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  • Exit code 3 (not my return value, looking for source)

    - by Kathoz
    Greetings, my program exits with the code 3. No error messages, no exceptions, and the exit is not initiated by my code. The problem occurs when I am trying to read extremely long integer values from a text file (the text file is present and correctly opened, with successful prior reading). I am using very large amounts of memory (in fact, I think that this might be the cause, as I am nearly sure I go over the 2GB per process memory limit). I am also using the GMP (or, rather, MPIR) library to multiply bignums. I am fairly sure that this is not a file I/O problem as I got the same error code on a previous program version that was fully in-memory. System: MS Visual Studio 2008 MS Windows Vista Home Premium x86 MPIR 2.1.0 rc2 4GB RAM Where might this error code originate from? EDIT: this is the procedure that exits with the code void condenseBinSplitFile(const char *sourceFilename, int partCount){ //condense results file into final P and Q std::string tempFilename; std::string inputFilename(sourceFilename); std::string outputFilename(BIN_SPLIT_FILENAME_DATA2); mpz_class *P = new mpz_class(0); mpz_class *Q = new mpz_class(0); mpz_class *PP = new mpz_class(0); mpz_class *QQ = new mpz_class(0); FILE *sourceFile; FILE *resultFile; fpos_t oldPos; int swapCount = 0; while (partCount > 1){ std::cout << partCount << std::endl; sourceFile = fopen(inputFilename.c_str(), "r"); resultFile = fopen(outputFilename.c_str(), "w"); for (int i=0; i<partCount/2; i++){ //Multiplication order: //Get Q, skip P //Get QQ, mul Q and QQ, print Q, delete Q //Jump back to P, get P //Mul P and QQ, delete QQ //Skip QQ, get PP //Mul P and PP, delete P and PP //Get Q, skip P mpz_inp_str(Q->get_mpz_t(), sourceFile, CALC_BASE); fgetpos(sourceFile, &oldPos); skipLine(sourceFile); skipLine(sourceFile); //Get QQ, mul Q and QQ, print Q, delete Q mpz_inp_str(QQ->get_mpz_t(), sourceFile, CALC_BASE); (*Q) *= (*QQ); mpz_out_str(resultFile, CALC_BASE, Q->get_mpz_t()); fputc('\n', resultFile); (*Q) = 0; //Jump back to P, get P fsetpos(sourceFile, &oldPos); mpz_inp_str(P->get_mpz_t(), sourceFile, CALC_BASE); //Mul P and QQ, delete QQ (*P) *= (*QQ); (*QQ) = 0; //Skip QQ, get PP skipLine(sourceFile); skipLine(sourceFile); mpz_inp_str(PP->get_mpz_t(), sourceFile, CALC_BASE); //Mul P and PP, delete PP, print P, delete P (*P) += (*PP); (*PP) = 0; mpz_out_str(resultFile, CALC_BASE, P->get_mpz_t()); fputc('\n', resultFile); (*P) = 0; } partCount /= 2; fclose(sourceFile); fclose(resultFile); //swap filenames tempFilename = inputFilename; inputFilename = outputFilename; outputFilename = tempFilename; swapCount++; } delete P; delete Q; delete PP; delete QQ; remove(BIN_SPLIT_FILENAME_RESULTS); if (swapCount%2 == 0) rename(sourceFilename, BIN_SPLIT_FILENAME_RESULTS); else rename(BIN_SPLIT_FILENAME_DATA2, BIN_SPLIT_FILENAME_RESULTS); }

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  • Remotely Schedule and Stream Recorded TV in Windows 7 Media Center

    - by DigitalGeekery
    Have you ever been away from home and suddenly realized you forgot to record your favorite program? Now Windows 7 Media Center, users can schedule recordings remotely from their phones or mobile devices with Remote Potato. How it Works Remote Potato installs server software on the host computer running Windows 7 Media Center. Once the software is installed, we’ll need to do some port forwarding on the router and setup an optional dynamic DNS address. When setup is completed, we will access the application through a web based interface. Silverlight is required for Streaming recorded TV, but scheduling recordings can be done through an HTML interface. Installing Remote Potato Download and install Remote Potato on the Media Center PC. (See download link below) If you plan to stream any Recorded TV, you’ll also want to install the streaming pack located on the same page. It isn’t required to stream all shows, only shows that require the AC3 audio codec. Click Yes to allow Remote Potato to add rules to the Windows Firewall for remote access. You’ll likely need to accept a few UAC prompts. When notified that the rules were added, click OK. Remote Potato will then prompt you to allow administrator privileges to reserve a URL for it’s web server. Click Yes. Remote Potato server will start. Click on the configuration button at the right to to reveal the settings tabs.   One the General tab, you’ll have the option to run Remote Potato on startup and minimized in the System Tray. If you’re running Media Center on a dedicated HTPC, you’ll probably want to enable both startup options. Forwarding Ports on Your Router You’ll need to forward a couple ports on your router. By default, these will be ports 9080 and 9081. In this example we’re using a Linksys WRT54GL router, however, the steps for port forwarding will vary from router to router. On the Linksys configuration page, click on the Applications & Gaming Tab, and then the Port Range Forward tab. Under Application, type in a name of your choosing. In both the Start and End boxes, type the port number 9080. Enter the local IP address of your Media Center computer in the IP address column. Click the check box under Enable. Repeat the process on the next line, but this time use port 9081. When finished, click the Save Settings button. Note: It’s highly recommended that you configure the home computer running Media Center & Remote Potato with a static IP address.   Find your IP Address You’ll need to find the IP address assigned to your router from your ISP. There are many ways to do this but a quick and easy way is to visit a site like checkip.dyndns.org (link available below) The current external IP address of your router will be displayed in the browser.   Dynamic DNS This is an optional step, but  it’s highly recommended. Many routers, such as the Linksys WRT54GL we are using, support Dynamic DNS (DDNS). What Dynamic DNS allows you to do is affiliate your home router’s external IP address to a domain name. Every time your home router is assigned a a new IP address by your ISP, the domain name is updated to point to your new IP address. Remote Potato’s user interface is accessed over the Internet is by connecting to your router’s IP address followed by a colon and the port number. (Ex: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:9080) Instead of constantly having to look up and remember an IP address, you can use DDNS along with a 3rd party provider like DynDNS.com, to sign up for a free domain name and configure it to be updated each time your router is assigned a new IP address. Go to the DynDNS.com website (See link at the end of the article) and sign up for a free Domain name. You’ll need to register and confirm by email.   Once you’ve signed in and selected your domain name click Activate Services. You’ll get a confirmation message that your domain name has been activated.    On the Linksys WRT54GL click on the Setup tab an then DDNS. Select DynDNS.org, or TZO.com if you prefer to use their service, from the drop down list.   With DynDNS, you’ll need to fill in your username and password you signed up with at the DynDNS website and the hostname you chose. Note: You can connect over your local network with the IP Address of the computer running Remote Potato followed by a colon and the port number. Ex: 192.168.1.2:9080 Logging in Remote Potato and Recording a Show Once you connect, you’ll see the start page. To view the TV listings, click on TV Guide. You’ll then see your guide listings. There are a few ways to navigate the listings. At the top left, you can click on any of the preset time buttons to jump to  the listings at that time of the day.  Click on the arrows to the right and left of the day and date at the top center to proceed to the previous or next day. Or, jump to a specific day with the date and date buttons at the top right.   To setup a recording, click on a program.   You can choose to record the individual show or the entire series by clicking on Record Show or Record Series.   Remote Potato on Mobile Devices Perhaps the coolest feature of Remote Potato is the ability to schedule recording from your phone or mobile device. Note: For any devices or computers without Silverlight, you will be prompted to view the HTML page. Select Browse Listings. Select your program to record. In the Program Details, select Record Show to record the single episode or Record Series to record all instances of the series. You will then see a red dot on the program listing to indicate that the show is scheduled for recording.   Streaming Recorded TV Click on Recorded TV from the home screen to access your previously recorded TV programs. Click on the selection you wish to stream. Click on Play. If you receive this error message, you’ll need to install the streaming pack for Remote Potato. This is found on the same download page as installation files. (See link below) The Begin from slider allows you to start playback from the start (by default) or a different time of the program by moving the slider. The Quality (bitrate) setting  allows you to choose the quality of the playback. We found the video quality on the Normal setting to be pretty lousy, and Low was just pointless. High was the best overall viewing experience as it provided smooth quality video playback. We experienced significant stuttering during playback using the Ultra High setting.   Click Start when you are ready to begin. When playback begins you’ll see a slider at the top right.   Move the slider left or right to increase or decrease the size of the video. There’s also a button to switch to full screen.   Media Center users who travel frequently or are always on the go will likely find Remote Potato to be a blessing. Since being released earlier this year, updates for Remote Potato have come fast and furious. The latest beta release includes support for streaming music and photos. If you like those nice network TV logos, check out our article on adding TV channel logos to Windows Media Center. Downloads and Links Download Remote Potato and Streaming Pack Find your IP address Sign Up for a Domain Name at DynDNS.com Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Schedule Updates for Windows Media CenterUsing Netflix Watchnow in Windows Vista Media Center (Gmedia)Add a Sleep Timer to Windows 7 Media CenterStartup Customizations for Media Center in Windows 7Enable Media Streaming in Windows Home Server to Windows Media Player TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 FoxClocks adds World Times in your Statusbar (Firefox) Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify Outlook Connector Upgrade Error Gadfly is a cool Twitter/Silverlight app Enable DreamScene in Windows 7 Microsoft’s “How Do I ?” Videos

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  • SQL SERVER – A Successful Performance Tuning Seminar – Hyderabad – Nov 27-28, 2010 – Next Pune

    - by pinaldave
    My recent SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar in Colombo was oversubscribed with total of 35 attendees. You can read the details over here SQLAuthority News – SQL Server Performance Optimizations Seminar – Grand Success – Colombo, Sri Lanka – Oct 4 – 5, 2010. I had recently completed another seminar in Hyderabad which was again blazing success. We had 25 attendees to the seminar and had wonderful time together. There is one thing very different between usual class room training and this seminar series. In this seminar series we go 100% demo oriented and real world scenario deep down. We do not talk usual theory talk-talk. The goal of this seminar to give anybody who attends a jump start and deep dive on the performance tuning subject. I will share many different examples and scenarios from my years of experience of performance tuning. The beginning of the second day is always interesting as I take attendees the server as example of the talk, and together we will attempt to identify the bottleneck and see if we can resolve the same. So far I have got excellent feedback on this unique session, where we pick database of the attendees and address the issues. I plan to do the same again in next sessions. The next Seminar is in Pune.I am very excited for the same. Date and Time: December 4-5, 2010. 10 AM to 6 PM The Pride Hotel 05, University Road, Shivaji Nagar, Pune – 411 005 Tel: 020 255 34567 Click here for the agenda of the seminar. Instead of writing more details, I will let the photos do the talk for latest Hyderabad Seminar. Hotel Amrutha Castle King Arthur's Court Pinal Presenting Seminar Pinal Presenting Seminar Seminar Attendees Pinal Presenting Seminar Group Photo of Hyderabad Seminar Attendees Seminar Support Staff - Nupur and Shaivi Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Training, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • Objective-C As A First OOP Language?

    - by Daniel Scocco
    I am just finishing the second semester of my CS degree. So far I learned C, all the fundamental algorithms and data structures (e.g., searching, sorting, linked lists, heaps, hash tables, trees, graphs, etc). Next year we'll start with OOP, using either Java or C++. Recently I got some ideas for some iPhone apps and got itchy to start working on them. However I heard some bad things about Objectice-C in the past, so I am wondering if learning it as my first OOP language could be a problem. Not to mention that I think it will be hard to find books/online courses that teach basic OOP concepts using Objective-C to illustrate the concepts (as opposed to books using Java or C++, which are plenty), so this could be another problem. In summary: should I start learning Objective-C and OOP concepts right now by my own, or wait one more semester until I learn Java/C++ at university and then jump into Objective-C? Update: For those interested in getting started with OOP via Objective-C I just found some nice tutorials inside Apple's Developer Library - http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/OOP_ObjC/Introduction/Introduction.html

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  • Using Oracle Data in the Business Rules Engine

    - by Christopher House
    Yesterday I started working on some new functionality that I had planned to implement using the Business Rules Engine.  As I got further into it, I realized that some of my rules were going to need to reference some data that resides in an Oracle database.  I knew the Business Rules Composer supports using DataConnections and TypedDataTables, but I’d never used this functionality myself, so I wasn’t so sure how it would work with Oracle.  As it turns out, it’s very do-able, there’s just little hoop you need to jump through. I fired up BRC and my suspicions were quickly confirmed.  BRC only recognizes SQL Server databases when it comes to editing rules.  Not letting that deter me, I decided to see if I could “trick” BRE into using Oracle data. On my local SQL server, I created a new database and in that database, created a table that matched the schema of the table I wanted to use in the Oracle database.  I then set about creating my rules, referencing the new SQL Server database everywhere I wanted to use Oracle data.  Finally, I created a new class library and added a class that implements Microsoft.RuleEngine.IFactRetriever.  In that class, I added the necessary code to get a DataSet from the Oracle server, wrap it in a TypedDataTable and assert it into the rule engine.  It’s worth pointing out that in my IFactRetriever class, I made sure to set my DataSet name to the name of the database I’d referenced in the BRC and the DataTable’s name to the name of the table that I’d referenced in the BRC. After gac’ing the new class library and deploying my policy, I tested and everything worked as expected.

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  • Desktop Fun: Fast Cars Wallpapers

    - by Asian Angel
    Have you been feeling a need for speed lately? Then get ready to jump into the driver’s seat with our Fast Cars Wallpapers collection. Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution.                           For more fun wallpapers be certain to visit our new Desktop Fun section. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Windows 7 Welcome Screen Taking Forever? Here’s the Fix (Maybe)Desktop Fun: Starship Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Underwater Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Starscape Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Fantasy Theme Wallpapers TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Enable Check Box Selection in Windows 7 OnlineOCR – Free OCR Service Betting on the Blind Side, a Vanity Fair article 30 Minimal Logo Designs that Say More with Less LEGO Digital Designer – Free Create a Personal Website Quickly using Flavors.me

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  • Desktop Fun: Fast Cars Wallpapers

    - by Asian Angel
    Have you been feeling a need for speed lately? Then get ready to jump into the driver’s seat with our Fast Cars Wallpapers collection. Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution.                           For more fun wallpapers be certain to visit our new Desktop Fun section. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Windows 7 Welcome Screen Taking Forever? Here’s the Fix (Maybe)Desktop Fun: Starship Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Underwater Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Starscape Theme WallpapersDesktop Fun: Fantasy Theme Wallpapers TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Enable Check Box Selection in Windows 7 OnlineOCR – Free OCR Service Betting on the Blind Side, a Vanity Fair article 30 Minimal Logo Designs that Say More with Less LEGO Digital Designer – Free Create a Personal Website Quickly using Flavors.me

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  • Windows Phone 7 developer resources

    - by Daniel Moth
    Developers of Windows Mobile 6.x (and indeed Windows CE) applications still use the rich .NET Compact Framework 3.5 with Visual Studio 2008 for development. That is still a great platform and the Mobile Development Handbook is still a useful resource (if I may say so myself :-). The release of Windows Phone 7, changes the programming paradigm. The programming model has NETCF in its guts, but the developer uses the Silverlight or XNA APIs (and they can call from one into the other). I thought I'd gather here (for your reference and mine) the top 10 resources for getting started. Windows Phone Developer Home - get the official word and latest announcements. Windows Phone Developer Tools RTW - download the free developer tools (on my machine the installation took 30 minutes, over my existing vanilla Visual Studio 2010 install). Windows Phone 7 Jump Start video training - watch the 12 sessions by Wigley/Miles. Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit - work through the labs. Windows Phone RSS tag - channel9 has tons more WP7 videos, stay tuned. Windows Phone 7 in 7 Minutes - watch 20 7-minute videos. Programming Windows Phone 7 - read 11 free chapters from Petzold's eBook. The Windows Phone Developer Blog - subscribe to the official blog. Getting Started with Windows Phone Development - explore all links from the MSDN Library root page.            Silverlight for Windows Phone – another root MSDN library page. If after all that you get your hands dirty and still can't find the answer ask questions at the WP7 development MSDN Forum.   On a personal note, I was pleased to see that the Parallel Stacks debugger window works fine with the WP7 project ;-) Comments about this post welcome at the original blog.

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  • Python — Time complexity of built-in functions versus manually-built functions in finite fields

    - by stackuser
    Generally, I'm wondering about the advantages versus disadvantages of using the built-in arithmetic functions versus rolling your own in Python. Specifically, I'm taking in GF(2) finite field polynomials in string format, converting to base 2 values, performing arithmetic, then output back into polynomials as string format. So a small example of this is in multiplication: Rolling my own: def multiply(a,b): bitsa = reversed("{0:b}".format(a)) g = [(b<<i)*int(bit) for i,bit in enumerate(bitsa)] return reduce(lambda x,y: x+y,g) Versus the built-in: def multiply(a,b): # a,b are GF(2) polynomials in binary form .... return a*b #returns product of 2 polynomials in gf2 Currently, operations like multiplicative inverse (with for example 20 bit exponents) take a long time to run in my program as it's using all of Python's built-in mathematical operations like // floor division and % modulus, etc. as opposed to making my own division, remainder, etc. I'm wondering how much of a gain in efficiency and performance I can get by building these manually (as shown above). I realize the gains are dependent on how well the manual versions are built, that's not the question. I'd like to find out 'basically' how much advantage there is over the built-in's. So for instance, if multiplication (as in the example above) is well-suited for base 10 (decimal) arithmetic but has to jump through more hoops to change bases to binary and then even more hoops in operating (so it's lower efficiency), that's what I'm wondering. Like, I'm wondering if it's possible to bring the time down significantly by building them myself in ways that maybe some professionals here have already come across.

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  • SQL SERVER – Take the Quiz for a chance to win a Quadcopter Drone – Brain Teasers

    - by Pinal Dave
    It has been a long time since we ran quiz. So let us get ready for a quiz. The quiz has two parts. You have to get both the parts correct to win Quadcopter with Camera (we will call it drone). We will be giving away a total of 2 Quadcopters. The quiz is extremely easy and I will ship the Drone anywhere in the world where Amazon will ship it. Let us jump directly to the quiz. Please complete all the three questions of the contest.  Contest Part 1: Brain Teasers There are two questions for you in this part of the contest. Question: There are two 7s. How will you write select statement with a single operator that returns single 7? Hint: SELECT 7(Answer)7 Question: Write down the shortest code that produces 1 without using any numbers in the select statement? Hint: SELECT (Answer) Contest Part 2: Download and Activate Rapid SQL Question: Download and Activate Rapid SQL. Hint: You have to download and activate Rapid SQL. If you do not activate Rapid SQL, you will be disqualified for the contest. Why take risk, let us start! That’s it! Just answer above questions in the following comments area, in following format. Remember: Use comments area right below the blog to take participation in the contest Answer before June 5, 2014 midnight GMT. The winner will be announced on June 8. The winner will be selected randomly from all the valid answers. All the valid answers will be kept hidden till June 5, 2014. There will be a total of two winners. The contest is open for any country of the world where Amazon ships products. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Puzzle, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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  • What's the value of a Facebook fan?

    - by David Dorf
    In his blog posting titled "Why Each Facebook Fan Is Worth $2,000 to J. Crew," Joe Skorupa lays out a simplistic calculation for assigning a value to social media efforts within Facebook. While I don't believe the metric, at least its a metric that can be applied consistently. Trying to explain the ROI to management to start a program, then benchmarking to show progress isn't straightforward at all. Social media isn't really mature enough to have hard-and-fast rules around valuation (yet). When I'm asked by retailers how to measure social media efforts, I usually fess-up and say I can't show an ROI but the investment is so low you might was well take a risk. Intuitively, it just seems like a good way to interact with consumers, and since your competition is doing it, you better do it as well. Vitrue, a social media management company, has calculated a fan as being worth $3.60 per year based on impressions generated in Facebook's news feed. That means a fan base of 1 million translates into at least $3.6 million in equivalent media over a year. Don't believe that number either? Fine, Vitrue now has a tool that let's you adjust the earned media value of a fan. Jump over to http://evaluator.vitrue.com/ and enter your brand's Facebook URL to get an assessment of the current value and potential value. For fun, I compared Abercrombie & Fitch (1,077,480 fans), Gap (567,772 fans), and Wet Seal (294,479 fans). The image below shows the results assuming the default $5 earned media value for a fan. The calculation is more complicated than just counting fans. It also accounts for postings and comments. Its possible for a brand with fewer fans to have a higher value based on frequency and relevancy of posts. The tool gathers data via the Social Graph API for the past 30 days of activity. I'm not sure this tool assigns the correct value either, but hey, its a great start.

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  • Increase Performance and Agility with Oracle’s New Data Center Fabric Solutions

    - by Cinzia Mascanzoni
    Join this Webcas on  Tues., December 11, 2012 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET and hear from S.K. Vinod, Senior Director of Product Management, Oracle Virtual Networking products. He’ll show you how the fast, simple, and agile architecture of Oracle Fabric Interconnect provides dynamic network and storage connectivity to thousands of servers. You will see how to use Oracle Software Defined Network (SDN) to connect any resource on the data center fabric quickly—without incurring downtime or requiring network reconfiguration. With Oracle Virtual Networking products, you can: Streamline your data center connectivity Reduce complexity by 70% Cut infrastructure expenses by up to 50% Increase application performance up to 30x Provision new services and reconfigure resources in minutes  Simplify deployments with wire-once infrastructure  During the Webcast, you’ll also have the opportunity to chat directly with Oracle experts. Visit OPN's Server & Storage Systems Knowledge Zones anytime to learn about partner engagement, training, resources, and replays of other webcasts to jump start business.  You can also email us your questions. Unable to attend live? Register anyway – we'll send you the on-demand link to the Webcast!

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  • That Escalated Quickly

    - by Jesse Taber
    Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/GruffCode/archive/2014/05/17/that-escalated-quickly.aspxI have been working remotely out of my home for over 4 years now. All of my coworkers during that time have also worked remotely. Lots of folks have written about the challenges inherent in facilitating communication on remote teams and strategies for overcoming them. A popular theme around this topic is the notion of “escalating communication”. In this context “escalating” means taking a conversation from one mode of communication to a different, higher fidelity mode of communication. Here are the five modes of communication I use at work in order of increasing fidelity: Email – This is the “lowest fidelity” mode of communication that I use. I usually only check it a few times a day (and I’m trying to check it even less frequently than that) and I only keep items in my inbox if they represent an item I need to take action on that I haven’t tracked anywhere else. Forums / Message boards – Being a developer, I’ve gotten into the habit of having other people look over my code before it becomes part of the product I’m working on. These code reviews often happen in “real time” via screen sharing, but I also always have someone else give all of the changes another look using pull requests. A pull request takes my code and lets someone else see the changes I’ve made side-by-side with the existing code so they can see if I did anything dumb. Pull requests can facilitate a conversation about the code changes in an online-forum like style. Some teams I’ve worked on also liked using tools like Trello or Google Groups to have on-going conversations about a topic or task that was being worked on. Chat & Instant Messaging  - Chat and instant messaging are the real workhorses for communication on the remote teams I’ve been a part of. I know some teams that are co-located that also use it pretty extensively for quick messages that don’t warrant walking across the office to talk with someone but reqire more immediacy than an e-mail. For the purposes of this post I think it’s important to note that the terms “chat” and “instant messaging” might insinuate that the conversation is happening in real time, but that’s not always true. Modern chat and IM applications maintain a searchable history so people can easily see what might have been discussed while they were away from their computers. Voice, Video and Screen sharing – Everyone’s got a camera and microphone on their computers now, and there are an abundance of services that will let you use them to talk to other people who have cameras and microphones on their computers. I’m including screen sharing here as well because, in my experience, these discussions typically involve one or more people showing the other participants something that’s happening on their screen. Obviously, this mode of communication is much higher-fidelity than any of the ones listed above. Scheduled meetings are typically conducted using this mode of communication. In Person – No matter how great communication tools become, there’s no substitute for meeting with someone face-to-face. However, opportunities for this kind of communcation are few and far between when you work on a remote team. When a conversation gets escalated that usually means it moves up one or more positions on this list. A lot of people advocate jumping to #4 sooner than later. Like them, I used to believe that, if it was possible, organizing a call with voice and video was automatically better than any kind of text-based communication could be. Lately, however, I’m becoming less convinced that escalating is always the right move. Working Asynchronously Last year I attended a talk at our local code camp given by Drew Miller. Drew works at GitHub and was talking about how they use GitHub internally. Many of the folks at GitHub work remotely, so communication was one of the main themes in Drew’s talk. During the talk Drew used the phrase, “asynchronous communication” to describe their use of chat and pull request comments. That phrase stuck in my head because I hadn’t heard it before but I think it perfectly describes the way in which remote teams often need to communicate. You don’t always know when your co-workers are at their computers or what hours (if any) they are working that day. In order to work this way you need to assume that the person you’re talking to might not respond right away. You can’t always afford to wait until everyone required is online and available to join a voice call, so you need to use text-based, persistent forms of communication so that people can receive and respond to messages when they are available. Going back to my list from the beginning of this post for a second, I characterize items #1-3 as being “asynchronous” modes of communication while we could call items #4 and #5 “synchronous”. When communication gets escalated it’s almost always moving from an asynchronous mode of communication to a synchronous one. Now, to the point of this post: I’ve become increasingly reluctant to escalate from asynchronous to synchronous communication for two primary reasons: 1 – You can often find a higher fidelity way to convey your message without holding a synchronous conversation 2 - Asynchronous modes of communication are (usually) persistent and searchable. You Don’t Have to Broadcast Live Let’s start with the first reason I’ve listed. A lot of times you feel like you need to escalate to synchronous communication because you’re having difficulty describing something that you’re seeing in words. You want to provide the people you’re conversing with some audio-visual aids to help them understand the point that you’re trying to make and you think that getting on Skype and sharing your screen with them is the best way to do that. Firing up a screen sharing session does work well, but you can usually accomplish the same thing in an asynchronous manner. For example, you could take a screenshot and annotate it with some text and drawings to illustrate what it is you’re seeing. If a screenshot won’t work, taking a short screen recording while your narrate over it and posting the video to your forum or chat system along with a text-based description of what’s in the recording that can be searched for later can be a great way to effectively communicate with your team asynchronously. I Said What?!? Now for the second reason I listed: most asynchronous modes of communication provide a transcript of what was said and what decisions might have been made during the conversation. There have been many occasions where I’ve used the search feature of my team’s chat application to find a conversation that happened several weeks or months ago to remember what was decided. Unfortunately, I think the benefits associated with the persistence of communicating asynchronously often get overlooked when people decide to escalate to a in-person meeting or voice/video call. I’m becoming much more reluctant to suggest a voice or video call if I suspect that it might lead to codifying some kind of design decision because everyone involved is going to hang up the call and immediately forget what was decided. I recognize that you can record and archive these types of interactions, but without being able to search them the recordings aren’t terribly useful. When and How To Escalate I don’t mean to imply that communicating via voice/video or in person is never a good idea. I probably jump on a Skype call with a co-worker at least once a day to quickly hash something out or show them a bit of code that I’m working on. Also, meeting in person periodically is really important for remote teams. There’s no way around the fact that sometimes it’s easier to jump on a call and show someone my screen so they can see what I’m seeing. So when is it right to escalate? I think the simplest way to answer that is when the communication starts to feel painful. Everyone’s tolerance for that pain is different, but I think you need to let it hurt a little bit before jumping to synchronous communication. When you do escalate from asynchronous to synchronous communication, there are a couple of things you can do to maximize the effectiveness of the communication: Takes notes – This is huge and yet I’ve found that a lot of teams don’t do this. If you’re holding a meeting with  > 2 people you should have someone taking notes. Taking notes while participating in a meeting can be difficult but there are a few strategies to deal with this challenge that probably deserve a short post of their own. After the meeting, make sure the notes are posted to a place where all concerned parties (including those that might not have attended the meeting) can review and search them. Persist decisions made ASAP – If any decisions were made during the meeting, persist those decisions to a searchable medium as soon as possible following the conversation. All the teams I’ve worked on used a web-based system for tracking the on-going work and a backlog of work to be done in the future. I always try to make sure that all of the cards/stories/tasks/whatever in these systems always reflect the latest decisions that were made as the work was being planned and executed. If held a quick call with your team lead and decided that it wasn’t worth the effort to build real-time validation into that new UI you were working on, go and codify that decision in the story associated with that work immediately after you hang up. Even better, write it up in the story while you are both still on the phone. That way when the folks from your QA team pick up the story to test a few days later they’ll know why the real-time validation isn’t there without having to invoke yet another conversation about the work. Communicating Well is Hard At this point you might be thinking that communicating asynchronously is more difficult than having a live conversation. You’re right: it is more difficult. In order to communicate effectively this way you need to very carefully think about the message that you’re trying to convey and craft it in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand. This is almost always harder than just talking through a problem in real time with someone; this is why escalating communication is such a popular idea. Why wouldn’t we want to do the thing that’s easier? Easier isn’t always better. If you and your team can get in the habit of communicating effectively in an asynchronous manner you’ll find that, over time, all of your communications get less painful because you don’t need to re-iterate previously made points over and over again. If you communicate right the first time, you often don’t need to rehash old conversations because you can go back and find the decisions that were made laid out in plain language. You’ll also find that you get better at doing things like writing useful comments in your code, creating written documentation about how the feature that you just built works, or persuading your team to do things in a certain way.

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  • 45° Slopes in a Tile based 2D platformer

    - by xNidhogg
    I want to have simple 45° slopes in my tile based platformer, however I just cant seem to get the algorithm down. Please take a look at the code and video, maybe I'm missing the obvious? //collisionRectangle is the collision rectangle of the player with //origin at the top left and width and height //wantedPosition is the new position the player will be set to. //this is determined elsewhere by checking the bottom center point of the players rect if(_leftSlope || _rightSlope) { //Test bottom center point var calculationPoint = new Vector2(collisionRectangle.Center.X, collisionRectangle.Bottom); //Get the collision rectangle of the tile, origin is top-left Rectangle cellRect = _tileMap.CellWorldRectangle( _tileMap.GetCellByPixel(calculationPoint)); //Calculate the new Y coordinate depending on if its a left or right slope //CellSize = 8 float newY = _leftSlope ? (calculationPoint.X % CellSize) + cellRect.Y : (-1 * (calculationPoint.X % CellSize) - CellSize) + cellRect.Y; //reset variables so we dont jump in here next frame _leftSlope = false; _rightSlope = false; //now change the players Y according to the difference of our calculation wantedPosition.Y += newY - calculationPoint.Y; } Video of what it looks like: http://youtu.be/EKOWgD2muoc

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  • What is the 64-bit Firefox Beta PPA?

    - by JamesTheAwesomeDude
    I recently discovered that my computer is 64-bit. I have backed up my Home folder, and reinstalled Ubuntu. The reinstall wasn't nearly as painful as I thought. There is one thing that I can't quite seem to figure out: how do I get the 64-bit Firefox Beta build? I always get the Beta builds, but I want to take advantage of the 64-bit architecture of my computer. this page says that Mozilla has come out with a 64-bit version of Firefox, but I can't seem to find it. I do understand the ramifications of using a 64-bit browser, but I've decided to jump right in and do it anyway. (Flash and Java are already 64-bit, and who cares about Silverlight, since it's not for Linux anyway?) There's only one issue, and it's a big one: I can't find the 64-bit Beta PPA!!! (I really hate using .tar.gz files, but I'd be willing to do that as long as I could still access Firefox via the Launcher. Oh, speaking of which, I don't understand .tar.gz files. Once, I managed to run one (the Dropbox Beta build,) but I have no idea whatsoever on how to install them: as in, click on the icon and go.)

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  • Java, the Cloud, and Oracle at QCon San Francisco 2011

    - by Bob Rhubart
    If you're part of the lucky bunch attending this week's sold-out QCon San Francisco conference at Westin San Francisco Market Street, I'd like to bring several sessions to your attention. On Wednesday Nov 16, Alex Buckley, specification lead for the Java Language and the Java Virtual Machine at Oracle, will present Java 7 and 8: Where We've Been, Where We're Going, part of the Why is Java still sexy? track. The session begins at 10:35 a.m. in the Olympic room. On Thursday Nov 17, Tyler Jewell, VP Product Management for Oracle's Platform as a Service, will participate in the Performance and Scalability Panel moderated by InfoQ founder and QCon SF Program Committee Member Floyd Marinescu. That panel, part of the Performance and Scalability Solutions track, begins at 10:35 a.m. in the Olympic room. Following that panel discussion, Tyler will fly solo with a presentation on Java EE 7: Developing for the Cloud, also part of the Performance and Scalability Solutions track. That session kicks off at 12:05 p.m., also in the Olympic room. On Friday Nov 18 Tyler will jump tracks, so to speak, when he presents The Architecture of Oracle's Public Cloud, part of the Architecture Case Studies: Cloud track. That session begins at 4:50 p.m. in the Stanford room. Of course, QCon also offers ample meet-and-greet opportunities. One such opportunity happens in the hospitality suite hosted by the Java Community Process Executive Committee. That shindig gets in gear at 5:50 pm on Thursday. Throughout the QCon San Francisco conference, members of the OTN team (including your's truly) and members of the Oracle Fusion Middleware team will be on hand at the OTN booth in the conference lobby. Stop by to say hello, score some swag, and catch a demo or two.

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  • Automatic desktop/work environment setup

    - by Alex
    I have this strange thing I am trying to do, so before I jump into it I was curious if someone knows about existing solution or maybe have an advice as far as implementation. I run a small software company and as it happens I often do very different type of work. When I do coding for Java project I need Eclipse running and maybe VM with something like ActiveMQ server or whatever, plus terminals to tail -F log files specific to the application, etc. When I do something like weekly progress review with my team I need a few browser windows open and a gedit to take notes and so on. Depending on the type of work I am doing I generally have all of the related apps open in multiple different Workspaces. So in the example above Eclipse would be open in Workspace 1, terminals would be sharing Workspace 2 and so on. What I am trying to do is to automate opening of all these applications, positinoning them on the screen and assigning them to proper Workspaces. My current idea consists of having a Shell script that launches specific apps depending on what type of work I am about to start doing. Is there anything to aid this type of automation? Or is my only option is just a shell scripting at this point? My current system is Ubuntu 10.04

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  • 2D Procedural Terrain with box2d Assets

    - by Alex
    I'm making a game that invloves a tire moving through terrain that is generated randomly over 1000 points. The terrain is always a downwards incline like so: The actual box2d terrain extends one screen width behind and infront of the circular character. I'm now at a stage where I need to add gameplay elements to the terrain such as chasms or physical objects (like the demo polygon in the picture) and am not sure of the best way to structure the procedural generation of the terrain and objects. I currently have a very simple for loop like so: for(int i = 0; i < kMaxHillPoints; i++) { hillKeyPoints[i] = CGPointMake(terrainX, terrainY); if(i%50 == 0) { i += [self generateCasmAtIndex:i]; } terrainX += winsize.width/20; terrainY -= random() % ((int) winsize.height/20); } With the generateCasmAtIndex function add points to the hillKeyPoints array and incrementing the for loop by the required amount. If I want to generate box2d objects as well for specific terrain elements, I'll also have to keep track of the current position of the player and have some sort of array of box2d objects that need to be created at certain locations. I am not sure of an efficient way to accomplish this procedural generation of terrain elements with accompanying box2d objects. My thoughts are: 1) Have many functions for each terrain element (chasm, jump etc.) which add elements to be drawn to an array that is check on each game step - similar to what I've shown above. 2) Create an array of terrain element objects that string together and are looped over to create the terrain and generate the box2d objects. Each object would hold an array of points to be drawn and and array of accompanying box2d objects. Any help on this is much appreciated as I cannot see a 'clean' solution.

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  • 2D Side Scrolling game and "walk over ground" collision detection

    - by Fire-Dragon-DoL
    The question is not hard, I'm writing a game engine for 2D side scrolling games, however I'm thinking to my 2D side scrolling game and I always come up with the problem of "how should I do collision with the ground". I think I couldn't handle the collision with ground (ground for me is "where the player walk", so something heavily used) in a per-pixel way, and I can't even do it with simple shape comparison (because the ground can be tilted), so what's the correct way? I'know what tiles are and i've read about it, but how much should be big each tile to not appear like a stairs?Are there any other approach? I watched this game and is very nice how he walks on ground: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmSAQwbbig8&feature=player_embedded If there are "platforms" in mid air, how should I handle them?I can walk over them but I can't pass "inside". Imagine a platform in mid air, it allows you to walk over it but limit you because you can't jump in the area she fits Sorry for my english, it's not my native language and this topic has a lot of keywords I don't know so I have to use workarounds Thanks for any answer Additional informations and suggestions: I'm doing a game course in this period and I asked them how to do this, they suggested me this approach (a QuadTree): -All map is divided into "big nodes" -Each bigger node has sub nodes, to find where the player is -You can find player's node with a ray on player position -When you find the node where the player is, you can do collision check through all pixels (which can be 100-200px nothing more) Here is an example, however i didn't show very well the bigger nodes because i'm not very good with photoshop :P How is this approach?

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  • WPF or WinForms for Game Development and learning resources?

    - by Stephen Lee Parker
    I'm looking to create a game framework for my own personal use... I want to use WPF, but I'm unsure if that is a wise choice... The games I will be writing should not require high performance graphics, so I am hoping to build on native classes... I do not want to rely on external DLL's unless I generate them myself. The games will be for young children, say 4 to 8. Most will be learning puzzles or simple shooters. The most advanced will be a platform game (non-scrolling screen like the old Atari Miner 2049er game). I think I know how to write something like the old Atari Chopper Command (partially written and my 4 year old loves it, but I used WinForms and GDI), Pac-Man, Tetris, Astroids, Space Invaders, Slider Puzzle, but I do not really know how to write the platform game... In my mind, I'm getting caught in collision detection and how to make a character jump and how to make a character walk up a slope or steps... Can anyone point me to information on developing a platform game in C#? Would you suggest WinForms or WPF for game development? I'm not looking for great graphics and speed, just entertaining game play...

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  • VirtualBox 3.2 Release

    - by [email protected]
    The latest version of VirtualBox is out - version 3.2.  It is the first release as Oracle VirtualBox and there are a lot of new features.  Many of these I see directly impacting the Oracle VDI solution in upcoming releases (just my guess, of course), and I am updating my notebook as I write this. Er... OK - Done!There are enough features that they warrant you taking a look at this two-page VirtualBox Community Bulletin.pdf.  No point in me restating them.If you and your organization haven't tried VirtualBox, or you haven't looked at it in a while, you owe it to yourself to give this a run.  This is small, simple, powerful, software that allows you to do way more than most people would ever need in hosting a Virtual machine on you local machine.  I routinely will do a demo on a two-year-old Macbook running OS X locally, plus a Solaris 10 VM running the Sun Ray server, and a Windows XP VM and hang a couple Sun Rays off of it - and the performance is stellar.You can subscribe to the mailing lists and get access to the Beta releases as they come out as well, if you are into 'bleeding edge'.40,000 downloads a day is the current rate (before this new release), but it will jump for sure now.  Might as well join in!  

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  • Design pattern for procedural terrain assets

    - by Alex
    I'm developing a procedural terrain class at the moment and am stuck on the correct design pattern. The terrain is 2D and is constructed from a series of (x,y) points. I currently have a method that just randomly adds points to an array of points to generate a random spread of points. However I need a more elaborate system for generating the terrain. The terrain will be built form a series of re-accuring terrain structures eg. a pit, jump, hill etc. Each structure will have some randomness assigned to it, each height of hill will be random, pit size will be random etc. Each terrain structure will have: A property detailing the number of points making up that structure A method for generating the points (not absolutely necessary) My current thinking is to have a class for each terrain structure, create a fixed amount of terrain elements ahead of the player, loop over these and add the corresponding points to the game. What is the best way to create these procedural terrain structures when they are ultimately just a set of functions for generating terrain elements? Is a class for each terrain element excessive? I'm developing the game for iphone so any objective-c related answers would be welcome.

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  • Ask the Readers: What Operating System Do You Use?

    - by Mysticgeek
    The three most popular choices out there when it comes to computer operating systems, is Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. What we want to know is…which operating system do you use? Photo by ~Dudu,,]* Computer users today have more choices than ever when it comes to the operating system they use. In the Windows world, there are three versions out there in daily use. A lot of businesses and home users use XP, completely avoided Vista, and are starting to migrate to Windows 7. While a lot of home users received their new computer with Vista pre-installed and are still using it. Others were quick to jump to Windows 7, and some don’t want to leave the comforts of XP. Desktop Linux distro’s have been consistently growing in popularity as versions like Ubuntu become more user friendly. And let us not forget the loyal Apple users who would never give up OS X. You may have to use a certain OS at the workplace, but when you get home, your options are a lot more open. And now with the ease of virtualization, it’s easy to run multiple operating systems on one machine. Each OS offers different advantages that people pick based on their needs. Today we want to know, which operating system(s) do you use? Let us know in the comments and join the discussion! Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Easily Set Default OS in a Windows 7 / Vista and XP Dual-boot SetupGet the Version of Solaris RunningDisable System Restore in Windows 7Disable ProFTP on CentOSShut Down or Reboot a Solaris System 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 Out of band Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 Cool Looking Screensavers for Windows SyncToy syncs Files and Folders across Computers on a Network (or partitions on the same drive) If it were only this easy Classic Cinema Online offers 100’s of OnDemand Movies OutSync will Sync Photos of your Friends on Facebook and Outlook

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  • #TechEd 2010

    - by T
    It has been another fantastic year for TechEd North America.  I always love my time here.  First, I have to give a huge thank you to Ineta for giving me the opportunity to work the Ineta booth and BOF’s (birds of a feather).   I can not even begin to list how many fantastic leaders in the .Net space and Developers from all over I have met through Ineta at this event.  It has been truly amazing and great fun!! New Orlean’s has been awesome.  The night life is hoppin’.  In addition to enjoying a few (too many??) of the local hurricanes in New Orleans, I have hung out with some of the coolest people  Deepesh Mohnani, David Poll, Viresh, Alan Stephens, Shawn Wildermuth, Greg Leonardo, Doug Seven, Chris Willams, David Carley and some of our southcentral hero’s Jeffery Palermo, Todd Anglin, Shawn Weisfeld, Randy Walker, The midnight DBA’s, Zeeshan Hirani, Dennis Bottjer just to name a few. A big thanks to Microsoft and everyone that has helped to put TechEd together.  I have loved hanging out with people from the Silverlight and Expression Teams and have learned a ton.  I am ramped up and ready to take all that knowledge back to my co-workers and my community. I can not wait to see you all again next year in Atlanta!!! Here are video links to some of my fav sessions: Using MVVM Design Pattern with VS 2010 XAML Designer – Rockford Lhotka Effective RIA: Tips and Tricks for Building Effective Rich Internet Applications – Deepesh Mohani Taking Microsoft Silverlight 4 Applications Beyond the Browser – David Poll Jump into Silvelright! and become immediately effective – Tim Huckaby Prototyping Rich Microsoft Silverlight 4 Applications with MS Expression Blend + SketchFlow – David Carley Tales from the Trenches: Building a Real-World Microsoft Silvelright Line-of-Business Application – Dan Wahlin

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  • The lifecycle of "cool"

    - by Dori
    I've been thinking lately about how some programming projects/products become "cool," and in particular, how that trend can later reverse. Here are two examples that might better explain my context: Textmate Whenever someone asks about text editors on OS X, the answer on the SE sites is an automatic "Textmate!" But looked at objectively: Textmate 1.0 shipped October 2004 Textmate 1.5 shipped January 2006 Textmate 2 was announced February 2006 As of September 2010, the currently shipping version is 1.5.9 In all of 2010, there have been a total of three posts on the Textmate blog At what point (if ever) do Textmate fans start thinking about switching to another text editor? When it breaks after some future Apple update? When alpha geeks they respect start recommending something else? Or? jQuery Whenever a JavaScript-related question is asked on the SE sites, the knee-jerk response is "jQuery!" I've seen it happen even when the question itself only required a single line of JavaScript. Or when the question could be better answered by using CSS. Do the answerers understand they're suggesting a blowtorch to light a candle? That they're recommending adding 70K or so of code to do something trivial? Or is it a symptom of "When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail"—that is, jQuery is all they know how to do, so that's their recommendation? And do they understand that while they may know jQuery well, that doesn't necessarily mean that they know JavaScript? Is there a way to explain that learning JavaScript would make them better jQuery programmers? My bigger-picture questions: Is this niche focus primarily a trait of programmers? How do you get programmers to not immediately jump to recommending their personal favorites? What can motivate programmers to review their initial selection criteria and possibly modify their choice? Your thoughts?

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