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  • How do I resolve this exercise on C++? [closed]

    - by user40630
    (Card Shuffling and Dealing) Create a program to shuffle and deal a deck of cards. The program should consist of class Card, class DeckOfCards and a driver program. Class Card should provide: a) Data members face and suit of type int. b) A constructor that receives two ints representing the face and suit and uses them to initialize the data members. c) Two static arrays of strings representing the faces and suits. d) A toString function that returns the Card as a string in the form “face of suit.” You can use the + operator to concatenate strings. Class DeckOfCards should contain: a) A vector of Cards named deck to store the Cards. b) An integer currentCard representing the next card to deal. c) A default constructor that initializes the Cards in the deck. The constructor should use vector function push_back to add each Card to the end of the vector after the Card is created and initialized. This should be done for each of the 52 Cards in the deck. d) A shuffle function that shuffles the Cards in the deck. The shuffle algorithm should iterate through the vector of Cards. For each Card, randomly select another Card in the deck and swap the two Cards. e) A dealCard function that returns the next Card object from the deck. f) A moreCards function that returns a bool value indicating whether there are more Cards to deal. The driver program should create a DeckOfCards object, shuffle the cards, then deal the 52 cards. This above is the exercise I'm trying to solve. I'd be very much appreciated if someone could solve it and explain it to me. The main idea of the program is quite simple. What I don't get is how to build the constructor for the class DeckOfCards and how to generate the 52 cards of the deck with different suits and faces. Untill now I've managed to do this: #include <iostream> #include <vector> using namespace std; /* * */ /* a) Data members face and suit of type int. b) A constructor that receives two ints representing the face and suit and uses them to initialize the data members. c) Two static arrays of strings representing the faces and suits. d) A toString function that returns the Card as a string in the form “face of suit.” You can use the + operator to concatenate strings. */ class Card { public: Card(int, int); string toString(); private: int suit, face; static string faceNames[13]; static string suitNames[4]; }; string Card::faceNames[13] = {"Ace","Two","Three","Four","Five","Six","Seven","Eight","Nine","Ten","Queen","Jack","King"}; string Card::suitNames[4] = {"Diamonds","Clubs","Hearts","Spades"}; string Card::toString() { return faceNames[face]+" of "+suitNames[suit]; } Card::Card(int f, int s) :face(f), suit(s) { } /* Class DeckOfCards should contain: a) A vector of Cards named deck to store the Cards. b) An integer currentCard representing the next card to deal. c) A default constructor that initializes the Cards in the deck. The constructor should use vector function push_back to add each Card to the end of the vector after the Card is created and initialized. This should be done for each of the 52 Cards in the deck. d) A shuffle function that shuffles the Cards in the deck. The shuffle algorithm should iterate through the vector of Cards. For each Card, randomly select another Card in the deck and swap the two Cards. e) A dealCard function that returns the next Card object from the deck. f) A moreCards function that returns a bool value indicating whether there are more Cards to deal. */ class DeckOfCards { public: DeckOfCards(); void shuffleCards(); Card dealCard(); bool moreCards(); private: vector<Card> deck(52); int currentCard; }; int main(int argc, char** argv) { return 0; } DeckOfCards::DeckOfCards() { //I'm stuck here I have no idea of what to take out of here. //I still don't fully get the idea of class inside class and that's turning out as a problem. I try to find a way to set the suits and faces members of the class Card but I can't figure out how. for(int i=0; i<deck.size(); i++) { deck[i]//....There is no function to set them. They must be set when initialized. But how?? } } For easier reading: http://pastebin.com/pJeXMH0f

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  • Mark Hurd on the Customer Revolution: Oracle's Top 10 Insights

    - by Richard Lefebvre
    Reprint of an article from Forbes Businesses that fail to focus on customer experience will hear a giant sucking sound from their vanishing profitability. Because in today’s dynamic global marketplace, consumers now hold the power in the buyer-seller equation, and sellers need to revamp their strategy for this new world order. The ability to relentlessly deliver connected, personalized and rewarding customer experiences is rapidly becoming one of the primary sources of competitive advantage in today’s dynamic global marketplace. And the inability or unwillingness to realize that the customer is a company’s most important asset will lead, inevitably, to decline and failure. Welcome to the lifecycle of customer experience, in which consumers explore, engage, shop, buy, ask, compare, complain, socialize, exchange, and more across multiple channels with the unconditional expectation that each of those interactions will be completed in an efficient and personalized manner however, wherever, and whenever the customer wants. While many niche companies are offering point solutions within that sprawling and complex spectrum of needs and requirements, businesses looking to deliver superb customer experiences are still left having to do multiple product evaluations, multiple contract negotiations, multiple test projects, multiple deployments, and–perhaps most annoying of all–multiple and never-ending integration projects to string together all those niche products from all those niche vendors. With its new suite of customer-experience solutions, Oracle believes it can help companies unravel these challenges and move at the speed of their customers, anticipating their needs and desires and creating enduring and profitable relationships. Those solutions span the full range of marketing, selling, commerce, service, listening/insights, and social and collaboration tools for employees. When Oracle launched its suite of Customer Experience solutions at a recent event in New York City, president Mark Hurd analyzed the customer experience revolution taking place and presented Oracle’s strategy for empowering companies to capitalize on this important market shift. From Hurd’s presentation and related materials, I’ve extracted a list of Hurd’s Top 10 Insights into the Customer Revolution. 1. Please Don’t Feed the Competitor’s Pipeline!After enduring a poor experience, 89% of consumers say they would immediately take their business to your competitor. (Except where noted, the source for these findings is the 2011 Customer Experience Impact (CEI) Report including a survey commissioned by RightNow (acquired by Oracle in March 2012) and conducted by Harris Interactive.) 2. The Addressable Market Is Massive. Only 1% of consumers say their expectations were always met by their actual experiences. 3. They’re Willing to Pay More! In return for a great experience, 86% of consumers say they’ll pay up to 25% more. 4. The Social Media Microphone Is Always Live. After suffering through a poor experience, more than 25% of consumers said they posted a negative comment on Twitter or Facebook or other social media sites. Conversely, of those consumers who got a response after complaining, 22% posted positive comments about the company. 5.  The New Deal Is Never Done: Embrace the Entire Customer Lifecycle. An appropriately active and engaged relationship, says Hurd, extends across every step of the entire processs: need, research, select, purchase, receive, use, maintain, and recommend. 6. The 360-Degree Commitment. Customers want to do business with companies that actively and openly demonstrate the desire to establish strong and seamless connections across employees, the company, and the customer, says research firm Temkin Group in its report called “The CX Competencies.” 7. Understand the Emotional Drivers Behind Brand Love. What makes consumers fall in love with a brand? Among the top factors are friendly employees and customer reps (73%), easy access to information and support (55%), and personalized experiences, such as when companies know precisely what products or services customers have purchased in the past and what issues those customers have raised (36%). 8.  The Importance of Immediate Action. You’ve got one week to respond–and then the opportunity’s lost. If your company needs more than a week to answer a prospect’s question or request, most of those prospects will terminate the relationship. 9.  Want More Revenue, Less Churn, and More Referrals? Then improve the overall customer experience: Forrester’s research says that approach put an extra $900 million in the pockets of wireless service providers, $800 million for hotels, and $400 million for airlines. 10. The Formula for CX Success.  Hurd says it includes three elegantly interlaced factors: Connected Engagement, to personalize the experience; Actionable Insight, to maximize the engagement; and Optimized Execution, to deliver on the promise of value. RECOMMENDED READING: The Top 10 Strategic CIO Issues For 2013 Wal-Mart, Amazon, eBay: Who’s the Speed King of Retail? Career Suicide and the CIO: 4 Deadly New Threats Memo to Marc Benioff: Social Is a Tool, Not an App

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  • Agile Testing Days 2012 – My First Conference!

    - by Chris George
    I’d like to give you a bit of background first… so please bear with me! In 1996, whilst studying for my final year of my degree, I applied for a job as a C++ Developer at a small software house in Hertfordshire  After bodging up the technical part of the interview I didn’t get the job, but was offered a position as a QA Engineer instead. The role sounded intriguing and the pay was pretty good so in the absence of anything else I took it. Here began my career in the world of software testing! Back then, testing/QA was often an afterthought, something that was bolted on to the development process and very much a second class citizen. Test automation was rare, and tools were basic or non-existent! The internet was just starting to take off, and whilst there might have been testing communities and resources, we were certainly not exposed to any of them. After 8 years I moved to another small company, and again didn’t find myself exposed to any of the changes that were happening in the industry. It wasn’t until I joined Red Gate in 2008 that my view of testing and software development as a whole started to expand. But it took a further 4 years for my view of testing to be totally blown open, and so the story really begins… In May 2012 I was fortunate to land the role of Head of Test Engineering. Soon after, I received an email with details for the “Agile Testi However, in my new role, I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and at least go to one conference. Perhaps I could get some new ideas to supplement and support some of the ideas I already had.ng Days” conference in Potsdam, Germany. I looked over the suggested programme and some of the talks peeked my interest. For numerous reasons I’d shied away from attending conferences in the past, one of the main ones being that I didn’t see much benefit in attending loads of talks when I could just read about stuff like that on the internet. So, on the 18th November 2012, myself and three other Red Gaters boarded a plane at Heathrow bound for Potsdam, Germany to attend Agile Testing Days 2012. Tutorial Day – “Software Testing Reloaded” We chose to do the tutorials on the 19th, I chose the one titled “Software Testing Reloaded – So you wanna actually DO something? We’ve got just the workshop for you. Now with even less powerpoint!”. With such a concise and serious title I just had to see what it was about! I nervously entered the room to be greeted by tables, chairs etc all over the place, not set out and frankly in one hell of a mess! There were a few people in there playing a game with dice. Okaaaay… this is going to be a long day! Actually the dice game was an exercise in deduction and simplification… I found it very interesting and is certainly something I’ll be using at work as a training exercise! (I won’t explain the game here cause I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag…) The tutorial consisted of several games, exploring different aspects of testing. They were all practical yet required a fair amount of thin king. Matt Heusser and Pete Walen were running the tutorial, and presented it in a very relaxed and light-hearted manner. It was really my first experience of working in small teams with testers from very different backgrounds, and it was really enjoyable. Matt & Pete were very approachable and offered advice where required whilst still making you work for the answers! One of the tasks was to devise several strategies for testing some electronic dice. The premise was that a Vegas casino wanted to use the dice to appeal to the twenty-somethings interested in tech, but needed assurance that they were as reliable and random as traditional dice. This was a very interesting and challenging exercise that forced us to challenge various assumptions, determine/clarify requirements but most of all it was frustrating because the dice made a very very irritating beeping noise. Multiple that by at least 12 dice and I was dreaming about them all that night!! Some of the main takeaways that were brilliantly demonstrated through the games were not to make assumptions, challenge requirements, and have fun testing! The tutorial lasted the whole day, but to be honest the day went very quickly! My introduction into the conference experience started very well indeed, and I would talk to both Matt and Pete several times during the 4 days. Days 1,2 & 3 will be coming soon…  

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  • How to Hashtag (Without Being #Annoying)

    - by Mike Stiles
    The right tool in the wrong hands can be a dangerous thing. Giving a chimpanzee a chain saw would not be a pretty picture. And putting Twitter hashtags in the hands of social marketers who were never really sure how to use them can be equally unattractive. Boiled down, hashtags are for search and organization of tweets. A notch up from that, they can also be used as part of a marketing strategy. In terms of search, if you’re in the organic apple business, you want anyone who searches “organic” on Twitter to see your posts about your apples. It’s keyword tactics not unlike web site keyword search tactics. So get a clear idea of what keywords are relevant for your tweet. It’s reasonable to include #organic in your tweet. Is it fatal if you don’t hashtag the word? It depends on the person searching. If they search “organic,” your tweet’s going to come up even if you didn’t put the hashtag in front of it. If the searcher enters “#organic,” your tweet needs the hashtag. Err on the side of caution and hashtag it so it comes up no matter how the searcher enters it. You’ll also want to hashtag it for the second big reason people hashtag, organization. You can follow a hashtag. So can the rest of the Twitterverse. If you’re that into organic munchies, you can set up a stream populated only with tweets hashtagged #organic. If you’ve established a hashtag for your brand, like #nobugsprayapples, you (and everyone else) can watch what people are tweeting about your company. So what kind of hashtags should you include? They should be directly related to the core message of your tweet. Ancillary or very loosely-related hashtags = annoying. Hashtagging your brand makes sense. Hashtagging your core area of interest makes sense. Creating a specific event or campaign hashtag you want others to include and spread makes sense (the burden is on you to promote it and get it going). Hashtagging nearly every word in the tweet is highly annoying. Far and away, the majority of hashtagged words in such tweets have no relevance, are not terms that would be searched, and are not terms needed for categorization. It looks desperate and spammy. Two is fine. One is better. And it is possible to tweet with --gasp-- no hashtags! Make your hashtags as short as you can. In fact, if your brand’s name really is #nobugsprayapples, you’re burning up valuable, limited characters and risking the inability of others to retweet with added comments. Also try to narrow your topic hashtag down. You’ll find a lot of relevant users with #organic, but a lot of totally uninterested users with #food. Just as you can join online forums and gain credibility and a reputation by contributing regularly to that forum, you can follow hashtagged topics and gain the same kind of credibility in your area of expertise. Don’t just parachute in for the occasional marketing message. And if you’re constantly retweeting one particular person, stop it. It’s kissing up and it’s obvious. Which brings us to the king of hashtag annoyances, “hashjacking.” This is when you see what terms are hot and include them in your marketing tweet as a hashtag, even though it’s unrelated to your content. Justify it all you want, but #justinbieber has nothing to do with your organic apples. Equally annoying, piggybacking on a popular event’s hashtag to tweet something not connected to the event. You’re only fostering ill will and mistrust toward your account from the people you’ve tricked into seeing your tweet. Lastly, don’t @ mention people just to make sure they see your tweet. If the tweet’s not for them or about them, it’s spammy. What I haven’t covered is use of the hashtag for comedy’s sake. You’ll see this a lot and is a matter of personal taste. No one will search these hashtagged terms or need to categorize then, they’re just there for self-expression and laughs. Twitter is, after all, supposed to be fun.  What are some of your biggest Twitter pet peeves? #blogsovernow

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  • How to convert html textfield/area data to server-side txt file? [closed]

    - by olijake
    How can I make a script that will convert the text/data in a html textfield/textarea and send it to the server, which then saves it as a .txt file for storage? NOTE: I am hosting a website(for testing purposes) using Apache 2.2 on a Windows 7 machine. I downloaded PHP version 5.4.7, but have not yet installed on my server yet (not sure if I will need it, but also not sure how to install it). 1st problem: Saving text to server Html page/section with title textfield, text textarea, and submit button. You would enter a title, the text/notes you need in the textfield, then press the submit button to have it store the text in the textarea, as a .txt file on the server called .txt. 2nd problem: Opening text from server Html with list of all txt files OR textfield for entering in title, then submit button to send the title of the requested .txt file to the server, which would then load it up on the page. Here is what I have so far: (let me know if there is something that I should change or if something just isn't correct in the index.html code I have right now.) <!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <title>Insert Title</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="Text/HTML; charset=UTF-8"/> </head> <body> <form method="post" action="save.INSERT_FILETYPE" name="textfile" enctype="multipart/form-data"> <input type="text" name="title"><br/> <textarea rows="20" cols="100" id="text" name="text"></textarea><br/> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit Text to Server"> </form><br/> <hr style="width: 100%; height: 4px;"><br/> <form method="post" action="open.INSERT_FILETYPE" name="textfile" enctype="multipart/form-data"> <input type="text" name="title"><br/> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit Txt File Request"> </form><br/> <div>Opened text file displays here or goes on another page</div> </body> </html> I plan on using a server side language/script, but ANYTHING that gets the job done is fine. I already tried looking into using some ASP/jScript/PHP, but have had some trouble implementing it into my server. (ie: getting the modules loaded and telling the server what file types to parse.) I know this may be an extremely easy fix, but then in that case, hopefully you wouldn't mind helping me out a little :). If it turns out that this is MUCH more complicated than I expect, then feel free to let me know that, so I don't waste me time running in circles. I appreciate any help/assistance that you can provide, Thanks, Jake EDIT: Wrong Apache version. In response to the comments/closing of this thread: My question: "How exactly do I install the PHP module on the apache server? and is this even possible? and is this even recommended?" ^ In case I wasn't clear enough already To Clarify: I understand the basics of PHP, I just have trouble with INSTALLING PHP on the apache server. (I have used PHP before, but never successfully on apache (so far...)) For my script I wrote something similar to this already (using fopen() and a few other commands): <?php fopen("notes.txt", "r"); file_put_contents("notes.txt",teststring1); ?> I have used javascript for this task before also (although I prefer using PHP and server-side languages): <script language="javascript"> function WriteToFile(){ var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"); var s = fso.CreateTextFile("C:\\NewFile.txt", true); var text=document.getElementById("TextArea1").innerText; s.WriteLine(text); s.WriteLine('***********************'); s.Close(); } </script>

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  • Can someone help me with this Java Chess game please?

    - by Chris Edwards
    Hey guys, Please can someone have a look at this code and let me know whether I am on the right track with the "check_somefigure_move"s and the "check_black/white_promotion"s please? And also any other help you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! P.S. I know the code is not the best implementation, but its a template I have to follow :( Code: class Moves { private final Board B; private boolean regular; public Moves(final Board b) { B = b; regular = regular_position(); } public boolean get_regular_position() { return regular; } public void set_regular_position(final boolean new_reg) { regular = new_reg; } // checking whether B represents a "normal" position or not; // if not, then only simple checks regarding move-correctness should // be performed, only checking the direct characteristics of the figure // moved; // checks whether there is exactly one king of each colour, there are // no more figures than promotions allow, and there are no pawns on the // first or last rank; public boolean regular_position() { int[] counts = new int[256]; for (char file = 'a'; file <= 'h'; ++file) for (char rank = '1'; rank <= '8'; ++rank) ++counts[(int) B.get(file,rank)]; if (counts[Board.white_king] != 1 || counts[Board.black_king] != 1) return false; if (counts[Board.white_pawn] > 8 || counts[Board.black_pawn] > 8) return false; int count_w_promotions = 0; count_w_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.white_queen]-1,0); count_w_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.white_rook]-2,0); count_w_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.white_bishop]-2,0); count_w_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.white_knight]-2,0); if (count_w_promotions > 8 - counts[Board.white_pawn]) return false; int count_b_promotions = 0; count_b_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.black_queen]-1,0); count_b_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.black_rook]-2,0); count_b_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.black_bishop]-2,0); count_b_promotions += Math.max(counts[Board.black_knight]-2,0); if (count_b_promotions > 8 - counts[Board.black_pawn]) return false; for (char file = 'a'; file <= 'h'; ++file) { final char fig1 = B.get(file,'1'); if (fig1 == Board.white_pawn || fig1 == Board.black_pawn) return false; final char fig8 = B.get(file,'8'); if (fig8 == Board.white_pawn || fig8 == Board.black_pawn) return false; } return true; } public boolean check_normal_white_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { if (! Board.is_valid_white_figure(B.get(file0,rank0))) return false; if (! B.is_empty(file1,rank1) && ! Board.is_valid_black_figure(B.get(file1,rank1))) return false; if (B.get_active_colour() != 'w') return false; if (! check_move_simple(file0,rank0,file1,rank1)) return false; if (! regular) return true; final Board test_board = new Board(B); test_board.normal_white_move_0(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); final Moves test_move = new Moves(test_board); final char[] king_pos = test_move.white_king_position(); assert(king_pos.length == 2); return test_move.black_not_attacking(king_pos[0],king_pos[1]); } public boolean check_normal_black_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED THE CHECK NORMAL BLACK MOVE BASED ON THE CHECK NORMAL WHITE MOVE if (! Board.is_valid_black_figure(B.get(file0,rank0))) return false; if (! B.is_empty(file1,rank1) && ! Board.is_valid_white_figure(B.get(file1,rank1))) return false; if (B.get_active_colour() != 'b') return false; if (! check_move_simple(file0,rank0,file1,rank1)) return false; if (! regular) return true; final Board test_board = new Board(B); test_board.normal_black_move_0(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); final Moves test_move = new Moves(test_board); final char[] king_pos = test_move.black_king_position(); assert(king_pos.length == 2); return test_move.white_not_attacking(king_pos[0],king_pos[1]); } // for checking a normal move by just applying the move-rules private boolean check_move_simple(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { final char fig = B.get(file0,rank0); if (fig == Board.white_king || fig == Board.black_king) return check_king_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); if (fig == Board.white_queen || fig == Board.black_queen) return check_queen_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); if (fig == Board.white_rook || fig == Board.black_rook) return check_rook_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); if (fig == Board.white_bishop || fig == Board.black_bishop) return check_bishop_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); if (fig == Board.white_knight || fig == Board.black_knight) return check_knight_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); if (fig == Board.white_pawn) return check_white_pawn_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); else return check_black_pawn_move(file0,rank0,file1,rank1); } private boolean check_king_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED KING MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange <= 1 && fileChange >= -1 && rankChange <= 1 && rankChange >= -1; } private boolean check_queen_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED QUEEN MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange <=8 && fileChange >= -8 && rankChange <= 8 && rankChange >= -8; } private boolean check_rook_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED ROOK MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange <=8 || fileChange >= -8 || rankChange <= 8 || rankChange >= -8; } private boolean check_bishop_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED BISHOP MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange <= 8 && rankChange <= 8 || fileChange <= 8 && rankChange >= -8 || fileChange >= -8 && rankChange >= -8 || fileChange >= -8 && rankChange <= 8; } private boolean check_knight_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED KNIGHT MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; /* IS THIS THE CORRECT WAY? * return fileChange <= 1 && rankChange <= 2 || fileChange <= 1 && rankChange >= -2 || fileChange <= 2 && rankChange <= 1 || fileChange <= 2 && rankChange >= -1 || fileChange >= -1 && rankChange <= 2 || fileChange >= -1 && rankChange >= -2 || fileChange >= -2 && rankChange <= 1 || fileChange >= -2 && rankChange >= -1;*/ // OR IS THIS? return fileChange <= 1 || fileChange >= -1 || fileChange <= 2 || fileChange >= -2 && rankChange <= 1 || rankChange >= - 1 || rankChange <= 2 || rankChange >= -2; } private boolean check_white_pawn_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED PAWN MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange == 0 && rankChange <= 1; } private boolean check_black_pawn_move(final char file0, final char rank0, final char file1, final char rank1) { // ADDED PAWN MOVE int fileChange = file0 - file1; int rankChange = rank0 - rank1; return fileChange == 0 && rankChange >= -1; } public boolean check_white_kingside_castling() { // only demonstration code: final char c = B.get_white_castling(); if (c == '-' || c == 'q') return false; if (B.get_active_colour() == 'b') return false; if (B.get('e','1') != 'K') return false; if (! black_not_attacking('e','1')) return false; if (! free_white('f','1')) return false; // XXX return true; } public boolean check_white_queenside_castling() { // only demonstration code: final char c = B.get_white_castling(); if (c == '-' || c == 'k') return false; if (B.get_active_colour() == 'b') return false; // ADDED BASED ON KINGSIDE CASTLING if (B.get('e','1') != 'Q') return false; if (! black_not_attacking('e','1')) return false; if (! free_white('f','1')) return false; // XXX return true; } public boolean check_black_kingside_castling() { // only demonstration code: final char c = B.get_black_castling(); if (c == '-' || c == 'q') return false; if (B.get_active_colour() == 'w') return false; // ADDED BASED ON CHECK WHITE if (B.get('e','8') != 'K') return false; if (! black_not_attacking('e','8')) return false; if (! free_white('f','8')) return false; // XXX return true; } public boolean check_black_queenside_castling() { // only demonstration code: final char c = B.get_black_castling(); if (c == '-' || c == 'k') return false; if (B.get_active_colour() == 'w') return false; // ADDED BASED ON KINGSIDE CASTLING if (B.get('e','8') != 'Q') return false; if (! black_not_attacking('e','8')) return false; if (! free_white('f','8')) return false; // XXX return true; } public boolean check_white_promotion(final char pawn_file, final char figure) { // XXX // ADDED CHECKING FOR CORRECT FIGURE AND POSITION - ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS AS THOUGH // PAWN_FILE SHOULD BE PAWN_RANK, AS IT IS THE REACHING OF THE END RANK THAT // CAUSES PROMOTION OF A PAWN, NOT FILE if (figure == P && pawn_file == 8) { return true; } else return false; } public boolean check_black_promotion(final char pawn_file, final char figure) { // XXX // ADDED CHECKING FOR CORRECT FIGURE AND POSITION if (figure == p && pawn_file == 1) { return true; } else return false; } // checks whether black doesn't attack the field: public boolean black_not_attacking(final char file, final char rank) { // XXX return true; } public boolean free_white(final char file, final char rank) { // XXX return black_not_attacking(file,rank) && B.is_empty(file,rank); } // checks whether white doesn't attack the field: public boolean white_not_attacking(final char file, final char rank) { // XXX return true; } public boolean free_black(final char file, final char rank) { // XXX return white_not_attacking(file,rank) && B.is_empty(file,rank); } public char[] white_king_position() { for (char file = 'a'; file <= 'h'; ++file) for (char rank = '1'; rank <= '8'; ++rank) if (B.get(file,rank) == Board.white_king) { char[] result = new char[2]; result[0] = file; result[1] = rank; return result; } return new char[0]; } public char[] black_king_position() { for (char file = 'a'; file <= 'h'; ++file) for (char rank = '1'; rank <= '8'; ++rank) if (B.get(file,rank) == Board.black_king) { char[] result = new char[2]; result[0] = file; result[1] = rank; return result; } return new char[0]; } public static void main(final String[] args) { // checking regular_position { Moves m = new Moves(new Board()); assert(m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("KK6/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("kk6/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/n7 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/N7 w - - 0 1")); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/b7 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/B7 w - - 0 1")); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/r7 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/R7 w - - 0 1")); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/q7 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/qqqqqqqq/QQQQQQQQ/Q7/q7/rrbbnn2/RRBBNN2/Q7 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kkp5/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("KkP5/8/8/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/8/8/8/8/8/8/7p w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); m = new Moves(new Board("Kk6/8/8/8/8/8/8/7P w - - 0 1")); assert(!m.regular_position()); } // checking check_white/black_king/queenside_castling { Moves m = new Moves(new Board("4k2r/8/8/8/8/8/8/4K2R w Kk - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("4k2r/8/8/8/8/8/8/4K2R b Kk - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("4k2r/4pppp/8/8/8/8/4PPPP/4K2R w KQkq - 0 1")); assert(m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("4k2r/4pppp/8/8/8/8/4PPPP/4K2R b KQkq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/8/8/8/8/8/8/R3K3 w Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/8/8/8/8/8/8/R3K3 b Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/p7/8/8/8/8/8/R3K3 w Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/p7/8/8/8/8/8/R3K3 b Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/p7/8/8/8/n7/8/R3K3 w Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); m = new Moves(new Board("r3k3/p7/B7/8/8/8/8/R3K3 b Qq - 0 1")); assert(!m.check_white_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_kingside_castling()); assert(!m.check_white_queenside_castling()); assert(!m.check_black_queenside_castling()); // XXX } } }

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  • Schema to support dynamic properties

    - by Johan Fredrik Varen
    Hi people. I'm working on an editor that enables its users to create "object" definitions in real-time. A definition can contain zero or more properties. A property has a name a type. Once a definition is created, a user can create an object of that definition and set the property values of that object. So by the click of a mouse-button, the user should ie. be able to create a new definition called "Bicycle", and add the property "Size" of type "Numeric". Then another property called "Name" of type "Text", and then another property called "Price" of type "Numeric". Once that is done, the user should be able to create a couple of "Bicycle" objects and fill in the "Name" and "Price" property values of each bike. Now, I've seen this feature in several software products, so it must be a well-known concept. My problem started when I sat down and tried to come up with a DB schema to support this data structure, because I want the property values to be stored using the appropriate column types. Ie. a numeric property value is stored as, say, an INT in the database, and a textual property value is stored as VARCHAR. First, I need a table that will hold all my object definitions: Table obj_defs id | name | ---------------- 1 | "Bicycle" | 2 | "Book" | Then I need a table for holding what sort of properties each object definition should have: Table prop_defs id | obj_def_id | name | type | ------------------------------------ 1 | 1 | "Size" | ? | 2 | 1 | "Name" | ? | 3 | 1 | "Price" | ? | 4 | 2 | "Title" | ? | 5 | 2 | "Author" | ? | 6 | 2 | "ISBN" | ? | I would also need a table that holds each object: Table objects id | created | updated | ------------------------------ 1 | 2011-05-14 | 2011-06-15 | 2 | 2011-05-14 | 2011-06-15 | 3 | 2011-05-14 | 2011-06-15 | Finally, I need a table that will hold the actual property values of each object, and one solution is for this table to have one column for each possible value type, such as this: Table prop_vals id | prop_def_id | object_id | numeric | textual | boolean | ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | | | 2 | 2 | 1 | | "Trek" | | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1249 | | | 4 | 1 | 2 | 26 | | | 5 | 2 | 2 | | "GT" | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 159 | | | 7 | 4 | 3 | | "It" | | 8 | 5 | 3 | | "King" | | 9 | 6 | 4 | 9 | | | If I implemented this schema, what would the "type" column of the prop_defs table hold? Integers that each map to a column name, varchars that simply hold the column name? Any other possibilities? Would a stored procedure help me out here in some way? And what would the SQL for fetching the "name" property of object 2 look like?

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  • Solaris 11 Launch Blog Carnival Roundup

    - by constant
    Solaris 11 is here! And together with the official launch activities, a lot of Oracle and non-Oracle bloggers contributed helpful and informative blog articles to help your datacenter go to eleven. Here are some notable blog postings, sorted by category for your Solaris 11 blog-reading pleasure: Getting Started/Overview A lot of people speculated that the official launch of Solaris 11 would be on 11/11 (whatever way you want to turn it), but it actually happened two days earlier. Larry Wake himself offers 11 Reasons Why Oracle Solaris 11 11/11 Isn't Being Released on 11/11/11. Then, Larry goes on with a summary: Oracle Solaris 11: The First Cloud OS gives you a short and sweet rundown of what the major new features of Solaris 11 are. Jeff Victor has his own list of What's New in Oracle Solaris 11. A popular Solaris 11 meme is to write a blog post about 11 favourite features: Jim Laurent's 11 Reasons to Love Solaris 11, Darren Moffat's 11 Favourite Solaris 11 Features, Mike Gerdt's 11 of My Favourite Things! are just three examples of "11 Favourite Things..." type blog posts, I'm sure many more will follow... More official overview content for Solaris 11 is available from the Oracle Tech Network Solaris 11 Portal. Also, check out Rick Ramsey's blog post Solaris 11 Resources for System Administrators on the OTN Blog and his secret 5 Commands That Make Solaris Administration Easier post from the OTN Garage. (Automatic) Installation and the Image Packaging System (IPS) The brand new Image Packaging System (IPS) and the Automatic Installer (IPS), together with numerous other install/packaging/boot/patching features are among the most significant improvements in Solaris 11. But before installing, you may wonder whether Solaris 11 will support your particular set of hardware devices. Again, the OTN Garage comes to the rescue with Rick Ramsey's post How to Find Out Which Devices Are Supported By Solaris 11. Included is a useful guide to all the first steps to get your Solaris 11 system up and running. Tim Foster had a whole handful of blog posts lined up for the launch, teaching you everything you need to know about IPS but didn't dare to ask: The IPS System Repository, IPS Self-assembly - Part 1: Overlays and Part 2: Multiple Packages Delivering Configuration. Watch out for more IPS posts from Tim! If installing packages or upgrading your system from the net makes you uneasy, then you're not alone: Jim Laurent will tech you how Building a Solaris 11 Repository Without Network Connection will make your life easier. Many of you have already peeked into the future by installing Solaris 11 Express. If you're now wondering whether you can upgrade or whether a fresh install is necessary, then check out Alan Hargreaves's post Upgrading Solaris 11 Express b151a with support to Solaris 11. The trick is in upgrading your pkg(1M) first. Networking One of the first things to do after installing Solaris 11 (or any operating system for that matter), is to set it up for networking. Solaris 11 comes with the brand new "Network Auto-Magic" feature which can figure out everything by itself. For those cases where you want to exercise a little more control, Solaris 11 left a few people scratching their heads. Fortunately, Tschokko wrote up this cool blog post: Solaris 11 manual IPv4 & IPv6 configuration right after the launch ceremony. Thanks, Tschokko! And Milek points out a long awaited networking feature in Solaris 11 called Solaris 11 - hostmodel, which I know for a fact that many customers have looked forward to: How to "bind" a Solaris 11 system to a specific gateway for specific IP address it is using. Steffen Weiberle teaches us how to tune the Solaris 11 networking stack the proper way: ipadm(1M). No more fiddling with ndd(1M)! Check out his tutorial on Solaris 11 Network Tunables. And if you want to get even deeper into the networking stack, there's nothing better than DTrace. Alan Maguire teaches you in: DTracing TCP Congestion Control how to probe deeply into the Solaris 11 TCP/IP stack, the TCP congestion control part in particular. Don't miss his other DTrace and TCP related blog posts! DTrace And there we are: DTrace, the king of all observability tools. Long time DTrace veteran and co-author of The DTrace book*, Brendan Gregg blogged about Solaris 11 DTrace syscall provider changes. BTW, after you install Solaris 11, check out the DTrace toolkit which is installed by default in /usr/dtrace/DTT. It is chock full of handy DTrace scripts, many of which contributed by Brendan himself! Security Another big theme in Solaris 11, and one that is crucial for the success of any operating system in the Cloud is Security. Here are some notable posts in this category: Darren Moffat starts by showing us how to completely get rid of root: Completely Disabling Root Logins on Solaris 11. With no root user, there's one major entry point less to worry about. But that's only the start. In Immutable Zones on Encrypted ZFS, Darren shows us how to double the security of your services: First by locking them into the new Immutable Zones feature, then by encrypting their data using the new ZFS encryption feature. And if you're still missing sudo from your Linux days, Darren again has a solution: Password (PAM) caching for Solaris su - "a la sudo". If you're wondering how much compute power all this encryption will cost you, you're in luck: The Solaris X86 AESNI OpenSSL Engine will make sure you'll use your Intel's embedded crypto support to its fullest. And if you own a brand new SPARC T4 machine you're even luckier: It comes with its own SPARC T4 OpenSSL Engine. Dan Anderson's posts show how there really is now excuse not to encrypt any more... Developers Solaris 11 has a lot to offer to developers as well. Ali Bahrami has a series of blog posts that cover diverse developer topics: elffile: ELF Specific File Identification Utility, Using Stub Objects and The Stub Proto: Not Just For Stub Objects Anymore to name a few. BTW, if you're a developer and want to shape the future of Solaris 11, then Vijay Tatkar has a hint for you: Oracle (Sun Systems Group) is hiring! Desktop and Graphics Yes, Solaris 11 is a 100% server OS, but it can also offer a decent desktop environment, especially if you are a developer. Alan Coopersmith starts by discussing S11 X11: ye olde window system in today's new operating system, then Calum Benson shows us around What's new on the Solaris 11 Desktop. Even accessibility is a first-class citizen in the Solaris 11 user interface. Peter Korn celebrates: Accessible Oracle Solaris 11 - released! Performance Gone are the days of "Slowaris", when Solaris was among the few OSes that "did the right thing" while others cut corners just to win benchmarks. Today, Solaris continues doing the right thing, and it delivers the right performance at the same time. Need proof? Check out Brian's BestPerf blog with continuous updates from the benchmarking lab, including Recent Benchmarks Using Oracle Solaris 11! Send Me More Solaris 11 Launch Articles! These are just a few of the more interesting blog articles that came out around the Solaris 11 launch, I'm sure there are many more! Feel free to post a comment below if you find a particularly interesting blog post that hasn't been listed so far and share your enthusiasm for Solaris 11! *Affiliate link: Buy cool stuff and support this blog at no extra cost. We both win! var flattr_uid = '26528'; var flattr_tle = 'Solaris 11 Launch Blog Carnival Roundup'; var flattr_dsc = '<strong>Solaris 11 is here!</strong>And together with the official launch activities, a lot of Oracle and non-Oracle bloggers contributed helpful and informative blog articles to help your datacenter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven">go to eleven</a>.Here are some notable blog postings, sorted by category for your Solaris 11 blog-reading pleasure:'; var flattr_tag = 'blogging,digest,Oracle,Solaris,solaris,solaris 11'; var flattr_cat = 'text'; var flattr_url = 'http://constantin.glez.de/blog/2011/11/solaris-11-launch-blog-carnival-roundup'; var flattr_lng = 'en_GB'

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  • Microsoft TechEd 2010 - Day 3 @ Bangalore

    - by sathya
    Microsoft TechEd 2010 - Day 3 @ Bangalore Sorry for my delayed post on day 3 because I had to travel from Blore to Chennai So I couldnt write for the past two days. On day 3 as usual we had lot of simultaneous tracks on various sessions. This day I choose the Your Data, Our Platform Track. It had sessions on the following 5 topics :   Developing Data-tier Applications in Visual Studio 2010 - by Sanjay Nagamangalam SQL Server Query Optimization, Execution and Debugging Query Performance - by Vinod Kumar M SQL Server Utility - Its about more than 1 SQL Server - by Vinod Kumar Jagannathan Data Recovery / Consistency with CheckDB - by Vinod Kumar M Developing with SQL Server Spatial and Deep dive into Spatial Indexing - by Pinal Dave Developing Data-tier Applications in Visual Studio 2010 - by Sanjay Nagamangalam This was one of the superb sessions i have attended. He explained all the concepts in detail with a demo. The important thing in this is there is something called Data-Tier application project which is newly introduced in this VS2010 with which we can manage all our data along with our application inside our VS itself. We can create DB,Tables,Procs,Views etc. here itself and once we deploy it creates a compressed file called .dacpac which stores all the changes in Table Schema,Created procs, etc. on to that single file which reduces our (developer's) effort in preparing the deployment scripts and giving it to the DBA. It also has some policy configurations which can be managed easily by checking some rules like in outlook. For Ex : IF the SQL Server Version > 10 then deploy else dont. This rule specifies that even if we try to deploy on SQL Server DB with version less than 10 It will not do it. And if we deploy some .dacpac to SQL server production db with the option upgrade DB with this dacpac once everything completes successfully it will say success else it rollsback to the prior version. Even if it gets deployed successfully and later @ a point of time you wish to revert it back to the prior version, you can go ahead and delete the existing dacpac version so that it reverts to the older version of the db changes. And for the good questions that were asked in the session T-Shirts were given. SQL Server Query Optimization, Execution and Debugging Query Performance - by Vinod Kumar M This one too was the best session. The speaker Vinod explained everything very much clearly. This was really useful session and you dont believe, as per my knowledge, in the total 3 days in the TechEd except the Keynote, for this session seats were full (House FULL)  People were even standing out to attend this session. Such a great one it was. The speaker did a deep dive in to the Query Plan section and showed which actually causes the problem. Its all about the thing that we need to understand about the execution of SQL server Queries. We think in a way and SQL Server never executes in that way. We need to understand that first. He also told about there might be two plans generated for a single query at a point of time because of parallel processors in the system. The Key is here in every query. There is something called Estimated Row Count and Actual Row Count in the query plan. If the estimated row count by SQL server tallies with the actual row count your performance will be awesome. He said some tweaks to achieve the same. After this as usual we had lunch SQL Server Utility - Its about more than 1 SQL Server - by Vinod Kumar Jagannathan This was more of a DBA's session. Am really sorry I was totally blank and I was not interested to attend this session and walked out to attend Migrating to the cloud by Harish Ranganathan (My favorite Speaker) but unfortunately that was some other persons session. There the speaker was telling about how to configure the connection strings in such a way that we can connect to the SQL Azure platform from our VS and also showed us how to deploy the same in to Windows Azure. In between there were lot of technical problems like laptop hang, user locked and he was switching between systems, also i came in the half so i wasnt able to listen that fully. In between, Since I got an MCTS certification they gave me T-Shirt with the lines 'Iam Certified. Are you?' and they asked me to wear that. If we wear that we might get spotted and they would give us some goodies  So on the 3rd day I was wearing that T-Shirt. I got spotted by the person Tarun who was coordinating things about the certification, and he was accompanied with a cameraman and they interviewed me about the certification and I was shown live in the Teched and was seen by 60000 live viewers of the TechEd. I was really happy on that. Data Recovery / Consistency with CheckDB - by Vinod Kumar M This was one of the best sessions too in the TechEd. This guy is really amazing. In front of us he crashed a DB and showed how to recover the same in 6 different ways for different no of failures. Showed about Different types of error msgs like : 823,824,825 msdb..suspect_pages DBCC CheckDB (different parameters to it) I am really waiting for his session to get uploaded live in the Teched Website. Here is his contact info If you wish to connect to him : Twitter : @vinodk_sql Website : www.ExtremeExperts.com Blog : http://blogs.sqlxml.org/vinodkumar Developing with SQL Server Spatial and Deep dive into Spatial Indexing - by Pinal Dave Pinal Dave is a King in SQL and he is a SQL MVP and he is the owner of SQLAuthority.com He took the session on Spatial Databases from the start. Showed about the different types of Spatial : Geometric and Geographic Geometric : x and y axis its a planar surface Geographic : Spherical surface with 3600  as the maximum which is used to represent the geographic points on the earth and easy to draw maps of different kinds. He had a lot of obstacles during his session like rain coming inside the hall, mic wires got bursted due to rain, Videos off on the display screens. In spite of that he asked the audience to come in the front rows and managed to take a good session without ppts and finally we got the displays on and he was showing demos on the same what he explained orally. That was really a fun filled informative session. He gave some books for the persons who asked good questions and answered well for his questions and I got one too  (It was a book on Data Mining - Wrox Publishers) And finally after all these things there was Keynote session for close of the TechEd. and we all assembled in a big hall where Mr.Ashok Soota, a man of age around 70  co-founder of Mindtree was called to give some lecture on his successes. He was explaining about his past and what all companies he switched and for what reasons and what are all his successes and what are all his failures and the learnings of him from his past failures. and his success and failures on his partnerships with the other concern. And there were some questions for him like What is your suggestion on young entrepreneur? How did you learn from past failures? What is reiterating your success? What is your suggestion on partnerships? How to choose partnerships? etc. And they said @ 7.30 Pm there would be a party night, but unfortunately i was not able to attend that because I had to catch my train and before that i had to pack things, so I started @ 7 itself. Thats it about the TechED!!! Stay tuned for further Technology updates.

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  • Brighton Rocks: UA Europe 2011

    - by ultan o'broin
    User Assistance Europe 2011 was held in Brighton, UK. Having seen Quadrophenia a dozen times, I just had to go along (OK, I wanted to talk about messages in enterprise applications). Sadly, it rained a lot, though that was still eminently more tolerable than being stuck home in Dublin during Bloomsday. So, here are my somewhat selective highlights and observations from the conference, massively skewed towards my own interests, as usual. Enjoyed Leah Guren's (Cow TC) great start ‘keynote’ on the Cultural Dimensions of Software Help Usage. Starting out by revisiting Hofstede's and Hall's work on culture (how many times I have done this for Multilingual magazine?) and then Neilsen’s findings on age as an indicator of performance, Leah showed how it is the expertise of the user that user assistance (UA) needs to be designed for (especially for high-end users), with some considerations made for age, while the gender and culture of users are not major factors. Help also needs to be contextual and concise, embedded close to the action. That users are saying things like “If I want help on Office, I go to Google ” isn't all that profound at this stage, but it is always worth reiterating how search can be optimized to return better results for users. Interestingly, regardless of user education level, the issue of information quality--hinging on the lynchpin of terminology reflecting that of the user--is critical. Major takeaway for me there. Matthew Ellison’s sessions on embedded help and demos were also impressive. Embedded help that is concise and contextual is definitely a powerful UX enabler, and I’m pleased to say that in Oracle Fusion Applications we have embraced the concept fully. Matthew also mentioned in his session about successful software demos that the principle of modality with demos is a must. Look no further than Oracle User Productivity Kit demos See It!, Try It!, Know It, and Do It! modes, for example. I also found some key takeaways in the presentation by Marie-Louise Flacke on notes and warnings. Here, legal considerations seemed to take precedence over providing any real information to users. I was delighted when Marie-Louise called out the Oracle JDeveloper documentation as an exemplar of how to use notes and instructions instead of trying to scare the bejaysus out of people and not providing them with any real information they’d find useful instead. My own session on designing messages for enterprise applications was well attended. Knowing your user profiles (remember user expertise is the king maker for UA so write for each audience involved), how users really work, the required application business and UI rules, what your application technology supports, and how messages integrate with the enterprise help desk and support policies and you will go much further than relying solely on the guideline of "writing messages in plain language". And, remember the value in warnings and confirmation messages too, and how you can use them smartly. I hope y’all got something from my presentation and from my answers to questions afterwards. Ellis Pratt stole the show with his presentation on applying game theory to software UA, using plenty of colorful, relevant examples (check out the Atlassian and DropBox approaches, for example), and striking just the right balance between theory and practice. Completely agree that the approach to take here is not to make UA itself a game, but to invoke UA as part of a bigger game dynamic (time-to-task completion, personal and communal goals, personal achievement and status, and so on). Sure there are gotchas and limitations to gamification, and we need to do more research. However, we'll hear a lot more about this subject in coming years, particularly in the enterprise space. I hope. I also heard good things about the different sessions about DITA usage (including one by Sonja Fuga that clearly opens the door for major innovation in the community content space using WordPress), the progressive disclosure of information (Cerys Willoughby), an overview of controlled language (or "information quality", as I like to position it) solutions and rationale by Dave Gash, and others. I also spent time chatting with Mike Hamilton of MadCap Software, who showed me a cool demo of their Flare product, and the Lingo translation solution. I liked the idea of their licensing model for workers-on-the-go; that’s smart UX-awareness in itself. Also chatted with Julian Murfitt of Mekon about uptake of DITA in the enterprise space. In all, it's worth attending UA Europe. I was surprised, however, not to see conference topics about mobile UA, community conversation and content, and search in its own right. These are unstoppable forces now, and the latter is pretty central to providing assistance now to all but the most irredentist of hard-copy fetishists or advanced technical or functional users working away on the back end of applications and systems. Only saw one iPad too (says the guy who carries three laptops). Tweeting during the conference was pretty much nonexistent during the event, so no community energy there. Perhaps all this can be addressed next year. I would love to see the next UA Europe event come to Dublin (despite Bloomsday, it's not a bad place place, really) now that hotels are so cheap and all. So, what is my overall impression of the state of user assistance in Europe? Clearly, there are still many people in the industry who feel there is something broken with the traditional forms of user assistance (particularly printed doc) and something needs to be done about it. I would suggest they move on and try and embrace change, instead. Many others see new possibilities, offered by UX and technology, as well as the reality of online user behavior in an increasingly connected world and that is encouraging. Such thought leaders need to be listened to. As Ellis Pratt says in his great book, Trends in Technical Communication - Rethinking Help: “To stay relevant means taking a new perspective on the role (of technical writer), and delivering “products” over and above the traditional manual and online Help file... there are a number of new trends in this field - some complementary, some conflicting. Whatever trends emerge as the norm, it’s likely the status quo will change.” It already has, IMO. I hear similar debates in the professional translation world about the onset of translation crowd sourcing (the Facebook model) and machine translation (trust me, that battle is over). Neither of these initiatives has put anyone out of a job and probably won't, though the nature of the work might change. If anything, such innovations have increased the overall need for professional translators as user expectations rise, new audiences emerge, and organizations need to collate and curate user-generated content, combining it with their own. Perhaps user assistance professionals can learn from other professions and grow accordingly.

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  • Christmas in the Clouds

    - by andrewbrust
    I have been spending the last 2 weeks immersing myself in a number of Windows Azure and SQL Azure technologies.  And in setting up a new business (I’ll speak more about that in the future), I have also become a customer of Microsoft’s BPOS (Business Productivity Online Services).  In short, it has been a fortnight of Microsoft cloud computing. On the Azure side, I’ve looked, of course, at Web Roles and Worker Roles.  But I’ve also looked at Azure Storage’s REST API (including coding to it directly), I’ve looked at Azure Drive and the new VM Role; I’ve looked quite a bit at SQL Azure (including the project “Houston” Silverlight UI) and I’ve looked at SQL Azure labs’ OData service too. I’ve also looked at DataMarket and its integration with both PowerPivot and native Excel.  Then there’s AppFabric Caching, SQL Azure Reporting (what I could learn of it) and the Visual Studio tooling for Azure, including the storage of certificate-based credentials.  And to round it out with some user stuff, on the BPOS side, I’ve been working with Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and LiveMeeting. I have to say I like a lot of what I’ve been seeing.  Azure’s not perfect, and BPOS certainly isn’t either.  But there’s good stuff in all these products, and there’s a lot of value. Azure Goes Deep Most people know that Web and Worker roles put the platform in charge of spinning virtual machines up and down, and keeping them up to date. But you can go way beyond that now.  The still-in-beta VM Role gives you the power to craft the machine (much as does Amazon’s EC2), though it takes away the platform’s self-managing attributes.  It still spins instances up and down, making drive storage non-durable, but Azure Drive gives you the ability to store VHD files as blobs and mount them as virtual hard drives that are readable and writeable.  Whether with Azure Storage or SQL Azure, Azure does data.  And OData is everywhere.  Azure Table Storage supports an OData Interface.  So does SQL Azure and so does DataMarket (the former project “Dallas”).  That means that Azure data repositories aren’t just straightforward to provision and configure…they’re also easy to program against, from just about any programming environment, in a RESTful manner.  And for more .NET-centric implementations, Azure AppFabric caching takes the technology formerly known as “Velocity” and throws it up into the cloud, speeding data access even more. Snapping in Place Once you get the hang of it, this stuff just starts to work in a way that becomes natural to understand.  I wasn’t expecting that, and I was really happy to discover it. In retrospect, I am not surprised, because I think the various Azure teams are the center of gravity for Redmond’s innovation right now.  The products belie this and so do my observations of the product teams’ motivation and high morale.  It is really good to see this; Microsoft needs to lead somewhere, and they need to be seen as the underdog while doing so.  With Azure, both requirements are in place.   BPOS: Bad Acronym, Easy Setup BPOS is about products you already know; Exchange, SharePoint, Live Meeting and Office Communications Server.  As such, it’s hard not to be underwhelmed by BPOS.  Until you realize how easy it makes it to get all that stuff set up.  I would say that from sign-up to productive use took me about 45 minutes…and that included the time necessary to wrestle with my DNS provider, set up Outlook and my SmartPhone up to talk to the Exchange account, create my SharePoint site collection, and configure the Outlook Conferencing add-in to talk to the provisioned Live Meeting account. Never before did I think setting up my own Exchange mail could come anywhere close to the simplicity of setting up an SMTP/POP account, and yet BPOS actually made it faster.   What I want from my Azure Christmas Next Year Not everything about Microsoft’s cloud is good.  I close this post with a list of things I’d like to see addressed: BPOS offerings are still based on the 2007 Wave of Microsoft server technologies.  We need to get to 2010, and fast.  Arguably, the 2010 products should have been released to the off-premises channel before the on-premise sone.  Office 365 can’t come fast enough. Azure’s Internet tooling and domain naming, is scattered and confusing.  Deployed ASP.NET applications go to cloudapp.net; SQL Azure and Azure storage work off windows.net.  The Azure portal and Project Houston are at azure.com.  Then there’s appfabriclabs.com and sqlazurelabs.com.  There is a new Silverlight portal that replaces most, but not all of the HTML ones.  And Project Houston is Silvelright-based too, though separate from the Silverlight portal tooling. Microsoft is the king off tooling.  They should not make me keep an entire OneNote notebook full of portal links, account names, access keys, assemblies and namespaces and do so much CTRL-C/CTRL-V work.  I’d like to see more project templates, have them automatically reference the appropriate assemblies, generate the right using/Imports statements and prime my config files with the right markup.  Then I want a UI that lets me log in with my Live ID and pick the appropriate project, database, namespace and key string to get set up fast. Beta programs, if they’re open, should onboard me quickly.  I know the process is difficult and everyone’s going as fast as they can.  But I don’t know why it’s so difficult or why it takes so long.  Getting developers up to speed on new features quickly helps popularize the platform.  Make this a priority. Make Azure accessible from the simplicity platforms, i.e. ASP.NET Web Pages (Razor) and LightSwitch.  Support .NET 4 now.  Make WebMatrix, IIS Express and SQL Compact work with the Azure development fabric. Have HTML helpers make Azure programming easier.  Have LightSwitch work with SQL Azure and not require SQL Express.  LightSwitch has some promising Azure integration now.  But we need more.  WebMatrix has none and that’s just silly, now that the Extra Small Instance is being introduced. The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit is great.  But I want Microsoft to make it even better and I want them to evangelize it much more aggressively.  There’s a lot of good material on Azure development out there, but it’s scattered in the same way that the platform is.   The Training Kit ties a lot of disparate stuff together nicely.  Make it known. Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot All in all, diving deep into Azure was a good way to end the year.  Diving deeper into Azure should a great way to spend next year, not just for me, but for Microsoft too.

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  • Free Document/Content Management System Using SharePoint 2010

    - by KunaalKapoor
    That’s right, it’s true. You can use the free version of SharePoint 2010 to meet your document and content management needs and even run your public facing website or an internal knowledge bank.  SharePoint Foundation 2010 is free. It may not have all the features that you get in the enterprise license but it still has enough to cater to your needs to build a document management system and replace age old file shares or folders. I’ve built a dozen content management sites for internal and public use exploiting SharePoint. There are hundreds of web content management systems out there (see CMS Matrix).  On one hand we have commercial platforms like SharePoint, SiteCore, and Ektron etc. which are the most frequently used and on the other hand there are free options like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Plone etc. which are pretty common popular as well. But I would be very surprised if anyone was able to find a single CMS platform that is all things to all people. Infact not a lot of people consider SharePoint’s free version under the free CMS side but its high time organizations benefit from this. Through this blog post I wanted to present SharePoint Foundation as an option for running a FREE CMS platform. Even if you knew that there is a free version of SharePoint, what most people don’t realize is that SharePoint Foundation is a great option for running web sites of all kinds – not just team sites. It is a great option for many reasons, but in reality it is supported by Microsoft, and above all it is FREE (yay!), and it is extremely easy to get started.  From a functionality perspective – it’s hard to beat SharePoint. Even the free version, SharePoint Foundation, offers simple data connectivity (through BCS), cross browser support, accessibility, support for Office Web Apps, blogs, wikis, templates, document support, health analyzer, support for presence, and MUCH more.I often get asked: “Can I use SharePoint 2010 as a document management system?” The answer really depends on ·          What are your specific requirements? ·          What systems you currently have in place for managing documents. ·          And of course how much money you have J Benefits? Not many large organizations have benefited from SharePoint yet. For some it has been an IT project to see what they can achieve with it, for others it has been used as a collaborative platform or in many cases an extended intranet. SharePoint 2010 has changed the game slightly as the improvements that Microsoft have made have been noted by organizations, and we are seeing a lot of companies starting to build specific business applications using SharePoint as the basis, and nearly every business process will require documents at some stage. If you require a document management system and have SharePoint in place then it can be a relatively straight forward decision to use SharePoint, as long as you have reviewed the considerations just discussed. The collaborative nature of SharePoint 2010 is also a massive advantage, as specific departmental or project sites can be created quickly and easily that allow workers to interact in a variety of different ways using one source of information.  This also benefits an organization with regards to how they manage the knowledge that they have, as if all of their information is in one source then it is naturally easier to search and manage. Is SharePoint right for your organization? As just discussed, this can only be determined after defining your requirements and also planning a longer term strategy for how you will manage your documents and information. A key factor to look at is how the users would interact with the system and how much value would it get for your organization. The amount of data and documents that organizations are creating is increasing rapidly each year. Therefore the ability to archive this information, whilst keeping the ability to know what you have and where it is, is vital to any organizations management of their information life cycle. SharePoint is best used for the initial life of business documents where they need to be referenced and accessed after time. It is often beneficial to archive these to overcome for storage and performance issues. FREE CMS – SharePoint, Really? In order to show some of the completely of what comes with this free version of SharePoint 2010, I thought it would make sense to use Wikipedia (since every one trusts it as a credible source). Wikipedia shows that a web content management system typically has the following components: Document Management:   -       CMS software may provide a means of managing the life cycle of a document from initial creation time, through revisions, publication, archive, and document destruction. SharePoint is king when it comes to document management.  Version history, exclusive check-out, security, publication, workflow, and so much more.  Content Virtualization:   -       CMS software may provide a means of allowing each user to work within a virtual copy of the entire Web site, document set, and/or code base. This enables changes to multiple interdependent resources to be viewed and/or executed in-context prior to submission. Through the use of versioning, each content manager can preview, publish, and roll-back content of pages, wiki entries, blog posts, documents, or any other type of content stored in SharePoint.  The idea of each user having an entire copy of the website virtualized is a bit odd to me – not sure why anyone would need that for anything but the simplest of websites. Automated Templates:   -       Create standard output templates that can be automatically applied to new and existing content, allowing the appearance of all content to be changed from one central place. Through the use of Master Pages and Themes, SharePoint provides the ability to change the entire look and feel of site.  Of course, the older brother version of SharePoint – SharePoint Server 2010 – also introduces the concept of Page Layouts which allows page template level customization and even switching the layout of an individual page using different page templates.  I think many organizations really think they want this but rarely end up using this bit of functionality.  Easy Edits:   -       Once content is separated from the visual presentation of a site, it usually becomes much easier and quicker to edit and manipulate. Most WCMS software includes WYSIWYG editing tools allowing non-technical individuals to create and edit content. This is probably easier described with a screen cap of a vanilla SharePoint Foundation page in edit mode.  Notice the page editing toolbar, the multiple layout options…  It’s actually easier to use than Microsoft Word. Workflow management: -       Workflow is the process of creating cycles of sequential and parallel tasks that must be accomplished in the CMS. For example, a content creator can submit a story, but it is not published until the copy editor cleans it up and the editor-in-chief approves it. Workflow, it’s in there. In fact, the same workflow engine is running under SharePoint Foundation that is running under the other versions of SharePoint.  The primary difference is that with SharePoint Foundation – you need to configure the workflows yourself.   Web Standards: -       Active WCMS software usually receives regular updates that include new feature sets and keep the system up to current web standards. SharePoint is in the fourth major iteration under Microsoft with the 2010 release.  In addition to the innovation that Microsoft continuously adds, you have the entire global ecosystem available. Scalable Expansion:   -       Available in most modern WCMSs is the ability to expand a single implementation (one installation on one server) across multiple domains. SharePoint Foundation can run multiple sites using multiple URLs on a single server install.  Even more powerful, SharePoint Foundation is scalable and can be part of a multi-server farm to ensure that it will handle any amount of traffic that can be thrown at it. Delegation & Security:  -       Some CMS software allows for various user groups to have limited privileges over specific content on the website, spreading out the responsibility of content management. SharePoint Foundation provides very granular security capabilities. Read @ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee537811.aspx Content Syndication:  -       CMS software often assists in content distribution by generating RSS and Atom data feeds to other systems. They may also e-mail users when updates are available as part of the workflow process. SharePoint Foundation nails it.  With RSS syndication and email alerts available out of the box, content syndication is already in the platform. Multilingual Support: -       Ability to display content in multiple languages. SharePoint Foundation 2010 supports more than 40 languages. Read More Read more @ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd776256(v=office.12).aspxYou can download the free version from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5970

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  • Hosting and consuming WCF services without configuration files

    - by martinsj
    In this post, I'll demonstrate how to configure both the host and the client in code without the need for configuring services i the <system.serviceModel> section of the config-file. In fact, you don't need a  <system.serviceModel> section at all. What you'll do need (and want) sometimes, is the Uri of the service in the configuration file. Configuring the Uri of the the service is actually only needed for the client or when self-hosting, not when hosting in IIS. So, exactly What do we need to configure? The binding type and the binding constraints The metadata behavior Debug behavior You can of course configure even more, and even more if you want to, WCF is after all the king of configuration… As an example I'll be hosting and consuming a service that removes most of the default constraints for WCF-services, using a BasicHttpBinding. Of course, in regards to security, it is probably better to have some constraints on the server, but this is only a demonstration. The ServerConfig class in the code beneath is a static helper class that will be used in the examples. In this post, I’ll be using this helper-class for all configuration, for both the server and the client. In WCF, the  client and the server have both their own WCF-configuration. With this piece of code, they will be sharing the same configuration. 1: public static class ServiceConfig 2: { 3: public static Binding DefaultBinding 4: { 5: get 6: { 7: var binding = new BasicHttpBinding(); 8: Configure(binding); 9: return binding; 10: } 11: } 12:  13: public static void Configure(HttpBindingBase binding) 14: { 15: if (binding == null) 16: { 17: throw new ArgumentException("Argument 'binding' cannot be null. Cannot configure binding."); 18: } 19:  20: binding.SendTimeout = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 30, 0); // 30 minute timeout 21: binding.MaxBufferSize = Int32.MaxValue; 22: binding.MaxBufferPoolSize = 2147483647; 23: binding.MaxReceivedMessageSize = Int32.MaxValue; 24: binding.ReaderQuotas.MaxArrayLength = Int32.MaxValue; 25: binding.ReaderQuotas.MaxBytesPerRead = Int32.MaxValue; 26: binding.ReaderQuotas.MaxDepth = Int32.MaxValue; 27: binding.ReaderQuotas.MaxNameTableCharCount = Int32.MaxValue; 28: binding.ReaderQuotas.MaxStringContentLength = Int32.MaxValue; 29: } 30:  31: public static ServiceMetadataBehavior ServiceMetadataBehavior 32: { 33: get 34: { 35: return new ServiceMetadataBehavior 36: { 37: HttpGetEnabled = true, 38: MetadataExporter = {PolicyVersion = PolicyVersion.Policy15} 39: }; 40: } 41: } 42:  43: public static ServiceDebugBehavior ServiceDebugBehavior 44: { 45: get 46: { 47: var smb = new ServiceDebugBehavior(); 48: Configure(smb); 49: return smb; 50: } 51: } 52:  53:  54: public static void Configure(ServiceDebugBehavior behavior) 55: { 56: if (behavior == null) 57: { 58: throw new ArgumentException("Argument 'behavior' cannot be null. Cannot configure debug behavior."); 59: } 60: 61: behavior.IncludeExceptionDetailInFaults = true; 62: } 63: } Configuring the server There are basically two ways to host a WCF service, in IIS and self-hosting. When hosting a WCF service in a production environment using SOA architecture, you'll be most likely hosting it in IIS. When testing the service in integration tests, it's very handy to be able to self-host services in the unit-tests. In fact, you can share the the WCF configuration for self-hosted services and services hosted in IIS. And that is exactly what you want to do, testing the same configurations for test and production environments.   Configuring when Self-hosting When self-hosting, in order to start the service, you'll have to instantiate the ServiceHost class, configure the  service and open it. 1: // Create the service-host. 2: var host = new ServiceHost(typeof(MyService), endpoint); 3:  4: // Configure the binding 5: host.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof(IMyService), ServiceConfig.DefaultBinding, endpoint); 6:  7: // Configure metadata behavior 8: host.Description.Behaviors.Add(ServiceConfig.ServiceMetadataBehavior); 9:  10: // Configure debgug behavior 11: ServiceConfig.Configure((ServiceDebugBehavior)host.Description.Behaviors[typeof(ServiceDebugBehavior)]); 12: 13: // Start listening to the service 14: host.Open(); 15:  Configuring when hosting in IIS When you create a WCF service application with the wizard in Visual Studio, you'll end up with bits and pieces of code in order to get the service running: Svc-file with codebehind. A interface to the service Web.config In order to get rid of the configuration in the <system.serviceModel> section, which the wizard has generated for us, we must tell the service that we have a factory that will create the service for us. We do this by changing the markup for the svc-file: 1: <%@ ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" Service="Namespace.MyService" Factory="Namespace.ServiceHostFactory" %> The markup tells IIS that we have a factory called ServiceHostFactory for this service. The service factory has a method we can override which will be called when someone asks IIS for the service. There are overloads we can override: 1: System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostBase CreateServiceHost(string constructorString, Uri[] baseAddresses) 2: System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost CreateServiceHost(Type serviceType, Uri[] baseAddresses) 3:  In this example, we'll be using the last one, so our implementation looks like this: 1: public class ServiceHostFactory : System.ServiceModel.Activation.ServiceHostFactory 2: { 3:  4: protected override System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost CreateServiceHost(Type serviceType, Uri[] baseAddresses) 5: { 6: var host = base.CreateServiceHost(serviceType, baseAddresses); 7: host.Description.Behaviors.Add(ServiceConfig.ServiceMetadataBehavior); 8: ServiceConfig.Configure((ServiceDebugBehavior)host.Description.Behaviors[typeof(ServiceDebugBehavior)]); 9: return host; 10: } 11: } 12:  1: public class ServiceHostFactory : System.ServiceModel.Activation.ServiceHostFactory 2: { 3: 4: protected override System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost CreateServiceHost(Type serviceType, Uri[] baseAddresses) 5: { 6: var host = base.CreateServiceHost(serviceType, baseAddresses); 7: host.Description.Behaviors.Add(ServiceConfig.ServiceMetadataBehavior); 8: ServiceConfig.Configure((ServiceDebugBehavior)host.Description.Behaviors[typeof(ServiceDebugBehavior)]); 9: return host; 10: } 11: } 12: As you can see, we are using the same configuration helper we used when self-hosting. Now, when you have a factory, the <system.serviceModel> section of the configuration can be removed, because the section will be ignored when the service has a custom factory. If you want to configure something else in the config-file, one could configure in some other section.   Configuring the client Microsoft has helpfully created a ChannelFactory class in order to create a proxy client. When using this approach, you don't have generate those awfull proxy classes for the client. If you share the contracts with the server in it's own assembly like in the layer diagram under, you can share the same piece of code. The contracts in WCF are the interface to the service and if any, the datacontracts (custom types) the service depends on. Using the ChannelFactory with our configuration helper-class is very simple: 1: var identity = EndpointIdentity.CreateDnsIdentity("localhost"); 2: var endpointAddress = new EndpointAddress(endPoint, identity); 3: var factory = new ChannelFactory<IMyService>(DeployServiceConfig.DefaultBinding, endpointAddress); 4: using (var myService = new factory.CreateChannel()) 5: { 6: myService.Hello(); 7: } 8: factory.Close();   Happy configuration!

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  • Blogging locally and globally–my experience

    - by DigiMortal
    In Baltic MVP Summit 2011 there was discussion about having two blogs - one for local and another for global audience – and how to publish once written information in these blogs. There are many ways how to optimize your blogging activities if you have more than one audience and here you can find my experiences, best practices and advices about this topic. My two blogs I have to working blogs: this one here technology and programming blog for local market My local blog is almost five years old and it makes it one of the oldest company blogs in Estonia. It is still active and I write there as much as I have time for it. This blog here is active since September 2007, so it is about 3.5 years old right now. Both of these blogs are  my major hits in my MVP carrier and they have very good web statistics too. My local blog My local blog is about programming, web and technology. It has way wider target audience then this blog here has. By example, in my local blog I blog also about local events, cool new concept phones, different webs providing some interesting services etc. But local guys can find there also my postings about how to solve one or another programming problem and postings about Microsoft technologies I am playing with. This far my local blog has a lot of readers for such a small country that Estonia is. This blog has made me a lot of cool contacts and I have had there a lot of interesting discussions about different technical topics. Why I started this blog? Living in small country is different than living in big country. In small country you have less people and therefore smaller audience so you have to target more than one technical topic to find enough readers. In a same time you are still interested in your main topics and you want to reach to more people who are sharing same interests with you. Practically one day y will grow out from local market and you go global. This is how this blog was born. Was it worth to create, promote and mess with it? Every second I have put on my time to this blog has been worth of it. Thanks to this blog I have found new good friends and without them I think it is more boring to work on different problems and solutions. Defining target audiences One thing you should always do when having more than one blog is defining target audiences. If you are just technomaniac interested in sharing your stuff and make some new friends and have something to write to your MVP nomination form then you don’t have to go through complex targeting process. You can do it simple way and same effectively. Here is how I defined target audiences to my blogs: local blog – reader of my local blog is IT professional, software developer, technology innovator or just some guy who is interested in technology,   this blog – reader of this blog is experienced professional software developer who works on Microsoft technologies or software developer who is open minded and open to new technologies and interesting solutions to development problems. You can see how local blog – due to small market with less people – has wider definition for audience while this blog is heavily targeted to Microsoft technologies and specially to software development. On practical side these decisions are also made well I think because it is very hard to build up popular common IT blog. On global level it is better to target some specific niche and find readers who are professionals on your favorite topics. Thanks to this blog I have found new friends who are professional developers and I am very happy about all the discussions I have had with them. Publishing content to different blogs My local blog and this blog have some overlapping topics like .NET, databases and SEO. Due to this overlapping there is question: when I write posting to my local blog then should I have to publish same thing in my global blog? And if I write something to my global blog then should I publish same thing also in my local blog? Well, it really depends on the definition of your target audiences. If they match then of course it is good idea to translate you post and publish it also to another blog. But if you have different audiences then you may need to modify your posting before publishing it. The questions you have to answer are: is target audience interested in this topic? is target audience expecting more specific and deeper handling of this topic or are they expecting more general handling of topic? is the problem you are discussing actual for target audience or not? You have to answer these questions and after that make your decision. If you need to modify your original posting then take some time and do it. Provide quality to all your readers because they will respect you if you respect them. Cross-posting and referencing It is tempting to save time that preparing some blog post takes and if you have are done with posting in one blog it may seem like good idea to make short posting to another blog and add reference to first one where topic is discussed longer. Well, don’t do it – all your readers expect good quality content from you and jumping from one blog post to another is disturbing for them. Of course, there is problem with differences between target audiences. You may have wider target audience and some people may be interested in more specific handling of topic. In this case feel free to refer your blog you are writing in english. This is not working very well in opposite direction because almost all my global blog readers understand english but not estonian. By example, estonian language is complex one and online translating tools make very poor translations from estonian language. This is why I don’t even plan to publish postings here that refer to my local blog for more information. I am keeping these two blogs as two different worlds and if there is posting that fits well to both blogs I will write my posting to one blog and then answer previous three questions before posting same thing to another blog. Conclusion Growing out of your local market is not anything mysterious if you are living in small country. As it is harder to find people there who are interested in same topics with you then sooner or later you will start finding these new contacts from global audience. Global audience is bigger and to be visible there you must provide high quality content to your audience. It is something you will learn over time and you will learn every day something new when you are posting to your global blog. You may ask: if global blog is much more complex thing to do then is it worth to do at all? My answer is: yes, do it for sure. It is not easy thing to do when you start but if you work on your global blog and improve it over time you will get over all obstacles pretty soon. Just don’t forget one thing – content is king and your readers expect high quality from you.

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  • ???Past Image(pi)

    - by todd.bao(at)oracle.com
    Past Image???RAC??????????,????????????????????????????????,Past Image??????????,?????????????????,?????????????????,??????????????(pi)?????????????????Past Image,????????????:HR.EMPLOYEES??100????101?????5????88???????????????,???????????# ??1: ?????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and block#=88;no rows selected# ??1???(???Steve King, ????24000????)SYS@RAC1//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=1 where employee_id=100;1 row updated.# ??2: ????1??xcur????????????,?????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + xcur1 row selected.# ??2???SYS@RAC2//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=2 where employee_id=101;1 row updated.# ??3: ????2?,?????1??pi??Past Image,???????????????????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + pi         2 + Y + xcur2 rows selected.# ??1???SYS@RAC1//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=3 where employee_id=100;1 row updated.# ??4: ????1?,?????2???1???????2???????1???????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + pi         1 + Y + xcur         2 + Y + pi3 rows selected.# ??2????SYS@RAC2//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=4 where employee_id=101;1 row updated.# ??5: ????2?,??????????????,DBWR??,??????,??(pi)?????????????(cr)??????????????????????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + N + cr         1 + N + cr         2 + Y + xcur3 rows selected.# ?????1???SYS@RAC1//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=5 where employee_id=100;1 row updated.# ??6: ????1?,?????2????????????????,?????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + xcur         1 + N + cr         1 + N + cr         2 + Y + pi4 rows selected.# ??2???SYS@RAC2//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=6 where employee_id=101;1 row updated.# ??7: ????2?,?????1?2????1???????2?????????????4,????????????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + pi         2 + Y + pi         2 + Y + xcur3 rows selected.# ??1???SYS@RAC1//scripts> update hr.employees set salary=7 where employee_id=100;1 row updated.# ??8: ????1?,?????2?1????2???????1????????????2????????????????????????????????????(????????)????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and  block#=88;   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + pi         1 + Y + xcur         2 + Y + pi         2 + N + cr4 rows selected.??????????, ?xcur??????????:??????xcur????pi?????pi?(?????)???cr?,???cr?????,pi????????????????????????????:?????????????A?B?A:SYS@RAC1//scripts> run  1  begin  2  for i in 1..100000 loop  3  update hr.employees set salary=i where employee_id=100;  4  end loop;  5* end;B:SYS@RAC2//scripts> run  1  begin  2  for i in 1..100000 loop  3  update hr.employees set salary=i where employee_id=101;  4  end loop;  5* end;?????????,???5???88?????buffer cache???????:SYS@RAC2//scripts> select count(*) from gv$bh where file#=5 and block#=88;  COUNT(*)----------       4121 row selected.??409?????????(cur):SYS@RAC2//scripts> select count(*) from gv$bh where file#=5 and block#=88 where status='cr';  COUNT(*)----------       4091 row selected.1????????(xcur):SYS@RAC2//scripts> select count(*) from gv$bh where file#=5 and block#=88 where status='xcur';  COUNT(*)----------           11 row selected.??...2??????--????(pi)??????????SYS@RAC1//scripts> select inst_id,dirty,status from gv$bh where file#=5 and block#=88 and status='pi';   INST_ID + D + STATUS---------- + - + -------         1 + Y + pi         2 + Y + pi2 rows selected.????,???RAC??????????????(cr)?,????????????????????????xcur?pi??cr??????pi?????? ?????????,???????????pi???cr?,?????????cr???,???xcur???????,pi??????xcur?,[email protected]

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  • Right div pushing center div further down

    - by Chase
    I cannot get this last div to go up properly in my layout and have tried countless things. I'm not sure what's going on with my css? Here is a screenshot: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5377/screenshot20100528at123.png #events { float: left; width: 420px; margin:0 0 5px 0; font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-image: url(images/lastfmhead.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; height:360px; overflow:hidden; display: inline; } #events table { width:419px; } #events th, td { padding: 3px 3px; } #whatsup ul, #citywhatsup ul { margin:0 5px 0 5px; text-align:left; font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; } #whatsup ul li, #citywhatsup ul li{ list-style-type:none; list-style: none; } #whatsup hr, #citywhatsup hr{ border: none 0; border-top: 1px dashed #990000;/*the border*/ width: 100%; height: 1px; margin: 1px auto 5px auto;/*whatever the total width of the border-top and border-bottom equal*/ } #events ul { margin:5px 5px 0 5px; } #events ul li{ list-style-type:none; list-style: none; } #attending ul { display: inline-block; margin: 0; width:200px; } #attending ul li { display: inline-block; list-style-image:none; margin:0; padding:2px 5px 2px 5px; } #attending { width: 230px; margin:0 13px 5px 12px; float: left; display: inline; background-image: url(images/otherhead.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; text-align:center; height:360px; overflow:hidden; } #whatsup { width: 230px; margin:0 0 5px 0; float: left; display:inline; background-image: url(images/otherhead.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; text-align:center; } #eventtitle{ margin: 3px 0 -3px 0; } #eventtitle { color: #900; margin-left: 5px; font-size:16px; } #tweetit { color: #487B96 !important; font-size:16px; margin: 3px 0 -4px 0; } #photos { background-image: url(images/flickrheader.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; width: 665px; clear:both; } <div id="cityevents"> <h2> Events </h2> <table> <th>Date </th><th> Who's Playing </th><th> Venue </th><th> City </th><th> Tickets </th> <tr><td>May 28</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5384486?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Jill King</a></td><td>Open Eye Cafe</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 28</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5281141?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Ahleuchatistas</a></td><td>Nightlight</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 28</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4970896?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Sam Quinn</a></td><td>Local 506</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5303661?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Cagematch Mayhem, Champion Vs Au Jus, Heartbreaker Vs Au Jus</a></td><td>DSI Comedy Theater</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5303661/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4722066?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Lewd Acts, Converge, Gaza, Black Breath</a></td><td>Cat's Cradle</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4722066/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4647076?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Nate Currin</a></td><td>Broad Street Cafe</td><td>Durham</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5580211?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>International Night</a></td><td>Serena Rtp</td><td>Durham</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5580211/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4770241?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Jill King</a></td><td>Caffe Driade</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5406411?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Sunbears!</a></td><td>Local 506</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 29</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4924136?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Studio Gangsters</a></td><td>The Reservoir</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 30</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5252161?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>She Wants Revenge</a></td><td>Cat's Cradle</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>May 30</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4436326?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Unheard Radio Battle of the Bands</a></td><td>Mansion 462</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4436326/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>May 30</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4924141?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Studio Gangsters</a></td><td>The Cave</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 2</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5252881?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Jeanne Jolly</a></td><td>Caffe Driade</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 2</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4628026?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>James Husband, Of Montreal</a></td><td>Cat's Cradle</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4628026/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 2</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5019466?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Camera Obscura</a></td><td>Duke Gardens</td><td>Durham</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5019466/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 3</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4226511?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Reverend Horton Heat, Cracker, Legendary Shack Shakers</a></td><td>Cat's Cradle</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4226511/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 3</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5253371?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>American Aquarium</a></td><td>Local 506</td><td>Chapel Hill</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 4</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4285251?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Laurence Juber</a></td><td>The ArtsCenter</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 4</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5642566?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Community Jam, Pt Scarborough Is a Movie, Armageddon'it</a></td><td>DSI Comedy Theater</td><td>Carrboro</td><td style='text-align:center;'><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/5642566/tickets?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'> Find </a></td></tr><tr><td>Jun 4</td><td><a href='http://www.songkick.com/concerts/4676216?utm_source=1121&utm_medium=partner' target='_blank'>Big Bill Morganfield</a></td><td>Papa Mojos Roadhouse</td><td>Durham</td><td style='text-align:center;'><span style='color: #999'> Find </span></td></tr> </table> </div> <!-- Events --> <div id="citywhatsup"> <h2> What's Up? <div id="tweetit"><a class="btn-slide">Tell em'</a> </div></h2> <div id="twitpanel"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> twttr.anywhere(function (T) { T("#twitpanel").tweetBox({ height: 100, width: 215, label: '', defaultContent: "" }); }); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> twttr.anywhere(function (T) { T("#whatsup").linkifyUsers(); }); </script> <ul> <li><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/898693876/4604414396_0464180430_b_normal.jpg' alt='kaiten_keiku' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @kaiten_keiku: <span style='text-align:justify;'>@Charlotte_Nao ????????~?????????!</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:37AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/612153581/bowdown_normal.jpg' alt='bugn' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @bugn: <span style='text-align:justify;'>@Bravotv (sitc2 as rhony) Bethenny-Carrie, Sonja-Samantha, Alex-Miranda, Ramona-Charlotte</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:36AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/844630278/mj_normal.jpg' alt='Myra_Jones' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @Myra_Jones: <span style='text-align:justify;'>@t_weet123 If you're still in Charlotte then you need to head to Whiskey River...they say Luke B. just walked in and started drinking.</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:36AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/936667468/110971230_normal.jpg' alt='THEORACLE2' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @THEORACLE2: <span style='text-align:justify;'>@MsKamilah08 are yall in charlotte?</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:36AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/767244842/7AM_normal.jpg' alt='mtollefsrud' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @mtollefsrud: <span style='text-align:justify;'>@vosler09 thinks I'm Charlotte.</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:36AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/936496517/DSCF0317_-_Copy_normal.JPG' alt='Thasian' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @Thasian: <span style='text-align:justify;'>I like #CharMeck #Charlotte | Atlanta = #No #FAIL #EPICFAIL</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:36AM</span></li><hr/><li><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/695551715/NASCAR_logo_flag_normal.jpg' alt='NascarNewsNow' height=40px; width=40px; style='border:0px; float: left; padding-right:4px;'/> @NascarNewsNow: <span style='text-align:justify;'>#NASCAR #RACING News from the track: Charlotte Motor Speedway | Nascar Leath: Ahh, the waiting is... http://bit.ly/b2DToq #NHRA #DAYTONA500</span> - <span class='twittertime'>May 28 12:35AM</span></li> </ul> </div> <div id="photos"> <h2> Recent Photos </h2> <ul> <li><a href='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4646832962_980f936db9.jpg' target='_blank' rel='lightbox-photos' title='05 23 10 Jamie's Baby Shower 097'><img src='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4646832962_980f936db9_t.jpg' alt='05 23 10 Jamie's Baby Shower 097' height=100px; width=100px; style='border:0px;'/></a></li><li><a href='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/4646218481_d06829a778.jpg' target='_blank' rel='lightbox-photos' 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  • Apache restart does not load new php.ini

    - by Tiffany Walker
    Never had this problem till updated CPanel today? Maybe that is part the problem? I only have the one php.ini file # /usr/local/bin/php --info | grep php.ini Configure Command => './configure' '--disable-cgi' '--disable-fileinfo' '--enable-bcmath' '--enable-calendar' '--enable-exif' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--enable-libxml' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--enable-mbstring' '--enable-pdo=shared' '--enable-soap' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-zip' '--prefix=/usr/local' '--with-bz2' '--with-config-file-path=/usr/local/lib' '--with-config-file-scan-dir=/usr/local/lib/php.ini.d' '--with-curl=/opt/curlssl/' '--with-curlwrappers' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-gd' '--with-imap=/opt/php_with_imap_client/' '--with-imap-ssl=/usr' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-kerberos' '--with-libdir=lib64' '--with-libexpat-dir=/usr' '--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2' '--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2/' '--with-mcrypt=/opt/libmcrypt/' '--with-mysql=/usr' '--with-mysql-sock=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' '--with-mysqli=/usr/bin/mysql_config' '--with-openssl=/usr' '--with-openssl-dir=/usr' '--with-pcre-regex=/opt/pcre' '--with-pdo-mysql=shared' '--with-pdo-sqlite=shared' '--with-pic' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-pspell' '--with-sqlite=shared' '--with-tidy=/opt/tidy/' '--with-xmlrpc' '--with-xpm-dir=/usr' '--with-xsl=/opt/xslt/' '--with-zlib' '--with-zlib-dir=/usr' '--with-gettext' Configuration File (php.ini) Path => /usr/local/lib Loaded Configuration File => /usr/local/lib/php.ini Scan this dir for additional .ini files => /usr/local/lib/php.ini.d # /usr/bin/php --info | grep php.ini <tr><td class="e">Configure Command </td><td class="v"> &#039;./configure&#039; &#039;--disable-fileinfo&#039; &#039;--enable-bcmath&#039; &#039;--enable-calendar&#039; &#039;--enable-exif&#039; &#039;--enable-ftp&#039; &#039;--enable-gd-native-ttf&#039; &#039;--enable-libxml&#039; &#039;--enable-magic-quotes&#039; &#039;--enable-mbstring&#039; &#039;--enable-pdo=shared&#039; &#039;--enable-soap&#039; &#039;--enable-sockets&#039; &#039;--enable-zip&#039; &#039;--prefix=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-bz2&#039; &#039;--with-config-file-path=/usr/local/lib&#039; &#039;--with-config-file-scan-dir=/usr/local/lib/php.ini.d&#039; &#039;--with-curl=/opt/curlssl/&#039; &#039;--with-curlwrappers&#039; &#039;--with-freetype-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-gd&#039; &#039;--with-imap=/opt/php_with_imap_client/&#039; &#039;--with-imap-ssl=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-jpeg-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-kerberos&#039; &#039;--with-libdir=lib64&#039; &#039;--with-libexpat-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2&#039; &#039;--with-libxml-dir=/opt/xml2/&#039; &#039;--with-mcrypt=/opt/libmcrypt/&#039; &#039;--with-mysql=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-mysql-sock=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock&#039; &#039;--with-mysqli=/usr/bin/mysql_config&#039; &#039;--with-openssl=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-openssl-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-pcre-regex=/opt/pcre&#039; &#039;--with-pdo-mysql=shared&#039; &#039;--with-pdo-sqlite=shared&#039; &#039;--with-pic&#039; &#039;--with-png-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-pspell&#039; &#039;--with-sqlite=shared&#039; &#039;--with-tidy=/opt/tidy/&#039; &#039;--with-xmlrpc&#039; &#039;--with-xpm-dir=/usr&#039; &#039;--with-xsl=/opt/xslt/&#039; &#039;--with-zlib&#039; &#039;--with-zlib-dir=/usr&#039; </td></tr> <tr><td class="e">Configuration File (php.ini) Path </td><td class="v">/usr/local/lib </td></tr> <tr><td class="e">Loaded Configuration File </td><td class="v">/usr/local/lib/php.ini </td></tr> <tr><td class="e">Scan this dir for additional .ini files </td><td class="v">/usr/local/lib/php.ini.d </td></tr> everytime I restart apache I still seem to be running the old one. Nothing changes. I removed phpinfo() and ini_set() from the php.ini but I still can't use them. # service httpd -k restart [Fri Oct 26 15:27:10 2012] [warn] module hostinglimits_module is already loaded, skipping [Fri Oct 26 15:27:10 2012] [warn] NameVirtualHost 127.0.0.1:8081 has no VirtualHosts There is also no php.ini files under the vhosts or .htaccess. # /usr/bin/php -v PHP 5.3.15 (cgi-fcgi) (built: Aug 4 2012 21:33:58) Copyright (c) 1997-2012 The PHP Group Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2012 Zend Technologies with eAccelerator v0.9.6.1, Copyright (c) 2004-2010 eAccelerator, by eAccelerator with the ionCube PHP Loader v4.2.2, Copyright (c) 2002-2012, by ionCube Ltd., and with Zend Guard Loader v3.3, Copyright (c) 1998-2010, by Zend Technologies with Suhosin v0.9.33, Copyright (c) 2007-2012, by SektionEins GmbH and # /usr/local/bin/php -v PHP 5.3.15 (cli) (built: Aug 4 2012 21:34:27) Copyright (c) 1997-2012 The PHP Group Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2012 Zend Technologies with eAccelerator v0.9.6.1, Copyright (c) 2004-2010 eAccelerator, by eAccelerator with the ionCube PHP Loader v4.2.2, Copyright (c) 2002-2012, by ionCube Ltd., and with Zend Guard Loader v3.3, Copyright (c) 1998-2010, by Zend Technologies with Suhosin v0.9.33, Copyright (c) 2007-2012, by SektionEins GmbH Nothing shows up in the error logs either. The only errors we get are under the vhost's with error_log saying phpinfo and ini_set are disabled. EDIT: Both php binaries use the same php.ini file EDIT: Running php as mod_fgcid.so with suexec EDIT: From SSH I see the correct values for PHP from the php.ini file being loaded from both binaries When using php from apache [26-Oct-2012 20:25:34 UTC] PHP Warning: phpinfo() has been disabled for security reasons in /home/jake/public_html/phpinfo.php on line 1 EDIT: /usr/bin/php is the correct PHP file. Forgot to mention. It is the one in the wrapper script.

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Wednesday, November 24, 2010

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Wednesday, November 24, 2010Popular ReleasesEdinamarry Free Tarot Software for Windows: Edinamarry Free Tarot Software Version 3.12: Version 3.12 - 24th November, 2010::: Contains new features and components. Fixed bugs too. History: Version 3.10 - 19th November 2010::: Contains bug fixes and replacements for older features. Added Collapsible Panels support. Client profiles and all cards data import and export, storage is now done in standalone databases. A new 2010-2011 Windows 7/XP freeware Tarot and Divinity Software for PC and Windows 7. Edinamarry brings to you an open Tarot Scribe Kit by which you can create your ...Deep Zoom for WPF: First Release: This first release of the Deep Zoom control has the same source code, binaries and demos as the CodeProject article (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WPF/DeepZoom.aspx).Minemapper: Minemapper v0.1.2: Added cave and nether support. Added ability to enter a height (press enter or 'set height' button). Added View menu, moved 'Show Navigation Controls' there. Added View->Background Color menu to change the canvas background color (preference not currently saved). Improved handling of height change (still not perfect, think it can be made faster). Images are now cached in %APPDATA%\Minemapper, organized by world, then direction, then mode (cave, day, night, nether), then skylight, th...BlogEngine.NET: BlogEngine.NET 2.0 RC: This is a Release Candidate version for BlogEngine.NET 2.0. The most current, stable version of BlogEngine.NET is version 1.6. Find out more about the BlogEngine.NET 2.0 RC here. If you want to extend or modify BlogEngine.NET, you should download the source code. To get started, be sure to check out our installation documentation and the installation screencast. If you are upgrading from a previous version, please take a look at the Upgrading to BlogEngine.NET 2.0 instructions. 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Most people...Wii Backup Fusion: Wii Backup Fusion 0.8.2 Beta: New in this release: - Update titles after language change - Tool tips for name/title - Transfer DVD to a specific image file - Download titles from wiitdb.com - Save Settings geometry - Titles and Cover language global in settings - Convert Files (images) to another format - Format WBFS partition - Create WBFS file - WIT path configurable in settings - Save last path in Files/Load - Sort game lists - Save column width - Sequenz of columns changeable - Set indicated columns in settings - Bus...SQL Monitor: SQL Monitor 1.3: 1. change sys.sysprocesses to DMV: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187997.aspx select * from sys.dm_exec_connections select * from sys.dm_exec_requests select * from sys.dm_exec_sessions 2. adjust columns to fit without scrollingVFPX: FoxBarcode v.0.11: FoxBarcode v.0.11 - Released 2010.11.22 FoxBarcode is a 100% Visual FoxPro class that provides a tool for generating images with different bar code symbologies to be used in VFP forms and reports, or exported to other applications. Its use and distribution is free for all Visual FoxPro Community. Whats is new? Added a third parameter to the BarcodeImage() method Fixed some minor bugs History FoxBarcode v.0.10 - Released 2010.11.19 - 85 Downloads Project page: FoxBarcodeASP.NET MVC Project Awesome (jQuery Ajax helpers): 1.3.1 and demos: A rich set of helpers (controls) that you can use to build highly responsive and interactive Ajax-enabled Web applications. These helpers include Autocomplete, AjaxDropdown, Lookup, Confirm Dialog, Popup Form and Pager tested on mozilla, safari, chrome, opera, ie 9b/8/7/6DotSpatial: DotSpatial 11-21-2010: This release introduces the following Fixed bugs related to dispose, which caused issues when reordering layers in the legend Fixed bugs related to assigning categories where NULL values are in the fields New fast-acting resize using a bitmap "prediction" of what the final resize content will look like. ImageData.ReadBlock, ImageData.WriteBlock These allow direct file access for reading or writing a rectangular window. Bitmaps are used for holding the values. Removed the need to stor...MDownloader: MDownloader-0.15.24.6966: Fixed Updater; Fixed minor bugs;WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.0.0.1: Version: 2.0.0.1 (Milestone 1): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Remark The sample applications are using Microsoft’s IoC container MEF. However, the WPF Application Framework (WAF) doesn’t force you to use the same IoC container in your application. You can use ...Home Access Plus+: v5.4.4: Version 5.4.4Change Log: Added logic to the My Computer Browsers to allow for users with no home directories (set in ad anyhow) Renamed the My School Computer Enhanced page to My School Computer Extended Edition File Changes: ~/bin/hap.web.dll ~/clientbin/hap.silverlight.xap ~/mycomputersl.aspx.NET Extensions - Extension Methods Library for C# and VB.NET: Release 2011.01: Added new extensions for - object.CountLoopsToNull Added new extensions for DateTime: - DateTime.IsWeekend - DateTime.AddWeeks Added new extensions for string: - string.Repeat - string.IsNumeric - string.ExtractDigits - string.ConcatWith - string.ToGuid - string.ToGuidSave Added new extensions for Exception: - Exception.GetOriginalException Added new extensions for Stream: - Stream.Write (overload) And other new methods ... Release as of dotnetpro 01/2011Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework: Visual Studio 2010 Code Samples 2010-11-19: Code samples for Visual Studio 2010Prism Training Kit: Prism Training Kit 4.0: Release NotesThis is an updated version of the Prism training Kit that targets Prism 4.0 and added labs for some of the new features of Prism 4.0. This release consists of a Training Kit with Labs on the following topics Modularity Dependency Injection Bootstrapper UI Composition Communication MEF Navigation Note: Take into account that this is a Beta version. If you find any bugs please report them in the Issue Tracker PrerequisitesVisual Studio 2010 Microsoft Word 2...Free language translator and file converter: Free Language Translator 2.2: Starting with version 2.0, the translator encountered a major redesign that uses MEF based plugins and .net 4.0. I've also fixed some bugs and added support for translating subtitles that can show up in video media players. Version 2.1 shows the context menu 'Translate' in Windows Explorer on right click. Version 2.2 has links to start the media file with its associated subtitle. Download the zip file and expand it in a temporary location on your local disk. At a minimum , you should uninstal...Free Silverlight & WPF Chart Control - Visifire: Visifire SL and WPF Charts v3.6.4 Released: Hi, Today we are releasing Visifire 3.6.4 with few bug fixes: * Multi-line Labels were getting clipped while exploding last DataPoint in Funnel and Pyramid chart. * ClosestPlotDistance property in Axis was not behaving as expected. * In DateTime Axis, Chart threw exception on mouse click over PlotArea if there were no DataPoints present in Chart. * ToolTip was not disappearing while changing the DataSource property of the DataSeries at real-time. * Chart threw exception ...Christoc's DotNetNuke Module Development Template: 00.00.05: This release of the DotNetNuke Module Development Templates replaces the NANT scripts with MSBuild scripts. You will need to download and install the MSBuildTasks MSI file from http://msbuildtasks.tigris.org/, it's pretty straight forward without needing any sort of customization during installation. To install these templates copy the ZIP file downloaded into your My Documents\Visual Studio 2008 (or 2010)\Templates\Project Templates\C#(or VB)\Web folder (if the WEB folder doesn't exist, cre...Microsoft SQL Server Product Samples: Database: AdventureWorks 2008R2 SR1: Sample Databases for Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2 (SR1)This release is dedicated to the sample databases that ship for Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2. See Database Prerequisites for SQL Server 2008R2 for feature configurations required for installing the sample databases. See Installing SQL Server 2008R2 Databases for step by step installation instructions. The SR1 release contains minor bug fixes to the installer used to create the sample databases. There are no changes to the databases them...New ProjectsAdventureWorks Products: This is a very simple module built for DNN 5.01.00 and up which allows you to edit some basic AdventureWorks product data. The module displays skin techniques.Amnesia: Transacts all changes to a website to facilitate automated UI testing. Queries from the automated test can also query the application database without blocking and participate in the transaction.DBA Inventory: DBA Inventory is a SQL Server based project to help inventory, manage, control, and report on a large SQL Server infrastructure without requiring agents on the target. dcorp: ?????? cmsFoldingAnalysis: Software para monitoramento de cliente folding@homeHelpSystem2010: testei2iPortal: i2i Technologies projectLucandra.NET: Lucandra.NET is a Lucene + Cassandra implementation written in C# which is based on the Lucandra (Java) project by Jake Luciani. Apache's Lucene is a high-performance full-text search engine, and Apache's Cassandra is a promising NoSQL database, originally developed by Facebook.MSBuild ConfigTransform for Visual Studio: MSbuild ConfigTransform makes transforming of config files (xml) an integrated part of your Visual Studio 2010 build action (CTRL+SHIFT+B or SHIFT+F6 or what your keyboards shortcut are set to) Provides optional fail on build on failed transformation of xml with error messagesNyx Editor: Nyx is a free, open-source game development tool aimed at making the creation and edition of levels or maps easy and enjoyable. Nyx exports level data as JSON, XML, or binary making it malleable to your own projects, engines, and needs.openfleet: This is a modular open source project to control fleets. It's a fork of the gofleet project (http://gitorious.org/gofleet).PoShRabbit: A PowerShell module to enable messaging against a Rabbit MQ server. Provides deeply integrated facilities for handling message queues and subscriptions using scripts. Enables PowerShell scripts to publish messages in Rabbit exchanges.Silverlight and WP7 Exception Handling and Logging building block: This code will help you handle and log client side exceptions in your Silverlight 4 and WP7 projects. Errors that occur in clients can be sent to your loggingservice. The service will store them. It's developed in C#, using VS2010.student admission system: this is emerson college registration system.Useful Desktop Components: Este artigo discute o uso de alguns componentes que podem ser muito úteis no dia a dia de um programador desktop como por exemplo manipulação de textos RTF, criptografias, validações, armazenamento de arquivos, validações de CPF e CNPJ, entre outros.WPF Calendar and DatePicker Themes: WPF Calendar and DatePicker ThemesWPF PropertyGrid Control: WPF PropertyGrid ControlWrix Development Kit: One development kit for internet and enterprise both.XNAPF: This project aims to create a control for integrating easily an XNA rendering in a WPF picture. xSNMP Extensions for System Center OpsMgr 2007: Developed by OpsMgr users with substantial community input, and tested extensively in implementations around the world, the xSNMP Management Pack suite is a powerful open-source SNMP monitoring implementation for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 environments.

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  • setting up subreport in ireport using XML datasource

    - by shyam
    can anyone explain in detail(if possible with screen shorts) how to add subreport (one to many relation) this being the xml data source <addressbook> <category name="home"> <person id="1"> <LASTNAME>Davolio</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Nancy</FIRSTNAME> <hobbies> <hobby>Radio Control</hobby> <hobby>R/C Cars</hobby> <hobby>Micro R/C Cars</hobby> <hobby>Die-Cast Models</hobby> </hobbies> <email>[email protected]</email> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> <person id="2"> <LASTNAME>Fuller</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Andrew</FIRSTNAME> <email>[email protected]</email> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> <person id="3"> <LASTNAME>Leverling</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Janet</FIRSTNAME> <hobbies> <hobby>Rockets</hobby> <hobby>Puzzles</hobby> <hobby>Science Hobby</hobby> <hobby>Toy Horse</hobby> </hobbies> <email>[email protected]</email> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> </category> <category name="work"> <person id="4"> <LASTNAME>Peacock</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Margaret</FIRSTNAME> <hobbies> <hobby>Toy Horse</hobby> </hobbies> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> <person id="5"> <LASTNAME>Buchanan</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Steven</FIRSTNAME> <hobbies> </hobbies> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> <person id="6"> <LASTNAME>Suyama</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Michael</FIRSTNAME> </person> <person id="7"> <LASTNAME>King</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Robert</FIRSTNAME> </person> </category> <category name="Other"> <person id="8"> <LASTNAME>Callahan</LASTNAME> <FIRSTNAME>Laura</FIRSTNAME> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> <person id="9"> <LASTNAME>Dodsworth</LASTNAME> <email>[email protected]</email> </person> </category> </addressbook>

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  • translating play in HTML to python

    - by aharon
    So, I'd like to represent one of Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet, into the following objects (maybe this isn't the best representation, if so please tell me): class Play(): acts = [] ... def add_act(self, act): acts.append(act) class Act(): scenes = [] ... def add_scene(self, scene): scenes.append(scene) class Scene(): elems = [] def __init__(self, title, setting=""): ... def add_elem(self, elem): elems.append(elem) ... class StageDirection(): # elem def __init__(self, text): ... class Line(): # elem def __init__(self, id, text, character = None): ... # A None character represents a continuation from the previous line # id could be, for example, 1.1.1 There are other methods, of course, for printing and such in each of the classes. The question is, how do I get a structure based on these classes (or something like them) from HTML 4 code that looks like this: <H3>ACT I</h3> <h3>SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle.</h3> <p><blockquote> <i>FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO</i> </blockquote> <A NAME=speech1><b>BERNARDO</b></a> <blockquote> <A NAME=1.1.1>Who's there?</A><br> </blockquote> <A NAME=speech2><b>FRANCISCO</b></a> <blockquote> <A NAME=1.1.2>Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.</A><br> </blockquote> <A NAME=speech3><b>BERNARDO</b></a> <blockquote> <A NAME=1.1.3>Long live the king!</A><br> </blockquote> <A NAME=speech4><b>FRANCISCO</b></a> <blockquote> <A NAME=1.1.4>Bernardo?</A><br> </blockquote> <A NAME=speech5><b>BERNARDO</b></a> <blockquote> <A NAME=1.1.5>He.</A><br> </blockquote> <!-- for more, see the source of shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html --> translating that into something like this: play = Play() actI = Act() sceneI = Scene("Scene I", "Elsinore. A platform before the castle.") sceneI.add_elem(StageDirection("Francisco at his post. Enter to him Bernardo.")) sceneI.add_elem(Line("Bernardo", "Who's there?")) ... Of course, I don't expect all the code—but what libraries and, when there aren't libraries, logic should I use? Thanks. (This is for a future opensource project and me learning Python for fun—not homework.)

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  • Problem with jQuery plugin TinySort

    - by Volmar
    I'm trying to sort a list with the help of jQuery and the TinySort-plugin, and it works good but one thing is not working as i want. My Code is: <!doctype html> <html> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8" /> <title>TinySort problem</title> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://so.volmar.se/www/js/jquery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://so.volmar.se/www/js/jquery.tinysort.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> function pktsort(way){ if($("div#paket>ul>li.sortdiv>a#s_abc").text() == "A-S"){ $("div#paket>ul>li.sortdiv>a#s_abc").text("S-A"); $("div#paket ul li.sortable").tsort("",{place:"org",returns:true,order:"desc"}); }else{ $("div#paket>ul>li.sortdiv>a#s_abc").text("A-S"); $("div#paket ul li.sortable").tsort("",{place:"org",returns:true,order:"asc"}); } } </script> </head> <body> <div id="paket" title="Paket"> <ul class="rounded"> <li class="sortdiv">Sort: <a href="#" onclick="pktsort();" class="active_sort" id="s_abc">A-S</a></li> <li class="sortable">Almost Famous</li> <li class="sortable">Children of Men</li> <li class="sortable">Coeurs</li> <li class="sortable">Colossal Youth</li> <li class="sortable">Demonlover</li> <li class="sortable">Femme Fatale</li> <li class="sortable">I'm Not There</li> <li class="sortable">In the City of Sylvia</li> <li class="sortable">Into the Wild</li> <li class="sortable">Je rentre à la maison</li> <li class="sortable">King Kong</li> <li class="sortable">Little Miss Sunshine</li> <li class="sortable">Man on Wire</li> <li class="sortable">Milk</li> <li class="sortable">Monsters Inc.</li> <li class="sortable">My Winnipeg</li> <li class="sortable">Ne touchez pas la hache</li> <li class="sortable">Nói albinói</li> <li class="sortable">Regular Lovers</li> <li class="sortable">Shaun of the Dead</li> <li class="sortable">Silent Light</li> <li class="addmore"><b>This text is not supposed to move</b></li> </ul> </div> </body> </html> you can try it out at: http://www.volmar.se/list-prob.html MY PROBLEM IS: I don't want the <li class="addmore"> to move above all the <li class="sortable">-elements when i press the sort-link. i wan't it to always be in the bottom. you can find documentation of the TinySort plugin here. i've tried loads of combinations with place and returns propertys but i just can't get it right.

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  • Another "Windows 7 entry missing from Grub2" Question

    - by 4x10
    Like many before me had the following problem that after installing Ubuntu (with windows 7 already installed), the grub boot loader wouldnt show windows 7 as a boot option, though i can boot fine if I use the "Choose Boot Device" options on the x220. The difference is that I try using UEFI only so many answers didn't really fit my problem, though i tried several stuffs: after running boot repair it destroyed the ubuntu boot loader custom entry in /etc/grub.d/40_custom for windows which doesnt show up many update-grub and reboots trying windows repair recovery thing while being there i also did bootrec.exe /FixBoot and update-grub and reboot again and finaly because it was so much fun, i installed linux all over again, while formatting and deleting everything linux related before that. Now that i think of it, Ubuntu also didn't notice Windows being there during the Setup and it still doesnt according to the Boot Info from Boot Repair. Boot Info Script 0.61-git-patched [23 April 2012] ============================= Boot Info Summary: =============================== => No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda. sda1: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: vfat Boot sector type: Windows 7: FAT32 Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: /efi/Boot/bootx64.efi /efi/ubuntu/grubx64.efi sda2: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type '' sda3: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Windows 7 Boot files: /Windows/System32/winload.exe sda4: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Operating System: Ubuntu precise (development branch) Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab sda5: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: Operating System: Boot files: sda6: __________________________________________________________________________ File system: swap Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: ============================ Drive/Partition Info: ============================= Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________ Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sda1 1 625,142,447 625,142,447 ee GPT GUID Partition Table detected. Partition Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors System /dev/sda1 2,048 206,847 204,800 EFI System partition /dev/sda2 206,848 468,991 262,144 Microsoft Reserved Partition (Windows) /dev/sda3 468,992 170,338,303 169,869,312 Data partition (Windows/Linux) /dev/sda4 170,338,304 330,338,304 160,000,001 Data partition (Windows/Linux) /dev/sda5 330,338,305 617,141,039 286,802,735 Data partition (Windows/Linux) /dev/sda6 617,141,040 625,141,040 8,000,001 Swap partition (Linux) "blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________ Device UUID TYPE LABEL /dev/sda1 885C-ED1B vfat /dev/sda3 EE06CC0506CBCCB1 ntfs /dev/sda4 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 ext4 /dev/sda5 d62515fd-8120-4a74-b17b-0bdf244124a3 ext4 /dev/sda6 7078b649-fb2a-4c59-bd03-fd31ef440d37 swap ================================ Mount points: ================================= Device Mount_Point Type Options /dev/sda1 /boot/efi vfat (rw) /dev/sda4 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro) /dev/sda5 /home ext4 (rw) =========================== sda4/boot/grub/grub.cfg: =========================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub # ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ### if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then set have_grubenv=true load_env fi set default="0" if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}" save_env saved_entry set prev_saved_entry= save_env prev_saved_entry set boot_once=true fi function savedefault { if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then saved_entry="${chosen}" save_env saved_entry fi } function recordfail { set recordfail=1 if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi } function load_video { insmod efi_gop insmod efi_uga insmod video_bochs insmod video_cirrus } insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then set gfxmode=auto load_video insmod gfxterm insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale set lang=en_US insmod gettext fi terminal_output gfxterm if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then set timeout=-1 else set timeout=10 fi ### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### set menu_color_normal=white/black set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray if background_color 44,0,30; then clear fi ### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### function gfxmode { set gfxpayload="$1" if [ "$1" = "keep" ]; then set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7 else set vt_handoff= fi } if [ ${recordfail} != 1 ]; then if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then set linux_gfx_mode=keep else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=keep fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi export linux_gfx_mode if [ "$linux_gfx_mode" != "text" ]; then load_video; fi menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-20-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-20-generic root=UUID=604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 ro quiet splash $vt_handoff initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-20-generic } menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-20-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail insmod gzio insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 echo 'Loading Linux 3.2.0-20-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-20-generic root=UUID=604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 ro recovery nomodeset echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-20-generic } ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" { insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin } menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" { insmod part_gpt insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,gpt4)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8 } ### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### # This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the # menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change # the 'exec tail' line above. ### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then source $prefix/custom.cfg; fi ### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================== sda4/etc/fstab: ================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5). # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0 # / was on /dev/sda4 during installation UUID=604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation UUID=885C-ED1B /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 1 # /home was on /dev/sda5 during installation UUID=d62515fd-8120-4a74-b17b-0bdf244124a3 /home ext4 defaults 0 2 # swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation UUID=7078b649-fb2a-4c59-bd03-fd31ef440d37 none swap sw 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =================== sda4: Location of files loaded by Grub: ==================== GiB - GB File Fragment(s) 129.422874451 = 138.966753280 boot/grub/grub.cfg 1 83.059570312 = 89.184534528 boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-20-generic 2 101.393131256 = 108.870045696 boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-20-generic 1 83.059570312 = 89.184534528 initrd.img 2 101.393131256 = 108.870045696 vmlinuz 1 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION : =================== log of boot-repair 2012-04-25__23h40 =================== boot-repair version : 3.18-0ppa3~precise boot-sav version : 3.18-0ppa4~precise glade2script version : 0.3.2.1-0ppa7~precise internet: connected python-software-properties version : 0.82.7 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 591 not upgraded. dpkg-preconfigure: unable to re-open stdin: No such file or directory boot-repair is executed in installed-session (Ubuntu precise (development branch) , precise , Ubuntu , x86_64) WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted. =================== OSPROBER: /dev/sda4:The OS now in use - Ubuntu precise (development branch) CurrentSession:linux =================== BLKID: /dev/sda3: UUID="EE06CC0506CBCCB1" TYPE="ntfs" /dev/sda1: UUID="885C-ED1B" TYPE="vfat" /dev/sda4: UUID="604dd3b2-64ca-4200-b8fb-820e8d0ca899" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sda5: UUID="d62515fd-8120-4a74-b17b-0bdf244124a3" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sda6: UUID="7078b649-fb2a-4c59-bd03-fd31ef440d37" TYPE="swap" 1 disks with OS, 1 OS : 1 Linux, 0 MacOS, 0 Windows, 0 unknown type OS. WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util sfdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted. =================== /etc/default/grub : # If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update # /boot/grub/grub.cfg. # For full documentation of the options in this file, see: # info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration' GRUB_DEFAULT=0 #GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 #GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" # Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs # This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains # the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...) #GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef" # Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only) #GRUB_TERMINAL=console # The resolution used on graphical terminal # note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE # you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo' #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 # Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux #GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true # Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries #GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true" # Uncomment to get a beep at grub start #GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1" EFI_OF_PART[1] (, ) =================== dmesg | grep EFI : [ 0.000000] EFI v2.00 by Lenovo [ 0.000000] Kernel-defined memdesc doesn't match the one from EFI! [ 0.000000] EFI: mem00: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000001000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem01: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000001000-0x000000000004e000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem02: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000004e000-0x0000000000058000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem03: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000058000-0x0000000000059000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem04: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000059000-0x000000000005e000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem05: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000005e000-0x000000000005f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem06: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000005f000-0x00000000000a0000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem07: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000100000-0x00000000005b9000) (4MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem08: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000005b9000-0x0000000020000000) (506MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem09: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000020000000-0x0000000020200000) (2MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem10: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000020200000-0x00000000364e4000) (354MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem11: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000364e4000-0x000000003726a000) (13MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem12: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000003726a000-0x0000000040000000) (141MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem13: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000040000000-0x0000000040200000) (2MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem14: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000040200000-0x000000009df35000) (1501MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem15: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000009df35000-0x00000000d39a0000) (858MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem16: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d39a0000-0x00000000d39c0000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem17: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d39c0000-0x00000000d5df5000) (36MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem18: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d5df5000-0x00000000d6990000) (11MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem19: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d6990000-0x00000000d6b82000) (1MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem20: type=1, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d6b82000-0x00000000d6b9f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem21: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d6b9f000-0x00000000d77b0000) (12MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem22: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d77b0000-0x00000000d780a000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem23: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d780a000-0x00000000d7826000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem24: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d7826000-0x00000000d7868000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem25: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d7868000-0x00000000d7869000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem26: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d7869000-0x00000000d786a000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem27: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d786a000-0x00000000d786b000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem28: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d786b000-0x00000000d786c000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem29: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d786c000-0x00000000d786d000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem30: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d786d000-0x00000000d825f000) (9MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem31: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d825f000-0x00000000d8261000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem32: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d8261000-0x00000000d82f7000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem33: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d82f7000-0x00000000d82f8000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem34: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d82f8000-0x00000000d8705000) (4MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem35: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d8705000-0x00000000d8706000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem36: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d8706000-0x00000000d8761000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem37: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d8761000-0x00000000d8768000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem38: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d8768000-0x00000000d9b9f000) (20MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem39: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d9b9f000-0x00000000d9e4c000) (2MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem40: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d9e4c000-0x00000000d9e52000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem41: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000d9e52000-0x00000000da59f000) (7MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem42: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000da59f000-0x00000000da6c3000) (1MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem43: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000da6c3000-0x00000000da79f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem44: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000da79f000-0x00000000da8b1000) (1MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem45: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000da8b1000-0x00000000da99f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem46: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000da99f000-0x00000000daa22000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem47: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000daa22000-0x00000000daa9b000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem48: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000daa9b000-0x00000000daa9c000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem49: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000daa9c000-0x00000000daa9f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem50: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000daa9f000-0x00000000daadd000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem51: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000daadd000-0x00000000dab9f000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem52: type=9, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000dab9f000-0x00000000dabdc000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem53: type=9, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000dabdc000-0x00000000dabff000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem54: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000dabff000-0x00000000dac00000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem55: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000100000000-0x000000021e600000) (4582MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem56: type=11, attr=0x8000000000000001, range=[0x00000000f80f8000-0x00000000f80f9000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] EFI: mem57: type=11, attr=0x8000000000000001, range=[0x00000000fed1c000-0x00000000fed20000) (0MB) [ 0.000000] ACPI: UEFI 00000000dabde000 0003E (v01 LENOVO TP-8D 00001280 PTL 00000002) [ 0.000000] ACPI: UEFI 00000000dabdd000 00042 (v01 PTL COMBUF 00000001 PTL 00000001) [ 0.000000] ACPI: UEFI 00000000dabdc000 00292 (v01 LENOVO TP-8D 00001280 PTL 00000002) [ 0.795807] fb0: EFI VGA frame buffer device [ 1.057243] EFI Variables Facility v0.08 2004-May-17 [ 9.122104] fb: conflicting fb hw usage inteldrmfb vs EFI VGA - removing generic driver ReadEFI: /dev/sda , N 128 , 0 , , PRStart 1024 , PRSize 128 WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted. =================== PARTITIONS & DISKS: sda4 : sda, not-sepboot, grubenv-ok grub2, grub-efi, update-grub, 64, with-boot, is-os, gpt-but-not-EFI, fstab-has-bad-efi, no-nt, no-winload, no-recov-nor-hid, no-bmgr, no-grldr, no-b-bcd, apt-get, grub-install, . sda3 : sda, maybesepboot, no-grubenv nogrub, no-docgrub, no-update-grub, 32, no-boot, no-os, gpt-but-not-EFI, part-has-no-fstab, no-nt, haswinload, no-recov-nor-hid, no-bmgr, no-grldr, no-b-bcd, nopakmgr, nogrubinstall, /mnt/boot-sav/sda3. sda1 : sda, maybesepboot, no-grubenv nogrub, no-docgrub, no-update-grub, 32, no-boot, no-os, is-correct-EFI, part-has-no-fstab, no-nt, no-winload, no-recov-nor-hid, no-bmgr, no-grldr, no-b-bcd, nopakmgr, nogrubinstall, /boot/efi. sda5 : sda, maybesepboot, no-grubenv nogrub, no-docgrub, no-update-grub, 32, no-boot, no-os, gpt-but-not-EFI, part-has-no-fstab, no-nt, no-winload, no-recov-nor-hid, no-bmgr, no-grldr, no-b-bcd, nopakmgr, nogrubinstall, /home. sda : GPT-BIS, GPT, no-BIOS_boot, has-correctEFI, 2048 sectors * 512 bytes =================== PARTED: Model: ATA HITACHI HTS72323 (scsi) Disk /dev/sda: 320GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 1049kB 106MB 105MB fat32 EFI system partition boot 2 106MB 240MB 134MB Microsoft reserved partition msftres 3 240MB 87.2GB 87.0GB ntfs Basic data partition 4 87.2GB 169GB 81.9GB ext4 5 169GB 316GB 147GB ext4 6 316GB 320GB 4096MB linux-swap(v1) =================== MOUNT: /dev/sda4 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro) proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev) sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev) none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw) none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw) none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw) udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755) devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620) tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755) none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880) none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev) /dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw) /dev/sda5 on /home type ext4 (rw) gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/vierlex/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=vierlex) /dev/sda3 on /mnt/boot-sav/sda3 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096) /sys/block/sda: alignment_offset bdi capability dev device discard_alignment events events_async events_poll_msecs ext_range holders inflight power queue range removable ro sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 sda5 sda6 size slaves stat subsystem trace uevent /dev: agpgart autofs block bsg btrfs-control bus char console core cpu cpu_dma_latency disk dri ecryptfs fb0 fd full fuse hpet input kmsg log mapper mcelog mei mem net network_latency network_throughput null oldmem port ppp psaux ptmx pts random rfkill rtc rtc0 sda sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 sda5 sda6 sg0 shm snapshot snd stderr stdin stdout tpm0 uinput urandom usbmon0 usbmon1 usbmon2 v4l vga_arbiter video0 watchdog zero /dev/mapper: control /boot/efi: EFI /boot/efi/EFI: Boot Microsoft ubuntu /boot/efi/efi: Boot Microsoft ubuntu /boot/efi/efi/Boot: bootx64.efi /boot/efi/efi/ubuntu: grubx64.efi WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted. =================== DF: Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/sda4 ext4 77G 4.1G 69G 6% / udev devtmpfs 3.9G 12K 3.9G 1% /dev tmpfs tmpfs 1.6G 864K 1.6G 1% /run none tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock none tmpfs 3.9G 152K 3.9G 1% /run/shm /dev/sda1 vfat 96M 18M 79M 19% /boot/efi /dev/sda5 ext4 137G 2.2G 128G 2% /home /dev/sda3 fuseblk 81G 30G 52G 37% /mnt/boot-sav/sda3 =================== FDISK: Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0xf34fe538 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 1 625142447 312571223+ ee GPT =================== Before mainwindow FSCK no PASTEBIN yes WUBI no WINBOOT yes recommendedrepair, purge, QTY_OF_PART_FOR_REINSTAL 1 no-kernel-purge UNHIDEBOOT_ACTION yes (10s), noflag () PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB sda4, FORCE_GRUB no (sda) REMOVABLEDISK no USE_SEPARATEBOOTPART no (sda3) grub2 () UNCOMMENT_GFXMODE no ATA ADD_KERNEL_OPTION no (acpi=off) MBR_TO_RESTORE ( ) EFI detected. Please check the options. =================== Actions FSCK no PASTEBIN yes WUBI no WINBOOT no bootinfo, nombraction, QTY_OF_PART_FOR_REINSTAL 1 no-kernel-purge UNHIDEBOOT_ACTION no (10s), noflag () PART_TO_REINSTALL_GRUB sda4, FORCE_GRUB no (sda) REMOVABLEDISK no USE_SEPARATEBOOTPART no (sda3) grub2 () UNCOMMENT_GFXMODE no ATA ADD_KERNEL_OPTION no (acpi=off) MBR_TO_RESTORE ( ) No change has been performed on your computer. See you soon! internet: connected Thanks for your time and attention. EDIT: additional Info Request =No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda. But maybe this is how it is supposed to work? yea this is ok. boot stuff seems to be on a seperate partition, in my case sda1. I'm very new to this UEFI thing too. missing files like bootmgr i don't really have a clue :D but yea, maybe thats how it suppose to be? Instead and whats not shown in the log for some reason: There is additional microsoft bootfiles on sda1 under /efi/microsoft/ [much stuff] I remember also doing some kind of hack to make a UEFI windows 7 usb stick. http://jake.io/b/2011/installing-windows-7-with-uefi-boot-on-an-x220-from-usb/ In short: creating and placing bootx64.efi on the stick so it can be booted in UEFI mode. boot order i decide that in my BIOS. i read somwhere that the thinkpad x220 (essential part of the serial number: 4921 http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/content/user_guides/x220_x220i_x220tablet_x220itablet_ug_en.pdf) doesnt really have UEFI interface or something, still, these 2 options are listed with all the other usual devices you can give a boot priority to. Right now it looks like this: Boot Priority Order 1. ubuntu 2. Windows Boot Manager 3. USB FDD 4. USB HDD 5. ATA HDD0 HITACHI [random string]

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  • Ada and 'The Book'

    - by Phil Factor
    The long friendship between Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace created one of the most exciting and mysterious of collaborations ever to have resulted in a technological breakthrough. The fireworks that created by the collision of two prodigious mathematical and creative talents resulted in an invention, the Analytical Engine, which went on to change society fundamentally. However, beyond that, we just don't know what the bulk of their collaborative work was about:;  it was done in strictest secrecy. Even the known outcome of their friendship, the first programmable computer, was shrouded in mystery. At the time, nobody, except close friends and family, had any idea of Ada Byron's contribution to the invention of the ‘Engine’, and how to program it. Her great insight was published in August 1843, under the initials AAL, standing for Ada Augusta Lovelace, her title then being the Countess of Lovelace. It was contained in a lengthy ‘note’ to her translation of a publication that remains the best description of Babbage's amazing Analytical Engine. The secret identity of the person behind those enigmatic initials was finally revealed by Prince de Polignac who, seventy years later, wrote to Ada's daughter to seek confirmation that her mother had, indeed, been the author of the brilliant sentences that described so accurately how Babbage's mechanical computer could be programmed with punch-cards. L.F. Menabrea's paper on the Analytical Engine first appeared in the 'Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve' in October 1842, and Ada translated it anonymously for Taylor's 'Scientific Memoirs'. Charles Babbage was surprised that she had not written an original paper as she already knew a surprising amount about the way the machine worked. He persuaded her to at least write some explanatory notes. These notes ended up extending to four times the length of the original article and represented the first published account of how a machine could be programmed to perform any calculation. Her example of programming the Bernoulli sequence would have worked on the Analytical engine had the device’s construction been completed, and gave Ada an unassailable claim to have invented the art of programming. What was the reason for Ada's secrecy? She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, who was probably the best known celebrity of the age, so she was already famous. She was a senior aristocrat, with titles, a fortune in money and vast estates in the Midlands. She had political influence, and was the cousin of Lord Melbourne, who was the Prime Minister at that time. She was friendly with the young Queen Victoria. Her mathematical activities were a pastime, and not one that would be considered by others to be in keeping with her roles and responsibilities. You wouldn't dare to dream up a fictional heroine like Ada. She was dazzlingly beautiful and talented. She could speak several languages fluently, and play some musical instruments with professional skill. Contemporary accounts refer to her being 'accomplished in science, art and literature'. On top of that, she was a brilliant mathematician, a talent inherited from her mother, Annabella Milbanke. In her mother's circle of literary and scientific friends was Charles Babbage, and Ada's friendship with him dates from her teenage zest for Mathematics. She was one of the first people he'd ever met who understood what he had attempted to achieve with the 'Difference Engine', and with whom he could converse as intellectual equals. He arranged for her to have an education from the most talented academics in the country. Ada melted the heart of the cantankerous genius to the point that he became a faithful and loyal father-figure to her. She was one of the very few who could grasp the principles of the later, and very different, ‘Analytical Engine’ which was designed from the start to tackle a variety of tasks. Sadly, Ada Byron's life ended less than a decade after completing the work that assured her long-term fame, in November 1852. She was dying of cancer, her gambling habits had caused her to run up huge debts, she'd had more than one affairs, and she was being blackmailed. Her brilliant but unempathic mother was nursing her in her final illness, destroying her personal letters and records, and repaying her debts. Her husband was distraught but helpless. Charles Babbage, however, maintained his steadfast paternalistic friendship to the end. She appointed her loyal friend to be her executor. For years, she and Babbage had been working together on a secret project, known only as 'The Book'. We have a clue to what it was in a letter written by her nine years earlier, on 11th August 1843. It was a joint project by herself and Lord Lovelace, her husband, and was intended to involve Babbage's 'undivided energies'. It involved 'consulting your Engine' (it required Babbage’s computer). The letter gives no hint about the project except for the high-minded nature of its purpose, and its highly mathematical nature.  From then on, the surviving correspondence between the two gives only veiled references to 'The Book'. There isn't much, since Babbage later destroyed any letters that could have damaged her reputation within the Establishment. 'I cannot spare the book today, which I am very sorry for. At the moment I want it for constant reference, but I think you can have it tomorrow' (Oct 1844)  And 'I will send you the book directly, and you can say, when you receive it, how long you will want to keep it'. (Nov 1844)  The two of them were obviously intent on the work: She writes, four years later, 'I have an engagement for Wednesday which will prevent me from attending to your wishes about the book' (Dec 1848). This was something that they both needed to work on, but could not do in parallel: 'I will send the book on Tuesday, and it can be left with you till Friday' (11 Feb 1849). After six years work, it had been so well-handled that it was beginning to fall apart: 'Don't forget the new cover you promised for the book. The poor book is very shabby and wants one' (20 Sept 1849). So what was going on? The word 'book' was not a code-word: it was a real book, probably a 'printer's blank', plain paper, but properly bound so printers and publishers could show off how the published work might look. The hints from the correspondence are of advanced mathematics. It is obvious that the book was travelling between them, back and forth, each one working on it for less than a week before passing it back. Ada and her husband were certainly involved in gambling large sums of money on the horses, and so most biographers have concluded that the three of them were trying to calculate the mathematical odds on the horses. This theory has three large problems. Firstly, Ada's original letter proposing the project refers to its high-minded nature. Babbage was temperamentally opposed to gambling and would scarcely have given so much time to the project, even though he was devoted to Ada. Secondly, Babbage would have very soon have realized the hopelessness of trying to beat the bookies. This sort of betting never attracts his type of intellectual background. The third problem is that any work on calculating the odds on horses would not need a well-thumbed book to pass back and forth between them; they would have not had to work in series. The original project was instigated by Ada, along with her husband, William King-Noel, 1st Earl of Lovelace. Charles Babbage was invited to join the project after the couple had come up with the idea. What could William have contributed? One might assume that William was a Bertie Wooster character, addicted only to the joys of the turf, but this was far from the truth. He was a scientist, a Cambridge graduate who was later elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. After Eton, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. On graduation, he entered the diplomatic service and acted as secretary under Lord Nugent, who was Lord Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. William was very friendly with Babbage too, able to discuss scientific matters on equal terms. He was a capable engineer who invented a process for bending large timbers by the application of steam heat. He delivered a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1849, and received praise from the great engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As well as being Lord Lieutenant of the County of Surrey for most of Victoria's reign, he had time for a string of scientific and engineering achievements. Whatever the project was, it is unlikely that William was a junior partner. After Ada's death, the project disappeared. Then, two years later, Babbage, through one of his occasional outbursts of temper, demonstrated that he was able to decrypt one of the most powerful of secret codes, Vigenère's autokey cipher.  All contemporary diplomatic and military messages used a variant of this cipher. Babbage had made three important discoveries, namely, the mathematical law of this cipher, the principle of the key periodicity, and the technique of the symmetry of position. The technique is now known as the Kasiski examination, also called the Kasiski test, but Babbage got there first. At one time, he listed amongst his future projects, the writing of a book 'The Philosophy of Decyphering', but it never came to anything. This discovery was going to change the course of history, since it was used to decipher the Russians’ military dispatches in the Crimean war. Babbage himself played a role during the Crimean War as a cryptographical adviser to his friend, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the Admiralty. This is as much as we can be certain about in trying to make sense of the bulk of the time that Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace worked together. Nine years of intensive work, involving the 'Engine' and a great deal of mathematics and research seems to have been lost: or has it? I've argued in the past http://www.simple-talk.com/community/blogs/philfactor/archive/2008/06/13/59614.aspx that the cracking of the Vigenère autokey cipher, was a fundamental motive behind the British Government's support and funding of the 'Difference Engine'. The Duke of Wellington, whose understanding of the military significance of being able to read enemy dispatches, was the most steadfast advocate of the project. If the three friends were actually doing the work of cracking codes by mathematical techniques that used the techniques of key periodicity, and symmetry of position (the use of a book being passed quickly to and fro is very suggestive), intending to then use the 'Engine' to do the routine cracking of each dispatch, then this is a rather different story. The project was Ada and William's idea. (William had served in the diplomatic service and would be familiar with the use of codes). This makes Ada Lovelace the initiator of a project which, by giving both Britain, and probably the USA, a diplomatic and military advantage in the second part of the Nineteenth century, changed world history. Ada would never have wanted any credit for cracking the cipher, and developing the method that rendered all contemporary military and diplomatic ciphering techniques nugatory; quite the reverse. And it is clear from the gaps in the record of the letters between the collaborators that the evidence was destroyed, probably on her request by her irascible but intensely honorable executor, Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage toyed with the idea of going public, but the Crimean war put an end to that. The British Government had a valuable secret, and intended to keep it that way. Ada and Charles had quite often discussed possible moneymaking projects that would fund the development of the Analytic Engine, the first programmable computer, but their secret work was never in the running as a potential cash cow. I suspect that the British Government was, even then, working on the concealment of a discovery whose value to the nation depended on it remaining so. The success of code-breaking in the Crimean war, and the American Civil war, led to the British and Americans  subsequently giving much more weight and funding to the science of decryption. Paradoxically, this makes Ada's contribution even closer to the creation of Colossus, the first digital computer, at Bletchley Park, specifically to crack the Nazi’s secret codes.

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  • NRF Online Merchandising Workshop: Where Online Retailers Are Focusing for Holiday and Beyond

    - by Rose Spicer-Oracle
    0 0 1 1204 6863 Oracle Corporation 57 16 8051 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Last month we attended the NRF Online Merchandising Workshop in LA, and it was a great opportunity to catch up with our customers, meet new retailers, and hear some great presentations from VF Corporation, Zazzle, Julep Beauty, Backcountry, eBags and more. The one-on-one conversations with Merchants and the keynote presentations carry the same themes across companies of all sizes and across verticals. With only 125 days left (and counting) until Black Friday, these conversations provided some great insight in to what’s top of mind for retailers during the most stressful time of their year, and a sneak peek in to what they will deliver this holiday season.  Some of the most popular topics were: When to start promoting for holiday: seems like a funny conversation to have in July, but a number of retailers said they already had their holiday shopping gift guides live on their site, and it was attracting a significant portion of their onsite traffic. When it comes to timing, most retailers were questioning when to begin their holiday promotions -- carefully balancing when to release pricing and specials, and knowing that customers are holding out for last-minute deals and price drops. Many retailers noted the frustrations around transparent pricing by Amazon and a few other mega-retailers last year, publishing their “lowest prices of the season” as early as October – ensuring shoppers that those prices were the best they could get all season long. Many retailers felt their hands were forced to drop prices. Others kept their set pricing with negative customer reaction, causing some to miss their holiday goals. The pressure is on, and most retailers identified November 1 as their target start date for the holiday promotions blitz. Some are even waiting for the big guys to release their “lowest prices of the season” guides and will then follow suit.      Attribution is tough – and a huge focus: understanding the path to conversion is a tough nut to crack, especially in the new omnichannel world where consumers use multiple touchpoints to make a single purchase, and internal management wants to know hard data. This has lead many retailers to invest in attribution; carefully tracking their online marketing efforts to determine what gets “credit” for the sale, instead of giving credit to the “last click.” Retailers noted that it is very difficult to determine the numbers when online and offline worlds collide – like when a shopper uses digital channels for research and then makes a purchase in a store. As one of the presenters from The North Face mentioned in her keynote, a key to enabling better customer service and satisfaction when it comes to converged online and offline sales is training the in-store staff, and creating a culture where it eventually “doesn’t matter what group gets the credit” if they all add to the sale. No doubt, the area of attribution will be a big area of retail investment in the coming years.      How to plan for the converged world: planning to ensure inventory gets where it needs to be was another concern. In conversations with retailers, we advised them to analyze customer patterns: where shoppers purchase items, where the items were sourced from and even where items are returned. This analysis is very valuable in determining inventory plans. From there, retailers can more accurately plan and allocate inventory to support both the online and offline customer behavior. As we head into the holiday season, the need for accurate enterprise-wide inventory visibility, and providing that information to associates, is even more critical to the brand-wide customer experience.       Improving the search / navigation / usability of the site(s): Aside from some of the big ideas and standard holiday pricing pressure, most conversations we had centered around continuing to improve the basics of the site. Reinvesting in search and navigation came up time and time again (FitForCommerce blogged about what a big topic it was at the event as well). Obviously getting shoppers on their path quickly and allowing them to find what they need fast is critical, but it was definitely interesting to hear just how much effort is still going in to honing the search and navigation experience. Adding new elements to search and navigation like typeahed, inventive navigation refinements, and new navigation categories like gift guides, specialized boutiques and flash sales were top of mind, in addition to searchandising and making search-driven product recommendations. (Oracle can help!)       Reducing cart abandonment: always a hot topic that is top of mind for every online retailer. Getting shoppers to the cart is often less then half the battle; getting them to click “buy” and complete the transaction is much more difficult. While retailers carefully study the checkout process and where shoppers tend to bounce, they know that how they design their checkout page is critical. We’re all online shoppers in our personal lives and we know how frustrating it can be when total prices are not transparent (i.e. shipping, processing, taxes is not included until the very last possible screen before clicking that buy button). Online retailers are struggling with where in the checkout process to surface the total price to be charged to reduce cart abandonment, while not showing the total figure too early in the process that it keeps shoppers from getting to checkout altogether. Recent research shows that providing total pricing prior to the checkout process dramatically reduces cart abandonment – as it serves as a filter to those shopping within a specific price band. Much of the cart abandonment discussion leads us to…       The free shipping / free returns question: it’s no secret that because of Amazon and programs like Prime, consumers expect free shipping, much to the chagrin of the smaller retailer. The reality is that if you’re not a mega-retailer, shipping is an expensive part of doing business that doesn’t allow most retailers to keep their prices low and offer free shipping. This has many retailers venturing out on the “free returns” path, especially in apparel. A number of retailers we spoke with are testing a flat rate shipping fee with free returns to see if they can crack the price threshold where shoppers are willing to pay for shipping with an added service. But, free shipping remains king.      Social ads and retargeting: they are working, but do they turn off consumers? That’s the big question. Every retailer we spoke with during a roundtable on the topic said that social ads and retargeting (where that pair of boots you’re been eyeing on a site magically follows you around the Internet) work and are meeting campaign goals. The larger question many retailers are asking is if this type of tactic is turning off a large number of shoppers, even if these campaigns are meeting their early goals. Retailers also mentioned that Facebook ads are working very well for them, especially when it comes to new customer acquisition, serving as a complimentary a channel to SEO when it comes to engaging new customers. While there are always new things to experiment with in retail, standard challenges are top of mind as retailers scramble to get ready for holiday. It will undoubtedly be another record-breaking online shopping season, but as retailers get more and more advanced with each Black Friday, expect some exciting things. This excitement needs to be backed by sound solutions and optimized operations. Then again, consumers are expecting more than ever, so I don’t doubt that retailers are already thinking about the possibilities of holiday 2015… and beyond. Customers who read this article, also found value in the following stories: Personalization for Retail: http://blogs.oracle.com/retail/entry/personalization_for_retailShop Direct User Experience Focus Drives Sales:https://blogs.oracle.com/retail/entry/shop_direct_user_experience_focusMaking Waves: Australian Online Retailer SurfStitch: https://blogs.oracle.com/oracleretail/entry/surf_stitchWhat’s new in Oracle Commerce v11.1 for RetailWhat the Content+Commerce Equation is Missing

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  • Social Business Forum Milano: Day 1

    - by me
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Reiser ?@peterreiser social business manifesto theses #2: organizations are conversations - hello Oracle Social Network #sbf12 Here are the Thesis (auto-translated from italian to english) From Stress to Success - Pragmatic pathways for Social Business - John Hagel John Hagel talked about challenges of deploying new social technologies. Below are some key points participant tweeted during the session. 6hRhiannon Hughes ?@Rhi_Hughes Favourite quote this morning 'We need to strengthen the champions & neutralise the enemies' John Hagel. Not a hard task at all #sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite 8hElena Torresani ?@ElenaTorresani Minimize the power of the enemies of change. Maximize the power of the champions - John Hagel #sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite 8hGaetano Mazzanti ?@mgaewsj John Hagel change: minimize the power of the enemies #sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite 8hGaetano Mazzanti ?@mgaewsj John Hagel social software as band-aid for poor leadtime/waste management? mmm #sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite 8hElena Torresani ?@ElenaTorresani "information is power. We need access to information to get power"John Hagel, Deloitte &Touche #sbf12http://instagr.am/p/LcjgFqMXrf/ View photo Reply Retweet Favorite 8hItalo Marconi ?@italomarconi Information is power and Knowledge is subversive. John Hagel#sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite 8hdanielce ?@danielce #sbf12 john Hagel: innovation is not rational. from Milano, Milano Reply Retweet Favorite 8hGaetano Mazzanti ?@mgaewsj John Hagel: change is a political (not rational) process #sbf12 Expand Reply Retweet Favorite Enterprise gamification to drive engagement - Ray Wang Ray Wang did an excellent speech around engagement strategies and gamification More details can be found on the Harvard Business Review blog Panel Discussion: Does technology matter? Understanding how software enables or prevents participation Christian Finn, Ram Menon, Mike Gotta, moderated by Paolo Calderari Below are the highlights of the panel discussions as live tweets: 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @cfinn Q: social silos: mega trend social suites - do we create social silos + apps silos + org silos ... #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @cfinn A: Social will be less siloed - more integrated into application design. Analyatics is key to make intelligent decisions #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta - A: its more social be design then social by layer - Better work experience using social design. #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Ram Menon: A: Social + Mobile + consumeration is coming together#sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Q: What is the evolution for social business solution in the next 4-5 years? #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @cfinn Adoption: A: User experience is king - no training needed - We let you participate into a conversation via mobile and email#sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta A:Adoption - how can we measure quality? Literacy - Are people get confident to talk to a invisible audience ? #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Ram Meno: A:Adoption - What should I measure ? Depend on business goal you want to active? #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Q: How can technology facilitate adoption #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser #sbf12 @cfinn @mgotta Ram Menon at panel discussion about social technology @oraclewebcenter http://pic.twitter.com/Pquz73jO View photo Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Ram Menon: 100% of data is in a system somewhere. 100% of collective intelligence is with people. Social System bridge both worlds Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser #sbf12 @MikeGotta Adoption is specific to the culture of the company Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @cfinn - drive adoption is important @MikeGotta - activity stream + watch list is most important feature in a social system #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta Why just adoption? email as 100% adoption? #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 2hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta Ram Menon respond: there is only 1 questions to ask: What is the adoption? #sbf12 @socialadoption you like this ? #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 3hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta - just replacing old technology (e.g. email) with new technology does not help. we need to change model/attitude #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 3hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Ram Menon: CEO mandated to replace 6500 email aliases with Social Networking Software #sbf12 Expand Reply Delete Favorite 3hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @MikeGotta A: How to bring interface together #sbf12 . Going from point tools to platform, UI, Architecture + Eco-system is important Expand Reply Delete Favorite 3hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser Q: How is technology important in Social Business #sbf12 A:@cfinn - technology is enabler , user experience -easy of use is important Expand Reply Delete Favorite 3hPeter H. Reiser ?@peterreiser @cfinn particiapte in panel "Does technology matter? Understanding how software enables or prevents participation" #sbf #webcenter

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