Messages

201

Developer's Corner / Re: How To Write Unmaintainable Code

« on: September 28, 2011, 08:52 PM »

[Related to spoiler in previous post... ] Aaaaah. This just made me feel better. I love you guys  

https://www.donation....msg244024#msg244024

202

Developer's Corner / Re: How To Write Unmaintainable Code

« on: September 28, 2011, 08:48 PM »

Utterly hilarious. What's also great about that piece is that it serves as a good reminder about annoying practices.

Spoiler

I should probably ashamed, but... I do like some of the "Hungarian notation" principles...  I find that, more often then not, it makes my code more readable in a simple text editor. Of course, more readable to me, hehe.

203

Developer's Corner / Cross-platform mobile apps development: MonoTouch/MonoDroid, Marmalade, etc.

« on: September 28, 2011, 04:32 PM »

I'm looking at the various options for cross-platform mobile apps development, reading forums and various articles (Mobile application development).

The C#/.Net way with MonoTouch/MonoDroid is attractive... but then Marmalade looks nice too. There are also other interesting options like Rhodes.

There are of course several parameters to consider (familiarity of language, price, development speed, etc.). But I don't want to clog the discussion right away...  

Any opinion/"hands on" experience on the matter ?

204

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 7 is out

« on: September 28, 2011, 08:21 AM »

I've been using Firefox 7 for 24 h (approximately... ) now and it does feel snappier. Ram management is also slightly better than before. That said, it's too subjective to take seriously and it #!*&!! broke my roboform extension.

(But why isn't that extension compatible?? Like everybody else, SiberSystems had many weeks notice of the release cycle and nightly builds / beta versions to test compatibility.  )

I'm a long time firefox user, and I've always come back to it after seeing how others weren't really better (if any) and in fact slowed down my work flow. I've just experienced a week of Chrome. Same criticism as Firefox (e.g.: Ram through the roof), not any advantages (apart from the fact that turning extensions On/Off doesn't warrant a restart -- but firefox is getting there), and some annoyances (a few missing extensions I really like).

I might try opera for fun next week... Maybe I'll like it better than 6mths/1y ago.

205

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 28, 2011, 08:02 AM »

I like this one ! thanks 

206

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 20, 2011, 09:11 PM »

Counter-studies would be nice. 
In any case, considering the current state of affair, it makes more sense to hypothesise that Chrome has a slightly better performance overall. Conversely, it's probably not that legitimate to unitarily affirm that chrome is not faster than Firefox.
But this isn't the subject of this thread.

I tried a few Google+ extensions and... well, let's say the best is probably yet to be seen.

207

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« on: September 20, 2011, 02:33 PM »

You probably saw it, but here's a video of the "Developer's Preview" on a tablet :

Not unlike an artfully created but tiny-portioned appetizer leading into a flavorful and filling main course that remains stuck in the kitchen, my first hands-on experience with Windows 8 left me eager for what was coming but disappointed with what was set in front of me.

Microsoft lent out Windows 8 tablets to attendees at the end of the Build conference preview yesterday, surprisingly running an earlier version of the in-development operating system than the one that had been demonstrated as functional earlier in the day.

(My emphasis)

http://download.cnet...-windows-8-hands-on/

208

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 20, 2011, 11:56 AM »

The version numbers are on page 2 and 4:
http://www.tomshardw...rd-html5,3013-2.html
http://www.tomshardw...rd-html5,3013-4.html

209

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 19, 2011, 11:20 PM »

Thanks for the link. So at least I wasn't dreaming.

Individual configurations can really mess with performance though. And here Firefox is now okay with Google +... Still, Chrome is a tad faster.

210

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« on: September 19, 2011, 11:15 AM »

@carol : thanks for taking the time to test the Developer's Preview. Nice!

Nothing says if the version used on the video demo is the same as the Developer's Preview, however. At first I thought you were exclusively commenting the "Developer's Preview", which seemed "fair", but then you seemed to be already judging Windows 8... A bit too early, isn't it ?

--

Aren't the tiles UI more for tablets and phones ? In any case I personally like the "tiles" design and I can see some clear advantages to it (compared to, lets say... iOS icon layout, etc.). But don't have the time to develop right now.

As long as it's fast, secure, robust, compatible, flexible enough, still keyboard friendly, and... as long as it doesn't fall down the Apple hole...

211

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 18, 2011, 04:10 PM »

Ok, the problem is the NoScript add-on. It's the first one I disabled, so it was easy (the usual suspect).

Whitelisting the https://plus.google.com/ address or even enabling all scripts didn't seem to make a difference. Later, I might try to tinker a bit more with it, but for now, with NoScript disabled... Firefox is almost as fast as chrome... 

Now let's see if Google Plus remains fast throughout the week.

212

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 18, 2011, 03:33 PM »

Thanks for everybody's input on my tangential preoccupations. The general consensus is that firefox should be fast, and it seems reasonable enough (even if Chrome does "feel" faster, for both subjective and objective reasons...  ). I'm absolutely not ready to abandon firefox for chrome, so I will later disable some (or all) firefox plugins and re-enable them in little groups and... report back.

I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in these add-ons lies the source of problem.

213

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 17, 2011, 01:48 PM »

Ok, firefox is faster... That said, Google+ is still slower here on firefox and I'm wondering why. But no big deal... I was asking if other people had the same experience as this is a Google+ related thread.

214

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 17, 2011, 12:33 PM »

You might be right. But that's not the point. Errr...  I should've put my comment in context : in the context of Google+ and my home, Chrome is faster than Firefox for sure.  (I've usually got no interest in benchmarks of any sort for browsers as it seems like an endless debate with too many parameters involved -- Unless the difference is so blunt that there's no possible ambiguity.)

215

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 17, 2011, 10:55 AM »

@zridling, @mahesh2k

Chrome is faster than firefox for sure (although chrome once choked on a Google+ page -- this is anecdotal though and probably doesn't tell anything).

In any case Google+ doesn't seem light at all... don't know if Flash and Ajax are the "cause" or if Firefox is. Will do some more testing this week if I have the time. Thanks.

216

General Software Discussion / Re: XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

« on: September 16, 2011, 04:30 PM »

Hehe.

However, aren't there cases where a count down will be triggered after a while and you computer will restart anyway ? Maybe not... but I think I've experienced that in the past.

217

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« on: September 16, 2011, 03:36 PM »

Could be because of its beta-ish state, but here Google+ is  s - l - o - w.
It's been like that, well... at least since I've started using it. 

I like the way it works etc., but I have to have to wait for ever for pages to finally load. Compared to it, Facebook is a racing car. And that's not a good thing.



Am I the only one experiencing that slowness ?

218

General Software Discussion / Re: XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

« on: September 16, 2011, 02:52 PM »

I like the

Code: Text [Select]

1. net stop "automatic updates"

solution.

I'd get a notification that a reboot is necessary, but it would stop nagging.  After rebooting, automatic updates would be active again as normally configured.

Makes for a nice little one-liner batch file - maybe call it "stopnag.cmd" or something.  And no clicking about in some service management GUI, no mucking about in the register (or even worse, Group Policy editor settings that I can never find again 6 months later).  Best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned.

-mwb1100 (September 16, 2011, 02:42 PM)

Yes, it's much better than clicking through a GUI.

However, I like the group policy thing. I've set it up to remind me every 6 hours that I need to reboot.


@Tom : brutal.  But yes, that would work too I suppose.

I was trying to find a solution less drastic than just shutting down the service on a regular basis. Maybe that's because I rarely (want to) reboot.

219

General Software Discussion / Re: XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

« on: September 16, 2011, 01:51 PM »

Note that group policies aren't updated until a... system restart. so your changes won't be perceptible right away.

You might want to try a GPUPDATE.exe (command line on XP pro) or just stop the automatic update service for a while... until your next reboot.

220

General Software Discussion / Re: XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

« on: September 16, 2011, 01:13 PM »

For XP Home users, you could also enter these lines in the registry :

http://www.xiven.com...uRestartYourComputer

Badge (2005-08-15 18:20:18 UTC)

For the guy with Windows XP Home...

1. Copy the text below into Notepad. Save it with a .reg extension. Open and confirm that you want to copy the data into your registry.

==>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"RebootRelaunchTimeoutEnabled"=dword:00000000
"NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers"=dword:00000001

221

General Software Discussion / XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

« on: September 16, 2011, 12:55 PM »

Yes I'm still using XP. 

I thought this annoyance had been discussed in the past, but i can't find it. Anyway, here are some solutions I found:

XP Automatic Update Nagging

Of both solutions proposed in the article, the second one allows more control over the dialog.

If you're on XP pro, you can just do as described in the article. If you're on XP Home, you won't be able to use the "Group policy settings" editor/dialog (what you could then do is try to hack XP by following these guidelines : Windows XP Home Edition: gpedit.msc (group policy) editing via registry . It's probably not legal though.)

What you can also use WhyReboot? to check out whether you should reboot or not.

And there's this little app that become handy : DontSleep
I don't think it's ever been reviewed here.

Anyhow.

222

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« on: September 14, 2011, 10:18 AM »

Still stuck on XP, you poor soul?

-f0dder (September 13, 2011, 01:44 PM)

Dunno if Renegade is, but I am !  
Just don't have the courage to move to win 7 (maybe will it be Win 8 for that matter...) before I buy a new laptop. Trying to use my energy and time efficiently and win XP does the job -- there's nothing for me in Win 7 that's radically different and a significant upgrade in terms of user experience, stability, ease of use, etc. It would be different if I had to buy a new laptop tomorrow. But then, maybe would I be tempted to wait for win 8... Nah.

223

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« on: September 14, 2011, 10:10 AM »

Seems like such an early build, pre-beta. Still, Peter Bright seems pretty enthusiastic about it in Hands-on with Windows 8: A PC operating system for the tablet age

224

Developer's Corner / Re: An experiment about static and dynamic type systems

« on: September 12, 2011, 07:40 PM »

There seems to be a few methodological weirdnesses in this study, which wouldn't surprising as it's often the case with... studies.

However, there might something to explore there : "dynamic languages" for very small projects, statically typed ones for bigger ones. Makes sense... Maybe

225

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Fast boot time ? Check this out...

« on: September 12, 2011, 07:10 PM »

It's great if you have 2gigs of RAM... it's OK if you've got 4... above that, hibernation starts taking a bit too much time for my liking.

-f0dder (September 12, 2011, 06:50 PM)

True. I don't have one of these super solid state Drives, but it might be better with those.