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• I still think Twitter is dead &hellip; but

  - by Randy Walker

  Twitter finally hit the mainstream about 8 months ago, but I’ve been saying for a couple of years now, without a real way for the company to earn money, what’s the future fate of Twitter?  On the personal side, where is the real value for the users?  For the most part, Twitter has replaced most people’s IM (instant messaging), at least in the technology circles I run in.  It still has value for users as a communication tool.  But I see it more as a fad.  My prediction is over the next 6 months we’ll start seeing a usage drop (if we haven’t already started to see it). On the business side, how does Twitter make money?  It doesn’t.  If you use the text messaging capabilities, you see a few ads.  But most smart phone and PC users, won’t ever see them.  I still think Twitter has the best chance to make money by forcing the “collectors” to pay money.  You know what I mean by “collector”, those people that collect tons of followers or friends.  If Twitter caps the number of followers and makes you pay to have more, would you?  The normal twitter user doesn’t have that many followers, and this is where my title comes in … BUT The financial value for Twitter is really seen through businesses connecting with their customers.  I’ve seen 3 effective ways this has been accomplished. 1. Giving your customers a coupon or announcing a sale My favorite is @amazonmp3, Being a huge music lover, I get notified when they put music on sale. Various restaurants like @ruthschris_ARK will let their favorite customers know about certain specials @BluefinMemphis I was traveling through Memphis once looking for a sushi restaurant when they had %50 off if we mentioned we saw them on Twitter.  It was their first attempt at trying to encourage customers in the door, and after talking with the management, it was a huge success 2. Giveaways @namecheap Several companies have started huge marketing campaigns, but my favorite is watching companies post trivia questions, and the first person to respond wins a prize. 3. Responding to Customer Complaints I once posted a complaint about American Express (a company that I have slowly come to really dislike) but they actually had someone contact me to try and resolve the issue.  I give them credit for paying attention, but still dislike them for their horrible credit practices.

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• OpenGL flickerinng near the edges

  - by Daniel

  I am trying to simulate particles moving around the scene with OpenCL for computation and OpenGL for rendering with GLUT. There is no OpenCL-OpenGL interop yet, so the drawing is done in the older fixed pipeline way. Whenever circles get close to the edges, they start to flicker. The drawing should draw a part of the circle on the top of the scene and a part on the bottom. The effect is the following: The balls you see on the bottom should be one part on the bottom and one part on the top. Wrapping around the scene, so to say, but they constantly flicker. The code for drawing them is: void Scene::drawCircle(GLuint index){ glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW); glLoadIdentity(); glTranslatef(pos.at(2*index),pos.at(2*index+1), 0.0f); glBegin(GL_TRIANGLE_FAN); GLfloat incr = (2.0 * M_PI) / (GLfloat) slices; glColor3f(0.8f, 0.255f, 0.26f); glVertex2f(0.0f, 0.0f); glColor3f(1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f); for(GLint i = 0; i <=slices; ++i){ GLfloat x = radius * sin((GLfloat) i * incr); GLfloat y = radius * cos((GLfloat) i * incr); glVertex2f(x, y); } glEnd(); } If it helps, this is the reshape method: void Scene::reshape(GLint width, GLint height){ if(0 == height) height = 1; //Prevent division by zero glViewport(0, 0, width, height); glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION); glLoadIdentity(); gluOrtho2D(xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax); std::cout << xmin << " " << xmax << " " << ymin << " " << ymax << std::endl; }

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• Coordinate based travel through multi-line path over elapsed time

  - by Chris

  I have implemented A* Path finding to decide the course of a sprite through multiple waypoints. I have done this for point A to point B locations but am having trouble with multiple waypoints, because on slower devices when the FPS slows and the sprite travels PAST a waypoint I am lost as to the math to switch directions at the proper place. EDIT: To clarify my path finding code is separate in a game thread, this onUpdate method lives in a sprite like class which happens in the UI thread for sprite updating. To be even more clear the path is only updated when objects block the map, at any given point the current path could change but that should not affect the design of the algorithm if I am not mistaken. I do believe all components involved are well designed and accurate, aside from this piece :- ) Here is the scenario: public void onUpdate(float pSecondsElapsed) { // this could be 4x speed, so on slow devices the travel moved between // frames could be very large. What happens with my original algorithm // is it will start actually doing circles around the next waypoint.. pSecondsElapsed *= SomeSpeedModificationValue; final int spriteCurrentX = this.getX(); final int spriteCurrentY = this.getY(); // getCoords contains a large array of the coordinates to each waypoint. // A waypoint is a destination on the map, defined by tile column/row. The // path finder converts these waypoints to X,Y coords. // // I.E: // Given a set of waypoints of 0,0 to 12,23 to 23, 0 on a 23x23 tile map, each tile // being 32x32 pixels. This would translate in the path finder to this: // -> 0,0 to 12,23 // Coord : x=16 y=16 // Coord : x=16 y=48 // Coord : x=16 y=80 // ... // Coord : x=336 y=688 // Coord : x=336 y=720 // Coord : x=368 y=720 // // -> 12,23 to 23,0 -NOTE This direction change gives me trouble specifically // Coord : x=400 y=752 // Coord : x=400 y=720 // Coord : x=400 y=688 // ... // Coord : x=688 y=16 // Coord : x=688 y=0 // Coord : x=720 y=0 // // The current update index, the index specifies the coordinate that you see above // I.E. final int[] coords = getCoords( 2 ); -> x=16 y=80 final int[] coords = getCoords( ... ); // now I have the coords, how do I detect where to set the position? The tricky part // for me is when a direction changes, how do I calculate based on the elapsed time // how far to go up the new direction... I just can't wrap my head around this. this.setPosition(newX, newY); }

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• 5 ways to stop code thrashing&hellip;

  - by MarkPearl

  A few days ago I was programming on a personal project and hit a roadblock. I was applying the MVVM pattern and for some reason my view model was not updating the view when the state changed??? I had applied this pattern many times before and had never had this problem. It just didn’t make sense. So what did I do… I did what anyone would have done in my situation and looked to pass the blame to someone or something else. I tried to blame one of the inherited base classes, but it looked fine, then to Visual Studio, but it seemed to be fine and eventually to any random segment of code I came across. My elementary problem had now mushroomed into one that had lost any logical basis and I was in thrashing mode! So what to do when you begin to thrash? 1) Do a general code cleanup – Now there is a difference between cleaning code and changing code . When you thrash you change code and you want to avoid this. What you really want to do is things like rename variables to have better meaning and go over your comments. 2) Do a proof of concept – if cleaning code doesn’t help. The  you want to isolate the problem and identify the key concepts. When you isolate code you ideally want it to be in a totally separate project with as little complexity as possible. Make the building blocks and try and replicate the functionality that you are getting in your current application. 3) Phone a friend – I have found speaking to someone else about the problem generally helps me solve any thrashing issues I am having. Usually they don’t even have to say anything to solve the problem, just you talking them through the problem helps you get clarity of mind. 4) Let the dust settle – Sometimes time is the best solution. I have had a few problems that no matter who I discussed them with and no matter how much code cleaning I had done I just couldn’t seem to fix it. My brain just seemed to be going in circles. A good nights rest has always helped and often just the break away from the problem has helped me find a solution. 5) Stack overflow it – So similar to phone a friend. I am really surprised to see what a melting pot stack overflow has been and what a help it has been in solving technology specific problems. Just be considerate to those using the site and explain clearly exactly what problem you are having and the technologies you are using or else you will probably not get any useful help…

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• Circle-Rectangle collision in a tile map game

  - by furiousd

  I am making a 2D tile map based putt-putt game. I have collision detection working between the ball and the walls of the map, although when the ball collides at the meeting point between 2 tiles I offset it by 0.5 so that it doesn't get stuck in the wall. This aint a huge issue though. if(y % 20 == 0) { y+=0.5; } if(x % 20 == 0) { x+=0.5; } Collisions work as follows Find the closest point between each tile and the center of the ball If distance(ball_x, ball_y, close_x, close_y) <= ball_radius and the closest point belongs to a solid object, collision has occured Invert X/Y speed according to side of object collided with The next thing I tried to do was implement floating blocks in the middle of the map for the ball to bounce off of. When a ball collides with a corner of the block, it gets stuck in it. So I changed my determineRebound() function to treat corners as if they were circles. Here's that functon: `i and j are indexes of the solid object in the 2d map array. x & y are centre point of ball.` void determineRebound(int _i, int _j) { if(y > _i*tile_w && y < _i*tile_w + tile_w) { //Not a corner xs*=-1; } else if(x > _j*tile_w && x < _j*tile_w + tile_w) { //Not a corner ys*=-1; } else { //Corner float nx = x - close_x; float ny = y - close_y; float len = sqrt(nx * nx + ny * ny); nx /= len; ny /= len; float projection = xs * nx + ys * ny; xs -= 2 * projection * nx; ys -= 2 * projection * ny; } } This is where things have gotten messy. Collisions with 'floating' corners work fine, but now when the ball collides near the meeting point of 2 tiles, it detects a corner collision and does not rebound as expected. I'm a bit in over my head at this point. I guess I'm wondering if I'm going about making this sort of game in the right way. Is a 2d tile map the way to go? If so, is there a problem with my collision logic and where am I going wrong? Any advice/feedback would be great.

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• Are we ready for the Cloud computing era?

  - by andrewkatumba

  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-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; 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;} "Elite?" developer circles are abuzz with the notion of Cloud computing . The increasing bandwidth, the desire for faster and leaner operations and ofcourse the need for outsourcing non core it related business requirements e.g wordprocessing, spreadsheets, data backups. In strolls Chrome OS (am sure other similar OSes will join with their own wagons for us to jump on), offering just that, internet based services(more like a repository of), quick efficient and "reliable" and for the most part cheap and often time even free! And we all go rhapsodic!  It boils down to the age old dilemma, "if the cops are so busy protecting us then who will protect them" (even the folks back at Hollywood keep us reminded)! Who is going to ensure that these internet based services do not go down(either intentionally or by some malicious third party) leading to a multinational colossal disaster .At the risk of sounding pessimistic,  IT IS NOT AN ISSUE OF TRUST, this is but a mere case of Murphy's Law!  What then? Should the "cloud" be trusted to this extent at this time?  This is an era where challenges are rapidly solved with lightning promptness to "beat the competition", my hope is that our solutions are not just creating problems that we may not be able to solve!  Keeping my ear on the Ground.

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• Will Online Learning Save Higher Education (and does it need saving)?

  - by user739873

  A lot (an awful lot) of education industry rag real estate has been devoted to the topics of online learning, MOOC’s, Udacity, edX, etc., etc. and to the uninitiated you’d think that the education equivalent of the cure for cancer had been discovered. There are certainly skeptics (whose voice is usually swiftly trampled upon by the masses) who feel we could over steer and damage or destroy something vital to teaching and learning (i.e. the classroom experience and direct interaction with human beings known as instructors), but for the most part prevailing opinion seems to be that online learning will take over the world and that higher education will never be the same. Now I’m sure that since you all know I work for a technology company you think I’m going to come down hard on the side of online learning proselytizers. Yes, I do believe that this revolution can and will provide access to massive numbers of individuals that either couldn’t afford (from a fiscal or time perspective) a traditional education, and that in some cases the online modality will actually be an improvement over certain traditional forms (such as courses taught by an adjunct or teaching assistant that has no business being a teacher). But I think several things need immediate attention or we’re likely to get so caught up in the delivery that we miss some of the real issues (and opportunities) around online learning. First and foremost, we’ve got to give some thought to how traditional information systems are going to accommodate thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of individual students each taking courses from many, many different “deliverers” with an expectation that successful completion of these courses will result in credit at many or most institutions. There’s also a huge opportunity to refine the delivery platform (no, LMS is not a commodity when you are talking about online delivery being your sole mode of operation) as well as the course itself by mining all kinds of data from the interactions that the students have with the material each time they take it. Social data analytics tools will be key in achieving this goal. What about accreditation (badging or competencies vs. traditional degrees)? And again, will the information systems in place today adapt to changes in this area fast enough? The type of scale that this shift in learning could drive has the potential to abruptly overwhelm just about every system in place today in higher education. I would like to (with a not so gentle reminder) refer you back to a blog entry I wrote when I first stepped into my current role at Oracle in which I talked about how higher ed needs an “Oracle” more than at any other time in it’s evolution (despite the somewhat mercantilist reputation it has in some circles). There just aren’t that many organizations that can deliver the kinds of solutions “at scale” that this brave new world of online education will demand. The future may be closer than we think. Cole

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• What Precalculus knowledge is required before learning Discrete Math Computer Science topics?

  - by Ein Doofus

  Below I've listed the chapters from a Precalculus book as well as the author recommended Computer Science chapters from a Discrete Mathematics book. Although these chapters are from two specific books on these subjects I believe the topics are generally the same between any Precalc or Discrete Math book. What Precalculus topics should one know before starting these Discrete Math Computer Science topics?: Discrete Mathematics CS Chapters 1.1 Propositional Logic 1.2 Propositional Equivalences 1.3 Predicates and Quantifiers 1.4 Nested Quantifiers 1.5 Rules of Inference 1.6 Introduction to Proofs 1.7 Proof Methods and Strategy 2.1 Sets 2.2 Set Operations 2.3 Functions 2.4 Sequences and Summations 3.1 Algorithms 3.2 The Growths of Functions 3.3 Complexity of Algorithms 3.4 The Integers and Division 3.5 Primes and Greatest Common Divisors 3.6 Integers and Algorithms 3.8 Matrices 4.1 Mathematical Induction 4.2 Strong Induction and Well-Ordering 4.3 Recursive Definitions and Structural Induction 4.4 Recursive Algorithms 4.5 Program Correctness 5.1 The Basics of Counting 5.2 The Pigeonhole Principle 5.3 Permutations and Combinations 5.6 Generating Permutations and Combinations 6.1 An Introduction to Discrete Probability 6.4 Expected Value and Variance 7.1 Recurrence Relations 7.3 Divide-and-Conquer Algorithms and Recurrence Relations 7.5 Inclusion-Exclusion 8.1 Relations and Their Properties 8.2 n-ary Relations and Their Applications 8.3 Representing Relations 8.5 Equivalence Relations 9.1 Graphs and Graph Models 9.2 Graph Terminology and Special Types of Graphs 9.3 Representing Graphs and Graph Isomorphism 9.4 Connectivity 9.5 Euler and Hamilton Ptahs 10.1 Introduction to Trees 10.2 Application of Trees 10.3 Tree Traversal 11.1 Boolean Functions 11.2 Representing Boolean Functions 11.3 Logic Gates 11.4 Minimization of Circuits 12.1 Language and Grammars 12.2 Finite-State Machines with Output 12.3 Finite-State Machines with No Output 12.4 Language Recognition 12.5 Turing Machines Precalculus Chapters R.1 The Real-Number System R.2 Integer Exponents, Scientific Notation, and Order of Operations R.3 Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication of Polynomials R.4 Factoring R.5 Rational Expressions R.6 Radical Notation and Rational Exponents R.7 The Basics of Equation Solving 1.1 Functions, Graphs, Graphers 1.2 Linear Functions, Slope, and Applications 1.3 Modeling: Data Analysis, Curve Fitting, and Linear Regression 1.4 More on Functions 1.5 Symmetry and Transformations 1.6 Variation and Applications 1.7 Distance, Midpoints, and Circles 2.1 Zeros of Linear Functions and Models 2.2 The Complex Numbers 2.3 Zeros of Quadratic Functions and Models 2.4 Analyzing Graphs of Quadratic Functions 2.5 Modeling: Data Analysis, Curve Fitting, and Quadratic Regression 2.6 Zeros and More Equation Solving 2.7 Solving Inequalities 3.1 Polynomial Functions and Modeling 3.2 Polynomial Division; The Remainder and Factor Theorems 3.3 Theorems about Zeros of Polynomial Functions 3.4 Rational Functions 3.5 Polynomial and Rational Inequalities 4.1 Composite and Inverse Functions 4.2 Exponential Functions and Graphs 4.3 Logarithmic Functions and Graphs 4.4 Properties of Logarithmic Functions 4.5 Solving Exponential and Logarithmic Equations 4.6 Applications and Models: Growth and Decay 5.1 Systems of Equations in Two Variables 5.2 System of Equations in Three Variables 5.3 Matrices and Systems of Equations 5.4 Matrix Operations 5.5 Inverses of Matrices 5.6 System of Inequalities and Linear Programming 5.7 Partial Fractions 6.1 The Parabola 6.2 The Circle and Ellipse 6.3 The Hyperbola 6.4 Nonlinear Systems of Equations

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• Brocken package manager due to incorrect Banshee package

  - by user54974

  Sup, so, I'm not familiar with linux at all so help is much appreciated. I've been trying to boot my pc up from a live CD unsuccessfully. I get to the stage at which there are the options to test without installing or install or so on where I select 'Install Ubuntu.' Here it relays through some fast DOS commands until it reaches 'end trace' and then, eventually, 'Killed.' I have already got a functional 11.10 version installed, could this be a problem? The reason I am attempting a reinstall is because the package system is damaged inside 11.10, a problem I can't seem to solve. If I try to install any new software from within the software centre it tells me that two banshee extensions must be removed. I try to remove these from inside the terminal, using apt-get remove, which results in:** You might want to run apt-get -f install to correct these: The following packages have unmet dependencies. banshee-extension-ubuntuonemusicstore : Depends: banshee (>= 2.2.1) but 2.2.0-1ubuntu2 is to be installed E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution). The software centre suggests that I disable all third party repositories and run apt-get install -f I have done so but the package system remains damaged and apt-get install -fattempts to install banshee 2.2.1 but returns: Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/banshee_2.2.1-1ubuntu3_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) I have also tried apt-get update (runs fine) and apt-get upgrade. The upgrade command apt-get upgrade results in: Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done You might want to run ‘apt-get -f install’ to correct these. The following packages have unmet dependencies. banshee-extension-soundmenu : Depends: banshee (>= 2.2.1) but 2.2.0-1ubuntu2 is installed banshee-extension-ubuntuonemusicstore : Depends: banshee (>= 2.2.1) but 2.2.0-1ubuntu2 is installed E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f. I seem to be going round and round in circles here! If only I could reinstall successfully. Only proposed updates (oneiric proposed) is not enabled.

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• Documenting sp_ssiscatalog

  - by jamiet

  What is the best way to document an API? Moreover, what is the best way to document a T-SQL API? Before I try to answer those questions I should explain what I mean by “a T-SQL API”. I think of an API as being a collection of well-defined, known, code modules that provide some notion of a service to whomever uses it; in T-SQL terms I tend to think of a collection of stored procedures and functions as a form of API. Its a loose definition, I admit, and in SQL Server circles we don’t tend to think of stored procedures collectively as an API but if you think about it that’s exactly what they are. The question of how to document a T-SQL API came to my mind as I worked on sp_ssiscatalog. How could I make it easy for people to learn about the capabilities of sp_ssiscatalog without forcing them to dig through the code and find out for themselves? My opening gambit was to write documentation pages on the wiki at http://ssisreportingpack.codeplex.com. That’s kinda useful but it does suffer the disadvantage that someone using sp_ssiscatalog needs to go visit a webpage to read it – I want the documentation to be available wherever the user is using sp_ssiscatalog. Moreover, maintaining the wiki is a real PITA. Intellisense works up to a point, I guess: but that only shows whatever SQL Server knows about the various parameters, which isn’t all that much! I wanted a better way for my API users to learn about its capabilities and so I hit upon the idea of simply using PRINT statements within the code itself to inform the user what options are available; hence I added such PRINT statements in the latest check-in. Now when you execute (for example): EXEC sp_ssiscatalog @operation_type='execs' you can hit F6 a few times to view the messages pane and you shall see something like this: Notice that I’m returning information about all the parameters that can be used to affect the results that just got returned. I really do think this will be very useful to anyone using sp_ssiscatalog; I myself am always forgetting what the parameters are and I wrote the damn thing so I can’t really expect anyone else to remember them. I have not yet made available a release that has these changes in it but when I do I’ll blog about it right here. At the time of writing the latest available release of sp_ssiscatalog is DB v1.0.1.0 but if you want to the latest and greatest simply download it straight from source. Feedback is welcome as always. @Jamiet

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• database independent coding framework options?

  - by statirasystems

  Background: I have not programmed in a while besides doing VBA and a little VB.NET. So please forgive my language use. I'm green and have a head cold. I am reading all I can now, but I have no programming circles to draw from. The information I am providing is to help guide you to what I am looking for. I am not confident I can ask the question properly. Story: I have four different projects that I am starting. Obviously I won't be working on all at the same time however they each will have similar needs and be inter related. They are as follows: Desktop Environment/System User Interface - basically a product that runs on major computers via mono or .net that unifies the look and functions. In the context of the up coming question it would be able to directly access data of various types. It would work in tandum with my office suite, system manager, and network application framework. Office Suite - technically it would not be a suite since I will be doing it from one interfacel except for the Communications Application. As far as the question, it will need to be able to link to various data sources for storing files and using, manipulating, and presenting information. System Manager - an intellegent system to manage and administer the entire network and all equipment. As far as the question, needs to be able to access data for archiving and and for accessing it's own settings stored in various formats, sql or xml. Network Application Framework - A complete system that can be used for ERP, CRM, CMS, Errata, File Management, and so on. As to the question to be able to access it's own or interlink with existing applications. Requirement: C#, Simplifies and reduces coding, use the same code to access diffent databases(ie MySQL, MS SQL, ACCESS, XML, ...), Mono would be nice but not a must, Question: What librarys, frameworks, or other options would be able to help with this? Is there a good resource to guide me? I don't want arguing over what is best, just information to help me further understand and make an educated decision.

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• Why is my mouse randomly deselecting and unclicking?

  - by Coldblackice

  (Windows 7 x64, Logitech MX1100 mouse) If I click/hold/ the mouse, like on the title bar of a folder to move it, or to select text, the mouse will randomly "unselect" it and then randomly reselect at another point in the movement. For example, if I were to start mouse-selecting the above paragraph, starting with "movement." and then moving backwards, it might select as far as "reselect", but then the selection would disappear, only to start selecting again from "will randomly". I realize this would sound like a clear-cut case for a hardware issue in the mouse button, but I've narrowed out that that's not the case. The problem doesn't happen if I drag-move/drag-select slowly. But I can make the problem very apparent if I click and drag something fast. For example, if I click and hold the title bar of a window, and then start quickly dragging it around in circles across my monitor, the window will get "dropped", and a new window will get picked up in the process. Additionally, if I right-click anywhere to get a context menu (in Windows, programs, anywhere/everywhere), and then relatively quickly press the left mouse button to select something on the context menu, the context menu will disappear as if I had clicked "through" it. I haven't had any driver changes, system updates, or significant software changes/updates/installations recently, that might be a precursor to this issue. Again, the oddity seems to be the "speed" of action. Another note -- it seems that "lag" has a bit to do with it. If I click and drag a window around quickly, it might start to "lag" a tad bit, like it's perhaps moving too fast for Windows to keep up with the refresh/redraw rate, and that's usually synonymous with this odd deselect bug happening. (Batteries fully charged, no damage or recent changes to mouse, no changes that might affect/block wireless communication)

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• Problems migrating software RAID 5 to new server (linux)

  - by leleu

  I have a CentOS setup with sw RAID5 that holds my data. Well, the server died, so I bought another box to migrate my drives to. Only thing is, I cannot get the RAID array rebuilt (not even sure it needs rebuilding, might just need the /dev/md0 mapping created... but I don't even know how to determine what I need!) Some details: RAID5 software (used mdadm) 4x 250GB drives (2 are SATA, 2 are EIDE -- would this matter? It worked fine in the other box...) latest CentOS distro built using mdadm I've got a decent amount of experience with standard linux stuff, but the hardware level stuff runs me in circles. I've spent some time googling and elsewhere here on SF, so please be kind for my newbie questions :). My question is this: how can I diagnose the problem? For all I know, I'm using the wrong device blocks when I try to rebuild the array, but I can't find the command to display only the devices that have some physical attachment. Is there some simple way for me to run mdadm, having it scan over all my physical drives, and say "hey, drives 2,5,6,7 are a software array, want me to mount it?" I basically just took the drives from my old box and put it into my new one. They show up in the BIOS. What steps do I need to take in order to get the array up, running, and mounted? Thanks in advance!

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• Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.0 on Windows 7 print to network share gives error

  - by Archit Baweja

  I've recently upgraded a client's workstations to brand new computers, with Windows 7 Professional. The server is still Windows Server 2003. The server has 2-3 file shares that get mapped to users' workstations as drives. The client has also upgraded from Acrobat 6.0 to 9.0 Pro. Since the upgrade, when the client tries to print to the Adobe PDF printer (aka convert something to PDF via the printer interface), it gives an error in the queue if the file is being saved on the network drive. If I instead provide a local path, the file "prints" fine. Additionally, if I change the Adobe PDF printer's settings to "don't spool, print directly to printer", it prints to the network share fine, but then it resets that setting every time. Things I've checked for: Permissions on the network share. The user and the computer has full access. We even gave the "Everyone" ibject full access. Reinstall Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.0 Run updates to upgrade to 9.3.4 Has anyone else bumped into such a problem? The support fellows from Adobe are just taking me around in circles. They don't seem to have a clue either.

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• Ubuntu 13.10 on Acer V5-472 with HD 4000

  - by Hyperboreus

  I have an Acer V5-472 with intel HD4000 graphics chipset and a built-in 1366*768 display. I have installed ubuntu 13.10 amd64 in legacy boot mode with an external monitor. Installation showed no problems, I can boot from HDD and log into my system. The internal display doesn't work and I have to use an external monitor. I have tried the following (found in other threads) to no avail: Setting grub option "acpi_backlight=vendor" or "acpi_osi=Linux" or both. Installing the intel HD drivers for Linux from their homepage. Running in circles, screaming and shouting. The internal display lights up (I can change the brightness with Fn-Left and Fn-Right) but that's all. When I boot, I get a purple splash screen and from then only the external monitor works. I read somewhere that this might be a problem with kernel 3.11? Has anybody ubuntu running on an Acer V5-472? Should I change ubuntu version or use 32-bit instead? In general, how can I get the internal display to work? Edit: The settings-display dialogue shows the internal display correctly with supported resolution of 1366.

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• CIFS Mounting Permissions

  - by malco

  I have an issue that I;m going round in circles with, I hope you can help. The Set up: Server 1 (CIFS Client) - CentOS 6.3 AD integrated uing Samba/Winbind & idmap_ad Server 2 (CIFS Server) - CentOS 6.3 AD integrated uing Samba/Winbind & idmap_ad All users (apart from root) are AD authenticated and this, including groups, etc works happily. What's working: I have created a share on Server 2: [share2] path = /srv/samba/share2 writeable = yes Permissions on the share: drwxrwx---. 2 root domain users 4096 Oct 12 09:21 share2 I can log into a Windows machine as user5 (member of domain users) and everything works as it should, for example: If I create a file it shows the correct permissions and attributes on both the MS and the Linux sides. Where I Fall Down: I mount the share on Server 1 using: # mount //server2/share2 /mnt/share2/ -o username=cifsmount,password=blah,domain=blah Or using fstab: //server2/share2 /mnt/share2 cifs credentials=/blah/.creds 0 0 This mounts fine, but.... If I log su, or log onto server 1 as a normal user (say user5) and try to create a file I get: #touch test touch test touch: cannot touch `test': Permission denied Then if I check the folder the file was created but as the cifsmount user: -rw-r--r--. 1 cifsmount domain users 0 Oct 12 09:21 test I can rename, delete, move or copy stuff around as user5, I just can't create anything, what am I doing wrong? I'm guessing it's something to do with the mount action as when I log onto server2 as user5 and access the folder locally it all works as it should. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

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• How can I configure Samba to share (read/write) any folder with root permissions?

  - by Mike Toews

  I have a CentOS 5 VirtualBox guest on a Win7x64 host. I am attempting to setup a read/write share a directory owned by root with my Windows host using Samba, but I'm having no luck after running around in circles. To simplify matters, I've disabled my Firewall (/etc/init.d/iptables stop). As security and permissions are irrelevant for this purpose, I'd rather not have to set up another unix user/group/password. Here is the output from testparm Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf rlimit_max: rlimit_max (1024) below minimum Windows limit (16384) Processing section "[Guest Share]" Loaded services file OK. Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE and the source of /etc/samba/smb.conf: [global] workgroup = WRKGRP netbios name = SMBSERVER security = SHARE load printers = No [Guest Share] comment = Guest access share path = /root/src read only = No guest ok = Yes Running /etc/init.d/smb restart shows an OK status. However, on my Windows host, I can only see the share folder on the guest \\IPv4, but I cannot go into "Guest Share": "The network name cannot be found" error message is a common error, with a likely cause: The user you are trying to access the share with does not have sufficient permissions to access the path for the share. Both read (r) and access (x) should be possible. Am I trying to use root as a passwordless Samba guest? I'd like to, is it possible? How can I configure Samba to share (read/write) any folder with root permissions?

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• Determining physical location of data on a disc

  - by Synetech

  Does anybody know of a way to find out where, physically on a CD or DVD a given piece of data would be located? I am trying to watch a DVD at the moment, and am about half-way through, but it keeps dying at a specific spot in the film, presumably because of a scratch. I have a repair kit, but I don’t know where to focus my repair because there are several scuffs and scratches on the disc and I have no way of knowing which one is causing the issue. Obviously, cleaning all of them is inadvisable because not only does it waste the consumable materials in the kit, but not all of them are a problem, and by working them, some may become unreadable. Moreover, just because I am half-way through the movie does not mean that it would be half-way from the hub to the edge for several reasons: Discs have more data towards the outer edge than the inner edge (circles are more mathematically complicated than rectangles) The disc is not completely filled up (and even if it were, the movie itself would be be using it all, there are extras and such) Because in this particular case it is a commercial DVD, it is also dual-layer which further complicates manual determination As such, I am trying to find a program that can let me identify a file (or part thereof), cluster, etc. and show me a picture of where on the CD/DVD it would be located. That way, I can look at the disc and fix any scratches that correspond to that distance from the hub. For example, the image below might indicate where on a disc a couple of files or range of clusters would be located, so by looking for anomalies in those areas (rotating as necessary), the correct one can be identified. I’m sure it can be done since at least one form of copy protection (DPM) uses it and DVD-lab Pro includes a “DVD Topology” feature to do this.

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• Windows 8 doesn't start up after installation

  - by Raj BD

  I have a DELL INSPIRON n5110 machine running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. It has 6GB of RAM and 500 GB hard disk capable to run any Windows and Linux system. And I recently attempted to install Windows 8 in the machine. Installation goes fine and smooth until the final stage when windows is done installing and GETS DEVICES READY. When GETTNG DEVICES READY reaches about 60%, the screen goes blank with the machine running. After a while it reboots. And after the new Windows Logo with dotted circles are done showing up, the screen goes blank again (when we'd expect login screen to show up). There is not even a cursor. I can see the HARD DISK ACTIVITY LED blinking but nothing shows up in the screen. I've tried CLEAN INSTALL several times. The DVD is fine, it installed and worked well in my friends' laptop PCs. I tried installing both PRO version and ENTERPRISE version and both 32-bit and 64-bit. But the problem was same everytime. Finally, I had to reinstall Windows 7 which installed and ran without any problem. The problem, we can guess, is GRAPHICS perhaps. I have Intel SandyBridge Graphics Mobile Chipset (Intel HD Graphics 3000). But if Windows 7 and Linux distrubutions like Mint and BackTrack can run on the machine, why on earth, would Windows 8 not run?

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• Talking JavaOne with Rock Star Simon Ritter

  - by Janice J. Heiss

  Oracle’s Java Technology Evangelist Simon Ritter is well known at JavaOne for his quirky and fun-loving sessions, which, this year include: CON4644 -- “JavaFX Extreme GUI Makeover” (with Angela Caicedo on how to improve UIs in JavaFX) CON5352 -- “Building JavaFX Interfaces for the Real World” (Kinect gesture tracking and mind reading) CON5348 -- “Do You Like Coffee with Your Dessert?” (Some cool demos of Java of the Raspberry Pi) CON6375 -- “Custom JavaFX Charts: (How to extend JavaFX Chart controls with some interesting things) I recently asked Ritter about the significance of the Raspberry Pi, the topic of one of his sessions that consists of a credit card-sized single-board computer developed in the UK with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. “I don't think there's one definitive thing that makes the RP significant,” observed Ritter, “but a combination of things that really makes it stand out. First, it's the cost: $35 for what is effectively a completely usable computer. OK, so you have to add a power supply, SD card for storage and maybe a screen, keyboard and mouse, but this is still way cheaper than a typical PC. The choice of an ARM processor is also significant, as it avoids problems like cooling (no heat sink or fan) and can use a USB power brick.  Combine these two things with the immense groundswell of community support and it provides a fantastic platform for teaching young and old alike about computing, which is the real goal of the project.”He informed me that he’ll be at the Raspberry Pi meetup on Saturday (not part of JavaOne). Check out the details here.JavaFX InterfacesWhen I asked about how JavaFX can interface with the real world, he said that there are many ways. “JavaFX provides you with a simple set of programming interfaces that can create complex, cool and compelling user interfaces,” explained Ritter. “Because it's just Java code you can combine JavaFX with any other Java library to provide data to display and control the interface. What I've done for my session is look at some of the possible ways of doing this using some of the amazing hardware that's available today at very low cost. The Kinect sensor has added a new dimension to gaming in terms of interaction; there's a Java API to access this so you can easily collect skeleton tracking data from it. Some clever people have also written libraries that can track gestures like swipes, circles, pushes, and so on. We use these to control parts of the UI. I've also experimented with a Neurosky EEG sensor that can in some ways ‘read your mind’ (well, at least measure some of the brain functions like attention and meditation).  I've written a Java library for this that I include as a way of controlling the UI. We're not quite at the stage of just thinking a command though!” Here Comes Java EmbeddedAnd what, from Ritter’s perspective, is the most exciting thing happening in the world of Java today? “I think it's seeing just how Java continues to become more and more pervasive,” he said. “One of the areas that is growing rapidly is embedded systems.  We've talked about the ‘Internet of things’ for many years; now it's finally becoming a reality. With the ability of more and more devices to include processing, storage and networking we need an easy way to write code for them that's reliable, has high performance, and is secure. Java fits all these requirements. With Java Embedded being a conference within a conference, I'm very excited about the possibilities of Java in this space.”Check out Ritter’s sessions or say hi if you run into him. Originally published on blogs.oracle.com/javaone.

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• Talking JavaOne with Rock Star Simon Ritter

  - by Janice J. Heiss

  Oracle’s Java Technology Evangelist Simon Ritter is well known at JavaOne for his quirky and fun-loving sessions, which, this year include: CON4644 -- “JavaFX Extreme GUI Makeover” (with Angela Caicedo on how to improve UIs in JavaFX) CON5352 -- “Building JavaFX Interfaces for the Real World” (Kinect gesture tracking and mind reading) CON5348 -- “Do You Like Coffee with Your Dessert?” (Some cool demos of Java of the Raspberry Pi) CON6375 -- “Custom JavaFX Charts: (How to extend JavaFX Chart controls with some interesting things) I recently asked Ritter about the significance of the Raspberry Pi, the topic of one of his sessions that consists of a credit card-sized single-board computer developed in the UK with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. “I don't think there's one definitive thing that makes the RP significant,” observed Ritter, “but a combination of things that really makes it stand out. First, it's the cost: $35 for what is effectively a completely usable computer. OK, so you have to add a power supply, SD card for storage and maybe a screen, keyboard and mouse, but this is still way cheaper than a typical PC. The choice of an ARM processor is also significant, as it avoids problems like cooling (no heat sink or fan) and can use a USB power brick.  Combine these two things with the immense groundswell of community support and it provides a fantastic platform for teaching young and old alike about computing, which is the real goal of the project.”He informed me that he’ll be at the Raspberry Pi meetup on Saturday (not part of JavaOne). Check out the details here.JavaFX InterfacesWhen I asked about how JavaFX can interface with the real world, he said that there are many ways. “JavaFX provides you with a simple set of programming interfaces that can create complex, cool and compelling user interfaces,” explained Ritter. “Because it's just Java code you can combine JavaFX with any other Java library to provide data to display and control the interface. What I've done for my session is look at some of the possible ways of doing this using some of the amazing hardware that's available today at very low cost. The Kinect sensor has added a new dimension to gaming in terms of interaction; there's a Java API to access this so you can easily collect skeleton tracking data from it. Some clever people have also written libraries that can track gestures like swipes, circles, pushes, and so on. We use these to control parts of the UI. I've also experimented with a Neurosky EEG sensor that can in some ways ‘read your mind’ (well, at least measure some of the brain functions like attention and meditation).  I've written a Java library for this that I include as a way of controlling the UI. We're not quite at the stage of just thinking a command though!” Here Comes Java EmbeddedAnd what, from Ritter’s perspective, is the most exciting thing happening in the world of Java today? “I think it's seeing just how Java continues to become more and more pervasive,” he said. “One of the areas that is growing rapidly is embedded systems.  We've talked about the ‘Internet of things’ for many years; now it's finally becoming a reality. With the ability of more and more devices to include processing, storage and networking we need an easy way to write code for them that's reliable, has high performance, and is secure. Java fits all these requirements. With Java Embedded being a conference within a conference, I'm very excited about the possibilities of Java in this space.”Check out Ritter’s sessions or say hi if you run into him.

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• Does my use of the strategy pattern violate the fundamental MVC pattern in iOS?

  - by Goodsquirrel

  I'm about to use the 'strategy' pattern in my iOS app, but feel like my approach violates the somehow fundamental MVC pattern. My app is displaying visual "stories", and a Story consists (i.e. has @properties) of one Photo and one or more VisualEvent objects to represent e.g. animated circles or moving arrows on the photo. Each VisualEvent object therefore has a eventType @property, that might be e.g. kEventTypeCircle or kEventTypeArrow. All events have things in common, like a startTime @property, but differ in the way they are being drawn on the StoryPlayerView. Currently I'm trying to follow the MVC pattern and have a StoryPlayer object (my controller) that knows about both the model objects (like Story and all kinds of visual events) and the view object StoryPlayerView. To chose the right drawing code for each of the different visual event types, my StoryPlayer is using a switch statement. @implementation StoryPlayer // (...) - (void)showVisualEvent:(VisualEvent *)event onStoryPlayerView:storyPlayerView { switch (event.eventType) { case kEventTypeCircle: [self showCircleEvent:event onStoryPlayerView:storyPlayerView]; break; case kEventTypeArrow: [self showArrowDrawingEvent:event onStoryPlayerView:storyPlayerView]; break; // (...) } But switch statements for type checking are bad design, aren't they? According to Uncle Bob they lead to tight coupling and can and should almost always be replaced by polymorphism. Having read about the "Strategy"-Pattern in Head First Design Patterns, I felt this was a great way to get rid of my switch statement. So I changed the design like this: All specialized visual event types are now subclasses of an abstract VisualEvent class that has a showOnStoryPlayerView: method. @interface VisualEvent : NSObject - (void)showOnStoryPlayerView:(StoryPlayerView *)storyPlayerView; // abstract Each and every concrete subclass implements a concrete specialized version of this drawing behavior method. @implementation CircleVisualEvent - (void)showOnStoryPlayerView:(StoryPlayerView *)storyPlayerView { [storyPlayerView drawCircleAtPoint:self.position color:self.color lineWidth:self.lineWidth radius:self.radius]; } The StoryPlayer now simply calls the same method on all types of events. @implementation StoryPlayer - (void)showVisualEvent:(VisualEvent *)event onStoryPlayerView:storyPlayerView { [event showOnStoryPlayerView:storyPlayerView]; } The result seems to be great: I got rid of the switch statement, and if I ever have to add new types of VisualEvents in the future, I simply create new subclasses of VisualEvent. And I won't have to change anything in StoryPlayer. But of cause this approach violates the MVC pattern since now my model has to know about and depend on my view! Now my controller talks to my model and my model talks to the view calling methods on StoryPlayerView like drawCircleAtPoint:color:lineWidth:radius:. But this kind of calls should be controller code not model code, right?? Seems to me like I made things worse. I'm confused! Am I completely missing the point of the strategy pattern? Is there a better way to get rid of the switch statement without breaking model-view separation?

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• Tech Ed/BI Conference 2010: A Recovering Industry in a Recovering City

  - by andrewbrust

  I tried writing a post for this blog last night, while at the this year’s Microsoft Tech Ed and Business Intelligence conferences, in New Orleans. But I literally fell asleep while writing it.  That’s probably a sign that my readers might have done the same while reading it. Why the writer’s block? This was a very good show for me, but I think I was having trouble figuring out exactly why.  Now that I’m on the flight home, I’m starting to piece it together. One reason, for sure, was that I’ve spent years in both the developer and the BI worlds, and a show that combined the two was really enjoyable for me.  Typically, the subject matter, the attendees, the Microsoft execs and managers, and even the social circles have been separate.  This year’s Tech Ed facilitated a fusion of each of these previously segregated groups.  That was good for me as a speaker; for example, I facilitated a Birds of a Feather session on PowerPivot (Microsoft’s new self-service BI offering) which was well-attended, and by a large number of non-BI pros.  The fusion was good for me as an attendee too, as Microsoft BI, in the form of a new Pivot Viewer control, made it into the Day 1 keynote, demoed by Microsoft’s key BI champion, Amir Netz.  And it was good for me socially, as I was able to meet with peers in both camps, and at one location. Speaking of meeting with industry colleagues, I did a lot of that at this show.  Probably for the first time ever, I carefully scheduled and conducted a series of meetings with friends and business acquaintances in the developer tools, data visualization, utilities, publishing and training areas of the Microsoft ecosystem.  Beside the time efficiencies in conducting so many meetings, I discovered another benefit. I got a real handle on the tech industry’s economic health. The news here is good.  First of all, 2010 has been a great year for just about everyone I spoke to.  The mood is positive, energy is high, and people are working really hard.  This is, of course, refreshing to see, and it’s a huge relief.  Add to that the fact that this year’s Tech Ed was about 2.5 times larger in headcount than last year’s (based on numbers from unofficial, but reliable, sources), and the economic prognosis seems excellent.  But there’s more to it than that. Here’s the thing: everyone I talked to seems to be working, and succeeding, at changing their business models to adapt to changes in the industry.  Whether it’s the Internet’s impact on publishing and training, the increased importance of the developer audience in South Asia, the shift of affordable developer and business talent to unfamiliar locales abroad, or even lapses in Microsoft’s performance in the market, partner companies aren’t just rolling with the punches; they’re welcoming the changes and working them to their advantage.  No one seemed downtrodden, or even fatigued.  Even for businesses who have seen core revenue streams become commoditized, everyone seems to be changing their market strategy and winning.  Even Microsoft, of whom I have been critical recently, showed signs of successful hard work and playbook change, in the maturing of their cloud strategy, their commitment to it and their excitement around it.  And the embedded, managed, self-service BI strategy that Microsoft has been touting looks like it’s already being embraced by customers, even though PowerPivot, and other new Microsoft BI products, were released only recently. The collective optimism I have witnessed, and that I have felt, tells me good things about this industry and the economy.  The stock market had huge mood swings during my stay, and that may yet subdue the industry recovery I have seen this week.  Nonetheless, I am convinced that a strong foundation of hard work, innovative thinking and, if I may,  true renaissance is underlying this industry’s success. That kind of strength will generate a strong recovery, I am certain, whether now or once we’re past another round of choppy weather in the broader economy.  The fundamentals are good.

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• Where to start with game development?

  - by steven_desu

  I asked this earlier in this thread at stackoverflow.com. One of the early comments redirected me here to gamedev.stackexchange.com, so I'm reposting here. Searching for related questions I found a number of very specific questions, but I'm afraid the specifics have proved fruitless for me and after 4 hours on Google I'm no closer than I started, so I felt reaching out to a community might be in order. First, my goal: I've never made a game before, although I've muddled over the possibility several times. I decided to finally sit down and start learning how to code games, use game engines, etc. All so that one day (hopefully soon) I'll be able to make functional (albeit simple) games. I can start adding complexity later, for now I'd be glad to have a keyboard-controlled camera moving in a 3D world with no interaction beyond that. My background: I've worked in SEVERAL programming languages ranging from PHP to C++ to Java to ASM. I'm not afraid of any challenges that come with learning the new syntax or limitations inherent in a new language. All of my past programming experience, however, has been strictly non-graphical and usually with little or extremely simple interaction during execution. I've created extensive and brilliant algorithms for solving logical and mathematical problems as well as graphing problems. However in every case input was either defined in a file, passed form an HTML form, or typed into the console. Real-time interaction with the user is something with which I have no experience. My question: Where should I start in trying to make games? Better yet- where should I start in trying to create a keyboard-navigable 3D environment? In searching online I've found several resources linking to game engines, graphics engines, and physics engines. Here's a brief summary of my experiences with a few engines I tried: Unreal SDK: The tutorial videos assume that you already have in-depth knowledge of 3D modeling, graphics engines, animations, etc. The "Getting Started" page offers no formal explanation of game development but jumps into how Unreal can streamline processes it assumes you're already familiar with. After downloading the SDK and launching it to see if the tools were as intuitive as they claimed, I was greeted with about 60 buttons and a blank void for my 3D modeling. Clicking on "add volume" (to attempt to add a basic cube) I was met with a menu of 30 options. Panicking, I closed the editor. Crystal Space: The website seemed rather informative, explaining that Crystal Space was just for graphics and the companion software, CEL, provided entity logic for making games. A demo game was provided, which was built using "CELStart", their simple tool for people with no knowledge of game programming. I launched the game to see what I might look forward to creating. It froze several times, the menus were buggy, there were thousands of graphical glitches, enemies didn't respond to damage, and when I closed the game it locked up. Gave up on that engine. IrrLicht: The tutorial assumes I have Visual Studio 6.0 (I have Visual Studio 2010). Following their instructions I was unable to properly import the library into Visual Studio and unable to call any of the functions that they kept using. Manually copying header files, class files, and DLLs into my project's folder - the project failed to properly compile. Clearly I'm not off to a good start and I'm going in circles. Can someone point me in the right direction? Should I start by downloading a program like Blender and learning 3D modeling, or should I be learning how to use a graphics engine? Should I look for an all-inclusive game engine, or is it better to try and code my own game logic? If anyone has actually made their own games, I would prefer to hear how they got their start. Also- taking classes at my school is not an option. Nothing is offered.

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• Where to start with game development?

  - by steven_desu

  Searching for related questions I found a number of very specific questions, but I'm afraid the specifics have proved fruitless for me and after 4 hours on Google I'm no closer than I started, so I felt reaching out to a community might be in order. First, my goal: I've never made a game before, although I've muddled over the possibility several times. I decided to finally sit down and start learning how to code games, use game engines, etc. All so that one day (hopefully soon) I'll be able to make functional (albeit simple) games. I can start adding complexity later, for now I'd be glad to have a keyboard-controlled camera moving in a 3D world with no interaction beyond that. My background: I've worked in SEVERAL programming languages ranging from PHP to C++ to Java to ASM. I'm not afraid of any challenges that come with learning the new syntax or limitations inherent in a new language. All of my past programming experience, however, has been strictly non-graphical and usually with little or extremely simple interaction during execution. I've created extensive and brilliant algorithms for solving logical and mathematical problems. However in every case input was either defined in a file, passed form an HTML form, or typed into the console. Real-time interaction with the user is something with which I have no experience. My question: Where should I start in trying to make games? Better yet- where should I start in trying to create a keyboard-navigable 3D environment? In searching online I've found several resources linking to game engines, graphics engines, and physics engines. Here's a brief summary of my experiences with a few engines I tried: Unreal SDK: The tutorial videos assume that you already have in-depth knowledge of 3D modeling, graphics engines, animations, etc. The "Getting Started" page offers no formal explanation of game development but jumps into how Unreal can streamline processes it assumes you're already familiar with. After downloading the SDK and launching it to see if the tools were as intuitive as they claimed, I was greeted with about 60 buttons and a blank void for my 3D modeling. Clicking on "add volume" (to attempt to add a basic cube) I was met with a menu of 30 options. Panicking, I closed the editor. Crystal Space: The website seemed rather informative, explaining that Crystal Space was just for graphics and the companion software, CEL, provided entity logic for making games. A demo game was provided, which was built using "CELStart", their simple tool for people with no knowledge of game programming. I launched the game to see what I might look forward to creating. It froze several times, the menus were buggy, there were thousands of graphical glitches, enemies didn't respond to damage, and when I closed the game it locked up. Gave up on that engine. IrrLicht: The tutorial assumes I have Visual Studio 6.0 (I have Visual Studio 2010). Following their instructions I was unable to properly import the library into Visual Studio and unable to call any of the functions that they kept using. Manually copying header files, class files, and DLLs into my project's folder - the project failed to properly compile. Clearly I'm not off to a good start and I'm going in circles. Can someone point me in the right direction? Should I start by downloading a program like Blender and learning 3D modeling, or should I be learning how to use a graphics engine? Should I look for an all-inclusive game engine, or is it better to try and code my own game logic? If anyone has actually made their own games, I would prefer to hear how they got their start. Also- taking classes at my school is not an option. Nothing is offered.

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