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• How to join the World of Programming? [closed]

  - by litebread

  Name's Vlad and I am currently on my third year of Community College, studying Computer Science with emphasis on Programming in C++ and Networking. I have completed a few programming courses with general ease, but have not gained advanced understanding of programming through school. None of my friends are serious programmers working in the industry. Being an active lurker on many programming websites, and in general tech oriented sites I have noticed how little I know about the industry, the lingo and terminology. (I have no clue how Git hub works, but I generally understand what its for). So I am looking for help as to where I should look for information on the programming world and the industry in which I a very interested. By that I mean, what sites I should utilize to gain information on programming practices, introduction to advanced C++ and resources that simply introduce a 20some programming noob. I like programming, but I haven't dug my hands deep into it yet, I want to start to do so before I transfer to a University. All in all, where do I find information on becoming an actual programmer (Information that lays out a path). Thank you for reading. Have a great day!

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• Recent 12.04 Upgrade Makes My System and Internet Run Extremely SLOW!

  - by Sterling

  I'm running a Dell Inspiron 1564 with Windows7/Ubuntu dual booting. I haven't logged into the Ubuntu OS partition for some time until recently (trying to force myself into a Linux environment to learn) and when I did, It asked me to upgrade to 12.04 and so I did, restarted and since, everything seems to run extremely slow (startup, opening applications, running applications, switching windows, etc., etc... Another thing is that the Internet cuts out intermittently on my browser. Some pages within my Firefox tabs I can access, some I cant. Almost always while running Skype or some other Internet using application. So I know that I'm getting Internet, I can chat with friends over Skype but certain pages wont load during my Skype calls; the pages just hang upon resfreshing... I can eventually get the page to load after an indefinite amount of waiting and refreshing but this is very annoying. I am extremely new to Linux so I apologize in advance for my absolute ignorance. I am willing to post whatever information you Linux gurus have me type into the terminal in hopes that you can help me =) Thanks in advance!

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• How to prevent one account from unlocking products on other devices using Apple StoreKit?

  - by reapz

  We are currently wrapping up a free-to-play game on iOS in which you can purchase non-consumable products. We have been discussing this case internally and are not quite sure what the best practices are as this is our first title. For example, if a user downloads our app, and makes some purchases. These can be restored should the app ever be deleted and reinstalled as long as the user uses the same Apple ID. What is to stop him from making a fake Apple account, purchasing items and then posting this account on the web allowing everyone to get the items for free? That is obviously a worst case situation. But a smaller case would be a user unlocking items for his friends. We do not want this to be an always online game but have considered doing a check on startup if there is internet available. If the currently logged in account doesn't own the products do we lock them again? Probably not because people may simply sign into the device with different Game Center logins at which point we don't want to constantly lock and unlock items. At some point we will be adding multiplayer at which point we can definately do a check with the currently logged in account. This is because A, they will be online when attempting multiplayer, and B, they will want to use their own account for multiplayer. Unfortunately we aren't quite ready for this yet. Has anyone tackled this issue. Are we overthinking here?

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• Hobbyist transitioning to earn money on paid work?

  - by Chelonian

  I got into hobbyist Python programming some years ago on a whim, having never programmed before other than BASIC way back when, and little by little have cobbled together a, in my opinion, nice little desktop application that I might try to get out there in some fashion someday. It's roughly 15,000 logical lines of code, and includes use of Python, wxPython, SQLite, and a number of other libraries, works on Win and Linux (maybe Mac, untested) and I've gotten some good feedback about the application's virtues from non-programmer friends. I've also done a small application for data collection for animal behavior experiments, and an ad hoc tool to help generate a web page...and I've authored some tutorials. I consider my Python skills to be appreciably limited, my SQL skills to be very limited, but I'm not totally out to sea, either (e.g. I did FizzBuzz in a few minutes, did a "Monty Hall Dilemma" simulator in some minutes, etc.). I also put a strong premium on quality user experience; that is, the look and feel matters much to me and the software looks quite good, I feel. I know no other programming languages yet. I also know the basics of HTML/CSS (not considering them programming languages) and have created an artist's web page (that was described by a friend as "incredibly slick"...it's really not, though), and have a scientific background. I'm curious: Aside from directly selling my software, what's roughly possible--if anything--in terms of earning either side money on gigs, or actually getting hired at some level in the software industry, for someone with this general skill set?

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• Web hosting company basically forces me to use their domain name [closed]

  - by Jinx

  I've recently stumbled upon an unusual problem with one of hosting companies called giga-international.com. Anyway, I've ordered com.hr domain from Croatian domain name registration company, and my client insisted on using this host provider as couple of his friends already are hosted with them. I thought something was fishy when the first result on Google for Giga International was this little forum rant instead of their webpage. When I was checking their services they listed many features etc... space available, bandwidth etc. I just wanted to check how much ram do I get for my PHP scripts so I emailed them, and they told me that was company secret. Seriously? Anyway, since my client still insisted on hosting with them I've bought their Webspace package. During registration I had to choose free domain name because I couldn't advance registration without it. Nowhere was said, not even in general terms and conditions that I wouldn't be able to change that domain name. At least not for double the price of domain name per year. They said I can either move my domain name over to them (and pay them domain registration), or pay them 1 Euro per month for managing a DNS entry. On any previous hosting solution I was able to manage my domain names just by pointing my domain to their name servers, and this is something completely new and absurd for me. They also said that usual approach is not possible because of security and hardware limitations. I'd like to know what you guys think about this case, and should I report, and where should I report this case. In short. They forced me to register free domain name which doesn't suit my needs in order to register for their webspace package, and refuse to change domain name for my account until I either transfer domain to them or pay them DNS management which costs double the price of the domain name per year.

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• IoT: Wearables!

  - by Tori Wieldt

  Wearables are a subset of the Internet of Things that has gained a lot of attention. Wearables can monitor your infant's heartrate, open your front door, or warn you when someone's trying to hack your enterprise network. From Devoxx UK to Oracle OpenWorld to Devoxx4kids, everyone seems to be doing something with wearables.  In this video, John McLear introduces the NFC Ring. It can be used to unlock doors, mobile phones, transfer information and link people. The software for developers is open source, so get coding! If you are coming to JavaOne or Oracle OpenWorld, join us for Dress Code 2.0, a wearables meetup. Put on your best wearables gear and come hang out with the Oracle Applications User Experience team and friends at the OTN Lounge. We'll discuss the finer points of use cases, APIs, integrations, UX design, and fashion and style considerations for wearable tech development. There will be gifts for attendees sporting wearable tech, while supplies last. What: Dress Code 2.0: A Wearables Meetup When: Tuesday, 30-September-2014, 4-6 PM Where: OTN Lounge at Oracle OpenWorld IoT - Wearable Resources The IoT Community on Java.net Wearables in the World of Enterprise Applications? Yep. The Paradox of Wearable Technologies Conference: Wearable Sensors and Electronics (Santa Clara, USA) Devoxx4Kids Workshop for Youth: Wearable tech! (Mountain View, USA)

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• I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

  - by not-my-real-name

  A lot of blogs and advice on the web seem to suggest that in order to become a great developer, doing just your day job is not enough. For example, you should contribute to open source projects in your spare time, write smartphone apps, etc. In fact a lot of this advice seems to suggest that if you don't love programming enough to do it all day long then you're probably in the wrong career. That doesn't ring true with me. I enjoy my work, but when I come home from the office I'm not in the mood to jump straight back onto the computer and start coding away until bedtime. I only have a certain number of hours free time each day, and I'd rather spend them on other hobbies, seeing friends or going outside than in front of the computer. I do get a kick out of programming, and do hack around outside of work occasionally. I'm committed to my personal development and spend time reading tech blogs and books as a way to keep learning and becoming better. But that doesn't extend so far as to my wanting to use all my spare time for coding. Does this mean I'm not a 'true' software developer at heart? Is it possible to become a good software developer without doing extra outside your job? I'd be very interested to hear what you think.

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• Limiting my heavy thinking to my job [closed]

  - by Robin Castlin

  This might be a weird problem which is only to a half relevant to actual programming, but hopefully there are people here that knows what I'm talking about. Basicly I'm proud of how I can deal with coding problems and fix them in short notice and many other aspects like building new systems and such. I'm fast on finding solutions and I often think about the impact my changes does to existing systems and so on, therefor preventing problem from arising at all and such. I am simply happy with how my mind operates when it comes to programming and I wouldn't want to change it at all. The problem, however is when I'm not programming. I find myself rather limited in social situations. I can't determine if it is through programming, but I sometimes think way to much about the consequences when it comes to being social. I know from own experience that most times you earn by not thinking about consequences, but it's hard for me not to. Often my friends tells me "I think too much" and even though I agree, I can't seem to change this behavior. My brain wants to think, and it likes to overthink simple stuff. Does anyone recognize the bad habit of not leaving advanced thinking at work, and in what way do you deal with it? If this isn't a suitable place to ask this question, I apologize and hope you may point me to the right site.

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• How can I make this arcade-highscore game more fun/interesting?

  - by j-a

  I'm having difficulties getting the fun factor into this iPhone game, and I am looking for some ideas or advice. I was asked to generalize the question a bit. What are some techniques for arcade highscore games that can be applied to this game in order to: Make each second of the game fun and challenging, from the first second to the end of the game. Regardless of skill level. Make the player want to try again and again to beat the high score. Briefly about the game: you aim using your finger and pull the bow chord and release by lifting your finger. That part feels quite nice how the bow interacts with the finger. The game idea: hearts fall down and you get 1 pt for each heart you shoot. You start with a few arrows and every now and then a bag of arrow comes down which - if you hit it, you get more arrows. Once your out of arrows the game is over. So it is all about beating your previous high score or your friends high scores. Unfortunately I don't find it that fun. Thankful for any ideas/suggestions/thoughts on how to make it more fun/interesting.

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• I am confused between PHP and ASP.NET to choose as a career in Indian software development context

  - by Confused_Guy

  I need your help(specially from the software professionals of India). I have completed MCA in 2009. After that instead of joining software company I did a Teaching job nearby by home. In the mean time I prepared myself for public sector jobs(bank). I continued my job for 1 year more and left it in 2010. Now in 2012 ,I feel that I should have done the software jobs,so that I could earn my bread and butter and in the mean time I could have prepared for the job.Because,according to my qualification it will give me the best salary. Now I want to go back in software industries. Now all of them are asking for experiences.And I don't have any.....So which language should I learn? And what should I do,because I have two year gap. Some of my friends suggested me to go with PHP as its easier and quicker to get job in India. But Here the PHP guys are getting less salary as compared to ASP.NET. I am planning to begin with PHP and but is it possible to switch to ASP.NET after two years experience. JAVA: I know upto servlet & JSP. Which is nothing in current market. ASP.NET: I know the basics of asp.net upto database connection ie(Gridview). PHP: Only the basics. So what should I do now. Which is most demanding. Does PHP is good, I feel its more like JSP pages. Please guide me, All your suggestions are needed for me.

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• What is the best objective way to measure language popularity trends? (What's better than TIOBE?)

  - by Eric Wilson

  The best way to get data on computer language popularity that I know is the TIOBE index. But everyone knows that TIOBE is hopelessly flawed. (If someone provides a link to support this, I'll add it here.) So is there any data on programming language popularity that is generally considered meaningful? The only other option I know is to look at the trends at indeed.com, which is inherently flawed, being based on job postings. It isn't like I would make a future language decision solely based on an index, but it might provide a useful balance to the skewed perspective one obtains by talking to ones friends and colleagues. To illustrate that bias, I'll point out that based on the experience of those I personally know, the only languages used professionally today (in order of popularity) are Java, C#, Groovy, JavaScript, Ruby, Objective C, and Perl. (Though it is evident that C, C++ and PHP were used in the past.) So my question is, everyone bashes TIOBE, but is there anything else? If so, can anyone explain how we know the alternative has better methodology? Thanks.

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• ADF - Now with Robots!

  - by Duncan Mills

  I mentioned this briefly in a tweet the other day, just before the full rush of OOW really kicked off, so I though it was worth re-visiting. Check out this video, and then read on: So why so interesting? Well - you probably guessed from the title, ADF is involved. Indeed this is as about as far from the traditional ADF data entry application as you can get. Instead of a database at the back-end there's basically a robot. That's right, this remarkable tape drive is controlled through an ADF using all your usual friends of ADF Faces, Controller and Binding (but no ADFBC for obvious reasons). ADF is used both on the touch screen you see on the front of the device in the video, and also for the remote management console which provides a visual representation of the slots and drives. The latter uses ADF's Active Data Framework to provide a real-time view of what's going on the rack. . What's even more interesting (for the techno-geeks) is the fact that all of this is running out of flash storage on a ridiculously small form factor with tiny processor - I probably shouldn't reveal the actual specs but take my word for it, don't complain about the capabilities of your laptop ever again! This is a project that I've been personally involved in and I'm pumped to see such a good result and,  I have to say, those hardware guys are great to work with (and have way better toys on their desks than we do). More info in the SL150 (should you feel the urge to own one) is here. 

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• How can I check myself when I'm the only one working on a project?

  - by Ricardo Altamirano

  I'm in between jobs in my field (unrelated to software development), and I recently picked up a temporary side contract writing a few applications for a firm. I'm the only person working on these specific applications. Are there ways I should be checking myself to make sure my applications are sound? I test my code, try to think of edge cases, generate sample data, use source control, etc. but since I'm the only person working on these applications, I'm worried I'll miss bugs that would easily be found in a team environment. Once I finish the application, either when I'm happy with it or when my deadline expires, the firm plans to use it in production. Any advice? Not to use a cliche, but as of now, I simply work "to the best of my ability" and hope that it's enough. Incidentally, I'm under both strict NDA's and laws about classified material, so I don't discuss the applications with friends who have actually worked in software development. (In case it's not obvious, I am not a software developer by trade, and even my experience with other aspects of information technology/computer science are limited and restrained to dabbling for the most part).

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• Game planning and software design? I feel that UML is not convenient

  - by user1542

  In my university, they always emphasize and hype about UML design and stuff, in which I feel it is not going to work well with game structure design. Now, I just want a professional advice on how should I begin my game designing? The story is I have some skill in programming and have done many minor game such as getting some 2D platformer working to some extend. The problems that I find about my program is the poor quality design. After coding for a while, things start to break down due to poor planning (When I add new feature, it tends to make me have to recode the whole program). However, to plan everything out without a single design flaw is a bit too ideal. Therefore, any advice to how should I plan my game? How should I put it into visible pictures, so that me and my friends are able to overview the designs? I planned to start coding a game with my friend. This is going to be my first teamwork, so any professional advices would be a pleasure. Is there any other alternatives than UML? Another question is how does "prototyping" normally looks like?

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• JavaOne Gangnam Style

  - by Tori Wieldt

  Yes, JavaOne is *the* place for excellent content, including technical information, opportunities to learn best practices from your peers, and access to industry experts. You can find lots of information about content in Java Evangelist Arun Gupta's 25 Reasons to attend JavaOne 2012. But you also have to let your Gangnam Style loose. Here are the Top Ten Fun Reasons to attend JavaOne 2012: 10. Connect with developers from more than 80 countries 9. Kick off the week at GlassFish and Friends Party Sunday night 8. Meet the community of Java Rock Stars 7. Enjoy all San Francisco has to offer 6. Meet your next best friend playing pinball in the Game Zone 5. Have your picture taken with Duke 4. Java in the morning and brews in the afternoon at the Taylor Street Cafe 3. Ride across the Golden Gate Bridge at the Community Geek Bike Ride 2. Rock out at the first-ever Oracle OpenWorld Music Festival and #1... 1. It beats being at work!  If you haven't registered, there's still time. Join us!

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• To program in free time as a programmer, is to show that programming is passion. If not, is the programmer good? [closed]

  - by SonofWatson

  Possible Duplicate: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer? A lot of blogs and advice on the web seem to suggest that in order to become a great developer, doing just your day job is not enough. For example, you should contribute to open source projects in your spare time, write smartphone apps, etc. In fact a lot of this advice seems to suggest that if you don't love programming enough to do it all day long then you're probably in the wrong career. That doesn't ring true with me. I enjoy my work, but when I come home from the office I'm not in the mood to jump straight back onto the computer and start coding away until bedtime. I only have a certain number of hours free time each day, and I'd rather spend them on other hobbies, seeing friends or going outside than in front of the computer. I do get a kick out of programming, and do hack around outside of work occasionally. I'm committed to my personal development and spend time reading tech blogs and books as a way to keep learning and becoming better. But that doesn't extend so far as to my wanting to use all my spare time for coding. Does this mean I'm not a 'true' software developer at heart? Is it possible to become a good software developer without doing extra outside your job? I'd be very interested to hear what you think.

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• I want to make "stuff" on the web, is a BsC. in Computers necessary/overkill? [on hold]

  - by notypist

  I'm 24 and have a lead role in a major news outlet in my country, with a good pay and public image in the horizon. I hold a job that was previously held by people with 15-20 years of experience and considered one of the top 5 news anchors in my country. My passion though, is computers. The web, to be precise. I was a problogger at a very young age. I hacked my way through CSS and some basic HTML and PHP. But I want to move forward - I want to CREATE not just STRUCTURE things. Giving up the present (and especially the seemingly promising future) in my current industry is hard, my friends raise their eyebrows... I'm considering a BsC. in computer Engineering - but my stats are short of getting into a good university for this discipline. Plus, I'm not the best with math - although I do exceptionally well in statistics and other numbers that are more applicable to real life. I tried learning PHP through online websites, but that just "doesn't cut it" for me. Nope. So what are my options here? if I don't want to build hardware or and deal with overly-complex algorithmic but would like, for example - to build a well functioning iPhone and iPad app, or a SaaS, a startup...do I have to go the BsC. route? I don't see any option to get an "official" education in strictly "web" concepts and languages.. Note: I'm well off financially, so I'm doing this more to be able to create stuff, rather than get a job in a corporations. Although if I land somewhere high, that might be an option. But my main concern is getting the tools.

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• How to avoid being fooled

  - by Dacav

  I'm a big fan of the OpenSource development model, and I think that sharing information, knowledge and ideas is the best way of working in software development. Still I think that being hired for proprietary software development must not be demonized. Of course, as there's a no reward in terms of sharing there must be a bigger reward in terms of money (i.e. I surrender all my rights for cash). It may happen that one gets hired piecework, for a single project: in this case one is more vulnerable to dishonest employers. This didn't happen to me personally, but some friends of mine had bad experiences, and lost a lot of time without being fairly retributed. Of course a contract should protect both parts. But contracts can be very generic in the specification. Software is not anything but a palpable good! Besides I don't think that contracts can distinguish between a well written software and a poorly written one. Note also that, in this (nasty) spirit, it's also likely that the employer cannot trust the employee! So also the employer should be protected by a dishonest employee). My question is the following: Which is, in your opinion, a good way of avoiding this kind of situation from the technical perspective?

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• why Ubuntu 12.04.1 nautilus left panel, doesn't show other partitions and usb drives?

  - by amerllica

  how do you do friends will be fine I had Ubuntu 12.04 and all thing work well but at one day i decide to change my partition tables, and done it. at now I've windows 8, Ubuntu 12.04.1 and Backtrack5 R3 on my laptop. my partitions are: /dev/sda1 * 2048 58597375 29297664 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda2 58601472 976773119 459085824 5 Extended /dev/sda5 58605120 797020159 369207520 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda6 797030400 933763071 68366336 83 Linux /dev/sda7 933765120 972834815 19534848 83 Linux /dev/sda8 972836864 976773119 1968128 82 Linux swap / Solaris at first I install windows 8 and then Backtrack5 R3, and at last I install Ubuntu 12.04.1 and I realize that my Ubuntu nautilus doesn't show other partitions or usb/cd/dvd drives. I search in Google and various Linux or Ubuntu forums, But I can't find any solution, just one thing... that is "gvfs-gdu-volume" cause nautilus left panel show other partitions which didn't mounted. but when I see top there isn't this program. who can I solve this problem? how nautilus can show other partitions or drives in its left panel once again?

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• What makes Ubuntu awesome [closed]

  - by Shagun

  My question may sound stupid or inappropriate for this site in which case I apologize before hand. This thing has bothered me for quiet some time so please correct me if there is anything inappropriate: I have been using Ubuntu for past 1 year and I know how awesome it is and in what terms is it better than windows.But around 2 weeks ago some of my friends asked me to show them something on Ubuntu or tell something about Ubuntu that makes people prefer it over windows. I tried to convince them by telling things like its open-source, that most of the super-computers run on Linux, that its unaffected by virus and other stuff but they seemed unconvinced. Maybe what they we looking for was some mind-boggling feature which only Ubuntu (Linux) has. Since that day I have been thinking but yet don't have anything that will show them the true powers of Linux. Please suggest your response to such a situation as it troubles me that I am not able to explain them one thing that I myself believe in. Thank you. PS : I am not looking for a theoretical answer but would like to hear of one such application which it and only it provides.

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• pls help to log back in to FB with an existing profile [closed]

  - by Katalin Glegyák

  Dear to Whom it may concern on Facebook, My name is Katalin Glegyák. I have had an account with an email: [email protected], even though I do not use that email anymore. Someone wanted to hack my account, so I changed password to a pretty complicated one, which I could not remember..(I know:)) I needed to prove my identity by typing in 3 codes that were sent to 3 friends on fb. I did it. Fb told me to come back in one day. I did so. But this is the message I keep getting: "We're sorry. The email you used to start the account recovery process is already in use. Please restart the process with a new email address.". I really do not want to log back in again with a new subscribtion. I already have 600 ppl who I know from places, and I have certain important messages also...Pls pls..help me..... Thank you very much, Merry Xmas, Kate Glegyák ([email protected])

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• The Art of Productivity

  - by dwahlin

  Getting things done has always been a challenge regardless of gender, age, race, skill, or job position. No matter how hard some people try, they end up procrastinating tasks until the last minute. Some people simply focus better when they know they’re out of time and can’t procrastinate any longer. How many times have you put off working on a term paper in school until the very last minute? With only a few hours left your mental energy and focus seem to kick in to high gear especially as you realize that you either get the paper done now or risk failing. It’s amazing how a little pressure can turn into a motivator and allow our minds to focus on a given task. Some people seem to specialize in procrastinating just about everything they do while others tend to be the “doers” who get a lot done and ultimately rise up the ladder at work. What’s the difference between these types of people? Is it pure laziness or are other factors at play? I think that some people are certainly more motivated than others, but I also think a lot of it is based on the process that “doers” tend to follow - whether knowingly or unknowingly. While I’ve certainly fought battles with procrastination, I’ve always had a knack for being able to get a lot done in a relatively short amount of time. I think a lot of my “get it done” attitude goes back to the the strong work ethic my parents instilled in me at a young age. I remember my dad saying, “You need to learn to work hard!” when I was around 5 years old. I remember that moment specifically because I was on a tractor with him the first time I heard it while he was trying to move some large rocks into a pile. The tractor was big but so were the rocks and my dad had to balance the tractor perfectly so that it didn’t tip forward too far. It was challenging work and somewhat tedious but my dad finished the task and taught me a few important lessons along the way including persistence, the importance of having a skill, and getting the job done right without skimping along the way. In this post I’m going to list a few of the techniques and processes I follow that I hope may be beneficial to others. I blogged about the general concept back in 2009 but thought I’d share some updated information and lessons learned since then. Most of the ideas that follow came from learning and refining my daily work process over the years. However, since most of the ideas are common sense (at least in my opinion), I suspect they can be found in other productivity processes that are out there. Let’s start off with one of the most important yet simple tips: Start Each Day with a List. Start Each Day with a List What are you planning to get done today? Do you keep track of everything in your head or rely on your calendar? While most of us think that we’re pretty good at managing “to do” lists strictly in our head you might be surprised at how affective writing out lists can be. By writing out tasks you’re forced to focus on the most important tasks to accomplish that day, commit yourself to those tasks, and have an easy way to track what was supposed to get done and what actually got done. Start every morning by making a list of specific tasks that you want to accomplish throughout the day. I’ll even go so far as to fill in times when I’d like to work on tasks if I have a lot of meetings or other events tying up my calendar on a given day. I’m not a big fan of using paper since I type a lot faster than I write (plus I write like a 3rd grader according to my wife), so I use the Sticky Notes feature available in Windows. Here’s an example of yesterday’s sticky note: What do you add to your list? That’s the subject of the next tip. Focus on Small Tasks It’s no secret that focusing on small, manageable tasks is more effective than trying to focus on large and more vague tasks. When you make your list each morning only add tasks that you can accomplish within a given time period. For example, if I only have 30 minutes blocked out to work on an article I don’t list “Write Article”. If I do that I’ll end up wasting 30 minutes stressing about how I’m going to get the article done in 30 minutes and ultimately get nothing done. Instead, I’ll list something like “Write Introductory Paragraphs for Article”. The next day I may add, “Write first section of article” or something that’s small and manageable – something I’m confident that I can get done. You’ll find that once you’ve knocked out several smaller tasks it’s easy to continue completing others since you want to keep the momentum going. In addition to keeping my tasks focused and small, I also make a conscious effort to limit my list to 4 or 5 tasks initially. I’ve found that if I list more than 5 tasks I feel a bit overwhelmed which hurts my productivity. It’s easy to add additional tasks as you complete others and you get the added benefit of that confidence boost of knowing that you’re being productive and getting things done as you remove tasks and add others. Getting Started is the Hardest (Yet Easiest) Part I’ve always found that getting started is the hardest part and one of the biggest contributors to procrastination. Getting started working on tasks is a lot like getting a large rock pushed to the bottom of a hill. It’s difficult to get the rock rolling at first, but once you manage to get it rocking some it’s really easy to get it rolling on its way to the bottom. As an example, I’ve written 100s of articles for technical magazines over the years and have really struggled with the initial introductory paragraphs. Keep in mind that these are the paragraphs that don’t really add that much value (in my opinion anyway). They introduce the reader to the subject matter and nothing more. What a waste of time for me to sit there stressing about how to start the article. On more than one occasion I’ve spent more than an hour trying to come up with 2-3 paragraphs of text.  Talk about a productivity killer! Whether you’re struggling with a writing task, some code for a project, an email, or other tasks, jumping in without thinking too much is the best way to get started I’ve found. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have an overall plan when jumping into a task, but on some occasions you’ll find that if you simply jump into the task and stop worrying about doing everything perfectly that things will flow more smoothly. For my introductory paragraph problem I give myself 5 minutes to write out some general concepts about what I know the article will cover and then spend another 10-15 minutes going back and refining that information. That way I actually have some ideas to work with rather than a blank sheet of paper. If I still find myself struggling I’ll write the rest of the article first and then circle back to the introductory paragraphs once I’m done. To sum this tip up: Jump into a task without thinking too hard about it. It’s better to to get the rock at the top of the hill rocking some than doing nothing at all. You can always go back and refine your work.   Learn a Productivity Technique and Stick to It There are a lot of different productivity programs and seminars out there being sold by companies. I’ve always laughed at how much money people spend on some of these motivational programs/seminars because I think that being productive isn’t that hard if you create a re-useable set of steps and processes to follow. That’s not to say that some of these programs/seminars aren’t worth the money of course because I know they’ve definitely benefited some people that have a hard time getting things done and staying focused. One of the best productivity techniques I’ve ever learned is called the “Pomodoro Technique” and it’s completely free. This technique is an extremely simple way to manage your time without having to remember a bunch of steps, color coding mechanisms, or other processes. The technique was originally developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 80s and can be implemented with a simple timer. In a nutshell here’s how the technique works: Pick a task to work on Set the timer to 25 minutes and work on the task Once the timer rings record your time Take a 5 minute break Repeat the process Here’s why the technique works well for me: It forces me to focus on a single task for 25 minutes. In the past I had no time goal in mind and just worked aimlessly on a task until I got interrupted or bored. 25 minutes is a small enough chunk of time for me to stay focused. Any distractions that may come up have to wait until after the timer goes off. If the distraction is really important then I stop the timer and record my time up to that point. When the timer is running I act as if I only have 25 minutes total for the task (like you’re down to the last 25 minutes before turning in your term paper….frantically working to get it done) which helps me stay focused and turns into a “beat the clock” type of game. It’s actually kind of fun if you treat it that way and really helps me focus on a the task at hand. I automatically know how much time I’m spending on a given task (more on this later) by using this technique. I know that I have 5 minutes after each pomodoro (the 25 minute sprint) to waste on anything I’d like including visiting a website, stepping away from the computer, etc. which also helps me stay focused when the 25 minute timer is counting down. I use this technique so much that I decided to build a program for Windows 8 called Pomodoro Focus (I plan to blog about how it was built in a later post). It’s a Windows Store application that allows people to track tasks, productive time spent on tasks, interruption time experienced while working on a given task, and the number of pomodoros completed. If a time estimate is given when the task is initially created, Pomodoro Focus will also show the task completion percentage. I like it because it allows me to track my tasks, time spent on tasks (very useful in the consulting world), and even how much time I wasted on tasks (pressing the pause button while working on a task starts the interruption timer). I recently added a new feature that charts productive and interruption time for tasks since I wanted to see how productive I was from week to week and month to month. A few screenshots from the Pomodoro Focus app are shown next, I had a lot of fun building it and use it myself to as I work on tasks.   There are certainly many other productivity techniques and processes out there (and a slew of books describing them), but the Pomodoro Technique has been the simplest and most effective technique I’ve ever come across for staying focused and getting things done.   Persistence is Key Getting things done is great but one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life is that persistence is key especially when you’re trying to get something done that at times seems insurmountable. Small tasks ultimately lead to larger tasks getting accomplished, however, it’s not all roses along the way as some of the smaller tasks may come with their own share of bumps and bruises that lead to discouragement about the end goal and whether or not it is worth achieving at all. I’ve been on several long-term projects over my career as a software developer (I have one personal project going right now that fits well here) and found that repeating, “Persistence is the key!” over and over to myself really helps. Not every project turns out to be successful, but if you don’t show persistence through the hard times you’ll never know if you succeeded or not. Likewise, if you don’t persistently stick to the process of creating a daily list, follow a productivity process, etc. then the odds of consistently staying productive aren’t good.   Track Your Time How much time do you actually spend working on various tasks? If you don’t currently track time spent answering emails, on phone calls, and working on various tasks then you might be surprised to find out that a task that you thought was going to take you 30 minutes ultimately ended up taking 2 hours. If you don’t track the time you spend working on tasks how can you expect to learn from your mistakes, optimize your time better, and become more productive? That’s another reason why I like the Pomodoro Technique – it makes it easy to stay focused on tasks while also tracking how much time I’m working on a given task.   Eliminate Distractions I blogged about this final tip several years ago but wanted to bring it up again. If you want to be productive (and ultimately successful at whatever you’re doing) then you can’t waste a lot of time playing games or on Twitter, Facebook, or other time sucking websites. If you see an article you’re interested in that has no relation at all to the tasks you’re trying to accomplish then bookmark it and read it when you have some spare time (such as during a pomodoro break). Fighting the temptation to check your friends’ status updates on Facebook? Resist the urge and realize how much those types of activities are hurting your productivity and taking away from your focus. I’ll admit that eliminating distractions is still tough for me personally and something I have to constantly battle. But, I’ve made a conscious decision to cut back on my visits and updates to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other sites. Sure, my Klout score has suffered as a result lately, but does anyone actually care about those types of scores aside from your online “friends” (few of whom you’ve actually met in person)? :-) Ultimately it comes down to self-discipline and how badly you want to be productive and successful in your career, life goals, hobbies, or whatever you’re working on. Rather than having your homepage take you to a time wasting news site, game site, social site, picture site, or others, how about adding something like the following as your homepage? Every time your browser opens you’ll see a personal message which helps keep you on the right track. You can download my ubber-sophisticated homepage here if interested. Summary Is there a single set of steps that if followed can ultimately lead to productivity? I don’t think so since one size has never fit all. Every person is different, works in their own unique way, and has their own set of motivators, distractions, and more. While I certainly don’t consider myself to be an expert on the subject of productivity, I do think that if you learn what steps work best for you and gradually refine them over time that you can come up with a personal productivity process that can serve you well. Productivity is definitely an “art” that anyone can learn with a little practice and persistence. You’ve seen some of the steps that I personally like to follow and I hope you find some of them useful in boosting your productivity. If you have others you use please leave a comment. I’m always looking for ways to improve.

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, June 10, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, June 10, 2011Popular ReleasesZen4Sync, Orchestration and Test Load platform for SQL Server Merge Replication: Zen4Sync Report 1.0 - Excel Add-In: Zen4Sync Report is an Excel Add-In allowing you to generate reports based on the data generated by your Test Sessions. Choose a Zen4Sync Report release according to your version of Excel. The downloaded .zip archive contains all the resources needed to install the Zen4Sync Report Add-In for your version of Excel. For instrunctions on how to install, use and customize Zen4Sync Report, please see the Zen4Sync Report Guide.Candescent NUI: Candescent NUI Start Menu: This is the first version of the Candescent NUI Start Menu. There is currently only one item in the start menu by default (Windows Explorer). There is no user interface for configuration yet, but you can add programs yourself by adding lines to the file menu_config.csv. Please don't change the first line. Lines for programs have the following format: Name;Path Default Explorer;c:\windows\explorer.exe MyApp;c:\...\myapp.exe To show the menu, present your open hand to the kinect at a distan...Media Companion: MC 3.406b weekly: An minor issue was found with 3.406b, the fixed version is now posted.... Extract the entire archive to a folder which has user access rights, eg desktop, documents etc. Refer to the documentation on this site for the Installation & Setup Guide Important! If you find MC not displaying movie data properly, please try a 'movie rebuild' to reload the data from the nfo's into MC's cache. Fixes Movies Readded movie preference to rename invalid or scene nfo's to info extension Fix crash during ...SCCM Client Actions Tool: SCCM Client Actions Tool v0.5.1: SCCM Client Actions Tool v0.5.1 is currently the most stable version and includes all of the functionality requested so far. It comes with following changes since last version: Fixed an incorrect path to x64 client setup folder. It comes as a ZIP file that contains three files: ClientActionsTool.hta – The tool itself. Cmdkey.exe – command line tool for managing cached credentials. This is needed for alternate credentials feature when running the HTA on Windows XP. Cmdkey.exe is natively a...Windows Azure VM Assistant: AzureVMAssist V1.0.0.5: AzureVMAssist V1.0.0.5 (Debug) - Test Release VersionSizeOnDisk: 1.8.0.3: Fix (issue 317): Main window icon loading error on windows server 2003 32bit runing on x86 cpu. Bypass of the Microsoft windows comexception.SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone: SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone 7: Initial release. Please make sure you are using a version of Blend with SketchFlow enabled and have also installed the the Mango developer tools for Windows Phone. fastJSON: v1.8: - Silverlight 4.0+ support merged - RegisterCustomType() for user defined serialization/deserialization without changing the source code open closed principalNetOffice - The easiest way to use Office in .NET: NetOffice Release 0.9: Changes: - fix examples (include issue 16026) - add new examples - 32Bit/64Bit Walkthrough is now available in technical Documentation. Includes: - Runtime Binaries and Source Code for .NET Framework:......v2.0, v3.0, v3.5, v4.0 - Tutorials in C# and VB.Net:..............................................................COM Proxy Management, Events, etc. - Examples in C# and VB.Net:............................................................Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access - COMAddi...Reusable Library: V1.1.3: A collection of reusable abstractions for enterprise application developerClosedXML - The easy way to OpenXML: ClosedXML 0.54.0: New on this release: 1) Mayor performance improvements. 2) AdjustToContents now take into account the text rotation. 3) Fixed issues 6782, 6784, 6788HTML-IDEx: HTML-IDEx .15 ALPHA: This release fixes line counting a little bit and adds the masshighlight() sub, which highlights pasted and inserted code.AutoLoL: AutoLoL v2.0.3: - Improved summoner spells are now displayed - Fixed some of the startup errors people got - Double clicking an item selects it - Some usability changes that make using AutoLoL just a little easier - Bug fixes AutoLoL v2 is not an update, but an entirely new version! Please install to a different directory than AutoLoL v1Host Profiles: Host Profiles 1.0: Host Profiles 1.0 Release Quickly modify host file Automatically flush dnsVidCoder: 0.9.2: Updated to HandBrake 4024svn. This fixes problems with mpeg2 sources: corrupted previews, incorrect progress indicators and encodes that incorrectly report as failed. Fixed a problem that prevented target sizes above 2048 MB.SharePoint Search XSL Samples: SharePoint 2010 Samples: I have updated some of the samples from the 2007 release. These all work in SharePoint 2010. I removed the Pivot on File Extension because SharePoint 2010 search has refiners that perform the same function.AcDown????? - Anime&Comic Downloader: AcDown????? v3.0 Beta5: ??AcDown?????????????，??????????????，????、????。?????Acfun????? ????32??64? Windows XP/Vista/7 ????????????? ??：????????Windows XP???,?????????.NET Framework 2.0???(x86)?.NET Framework 2.0???(x64)，?????"?????????"??? ??v3.0 Beta5 ?????????? ???? ?? ???????? ???"????????"?? ????????????? ????????/???? ?? ???"????"??? ?? ??????????? ?? ?? ??????????? ?? ?????????????????? ??????????????????? ???????????????? ????????????Discussions???????? ????AcDown??????????????VFPX: GoFish 4 Beta 1: Current beta is Build 144 (released 2011-06-07 ) See the GoFish4 info page for details and video link: http://vfpx.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=GoFishSterling NoSQL OODB for .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4 and 5, and Windows Phone 7: Sterling OODB v1.5: Welcome to the Sterling 1.5 RTM. This version is backwards compatible without modification to the 1.4 beta. For the 1.0, you will need to upgrade your database. Please see this discussion for details. You must modify your 1.0 code for persistence. The 1.5 version defaults to an in-memory driver. To save to isolated storage or use one of the new mechanisms, see the available drivers and pass an instance of the appropriate one to your database (different databases may use different drivers). ...patterns & practices: Project Silk: Project Silk Community Drop 10 - June 3, 2011: Changes from previous drop: Many code changes: please see the readme.mht for details. New "Application Notifications" chapter. Updated "Server-Side Implementation" chapter. Guidance Chapters Ready for Review The Word documents for the chapters are included with the source code in addition to the CHM to help you provide feedback. The PDF is provided as a separate download for your convenience. Installation Overview To install and run the reference implementation, you must perform the fol...New ProjectsAngry Apps: A game platform written on top of XNA Game Studio. The purpose of this project is to project a vanilla type Game project which can be used in many types of games.BLooD_ICQ: bloodicqCloud Fox: Cloud Fox is a Windows Phone application that allows you to view your Firefox Sync data on your mobile phone. It is similar to Firefox Home for iPhone. The current version will target phones running NoDo, but future versions will eventually require Mango. The application is developed in C# using Silverlight, Json.Net, Mvvm Light and Ninject.Configuration files Merger: This program is to help to merge different config files(environmental difference) and common config file into a single web.config/app.config. CRM 2011 Plugin Utilities: This project contains utilities from CRM 2011 plugins. Genera/calculate full name of a custom entity given the first, last and middle name.CUDA driver API: Making the CUDA driver API as simple to use as the runtime API. Almost.DBXMLTransfer: Command line application that: 1) extracts xml returned by a stored procedure to a file and 2) passes xml contained in a file to a stored procedure (which can use it for inserts & updates for example)Dot Generator: This is a project I did to generate numbers using the number of the dots in the number it self to get a visual representation of how big larg numbers areDRYlib.Net: DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) -- or, in other words, code-reuse -- makes me create this Class Library so I don't have to keep creating the same code here and there. Feel free to use these snippets. I'm releasing them under a permissive license (Apache Public License 2.0). The DRYlib is created using Visual BASIC 2010 Express. What you can find in this DRYlib include, but not limited to: * CRC Hash algorithms * Simple, high-performance Integer extensions * Simple, oft-used Stri...DW.Configurations: DW.Configurations - Enables an easy handling of application settings Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.Game.MauMau: Its a MauMau game with the possibility to define all rules DW.Game.Sudoku: It's just a Sudoku gameDW.Interactivity: DW.Interactivity - Brings additional functionalities to WPF controls Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.Logging: DW.Logging - Supports an easy working with log files Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.Services: DW.Services - Brings standard services Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.SharpTools: DW.SharpTools - Brings additional possibilities to C# Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.UnitTests: DW.UnitTests - Gives some objects for easy UnitTests Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.WPFDev: DW.WPFDev - Some useful objects for developing custom controls and behaviors Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.DW.WPFToolkit: DW.WPFToolkit - A custom controls library Please see www.my.libraries.de for more information and documentation.Elucidate: A GUI to drive the SnapRAID command line (All supported platforms): Definition: explain in detail Synonyms: annotate, clarify, clear, clear up, decode, demonstrate, enlighten, exemplify, explicate, expound, get across, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, make perfectly clear This will take on the task of creating a SnapRAID GUI to drive it's command line options, but give a little help and clarification (And logging) to guide the novice user.FixWordProperties for Office 2003, 2007 and 2010: Ken Getz originally wrote the FixWordProperties I believe in 2006. I had a a few extra requirements like the ability to unlock locked files, without passwords, using the office interop model, instead of word and a few more things that I needed in the winter of 2007.Information System Alumni Community: Here is our Internet Programming project. This site help alumni to always keep interact with their friends through this site.They can track his friend name, city, occupation and then interact with them to (whoa..like Social Network right!!).Go check this out int main code samples: Repository for all demos/samples posted at http://blog.r2d2rigo.es/english/LarX - XNA Game Engine: LarX is an XNA Game Engine, 2D and 3D, that uses SunBurn for Rendering, sgMotion for animations, and BEPU for Physics. It enables developers to write quicly AAA games.Membership, Role and Profile Providers for develop, debug, test: These ASP.NET providers for Membership, Roles and Profiles are valuable during development, debugging and testing due to the ease of creating, removing and changing users, user roles, etc. Music search engine: Ilovethismusic.com lets you listen & download music based on your mood, weather, or any type of expression you can think of. Just press Play.NicolasLight: This is for business projectOlympic.Magazine: sport supplements e-shop projectProject Obscura: Project Obscura is a game about to be in development by a group of friends, more data soon...RegularExpressionTest: .SalesManagementSystem: SalesManagementSystemShoozla: Very simple and powerful tool to search for missing covers. It finds album covers automatically and periodically. It uses LASTFM web service (website registration needed). WPF Application developed in C# following a MVVM design pattern.Silverlight Mind Map demo: A Mind Map control library and sample application created in Silveright. Although the library can be useful by itself, the main goal of this project is to server as a demo and reference application for Wiki that shows different Silverlight testing techniques. SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone: The SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone adds a new SketchFlow template for Expression Blend users, making it fast and easy to prototype Windows Phone applications.Smart Blog: Smart Blog ????，??ASP.NET??，?????Entity Framework、MVC 3.0(razor)、WCF???。???????SqlCE?????，????????，????、??。 SQLiteManager (sys_27): SQLiteManager makes for manage SQLite Database. It's developed in C#. (WPF and use MVVM-patern)testing access to TFS: This is a just a trivial set of test files to learn about TFS. I am testing each step of this process and will try to document it for others. Maybe this is obvious to others, but I am still learning TFS.TFS NuGetter: NuGetter is a TFS 2010 Build Activity designed to provide packaging and deployment management to projects destined for a NuGet Gallery.

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• C# Open Source/Free Social Networking SDK

  - by Nix

  I am currently gathering some technology requirements for a site that will be a social network based. I don't want to re-invent the wheel so i am looking for some type of SDK or collection of tools that can provide me with a way of creating/managing a social network. I understand that no framework will probably fit my exact needs so I am also looking for a flexible/extendable framework. An example extension point would be allowing the user to provide sub networks, maybe a global network that could be sub classified as work and friends. Beyond that it would also be nice to somehow be able to import contacts from other networking sites (Facebook, Linked In, etc). My current technology suite will more than likely consist of the following: IIS 7.0 WCF Data Services SQL Server 2006 ASP.NET front end. So my two questions are 1) C# Open Source Social Network SDK 2) C# Open Source Social Netowrk APIs (facebook, linked in, etc) If there is any more information you may need please let me know.

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• view .doc, .docx, .rtf, .ppt file in iphone using Webview

  - by Ekra

  Hi friends I want to view .doc, .docx, .rtf, .ppt file in iphone. But I guess something is going wrong at my side and its not working for the above formats but my code is working fine for .txt and .pdf files. I have the read the document regarding Webview it states it supports viewing of the above document. below is my snippet for .doc [webView loadData:requestData MIMEType:@"application/msword" textEncodingName:@"UTF-8" baseURL:nil]; for .ppt I am using MIME type as "application/vnd.ms-powerpoint" Note: If I am making MIME type as "text/html" for .doc then it displays some garbage data So I think there is something missing in MIME type from my side. Any help is highly appreciated. Waiting for your reply.

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