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  • Nerdstock 2012: A photo review of Microsoft TechEd North America 2012

    - by The Un-T Guy
    Not only could I not fathom that I would ever be attending a tech event of the magnitude of TechEd, neither could any of my co-workers.  As the least technical person in the history of Information Technology ever, I felt as though I were walking into the belly of the beast, fearing I’d not be allowed out until I could write SSIS packages, program in Visual Basic, or at least arm wrestle a DBA.  Most of my fears were unrealized.   But I made it.  I was here.  I even got to wear the Mark of the Geek neck package with schedule, eyeglass cleaners, name badge (company name obfuscated so they don’t fire me), and a pen.  The name  badge was seemingly the key element, as every vendor in the place wanted to scan it to capture name, email address, and numbers to show their bosses back home.  It also let me eat the food and drink the coffee so that’s a fair trade.   A recurring theme throughout the presentations and vendor demos was “the Cloud” and BYOD (bring your own device).  The below was a common site throughout the week, as attendees from all over the world brought their own devices and were able to (seemingly) seamlessly connect to the Worldwide Innerwebs.  Apparently proof that Microsoft and the event organizers were practicing what they were preaching.   “Cavernous” is one way to describe the downstairs facility itself.  “Freaking cavernous” might be more accurate.  Work sessions were held in classrooms on the second and third floors but the real action was happening downstairs.  Microsoft bookstore, blogger hub (shoutout to Geekswithblogs.net), The Wall (sans Pink Floyd, sadly), couches, recharging stations…   …a game zone with pool and air hockey tables, pinball machines, foosball…   …vintage video games…           …and a even giant chess board.  Looked like this guy was opening with the Kaspersky parry.   The blend of technology and fantasy even went so far as to bring childhood favorites to life.  Assuming, of course, your childhood was pre-video games (like mine) and you were stuck with electric football and Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots:   And, lest the “combatants” become unruly or – God forbid – afternoon snacks were late, Orange County’s finest was on the scene to keep the peace.  On a high-tech mode of transport, of course.   She wasn’t the only one to think this was a swell way to transition from one concourse to the next.  Given the level of support provided by the entire Orange County Convention Center staff, I knew they had to have some secret.   Here’s one entrance to the vendor zone/”Technical Learning Center.”  Couldn’t help but think of them as the remora attached to the Whale Shark that is Microsoft…   …or perhaps planets orbiting the sun. Microsoft is just that huge and it seemed like every vendor in the industry looks forward to partnering with the tech behemoth.   Aside from the free stuff from the vendors, probably the most popular place in the house was the dining area.  Amazing spreads every day, multiple times a day.  While no attendance numbers were available at press time, literally thousands of attendees were fed, and fed well, every day.  And lest you think my post from earlier in the week exaggerated about the backpacks…   …or that I’m exaggerating about the lunch crowds.  This represents only about between 25-30% of the lunch crowd – it was all my camera could capture at once.  No one went away hungry.   The only thing missing was a a vat of Red Bull but apparently organizers went old school, with probably 100 urns of the original energy drink – coffee – all around the venue.   Of course, following lunch and afternoon sessions, some preferred the even older school method of re-energizing.  There were rumors that Microsoft was serving graham crackers and milk in this area.  But they were only rumors.   Cannot overstate the wonderful service provided by the Orange County Convention Center staff.  Coffee, soft drinks, juice, and water were available always.  Buffet meals were delicious with a wide range of healthy options available, in addition to hundreds (at least) special meal requests supported every day.  Ever tried to keep up with an estimated 9,000 hungry and thirsty IT-ers?  These folks did.  Kudos to all of the staff and many thanks!   And while I occasionally poke fun at the Whale Shark, if nothing else this experience convinced me of one thing:  Microsoft knows how to put on a professional event.  Hundreds of informative, professionally delivered sessions, covering a wide range of topics set at varying levels of expertise (some that even I was able to follow), social activities, vendor partnerships…they brought everything you could ask for to inform, educate, and inspire an entire IT industry.   So as I depart the belly of the beast, I can both take pride in the fact that I survived the week and marvel at the brilliance surrounding me.  The IT industry – or at least the segment associated with Microsoft – is in good, professional hands.  And what won’t fit in their hands can be toted in the Microsoft provided backpacks.  Win-win.   Until New Orleans…

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  • Create Chemistry Equations and Diagrams in Word

    - by Matthew Guay
    Microsoft Word is a great tool for formatting text, but what if you want to insert a chemistry formula or diagram?  Thanks to a new free add-in for Word, you can now insert high-quality chemistry formulas and diagrams directly from the Ribbon in Word. Microsoft’s new Education Labs has recently released the new Chemistry Add-in for Word 2007 and 2010.  This free download adds support for entering and editing chemistry symbols, diagrams, and formulas using the standard XML based Chemical Markup Language.  You can convert any chemical name, such as benzene, or formula, such as H2O, into a chemical diagram, standard name, or formula.  Whether you’re a professional chemist, just taking chemistry in school, or simply curious about the makeup of Citric Acid, this add-in is an exciting way to bring chemistry to your computer. This add-in works great on Word 2007 and 2010, including the 64 bit version of Word 2010.  Please note that the current version is still in beta, so only run it if you are comfortable running beta products. Getting Started Download the Chemistry add-in from Microsoft Education Labs (link below), and unzip the file.  Then, run the ChemistryAddinforWordBeta2.Setup.msi. It may inform you that you need to install the Visual Studio Tools for Office 3.0.  Simply click Yes to download these tools. This will open the download in your default browser.  Simply click run, or save and then run it when it is downloaded. Now, click next to install the Visual Studio Tools for Office as usual. When this is finished, run the ChemistryAddinforWordBeta2.Setup.msi again.  This time, you can easily install it with the default options. Once it’s finished installing, open Word to try out the Chemistry Add-in.  You will be asked if you want to install this customization, so click Install to enable it. Now you will have a new Chemistry tab in your Word ribbon.  Here’s the ribbon in Word 2010… And here it is in Word 2007.   Using the Chemistry Add-in It’s very easy to insert nice chemistry diagrams and formulas in Word with the Chemistry add-in.  You can quickly insert a premade diagram from the Chemistry Gallery: Or you can insert a formula from file.  Simply click “From File” and choose any Chemical Markup Language (.cml) formatted file to insert the chemical formula. You can also convert any chemical name to it’s chemical form.  Simply select the word, right-click, select “Convert to Chemistry Zone” and then click on its name. Now you can see the chemical form in the sidebar if you click the Chemistry Navigator button, and can choose to insert the diagram into the document.  Some chemicals will automatically convert to the diagram in the document, while others simply link to it in the sidebar.  Either way, you can display exactly what you want. You can also convert a chemical formula directly to it’s chemical diagram.  Here we entered H2O and converted it to Chemistry Zone: This directly converted it to the diagram directly in the document. You can click the Edit button on the top, and from there choose to either edit the 2D model of the chemical, or edit the labels. When you click Edit Labels, you may be asked which form you wish to display.  Here’s the options for potassium permanganate: You can then edit the names and formulas, and add or remove any you wish. If you choose to edit the chemical in 2D, you can even edit the individual atoms and change the chemical you’re diagramming.  This 2D editor has a lot of options, so you can get your chemical diagram to look just like you want. And, if you need any help or want to learn more about the Chemistry add-in and its features, simply click the help button in the Chemistry Ribbon.  This will open a Word document containing examples and explanations which can be helpful in mastering all the features of this add-in. All of this works perfectly, whether you’re running it in Word 2007 or 2010, 32 or 64 bit editions. Conclusion Whether you’re using chemistry formulas everyday or simply want to investigate a chemical makeup occasionally, this is a great way to do it with tools you already have on your computer.  It will also help make homework a bit easier if you’re struggling with it in high school or college. Links Download the Chemistry Add-in for Word Introducing Chemistry Add-in for Word – MSDN blogs Chemistry Markup Language – Wikipedia Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Geek Reviews: Using Dia as a Free Replacement for Microsoft VisioEasily Summarize A Word 2007 DocumentCreate a Hyperlink in a Word 2007 Flow Chart and Hide Annoying ScreenTipsHow To Create and Publish Blog Posts in Word 2010 & 2007Using Word 2007 as a Blogging Tool TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Windows 7 Easter Theme YoWindoW, a real time weather screensaver Optimize your computer the Microsoft way Stormpulse provides slick, real time weather data Geek Parents – Did you try Parental Controls in Windows 7? Change DNS servers on the fly with DNS Jumper

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  • How To Enable “Stereo Mix” in Windows 7 (to Record Audio)

    - by YatriTrivedi
    Ever need to record something on your computer exactly as it comes out of your speakers?  Enabling “Stereo Mix” will let you do exactly that, and here’s how to do it. Nowadays, most sound cards have the ability to record whatever is being output.  The only hang-up is accessing that recording channel, which can be done rather easily Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC Enjoy Old School Style Video Game Fun with Chicken Invaders Hide the Twitter “Litter” in Twitter’s Sidebar Area (Chrome and Iron) Public Domain Day: Reflections on Copyright and the Importance of Public Domain Angry Birds Coming to PS3 and PSP This Week I Hate Mondays Wallpaper for That First Day Back at Work Tune Pop Enhances Android Music Notifications

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  • Friday Fun: Ghost’s Revenge

    - by Asian Angel
    This week’s game provides a spooky story in addition to the “spot the difference” challenges you will face on each level. Can you help this ghost unravel the mystery of the man who killed her Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware How to Change the Default Application for Android Tasks Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About "Enhancing" Images The How-To Geek Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Inspire Geek Love with These Hilarious Geek Valentines Four Awesome TRON Legacy Themes for Chrome and Iron Anger is Illogical – Old School Style Instructional Video [Star Trek Mashup] Get the Old Microsoft Paint UI Back in Windows 7 Relax and Sleep Is a Soothing Sleep Timer Google Rolls Out Two-Factor Authentication Peaceful Early Morning by the Riverside Wallpaper

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  • How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The keyboard and mouse might be a good fit for many native computer games, but it feels downright weird to play emulated games that way. Whether you want to play Super Mario with a proper gamepad or try out a new PC title like Diablo III in comfort, we’ve got you covered. Today we’re taking a look at how you can take a Microsoft Xbox 360 controller and configure it to work with everything from your favorite emulators to old and new PC games. Whether you want the authentic feel of a controller in your hand when you play old school games or you’re looking for a gentle-on-the-wrists way to play modern games, it’s easy to set up. How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC Download the Official How-To Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic

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  • Play ‘Dune II – The Building of a Dynasty’ Online for Free [Classic Game]

    - by Asian Angel
    Are you a fan of retro sci-fi classic Dune and old-school gaming? Then get the best of both in one package with this free online version of ‘Dune II – The Building of a Dynasty’! When you arrive at the site you will need to choose your house. Once you have made your selection the next part of the game will take a moment or two to load up. From there you will see a short introduction to your chosen house (screenshot above)… Once you have gotten through the introduction to your house, then you can move on to some awesome retro gaming fun! Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus?

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  • How to be more logical? (less bugs/errors)

    - by SamB
    I have been programming for 6 years and I am in high school (I prefer not to disclose my age). I have dabbled in many different languages. Just to list a few: Java, PHP, C++, Python, Autohotkey, Mathematica and many more. I have a very good understanding of the basics of general programming. The only problem is I still create bugs all the time. I think too often. Do you have any hints besides continuing to program that will help me become a better programmer and make less errors?

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  • Trulia Adds Commute Time Calculator to Their Neighborhood Heat Maps

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Trulia–a popular real estate site well known for their neighborhood heat maps covering crime, school locations, and property values–now shows commute times in heat map form; see instantly how far away your potential new place is from where you want to work. Accessing the commute heatmap is just like any of Trulia’s other top-down views. Search for your city, hit up the map, and select which heatmap overlay you want to view. Trulia [via Flowing Data] How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me?

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  • In general, are programmers or artists paid better?

    - by jokoon
    I'm in a private game programming school where there also are 3D art classes; sadly, there seems to be a lot more students in those latter classes, something like 50% or 100% more. So I was wondering: in the real video game industry, which of the artist/modeler or the programmer is more likely to be wanted in a company, so who will be paid more ? I'm sure there are artists which are obviously paid better than other programmers and I'm sure there are other sorts of jobs in the game industry (sound, management, testers), but I wanted to know if there is a general tendency for one or the other. And sometime I wonder even if an artist can happen to write scripts...

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  • Three Alternatives to Apple’s Flaky iOS Alarm Clock

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If two iPhone alarm failures in less than three months (the Daylight Savings bug and the New Year’s bug) isn’t motivation to grab a 3rd party alarm app, we don’t know what is. Check out these feature-packed replacements for dependable time keeping. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC Luigi Installs Any OS on Google’s Cr-48 Notebook DIY iPad Stylus Offers Pen-Based Interaction on the Cheap Serene Blue Ubuntu Wallpaper for Your Desktop Enjoy Old School Style Video Game Fun with Chicken Invaders Hide the Twitter “Litter” in Twitter’s Sidebar Area (Chrome and Iron) Public Domain Day: Reflections on Copyright and the Importance of Public Domain

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  • How do one improve him/her problem-solving ability ?

    - by gcc
    How can one improve him/her problem-solving ability? Every one says same thing "a real programmer knows how to handle real problem", but they forget how they learn this ability, or where (I know in school, no one gives us any ability, of course in my opinion). If you have any idea except above ones, feel free when you give your advice solve more problems do more exercises, write code, search google then write more ... For me, my question is like "Use complex/known library instead of using your own." In other words,t I want your presonal experience, book recommendation, web page on problem solving. Moreover, look your problem-solving method and give us your personal ability as if it is an algorithm

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  • Java EE Summit December 3rd-5th Cologne, Germany

    - by JuergenKress
    16 Java EE Workshops in 3 days: Track: Java EE Core Technologies · Core – JPA 2.x - Arne Limburg · Core – EJB 3.1 und 3.2 - Jens Schumann · Core – CDI 1.0 & 1.1 - Mark Struberg · Core – JSF 2.x - Lars Röwekamp Track: Best Practices · Pitfalls in Java EE - Mark Struberg · Java EE UI - Adam Bien · Modeling meets Code - Arne Limburg · Java EE Security - Adam Bien Track: Java EE Kickstart · Kickstart – Java-EE-Architekturen - Jens Schumann · Kickstart – Java Web Profile - Lars Röwekamp · Kickstart – Events und Messaging - Thilo Frotscher · Kickstart – Services: REST und WS-* Thilo Frotscher “Do it yourself” – Workshop Day · Java EE Core – Putting together - Jens Schumann, Lars Röwekamp · Java EE Core – Putting together: Extended Edition · Java EE 6/7 – Productivity with Joy: Development - Adam Bien · Java EE 6/7 – Productivity with Joy: Testing - Adam Bien >> Night Session mit Matthias Weßendorf: · Future: New School Web Apps For more information and registration please visit www.java-ee-summit.de/zeitplaner. WebLogic Partner Community For regular information become a member in the WebLogic Partner Community please visit: http://www.oracle.com/partners/goto/wls-emea ( OPN account required). If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center. BlogTwitterLinkedInMixForumWiki Technorati Tags: Java EE,Adam Bien,Java EE Summit,WebLogic Community,Oracle,OPN,Jürgen Kress

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  • Oracle India: Become an Oracle Student Ambassador

    - by user769227
     As the new year begins in India for many students, Oracle India is currently looking for bright, energetic students who are interested in becoming Oracle Campus Ambassadors. We have a dedicated team of Campus Recruiters who are regularly on site at selected Engineering Colleges in India - we need your help to spread the Oracle message within the Student Community. This is a great chance to work with one of the global leaders in the IT space and get some exposure to Oracle that many people do not get the chance to experience We are specifically looking for Campus Ambassadors at these colleges:   IIT Kanpur IIT Delhi  IIT  Madras  IIT Kharagpur  IIT Kharagpur  IIT Bombay  IIT Guwahati  IT-BHU  BITS Pilani  BITS Goa  IISc Bangalore  Do you want to find out more? Have a read of the Infographic we have created below that will talk a little about what an 'Oracle Ambassador' actually will do. If you are interested in this fantastic opportunity and meet the eligibility criteria send us your resume at [email protected] We are excited for another great school and we are looking forward to sharing that experience with you.

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  • How to Configure the Linux Grub2 Boot Menu the Easy Way

    - by Trevor Bekolay
    We, like many Linux geeks, have had some trouble making the transition to Grub2, or for some of us, learning how to configure it from scratch. Fortunately, a new graphical tool has made this process easy and straightforward! Photo by e_monk. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware How to Change the Default Application for Android Tasks Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About "Enhancing" Images The How-To Geek Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Inspire Geek Love with These Hilarious Geek Valentines The Citroen GT – An Awesome Video Game Car Brought to Life [Video] Four Awesome TRON Legacy Themes for Chrome and Iron Anger is Illogical – Old School Style Instructional Video [Star Trek Mashup] Get the Old Microsoft Paint UI Back in Windows 7 Relax and Sleep Is a Soothing Sleep Timer Google Rolls Out Two-Factor Authentication

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  • Turbo C++ to Visual Studio 2010 migration [closed]

    - by BigGenius
    OK, based on my previous questions and your help., I have gone to install Visual Studio Express. But now problem is, the programs which I successfully code at home on Visual Studio don't run on Turbo C++ compiler at school (assuming I type the program instead of exporting code). Is there anything I can do? Also I am just learning basic syntax and data handling, loops, structures, arrays and all. But Visual Studio has auto completion and pretty typing (which may be advantageous) but crap for a beginner getting hold on to language. Sorry, if I have been unclear. But what should I do? This will make me lazy programmer and will reflect in my grades. Is there any other IDE, which I can use, very similar to Turbo C++ and able to run in Windows 7 in fullsreen mode.

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  • Online Introduction to Relational Databases (and not only) with Stanford University!

    - by Luca Zavarella
    How many of you know exactly the definition of "relational database"? What exactly the adjective "relational" refers to? Many of you allow themselves to be deceived, thinking this adjective is related to foreign key constraints between tables. Instead this adjective lurks in a world based on set theory, relational algebra and the concept of relationship intended as a table.Well, for those who want to deep the fundamentals of relational model, relational algebra, XML, OLAP and emerging "NoSQL" systems, Stanford University School of Engineering offers a public and free online introductory course to databases. This is the related web page: http://www.db-class.com/ The course will last 2 months, after which there will be a final exam. Passing the final exam will entitle the participants to receive a statement of accomplishment. A syllabus and more information is available here. Happy eLearning to you!

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  • Switching from Visual Studio to Eclipse [closed]

    - by Jouke van der Maas
    I've been using Visual Studio for about 6 years now, which is enough time to know most useful keyboard shortcuts and little features. I recently had to switch to Eclipse and java for school, and now I'm constantly searching for the right keys to press. I have searched around for a definitve guide on this, but I couldn't find any. Here's what I want to know: For any feature in Visual Studio, what is the equivalent feature in Eclipse called and what is it's default keyboard shortcut? Are there any things that work very differently in Eclipse, that one might misunderstand or do wrong at first when switching? Are there features in Visual Studio that Eclipse does not have, and is there a workaround? I hope we can create a guide to make life easier for future developers that have to make this switch. You can answer any of the three questions above (no need to do all three), and multiple per answer if you want. I can't mark questions as community wiki anymore, but I do think that's appropriate here.

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  • How Are Businesses Advancing with the Experience Revolution?

    - by Charles Knapp
    Businesses worldwide are operating in a new era. Customers are taking charge of their relationships with brands, and the customer experience has become the most important differentiator and driver of business value. Where is the experience heading? And how can businesses take advantage of the customer experience revolution? Find out from the experts at a one-of-a-kind event: the Oracle Customer Experience Summit at Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco, October 3-5. Our featured speakers are global visionaries including Seth Godin, George Kembel from the Stanford d:School, Bruce Temkin, Kerry Bodine and Paul Hagen from Forrester, and Gene Alvarez from Gartner. Featured industry leaders will include speakers from Athene Group, Bazaarvoice, Comcast, Consortium of Service Innovation, Haworth, Intuit, KPN, Marriott, Nikon, Quicksilver, Royal Caribbean, SapientNitro, Southwest, Stryker, Stuart Concannon, and Twilio. Featured speakers from Oracle will include Oracle President Mark Hurd, Anthony Lye, David Vap, Brian Curran, John Kembel, and Matthew Banks. So, please join us at the Customer Experience Summit at the Oracle OpenWorld Conference.

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  • Before and After the Programmer Life [closed]

    - by Gio Borje
    How were people before and after becoming programmers through a black box? In a black box, the implementation is irrelevant; therefore, we focus on the input and output: High School Nerd -> becomeProgrammer() -> Manager (Person Before) -> (Person as Programmer) -> (New Person) (Person Before) -> (Person as Programmer) How are the typical lives of people before they became programmers? Why do people pursue life as a programmer? (Person as Programmer) -> (New Person) How has becoming a programmer changed people afterwards? Why quit being a programmer? Anecdotes would be nice. If many programmers have similar backgrounds and fates, do you think that there is some sort of stereotypical person that are destined to become programmers?

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  • What Counts For a DBA: Simplicity

    - by Louis Davidson
    Too many computer processes do an apparently simple task in a bizarrely complex way. They remind me of this strip by one of my favorite artists: Rube Goldberg. In order to keep the boss from knowing one was late, a process is devised whereby the cuckoo clock kisses a live cuckoo bird, who then pulls a string, which triggers a hat flinging, which in turn lands on a rod that removes a typewriter cover…and so on. We rely on creating automated processes to keep on top of tasks. DBAs have a lot of tasks to perform: backups, performance tuning, data movement, system monitoring, and of course, avoiding being noticed.  Every day, there are many steps to perform to maintain the database infrastructure, including: checking physical structures, re-indexing tables where needed, backing up the databases, checking those backups, running the ETL, and preparing the daily reports and yes, all of these processes have to complete before you can call it a day, and probably before many others have started that same day. Some of these tasks are just naturally complicated on their own. Other tasks become complicated because the database architecture is excessively rigid, and we often discover during “production testing” that certain processes need to be changed because the written requirements barely resembled the actual customer requirements.   Then, with no time to change that rigid structure, we are forced to heap layer upon layer of code onto the problematic processes. Instead of a slight table change and a new index, we end up with 4 new ETL processes, 20 temp tables, 30 extra queries, and 1000 lines of SQL code.  Report writers then need to build reports and make magical numbers appear from those toxic data structures that are overly complex and probably filled with inconsistent data. What starts out as a collection of fairly simple tasks turns into a Goldbergian nightmare of daily processes that are likely to cause your dinner to be interrupted by the smartphone doing the vibration dance that signifies trouble at the mill. So what to do? Well, if it is at all possible, simplify the problem by either going into the code and refactoring the complex code to simple, or taking all of the processes and simplifying them into small, independent, easily-tested steps.  The former approach usually requires an agreement on changing underlying structures that requires countless mind-numbing meetings; while the latter can generally be done to any complex process without the same frustration or anger, though it will still leave you with lots of steps to complete, the ability to test each step independently will definitely increase the quality of the overall process (and with each step reporting status back, finding an actual problem within the process will be definitely less unpleasant.) We all know the principle behind simplifying a sequence of processes because we learned it in math classes in our early years of attending school, starting with elementary school. In my 4 years (ok, 9 years) of undergraduate work, I remember pretty much one thing from my many math classes that I apply daily to my career as a data architect, data programmer, and as an occasional indentured DBA: “show your work”. This process of showing your work was my first lesson in simplification. Each step in the process was in fact, far simpler than the entire process.  When you were working an equation that took both sides of 4 sheets of paper, showing your work was important because the teacher could see every step, judge it, and mark it accordingly.  So often I would make an error in the first few lines of a problem which meant that the rest of the work was actually moving me closer to a very wrong answer, no matter how correct the math was in the subsequent steps. Yet, when I got my grade back, I would sometimes be pleasantly surprised. I passed, yet missed every problem on the test. But why? While I got the fact that 1+1=2 wrong in every problem, the teacher could see that I was using the right process. In a computer process, the process is very similar. We take complex processes, show our work by storing intermediate values, and test each step independently. When a process has 100 steps, each step becomes a simple step that is tested and verified, such that there will be 100 places where data is stored, validated, and can be checked off as complete. If you get step 1 of 100 wrong, you can fix it and be confident (that if you did your job of testing the other steps better than the one you had to repair,) that the rest of the process works. If you have 100 steps, and store the state of the process exactly once, the resulting testable chunk of code will be far more complex and finding the error will require checking all 100 steps as one, and usually it would be easier to find a specific needle in a stack of similarly shaped needles.  The goal is to strive for simplicity either in the solution, or at least by simplifying every process down to as many, independent, testable, simple tasks as possible.  For the tasks that really can’t be done completely independently, minimally take those tasks and break them down into simpler steps that can be tested independently.  Like working out division problems longhand, have each step of the larger problem verified and tested.

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  • Is the term "web portal" obselete?

    - by John Hamelink
    Firstly, sorry if this is the wrong place: I've looked at all the programming-related boards and this one seems like the best fit - correct me if I'm wrong. My boss uses the term "portal" for the project I work on all the time. To me, the word makes me think of Yahoo in the late 90s. Does the word "portal" have old-school connotations, or is it just me? Do you think it's ok to use it, and not drag our client's perception of the product down into the middle-ages? Or again, am I just being weird?

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  • Stats on Screen Size for Flash Games

    - by ashes999
    I'm working on a Flash game after many, many years. I'm trying to figure out size to make my application run (eg. 600x800). Because it's a tall (not wide) game, I'm confused. I know about (and love) the Steam hardware stats. However, for Flash gaming, I have two nit-picks with their survey sample: 1) Caters to more hardcore gamers with better hardware (overall) 2) Captures only a subset of Flash gamers. Doesn't capture people who play at school, work, etc. or not netbooks and lighter machines. Are there any sort of statistics I can use to determine which size to use? Ideally, I would like to know something like: 800x600 will fit 94% of users screens 1024x768 will fit 74% of users screens 1200x960 will fit 53% of users screens etc.

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  • Methods of learning / teaching programming

    - by Mark Avenius
    When I was in school, I had a difficult time getting into programming because of a catch-22 in the learning process: I didn't know how to write anything because I didn't know what keywords and commands meant. For example (as a student, I would think), "what does this using namespace std; thing do anyway? I didn't know what keywords and commands meant because I hadn't written anything. This basically led me to spending countless long night cursing the compiler as I made minor tweaks to my assignments until they would compile (and hopefully perform whatever operation they were supposed to). Is there a teaching/learning method that anyone uses that gets around this catch-22? I am trying to make this non-argumentative, which is why I don't want to know the 'best' method, but rather which methods exist.

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  • Does the use of debuggers have an effect on the efficiency of programmers? [closed]

    - by alain.janinm
    Possible Duplicate: Are debugging skills important to become a good programmer? I'm a young Java developer and I make a systematic use of the Netbeans debugger. In fact, I often develop my applications when I debug step by step in order to see immediately if my code works. I feel spending a lot of time programming this way because the use of debugger increase execution time and I often wait for my app to jump from a breakpoint to an other (so much that I've the time to ask this question). I never learned to use a debugger at school, but at work I've been told immediately to use this functionality. I started teaching myself to use it two years ago, and I've never been told any key tips about it. I'd like to know if there are some rules to follow in order to use the debugger efficiently. I'm also wondering if using the debugger is eventually a good practice? Or is it a loss of time and I've to stop now this bad habit?

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  • How to choose a job? [closed]

    - by Aadi Droid
    When given multiple opportunities from various software giants, as a fresher out of school how should one decide which company to go for? Just as an example I have offers from two companies, won't name them but the two biggest dream companies for any SDE. While one company offers tremendous learning opportunites and and a good pay but coupled with really bad employee support and perks. While the other offers a relaxed work environment where learning happens by choice, with a slightly lower pay but amazing employee facilities and perks. Assuming the fresher has a plan to go for his masters degree in two years what are the most important things he should be looking at?

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