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  • Screen Aspect Ratio

    - by Bill Evjen
    Jeffrey Dean, Pixar Aspect Ratio is very important to home video. What is aspect ratio – the ratio from the height to the width 2.35:1 The image is 2.35 times wide as it is high Pixar uses this for half of our movies This is called a widescreen image When modified to fit your television screen They cut this to fit the box of your screen When a comparison is made huge chunks of picture is missing It is harder to find what is going on when these pieces are missing The whole is greater than the pieces themselves. If you are missing pieces – you are missing the movie The soul and the mood is in the film shots. Cutting it to fit a screen, you are losing 30% of the movie Why different aspect ratios? Film before the 1950s 1.33:1 Academy Standard There were all aspects of images though. There was no standard. Thomas Edison developed projecting images onto a wall/screen He didn’t patent it as he saw no value in it. Then 1.37:1 came about to add a strip of sound This is the same size as a 35mm film Around 1952 – TV comes along NTSC Television followed the Academy Standard (4x3) Once TV came out, movie theater attendance plummets So Film brought forth color to combat this. Also early 3D Also Widescreen was brought forth. Cinema-Scope Studios at the time made movies bigger and bigger There was a Napoleon movie that was actually 4x1 … really wide. 1.85:1 Academy Flat 2.35:1 Anamorphic Scope (aka Panavision/Cinemascope) Almost all movies are made in these two aspect ratios Pixar has done half in one and half in the other Why choose one over the other? Artist choice It is part of the story the director wants to tell Can we preserve the story outside of the theaters? TVs before 1998 – they were very square Now TVs are very wide Historical options Toy Story released as it was and people cut it in a way that wasn’t liked by the studio Pan and Scan is another option Cut and then scan left or right depending on where the action is Frame Height Pixar can go back and animate more picture to account for the bottom/top bars. You end up with more sky and more ground The characters seem to get lost in the picture You lose what the director original intended Re-staging For animated movies, you can move characters around – restage the scene. It is a new completely different version of the film This is the best possible option that Pixar came up with They have stopped doing this really as the demand as pretty much dropped off Why not 1.33 today? There has been an evolution of taste and demands. VHS is a linear item The focus is about portability and not about quality Most was pan and scan and the quality was so bad – but people didn’t notice DVD was introduced in 1996 You could have more content – two versions of the film You could have the widescreen version and the 1.33 version People realized that they are seeing more of the movie with the widescreen High Def Televisions (16x9 monitors) This was introduced in 2005 Blu-ray Disc was introduced in 2006 This is all widescreen You cannot find a square TV anymore TVs are roughly 1.85:1 aspect ratio There is a change in demand Users are used to black bars and are used to widescreen Users are educated now What’s next for in-flight entertainment? High Def IFE Personal Electronic Devices 3D inflight

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  • Organization &amp; Architecture UNISA Studies &ndash; Chap 6

    - by MarkPearl
    Learning Outcomes Discuss the physical characteristics of magnetic disks Describe how data is organized and accessed on a magnetic disk Discuss the parameters that play a role in the performance of magnetic disks Describe different optical memory devices Magnetic Disk The way data is stored on and retried from magnetic disks Data is recorded on and later retrieved form the disk via a conducting coil named the head (in many systems there are two heads) The writ mechanism exploits the fact that electricity flowing through a coil produces a magnetic field. Electric pulses are sent to the write head, and the resulting magnetic patterns are recorded on the surface below with different patterns for positive and negative currents The physical characteristics of a magnetic disk   Summarize from book   The factors that play a role in the performance of a disk Seek time – the time it takes to position the head at the track Rotational delay / latency – the time it takes for the beginning of the sector to reach the head Access time – the sum of the seek time and rotational delay Transfer time – the time it takes to transfer data RAID The rate of improvement in secondary storage performance has been considerably less than the rate for processors and main memory. Thus secondary storage has become a bit of a bottleneck. RAID works on the concept that if one disk can be pushed so far, additional gains in performance are to be had by using multiple parallel components. Points to note about RAID… RAID is a set of physical disk drives viewed by the operating system as a single logical drive Data is distributed across the physical drives of an array in a scheme known as striping Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information, which guarantees data recoverability in case of a disk failure (not supported by RAID 0 or RAID 1) Interesting to note that the increase in the number of drives, increases the probability of failure. To compensate for this decreased reliability RAID makes use of stored parity information that enables the recovery of data lost due to a disk failure.   The RAID scheme consists of 7 levels…   Category Level Description Disks Required Data Availability Large I/O Data Transfer Capacity Small I/O Request Rate Striping 0 Non Redundant N Lower than single disk Very high Very high for both read and write Mirroring 1 Mirrored 2N Higher than RAID 2 – 5 but lower than RAID 6 Higher than single disk Up to twice that of a signle disk for read Parallel Access 2 Redundant via Hamming Code N + m Much higher than single disk Highest of all listed alternatives Approximately twice that of a single disk Parallel Access 3 Bit interleaved parity N + 1 Much higher than single disk Highest of all listed alternatives Approximately twice that of a single disk Independent Access 4 Block interleaved parity N + 1 Much higher than single disk Similar to RAID 0 for read, significantly lower than single disk for write Similar to RAID 0 for read, significantly lower than single disk for write Independent Access 5 Block interleaved parity N + 1 Much higher than single disk Similar to RAID 0 for read, lower than single disk for write Similar to RAID 0 for read, generally  lower than single disk for write Independent Access 6 Block interleaved parity N + 2 Highest of all listed alternatives Similar to RAID 0 for read; lower than RAID 5 for write Similar to RAID 0 for read, significantly lower than RAID 5  for write   Read page 215 – 221 for detailed explanation on RAID levels Optical Memory There are a variety of optical-disk systems available. Read through the table on page 222 – 223 Some of the devices include… CD CD-ROM CD-R CD-RW DVD DVD-R DVD-RW Blue-Ray DVD Magnetic Tape Most modern systems use serial recording – data is lade out as a sequence of bits along each track. The typical recording used in serial is referred to as serpentine recording. In this technique when data is being recorded, the first set of bits is recorded along the whole length of the tape. When the end of the tape is reached the heads are repostioned to record a new track, and the tape is again recorded on its whole length, this time in the opposite direction. That process continued back and forth until the tape is full. To increase speed, the read-write head is capable of reading and writing a number of adjacent tracks simultaneously. Data is still recorded serially along individual tracks, but blocks in sequence are stored on adjacent tracks as suggested. A tape drive is a sequential access device. Magnetic tape was the first kind of secondary memory. It is still widely used as the lowest-cost, slowest speed member of the memory hierarchy.

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  • Best approach to depth streaming via existing codec

    - by Kevin
    I'm working on a development system (and game) intended for games set mostly in static third-person views. We produce our scenery by CG and photographic techniques. Our background art is rendered off-line by a production-grade renderer. To allow the runtime imagery to properly interact with the background art, I wrote a program to convert from depth output by Mental Ray into a texture, and a pixel shader to draw a quad such that the Z data comes from the texture. This technique is working out very well, but now we've decided that some of the camera angle changes between scenes should be animated. The animation itself is straightforward to produce from our CG models. We intend to encode it to some HD video codec such as H.264. The problem is that in order to maintain our runtime imagery on the screen, the depth buffer will need to be loaded for each video frame. Due to the bandwidth, the video's depth data will need to be compressed efficiently. I've looked into methods for performing temporal compression of depth info and found an interesting research paper here: http://web4.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/j.kautz/publications/depth-streaming.pdf The method establishes a mapping between 16-bit depth values and YCbCr values. The mapping is tuned to the properties of existing video codecs in order to maximize precision of the decoded depths after the YCbCr has undergone video compression. It allows an existing, unmodified video codec to be used on the backend. I'm looking at how to pull this off with the least possible work. (This design change was unplanned.) Our game engine itself is native C++, presently for Win32 and DirectX, although we've worked hard to keep platform dependence segregated because we intend other ports. We don't have motion video facilities in the engine yet but will ultimately need that anyway for cinematics. I was planning on using some off-the-shelf motion video solution we can plug into our engine, and haven't chosen one yet. This new added requirement makes selecting one harder since, among other things, we'll now need to bypass colourspace conversion on one of the streams, and also will need to be playing two streams simultaneously in lockstep, on top of in some cases audio on one of them (for the cinematics). I'm also wondering if it's possible (or even useful) to do the conversion from YCbCr to depth in a pixel shader, or if it's better to just do it in CPU and separately load the resulting depth values into a locked tex. The conversion unfortunately does involve branching logic per-pixel. (There are more naive mappings that don't need branching, but they produce inferior results.) It could be reduced to a table lookup but the table would be 32MB. Programming is second-nature to me but I'm not that experienced with pix shaders and have zero knowledge of off-the-shelf video solutions. I'd therefore be interested in advice from others who may have dealt more with depth streaming, pixel shaders, and/or off-the-shelf codecs, regarding how feasible the proposed application is and what off-the-shelf video systems out there would best get along with this usage case.

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  • Drive

    - by erikanollwebb
    Picking up where we left off, let's summarize.  People have both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, and whether reward works depends a bit on what you are rewarding.  Rewards don't decreased intrinsic motivation provided you know what you are getting and why, and when you reward high performance.  But as anyone who has watched the great animation of Dan Pink's TED talk knows, even that doesn't tell the whole story.  Although people may not be less intrinsically motivated by rewards, the impact of rewards on actual performance is a really odd questions.  Larger rewards don't necessarily lead to better performance and in fact, some times lead to worse performance.  Pink argues that people are driven and engaged when they have autonomy, mastery and purpose.  If they can self-direct and can be good at what they do and have a sense of purpose for what they are doing, they show the highest engagement.   (Personally, I would add progress to the list.  My experience is that if you have autonomy, mastery and a sense of purpose but don't get a feeling that you are making any progress day to day, your level of engagement will drop rapidly.) So Pink is arguing if we could set up work so that people have a sense of purpose in what they do, have some autonomy and the ability to build mastery, you'll have better companies.  And that's probably true in a lot of ways, but there's a problem.  Sometimes, you have things you need to do but maybe you don't really want to do.  Or that you don't really see the point of.  Or that doesn't have a lot of value to you at the end of the day.  Then what does a company do?  Let me give you an example.  I've worked on some customer relationship management (CRM) tools over the years and done user research with sales people to try and understand their world.  And there's a funny thing about sales tools in CRM.  Sometimes what the company wants a sales person to do is at odds with what a sales person thinks is useful to them.  For example, companies would like to know who a sales person talked to at the company and the person level.  They'd like to know what they talked about, when, and whether the deals closed.  Those metrics would help you build a better sales force and understand what works and what does not.  But sales people see that as busy work that doesn't add any value to their ability to sell.  So you have a sales person who has a lot of autonomy, they like to do things that improve their ability to sell and they usually feel a sense of purpose--the group is trying to make a quota!  That quota will help the company succeed!  But then you have tasks that they don't think fit into that equation.  The company would like to know more about what makes them successful and get metrics on what they do and frankly, have a record of what they do in case they leave, but the sales person thinks it's a waste of time to put all that information into a sales application. They have drive, just not for all the things the company would like.   You could punish them for not entering the information, or you could try to reward them for doing it, but you still have an imperfect model of engagement.  Ideally, you'd like them to want to do it.  If they want to do it, if they are motivated to do it, then the company wins.  If *something* about it is rewarding to them, then they are more engaged and more likely to do it.  So the question becomes, how do you create that interest to do something?

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  • Windows XP update not working

    - by Josh
    I have a problem with XP updating. It hangs when I try to search for updates on the website. But the automatic updates still work. And it's running IE6, so I'm trying to update to IE8, hoping that will fix the problems with the website. But when installing IE8 it just hangs at Installing Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP And if I try to install it manually, it hangs when installing the updates for IE8. So looking at these logs, is there anything going wrong with the update process? Here is the end of ie8_main.log: 00:00.547: Started: 2012/09/15 (Y/M/D) 08:14:31.046 (local) 00:00.719: Time Format in this log: MM:ss.mmm (minutes:seconds.milliseconds) 00:00.781: Command line: c:\cac6f883a91a15abdac3e9\update\iesetup.exe /wu-silent 00:00.828: INFO: Checking version for c:\cac6f883a91a15abdac3e9\update\iesetup.exe: 8.0.6001.18702 00:01.047: INFO: Acquired Package Installer Mutex 00:01.078: INFO: Operating System: Windows Workstation: 5.1.2600 (Service Pack 3) 00:01.328: ERROR: Couldn't read value: 'LIPPackage' from [Version] section in update.inf 00:01.359: INFO: Checking Prerequisites 00:01.391: INFO: Prerequisites Satisfied: Yes 00:01.484: INFO: Checking version for C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe: 6.0.2900.5512 00:01.516: INFO: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe version: 6.0.2900.5512 00:01.562: INFO: Checking if iexplore.exe's current version is between 8.0.6001.0... 00:01.594: INFO: ...and 8.1.0.0... 00:01.625: INFO: Maximum version on which to run IEAK branding is: 8.1.0.0... 00:01.656: INFO: iexplore.exe version check success. Install can proceed. 00:01.703: INFO: Checking version for C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe: 6.0.2900.5512 00:01.719: INFO: Checking version for C:\WINDOWS\system32\mshtml.dll: 6.0.2900.6266 00:01.750: INFO: Checking version for C:\WINDOWS\system32\wininet.dll: 6.0.2900.6254 00:01.906: INFO: EULA not shown in passive or quiet mode. 00:01.984: INFO: Skip directly to Options page. 00:02.078: INFO: |PreInstall >>> CPageProgress::DlgProc: Exiting Phase PH_NONE 00:02.109: INFO: |PreInstall >>> CPageProgress::_ChangeState: Original Phase: 0 00:02.141: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 1 00:02.187: INFO: |Initialize >>> >[BEGIN]------------------------------ 00:02.219: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 1 00:02.250: INFO: |Initialize >>> SKIP[FALSE]>>Looking for skip clauses 00:02.281: INFO: |Initialize >>> SKIP[FALSE]>>Result: RUNNING This Phase 00:02.312: INFO: |Initialize >>> Calculating bytes needed to install. 00:02.375: INFO: |Initialize >>> Diskspace Required: 151918308 00:02.422: INFO: |Initialize >>> Diskspace Available to user: 223816298496 00:02.453: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>CWindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: CoCreateInstance.CLSID_UpdateSession: HResult 0x00000000 00:02.484: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>CWindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: PutClientApplicationID: HResult 0x00000000 00:02.516: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>CWindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: CreateUpdateSearcher: HResult 0x00000000 00:02.547: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>CWindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: CreateUpdateDownloader: HResult 0x00000000 00:02.594: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>CWindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: CreateUpdateInstaller: HResult 0x00000000 00:02.625: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>WindowsUpdateMgr::Initialize: State Change: SS_INITIALIZED. 00:02.656: INFO: |Initialize >>> CStateInitialize::OnInitialize: Windows Update Manager Initialization Result: 0x00000000 00:02.687: INFO: |Initialize >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Preparing to Leave State. 00:02.719: INFO: |Initialize >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Setting Progress 100. 00:02.766: INFO: |Initialize >>> CInstallationState::_SetProgress: Post Set Progress Message Succeeded. 00:02.797: INFO: |Initialize >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Posting Exit Phase Message. 00:02.828: INFO: |Initialize >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Post Exit Phase Message Succeeded. 00:02.859: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::DlgProc: Received WM_PR_SETPROGRESS, 64, 0 00:02.891: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 1 00:02.953: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::DlgProc: Received WM_PR_EXITPHASE, 0, 0 00:02.984: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 1 00:03.016: INFO: |Initialize >>> <[END]-------------------------------- 00:03.047: INFO: |Initialize >>> CPageProgress::_ChangeState: Original Phase: 1 00:03.078: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> >[BEGIN]------------------------------ 00:03.109: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 2 00:03.156: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> SKIP[FALSE]>>Looking for skip clauses 00:03.187: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [FALSE] Condition: !_psdStateData->GetIsInitSuccessful() 00:03.219: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [TRUE ] Condition: !g_pApp->GetState()->AreWeDoingUninstall() 00:03.250: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> SKIP[TRUE ]>>Result: SKIPPING This Phase 00:03.281: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Preparing to Leave State. 00:03.312: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Setting Progress 100. 00:03.344: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CInstallationState::_SetProgress: Post Set Progress Message Succeeded. 00:03.375: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Posting Exit Phase Message. 00:03.391: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CInstallationState::_ExitState: Post Exit Phase Message Succeeded. 00:03.437: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::DlgProc: Received WM_PR_SETPROGRESS, 64, 0 00:03.469: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 2 00:03.500: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::DlgProc: Received WM_PR_EXITPHASE, 0, 0 00:03.531: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 2 00:03.562: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> <[END]-------------------------------- 00:03.594: INFO: |Uninstall Prev. >>> CPageProgress::_ChangeState: Original Phase: 2 00:03.625: INFO: |WU Download >>> >[BEGIN]------------------------------ 00:03.656: INFO: |WU Download >>> CPageProgress::_UpdateDisplay: Actual Phase: 3 00:03.703: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>>Looking for skip clauses 00:03.734: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [FALSE] Condition: !_psdStateData->GetIsInitSuccessful() 00:03.766: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [FALSE] Condition: !g_pApp->GetState()->GetOptShouldUpdate() 00:03.781: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [FALSE] Condition: g_pApp->GetState()->GetOptIEAKMode()==IEAK_BRANDING 00:03.812: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>> Adding [FALSE] Condition: g_pApp->GetState()->AreWeDoingUninstall() 00:03.859: INFO: |WU Download >>> SKIP[FALSE]>>Result: RUNNING This Phase 00:03.891: INFO: Setting Windows Update Registry Keys: LookingForUpdates=0x00 - ForcePostUpdateDownload=0x00 - ForcePostUpdateInstall=0x00 00:03.953: INFO: Setting Windows Update Registry Keys: LookingForUpdates=0x01 - ForcePostUpdateDownload=0x01 - ForcePostUpdateInstall=0x00 00:03.984: INFO: WindowsUpdate>>Search: Search criteria: 'IsInstalled=0 and Type='Software' and CategoryIDs contains '5312e4f1-6372-442d-aeb2-15f2132c9bd7'' 00:04.031: INFO: |WU Download >>> Looking for Internet Explorer updates... And here is the end of the WindowsUpdate.log: 2012-09-15 08:14:16:109 1168 fc AU ############# 2012-09-15 08:14:16:109 1168 fc AU ## START ## AU: Search for updates 2012-09-15 08:14:16:109 1168 fc AU ######### 2012-09-15 08:14:16:109 1168 fc AU <<## SUBMITTED ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = {92AA8321-2BDA-46EA-828E-52D43F3BD58C}] 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {B4B9471C-1A5E-4D9C-94EF-84B00592946A}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {7F28CDA0-8249-47CA-BD3C-677813249FE9}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {F1B1A591-BB75-4B1C-9FBD-03EEDB00CC9D}.103 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {6384F8AC-4973-4ED9-BC7F-4644507FB001}.102 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {1C81AA3A-6F53-499D-B519-2A81CFBAA1DB}.102 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {7A25C7EC-3798-4413-A493-57A259D18959}.103 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {D6E99F31-FBF4-4DBF-B408-7D75B282D85B}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {1D45A361-56E7-4A3E-8E9F-AE022D050D13}.101 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {AA38D853-2A3E-4F72-86E9-32663D73DC55}.102 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {3ABE760C-4578-4C84-A1CB-BF1DF019EFE4}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {596ADB47-108D-482D-85BA-A513621434B7}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {0F90F2F5-18A2-412C-AEB9-7F027D6C986D}.104 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {7079BEEB-6120-4AFD-AD07-FB4DFA284FBE}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent Update {A566B4B1-D44F-46F8-A862-64EFA6684948}.100 is pruned out due to potential supersedence 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent Update {A2E271BC-57AE-44C3-8BFF-919D81299B5D}.100 is pruned out due to potential supersedence 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {DE76AB56-5835-46D4-A6B7-1ABED2572F00}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {C683FDC6-3997-4D12-AABB-49AE57031FE6}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {4C5429B5-22FE-4656-9E82-D80C1B99D73E}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:16:140 1168 2c4 Agent * Found 16 updates and 69 categories in search; evaluated appl. rules of 1868 out of 3469 deployed entities 2012-09-15 08:14:16:171 1168 2c4 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:16:171 1168 2c4 Agent ** END ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = MicrosoftUpdate] 2012-09-15 08:14:16:171 1168 2c4 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent ** START ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates] 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent * Online = No; Ignore download priority = No 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent * Criteria = "IsHidden=0 and IsInstalled=0 and DeploymentAction='Installation' and IsAssigned=1 or IsHidden=0 and IsPresent=1 and DeploymentAction='Uninstallation' and IsAssigned=1 or IsHidden=0 and IsInstalled=1 and DeploymentAction='Installation' and IsAssigned=1 and RebootRequired=1 or IsHidden=0 and IsInstalled=0 and DeploymentAction='Uninstallation' and IsAssigned=1 and RebootRequired=1" 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent * ServiceID = {7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D} Third party service 2012-09-15 08:14:16:187 1168 2c4 Agent * Search Scope = {Machine} 2012-09-15 08:14:16:203 4000 59c COMAPI >>-- RESUMED -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = MicrosoftUpdate] 2012-09-15 08:14:16:203 4000 59c COMAPI - Updates found = 16 2012-09-15 08:14:16:203 4000 59c COMAPI --------- 2012-09-15 08:14:16:218 4000 59c COMAPI -- END -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = MicrosoftUpdate] 2012-09-15 08:14:16:218 4000 59c COMAPI ------------- 2012-09-15 08:14:20:843 1168 69c AU AU received install approval from client for 1 updates 2012-09-15 08:14:20:843 1168 69c AU ############# 2012-09-15 08:14:20:843 1168 69c AU ## START ## AU: Install updates 2012-09-15 08:14:20:859 1168 69c AU ######### 2012-09-15 08:14:20:859 1168 69c AU # Initiating manual install 2012-09-15 08:14:20:859 1168 69c AU # Approved updates = 1 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {0F90F2F5-18A2-412C-AEB9-7F027D6C986D}.104 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 2c4 Agent * Found 1 updates and 69 categories in search; evaluated appl. rules of 1326 out of 3469 deployed entities 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 2c4 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 2c4 Agent ** END ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates] 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 2c4 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:20:875 1168 69c AU <<## SUBMITTED ## AU: Install updates / installing updates [CallId = {BB25B2FA-1DA6-46EF-BBAD-93AEC822BD21}] 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU >>## RESUMED ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = {92AA8321-2BDA-46EA-828E-52D43F3BD58C}] 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU # 1 updates detected 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 280 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 280 Agent ** START ** Agent: Installing updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates] 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 280 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 280 Agent * Updates to install = 1 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU ######### 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU ## END ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = {92AA8321-2BDA-46EA-828E-52D43F3BD58C}] 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU ############# 2012-09-15 08:14:20:890 1168 eac AU Featured notifications is disabled. 2012-09-15 08:14:20:906 1168 2c4 Report REPORT EVENT: {F352ECAD-2C8C-4F9A-A225-333B5018F1F0} 2012-09-15 08:13:23:234-0500 1 188 102 {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} 0 0 AutomaticUpdates Success Content Install Installation Ready: The following updates are downloaded and ready for installation. This computer is currently scheduled to install these updates on Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 3:00 AM: - Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP 2012-09-15 08:14:20:906 1168 2c4 Report REPORT EVENT: {707D1D6E-BA62-438F-B704-0CC083B1FB6C} 2012-09-15 08:13:23:234-0500 1 202 102 {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} 0 0 AutomaticUpdates Success Content Install Reboot completed. 2012-09-15 08:14:20:906 1168 2c4 Report REPORT EVENT: {65C04CE5-D046-4B6F-92F1-E2DF36730338} 2012-09-15 08:14:16:156-0500 1 147 101 {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} 0 0 MicrosoftUpdate Success Software Synchronization Windows Update Client successfully detected 16 updates. 2012-09-15 08:14:20:921 1168 280 Agent * Title = Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP 2012-09-15 08:14:20:921 1168 280 Agent * UpdateId = {0F90F2F5-18A2-412C-AEB9-7F027D6C986D}.104 2012-09-15 08:14:20:921 1168 280 Agent * Bundles 2 updates: 2012-09-15 08:14:20:921 1168 280 Agent * {114743B0-0F07-4000-8C51-BE808D819516}.104 2012-09-15 08:14:20:921 1168 280 Agent * {81B41B2D-E98D-4DFE-9CB7-E88AE50E9B42}.104 2012-09-15 08:14:25:078 1168 280 Handler Attempting to create remote handler process as RAY\Ray in session 0 2012-09-15 08:14:25:250 1168 280 DnldMgr Preparing update for install, updateId = {114743B0-0F07-4000-8C51-BE808D819516}.104. 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: -0500) =========== 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Misc = Process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Misc = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Handler ::::::::::::: 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Handler :: START :: Handler: Command Line Install 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Handler ::::::::: 2012-09-15 08:14:27:453 1256 528 Handler : Updates to install = 1 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: -0500) =========== 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 Misc = Process: c:\cac6f883a91a15abdac3e9\update\iesetup.exe 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 Misc = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuapi.dll 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 COMAPI ------------- 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 COMAPI -- START -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:35:062 676 684 COMAPI --------- 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent ** START ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent * Online = Yes; Ignore download priority = No 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent * Criteria = "IsInstalled=0 and Type='Software' and CategoryIDs contains '5312e4f1-6372-442d-aeb2-15f2132c9bd7'" 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent * ServiceID = {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} Third party service 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Agent * Search Scope = {Machine} 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 676 684 COMAPI <<-- SUBMITTED -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:35:078 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:093 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:156 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation failed with 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:156 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: WinHttp: ShouldFileBeDownloaded failed with 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:156 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: DownloadFileInternal failed for http://download.windowsupdate.com/v9/1/windowsupdate/redir/muv4wuredir.cab: error 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:156 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:171 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:312 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation failed with 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:312 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: WinHttp: ShouldFileBeDownloaded failed with 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:312 1168 2c4 Misc WARNING: DownloadFileInternal failed for http://download.microsoft.com/v9/1/windowsupdate/redir/muv4wuredir.cab: error 0x80190194 2012-09-15 08:14:35:312 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:312 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:406 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:421 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:437 1168 2c4 Agent Checking for updated auth cab for service 7971f918-a847-4430-9279-4a52d1efe18d at http://download.windowsupdate.com/v9/1/microsoftupdate/redir/muauth.cab 2012-09-15 08:14:35:437 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\AuthCabs\authcab.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:437 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:578 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\AuthCabs\authcab.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:593 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:687 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:718 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:765 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:781 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:781 1168 2c4 PT +++++++++++ PT: Starting category scan +++++++++++ 2012-09-15 08:14:35:781 1168 2c4 PT + ServiceId = {7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D}, Server URL = https://www.update.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx 2012-09-15 08:14:35:906 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:921 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:968 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:35:984 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:35:984 1168 2c4 PT +++++++++++ PT: Synchronizing server updates +++++++++++ 2012-09-15 08:14:35:984 1168 2c4 PT + ServiceId = {7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D}, Server URL = https://www.update.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx 2012-09-15 08:14:37:250 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:37:265 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:37:312 1168 2c4 Misc Validating signature for C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D\muv4muredir.cab: 2012-09-15 08:14:37:328 1168 2c4 Misc Microsoft signed: Yes 2012-09-15 08:14:37:328 1168 2c4 PT +++++++++++ PT: Synchronizing extended update info +++++++++++ 2012-09-15 08:14:37:328 1168 2c4 PT + ServiceId = {7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D}, Server URL = https://www.update.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx 2012-09-15 08:14:37:453 784 314 DtaStor WARNING: Attempted to add URL http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/dflt/2010/06/3888874_6c6699387d7465bc17c02cc31a660b216427fc78.cab for file bGaZOH10ZbwXwCzDGmYLIWQn/Hg= when file has not been previously added to the datastore 2012-09-15 08:14:37:468 784 314 DtaStor WARNING: Attempted to add URL http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/dflt/2011/12/4876484_606d98885a70abb9e5e7f3821682cf5541b17c27.cab for file YG2YiFpwq7nl5/OCFoLPVUGxfCc= when file has not been previously added to the datastore 2012-09-15 08:14:37:468 784 314 DtaStor WARNING: Attempted to add URL http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/dflt/2012/08/5179550_0e825c9da8f36ff2addcbbf4089e12bff764e0a0.cab for file DoJcnajzb/Kt3Lv0CJ4Sv/dk4KA= when file has not been previously added to the datastore 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {551EF226-28CF-44D9-B318-4959C2B73B26}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {955266A7-6210-4C18-BAEF-0E8244D975A9}.100 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {797D3C3F-CFD2-4D26-BB52-BE038205C7C4}.105 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent * Added update {EDB28194-3635-480E-A069-1D1984CCB2AB}.102 to search result 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent * Found 4 updates and 5 categories in search; evaluated appl. rules of 52 out of 65 deployed entities 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent ********* 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent ** END ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937 1168 2c4 Agent ************* 2012-09-15 08:14:37:953 676 8cc COMAPI >>-- RESUMED -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:37:953 676 8cc COMAPI - Updates found = 4 2012-09-15 08:14:37:953 676 8cc COMAPI --------- 2012-09-15 08:14:37:953 676 8cc COMAPI -- END -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Internet Explorer 8 Setup Utility] 2012-09-15 08:14:37:953 676 8cc COMAPI ------------- 2012-09-15 08:14:42:937 1168 2c4 Report REPORT EVENT: {88008109-CF47-404E-940D-6C21A85DFF64} 2012-09-15 08:14:37:937-0500 1 147 101 {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} 0 0 Windows Internet Explorer 8 Set Success Software Synchronization Windows Update Client successfully detected 4 updates. I could upload the entire WindowsUpdate.log file to dropbox if required.

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  • Optimal setup for ASUS P6X58D Premium BIOS (no OC)?

    - by rumtscho
    Normally, I'd trust the mainboard manufacturer to choose the best options as defaults. But I had trouble with the board, because even with Quick Boot enabled, it booted twice as slowly as a Pentium 4 Celeron. Then I changed lots of options at once (most of them weren't explained in the manual, just mentioned with a single sentence) and the boot time is only marginally worse than the Pentium 4 (54 sec against 46 sec from button to pw entering screen). Now I don't know if I have turned something off which should have stayed on. I guess I even won't be able to boot from a CD now, because even though it is present in the boot sequence, I took off a timeout I think it needs to check whether there is a disk in the drive. The second reason is that I don't have an internal HDD, only a SSD. I forgot my sources blush but I am under the impression that today's BIOS and OS options are geared toward booting from a HDD, which is often less than optimal when one boots from a SSD, especially when there are functions which cause avoidable writing cycles, as a SSD wears out after too many writing cycles. Most of the things I've read concern the OS, but there are some BIOS-relevant options too. I am especially confused about the disk mode. The board supports AHCI, IDE-simulation and RAID, but of the different articles I've read, there is a proponent for each and no clear arguments for any. So can one tell me which options are important in general and which are important for a SSD-only system? I don't want to overclock the CPU, so you don't have to say anything about this (yes I know the board is meant for OC:)). I am thinking of overclocking the RAM, since they sold me 1600er heatsinked modules which are running at 1066 now, but I'm not sure yet about that. The rest of the system: i7-930, Intel X25-m G2, 6 GB RAM, GTS 250, some no-name Blue-ray ROM. 2 external HDDs over USB 2.0. Lots of other USB-connected hardware (12 devices I think), no SATA 3 drives (will disabling the controller have an impact on performance?), no LAN, only WiFi. Lucid Lynx 64 bit, no dual boot, no virtual installations. The main uses of the system are: managing and playing/showing all the media stored on the external disks, lots of image manipulation, some video editing, a bit of (non-demanding) gaming, rarely development. Lots of Internet surfing too, but this shouldn't have much impact on performance.

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  • Looking for a Software to harden Windows machines

    - by MosheH
    I'm a network administrator of a small/medium network. I'm looking for a software (Free or Not) which can harden Windows Computers (XP And Win7) for the propose of hardening standalone desktop computers (not in domain network). Note: The computers are completely isolated (standalone), so i can't use active directory group policy. moreover, there are too many restriction that i need to apply, so it is not particle to set it up manual (one by one). Basically what I’m looking for is a software that can restrict and disable access for specific user accounts on the system. For Example: User john can only open one application and nothing else -- He don’t see no icon on the desktop or start menu, except for one or two applications which i want to allow. He can't Right click on the desktop, the task-bar icons are not shown, there is no folder options, etc... User marry can open a specific application and copy data to one folder on D drive. User Dan, have access to all drives but cannot install software, and so on... So far ,I've found only the following solutions, but they all seems to miss one or more feature: Desktop restriction Software 1. Faronics WINSelect The application seems to answer most of our needs except one feature which is very important to us but seems to be missing from WINSelect, which is "restriction per profile". WINSelect only allow to set up restrictions which are applied system-wide. If I have multiple user accounts on the system and want to apply different restrictions for each user, I cant. Deskman (No Restriction per user)- Same thing, no restriction per profile. Desktop Security Rx - not relevant, No Win7 Support. The only software that I've found which is offering a restriction per profile is " 1st Security Agent ". but its GUI is very complicated and not very intuitive. It's worth to mention that I'm not looking for "Internet Kiosk software" although they share some features with the one I need. All I need is a software (like http://www.faronics.com/standard/winselect/) that is offering a way to restrict Windows user interface. So IF anybody know an Hardening software which allows to set-up user restrictions on Windows systems, It will be a big, big, big help for me! Thanks to you all

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  • Searching For a Desktop Security Software to harden Windows machines, anybody?

    - by MosheH
    I'm a network administrator of a small/medium network. I'm looking for a software (Free or Not) which can harden Windows Computers (XP And Win7) for the propose of hardening standalone desktop computers (not in domain network). Note: The computers are completely isolated (standalone), so i can't use active directory group policy. moreover, there are too many restriction that i need to apply, so it is not particle to set it up manual (one by one). Basically what I’m looking for is a software that can restrict and disable access for specific user accounts on the system. For Example: User john can only open one application and nothing else -- He don’t see no icon on the desktop or start menu, except for one or two applications which i want to allow. He can't Right click on the desktop, the task-bar icons are not shown, there is no folder options, etc... User marry can open a specific application and copy data to one folder on D drive. User Dan, have access to all drives but cannot install software, and so on... So far ,I've found only the following solutions, but they all seems to miss one or more feature: Desktop restriction Software 1. Faronics WINSelect The application seems to answer most of our needs except one feature which is very important to us but seems to be missing from WINSelect, which is "restriction per profile". WINSelect only allow to set up restrictions which are applied system-wide. If I have multiple user accounts on the system and want to apply different restrictions for each user, I cant. Deskman (No Restriction per user)- Same thing, no restriction per profile. Desktop Security Rx - not relevant, No Win7 Support. The only software that I've found which is offering a restriction per profile is " 1st Security Agent ". but its GUI is very complicated and not very intuitive. It's worth to mention that I'm not looking for "Internet Kiosk software" although they share some features with the one I need. All I need is a software (like http://www.faronics.com/standard/winselect/) that is offering a way to restrict Windows user interface. So if anybody know an Hardening software which allows to set-up user restrictions on Windows systems, It will be a big, big, big help for me! Thanks to you all

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  • System won't boot: Gigabyte HD 7790 1GB OC GPU issue or Corsair VS550 PSU issue?

    - by MGOwen
    Installed a new GPU, and PC won't boot. Turn it on and: No monitor signal at all (tried HDMI and VGA via DVI, on 2 working monitors). CPU and GPU fans DO spin, but No system beeps, no sounds from drives (they might make a small noise in the first 1 second or so, but there's definitely no OS loading or anything like that) If hit "power off" button it turns off immediately (no holding down for 3 seconds like usual) If I put my old HD 5670 GPU back in, everything works fine. But (plot twist!) card is not totally dead. My friend put it in his PC, and it works fine (he even played a game for 15 minutes, no issues). He has a Corsair TX850 850W and a Gigabyte MB. So my main theory is: the GPU isn't getting enough power from the PSU. But is it: Bad PSU? Seems unlikely, since it works fine with the other GPU. Also, the PSU Is brand new and 550W (single 42A/504W 12V rail). Overkill for this GPU. Corsair is a decent brand, but maybe just mine is faulty? Bad GPU? Could it be drawing more power than it should be, somehow, or something? Supposedly HD 7790 needs only 21A/75W on the 12v rail, though this one is factory overclocked a bit... but should that triple the power requirement? Something else? Could there be a motherboard incompatibility somehow? Both MB and GPU are less than a year old and PCI Express 3.0 x16. Things I've tried: Re-seating the video card Testing PC with old GPU (works fine, same PCIe slot). Checked AMD's stated amp/watt requirements of a 7790 and my PSU (see above). My PSU can output twice the amps (single rail) and 5x the Wattage a 7790 needs. Here are the full specs: Gigabyte HD 7790 1GB OC GPU Corsair VS550 550W PSU 4GB RAM AsRock H61M U3S3 motherboard i3-2100 500GB SATA HDD (2007-ish) blu-ray drive (new) PCI 802.11g card Edit: Motherboard BIOS Update seems to have fixed it. (If anyone has same problem and it doesn't work, comment here).

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  • Last week I was presented with a Microsoft MVP award in Virtual Machines – time to thank all who hel

    - by Liam Westley
    MVP in Virtual Machines Last week, on 1st April, I received an e-mail from Microsoft letting me know that I had been presented with a 2010 Microsoft® MVP Award for outstanding contributions in Virtual Machine technical communities during the past year.   It was an honour to be nominated, and is a great reflection on the vibrancy of the UK user group community which made this possible. Virtualisation for developers, not just IT Pros I consider it a special honour as my expertise in virtualisation is as a software developer utilising virtual machines to aid my software development, rather than an IT Pro who manages data centre and network infrastructure.  I’ve been on a minor mission over the past few years to enthuse developers in a topic usually seen as only for network admins, but which can make their life a whole lot easier once understood properly. Continuous learning is fun In 1676, the scientist Isaac Newton, in a letter to Robert Hooke used the phrase (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/268025.html) ‘If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants’ I’m a nuclear physicist by education, so I am more than comfortable that any knowledge I have is based on the work of others.  Although far from a science, software development and IT is equally built upon the work of others. It’s one of the reasons I despise software patents. So in that sense this MVP award is a result of all the great minds that have provided virtualisation solutions for me to talk about.  I hope that I have always acknowledged those whose work I have used when blogging or giving presentations, and that I have executed my responsibility to share any knowledge gained as widely as possible. Thanks to all those who helped – a big thanks to the UK user group community I reckon this journey started in 2003 when I started attending a user group called the London .Net Users Group (http://www.dnug.org.uk) started by a nice chap called Ian Cooper. The great thing about Ian was that he always encouraged non professional speakers to take the stage at the user group, and my first ever presentation was on 30th September 2003; SQL Server CE 2.0 and the.NET Compact Framework. In 2005 Ian Cooper was on the committee for the first DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper! day, the free community conference held at Microsoft’s UK HQ in Thames Valley park in Reading.  He encouraged me to take part and so on 14th May 2005 I presented a talk previously given to the London .Net User Group on Simplifying access to multiple DB providers in .NET.  From that point on I definitely had the bug; presenting at DDD2, DDD3, groking at DDD4 and SQLBits I and after a break, DDD7, DDD Scotland and DDD8.  What definitely made me keen was the encouragement and infectious enthusiasm of some of the other DDD organisers; Craig Murphy, Barry Dorrans, Phil Winstanley and Colin Mackay. During the first few DDD events I met the Dave McMahon and Richard Costall from NxtGenUG who made it easy to start presenting at their user groups.  Along the way I’ve met a load of great user group organisers; Guy Smith-Ferrier of the .Net Developer Network, Jimmy Skowronski of GL.Net and the double act of Ray Booysen and Gavin Osborn behind what was Vista Squad and is now Edge UG. Final thanks to those who suggested virtualisation as a topic ... Final thanks have to go the people who inspired me to create my Virtualisation for Developers talk.  Toby Henderson (@holytshirt) ensured I took notice of Sun’s VirtualBox, Peter Ibbotson for being a fine sounding board at the Kew Railway over quite a few Adnam’s Broadside and to Guy Smith-Ferrier for allowing his user group to be the guinea pigs for the talk before it was seen at DDD7.  Thanks to all of you I now know much more about virtualisation than I would have thought possible and it continues to be great fun. Conclusion If this was an academy award acceptance speech I would have been cut off after the first few paragraphs, so well done if you made it this far.  I’ll be doing my best to do justice to the MVP award and the UK community.  I’m fortunate in having a new employer who considers presenting at user groups as a good thing, so don’t expect me to stop any time soon. If you’ve never seen me in action, then you can view the original DDD7 Virtualisation for Developers presentation (filmed by the Microsoft Channel 9 team) as part of the full DDD7 video list here, http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/?p=1591.  Also thanks to Craig Murphy’s fine video work you can also view my latest DDD8 presentation on Commercial Software Development, here, http://vimeo.com/9216563 P.S. If I’ve missed anyone out, do feel free to lambast me in comments, it’s your duty.

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  • Big Data – Buzz Words: Importance of Relational Database in Big Data World – Day 9 of 21

    - by Pinal Dave
    In yesterday’s blog post we learned what is HDFS. In this article we will take a quick look at the importance of the Relational Database in Big Data world. A Big Question? Here are a few questions I often received since the beginning of the Big Data Series - Does the relational database have no space in the story of the Big Data? Does relational database is no longer relevant as Big Data is evolving? Is relational database not capable to handle Big Data? Is it true that one no longer has to learn about relational data if Big Data is the final destination? Well, every single time when I hear that one person wants to learn about Big Data and is no longer interested in learning about relational database, I find it as a bit far stretched. I am not here to give ambiguous answers of It Depends. I am personally very clear that one who is aspiring to become Big Data Scientist or Big Data Expert they should learn about relational database. NoSQL Movement The reason for the NoSQL Movement in recent time was because of the two important advantages of the NoSQL databases. Performance Flexible Schema In personal experience I have found that when I use NoSQL I have found both of the above listed advantages when I use NoSQL database. There are instances when I found relational database too much restrictive when my data is unstructured as well as they have in the datatype which my Relational Database does not support. It is the same case when I have found that NoSQL solution performing much better than relational databases. I must say that I am a big fan of NoSQL solutions in the recent times but I have also seen occasions and situations where relational database is still perfect fit even though the database is growing increasingly as well have all the symptoms of the big data. Situations in Relational Database Outperforms Adhoc reporting is the one of the most common scenarios where NoSQL is does not have optimal solution. For example reporting queries often needs to aggregate based on the columns which are not indexed as well are built while the report is running, in this kind of scenario NoSQL databases (document database stores, distributed key value stores) database often does not perform well. In the case of the ad-hoc reporting I have often found it is much easier to work with relational databases. SQL is the most popular computer language of all the time. I have been using it for almost over 10 years and I feel that I will be using it for a long time in future. There are plenty of the tools, connectors and awareness of the SQL language in the industry. Pretty much every programming language has a written drivers for the SQL language and most of the developers have learned this language during their school/college time. In many cases, writing query based on SQL is much easier than writing queries in NoSQL supported languages. I believe this is the current situation but in the future this situation can reverse when No SQL query languages are equally popular. ACID (Atomicity Consistency Isolation Durability) – Not all the NoSQL solutions offers ACID compliant language. There are always situations (for example banking transactions, eCommerce shopping carts etc.) where if there is no ACID the operations can be invalid as well database integrity can be at risk. Even though the data volume indeed qualify as a Big Data there are always operations in the application which absolutely needs ACID compliance matured language. The Mixed Bag I have often heard argument that all the big social media sites now a days have moved away from Relational Database. Actually this is not entirely true. While researching about Big Data and Relational Database, I have found that many of the popular social media sites uses Big Data solutions along with Relational Database. Many are using relational databases to deliver the results to end user on the run time and many still uses a relational database as their major backbone. Here are a few examples: Facebook uses MySQL to display the timeline. (Reference Link) Twitter uses MySQL. (Reference Link) Tumblr uses Sharded MySQL (Reference Link) Wikipedia uses MySQL for data storage. (Reference Link) There are many for prominent organizations which are running large scale applications uses relational database along with various Big Data frameworks to satisfy their various business needs. Summary I believe that RDBMS is like a vanilla ice cream. Everybody loves it and everybody has it. NoSQL and other solutions are like chocolate ice cream or custom ice cream – there is a huge base which loves them and wants them but not every ice cream maker can make it just right  for everyone’s taste. No matter how fancy an ice cream store is there is always plain vanilla ice cream available there. Just like the same, there are always cases and situations in the Big Data’s story where traditional relational database is the part of the whole story. In the real world scenarios there will be always the case when there will be need of the relational database concepts and its ideology. It is extremely important to accept relational database as one of the key components of the Big Data instead of treating it as a substandard technology. Ray of Hope – NewSQL In this module we discussed that there are places where we need ACID compliance from our Big Data application and NoSQL will not support that out of box. There is a new termed coined for the application/tool which supports most of the properties of the traditional RDBMS and supports Big Data infrastructure – NewSQL. Tomorrow In tomorrow’s blog post we will discuss about NewSQL. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Big Data, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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  • IOUG and Oracle Enterprise Manager User Community Twitter Chat and Sessions at OpenWorld

    - by Anand Akela
    Like last many years, we will have annual Oracle Users Forum on Sunday, September 30th, 2012 at Moscone West, Levels 2 & 3 . It will be open to all registered attendees of Oracle Open World and conferences running from September 29 to October 5, 2012 . This will be a great  opportunity to meet with colleagues, peers, and subject matter experts to share best practices, tips, and techniques around Oracle technologies. You could sit in on a special interest group (SIG) meeting or session and learn how to get more out of Oracle technologies and applications. IOUG and Oracle Enterprise Manager team invites you to join a Twitter Chat on Sunday, Sep. 30th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM.  IOUG leaders, Enterprise Manager SIG contributors and many Oracle Users Forum speakers will answer questions related to their experience with Oracle Enterprise Manager and the activities and resources available for  Enterprise Manager SIG members. You can participate in the chat using hash tag #em12c on Twitter.com or by going to  tweetchat.com/room/em12c      (Needs Twitter credential for participating).  Feel free to join IOUG and Enterprise team members at the User Group Pavilion on 2nd Floor, Moscone West. Here is the complete list of Oracle Enterprise Manager sessions during the Oracle Users Forum : Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Time Session Title Speakers Location 8:00AM - 8:45AM UGF4569 - Oracle RAC Migration with Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c VINOD Emmanuel -Database Engineering, Dell, Inc. Wendy Chen - Sr. Systems Engineer, Dell, Inc. Moscone West - 2011 8:00AM - 8:45AM UGF10389 -  Monitoring Storage Systems for Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Anand Ranganathan - Product Manager, NetApp Moscone West - 2016 9:00AM - 10:00AM UGF2571 - Make Oracle Enterprise Manager Sing and Dance with the Command-Line Interface Ray Smith - Senior Database Administrator, Portland General Electric Moscone West - 2011 10:30AM - 11:30AM UGF2850 - Optimal Support: Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control, My Oracle Support, and More April Sims - DBA, Southern Utah University Moscone West - 2011 11:30AM - 12:30PM IOUG and Oracle Enterprise Manager Joint Tweet Chat  Join IOUG Leaders, IOUG's Enterprise Manager SIG Contributors and Speakers on Twitter and ask questions related to practitioner's experience with Oracle Enterprise Manager and the new IOUG 's Enterprise Manager SIG. To attend and participate in the chat, please use hash tag #em12c on twitter.com or your favorite Twitter client. You can also go to tweetchat.com/room/em12c to watch the conversation or login with your twitter credentials to ask questions. User Group Pavilion 2nd Floor, Moscone West 12:30PM-2:00PM UGF5131 - Migrating from Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control to 12c Cloud Control    Leighton Nelson - Database Administrator, Mercy Moscone West - 2011 2:15PM-3:15PM UGF6511 -  Database Performance Tuning: Get the Best out of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control Mike Ault - Oracle Guru, TEXAS MEMORY SYSTEMS INC Tariq Farooq - CEO/Founder, BrainSurface Moscone West - 2011 3:30PM-4:30PM UGF4556 - Will It Blend? Verifying Capacity in Server and Database Consolidations Jeremiah Wilton - Database Technology, Blue Gecko / DatAvail Moscone West - 2018 3:30PM-4:30PM UGF10400 - Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c: Monitoring, Metric Extensions, and Configuration Best Practices Kellyn Pot'Vin - Sr. Technical Consultant, Enkitec Moscone West - 2011 Stay Connected: Twitter |  Face book |  You Tube |  Linked in |  Newsletter

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  • How to find domain registrar and DNS hosting with good DNSSEC support?

    - by rsp
    Simplified problem I want to buy a domain and make a website that is fully secured with DNSSEC. Background I've been hearing about the insecurity of DNS for years. I've watched all of the talks by Dan Kaminsky and others from DNS exploits to The future of DNS Security Panel. I knew that using DNS without security is a disaster waiting to happen. I followed the development of the DNSSEC standard. I celebrated the key signing ceremony. Everything was on the right track to finally have a secure DNS system in place. And now more than 2 years later I wanted to just do what everyone said I should do: use DNSSEC for a new domain. So I need a domain registrar and a DNS hosting service that supports DNSSEC. Surprisingly it is not that easy to even find out who does support DNSSEC. It was actually much easier to find info on DNSSEC two years ago when everyone was going to support DNSSEC Real Soon Now but now years passed and I hardly see any progress done. I just hope that I was just looking in the wrong places and someone here will explain all of the doubts. I hope that other people who want to have a secure website will also find this question useful. What is needed registrar and DNS servers with full DNSSEC support for .com domains What is not needed IPv6 support Web hosting anything more What I found out so far Go Daddy offers Premium DNS service for additional $36 per year that lets you "Secure up to 5 domains with DNSSEC". easyDNS has DNSSEC available in Beta across all service levels (you need to enable the "beta" flag in configuration) but it doesn't seem to be production ready and judging from the lack of updates it isn't a feature of highest priority (the last update from March 2011 on the easyDNS blog). Name.com - according to The Register (US domain registrar does IPv6, DNSSEC) it has DNSSEC support since 2010 but right now (October 2012) I couldn't find anything related to DNSSEC on their website. Dynadot that is very often recommended doesn't support DNSSEC Namecheap that is also often recommended doesn't support DNSSEC. The support answer from 2011 suggested that it was being added but in 2012 still no ETA is given to customers. DynDNS was supposed to support DNSSEC, I found a link explaining DNSSEC support but it gives 404 Not Found page and offers a search box - when searching for DNSSEC I get "No results were found for your query." GKG was recommended online for DNSSEC support but it's hard to find any information on the level of DNSSEC support - there is a brief explanation on what is DNSSEC and how to sign Delegation Signer records in their FAQ but no information about the level of actual support can be found. Ask Slashdot: Which Registrars Support DNSSEC? from July 2011 - Answers list Go Daddy, DynDNS, GKG, Name.com as registrars that support DNSSEC but: see above. Related questions How to find web hosting that meets my requirements? What is needed to add DNSSEC to my site? DNS hosting better managed by Domain provider or Hosting provider? Registrar with good security, DNS hosting, and DNSSEC and IPv6 resolvers? In no. 1 no one is ever mentioning DNS at all. In no. 2 answers only mention the .se TLD, there are very few answers and they seem very outdated. In no. 3 one answer says "On projects that demand higher security, I might look for a web host that supports DNSSEC" but no more information is provided. The only relevant answers are in no. 4 where easyDNS is recommended by someone who has never used them personally. Meanwhile, as of October 2012, the support of DNSSEC is described as "in beta" on the easyDNS feature list. Another one recommends SiteGround but searching their site for DNSSEC returns no results. Other answers recommend web hosting providers that don't meet the requirement of DNSSEC support. Also the question mentioned above lists 9 very specific requirements other than only DNSSEC (like eg. HTTP-only login cookies, two-factor authentications, no DNS record limits, DNS statistics of queries/day, audit trails etc.) which might have excluded many possible recommendations if one is only interested in DNSSEC support. Conclusions I thought that by the end of 2012 the support of DNSSEC among domain registrars and DNS providers would be nearly universal. I am shocked that the support seems virtually nonexistent. Is this a result of some serious problems with the DNSSEC adoption? Or is it just not a hot topic and no one bothers anymore? According to the DNSSEC Scoreboard roughly about 0.1% of .com domains support DNSSEC. Could that be caused by the lack of DNSSEC support among registrars and DNS providers, is the information too hard to find or maybe no one cares? There is even no "dnssec" tag here. Questions The information is surprisingly hard to find. That is why I am asking for first-hand experience and personal recommendations. Has anyone here actually set up a website with DNSSEC, from the domain registration to the configuration of DNS servers? Can anyone recommend any of the registrars mentioned above? Can anyone recommend any registrar not mentioned above?

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  • Dynamic Data Connections

    - by Tim Dexter
    I have had a long running email thread running between Dan and David over at Valspar and myself. They have built some impressive connectivity between their in house apps and BIP using web services. The crux of their problem has been that they have multiple databases that need the same report executed against them. Not such an unusual request as I have spoken to two customers in the last month with the same situation. Of course, you could create a report against each data connection and just run or call the appropriate report. Not too bad if you have two or three data connections but more than that and it becomes a maintenance nightmare having to update queries or layouts. Ideally you want to have just a single report definition on the BIP server and to dynamically set the connection to be used at runtime based on the user or system that the user is in. A quick bit of digging and help from Shinji on the development team and I had an answer. Rather embarassingly, the solution has been around since the Oct 2010 rollup patch last year. Still, I grabbed the latest Jan 2011 patch - check out Note 797057.1 for the latest available patches. Once installed, I used the best web service testing tool I have yet to come across - SoapUI. Just point it at the WSDL and you can check out the available services and their parameters and then test them too. The XML packet has a new dynamic data source entry. You can set you own custom JDBC connection or just specify an existing data source name thats defined on the server. <pub:runReport> <pub:reportRequest> <pub:attributeFormat>xml</pub:attributeFormat> <pub:attributeTemplate>0</pub:attributeTemplate> <pub:byPassCache>true</pub:byPassCache> <pub:dynamicDataSource> <pub:JDBCDataSource> <pub:JDBCDriverClass></pub:JDBCDriverClass> <pub:JDBCDriverType></pub:JDBCDriverType> <pub:JDBCPassword></pub:JDBCPassword> <pub:JDBCURL></pub:JDBCURL> <pub:JDBCUserName></pub:JDBCUserName> <pub:dataSourceName>Conn1</pub:dataSourceName> </pub:JDBCDataSource> </pub:dynamicDataSource> <pub:reportAbsolutePath>/Test/Employee Report/Employee Report.xdo</pub:reportAbsolutePath> </pub:reportRequest> <pub:userID>Administrator</pub:userID> <pub:password>Administrator</pub:password> </pub:runReport> So I have Conn1 and Conn2 defined that are connections to different databases. I can just flip the name, make the WS call and get the appropriate dataset in my report. Just as an example, here's my web service call java code. Just a case of bringing in the BIP java libs to my java project. publicReportServiceService = new PublicReportServiceService(); PublicReportService publicReportService = publicReportServiceService.getPublicReportService_v11(); String userID = "Administrator"; String password = "Administrator"; ReportRequest rr = new ReportRequest(); rr.setAttributeFormat("xml"); rr.setAttributeTemplate("1"); rr.setByPassCache(true); rr.setReportAbsolutePath("/Test/Employee Report/Employee Report.xdo"); rr.setReportOutputPath("c:\\temp\\output.xml"); BIPDataSource bipds = new BIPDataSource(); JDBCDataSource jds = new JDBCDataSource(); jds.setDataSourceName("Conn1"); bipds.setJDBCDataSource(jds); rr.setDynamicDataSource(bipds); try { publicReportService.runReport(rr, userID, password); } catch (InvalidParametersException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (AccessDeniedException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } catch (OperationFailedException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } Note, Im no java whiz kid or whizzy old bloke, at least not unless Ive had a coffee. JDeveloper has a nice feature where you point it at the WSDL and it creates everything to support your calling code for you. Couple of things to remember: 1. When you call the service, remember to set the bypass the cache option. Forget it and much scratching of your head and taking my name in vain will ensue. 2. My demo actually hit the same database but used two users, one accessed the base tables another views with the same name. For far too long I thought the connection swapping was not working. I was getting the same results for both users until I realized I was specifying the schema name for the table/view in my query e.g. select * from EMP.EMPLOYEES. So remember to have a generic query that will depend entirely on the connection. Its a neat feature if you want to be able to switch connections and only define a single report and call it remotely. Now if you want the connection to be set dynamically based on the user and the report run via the user interface, thats going to be more tricky ... need to think about that one!

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  • List of Commonly Used Value Types in XNA Games

    - by Michael B. McLaughlin
    Most XNA programmers are concerned about generating garbage. More specifically about allocating GC-managed memory (GC stands for “garbage collector” and is both the name of the class that provides access to the garbage collector and an acronym for the garbage collector (as a concept) itself). Two of the major target platforms for XNA (Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360) use variants of the .NET Compact Framework. On both variants, the GC runs under various circumstances (Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360). Of concern to XNA programmers is the fact that it runs automatically after a fixed amount of GC-managed memory has been allocated (currently 1MB on both systems). Many beginning XNA programmers are unaware of what constitutes GC-managed memory, though. So here’s a quick overview. In .NET, there are two different “types” of types: value types and reference types. Only reference types are managed by the garbage collector. Value types are not managed by the garbage collector and are instead managed in other ways that are implementation dependent. For purposes of XNA programming, the important point is that they are not managed by the GC and thus do not, by themselves, increment that internal 1 MB allocation counter. (n.b. Structs are value types. If you have a struct that has a reference type as a member, then that reference type, when instantiated, will still be allocated in the GC-managed memory and will thus count against the 1 MB allocation counter. Putting it in a struct doesn’t change the fact that it gets allocated on the GC heap, but the struct itself is created outside of the GC’s purview). Both value types and reference types use the keyword ‘new’ to allocate a new instance of them. Sometimes this keyword is hidden by a method which creates new instances for you, e.g. XmlReader.Create. But the important thing to determine is whether or not you are dealing with a value types or a reference type. If it’s a value type, you can use the ‘new’ keyword to allocate new instances of that type without incrementing the GC allocation counter (except as above where it’s a struct with a reference type in it that is allocated by the constructor, but there are no .NET Framework or XNA Framework value types that do this so it would have to be a struct you created or that was in some third-party library you were using for that to even become an issue). The following is a list of most all of value types you are likely to use in a generic XNA game: AudioCategory (used with XACT; not available on WP7) AvatarExpression (Xbox 360 only, but exposed on Windows to ease Xbox development) bool BoundingBox BoundingSphere byte char Color DateTime decimal double any enum (System.Enum itself is a class, but all enums are value types such that there are no GC allocations for enums) float GamePadButtons GamePadCapabilities GamePadDPad GamePadState GamePadThumbSticks GamePadTriggers GestureSample int IntPtr (rarely but occasionally used in XNA) KeyboardState long Matrix MouseState nullable structs (anytime you see, e.g. int? something, that ‘?’ denotes a nullable struct, also called a nullable type) Plane Point Quaternion Ray Rectangle RenderTargetBinding sbyte (though I’ve never seen it used since most people would just use a short) short TimeSpan TouchCollection TouchLocation TouchPanelCapabilities uint ulong ushort Vector2 Vector3 Vector4 VertexBufferBinding VertexElement VertexPositionColor VertexPositionColorTexture VertexPositionNormalTexture VertexPositionTexture Viewport So there you have it. That’s not quite a complete list, mind you. For example: There are various structs in the .NET framework you might make use of. I left out everything from the Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.PackedVector namespace, since everything in there ventures into the realm of advanced XNA programming anyway (n.b. every single instantiable thing in that namespace is a struct and thus a value type; there are also two interfaces but interfaces cannot be instantiated at all and thus don’t figure in to this discussion). There are so many enums you’re likely to use (PlayerIndex, SpriteSortMode, SpriteEffects, SurfaceFormat, etc.) that including them would’ve flooded the list and reduced its utility. So I went with “any enum” and trust that you can figure out what the enums are (and it’s rare to use ‘new’ with an enum anyway). That list also doesn’t include any of the pre-defined static instances of some of the classes (e.g. BlendState.AlphaBlend, BlendState.Opaque, etc.) which are already allocated such that using them doesn’t cause any new allocations and therefore doesn’t increase that 1 MB counter. That list also has a few misleading things. VertexElement, VertexPositionColor, and all the other vertex types are structs. But you’re only likely to ever use them as an array (for use with VertexBuffer or DynamicVertexBuffer), and all arrays are reference types (even arrays of value types such as VertexPositionColor[ ] or int[ ]). * So that’s it for now. The note below may be a bit confusing (it deals with how the GC works and how arrays are managed in .NET). If so, you can probably safely ignore it for now but feel free to ask any questions regardless. * Arrays of value types (where the value type doesn’t contain any reference type members) are much faster for the GC to examine than arrays of reference types, so there is a definite benefit to using arrays of value types where it makes sense. But creating arrays of value types does cause the GC’s allocation counter to increase. Indeed, allocating a large array of a value type is one of the quickest ways to increment the allocation counter since a .NET array is a sequential block of memory. An array of reference types is just a sequential block of references (typically 4 bytes each) while an array of value types is a sequential block of instances of that type. So for an array of Vector3s it would be 12 bytes each since each float is 4 bytes and there are 3 in a Vector3; for an array of VertexPositionNormalTexture structs it would typically be 32 bytes each since it has two Vector3s and a Vector2. (Note that there are a few additional bytes taken up in the creation of an array, typically 12 but sometimes 16 or possibly even more, which depend on the implementation details of the array type on the particular platform the code is running on).

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  • Identity R2 - Experts Podcast Series

    - by Tanu Sood
    To follow up on the Identity Management R2 launch, a series of podcasts were recorded with subject matter experts from customer organizations, our partners and Oracle’s PM team to discuss key trends, R2 capabilities, implementation best practices and more. Below is a roll-up of the podcast series that is available on Fusion Middleware radio. R2 Podcasts:   ·         Designing the Next-Generation Identity Platform Vadim Lander, Oracle Highlights: Common architecture model, integration, interoperability and the driving factors behind R2 innovation IT Departments are shifting their Identity Management strategy to be able to support mobile, cloud and social applications. Oracle has anticipated this shift and has built a product roadmap to take advantage of this focus. Join Vadim as he discusses the design strategy behind the latest 11gR2 release and talks about how IDM services have to evolve to meet this new challenge.   ·         BETA Customer Perspective on R2 Ravi Meduri, Kaiser Permanente Highlights: R2 scalability and high availability In this podcast Ravi discusses the new features in 11gR2 that he is most interested in, including High Availability options for Access Management, multi-datacenter architecture, and what it was like working with the Oracle product team during the BETA program.   ·         Partner Perspective on R2 Rex Thexton, PricewaterhouseCoopers Highlights: Usability Enhancements for Users and Administrators A lot of new usability features went into the 11gR2 release making this the most business friendly IDM release to date. In this podcast Rex Thexton, Managing Director from PwC, talks about some of the new UI changes for both end users and administrators, and also about the new connector creation framework.   Access Request Updates in R2 Marc Boroditsky, Oracle Highlights: Access request User Interface innovations A lot of changes have been made to the Access Request user interface in the latest version of Oracle Identity Manager 11gR2. A real focus has been put on making the request process more business user friendly, and a lot of new customization capability has been added for the IT administrators. Hear Marc discuss the updated UI, and explain how administrators will be able to customize OIM to meet their company's requirements   ·         Oracle Optimized System for Oracle Unified Directory (OOS4OUD) Nick Kloski, Oracle Highlights: New Optimized System configuration for Unified Directory One of the new features in 11gR2 is the availability of an Optimized System configuration for Oracle Unified Directory. Oracle engineers installed the OUD software onto off the shelf hardware and then created a performance tuned configuration. Join us as we talk to Nick Kloski, Infrastructure Solutions Manager, all about the testing process and the resulting performance metrics.   Privileged Account Management Mark Wilcox, Oracle Highlights: Oracle Privileged Account Manager key capabilities, use cases The new release of Oracle Identity Management 11g R2 includes the capability to manage privileged accounts. Privileged accounts, if compromised, create a risk for fraud in the enterprise and as a result controlling access to privileged accounts is critical. Hear what Mark Wilcox, Principal Product Manager of Oracle Privileged Account Manager has to say about the capabilities of the offering in this podcast.   ·         Browser-based User Interface (UI) Customization Clayton Donley, Oracle Highlights: Benefits of Durable UI Configuration framework Business users need user interfaces that are not only friendly but also easily customizable. However the downside of any customization project is the cost and complexity involved in developing, testing, deploying and managing custom code. In this podcast, we examine how a new capability in Oracle Identity Management around browser based UI customization can reduce costs and complexity of customization while simplifying self service integration with corporate portal strategies.   ·         Simplifying Mobile and Social Sign-On Dan Killmer, Oracle Highlights: Secure mobile sign-on and consumption of social identities with Oracle Access Management The proliferation of mobile devices has spurred a new trend where employees tend to bring their own mobile devices to work and access corporate applications the same way they would access from a desktop or laptop. In this podcast, we examine how Oracle's latest innovation in Identity Management around Mobile and Social Sign On can simplify security and access management challenges posed by the widespread adoption of mobile devices in the enterprise. ·         Enabling Your Business with IDM R2 Scott Bonnell, Oracle Highlights: Self service, mobile access, personalization Gone are the days when Identity Management was just about stopping unauthorized users in their tracks. Identity Management if done right, can also enable your business. Join Scott Bonnell as he discusses how the IDM 11gR2 release enables the enterprise by providing self service, personalization and mobile access to corporate resources.

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  • Breaking up the Workday– Overcoming the Workaholic Syndrome

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

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  • Many Different Things Rolled into a Ball

    - by MOSSLover
    Yeah I know I don’t blog much anymore, because life has taken me places that don’t involve the interwebs unfortunately.  I am in the midst of planning two events, starting a non for profit, creating more sessions for various conferences, submitting to various conferences, working a 40 hour a week job, attempting to hang out with boyfriend/friends/family.  So you can see that list does not include this blog sadly that’s how it goes sometimes.  The bottom piece very important over any of the top pieces.  I haven’t seen St. Louis in a while and I get to go back.  I was gone from home for MVP Summit and Best Practices Conference, so the boyfriend and cat didn’t get to see me either for a bit.  Then you have to add in the whole toilet being broken fiasco this week.  Maintenance really thought it would be cool to turn off the ability to flush.  I mean who does that?  Then when we call the owner he comes by turns it on and we figure it was an accident, because well the next day no one came by to tell us there was a leak.  It was all kinds of strangeness and involved me running to other people’s toilets.  As Dan Usher would say, I was a sad panda for a few days.  So I guess I wanted to post a few thoughts here just because I can.  I do not like multiple content editor webparts embedded with html files in numerous pages doing the same thing.  I will tell you why I don’t like these particular webparts and the way they are being used.  First off if you have a bunch of pages with script includes it’s about time you should just dump them into the masterpage.  Why bother finding all 20 pages and changing those pages when you can just use a single masterpage that already exists? The other thing that is bothering me days is screen scraping.  Just don’t do it, because in 2010 you will find the UI is substantially slower.  I understand you are new and you have no idea what to do.  You are also using 2007 am I right?  So then you need to go to codeplex.com and type in a search for SPServices.  Download it, use it, love it and then have it’s babies (well maybe don’t go so far this is not the GRID in Tron). If you have a ton of constants in your code why did you not go in and create a webpart with a bunch of properties and/or link to a configuration list hidden in the browser?  This type of property and list could help you out in the long run.  The power users and administrators can now change the control without you having to compile it over and over again.  It’s good stuff.  Also, you can change the control without compiling it, especially in 2007 where you have to do a farm solution.  In 2010 you can do a sandbox solution I guess, but shouldn’t you make it as easy and supportable as possible for other users? In conclusion I’m an angry person when it comes to viewing something repeatedly and analyzing it in a system.  Now we will move on to the next topic…MVP Summit…So yeah I can’t really talk about particulars, but I can talk about my experience as a person.  Don’t build something up to be cooler than it is only to be dropped from your 10,000 foot perch.  My experience was great, but the content overall was something to be desired.  It’s ok I got to meet a lot of people I would not have met if I had not gone.  Some of it was surreal, such as product group members showing up and talking to us.  It was pretty neat.  Plus I never had the chance to get to that mythical MS Office in Redmond.  Prior to Summit it was like Rainbow Brites unicorn trying taunting me on television when I was a kid.  So I guess with all that said I give it a B.  It was awesome in some way, but lacking in other ways.  The cool part is that I got to go.  Would I have lived without going? Yes, but it was still cool. I could prattle on about other things and make this post massive, but I’m going to pass and give myself a piece of Sunday to play Rockband and do 800 other things.  I hope the two of you who read this blog are well.  I’ll catch you all at another juncture.  Have a good weekend and varying holidays in between. Technorati Tags: SharePoint,MVP Summit,JQuery,Javascript

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  • How to properly add texture to multi-fixture/shape b2Body

    - by Blazej Wdowikowski
    Hello to everyone this is my first poste here I hope that will be not fail start. At start I must say I make part 1 in Ray's Tutorial "How To Make A Game Like Fruit Ninja With Box2D and Cocos2D". But I wonder what when I want make more complex body with texture? Simple just add n b2FixtureDef to the same body. OK but what about texture? If I will take code from that tutorial it only fill last fixture. Probably it does not takes every b2Vec2 point. I was right, it did not. So quick refactor and from that -(id)initWithTexture:(CCTexture2D*)texture body:(b2Body*)body original:(BOOL)original { // gather all the vertices from our Box2D shape b2Fixture *originalFixture = body->GetFixtureList(); b2PolygonShape *shape = (b2PolygonShape*)originalFixture->GetShape(); int vertexCount = shape->GetVertexCount(); NSMutableArray *points = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:vertexCount]; for(int i = 0; i < vertexCount; i++) { CGPoint p = ccp(shape->GetVertex(i).x * PTM_RATIO, shape->GetVertex(i).y * PTM_RATIO); [points addObject:[NSValue valueWithCGPoint:p]]; } if ((self = [super initWithPoints:points andTexture:texture])) { _body = body; _body->SetUserData(self); _original = original; // gets the center of the polygon _centroid = self.body->GetLocalCenter(); // assign an anchor point based on the center self.anchorPoint = ccp(_centroid.x * PTM_RATIO / texture.contentSize.width, _centroid.y * PTM_RATIO / texture.contentSize.height); } return self; } I came up with that -(id)initWithTexture:(CCTexture2D*)texture body:(b2Body*)body original:(BOOL)original { int vertexCount = 0; //gather total number of b2Vect2 points b2Fixture *currentFixture = body->GetFixtureList(); while (currentFixture) { //new b2PolygonShape *shape = (b2PolygonShape*)currentFixture->GetShape(); vertexCount += shape->GetVertexCount(); currentFixture = currentFixture->GetNext(); } NSMutableArray *points = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:vertexCount]; // gather all the vertices from our Box2D shape b2Fixture *originalFixture = body->GetFixtureList(); while (originalFixture) { //new NSLog((NSString*)@"-"); b2PolygonShape *shape = (b2PolygonShape*)originalFixture->GetShape(); int currentVertexCount = shape->GetVertexCount(); for(int i = 0; i < currentVertexCount; i++) { CGPoint p = ccp(shape->GetVertex(i).x * PTM_RATIO, shape->GetVertex(i).y * PTM_RATIO); [points addObject:[NSValue valueWithCGPoint:p]]; } originalFixture = originalFixture->GetNext(); } if ((self = [super initWithPoints:points andTexture:texture])) { _body = body; _body->SetUserData(self); _original = original; // gets the center of the polygon _centroid = self.body->GetLocalCenter(); // assign an anchor point based on the center self.anchorPoint = ccp(_centroid.x * PTM_RATIO / texture.contentSize.width,_centroid.y * PTM_RATIO / texture.contentSize.height); } return self; } I was working for simple two fixtures body like b2BodyDef bodyDef; bodyDef.type = b2_dynamicBody; bodyDef.position = position; bodyDef.angle = rotation; b2Body *body = world->CreateBody(&bodyDef); b2FixtureDef fixtureDef; fixtureDef.density = 1.0; fixtureDef.friction = 0.5; fixtureDef.restitution = 0.2; fixtureDef.filter.categoryBits = 0x0001; fixtureDef.filter.maskBits = 0x0001; b2Vec2 vertices[] = { b2Vec2(0.0/PTM_RATIO,50.0/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(0.0/PTM_RATIO,0.0/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(50.0/PTM_RATIO,30.1/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(60.0/PTM_RATIO,60.0/PTM_RATIO) }; b2PolygonShape shape; shape.Set(vertices, 4); fixtureDef.shape = &shape; body->CreateFixture(&fixtureDef); b2Vec2 vertices2[] = { b2Vec2(20.0/PTM_RATIO,50.0/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(20.0/PTM_RATIO,0.0/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(70.0/PTM_RATIO,30.1/PTM_RATIO), b2Vec2(80.0/PTM_RATIO,60.0/PTM_RATIO) }; shape.Set(vertices2, 4); fixtureDef.shape = &shape; body->CreateFixture(&fixtureDef); But if I try put secondary shape upper than first it starting wierd, texture goes crazy. For example not mention about more complex shapes. What's more if shapes have one common point texture will not render for them at all [For that I use Physics Edytor like in tutorial part1] BTW. I use PolygonSprite and in method createWithWorld... another shapes. Uff.. Question So my question is, why texture coords are in such a mess up? It's my modify method or just wrong approach? Maybe I should remove duplicated from points array?

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  • Copies of GameScene created when called additional times

    - by Orin MacGregor
    I have a game with a level select managed by a SceneManager, which basically just uses ReplaceScene. The first time I load a level everything works fine. On subsequent calls, for example: completing the level and continuing to the next, things blow up. The level loads fine, but when I try to pan the map or try to move the player the game crashes. Debugging through I found that there are multiple occurrences of self and related children like player and mapLayer. As a test, I put this code in my ccTouchesBegan: NSLog(@"test %i", [self retainCount]); The first time a level is loaded, it gives: test 2 The second time I load a level it gives: test 2 test 1 as in it spits out both values by looping through twice, not just appending an output to the last. It continues with this pattern for each subsequent load. So the third time will give 2 1 1. Particular code that causes the game to crash involve calling _tileMap.tileSize because there is a second GameScene with a tileMap that was supposedly destroyed, so it has tileSize and mapSize of 0. I noticed dealloc doesn't really ever get called, so I tried to manage some things with -(void) onExit -(void) onExit { [self unscheduleAllSelectors]; [_player stopAllActions]; //stop any animations just in case. normally handled in ccTouchesEnded [self removeAllChildrenWithCleanup:YES]; } I never replace the GameScene while I'm in a GameScene; if the level is completed it goes to a GameOver scene, or I use a back button that goes to the LevelSelect scene. This is [the relevant parts of] my init, in case something like the adding of children matters: -(id) init { _mapLayer = [CCLayer node]; //load data for level GameData *gameData = [GameDataParser loadData]; int selectedChapter = gameData.selectedChapter; int selectedLevel = gameData.selectedLevel; Levels *chapterLevels = [LevelParser loadLevelsForChapter:selectedChapter]; //loop until we get selected level, then do stuff for (Level *level in chapterLevels.levels) { if (level.number == selectedLevel) { //load the level map _tileMap = [CCTMXTiledMap tiledMapWithTMXFile:level.file]; } } _background = [_tileMap layerNamed:@"Background"]; _foreground = [_tileMap layerNamed:@"Foreground"]; _meta = [_tileMap layerNamed:@"Meta"]; _meta.visible = NO; //initialize Spawn Point object and place player there CCTMXObjectGroup *objects = [_tileMap objectGroupNamed:@"Objects"]; NSAssert(objects != nil, @"'Objects' object group not found"); NSMutableDictionary *spawnPoint = [objects objectNamed:@"SpawnPoint"]; NSAssert(spawnPoint != nil, @"SpawnPoint object not found"); int x = [[spawnPoint valueForKey:@"x"] intValue] / retinaScaling; int y = [[spawnPoint valueForKey:@"y"] intValue] / retinaScaling; //setup animations [[CCSpriteFrameCache sharedSpriteFrameCache] addSpriteFramesWithFile:@"MouseRightAnim_24x21.plist"]; CCSpriteBatchNode *spriteSheet = [CCSpriteBatchNode batchNodeWithFile:@"MouseRightAnim_24x21.png"]; [_mapLayer addChild:spriteSheet z:1]; NSMutableArray *rightAnimFrames = [NSMutableArray array]; for(int i = 1; i <= 3; ++i) { [rightAnimFrames addObject: [[CCSpriteFrameCache sharedSpriteFrameCache] spriteFrameByName: [NSString stringWithFormat:@"MouseRight%d_24x21.png", i]]]; } CCAnimation *rightAnim = [CCAnimation animationWithSpriteFrames:rightAnimFrames delay:0.1f]; self.player = [CCSprite spriteWithSpriteFrameName:@"MouseRight2_24x21.png"]; _player.position = ccp(x, y); self.rightAction = [CCRepeatForever actionWithAction:[CCAnimate actionWithAnimation:rightAnim]]; rightAnim.restoreOriginalFrame = NO; [spriteSheet addChild:_player]; //get map size in pixels mapHeight = _tileMap.contentSize.height; mapWidth = _tileMap.contentSize.width; //setup defaults //this value works well for the calculation later, trial and error really distance = 150; lastGoodDistance = 150; mapScale = 1; [self setViewpointCenter:_player.position]; [_mapLayer addChild:_tileMap]; [self addChild:_mapLayer z:-1]; self.isTouchEnabled = YES; } return self; } And here's the SceneManager code for replacing scenes: +(void) goGameScene { CCLayer *gameLayer = [GameScene node]; [SceneManager go:gameLayer:[GameHUD node]]; } //this is what every call looks like besides the GameScene one above +(void) goLevelSelect { [SceneManager go:[LevelSelect node]:nil]; } +(void) go:(CCLayer *)layer: (CCLayer *)hudLayer { CCDirector *director = [CCDirector sharedDirector]; CCScene *newScene = [SceneManager wrap:layer:hudLayer]; if ([director runningScene]) { [director replaceScene:newScene]; } else { [director runWithScene:newScene]; } } +(CCScene *) wrap:(CCLayer *)layer: (CCLayer *)hudLayer { CCScene *newScene = [CCScene node]; [newScene addChild: layer]; if (hudLayer != nil) { [newScene addChild: hudLayer z:1]; } return newScene; } Any ideas why I'm getting these fatal artifacts? I'm hoping this isn't considered too localized since it basically combines 3 tutorials that anyone could end up following. (Ray Wenderlich Animations, Tim Roadley Scene Manager, Pan and Zoom with Tiled Maps.

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  • Weight doesn't work in a custom android component

    - by RCB
    I wanted to create a custom bottom button bar layout, I've created a xml file : <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" style="@android:style/ButtonBar" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:orientation="horizontal" android:padding="0dp" > <Button android:id="@+id/media_menu_button" style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall" android:layout_width="0dp" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_margin="0dp" android:layout_weight="1" android:text="@string/media_menu_button" /> <Button android:id="@+id/scenario_menu_button" style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall" android:layout_width="0dp" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_margin="0dp" android:layout_weight="1" android:text="@string/scenario_menu_button" /> <Button android:id="@+id/rooms_menu_button" style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall" android:layout_width="0dp" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_margin="0dp" android:layout_weight="1" android:text="@string/rooms_menu_button" /> <Button android:id="@+id/shortcut_menu_button" style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall" android:layout_width="0dp" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_margin="0dp" android:layout_weight="1" android:text="@string/shortcut_menu_button" /> as you can see I've given all the buttons width 0dp and weight of 1. then, I've created a class that extends the linear layout class : public class BeLightBottomBar extends LinearLayout implements OnClickListener { private LayoutInflater mInflater; private Context contexnt; private Button mShortcutMenuButton; private Button mRoomsMenuButton; private Button mScenarioMenuButton; private Button mMediaMenuButton; public BeLightBottomBar(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) { super(context, attrs); //inflate the view this.contexnt = context; mInflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE); LinearLayout barView = (LinearLayout) mInflater.inflate(R.layout.belight_bottombar, null); addView(barView); //get all the instances of the components of the bar mShortcutMenuButton = (Button) barView.findViewById(R.id.shortcut_menu_button); mRoomsMenuButton = (Button) barView.findViewById(R.id.rooms_menu_button); mScenarioMenuButton = (Button) barView.findViewById(R.id.scenario_menu_button); mMediaMenuButton = (Button) barView.findViewById(R.id.media_menu_button); //set this as a click listener mShortcutMenuButton.setOnClickListener(this); mRoomsMenuButton.setOnClickListener(this); mScenarioMenuButton.setOnClickListener(this); mMediaMenuButton.setOnClickListener(this); ... ... ... } the problem is when i add this class to the main activity xml <belight.homecontrol.components.BeLightBottomBar android:id="@+id/button_bar" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" android:layout_margin="0dp" android:padding="0dp" /> the weight stops working, all the buttons are different. and I don't know why !? if I just copy paste the bottom's bar xml code to the main xml file it works fine, the problem only occurs when using it as a whole. P.S. Is it a good practice to create a component this way? Or maybe I'm doing something wrong? Thanks, Dan

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  • WebClient security error when accessing the world of warcraft armoury

    - by user348446
    Hello World, I am trying to piece together a solution to a problem. Basically I am using Silverlight 4 with C# 4.0 to access the world of warcraft armoury. If anyone has done this - please oh please provide the working .net 4.0 code. The code I am attempting to run is (e.Error contains a securtiy error): private void button10_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { string url = @"http://eu.wowarmory.com/guild-info.xml?r=Eonar&n=Gifted and Talented"; WebClient wc = new WebClient(); // HOW DO I ADD A USER AGENT STRING (RESPONSE MAY VARY (I.E. HTML VS XML) IF PAGE THINKS CALL IS NOT CAPABABLE OF SUPPORTING XML TRANSFORMATIONS) //wc.ResponseHeaders["User-Agent"] = "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.0)"; wc.DownloadStringCompleted += new DownloadStringCompletedEventHandler(wc_DownloadStringCompleted); wc.DownloadStringAsync(new Uri(url)); } void wc_DownloadStringCompleted(object sender, DownloadStringCompletedEventArgs e) { if (e.Error == null) { string result = e.Result; XDocument ArmouryXML = XDocument.Parse(result); ShowGuildies(ArmouryXML); } else { MessageBox.Show("Something is complaining about security but not sure what!"); } } Notes: C# 4.0 The armoury is an XML file - but i believe it reverts to html should the request not be from a browser that supports XML transformation. But i don't think I am getting this far. The armoury has a cross domain policy file on it - this may be the cause of the error (not sure! I have uploaded to a production server I am testing it locally using IIS website I am going insane! Websites have made the suggestion that this problem can be overcome by creating a WebProxy - but I haven't the first clue how to do this. It would be great if someone could take on this challenge and show us all that it is possible. I'd prefer a non-proxy solution first, then try a proxy. The error details: e.Error = {System.Security.SecurityException --- System.Security.SecurityException: Security error. at System.Net.Browser.BrowserHttpWebRequest.InternalEndGetResponse(IAsyncResult asyncResult) at System.Net.Browser.BrowserHttpWebRequest.<c__DisplayClass5. Any intelligent master coders out there who can solve this in their sleep? Thanks if you can! Pass this on to someone who can if you can't. If you know someone who can't, don't pass it to them, but if you know someone can't then presumedly you know how to solve it and would encourage you to give it a go! Cheers! Dan.

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  • Download And Install apk from a link.

    - by rayman
    Hi, I`am trying to download and install an apk from some link, but for some reason i get an exception. I have one method downloadfile() which downloading the file and a call to and installFile() method, which supposed to install it in the device. some code: public void downloadFile() { String fileName = "someApplication.apk"; MsgProxyLogger.debug(TAG, "TAG:Starting to download"); try { URL u = new URL( "http://10.122.233.22/test/someApplication.apk"); try { HttpURLConnection c = (HttpURLConnection) u.openConnection(); try { c.setRequestMethod("GET"); c.setDoOutput(true); try { c.connect(); FileOutputStream f = context.openFileOutput(fileName, context.MODE_WORLD_READABLE); try { InputStream in = c.getInputStream(); byte[] buffer = new byte[1024]; int len1 = 0; int totsize = 0; try { while ((len1 = in.read(buffer)) > 0) { totsize += len1; f.write(buffer, 0, len1);// .write(buffer); } } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } f.close(); MsgProxyLogger.debug(TAG, TAG + ":Saved file with name: " + fileName); InstallFile(fileName); } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } catch (ProtocolException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } catch (MalformedURLException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } and this is the install file method: private void InstallFile(String fileName) { MsgProxyLogger.debug(TAG, TAG + ":Installing file " + fileName); String src = String.format( "file:///data/data/com.test/files/", fileName); Uri mPackageURI = Uri.parse(src); PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager(); int installFlags = 0; try { PackageInfo pi = pm.getPackageInfo("com.mirs.agentcore.msgproxy", PackageManager.GET_UNINSTALLED_PACKAGES); if (pi != null) { MsgProxyLogger.debug(TAG, TAG + ":replacing " + fileName); installFlags |= PackageManager.REPLACE_EXISTING_PACKAGE; } } catch (NameNotFoundException e) { } try { // PackageInstallObserver observer = new PackageInstallObserver(); pm.installPackage(mPackageURI); } catch (SecurityException e) { //!!!!!!!!!!!!!here i get an security exception!!!!!!!!!!! MsgProxyLogger.debug(TAG, TAG + ":not permission? " + fileName); } this is the exception details: "Neither user 10057 nor current process has android.permission.INSTALL_PACKAGES". and i have set in my main app that permission in the manifest. anyone has any idea? thanks, ray.

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  • South migration error: NoMigrations exception for django.contrib.auth

    - by danpalmer
    I have been using South on my project for a while, but I recently did a huge amount of development and changed development machine and I think something messed up in the process. The project works fine, but I can't apply migrations. Whenever I try to apply a migration I get the following traceback: danpalmer:pest Dan$ python manage.py migrate frontend Traceback (most recent call last): File "manage.py", line 11, in <module> execute_manager(settings) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 362, in execute_manager utility.execute() File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 303, in execute self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 195, in run_from_argv self.execute(*args, **options.__dict__) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 222, in execute output = self.handle(*args, **options) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/management/commands/migrate.py", line 102, in handle delete_ghosts = delete_ghosts, File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/migration/__init__.py", line 182, in migrate_app applied = check_migration_histories(applied, delete_ghosts) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/migration/__init__.py", line 85, in check_migration_histories m = h.get_migration() File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/models.py", line 34, in get_migration return self.get_migrations().migration(self.migration) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/models.py", line 31, in get_migrations return Migrations(self.app_name) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/migration/base.py", line 60, in __call__ self.instances[app_label] = super(MigrationsMetaclass, self).__call__(app_label_to_app_module(app_label), **kwds) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/migration/base.py", line 88, in __init__ self.set_application(application, force_creation, verbose_creation) File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/South-0.7-py2.6.egg/south/migration/base.py", line 159, in set_application raise exceptions.NoMigrations(application) south.exceptions.NoMigrations: Application '<module 'django.contrib.auth' from '/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/__init__.pyc'>' has no migrations. I am not that experienced with South and I haven't met this error before. The only helpful mention I can find online about this error is for pre-0.7 I think and I am on South 0.7. I ran 'easy_install -U South' just to make sure. Thanks for any help that you can provide. I really appreciate it.

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  • point light illumination using Phong model

    - by Myx
    Hello: I wish to render a scene that contains one box and a point light source using the Phong illumination scheme. The following are the relevant code snippets for my calculation: R3Rgb Phong(R3Scene *scene, R3Ray *ray, R3Intersection *intersection) { R3Rgb radiance; if(intersection->hit == 0) { radiance = scene->background; return radiance; } ... // obtain ambient term ... // this is zero for my test // obtain emissive term ... // this is also zero for my test // for each light in the scene, obtain calculate the diffuse and specular terms R3Rgb intensity_diffuse(0,0,0,1); R3Rgb intensity_specular(0,0,0,1); for(unsigned int i = 0; i < scene->lights.size(); i++) { R3Light *light = scene->Light(i); R3Rgb light_color = LightIntensity(scene->Light(i), intersection->position); R3Vector light_vector = -LightDirection(scene->Light(i), intersection->position); // check if the light is "behind" the surface normal if(normal.Dot(light_vector)<=0) continue; // calculate diffuse reflection if(!Kd.IsBlack()) intensity_diffuse += Kd*normal.Dot(light_vector)*light_color; if(Ks.IsBlack()) continue; // calculate specular reflection ... // this I believe to be irrelevant for the particular test I'm doing } radiance = intensity_diffuse; return radiance; } R3Rgb LightIntensity(R3Light *light, R3Point position) { R3Rgb light_intensity; double distance; double denominator; if(light->type != R3_DIRECTIONAL_LIGHT) { distance = (position-light->position).Length(); denominator = light->constant_attenuation + (light->linear_attenuation*distance) + (light->quadratic_attenuation*distance*distance); } switch(light->type) { ... case R3_POINT_LIGHT: light_intensity = light->color/denominator; break; ... } return light_intensity; } R3Vector LightDirection(R3Light *light, R3Point position) { R3Vector light_direction; switch(light->type) { ... case R3_POINT_LIGHT: light_direction = position - light->position; break; ... } light_direction.Normalize(); return light_direction; } I believe that the error must be somewhere in either LightDirection(...) or LightIntensity(...) functions because when I run my code using a directional light source, I obtain the desired rendered image (thus this leads me to believe that the Phong illumination equation is correct). Also, in Phong(...), when I computed the intensity_diffuse and while debugging, I divided light_color by 10, I was obtaining a resulting image that looked more like what I need. Am I calculating the light_color correctly? Thanks.

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