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  • How to track the touch vector?

    - by mystify
    I need to calculate the direction of dragging a touch, to determine if the user is dragging up the screen, or down the screen. Actually pretty simple, right? But: 1) Finger goes down, you get -touchesBegan:withEvent: called 2) Must wait until finger moves, and -touchesMoved:withEvent: gets called 3) Problem: At this point it's dangerous to tell if the user did drag up or down. My thoughts: Check the time and accumulate calculates vectors until it's secure to tell the direction of touch. Easy? No. Think about it: What if the user holds the finger down for 5 minutes on the same spot, but THEN decides to move up or down? BANG! Your code would fail, because it tried to determine the direction of touch when the finger didn't move really. Problem 2: When the finger goes down and stays at the same spot for a few seconds because the user is a bit in the wind and thinks about what to do now, you'll get a lot of -touchesMoved:withEvent: calls very likely, but with very minor changes in touch location. So my next thought: Do the accumulation in -touchesMoved:withEvent:, but only if a certain threshold of movement has been exceeded. I bet you have some better concepts in place?

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  • Server 2008 SP1 VSS Writers Not Responding

    - by Jason
    I've got a Windows Server 08 box on SP1 that is having some problems. We've experienced backup problems and I've traced it down to VSS Writers not responding. From the command line, if I type vssadmin list providers, I get Provider name: 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0' Provider type: System Provider Id: {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5} Version: 1.0.0.7 If I type vssadmin list writers, I get this vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp. Waiting for responses. These may be delayed if a shadow copy is being prepared. I could wait this out for hours and it won't move. I looked up how Server 2008 handles VSS writers, and you can't reregister them like you could in Server 2003 http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/windowsserver2008r2general/thread/062cc52c-899b-45f3-8d0c-798b92363f41 Does anyone know how to fix something like this or where to turn next?

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  • With lots of help, I have gotten this android class activity down to only one error. Eclipse aks for me to add ")" ,"}", and ";" why though?

    - by AndroidNewb
    package com.android.drinksonme; import android.app.Activity; import android.content.Intent; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.View; import android.view.View.OnClickListener; import android.widget.Button; import android.widget.EditText; import android.widget.TextView; public class Screen2 extends Activity { // Declare our Views, so we can access them later private EditText etUsername; private EditText etPassword; private Button btnLogin; private Button btnSignUp; private TextView lblResult; @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); // Get the EditText and Button References etUsername = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.username); etPassword = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.password); btnLogin = (Button)findViewById(R.id.login_button); btnSignUp = (Button)findViewById(R.id.signup_button); lblResult = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.result); btnLogin.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener () { String username = etUsername.getText().toString(); String password = etPassword.getText().toString(); public void onClick(View v){ if(username.equals("test") && password.equals("test")){ Intent i = new Intent(Screen2.this, DrinksTwitter.class); startActivity(i);} else lblResult.setText("Invalid username or password."); } /* final Intent k = new Intent(Screen2.this, SignUp.class); btnSignUp.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() { public void onClick(View v) { startActivity(k); }*/ } ); } }

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  • CSS, HTML issue. How would I get the main body of the document to be a certain way down from the top?

    - by orano10000
    Basically I have a navbar and a title, that both have the properties, position: fixed; top: (VALUE I INSERTED); My problem is that obviously when I write the main body of the document the text is underneath the title/navbar. I need to get the text to be underneath the title and navbar, but without it having a fixed position. If any more information with code is needed, just comment saying so. Thanks in advance.

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  • Powering off sends me to "Launch Windows Repair" automatically instead! What do I do?

    - by Jason
    With Windows 2008 R2 Server, I noticed that if I remotely reboot the machine (because it is hung or I think it is hung), the server, when it restarts, defaults to "Launch Windows Repair" (or something similar) rather than "Start Windows Normally". To change it, I have to trek down to the server room and change the boot up otherwise it will go into an endless loop (because I don't have the setup media and DVD-ROM installed). This seems to be new with 2008 R2 because I have not seen it elsewhere. What do I do? How can I remove this or change the default?

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  • How can I solve this SAT edge case?

    - by ssb
    I have an SAT implementation that basically works, and the fact that it works is what's giving me a few headaches. Basically there are some situations where using the SAT doesn't quite give me my intended result. One of these involves movement across multiple collision objects. Or to put it another way, if I have several collision boxes lined up next to each other such as to create something like a wall or a floor, movement along that surface while constantly applying force into that surface sometimes causes hangups, i.e. the player stops moving. This illustration shows what I mean: The 2 boxes on the bottom represent a floor, and the box on top/in the middle represents what my player is doing. There are several squares lined up as world obstacles to create some kind of wall, and if I move to the left across this surface while holding the down key then the issue arises. It only happens at the exact dividing point between two blocks. It only happens when moving to the left. At any rate I think I know why it happens, but I don't know how to solve it. Basically when I update my player movement I consider which directions are pressed, naturally, so if down is pressed I will add the speed to the Y component, and so on. But due to the way my SAT is implemented, when the penetration into the shape is the same from both sides it just goes with the smallest axis that it finds first, and it checks collisions against objects in the order that they were created because it goes through a foreach loop on the list of collidable objects. So this all adds up to the effect of if I'm moving to the left over a series of boxes while holding down, it will resolve me back to the right out of the first box and then up out of the box to the right of it, and this continues as long as the penetration is the same. The odd part is that this doesn't happen every time, which I am going to attribute to some oddity regarding multiplying velocity by the game time and causing some minor discrepancies between the lengths. Ultimately what this boils down to is that it will keep resolving me to the right and up, but this is technically expected behavior. All the solutions I can think of only address the symptoms of this problem and not the actual cause, such as not using many blocks to create walls or shapes, which is an option I'd like to keep open. I could also change which axis my algorithm defaults to, but that would just cause problems when going up/down along the walls. What can I do to fix this?

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  • How to update off screen bitmap in a surfaceview thread

    - by DKDiveDude
    I have a Surfaceview thread and an off canvas texture bitmap that is being generated (changed), first row (line), every frame and then copied one position (line) down on regular surfaceview bitmap to make a scrolling effect, and I then continue to draw other things on top of that. Well that is what I really want, however I can't get it to work even though I am creating a separate canvas for off screen bitmap. It is just not scrolling at all. I other words I have a memory bitmap, same size as Surfaceview canvas, which I need to scroll (shift) down one line every frame, and then replace top line with new random texture, and then draw that on regular Surfaceview canvas. Here is what I thought would work; My surfaceChanged where I specify bitmap and canvasses and start thread: @Override public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) { intSurfaceWidth = mSurfaceView.getWidth(); intSurfaceHeight = mSurfaceView.getHeight(); memBitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(intSurfaceWidth, intSurfaceHeight, Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888); memCanvas = new Canvas(memCanvas); myThread = new MyThread(holder, this); myThread.setRunning(true); blnPause = false; myThread.start(); } My thread, only showing essential middle running part: @Override public void run() { while (running) { c = null; try { // Lock canvas for drawing c = myHolder.lockCanvas(null); synchronized (mSurfaceHolder) { // First draw off screen bitmap to off screen canvas one line down memCanvas.drawBitmap(memBitmap, 0, 1, null); // Create random one line(row) texture bitmap memTexture = Bitmap.createBitmap(imgTexture, 0, rnd.nextInt(intTextureImageHeight), intSurfaceWidth, 1); // Now add this texture bitmap to top of off screen canvas and hopefully bitmap memCanvas.drawBitmap(textureBitmap, intSurfaceWidth, 0, null); // Draw above updated off screen bitmap to regular canvas, at least I thought it would update (save changes) shifting down and add the texture line to off screen bitmap the off screen canvas was pointing to. c.drawBitmap(memBitmap, 0, 0, null); // Other drawing to canvas comes here } finally { // do this in a finally so that if an exception is thrown // during the above, we don't leave the Surface in an // inconsistent state if (c != null) { myHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(c); } } } } For my game Tunnel Run. Right now I have a working solution where I instead have an array of bitmaps, size of surface height, that I populate with my random texture and then shift down in a loop for each frame. I get 50 frames per second, but I think I can do better by instead scrolling bitmap.

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  • How to resolve concurrent ramp collisions in 2d platformer?

    - by Shaun Inman
    A bit about the physics engine: Bodies are all rectangles. Bodies are sorted at the beginning of every update loop based on the body-in-motion's horizontal and vertical velocity (to avoid sticky walls/floors). Solid bodies are resolved by testing the body-in-motion's new X with the old Y and adjusting if necessary before testing the new X with the new Y, again adjusting if necessary. Works great. Ramps (rectangles with a flag set indicating bottom-left, bottom-right, etc) are resolved by calculating the ratio of penetration along the x-axis and setting a new Y accordingly (with some checks to make sure the body-in-motion isn't attacking from the tall or flat side, in which case the ramp is treated as a normal rectangle). This also works great. Side-by-side ramps, eg. \/ and /\, work fine but things get jittery and unpredictable when a top-down ramp is directly above a bottom-up ramp, eg. < or > or when a bottom-up ramp runs right up to the ceiling/top-down ramp runs right down to the floor. I've been able to lock it down somewhat by detecting whether the body-in-motion hadFloor when also colliding with a top-down ramp or hadCeiling when also colliding with a bottom-up ramp then resolving by calculating the ratio of penetration along the y-axis and setting the new X accordingly (the opposite of the normal behavior). But as soon as the body-in-motion jumps the hasFloor flag becomes false, the first ramp resolution pushes the body into collision with the second ramp and collision resolution becomes jittery again for a few frames. I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. Can anyone recommend a good resource that outlines the best way to address this problem? (Please don't recommend I use something like Box2d or Chipmunk. Also, "redesign your levels" isn't an answer; the body-in-motion may at times be riding another body-in-motion, eg. a platform, that pushes it into a ramp so I'd like to be able to resolve this properly.) Thanks!

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  • Deploying, but without those pesky test files!

    - by Chris Skardon
    Silverlight testing is great, we all know that (don’t we??), we’re expected to do it as part of the development process, but once we’ve got an awesome application written and we come to deploy it, we don’t want the test files going out with it… You might be like me, have the files in a Web project – let’s face it, that’s how we’re pushed into doing it… So let’s stick with it! Now. I’m deploying via the wonders of the Web Deployment shizzle, but this also applies to the classic ‘installer’ project as well.. Baaaasically, we’re going to use the ‘Debug’ / ‘Release’ configurations to include given files. ?? OK, you know in the top of your visual studio editor, you (usually) have a drop down which predominantly reads ‘Debug’? Those are ‘configurations’. Mostly we don’t bother changing it, primarily due to laziness, but also the fact that we generally don’t see ‘Release’ as actually doing anything other than making it harder to find problems :) Well today my friends we’re going to change that bad boy… The next few steps are just helping you set up a new ‘Debug’ configuration, but you can just switch to the ‘Release’ configuration and skip to the end… First let’s go to the Configuration Manager. There are multiple ways, through the ‘Build’ menu (at the bottom), or via the drop down which currently has ‘Debug’ in it :) Got it? Select ‘New’ from the ‘Active solution configuration’ drop down: Create a new configuration, kind of like the picture below shows (or for those graphically challenged – Name: DebugWithNoTests, and Copy settings from: ‘Debug’, ensuring the ‘Create new project configurations’ checkbox is checked). Press OK. VS will do some shizzle, and in the Configuration manager, you will see pretty much exactly what you did before, only with ‘Debug’ replaced with ‘DebugWithNoTests’. Turn off the build options for the test projects. We won’t need them.. IF you skipped down from the top, this is where you’ll be wanting to stop!!! Close and now we’re one notepad step away from achieving our goals. Yes, I said notepad. You can’t do what we’re going to do in VS. (Pity). Go to the folder where your web project is, and right click on the ‘.csproj’ file. Now open it with notepad. Head on down to the ‘<Content Include’ bits, they’ll look like this: <ItemGroup> <Content Include="ClientBin\Tests.xap" /> ... </ItemGroup> Take this and modify each of the files you don’t want deployed and change to: <Content Include="ClientBin\Tests.xap" Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'" /> Once you’ve got that sorted publish your project, once with the Debug configuration selected, and another with any other configuration (‘Release’, ‘DebugWithNoTests’ etc).. No files! Huzzah!

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  • What is the most effective way to test for combined keyboard arrow direction in ActionScript 3.0?

    - by Relee
    I need to monitor the direction a user is indicating using the four directional arrow keys on a keyboard in ActionScript 3.0 and I want to know the most efficient and effective way to do this. I've got several ideas of how to do it, and I'm not sure which would be best. I've found that when tracking Keyboard.KEY_DOWN events, the event repeats as long as the key is down, so the event function is repeated as well. This broke the method I had originally chosen to use, and the methods I've been able to think of require a lot of comparison operators. The best way I've been able to think of would be to use bitwise operators on a uint variable. Here's what I'm thinking var _direction:uint = 0x0; // The Current Direction That's the current direction variable. In the Keyboard.KEY_DOWN event handler I'll have it check what key is down, and use a bitwise AND operation to see if it's already toggled on, and if it's not, I'll add it in using basic addition. So, up would be 0x1 and down would be 0x2 and both up and down would be 0x3, for example. It would look something like this: private function keyDownHandler(e:KeyboardEvent):void { switch(e.keyCode) { case Keyboard.UP: if(!(_direction & 0x1)) _direction += 0x1; break; case Keyboard.DOWN: if(!(_direction & 0x2)) _direction += 0x2; break; // And So On... } } The keyUpHandler wouldn't need the if operation since it only triggers once when the key goes up, instead of repeating. I'll be able to test the current direction by using a switch statement labeled with numbers from 0 to 15 for the sixteen possible combinations. That should work, but it doesn't seem terribly elegant to me, given all of the if statements in the repeating keyDown event handler, and the huge switch. private function checkDirection():void { switch(_direction) { case 0: // Center break; case 1: // Up break; case 2: // Down break; case 3: // Up and Down break; case 4: // Left break; // And So On... } } Is there a better way to do this?

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  • Jetty: Stopping programatically causes "1 threads could not be stopped"

    - by Ondra Žižka
    Hi, I have an embedded Jetty 6.1.26 instance. I want to shut it down by HTTP GET sent to /shutdown. So I created a JettyShutdownServlet: @Override protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, IOException { resp.setStatus(202, "Shutting down."); resp.setContentType("text/plain"); ServletOutputStream os = resp.getOutputStream(); os.println("Shutting down."); os.close(); resp.flushBuffer(); // Stop the server. try { log.info("Shutting down the server..."); server.stop(); } catch (Exception ex) { log.error("Error when stopping Jetty server: "+ex.getMessage(), ex); } However, when I send the request, Jetty does not stop - a thread keeps hanging in org.mortbay.thread.QueuedThreadPool on the line with this.wait(): // We are idle // wait for a dispatched job synchronized (this) { if (_job==null) this.wait(getMaxIdleTimeMs()); job=_job; _job=null; } ... 2011-01-10 20:14:20,375 INFO org.mortbay.log jetty-6.1.26 2011-01-10 20:14:34,756 INFO org.mortbay.log Started [email protected]:17283 2011-01-10 20:25:40,006 INFO org.jboss.qa.mavenhoe.MavenHoeApp Shutting down the server... 2011-01-10 20:25:40,006 INFO org.mortbay.log Graceful shutdown [email protected]:17283 2011-01-10 20:25:40,006 INFO org.mortbay.log Graceful shutdown org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.Context@1672bbb{/,null} 2011-01-10 20:25:40,006 INFO org.mortbay.log Graceful shutdown org.mortbay.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext@18d30fb{/jsp,file:/home/ondra/work/Mavenhoe/trunk/target/classes/org/jboss/qa/mavenhoe/web/jsp} 2011-01-10 20:25:43,007 INFO org.mortbay.log Stopped [email protected]:17283 2011-01-10 20:25:43,009 WARN org.mortbay.log 1 threads could not be stopped 2011-01-10 20:26:43,010 INFO org.mortbay.log Shutdown hook executing 2011-01-10 20:26:43,011 INFO org.mortbay.log Shutdown hook complete It blocks for exactly one minute, then shuts down. I've added the Graceful shutdown, which should allow me to shut the server down from a servlet; However, it does not work as you can see from the log. I've solved it this way: Server server = new Server( PORT ); server.setGracefulShutdown( 3000 ); server.setStopAtShutdown(true); ... server.start(); if( server.getThreadPool() instanceof QueuedThreadPool ){ ((QueuedThreadPool) server.getThreadPool()).setMaxIdleTimeMs( 2000 ); } setMaxIdleTimeMs() needs to be called after the start(), becase the threadPool is created in start(). However, the threads are already created and waiting, so it only applies after all threads are used at least once. I don't know what else to do except some awfulness like interrupting all threads or System.exit(). Any ideas? Is there a good way? Thanks, Ondra

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  • jquery position changing with .css() behaving strange

    - by 11684
    I tried to make a moving img, and it works partially. If I press the right, up or down button, it moves right, up or down. But, if I press the left button, it jumps very fast very far to the right, and then back to the left and doesn't stop moving (I believe. I said it was fast). JSFiddle; Javascript: $(document).ready(function() { var up = down = left = right = false; var top = 100, left = 500; $("body").on("keydown", function(e) { if(e.keyCode == 39) {e.preventDefault(); if (right == false) right = setInterval(moveRight, 80);} else if(e.keyCode == 37) {e.preventDefault(); if (left == false) left = setInterval(moveLeft, 80);} else if(e.keyCode == 38) {e.preventDefault(); if (up == false) up = setInterval(moveUp, 80);} else if(e.keyCode == 40) {e.preventDefault(); if (down == false) down = setInterval(moveDown, 80);} }); $("body").on("keyup", function(e) { if(e.keyCode == 39) {clearInterval(right); right = false;} else if(e.keyCode == 37) {clearInterval(left); left = false;} else if(e.keyCode == 38) {clearInterval(up); up = false;} else if(e.keyCode == 40) {clearInterval(down); down = false;} }); function moveUp() { top -= 2; $("#player").css("top", top + "px"); } function moveDown() { top += 2; $("#player").css("top", top + "px"); } function moveLeft() { left -= 2; $("#player").css("left", left + "px"); } function moveRight() { left += 2; $("#player").css("left", left + "px"); } }); This is probably not the best way to do this, I'm open for better suggestions. Thanks for reading!

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  • LEGO Lord of the Rings Cut Scenes Spliced into a Full Length Movie [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you take all the cut scenes from the LEGO Lord of the Rings video game and splice them end-to-end, the result is an hour and a half LEGO Lord of the Rings movie. Check out the full video here. Courtesy of SpaceTopGames, this mega splice includes every cut scene from the video game, weighs in at one hour and thirty one minutes, and actually works really well as a movie when strung all together. LEGO Lord of the Rings – All Cutscenes [via Freeware Genius] HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder?

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  • Ask How-To Geek: Learning the Office Ribbon, Booting to USB with an Old BIOS, and Snapping Windows

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers. Today we highlight how to master the new Office interface, USB boot a computer with outdated BIOS, and snap windows to preset locations. Learning the New Office Ribbon Dear How-To Geek, I feel silly asking this (in light of how long the new Office interface has been out) but my company finally got around to upgrading from Windows XP and Office 2000 so the new interface it totally new to me. Can you recommend any resources for quickly learning the Office ribbon and the new changes? I feel completely lost after two decades of the old Office interface. Help! Sincerely, Where the Hell is Everything? Dear Where the Hell, We think most people were with you at some point in the last few years. “Where the hell is…” could possibly be the slogan for the new ribbon interface. You could browse through some of the dry tutorials online or even get a weighty book on the topic but the best way to learn something new is to get hands on. Ribbon Hero turns learning the new Office features and ribbon layout into a game. It’s no vigorous round of Team Fortress mind you, but it’s significantly more fun than reading a training document. Check out how to install and configure Ribbon Hero here. You’ll be teaching your coworkers new tricks in no time. Boot via USB with an Old BIOS Dear How-To Geek, I’m trying to repurpose some old computers by updating them with lightweight Linux distros but the BIOS on most of the machines is ancient and creaky. How ancient? It doesn’t even support booting from a USB device! I have a large flash drive that I’ve turned into a master installation tool for jobs like this but I can’t use it. The computers in question have USB ports; they just aren’t recognized during the boot process. What can I do? USB Bootin’ in Boise Dear USB Bootin’, It’s great you’re working to breathe life into old hardware! You’ve run into one of the limitations of older BIOSes, USB was around but nobody was thinking about booting off of it. Fortunately if you have a computer old enough to have that kind of BIOS it’s likely to also has a floppy drive or a CDROM drive. While you could make a bootable CDROM for your application we understand that you want to keep using the master USB installer you’ve made. In light of that we recommend PLoP Boot Manager. Think of it like a boot manager for your boot manager. Using it you can create a bootable floppy or CDROM that will enable USB booting of your master USB drive. Make a CD and a floppy version and you’ll have everything in your toolkit you need for future computer refurbishing projects. Read up on creating bootable media with PLoP Boot Manager here. Snapping Windows to Preset Coordinates Dear How-To Geek, Once upon a time I had a company laptop that came with a little utility that snapped windows to preset areas of the screen. This was long before the snap-to-side features in Windows 7. You could essentially configure your screen into a grid pattern of your choosing and then windows would neatly snap into those grids. I have no idea what it was called or if was anymore than a gimmick from the computer manufacturer, but I’d really like to have it on my new computer! Bend and Snap in San Francisco, Dear Bend and Snap, If we had to guess, we’d guess your company must have had a set of laptops from Acer as the program you’re describing sounds exactly like Acer GridVista. Fortunately for you the application was extremely popular and Acer released it independently of their hardware. If, by chance, you’ve since upgraded to a multiple monitor setup the app even supports multiple monitors—many of the configurations are handy for arranging IM windows and other auxiliary communication tools. Check out our guide to installing and configuring Acer GridVista here for more information. Have a question you want to put before the How-To Geek staff? Shoot us an email at [email protected] and then keep an eye out for a solution in the Ask How-To Geek column. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Upgrade Windows 7 Easily (And Understand Whether You Should) The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: Basic Noise Removal Install a Wii Game Loader for Easy Backups and Fast Load Times The Best of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 The Worst of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy Download the New Year in Japan Windows 7 Theme from Microsoft Once More Unto the Breach – Facebook Apps Can Now Access Your Address and Phone Number Dial Zero Speeds You Through Annoying Customer Service Menus Complete Dropquest 2011 and Receive Free Dropbox Storage Desktop Computer versus Laptop Wallpaper The Kids Have No Idea What Old Tech Is [Video]

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  • Video Games from the Bad Guys’ Perspective [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    We’re so used to seeing video games from our perspective–the hero with the endless power ups and do-overs–but how does the video game world look from the perspective of the bad guys? Rather grim and confusing, as the video above highlights. [via Geekosystem] How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

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  • Ask How-To Geek: Dropbox in the Start Menu, Understanding Symlinks, and Ripping TV Series DVDs

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This week we take a look at how to incorporate Dropbox into your Windows Start Menu, understanding and using symbolic links, and how to rip your TV series DVDs right to unique and high-quality episode files. Once a week we dip into our reader mailbag and help readers solve their problems, sharing the useful solutions with you in the process. Read on to see our fixes for this week’s reader dilemmas. Add Drobox to Your Start Menu Dear How-To Geek, I use Dropbox all the time and would like to add it right onto my start menu along side the other major shortcuts like Documents, Pictures, etc. It seems like adding Dropbox into the menu should be part of the Dropbox installation package! Sincerely, Dropboxing in Des Moines Dear Dropboxing, We agree, it would be a nice installation option. As it stands you’re going to have to do a little simple hacking to get Dropbox nestled neatly into your start menu. The hack isn’t super elegant but when you’re done you’ll have the link you want and it’ll look like it was there all along. Check out this step-by-step guide here in order to take an existing Library shortcut and rework it to be a Dropbox link. Understanding and Using Symbolic Links Dear How-To Geek, I was talking to a coworker the other day about an issue I’d been having with a media center application I’m running. He suggested using symbolic links to better organize my media and make it easier for the application to access my collection. I had no idea what he was talking about and never got a chance to bug him about it later. Can you clear up this whole symbolic links business for me? I’ve been using computers for years and I’ve never even heard of it! Sincerely, Symbolic Who? Dear Symbolic, Symbolic links aren’t commonly used by many Windows users which is why you likely haven’t run into the concept. Symbolic links are essentially supercharged shortcuts—the newly introduced Windows library system is really just a type of symbolic link system. You can use symbolic links to do all sorts of neat stuff like link folders to your Dropbox folder, organize media, and more. The concept of symbolic links is pretty simple but the execution can be really tricky. We’d suggest reading over our guide to creating symbolic links in Windows 7, Windows XP, and Ubunutu to get a clearer idea what you’re getting into. Rip Your TV DVDs into Handy Episode Files Dear How-To Geek, My wife got me an iPod for Christmas and I still haven’t got around to filling it up. I have tons of entire TV show seasons on DVD and would like to get them on the iPod but I have absolutely no idea where to start. How do I get the shows off the discs? I thought it would be as easy to import the TV shows into iTunes as it is to import tracks off a CD but I was totally wrong. I tried downloading some applications to rip them but those didn’t work at all. Very frustrating! Surely there is an easy and/or automated way to do this, right? Sincerely, Free My DVDs Dear DVDs, Oh man is this a frustration we can relate to. It’s inordinately difficult to get movies and TV shows off physical media and into digital (and portable media player-friendly) formats. There are a multitude of ways to rip DVDs and quite a few applications out there (some good, some mediocre, and some outright malware). We’d recommend a two-part punch to solve your ripping woes. You’ll need a copy of DVDFab to strip away the protections on the discs and rip the disc and Handbrake to load the disc image and convert the files. It’s not quite as smooth as the CD-to-iTunes workflow but it’s still pretty easy. Check out all the steps and settings you’ll want to toggle here. Have a question you want to put before the How-To Geek staff? Shoot us an email at [email protected] and then keep an eye out for a solution in the Ask How-To Geek column. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware How to Change the Default Application for Android Tasks Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About "Enhancing" Images The How-To Geek Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Inspire Geek Love with These Hilarious Geek Valentines Google’s New Personal Blocklist Extension Kills Search Engine Spam KeyCounter Tracks Your Keystrokes and Mouse Clicks Add Custom LED Ambient Lighting to Your PC or Media Center The Trackor Monitors Amazon Prices; Integrates with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari Four Awesome TRON Legacy Themes for Chrome and Iron Anger is Illogical – Old School Style Instructional Video [Star Trek Mashup]

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  • From the Tips Box: Halting Autorun, Android’s Power Strip, and Secure DVD Wiping

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This week we’re kicking off a new series here at How-To Geek focused on awesome reader tips. This week we’re exploring Windows shortcuts, Android widgets, and sparktacular ways to erase digital media. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions Access and Manage Your Ubuntu One Account in Chrome and Iron Mouse Over YouTube Previews YouTube Videos in Chrome Watch a Machine Get Upgraded from MS-DOS to Windows 7 [Video] Bring the Whole Ubuntu Gang Home to Your Desktop with this Mascots Wallpaper Hack Apart a Highlighter to Create UV-Reactive Flowers [Science] Add a “Textmate Style” Lightweight Text Editor with Dropbox Syncing to Chrome and Iron

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  • This Week in Geek History: Morse Code, Mars Rovers, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Every week we bring you interesting facts from the history of Geekdom. This week in Geek History witnessed the first successful demonstration of the electric telegraph, the safe landing of the Spirit rover on the surface of Mars, and the birth of famed fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Deep – Awesome Use of Metal Objects as Deep Sea Creatures [Video] Convert or View Documents Online Easily with Zoho, No Account Required Build a Floor Scrubbing Robot out of Computer Fans and a Frisbee Serene Blue Windows Wallpaper for Your Desktop 2011 International Space Station Calendar Available for Download (Free) Ultimate Elimination – Lego Black Ops [Video]

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  • Smithsonian Showcases Video Game History with The Art of Video Games [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The Art of Video Games is the Smithsonian’s look at the history of video games; check out this video trailer to see what the exhibition is all about and hear from some notable folks. From the Smithsonian listing for the exhibition: The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers. The exhibition focuses on the interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the best games for twenty gaming systems ranging from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3. The exhibit will be at the Smithsonian until the end of September and will then begin touring the country. Hit up the link below for more information. The Art of Video Games Tour [via Neatorama] How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage

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  • Soluto’s New Quick Question Button Makes Family Tech Support Simple

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Soluto, a computer and boot management tool, now features a Quick Question button that allows the people you help out to easily click a button and send you both a short message and a screenshot of the problem. Any time your friend or family member presses F8, Soluto will take a screenshot of the screen, the Task Manager history, and a note from the user highlighting what issue they’re experiencing, and then email it all to you. After reviewing the email you can easily login to Soluto to remotely manage your friend’s computer and help with the problem. For more information about Soluto you can check out our previous reviews of the service here and here, or just hit up the link below to read more and take Soluto for a test drive. Soluto is a free service (for the first 5 computers), Windows only. Introducing Quick Question [The Soluto Blog] Java is Insecure and Awful, It’s Time to Disable It, and Here’s How What Are the Windows A: and B: Drives Used For? HTG Explains: What is DNS?

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  • IIS Permissions or NTFS Permissions?

    - by Jason
    I currently have a Windows Server 2003 setup to serve multiple sites via IIS. One of our directories needs to allow access to only 1 specific AD Security Group. I know there are two ways to accomplish this. One is using IIS to add permissions and the other is to set permissions on the folder/directory itself. A script runs at night and populates the content so users only need read permissions to view it in a browser. My question is which one is preferred?

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  • From the Tips Box: Comics on the iPad, Android’s Power Bar, and Limiting Spotlight Search on the iPad

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Once a week we dump out our tips box and share some of the great reader submitted tips with you. This week we’re looking at reading comic strips on the iPad, quick access via the Android Power Bar, and limiting the spotlight search on the iPad. Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed

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  • Evolution of Apple: A Fan Spliced Mega Tribute to the Apple Product Lineup

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Whether you’re an Apple fan or not, this 3.5 minute tribute to the evolution of Apple products is a neat look back at decades of computing history and iconic design. Put together by Apple fan August Brandels, the video splices together Apple commercials and promotional footage from the last 30 years (remixed against the catchy background tune Silhouettes by Avicii) into a mega tribute to the computer giant. If nothing else they should hire the guy to do motivational videos for annual employee meetings. [via Tech Crunch] HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works HTG Explains: Why Deleted Files Can Be Recovered and How You Can Prevent It HTG Explains: What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break Keys on My Keyboard?

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  • This Week in Geek History: Birth of Linux Creator, FM Radio Appears, and Q*Bert Released

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Every week we bring you interesting trivia from the annuals of geekdom. This week in Geek History witnessed the birth of Linux creator Linus Torvalds, the patent for FM radio, and the release of wildly popular 80s arcade game Q*Bert. Read on to learn more about each event. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Classic Super Mario Brothers Theme for Chrome and Iron Experimental Firefox Builds Put Tabs on the Title Bar (Available for Download) Android Trojan Found in the Wild Chaos, Panic, and Disorder Wallpaper Enjoy Christmas Beyond the Holiday with Christmas Eve Crisis Parrotfish Extends the Number of Services Accessible in Twitter Previews

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  • Watch a Tesla Coil Zap in “Bullet Time” [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    What happens when you take 10 cameras, hack their firmware, and rig them up in a Matrix-style “Bullet Time” array to capture a Tesla Coil blasting energy bolts? Pure video magic. Over at Hacker Friendly they took ten Canon A470s, hacked the firmware with the Canon CHDK firmware, and wired them all together into an arc to capture a Tesla coil in action. Watch the video below to see the results: Impressed? You can hit up the link below to see more photos and check out their code and schematics. Bullet Time Lightning [Hacker Friendly via Laughing Squid] How To Encrypt Your Cloud-Based Drive with BoxcryptorHTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)

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