntity(this,"sprites/alien.gif",-250+(x*90),(12)+row*85); entities.add(alien); alienCount++; } } } advanceAlienSpeed(levelCount); } /** * Notification from a game entity that the logic of the game * should be run at the next opportunity (normally as a result of some * game event) */ public void updateLogic() { logicRequiredThisLoop = true; } /** * Remove an entity from the game. The entity removed will * no longer move or be drawn. * * @param entity The entity that should be removed */ public void removeEntity(Entity entity) { removeList.add(entity); } /** * Notification that the player has died. */ public void notifyDeath() { message = "Oh no! They got you, try again?"; waitingForKeyPress = true; } /** * Notification that the player has won since all the aliens * are dead. */ public void notifyWin() { message = "Well done! You Win!"; waitingForKeyPress = true; } /** * Notification that an alien has been killed */ public void notifyAlienKilled() { // reduce the alient count, if there are none left, the player has won! alienCount--; if (alienCount == 0) { //notifyWin();win not relevant here... this.initAlienEntities();//call fresh batch of aliens } // if there are still some aliens left then they all need to get faster, so // speed up all the existing aliens advanceAlienSpeed(1.30); } public void advanceAlienSpeed(double speed) { // if there are still some aliens left then they all need to get faster, so // speed up all the existing aliens for (int i=0;i<entities.size();i++) { Entity entity = (Entity) entities.get(i); if (entity instanceof AlienEntity) { // speed up by 2% entity.setHorizontalMovement(entity.getHorizontalMovement() * speed); //entity.setVerticalMovement(entity.getVerticalMovement() * 1.02); } } } /** * Attempt to fire a shot from the player. Its called "try" * since we must first check that the player can fire at this * point, i.e. has he/she waited long enough between shots */ public void tryToFire() { // check that we have waiting long enough to fire if (System.currentTimeMillis() - lastFire < firingInterval) { return; } // if we waited long enough, create the shot entity, and record the time. lastFire = System.currentTimeMillis(); ShotEntity shot = new ShotEntity(this,"sprites/shot.gif",ship.getX()+10,ship.getY()-30); entities.add(shot); } /** * The main game loop. This loop is running during all game * play as is responsible for the following activities: * <p> * - Working out the speed of the game loop to update moves * - Moving the game entities * - Drawing the screen contents (entities, text) * - Updating game events * - Checking Input * <p> */ public void gameLoop() { long lastLoopTime = System.currentTimeMillis(); // keep looping round til the game ends while (gameRunning) { // work out how long its been since the last update, this // will be used to calculate how far the entities should // move this loop long delta = System.currentTimeMillis() - lastLoopTime; lastLoopTime = System.currentTimeMillis(); // Get hold of a graphics context for the accelerated // surface and blank it out Graphics2D g = (Graphics2D) strategy.getDrawGraphics(); g.setColor(Color.black); g.fillRect(0,0,800,600); // cycle round asking each entity to move itself if (!waitingForKeyPress) { for (int i=0;i<entities.size();i++) { Entity entity = (Entity) entities.get(i); entity.move(delta); } } // cycle round drawing all the entities we have in the game for (int i=0;i<entities.size();i++) { Entity entity = (Entity) entities.get(i); entity.draw(g); } // brute force collisions, compare every entity against // every other entity. If any of them collide notify // both entities that the collision has occured for (int p=0;p<entities.size();p++) { for (int s=p+1;s<entities.size();s++) { Entity me = (Entity) entities.get(p); Entity him = (Entity) entities.get(s); if (me.collidesWith(him)) { me.collidedWith(him); him.collidedWith(me); } } } // remove any entity that has been marked for clear up entities.removeAll(removeList); removeList.clear(); // if a game event has indicated that game logic should // be resolved, cycle round every entity requesting that // their personal logic should be considered. if (logicRequiredThisLoop) { //g.drawString("Press any key",(800-g.getFontMetrics().stringWidth("Press any key"))/2,300); for (int i=0;i<entities.size();i++) { Entity entity = (Entity) entities.get(i); entity.doLogic(); } logicRequiredThisLoop = false; } // if we're waiting for an "any key" press then draw the // current message //show highscore at top of screen //show name at top of screen g.setColor(Color.white); g.drawString("Player : "+getPlayer()+" : Score : "+getHighscore(),20,20); if (waitingForKeyPress) { g.setColor(Color.white); g.drawString(message,(800-g.getFontMetrics().stringWidth(message))/2,250); g.drawString("Press any key",(800-g.getFontMetrics().stringWidth("Press any key"))/2,300); } // finally, we've completed drawing so clear up the graphics // and flip the buffer over g.dispose(); strategy.show(); // resolve the movement of the ship. First assume the ship // isn't moving. If either cursor key is pressed then // update the movement appropraitely ship.setVerticalMovement(0);//set to vertical movement if ((leftPressed) && (!rightPressed)) { ship.setVerticalMovement(-moveSpeed);//**took out setHorizaontalMOvement } else if ((rightPressed) && (!leftPressed)) { ship.setVerticalMovement(moveSpeed);//**took out setHorizaontalMOvement } // if we're pressing fire, attempt to fire if (firePressed) { tryToFire(); } // finally pause for a bit. Note: this should run us at about // 100 fps but on windows this might vary each loop due to // a bad implementation of timer try { Thread.sleep(10); } catch (Exception e) {} } } /** * A class to handle keyboard input from the user. The class * handles both dynamic input during game play, i.e. left/right * and shoot, and more static type input (i.e. press any key to * continue) * * This has been implemented as an inner class more through * habbit then anything else. Its perfectly normal to implement * this as seperate class if slight less convienient. * * @author Kevin Glass */ private class KeyInputHandler extends KeyAdapter { /** The number of key presses we've had while waiting for an "any key" press */ private int pressCount = 1; /** * Notification from AWT that a key has been pressed. Note that * a key being pressed is equal to being pushed down but *NOT* * released. Thats where keyTyped() comes in. * * @param e The details of the key that was pressed */ public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) { // if we're waiting for an "any key" typed then we don't // want to do anything with just a "press" if (waitingForKeyPress) { return; } // if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_LEFT) { ////leftPressed = true; ///} //// if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT) { //rightPressed = true; if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_UP) { leftPressed = true; } if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_DOWN) { rightPressed = true; } if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) { firePressed = true; } } /** * Notification from AWT that a key has been released. * * @param e The details of the key that was released */ public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) { // if we're waiting for an "any key" typed then we don't // want to do anything with just a "released" if (waitingForKeyPress) { return; } if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_UP) {//changed from VK_LEFT leftPressed = false; } if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_DOWN) {//changed from VK_RIGHT rightPressed = false; } if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) { firePressed = false; } } /** * Notification from AWT that a key has been typed. Note that * typing a key means to both press and then release it. * * @param e The details of the key that was typed. */ public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) { // if we're waiting for a "any key" type then // check if we've recieved any recently. We may // have had a keyType() event from the user releasing // the shoot or move keys, hence the use of the "pressCount" // counter. if (waitingForKeyPress) { if (pressCount == 1) { // since we've now recieved our key typed // event we can mark it as such and start // our new game waitingForKeyPress = false; startGame(); pressCount = 0; } else { pressCount++; } } // if we hit escape, then quit the game if (e.getKeyChar() == 27) { //cThread.interrupt(); System.exit(0); } } } /** * The entry point into the game. We'll simply create an * instance of class which will start the display and game * loop. * * @param argv The arguments that are passed into our game */ //public static void main(String argv[]) { //Game g =new Game(); // Start the main game loop, note: this method will not // return until the game has finished running. Hence we are // using the actual main thread to run the game. //g.gameLoop(); //} }

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  • Routed Command Question

    - by Andrew
    I'd like to implement a custom command to capture a Backspace key gesture inside of a textbox, but I don't know how. I wrote a test program in order to understand what's going on, but the behaviour of the program is rather confusing. Basically, I just need to be able to handle the Backspace key gesture via wpf commands while keyboard focus is in the textbox, and without disrupting the normal behaviour of the Backspace key within the textbox. Here's the xaml for the main window and the corresponding code-behind, too (note that I created a second command for the Enter key, just to compare its behaviour to that of the Backspace key): <Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.Window1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300"> <Grid> <TextBox Margin="44,54,44,128" Name="textBox1" /> </Grid> </Window> And here's the corresponding code-behind: using System.Windows; using System.Windows.Input; namespace WpfApplication1 { /// <summary> /// Interaction logic for EntryListView.xaml /// </summary> public partial class Window1 : Window { public static RoutedCommand EnterCommand = new RoutedCommand(); public static RoutedCommand BackspaceCommand = new RoutedCommand(); public Window1() { InitializeComponent(); CommandBinding cb1 = new CommandBinding(EnterCommand, EnterExecuted, EnterCanExecute); CommandBinding cb2 = new CommandBinding(BackspaceCommand, BackspaceExecuted, BackspaceCanExecute); this.CommandBindings.Add(cb1); this.CommandBindings.Add(cb2); KeyGesture kg1 = new KeyGesture(Key.Enter); KeyGesture kg2 = new KeyGesture(Key.Back); InputBinding ib1 = new InputBinding(EnterCommand, kg1); InputBinding ib2 = new InputBinding(BackspaceCommand, kg2); this.InputBindings.Add(ib1); this.InputBindings.Add(ib2); } #region Command Handlers private void EnterCanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e) { MessageBox.Show("Inside EnterCanExecute Method."); e.CanExecute = true; } private void EnterExecuted(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e) { MessageBox.Show("Inside EnterExecuted Method."); e.Handled = true; } private void BackspaceCanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e) { MessageBox.Show("Inside BackspaceCanExecute Method."); e.Handled = true; } private void BackspaceExecuted(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e) { MessageBox.Show("Inside BackspaceExecuted Method."); e.Handled = true; } #endregion Command Handlers } } Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks! Andrew

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  • Annoying Captcha >> How to programm a form that can SMELL difference between human and robot?

    - by Sam
    Hi folks. On the comment of my old form needing a CAPTHA, I felt I share my problem, perhaps you recognize it and find its time we had better solutions: FACTUAL PROBLEM I know most of my clients (typical age= 40~60) hate CAPTCHA things. Now, I myself always feel like a robot, when I have to sueeze my eyes and fill in the strange letters from the Capcha... Sometimes I fail! Go back etc. Turnoff. I mean comon its 2011, shouldnt the forms have better A.I. by now? MY NEW IDEA (please dont laugh) Ive thought about it and this is my idea's to tell difference between human and robot: My idea is to give credibility points. 100 points = human 0% = robot. require real human mouse movements require mousemovements that dont follow any mathematical pattern require non-instantaneous reading delays, between load and first input in form when typing in form, delays are measured between letters and words approve as human when typical human behaviour measured (deleting, rephrasing etc) dont allow instant pasting or all fields give points for real keyboard pressures retract points for credibility when hyperlinks in form Test wether fake email field (invisible by human) is populated (suggested by Tomalak) when more than 75% human cretibility, allow to be sent without captcha when less than 25% human crecibility, force captcha puzzle to be sure Could we write a A.I. PHP that replaces the human-annoying capthas, meanwhile stopping most spamservers filing in the data? Not only for the fun of it, but also actually to provide a 99% better alternative than CAPTHCA's. Imagine the userfriendlyness of your forms! Your site distinguishing itself from others, showing your audience your sites KNOWS the difference between a robot and a human. Imagine the advangage. I am trying to capture the essense of that distinguishing edge. PROGRAMMING QUESTION: 1) Are such things possible to programm? 2) If so how would you start such programm? 3) Are there already very good working solutions available elsewhere? 4) If it isn't so hard, your are welcome to share your answer/solutions below. 5) upon completion of hints and new ideas, could this page be the start of a new AI captcha, OR should I forget about it and just go with the flow, forget about the whole AI dream, and use captcha like everyone else.

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  • Is there any "modern" text editor with command-line/minibuffer?

    - by Pedro Morte Rolo
    A command line in a text editor is a wonderful feature. It allows the user to explore the editor's functionality and learn it's shortcuts in a textual way. It's much faster than using the mouse, and it is much easier to memorise "shortcuts" this way. Emacs and VI provide this, though, emacs and vi are not "modern". By "modern", I mean one that is original built to cope with the modern de-facto standards of selecting, copying, pasting, cutting, undoing, redoing and auto-completing. Cream/vi or Emacs/CUA are not valid options, since there are loads of things built over them that conflict with the mentioned stuff. It would be nice if there was an editor that would cope with the modern de-facto standards out-off-the-box, but still provide a command-line/minibuffer to perform/explore the commands and learn its shortcuts. Is there such a thing? I do not intend to use the "modern" term as derrogatory. I love both Emacs and VI, but I hate their keyboard-shortcut historical baggage. When I reffer to de-facto standards, I am not talking about Windows vs Whatever. Kate, gedit, Eclipse, Intelij or Textmate also follow the norm I am talking about and are not Windows editors. Please do not advertise Vim and Emacs, that's not answering the question. I am asking for alternatives. Why don't I like emacs and vi: Emacs: Despite CUA mode, emacs has loads of modes that conflict with this (e.g. slime, ruby-mode, etc...) It would be nice to have something that would work out-off-the-box. VI: I do not like that it is Visual/Insert-based. I do not know how to browse the text-editor's commands. I do not like that it is so much tought for the terminal. I believe that it has the same problem that I mentioned for emacs. This question is starting to look like requirement analysis.. As de-facto standards I mean: Ctrol-XCV for cut-copy-paste Ctrol-A for select-all Contrl-Z for Undo Ctrol-Y for Redo Control-F for Searching Contrl-Space for auto-complete Shift-arrow for selection Control-arrow for word-navigation Alt-Arrow for moving

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  • Do you feel underappreciated or resent the geek/nerd stigma?

    - by dotnetdev
    At work we have a piece of A4 paper with the number of everyone in the office. The structure of this document is laid out in rectangles, by department. I work for the department that does all the technical stuff. That includes support—bear in mind that the support staff isn't educated in IT but just has experience in PC maintenance and providing support to a system we resell but don't have source code access to, project manager, team leader, a network administrator, a product manager, and me, a programmer. Anyway, on this paper, we are labelled as nerds and geeks. I did take a little offence to this, as much as it is light hearted (but annoying and old) humour. I have a vivid image that a geek is someone who doesn't go out but codes all day. I code all day at home and at work (when I have something to code...), but I keep balance by going out. I don't know why it is only people who work with computers that get such a stigma. No other profession really gets the same stigma—skilled, technical, or whatever. An account manager (and this is hardly a skilled job) says, "Perhaps [MY NAME HERE] could write some geeky code tomorrow to add this functionality to the website." It is funny how I get such an unfair stigma but I am so pivotal. In fact, if it wasn't for me, the company would have nothing to sell so the account managers would be redundant! I make systems, they get sold, and this is what pays the wages. It's funny how the account managers get a commission for how many systems they sell, or manage to make clients resubscribe to. Yet I built the thing in the first place! On top of that, my brother says all I do is type stuff on a keyboard all day. Surely if I did, I'd be typing at my normal typing speed of 100wpm+ as if I am writing a blog entry. Instead, I plan as I code along on the fly if commercial pressures and time prohibit proper planning. I never type as if I'm writing normal English. There is more to our jobs than just typing code. And my brother is a pipe fitter with no formal qualifications in his name. I could easily, and perhaps more justifiably, say he just manipulates a spanner or something. Does you feel underappreciated or that a geek/nerd stigma is undeserved or unfair?

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  • Choosing the right .NET architecture. WCF? WPF/Forms, ASP.NET (MVC)?

    - by Tommy Jakobsen
    I’m in the situation that I have to design and implement a rather big system from the bottom. I’m having some (a lot actually) questions about the architecture that I would like your comments and thoughts on. I don’t hope that I’ve written too much here, but I wanted to give you all an idea of what the system is. Quick info about the applications, read if you want: I can’t share much detail about the project, but basically it’s a system where we offer our customer a service to manage their users. We have a hotline where the users call and our hotline uses an (windows) application (intranet) to manage the user’s data, etc. The customer also has a web application where they can see reports, information about their business and users, and the ability to modify their data. Modifying data is not just user data like address and so, but also information about the products/services the user has, which can be complicated. The applications will be built on Microsoft .NET Framework 4, with a MS SQL Server 2008 database. There will be a few applications that have to access this database, such as: Intranet application (used by us and our hotline) Customer web application type 1 Customer web application type 2 Customer web application type n different applications) … Now my big problem is what .NET parts I should use for such a system. For the “backend” I’ve considered using Windows Communication Foundation: Would WCF be a good choice? The intranet application will be an application that has to edit lots of records in the database. It has to be easy to navigate using the keyboard (fast to work with). Has a feature such as “find customer, find that, lookup this, choose this and update that”. What would be the best choice to develop this application in? Would it be WPF or good old Windows Forms? I don’t need all of the fancy graphics features in WPF, like 3D, but the application has to look nice (maybe something like the new Visual Studio/Office tools). And the same question goes for the web pages. They have much the same work to do, but not as many features as the intranet application, and not the same amount of data (much less). That is my questions for now. I’m hoping to get a discussion going that will open my eyes to some of these technologies, helping me decide architecture to go with. I would like to say thanks in advance, and let you all know that any thoughts will be much appreciated.

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  • Design Technique: How to design a complex system for processing orders, products and units.

    - by Shyam
    Hi, Programming is fun: I learned that by trying out simple challenges, reading up some books and following some tutorials. I am able to grasp the concepts of writing with OO (I do so in Ruby), and write a bit of code myself. What bugs me though is that I feel re-inventing the wheel: I haven't followed an education or found a book (a free one that is) that explains me the why's instead of the how's, and I've learned from the A-team that it is the plan that makes it come together. So, armed with my nuby Ruby skills, I decided I wanted to program a virtual store. I figured out the following: My virtual Store will have: Products and Services Inventories Orders and Shipping Customers Now this isn't complex at all. With the help of some cool tools (CMapTools), I drew out some concepts, but quickly enough (thanks to my inferior experience in designing), my design started to bite me. My very first product-line were virtual "laptops". So, I created a class (Ruby): class Product attr_accessor :name, :price def initialize(name, price) @name = name @price = price end end which can be instantiated by doing (IRb) x = Product.new("Banana Pro", 250) Since I want my virtual customers to be able to purchase more than one product, or various types, I figured out I needed some kind of "Order" mechanism. class Order def initialize(order_no) @order_no = order_no @line_items = [] end def add_product(myproduct) @line_items << myproduct end def show_order() puts @order_no @line_items.each do |x| puts x.name.to_s + "\t" + x.price.to_s end end end that can be instantiated by doing (IRb) z = Order.new(1234) z.add_product(x) z.show_order Splendid, I have now a very simple ordering system that allows me to add products to an order. But, here comes my real question. What if I have three models of my product (economy, business, showoff)? Or have my products be composed out of separate units (bigger screen, nicer keyboard, different OS)? Surely I could make them three separate products, or add complexity to my product class, but I am looking for are best practices to design a flexible product object that can be used in the real world, to facilitate a complex system. My apologies if my grammar and my spelling are with error, as english is not my first language and I took the time to check as far I could understand and translate properly! Thank you for your answers, comments and feedback!

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  • XNA - Mouse coordinates to word space transformation

    - by Gabriel Butcher
    I have a pretty annoying problem. I would like to create a drawing program, using winform + XNA combo. The most important part would be to transform the mouse position into the XNA drawn grid - I was able to make it for the translations, but it only work if I don't zoom in - when I do, the coordinates simply went horrible wrong. And I have no idea what I doing wrong. I tried to transform with scaling matrix, transform with inverse scaling matrix, multiplying with zoom, but none seems to work. In the beginning (with zoom value = 1) the grid starts from (0,0,0) going to (Width, Height, 0). I was able to get coordinates based on this grid as long as the zoom value didn't changed at all. I using a custom shader, with orthographic projection matrix, identity view matrix, and the transformed world matrix. Here is the two main method: internal void Update(RenderData data) { KeyboardState keyS = Keyboard.GetState(); MouseState mouS = Mouse.GetState(); if (ButtonState.Pressed == mouS.RightButton) { camTarget.X -= (float)(mouS.X - oldMstate.X) / 2; camTarget.Y += (float)(mouS.Y - oldMstate.Y) / 2; } if (ButtonState.Pressed == mouS.MiddleButton || keyS.IsKeyDown(Keys.Space)) { zVal += (float)(mouS.Y - oldMstate.Y) / 10; zoom = (float)Math.Pow(2, zVal); } oldKState = keyS; oldMstate = mouS; world = Matrix.CreateTranslation(new Vector3(-camTarget.X, -camTarget.Y, 0)) * Matrix.CreateScale(zoom / 2); } internal PointF MousePos { get { Vector2 mousePos = new Vector2(Mouse.GetState().X, Mouse.GetState().Y); Matrix trans = Matrix.CreateTranslation(new Vector3(camTarget.X - (Width / 2), -camTarget.Y + (Height / 2), 0)); mousePos = Vector2.Transform(mousePos, trans); return new PointF(mousePos.X, mousePos.Y); } } The second method should return the coordinates of the mouse cursor based on the grid (where the (0,0) point of the grid is the top-left corner.). But is just don't work. I deleted the zoom transformation from the matrix trans, as I didnt was able to get any useful result (most of the time, the coordinates was horrible wrong, mostly many thousand when the grid's size is 500x500). Any idea, or suggestion? I trying to solve this simple problem for two days now :\

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  • How to scroll table view with toolbar at the top of the view

    - by Jakub
    Hello, I have a view with a toolbar at the top and a table view with text fields in it's cells. When I want to edit the text fields placed in the bottom of the table view the keyboard is hiding the text field being edited (as the table view is not scrolled up). I tried to implement http://cocoawithlove.com/2008/10/sliding-uitextfields-around-to-avoid.html but this makes my whole view move up (the toolbar and the table view) while I would like to have the toobar at the top of the view for the whole time. I modified the mentioned code to something like this: - (void)textFieldDidBeginEditing:(UITextField *)textField { CGRect textFieldRect = [tableView.window convertRect:textField.bounds fromView:textField]; CGRect viewRect = [tableView.window convertRect:tmpTableView.bounds fromView:tableView]; CGFloat midline = textFieldRect.origin.y + 0.5 * textFieldRect.size.height; CGFloat numerator = midline - viewRect.origin.y - MINIMUM_SCROLL_FRACTION * viewRect.size.height; CGFloat denominator = (MAXIMUM_SCROLL_FRACTION - MINIMUM_SCROLL_FRACTION) * viewRect.size.height; CGFloat heightFraction = numerator / denominator; if (heightFraction < 0.0) { heightFraction = 0.0; } else if (heightFraction > 1.0) { heightFraction = 1.0; } UIInterfaceOrientation orientation = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] statusBarOrientation]; if (orientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait || orientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown) { animatedDistance = floor(PORTRAIT_KEYBOARD_HEIGHT * heightFraction); } else { animatedDistance = floor(LANDSCAPE_KEYBOARD_HEIGHT * heightFraction); } CGRect viewFrame = tableView.frame; viewFrame.origin.y -= animatedDistance; [UIView beginAnimations:nil context:NULL]; [UIView setAnimationBeginsFromCurrentState:YES]; [UIView setAnimationDuration:KEYBOARD_ANIMATION_DURATION]; [tableView setFrame:viewFrame]; [UIView commitAnimations]; } and - (void)textFieldDidEndEditing:(UITextField *)textField { CGRect viewFrame = tableView.frame; viewFrame.origin.y += animatedDistance; [UIView beginAnimations:nil context:NULL]; [UIView setAnimationBeginsFromCurrentState:YES]; [UIView setAnimationDuration:KEYBOARD_ANIMATION_DURATION]; [tableView setFrame:viewFrame]; [UIView commitAnimations]; } This made my toolbar stay at the top, but unfortunately the table view overlays the toolbar and the toolbar is not visible. Any ideas how to solve this?

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  • Java app makes screen display unresponsive after 10 minutes of user idle time

    - by Ross
    I've written a Java app that allows users to script mouse/keyboard input (JMacro, link not important, only for the curious). I personally use the application to automate character actions in an online game overnight while I sleep. Unfortunately, I keep coming back to the computer in the morning to find it unresponsive. Upon further testing, I'm finding that my application causes the computer to become unresponsive after about 10 minutes of user idle time (even if the application itself it simulating user activity). I can't seem to pin-point the issue, so I'm hoping somebody else might have a suggestion of where to look or what might be causing the issue. The relevant symptoms and characteristics: Unresponsiveness occurs after user is idle for 10 minutes User can still move the mouse pointer around the screen Everything but the mouse appears frozen... mouse clicks have no effect and no applications update their displays, including the Windows 7 desktop I left the task manager up along the with the app overnight so I could see the last task manager image before the screen freezes... the Java app is at normal CPU/Memory usage and total CPU usage is only ~1% After moving the mouse (in other words, the user comes back from being idle), the screen image starts updating again within 30 minutes (this is very hit and miss... sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes no results after two hours) User can CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to Windows 7's CTRL-ALT-DEL screen (after a 30 second pause). User is still able to move mouse pointer, but clicking any of the button options causes the screen to appear to freeze again On some very rare occasions, the system never freezes, and I come back to it in the morning with full responsiveness The Java app automatically stops input scripting in the middle of the night, so Windows 7 detects "real" idleness and turns the monitors into Standby mode... which they successfully come out of upon manually moving the mouse in the morning when I wake up, even though the desktop display still appears frozen Given the symptoms and characteristics of the issue, it's as if the Java app is causing the desktop display of the logged in user to stop updating, including any running applications. Programming concepts and Java packages used: Multi-threading Standard out and err are rerouted to a javax.swing.JTextArea The application uses a Swing GUI awt.Robot (very heavily used) awt.PointerInfo awt.MouseInfo System Specs: Windows 7 Professional Java 1.6.0 u17 In conclusion, I should stress that I'm not looking for any specific solutions, as I'm not asking a very specific question. I'm just wondering if anybody has run into a similar problem when using the Java libraries that I'm using. I would also gladly appreciate any suggestions for things to try to attempt to further pinpoint what is causing my problem. Thanks! Ross PS, I'll post an update/answer if I manage to stumble across anything else while I continue to debug this.

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  • how to develop a program to minimize errors in human transcription of hand written surveys

    - by Alex. S.
    I need to develop custom software to do surveys. Questions may be of multiple choice, or free text in a very few cases. I was asked to design a subsystem to check if there is any error in the manual data entry for the multiple choices part. We're trying to speed up the user data entry process and to minimize human input differences between digital forms and the original questionnaires. The surveys are filled with handwritten marks and text by human interviewers, so it's possible to find hard to read marks, or also the user could accidentally select a different value in some question, and we would like to avoid that. The software must include some automatic control to detect possible typing differences. Each answer of the multiple choice questions has the same probability of being selected. This question has two parts: The GUI. The most simple thing I have in mind is to implement the most usable design of the questions display: use of large and readable fonts and space generously the choices. Is there something else? For faster input, I would like to use drop down lists (favoring keyboard over mouse). Given the questions are grouped in sections, I would like to show the answers selected for the questions of that section, but this could slow down the process. Any other ideas? The error checking subsystem. What else can I do to minimize or to check human typos in the multiple choice questions? Is this a solvable problem? is there some statistical methodology to check values that were entered by the users are the same from the hand filled forms? For example, let's suppose the survey has 5 questions, and each has 4 options. Let's say I have n survey forms filled in paper by interviewers, and they're ready to be entered in the software, then how to minimize the accidental differences that can have the manual transcription of the n surveys, without having to double check everything in the 5 questions of the n surveys? My first suggestion is that at the end of the processing of all the hand filled forms, the software could choose some forms randomly to make a double check of the responses in a few instances, but on what criteria can I make this selection? This validation would be enough to cover everything in a significant way? The actual survey is nation level and it has 56 pages with over 200 questions in total, so it will be a lot of hand written pages by many people, and the intention is to reduce the likelihood of errors and to optimize speed in the data entry process. The surveys must filled in paper first, given the complications of taking laptops or handhelds with the interviewers.

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  • The admob ads not dispaly, but no error in my logcat

    - by ???
    package com.admob.test; import android.app.Activity; import android.os.Bundle; public class AdmobTestActivity extends Activity { /** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); } } <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.admob.test" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" > <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" /> <application android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name" > <activity android:name=".AdmobTestActivity" android:label="@string/app_name" > <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /> </intent-filter> </activity> <activity android:name="com.google.ads.AdActivity" android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|s mallestScreenSize" /> </application> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" /> </manifest> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/lib/com.google.ads" android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"> <com.google.ads.AdView android:id="@+id/adView" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" ads:adUnitId="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" ads:adSize="BANNER" ads:testDevices="C904358AFB272CDFA888A5C1CB914DA4" ads:loadAdOnCreate="true"/> </LinearLayout> I'd like to test my admob ads in my Android application, but the ads can't display. And no error can be found in the logcat. I also can find the success request for ads from Admob. I use "X" to indicate my publish id, could any expert kindly help me? thanks in advanse.

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  • Best Practices for Working with Multiple Monitors in Visual Studio 2010

    - by Clever Human
    Now that Visual Studio 2010 has support for multiple monitors, I am curious how other people have their environments arranged. I have yet to come up with an arrangement that I am really satisfied with. The current best I have come up with for my 2 monitor system is to have all code windows detached. Then, on my primary monitor, I am able to have two code windows side by side (using the Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts WinKey+LeftArrow and WinKey+RightArrow.) On my secondary monitor I put the rest of the IDE with all of the tool windows that are normally on the bottom (errors list, find window, call stack, etc...) docked where the code windows normally go. I've also tried having all those things detached and having almost nothing in the IDE proper. The problems with this layout are: Newly opened code windows always open in the IDE, not on top of one of the detached windows. Detached code windows do not remember their exact placement from session to session (they are slightly off, having me to use the winkey + arrow key shortcut again and again for each window. There seems to be no way to have the code panes aware that they are on top of one another (IE -- multiple tabs.) The CTRL+TAB shortcut always displays on top of the IDE proper. The Code Panes are always "on top" of (children of) the IDE. So clicking on any code pane brings the IDE to the foreground, even when I care only about that code pane, and not the IDE. Other more minor issues... What would go a long way to making this better is having the code panes detach such that they are tab strips that can have other code panes docked within them. The new multi-monitor support in VS2010 is good, but it still seems really lacking. Can these issues be solved with an add-in? If so, is anyone aware of one? Is there a better way to work with the IDE on multiple monitors than what I am doing? NOTE: While this question is subjective (there is certainly no "this is the best way and that's final" answer) I'd really like to know possibly better methods of working with the IDE than what I have come up with. The intent is not to start a "mine's best" flame war.

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  • index seems to be out of sync for jquery .keydown and .click methods

    - by Growler
    I'd like to navigate images using both keyboard and mouse (clicking left and right arrow images). I'm using Jquery to do this, but the shared imgIndex seems to be off from the .keydown function and the .click function... Whenever .keydown function -- or ++ the imgIndex, isn't that changed index also used in the click function? So shouldn't they always be on the same index? keydown function: <script type="text/javascript"> var imgArray = [<?php echo implode(',', getImages($site)) ?>]; $(document).ready(function() { var img = document.getElementById("showimg"); img.src = imgArray[<?php echo $imgid ?>]; var imgIndex = <?php echo $imgid ?>; alert(imgIndex); $(document).keydown(function (e) { var key = e.which; var rightarrow = 39; var leftarrow = 37; var random = 82; if (key == rightarrow) { imgIndex++; if (imgIndex > imgArray.length-1) { imgIndex = 0; } img.src = imgArray[imgIndex]; } if (key == leftarrow) { if (imgIndex == 0) { imgIndex = imgArray.length; } img.src = imgArray[--imgIndex]; } }); click function: Connected to left and right clickable images $("#next").click(function() { imgIndex++; if (imgIndex > imgArray.length-1) { imgIndex = 0; } img.src = imgArray[imgIndex]; }); $("#prev").click(function() { if (imgIndex == 0) { imgIndex = imgArray.length; } img.src = imgArray[--imgIndex]; }); }); Just so you have some visibility into the getImages php function: <?php function getImages($siteParam) { include 'dbconnect.php'; if ($siteParam == 'artwork') { $table = "artwork"; } else { $table = "comics"; } $catResult = $mysqli->query("SELECT id, title, path, thumb, views, catidFK FROM $table"); $img = array(); while($row = $catResult->fetch_assoc()) { $img[] = "'" . $row['path'] . "'"; } return $img; } ?> Much appreciated! Snapshot of where the script is on "view image.php"

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  • How dangerous is e.preventDefault();, and can it be replaced by keydown/mousedown tracking?

    - by yc
    I'm working on a tracking script for a fairly sophisticated CRM for tracking form actions in Google Analytics. I'm trying to balance the desire to track form actions accurately with the need to never prevent a form from not working. Now, I know that doing something like this doesn't work. $('form').submit(function(){ _gaq.push('_trackEvent', 'Form', 'Submit', $(this).attr('action')) }); The DOM unloads before this has a chance to process. So, a lot of sample code recommends something like this: $('form').submit(function(e){ e.preventDefault(); var form = this; _gaq.push('_trackEvent', 'Form', 'Submit', $(this).attr('action')); //...do some other tracking stuff... setTimeout(function(){ form.submit(); }, 400); }); This is reliable in most cases, but it makes me nervous. What if something happens between e.preventDefault();and when I get around to triggering the DOM based submit? I've totally broken the form. I've been poking around some other analytics implementations, and I've noticed something like this: $('form').mousedown(function(){ _gaq.push('_trackEvent', 'Form', 'Submit', $(this).attr('action')); }); $('form').keydown(function(e){ if(e.which===13) //if the keydown is the enter key _gaq.push('_trackEvent', 'Form', 'Submit', $(this).attr('action')); }); Basically, instead of interrupting the form submit, preempting it by assuming that if someone is mousing down or keying down on Enter, than that form is submitted. Obviously, this will result in a certain amount of false positives, but it completely eliminates use of e.preventDefault();, which in my mind eliminates the risk that I might ever prevent a form from successfully submitting. So, my question: Is it possible to take the standard form tracking snippet and prevent it from ever fully preventing the form from submitting? Is the mousedown/keydown alternative viable? Are there any submission cases it may miss? Specifically, are there other ways to end up submitting besides the mouse and the keyboard enter? And will the browser always have time to process javascript before beginning to unload the page?

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  • Week in Geek: USDA Chooses Microsoft for Cloud Services Edition

    - by Asian Angel
    This week we learned how to create geeky LED holiday lights with old bottles, dig deeper in Windows Defrag via the command prompt, use Google Chrome’s drag/drop feature to upload files easier, find great gift recommendations by looking through the How-To Geek holiday gift guide, and have fun adding Merry Christmas fonts to our computers. Photo by ntr23. Random Geek Links It has been a busy week, so we have extra news link goodness with information that is good for you to know. USDA making the move to Microsoft The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it has chosen Microsoft to host things like e-mail, instant messaging, and collaboration through the software giant’s Business Productivity Online Suite. Google says it was cut off from USDA project bid Google is claiming that it was not given a chance to bid on a cloud-computing project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for which the contract was awarded to rival Microsoft. Apache is being forced into a Java Fork When Oracle rolled over Apache and Google’s objections to its Java plans in December, the scene was set for Apache to leave and, eventually, force a Java code fork. Tumblr explains daylong outage After experiencing an outage that started on Sunday afternoon and stretched through most of the day yesterday, Tumblr has explained what happened. Google demos Chrome OS, launches pilot program During a press briefing this week in San Francisco, Google launched the Chrome application store and demonstrated Chrome OS, its browser-centric netbook operating system. Don’t expect Spotify in U.S. this holiday season As of last week, Spotify had yet to sign a single licensing deal with a major label, after spending more than a year negotiating, multiple music sources told CNET. December 2010 Patch Tuesday will come with most bulletins ever According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft will issue 17 Security Bulletins addressing 40 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, December 14. It will also host a webcast to address customer questions the following day. Hacker plants back door in Symbian firmware Indian hacker Atul Alex has had a look at the firmware for Symbian S60 smartphones and come up with a back door for it. PC quarantines raise tough complexities The concept of quarantining PCs to prevent widespread infection is “interesting, but difficult to implement, with far too many problems”, said security experts. Symantec: DDoS attacks hard to defend It has surfaced that the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Visa and MasterCard Web sites on Wednesday were carried out by a toolkit known as low orbit ion cannon (LOIC). Web Sockets and the risks of unfinished standards Enthusiasm for a promising new standard called Web Sockets has quickly cooled in some quarters as a potential security problem led some browser makers to hastily postpone support. Internet Explorer 9 to get tracking protection Microsoft is making changes to Internet Explorer 9’s security features that will better enable users to keep sites from tracking their activity across browsing sessions. NASA sold PCs with sensitive data NASA failed to remove sensitive data from computers that it sold, according to an audit report released this week. Cybercrooks create fake Amazon receipts The bad guys have created yet another online scam, this one involving fake Amazon receipts. World of Warcraft character move fees waived Until December 22, Blizzard will allow free realm transfers from 25 highly populated servers to alleviate log-in queues or performance issues. (The free transfers are one-way and one-time only.) SpaceX Dragon reaches orbit atop a Falcon with a fiery tail The Space Exploration Technologies corporation has become the first nongovernmental entity to put a vehicle into low Earth orbit. Geek Video of the Week If birds have wings, then why are the Angry Birds using slingshots? Photo by Dorkly Bits. Wait… Birds have Wings, Why are the Angry Ones Using Slingshots? Sysadmin Geek Tips How To Setup Email Alerts on Linux Using Gmail or SMTP Linux machines may require administrative intervention in countless ways, but without manually logging into them how would you know about it? Here’s how to setup emails to get notified when your machines want some tender love and attention. Random TinyHacker Links Red Panda Webcam Support Firefox and the Knoxville Zoo’s Red Panda program. Christmas Icons (Icons we like) Superb set of holiday icons by lgp85 at deviantArt. Download the .zip and use as .png or convert to .ico at Convertico.com or with tiny app Imagicon. Super User Questions Enjoy reading the great answers to this week’s popular questions from Super User Useful USB boot disks? DVD/CD burning .zip: is it more reliable, faster, longer lasting to burn a zip of files rather than the files as a folder? What are other ways to backup my files if I do not have an external drive? Anti virus what is the difference between these all? How can I block all Facebook elements/content? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Have you had a busy week between work and preparing for the holidays? Get caught up on your HTG reading with our hottest articles of the week. 20 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology HTG Explains: Which Linux File System Should You Choose? How to Use and Customize Google Chrome Web Apps One Year Ago on How-To Geek This week’s batch of retro geeky goodness is all about customizing Windows 7. ClassicShell Adds Classic Start Menu and Explorer Features to Windows 7 Get an Aero-Styled Classic Start Menu in Windows 7 Customize the Windows 7 Logon Screen Get the Classic Style Network Activity Indicator Back in Windows 7 How To Enable Check Boxes for Items In Windows 7 The Geek Note We would like you to join us in welcoming Jason Fitzpatrick to the writing staff here at How-To Geek. He started with us this past week, so take some time to read through his articles about the Wii, Kindle, & PlayStation 2 Peripherals and leave a friendly comment to say “Hi”! Got a great tip to share? Make sure to send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by real00. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Our Favorite Tech: What We’re Thankful For at How-To Geek Settle into Orbit with the Voyage Theme for Chrome and Iron Awesome Safari Compass Icons Set Escape from the Exploding Planet Wallpaper Move Your Tumblr Blog to WordPress Pytask is an Easy to Use To-Do List Manager for Your Ubuntu System Snowy Christmas House Personas Theme for Firefox

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  • Week in Geek: FBI Back Door in OpenBSD Edition

    - by Asian Angel
    This week we learned how to migrate bookmarks from Delicious to Diigo, fix annoying arrows, play old-school DOS games, schedule smart computer shutdowns, use breaks in Microsoft Word to better format documents, check the condition of hard-disks using Linux disk utilities, & what the Linux fstab is and how it works. Photo by Jameson42. Random Geek Links Another week with extra news link goodness to help keep you up to date. Photo by justmakeit. Report of FBI back door roils OpenBSD community Allegations that the FBI surreptitiously placed a back door into the OpenBSD operating system have alarmed the computer security community, prompting calls for an audit of the source code and claims that the charges must be a hoax. Fortinet: Job outlook improving for cybercrooks In an ironic twist in the job market, more positions will open up for developers who can write customized malware packers, people who can break CAPTCHA codes, and distributors who can spread malicious code, according to Fortinet. Enisa: Malware for smartphones is a ’serious risk’ Businesses and consumers are at risk of data breaches through smartphone use, according to the European Network and Information Security Agency. The trick with the f: Google and Microsoft web sites distribute malware Last week, Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform and Microsoft’s rad.msn.com online ad network briefly distributed malware to other web sites in the form of advertising banners. New scam tactic: Fake disk defraggers It would appear that scammers are trying out new programs to see which might best confuse potential victims and evade detection by legitimate antivirus software. Microsoft closes IE and Stuxnet holes As previously announced, Microsoft has released 17 security updates to close 40 security holes. All four Windows holes so far disclosed in connection with Stuxnet have now been closed. Microsoft Offers H.264 Support to Firefox on Windows via Add-On The new HTML5 Extension for Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in add-on from Microsoft offers users that are running Firefox on Windows 7 H.264 support for HTML5 video playback. Google proclaims Chrome business-ready Google has announced that Chrome is ready for corporate use. Microsoft Tells Exchange Customers to Think Twice Before Opting for Google Message Continuity This week, Microsoft is telling companies still running Exchange 2010’s precursors that they should carefully consider the implications of embracing Google Message Continuity. Who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS users Steven Vaughan-Nichols explains why he feels that Chrome OS will be ideal for either office-workers or people who need a computer, but do not know the first thing about how to use one safely. Oracle takes office suite to the cloud Oracle has introduced Cloud Office 1.0, a cloud-based version of its office suite, which is aimed at web and mobile users. Mozilla pays premiums for reports of vulnerabilities The Mozilla Foundation has followed Google’s example by expanding its rewards program for reports of vulnerabilities in its Web applications. Who bought those 882 Novell patents? Not just Microsoft The mysterious CPTN Holdings — the organization that bought the 882 Novell patents as part of the terms of the Attachmate acquisition of Novell – has been unmasked (Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle). Appeals court: Feds need warrants for e-mail Police must obtain search warrants before perusing Internet users’ e-mail records, a federal appeals court ruled today in a landmark decision that struck down part of a 1986 law allowing warrantless access. Geek Video of the Week What happens when someone plays a wicked prank by shoveling crazy snow paths that lead to dead ends or turn back on themselves? Watch to find out! Photo by CollegeHumor. Janitor Snow Shoveling Prank Random TinyHacker Links The Oatmeal on Cat vs Internet What lengths will our poor neglected kitty hero have to go to in order to get some attention? Guide On Using JoliCloud With Windows JoliCloud is a nifty operating system that’s made for people who need a light-weight OS that’s mostly cloud based. Check this guide on using it with Windows. Use Cameyo to Easily Create Portable Programs Here’s a nifty tool to make portable apps out of programs in Windows. Check out the guide to do it. Better Family Tech Support A nice new site by Google to help members of family understand how computers work. Track Your Stolen Mobile Phone With F-Secure A useful anti-theft tool for your mobile phone. Super User Questions Another week with great answers to popular questions from Super User. What Chrome password manager fits my requirements? What’s the best way to be able to reimage windows computers? Could you suggest feature-rich disk-based personal backup program for linux (and I’ve seen a few)? What is IPv6 and why should I care? Is there any way to find out what programs are trying to connect to Internet on windows? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Here are our hottest articles full of geeky goodness from this past week at HTG. 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Kills Viruses Dead. Download It Now. Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? Ask the Readers: Would You Be Willing to Give Windows Up and Use a Different O.S.? The Twelve Days of Geekmas One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy reading through our latest batch of retro-geek goodness from one year ago. Macrium Reflect is a Free and Easy To Use Backup Utility How To Turn a Physical Computer Into A Virtual Machine with Disk2vhd How To Restore Windows 7 from a System Image How To Manage Hard Drive Space Used by Windows 7 Backup and Restore How To Manage Hibernate Mode in Windows 7 The Geek Note That is all we have for you this week, so see you back here again after the holidays! Got a great tip? Send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by mitjamavsar. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Deathwing the Destroyer – WoW Cataclysm Dragon Wallpaper Drag2Up Lets You Drag and Drop Files to the Web With Ease The Spam Police Parts 1 and 2 – Goodbye Spammers [Videos] Snow Angels Theme for Windows 7 Exploring the Jungle Ruins Wallpaper Protect Your Privacy When Browsing with Chrome and Iron Browser

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  • Create a Bootable Ubuntu 9.10 USB Flash Drive

    - by Trevor Bekolay
    The Ubuntu Live CD isn’t just useful for trying out Ubuntu before you install it, you can also use it to maintain and repair your Windows PC. Even if you have no intention of installing Linux, every Windows user should have a bootable Ubuntu USB drive on hand in case something goes wrong in Windows. Creating a bootable USB flash drive is surprisingly easy with a small self-contained application called UNetbootin. It will even download Ubuntu for you! Note: Ubuntu will take up approximately 700 MB on your flash drive, so choose a flash drive with at least 1 GB of free space, formatted as FAT32. This process should not remove any existing files on the flash drive, but to be safe you should backup the files on your flash drive. Put Ubuntu on your flash drive UNetbootin doesn’t require installation; just download the application and run it. Select Ubuntu from the Distribution drop-down box, then 9.10_Live from the Version drop-down box. If you have a 64-bit machine, then select 9.10_Live_x64 for the Version. At the bottom of the screen, select the drive letter that corresponds to the USB drive that you want to put Ubuntu on. If you select USB Drive in the Type drop-down box, the only drive letters available will be USB flash drives. Click OK and UNetbootin will start doing its thing. First it will download the Ubuntu Live CD. Then, it will copy the files from the Ubuntu Live CD to your flash drive. The amount of time it takes will vary depending on your Internet speed, an when it’s done, click on Exit. You’re not planning on installing Ubuntu right now, so there’s no need to reboot. If you look at the USB drive now, you should see a bunch of new files and folders. If you had files on the drive before, they should still be present. You’re now ready to boot your computer into Ubuntu 9.10! How to boot into Ubuntu When the time comes that you have to boot into Ubuntu, or if you just want to test and make sure that your flash drive works properly, you will have to set your computer to boot off of the flash drive. The steps to do this will vary depending on your BIOS – which varies depending on your motherboard. To get detailed instructions on changing how your computer boots, search for your motherboard’s manual (or your laptop’s manual for a laptop). For general instructions, which will suffice for 99% of you, read on. Find the important keyboard keys When your computer boots up, a bunch of words and numbers flash across the screen, usually to be ignored. This time, you need to scan the boot-up screen for a few key words with some associated keys: Boot menu and Setup. Typically, these will show up at the bottom of the screen. If your BIOS has a Boot Menu, then read on. Otherwise, skip to the Hard: Using Setup section. Easy: Using the Boot Menu If your BIOS offers a Boot Menu, then during the boot-up process, press the button associated with the Boot Menu. In our case, this is ESC. Our example Boot Menu doesn’t have the ability to boot from USB, but your Boot Menu should have some options, such as USB-CDROM, USB-HDD, USB-FLOPPY, and others. Try the options that start with USB until you find one that works. Don’t worry if it doesn’t work – you can just restart and try again. Using the Boot Menu does not change the normal boot order on your system, so the next time you start up your computer it will boot from the hard drive as normal. Hard: Using Setup If your BIOS doesn’t offer a Boot Menu, then you will have to change the boot order in Setup. Note: There are some options in BIOS Setup that can affect the stability of your machine. Take care to only change the boot order options. Press the button associated with Setup. In our case, this is F2. If your BIOS Setup has a Boot tab, then switch to it and change the order such that one of the USB options occurs first. There may be several USB options, such as USB-CDROM, USB-HDD, USB-FLOPPY, and others; try them out to see which one works for you. If your BIOS does not have a boot tab, boot order is commonly found in Advanced CMOS Options. Note that this changes the boot order permanently until you change it back. If you plan on only plugging in a bootable flash drive when you want to boot from it, then you could leave the boot order as it is, but you may find it easier to switch the order back to the previous order when you reboot from Ubuntu. Booting into Ubuntu If you set the right boot option, then you should be greeted with the UNetbootin screen. Press enter to start Ubuntu with the default options, or wait 10 seconds for this to happen automatically. Ubuntu will start loading. It should go straight to the desktop with no need for a username or password. And that’s it! From this live desktop session, you can try out Ubuntu, and even install software that is not included in the live CD. Installed software will only last for the duration of your session – the next time you start up the live CD it will be back to its original state. Download UNetbootin from sourceforge.net Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Create a Bootable Ubuntu USB Flash Drive the Easy WayReset Your Ubuntu Password Easily from the Live CDHow-To Geek on Lifehacker: Control Your Computer with Shortcuts & Speed Up Vista SetupHow To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7Speed up Your Windows Vista Computer with ReadyBoost 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 New Stinger from McAfee Helps Remove ‘FakeAlert’ Threats Google Apps Marketplace: Tools & Services For Google Apps Users Get News Quick and Precise With Newser Scan for Viruses in Ubuntu using ClamAV Replace Your Windows Task Manager With System Explorer Create Talking Photos using Fotobabble

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  • How to Manage Your Movies in Boxee

    - by DigitalGeekery
    Boxee is a free cross platform HTPC application that plays media locally and via the Internet. Today we’ll take a look at how to manage your local movie collection in Boxee. Note: We are using the most recent version of Boxee running on Windows 7. Your experience on an earlier version or a Mac or Linux build may vary slightly. If you are using an earlier version of Boxee, we recommend you update to the current version (0.9.21.11487). The latest update features significant improvements in file and media identification. Naming your Movie Files Proper file naming is important for Boxee to correctly identify your movie files. Before you get started you may want to take some time to name your files properly. Boxee supports the following naming conventions: Lawrence of Arabia.avi Lawrence.of.Arabia.avi Lawrence of Arabia (1962).avi Lawrence.of.Arabia(1962).avi For multi-part movies, you can use .part or .cd to identify first and second parts of the movie. Gettysburg.part1.avi Gettysburg.part2.avi If you are unsure of the correct title of the movie, check with IMDB.com. Supported File Types Boxee supports the following video file types and codecs: AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4, M4A, AAC, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia RAM/RM/RV/RA/RMVB, 3gp, VIVO, PVA, NUV, NSV, NSA, FLI, FLC, and DVR-MS (beta support) CDs, DVDs, VCD/SVCD MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (SP and ASP, including DivX, XviD, 3ivx, DV, H.263), MPEG-4 AVC (aka H.264), HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, RealVideo, QuickTime, Sorenson, WMV, Cinepak Adding Movie Files to Boxee Boxee will automatically scan your default media folders and add any movie files to My Movies. Boxee will attempt to identify the media and check sources on the web to get data like cover art and other metadata. You can add as many sources to Boxee as you like from your local hard drive, external hard drives or from your network. You will need to make sure you have access to shared folders on the networked computer hosting the media you want to share. You can browse for other folders to scan by selecting Scan Media Folders.   You can also add media files by selecting Settings from the Home screen… Then select Media… and then selecting Add Sources. Browse for your directory and select Add source. Next, you’ll need to select the media type and the type of scanning. You can also change the share name if you’d like. When finished, select Add. You should see a quick notification at the top of the screen that the source was added.   Select Scan source to have Boxee to begin scanning your media files and attempt to properly identify them. Your movies may not show up instantly in My Movies. It will take Boxee some time to fully scan your sources, especially if you have a large collection. Eventually you should see My Movies begin to populate with cover art and metadata.   You can see the progress and find unidentified files by clicking on the yellow arrow to the left, or navigating to the left with your keyboard or remote and selecting Manage Sources.   Here you can see how many files (if any) Boxee failed to identify. To see which titles are unresolved, select Unidentified Files.   Here you’ll find your unresolved files. Select one of the unidentified files to search for the proper movie information. Next, select the Indentify Video icon. Boxee will fill in the title of the file or you edit the title yourself in the text box. Click Search. The results of your search will be displayed. Scroll through and select the title that fits your movie. Check the details of the film to make sure you have the correct title and select Done.   Fixing Incorrectly Indentified Files If you find a movie has been incorrectly identified you can correct it manually. Select the movie. Then search for the correct movie title from the list and select it. When you’re sure you found the correct movie, click Done. Filtering your Movies You can filter your movie collection by genre, or by whether it has been marked as watched or unwatched. When you’ve finished watching a movie, Boxee will mark it as watched.   You can also manually mark a title as watched.   Boxee also features a wide variety of genres by which you can filter the titles in your library. Playing your Movie When you’re ready to start watching a movie, simply select your title.   From here, you can select the “i” icon to read more information about the movie, add it to your queue, or add a shortcut. Click Local File to begin playing.   Now you’re ready to enjoy your movie. If you don’t have a large movie collection or just need more selection, you may want to check out the Netflix App for Boxee. Looking for a Boxee remote? Check out the iPhone App for Boxee. Links Download Boxee IMDB.com Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Watch Netflix Instant Movies in BoxeeIntegrate Boxee with Media Center in Windows 7Customize the Background in BoxeeUse your iPhone or iPod Touch as a Boxee RemoteGetting Started with Boxee 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 What is HTML5? Default Programs Editor – One great tool for Setting Defaults Convert BMP, TIFF, PCX to Vector files with RasterVect Free Identify Fonts using WhatFontis.com Windows 7’s WordPad is Actually Good Greate Image Viewing and Management with Zoner Photo Studio Free

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  • Hey, Google: It’s Time to Add Multi-Window Multitasking To Android

    - by Chris Hoffman
    In 2012, Google’s Dianne Hackborn threatened to revoke CyanogenMod’s access to the Android Market if they moved forward with adding “Cornerstone” multitasking to their custom ROM. Samsung has since created their own multi-window multitasking feature. Dianne Hackborn said this “is something that needs to be done at the mainline platform level” so apps wouldn’t break. She was right — Android needs this as a standard feature and it’s time for Google to provide it. Doesn’t Android Have Multitasking? Android originally stood out from Apple’s iOS with its powerful multitasking. Applications can continue running in the background while you’re using another application. This makes Android powerful — you can even have BitTorrent clients downloading files in the background while using another app. Android still kept the design of a single app on screen at a time. This made a lot of sense when Android only ran on smartphones with small screens. Today, Android runs on everything from smaller smartphones all the way up to huge “phablets” like the Galaxy Note. Android has gone beyond phones and runs on 12-inch tablets, convertibles with keyboard docks, laptops, and even Android desktops. Android isn’t just a phone operating system. Samsung’s Multi-Window Isn’t Good Enough Samsung has tried to add value to Android by adding a multi-window feature. When you’re using a high-end phone like the Galaxy Note or Galaxy S, or a Galaxy tablet, you have the ability to run certain apps side-by-side with each other. There are big problems here. This only works on Samsung devices, and only on specific Samsung devices. To add support for this feature in a way that doesn’t break other apps, Samsung’s multi-window feature also only works with specific apps. You can’t just run any app in multi-window view, only the apps on the Multi Window bar Samsung provides. This prevents third-party apps from breaking, which is what Google was worried about with CyanogenMod’s Cornerstone feature. A feature that only works with a handful of apps on specific devices from a single manufacturer isn’t good enough. This feature needs to work on every Android device — or at least ones with suitably large screens and powerful enough internals. It needs to be an Android platform feature so application developers can ensure their apps will work properly with it on every device. Android developers shouldn’t have to add support for each manufacturer’s own multi-window feature if other manufacturers decide to copy Samsung. Floating Apps Are a Dirty Hack Floating apps also enable real multitasking. Remember that Android allows apps to run in the background while you’re using an app in the foreground. These apps can present interfaces that appear floating above the current app — think of it like using “always on top” to make a window always appear over every other app on a desktop operating system. You can install floating apps to browse the web, take notes, chat, and watch videos while using any app. Only apps specifically designed to run as floating apps will work, so you have to seek them out. Floating apps are also awkward to use because they float over the app you’re using, blocking parts of its interface. Microsoft added floating-window support to Skype for Android. You can have a video conversation and the other person’s face will always appear on your screen, even when you leave the Skype app. Microsoft is using more of Android’s multi-window multitasking power than Google is. Custom ROMs and Root-Only Tweaks Aren’t Acceptable Some custom ROMs are adding this feature to Android. Google threatened to revoke CyanogenMod’s access to the Android Market (now known as Google Play) if they added this feature because it could potentially break third-party apps. Today, other custom ROMs are working on split-screen multitasking. Samsung added their own version to their own devices. You can also get this feature by using a root-only Xposed Framework tweak known as XMultiWindow. If you have root access, you can get multi-window multitasking or any app on your device. This shouldn’t require rooting your device or installing a custom ROM. These third-party solutions often have awkward interfaces and bugs. We need an integrated, supported solution that works the same on every device. Why Multi-Window is Important Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 stands out among tablet operating systems for its powerful multitasking support, allowing you to view several apps side-by-side at the same time. Apple is also reported to be working on adding side-by-side apps to the iPad with iOS 8. On every competitor’s operating system, you’ll be able to view a web page while you write an email, watch a video while you browse the web, or chat with someone while you do anything else. But Android’s still remained frozen in time. Despite all Android’s underlying power — and despite the way Android allows apps to adapt to different screen sizes — Google is resisting adding this feature. Large-screen Android tablets like the Nexus 10 (remember that tablet Google hasn’t updated in over 18 months?) need this feature. So do huge phones, convertibles, laptops, and Android desktops. If tablets are the future of personal computing, we should be able to do more than one thing at a time on our tablets’ big screens. Microsoft, Samsung, and even Apple are realizing this — now it’s Google’s turn. Image Credit: Sergey Galyonkin on Flickr, Karlis Dambrans on Flickr

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  • XNA Notes 010

    - by George Clingerman
    With GDC 2011 wrapping up there were a LOT of great interviews and posts with and about XNA and XBLIG and some of our more notorious developers. Definitely worth spending many, many hours watching, listening and reading all those. Very inspiring! Also, don’t forget to get signed up for Dream Build Play! And just as an early warning reminder do NOT, I repeat do NOT wait to submit your game the last day. There are major issues submitting the last day every year and you do not want all your hard work to be hanging on whether your entry actually went through in that last day. Plan on submitting a few days if not a week before. I’m serious, you’ll thank yourself later! Now on to what’s happening in the XNA community! Time Critical XNA News: PAX East Meet Up (really wish I was going!) http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/71921/439262.aspx Want to stay panicked about the countdown to Dream Build Play? Mike McLaughlin shares his DBP countdown clock http://twitter.com/#!/mikebmcl/status/44454458960252928 XNA Team: Nick Gravelyn Only needs less than 600 new users in his unique marketing plan for Pixel Man 2 http://nickgravelyn.com/pixelman2/ And hares his ad revenue numbers with his XNA WP7 games http://theoneswiththelight.com/2011/my-results-with-ad-revenue-for-wp7-games/ XNA MVPs: Andy “The ZMan” Dunn posts his 15,000th App Hub forum post and shares a few thoughts on the MVP summit http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/t/77625.aspx Chris Williams shares his thoughts on the MVP summit http://geekswithblogs.net/cwilliams/archive/2011/03/07/144229.aspx XNA Developers: Nathan Fouts of Mommy’s Best games Wraps up GDC http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2011/03/gdc-2011-wrapped.html And shares the wonderful screenshots from Serious Sam. (I’m so jealous people at PAX East willl be playing a demo of this game!) http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2011/03/serious-sam-double-d.html James Silva of Ska Studios announces http://www.ska-studios.com/2011/03/09/vampire-smile-at-hotel-sierra/ http://www.ska-studios.com/2011/03/08/vengeance-begins-april-6th/ http://www.ska-studios.com/2011/03/04/good-morning-gato-52/ Michael McLaughlin writes an extremely useful set of tips for XNA WP7 developers http://geekswithblogs.net/mikebmcl/archive/2011/03/10/tips-for-xna-wp7-developers.aspx Robert Boyd “the one man XBLIG improving machine” posts his 9 tips for marketing an Xbox LIVE Indie Gam http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110309/7183/9_Tips_for_XBLIG_Marketing.php http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/77534/470586.aspx#470586 And shares his day by day experience at GDC this year http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110301/7118/GDC_Saves_the_World__Impressions_Day_1.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110301/7123/GDC_Saves_the_World__Impressions_Day_2.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110303/7129/GDC_Saves_the_World__Impressions_Day_3.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110307/7133/GDC_Saves_the_World__Impressions_Day_4.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertBoyd/20110307/7160/GDC_Saves_the_World__Impressions_Day_5.php Phillipe Da Silva releases new IGF Pong Sample preview http://www.vimeo.com/20904070 Xbox LIVE Indie Games (XBLIG): Gamergeddon posts XBox Indie Game Roundup for March 6th http://www.gamergeddon.com/2011/03/06/xbox-indie-game-round-up-march-6th/ Dealspwn interviews FortressCraft developer Projector Games http://www.dealspwn.com/fortresscraft-developer-interview-minecraft-clones-venting-haters-part-1/ http://www.dealspwn.com/fortresscraft-developer-interview-part-2-trials-tribulations-indie-development/ Writings of Mass Destruction continues the Xbox LIVE Indie Game a day campaign, here’s his take on FishCraft (be sure to check out his other posts!) http://writingsofmassdeduction.com/2011/03/05/day-116-fishcraft/ Tom Ogburn shares his GDC notes on the XBLIG panel jotted quickly while attending the panel http://twitter.com/#!/TOgburn/status/44454191028125696 http://www.starlitskygames.com/blogs/site_news/archive/2011/03/06/802.aspx Dave Voyles of Armless Octopus has crazy good coverage on XNA and Xbox LIVE Indie Game developers at GDC 2011. Interviews and articles all extremely well done! http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/03/06/gdc-2011-successful-indie-developers-share-insight-on-microsofts-self-publishing-service/ There’s honestly so many posts and interviews you should just hit his front page and scroll down through all of the latest ones. http://www.armlessoctopus.com/ GameMarx Episode 12 http://www.gamemarx.com/video/the-show/27/ep-12-march-4-2011.aspx B.U.T.T.O.N now on Steam! http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/03/button_party_game_now_on_steam.php German Xbox Dashboard gets review program from GamePro http://www.armlessoctopus.com/2011/03/07/gamepo-indie-review-show-debuts-on-german-xbox-dashboard/ XboxIndies.com (one of the best XNA sites out there at this point!) continues to add review sites to it’s main review feed. (And don’t forget to play with that awesome XBLIG pivot control!) http://xboxindies.com/ Kris Steele of FunInfused Games shares early footage of his game World of Chalk http://twitter.com/#!/kriswd40/status/45007114371989504 Raymond Matthews of Darkstarmatryx reviews FunInfused Games Abduction Action http://www.darkstarmatryx.com/?p=264 TheVideoGamerRob reviews Zombie Football Carnage http://videogamerrob.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/xblig-review-zombie-football-carnage/ XBLIG Square Off Making the Jump to WP7 http://www.wp7connect.com/2011/03/08/xblig-square-off-will-make-the-jump-to-windows-phone/ Mommy’s Best Games making the news round with their Serious Sam announcement http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/09/serious-sam-gets-serious-indie-cred-with-new-indie-series/ Most quoted and linked XBLIG article of the week with the least amount of actual facts and reporting. Shared only because it makes me sad that this is the best coverage we get. (Hey reporters, there’s LOT and LOTS of XBLIG and XNA experts you can contact if you need to check up on facts or wonder why on questions like, Why can’t XBLIGs have Nazis? There’s actually a real answer for that..) http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/06/xblig-facts-nazi-killing-a-no-no-revenue-a-yes-yes/ XNA Development: Mort8088 has been in an XNA tutorial writing frenzy releasing 4 XNA 4.0 entry level tutorials this week! http://mort8088.com/2011/03/06/xna-4-0-tutorial-0-intro/ http://mort8088.com/2011/03/06/xna-4-0-tutorial-1-fonts/ http://mort8088.com/2011/03/06/xna-4-0-tutorial-2-sprites/ http://mort8088.com/2011/03/06/xna-4-0-tutorial-3-input-from-keyboard/ Interesting discussion on what it means to be a community (you do have to sign up to be a member of the XNA UK forums to read it...) http://twitter.com/#!/XNAUK/status/44705269254594560 Slyprid continues his incredible pace on Transmute and shares screens of his new Animation Builder http://twitter.com/#!/slyprid/status/45169271847911424 http://forgottenstarstudios.com/blog/ Philippe Da Silva wants to know who is using IGF for their games. If it’s you, drop him a note letting him know! http://twitter.com/#!/philippedasilva/status/44325893719588864 New Sunburn Video Tutorials released http://www.synapsegaming.com/blogs/fivesidedbarrel/archive/2011/03/07/new-documentation-video-tutorials.aspx Loading and rendering animated collada models using XNA 4.0 http://bunkernetz.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/loading-and-rendering-animated-collada-models-using-xna-4-0/ XNA for Silverlight Developers Part 6 Accelerometer Input http://buzzgamesnews.blogspot.com/2011/03/xna-for-silverlight-developers-part-6.html

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  • Refreshing Your PC Won’t Help: Why Bloatware is Still a Problem on Windows 8

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Bloatware is still a big problem on new Windows 8 and 8.1 PCs. Some websites will tell you that you can easily get rid of manufacturer-installed bloatware with Windows 8′s Reset feature, but they’re generally wrong. This junk software often turns the process of powering on your new PC from what could be a delightful experience into a tedious slog, forcing you to spend hours cleaning up your new PC before you can enjoy it. Why Refreshing Your PC (Probably) Won’t Help Manufacturers install software along with Windows on their new PCs. In addition to hardware drivers that allow the PC’s hardware to work properly, they install more questionable things like trial antivirus software and other nagware. Much of this software runs at boot, cluttering the system tray and slowing down boot times, often dramatically. Software companies pay computer manufacturers to include this stuff. It’s installed to make the PC manufacturer money at the cost of making the Windows computer worse for actual users. Windows 8 includes “Refresh Your PC” and “Reset Your PC” features that allow Windows users to quickly get their computers back to a fresh state. It’s essentially a quick, streamlined way of reinstalling Windows.  If you install Windows 8 or 8.1 yourself, the Refresh operation will give your PC a clean Windows system without any additional third-party software. However, Microsoft allows computer manufacturers to customize their Refresh images. In other words, most computer manufacturers will build their drivers, bloatware, and other system customizations into the Refresh image. When you Refresh your computer, you’ll just get back to the factory-provided system complete with bloatware. It’s possible that some computer manufacturers aren’t building bloatware into their refresh images in this way. It’s also possible that, when Windows 8 came out, some computer manufacturer didn’t realize they could do this and that refreshing a new PC would strip the bloatware. However, on most Windows 8 and 8.1 PCs, you’ll probably see bloatware come back when you refresh your PC. It’s easy to understand how PC manufacturers do this. You can create your own Refresh images on Windows 8 and 8.1 with just a simple command, replacing Microsoft’s image with a customized one. Manufacturers can install their own refresh images in the same way. Microsoft doesn’t lock down the Refresh feature. Desktop Bloatware is Still Around, Even on Tablets! Not only is typical Windows desktop bloatware not gone, it has tagged along with Windows as it moves to new form factors. Every Windows tablet currently on the market — aside from Microsoft’s own Surface and Surface 2 tablets — runs on a standard Intel x86 chip. This means that every Windows 8 and 8.1 tablet you see in stores has a full desktop with the capability to run desktop software. Even if that tablet doesn’t come with a keyboard, it’s likely that the manufacturer has preinstalled bloatware on the tablet’s desktop. Yes, that means that your Windows tablet will be slower to boot and have less memory because junk and nagging software will be on its desktop and in its system tray. Microsoft considers tablets to be PCs, and PC manufacturers love installing their bloatware. If you pick up a Windows tablet, don’t be surprised if you have to deal with desktop bloatware on it. Microsoft Surfaces and Signature PCs Microsoft is now selling their own Surface PCs that they built themselves — they’re now a “devices and services” company after all, not a software company. One of the nice things about Microsoft’s Surface PCs is that they’re free of the typical bloatware. Microsoft won’t take money from Norton to include nagging software that worsens the experience. If you pick up a Surface device that provides Windows 8.1 and 8 as Microsoft intended it — or install a fresh Windows 8.1 or 8 system — you won’t see any bloatware. Microsoft is also continuing their Signature program. New PCs purchased from Microsoft’s official stores are considered “Signature PCs” and don’t have the typical bloatware. For example, the same laptop could be full of bloatware in a traditional computer store and clean, without the nasty bloatware when purchased from a Microsoft Store. Microsoft will also continue to charge you $99 if you want them to remove your computer’s bloatware for you — that’s the more questionable part of the Signature program. Windows 8 App Bloatware is an Improvement There’s a new type of bloatware on new Windows 8 systems, which is thankfully less harmful. This is bloatware in the form of included “Windows 8-style”, “Store-style”, or “Modern” apps in the new, tiled interface. For example, Amazon may pay a computer manufacturer to include the Amazon Kindle app from the Windows Store. (The manufacturer may also just receive a cut of book sales for including it. We’re not sure how the revenue sharing works — but it’s clear PC manufacturers are getting money from Amazon.) The manufacturer will then install the Amazon Kindle app from the Windows Store by default. This included software is technically some amount of clutter, but it doesn’t cause the problems older types of bloatware does. It won’t automatically load and delay your computer’s startup process, clutter your system tray, or take up memory while you’re using your computer. For this reason, a shift to including new-style apps as bloatware is a definite improvement over older styles of bloatware. Unfortunately, this type of bloatware has not replaced traditional desktop bloatware, and new Windows PCs will generally have both. Windows RT is Immune to Typical Bloatware, But… Microsoft’s Windows RT can’t run Microsoft desktop software, so it’s immune to traditional bloatware. Just as you can’t install your own desktop programs on it, the Windows RT device’s manufacturer can’t install their own desktop bloatware. While Windows RT could be an antidote to bloatware, this advantage comes at the cost of being able to install any type of desktop software at all. Windows RT has also seemingly failed — while a variety of manufacturers came out with their own Windows RT devices when Windows 8 was first released, they’ve all since been withdrawn from the market. Manufacturers who created Windows RT devices have criticized it in the media and stated they have no plans to produce any future Windows RT devices. The only Windows RT devices still on the market are Microsoft’s Surface (originally named Surface RT) and Surface 2. Nokia is also coming out with their own Windows RT tablet, but they’re in the process of being purchased by Microsoft. In other words, Windows RT just isn’t a factor when it comes to bloatware — you wouldn’t get a Windows RT device unless you purchased a Surface, but those wouldn’t come with bloatware anyway. Removing Bloatware or Reinstalling Windows 8.1 While bloatware is still a problem on new Windows systems and the Refresh option probably won’t help you, you can still eliminate bloatware in the traditional way. Bloatware can be uninstalled from the Windows Control Panel or with a dedicated removal tool like PC Decrapifier, which tries to automatically uninstall the junk for you. You can also do what Windows geeks have always tended to do with new computers — reinstall Windows 8 or 8.1 from scratch with installation media from Microsoft. You’ll get a clean Windows system and you can install only the hardware drivers and other software you need. Unfortunately, bloatware is still a big problem for Windows PCs. Windows 8 tries to do some things to address bloatware, but it ultimately comes up short. Most Windows PCs sold in most stores to most people will still have the typical bloatware slowing down the boot process, wasting memory, and adding clutter. Image Credit: LG on Flickr, Intel Free Press on Flickr, Wilson Hui on Flickr, Intel Free Press on Flickr, Vernon Chan on Flickr     

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