Messages

26

Living Room / Re: 10th Anniversary - long time member check-in thread

« on: March 06, 2015, 07:30 PM »

Hi Mouser. You may, or may not, have forgiven me for 'outbursts' which may have cut too deep.

First, let me make a minor criticism of this site infrastructure (sorry). Where is the SSL? I had to send my password plaintext to reset it. Tried using manual SSL on that page, but it "wasn't allowed on this page". SSL should be on all pages. I'm sorry, but - please.

Second, if your server costs are still as high as they were, you need to find a new host, for someone is making a living off you.

Third, I'm not getting rich myself, so what do I know. It seems to take a suit and stiff to really 'make it' in this world, so I just stick to my little niche, as do you. Probably we could have made more money together than apart, but we had ideologies that I think would have conflicted.

I've always respected that you built something with DonationCoder. People don't appreciate how much work it takes. People don't appreciate how much faith it takes.

However, I have learned, unfortunately, my choices are either be broke the rest of my life, or play the game by the rules society has set. I can try to act as morally as possible, not be shady, but gotta play by those rules, as sick as they may be. A large portion of the people who run our world are just pretenders in suits. That does give us 'real deal' people quite the advantage, *if* we know how to leverage it (rare) .

27

Post New Requests Here / Re: Back up set of folders to flash drive

« on: July 21, 2012, 02:39 AM »

In addition though - be SURE to test to make sure you can actually get to ALL the data in your backups. Don't let security trump accessibility for backups - unless you need that security, of course.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: Back up set of folders to flash drive

« on: July 20, 2012, 02:44 PM »

I'm glad you found a solution. I still prefer Robocopy. More options than you can shake a stick at.

You *can* compress files with it (using the target FS supports it, e.g. NTFS). However, it is individually, by changing attributes at copy time, which it supports. This does hurt the compression ratio since they aren't first TAR'd (to use a nix term) together before compression. Still, it works very well and is so powerful and easy. That's why I personally like and use it. Also, it is an official Microsoft product, and free.

Other solutions can certainly be easier. Even Windows Backup in Vista and above is pretty darn good these days, but I still don't trust it as much as I do a plain old mirror of my files.

29

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 18, 2012, 11:40 PM »

Also, he doesn't disagree with the #1 complaint of Metro: it is optimized for tablets and kicks desktop computers to the curb. But to him, that's a good thing.

-daddydave (July 18, 2012, 01:11 PM)

Yes, this is the biggest problem. Fortunately, it is not all bad ...

ONE: Metro can be docked to its own isolated monitor (thank goodness).
TWO: At least the traditional UI is still there, and looks pretty good with the control changes.

For single-screen monitors the flip back and forth between Metro when you hit the Win key to search for whatever to start or open is going to be annoying, IMHO. That's why I think FARR and others are gaining a lot of attention right now. People just want to stay in the traditional UI, not flip to a while new screen.

30

Post New Requests Here / Re: Back up set of folders to flash drive

« on: July 14, 2012, 01:21 AM »

Robocopy instead of xcopy .. built into Windows. Lots of options for what you need and more.

31

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 09, 2012, 06:23 PM »

LOL, I must admit this:

1. I was a programmer long before I went to college, authoring shareware BBS tools in x86 assembly and C.
2. When I went to college I didn't *think* it helped me at all.
3. LATER, YEARS LATER, little things like exposure to areas I didn't naturally encounter I later became thankful for.

In other words, it helped me more than I realized - to 'round out' my education. Just knowing an algorithm exists, or OS fundamentals, ... just that exposure to things *different* is what helped.

As for learning particular language X, Y, or Z... nah, useless. My biggest is fear is Microsoft controlling too much of our universities with subsidies. I, for one, had far too little Linux or OS X exposure, for instance.. everything was Microsoft. Later, I got into embedded Linux, than 'regular' Linux more ... but never have gotten into OS X much. I wonder if the story would be different if Apple or Google subsidized the universities instead of Microsoft. Google may - these days. Apple may as well, as at that time they were near bankrupt.

32

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... win7 startup problem solvers

« on: July 08, 2012, 11:13 PM »

oops, nevermind, posted something you'd already said you is N/A...

33

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 08, 2012, 06:48 PM »

+1 jgpaiva

EDIT: I never MEANT to get involved with this thread, I just took issue with the idea that C was akin to COBOL these days... that's just not the case. The 'chart of commits' from that random project hosting site that was cited showed almost no C commits, as if it were 'dead'. So, that's what I took issue with. It's far from dead, as you can see. Heck, *whatever you are reading this thread with* is written in C or C++. The browser and OS, no matter what platform. Now, if iOS, it *might* be Objective C, but for now let's just call C/C++/Objective C the same 'family'.

As I've said repeatedly, the most important thing is that you select the language that works best for your task, and for YOU. For instance, since I don't do much C#, I could probably create a native C++ GUI faster than a C# GUI, even though it is much easier to create GUI in C# with Visual Studio. So, for me, C++ is a great thing to use, even if that means I sometimes must work a little harder. It also does continue to offer to most superior performance to any other language, if that is an issue for YOUR application. Likewise, it is USELESS for Web 2.0 stuff, so obviously not even a choice there.

MANY languages have their syntax derived from C, and so by learning C, you not only learn C, but also can easily pick up lots of other languages. PHP, for instance, has a C like syntax... though also supports other syntaxes, which makes it super easy to pick up on, one of its advantages.

I also recommend all students study assembly language (x86, ARM, doesn't matter).. any assembly language, just so you understand how native code gets compiled and executed by the processor. Then, you can understand disassemblies. Assembly language, in contrast to its reputation, is actually more SIMPLE than any other language. That simplicity means it is harder to actually do things WITH though.

34

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 08, 2012, 04:31 PM »

Actually not quite true - every PC and laptop I have seen (and that is most mainstream brands) comes by default with the power button to activate sleep mode - not shutdown. Personally I do not find sleep mode very effective - especially if someone only uses their computer occasional and/or turns off the power so I always change it to Shutdown. Laptops I change lid close from sleep to hibernate - that way if they don't turn it on for a week the battery won't die!

-Carol Haynes (July 08, 2012, 01:18 PM)

I stand corrected then. I swear I don't remember changing my desktop configs to shut down on power button press, but I probably did first thing and then forgot, and assumed that was the default.

As for laptops, I only have one, and it does sleep on power button press.

Still, in ANY case, no more instant power off, which is the main point here

35

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 08, 2012, 04:22 PM »

Ok, final edits made ;p. I updated the original pick to provide the proper source. Sorry about that guys, I just did a super fast google, and moved on. NOW, new post has methodology used, and latest chart.

My ONLY point, again, was that C/C++ is not somehow 'dead'. Whether they teach it in universities these days, I dunno - but I'd hope so. Microsoft subsidizes universities a lot, so I'm sure they do teach a lot of .NET. But, still, most of the popular Windows and Linux software is written in native (unmanaged) C/C++.

I *was* surprised that Objective C has become so popular so fast due to use on mobile platforms.

36

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 08, 2012, 04:15 PM »

Oh... cool link on the positions of programming languages.  I finally went to the link after I noticed today the chart was from 2010, and found out it was from a different site, and they update monthly.  I haven't looked into their methodologies, but it's a pretty cool artifact nonetheless.

-wraith808 (July 08, 2012, 11:05 AM)

Thanks for providing a link to the new chart.. I was in a rush. The rankings aren't THAT different though. Since the new chart isn't an image, I had to snip it. Here it is for anyone too lazy to click:

Source (original source this time ;p): http://www.tiobe.com...info/tpci/index.html

Methodology:

The TIOBE Programming Community index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. The index is updated once a month. The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors. The popular search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and Baidu are used to calculate the ratings. Observe that the TIOBE index is not about the best programming language or the language in which most lines of code have been written.

37

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 08, 2012, 04:01 PM »

Those two lines seem to indicate it's more about the job market penetration, rather than any metric that would be useful to those that actually utilize the languages, in my opinion.

-wraith808 (July 08, 2012, 11:47 AM)

That's probably right. Though. remember, most of what we use today is written in C and C++, so it's not antiquated, or going anywhere. There is *plenty* of C and C++ in the job market. All over the place. It depends on what you're coding though. Obviously, nobody is going to write a Web 2.0 app in C++.

The problem I have with his original link is mostly just how LOW C/C++ was on the list ... as if it isn't used anymore and is COBOL. Yet, I listed off the top of my head most of the major applications we used are coded in C/C+. The WEB BROWSER YOU ARE USING NOW is written in C/C++ (99% chance anyway, probably some weird exception out there ;p).

In the end, pick whichever suits your NEEDS. As for the job market.. dunno who is hiring, etc... I'm sure there are lots of Web 2.0 companies hiring , maybe making C# a good language. But, ya know what? If you know native C/C++, C# is a piece of cake.

38

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 08, 2012, 03:56 PM »

I kind of wonder about those charts. C? Really? Yeah, it's great for speed and all, but it's slow to program in, and really only good for low-level things now. Building a GUI in C is, well, would masochistic be a good description?

-Renegade (July 08, 2012, 11:22 AM)

I build my GUIs in straight C++ /w no abstraction layers or UI libraries, LOL... Yes, masochistic is probably the right word ;p. HOWEVER, so does SysInternals, FWIW. And Many of the most popular software today. It really isn't that hard, just not quite as easy. Other apps that code their UI's in C/C++ - Firefox, IE, Opera, Chrome, SysInternals Suite of utils, Microsoft Security Essentials, blah blah blah ... well, you saw my list ;p.

39

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... win7 startup problem solvers

« on: July 08, 2012, 02:51 AM »

... bleh, don't want to get involved on second though. And don't buy Pareto, it won't fix whatever, I can guarantee you that much.

40

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 10:08 PM »

Well, I wouldn't tell them to 'risk it' by hitting the power button ONCE and BRIEFLY and seeing what happens... BUT, if they bought their PC new any time in the last 5 years and did NOT tweak any advanced settings, then I'd be pretty confident in it working right.

41

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:47 PM »

Your OS does not necessarily have to perform a proper shutdown when pressing the Power button. Only if it is set to.

-Tuxman (July 07, 2012, 09:45 PM)

That's true. However, I would argue that the vast majority are 'set to' these days, especially with that being the default configuration. Now, for older PCs, who knows.. and I have no idea how many are running ancient systems.

I get your point, we all do.. but by the same token, people should realize (or check to see) if their power button is the same as doing a manual shutdown. In these cases, saves a click or two ;p.

42

Find And Run Robot / Re: Windows 8 and FARR

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:38 PM »

redacted

43

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:35 PM »

P.S. If your POWER OFF button does NOT issue a SHUT DOWN command the SAME AS if the user had pressed 'Shut down' via the OS interface, then be sure you didn't accidentally wire it to the RESET button ;p.

EDIT: Also check BIOS settings, as sometimes there may be an option there on how to handle this.

44

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:27 PM »

"Turn off" is not the same as "shutdown".

-Tuxman

And to defend that you just said:

"Turn off" = shut down OR just pull the plug. This is the difference.

-Tuxman (July 07, 2012, 09:15 PM)

I think you meant IMPROPER shutdown. ;p As I said, tomatos tomatoes, but we all get the point. The only correction was in your statement about hitting the Power Button. It doesn't do an immediate 'turn off'.

45

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:17 PM »

"Turn off" = shut down OR just pull the plug. This is the difference.

-Tuxman (July 07, 2012, 09:15 PM)

Right, and as I elaborate above, these days pressing the Power Off button doesn't do what it used to .. unless you are speaking of the on/off switch on the PSU (if it has one). I edited above, to clarify. I think we're just talking tomatos tomatoes. You had said, "don't press the Power Off button while writing critical files", but it doesn't turn off immediately - as of many years ago. Like I said, it issues a message to all applications, indicating a shutdown in process. Then, after all caches are flushed, files saved, etc.. proceeds with shutdown. In the case of a 'blocker', e.g. a file with unsaved work not closed, the behavior is the same as if the user had pressed 'Shutdown' via the OS interface.

How long ago did the change happen? It's been a long time now.. 10 years?

EDIT: But I do get you point, everyone does... UNSAFE, IMPROPER immediate shutdowns via IMMEDIATE loss of power is always unsafe.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

« on: July 07, 2012, 09:09 PM »

"Turn off" is not the same as "shutdown".

-Tuxman (July 04, 2012, 01:27 AM)

Umm... it isn't? What is the difference? Except for OLDER PCs, and I do mean really, really old PCs, there is no difference. Unless you speaking of maybe some Sleep mode?

Look, let's summarize:

1. PRESS Power button - Issues Shutdown command that starts the PC Shutdown process that results in an *eventual* power off. The same 'blocks' will still apply (e.g the screen that pops up saying , so and so has not saved its work, or flushing of disk caches).

2. HOLD DOWN Power button - FORCES an IMMEDIATE shutdown - UNSAFE.

3. Press Reset button (if your desktop PC even still has one) - does an immediate unsafe restart (power off, then back on).

Otherwise, we're probably just talking about different things. You may mean 'immediate power off'. To protect users from themselves, this is not as easy at it used to be. You have to hold down the power button, flip a switch on the PSU (if there is one), use the reset button (if there is one), or unplug the darn thing.

47

Find And Run Robot / Re: Windows 8 and FARR

« on: July 07, 2012, 08:42 PM »

And to clarify ... in METRO while you can 'just start typing', in the TRADITIONAL interface, I don't believe that is available (correct me if I'm wrong).

-db90h (July 03, 2012, 08:30 PM)

That's because Metro is the start menu in 8 !

-Carol Haynes (July 04, 2012, 09:13 AM)

That's essentially true.

[rest redacted]

48

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 07, 2012, 08:34 PM »

Ok, that was my final edit. I can't believe I even got involved in this thread.

@OP / hulkbuster - learn whatever YOU feel most comfortable with. That said, if you do learn unmanaged C++, you will have a great advantage, as everything else will be quite easy from there. But for the purpose of creating a game, using managed code, C# is probably the easiest option. I would prefer it over VB for sure.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 07, 2012, 07:56 PM »

Actually, the universities don't seem to agree with you anymore, and haven't for many years.  And I'd be surprised if Ath didn't understand static linking.  He was talking about .NET programming in Visual Studio from the prospective of his talking about the .NET runtime, and under those situations (using managed C++) it doesn't really apply as managed C++ doesn't compile to native code- it compiles to MSIL just like C# if you're using C++/CLI.

-wraith808 (July 07, 2012, 06:40 PM)

First, that may be right, especially with MS so heavily subsidizing universities. I've been out of the universities a while, I am 34 now, so its been about 10 years. It probably depends on what university you happened to attend though. If that is true, then they are doing a disservice to their students. I believe that if we have truly lost education of unmanaged code, then we need to get that back - perhaps as a 'systems programming' vs 'applications programming' branch. Unmanaged code still beats the crap out of managed code when it comes to performance, and is NOT available on all platforms. And you sure aren't going to find device drivers written in managed code ;p

There may have been misunderstandings. I do see I may have taken his statement wrong.

1. Of course *managed* C++ compiles to MSIL, managed code is all the same regardless of the language used to create it (with caveats, of course, as you mention).
2. I could have sworn he meant 'with unmanaged C++, you have to redistribute the MS CRT runtime DLLs'.. but I think he *assumed* that the programmer was only going to be creating managed code, and meant that all of them would require the .NET framework anyway.
3. Like I said, it matters more to choose the language for what you are doing, rather than some 'perfect language for everything'.

I had no intention to denude his statements, just felt the link he referenced to back up the C# utilization claim was false. *Unmanaged* C/C++ is still the most heavily used programming language, IMHO.

For a managed code language, I would recommend someone just go with C#, as managed C++ is a weird thing to me. I remember when they first created managed C++ (CLI) and I told my boss at the time. He was so arrogant, saying that is impossible, and telling me how wrong I was. I send him PROOF, but he refused to look. Infuriated me.

In the end ... what does the student want to learn?

1. Systems programming? What is really going on behind the scenes? Then learn native C/C++.
2. Applications programming? Don't care what is going on behind the scenes? Learn whatever else ;p.

The one advantage is that if you go with #1, then later #2 becomes VERY easy . Also, you'll find #1 more portable to other platforms, more in use by common applications, and generally very useful and robust .. just a good thing to know.

50

General Software Discussion / Re: Visual Basic or Visual C++

« on: July 07, 2012, 04:58 PM »

But you ARE RIGHT that C# is *easier* and *more forgiving* because it compiles to MANGED CODE (.NET).

What is .NET / MANAGED CODE? It compiles your stuff into MSIL (an intermediate language). At runtime (or sometimes before) it is optimized or compiled Just in Time to native code. All lots of additional overhead, needless to say.. as it does things like garbage collection and protecting the programmer from themselves. In other words, very hard to screw up in.

(unmanaged, natural) C/C++ compiles to NATIVE CODE. Often, modern C++ is self-managed. Meaning you use objects that manage themselves. It is MUCH more efficient, which is why it is used when efficiency counts. Does efficiency count? These days, a modern C compiler can out-optimize even hand-crafted assembly language because the processors were designed to handle compiled code, and the compilers designed to optimize for the processors.

Now, what matters MOST is what you are DOING WITH the language. Obviously, that chart has ALL LANGUAGES. PHP, an interpreted language, for instance, obviously can't replace a C kernel component. SO, each language has their good and bad, and you need to pick the right one for YOU. C#, likewise, can't be used for kernel components OR for applications that NEED maximum performance. It CAN be used for applications where performance doesn't matter THAT much though, as it performs well ENOUGH for MOST application development.

Still, I believe strongly ANY programmer needs to understand the fundamentals of unmanaged C/C++ and even assembly language... As the universities TEACH. It is important to understand these so you know what the higher level languages are doing behind the scenes. Now, for 'Web programming', it is a slightly different story ...