Search Results

Search found 18450 results on 738 pages for 'mobile programming'.

Page 134/738 | < Previous Page | 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141  | Next Page >

  • Never Call Me at Work [Humorous Star Wars Video]

    - by Asian Angel
    Have you ever had one of those days when someone close to you calls at the worst possible time? See what happens when this stormtrooper’s wife calls him while he is at work above Tatooine! Needless to say Darth Vader is in a “less than forgiving” mood… Never Call Me At Work [YouTube] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 How to Use Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader (the Easy Way) How To Remove People and Objects From Photographs In Photoshop Ask How-To Geek: How Can I Monitor My Bandwidth Usage? Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Never Call Me at Work [Humorous Star Wars Video] Add an Image Properties Listing to the Context Menu in Chrome and Iron Add an Easy to View Notification Badge to Tabs in Firefox SpellBook Parks Bookmarklets in Chrome’s Context Menu Drag2Up Brings Multi-Source Drag and Drop Uploading to Firefox Enchanted Swing in the Forest Wallpaper

    Read the article

  • MBA versus MSIS

    - by user794684
    I am considering going back to school for my masters and I've been looking at several avenues I can take. I've been considering either an MBA or an MSIS degree. Overall I know that an MBA is going to give me a solid skill set that can help me become an executive. However they seem to be a dime a dozen these days and the University I can get into is good, but it's not exactly in the top 100 anything. My undergrad MINOR was in Business Information Systems. I'm rusty as hell, considering I haven't touched it, but an MSIS would be more in the direction of my past academic experience and seems to touch both on business management and IT. Question... With an MSIS will I just be a middleman? Will I really be an important person with a real skill set or will I merely be someone who isn't quite cut out to be a manager and who is clueless about the tech side? Is an MSIS degree going to give me a real chance to move up the pay scale quickly or am I better off learning programing, networking through another BS degree? What will give me more upward mobility career wise? An MBA or an MSIS?

    Read the article

  • Games to Vista Game explorer with Inno Setup

    - by Kraemer
    Ok, i'm trying to force my inno setup installer to add a shortcut of my game to Vista Games Explorer. Theoretically this should do the trick: [Files] Source: "GameuxInstallHelper.dll"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion overwritereadonly; [Registry] Root: HKLM; Subkey: SOFTWARE\dir\dir; Flags: uninsdeletekeyifempty Root: HKLM; Subkey: SOFTWARE\dir\dir; ValueName: Path; ValueType: String; ValueData: {app}; Flags: uninsdeletekey Root: HKLM; Subkey: SOFTWARE\dir\dir; ValueName: AppFile; ValueType: String; ValueData:{app}\executable.exe ; Flags: uninsdeletekey [CustomMessages] en.Local=en en.removemsg=Do you wish to remove game saves and settings? en.taskentry=Play [Code] const PlayTask = 0; AllUsers = 2; Current = 3; type TGUID = record Data1: Cardinal; Data2, Data3: Word; Data4: array [0..7] of char; end; var GUID: TGUID; function GetDC(HWND: DWord): DWord; external '[email protected] stdcall'; function GetDeviceCaps(DC: DWord; Index: Integer): Integer; external '[email protected] stdcall'; function ReleaseDC(HWND: DWord;DC: DWord): Integer; external '[email protected] stdcall'; function ShowWindow(hWnd: DWord; nCmdShow: Integer): boolean; external '[email protected] stdcall'; function SetWindowLong(hWnd: DWord; nIndex: Integer; dwNewLong: Longint):Longint; external '[email protected] stdcall'; function GenerateGUID(var GUID: TGUID): Cardinal; external 'GenerateGUID@files:GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall setuponly'; function AddToGameExplorer(Binary: String; Path: String; InstallType: Integer; var GUID: TGUID): Cardinal; external 'AddToGameExplorerW@files:GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall setuponly'; function CreateTask(InstallType: Integer; var GUID: TGUID; TaskType: Integer; TaskNumber: Integer; TaskName: String; Binary: String; Parameters: String): Cardinal; external 'CreateTaskW@files:GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall setuponly'; function RetrieveGUIDForApplication(Binary: String; var GUID: TGUID): Cardinal; external 'RetrieveGUIDForApplicationW@{app}\GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall uninstallonly'; function RemoveFromGameExplorer(var GUID: TGUID): Cardinal; external 'RemoveFromGameExplorer@{app}\GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall uninstallonly'; function RemoveTasks(var GUID: TGUID): Cardinal; external 'RemoveTasks@{app}\GameuxInstallHelper.dll stdcall uninstallonly'; function InitializeSetup(): Boolean; var appath: string; ResultCode: Integer; begin if RegKeyExists(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, 'SOFTWARE\dir\dir') then begin RegQueryStringValue(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, 'SOFTWARE\dir\dir', 'Path', appath) Exec((appath +'\unins000.exe'), '', '', SW_SHOW, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode) end else begin Result := TRUE end; end; procedure CurUninstallStepChanged(CurUninstallStep: TUninstallStep); begin if CurUninstallStep = usUninstall then begin if GetWindowsVersion shr 24 > 5 then begin RetrieveGUIDForApplication(ExpandConstant('{app}\AWL_Release.dll'), GUID); RemoveFromGameExplorer(GUID); RemoveTasks(GUID); UnloadDll(ExpandConstant('{app}\GameuxInstallHelper.dll')); end; end; if CurUninstallStep = usPostUninstall then begin if MsgBox(ExpandConstant('{cm:removemsg}'), mbConfirmation, MB_YESNO)=IDYES then begin DelTree(ExpandConstant('{app}'), True, True, True); end; end; end; procedure CurStepChanged(CurStep: TSetupStep); begin if GetWindowsVersion shr 24 > 5 then begin if CurStep = ssInstall then GenerateGUID(GUID); if CurStep = ssPostInstall then begin AddToGameExplorer(ExpandConstant('{app}\AWL_Release.dll'), ExpandConstant('{app}'), Current, GUID); CreateTask(3, GUID, PlayTask, 0, ExpandConstant('{cm:taskentry}'), ExpandConstant('{app}\executable.exe'), ''); CreateTask(3, GUID, 1, 0, 'Game Website', 'http://www.gamewebsite.com/', ''); end; end; end; The installer works just fine, but it doesn't place a shortcut of my game to Games explorer. Since i believe that the problem is on the binary file i guess for that part i should ask for some help. So, can anyone please give me a hand here?

    Read the article

  • OpenGL ES 2.0: Vertex and Fragment Shader for 2D with Transparency

    - by Bunkai.Satori
    Could I knindly ask for correct examples of OpenGL ES 2.0 Vertex and Fragment shader for displaying 2D textured sprites with transparency? I have fairly simple shaders that display textured polygon pairs but transparency is not applied despite: texture map contains transparency information Blending is enabled: glEnable(GL_BLEND); glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST); glBlendFunc(GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA); My Vertex Shader: uniform mat4 uOrthoProjection; uniform vec3 Translation; attribute vec4 Position; attribute vec2 TextureCoord; varying vec2 TextureCoordOut; void main() { gl_Position = uOrthoProjection * (Position + vec4(Translation, 0)); TextureCoordOut = TextureCoord; } My Fragment Shader: varying mediump vec2 TextureCoordOut; uniform sampler2D Sampler; void main() { gl_FragColor = texture2D(Sampler, TextureCoordOut); }

    Read the article

  • So, "Are Design Patterns Missing Language Features"?

    - by Eduard Florinescu
    I saw the answer to this question: How does thinking on design patterns and OOP practices change in dynamic and weakly-typed languages? There it is a link to an article with an outspoken title: Are Design Patterns Missing Language Features. But where you can get snippets that seem very objective and factual and that can be verified from experience like: PaulGraham said "Peter Norvig found that 16 of the 23 patterns in Design Patterns were 'invisible or simpler' in Lisp." and a thing that confirms what I recently seen with people trying to simulate classes in javascript: Of course, nobody ever speaks of the "function" pattern, or the "class" pattern, or numerous other things that we take for granted because most languages provide them as built-in features. OTOH, programmers in a purely PrototypeOrientedLanguage? might well find it convenient to simulate classes with prototypes... I am taking into consideration also that design patterns are a communcation tool and because even with my limited experience participating in building applications I can see as an anti-pattern(ineffective and/or counterproductive) for example forcing a small PHP team to learn GoF patterns for small to medium intranet app, I am aware that scale, scope and purpose can determine what is effective and/or productive. I saw small commercial applications that mixed functional with OOP and still be maintainable, and I don't know if many would need for example in python to write a singleton but for me a simple module does the thing. patterns So are there studies or hands on experience shared that takes into consideration, all this, scale and scope of project, dynamics and size of the team, languages and technologies, so that you don't feel that a (difficult for some)design pattern is there just because there isn't a simpler way to do it or that it cannot be done by a language feature?

    Read the article

  • What's a nice explanation for recursion?

    - by Gulshan
    This question is inspired by What's a nice explanation for pointers? So, what can be a nice explanation of the recursion? Update: The idea of recursion is not very common in real world. So, it seems a bit confusing to the novice programmers. Though, I guess, they become used to the concept gradually. So, what can be a nice explanation for them to grasp the idea easily? I expected some detailed answers. N.B. : Even I am going to post one answer. But to be fair, it will be few hours later.

    Read the article

  • Python productivity VS Java Productivity

    - by toc777
    Over on SO I came across a question regarding which platform, Java or Python is best for developing on Google AppEngine. Many people were boasting of the increased productivity gained from using Python over Java. One thing I would say about the Python vs Java productivity argument, is Java has excellent IDE's to speed up development where as Python is really lacking in this area because of its dynamic nature. So even though I prefer to use Python as a language, I don't believe it gives quite the productivity boost compared to Java especially when using a new framework. Obviously if it were Java vs Python and the only editor you could use was VIM then Python would give you a huge productivity boost but when IDE's are brought into the equation its not as clear cut. I think Java's merits are often solely evaluated on a language level and often on out dated assumptions but Java has many benefits external to the language itself, e.g the JVM (often criticized but offers huge potential), excellent IDE's and tools, huge numbers of third party libraries, platforms etc.. Question, Does Python/related dynamic languages really give the huge productivity boosts often talked about? (with consideration given to using new frameworks and working with medium to large applications).

    Read the article

  • Tellago announces SQL Server 2008 R2 BI quick adoption programs

    - by gsusx
    During the last year, we (Tellago) have been involved in various business intelligence initiatives that leverage some emerging BI techniques such as self-service BI or complex event processing (CEP). Specifically, in the last few months, we have partnered with Microsoft to deliver a series of events across the country where we present the different technologies of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BI stack such as PowerPivot, StreamInsight, Ad-Hoc Reporting and Master Data Services. As part of those events...(read more)

    Read the article

  • Event system architecture for networking when performance is concerned

    - by Vandell
    How should I design a system for an action game (think in Golden Axe) where events can happen remotely? I'm using TCP for this because the client is in flash. There's so many options, I can make a binary protocol (I don't like this idea, I found it to be too hard to mantain) but I was also thinking that passing jsons through clients and server can be slow (Is that a exaggerated concern?). What about the internal architecture for the server? And for the client? I'm really lost, If it's a question that is too big, please indicate me some material so I can formulate a better question next time.

    Read the article

  • Why IDE has to be made in the language they are designed for?

    - by Em Ae
    Look at IntellijIDEA IDE, its a pretty sick ide but its made in Java and we all know that Java suck at GUI. Same goes for Eclipse. Though its way better and adopted SWT but it could have been best if it was developed in C/C++. We have really good systems now and thats why we don't feel that these IDES are nothing much but a memory hog. Why the IDE's have to be written in the language they are designed for ? Okay i know that IDE is a cool way to show how strong a language can be but even then someitmes, that specific language might not be best for a particular tastk.

    Read the article

  • How to cross-reference many character encodings with ASCII OR UTFx?

    - by Garet Claborn
    I'm working with a binary structure, the goal of which is to index the significance of specific bits for any character encoding so that we may trigger events while doing specific checks against the profile. Each character encoding scheme has an associated system record. This record's leading value will be a C++ unsigned long long binary value and signifies the length, in bits, of encoded characters. Following the length are three values, each is a bit field of that length. offset_mask - defines the occurrence of non-printable characters within the min,max of print_mask range_mask - defines the occurrence of the most popular 50% of printable characters print_mask - defines the occurrence value of printable characters The structure of profiles has changed from the op of this question. Most likely I will try to factorize or compress these values in the long-term instead of starting out with ranges after reading more. I have to write some of the core functionality for these main reasons. It has to fit into a particular event architecture we are using, Better understanding of character encoding. I'm about to need it. Integrating into non-linear design is excluding many libraries without special hooks. I'm unsure if there is a standard, cross-encoding mechanism for communicating such data already. I'm just starting to look into how chardet might do profiling as suggested by @amon. The Unicode BOM would be easily enough (for my current project) if all encodings were Unicode. Of course ideally, one would like to support all encodings, but I'm not asking about implementation - only the general case. How can these profiles be efficiently populated, to produce a set of bitmasks which we can use to match strings with common characters in multiple languages? If you have any editing suggestions please feel free, I am a lightweight when it comes to localization, which is why I'm trying to reach out to the more experienced. Any caveats you may be able to help with will be appreciated.

    Read the article

  • Is Python Interpreted or Compiled?

    - by crodjer
    This is just a wondering I had while reading about interpreted and compiled languages. Ruby is no doubt an interpreted language, since source code is compiled by an interpreter at the point of execution. On the contrary C is a compiled language, as one have to compile the source code first according to the machine and then execute. This results is much faster execution. Now coming to Python: A python code (somefile.py) when imported creates a file (somefile.pyc) in the same directory. Let us say the import is done in a python shell or django module. After the import I change the code a bit and execute the imported functions again to find that it is still running the old code. This suggests that *.pyc files are compiled python files similar to executable created after compilation of a C file, though I can't execute *.pyc file directly. When the python file (somefile.py) is executed directly ( ./somefile.py or python somefile.py ) no .pyc file is created and the code is executed as is indicating interpreted behavior. These suggest that a python code is compiled every time it is imported in a new process to crate a .pyc while it is interpreted when directly executed. So which type of language should I consider it as? Interpreted or Compiled? And how does its efficiency compare to interpreted and compiled languages? According to wiki's Interpreted Languages page it is listed as a language compiled to Virtual Machine Code, what is meant by that? Update Looking at the answers it seems that there cannot be a perfect answer to my questions. Languages are not only interpreted or only compiled, but there is a spectrum of possibilities between interpreting and compiling. From the answers by aufather, mipadi, Lenny222, ykombinator, comments and wiki I found out that in python's major implementations it is compiled to bytecode, which is a highly compressed and optimized representation and is machine code for a virtual machine, which is implemented not in hardware, but in the bytecode interpreter. Also the the languages are not interpreted or compiled, but rather language implementations either interpret or compile code. I also found out about Just in time compilation As far as execution speed is concerned the various benchmarks cannot be perfect and depend on context and the task which is being performed. Please tell if I am wrong in my interpretations.

    Read the article

  • Managing Personal Projects As Solo Developer - Getting out of depth and failing projects

    - by James Jeffery
    I need some advice on project management. I start a project, and often times it will a large project for a solo developer. Usually its a web project. I handle everything from the UI, to the JS, PHP, server management etc. Half way in I feel out of my depth. I lose where I am, so I spend a couple of days away from the project to avoid the stress and before you know it, it becomes another unfinished project. I try to use frameworks and code libraries to make my developments easier on myself. Sometimes I will complete a project so it "works" and then go back and handle errors, design the UI properly and stuff. But without fail I will always end up out of my depth. I've though about outsourcing tasks such as the UI, and the behaviour, and focusing just on the PHP - which I feel is my strong point. But then pride kicks in, and I don't feel at one with a project I haven't completed myself. Does this make sense? I am sure there are many others who have felt like this either at home, or at work, and I would love some advice on managing my projects better.

    Read the article

  • Managed Languages vs Compiled Language difference?

    - by l46kok
    I get confused when people try to make a distinction between compiled languages and managed languages. From experience, I understand that most consider compiled languages to be C,C++ while managed languages are Java,C# (There are obviously more, but these are just few examples). But what exactly is the core difference between the two types of languages? My understanding is that any program, regardless of what language you use is essentially "compiled" into a low-level machine code which is then interpreted, so does that kinda make managed languages a subset of compiled languages (That is, all managed languages are compiled languages but not the other way around)?

    Read the article

  • DDD East Anglia, 29th June 2013 - Async Patterns presentation and source code

    - by Liam Westley
    Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/twickers/archive/2013/07/01/ddd-east-anglia-29th-june-2013---async-patterns-presentation.aspxMany thanks to the team in Cambridge for an awesome first conference DDD East Anglia.  I definitely appreciate how each of the different areas have their own distinctive atmosphere and feel.  Thanks to some great sponsors we enjoyed a great venue and some excellent nibbles. For those who attended my Async my source code and presentation are available on GitHub, https://github.com/westleyl/DDDEastAnglia2013-Async.git If you are new to Git then the easiest client to install is GitHub for Windows, a graphical UI for accessing GitHub. Personally, I also have Git Extensions and Tortoise Git installed. Tortoise Git is the file explorer add-in that works in a familiar manner to TortoiseSVN. As I mentioned during the presentation I have not included the sample data, the music files, in the source code placed on GitHub but I have included instructions on how to download them from http://silents.bandcamp.comand place them in the correct folders. Also, Windows Media Player, by default, does not play Ogg Vorbis and Flac music files, however you can download the codec installer for these, for free, from http://xiph.org/dshow. I have included the .Net 4.0 version of the source code that uses the Microsoft.Bcl.Async NuGet package - once you have got the project from GitHub you will need to install this NuGet package for the code to compile. Load Project into Visual Studio 2012 Access the NuGet package manager (Tools -> Library Package Manager -> Manage NuGet Packages For Solution) Highlight Online and then Search Online for microsoft.bcl.async Click on Install button Resources : You can download the Task-based Asynchronous Pattern white paper by Stephen Toub, which was the inspiration for this presentation from here - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=19957 Presentation : If you just want the presentation and don’t want to bother with a GitHub login you can download the PowerPoint presentation from here.

    Read the article

  • Jack of all trades, master of none [closed]

    - by Rope
    I've got a question similar to this one: Is looking for code examples constantly a sign of a bad developer? though not entirely. I got off college 2 years ago and I'm currently struggling with a University study. Most likely I'll have to drop out and start working within the next couple of months. Now here's the pickle. I have no speciality what so ever. When I got out of college I had worked with C, C++ and Java. I had had an internship at NEC-Philips and got familiar with C# (.NET) and I taught myself how it worked. After college I started working with PHP, HTML,SQL, MySQL Javascript and Jquery. I'm currently teaching myself Ruby on Rails and thus Ruby. At my university I also got familiar with MATLAB. As you can see I've got a broad scope of languages and frameworks I'm familiar with, but none I know inside-out. So I guess this kinda applies to me: "Jack of all trades, master of none.". I've been looking for jobs and I've noticed that most of them require some years of experience with a certain language and some specifications that apply to that language. My question is: How do I pick a speciality? And how do I know if I'll actually enjoy it? As I've worked with loads of languages how would I be able to tell this is right for me? I don't like being tied down to a specific role and I quite like being a generalist. But in order to make more money I would need a specialisation. How would I pick something that goes against my nature? Thanks in advance, Rope.

    Read the article

  • OpenGL ES 2.0: Filtering Polygons within VBO

    - by Bunkai.Satori
    Say, I send 10 polygon pairs (one polygon pair == one 2d sprite == one rectangle == two triangles) into OpenGL ES 2.0 VBO. The 10 polygon pairs represent one animated 2D object consisting of 10 frames. The 10 frames, of course, can not be rendered all at the same time, but will be rendered in particular order to make up smooth animation. Would you have an advice, how to pick up proper polygon pair for rendering (4 vertices) inside Vertex Shader from the VBO? Creating separate VBO for each frame would end up with thousands of VBOs, which is not the right way of doing it. I use OpenGL ES 2.0, and VBOs for both Vertices and Indices.

    Read the article

  • "The program 'g++' can be found in the following packages"

    - by mezamorphic
    I have g++ 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8 installed, but not g++ itself. I am using Ubuntu 12.04. If I do: g++ --version it says: The program 'g++' can be found in the following packages: * g++ * pentium-builder I have tried the following: sudo apt-get update then sudo apt-get -f install then sudo apt-get install g++ but still I get the same when checking g++ version. Please help? Doing apt-cache policy g++ yields: g++: Installed: 4:4.6.3-1ubuntu5 Candidate: 4:4.6.3-1ubuntu5 Version table: *** 4:4.6.3-1ubuntu5 0 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    Read the article

  • T-SQL Tuesday #006: Tiger/Line Spatial Data

    - by Mike C
    This month’s T-SQL Tuesday post is about LOB data http://sqlblog.com/blogs/michael_coles/archive/2010/05/03/t-sql-tuesday-006-what-about-blob.aspx . For this one I decided to post a sample Tiger/Line SQL database I use all the time in live demos. For those who aren't familiar with it, Tiger/Line data is a dataset published by the U.S. Census Bureau . Tiger/Line has a lot of nice detailed geospatial data down to a very detailed level. It actually goes from the U.S. state level all the way down to...(read more)

    Read the article

  • Reflections based on distance from plane

    - by Andrea Benedetti
    Let's consider, for example, a surface like the volleyball court, we can see that legs and shoes of the players are reflected, with a blur effect, but body and stadium don't (as each object not near to the court). I've already made a reflection effect, but it works as a specular reflection, and I need to achieve an effect like the photo above. So, I would like to make a reflection that is based on the distance between the object and the plane, in this manner a close object would reflect more than an object that is positioned far away from the plane. What is the best way to achieve this effect? My first idea was to use the depth value (taken from the reflected camera), and use that value to blend between reflection and court. But I don't know if it's a correct way. Edit: as rendering engine I use Ogre that already provides a reflections system: reflecting the camera through a plane (obviously I can select the models to draw from the reflected camera). After a render to texture pass I can blend the reflected texture with the original plane. So, if possible, I'm looking for a way that best suits my system.

    Read the article

  • Howto install google-mock on Ubuntu 12.10

    - by user1459339
    I am having hard time trying to install Google C++ Mocking Framework. I have successfully run sudo apt-get install google-mock. Then I tried to compile this sample file #include "gmock/gmock.h" int main(int argc, char** argv) { ::testing::InitGoogleMock(&argc, argv); return RUN_ALL_TESTS(); } with g++ -lgmock main.cpp and these errors have shown main.cpp:(.text+0x1e): undefined reference to `testing::InitGoogleMock(int*, char**)' main.cpp:(.text+0x23): undefined reference to `testing::UnitTest::GetInstance()' main.cpp:(.text+0x2b): undefined reference to `testing::UnitTest::Run()' collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status I guess the linker can not find the library files. Does anybody know how to fix this?

    Read the article

  • Surface RT: To Be Or Not To Be (Part 1)

    - by smehaffie
    So the Surface RT has been out for 9 months and Microsoft just declared a $900 million dollar write-down. So how did this happen and what does it mean for Microsoft’s efforts to break into the tablet market? I have been thinking a lot about most of the information below since the Surface product line was released. If you are looking for a “Microsoft Is Dead” story, then don’t read any further. But if you want an honest look at what I think led Microsoft to this point and what I think can be done to make Surface RT devices better, then please continue reading. What Led Microsoft To The $900 Million Write-Down Surface Unveiling:Microsoft totally missed the boat when they unveiled the Surface product line on June 18th, 2012. Microsoft should’ve been ready to post the specifications of both devices that night. Microsoft should’ve had a site up and running right after the event so people could pre-order the devices. This would have given them a good idea what the interest was in each device.  They could also have used this data to make a better estimate for the number of units to to have available for the launch and beyond.  They also lost out on taking advantage of the excitement generated by the Surface RT and Surface Pro announcement. They could have thrown in a free touch keyboard to anyone who pre-ordered. The advertising should have started right after the announcement and gotten bigger as launch day approached. Push for as many pre-order as possible and build excitement for the launch. Actual Launch (Surface RT): By this time all excitement was gone from the initial announcement, except for the Micorsoft faithful. Microsoft should have been ready to sell the Surface in as many markets as possible at launch. The limited market release was a real letdown for a lot of people.  A limited release right after the initial announce is understandable, but not at the official launch of the product. Microsoft overpriced the device and now they are lowering it to what it should have been to start with. The $349 price is within the range I suggested it should be at before pricing was announced. (Surface Tablets: The Price Must Be Right). Limited ordering options online was also a killer. User should have been able to buy the base unit of each device and then add on whatever keyboard they wanted to (this applies more to the Surface Pro).  There should have also been a place where users could order any additional add-ins that they wanted to buy (covers, extra power supplies, etc.) Marketing was better and the dancing “Click In” commercial was cool, but the ads comparing the iPad with Siri should have been on the air from day one of the announcement (or at least the launch).  Consumers want to know why you tablet is better, not just that is has a clickable keyboard and built-in kickstand. They could have also compared it to some of the other mid-range tablets if they had not overprices it to begin with. Stock Applications (Mail, People, Calendar, Music, Video, Reader and IE): This is where Microsoft really blew it. They had all the time in the world to make these applications the best of breed and instead we got applications that seemed thrown together.  Some updates have made these application better, but they are all still lacking in features that should have been there from day one. This did not help to enhance a new users experience any. ** I will admit that the applications that were data driven were first class citizen’s and that makes it even more perplexing why MS could knock it out of the park with the Weather, Travel, Finance, Bing, etc.) and fail so miserably on the core applications users would use the most on a tablet. Desktop on Tablet: The desktop just is so out of place on the tablet  I understand it was needed for Office but think it would have been better to not have the desktop in Windows RT, but instead open up the Office applications in full screen mode, in a desktop shell (same goes for  IE11).That way the user wouldn’t realize they are leaving Metro and going to the desktop. The other option would have been to just not include Office on Windows RT devices. Instead they could have made awesome Widows Store Apps for Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint. In addition, they could have made the stock Mail, People, and Calendar applications contain all the functions that Outlook gives desktop users. Having some of the settings in desktop mode and others under “Change PC Settings” made Windows RT seemed unfinished and rushed to market. What Can Be Done To Make Windows RT Based Tablets Better (At least in my opinion) Either eliminate the desktop all together from Windows RT or at least make the user experience better by hiding the fact the user is running Office/IE in the desktop. Personally I ‘d like them to totally get rid of it and just make awesome Windows Store Application version of Word, Excel PowerPoint & OneNote.  This might also make the OS smaller and give the user more available disk space. I doubt there will ever be a Windows Store App versions of Office, but I still think it is a good idea. Make is so users can easily direct their documents, picture, videos and music to their extra storage and can access these files from the standard libraries.  A user should not have to create a VM on their microSD card or create symbolic links to get this to work properly. Most consumers would not be able to do this. Then users get frustrated when they run out or room on their main storage because nothing is automatically save to their microSD card when saved to libraries.  This is a major bug that needs to be fixed, otherwise Microsoft’s selling point of having a microSD slot is worthless. Allows users to uninstall and re-install any of the Office product that come with the Surface. That way people can free up storage space by uninstalling the Office applications they do not need. Everyone’s needs are different, so make the options flexible. Don’t take up storage space for applications the user will not use. Make the Core applications the “Cream of the Crop” Windows App Store applications. The should set the bar for all other Store applications. Improve performance as much as possible, if it seems to be sluggish on a tablet consumer will not buy it. They need to price the next line of Surface product very aggressive to undercut not only iPad but also Android low end tablets (Nook, Kindle Fire, and Nexus, etc.) Give developers incentives to write quality applications for the devices. Don’t reward developers for cranking out cookie cutter, low quality applications. I’d even suggest Microsoft consider implementing some new store certification guideline to stop these type of applications being published. Allow users to easily move the recover disk “partition between their microSD card and main storage. My Predictions for the Surface RT and Windows RT I honestly think even with all the missteps MS has made since the announcement  about the Surface product line, that they are on the right path. I was excited the Surface tablets when they were announced, and I still am. The truth be told, Windows 8 on a tablet (aka: Windows RT) is better than both iOS and Android. My nephew who is an Apple fan boy told me after he saw and used Windows 8 (he got the beta running on his iPad), that Windows 8 kicked Apples butt as a tablet OS. So there is hope for all Windows RT based tablets. I agree with my nephew and that is why whenever anyone asks me about my Surface, I love showing it off and recommend it. The 6 keys to gaining market share in the tablet market are; Aggressive pricing by both Microsoft and their OEM’s Good quality devices put out by Microsoft and their OEM’s (there are some out there, but not enough) Marketing, Marketing, Marketing from both Microsoft and their OEM’s (Need more ads showing why windows based tablets are better than iPads and Android tablets) Getting Widows tablets in retails stores all over, and giving sales people incentive to sell them. Consumers like to try electronics out before they buy them, and most will listen to what the sales person suggest. Microsoft needs sales people in retail stores directing people to buy windows based tablets over iPads and Android tablets. I think the Microsoft Stores within Best Buy is a good start, but they also need to get prominent displays in Walmart, Target, etc.. Release a smaller form factor Surface, Hopefully the 8”-10” next generation Surface is not a rumor. Make “Surface” the brand name for all Microsoft tablets and hybrid devices that they come out with. They cannot change the name with each new release.  Make Surface synonymous with quality, the same way that iPad  is for Apple. Well, that is my 2 cents on the subject. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Soon to follow will be my thought on the Surface Pro, so keep an eye out for it. var addthis_pub="smehaffie"; var addthis_options="email, print, digg, slashdot, delicious, twitter, live, myspace, facebook, google, stumbleupon, newsvine";

    Read the article

  • Is Haskell worth learning?

    - by Jason K
    I am looking at this question primarily from a career point of view, so I hope you answer it accordingly. I am fairly proficient with Python, can write C++ and I am a final year student of computer science engineering I am looking to learn Haskell because I have heard a lot about it. My question is: apart from learning it because of all the good I have heard about it, is it any good for my career? Is it used in the industry? I am curious to learn it but unless it helps me somehow in my career, I am not willing to make that change at this stage. Looking for some personal experiences here. Thanks!

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141  | Next Page >