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7726
General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: Google UI Developers should be SHOT!
« Last post by wraith808 on December 01, 2011, 12:29 PM »
Uh, they're still in beta?
-Renegade (December 01, 2011, 11:44 AM)

Not an excuse from true definition of beta (if you really want to go there).  And GMail is out of beta, and has been for a while.

They had introduced a black bar at the top with all of your options and menus and stuff that unified with G+ UI.  Now they have some of that stuff hidden under a drop down when you click their name on the left side, and other stuff under a gear on the right side, and yet more stuff when you click your picture on the top right side (which is what I was trying to find... how to change accounts).
7727
General Software Discussion / RANT: Google UI Developers should be SHOT!
« Last post by wraith808 on December 01, 2011, 10:20 AM »
I can get used to most anything in a UI.  Some things are better than others.  The new unified UI really sucked.  But I got used to it.  Then, today, they changed it AGAIN!  Why can't they settle on something and stay with it?!?
7728
Living Room / Re: NaGa DeMon
« Last post by wraith808 on December 01, 2011, 06:45 AM »
Wraith, is it a pen and paper RPG or a board game or video game or what?
-Deozaan (December 01, 2011, 12:08 AM)

It's a Pen and Paper RPG using a generic system.
7729
Living Room / Re: NaGa DeMon
« Last post by wraith808 on November 30, 2011, 08:11 PM »
Well, I may never have completed NaNoWriMo, but I completed my NaGa DeMon project, Forgotten Heroes. It was actually the test bed for my system that I'm using for another project, and I'm pretty happy with it! I need to do some tweaking, but the rules played better than I expected, and my players seemed to enjoy it.

This implementation is a horror/suspense/investigation/thriller type of game, falling squarely into that area occupied by CoC, ToC, Esoterrorists, etc, where players seek out and eradicate the memory of ancient evils so that they can fade from existence. Once I do some editing (had a lot to do in a month, especially with a release at work imminent) I plan to conduct some more playtesting before releasing it and the underlying system. But I'm pretty stoked, and did want to announce it. :)
7730
Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal
« Last post by wraith808 on November 30, 2011, 09:40 AM »
What I'd love to see is an arrangement similar to what  Bandcamp offers musicians:
  • a place to host your content
  • a point of presence and contact on the web
  • the opportunity for community
  • backoffice services (billing, payment processing, shopping carts, etc.)
  • a rational and fair fee schedule for services rendered
-40hz (November 30, 2011, 09:28 AM)

Check out http://www.fsand.com and http://www.smashwords.com.  It exists, it's just no competition to Amazon or Barnes & Noble right now, mostly because they did something quite smart that the RIAA never did- allowed self-publishing.
7731
Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal
« Last post by wraith808 on November 30, 2011, 07:14 AM »
Presumably contracts are for a certain length of time and not in-perpetuity - what happens when the big six publishers finally realise that Amazon has them in a headlock and they don't renew their contract? Presumably a lot of blank Kindles ????
-Carol Haynes (November 30, 2011, 03:48 AM)

I don't think it's that easy.  It's the DRM that's the problem, not the Kindle.  I think the point is that the DRM is driving sales of the Kindle over other devices as the DRM is kindle specific, rather than, for lack of a better word, open.  So people get locked into the platform.  Sort of like the way DRM on music used to work.  But the same out exists for them- remove the DRM.
7732
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 06:58 PM »
^ +1 and that is a problem and one I suffer from too. If they do things so well as to get us dependent on them/drive the other digital distribution platforms out of business, then the consumer will suffer as they won't have to offer the deep discounts. I see an example of that I'm the digital book industry.
7733
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 02:02 PM »
Reading through, it seems like Steam is more like a disease than a cure. Apparently, it creates more problems than it solves. Am I reading the above wrong?
-Renegade (November 29, 2011, 01:44 PM)

I don't think it creates more problems than it solves, but then again, other people have other opinions.

I think that the ideal solution would be a third party platform that you register your purchases with, no matter where you get them from.  But that will never happen, though it seems that steamworks is making that happen for some games.  As long as you can (1) re-download/re-install your purchases (2) play them offline and (3) there is competition on pricing, I'm happy. :)
7734
fSekrit / Re: 2011 status report
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 01:43 PM »
Our beta date is next week...

vodkamakeseverthingbetter.jpg

...vodka *does* make everything better.
7735
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 01:40 PM »
GamersGate has been selling games that use Steamworks for quite a while, thus requiring the use of Steam for installation, authentication, etc. Such requirement is listed on the game's page in the DRM section. If it reads "Requires a 3rd party download and account", most likely it's referring to Steam. Valve isn't taking over GamersGate or anything like that, it wouldn't make much sense either.
-Lashiec (November 29, 2011, 12:40 PM)

Darksiders doesn't use Steamworks though.  It uses GFWL (or whatever it's called today).  I see that they changed to use Steamworks- no wonder I couldn't authenticate with my GFWL account.  I was looking forward to getting achievements... :(
7736
General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 01:32 PM »
I ran into a problem with troubleshooting - I am unable to see uac demands for password at their end (more accurately, I'm not able to see the password dialogue itself) - so I'm not able to do anything requiring admin rights from within their user account.
-tomos (November 29, 2011, 01:23 PM)

We use it for code reviews and the like, so I'm not sure of how it interacts with password dialogs, so I can't be any help there. :(  As far as the taking control, on the host computer a control panel should appear at the top of the screen.  A similar control panel will also appear on the viewer's screen at the top of the screen (in full-screen mode) or at the top of the browser window if not in full-screen.

join.me.png

The viewer can click the indicated button to request control; the host will be prompted.  Similarly, the host can click it to give control.
7737
Developer's Corner / Re: Ribbon UI - is it really THAT good?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 10:49 AM »
as long as it works enough to let me get something done with it.
-40hz (November 29, 2011, 09:08 AM)

That's the big thing.  If it works, and your user base is split, assess based on what ribbon will do for your application, and its usability and maintainability from your perspective.
7738
fSekrit / Re: 2011 status report
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 10:47 AM »
work has been eating up pretty much all my time & energy.
-f0dder (November 29, 2011, 10:04 AM)
* wraith808 raises a glass in commiseration.  :beerchug:
7739
Living Room / Re: Hard drive shortage
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 06:34 AM »
And I have a pile of Seagate bricks (45 or so) and 0 WD doorstops to prove it as well.
-Shades (November 29, 2011, 05:12 AM)

I'm exactly the opposite.  I always go with Seagate now after much time using WD in home builds and at work in another lifetime of doing configuration and QA.  And I've never had a Seagate fail on me (the one time I thought it was, it was the cable... go figure), and have had quite a few WD bricks to my name.
7740
Finished Programs / Re: Finished Coding Snack: Separate .txt file at any specified punctuation mark
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 06:32 AM »
^ My sentiment?  I agree with you- that's why we have a consumer economy, even when you aren't selling something.  Everyone doesn't have the time nor inclination to learn certain skills, and that's why those skills are in demand.  I could learn to do all sorts of things around my house, but I'd rather pay someone to do them.  Because spending the money is more convenient to me than spending the time to learn, and the time to code it, where someone else has that inclination.  The same thing with my car.  I know the principles behind a lot of things, i.e. changing the oil, etc.  But I don't want to learn, nor do I care to do it.
7741
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 29, 2011, 06:15 AM »
GG and Impulse are able to sell most of the games Steam sells without forcing this limit on the client (well Impulse is changing and focusing on North America only, so it leaves Gamersgate). In many cases they have the games before Steam does, especially many of the indie and smaller titles.
-iphigenie (August 30, 2011, 03:57 AM)

I just had the strangest experience with GG... though I like it, I suspect you won't.  I bought Darksiders on sale for $4.99 from GG.  Then I downloaded their installer, and it downloaded all 13.1 GB of the installer, and started it up.  I ran the installer, and was a bit perturbed when it didn't ask me where.  But then at the end, I realized why.  Steam started, and asked me for my activation code.  I entered it, then steam took over, and installed Darksiders into Steam from the files that GG had downloaded.

Giga-what?

I did a double take at that... and I wonder what that means... but it's truly installed in my Steam account.
7742
General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 28, 2011, 10:11 AM »
For the occasional remote support situation, I've used Fog Creek's Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/

I'm honestly not sure how it compares feature-wise with other solutions, but it has a few attributes that make it work well for me (I only need to do this kind of thing a couple times a year):

  - it's drop-dead simple for the other person to get it going. When I need to use this, the other person I'm helping is generally a completely non-technical user. They just want their printer or whatever to work, and opening an email is about all that I can ask them to do (and have done correctly).  And that's about all I have to ask them to do to get Copilot working.  And if email is the problem, there's a relatively simple code that can be given over the phone.
  - it's free on the weekend.  Since I'm typically doing this for friends and family, the weekend is often when I need this anyway, and if not it's usually OK to wait until then.  If the problem can't wait, it's only $5 for a day-pass, and either party can pay.
  - it uses a server to mediate connecting through a firewall - essential for what I need to do.
-mwb1100 (November 28, 2011, 02:50 AM)

Sound a lot like join.me.  You might want to try that next time you want to do something during the week since it's free then.  Similarly all you have to do is go to the website and click if you're the one being joined to, then give a code to the other party, who enters it on the same website.
7743
General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 27, 2011, 01:58 PM »
If you haven't already, TeamViewer and LogMeIn are good options. I've tried both on occasion, and find them pretty good.
-Writer (November 27, 2011, 01:42 PM)

I have tried both of these options- join.me is the free, ad hoc version of logmein.  What's so appealing to me about join.me is the fact that as the viewer you don't have to install anything.  It's totally contained within your browser.  Even as the sharer, you don't have to install anything- you just run an executable.  You *can* install something for faster access, but you don't have to- very useful for using on a computer where you aren't going to use it often.  And add to that the fact that there's no registration, and I don't even know *why* they're offering such a good deal.  But I like it. :)
7744
General Software Discussion / Re: Wave? Good-bye!
« Last post by wraith808 on November 27, 2011, 01:53 PM »
Exactly what was Wave's big idea? I have never been able to determine (to my satisfaction at least) exactly what the idea, paradigm, or unique concept was that lay under Wave.
-40hz (November 27, 2011, 01:25 PM)

Wave's big idea was to an extent G+, without the inherent social aspects, but in real time.  The ability to meet with people and share arbitrary information collaboratively with someone was what wave was supposed to be.  It was just poorly implemented, especially because they were still having technical difficulties.
7745
General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 27, 2011, 10:30 AM »
this has been discussed before, but with XP (and my search), so I thought I'd start a new thread.

I help an older couple with "learning computer". There are times they need help, so I was wondering is there some way that I can access their account, in particular when they are already logged in, and having a problem. (It would also be helpful at times to have a seperate session, for updating stuff etc.)

Both computers are Windows 7
-tomos (November 27, 2011, 06:51 AM)

http://join.me

The best thing since sliced bread.  And free!  We use it at work all the time- and some of the people I've done a join.me with are in India and Pakistan, and it works wonderfully.
7746
Developer's Corner / Re: Writing to Form1 textbox from Form2
« Last post by wraith808 on November 26, 2011, 11:25 PM »
Remember, this is from an unrelated project, but I shoehorned this in.  It won't compile as is, because some code I can't distribute is needed.  I also replaced some functional code with placeholder code.  But it should get the general idea across.

View Class
Code: C# [Select]
  1. public partial class WorkerClassView : Window
  2.     {
  3.         private WorkerClassViewModel ViewModel { get; set; }
  4.  
  5.         public WorkerClassView()
  6.         {
  7.             InitializeComponent();
  8.  
  9.             this.ProgressEvent = this.OnProgress;
  10.             pbrStatus.Maximum = 100;
  11.             pbrStatus.Minimum = 0;
  12.  
  13.             this.ViewModel = new WorkerClassViewModel(this.ProgressEvent);
  14.             this.DataContext = this.ViewModel;
  15.             this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(WorkerClassView_Loaded);
  16.         }
  17.  
  18.         private void WorkerClassView_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
  19.         {
  20.             var inputBindings = new InputBindingCollection();
  21.  
  22.             inputBindings.Add(new InputBinding(this.ViewModel.StartCommand, new KeyGesture(Key.S, ModifierKeys.Control | ModifierKeys.Alt)));
  23.         }
  24.  
  25.         private ProgressChangedEventHandler ProgressEvent;
  26.  
  27.         private void OnProgress(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
  28.         {
  29.             pbrStatus.Value = e.ProgressPercentage >= pbrStatus.Minimum && e.ProgressPercentage <= pbrStatus.Maximum ? e.ProgressPercentage : 0;
  30.             pbrStatus.Refresh();
  31.  
  32.             txtStatus.Text = e.UserState.ToString();
  33.             txtStatus.Refresh();
  34.         }
  35.     }

Worker Class
Code: C# [Select]
  1. public abstract class WorkerBase: IWorker
  2.     {
  3.         protected string WorkerName
  4.         {
  5.             get;
  6.             private set;
  7.         }
  8.  
  9.         public WorkerBase(string workerName)
  10.         {
  11.             this.WorkerName = workerName;
  12.         }
  13.  
  14.         public void Execute(ProgressChangedEventHandler callback)
  15.         {
  16.             this.Initialize(callback);
  17.             this.DoWork(callback);
  18.             this.Finalize(callback);
  19.         }
  20.  
  21.         private void Finalize(ProgressChangedEventHandler callback)
  22.         {
  23.             if (callback != null)
  24.             {
  25.                 callback(this, new ProgressChangedEventArgs(100, string.Format("Worker {0} Complete!", this.WorkerName)));
  26.             }
  27.         }
  28.  
  29.         protected abstract void DoWork(ProgressChangedEventHandler callback);
  30.  
  31.         private void Initialize(ProgressChangedEventHandler callback)
  32.         {
  33.             if (callback != null)
  34.             {
  35.                 callback(this, new ProgressChangedEventArgs(0, string.Format("Worker {0} Reporting!", this.WorkerName)));
  36.             }
  37.         }
  38.     }

ViewModel Class
Code: C# [Select]
  1. public class WorkerClassViewModel
  2.     {
  3.         private ProgressChangedEventHandler CallBack = null;
  4.  
  5.         private bool Executing { get; set; }
  6.  
  7.         public WorkerClassViewModel(ProgressChangedEventHandler callback)
  8.         {
  9.             this.CallBack = callback;
  10.             this.Executing = false;
  11.             this.StartCommand = new RelayCommand(param => this.StartCommandExecute(), param => this.StartCommandCanExecute);
  12.             this.CloseCommand = new RelayCommand(param => this.CloseCommandExecute(), param => this.CloseCommandCanExecute);
  13.         }
  14.  
  15.         private void StartWorkers()
  16.         {
  17.             this.Executing = true;
  18.             try
  19.             {
  20.                 SimpleWorker workerOne = new SimpleWorker("Discipline");
  21.                 SimpleWorker workerTwo = new SimpleWorker("Conviction");
  22.  
  23.                 workerOne.Execute(this.CallBack);
  24.                 workerTwo.Execute(this.CallBack);
  25.             }
  26.             finally
  27.             {
  28.                 this.Executing = false;
  29.             }
  30.         }
  31.  
  32.         public ICommand StartCommand
  33.         {
  34.             get;
  35.             private set;
  36.         }
  37.  
  38.         protected bool StartCommandCanExecute
  39.         {
  40.             get
  41.             {
  42.                 return !this.Executing;
  43.             }
  44.         }
  45.  
  46.         protected void StartCommandExecute()
  47.         {
  48.             this.StartWorkers();
  49.         }
  50.  
  51.         public ICommand CloseCommand
  52.         {
  53.             get;
  54.             private set;
  55.         }
  56.  
  57.         protected bool CloseCommandCanExecute
  58.         {
  59.             get
  60.             {
  61.                 return !this.Executing;
  62.             }
  63.         }
  64.  
  65.         protected void CloseCommandExecute()
  66.         {
  67.  
  68.         }
  69.     }

The View Class (the form) instantiates the ViewModel, and passes it a reference to the callback.  Then when the ViewModel is told to execute, it passes this callback to the workers.  At any of these states, the callback can be done, and the form updated.  Note that as is, the code is NOT threadsafe.  So if you're going to be using it threaded, you'd need to check to see if the UI is getting updated on the UI thread or on a background thread.  If you are using threading, I can point you to a tutorial.  But if you just want to update one form from a process, the callback should be all you need.
7747
Living Room / Re: Hard drive shortage
« Last post by wraith808 on November 26, 2011, 05:37 PM »
The question I am wondering is when will we see laptop and desktop prices rocket?
-Carol Haynes (November 26, 2011, 04:58 PM)

Well, the drive makers want the price to rocket- as do the retailers.  They're pricing old stock at high prices based on problems in the supply chain.  The desktop and laptop makers *don't* want the prices to rise.  So I suppose it's when the lack of supplies *actually* reach the supply chain.  I think we have a little while yet... maybe the middle to the end of 1Q2012?
7748
Living Room / Re: Hard drive shortage
« Last post by wraith808 on November 26, 2011, 03:49 PM »
Wow... the gall.  And on a supposed sale weekend also.

From tigerdirect.com.  The prices don't look too bad... until you look at the amount off that's supposed to be after.

tigersale.png

7749
Developer's Corner / Re: Writing to Form1 textbox from Form2
« Last post by wraith808 on November 26, 2011, 03:44 PM »
^ +1.  I was just going to say that, but was coding an example first (needed to test some peripheral things, and needed a test bed, so seemed like the thing to do).
7750
DC Gamer Club / Payday: The Heist - Anyone in for a 4-pack?
« Last post by wraith808 on November 26, 2011, 02:31 PM »
Payday: The Heist is on sale on steam until tomorrow.  Anyone in for a 4-pack?  $19.99 regularly.  $9.99 on sale.  $7.50 with 3 others.

Any takers?
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