Best bit-torrent software

Vuze

Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software

Anti-Virus: AVG Anti-Virus

Anti-spyware: Trend Micro Hijack This

Digital media editing softwares

Windows:

getpaint.net

Mac

flyingmeat.com/acorn

seashore.sourceforge.net

plasq.com/skitch

Leave no room for a lower-level language below C++ (except assembler)

Excerpts from Bjarne Stroustrup’s book “The Design and Evolution of C++”

“To remain a viable systems programming language, C++ must maintain C’s ability to access hardware directly, to control data structure layout, and to have primitive operation and data types that map on to hardware in a on-to-one fashion. The alternative is to use C or assembler. The language design talk is to isolate the low-level features and render them unnecessary for code that doesn’t deal directly with system details. The aim is to protect programmers against accidental misuse without imposing undue burdens.”

fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'iostream.h': No such file or directory

If you are seeing this error, the ISO Standard C++ supports the inclusion of the iostream header as either

#include <iostream>
or
#include "iostream"

Background:

VC has supported two different versions of IOStreams for
several years. "Classic IOStreams", as implemented in <iostream.h> (etc), and "Standard IOStreams", as implemented in <iostream> (etc).

Note the lack of the .h in the standard iostreams header file names.
VC7.0 deprecated the "classic IOStreams" and VC7.1 dropped support for "classic IOstreams" altogether.

warning C4996: 'getch': The POSIX name for this item is deprecated.

When you come across this error,

Instead of getch(), use the ISO C++ conformant name: _getch().

error C3861: 'xxx': identifier not found

#include<iostream>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
    cls();
    int x=10;
    float y=10.1f;
    char z='a';
    std::cout << "x = " << x << std::endl;
    std::cout << "y = " << y << std::endl;
    std::cout << "z = " << z << std::endl;
    _getch();

}

void cls()
{
    for(int i = 0; i < 50; i++)
        std::cout<<std::endl;
}

While compiling the above program you could get

error C3861: 'cls': identifier not found

The issue when the compiler reads from top to bottom it hasn’t found the declaration of cls() yet.

Moving the cls() function above the main should fix this.

Warning C4305: 'initializing' : truncation from 'double' to 'float'

int x=10;
float y=10.1;
char z='a';
std::cout << "x = " << x << std::endl;
std::cout << "y = " << y << std::endl;
std::cout << "z = " << z << std::endl;

this code will cause a compiler error in 2nd line where the float is declared.

It’s because the numerical literal 3.14159 is a double. Changing it to 10.1f to make it a float should fix this.

float y=10.1f;

or

double y=10.1;

Difference between cout and std::cout?

When you use std:: before cout you are telling the compiler that you want to use the name cout that is in the namespace called standard. There are lots of ways you can do it.

1)

CODE

#include <iostream>
int main()
{
using std::cout; using std::endl;
    cout << "Hello, world" << endl;
return 0;
}

2)

CODE

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
    cout << "Hello, world" << endl;
return 0;
}

3)

CODE

#include <iostream>
int main()
{
    std::cout << "Hello, world" << std::endl;
return 0;
}

It is just a matter of personal style. I personally use number 1.
But using it this ay you have to remember all the names that you wish to use and say that you want to use them. Only the names in that scope can use them.

Base Member Hiding in C++

Base class specifiers are explained in my previous blog. Here we will see how we could hide existing functionalities in a base class because in C++, it is not possible to remove functionality from a class.

Following code snippet from LearnCpp.com is used to explain this concept.

Base Class:

class Base  

{  

private:  

int m_nValue;  

 

public:  

    Base(int nValue)  

        : m_nValue(nValue)  

    {  

    }  

 

protected:  

void PrintValue() { cout << m_nValue; }  

}; 

Derived Class:

class Derived: public Base  

{  

public:  

    Derived(int nValue)  

        : Base(nValue)  

    {  

    }  

 

// Base::PrintValue was inherited as protected, so the public has no access

// But we're changing it to public by declaring it in the public section

    Base::PrintValue;  

}; 

This means the following code will work, as PrintValue is declared as public in the derived class.

int main()
{
    Derived cDerived(7);

    // PrintValue is public in Derived, so this is okay
    cDerived.PrintValue(); // prints 7
    return 0;
}

Conversely, here is another example where the code doesn’t work because of the Base Member variable is hidden as private in the derived function.

class Base
{
public:
    int m_nValue;
};

class Derived: public Base
{
private:
    Base::m_nValue;

public:
    Derived(int nValue)
    {
         m_nValue = nValue;
    }
};

int main()
{
    Derived cDerived(7);

    // The following won't work because m_nValue has been redefined as private
    cout << cDerived.m_nValue;

    return 0;
}

How to create a XPS document

XPS Viewer is the Microsoft version of Adobe Acrobat reader. It doesn’t have the edit functionality like the PDF files quite yet.

If you are wondering how to create a XPS document, here is how you do it.

1. Open the Word/Text file you want to create it in to a XPS file

2. Select File –> Print and select XPS Document Writer from the options

International themes in Windows 7

There are some hidden International themes in Windows 7 that can be accessed in this path,

%WinDir%\Globalization\MCT

There are some custom themes for Australia, Canada, UK, US and South Africa. Includes a complete themes suite, with wallpapers, sound themes etc…

Browser settings to launch your favorite websites in tabs every time you launch them.

Internet Explorer

If you want the browser to open some of your favorite websites every time you launch them,

1. Go to tools and select Internet options

2. Type all the sites you want to navigate to under Home page tab.

Firefox

Go to Tools –> Options and in Home page section type all the web pages you want to open in tabs separated by the pipe key ( | ) which can be invoked by Shift + backslash.

Chrome

Tools –> Options will provide options to Add new tabs.

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Password protecting files in XP and Windows Vista

XP

1. Select the folder you want to Encrypt and right click and Send To –---> Compressed Zipped folder.

2. This would create a Compressed folder with the same name, now open the folder by Right clicking on the folder and selecting Explore.

3. Go to the File menu and choose Add a password.

To remove the password in Step 3, go to the File menu and select Remove the password.

Vista

In Vista Ultimate version:

Right click any folder and go to the General tab and select the Advanced button.

Check the box next to Encrypt contents to secure data.

Un-checking would remove the encryption as well

Other versions of Vista:

Encrypt files utility is a free ware that allows you to encrypt and password protect your files

If you just want to password protect your files, Password protect software is free for 30 days.

Bread crumb bar changes to Windows 7 RC

As mentioned in E7 blog now the parent folder would not collapse to a overflow drop down, shows the parent folder instead.

I'm really excited about this change, resolved a lot of confusion around navigating to the parent folder.

Fig 1.

In Beta, a parent folder would collapse into an overflow dropdown

Fig 2.

In RC, parent folders always remain within single click access

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Overriding and Virtual Function Matching

A virtual function could only be overridden by a function in a derived class with the same name and exactly the same argument and return type.

This avoided any form of run-time type checking of arguments and any need to keep more extensive type information around at run time.

class Base
{

public:
    virtual void f();   
    virtual void g(int);
};

class Derived : public Base
{
public:
    void f(int); //overrides Base::f()
    void g(char); //doesn't override Base::g()
};

Virtual functions in C++

The key implementation in Stroustrup’s C with classes (C++ early form) was that the set of virtual functions in a class defines an array of pointers to functions so that the call of a virtual function is simply an indirect function call through that array.

class A
{
    int a;
public:
    virtual void f();   
    virtual void g(int);
    virtual void h(double);   
};

class B : public A
{
public:
    int b;
    void g(int); //overrides A::g()
    virtual void m(B*);
};

class  B is derived from class A and class A is the base class of class A

 

Work Environment at Bell Labs during Evolution of C++

As explained by Bjarne Stroustrup the work environment that inculcated and propelled the Evolution of C++. This is the way any research firm should function.

“The absence of a formal organizational structure, of larger-scale support in terms of money, people, “captive” users, and marketing was more than compensated for by the informal help and insights of my peers in CSRC and the protection from nontechnical demands from development organization offered by the center management.

It was also important that Bell Labs provided an environment where there was no need to hoard ideas for personal advancement.

Instead, discussion could, did, and still does flow freely, allowing people to benefit from ideas and opinions of others.”

-Stroustrup

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Newly installed programs shows up at the bottom of Start Menu, in Windows 7 RC build

This is a great change in finding newly installed programs in the App Programs list, now newly installed programs temporarily show up in the bottom of the Start Menu.

Alt + Tab changes to Windows 7 RC

Aero Peek has been given an extension by implementing in in Alt + Tab window.

Now Aero Peek will appear in Alt + Tab windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Img source: MSDN E7 Blog.

System Repair Disc to the rescue in Windows 7

Windows 7 beta has an in-build System Repair Disc to use to boot to the system recovery options if you don't have a Windows installation disc, can't find your Windows installation disc, or can't access the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer.

1. Create a System Repair Disc can be found under All Programs –> Maintenance or by typing recdisc.exe in the start menu search

2. Insert a blank CD or DVD and click on Create Disc button

3. Once its done, remove and label your new Windows 7 System Repair Disc

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Windows Movie maker

Windows movie maker is removed from Windows and moved to Windows Live Essentials suite of tools. It has great simplified tools that offers full-fledged options for an average home user by getting rid of some features from older versions.

Windows Movie Maker can be downloaded here

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ISO burning made so easy in Windows 7 beta

When you double click on an .iso image you get the following dialog to burn the ISO image.

ClearType Text Tuning and Display Color Calibration in Windows 7 beta

Check out cttune.exe and dccw.exe respectively, or run the applets from Control Panel for your laptops or HDTV to display a very crisp image than it did before.

It’s amazing what a difference this makes by slightly darkening the color of the text and adjusting the gamma back a little.

Windows Vista-Style Taskbar in Windows 7 beta

It takes a while to get used to the Windows 7 beta styled taskbar, for those who really would prefer a look more reminiscent of Windows Vista here is a quick way to do it.

Right-click on the taskbar and choose the properties dialog. Select the “small icons” checkbox and under the “taskbar buttons” setting, choose “combine when taskbar is full”. It’s not pixel-perfect in accuracy, but it’s close from a functionality point of view.

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Jump lists in Windows 7 beta

Jump lists replace the default right-click context menu in the new taskbar.
You can also access them by left-clicking and dragging up in a kind of “swooshing” motion. This is particularly useful if you’re running Windows 7 on a one-button MacBook.

Another place where you can “swoosh” (as Tim Sneath like to call it and not an official Microsoft term), is the IE 8 address bar, where the downward drag gesture brings up an expanded list containing the browser history, favorites and similar entries. The slower you drag, the cooler the animation!

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Problems Steps Recorder in Windows 7 beta

Problems Steps Recorder is a very neat tool as part of the in-built diagnostic tools that could be used to send feedback on the product, the Problem Steps Recorder provides a simple screen capture tool that enables you to record a series of actions.

Once you click the “Record” button this tool tracks your mouse and keyboard actions and captures screen shots of the Windows explorer and generates a HTML-based slideshow of the steps.

You can access this tool by clicking on Select feedback shortcut from the desktop or type psr.exe in the start menu search box.

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Extended Context menu: Open Command Window here and Copy as path

Here is a cool tip in your Windows Vista and in Windows 7 beta to open a new command prompt from a folder and copying the path of a file using your extended context menu options.

Open Command window here

Shift+Right-click on a folder enables Extended context menu and select Open command window here

Copy as path

Shift+Right-click on a folder to select Copy as path to share out the file path. If a folder or file is shared it copies the network share path to your clip board.

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Windows 7 Beta, Windows Mobility Center

Laptop users will appreciate the new enhancements to quickly the most commonly used laptop settings, such as brightness, volume, battery status, and wireless network status.

Pressing Win+X would let you access the Windows Mobility Center.

Different tiles are displayed depending on your system and your configuration.

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Windows 7 Beta Display enhancements

Projecting in Windows 7 beta is really quick and simple. Pressing Win+P would give you the following pop-up menu.

Use the arrow keys (or keep pressing Win+P) to switch to “clone”, “extend” or “external only” display settings. You can access the application from displayswitch.exe

If you want broader control over presentation settings, you can also press Win+X to open the Windows Mobility Center, which allows you to turn on a presentation “mode” that switches IM clients to do not disturb, disables screensavers, sets a neutral wallpaper etc. (Note that this feature is also available in Windows Vista.)

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Analyze your energy consumption in realtime using Google Powermeter

Google PowerMeter, a tool designed to provide consumers with information about their home energy usage in real time. Powermeter is still in prototype, and not yet available to the public, will be free for both private and commercial use.

This tool will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption right on her iGoogle homepage.

The graph from Google’s website shows how someone could use this information to figure out how much energy is used by different household activities.

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Deep search Craigslist using CraigsList Readder

CraigsList Reader is a Windows only software that lets you can search every listing in every city, fine-tuned by region, state, and city across different categories.

You can drill down to search just for jobs, jobs by type, items for sale, items with pictures, price ranges.

You can set up desktop notifications based on specific search variables and it will check the site at given time interval.

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Sync your Bookmarks or Favorites across Browsers

There are plenty of options available to sync your bookmarks/favorites across browsers and across multiple computers, here are a few that I would recommend that works great.

For IE, Firefox and Safari users we have Foxmarks, a free browser add-on that syncs and backs up your bookmarks across multiple computers and more.

If you are a Chrome or Opera user, Delicious helps seamless syncing across all browsers and has handy bookmark bar tools for reading and saving bookmarks from any browser.

Live Favorites lets you import or export tags and lets you organized with folders or tags, also works great across browsers.

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Best ways to Backup your data

Hard Drive 101: Hard Drives WILL crash, your data is in DANGER. It’s smart to backup your data before it crashes.

We are going to see few options to backup your data,

1. External Hard drives:

It’s not really smart to back on the same drive which you are planning to backup. Here are some good External Hard drive backup solutions:

*Clickfree portable backup: Offers easy automatic backup

Hard drive enclosures: If you have an old external hard drive, you can use an enclosure and use it as a backup disk.

Drobo offers a solution to rack up multiple spare hard drives in RAID. This redundancy backs up your data when your hard drive and a backup hard drive crashes.

Software's to backup:

Time Machine: Mac users can use this neat inbuilt tool.

*Cobian Backup is an automated backup program for Windows users.

*Windows users can also use the Build-in Vista backup utility.

2. Network attached storage

Network attached storages are large hard drives usually attached to a router where multiple computers can back up to.

Time Capsule, is the wireless network-attached storage for Mac users

Addonics NAS adapter, can convert any USB external hard drive to a network drive.

Drobo Droboshare, is another alternative for NAS

*Synology Diskstation, you can put your hard drive in it and it becomes a NAS. It also has the capability to communicate with XBOX 360 and PS3.

3. Online backup

This is the easiest option if you have the network capability.

Mobile me, is available for Mac users, offers 60 GB of network storage, but it’s kind of expensive.

*Carbonite, offers simple online backup solutions, $49 per year.

Drop box, available at box.net offers files backup.

Microsoft Mesh, a free service, still available as Beta service offers 5 GB can sync up several computers.

Skydrive offers  25 GB of free service from Microsoft, works with Mac too, uses Active sync to backup your data.

*Jungle disk is the favorite choice for most uesrs, offers $15c per GB with no monthly fee.

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Disable the Dashboard from launching in Mac OS X

If you are one of the few users who hate the Dashboard in OS X or want to consume some memory, here is a easy way to disable your Dashboard from launching.

1. Open Terminal, it’s inside Utilities folder under Applications

2. Type the following command,

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disable boolean YES

This would disable the Dashboard from launching with the Finder in the dock after you restart your computer.

To undo any of these actions just use the following command,

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode NO

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Detach Dashboard Widgets to live on your Mac OS X Desktop all the time

Dashboard widgets are very convenient way to launch useful applications in a second or two. If you want your Dashboard widgets to remain active in our desktop all the time without needing to launch it, here is a simple way to make your Dashboard widgets available all the time in your desktop.

1. Launch Terminal, it’s in the Utilities folder under Applications

2. Type the following in the terminal

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

3.Logout and log back in

To detach a widget off of the Dashboard and onto your desktop, just do the following,

1. Press F12 or whatever key you assigned to activate the dashboard.

2. Begin dragging the widget and press F12 again, before letting up on the mouse button

3. Drop the widget wherever you want it to be.

Now the widget will live in your Dashboard all the time.

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Track your energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions: Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft recently unveiled its new Environment Sustainability Dashboard solution for Microsoft Dynamics AX that can use the power of software in gathering carbon footprint data and help companies focus on efficiently reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy dashboard can give in-depth data for opportunities to increased efficiency delivering bottom-line cost savings also helps track the impact on the environment.

More information can be found in Microsoft Dynamics AX website

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Monitor your Electronic devices energy consumption using Cisco EnergyWise

Launched in February 2009, Cisco EnergyWise, a free software upgrade to Cisco’s entire line of Catalyst switching gear. This technology allows you to monitor the energy consumption of electronic devices in workspace and switch them off when idle.

Cisco has an online calculator which can estimate the amount of savings you can get by using the tool.

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Bring back the Quick launch bar to Windows 7

Lot of Windows users use the Quick launch bar to use the programs they use frequently, Windows 7 a new Taskbar is more useful than the Quick Launch bar. What if you like the Quick launch bar better?

Here is how you could bring back the Quick launch bar back to Windows 7.

1. In start menu type Edit group policy or in the Run dialog type gpupdate.msc

2. Click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates & Start Menu & Taskbar.

3. Double click on “Show quick launch on taskbar”, select Enable

4. Click on the Tasbkar –> Toolbar and New Toolbar

5. Navigate to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer and select Quick launch folder and press Select Folder

Now you can use the Quick launch like the way you are used to.

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Windows 7 Beta hotkey cheat sheet

If you are already having fun with Windows 7 beta, here is a cool cheat sheet with very useful hotkeys.

General Hotkeys:

Win+Up	Maximize
Win+Down	Restore / Minimize
Win+Left	Dock a window to left hand side of the screen
Win+Right	Dock a window to right hand side of the screen
Win+Shift+Left	Jump to left monitor
Win+Shift+Right	Jump to right monitor
Win+Home	Minimize / Restore all other windows
Win+T	Focus the first taskbar entry (Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.)
Win+Shift+T	cycles backwards.
Win+Space	Peek at the desktop
Win+G	Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
Win+P	Project to external display options (projector, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X	Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)
Win+#	(# = a number key) Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar. Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + +	Zoom in using magnifier
Win --	Zoom out using magnifier

 

Windows Explorer

Alt+P

Show/hide Preview Pane

Taskbar modifiers

Shift + Click on icon	Open a new instance
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon	Open a new instance as Admin privileges
Shift + Right-click on icon	Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Right-click on icon	History of previously visited
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon	Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon	Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

For a complete list of Windows Vista hotkeys (which should be largely unchanged except where noted above), visit this page on Microsoft.com or look in the Windows Help file.

If there’s something you think I should add, post a comment!

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Snipping Tool: Capture Screenshots

Many are still agnostic about an in-build tool available in Windows Vista that is capable of taking screenshots and windows snippets.

Snipping Tool is located under All Programs –> Accessories

or you can search for Snipping Tool in Start Menu search box.

It’s capable of making Free-form snip, Rectangular snip, Window snip and a Full screen snippet.

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Customize Google using Firefox browser extensions

You can make your Google searches faster, smarter and safer in your firefox browser using Firefox extensions. All tools are available for free in download.com

CustomizeGoogle:

CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox extension that lets you add search results from other search engines like MSN, Yahoo etc., it also removes ad’s from google. All features can be configured from the options menu in Tools –> CustomizeGoogle Options.

GooglePreview:

GooglePreview is a Firefox browser extension which lets you view thumbnails of websites, Amazon or ebay products, stock charts, in Google or Yahoo search results page.

McAfee SiteAdvisor:

McAfee SiteAdvisor is a browser extension available for both Internet Explorer and Firefox. It warns you about Web-based security threats including spyware, adware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, and online scams.

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TinyChat: The instant online chat room

Tinychat is a very simple website to create online chat room with just one click of a button. It generates a unique URL where others can use to join the chat room.

Here is an example chat root. Tinychat came online on January 25, 2009 and getting really popular as the hang out spot for Twitter users

Chatzy is another similar online.

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Edit Boot configuration : BCDEDIT

Boot configuration in Windows XP can be modified my editing the boot.ini file. Since Windows Vista, followed by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 there aren’t any boot.ini file, it’s being replaced by BCDEDIT options.

BCDEDIT is a command line utility that lets you modify the Boot configuration from an elevated command prompt. bcdedit /? will show all the possible options.

bcdedit /enum will enumerate all the current boot options

Before editing the boot settings EXPORT your boot settings, just in case you want to revert back the changes.

bcdedit /export <path>

<path> is the file system path where you want to save your back-up.

Importing the settings can be done by using /import switch

Create a new boot entry:

bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Windows 7”

A new entry would be created, make sure you copy the GUID displayed or you can get it back from /enum

C:\Windows>bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Windows Seven"
The entry was successfully copied to {abaf4cf1-d937-11dd-b0dc-a58f6476c5bd}

Editing the partition to boot:

C:\Windows>bcdedit /set {abaf4cf0-d937-11dd-b0dc-a58f6476c5bd} systemroot \Windows7

\Windows7 is the partition where my Windows 7 files are located.

If you are craving why isn’t there a UI, well, here is your answer. After creating an entry this would show up in msconfig tool and you can do the rest of the settings via the msconfig tool.

In Run or Start menu search box, type msconfig, to launch the msconfig tool.

Now, you can change the timeout before boot, Set a default partition etc.

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Google Gears : Check your Gmail emails offline (without Internet connection)

Google Gears is an open source project that allows web application to be more powerful. Using Gears you can access your Gmail offline, when there is no internet connection.

Here is how you do it,

Install Google Gears from http://gears.google.com

Restart your Internet Browser and log-in to your Gmail.

Click Settings in the upper right and navigate to Labs tab.

Select Enable and press Save Changes

Now, you will see Offline in the upper right, click on it to install Offline access for Gmail.

Sync is pretty fast from my personal experience, there is also  a Progress bar which indicates how many messages have been archived for Offline access.

Now you can Search your Gmail and compose mail even when you have no Internet connectivity.

Thunderbird is also another tool that let you access your email offline.

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Memory allocation and Constructors in C++

Similar to C, C++ objects can be allocated in three ways:

On the stack (automatic storage)

Fixed address (static storage)

On the free store (on the heap, dynamic storage)

Complementing malloc() and free() in C, C++ uses new() and delete()

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Base Class access specifiers : C++

Access is controlled, not visibility in C++. It’s easy with a easy example to wrap your head around this.

Rule 1) Whether the derived class declares the base class using the public access specifier in the class-head

Private base class members: Inaccessible

Protected: Will be protected unless its private

Public: Will be public unless private or protected is used.

Rule 2) What the access to the member is in the base class.

A derived class without a base-class access specifier, is considered private if the derived class declaration uses the class keyword. The derivation is considered public if the derived class declaration uses the struct keyword.

class Derived : Base

is similar to, class Derived : private Base

struct Derived : Base

is similar to, struct Derived : public Base

MSDN example illustrates this very clearly.

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Subconscious Binary to Decimal conversion and vice versa

Here is a quick tip to do Binary to Decimal conversion and vice versa in your subconscious mind without using any external tools.

Binary is a base 2 system, which means there is either zero or one.

Converting from Decimal to Binary :

Step 1:

First lets convert a decimal number 23 to binary. We are trying to split the number 23 in the following buckets from left to right.

16

8

4

2

1

Step 2:

Starting with the first bucket, how many 16’s are in 23, which would be one and the remaining would be 7, fill in the buckets with either 1 or 0, and keep subtracting as you go. Now we got the binary equivalent of 23

1

0

1

1

1

Converting from Binary to Decimal:

Here is a binary number, lets try to convert to decimal

0

1

1

1

0

Step 1:

We are trying to add up for every 1’s using the following template in the following buckets from left to right.

16

8

4

2

1

Step 2:

There is one 8 + one 4 + one 2 = 14

Tag your music files

Music Tag editor is a free tool available for download here. Changing the metadata of music files can be a long grueling process when done manually.

This tool offers an easy menu to change tag information, much better tagged information can be downloaded automatically from freedb.org.

My MP'3’s, MP3 Tag ($24.95), Media Monkey Standard, 123Tag and CATraxx ($39.95) offers various features for music tagging.

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Replace XP address bar with Vista style Breadcrumb bar

If you are one of those folks who haven’t found a reason to upgrade to Vista yet but still interested in using Vista style Breadcrumb bar, fortunately for you Quizo's software have made a plug-in that brings the Vista breadcrumbs to Windows XP.

You can download from their website.

Once you have installed their plug-in you have to enable it in the Windows Explorer to see it.

If the bar is not positioned right, unlock the toolbar and place it in the right stop and lock the toolbar.

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Cloud computing: Future of technology consumption

Cloud computing is still at its early stage, but its the future of how technology will be consumed online. The primary advantages are great cost savings for a reliable, stable and scalable service.

Scalability : Depending on utilization or demands you can easily to grow or shrink your hardware resources on the cloud on demand with no difference to the consumers.

Instant: Resources are there whenever you need it. Servers are released back to the cloud when not in use.

Savings: Pay for what you use. You can work on building your business instead of worrying about hardware and scalability.

The future of Cloud computing is very promising, loosely coupled services running on an agile, scalable infrastructure should eventually make every enterprise a node in the cloud.

There are plenty of service providers and it depends on what is right for your business. I have listed few simple tools and websites which offers services without snapping off your budget.

Amazon Simple Storage Service:

Also called S3 is a pay-as-you go service which offers storing and retrieving any amount of data on the web. aws.amazon.com/s3 has a simple calculator to compare costs.

Basecamp:

There is a 30 day free trial for this service which will enable you for collaborative environment. The services are priced at $24 per month includes 3GB of space, unlimited users and 15 active projects. basecamphq.com has more information.

Mozy:

Starting at $4.95 per month offers unlimited backup of your hard drive on the cloud. Pro and Enterprise solutions are available at mozy.com

Joyent:

Offers collaborative communications, on-demand storage and scalable infrastructure. Starts at $45 per month, more information can be found at joyent.com.

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Restoring deleted Recycle Bin icon in Windows Vista

Deleting the Recycle Bin in Desktop doesn’t really delete the actual Recycle Bin, it just deletes the Recycle Bin icon in the desktop.

If you have accidently deleted the Recycle Bin, here is a way to restore it.

Open the Control Panel from the Start menu

In the search box in top right corner of Control Panel window type “Recycle Bin”

Select the first option “Show or hide common icons on the desktop” under Personalization.

Select Recycle Bin and click ok.

Now your Recycle Bin icon is restored to your desktop.

TuneWiki app gives song’s lyrics on your phone

TuneWiki is a free Google Andriod music player which provides lyrics while the song is being played, download songs for free and play music videos.

You can use TuneWiki to create a playlist, listen to top 50 videos and songs, and search for song lyrics in multiple languages. TuneWiki's real ambition shows in its tools to search, save, and play YouTube music videos with synchronized lyrics

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Plants that Give You Better Indoor Air

Kamal Meattle used at a New Delhi business part just three indoor plant species to increase oxygen, filter air, and boost general health.

Kamal’s presented this at TED 2009 conference. Check out his slides at How to Grow Your Own Fresh Air - TED 2009 Talk.

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Microsoft Offering Free Domain Name and Hosting for 1 Year

Microsoft Office Live Small Business offers a domain name (any available .com, .net, .org, or .info), email, business management tools, collaboration tools, and more, for free.

Check in with the Microsoft Office Live Small Business video tour for more information on what to expect if you decide to sign up. The service is free for one year, and a nominal fee of $15/year after that.

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Update Facebook and Twitter at the same time

Here is a quick way to set your Facebook status every time you update your Twitter status.

Login to your Facebook and add the Twitter application and select

“Allow Twitter to update your Facebook Status”

Now your Facebook and Twitter accounts work in harmony.

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Secure your Windows Vista PC

Windows Vista is the most secure OS available from Microsoft till date, but it takes some extra steps to keep the bad guys at bay. There is a wealth of in-box features available in Vista to accomplish this and in some cases adding a few pieces of software would help lock down your computer.

Windows Update:

Run Windows Update frequently to keep updated with latest critical Microsoft updates. Type Windows Update in the Start menu search box (Press Start button and type)

Windows Security Center:

Current health status of your computer can be monitored at Windows Health Center (Click Start, Control Panel, Security Center, or you can simply type 'security' in the Control Panel Search box). Red or Yellow status implies you are not fully protected. There is no in-box antivirus software, I would recommend AVG Anti-Virus 8, its free.

Windows Defender :

Windows Vista ships with Windows Defender in-box and protects your computer against pop-ups, slow performance and security threats caused by spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Easy way to find out this application is to type 'Defender' in your Start menu search (Hit WinKey and start typing).

Enable Windows Firewall for Inbound and Outbound connections:

Windows Firewall in Vista blocks incoming traffic that is considered malicious or suspicious by default, but outbound traffic flies under the radar. This setting can be changed via Windows Firewall Advanced Security option. Open Start menu or click on start button and type wf.msc and hit enter. For each profile--Domain, Private, and Public--change the setting to Block, and then click OK.

3rd party firewall protection:

I recommend adding a more robust third-party firewall. I suggest either Comodo Firewall Pro or ZoneAlarm, both of which are free and fare very well in independent firewall testing.

Restrict Unwanted Guests:

If you share your computer, you don’t want the other users to guess the Admin password.

Here's how to limit the guesses.

1. Click Start, type Local Security Policy.
2. Click Account Lockout Policy.
3. Choose Account Lockout Threshold.
4. At the prompt, enter the number of invalid log-ins you'll accept (say, 3).
5. Click OK and close

Secure Your Internet Explorer Settings

Windows Security Center also monitors your Internet Explorer Security settings and alerts you if they aren’t at recommended levels.

You can adjust the settings in your IE to make it more secure by doing the following,

1. Within Internet Explorer, click Tools in the menu bar.
2. From the drop-down menu, click Internet Options.
3. Choose the Security tab.
4. Within the Security tab, click Custom Level.

Secure your DNS with OpenDNS

Domain Name System (DNS) is an internet service that translates domain names in to IP addresses. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4. Lately, DNS servers have come under attack, where crooks try to redirect commonly used DNS names to their own servers. One way to stop such attacks is by using OpenDNS.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet, and then click Network and Sharing Center. Under the tasks listed on the left, click Manage Network Connections. In the Manage Network Connections window, do the following.

1. Right-click on the icon representing your network card.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click Internet Protocol Version 4.
4. Click the Properties button.
5. Select the Use the following DNS server addresses radio button.
6. Type in a primary address of 208.67.222.222.
7. Type in a secondary address of 208.67.220.220.
8. Click OK.

Live With User Account Control

UAC is one of the controversial security features in Vista, but UAC is meant to warn you of potential danger. So if you wish not to deal with UAC frustrations and don’t want to turn off this setting, try TweakUAC instead, a free utility that offers the ability to turn UAC on or off as well as an intermediate "quiet" mode that keeps UAC on but suppresses administration elevation prompts.

Check my previous blog to Dealing with UAC frustrations

Generate System Health Report:

Generate a system health report to check all your tweaks are in place. Open the Control panel and type Generate a system health report in the search box.

*adapted from PC World with more info.

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Tuning up your Windows XP Operating System

There is no one single software that can take care of tuning up every part of your Windows XP Operating Systems, though they like to claim so. Here are some expert tips to tune up and tweak your XP OS.

1. Run Windows Update or use the "Automatic Update" option and update your driver software's from manufacturers website.

2. Install Anti-Virus tool, there are plenty of free and licensed tools. AVG is the one I would recommend and its free. Do a complete scan regularly.

3. Install Anti-spyware software (Ad-aware, Spybot S&D & Spyware Doctor are all good ones) and keep it updated. Spyware Blaster runs in the background and stops spyware installing itself.
Do a complete scan regularly.

4. Enable "Windows Firewall" and download Zone Alarm its free.

5. Clear all unused items in Start Up (Start menu -> All Programs -> Startup)

6. Open appwiz.cpl in Run dialog (WinKey + R) and uninstall unused software applications.

7. Keep your desktop clean to increase the startup time, or move them other than Desktop.

8. Clear Start menu list in taskbar start menu properties

9. Internet Explorer: Delete "Temporary internet files"

10. Delete Prefetch and Temp folder contents in Windows Folder

11. Open msconfig tool (Start>Run> "msconfig") and navigate to Services and Startup tabs to remove unused services.

12. Delete items from systray that are not used.

13. Clear Recycle Bin contents periodically.

14. Run Windows Disk Cleanup , right click on a drive from My Computer, select properties and click Disk Cleanup.

15. Run MS Disk Defragmenter at least once in 3 months.

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Windows Debugging Skills: Why is it crucial?

Its estimated that developers spend 60-70% of the overall development time in debugging. In fact, debugging is responsible for 80% of all software project overruns.

Debugging is difficult mostly because of the fear of unknown as its hard to determine how long will it take to find and fix errors, not to mention whether or not the defect will actually be fixed.

It remains a big challenge for developers to first discover that a problem exists, classify the bug, locate the issue actually lies in the code, and finally create a solution to fix the issue without regressing new bugs.

My next posts will be targeted specifically on tips, suggestions, tools and processes to improvise your debugging skills, ultimately reduce the turnaround time to fix bugs.

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Windows Key Shortcuts

There are a bunch of things that can be done using standard Windows key shortcuts. I have listed a few here.

If you are already a Windows user, you probably know pushing the Windows Key would bring up the Start Menu.

WinKey + B: Navigate to the first item in the System tray or the notification area, use tab or arrow keys to navigate around the taskbar.

WinKey + D: Show Desktop (minimizes all the open windows)

Pressing WinKey + D again or WinKey + Shift + M would unminimize all windows

WinKey + F: Opens the Search Window.

WinKey + R: Opens the Run dialog

WinKey + Tab: Tab through different window, gives a full 3D-Flip explorer window view unlike alt+tab

WinKey + Ctrl + Tab: Shows the 3d-Flip explorer view and can be scrolled using left, right, up and down keys.

WinKey + T: Cycles through open applications via Taskbar

WinKey + Pause/Break: Opens the System properties window. Opening Sysdm.cpl in Run dialog would do the same.

WinKey + F1: Windows Help

WinKey + L: Locks the Computer, user needs to re-login

WinKey + U: Ease of Access settings

WinKey + Spacebar: Opens the sidebar if its already open.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc : Opens the Task Manager

Menu Bar: Press the alt key to toggle on/off the Menubar.

User Logging Shortcuts:

Shutdown: WinKey (and then) three right arrows and press Enter
WinKey (and then) three right arrows and press U
Restart: WinKey (and then) three right arrows and press R
In Run dialog type: Shutdown /r /t 0
To Switch Users: WinKey (and then) three right arrows and press W
Sleep mode: WinKey (and then) one right arrow and press Enter

Customized shortcuts:
Users can customize their own shortcuts with as many shortcut keys that Windows can offer. There are many everyday applications which might not have a convenient shortcut so the user can create their own shortcuts.
To set a shortcut, type the name of the application in the Start menu search box, right click on the application, select properties and navigate to the shortcut tab. Enter the shortcut key which you want to activate the application with.

Copy As Path:
To copy the entire tree stucture of a file or a folder, select the file/folder and shift right click to see Copy As Path option in the context menu.

Open an elevated command prompt:
Here is a simple way to open a command prompt with Administrative privileges. Open the start menu and type cmd, press Ctrl + Enter when it appears.

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Who is a Technology Guru?

"The university training, for me, wasn't the classes. The process of training your mind to think critically and how you build a frame of reference; how you go about decision making and problem solving. You learn to look for interrelationships" - Dwain Kinghorn, Altris (Symantec Corp.)

"People will no longer care about the desktop, they'll just care about the applications and data. This is of course what the desktop is today, it's just a way to find applications and data, so once the Internet takes over that role the desktop will lose importance." - Mark Shavlik, Shavlik Technologies LLC

Who is a Technology Guru:

Technology gurus come in all shapes and sizes, from all different backgrounds. Some are naturally gifted, other work their butts off to get that smart. The lesson here is that almost anyone, with the right education, avocation and inspiration, can become a guru.

"A person's limitation on what they can achieve in life are not the limitations of abilities and skills, but the mental barriers that exist in the person's head about what they can be. The more barriers we can break in our heads, the more we can achieve" - Ratmir Timashev, Veeam Software, Aelita Software (acquired by Quest)

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Robocopy for fast copy operations across network

Robust File Copy is a command line utility is available in Vista and Windows Server 08, also its in Windows Resource Kit.

Usage in Command Prompt:

Robocopy source_path destination_path file_name

Robocopy /? gives more usage information

Robocopy provides key advantages when it comes to copying files over network like taking care of network outages and resuming copy and progress indicator.

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The art of reading code

“It’s harder to read code than to write it” – Joel Spolsky

“Code is read more often than it is written” – Adam Barr

There is plenty of information about writing code, improvising your code, writing an efficient code blah, blah.. blah.. but ability to read code is an area often overlooked.

Let me start with a simple question. We are going to see 3 program examples and I have only one question, what does this program do? I can give one hint, the answer is not, it depends, we aren’t Lawyers :)

1)

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
class Script
{
static public void Main(string[] args)
{
MessageBox.Show("Hello World!");
for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(args[i]);
}
}
}

Code language: VB.NET

2)

main() { printf("hello, world"); }

main( ) { extrn a, b, c; putchar(a); putchar(b); putchar(c); putchar('!*n'); }

a 'hell'; b 'o, w'; c 'orld';

Code language: C++

3)

<service name="GreeterUMO">

  <inbound>

    <stdio:inbound-endpoint system="IN" transformer-refs="StdinToNameString"/>

  </inbound>

  <component class="org.mule.example.hello.Greeter"/>

  <outbound>

    <filtering-router>

      <vm:outbound-endpoint path="chitchatter"/>

      <payload-type-filter expectedType="org.mule.example.hello.NameString"/>

    </filtering-router>

    <filtering-router>

      <vm:outbound-endpoint path="userErrorHandler"/>

      <payload-type-filter expectedType="java.lang.Exception"/>

    </filtering-router>

  </outbound>

  <default-service-exception-strategy>

    <vm:outbound-endpoint path="systemErrorHandler"/>

  </default-service-exception-strategy>

</service>

<custom-transformer name="StdinToNameString" class="org.mule.example.hello.StdinToNameString"/>

<service name="ChitChatUMO">

  <inbound>

    <vm:inbound-endpoint path="chitchatter" transformer-refs="NameStringToChatString"/>

  </inbound>

  <component class="org.mule.example.hello.ChitChatter"/>

  <outbound>

    <outbound-pass-through-router>

      <stdio:outbound-endpoint system="OUT" transformer-refs="ChatStringToString" />

    </outbound-pass-through-router>

  </outbound>

</service>

Code language: Mule

In essence, all three of them do pretty much the same thing, which is write "Hello World"

Why read code?

Style: look at examples of how others write code

Transition: The code you own today might be owned by someone else and vice versa

Example: Used to figure out how something is done.

Improvise: add to or change the code

Review: participate in formal or informal review

Bug: debug an issue in a broader code base

Interview: developing interviewing skills.

Lets chew on this topic a bit, will talk about reading code in detail in my next blog.

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