Search Results

Search found 1266 results on 51 pages for 'cons'.

Page 48/51 | < Previous Page | 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51  | Next Page >

  • Make an abstract class or use a processor?

    - by Tim Murphy
    I'm developing a class to compare two directories and run an action when a directory/file in the source directory does not exist in destination directory. Here is a prototype of the class: public abstract class IdenticalDirectories { private DirectoryInfo _sourceDirectory; private DirectoryInfo _destinationDirectory; protected abstract void DirectoryExists(DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory, DirectoryInfo destinationDirectory); protected abstract void DirectoryDoesNotExist(DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory, DirectoryInfo destinationDirectory); protected abstract void FileExists(DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory, DirectoryInfo destinationDirectory); protected abstract void FileDoesNotExist(DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory, DirectoryInfo destinationDirectory); public IdenticalDirectories(DirectoryInfo sourceDirectory, DirectoryInfo destinationDirectory) { ... } public void Run() { foreach (DirectoryInfo sourceSubDirectory in _sourceDirectory.GetDirectories()) { DirectoryInfo destinationSubDirectory = this.GetDestinationDirectoryInfo(subDirectory); if (destinationSubDirectory.Exists()) { this.DirectoryExists(sourceSubDirectory, destinationSubDirectory); } else { this.DirectoryDoesNotExist(sourceSubDirectory, destinationSubDirectory); } foreach (FileInfo sourceFile in sourceSubDirectory.GetFiles()) { FileInfo destinationFile = this.GetDestinationFileInfo(sourceFile); if (destinationFile.Exists()) { this.FileExists(sourceFile, destinationFile); } else { this.FileDoesNotExist(sourceFile, destinationFile); } } } } } The above prototype is an abstract class. I'm wondering if it would be better to make the class non-abstract and have the Run method receiver a processor? eg. public void Run(IIdenticalDirectoriesProcessor processor) { foreach (DirectoryInfo sourceSubDirectory in _sourceDirectory.GetDirectories()) { DirectoryInfo destinationSubDirectory = this.GetDestinationDirectoryInfo(subDirectory); if (destinationSubDirectory.Exists()) { processor.DirectoryExists(sourceSubDirectory, destinationSubDirectory); } else { processor.DirectoryDoesNotExist(sourceSubDirectory, destinationSubDirectory); } foreach (FileInfo sourceFile in sourceSubDirectory.GetFiles()) { FileInfo destinationFile = this.GetDestinationFileInfo(sourceFile); if (destinationFile.Exists()) { processor.FileExists(sourceFile, destinationFile); } else { processor.FileDoesNotExist(sourceFile, destinationFile); } } } } What do you see as the pros and cons of each implementation?

    Read the article

  • Good C string libary

    - by chamakits
    Hello all. I recently got inspired to start up a project I've been wanting to code for a while. I want to do it in C, because memory handling is key this application. I was searching around for a good implementation of strings in C, since I know me doing it myself could lead to some messy buffer overflows, and I expect to be dealing with a fairly big amount of strings. I found this article which gives details on each, but they each seem like they have a good amount of cons going for them (don't get me wrong, this article is EXTREMELY helpful, but it still worries me that even if I were to choose one of those, I wouldn't be using the best I can get). I also don't know how up to date the article is, hence my current plea. What I'm looking for is something that may hold a large amount of characters, and simplifies the process of searching through the string. If it allows me to tokenize the string in any way, even better. Also, it should have some pretty good I/O performance. Printing, and formatted printing isn't quite a top priority. I know I shouldn't expect a library to do all the work for me, but was just wandering if there was a well documented string function out there that could save me some time and some work. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! EDIT: I was asked about the license I prefer. Any sort of open source license will do, but preferably GPL (v2 or v3). EDIt2: I found betterString (bstring) library and it looks pretty good. Good documentation, small yet versatile amount of functions, and easy to mix with c strings. Anyone have any good or bad stories about it? The only downside I've read about it is that it lacks Unicode (again, read about this, haven't seen it face to face just yet), but everything else seems pretty good. EDIT3: Also, preferable that its pure C.

    Read the article

  • Codeigniter xss_clean dilemma

    - by Henson
    I know this question has been asked over and over again, but I still haven't found the perfect answer for my liking, so here it goes again... I've been reading lots and lots polarizing comments about CI's xss_filter. Basically majority says that it's bad. Can someone elaborate how it's bad, or at least give 1 most probable scenario where it can be exploited? I've looked at the security class in CI 2.1 and I think it's pretty good as it doesn't allow malicious strings like document.cookie, document.write, etc. If the site has basically non-html presentation, is it safe to use global xss_filter (or if it's REALLY affecting performance that much, use it on per form post basis) before inserting to database ? I've been reading about pros and cons about whether to escape on input/output with majority says that we should escape on output only. But then again, why allow strings like <a href="javascript:stealCookie()">Click Me</a> to be saved in the database at all? The one thing I don't like is javascript: and such will be converted to [removed]. Can I extend the CI's security core $_never_allowed_str arrays so that the never allowed strings return empty rather than [removed]. The best reasonable wrongdoing example of this I've read is if a user has password of javascript:123 it will be cleaned into [removed]123 which means string like this document.write123 will also pass as the user's password. Then again, what is the odds of that to happen and even if it happens, I can't think of any real harm that can do to the site. Thanks

    Read the article

  • Enums and inheritance

    - by devoured elysium
    I will use (again) the following class hierarchy: Event and all the following classes inherit from Event: SportEventType1 SportEventType2 SportEventType3 SportEventType4 I have originally designed the Event class like this: public abstract class Event { public abstract EventType EventType { get; } public DateTime Time { get; protected set; } protected Event(DateTime time) { Time = time; } } with EventType being defined as: public enum EventType { Sport1, Sport2, Sport3, Sport4 } The original idea would be that each SportEventTypeX class would set its correct EventType. Now that I think of it, I think this approach is totally incorrect for two reasons: If I want to later add a new SportEventType class I will have to modify the enum If I later decide to remove one SportEventType that I feel I won't use I'm also in big trouble with the enum. I have a class variable in the Event class that makes, afterall, assumptions about the kind of classes that will inherit from it, which kinda defeats the purpose of inheritance. How would you solve this kind of situation? Define in the Event class an abstract "Description" property, having each child class implement it? Having an Attribute(Annotation in Java!) set its Description variable instead? What would be the pros/cons of having a class variable instead of attribute/annotation in this case? Is there any other more elegant solution out there? Thanks

    Read the article

  • for loop vs std::for_each with lambda

    - by Andrey
    Let's consider a template function written in C++11 which iterates over a container. Please exclude from consideration the range loop syntax because it is not yet supported by the compiler I'm working with. template <typename Container> void DoSomething(const Container& i_container) { // Option #1 for (auto it = std::begin(i_container); it != std::end(i_container); ++it) { // do something with *it } // Option #2 std::for_each(std::begin(i_container), std::end(i_container), [] (typename Container::const_reference element) { // do something with element }); } What are pros/cons of for loop vs std::for_each in terms of: a) performance? (I don't expect any difference) b) readability and maintainability? Here I see many disadvantages of for_each. It wouldn't accept a c-style array while the loop would. The declaration of the lambda formal parameter is so verbose, not possible to use auto there. It is not possible to break out of for_each. In pre- C++11 days arguments against for were a need of specifying the type for the iterator (doesn't hold any more) and an easy possibility of mistyping the loop condition (I've never done such mistake in 10 years). As a conclusion, my thoughts about for_each contradict the common opinion. What am I missing here?

    Read the article

  • Folding a list in F#

    - by bytebuster
    I have a pretty trivial task but I can't figure out how to make the solution prettier. The goal is taking a List and returning results, based on whether they passed a predicate. The results should be grouped. Here's a simplified example: Predicate: isEven Inp : [2; 4; 3; 7; 6; 10; 4; 5] Out: [[^^^^]......[^^^^^^^^]..] Here's the code I have so far: let f p ls = List.foldBack (fun el (xs, ys) -> if p el then (el::xs, ys) else ([], xs::ys)) ls ([], []) |> List.Cons // (1) |> List.filter (not << List.isEmpty) // (2) let even x = x % 2 = 0 let ret = [2; 4; 3; 7; 6; 10; 4; 5] |> f even // expected [[2; 4]; [6; 10; 4]] This code does not seem to be readable that much. Also, I don't like lines (1) and (2). Is there any better solution?

    Read the article

  • Is dual-booting an OS more or less secure than running a virtual machine?

    - by Mark
    I run two operating systems on two separate disk partitions on the same physical machine (a modern MacBook Pro). In order to isolate them from each other, I've taken the following steps: Configured /etc/fstab with ro,noauto (read-only, no auto-mount) Fully encrypted each partition with a separate encryption key (committed to memory) Let's assume that a virus infects my first partition unbeknownst to me. I log out of the first partition (which encrypts the volume), and then turn off the machine to clear the RAM. I then un-encrypt and boot into the second partition. Can I be reasonably confident that the virus has not / cannot infect both partitions, or am I playing with fire here? I realize that MBPs don't ship with a TPM, so a boot-loader infection going unnoticed is still a theoretical possibility. However, this risk seems about equal to the risk of the VMWare/VirtualBox Hypervisor being exploited when running a guest OS, especially since the MBP line uses UEFI instead of BIOS. This leads to my question: is the dual-partitioning approach outlined above more or less secure than using a Virtual Machine for isolation of services? Would that change if my computer had a TPM installed? Background: Note that I am of course taking all the usual additional precautions, such as checking for OS software updates daily, not logging in as an Admin user unless absolutely necessary, running real-time antivirus programs on both partitions, running a host-based firewall, monitoring outgoing network connections, etc. My question is really a public check to see if I'm overlooking anything here and try to figure out if my dual-boot scheme actually is more secure than the Virtual Machine route. Most importantly, I'm just looking to learn more about security issues. EDIT #1: As pointed out in the comments, the scenario is a bit on the paranoid side for my particular use-case. But think about people who may be in corporate or government settings and are considering using a Virtual Machine to run services or applications that are considered "high risk". Are they better off using a VM or a dual-boot scenario as I outlined? An answer that effectively weighs any pros/cons to that trade-off is what I'm really looking for in an answer to this post. EDIT #2: This question was partially fueled by debate about whether a Virtual Machine actually protects a host OS at all. Personally, I think it does, but consider this quote from Theo de Raadt on the OpenBSD mailing list: x86 virtualization is about basically placing another nearly full kernel, full of new bugs, on top of a nasty x86 architecture which barely has correct page protection. Then running your operating system on the other side of this brand new pile of shit. You are absolutely deluded, if not stupid, if you think that a worldwide collection of software engineers who can't write operating systems or applications without security holes, can then turn around and suddenly write virtualization layers without security holes. -http://kerneltrap.org/OpenBSD/Virtualization_Security By quoting Theo's argument, I'm not endorsing it. I'm simply pointing out that there are multiple perspectives here, so I'm trying to find out more about the issue.

    Read the article

  • Windows 7 file-based backup service

    - by Ben Voigt
    I'm looking for a good replacement for Lazy Mirror, since it doesn't support Windows 7 well. Pros: One of the things I really loved about Lazy Mirror is that it always maintains a "full" backup, but does so by only copying modified files. As each file was copied, the old version got archived (moved to an out-of-the-way location). So after mirroring ran, there'd be a complete copy of the file system, which could even be booted if necessary. At the same time, extra space on the backup media was used to store as many older versions of files as possible, without wasting space storing multiple copies of the same version. It seems that with Windows 7 backup, there'd be wasted space storing the same data in both the system image and file backup. It was completely file-based, but also aware of the registry (it had a feature to dump the live registry to hive files in the correct format). The backups were normal NTFS filesystems, no special tool was needed to read them. It automatically cleaned out the oldest previous versions when space ran out (unlike Windows 7 backup which apparently simply starts failing the the backup media fills.) It copied all file attributes including security. Cons: It doesn't deal well with junction points, symbolic links, and hard links. It didn't run as a service without lots of help from firesrv or srvany, and then you couldn't interact with the GUI. Running as a service was necessary to be able to mirror protected OS files. It didn't have open file handling, except for registry hives. I guess that the file-by-file archive and replacement could leave mismatched sets of files, if the mirror was interrupted. This would be the advantage of incremental backup techniques that require old full backup + all intermediate incremental backups to restore. But I don't see this as presenting much of a problem, you'd really only have a boot failure if you had a mixture of pre- and post-service pack files, and I can run a full image backup using another tool before applying a service pack. Does anyone know of a tool that does both full-system backup and storage of old versions of files like Lazy Mirror did (without storing the same data multiple times), and also can run as a service in Windows 7? Free is best of course, but a reasonably priced paid program (e.g. It would be absolutely awesome if it also triggered a backup/mirror pass when a particular external drive was plugged in and generated popup warnings if backups hadn't been run recently)

    Read the article

  • Good maintained privacy Add-On/settings set that takes usability into account?

    - by Foo Bar
    For some weeks I've been trying to find a good set of Firefox Addons that give me a good portion of privacy/security without losing to much of usability. But I can't seem to find a nice combination of add-ons/settings that I'm happy with. Here's what I tried, together with the pros and cons that I discovered: HTTPS Everywhere: Has only pro's: just install and be happy (no interaction needed), loads known pages SLL-encrypted, is updated fairly often NoScript - Fine, but needs a lot of fine-tuning, often maintained, mainly blocks all non-HTML/CSS Content, but the author sometimes seems to do "untrustworthy" decission RequestPolicy - seems dead (last activity 6 months ago, has some annoying bugs, official support mail address is dead), but the purpose of this is really great: gives you full control over cross-site requests: blocks by default, let's you add sites to a whitelist, once this is done it works interaction-less in the background AdBlock Edge: blocks specific cross-site requests from a pre-defined whitelist (can never be fully sure, need to trust others) Disconnect: like AdBlock Edge, just looking different, has no interaction possibilities (can never be fully sure, need to trust others, can not interact even if I wanted to) Firefox own Cookie Managment (block by default, whitelist specific sites), after building own whitelist it does it's work in the background and I have full control All These addons together basically block everything unsecure. But there are a lot of redundancies: NoScript has a mixed-content blocker, but FF has it's own for a while now. Also the Cookie blocker from NoScript is reduntant to my FF-Cookie setting. NoScript also has an XSS-blocker, which is redundant to RequestPolicy. Disconnect and AdBlock are extremly redundant, but not fully. And there are some bugs (especially RequestPolicy). And RequestPolicy seems to be dead. All in all, this list is great but has these heavy drawbacks. My favourite set would be "NoScript Light" (only script blocking, without all the additonal redundant-to-other-addons hick-hack it does) + HTTPS Everywhere + RequestPolicy-clone (maintained, less buggy), because RequestPolicy makes all other "site-blockers" obsolete (because it blocks everything by default and let's me create a whitelist). But since RequestPolicy is buggy and seems to be dead I have to fallback to AdBlock Edge and Disconnect, which don't block all and and need more maintaining (whitelist updates, trust-check). Are there addons that fulfill my wishes?

    Read the article

  • SQL Clustering on Hyper V - is a cluster within a cluster a benefit.

    - by Chris W
    This is a re-hash of a question I asked a while back - after a consultant has come in firing ideas in to other teams in the department the whole issue has been raised again hence I'm looking for more detailed answers. We're intending to set-up a multi-instance SQL Cluster across a number of physical blades which will run a variety of different systems across each SQL instance. In general use there will be one virtual SQL instance running on each VM host. Again, in general operation each VM host will run on a dedicated underlying blade. The set-up should give us lots of flexibility for maintenance of any individual VM or underlying blade with all the SQL instances able to fail over as required. My original plan had been to do the following: Install 2008 R2 on each blade Add Hyper V to each blade Install a 2008 R2 VM to each blade Within the VMs - create a failover cluster and then install SQL Server clustering. The consultant has suggested that we instead do the following: Install 2008 R2 on each blade Add Hyper V to each blade Install a 2008 R2 VM to each blade Create a cluster on the HOST machines which will host all the VMs. Within the VMs - create a failover cluster and then install SQL Server clustering. The big difference is the addition of step 4 whereby we cluster all of the guest VMs as well. The argument is that it improves maintenance further since we have no ties at all between the SQL cluster and physical hardware. We can in theory live migrate the guest VMs around the hosts without affecting the SQL cluster at all so we for routine maintenance physical blades we move the SQL cluster around without interruption and without needing to failover. It sounds like a nice idea but I've not come across anything on the internet where people say they've done this and it works OK. Can I actually do the live migrations of the guests without the SQL Cluster hosted within them getting upset? Does anyone have any experience of this set up, good or bad? Are there some pros and cons that I've not considered? I appreciate that mirroring is also a valuable option to consider - in this case we're favouring clustering since it will do the whole of each instance and we have a good number of databases. Some DBs are for lumbering 3rd party systems that may not even work kindly with mirroring (and my understanding of clustering is that fail overs are completely transparent to the clients). Thanks.

    Read the article

  • How should I use my new SSD drive?

    - by jasondavis
    I just built a new PC the other day. Specs... Processor: Intel i7-930 quad core CPU CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Motherboard: AsRock X58 Extreme 3 RAM/Memory: 6gb G-Skill tripple channel DDR3 memory (3 sticks of 2gb planning to get another kit to make it 12gb total soon) Operating System Hard drive: Intel X25-M 80GB Mainstream SATA2 Solid State Drive Video Cards: 2 XFX ATI Redeon HD 4650 cards to run 3-4 monitors Case: Lian Li PC-B10 Midtower case Power Supply: Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W Operating System Windows 7 Pro 64bit Not sure if the specs are helpful at all but I posted them just in case. So I got everything put together and running great so far but I need some advice/ideas/help/tips. I got the SSD drive in hopes of using it strictly for my windows 7 install along with all my other programs I install. I am then going to get another drive or 2 just for data (video,music,photos, etc). So my plan is to just install the new data drives and then in windows 7 I will change my "My documents" "My Music" "My Video" "MY Photos" library's to be located on the data drives instead of the OS SSD drive. I would ultimately like to install all my programs with my windows install on the SSD drive and then create an IMAGE of the drive and then 6 months down the road if things are sluggish I can just wipe the drive and restore my IMAGE with all my programs and settings in tact still. So here are some questions now. 1) How can I verify that TRIM is working on my new SSD? 2) Is there anything above that I missed that I should be doing? I think I once read that there is a page file or some sort of file that windows changes a lot and that it should be moved off f an SSD an onto my data drives. DOes anyone know what I might of heard? If you do can you explain the pros and cons of doing such a thing as well as how to possibly? 3) Any tips or advice to get the best performance from all this, I built a pretty nice system and I just want to make it stay that way as long as I can.

    Read the article

  • Mysql Servers for Attendance System

    - by foo
    I'm building an attendance system. There are about 20 places where people will check in and check out using Mifare 1K Card. It will use MySQL as the database. The system will display something like "#ID IN: 800AM" when the first time the user checks in and "#ID OUT: 400PM" when the user checks out. For this to work, all the databases need to be synchronized with each other all the times. For an example, if user A went to location #1 to check in but by the time he wants to return home, the server at location #1 went down, he needs to go to location #2 or the nearest server to check out. The server at location #2 should display '#ID OUT: 400PM" and not "#ID IN: 400PM" since he's already checked in. So, what should I use to ensure this idea will work? My main concern is with the network (other department manages it) which is very unpredictable. It just love to go down anytime it wants to. Update LOL, didn't realize my question is not clear, just noticed it when you guys pointed it out, sorry about that. My real question is, how can I configure my MySQL to be synchronized with each other (20 servers)? MySQL cluster ? (tried reading about it, but I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do) My current setup (first phase): Local database for each server OS: Slackware A main server that keeps track which staff is at which server A web based front end for the user to see their history (which connects to the server based on their records) Main Pros No worries about network problems since it is a local database Main Cons A user can only check in and out at the same server. Databases/Servers are not connected with each others. Have to add the user to each server if the users want to check in at different locations. Which means, if he wants to go to location A, he must be checked out from location A first and then check in at location B. The server at location B didn't know that the user has checked in before at A. By the way, I've already centralized my NTP to a local server. About the network, let's just say, I don't have the authority to make changes so that the network will be better. The network won't effect all 20 servers at once, usually, just a few of them for several times a week. If there are anything else you would like me to answer, please just ask.

    Read the article

  • Sycronizing/deploying scripts across several systems

    - by otto
    I have a few time consuming tasks that I like to spread across several computers. These tasks require running an identical ruby or python script (or series of scripts that call each other) on each machine. The machines will a separate config file telling the script what portion of the task to complete. I want to figure out the best way to syncronize the scripts on these machines prior to running them. Up until now, I have been making changes to a copy of the script on a network share and then copying a fresh copy to each machine when I want to run it. But this is cumbersome and leaves a chance for error ( e.g missing a file on the copy or not clicking "copy and replace"). Lets assume the systems are standard windows machines that are not dedicated to this task and I don't need to run these scripts all the time (so I don't want a solution that runs 24/7 and always keeps them up to date, I'd prefer something that pushes/pulls on command). My thoughts on various options: Simple adaptation of my current workflow: Keep the originals on the network drive, but write a batch file that copies over the latest version of the scripts so everything is a one-click operation. Requires action on each system, but that's not the end of the world (since each one usually needs their configuration file changed slightly too). Put everything in a Mercurial/Git reposotory and pull a fresh copy onto each node. Going straight to the repo from each machine would guarantee a current version (and would have the fringe benefit of allowing edits to the script to be made from any machine). Cons would be that it requires VCS to be installed on each machine and there might be some pains dealing with authentication since I wouldn't use a public repo. Open up write access on a shared folder and write a script to use rsync (or similar) to push the changes out to all of the machines at once. This gets a current version on every machine (though you would have to change the script if you want to omit a machine or add a new one). Possible issue would be that each computer has to allow write access. Dropbox is a reasonable suggestion (and could work well) but I dont want to use an external service and I'd prefer not to have to have dropbox running 24/7 on systems that would normally not need it. Is there something simple that I am missing? Some tool designed expressly for doing this kind of thing? Otherwise I am leaning toward just tying all of the systems into Mercurial since, while it requires extra software, it is a little more robust than writing a batch file (e.g. if I split part of a script into a separate module, Mercurial will know what to do whereas I would have to add a line to the batch file).

    Read the article

  • IT merger - self-sufficient site with domain controller VS thin clients outpost with access to termi

    - by imagodei
    SITUATION: A larger company acquires a smaller one. IT infrastructure has to be merged. There are no immediate plans to change the current size or role of the smaller company - the offices and production remain. It has a Win 2003 SBS domain server, Win 2000 file server, linux server for SVN and internal Wikipedia, 2 or 3 production machines, LTO backup solution. The servers are approx. 5 years old. Cisco network equippment (switches, wireless, ASA). Mail solution is a hosted Exchange. There are approx. 35 desktops and laptops in the company. IT infrastructure unification: There are 2 IT merging proposals. 1.) Replacing old servers, installing Win Server 2008 domain controller, and setting up either subdomain or domain trust to a larger company. File server and other servers remain local and synchronization should be set up to a centralized location in larger company. Similary with the backup - it remains local and if needed it should be replicated to a centralized location. Licensing is managed by smaller company. 2.) All servers are moved to a centralized location in larger company. As many desktop machines as possible are replaced by thin clients. The actual machines are virtualized and hosted by Terminal server at the same central location. Citrix solutions will be used. Only router and site-2-site VPN connection remain at the smaller company. Backup internet line to insure near 100% availability is needed. Licensing is mainly managed by larger company. Only specialized software for PCs that will not be virtualized is managed by smaller company. I'd like to ask you to discuss both solutions a bit. In your opinion, which is better from the operational point of view? Which is more reliable, cheaper in the long run? Easier to manage from the system administrator's point of view? Easier on the budget and easier to maintain from IT department's point of view? Does anybody have any experience with the second option and how does it perform in production environment? Pros and cons of both? Your input will be of great significance to me. Thank you very much!

    Read the article

  • Hardware for multipurpose home server

    - by Michael Dmitry Azarkevich
    Hi guys, I'm looking to set up a multipurpose home server and hoped you could help me with the hardware selection. First of all, the services it will provide: Hosting a MySQL database (for training and testing purposes) FTP server Personal Mail Server Home media server So with this in mind I've done some research, and found some viable solutions: A standard PC with the appropriate software (Either second hand or new) A non-solid state mini-ITX system A solid state, fanless mini-ITX system I've also noted the pros and cons of each system: A standard second hand PC with old hardware would be the cheapest option. It could also have lacking processing power, not enough RAM and generally faulty hardware. Also, huge power consumption heat generation and noise levels. A standard new PC would have top-notch hardware and will stay that way for quite some time, so it's a good investment. But again, the main problem is power consumption, heat generation and noise levels. A non-solid state mini-ITX system would have the advantages of lower power consumption, lower cost (as far as I can see) and long lasting hardware. But it will generate noise and heat which will be even worse because of the size. A solid state, fanless mini-ITX system would have all the advantages of a non-solid state mini-ITX but with minimal noise and heat. The main disadvantage is the read\write problems of flash memory. All in all I'm leaning towards a non-solid state mini-ITX because of the read\write issues of flash memory. So, after this overview of what I do know, my questions are: Are all these services even providable from a single server? To my best understanding they are, but then again, I might be wrong. Is any of these solutions viable? If yes, which one is the best for my purposes? If not, what would you suggest? Also, on a more software oriented note: OS wise, I'm planning to run Linux. I'm currently thinking of four options I've been recommended: CentOS, Gentoo, DSL (Damn Small Linux) and LFS (Linux From Scratch). Any thoughts on this? Any other distro you would recomend? Regarding FTP services, I've herd good things about FileZila. Anyone has any experience with that? Do you recommend it? Do you recommend something else? Regarding the Mail service, I know nothing about this except that it exists. Any software you recommend for this task? Home media, same as mail service. Any recommended software? Thank you very much.

    Read the article

  • Developer Training – Various Options for Maximum Benefit – Part 4

    - by pinaldave
    Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 If you have been reading this series, by now you are aware of all the pros and cons that can come along with training.  We’ve asked and answered hard questions, and investigated them “whys” and “hows” of training.  Now it is time to talk about all the different kinds of training that are out there! On Job Training The most common type of training is on the job training.  Everyone receives this kind of education – even experts who come in to consult have to be taught where the printer, pens, and copy machines are.  If you are thinking about more concrete topics, though, on the job training can be some of the easiest to come across.  Picture this: someone in the company whom you really admire is hard at work on a project.  You come up to them and ask to help them out – if they are a busy developer, the odds are that they will say “yes, please!”   If you phrase your question as an offer of help, you can receive training without ever putting someone in the awkward position of acting as a mentor.  However, some people may want the task of being a mentor.  It can never hurt to ask.  Most people will be more than willing to pass their knowledge along. Extreme Programming If your company and coworkers are willing, you can even investigate Extreme Programming.  This is a type of programming that allows small teams to quickly develop code and products that are released with almost immediate user feedback.  You can find more information at http://www.extremeprogramming.org/.  If this is something your company could use, suggest it to your supervisor.  Even if they say no, it will make it clear that you are a go-getter who is interested in new and exciting projects.  If the answer is yes, then you have the opportunity to get some of the best on the job training around. In Person Training Click on Image to Enlarge When you say the word “training,” most people’s minds go back to the classroom, an image they are familiar with.  While training doesn’t always have to be in a traditional setting, because it is so familiar it can also be the most valuable type of training.  There are many ways to get training through a live instructor.  Some companies may be willing to send a representative to you, where employees will get training, sometimes food and coffee, and a live instructor who can answer questions immediately.  Sometimes these trainers are also able to do consultations at the same time, which can invaluable to a company.  If you are the one to asks your supervisor for a training session that can also be turned into a consultation, you may stick in their minds as an incredibly dedicated employee.  If you can’t find a representative, local colleges can also be a good resource for free or cheap classes – or they may have representatives coming who are willing to take on a few more students. Benefits of On Demand Developer Training Of course, you can often get the best of all these types of training with online or On Demand training.  You can get the benefit of a live instructor who is willing to answer questions (although in this case, usually through e-mail or other online venues), there are often real-world examples to follow along – like on the job training – and best of all you can learn whenever you have the time or need.  Did a problem with your server come up at midnight when all your supervisors are safe at home and probably in bed?  No problem!  On Demand training is especially useful if you need to slow down, pause, or rewind a training session.  Not even a real-life instructor can do that! When I was writing this blog post, I felt that each of the subject, which I have covered can be blog posts of itself. However, I wanted to keep the the blog post concise and so touch based on three major training aspects 1) On Job Training 2) In Person Training and 3) Online training. Here is the question for you – is there any other kind of training methods available, which are effective and one should consider it? If yes, what are those, I may write a follow up blog post on the same subject next week. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Developer Training, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

    Read the article

  • Review of Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7

    - by mbcrump
    I recently acquired a Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 device from AT&T and wanted to share what I thought of it as an end-user. Before I get started, here are several of my write-ups for the Windows Phone 7. You may want to check out the second article titled: Hands-on WP7 Review of Prototype Hardware. From start to finish with the final version of Visual Studio Tools for Windows Phone 7 Hands-on : Windows Phone 7 Review on Prototype Hardware. Deploying your Windows Phone 7 Application to the actual hardware. Profile your Windows Phone 7 Application for Free Submitting a Windows Phone 7 Application to the Market. Samsung Focus i917 Phone Size: Perfect! I have been carrying around a Dell Streak (Android) and it is about half the size. It is really nice to have a phone that fits in your pocket without a lot of extra bulk. I bought a case for the Focus and it is still a perfect size.  The phone just feels right. Screen: It has a beautiful Super AMOLED 480x800 screen. I only wish it supported a higher resolution. The colors are beautiful especially in an Xbox Live Game.   3G: I use AT&T and I've had spotty reception. This really can't be blamed on the phone as much as the actual carrier. Battery: I've had excellent battery life compared to my iPhone and Android devices. I usually use my phone throughout the day on and off and still have a charge at the end of the day.  Camera/Video: I'm still looking for the option to send the video to YouTube or the Image to Twitter. The images look good, but the phone needs a forward facing camera. I like the iPhone/Android (Dell Streak) camera better. Built-in Speaker: Sounds great. It’s not a wimpy speaker that you cannot hear.  CPU: Very smooth transitioning from one screen to another. The prototype Windows Phone 7 that I had, was no where near as smooth. (It was also running a slower processor though). OS: I actually like the OS but a few things could be better. CONS: Copy and Paste (Supposed to come in the next update) We need more apps (Pandora missing was a big one for me and Slacker’s advertisement sucks!). As time passes, and more developers get on board then this will be fixed. The browser needs some major work. I have tried to make cross-platform (WP7, Android, iPhone and iPad) web apps and the browser that ships with WP7 just can’t handle it.  Apps need to be organized better. Instead of throw them all on one screen, it would help to allow the user to create categories. PROS: Hands down the best gaming experience on a phone. I have all three major phones (iphone, android and wp7). Nothing compares to the gaming experience on the WP7. The phone just works. I’ve had a LOT of glitches with my Android device. I’ve had maybe 2 with my WP7 device. Exchange and Office support are great. Nice integration with Twitter/Facebook and social media. Easy to navigate and find the information you need on one screen. Let’s look at a few pictures and we will wrap up with my final thoughts on the phone. WP7 Home Screen. Back of the phone is as stylish. It is hard to see due to the shadow but it is a very thin phone. What’s included? Manuals Ear buds Data Cable plus Power Adapter Phone Click a picture to enlarge So, what are my final thoughts on the Phone/OS? I love the Samsung Focus and would recommend it to anyone looking for a WP7 device. Like any first generation product, you need to give it a little while to mature. Right now the phone is missing several features that we are all used to using. That doesn’t mean a year from now it will be in the same situation. (I sure hope we won’t). If you are looking to get into mobile development, I believe WP7 is the easiest platform to develop from. This is especially true if you have a background in Silverlight or WPF.    Subscribe to my feed

    Read the article

  • Data Mining Resources

    - by Dejan Sarka
    There are many different types of analyses, each one with its own pros and cons. Relational reports have a predefined structure, and end users cannot change it. They are simple to use for end users. Reports can use real-time data and snapshots of data to show the state of a report at specific points in time. One of the drawbacks is that report authoring is limited to IT pros and advanced users. Any kind of dynamic restructuring is very limited. If real-time data is used for a report, the report has a negative impact on the performance of the source system. Processing of the reports might be slow because the data comes from relational database management systems, which are not optimized for reporting only. If you create a semantic model of your data, your end users can create ad-hoc report structures. However, the development is more complex because a developer is needed to create these semantic models. For OLAP, you typically use specialized database management systems. You get lightning speed of analyses. End users can use rich and thin clients to interactively change the structure of the report. Typically, they do it graphically. However, the development of an OLAP system is many times quite complex. It involves the preparation and maintenance of an enterprise data warehouse and OLAP cubes. In order to exploit the possibility of real-time restructuring of reports, the users must be both active and educated. The data is usually stale, as it is loaded into data warehouses and OLAP cubes with a scheduled process. With data mining, a structure is not selected in advance; it searches for the structure. As a result, data mining can give you the most valuable results because you can discover patterns you did not expect. A data mining model structure is limited only by the attributes that you use to train the model. One of the drawbacks is that a lot of knowledge is needed for a successful data mining project. End users have to understand the results. Subject matter experts and IT professionals need to understand business problem thoroughly. The development might be sometimes even more complex than the development of OLAP cubes. Each type of analysis has its own place in an enterprise system. SQL Server has tools for all kinds of analyses. However, data mining is the most advanced way of analyzing the data; this is the “I” in BI. In order to get the most out of it, you need to learn quite a lot. In this blog post, I am gathering together resources for learning, including forthcoming events. Books Multiple authors: SQL Server MVP Deep Dives – I wrote an introductory data mining chapter there. Erik Veerman, Teo Lachev and Dejan Sarka: MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-448): Microsoft SQL Server 2008 - Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance – you can find a good overview of a complete BI solution, including data mining, in this book. Jamie MacLennan, ZhaoHui Tang, and Bogdan Crivat: Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – can’t miss this book if you want to mine your data with SQL Server tools. Michael Berry, Gordon Linoff: Mastering Data Mining: The Art and Science of Customer Relationship Management – data mining from both, business and technical perspective. Dorian Pyle: Data Preparation for Data Mining – an in-depth book about data preparation. Thomas and Ronald Wonnacott: Introductory Statistics – if you thought that you could get away without statistics, then you are not serious about data mining. Jiawei Han and Micheline Kamber: Data Mining Concepts and Techniques – in-depth explanation of the most popular data mining algorithms. Michael Berry and Gordon Linoff: Data Mining Techniques – another book that explains data mining algorithms, more fro a business perspective. Paolo Guidici: Applied Data Mining – very mathematical book, only if you enjoy statistics and mathematics in general. Forthcoming presentations I am presenting two data mining related sessions during the PASS Summit in Charlotte, NC: Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 - Fraud Detection: Notes from the Field – I am showing how to use data mining for a specific business problem. The presentation is based on real-life projects. Friday, October 18th: Excel 2013 Advanced Analytics – I am focusing on Excel Data Mining Add-ins, and how to use them together with Power Pivot and other add-ins. This is the most you can get out of Excel. Sinergija 2013, Belgrade, Serbia Tuesday, October 22nd: Excel 2013 Analytics to the Max – another presentation focusing on the most advanced analytics you can get in Excel. SQL Rally Amsterdam, Netherlands Thursday, November 7th: Advanced Analytics in Excel 2013 – and again I am presenting about data mining in Excel. Why three different titles for the same presentation? I don’t know, I guess I forgot the name I proposed every time right after I sent the proposal. Courses Data Mining with SQL Server 2012 – I wrote a 3-day course for SolidQ. If you are interested in this course, which I could also deliver in a shorter seminar way, you can contact your closes SolidQ subsidiary, or, of course, me directly on addresses [email protected] or [email protected]. This course could also complement the existing courseware portfolio of training providers, which are welcome to contact me as well. OK, now you know: no more excuses, start learning data mining, get the most out of your data

    Read the article

  • Breaking up the Workday– Overcoming the Workaholic Syndrome

    - by dwahlin
    Hi, my name’s Dan Wahlin and I’m a workaholic – I admit it. It’s good from the standpoint that I get a lot done but it also has a lot of cons associated with it as well that I’m not proud of. I literally can’t watch TV without feeling like I should be doing something more productive (although I have no problem going to see movies at a theater or watching sporting events – that’s my escape I guess). On vacation it’s sometimes difficult the first few days to just “let go” of work and enjoy the time with my family. I always feel like I should be checking email and following up with different business projects. Fortunately, my wife knows me really well after 17 years of marriage and “gently” restricts my usage of laptops and other gadgets while we’re out. She also reminds me that constantly burying my face in gadgets just isn’t cool and shows a distinct lack of self control. On a given day I typically put in between 12 (at a minimum) up to 16-18 hours working on projects. My company does .NET consulting (ASP.NET/jQuery, SharePoint and Silverlight) but we also do a lot in the training space so there’s always a client project, some new courseware or some other deliverable that has to be worked on. My normal process for handling that is to just work my butt off and see how much I can get done. That process has worked well for a long time but when you start realizing that your happiness comes from how much work you accomplished that day then you have a problem. That’s especially true if you have kids (which I do….two awesome boys). It’s almost as if working more hours feels like I’m more successful or something which is of course ridiculous. It may actually mean that I’m too distracted or disorganized. Lately I’ve realized that while I’m still productive and always meet my deadlines, I’m really burnt out by the afternoon and have lost some of the excitement I used to have. Part of that’s normal I think given that I’ve been doing this for close to 15 years now, but in thinking through it more I realized that I just need to get away from the desk and take a break. By far, the happiest time of my life was my childhood. Part of that was due to having awesome parents, having far less responsibility (a big factor I suspect), being able to hang-out with friends at school, playing sports, games, etc. but I think a big part of the overall happiness came from being outside a lot. I lived on my bike as a little kid and as I grew up I shared time between riding an ATV all over the place, shooting hoops on the basketball court, playing golf and working on a golf course (all outside work of course).  Being a software developer and trainer I generally spend 95% or more of my day indoors and only see the sun when driving from place to place or by looking out the window (that’s sad because I live in a suburb of Phoenix, AZ where it’s nearly always sunny). I haven’t looked into any scientific studies on the matter, but I’d be willing to bet there’s a direct correlation between overall productivity/happiness and being outside some throughout the day (sunny or not). But, I wasn’t sure what to do about it since I do have a lot of deadlines I need to meet after all. While talking with my wife last night I mentioned how I feel like I’m in a rut and want to get the “fun” back that I used to have. She immediately said that I need to start making time for breaks (a real quick fact – she’s a lot smarter than me and nearly always right). Of course my first thought was that I’d be less productive taking breaks. If I spend 2 hours just relaxing then I’m losing 2 hours of work. But, I thought about it more and realized that I’m probably less productive when I work 10+ hours and only take less than 30 minutes for a lunch break to relax a little. I bet my brain is screaming, “Please let me relax a little so I can figure out these problems you’re trying to resolve!”. So, starting today I’m going to try to break the workaholic habit and spend time outside of the office. That could mean sitting around outside, working out, golfing, or whatever. I’ve decided that no gadgets are allowed during that time and that I shouldn’t work for more than 4 hours straight without taking a break. I have no idea how my little “break the workaholic syndrome” experiment will go or how long it will last, but I’d be very interested in hearing from others on how they keep fresh and focused without working yourself to death. If you have any specific ideas, techniques or practices you follow please share them. There’s a lot more to life than work and some of us (and I’m thinking of myself specifically) need to take a long, hard look at what kind of balance we currently have. I’d hate to look back at my life when I’m 80 years old and say, “The only thing I did was work – I missed out on life!”.

    Read the article

  • jQuery with SharePoint solutions

    - by KunaalKapoor
    For me jQuery is the 'Plan-B' for everything.And most of my projects include the use of jQuery for something or the other, so I decided to write a small note on what works best while using jQuery along with SharePoint.I prefer to use the jQuery JavaScript library, which is far more robust, easier to use, and allows for plugins. Follow the steps below to add jQuery to your master page. For office 365, the prefered location to add jQuery files is the "Site Asserts" library.Deployment Best PracticesThey are only as good as the context it’s being referenced.  In other words, take into account your world before applying it.Script your deployment options.  Folder in SPD. Use the file system.  Make external references.  The JQuery library is on the Microsoft Ajax Content Delivery Network. You may even choose to publish to and from the document library. (pros and cons to this approach)Reference options when referencing the script.ScriptLink will make sure it’s loaded at the top of the page and only loaded once. You need Visual Studio or SPDContent Editor Web Part (CEWP).  Drop it on the page and it’s there.  Easy but dangerousCustom Actions. Great for global deployments of JQuery.  Loads it on every page. It also works in Sandbox installations.Deployment Maintenance Dont’sDon’t add scripts directly to your Master Page. That’s way too much effort because the pages are hard to maintain.Don’t add scripts directly to the CEWP.  Use a content link instead. That will allow for reuse. If you or someone deletes the CEWP you won’t lose code in the web partSecurity.  Any scripts run with the same privileges of the current user.  In other words, you can’t get in trouble.Development Best PracticesDon’t abuse the DOM.  There are better options to load the DOM without hitting it 1,000 times.User other performance boosters.Try other libraries.  Try some custom codeAvoid String conversionMinify your filesUse CAML to reduce number of returns rowsOnly update your JQuery library AFTER RIGOROUS REGRESSION TESTINGCRUD operations can come with some funSP Services wraps SharePoint’s web services for executionThe Bing SDK is pretty easy to use.  You can add it to your page with a script,  put it into a content editor web part and connect it from the address parameters in a list.Steps:1. Go to jquery.com and download the latest jQuery library to your desktop. You want to get the compressed production version, not the development version.2. Open SharePoint Designer (SPD) and connect to the root level of your site's site collection.In SPD, open the "Style Library" folder. Create a folder named "Scripts" inside of the Style Library. Drag the jQuery library JavaScript file from your desktop into the Scripts folder.In the Scripts folder, create a new JavaScript file and name it (e.g. "actions.js").3. If you are using visual studio add a folder for js, you can create a new folder at the root level or if you prefer more cleaner solutions like me, you can use the layouts folder which cleans out on deactivation/uninstall.4. Within the <head> tag of the master page, add a script reference to the jQuery library just above the content place holder named "PlaceHolderAdditonalPageHead" (and above your custom CSS references, if applicable) as follows:<script src="/Style%20Library/Scripts/{jquery library file}.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Immediately after the jQuery library reference add a script reference to your custom scripts file as follows:<script src="/Style%20Library/Scripts/actions.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Inside your script tag, you can test if jQuery is already defined and if not, then add it to the page.<script type='text/javascript'>  if (typeof jQuery == 'undefined')    document.write('<scr'+'ipt type="text/javascript" src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.6.1.min.js"></sc'+'ript>');</script>For the inquisitive few... Read on if you'd like :)Why jQuery on SharePoiny is AwesomeIt’s all about that visual wow factor.  You can get past that, “But it looks like SharePoint”  Take a long list view and put it into JQuery with pagination, etc and you are the hero.  It’s also about new controls you get with JQuery that you couldn’t do before.Why jQuery with SharePoint should be AwfulAlthough it’s fairly easy to get jQuery up and running. Copy/Paste can cause a problem.  If you don’t understand what it’s doing in the Client Object Model and the Document Object Model then it will do things on your site that were completely unexpected. Many blogs will note workarounds they employed on their sites. Why it’s not working: Debugging “sucks”.You need to develop small blocks of functionality, Test it by putting in some alerts  and console.log. Set breakpoints and monitor the DOM via Firebug and some IE development toolsPerformance - It happens all the time. But you should look at the tradeoffs. More time may give you more functionality.Consistency - ”But it works fine on my computer. So test on many browsers.  Take into account client resourcesHarm the Farm -  You need to code wisely and negatively test.  Don’t be the cause of a DoS attack that’s really JQuery asking for a resource over and over and over again.  So code wisely. Do negative testing. Monitor Server Resources.They also did a demo where JQuery did an endless loop to pull data from a list. It’s a poor decision but also an easy mistake.  They spiked their server resources within a couple seconds and had to shut down the call before it brought it down.ConclusionJQuery is now another tool in your tool kit. You don’t have to use it. Use it where it makes sense and where it helps you get your job done.Don’t abuse it, you will pay for it laterIt will add to page bloat so take that into accountIt can slow your performance

    Read the article

  • NetBeans, JSF, and MySQL Primary Keys using AUTO_INCREMENT

    - by MarkH
    I recently had the opportunity to spin up a small web application using JSF and MySQL. Having developed JSF apps with Oracle Database back-ends before and possessing some small familiarity with MySQL (sans JSF), I thought this would be a cakewalk. Things did go pretty smoothly...but there was one little "gotcha" that took more time than the few seconds it really warranted. The Problem Every DBMS has its own way of automatically generating primary keys, and each has its pros and cons. For the Oracle Database, you use a sequence and point your Java classes to it using annotations that look something like this: @GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.SEQUENCE, generator="POC_ID_SEQ") @SequenceGenerator(name="POC_ID_SEQ", sequenceName="POC_ID_SEQ", allocationSize=1) Between creating the actual sequence in the database and making sure you have your annotations right (watch those typos!), it seems a bit cumbersome. But it typically "just works", without fuss. Enter MySQL. Designating an integer-based field as PRIMARY KEY and using the keyword AUTO_INCREMENT makes the same task seem much simpler. And it is, mostly. But while NetBeans cranks out a superb "first cut" for a basic JSF CRUD app, there are a couple of small things you'll need to bring to the mix in order to be able to actually (C)reate records. The (RUD) performs fine out of the gate. The Solution Omitting all design considerations and activity (!), here is the basic sequence of events I followed to create, then resolve, the JSF/MySQL "Primary Key Perfect Storm": Fire up NetBeans. Create JSF project. Create Entity Classes from Database. Create JSF Pages from Entity Classes. Test run. Try to create record and hit error. It's a simple fix, but one that was fun to find in its completeness. :-) Even though you've told it what to do for a primary key, a MySQL table requires a gentle nudge to actually generate that new key value. Two things are needed to make the magic happen. First, you need to ensure the following annotation is in place in your Java entity classes: @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY) All well and good, but the real key is this: in your controller class(es), you'll have a create() function that looks something like this, minus the comment line and the setId() call in bold red type:     public String create() {         try {             // Assign 0 to ID for MySQL to properly auto_increment the primary key.             current.setId(0);             getFacade().create(current);             JsfUtil.addSuccessMessage(ResourceBundle.getBundle("/Bundle").getString("CategoryCreated"));             return prepareCreate();         } catch (Exception e) {             JsfUtil.addErrorMessage(e, ResourceBundle.getBundle("/Bundle").getString("PersistenceErrorOccured"));             return null;         }     } Setting the current object's primary key attribute to zero (0) prior to saving it tells MySQL to get the next available value and assign it to that record's key field. Short and simple…but not inherently obvious if you've never used that particular combination of NetBeans/JSF/MySQL before. Hope this helps! All the best, Mark

    Read the article

  • Some Early Considerations

    - by Chris Massey
    Following on from my previous post, I want to say "thank you" to everyone who has got in touch and got involved – you are pioneers! An update on where we are right now: paper prototypes v1 To be more specific, we’ve picked two of the ideas that seem to have more pros than cons, turned them into Balsamiq mockups, and are getting them fleshed out with realistic content. We’ll initially make these available to the aforementioned pioneers (thank you again), roll in the feedback, and then open up to get more data on what works and what doesn’t. If you’ve got any questions about this (or what we’re working on right now), feel free to ask me in the comments below. I’ve had a few people express an interest in the process we’re going through, and I’m more than happy to share details more frequently as we go along – not least because you, dear reader, will help us stay on target and create something Good. To start with, here’s a quick flashback to bring you all up to speed. A Brief Retrospective As you may already know, we’re creating a new publishing asset specifically focused on providing great content for web developers. We don’t yet know exactly what this thing will look like, or exactly how it will work, but we know we want to create something that is useful different. For my part, I’m seriously excited at the prospect of building a genuinely digital publishing system (as opposed to what most publishing is these days, which is print-style publishing which just happens to be on the web). The main challenge at this point is working out our build-measure-assess loop to speed up our experimental turn-around, and that’ll get better as we run more trials. Of course, there are a few things we’ve been pondering at this early conceptual stage: Do we publishing about heterogeneous technology stacks from day 1, or do we start with ASP.NET (which we’re familiar with) & branch out later? There are challenges with either approach. What publishing "modes" are already being well-handled? For example, the likes of Pluralsight, TekPub, and Treehouse have pretty much nailed video training (debate about price, if you like), and unless we think we can do it faster / better / cheaper (unlikely, for the record), we should leave them to it. Where should we base whatever we create? Should we create a completely new asset under a new name, graft something onto Simple-Talk (like the labs), or just build something directly into Simple-Talk? It sounds trivial, but it does have at least some impact on infrastructure and what how we manage the different types of content we (will) have. Are there any obvious problems or niches that we think could address really well, or should we just throw ideas out and see what readers respond to? What kind of users do we want to provide for? This actually deserves a little bit of unpacking… Why are you here? We currently divide readers into (broadly) the categories: Category 1: I know nothing about X, and I’d like to learn about it. Category 2: I know something about X, but I’d like to learn how to do something specific with it. Category 3: Ah man, I have a problem with X, and I need to fix it now. Now that I think about it, I might also include a 4th class of reader: Category 4: I’m looking for something interesting to engage my brain. These are clearly task-based categorizations, and depending on which task you’re performing when you arrive here, you’re going to need different types of content, or will have specific discovery needs. One of the questions that’s at the back of my mind whenever I consider a new idea is “How many of the categories will this satisfy?” As an example, typical video training is very well suited to categories 1, 2, and 4. StackOverflow is very well suited to category 3, and serves as a sign-posting system to the rest. Clearly it’s not necessary to satisfy every category need to be useful and popular, but being aware of what behavior readers might be exhibiting when they arrive will help us tune our ideas appropriately. < / Flashback > We don’t have clean answers to most of these considerations – they’re things we’re aware of, and each idea we look at is going to be best suited to a different mix of the options I’ve described. Our first experimental loop will be coming full circle in the next few days, so we should start to see how the different possibilities vary between ideas. Free to chime in with questions and suggestions about anything I’ve just brain-dumped, or at any stage as we go along. If you see anything that intrigued or enrages you, or just have an idea you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you.

    Read the article

  • C++ vs Matlab vs Python as a main language for Computer Vision Postgraduate

    - by Hough
    Hi all, Firstly, sorry for a somewhat long question but I think that many people are in the same situation as me and hopefully they can also gain some benefit from this. I'll be starting my PhD very soon which involve the fields of computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning. Currently, I'm using opencv (2.1) C++ interface and I especially like its powerful Mat class and the overloaded operations available for matrix and image seamless operations and transformations. I've also tried (and implemented many small vision projects) using opencv python interface (new bindings; opencv 2.1) and I really enjoy python's ability to integrate opencv, numpy, scipy and matplotlib. But recently, I went back to opencv C++ interface because I felt that the official python new bindings were not stable enough and no overloaded operations are available for matrices and images, not to mention the lack of machine learning modules and slow speeds in certain operations. I've also used Matlab extensively in the past and although I've used mex files and other means to speed up the program, I just felt that Matlab's performance was inadequate for real-time vision tasks, be it for fast prototyping or not. When the project becomes larger and larger, many tasks have to be re-written in C and compiled into Mex files increasingly and Matlab becomes nothing more than a glue language. Here comes the sub-questions: For postgrad studies in these fields (machine learning, vision, pattern recognition), what is your main or ideal programming language for rapid prototyping of ideas and testing algorithms contained in papers? For postgrad studies, can you list down the pros and cons of using the following languages? C++ (with opencv + gsl + svmlib + other libraries) vs Matlab (with all its toolboxes) vs python (with the imcomplete opencv bindings + numpy + scipy + matplotlib). Are there computer vision PhD/postgrad students here who are using only C++ (with all its availabe libraries including opencv) without even needing to resort to Matlab or python? In other words, given the current existing computer vision or machine learning libraries, is C++ alone sufficient for fast prototyping of ideas? If you're currently using Java or C# for your postgrad work, can you list down the reasons why they should be used and how they compare to other languages in terms of available libraries? What is the de facto vision/machine learning programming language and its associated libraries used in your university research group? Thanks in advance.

    Read the article

  • Scheme Formatting Help

    - by Logan
    I've been working on a project for school that takes functions from a class file and turns them into object/classes. The assignment is all about object oriented programming in scheme. My problem however is that my code doesn't format right. The output it gives me whenever I give it a file to pass in wraps the methods of the class in a list, making it so that the class never really gets declared. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the parenthesis wrapping the method list to remove. I would really appreciate any help. Below is the code and the class file. ;;;; PART1 --- A super-easy set of classes. Just models points and lines. Tests all of the ;; basics of class behavior without touching on anything particularly complex. (class pointInstance (parent:) (constructor_args:) (ivars: (myx 1) (myy 2)) (methods: (getx () myx) (gety () myy) (setx (x) (set! myx x)) (show () (begin (display "[") (display myx) (display ",") (display myy) (display "]"))) )) (require (lib "trace.ss")) ;; Continue reading until you hit the end of the file, all the while ;; building a list with the contents (define load-file (lambda (port) (let ((rec (read port))) (if (eof-object? rec) '() (cons rec (load-file port)))))) ;; Open a port based on a file name using open-input-file (define (load fname) (let ((fport (open-input-file fname))) (load-file fport))) ;(define lis (load "C:\\Users\\Logan\\Desktop\\simpletest.txt")) ;(define lis (load "C:\\Users\\Logan\\Desktop\\complextest.txt")) (define lis (load "C:\\Users\\Logan\\Desktop\\pointinstance.txt")) ;(display (cdaddr (cdddar lis))) (define makeMethodList (lambda (listToMake retList) ;(display listToMake) (cond [(null? listToMake) retList ;(display "The list passed in to parse was null") ] [else (makeMethodList (cdr listToMake) (append retList (list (getMethodLine listToMake)))) ] ) )) ;(trace makeMethodList) ;this works provided you just pass in the function line (define getMethodLine (lambda (functionList) `((eq? (car msg) ,(caar functionList)) ,(caddar functionList)))) (define load-classes (lambda paramList (cond [(null? paramList) (display "Your parameters are null, man.")] [(null? (car paramList))(display "Done creating class definitions.")] [(not (null? (car paramList))) (begin (let* ((className (cadaar paramList)) (classInstanceVars (cdaddr (cddaar paramList))) (classMethodList (cdr (cadddr (cddaar paramList)))) (desiredMethodList (makeMethodList classMethodList '())) ) ;(display "Classname: ") ;(display className) ;(newline)(newline) ;(display "Class Instance Vars: ") ;(display classInstanceVars) ;(newline)(newline) ;(display "Class Method List: ") ;(display classMethodList) ;(newline) ;(display "Desired Method List: ") ;(display desiredMethodList)) ;(newline)(newline) ;---------------------------------------------------- ;do not delete the below code!` `(define ,className (let ,classInstanceVars (lambda msg ;return the function list here (cond ,(makeMethodList classMethodList '()))) )) ;--------------------------------------------------- ))] ) )) (load-classes lis) ;(load-classes lis) ;(load-classes-helper lis) ;(load-classes "simpletest.txt") ;(load-classes "complextest.txt") ;method list ;(display (cdr (cadddr (cddaar <class>))))

    Read the article

  • int, short, byte performance in back-to-back for-loops

    - by runrunraygun
    (background: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1097467/why-should-i-use-int-instead-of-a-byte-or-short-in-c) To satisfy my own curiosity about the pros and cons of using the "appropriate size" integer vs the "optimized" integer i wrote the following code which reinforced what I previously held true about int performance in .Net (and which is explained in the link above) which is that it is optimized for int performance rather than short or byte. DateTime t; long a, b, c; t = DateTime.Now; for (int index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } a = DateTime.Now.Ticks - t.Ticks; t = DateTime.Now; for (short index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } b=DateTime.Now.Ticks - t.Ticks; t = DateTime.Now; for (byte index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } c=DateTime.Now.Ticks - t.Ticks; Console.WriteLine(a.ToString()); Console.WriteLine(b.ToString()); Console.WriteLine(c.ToString()); This gives roughly consistent results in the area of... ~950000 ~2000000 ~1700000 which is in line with what i would expect to see. However when I try repeating the loops for each data type like this... t = DateTime.Now; for (int index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } for (int index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } for (int index = 0; index < 127; index++) { Console.WriteLine(index.ToString()); } a = DateTime.Now.Ticks - t.Ticks; the numbers are more like... ~4500000 ~3100000 ~300000 Which I find puzzling. Can anyone offer an explanation? NOTE: In the interest of compairing like for like i've limited the loops to 127 because of the range of the byte value type. Also this is an act of curiosity not production code micro-optimization.

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51  | Next Page >