Search Results

Search found 2639 results on 106 pages for 'pseudo streaming'.

Page 67/106 | < Previous Page | 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74  | Next Page >

• Back to Sony

  - by Bunch

  Well I switched back to Sony. After about a year of debating whether or not to keep my XBox 360 or get a PS3 I decided over the weekend to trade in the 360 for a PS3.  I had thought about keeping both but I really don’t need two gaming systems. So far I like it, the graphics are good and the game selection is pretty much the same. For me the game exclusives didn’t sway me one way or the other (i.e. I’ve never played Halo so you can’t miss what you never played). My main reasons for switching were: RROD – I’ve had three and I don’t play a huge amount per week. Free online gaming – I never did buy a Live Gold account even though it is affordable Blu-ray player – Figured this is as good of a time as any to finally get one Netflix streaming with no need for an upgrade to your online account like on XBox MUCH quieter system Finally at a $299 price point All in all the last point was the main one for me. Like a lot of other folks I was really put off by the PS3’s original pricing of $499 and $599. Technorati Tags: Gaming

  Read the article

• Advice on developing a social network [on hold]

  - by Siraj Mansour

  I am doing research on assembling a team, using the right tools, and the cost to develop a highly responsive social network that is capable of dealing with a lot of users. Similar to the Facebook concept but using the basics package for now. Profile, friends, posts, updates, media upload/download, streaming, chat and Inbox messaging are all in the package. We certainly do not expect it to be as popular as Facebook or handle the same number of users and requests, but in its own game it has to be a monster, and expandable for later on. Neglecting the hosting, and servers part, i am looking for technical advise and opinions, on what kind of team i need ? how many developers ? their expertise ? What are the right tools ? languages ? frameworks ? environments ? Any random ideas about the infrastructure ? Quick thoughts on the development process ? Please use references, if you have any to support your ideas. Development cost mere estimation ? NEGLECTING THE COST OF SERVERS I know my question is too broad but my knowledge is very limited and i need detailed help, for any help you can offer i thank you in advance.

  Read the article

• Per-vertex animation with VBOs: Stream each frame or use index offset per frame?

  - by charstar

  Scenario Meshes are animated using either skeletons (skinned animation) or some form of morph targets (i.e. per-vertex key frames). However, in either case, the animations are known in full at load-time, that is, there is no physics, IK solving, or any other form of in-game pose solving. The number of character actions (animations) will be limited but rich (hand-animated). There may be multiple characters using a each mesh and its animations simultaneously in-game (they will be at different poses/keyframes at the same time). Assume color and texture coordinate buffers are static. Goal To leverage the richness of well vetted animation tools such as Blender to do the heavy lifting for a small but rich set of animations. I am aware of additive pose blending like that from Naughty Dog and similar techniques but I would prefer to expend a little RAM/VRAM to avoid implementing a thesis-ready pose solver. I would also like to avoid implementing a key-frame + interpolation curve solver (reinventing Blender vertex groups and IPOs). Current Considerations Much like a non-shader-powered pose solver, create a VBO for each character and copy vertex and normal data to each VBO on each frame (VBO in STREAMING). Create one VBO for each animation where each frame (interleaved vertex and normal data) is concatenated onto the VBO. Then each character simply has a buffer pointer offset based on its current animation frame (e.g. pointer offset = (numVertices+numNormals)*frameNumber). (VBO in STATIC) Known Trade-Offs In 1 above: Each VBO would be small but there would be many VBOs and therefore lots of buffer binding and vertex copying each frame. Both client and pipeline intensive. In 2 above: There would be few VBOs therefore insignificant buffer binding and no vertex data getting jammed down the pipe each frame, but each VBO would be quite large. Are there any pitfalls to number 2 (aside from finite memory)? Are there other methods that I am missing?

  Read the article

• Social Media APIs and Their C# Counterparts

  Whether it's talking about current events or sharing photos of a family vacation, the world is now addicted to social networks. Businesses recognize this, and these days every business wants social media addressed in their applications. Facebook, Twitter, and other sites provide powerful APIs you can use to harness the power of social networking in your own applications. However, most of these APIs tend to return data formatted in any number of syndication formats that can be quite painful to work with. Luckily, there are many free .NET based libraries that make interacting with these APIs a breeze. Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting some information and examples specific to some of these libraries. Here are a few of them now for your consumption... TweetSharp Twitter exposes its API in the form of three different APIs, two REST APIs and one Streaming API. These APIs can be queried by making HTTP GET/POST requests to a specific URL with some required parameters. Unfortunately, ...Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

  Read the article

• Alternatives to Pessimistic Locking in Cluster Applications

  - by amphibient

  I am researching alternatives to database-level pessimistic locking to achieve transaction isolation in a cluster of Java applications going against the same database. Synchronizing concurrent access in the application tier is clearly not a solution in the present configuration because the same database transaction can be invoked from multiple JVMs concurrently. Currently, we are subject to occasional race conditions which, due to the optimistic locking we have in place via Hibernate, cause a StaleObjectStateException exception and data loss. I have a moderately large transaction within the scope of my refactoring project. Let's describe it as updating one top-level table row and then making various related inserts and/or updates to several of its child entities. I would like to insure exclusive access to the top-level table row and all of the children to be affected but I would like to stay away from pessimistic locking at the database level for performance reasons mostly. We use Hibernate for ORM. Does it make sense to start a single (perhaps synchronous) message queue application into which this method could be moved to insure synchronized access as opposed to each cluster node using its own, which is a clear race condition hazard? I am mentioning this approach even though I am not confident in it because both the top-level table row and its children could also be updated from other system calls, not just the mentioned transaction. So I am seeking to design a solution where the top-level table row and its children will all somehow be pseudo-locked (exclusive transaction isolation) but at the application and not the database level. I am open to ideas and suggestions, I understand this is not a very cut and dried challenge.

  Read the article

• Procedural content (settlement) generation

  - by instancedName

  I have, lets say, something like a homework or assignment to do. Roughly said I need to write an algorithm (pseudo code is not necessary, just in depth description) of procedure that would generate settlements, environment and a people to populate it with, as part of some larger world generation procedure. The genre of game is not specified, it could be any genre (rpg, strategy, colony simulation etc.) where interacting with large and extensive world is central to the game. Procedure should be called once per settlement. At the time of calling, world generation procedure makes geography, culture and history input available. Output should be map of the village and it's immediate area, and various potential additional information like myths, history, demographic facts etc. Bonus would be quest ant similar stuff, but that not really my focus at the moment. I will leave quality of the output for later when I actually dig little deeper into this topic. I am free to change parameters as long as I have strong explanation for doing so. Setting of the game is undetermined so I am free to use anything that I like the most. Ok, so my actual question is: Can anyone who has some experience in this field of game design recommend me some good literature, or point me in the direction where I should look/reed/study? I'm somewhat experienced game programmer, but I've never been into game design till now so any help will be great. I want to do this assignment as good as I can. As for deadline, it's not strictly set, but lets say I don't want it to take longer then few weeks, one month at worst case.

  Read the article

• Is an event loop just a for/while loop with optimized polling?

  - by Alan

  I'm trying to understand what an event loop is. Often the explanation is that in the event loop, you do something until you're notified that an event occurred. You than handle the event and continue doing what you did before. To map the above definition with an example. I have a server which 'listens' in a event loop, and when a socket connection is detected, the data from it gets read and displayed, after which the server goes to the listening it did before. However, this event happening and us getting notified 'just like that' are to much for me to handle. You can say: "It's not 'just like that' you have to register an event listener". But what's an event listener but a function which for some reason isn't returning. Is it in it's own loop, waiting to be notified when an event happens? Should the event listener also register an event listener? Where does it end? Events are a nice abstraction to work with, however just an abstraction. I believe that in the end, polling is unavoidable. Perhaps we are not doing it in our code, but the lower levels (the programming language implementation or the OS) are doing it for us. It basically comes down to the following pseudo code which is running somewhere low enough so it doesn't result in busy waiting: while(True): do stuff check if event has happened (poll) do other stuff This is my understanding of the whole idea, and i would like to hear if this is correct. I am open in accepting that the whole idea is fundamentally wrong, in which case I would like the correct explanation. Best regards

  Read the article

• Help parsing long (3.5mil lines) text file, line by line and storing data, need a strategy

  - by Jarrod

  This is a question about solving a particular problem I am struggling with, I am parsing a long list of text data, line by line for a business app in PHP (cron script on the CLI). The file follows the format: HD: Some text here {text here too} DC: A description here DC: the description continues here DC: and it ends here. DT: 2012-08-01 HD: Next header here {supplemental text} ... this repeats over and over for a few hundred megs I have to read each line, parse out the HD: line and grab the text on this line. I then compare this text against data stored in a database. When a match is found, I want to then record the following DC: lines that succeed the matched HD:. Pseudo code: while ( the_file_pointer_isnt_end_of_file) { line = getCurrentLineFromFile title = parseTitleFrom(line) matched = searchForMatchInDB(line) if ( matched ) { recordTheDCLines // <- Best way to do this? } } My problem is that because I am reading line by line, what is the best way to trigger the script to start saving DC lines, and then when they are finished save them to the database? I have a vague idea, but have yet to properly implement it. I would love to hear the communities ideas\suggestions! Thank you.

  Read the article

• Relation between developers and clients

  - by guiman

  Hi everyone, i've been facing a situation at work and i would like to share it with you and tell me: Did you had to do it to? Should a developer be in direct contact wit the client? Or there should be an "adapter" guy that translates client needs in pseudo formal requirements understandable to us? I'm currently working in a small company that its taking care of implementing lots of systems, most of them for goverment institutions, in witch it generally means taking software developted 20 years ago and refurbish them so fit up-to-date needs. The clients generally are very used to them and tend to discourage change (they are in their 50s 60s give or take, so not technologie-friendly in general). As you can imagine, dev-team in most cases starts taking care of relation with clients, generating the documentation needed in this cases (CU usually), assisting to weekly meets to see improvements with clients. As for experience, this is a gold mine for me, because gives a nice perspective on all the aspects of software development, but also some problems rise because, if developers come from mars then client are from venus. So there is a fine gap on the vocabulary/experience/capability-to-interpret-needs that generates an noice in the communication, and some times affecting the final product.

  Read the article

• Trouble with SAT style vector projection in C#/XNA

  - by ssb

  Simply put I'm having a hard time working out how to work with XNA's Vector2 types while maintaining spatial considerations. I'm working with separating axis theorem and trying to project vectors onto an arbitrary axis to check if those projections overlap, but the severe lack of XNA-specific help online combined with pseudo code everywhere that omits key parts of the algorithm, googling has left me little help. I'm aware of HOW to project a vector, but the way that I know of doing it involves the two vectors starting from the same point. Particularly here: http://www.metanetsoftware.com/technique/tutorialA.html So let's say I have a simple rectangle, and I store each of its corners in a list of Vector2s. How would I go about projecting that onto an arbitrary axis? The crux of my problem is that taking the dot product of say, a vector2 of (1, 0) and a vector2 of (50, 50) won't get me the dot product I'm looking for.. or will it? Because that (50, 50) won't be the vector of the polygon's vertex but from whatever XNA calculates. It's getting the calculation from the right starting point that's throwing me off. I'm sorry if this is unclear, but my brain is fried from trying to think about this. I need a better understanding of how XNA calculates Vector2s as actual vectors and not just as random points.

  Read the article

• Are the only types of data "sources" static and dynamic?

  - by blunders

  Thinking that there might be others, but not sure -- but before getting into that, let me explain what I mean by static and dynamic data sources. Static (or datastore) - Meaning that the data's state is non-changing, and if was changed, that would be a new state, and the old data would be considered stateless; meaning it no longer is known to exist, or not exist. Another way of possibly looking at a static data source might be that if read and written back without modification, the checksum for before and after should be exactly the same regardless of the duration of time between the reading and rewriting of the data. Examples: Photos, Files, Database Record, Dynamic (or datastream) - Meaning that the data's state is known to be in flux, and never expected to be the same per input. Example: Live video/audio feed, Stock Market feed, First let me say, the above is a very loose mapping of the concepts, and I'd welcome any feedback. Next, onto the core of the question, that being are these the only two types of data sources. My guess, is that yes, they are -- but that there are hybrid versions of the two. That being, streaming data that has a fixed state. For example, the data being streamed has a checksum given and each unique checksum is known to be a single instance of static data. On the flip side, static data could be chained via say a version control system; when played back, each version might be viewed as a segment of a stream; thing is, the very fact that it can be played back makes the data source static. Another type might be that the data source is being organically discovered, and it's simply unknown what the state is. Questions, feedback, requests -- just comment, thanks!!

  Read the article

• How do you keep SOA DRY?

  - by TaylorOtwell

  In our organization, we've shifted to a more "service oriented architecture". To give an example, let's assume we need to retrieve a "Quote" object. This quote has a shipper, a consignee, phone numbers, contacts, email addresses, and other location information. In other words, a Quote object is made up of many other objects. So, it seems like it would make sense to make a "Quote Retrieval Service". In our situation, we've accomplished this by creating a .NET solution and writing the service. The service API looks something like this (in pseudo-code): Function GetQuote(String ID) Returns Quote So, so far so good. Now, when this service is consumed, to keep things "de-coupled", we are creating essentially a duplicate of the Quote object and mapping from the QuoteService version of the Quote into the consumer's version of the Quote. In many cases, these classes will have the exact same properties. So, if the Quote service is consumed by 5 other applications, we would have 6 definitions of what a "Quote" is. One for each consumer, and one for the service. This feels wrong. I thought code was supposed to be DRY, but it seems like our method of SOA is forcing us to create tons of duplicated class definitions. What are we doing wrong, or is the code duplication just a "necessary evil" of SOA?

  Read the article

• Languages with a clear distinction between subroutines that are purely functional, mutating, state-changing, etc?

  - by CPX

  Lately I've become more and more frustrated that in most modern programming languages I've worked with (C/C++, C#, F#, Ruby, Python, JS and more) there is very little, if any, language support for determining what a subroutine will actually do. Consider the following simple pseudo-code: var x = DoSomethingWith(y); How do I determine what the call to DoSomethingWith(y) will actually do? Will it mutate y, or will it return a copy of y? Does it depend on global or local state, or is it only dependent on y? Will it change the global or local state? How does closure affect the outcome of the call? In all languages I've encountered, almost none of these questions can be answered by merely looking at the signature of the subroutine, and there is almost never any compile-time or run-time support either. Usually, the only way is to put your trust in the author of the API, and hope that the documentation and/or naming conventions reveal what the subroutine will actually do. My question is this: Does there exist any languages today that make symbolic distinctions between these types of scenarios, and places compile-time constraints on what code you can actually write? (There is of course some support for this in most modern languages, such as different levels of scope and closure, the separation between static and instance code, lambda functions, et cetera. But too often these seem to come into conflict with each other. For instance, a lambda function will usually either be purely functional, and simply return a value based on input parameters, or mutate the input parameters in some way. But it is usually possible to access static variables from a lambda function, which in turn can give you access to instance variables, and then it all breaks apart.)

  Read the article

• CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, October 28, 2012

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, October 28, 2012Popular ReleasesPlayer Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 (Preview 7): This release is compatible with the version of the Smooth Streaming SDK released today (10/26). Release 1 of the player framework is expected to be available next week. IMPROVEMENTS & FIXESIMPORTANT: List of breaking changes from preview 6 Support for the latest smooth streaming SDK. Xaml only: Support for moving any of the UI elements outside the MediaPlayer (e.g. into the appbar). Note: Equivelent changes to the JS version due in coming week. Support for localizing all text used in t...Send multiple SMS via Way2SMS C#: SMS 1.1: Added support for 160by2Quick Launch: Quick Launch 1.0: A Lightweight and Fast Way to Manage and Launch Thousands of Tools and ApplicationsPress Win+Q and start to search and run. http://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=quicklaunch&DownloadId=523536Orchard Project: Orchard 1.6: Please read our release notes for Orchard 1.6: http://docs.orchardproject.net/Documentation/Orchard-1-6-Release-Notes Please do not post questions as reviews. Questions should be posted in the Discussions tab, where they will usually get promptly responded to. If you post a question as a review, you will pollute the rating, and you won't get an answer.ZXMAK2: Version 2.6.7.0: - small performance improvements - fix & improvements for Direct3D renderer (thanks to zebest for testing)Media Companion: Media Companion 3.507b: Once again, it has been some time since our release, and there have been a number changes since then. It is hoped that these changes will address some of the issues users have been experiencing, and of course, work continues! New Features: Added support for adding Home Movies. Option to sort Movies by votes. Added 'selectedBrowser' preference used when opening links in an external browser. Added option to fallback to getting runtime from the movie file if not available on IMDB. Added new Big...MSBuild Extension Pack: October 2012: Release Blog Post The MSBuild Extension Pack October 2012 release provides a collection of over 475 MSBuild tasks. A high level summary of what the tasks currently cover includes the following: System Items: Active Directory, Certificates, COM+, Console, Date and Time, Drives, Environment Variables, Event Logs, Files and Folders, FTP, GAC, Network, Performance Counters, Registry, Services, Sound Code: Assemblies, AsyncExec, CAB Files, Code Signing, DynamicExecute, File Detokenisation, GUI...NAudio: NAudio 1.6: Release notes at http://mark-dot-net.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/naudio-16-release-notes-10th.htmlPowerShell Community Extensions: 2.1 Production: PowerShell Community Extensions 2.1 Release NotesOct 25, 2012 This version of PSCX supports both Windows PowerShell 2.0 and 3.0. See the ReleaseNotes.txt download above for more information.Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.9.1: Umbraco 4.9.1 is a bugfix release to fix major issues in 4.9.0 BugfixesThe full list of fixes can be found in the issue tracker's filtered results. A summary: Split buttons work again, you can now also scroll easier when the list is too long for the screen Media and Content pickers have information of the full path of the picked item Fixed: Publish status may not be accurate on nodes with large doctypes Fixed: 2 media folders and recycle bins after upgrade to 4.9 The template/code ...AcDown????? - AcDown Downloader Framework: AcDown????? v4.2.2: ??●AcDown??????????、??、??、???????。????，????，?????????????????????????。???????????Acfun、????(Bilibili)、??、??、YouTube、??、???、??????、SF????、????????????。 ●??????AcPlay?????，??????、????????????????。 ● AcDown??????????????????，????????????????????????????。 ● AcDown???????C#??，????.NET Framework 2.0??。?????"Acfun?????"。 ????32??64? Windows XP/Vista/7/8 ???? 32??64? ???Linux ????(1)????????Windows XP???，????????.NET Framework 2.0???(x86)，?????"?????????"??? (2)???????????Linux???，????????Mono?? ??2...Rawr: Rawr 5.0.2: This is the Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!For web-based version see http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.php You can find the version notes at: http://rawr.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=VersionNotes Rawr Addon (NOT UPDATED YET FOR MOP)We now have a Rawr Official Addon for in-game exporting and importing of character data hosted on Curse. The Addon does not perform calculations like Rawr, it simply shows your exported Rawr data in wow tooltips and lets you export your character to Rawr (including ba...MCEBuddy 2.x: MCEBuddy 2.3.5: Changelog for 2.3.5 (32bit and 64bit) 1. Fixed a bug causing MCEBuddy to crash during or after installation on Windows XP 2. Bugfix for resource leak with UPnP which would lead to a failure after many days 3. Increased the UPnP discovery re-scan interval from 10 minutes to 30 minutes 4. Added support for specifying TVDB and IMDB id’s in the conversion task page (forcing the internet lookup for metadata)CRM 2011 Visual Ribbon Editor: Visual Ribbon Editor (1.3.1025.5): [NEW] Support for connecting to CRM Online via Office 365 (OSDP) [NEW] Current connection information and loaded ribbon name are displayed in the status bar [IMPROVED] Connect dialog minor improvements and error message descriptions [IMPROVED] Connecting to a CRM server will close currently loaded ribbon upon confirmation (if another ribbon was loaded previously) [FIX] Fixed bug in Open Ribbon dialog which would not allow to refresh entity list more than onceReadable Passphrase Generator: KeePass Plugin 0.8.0: Changes: Interrogative phrases (questions) like why did the statesman burgle amidst lucid sunlamps Support transitive / intransitive verbs (whether a verb needs a subject or not). Change adverbs to be either before or after the verb, at random. Add an "equal" version of each strength, where each possibility is equally likely (for password purists). 3401 words in the default dictionary (~400 more than previous release) Fixed bugs when choosing verb tenseseWay payment gateway provider for NB_Store: NB_Store_Gateway_eWay: Install package for eWAY gateway for NB_Store.fastJSON: v2.0.9: - added support for root level DataSet and DataTable deserialize (you have to do ToObject<DataSet>(...) ) - added dataset testsMicrosoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.72: Fix for Issue #18819 - bad optimization of return/assign operator.WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.5.0.390: Version 2.5.0.390 (Release Candidate): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Changelog Legend: [B] Breaking change; [O] Marked member as obsolete WAF: Fix recent file list remove issue. WAF: Minor code improvements. BookLibrary: Fix Blend design time support o...Fiskalizacija za developere: FiskalizacijaDev 1.1: Ovo je prva nadogradnja ovog projekta nakon inicijalnog predstavljanja - dodali smo nekoliko feature-a, bilo zato što smo sami primijetili da bi ih bilo dobro dodati, bilo na osnovu vaših sugestija - hvala svima koji su se ukljucili :) Ovo su stvari riješene u v1.1.: 1. Bilo bi dobro da se XML dokument koji se šalje u CIS može snimiti u datoteku (http://fiskalizacija.codeplex.com/workitem/612) 2. Podrška za COM DLL (VB6) (http://fiskalizacija.codeplex.com/workitem/613) 3. Podrška za DOS (unu...New ProjectsAnalytics for Windows 8: SIlverlight / WPF User control integrated in WPF / SILVERLIGHT / WINDOWS PHONE Apps in order to collect user data ( Action , Timespan etc ) . bGui - User Interfaces in Batch: A small project for allowing basic user interface creation in batch. Still under strict development, see documentation for current functionality.Blog Projects: Projects wich i use in my blog postsCloud Sync Service: This Windows Service lets you sync your files across other machines by using Cloud File Storage as gateway. Amazon S3 and Windows Azure supported.CocoaVP8: CocoaVP8 is a dual-licensed commercial/GPL native library which allows Mac and iOS applications to easily use the VP8 video codec.DarkSky Orchard Microdata: Microdata is an Orchard module that exposes a MicrodataPart that will render microdata for your content items.Gerenciador Paroquial: Um conjunto de ferramentas desenvolvido para auxiliar a administração de comunidades eclesiásticas episcopais.Quick Launch: Quick Launch - a New Lightweight and Fast Way to Manage and Launch Thousands of Tools and ApplicationsRDI Alef: RDI ALEF (ALef Entities Framework) é uma biblioteca desenvolvida em C# para persistência de objetos em um banco de dados. Encapsula um manipulador SQL e o funciSend multiple SMS via Way2SMS C#: Way2SMS, 160BY2, SMS, INDIATrending: Trending program; calculates the highest and lowest changes in frequency of specific words in two files.

  Read the article

• Creating a 2D Line Branch

  - by Danran

  I'm looking into creating a 2D line branch, something for a "lightning effect". I did ask this question before on creating a "lightning effect" (mainly though referring to the process of the glow & after effects the lightning has & to whether it was a good method to use or not); Methods of Creating a "Lightning" effect in 2D However i never did get around to getting it working. So i've been trying today to get a seconded attempt going but i'm getting now-were :/. So to be clear on what i'm trying to-do, in this article posted; http://drilian.com/2009/02/25/lightning-bolts/ I'm trying to create the line segments seen in the images on the site. I'm confused mainly by this line in the pseudo code; // Offset the midpoint by a random amount along the normal. midPoint += Perpendicular(Normalize(endPoint-startPoint))*RandomFloat(-offsetAmount,offsetAmount); If someone could explain this to me it would be really grateful :).

  Read the article

• Does LINQ require significantly more processing cycles and memory than lower-level data iteration techniques?

  - by Matthew Patrick Cashatt

  Background I am recently in the process of enduring grueling tech interviews for positions that use the .NET stack, some of which include silly questions like this one, and some questions that are more valid. I recently came across an issue that may be valid but I want to check with the community here to be sure. When asked by an interviewer how I would count the frequency of words in a text document and rank the results, I answered that I would Use a stream object put the text file in memory as a string. Split the string into an array on spaces while ignoring punctuation. Use LINQ against the array to .GroupBy() and .Count(), then OrderBy() said count. I got this answer wrong for two reasons: Streaming an entire text file into memory could be disasterous. What if it was an entire encyclopedia? Instead I should stream one block at a time and begin building a hash table. LINQ is too expensive and requires too many processing cycles. I should have built a hash table instead and, for each iteration, only added a word to the hash table if it didn't otherwise exist and then increment it's count. The first reason seems, well, reasonable. But the second gives me more pause. I thought that one of the selling points of LINQ is that it simply abstracts away lower-level operations like hash tables but that, under the veil, it is still the same implementation. Question Aside from a few additional processing cycles to call any abstracted methods, does LINQ require significantly more processing cycles to accomplish a given data iteration task than a lower-level task (such as building a hash table) would?

  Read the article

• How to implement "bullet time" in a multiplayer game?

  - by Tom

  I have never seen such a feature before, but it should provide an interesting gameplay opportunity. So yes, in a multiplayer/real-time environment (imagine FPS), how could I implement a slow motion/bullet time effect? Something like an illusion for the player that's currently slo-mo'ed. So everybody sees him "real-time", but he sees everything slowed down. Update A sidenote: keep in mind that a FPS game has to be balanced in order for it to be fun. So yes, this bullet time feature has to be solid, giving a small advantage to the "player", while not taking away from other players. Plus, there is a possibility that two players could activate their bullet time at the same time. Furthermore: I'm going to implement this in the future no matter what it takes. And, the idea is to build a whole new game engine for all this. If that gives new options, I'm more then interested in hearing the ideas. Meanwhile, here with my team we're thinking about this too, when our theory will be crafted, I'm going to share it here. Is this even possible? So, the question on "is this even possible" has been answered, now it's time to find the best solution. I'm keeping the "answer" until something exceptionally good comes up, like a prototype theory with something close to working pseudo code.

  Read the article

• Simple algorithm for a sudoku solver java

  - by user142050

  just a quick note first, I originally asked this question on stack overflow but was refered here instead. I've been stuck on this thing for a while, I just can't wrap my head around it. For a homework, I have to produce an algorithm for a sudoku solver that can check what number goes in a blank square in a row, in a column and in a block. It's a regular 9x9 sudoku and I'm assuming that the grid is already printed so I have to produce the part where it solves it. I've read a ton of stuff on the subject I just get stuck expressing it. I want the solver to do the following: If the value is smaller than 9, increase it by 1 If the value is 9, set it to zero and go back 1 If the value is invalid, increase by 1 I've already read about backtracking and such but I'm in the early stage of the class so I'd like to keep it as simple as possible. I'm more capable of writing in pseudo code but not so much with the algorithm itself and it's the algorithm that is needed for this exercise. Thanks in advance for your help guys.

  Read the article

• Can i change the order of these OpenGL / Win32 calls?

  - by Adam Naylor

  I've been adapting the NeHe ogl/win32 code to be more object orientated and I don't like the way some of the calls are structured. The example has the following pseudo structure: Register window class Change display settings with a DEVMODE Adjust window rect Create window Get DC Find closest matching pixel format Set the pixel format to closest match Create rendering context Make that context current Show the window Set it to foreground Set it to having focus Resize the GL scene Init GL The points in bold are what I want to move into a rendering class (the rest are what I see being pure win32 calls) but I'm not sure if I can call them after the win32 calls. Essentially what I'm aiming for is to encapsulate the Win32 calls into a Platform::Initiate() type method and the rest into a sort of Renderer::Initiate() method. So my question essentially boils down to: "Would OpenGL allow these methods to be called in this order?" Register window class Adjust window rect Create window Get DC Show the window Set it to foreground Set it to having focus Change display settings with a DEVMODE Find closest matching pixel format Set the pixel format to closest match Create rendering context Make that context current Resize the GL scene Init GL (obviously passing through the appropriate window handles and device contexts.) Thanks in advance.

  Read the article

• Should one reject over-scoped projects?

  - by Little Child

  I spoke to my first potential client today and he told me about the requirements of his project - an Android app. He is a well-known designer / photographer in my country and now wants me to "convert the website into an app, custom-tailored". So the requirements, details stripped out, are as follows: eCommerce Aggregating all his content like videos, blogs, tweets, etc. into the app Live streaming any of his studio demos Augmented reality. So that people can see what his painting will look like on their wall before they buy it Taxi Sharing Now, for a freelance project, it seems too over-scoped. I am not saying that I cannot do it. I can. But let me be realistic: There is a steep learning curve when it comes to VR. I am not a tester. I have never white-box tested my own apps. I always black-box test. Since he is a renowned artist, something short of perfect might harm his public image So, I asked him for 2 weeks' worth of time before I give him the final answer. Now knowing whom to consult for advise, I am posting the question here. Although interesting and personally challenging, I am split-minded about accepting a project like this. I will be the only developer for this. Should one reject a project that seems to be over-scoped for one's own abilities?

  Read the article

• Is error suppression acceptable in role of logic mechanism?

  - by Rarst

  This came up in code review at work in context of PHP and @ operator. However I want to try keep this in more generic form, since few question about it I found on SO got bogged down in technical specifics. Accessing array field, which is not set, results in error message and is commonly handled by following logic (pseudo code): if field value is set output field value Code in question was doing it like: start ignoring errors output field value stop ignoring errors The reasoning for latter was that it's more compact and readable code in this specific case. I feel that those benefits do not justify misuse (IMO) of language mechanics. Is such code is being "clever" in a bad way? Is discarding possible error (for any reason) acceptable practice over explicitly handling it (even if that leads to more extensive and/or intensive code)? Is it acceptable for programming operators to cross boundaries of intended use (like in this case using error handling for controlling output)? Edit I wanted to keep it more generic, but specific code being discussed was like this: if ( isset($array['field']) ) { echo '<li>' . $array['field'] . '</li>'; } vs the following example: echo '<li>' . @$array['field'] . '</li>';

  Read the article

• AppleTV - itunes store is temporarily unavailable - please check back later

  - by Ken

  When attempting to rent a movie on ATV, my wife received the error message above.  Alternately “server unavailable”.  When your wife is sick, the amount of IT support she needs goes up exponentially.  One piece of the puzzle was that she had changed her Apple ID password.  On her PC I ran iTunes and under account, there was only 1 device listed (not the ATV).  Even when signed out/back-in on the ATV under Settings>iTunes it still gave same error message.  What I suspect is it thinks she is trying to authorize the device to another Apple ID.  Some new 90 day rule limits when a device can be associated with another Apple ID.  Your iTunes store/account will show devices, and how long before they can be associated with a different Apple ID from the Account Information page in iTunes on your computer.  Apple must have no freaking idea why someone would want to know which ID is associated to the ATV (i.e. the vice versa), because it can’t be done. Solution: Try ATV settings>reset I swapped out ATV 1 for ATV 2 (used for music streaming downstairs).  I know it’s a cop-out solution, but remember I had a sick wife breathing down my neck.

  Read the article

• Good practices when optimizing HTML5/Javascript Game Developement [closed]

  - by hustlerinc

  I'm just starting out as a game developer and have created a few crappy but playable clones of classic games like pong, and bomberman. Being self taught (bless the internet) I do this by just stuffing in code to make the games work. Now I feel the time has come to create something complete, for this I need to know how a game is structured. I've searched on the web but there isn't that much to be found. The only "high-level" language I know is javascript so reading a tutorial or article based on C++ doesn't help me that much. I'm looking for good resource's pedagogically covering the theory and possibly examples (in Javascript or pseudo code that is understandable for a beginner) of how the game pieces fit together. From the start screen to asset loading and running the game loop. I'm not looking for anything complicated like reading through a 4000 line source code. All I want to learn is where, how and when the main parts of every game should be called. If you know any good resources to share, or maybe even have an answer for me I would deeply appreciate it.

  Read the article

• Android - big game universe

  - by user1641923

  I am new to an Android development, though I have much experience with Java, C++, PHP programming and a bit experience with vector graphics too (basic 3d Studio Max, Flash, etc). I am starting to work on an Android game. It is going to be a 2D space shooter/RPG, and I am not going to use any game engines and any 3D party libs. I really want to create a very large game universe, or even pseudo-infinite (without visible borders, as if it were a 2D projection of a sphere). It should include 10-12 clusters of 7-8 planets/other space objects and random amount of single asteroids/comets, which player can interact with and also not interactive background. I am looking for a least complicated aproach to create such a universe. My current ideas are: Simply create bitmaps with space scenery background so that they can be tiled seamlessly repeated and construct my 2D universe of this tiles, then place interactive objects (planets, other spaceships) on it. Using vector graphics. I would have a solid color background, some random background objects and gradients here and there. My problems here: Lack of knowledge of how well vector graphics is integrated in Android. Performance? Memory usage? Does Android manage big bitmaps well? Do all of the bitmaps have to be in memory during all game process? I am interested in technical details regarding each of the ideas and a suggestion, which I should go with.

  Read the article

• Material System

  - by Towelie

  I'm designing Material/Shader System (target API DX10+ and may be OpenGL3+, now only DX10). I know, there was a lot of topics about this, but i can't find what i need. I don't want to do some kind of compilation/parsing scripts in real-time. So there some artist-created material, written at some analog of CG. After it compiled to hlsl code and after to final shader. Also there are some hard-coded ConstantBuffers, like cbuffer EveryFrameChanging { float4x4 matView; float time; float delta; } And shader use shared constant buffers to get parameters. For each mesh in the scene, getting needs and what it can give (normals, binormals etc.) and finding corresponding permutation of shader or calculating missing parts. Also, during build calculating render states and the permutations or hash for this shader which later will be used for sorting or even giving the ID from 0 to ShaderCount w/o gaps to it for sorting. FinalShader have only 1 technique and one pass. After it for each Mesh setting some shader and it's good to render. some pseudo code SetConstantBuffer(ConstantBuffer::PerFrame); foreach (shader in FinalShaders) SetConstantBuffer(ConstantBuffer::PerShader, shader); SetRenderState(shader); foreach (mesh in shader.GetAllMeshes) SetConstantBuffer(ConstantBuffer::PerMesh, mesh); SetBuffers(mesh); Draw(); class FinalShader { public: UUID m_ID; RenderState m_RenderState; CBufferBindings m_BufferBindings; } But i have no idea how to create this CG language and do i really need it?

  Read the article

< Previous Page | 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74  | Next Page >