2d games - Page 212 - Developer IT

Can you set up a gaming LAN using OpenVPN installed in a VMware guest OS and be playing the game on the host OS?

- by Coder

I would like to setup a gaming VPN. Ie. I have some games that work over LAN and would like to play them with people that are not on my LAN. I know I can do this with OpenVPN. My ultimate goal would be to run OpenVPN portably on my host OS and not even need any virtualization. As such i don't want to install it on my host, but i'm fine with running it portably. I'm even fine with temporarily adding registry keys, and then running a .reg file to remove these entries once i'm done. To this effect i have installed OpenVPN on a virtual machine and diffed the registry. I then manually (using a .reg file) added all the keys that seem important on my host OS and copied the installation folder of OpenVPN onto my host machine. Then i try to run openVPN GUI 1.0.3 as a test and it says "Error opening registy for reading (HKLM\SOFTWARE\OpenVPN). OpenVPN is probably not installed". I verified that that key is indeed in the registry with all subkeys and it looks correct. I have tried running the GUI as an administrator and in compatibility mode with no success. I am running Windows 7. If this fails then i would be happy with installing OpenVPN on a virtual machine in VMWare but they key is that i will be running the game installed on my host machine. The first question for this option is if this is even possible. The second is, that I can't get the VM to have internet access if I use bridging but i can if i use NAT. Is it possible to do this game VPN setup with VMWare guest OS running using NAT? Summary of questions: -Is it possible to run openVPN portably and if so what did i miss above? -If it's not possible to run it portably, then can setup a gaming LAN by installing OpenVPN in a guest OS with NAT and how can i do this? -If the above is not possible then can i install OpenVPN in a guest using bridging and if so how can i set this up with a Windows 7 host and Windows XP guest as currently i can't get the guest to be able to access the internet in bridging mode, but it working in NAT mode. -In general is there any good documentation on setting up a gaming LAN with OpenVPN (i am using 2.1.4) as i have never set up a VPN of any sort before so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Wifi randomly drops on Windows 8 laptop

- by JosiahS

First of all, I did a lot of research on this problem, and I wasn't able to come to any helpful conclusion. I've finally decided that I need advice from those who might know where to look. So don't let me down. :P I used to have an older Windows 7 laptop, which worked great for basic office and web browsing. However, I wanted something that would play actual modern games. So I recently bought a Sager NP8235 with the Intel Wireless-AC 7260 wifi card, and installed Windows 8 Pro on it. And ever since, I've been having problems with the wifi. Generally, what happens is if I leave the laptop on but inactive for an extended amount of time (I've estimated it around an hour to two), the wifi will start dropping randomly. If I happened to have a download going at the time, it usually causes the download to fail. Or, if I put the laptop to sleep overnight, the next morning I usually have to restart the computer because the wifi device apparently stops working (it literally won't turn on). Also, and most frustrating, whenever I'm on a video chat (like Skype), after about ten minutes, the connection will start lagging like crazy, until it forces Skype to end the call. After that, I usually have to disable and reenable the wifi to get it working again. I know it isn't our internet, because all the other computers in our house (~8) don't have any issues. Even the old Windows 7 laptop (connected also over wifi) works just fine, scoring the normal ~3Mbps average on speedtest.net (yes, I know our internet is slow, we live out in the country). Additionally, when I connect the Sager directly to the router via ethernet, the internet instantly starts working just great. Like I said, I've done a lot of googling to figure out what's going on, and I haven't been able to find anything that worked for me. Is it Windows 8 conflicting with the Wifi drivers? As of this writing, I have the Intel drivers v16.1.5.2 installed (without the extra Intel software). Or is it our router? It's a TP-Link TL-WR841ND, set to the default settings. The Sager is currently being assigned to a static IP, if that makes any difference. And yet, the old windows 7 laptop has a much more stable connection than the Sager. Anyone have any ideas? At this point, I'd appreciate even knowing what the problem is.

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Make mod_wsgi use python2.7.2 instead of python2.6?

- by guron

i am running Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS and it came pre-packed with python2.6 but i need to replace it with python2.7.2. (The reason is simple, 2.7 has a lot of features backported from 3 ) i had installed python2.7.2 using ./configure make make altinstall the altinstall option installed it, without touching the system default version, to /usr/local/lib/python2.7 and placed the interpreter in /usr/local/bin/python2.7 Then to help mod_wsgi find python2.7 i added the following to /etc/apache2/sites-available/wsgisite WSGIPythonHome /usr/local i start apache and run a test wsgi app BUT i am greeted by python 2.6.5 and not Python2.7 Later i replaced the default python simlink to point to python 2.7 ln -f /usr/local/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python Now typing 'python' on the console opens python2.7 but somehow mod_wsgi still picks up python2.6 Next i tried, PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH export PATH then do a quick restart apache, but yet again its python2.6 !! Here is my $PATH /usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games contents of /etc/apache2/sites-available/wsgisite WSGIPythonHome /usr/local <VirtualHost *:80> ServerName wsgitest.local DocumentRoot /home/wwwhost/pydocs/wsgi <Directory /home/wwwhost/pydocs/wsgi> Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> WSGIScriptAlias / /home/wwwhost/pydocs/wsgi/app.wsgi </VirtualHost> app.wsgi import sys def application(environ, start_response): status = '200 OK' output = sys.version response_headers = [('Content-type', 'text/plain'), ('Content-Length', str(len(output)))] start_response(status, response_headers) return [output] Apache error.log 'import site' failed; use -v for traceback [Sun Jun 19 00:27:21 2011] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=23235): Initializing Python. [Sun Jun 19 00:27:21 2011] [notice] Apache/2.2.14 (Ubuntu) mod_wsgi/2.8 Python/2.6.5 configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Jun 19 00:27:21 2011] [info] Server built: Nov 18 2010 21:20:56 [Sun Jun 19 00:27:21 2011] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=23238): Attach interpreter ''. [Sun Jun 19 00:27:21 2011] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=23239): Attach interpreter ''. [Sun Jun 19 00:27:31 2011] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=23238): Create interpreter 'wsgitest.local|'. [Sun Jun 19 00:27:31 2011] [info] [client 192.168.1.205] mod_wsgi (pid=23238, process='', application='wsgitest.local|'): Loading WSGI script '/home/wwwhost/pydocs/$ [Sun Jun 19 00:27:50 2011] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=23239): Create interpreter 'wsgitest.local|'. Has anybody ever managed to make mod_wsgi run on a non-system default version of python ?

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Choosing parts for a high-spec custom PC - feedback required [closed]

- by James

I'm looking to build a high-spec PC costing under ~£800 (bearing in mind I can get the CPU half price). This is my first time doing this so I have plenty of questions! I have been doing lots of research and this is what I have come up with: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/j4lE Usage: I will be using it for Adobe CS6, rendering in 3DS Max, particle simulations in Realflow and for playing games like GTA IV (and V when it comes out), Crysis 1/2, Saints Row The Third, Deus Ex HR, etc. Questions: Can you see any obvious problem areas with the current setup? Will it be sufficient for the above usage? I won't be doing any overclocking initially. Is it worth buying the H60 liquid cooler, or will the fan that comes with the CPU be sufficient? Is water cooling generally quieter? Is the chosen motherboard good for the current components? And is it future-proof? I read that the HDD is often the bottleneck when it comes to gaming. I presume this is true to other high-end applications? If so, is my selection good? I keep changing my mind about the GPU; first the 560, now the 660. Can anyone shed some light on how to choose? I read mixed opinions about matching the GPU to the CPU. Will the 560 or the 660 be sufficient for my required usage? Atm I'm basing my choice on the PassMark benchmarks and how much they cost. The specs on the GeForce website state that the 560 and the 660 both require 450W. Is this a good figure to base the wattage of my PSU on? If so, how do you decide? Do I really need 750W? The latest GTX 690 requires 650W. Is it a good idea to buy a 750W PSU now to future-proof myself?

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Issue using a "used" SSD as a Windows 8.1 Boot Drive

- by EpiGrad

So, I'm something of a Mac person, but decided to take a stab at this whole "build yourself a PC" thing - right now, the thing is assembled, posts just fine, and can get to the BIOS. The problem is the drive I want to use - I intended to use a 80 GB Corsair SSD I've had sitting around as the boot drive, and a new Samsung SSD for games and the like. So I boot using a Windows 8.1 install USB stick, and if the Samsung drive is plugged in, it happily offers to install Windows on it. The Corsair drive though, it's flipped out - I reformatted it as a blank NTFS drive (it was HFS for Mac purposes) and the BIOS can't see it, nor can the Windows installer. What's wrong, and how do I fix it? The tools at my disposal are: The current ASUS BIOS that came with my motherboard (a Z87I-Deluxe), a Mac running the latest OS X which can also boot to Windows 7 if needed via either Parallels or Bootcamp. Update 1: Update: Based on a friend's suggestion to switch SATA ports, Windows 8.1's installer can now see the drive as Drive 0, Partition 1, a 83.8 GB "Primary" partition. But when I click it and hit "Next", I get the following error: "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the Setup log files" - not that it gives any clue how to access those. Update 2: Following a trail of Google suggestions, I ended up going into advanced tools and just reformatting the drive as follows: Start DISKPART. Type LIST DISK and identify your SSD disk number (from 0 to n disks). Type SELECT DISK <n> where <n> is your SSD disk number. Type CLEAN Type CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY Type ACTIVE Type FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK Type ASSIGN Type EXIT twice (one to get out of DiskPart, the other to exit the command line tool) Per these instructions. This goes well enough, but now I can select the disk for installation, and I get a new error: "Windows 8 cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GP disks." So, Googling that, I do the following: select disk 0 clean convert gpt exit ...and we might have fixed it. Windows is at least trying to install now.

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How to prevent dual booted OSes from damaging each other?

- by user1252434

For better compatibility and performance in games I'm thinking about installing Windows additionally to Linux. I have security concerns about this, though. Note: "Windows" in the remaining text includes not only the OS but also any software running on it. Regardless of whether it comes included or is additionally installed, whether it is started intentionally or unintentionally (virus, malware). Is there an easy way to achieve the following requirements: Windows MUST NOT be able to kill my linux partition or my data disk neither single files (virus infection) nor overwriting the whole disk Windows MUST NOT be able to read data disk (- extra protection against spyware) Linux may or may not have access to the windows partition both Linux and Windows should have full access to the graphics card this rules out desktop VM solutions for gaming I want the manufacturer's windows graphics card driver Regarding Windows to be unable to destroy my linux install: this is not just the usual paranoia, that has happened to me in the past. So I don't accept "no ext4 driver" as an argument. Once bitten, twice shy. And even if destruction targeted at specific (linux) files is nearly impossible, there should be no way to shred the whole partition. I may accept the risk of malware breaking out of a barrier (e.g. VM) around the whole windows box, though. Currently I have a system disk (SSD) and a data disk (HDD), both SATA. I expect I have to add another disk. If i don't: even better. My CPU is a Intel Core i5, with VT-x and VT-d available, though untested. Ideas I've had so far: deactivate or hide other HDs until reboot at low level possible? can the boot loader (grub) do this for me? tiny VM layer: load windows in a VM that provides access to almost all hardware, except the HDs any ready made software solution for this? Preferably free. as I said: the main problem seems to be to provide full access to the graphics card hardware switch to cut power to disks commercial products expensive and lots of warnings against cheap home built solutions preferably all three hard disks with one switch (one push) mobile racks - won't wear of daily swapping be a problem?

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Setting Up My Server to Do DNS On OpenSuse 11.3

- by adaykin

Hello, I am attempting to use my server to be a DNS server. I am having trouble getting the domain setup. Here is what I have so far: /var/lib/named/master/andydaykin.com: $TTL 2d @ IN SOA andydaykin.com. root.andydaykin.com. ( 2011011000 ; serial 0 ; refresh 0 ; retry 0 ; expiry 0 ) ; minimum andydaykin.com. IN NS ns1.andydaykin.com. andydaykin.com. IN SOA ns1.andydaykin.com. hostmaster.andydaykin.com. ( @.andydaykin.com. IN NS ns1.andydaykin.com. ns1.andydaykin.com. IN A 204.12.227.33 www.andydaykin.com. IN A 204.12.227.33 /etc/resolve.conf: search andydaykin.com nameserver 204.12.227.33 /etc/named.conf: options { # The directory statement defines the name server's working directory directory "/var/lib/named"; dump-file "/var/log/named_dump.db"; statistics-file "/var/log/named.stats"; listen-on port 53 { 127.0.0.1; }; listen-on-v6 { any; }; notify no; disable-empty-zone "1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.IP6.ARPA"; include "/etc/named.d/forwarders.conf"; }; zone "." in { type hint; file "root.hint"; }; zone "localhost" in { type master; file "localhost.zone"; }; zone "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa" in { type master; file "127.0.0.zone"; }; Include the meta include file generated by createNamedConfInclude. This includes all files as configured in NAMED_CONF_INCLUDE_FILES from /etc/sysconfig/named include "/etc/named.conf.include"; zone "andydaykin.com" in { file "master/andydaykin.com"; type master; allow-transfer { any; }; }; logging { category default { log_syslog; }; channel log_syslog { syslog; }; }; What I am doing wrong?

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Problems Allocating Objects of Derived Class Where Base Class has Abstract Virtual Functions

- by user1743901

I am trying to get this Zombie/Human agent based simulation running, but I am having problems with these derived classes (Human and Zombie) who have parent class "Creature". I have 3 virtual functions declared in "Creature" and all three of these are re-declared AND DEFINED in both "Human" and "Zombie". But for some reason when I have my program call "new" to allocate memory for objects of type Human or Zombie, it complains about the virtual functions being abstract. Here's the code: definitions.h #ifndef definitions_h #define definitions_h class Creature; class Item; class Coords; class Grid { public: Creature*** cboard; Item*** iboard; int WIDTH; int HEIGHT; Grid(int WIDTHVALUE, int HEIGHTVALUE); void FillGrid(); //initializes grid object with humans and zombies void Refresh(); //calls Creature::Die(),Move(),Attack(),Breed() on every square void UpdateBuffer(char** buffer); bool isEmpty(int startx, int starty, int dir); char CreatureType(int xcoord, int ycoord); char CreatureType(int startx, int starty, int dir); }; class Random { public: int* rptr; void Print(); Random(int MIN, int MAX, int LEN); ~Random(); private: bool alreadyused(int checkthis, int len, int* rptr); bool isClean(); int len; }; class Coords { public: int x; int y; int MaxX; int MaxY; Coords() {x=0; y=0; MaxX=0; MaxY=0;} Coords(int X, int Y, int WIDTH, int HEIGHT) {x=X; y=Y; MaxX=WIDTH; MaxY=HEIGHT; } void MoveRight(); void MoveLeft(); void MoveUp(); void MoveDown(); void MoveUpRight(); void MoveUpLeft(); void MoveDownRight(); void MoveDownLeft(); void MoveDir(int dir); void setx(int X) {x=X;} void sety(int Y) {y=Y;} }; class Creature { public: bool alive; Coords Location; char displayletter; Creature() {Location.x=0; Location.y=0;} Creature(int i, int j) {Location.setx(i); Location.sety(j);} virtual void Attack() =0; virtual void AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection) =0; virtual void Breed() =0; void Die(); void Move(Grid G); int DecideSquare(Grid G); void MoveTo(Grid G, int dir); }; class Human : public Creature { public: bool armed; //if armed, chances of winning fight increased for next fight bool vaccinated; //if vaccinated, no chance of getting infected int bitecount; //if a human is bitten, bite count is set to a random number int breedcount; //if a human goes x steps without combat, will breed if next to a human int starvecount; //if a human does not eat in x steps, will die Human() {displayletter='H';} Human(int i, int j) {displayletter='H';} void Attack(Grid G); void AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection); void Breed(Grid G); //will breed after x steps and next to human int DecideAttack(Grid G); }; class Zombie : public Creature { public: Zombie() {displayletter='Z';} Zombie(int i, int j) {displayletter='Z';} void Attack(Grid G); void AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection); void Breed() {} //does nothing int DecideAttack(Grid G); void AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection); }; class Item { }; #endif definitions.cpp #include <cstdlib> #include "definitions.h" Random::Random(int MIN, int MAX, int LEN) //constructor { len=LEN; rptr=new int[LEN]; //allocate array of given length for (int i=0; i<LEN; i++) { int random; do { random = rand() % (MAX-MIN+1) + MIN; } while (alreadyused(random,LEN,rptr)); rptr[i]=random; } } bool Random::alreadyused(int checkthis, int len, int* rptr) { for (int i=0; i<len; i++) { if (rptr[i]==checkthis) return 1; } return 0; } Random::~Random() { delete rptr; } Grid::Grid(int WIDTHVALUE, int HEIGHTVALUE) { WIDTH = WIDTHVALUE; HEIGHT = HEIGHTVALUE; //builds 2d array of creature pointers cboard = new Creature**[WIDTH]; for(int i=0; i<WIDTH; i++) { cboard[i] = new Creature*[HEIGHT]; } //builds 2d array of item pointers iboard = new Item**[WIDTH]; for (int i=0; i<WIDTH; i++) { iboard[i] = new Item*[HEIGHT]; } } void Grid::FillGrid() { /* For each creature pointer in grid, randomly selects whether to initalize as zombie, human, or empty square. This methodology can be changed to initialize different creature types with different probabilities */ int random; for (int i=0; i<WIDTH; i++) { for (int j=0; j<HEIGHT; j++) { Random X(1,100,1); //create a single random integer from [1,100] at X.rptr random=*(X.rptr); if (random < 20) cboard[i][j] = new Human(i,j); else if (random < 40) cboard[i][j] = new Zombie(i,j); else cboard[i][j] = NULL; } } //at this point every creature pointer should be pointing to either //a zombie, human, or NULL with varying probabilities } void Grid::UpdateBuffer(char** buffer) { for (int i=0; i<WIDTH; i++) { for (int j=0; j<HEIGHT; j++) { if (cboard[i][j]) buffer[i][j]=cboard[i][j]->displayletter; else buffer[i][j]=' '; } } } bool Grid::isEmpty(int startx, int starty, int dir) { Coords StartLocation(startx,starty,WIDTH,HEIGHT); switch(dir) { case 1: StartLocation.MoveUp(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 2: StartLocation.MoveUpRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 3: StartLocation.MoveRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 4: StartLocation.MoveDownRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 5: StartLocation.MoveDown(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 6: StartLocation.MoveDownLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 7: StartLocation.MoveLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; case 8: StartLocation.MoveUpLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return 0; } return 1; } char Grid::CreatureType(int xcoord, int ycoord) { if (cboard[xcoord][ycoord]) //if there is a creature at location xcoord,ycoord return (cboard[xcoord][ycoord]->displayletter); else //if pointer at location xcoord,ycoord is null, return null char return '\0'; } char Grid::CreatureType(int startx, int starty, int dir) { Coords StartLocation(startx,starty,WIDTH,HEIGHT); switch(dir) { case 1: StartLocation.MoveUp(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 2: StartLocation.MoveUpRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 3: StartLocation.MoveRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 4: StartLocation.MoveDownRight(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 5: StartLocation.MoveDown(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 6: StartLocation.MoveDownLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 7: StartLocation.MoveLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); case 8: StartLocation.MoveUpLeft(); if (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]) return (cboard[StartLocation.x][StartLocation.y]->displayletter); } //if function hasn't returned by now, square being looked at is pointer to null return '\0'; //return null char } void Coords::MoveRight() {(x==MaxX)? (x=0):(x++);} void Coords::MoveLeft() {(x==0)? (x=MaxX):(x--);} void Coords::MoveUp() {(y==0)? (y=MaxY):(y--);} void Coords::MoveDown() {(y==MaxY)? (y=0):(y++);} void Coords::MoveUpRight() {MoveUp(); MoveRight();} void Coords::MoveUpLeft() {MoveUp(); MoveLeft();} void Coords::MoveDownRight() {MoveDown(); MoveRight();} void Coords::MoveDownLeft() {MoveDown(); MoveLeft();} void Coords::MoveDir(int dir) { switch(dir) { case 1: MoveUp(); break; case 2: MoveUpRight(); break; case 3: MoveRight(); break; case 4: MoveDownRight(); break; case 5: MoveDown(); break; case 6: MoveDownLeft(); break; case 7: MoveLeft(); break; case 8: MoveUpLeft(); break; case 0: break; } } void Creature::Move(Grid G) { int movedir=DecideSquare(G); MoveTo(G,movedir); } int Creature::DecideSquare(Grid G) { Random X(1,8,8); //X.rptr now points to 8 unique random integers from [1,8] for (int i=0; i<8; i++) { int dir=X.rptr[i]; if (G.isEmpty(Location.x,Location.y,dir)) return dir; } return 0; } void Creature::MoveTo(Grid G, int dir) { Coords OldLocation=Location; Location.MoveDir(dir); G.cboard[Location.x][Location.y]=this; //point new location to this creature G.cboard[OldLocation.x][OldLocation.y]=NULL; //point old location to NULL } void Creature::Die() { if (!alive) { delete this; this=NULL; } } void Human::Breed(Grid G) { if (!breedcount) { Coords BreedLocation=Location; Random X(1,8,8); for (int i=0; i<8; i++) { BreedLocation.MoveDir(X.rptr[i]); if (!G.cboard[BreedLocation.x][BreedLocation.y]) { G.cboard[BreedLocation.x][BreedLocation.y])=new Human(BreedLocation.x,BreedLocation.y); return; } } } } int Human::DecideAttack(Grid G) { Coords AttackLocation=Location; Random X(1,8,8); int attackdir; for (int i=0; i<8; i++) { attackdir=X.rptr[i]; switch(G.CreatureType(Location.x,Location.y,attackdir)) { case 'H': break; case 'Z': return attackdir; case '\0': break; default: break; } } return 0; //no zombies! } int AttackRoll(int para1, int para2) { //outcome 1: Zombie wins, human dies //outcome 2: Human wins, zombie dies //outcome 3: Human wins, zombie dies, but human is bitten Random X(1,100,1); int roll= *(X.rptr); if (roll < para1) return 1; else if (roll < para2) return 2; else return 3; } void Human::AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection) { Coords AttackLocation=Location; AttackLocation.MoveDir(attackdirection); int para1=33; int para2=33; if (vaccinated) para2=101; //makes attackroll > para 2 impossible, never gets infected if (armed) para1-=16; //reduces chance of zombie winning fight int roll=AttackRoll(para1,para2); //outcome 1: Zombie wins, human dies //outcome 2: Human wins, zombie dies //outcome 3: Human wins, zombie dies, but human is bitten switch(roll) { case 1: alive=0; //human (this) dies return; case 2: G.cboard[AttackLocation.x][AttackLocation.y]->alive=0; return; //zombie dies case 3: G.cboard[AttackLocation.x][AttackLocation.y]->alive=0; //zombie dies Random X(3,7,1); //human is bitten bitecount=*(X.rptr); return; } } int Zombie::DecideAttack(Grid G) { Coords AttackLocation=Location; Random X(1,8,8); int attackdir; for (int i=0; i<8; i++) { attackdir=X.rptr[i]; switch(G.CreatureType(Location.x,Location.y,attackdir)) { case 'H': return attackdir; case 'Z': break; case '\0': break; default: break; } } return 0; //no zombies! } void Zombie::AttackCreature(Grid G, int attackdirection) { int reversedirection; if (attackdirection < 9 && attackdirection>0) { (attackdirection<5)? (reversedirection=attackdirection+4):(reversedirection=attackdirection-4); } else reversedirection=0; //this should never happen //when a zombie attacks a human, the Human::AttackZombie() function is called //in the "reverse" direction, utilizing that function that has already been written Coords ZombieLocation=Location; Coords HumanLocation=Location; HumanLocation.MoveDir(attackdirection); if (G.cboard[HumanLocation.x][HumanLocation.y]) //if there is a human there, which there should be G.cboard[HumanLocation.x][HumanLocation.y]->AttackCreature(G,reversedirection); } void Zombie::Attack(Grid G) { int attackdirection=DecideAttack(G); AttackCreature(G,attackdirection); } main.cpp #include <cstdlib> #include <iostream> #include "definitions.h" using namespace std; int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { Grid G(500,500); system("PAUSE"); return EXIT_SUCCESS; }

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c++ optimize array of ints

- by a432511

I have a 2D lookup table of int16_t. int16_t my_array[37][73] = {{**DATA HERE**}} I have a mixture of values that range from just above the range of int8_t to just below the range of int8_t and some of the values repeat themselves. I am trying to reduce the size of this lookup table. What I have done so far is split each int16_t value into two int8_t values to visualize the wasted bytes. int8_t part_1 = original_value >> 4; int8_t part_2 = original_value & 0x0000FFFF; // If the upper 4 bits of the original_value were empty if(part_1 == 0) wasted_bytes_count++; I can easily remove the zero value int8_t that are wasting a byte of space and I can also remove the duplicate values, but my question is how do I do remove those values while retaining the ability to lookup based on the two indices? I contemplated translating this into a 1D array and adding a number following each duplicated value that would represent the number of duplicates that were removed, but I am struggling with how I would then identify what is a lookup value and what is a duplicate count. Also, it is further complicated by stripping out the zero int8_t values that were wasted bytes. EDIT: This array is stored in ROM already. RAM is even more limited than ROM so it is already stored in ROM. EDIT: I am going to post a bounty for this question as soon as I can. I need a complete answer of how to store the information AND retrieve it. It does not need to be a 2D array as long as I can get the same values. EDIT: Adding the actual array below: {150,145,140,135,130,125,120,115,110,105,100,95,90,85,80,75,70,65,60,55,50,45,40,35,30,25,20,15,10,5,0,-4,-9,-14,-19,-24,-29,-34,-39,-44,-49,-54,-59,-64,-69,-74,-79,-84,-89,-94,-99,104,109,114,119,124,129,134,139,144,149,154,159,164,169,174,179,175,170,165,160,155,150}, \ {143,137,131,126,120,115,110,105,100,95,90,85,80,75,71,66,62,57,53,48,44,39,35,31,27,22,18,14,9,5,1,-3,-7,-11,-16,-20,-25,-29,-34,-38,-43,-47,-52,-57,-61,-66,-71,-76,-81,-86,-91,-96,101,107,112,117,123,128,134,140,146,151,157,163,169,175,178,172,166,160,154,148,143}, \ {130,124,118,112,107,101,96,92,87,82,78,74,70,65,61,57,54,50,46,42,38,34,31,27,23,19,16,12,8,4,1,-2,-6,-10,-14,-18,-22,-26,-30,-34,-38,-43,-47,-51,-56,-61,-65,-70,-75,-79,-84,-89,-94,100,105,111,116,122,128,135,141,148,155,162,170,177,174,166,159,151,144,137,130}, \ {111,104,99,94,89,85,81,77,73,70,66,63,60,56,53,50,46,43,40,36,33,30,26,23,20,16,13,10,6,3,0,-3,-6,-9,-13,-16,-20,-24,-28,-32,-36,-40,-44,-48,-52,-57,-61,-65,-70,-74,-79,-84,-88,-93,-98,103,109,115,121,128,135,143,152,162,172,176,165,154,144,134,125,118,111}, \ {85,81,77,74,71,68,65,63,60,58,56,53,51,49,46,43,41,38,35,32,29,26,23,19,16,13,10,7,4,1,-1,-3,-6,-9,-13,-16,-19,-23,-26,-30,-34,-38,-42,-46,-50,-54,-58,-62,-66,-70,-74,-78,-83,-87,-91,-95,100,105,110,117,124,133,144,159,178,160,141,125,112,103,96,90,85}, \ {62,60,58,57,55,54,52,51,50,48,47,46,44,42,41,39,36,34,31,28,25,22,19,16,13,10,7,4,2,0,-3,-5,-8,-10,-13,-16,-19,-22,-26,-29,-33,-37,-41,-45,-49,-53,-56,-60,-64,-67,-70,-74,-77,-80,-83,-86,-89,-91,-94,-97,101,105,111,130,109,84,77,74,71,68,66,64,62}, \ {46,46,45,44,44,43,42,42,41,41,40,39,38,37,36,35,33,31,28,26,23,20,16,13,10,7,4,1,-1,-3,-5,-7,-9,-12,-14,-16,-19,-22,-26,-29,-33,-36,-40,-44,-48,-51,-55,-58,-61,-64,-66,-68,-71,-72,-74,-74,-75,-74,-72,-68,-61,-48,-25,2,22,33,40,43,45,46,47,46,46}, \ {36,36,36,36,36,35,35,35,35,34,34,34,34,33,32,31,30,28,26,23,20,17,14,10,6,3,0,-2,-4,-7,-9,-10,-12,-14,-15,-17,-20,-23,-26,-29,-32,-36,-40,-43,-47,-50,-53,-56,-58,-60,-62,-63,-64,-64,-63,-62,-59,-55,-49,-41,-30,-17,-4,6,15,22,27,31,33,34,35,36,36}, \ {30,30,30,30,30,30,30,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,28,27,26,24,21,18,15,11,7,3,0,-3,-6,-9,-11,-12,-14,-15,-16,-17,-19,-21,-23,-26,-29,-32,-35,-39,-42,-45,-48,-51,-53,-55,-56,-57,-57,-56,-55,-53,-49,-44,-38,-31,-23,-14,-6,0,7,13,17,21,24,26,27,29,29,30}, \ {25,25,26,26,26,25,25,25,25,25,25,25,25,26,25,25,24,23,21,19,16,12,8,4,0,-3,-7,-10,-13,-15,-16,-17,-18,-19,-20,-21,-22,-23,-25,-28,-31,-34,-37,-40,-43,-46,-48,-49,-50,-51,-51,-50,-48,-45,-42,-37,-32,-26,-19,-13,-7,-1,3,7,11,14,17,19,21,23,24,25,25}, \ {21,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,22,21,20,18,16,13,9,5,1,-3,-7,-11,-14,-17,-18,-20,-21,-21,-22,-22,-22,-23,-23,-25,-27,-29,-32,-35,-37,-40,-42,-44,-45,-45,-45,-44,-42,-40,-36,-32,-27,-22,-17,-12,-7,-3,0,3,7,9,12,14,16,18,19,20,21,21}, \ {18,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,19,18,17,16,14,10,7,2,-1,-6,-10,-14,-17,-19,-21,-22,-23,-24,-24,-24,-24,-23,-23,-23,-24,-26,-28,-30,-33,-35,-37,-38,-39,-39,-38,-36,-34,-31,-28,-24,-19,-15,-10,-6,-3,0,1,4,6,8,10,12,14,15,16,17,18,18}, \ {16,16,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,17,16,16,16,16,16,16,15,13,11,8,4,0,-4,-9,-13,-16,-19,-21,-23,-24,-25,-25,-25,-25,-24,-23,-21,-20,-20,-21,-22,-24,-26,-28,-30,-31,-32,-31,-30,-29,-27,-24,-21,-17,-13,-9,-6,-3,-1,0,2,4,5,7,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,16}, \ {14,14,14,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,14,14,14,14,14,14,13,12,11,9,5,2,-2,-6,-11,-15,-18,-21,-23,-24,-25,-25,-25,-25,-24,-22,-21,-18,-16,-15,-15,-15,-17,-19,-21,-22,-24,-24,-24,-23,-22,-20,-18,-15,-12,-9,-5,-3,-1,0,1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,14}, \ {12,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,12,12,12,12,11,10,9,6,3,0,-4,-8,-12,-16,-19,-21,-23,-24,-24,-24,-24,-23,-22,-20,-17,-15,-12,-10,-9,-9,-10,-12,-13,-15,-17,-17,-18,-17,-16,-15,-13,-11,-8,-5,-3,-1,0,1,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,12,12}, \ {11,11,11,11,11,12,12,12,12,12,11,11,11,11,11,10,10,9,7,5,2,-1,-5,-9,-13,-17,-20,-22,-23,-23,-23,-23,-22,-20,-18,-16,-14,-11,-9,-6,-5,-4,-5,-6,-8,-9,-11,-12,-12,-12,-12,-11,-9,-8,-6,-3,-1,0,0,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,11,11}, \ {10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,9,9,9,7,6,3,0,-3,-6,-10,-14,-17,-20,-21,-22,-22,-22,-21,-19,-17,-15,-13,-10,-8,-6,-4,-2,-2,-2,-2,-4,-5,-7,-8,-8,-9,-8,-8,-7,-5,-4,-2,0,0,1,1,1,2,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,10,10}, \ {9,9,9,9,9,9,9,10,10,9,9,9,9,9,9,8,8,6,5,2,0,-4,-7,-11,-15,-17,-19,-21,-21,-21,-20,-18,-16,-14,-12,-10,-8,-6,-4,-2,-1,0,0,0,-1,-2,-4,-5,-5,-6,-6,-5,-5,-4,-3,-1,0,0,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,5,6,7,8,8,9,9,9}, \ {9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,8,8,8,8,7,5,4,1,-1,-5,-8,-12,-15,-17,-19,-20,-20,-19,-18,-16,-14,-11,-9,-7,-5,-4,-2,-1,0,0,1,1,0,0,-2,-3,-3,-4,-4,-4,-3,-3,-2,-1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8,9,9}, \ {9,9,9,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,8,8,8,8,7,6,5,3,0,-2,-5,-9,-12,-15,-17,-18,-19,-19,-18,-16,-14,-12,-9,-7,-5,-4,-2,-1,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,-1,-2,-2,-3,-3,-2,-2,-1,-1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8,9}, \ {8,8,8,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,8,8,8,7,6,4,2,0,-3,-6,-9,-12,-15,-17,-18,-18,-17,-16,-14,-12,-10,-8,-6,-4,-2,-1,0,0,1,2,2,2,2,1,0,0,-1,-1,-1,-2,-2,-1,-1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8}, \ {8,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,8,8,7,5,3,1,-1,-4,-7,-10,-13,-15,-16,-17,-17,-16,-15,-13,-11,-9,-6,-5,-3,-2,0,0,0,1,2,2,2,2,1,1,0,0,0,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,0,0,0,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,0,1,3,4,5,7,7,8}, \ {8,8,9,9,9,9,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,9,8,7,5,3,0,-2,-5,-8,-11,-13,-15,-16,-16,-16,-15,-13,-12,-10,-8,-6,-4,-2,-1,0,0,1,2,2,3,3,2,2,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-2,-2,-2,-1,0,0,1,3,4,6,7,8}, \ {7,8,9,9,9,10,10,11,11,11,11,11,10,10,9,7,5,3,0,-2,-6,-9,-11,-13,-15,-16,-16,-15,-14,-13,-11,-9,-7,-5,-3,-2,0,0,1,1,2,3,3,3,3,2,2,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-1,-1,-2,-3,-3,-4,-4,-4,-3,-2,-1,0,1,3,5,6,7}, \ {6,8,9,9,10,11,11,12,12,12,12,12,11,11,9,7,5,2,0,-3,-7,-10,-12,-14,-15,-16,-15,-15,-13,-12,-10,-8,-7,-5,-3,-1,0,0,1,2,2,3,3,4,3,3,3,2,2,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-4,-5,-5,-5,-5,-4,-2,-1,0,2,3,5,6}, \ {6,7,8,10,11,12,12,13,13,14,14,13,13,11,10,8,5,2,0,-4,-8,-11,-13,-15,-16,-16,-16,-15,-13,-12,-10,-8,-6,-5,-3,-1,0,0,1,2,3,3,4,4,4,4,4,3,3,3,2,2,1,1,0,0,-1,-2,-3,-5,-6,-7,-7,-7,-6,-5,-4,-3,-1,0,2,4,6}, \ {5,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,15,15,14,14,12,11,8,5,2,-1,-5,-9,-12,-14,-16,-17,-17,-16,-15,-14,-12,-11,-9,-7,-5,-3,-1,0,0,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,5,5,5,5,4,4,3,3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-4,-6,-7,-8,-8,-8,-8,-7,-6,-4,-2,0,1,3,5}, \ {4,6,8,10,12,13,14,15,16,16,16,16,15,13,11,9,5,2,-2,-6,-10,-13,-16,-17,-18,-18,-17,-16,-15,-13,-11,-9,-7,-5,-4,-2,0,0,1,3,3,4,5,6,6,7,7,7,7,7,6,5,4,3,2,0,-1,-3,-5,-7,-8,-9,-10,-10,-10,-9,-7,-5,-4,-1,0,2,4}, \ {4,6,8,10,12,14,15,16,17,18,18,17,16,15,12,9,5,1,-3,-8,-12,-15,-18,-19,-20,-20,-19,-18,-16,-15,-13,-11,-8,-6,-4,-2,-1,0,1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,8,7,5,3,1,-1,-3,-6,-8,-10,-11,-12,-12,-11,-10,-9,-7,-5,-2,0,1,4}, \ {4,6,8,11,13,15,16,18,19,19,19,19,18,16,13,10,5,0,-5,-10,-15,-18,-21,-22,-23,-22,-22,-20,-18,-17,-14,-12,-10,-8,-5,-3,-1,0,1,3,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,12,13,12,12,11,9,7,5,2,0,-3,-6,-9,-11,-12,-13,-13,-12,-11,-10,-8,-6,-3,-1,1,4}, \ {3,6,9,11,14,16,17,19,20,21,21,21,19,17,14,10,4,-1,-8,-14,-19,-22,-25,-26,-26,-26,-25,-23,-21,-19,-17,-14,-12,-9,-7,-4,-2,0,1,3,5,7,9,11,13,14,15,16,16,16,16,15,13,10,7,4,0,-3,-7,-10,-12,-14,-15,-14,-14,-12,-11,-9,-6,-4,-1,1,3}, \ {4,6,9,12,14,17,19,21,22,23,23,23,21,19,15,9,2,-5,-13,-20,-25,-28,-30,-31,-31,-30,-29,-27,-25,-22,-20,-17,-14,-11,-9,-6,-3,0,1,4,6,9,11,13,15,17,19,20,21,21,21,20,18,15,11,6,2,-2,-7,-11,-13,-15,-16,-16,-15,-13,-11,-9,-7,-4,-1,1,4}, \ {4,7,10,13,15,18,20,22,24,25,25,25,23,20,15,7,-2,-12,-22,-29,-34,-37,-38,-38,-37,-36,-34,-31,-29,-26,-23,-20,-17,-13,-10,-7,-4,-1,2,5,8,11,13,16,18,21,23,24,26,26,26,26,24,21,17,12,5,0,-6,-10,-14,-16,-16,-16,-15,-14,-12,-10,-7,-4,-1,1,4}, \ {4,7,10,13,16,19,22,24,26,27,27,26,24,19,11,-1,-15,-28,-37,-43,-46,-47,-47,-45,-44,-41,-39,-36,-32,-29,-26,-22,-19,-15,-11,-8,-4,-1,2,5,9,12,15,19,22,24,27,29,31,33,33,33,32,30,26,21,14,6,0,-6,-11,-14,-15,-16,-15,-14,-12,-9,-7,-4,-1,1,4}, \ {6,9,12,15,18,21,23,25,27,28,27,24,17,4,-14,-34,-49,-56,-60,-60,-60,-58,-56,-53,-50,-47,-43,-40,-36,-32,-28,-25,-21,-17,-13,-9,-5,-1,2,6,10,14,17,21,24,28,31,34,37,39,41,42,43,43,41,38,33,25,17,8,0,-4,-8,-10,-10,-10,-8,-7,-4,-2,0,3,6}, \ {22,24,26,28,30,32,33,31,23,-18,-81,-96,-99,-98,-95,-93,-89,-86,-82,-78,-74,-70,-66,-62,-57,-53,-49,-44,-40,-36,-32,-27,-23,-19,-14,-10,-6,-1,2,6,10,15,19,23,27,31,35,38,42,45,49,52,55,57,60,61,63,63,62,61,57,53,47,40,33,28,23,21,19,19,19,20,22}, \ {168,173,178,176,171,166,161,156,151,146,141,136,131,126,121,116,111,106,101,-96,-91,-86,-81,-76,-71,-66,-61,-56,-51,-46,-41,-36,-31,-26,-21,-16,-11,-6,-1,3,8,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,53,58,63,68,73,78,83,88,93,98,103,108,113,118,123,128,133,138,143,148,153,158,163,168}, \ Thanks for your time.

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Top 20 Daily Deal Sites In India

- by Damodhar

If you have never heard of Groupon recently, you probably are not working in the tech industry because it is all over the blogosphere. After all, growing from zero to US$1.35 billion valuation in 18 months is pretty AMAZING. Inspired by this, the following bunch of Groupon clone’s are already rising in India. Definitely this business model is emerging and changes the way online shopping happens in India. SnapDeal SnapDeal features a Best deals Coupons at an unbeatable price on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in our city. It provides vouchers and discounts in all the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. KhojGuru Exclusive Discount coupons from hundreds of brands and retailers. These discounts can be easily downloaded as an SMS on to the mobile phone or their print out can be taken. MyDala A platform which gets us great deals in our city.Leveraging the “power of group buying”. Group buying happens when like minded people come together to get deals that we can never get on our own as individuals. SoSasta Great place which would not only tell us about the hidden treasures of our city — but also made them affordable to us at the end of the month. DealsAndYou Deals and You is a group buying portal that features a daily deal on the best stuff in some of India’s leading cities. AajKaCatch Its concept is to provide you the most unique, useful and qualitative product at a very low price. So you can now shop without the hassles of clustered products. BindassBargain Bindaas Bargain offers a new deal every day! Great stuff ranging from cool gadgets, home theatres, luxury watches, smash games. MasthiDeals It get you a great deal on a great stuff to do, eat, buy or see in your city. They have a team of about 25 wonderful people working in Chennai office working side by side with folks in MasthiDeal’s other cities. Koovs Founded by a team of IIT alumni who have brought in their expertise from the internet industry. Koovs is a Bangalore based start up and one point solution for all your desires. Taggle It brings you a variety of offers from some of the most respected brands in the country.This website uses collective buying to create a win-win for local businesses and their customers. BuzzInTown Buzzintown.com is a portal owned by Wortal Inc. There are a US headquartered company, with a presence pan-India through their India subsidiary, managed by a vastly experienced set of global leaders from the media, entertainment and technology industries. BuyThePrice It lines up the best win – win deals for both consumers and vendors and also ensures that each of the orders are dispatched in the shortest time possible. 24HoursLoot 24hoursLoot is an online store for selling a new t-shirt (sometime other products) everyday at deep discounted price in limited quantity/stock. DealMagic Customers get exposure to the best their city has to offer, at unbeatable prices (50-90% off). We never feature more than one business on our website on any given day, so we have to be very very selective on who gets featured. Dealivore ICUMI Technologies Pvt Ltd is the company operating the Dealivore service. Founded in December 2009, ICUMI is privately owned and funded. LootMore An online store that exclusively focuses on selling cool quality stuff at cheap prices. Here you’ll always find the latest and greatest brands at prices you can afford. Foodome The deals features the best coupons at an unbeatable price on restaurants, fine dining on where to spend your birthday party.They provide coupon only in Chennai as of now. Top Online Shopping Sites- Nation Wide ebay.in eBay is The World’s Online Marketplace, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. With a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses, eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day. FutureBazzar Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space. TradeUs Launched in July 2009 and in a short span of time it has turned into one of India’s foremost shopping portals setting the Indian e-commerce abode aflame. BigShoeBazzar (BSB) is the largest online authorized shoe store in South Asia. Croma Promoted by Infiniti Retail Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons.One of the world’s leading retailers, ensuring that you buy nothing but the best. This article titled,Top 20 Daily Deal Sites In India, was originally published at Tech Dreams. Grab our rss feed or fan us on Facebook to get updates from us.

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SQLAuthority News – Author Visit Review – TechMela Nepal – March 29-30, 2010

- by pinaldave

I was very fortunate to attend TechMela at Kathmandu, Nepal on 29th and 30th of March 2010. I would like to thank Allen Bailochan Tuladhar from Microsoft MDP Nepal for inviting me. Allen is a person with seemingly infinite energy and unlimited passion for Microsoft Technology. If you get an opportunity to spend just one hour with him, you will surely be more enthusiastic with regards to Microsoft Technology. And, I was lucky enough that I was able to spend about a total of 9 days with him in Kathmandu, working along with him in the Tech Community. TechMela Nepal Pinal at TechMela, Nepal TechMela is considered as one of the biggest events in Nepal, having been organized by Microsoft MDP Nepal. This event was attended by around 500 students and hundreds of Tech professionals. The event was handled very professionally and at very large scale. Every minor detail was properly planned and obviously thought out well. There were around 50+ volunteers from MS MDP who were monitoring this event systematically to make sure the event would run as smooth as planned. Attendees in Geek T-Shirts During this event, I was delighted to meet David Lim of Microsoft Singapore. He is very passionate in working for Microsoft Technology, as well as building deep relations with the Community. I was fortunate to spend my entire afternoon with him during the sight-seeing trip. We discussed various MS technologies and their community’s adoption as well as the way how each of us can be a part of the community activity. He also delivered excellent keynotes at the event. I must say that this is one of the most enjoyable keynotes I have ever attended. It was interesting and interactive, and I must say that I had the 70s feelings with all the fonts and graphics. I still remember him saying, “Yeah, I was a student and I know you.” Allen Tuladhar, David Lim, Pinal Dave and Guests After the keynote, everybody cheered when Allen came on stage to talk about the event and to introduce the agenda for the next two days. I must say that Allen is one of the most well-known people in Nepal. I was impressed with his popularity, and to prove this, when he got on the stage he had to wait for a long full minute before he was able to greet “Welcome” while the attendees were clapping and cheering. Technology Panelist at Techmela Kathmandu, Nepal This event was blessed with the top-of-the-top officials of various IT industries, Nepal ministries and the US Embassy. All the prominent personalities were present for panel discussion on the stage. The talk was done on various subjects. Also, the energy level which was set by Allen really echoed in the audience as they asked certain questions on different global as well local IT-related questions. The panel discussion really was discussion instead of usual monologue of one person. Pinal Dave presenting at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal This was a two-day event and my session was on either of the day. I had a great participation from the audience on both days. The place where the event was organized had a capacity of around 500+ audience. Both of my sessions were heavily attended and volunteers did a fabulous job helping the attendees find empty seats or arrange some additional seats. I was overwhelmed with the interaction I have received in the large hall. Attendees were not so shy to express their thoughts, so both the sessions were followed up by top notch one-on-one conversations for a couple of hours. Pinal Dave presenting at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Pinal Dave presenting at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal There are many questions that I have received during the event, and many of them can be interesting for all of us here so I will write detailed blog posts on these subjects. I also tried to participate in the gaming activities held at the event, but I felt I was kind of lost even if I was only playing for the very first minutes. This made me realize that I am really getting old for video games. Allen presenting at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Allen’s session on Digital Photography was very impressive as he demonstrated so many features of the Windows Live Product that at one point I felt he is MVP for Windows Live. In fact, he demonstrated how all the Microsoft products work together to give users an excellent desktop experience; no wonder he is an MVP for Windows Desktop Experience. Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Any event has two common dilemmas – food and logistics. However, this event had excellent food and state-of-the-art organization. I was very glad that this two-day event turned out to be one of the most successful events in Nepal. I also noticed that almost all attendees rate their experience as beyond expectation and truly exceptional. Pinal Dave and Allen Bailochan Tuladhar If you ever get invited by Allen in any of his event, I strongly suggest that you drop all your plans and scheduled stuff, and accept his invitation. For sure, the event will be a very memorable one and would be your once-in-a-lifetime experience. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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SQLAuthority News – Author Visit Review – TechMela Nepal – March 29-30, 2010

- by pinaldave

I was very fortunate to attend TechMela at Kathmandu, Nepal on 29th and 30th of March 2010. I would like to thank Allen Bailochan Tuladhar from Microsoft MDP Nepal for inviting me. Allen is a person with seemingly infinite energy and unlimited passion for Microsoft Technology. If you get an opportunity to spend just one hour with him, you will surely be more enthusiastic with regards to Microsoft Technology. And, I was lucky enough that I was able to spend about a total of 9 days with him in Kathmandu, working along with him in the Tech Community. TechMela Nepal Pinal at TechMela, Nepal TechMela is considered as one of the biggest events in Nepal, having been organized by Microsoft MDP Nepal. This event was attended by around 500 students and hundreds of Tech professionals. The event was handled very professionally and at very large scale. Every minor detail was properly planned and obviously thought out well. There were around 50+ volunteers from MS MDP who were monitoring this event systematically to make sure the event would run as smooth as planned. Attendees in Geek T-Shirts During this event, I was delighted to meet David Lim of Microsoft Singapore. He is very passionate in working for Microsoft Technology, as well as building deep relations with the Community. I was fortunate to spend my entire afternoon with him during the sight-seeing trip. We discussed various MS technologies and their community’s adoption as well as the way how each of us can be a part of the community activity. He also delivered excellent keynotes at the event. I must say that this is one of the most enjoyable keynotes I have ever attended. It was interesting and interactive, and I must say that I had the 70s feelings with all the fonts and graphics. I still remember him saying, “Yeah, I was a student and I know you.” Allen Tuladhar, David Lim, Pinal Dave and Guests After the keynote, everybody cheered when Allen came on stage to talk about the event and to introduce the agenda for the next two days. I must say that Allen is one of the most well-known people in Nepal. I was impressed with his popularity, and to prove this, when he got on the stage he had to wait for a long full minute before he was able to greet “Welcome” while the attendees were clapping and cheering. Technology Panelist at Techmela Kathmandu, Nepal This event was blessed with the top-of-the-top officials of various IT industries, Nepal ministries and the US Embassy. All the prominent personalities were present for panel discussion on the stage. The talk was done on various subjects. Also, the energy level which was set by Allen really echoed in the audience as they asked certain questions on different global as well local IT-related questions. The panel discussion really was discussion instead of usual monologue of one person. Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal This was a two-day event and my session was on either of the day. I had a great participation from the audience on both days. The place where the event was organized had a capacity of around 500+ audience. Both of my sessions were heavily attended and volunteers did a fabulous job helping the attendees find empty seats or arrange some additional seats. I was overwhelmed with the interaction I have received in the large hall. Attendees were not so shy to express their thoughts, so both the sessions were followed up by top notch one-on-one conversations for a couple of hours. Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal There are many questions that I have received during the event, and many of them can be interesting for all of us here so I will write detailed blog posts on these subjects. I also tried to participate in the gaming activities held at the event, but I felt I was kind of lost even if I was only playing for the very first minutes. This made me realize that I am really getting old for video games. Allen presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Allen’s session on Digital Photography was very impressive as he demonstrated so many features of the Windows Live Product that at one point I felt he is MVP for Windows Live. In fact, he demonstrated how all the Microsoft products work together to give users an excellent desktop experience; no wonder he is an MVP for Windows Desktop Experience. Pinal Dave presending at TechMela Kathmandu, Nepal Any event has two common dilemmas – food and logistics. However, this event had excellent food and state-of-the-art organization. I was very glad that this two-day event turned out to be one of the most successful events in Nepal. I also noticed that almost all attendees rate their experience as beyond expectation and truly exceptional. Pinal Dave and Allen Bailochan Tuladhar If you ever get invited by Allen in any of his event, I strongly suggest that you drop all your plans and scheduled stuff, and accept his invitation. For sure, the event will be a very memorable one and would be your once-in-a-lifetime experience. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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Setup Remote Access in Windows Home Server

- by Mysticgeek

One of the many awesome features of Windows Home Server, is the ability to access your server and other computers on your network remotely. Today we show you the steps to enable Remote Access to your home server from anywhere you have an Internet connection. Remote Access in Windows Home Server has a lot of great features like uploading and downloading files from shared folders, accessing files from machines on your network, and controling machines remotely (on supported OS versions). Here we take a look at the basics of setting it up, choosing a domain name, and verifying you can connect remotely. Setup Remote Access in Windows Home Server Open the Windows Home Server Console and click on Settings. Next select Remote Access, it is off by default, just click the button to turn it on. Wait while your router is configured for remote access, when it’s complete click Next. Notice that it will enable UPnP, if you don’t wish to have that enabled, you can manually forward the correct ports. If you have any problems with the router being automatically configured, we’ll be taking a look at a more detailed troubleshooting guide in the future. The router is successfully configured, and we can continue to the next process of configuring our domain name. The Domain Name Setup Wizard will start. Notice you will need a Windows Live ID to set it up –which is typically your hotmail address. If you don’t already have one, you can get one here. Type in your Live ID email address and password and click Next… Agree to the Home Server Privacy Statement and the Live Custom Domains Addendum. If you’re concerned about privacy and want to learn more about the domain addendum, make sure to read about it before agreeing. There is nothing abnormal to point out about either statement, but if this is your first time setting it up, it’s good to review the information. Now choose a name for the domain. You should select something that is easy to remember and identifies your home server. The name can contain up to 63 characters, numbers, letters, and hyphens…and must begin and end with a letter or number. When you have the name figured out click the Confirm button. Note: You can only register one domain name per Live ID. If the name isn’t already taken, you’ll get a confirmation message indicating it’s god to go. The wizard is complete and you can now access the home server from the URL provided. A few other things to point out after you’ve set it up…under Domain Name click on the Details button… Which pulls up the domain detail information and you can refresh the data to verify everything is working correctly. Or you can click the Configure button and then change or release your current domain name. Under Web site settings, you can change you site page headline to whatever you want it to be. Accessing Home Server Remotely After you’ve gotten everything setup for your home server domain, you can begin to access it when you’re away from home. Simply type in the domain address you created in the previous steps. The start page is rather boring…and to start accessing your data, click the Log On button in the upper right hand corner. Then enter in your home server credentials to gain access to your files, folders, and network computers. You won’t be able to log in with your administrator user account however, to protect security of your network. Once you’re logged in, you’ll be able to access different parts of your home server shares and network computers. Conclusion Now that you have Remote Access setup, you should be able to access and manage your files easily. Being able to access data from your home server remotely is great when you need to get certain files while on the road. The web UI is pretty self explanatory, works best in IE as ActiveX is required, and is smooth and easy to work with. In future articles we’ll be covering a lot more regarding remote access, including more of the available features, troubleshooting connection issues, and enabling access for other users. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips GMedia Blog: Setting Up a Windows Home ServerHow to Remote Desktop to the Actual Server Console on Windows 2003Use Windows Vista Aero through Remote Desktop ConnectionAccess Your MySQL Server Remotely Over SSHShare Ubuntu Home Directories using Samba TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Penolo Lets You Share Sketches On Twitter Visit Woolyss.com for Old School Games, Music and Videos Add a Custom Title in IE using Spybot or Spyware Blaster When You Need to Hail a Taxi in NYC Live Map of Marine Traffic NoSquint Remembers Site Specific Zoom Levels (Firefox)

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Compress Large Video Files with DivX / Xvid and AutoGK

- by DigitalGeekery

Have you ever recorded home video on a camcorder only to find the video size is enormous? What if you wanted to share a video clip on YouTube or another video sharing site, but the file size was bigger than the maximum upload size? Today we’ll look at a way to compress certain video files, such as MPEG and AVI, with Auto Gordian Knot (AutoGK). AutoGK is a free application that runs on Windows. It supports Mpeg1, Mpeg2, Transport Streams, Vobs, and virtually any codec used for an .AVI file. AutoGK will accept as input the following file types: MPG, MPEG, VOB, VRO, M2V, DAT, IFO, TS, TP, TRP, M2T, and AVI. Files are output as .AVI files and are converted using the DivX or XviD codecs. Installing and Using AutoGK Download and install AutoGK (link below) Open the AutoGK. You’ll need to navigate a few wizard screens, but you can just accept the defaults. Choose your video file by clicking on the folder to the right of the Input file text box. Browse for and select your video file and click “Open.” For this example, we’ll be working with an .AVI file that’s 167MB in size. The output file is copied into the same directory as the input file by default, but you can change this if you choose. If the input file is also .AVI, AutoGK will append an _agk to the output file so that the original is not overwritten. Next, you’ll see any audio tracks listed. You can unselect the check box if you’d like to remove the audio track. You can choose one of the Predefined size options… Or, select a Custom size in MB or Target Quality in percentage. For our example, we’ll be compressing our 167MB file to 35MB. Click on Advanced Settings. Here you can choose your codec, if you have a preference, as well as output resolution and output audio. If you’d like to use the DivX codec, you’ll need to download and install it separately. (See link below) Typically you’ll want to keep the defaults. Click “OK.” Now you’re ready to add your file conversion job to the Job queue. Click Add Job to add it to the queue. You can add multiple files conversions to the job queue and convert them in one batch. Click Start to begin the conversion process. The process will begin. You’ll be able to see the progress in the Log window on the bottom left. When the conversion is complete you’ll see a “Job finished” and the total time in the log window. Check your output file to see it’s compressed size. Test your video just to make sure the output quality is satisfactory. Note: Conversion times can vary greatly depending on the size of the file and your computer hardware. Files that are several GBs in size may take several hours to compress. AutoGK is no longer being actively developed but is still a wonderful DivX/XviD conversion tool. It can also be used to compress and convert non-copy protected DVDs. Downloads AutoGordianKnot DivX (optional) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Use Your Mac Mini as a Media Server Part 2Make Disk Cleanup Compress Older(or Newer) Files on XPMysticgeek Blog: Exclusive Look Inside Vreel – Including Interview With Vreel Founder!Friday Fun: Watch HD Video Content with MeevidConvert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard 2.9 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Penolo Lets You Share Sketches On Twitter Visit Woolyss.com for Old School Games, Music and Videos Add a Custom Title in IE using Spybot or Spyware Blaster When You Need to Hail a Taxi in NYC Live Map of Marine Traffic NoSquint Remembers Site Specific Zoom Levels (Firefox)

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Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate stirs a movement

- by Gopinath

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is known for his dedication and hard work in inspiring millions of viewers though movies by discussing social problems and motivating people to solve them. His movie Rang De Basanthi seeded Indian anti-corruption movement, Tare Zameen Par touched the problems faced by few challenged kids and the latest movie 3 idiots exposed how education institutions in India are producing lakhs of Donkeys out of colleges every year. He extended his dedication of serving the society to small screen with the launch of reality TV show Satyamev Jayate. Before you start misjudging it as one of those non sense drama / entertaining reality shows, let me tell you that it is not a typical music, games, fight or dance reality show. Satyamev Jayate is all about the real people of India, their problems and how to tackle them. This is not just a reality show, its movement to educate people about the social evils. Its been many years since I spent couple of hours in front of TV as most of the programs are too cynical or does not add much value. In my childhood I use to anxiously wait for Mahabarath or He-Man TV shows to start but after a two decades I waited anxiously for the start of Satyamev Jayate. The wait was worth and the 1 hours 30 minutes spent watching it meaningful. When was the last time you were so satisfied after watching a TV show and inspired to do something? I don’t remember. Today, the show focused on female foeticide and its impact. It showed women who were tortured and forced to abort female foetuses. On the show few brave women shared their experiences of giving birth to girl babies and rough times they are going through with their in-laws & husbands. The show not only focused on the problem but also on the root cause of the evil, inspiring people working to tackle it and what every individual can do his part to solve it. The best part of the show is, its not a blame game. When there is a problem most of the people quickly get into identifying who is wrong and start blaming them instead of solve the actual problem. Aamir did not blame anyone for female foeticide – neither the government who don’t impose strict rules, nor the doctors who abort girl babies to make money or the mother-in-laws & husbands who torcher girl baby mothers are blamed. He careful highlighted the problem, showed horrifying statistics and their impact on the future society and few inspiring people working to tackle the problem. He touched heart and stirred a movement against the issue. First time ever I voted for a reality show through SMS and it’s for Satyamev Jayate. I’m proud to do so. Here are the few reactions of popular people, activists & media about the program @aamir_khan absolutely the best program I have seen on TV in recent past. Thanku for converting an idiot box into an inspirationsl medium — Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) May 6, 2012 Satyamev Jayate proves tht TV 2 can b a tool of social change. — Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) May 6, 2012 i absolutely loved #satyamevjayate. at least aamir is doing what all of us only talk about. — Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 6, 2012 Now Television will no longer be called an idiot box,the VISION of Television broadens up with#SatyamevJayate !!! — Madhur Bhandarkar (@mbhandarkar268) May 6, 2012 The Sunday 11am slot seems to have come back with a bang… #SatyamevJayate — atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) May 6, 2012 I was spellbound, says Prasoon Joshi – It’s a unique show. I was completely bowled over by it. It’s a never-done before concept Aamir Khan strikes the right chord with Satyamev Jayate – The format is quite crisp. Talking about the emotional connect, there are moments when your eyes well up with tears, but the various segments ensure there’s more content than emotional drama ‘Satyamev Jayate’ gutsy, sensible show: Viewers – From filmmakers to clinical psychologists to professors – everyone has given the thumbs up to Aamir Khan’s television show ‘Satyamev Jayate’, saying it is a gutsy, hard-hitting and sensible programme that strikes an emotional chord with the audiences. Aamir Khan’s TV debut ‘Satyamev Jayate’ takes Twitter by storm – The roads of the capital sported a deserted look around 11 am on Sunday morning, as everyone was hooked on to their TV sets. Did you watch the program? What is your opinion? I’m waiting for next 11 AM of next Sunday. Are you?

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Cant correctly install Lazarus

- by user206316

I have a little problem with installing and running Lazarus. I just upgrade ubuntu from 13.04 to 13.10. When i had 13.04, i could install lazarus without any problems, but in 13.10 lazarus magicaly dissapeared, and when i tried install it from ubuntu software center, it said something like in my software resources lazarus-ide-0.9.30.4 doesnt exist. After some research on net i tried delete all files from earlier installations, download deb packages from sourceforge and install them, but when i want to instal fpc-src, error shows up with output: (Reading database ... 100% (Reading database ... 239063 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking fpc-src (from .../Stiahnut/Lazarus/fpc-src.deb) ... dpkg: error processing /home/richi/Stiahnut/Lazarus/fpc-src.deb (--install): trying to overwrite '/usr/share/fpcsrc/2.6.2/rtl/nativent/tthread.inc', which is also in package fpc-source-2.6.2 2.6.2-5 dpkg-deb (subprocess): decompressing archive member: internal gzip write error: Broken pipe dpkg-deb: error: subprocess <decompress> returned error exit status 2 dpkg-deb (subprocess): cannot copy archive member from '/home/richi/Stiahnut/Lazarus/fpc-src.deb' to decompressor pipe: failed to write (Broken pipe) when i started lazarus, it of course tell me that it cant find fpc compier and fpc sources. So, please, i really need program for school and i dont wanna reinstall os anymore or something like that :( (Ubuntu 13.10 64bit) P.S: im not skilled in linux so if u know some commands to fix it just write them for copy and paste :) P.P.S:Sorry for bad English, im Slovak xD P.P.P.S: Thank so much for any answers update: output from sudo dpkg -l | grep "^rc" richi@Richi-Ubuntu:~/lazarus1.0.12$ sudo dpkg -l | grep "^rc" rc account-plugin-generic-oauth 0.10bzr13.03.26-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon - generic OAuth rc appmenu-gtk:amd64 12.10.3daily13.04.03-0ubuntu1 amd64 Export GTK menus over DBus rc appmenu-gtk3:amd64 12.10.3daily13.04.03-0ubuntu1 amd64 Export GTK menus over DBus rc fp-compiler-2.6.0 2.6.0-9 amd64 Free Pascal - compiler rc fp-utils-2.6.0 2.6.0-9 amd64 Free Pascal - utilities rc lazarus-ide-0.9.30.4 0.9.30.4-4 amd64 IDE for Free Pascal - common IDE files rc lazarus-ide-1.0.10 1.0.10+dfsg-1 amd64 IDE for Free Pascal - common IDE files rc lcl-utils-0.9.30.4 0.9.30.4-4 amd64 Lazarus Components Library - command line build tools rc lcl-utils-1.0.10 1.0.10+dfsg-1 amd64 Lazarus Components Library - command line build tools rc libbamf3-1:amd64 0.4.0daily13.06.19~13.04-0ubuntu1 amd64 Window matching library - shared library rc libboost-filesystem1.49.0 1.49.0-4 amd64 filesystem operations (portable paths, iteration over directories, etc) in C++ rc libboost-signals1.49.0 1.49.0-4 amd64 managed signals and slots library for C++ rc libboost-system1.49.0 1.49.0-4 amd64 Operating system (e.g. diagnostics support) library rc libboost-thread1.49.0 1.49.0-4 amd64 portable C++ multi-threading rc libbrlapi0.5:amd64 4.4-8ubuntu4 amd64 braille display access via BRLTTY - shared library rc libcamel-1.2-40 3.6.4-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 Evolution MIME message handling library rc libcolumbus0-0 0.4.0daily13.04.16~13.04-0ubuntu1 amd64 error tolerant matching engine - shared library rc libdns95 1:9.9.2.dfsg.P1-2ubuntu2.1 amd64 DNS Shared Library used by BIND rc libdvbpsi7 0.2.2-1 amd64 library for MPEG TS and DVB PSI tables decoding and generating rc libebackend-1.2-5 3.6.4-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 Utility library for evolution data servers rc libedata-book-1.2-15 3.6.4-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 Backend library for evolution address books rc libedata-cal-1.2-18 3.6.4-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 Backend library for evolution calendars rc libgc1c3:amd64 1:7.2d-0ubuntu5 amd64 conservative garbage collector for C and C++ rc libgd2-xpm:amd64 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg-6.1ubuntu1 amd64 GD Graphics Library version 2 rc libgd2-xpm:i386 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg-6.1ubuntu1 i386 GD Graphics Library version 2 rc libgnome-desktop-3-4 3.6.3-0ubuntu1 amd64 Utility library for loading .desktop files - runtime files rc libgphoto2-2:amd64 2.4.14-2 amd64 gphoto2 digital camera library rc libgphoto2-2:i386 2.4.14-2 i386 gphoto2 digital camera library rc libgphoto2-port0:amd64 2.4.14-2 amd64 gphoto2 digital camera port library rc libgphoto2-port0:i386 2.4.14-2 i386 gphoto2 digital camera port library rc libgtksourceview-3.0-0:amd64 3.6.3-0ubuntu1 amd64 shared libraries for the GTK+ syntax highlighting widget rc libgweather-3-1 3.6.2-0ubuntu1 amd64 GWeather shared library rc libharfbuzz0:amd64 0.9.13-1 amd64 OpenType text shaping engine rc libibus-1.0-0:amd64 1.4.2-0ubuntu2 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - shared library rc libical0 0.48-2 amd64 iCalendar library implementation in C (runtime) rc libimobiledevice3 1.1.4-1ubuntu6.2 amd64 Library for communicating with the iPhone and iPod Touch rc libisc92 1:9.9.2.dfsg.P1-2ubuntu2.1 amd64 ISC Shared Library used by BIND rc libkms1:amd64 2.4.46-1 amd64 Userspace interface to kernel DRM buffer management rc libllvm3.2:i386 1:3.2repack-7ubuntu1 i386 Low-Level Virtual Machine (LLVM), runtime library rc libmikmod2:amd64 3.1.12-5 amd64 Portable sound library rc libpackagekit-glib2-14:amd64 0.7.6-3ubuntu1 amd64 Library for accessing PackageKit using GLib rc libpoppler28:amd64 0.20.5-1ubuntu3 amd64 PDF rendering library rc libraw5:amd64 0.14.7-0ubuntu1.13.04.2 amd64 raw image decoder library rc librhythmbox-core6 2.98-0ubuntu5 amd64 support library for the rhythmbox music player rc libsdl-mixer1.2:amd64 1.2.12-7ubuntu1 amd64 Mixer library for Simple DirectMedia Layer 1.2, libraries rc libsnmp15 5.4.3~dfsg-2.7ubuntu1 amd64 SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) library rc libsyncdaemon-1.0-1 4.2.0-0ubuntu1 amd64 Ubuntu One synchronization daemon library rc libunity-core-6.0-5 7.0.0daily13.06.19~13.04-0ubuntu1 amd64 Core library for the Unity interface. rc libusb-0.1-4:i386 2:0.1.12-23.2ubuntu1 i386 userspace USB programming library rc libwayland0:amd64 1.0.5-0ubuntu1 amd64 wayland compositor infrastructure - shared libraries rc linux-image-3.8.0-19-generic 3.8.0-19.30 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rc linux-image-3.8.0-31-generic 3.8.0-31.46 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rc linux-image-extra-3.8.0-19-generic 3.8.0-19.30 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rc linux-image-extra-3.8.0-31-generic 3.8.0-31.46 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rc screen-resolution-extra 0.15ubuntu1 all Extension for the GNOME screen resolution applet rc unity-common 7.0.0daily13.06.19~13.04-0ubuntu1 all Common files for the Unity interface.

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Building the Elusive Windows Phone Panorama Control

When the Windows Phone 7 Developer SDK was released a couple of weeks ago at MIX10 many people noticed the SDK doesnt include a template for a Panorama control. Here at Clarity we decided to build our own Panorama control for use in some of our prototypes and I figured I would share what we came up with. There have been a couple of implementations of the Panorama control making their way through the interwebs, but I didnt think any of them really nailed the experience that is shown in the simulation videos. One of the key design principals in the UX Guide for Windows Phone 7 is the use of motion. The WP7 OS is fairly stripped of extraneous design elements and makes heavy use of typography and motion to give users the necessary visual cues. Subtle animations and wide layouts help give the user a sense of fluidity and consistency across the phone experience. When building the panorama control I was fairly meticulous in recreating the motion as shown in the videos. The effect that is shown in the application hubs of the phone is known as a Parallax Scrolling effect. This this pseudo-3D technique has been around in the computer graphics world for quite some time. In essence, the background images move slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in 2D. Here is an example of the traditional use: http://www.mauriciostudio.com/. One of the animation gems I've learned while building interactive software is the follow animation. The premise is straightforward: instead of translating content 1:1 with the interaction point, let the content catch up to the mouse or finger. The difference is subtle, but the impact on the smoothness of the interaction is huge. That said, it became the foundation of how I achieved the effect shown below. Source Code Available HERE Before I briefly describe the approach I took in creating this control..and Ill add some **asterisks ** to the code below as my coding skills arent up to snuff with the rest of my colleagues. This code is meant to be an interpretation of the WP7 panorama control and is not intended to be used in a production application. 1. Layout the XAML The UI consists of three main components : The background image, the Title, and the Content. You can imagine each these UI Elements existing on their own plane with a corresponding Translate Transform to create the Parallax effect. 2. Storyboards + Procedural Animations = Sexy As I mentioned above, creating a fluid experience was at the top of my priorities while building this control. To recreate the smooth scroll effect shown in the video we need to add some place holder storyboards that we can manipulate in code to simulate the inertia and snapping. Using the easing functions built into Silverlight helps create a very pleasant interaction. 3. Handle the Manipulation Events With Silverlight 3 we have some new touch event handlers. The new Manipulation events makes handling the interactivity pretty straight forward. There are two event handlers that need to be hooked up to enable the dragging and motion effects: the ManipulationDelta event : (the most relevant code is highlighted in pink) Here we are doing some simple math with the Manipulation Deltas and setting the TO values of the animations appropriately. Modifying the storyboards dynamically in code helps to create a natural feel.something that cant easily be done with storyboards alone. And secondly, the ManipulationCompleted event: Here we take the Final Velocities from the Manipulation Completed Event and apply them to the Storyboards to create the snapping and scrolling effects. Most of this code is determining what the next position of the viewport will be. The interesting part (shown in pink) is determining the duration of the animation based on the calculated velocity of the flick gesture. By using velocity as a variable in determining the duration of the animation we can produce a slow animation for a soft flick and a fast animation for a strong flick. Challenges to the Reader There are a couple of things I didnt have time to implement into this control. And I would love to see other WPF/Silverlight approaches. 1. A good mechanism for deciphering when the user is manipulating the content within the panorama control and the panorama itself. In other words, being able to accurately determine what is a flick and what is click. 2. Dynamically Sizing the panorama control based on the width of its content. Right now each control panel is 400px, ideally the Panel items would be measured and then panorama control would update its size accordingly. 3. Background and content wrapping. The WP7 UX guidelines specify that the content and background should wrap at the end of the list. In my code I restrict the drag at the ends of the list (like the iPhone). It would be interesting to see how this would effect the scroll experience. Well, Its been fun building this control and if you use it Id love to know what you think. You can download the Source HERE or from the Expression Gallery Erik Klimczak | [email protected] | twitter.com/eklimczDid you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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On Life and TechEd…

- by MOSSLover

I haven’t been writing here I know. I am very sorry, but I am just too busy trying to make my personal life just as good as my SharePoint life. So I was at TechEd again helping with the hands on labs, but I had a very long couple of weeks. I will have a long week again. I started out going to my friend, Randy Walker’s, wedding and I ended up at my grandmother’s condo in Fort Lauderdale. It was a very trying week. I had to drive 5 1/2 hours to the wedding from St. Louis and back. So Randy is an awesome person. He is a great guy and he was the first person ever to nominate me for MVP. I knew it probably wasn’t going anywhere, but it was the thought that count. I met Randy in 2008 at Tulsa Techfest. We had fun jamming out to Rockband. I knew he was good people back then. He has let me vent and I have let him vent over countless personal problems. He has always been a great friend. So it was a no brainer when I decided to go to his wedding no matter how much driving or stress or lack of sleep it was worth it. I am incredibly happy for him to finally find a diamond amongst a lot of coal. To take part in his celebration was so awesome. I thank him again for letting me participate in this ceremony. Now after Randy’s wedding I drove 5 1/2 hours landed in St. Louis, fed a cat an asthma pill hidden in wet cat food, and slept for 4 hours. I immediately saw my best friend who dropped me off at the airport and proceeded to TechEd. I slept 1 hour on each flight, then ended up working a 3 hour shift at TechEd. The rest of the week was a haze of connecting with people and sleeping very little. I got to see my friend Tasha and her husband Casey plus a billion other people. It was a great week and then I got a call from my grandmother. It turns out her husband was admitted to the hospital. My grandparents on my dad's side have been divorced since the 60s, which means I never got to see them together. I always felt like they never cliqued. When I was a kid we would always spend half our time in Chicago at grandma’s and half our time at grandpa’s houses. We would hang out with my grandpa’s wife Bobbi and my grandma’s husband Leo. My cousin’s always called Leo by Pappa and my brother and I would use Leo. My cousins lived in Chicago up until my cousin Gavi was born then they moved to Philadelphia. I remember complaining to my dad that we never visited anywhere cool just Chicago and Kansas City. I also remember Leo teaching me and my brother, Sam, how to climb a tree and play tennis on the back of the apartment wall. My grandfather’s was kind of stuffy and boring, but we always enjoyed my grandmother’s. She had games and Disney Movies and toys. Leo always made it a ton of fun to visit. I’m not sure a lot of people knew this fact, but when I was 16 years old I saw my grandfather on my mother’s side slowly die of congestive heart failure in a nursing home. When I was 18 I saw my grandmother on my mother’s side slowly die of an infection over a 30 day period. I hate hospitals and I hate nursing homes, but sometimes you have to suck in your gut and be strong. I tried to do that this weekend and I hope I did an ok job. I really hope things get better, but if they don’t I really appreciate everything he has given me in life. I am a terrible tennis player and I haven’t climbed a tree in ages, but they both encouraged me when encouragement from my parents was lacking. It was Father’s Day today and I have to at least pay tribute to Leo Morris, because he has been a good person to me all my life. Technorati Tags: TechEd,Grandparents,Father's Day

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Initial Review - Mastering Unreal Technology I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3

- by Matt Christian

Recently I purchased 3 large volumes on using the Unreal 3 Engine to create levels and custom games. This past weekend I cracked the spine of the first and started reading. Here are my early impressions (I'm ~250 pages into it, with appendices it's about 900). Pros Interestingly, the book starts with an overview of the Unreal engines leading up to Unreal 3 (including Gears of War) and follows with some discussion on planning a mod and what goes into the game development process. This is nice for an intro to the book and is much preferred rather than a simple chapter detailing what is on the included CD, how to install and setup UnrealEd, etc... While the chapter on Unreal history and planning can be considered 'fluff', it's much less 'fluffy' than most books provide. I need to mention one thing here that is pretty crucial in the way I'm going to continue reviewing this book. Most technical books like this are used as a shelf reference; as a thick volume you use for looking up techniques every now and again. Even so, I prefer reading from cover to cover, including chapters I may already be knowledgable on (I'm sure this is typical for most people). If there was a chapter on installing UnrealEd (the previously mentioned 'fluff'), I would probably force myself to read it, even though I've installed the game and engine multiple times on different systems. Chapter 3 is where we really get to the introduction piece of UnrealEd, creating your first basic level. This large chapter details creating two small rooms, adding static meshes, adding lighting, creating and adding particle emitters, creating a door that animates with Unreal Matinee and Kismet, static meshes with physics, and other little additions to make your level look less beginner. This really is a chapter that overviews the entire rest of the book, as each chapter following details the creation and intermediate usages of Static Meshes, Materials, Lighting, etc... One other very nice part to this book is the way the tutorials are setup. Each tutorial builds off the previous and all are step-by-step. If you haven't completed one yet, you can find all the starting files on the CD that comes with the book. Cons While the description of the overview chapter (Chapter 3) is fresh in your mind, let me start the cons by saying this chapter is setup extremely confusing for the noob. At one point, you end up creating a door mesh and setting it up as a InteropMesh so that it is ready to be animated, only to switch to particles and spend a good portion of time working on a different piece of the level. Yes, this is actually how I develop my levels (jumping back and forth), though it's very odd for a book to jump out of sequence. The next item might be a positive or a negative depending on your skill level with UnrealEd. Most of the introduction to the editor layout is found in one of the Appendices instead of before Chapter 3. For new readers, this might lead to confusion as Appendix A would typically be read between Chapter 2 and 3. However, this is a positive for those with some experience in UnrealEd as they don't have to force themselves through a 'learn every editor button' chapter. I'm listing this in the Cons section as the book is 'Introduction to...' and is probably going to be directed toward a lot of very beginner developers. Finally, there's a lack of general description to a lot of the underlying engine and what each piece in UnrealEd is or does. Sometimes you'll be performing Tutorial after Tutorial with barely a paragraph in between describing ANY of what you've just done. Tutorial 1.1 Step 6 says to press Button X, so you do. But why? This is in part a problem with the structure of the tutorials rather than the content of the book. Since the tutorials are so focused on a step-by-step (or procedural) description of a process, you learn the process and not why you're doing that. For example, you might learn how to size a material to a surface, but will only learn what buttons to press and not what each one does. This becomes extremely apparent in the chapter on Static Meshes as most of the chapter is spent in 3D Studio Max. Since there are books on 3DSM and modelling, the book really only tells you the steps and says to go grab a book on modelling if you're really interested in 3DSM. Again, I've learned the process to develop my own meshes in 3DSM, but I don't know the why behind the steps. Conclusion So far the book is very good though I would have a hard time recommending it to a complete beginner. I would suggest anyone looking at this book (obviously including the other 2, more advanced volumes) to pick up a copy of UDK or Unreal 3 (available online or via download services such as Steam) and watch some online tutorials and play with it first. You'll find plenty of online videos available that were created by the authors and may suit as a better introduction to the editor.

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Error when trying to compile abgx360: C++ compiler cannot create executables

- by era878

I am trying to compile the abgx360 GUI. First I run home/eric/Desktop/abgx360-1.0.5/configure but I recieve this error: checking for C++ compiler default output file name... configure: error: C++ compiler cannot create executables See `config.log' for more details. Then i run make but I recieve this error: make: * No rule to make target `/home/eric/Desktop/abgx360-1.0.5/Makefile.am', needed by `/home/eric/Desktop/abgx360-1.0.5/Makefile.in'. Stop. Here is my 'config.log': This file contains any messages produced by compilers while running configure, to aid debugging if configure makes a mistake. It was created by abgx360gui configure 1.0.2, which was generated by GNU Autoconf 2.61. Invocation command line was $ /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/configure ## --------- ## ## Platform. ## ## --------- ## hostname = Eric-Desktop uname -m = x86_64 uname -r = 2.6.35-27-generic uname -s = Linux uname -v = #48-Ubuntu SMP Tue Feb 22 20:25:46 UTC 2011 /usr/bin/uname -p = unknown /bin/uname -X = unknown /bin/arch = unknown /usr/bin/arch -k = unknown /usr/convex/getsysinfo = unknown /usr/bin/hostinfo = unknown /bin/machine = unknown /usr/bin/oslevel = unknown /bin/universe = unknown PATH: /usr/local/sbin PATH: /usr/local/bin PATH: /usr/sbin PATH: /usr/bin PATH: /sbin PATH: /bin PATH: /usr/games ## ----------- ## ## Core tests. ## ## ----------- ## configure:1800: checking for a BSD-compatible install configure:1856: result: /usr/bin/install -c configure:1867: checking whether build environment is sane configure:1910: result: yes configure:1938: checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p configure:1977: result: /bin/mkdir -p configure:1990: checking for gawk configure:2020: result: no configure:1990: checking for mawk configure:2006: found /usr/bin/mawk configure:2017: result: mawk configure:2028: checking whether make sets $(MAKE) configure:2049: result: yes configure:2302: checking for g++ configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for c++ configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for gpp configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for aCC configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for CC configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for cxx configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for cc++ configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for cl.exe configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for FCC configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for KCC configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for RCC configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for xlC_r configure:2332: result: no configure:2302: checking for xlC configure:2332: result: no configure:2360: checking for C++ compiler version configure:2367: g++ --version >&5 /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/configure: line 2368: g++: command not found configure:2370: $? = 127 configure:2377: g++ -v >&5 /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/configure: line 2378: g++: command not found configure:2380: $? = 127 configure:2387: g++ -V >&5 /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/configure: line 2388: g++: command not found configure:2390: $? = 127 configure:2413: checking for C++ compiler default output file name configure:2440: g++ conftest.cpp >&5 /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/configure: line 2441: g++: command not found configure:2443: $? = 127 configure:2481: result: configure: failed program was: | /* confdefs.h. */ | #define PACKAGE_NAME "abgx360gui" | #define PACKAGE_TARNAME "abgx360gui" | #define PACKAGE_VERSION "1.0.2" | #define PACKAGE_STRING "abgx360gui 1.0.2" | #define PACKAGE_BUGREPORT "" | #define PACKAGE "abgx360gui" | #define VERSION "1.0.2" | /* end confdefs.h. */ | | int | main () | { | | ; | return 0; | } configure:2488: error: C++ compiler cannot create executables See `config.log' for more details. ## ---------------- ## ## Cache variables. ## ## ---------------- ## ac_cv_env_CCC_set= ac_cv_env_CCC_value= ac_cv_env_CC_set= ac_cv_env_CC_value= ac_cv_env_CFLAGS_set= ac_cv_env_CFLAGS_value= ac_cv_env_CPPFLAGS_set= ac_cv_env_CPPFLAGS_value= ac_cv_env_CPP_set= ac_cv_env_CPP_value= ac_cv_env_CXXFLAGS_set= ac_cv_env_CXXFLAGS_value= ac_cv_env_CXX_set= ac_cv_env_CXX_value= ac_cv_env_LDFLAGS_set= ac_cv_env_LDFLAGS_value= ac_cv_env_LIBS_set= ac_cv_env_LIBS_value= ac_cv_env_build_alias_set= ac_cv_env_build_alias_value= ac_cv_env_host_alias_set= ac_cv_env_host_alias_value= ac_cv_env_target_alias_set= ac_cv_env_target_alias_value= ac_cv_path_install='/usr/bin/install -c' ac_cv_path_mkdir=/bin/mkdir ac_cv_prog_AWK=mawk ac_cv_prog_make_make_set=yes ## ----------------- ## ## Output variables. ## ## ----------------- ## ACLOCAL='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run aclocal-1.10' AMDEPBACKSLASH='' AMDEP_FALSE='' AMDEP_TRUE='' AMTAR='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run tar' AUTOCONF='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run autoconf' AUTOHEADER='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run autoheader' AUTOMAKE='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run automake-1.10' AWK='mawk' CC='' CCDEPMODE='' CFLAGS='' CPP='' CPPFLAGS='' CXX='g++' CXXDEPMODE='' CXXFLAGS='' CYGPATH_W='echo' DEFS='' DEPDIR='' ECHO_C='' ECHO_N='-n' ECHO_T='' EGREP='' EXEEXT='' GREP='' INSTALL_DATA='${INSTALL} -m 644' INSTALL_PROGRAM='${INSTALL}' INSTALL_SCRIPT='${INSTALL}' INSTALL_STRIP_PROGRAM='$(install_sh) -c -s' LDFLAGS='' LIBOBJS='' LIBS='' LTLIBOBJS='' MAKEINFO='${SHELL} /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/missing --run makeinfo' OBJEXT='' PACKAGE='abgx360gui' PACKAGE_BUGREPORT='' PACKAGE_NAME='abgx360gui' PACKAGE_STRING='abgx360gui 1.0.2' PACKAGE_TARNAME='abgx360gui' PACKAGE_VERSION='1.0.2' PATH_SEPARATOR=':' SET_MAKE='' SHELL='/bin/bash' STRIP='' VERSION='1.0.2' WX_CFLAGS='' WX_CFLAGS_ONLY='' WX_CONFIG_PATH='' WX_CPPFLAGS='' WX_CXXFLAGS='' WX_CXXFLAGS_ONLY='' WX_LIBS='' WX_LIBS_STATIC='' WX_RESCOMP='' WX_VERSION='' ac_ct_CC='' ac_ct_CXX='' am__fastdepCC_FALSE='' am__fastdepCC_TRUE='' am__fastdepCXX_FALSE='' am__fastdepCXX_TRUE='' am__include='' am__isrc=' -I$(srcdir)' am__leading_dot='.' am__quote='' am__tar='${AMTAR} chof - "$$tardir"' am__untar='${AMTAR} xf -' bindir='${exec_prefix}/bin' build_alias='' datadir='${datarootdir}' datarootdir='${prefix}/share' docdir='${datarootdir}/doc/${PACKAGE_TARNAME}' dvidir='${docdir}' exec_prefix='NONE' host_alias='' htmldir='${docdir}' includedir='${prefix}/include' infodir='${datarootdir}/info' install_sh='$(SHELL) /home/eric/Desktop/abgx360gui-1.0.2/install-sh' libdir='${exec_prefix}/lib' libexecdir='${exec_prefix}/libexec' localedir='${datarootdir}/locale' localstatedir='${prefix}/var' mandir='${datarootdir}/man' mkdir_p='/bin/mkdir -p' oldincludedir='/usr/include' pdfdir='${docdir}' prefix='NONE' program_transform_name='s,x,x,' psdir='${docdir}' sbindir='${exec_prefix}/sbin' sharedstatedir='${prefix}/com' sysconfdir='${prefix}/etc' target_alias='' ## ----------- ## ## confdefs.h. ## ## ----------- ## #define PACKAGE_NAME "abgx360gui" #define PACKAGE_TARNAME "abgx360gui" #define PACKAGE_VERSION "1.0.2" #define PACKAGE_STRING "abgx360gui 1.0.2" #define PACKAGE_BUGREPORT "" #define PACKAGE "abgx360gui" #define VERSION "1.0.2" configure: exit 77

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Building the Elusive Windows Phone Panorama Control

When the Windows Phone 7 Developer SDK was released a couple of weeks ago at MIX10 many people noticed the SDK doesnt include a template for a Panorama control. Here at Clarity we decided to build our own Panorama control for use in some of our prototypes and I figured I would share what we came up with. There have been a couple of implementations of the Panorama control making their way through the interwebs, but I didnt think any of them really nailed the experience that is shown in the simulation videos. One of the key design principals in the UX Guide for Windows Phone 7 is the use of motion. The WP7 OS is fairly stripped of extraneous design elements and makes heavy use of typography and motion to give users the necessary visual cues. Subtle animations and wide layouts help give the user a sense of fluidity and consistency across the phone experience. When building the panorama control I was fairly meticulous in recreating the motion as shown in the videos. The effect that is shown in the application hubs of the phone is known as a Parallax Scrolling effect. This this pseudo-3D technique has been around in the computer graphics world for quite some time. In essence, the background images move slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in 2D. Here is an example of the traditional use: http://www.mauriciostudio.com/. One of the animation gems I've learned while building interactive software is the follow animation. The premise is straightforward: instead of translating content 1:1 with the interaction point, let the content catch up to the mouse or finger. The difference is subtle, but the impact on the smoothness of the interaction is huge. That said, it became the foundation of how I achieved the effect shown below. Source Code Available HERE Before I briefly describe the approach I took in creating this control..and Ill add some **asterisks ** to the code below as my coding skills arent up to snuff with the rest of my colleagues. This code is meant to be an interpretation of the WP7 panorama control and is not intended to be used in a production application. 1. Layout the XAML The UI consists of three main components : The background image, the Title, and the Content. You can imagine each these UI Elements existing on their own plane with a corresponding Translate Transform to create the Parallax effect. 2. Storyboards + Procedural Animations = Sexy As I mentioned above, creating a fluid experience was at the top of my priorities while building this control. To recreate the smooth scroll effect shown in the video we need to add some place holder storyboards that we can manipulate in code to simulate the inertia and snapping. Using the easing functions built into Silverlight helps create a very pleasant interaction. 3. Handle the Manipulation Events With Silverlight 3 we have some new touch event handlers. The new Manipulation events makes handling the interactivity pretty straight forward. There are two event handlers that need to be hooked up to enable the dragging and motion effects: the ManipulationDelta event : (the most relevant code is highlighted in pink) Here we are doing some simple math with the Manipulation Deltas and setting the TO values of the animations appropriately. Modifying the storyboards dynamically in code helps to create a natural feel.something that cant easily be done with storyboards alone. And secondly, the ManipulationCompleted event: Here we take the Final Velocities from the Manipulation Completed Event and apply them to the Storyboards to create the snapping and scrolling effects. Most of this code is determining what the next position of the viewport will be. The interesting part (shown in pink) is determining the duration of the animation based on the calculated velocity of the flick gesture. By using velocity as a variable in determining the duration of the animation we can produce a slow animation for a soft flick and a fast animation for a strong flick. Challenges to the Reader There are a couple of things I didnt have time to implement into this control. And I would love to see other WPF/Silverlight approaches. 1. A good mechanism for deciphering when the user is manipulating the content within the panorama control and the panorama itself. In other words, being able to accurately determine what is a flick and what is click. 2. Dynamically Sizing the panorama control based on the width of its content. Right now each control panel is 400px, ideally the Panel items would be measured and then panorama control would update its size accordingly. 3. Background and content wrapping. The WP7 UX guidelines specify that the content and background should wrap at the end of the list. In my code I restrict the drag at the ends of the list (like the iPhone). It would be interesting to see how this would effect the scroll experience. Well, Its been fun building this control and if you use it Id love to know what you think. You can download the Source HERE or from the Expression Gallery Erik Klimczak | [email protected] | twitter.com/eklimczDid you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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Geocaching - World wide treasure hunt

I'm not quite sure how I came across this topic but actually I find it absolutely interesting, challenging and most of all a great fun for the family and friends. The interesting part is for sure that you can follow other peoples treasures and their preferred locations where a cache might be hidden. Of course, it wont be easy to find a cache after all. Sometimes there are even 'mystery caches' which have either riddles, further instructions or little brain games for you in order to find the actual cache - that's the challenge. And last but not least, those caches are hidden outdoor. A great experience to explore nature either on your own, or your family especially with children, or as a treasure hunting pack with a couple of friends. What is geocaching? It's a high-tech outdoor treasure hunting game that's a great way to explore the world with friends, family or on your own. Participants use GPS-enabled devices to locate hidden containers called geocaches. There are over one million geocaches hidden around the world today, waiting for you to find them. Visit Geocaching.com to search for geocaches near you.(Source: Referral Email of geocaching.com) Checkout the Geocaching 101 for further details and information. They also provide a video channel on YouTube. Which equipment do I need? Any GPS-enabled device is sufficient to go onto the hunt. I'm going to start our geocaching experience equipped with my Samsung Galaxy Tab. Additionally, I installed a geocaching.com client called c:geo that hopefully assists me soon. Combined with a map app like Google Maps and a nice Compass app you should be fully equipped and ready to go. I guess, that even a car navigation system is perfect for that task. Later on, with more experience and demand for technology (or precision) it might be interesting to opt-in for a pure GPS device, like a Garmin or any other brand on the market. {loadposition content_adsense} What is a geocache and what does it contain? In its simplest form, a cache always contains a logbook or logsheet for you to log your find. Larger caches may contain a logbook and any number of items. These items turn the adventure into a true treasure hunt. You never know what the cache owner or visitors to the cache may have left for you to enjoy. Remember, if you take something, leave something of equal or greater value in return. It is recommended that items in a cache be individually packaged in a clear, zipped plastic bag to protect them from the elements. Finding your first geocache Well, first you have to have interest to pick up the challenge. Then you have to check out the Geocache directory on geocaching.com. They have recommendations for beginner's caches but you are free to choose any. Actually, we have a Mystery Cache very close to our base, and I guess that we are going for that one on our first trip. Anyway, there is a very informative guide on the website which should answer all your questions about starting your new outdoor adventure. For sure, it's going to be rewarding. Team up with friends and family Especially as a beginner there might be misunderstandings in handling the GPS coordinates, the compass, or the map, and even finding the container at the documented position isn't easy in the first place. Luckily, there are logbook reports online from other hunters, and most of the time there are even 'spoiler' images available. But also bear in mind, that a geocache might have been removed or is lost due to unconscious people or whatever other reasons. Don't be disappointed in case that you can't find anything... There be nothing anymore. A general recommendation in this case would be to replace the missing container with a new one, and give feedback to the original owner about the state of that particular location. After all, it's about fun and active participation in a world-wide community. Geocaches in Mauritius? Yes, there are currently about 45 geocaches spread all over the island, and even a single in Rodriguez - that's gonna be a tough one. Hopefully, we will get increasing numbers as Geocaching.com allows, no better, even encourages you to hide new containers at your locations of choice. I think this is going to be real fun for us during the upcoming weeks and months. Especially, when we are travelling to other countries and transfer so-called trackable items between geocaches. On my first impression, Geocaching.com seems to be very mature, open and community-oriented. There are literally hundreds of thousands geocache 'hunters' all over the world. And usually finding a container remote from your home is very rewarding. I'll keep you updated in these matters during the next months to come...

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Supporting users if they're not on your site

- by Roger Hart

Have a look at this Read Write Web article, specifically the paragraph in bold and the comments. Have a wry chuckle, or maybe weep for the future of humanity - your call. Then pause, and worry about information architecture. The short story: Read Write Web bumps up the Google rankings for "Facebook login" at the same time as Facebook makes UI changes, and a few hundred users get confused and leave comments on Read Write Web complaining about not being able to log in to their Facebook accounts.* Blindly clicking the first Google result is not a navigation behaviour I'd anticipated for folks visiting big names sites like Facebook. But then, I use Launchy and don't know where any of my files are, depend on Firefox auto-complete, view Facebook through my IM client, and don't need a map to find my backside with both hands. Not all our users behave in the same way, which means not all of our architecture is within our control, and people can get to your content in all sorts of ways. Even if the Read Write Web episode is a prank of some kind (there are, after all, plenty of folks who enjoy orchestrated trolling) it's still a useful reminder. Your users may take paths through and to your content you cannot control, and they are unlikely to deconstruct their assumptions along the way. I guess the meaningful question is: can you still support those users? If they get to you from Google instead of your front door, does what they find still make sense? Does your information architecture still work if your guests come in through the bathroom window? Ok, so here they broke into the house next door - you can't be expected to deal with that. But the rest is well worth thinking about. Other off-site interaction It's rarely going to be as funny as the comments at Read Write Web, but your users are going to do, say, and read things they think of as being about you and your products, in places you don't control. That's good. If you pay attention to it, you get data. Your users get a better experience. There are easy wins, too. Blogs, forums, social media &c. People may look for and find help with your product on blogs and forums, on Twitter, and what have you. They may learn about your brand in the same way. That's fine, it's an interaction you can be part of. It's time-consuming, certainly, but you have the option. You won't get a blogger to incorporate your site navigation just in case your users end up there, but you can be there when they do. Again, Anne Gentle, Gordon McLean and others have covered this in more depth than I could. Direct contact Sales people, customer care, support, they all talk to people. Are they sending links to your content? if so, which bits? Do they know about all of it? Do they have the content they need to support them - messaging that funnels sales, FAQ that are realistically frequent, detailed examples of things people want to do, that kind of thing. Are they sending links because users can't find the good stuff? Are they sending précis of your content, or re-writes, or brand new stuff? If so, does that mean your content isn't up to scratch, or that you've got content missing? Direct sales/care/support interactions are enormously valuable, and can help you know what content your users find useful. You can't have a table of contents or a "See also" in a phonecall, but your content strategy can support more interactions than browsing. *Passing observation about Facebook. For plenty if folks, it is the internet. Its services are simple versions of what a lot of people use the internet for, and they're aggregated into one stop. Flickr, Vimeo, Wordpress, Twitter, LinkedIn, and all sorts of games, have Facebook doppelgangers that are not only friendlier to entry-level users, they're right there, behind only one layer of authentication. As such, it could own a lot of interaction convention. Heavy users may well not be tech-savvy, and be quite change averse. That doesn't make this episode not dumb, but I'm happy to go easy on 'em.

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Super Joybox 5 HID 0925:8884 not recognized as joystick in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

- by Tim Evans

Problem: When using the "Super JoyBox 5" 4 port playstation 2 to USB adapter, the device is not recognized as a joystick. there is no js0 created, but instead another input eventX and mouseX are created in /dev/input. When using the directional buttons (up down left right) on a Playstation 1 controller attached to the device, the mouse cursor moves to the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the screen respectively. Buttons are unresponsive. The joypads attached to the device cannot be used in any games or other programs. Attempted remedies: Creating a symlink from the eventX to js0 does not solve the problem. Addl Info: joydev is loaded and running peroperly according to LSMOD. evtest can be run on the created eventX (sudo evtest /dev/input/event14 in my case) and the buttons and axes all register inputs. Here is a paste of EVTEST's diagnostic and the first couple button events. [code] sudo evtest /dev/input/event14 Input driver version is 1.0.1 Input device ID: bus 0x3 vendor 0x925 product 0x8884 version 0x100 Input device name: "HID 0925:8884" Supported events: Event type 0 (EV_SYN) Event type 1 (EV_KEY) Event code 288 (BTN_TRIGGER) Event code 289 (BTN_THUMB) Event code 290 (BTN_THUMB2) Event code 291 (BTN_TOP) Event code 292 (BTN_TOP2) Event code 293 (BTN_PINKIE) Event code 294 (BTN_BASE) Event code 295 (BTN_BASE2) Event code 296 (BTN_BASE3) Event code 297 (BTN_BASE4) Event code 298 (BTN_BASE5) Event code 299 (BTN_BASE6) Event code 300 (?) Event code 301 (?) Event code 302 (?) Event code 303 (BTN_DEAD) Event code 304 (BTN_A) Event code 305 (BTN_B) Event code 306 (BTN_C) Event code 307 (BTN_X) Event code 308 (BTN_Y) Event code 309 (BTN_Z) Event code 310 (BTN_TL) Event code 311 (BTN_TR) Event code 312 (BTN_TL2) Event code 313 (BTN_TR2) Event code 314 (BTN_SELECT) Event code 315 (BTN_START) Event code 316 (BTN_MODE) Event code 317 (BTN_THUMBL) Event code 318 (BTN_THUMBR) Event code 319 (?) Event code 320 (BTN_TOOL_PEN) Event code 321 (BTN_TOOL_RUBBER) Event code 322 (BTN_TOOL_BRUSH) Event code 323 (BTN_TOOL_PENCIL) Event code 324 (BTN_TOOL_AIRBRUSH) Event code 325 (BTN_TOOL_FINGER) Event code 326 (BTN_TOOL_MOUSE) Event code 327 (BTN_TOOL_LENS) Event code 328 (?) Event code 329 (?) Event code 330 (BTN_TOUCH) Event code 331 (BTN_STYLUS) Event code 332 (BTN_STYLUS2) Event code 333 (BTN_TOOL_DOUBLETAP) Event code 334 (BTN_TOOL_TRIPLETAP) Event code 335 (BTN_TOOL_QUADTAP) Event type 3 (EV_ABS) Event code 0 (ABS_X) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 1 (ABS_Y) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 2 (ABS_Z) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 3 (ABS_RX) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 4 (ABS_RY) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 5 (ABS_RZ) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 6 (ABS_THROTTLE) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 7 (ABS_RUDDER) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 8 (ABS_WHEEL) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 9 (ABS_GAS) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 10 (ABS_BRAKE) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 11 (?) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 12 (?) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 13 (?) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 14 (?) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 15 (?) Value 127 Min 0 Max 255 Flat 15 Event code 16 (ABS_HAT0X) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 17 (ABS_HAT0Y) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 18 (ABS_HAT1X) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 19 (ABS_HAT1Y) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 20 (ABS_HAT2X) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 21 (ABS_HAT2Y) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 22 (ABS_HAT3X) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event code 23 (ABS_HAT3Y) Value 0 Min -1 Max 1 Event type 4 (EV_MSC) Event code 4 (MSC_SCAN) Testing ... (interrupt to exit) Event: time 1351223176.126127, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90001 Event: time 1351223176.126130, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 288 (BTN_TRIGGER), value 1 Event: time 1351223176.126166, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223178.238127, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90001 Event: time 1351223178.238130, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 288 (BTN_TRIGGER), value 0 Event: time 1351223178.238167, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223180.422127, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90002 Event: time 1351223180.422129, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 289 (BTN_THUMB), value 1 Event: time 1351223180.422163, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223181.558099, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90002 Event: time 1351223181.558102, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 289 (BTN_THUMB), value 0 Event: time 1351223181.558137, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223182.486137, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90003 Event: time 1351223182.486140, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 290 (BTN_THUMB2), value 1 Event: time 1351223182.486172, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223183.302130, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90003 Event: time 1351223183.302132, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 290 (BTN_THUMB2), value 0 Event: time 1351223183.302165, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223184.030133, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90004 Event: time 1351223184.030136, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 291 (BTN_TOP), value 1 Event: time 1351223184.030166, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ Event: time 1351223184.558135, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90004 Event: time 1351223184.558138, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 291 (BTN_TOP), value 0 Event: time 1351223184.558168, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------ [/code] The directional buttons on the pad are being identified as HAT0Y and HAT0X axes, thats zero, not the letter O. Aparently, this device used to work flawlessly on kernel 2.4.x systems, and even as late as ubunto 10.04. Perhaps the Joydev rules for identifying joypads has changed? Currently, this kind of bug is affecting a few different type of controller adapters, but since this is the one that i PERSONALLY have (and has been driving me my own special brand of crazy), its the one im documenting. What i think should be happening instead: The device should be registering js0 through js3, one for each port, or JS0 that will handle all of the connected devices with different numbered axes for each connected joypad. Either way, it should work as a joystick and stop controlling the mouse cursor. Please help!

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